Beyond Smallville: Fan Fiction

Chapter 3: Raising Kara

Clark and Kara walked casually into the mostly silent yellow ranch house. They'd been gone for hours, and the only noise they heard was Lois's snoring, and Shelby/Krypto padding towards them. The golden retriever barked and wagged his tail at their approach. Even that didn't awaken Lois, who was curled up on the couch in the den where Clark had left her.

There was a message on the answering machine from the Pizza Restaurant complaining about placing an order and not being home to pick it up. The pizza place closed in five minutes. Clark gathered some money. "Kara, stay here and keep an eye on Lois, I'll get our pizza." The teen alien beauty nodded absently, and examined the television. "Here." Clark held the remote and pointed it at the TV, which snapped to life, startling Kara. She seated herself across from Lois and watched the network news shows. She quickly mastered the remote and began to flip channels.

Kara began memorizing every detail of information that she saw and heard, picking up the popular languages. Clark meanwhile, had zipped into downtown Smallville, listened to the pizza place's gripes, paid for the food, and sped back, placing the pizza on the kitchen table. Kara joined him and helped herself to half of the slices. "This is good, Kal!" She remarked.

"We don't have to eat too much, Kara, but I eat because I enjoy it." Clark added. "Kal, how similar are we to humans?" Kara munched happily, washing down the food with some pop. She belched, rattling the windows. Clark reddened, and smiled. "We say excuse me after that burp." He informed her. "We're almost human, as far as I can tell. Again, I've got no records to confirm that. Save some for Lois." He joked. "She'll be hungry when she wakes up."

Kara slurped the last of her pop, burping again, this time covering her mouth. "Excuse me." Clark grinned. "Kal, what was it like growing up with humans?" Clark sat back in his seat. He'd expected that question. This is going to take a long time to answer, he mused. "It was tough. I never fit in with the most popular kids, until I joined the Smallville High football team.

Chloe and Lana have been my friends all along. Now I have Lois, Jimmy, and some others as well. The advantage I had was that my parents guided me. Jonathan and Martha Kent always helped me whenever they could. Ultimately though, we really don't belong here." Kara sighed. "John seems to think we do."

"I was watching the what is it? Television, and there are a lot of different people of Earth. They have different colored skin, hair, eyes, and a variety of clothing. How come we can't be like them?" She inquired. "We can try and look like them, but we'll always be aliens." Clark answered, depressing Kara further. "I like Lois and Jimmy." She remarked, trying to sound positive.

"You'll like your Aunt Martha, Chloe, and Lana, if we could find her, I'd bet." He responded. Lois began to stir, shifting positions. Clark used his super speed to clean up the table, and repackage the leftover pizza for Lois. They moved to the den and Kara used the remote to turn on the TV. Clark smiled. I hope she doesn't become addicted to reality TV. Clark sat on the couch near Lois, and soon she slipped restlessly into Clark's lap, startling him, making Kara laugh.

Lois positioned her head against Clark's stomach, and turned sideways, facing the TV. The alien teen continued to channel surf soaking in all the knowledge she could about Earth's society, no matter how minuscule. Clark on the other hand was lost in thought.

How can I raise Kara by myself? I'm sure that my mom can help when she can, but ultimately, Kara is my responsibility. He glanced down at Lois, snoozing comfortably in his lap. I wonder… Kara gasped, snapping Clark back to reality. The news anchor on the TV was covering a terrorist attack story in the Middle East, which had killed dozens of people.

"Kal! How horrible! We have to stop them!" She nearly yelled. "Stop who?" Clark asked. "The terrorists! They've killed people…" Kara sounded panicky. Clark groaned. This was going to be a long night, he mused. "Kara, that's really none of our business." He began. "What? I don't understand." She was getting upset. "John just told us that we're here to protect the humans." Clark frowned. Kara was actually right. "Shouldn't that include protecting the humans from each other?"

Kara posed an interesting question. "True, but how do we know which humans did the killing?" Clark tested his younger cousin. She considered that. "We have to catch them doing it, or before they do it." Clark beamed. "That's correct, Kara." The teen alien began to comprehend it all.

 "We can be crime-fighters like on America's Most Wanted." She added. "Okay, then we'd have to investigate the crime, find out who's guilty, and then turn them into the proper authorities." He explained. "We are not above the law. We have to obey the authorities, even if we don't like it."

