FIC: Reunion (Smallville), part 07 of ???
Previous Parts:
Prologue/Part One/Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
It took some work, but eventually they managed to get Jor-El into the house and onto the couch. Lois had noticed that Lara was not alone in her love of small, hand-held technological marvels and soon Zor-El was - scanning? - Jor-El with some kind of gadget. Zor-El kept muttering under his breath, but Lois guessed that if it had been an Earthling speaking, he’d have been saying something like, “Amazing! Absolutely amazing!” She didn’t know what could possibly be amazing about the horrible crack she’d heard when Clark’s fist had connected with Jor-El’s - the alien’s - his father’s - jaw, or the impressively-colored bruise (do Clark’s people have green blood like Mr. Spock, or red like us?) that had formed there, but then Lois had hung out with the fighters on her father’s bases, not the medics who’d patched everyone up when all was said and done.
She observed the two uninjured interplanetary visitors. Zor-El was shorter than his brother, making him a little shorter than Clark: he’d looked his birth father straight in the eye when he’d spit such vitriol at the older man (alien). But his build, his face, his hair: all so similar to his brother. He seemed to have a gentle but curious demeanor, and reminded Lois of Dr. Ebenkraft, the doctor who’d overseen her mother’s case while they were stationed in Germany that last time. That doctor, despite her mother’s death, had been her hero for ages. For a while, his example had made her want to become a doctor herself - until she had realized how crappy she was in science (except for those pointers the explosives guys at Eielson had given her the summer they’d been stationed just south of Fairbanks) and that she was just a little too selfish a person to make a life out of emulating Dr. Ebenkraft.
But the alien she got the best vibes from was Lara. Apparently reassured by Zor-El’s words, she had left Jor-El’s side to explore the Kents’ living room. Lois approached her silently and discovered that Lara had one of the many framed pictures of Clark and his (human) parents in her hands. Lara turned to her and said, “Please, what event, this?”
Lois took the picture from her. It was a candid shot, and the building in the background looked like one of the elementary schools that Chloe had pointed out to her once. Clark looked to be maybe five years old, and she’d never seen Martha Kent with such long hair. “Um, Clark’s first day of school, probably,” she guessed.
“Please, what school?” Lara asked, frowning.
“School?” What was the word that Lara had used, back at the spaceship? She’d implied something about Lois maybe knowing Clark (Kal-El) at school… “Oh, right. Academy,” she finally remembered.
Lara’s face brightened. “Please, what ka-lark?” she asked.
Ka-lark? “Oh, Clark,” Lois realized. She touched the image of the little boy. “That’s Clark.”
“No ka-lark. Kal-El.”
Oh, boy. Lois pointed at the people in the picture individually, speaking slowly. “Martha Kent. Jonathan Kent. Clark Kent.”
Lara stared at the photograph for several moments, her lips pressed into a thin line. Lois watched as understanding appeared on her face: however it was that these aliens chose names for their children, the one that Lara had given her son was not the name he called himself. Another mother’s name served that purpose. Finally, Lara spoke softly, as if trying to get a taste of the name: “Kalark. Kuh-lark.” She glanced at Lois.
“Clark,” Lois repeated.
Lara nodded and placed the picture back where it belonged before taking another one - more recent, perhaps even this year’s school picture, Lois guessed - in her hands. Lara traced Clark’s image with her fingertip and spoke again. “Kuh -” She closed her eyes briefly and took a breath. “Clark-Kent ka fanyu-Kent,” she said, and then raised the framed picture and kissed it lightly, as if Clark was actually there and she was simply placing a motherly kiss on his forehead. Lois saw the tears pooling at Lara’s eyes as she put the picture back and in that moment the older woman seemed completely human.
Lois watched her return to the couch and Jor-El. Zor-El was apparently finished with his examination and had retired to an armchair, poking at a device similar to the PDA-thing that Lara had shown her the pictures on. Every now and then he would shake his head: whatever had been “amazing” earlier was still just as fascinating. Lara had also withdrawn hers from a pants pocket and was poking at it with one hand while the other held Jor-El’s hand. Jor-El himself was still out cold.
Lois didn’t know what to do. The time for the nervous breakdown had passed; she supposed now she was either already dealing with the situation (Aliens! Real live aliens! Clark Kent is an alien! Why am I not surprised?) or she was in shock. Either way, she found herself simply standing there, staring at the three of them, and with no demands being made of her: Lara was apparently done talking with her for the time being, and Zor-El hadn’t really done more than give her a few glances since they’d met.
