Love and Heroes

Love and Heroes


Clark had told her everything. She felt deeply sympathetic for her friend when he had revealed that all was left of his home planet was sand and rock and dust. That it was like a grave yard. It seemed he truly was the last, or so Clark had said. Chloe on the other silently knew other wise. She was almost ninety five percent certain that Clark was Jason’s father and not Richard White.

She thought of Jason’s eyes and looked into Clark’s and instantly knew that there was no other being on this planet besides Clark and now Jason who possessed eyes of such a beautiful and unique shade of blue.

Clark spent a week at the farm helping his mother and spending time with her. He even discovered his mother was dating Ben Hubbard, an old friend of his father’s. Clark had no idea how to handle this, or what to think. Chloe had insisted, that he needed to learn to deal with it, as his mother was a grown woman, who was entitled and deserved some kind of, companionship.

Clark also enjoyed playing with his God son and daughter. He was amazed at how they had grown since he last saw them. Alfred was almost a spitting image of Bruce to the point that it was almost scary. It was only his eyes that proved he was Chloe’s son as well as Bruce’s. Then there was Lucia. She to Clark was truly beautiful, just like her mother, even at her very young age.

But what seemed to bother Clark was that he could sense his best friend was keeping something away from him. She obviously knew something he didn’t, and that did not sit at all well with Clark. Chloe had not lied or withheld information from him since they were teens and she had gotten caught up with Lionel Luthor.

Also he had noticed whenever he mentioned her cousin, Lois Lane, she would visibly seethe. This worried Clark greatly. He knew both women were as equally fierce and head strong and were occasionally known to argue. But no, this was very different from the perusal from the female cousins.

He paused as he silently considered both women, women that he knew intimately. For one Chloe didn’t normally seethe and clench her jaw when her cousin was mentioned. It appeared as if Lois had done something to offend her cousin. Clark dreaded to think what Lois must have done to provoke such seething in her cousin, towards herself.

Also, Clark was horrified to discover he had been gone for five years. He had no idea that, what consisted as a month for him in the deepest outer most reaches of space, consisted of a full year back down on Earth.

Chloe had looked at her friend sympathetically when she saw how deeply he had been affected, after she had revealed how long he had been gone. She was amazed that time had moved so quickly for him, but ever so slowly for everyone else. She figured it may have had something to do with the fact he slept a lot of the time, a luxury that everyone else had not been given.

She asked him as they stood near the large gates at the end of the yard, as they watched Lucia and Alfred playing with Shelby. Laughing out loud as Shelby licked Lucia on the face causing her to squeal happily and hug the golden retriever.

“Clark do you plan on returning to Metropolis with me and asking Perry if he’ll give you back your old job.” Clark sighed and nodded as he replied “Yeah Chlo, I think I will. I need to make a living, and I obviously can’t do that from being Superman. So yeah I’m coming with you and the twins, when are you leaving for Metropolis?”

Chloe replied “Today, so if you’re coming with us, then I suggest you get whatever your taking gathered, ready to leave tonight after dinner.” She added “Oh by the way are you going to be taking up the role as the Man of Steel again, because Clark the world truly does need Superman?”

Clark pinched the bridge of his nose and said “I honestly don’t know Chlo, do you truly think the world needs me, and after all you have all survived without me so far?” Chloe visibly bristled as she replied “Survived? I would hardly consider September the eleventh surviving.”

Clark frowned and asked “Why Chlo, what happened on September the eleventh?” Chloe paled as she answered, looking more then a little ill, which immediately alerted Clark to the fact he was not going to like what she was about to reveal, one iota.

“On September the eleventh, in New York City, not long after you had left, a group of suicide bombers drove two planes into several famous land marks. The trade centre and the twin towers for example. Christ one of the tallest buildings in the world destroyed, so cruelly. Thousands were killed Clark.”

Clark looked horrified, he felt like someone had punched him in the stomach, knocking all of the air out of his lungs. He gripped the gate tightly with both hands, and only let go when Chloe forced him to, when he almost splintered the wooden gate.

Clark asked, his voice quivering in horror and guilt, guilt for something he should have been there to prevent. All of those lives gone, all perished, and because he had not been there. “Chlo, do you have any pictures I can see, I want to see what damage was caused?”

Chloe shook her head rapidly “No Clark, you really do not want to see it.” Clark shot her a stern glance and said “Chlo if you have photos I want to see them.” Chloe gritted out “But why, why torture yourself over something you can’t go back and change, damn it?”

She added “Please Clark, don’t make me show you those photos Jimmy took, after Perry sent me and Jimmy to cover it. The devastation was truly beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Not even Jimmy came back from New York the same, after seeing and taking pictures of all of that devastation. In fact he started drinking more often then I would like.”

Clark pleaded “Please Chlo, I need to see this, I can’t deal with what I can’t see or know of.” Chloe moaned and gave in with a weary sigh. “Fine, but I’m going against my better judgement here. I really do not want to show you this. You will only mentally torture and degrade yourself for this, for not being there. I do not want you blaming yourself for this. It was not your fault; you weren’t to know what devastation would occur once you had left.”

They went inside and Chloe booted up her laptop and delved into the files she had bookmarked as Sep11. She opened the files, the pictures first, followed by the written articles by other journalists and the one she had wrote herself.

She watched as Clark used his supervision and his super speed to rapidly scan the photos and the articles. She wish more and more by the second, that she had not given into him, and allowed him to see and read everything she had on her laptop, about the tragedy in particular.

Clark appeared more guilt trodden and tortured as he read each tragic and damning word. Scanned and took every single last inch and detail of every single photograph down to the last miniture scale and detail.

Clark scanned all of the photos silently thinking Jimmy had never taken such quality pictures before. It wasn’t hard to see why and what made Perry hire Jimmy. It was an excellent photographer, these shots only confirmed and soildfied that fact. Plus he could also understand why the younger man had turned to drinking more then he rightfully should.

He scanned all of the articles, but one caught his attention out of all of the others. The article was written by Chloe. It was the most moving and well written piece he had ever read. He could clearly see this piece was worthy of a Pultizer, or at least an nomination.

Clark told her so. “Christ Chlo, this is absolutely amazing. I swear this piece has the word Pulitzer written all over it. I hope you were nominated for this.” Chloe never said anything she merely closed the laptop and told him “Ok fly boy, you’ve seen enough, I refuse to continue torturing you. You don’t deserve to be tortured by this.”

Clark sighed and told her “I needed to, no had to see it. Just like I had to read through every damn article in every last single copy of the Daily Planet my mother has saved down in the cellar.”

Chloe moaned and covered her face with her hands and pleaded “Clark, why the hell do you insist on torturing yourself. I hate it when you do this. Why can’t you accept the fact you had to leave, that it was something you had to do? So you didn’t find what you expected or hoped for. Well, at least you now know. If you hadn’t gone you would have constantly wondered and tortured yourself over what you didn’t know.”

Clark sighed sadly and warily scrubbed his hand across his face and told her “I’ll be fine, I’ve just got to deal with all this in my own time. I’ll be fine, I’m always fine Chlo. I have to be, I’ve got no other choice. I’ll drive myself insane if I don’t deal with this.”

Chloe had tears in her eyes as she quickly grabbed him and wrapped him up in her arms, holding onto him tightly. He buried his face in her hair, and lost the battle against the rapidly forming tears of guilt and anguish. They stood in the middle of the yard, just merely holding each other, as they silently cried and comforted each other.