Kara nodded. It gave her something new to think about. Eventually, the aliens fell asleep next to Lois in front of the TV. Bright and early the next morning, Krypto bounded into the kitchen, and scratched the door to go out. Lois was still sleeping in Clark's lap, and Kara had fallen asleep on the floor…or actually, above the floor. Overnight her flying ability kicked in.

She hovered about three feet in the air. Lois awakened and fortunately hadn't fully opened her eyes yet. "Ow! My head!" She grumbled. "I haven't felt like this since the General's last New Year's Eve party at Fort Bragg." Clark heard her and stretched. "Hey Smallville! What gives?" Lois used Clark's leg to balance as she sat up. "Where'd you all go? What happened to my pizza?"

Lois opened one eye. Clark super sped to Kara shoving her down to the floor without disturbing her sleep, and zipped back onto the couch. "Well Lois, you looked so comfortable, Kara and I didn't want to wake you up." Lois glanced at his young cousin, who turned over. "Kara?" She looked blankly at Clark. "Yes. Did you forget?" Clark silently hoped that the teenager would remain asleep until Clark could get Lois moving. "I guess I did." She confessed.

Clark's heart leaped. "Lois, what do you remember?" the young journalist got up from the couch and paced across the tiled kitchen floor, absently letting Shelby/Krypto out into the yard. "Chloe and I were inside the dam…it broke…there was a fight…blood. Oh my God Clark! Chloe's been injured!" She hustled to the den to locate her cell phone. "Wait Lois! As far as I know, Chloe's fine. Let me call her, okay?" Clark silently thanked John for wiping Lois's memory clean.

He also hoped that she had no permanent mental damage. "Okay Clark!" Lois glanced at her watch, threw off her shoes, socks, and blouse, revealing her sports bra and began to dash upstairs. "I have to shower, change, grab a cup of Joe, and be at the Daily Planet in an hour." Lois took the stairs two at a time. Clark smiled and shook his head as Kara snoozed in the den.

Lois came part of the way downstairs in a bath towel. "Clark, could you be a dear and get my spare clothes out of the car?" She called and quickly vaulted back up, slamming the washroom door. The problem was that Lois's car was in Metropolis. Clark sighed. It's always something. He checked once more on his young cousin and sped off to the Talon, the coffee shop that doubled as a movie theater, above which, Lois and Chloe rented an apartment together. Clark knocked.

There was no answer, and he used his X-ray vision to check for Chloe and Jimmy. There was no sign of them. He assumed that they had already gone to work. Clark couldn't get Lois's car back to the farm in time for her to use and still be on time for work. He decided to pack some of her things in a sports bag. Let's see, nice pink blouse, gray skirt, black high heels, he placed them in the bag.

Clark gulped. Oh yeah. He blushed, Lois's underwear. He hurriedly tossed them in the bag, zipped it up, and hauled butt back to the farm. Lois was just getting out of the shower. "Clark? Did you bring my stuff?" She called down from the washroom while brushing her long sandy brown hair. "Um…yeah, but you forgot that you borrowed the car to Chloe last night."

"What?" Lois wiped her hair and tossed the towel into the corner of Clark's bedroom near the other dirty laundry. He ascended the stairs and handed Lois, still wearing a bath towel, her bag. "Thanks!" Lois closed the door to Clark's bedroom. He snickered, finding her antics amusing. Meanwhile, much to Clark's dismay, Kara was missing. He called Chloe at the Daily Planet.

He briefed her on Lois's memory lapse. "You live quite the charmed life, Clark." She joked, before hanging up. A few moments later, Lois bounded down the stairs. "How's Chloe? Hey, were we drinking last night? I don't recall seeing any empty bottles of Gentleman Jack or Captain Morgan lying on the floor." She quipped. "Chloe's fine, and we had a nice quiet evening here watching movies with Kara." Clark lied convincingly. "Oh okay." Lois accepted that answer for the moment.

"I take it you're driving me to work, Clark." Lois's eyes sparkled. "Apparently." He replied as he vainly searched the house for Kara with his X-ray vision. "We better get a move on!" She urged. "It's only my first week there, and Perry will have my ass if I'm late!" Lois checked her appearance in the mirror once more and bolted for the door, snapping up a cup of coffee in her travel mug along the way. Clark reluctantly followed her to his red pickup.