Tea. That’s what Mrs. Kent would do right about now. Make tea. Too late for coffee - do aliens drink coffee? She thought back on it and realized that Clark drank it - so at the very least it wouldn’t (shouldn’t) be poisonous to them. No - tea. Tea covers every situation.
A moment later she found herself in the kitchen. Tea. Step one - what’s step one? God, brain, work! Water. Boil water. Okay. I can do that. Easy. Anyone can boil water. She filled up the kettle and set it on the stove to boil and then began searching for tea. She had just found it when a sound outside caught her attention. What - oh, no. Oh, this is going to be fun…yeah, right…
A moment later, the kitchen door opened. “Mrs. Kent, Mr. Kent,” Lois said, racing to intercept them. “I can explain everything. Well, most of it. Okay, I can tell you what’s happened so far, but I’m way out of my league, so, um, I’ll let you guys deal with it, okay?”
Jonathan simply frowned, but it was Martha who finally spoke. “Lois, what on Earth -” she started.
“Yeah, about that…I mean, you guys have experience with this sort of thing, right?”
Clearly, it was at that moment, that Lara and Zor-El made their appearance, because it was Lois’s quick reflexes that saved the grocery bag that Martha had been carrying, and the angry look on Jonathan’s face thirty seconds later (he sure caught on quick) was uncannily similar to Clark’s. But despite Martha’s initial shock, what followed was not anger, to match Jonathan, but something more akin to curiosity. Whatever it was, it seemed to be positive.
Martha stepped forward, glancing between Zor-El and Lara, her grocery bag forgotten. After another moment, she stepped forward again and hesitantly said, “Lara?”
The look on Lara’s face was something Lois would never be able to fully decipher: joy, confusion, recognition - everything seemed to be there. In turn, Lara ventured, “Mar-tha?”
Martha nodded.
Lara surged forward and embraced the human woman. Her words were accented and began to blur together, but it was obvious what she was saying: “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
TBC
(The end moment was largely inspired - unexpectedly, and most definitely not as outlined in my notes - by acampbell's "Memoria" screencaps, reminding me of that excellent Martha and Clark moment at the end of that episode. Originally, the Kents weren't coming home quite this soon - but as the Muse moves me...)
Prologue/Part One/Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
It took some work, but eventually they managed to get Jor-El into the house and onto the couch. Lois had noticed that Lara was not alone in her love of small, hand-held technological marvels and soon Zor-El was - scanning? - Jor-El with some kind of gadget. Zor-El kept muttering under his breath, but Lois guessed that if it had been an Earthling speaking, he’d have been saying something like, “Amazing! Absolutely amazing!” She didn’t know what could possibly be amazing about the horrible crack she’d heard when Clark’s fist had connected with Jor-El’s - the alien’s - his father’s - jaw, or the impressively-colored bruise (do Clark’s people have green blood like Mr. Spock, or red like us?) that had formed there, but then Lois had hung out with the fighters on her father’s bases, not the medics who’d patched everyone up when all was said and done.
She observed the two uninjured interplanetary visitors. Zor-El was shorter than his brother, making him a little shorter than Clark: he’d looked his birth father straight in the eye when he’d spit such vitriol at the older man (alien). But his build, his face, his hair: all so similar to his brother. He seemed to have a gentle but curious demeanor, and reminded Lois of Dr. Ebenkraft, the doctor who’d overseen her mother’s case while they were stationed in Germany that last time. That doctor, despite her mother’s death, had been her hero for ages. For a while, his example had made her want to become a doctor herself - until she had realized how crappy she was in science (except for those pointers the explosives guys at Eielson had given her the summer they’d been stationed just south of Fairbanks) and that she was just a little too selfish a person to make a life out of emulating Dr. Ebenkraft.
But the alien she got the best vibes from was Lara. Apparently reassured by Zor-El’s words, she had left Jor-El’s side to explore the Kents’ living room. Lois approached her silently and discovered that Lara had one of the many framed pictures of Clark and his (human) parents in her hands. Lara turned to her and said, “Please, what event, this?”
Lois took the picture from her. It was a candid shot, and the building in the background looked like one of the elementary schools that Chloe had pointed out to her once. Clark looked to be maybe five years old, and she’d never seen Martha Kent with such long hair. “Um, Clark’s first day of school, probably,” she guessed.
“Please, what school?” Lara asked, frowning.