Kara, please stay out of trouble, he silently hoped. "Move it, Smallville!" Lois ordered. Clark opened the passenger side door for Lois. "At least you remember your manners." She teased. "Whatever!" Clark said and closed the door behind her. Things appear to be back to normal between Lois and I, Clark thought cheerfully as they drove off.

Kara flew loops high above the amber stalks of wheat, as Krypto followed, speeding along on the ground as best that he could, barking happily. "Yee Ha!" She yelled as she swooped in low above a green and yellow field, startling a family of rabbits. Kara banked towards an old run down grain mill. The red wooden structure had fallen into disrepair, but to the alien girl it held its own form of beauty. She rocketed straight back up, pushing some serious 'G's.

Kara studied a flock of geese that honked excitedly as they flew towards the early morning sun. She dove low over a river, after checking for any fishermen, and used her high powered vision to watch the schools of fish swim by. Earth is great! She thought cheerfully.

Kara circled back toward the Kent Farm, sweeping a frightened Krypto up into her arms. Her superior hearing picked up some noisy machinery nearby. She dropped low into the foliage to watch it. Krypto woofed a warning and wagged his tail. "Shh boy!" She urged as the dog silenced. His ears perked up. Kara saw a green and yellow tractor harvesting a browning wheat field. An older man in blue denim overhauls and a gray plaid flannel shirt was driving it.

Another blue vehicle was parked nearby. She saw no driver. Krypto began to growl. "What's the matter, boy?" Kara asked as she popped out of her hiding place. Blam! A loud noise came from behind her. She felt something hit her square in the back. It didn't really hurt her, just stung a little for a second. Krypto barked and growled. Kara turned around.

She saw another old man with a long black device in his hands. "Oh my God, Charlie! Call 911! I just shot a girl!" He shouted. The man driving the tractor stopped it and asked: "What's that, Tommy?" Kara didn't know what to do. She stood there gaping at the man holding the shotgun. "Honey, are you all right?" He asked worriedly as Kara glanced around.

"Did I hit you?" The man put his gun down warily. "Uh...no." She lied. "Oh thank God! What're you doin' hangin' around in the brush, little girl?" Kara gulped. Cousin Kal warned me to stay out of trouble, think quick, girl, She encouraged herself. "I um...lost my dog, see?" Kara held up Krypto, with one hand, who growled and barked at the men.

"Okay, well now, git!" He ordered. "I'm sorry. I thought you were that dang coyote that's been harrassin' my hens and goats." Tommy said, eyeing her suspiciously. "Uh...I'm sorry." Kara picked up Krypto and walked away down an access road, and tried not to look like she was running.

When she felt that she was out of sight, Kara switched to hyper speed with Krypto in her arms, and took off for home. No harm done, exactly, she thought as the back of her white tee shirt still smoldered. Once back at the ranch house, Kara sunk into the couch and resigned herself to watching TV.

Kara absently petted Krypto while she continued to study the human culture. One thing she knew for sure was that the world was in turmoil, and Kal had told her that they couldn't interfere. It was indeed a strange situation, she mused. When is he getting home? She wondered silently. Kara sighed with resignation, and decided to investigate the Kent home.

She went through every drawer in every dresser, checked out all the closets, bedrooms, kitchen cabinets, and finally stopped at a wall of photos along the staircase. She laughed at the pictures of Clark as a child, spied Chloe wearing Clark's orange red football jersey, and located a pretty young girl with long black hair. Hmm, that must be Lana, she guessed as she examined their prom picture. Kara picked out a photo of an older couple with young Clark between them.

Jonathan and Martha Kent

, she assumed. Aunt Martha, she fingered the slightly damaged picture. This all cheered her up, but again she regretted not meeting her Uncle Jonathan. Jor El always spoke highly of the Kents. My father, Zor El intended for me to land on the Kent Farm, not below the dam. If only I'd been here sooner...

Kara concluded her tour by investigating the newly rebuilt storm cellar, halfway in between the house and the barn. She'd left her spacecraft at the ice fortress, and wished that they'd brought it back with them. I guess it doesn't matter. I have all the important information either downloaded into the image array, or contained in my blue and green crystals. Kara noted a dim pink glow coming from the darkest corner of the emergency cellar.