“School?” What was the word that Lara had used, back at the spaceship? She’d implied something about Lois maybe knowing Clark (Kal-El) at school… “Oh, right. Academy,” she finally remembered.
Lara’s face brightened. “Please, what ka-lark?” she asked.
Ka-lark? “Oh, Clark,” Lois realized. She touched the image of the little boy. “That’s Clark.”
“No ka-lark. Kal-El.”
Oh, boy. Lois pointed at the people in the picture individually, speaking slowly. “Martha Kent. Jonathan Kent. Clark Kent.”
Lara stared at the photograph for several moments, her lips pressed into a thin line. Lois watched as understanding appeared on her face: however it was that these aliens chose names for their children, the one that Lara had given her son was not the name he called himself. Another mother’s name served that purpose. Finally, Lara spoke softly, as if trying to get a taste of the name: “Kalark. Kuh-lark.” She glanced at Lois.
“Clark,” Lois repeated.
Lara nodded and placed the picture back where it belonged before taking another one - more recent, perhaps even this year’s school picture, Lois guessed - in her hands. Lara traced Clark’s image with her fingertip and spoke again. “Kuh -” She closed her eyes briefly and took a breath. “Clark-Kent ka fanyu-Kent,” she said, and then raised the framed picture and kissed it lightly, as if Clark was actually there and she was simply placing a motherly kiss on his forehead. Lois saw the tears pooling at Lara’s eyes as she put the picture back and in that moment the older woman seemed completely human.
Lois watched her return to the couch and Jor-El. Zor-El was apparently finished with his examination and had retired to an armchair, poking at a device similar to the PDA-thing that Lara had shown her the pictures on. Every now and then he would shake his head: whatever had been “amazing” earlier was still just as fascinating. Lara had also withdrawn hers from a pants pocket and was poking at it with one hand while the other held Jor-El’s hand. Jor-El himself was still out cold.
Lois didn’t know what to do. The time for the nervous breakdown had passed; she supposed now she was either already dealing with the situation (Aliens! Real live aliens! Clark Kent is an alien! Why am I not surprised?) or she was in shock. Either way, she found herself simply standing there, staring at the three of them, and with no demands being made of her: Lara was apparently done talking with her for the time being, and Zor-El hadn’t really done more than give her a few glances since they’d met.
Tea. That’s what Mrs. Kent would do right about now. Make tea. Too late for coffee - do aliens drink coffee? She thought back on it and realized that Clark drank it - so at the very least it wouldn’t (shouldn’t) be poisonous to them. No - tea. Tea covers every situation.
A moment later she found herself in the kitchen. Tea. Step one - what’s step one? God, brain, work! Water. Boil water. Okay. I can do that. Easy. Anyone can boil water. She filled up the kettle and set it on the stove to boil and then began searching for tea. She had just found it when a sound outside caught her attention. What - oh, no. Oh, this is going to be fun…yeah, right…
A moment later, the kitchen door opened. “Mrs. Kent, Mr. Kent,” Lois said, racing to intercept them. “I can explain everything. Well, most of it. Okay, I can tell you what’s happened so far, but I’m way out of my league, so, um, I’ll let you guys deal with it, okay?”
Jonathan simply frowned, but it was Martha who finally spoke. “Lois, what on Earth -” she started.
“Yeah, about that…I mean, you guys have experience with this sort of thing, right?”
Clearly, it was at that moment, that Lara and Zor-El made their appearance, because it was Lois’s quick reflexes that saved the grocery bag that Martha had been carrying, and the angry look on Jonathan’s face thirty seconds later (he sure caught on quick) was uncannily similar to Clark’s. But despite Martha’s initial shock, what followed was not anger, to match Jonathan, but something more akin to curiosity. Whatever it was, it seemed to be positive.
Martha stepped forward, glancing between Zor-El and Lara, her grocery bag forgotten. After another moment, she stepped forward again and hesitantly said, “Lara?”
The look on Lara’s face was something Lois would never be able to fully decipher: joy, confusion, recognition - everything seemed to be there. In turn, Lara ventured, “Mar-tha?”
Martha nodded.
Lara surged forward and embraced the human woman. Her words were accented and began to blur together, but it was obvious what she was saying: “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
TBC
(The end moment was largely inspired - unexpectedly, and most definitely not as outlined in my notes - by acampbell's "Memoria" screencaps, reminding me of that excellent Martha and Clark moment at the end of that episode. Originally, the Kents weren't coming home quite this soon - but as the Muse moves me...)