A crystal? It's not mine! It must be Kal's! She pocketed the crystal, and headed to the barn to investigate Clark's loft. This is way cool, she praised. Naturally, she dug through all of Clark's things, admiring his telescope. It was crude by Kryptonian standards, but it would do.

Kara lounged on the couch staring up at the wooden rafters. Mom and Dad and my sisters would have loved Kal, and this world. She dwelled on it wistfully. With that depressing thought, Kara returned outside and watched the horses galloping across the corral. Her sensitive hearing picked up the approach of a vehicle about a mile away. I hope that's Kal on his way back.

Clark drove down the highway towards Metropolis with Lois by his side. "Can't you push this bucket any faster?" She complained. "Lois, we can't go over the speed limit." Clark said, knowing that it would irritate her further. "Oh pu-lease! What are we going to do, run over a chipmunk? There's nothing out here in West Podunk!" She took the bait. "That's not the issue, Lois, the speed limit is the law." Clark continued to push her buttons. "I don't see any cops."

She glanced around. "That still doesn't make it right." Clark argued playfully. "Fine! When I lose my job, you're going to support me and my shoe addiction by slapping hogs, milking cows, and plucking chickens!" Lois whined. "Would that really be so bad?" Clark said before he'd thought it through. Lois missed his faux pas at first. She recovered quickly.

"Did you just make a pass at me, Smallville?" Clark reddened. "Nope." Lois glanced out the window. "Oh." She sounded disappointed. Clark wrote her reaction off to too much stress brought on by the preceding days, starting a new job, and finally John messing with her head. "Relax Lois." Clark soothed. "We still have plenty of time to get you to work."

Lois grunted absently as Clark grinned. "My head still hurts. Remind me to take some aspirin before I start. Perry will hang me if my article isn't spot on." A bit later they pulled into the Daily Planet parking lot. Chloe and Jimmy were just going across the street for coffee.

"Hey!" Jimmy waved as Lois leaned across the car and kissed Clark on the cheek, shocking him. "Whoa! What were they doing last night?" Jimmy asked a wide-eyed Chloe. "Oh c'mon Jimmy, this is Lois and Clark that we're talking about. That's like throwing gasoline into a fire." Jimmy shrugged. "Yeah, but my eyes don't deceive me." He defended. "No they don't." Chloe agreed. "Hmmm." Clark opened the door for Lois. "Why did you just kiss me?"

"I have no idea!" Lois growled. "Don't get too excited about it." He locked up the truck and followed Lois towards Chloe and Jimmy. "Good morning my fellow Daily Planeteers, what's new in the world?" Lois asked with unusual cheerfulness. "You tell me." Jimmy teased as Chloe elbowed him in the gut. "What do you think about Lex?" Chloe began.

"Lex? What about him?" Clark scowled as Chloe rolled her eyes. "Where were you two, on another planet?" Jimmy admonished them as Chloe and Clark exchanged glances. "Not exactly." Clark answered sheepishly. Lois frowned. "Clark and I were sleeping like babies." Jimmy whistled. "I see." Clark flushed. "What about Lex?" Lois asked with curiosity.

"You top notch reporters missed ol' baldy being hauled away in cuffs by the cops." Jimmy filled them in. "They think he...uh...killed Lana." Chloe added hesitantly. "She's not dead." Clark insisted with irritation. Lois put her hand on Clark's shoulder. "Now Smallville, I liked Lana, too, but maybe you ought to accept that the hairless bastard could've offed her." Lois stated coldly. "They found Lana's truck in an alley, what's left of it. The thing was blown to bits. I'm sorry." Chloe put in. "No! I don't believe it!" Clark argued vehemently.

"We both know what Lex is capable of." Chloe added. "He threatened to knock me off as well, if I didn't bury my Level 33.1 story about Luthorcorp. I swallowed my pride and backed off." Lois suddenly held Clark tight, which seemed to calm him down a bit. "Don't worry! The bastard will pay for what he did to Lana, and my friend Wes, I guarantee it!" Lois said with unusual conviction. Clark wasn't buying it, and he didn't let go of Lois, Chloe noted.

"As mean and vindictive as Lex can be, I doubt very much that he killed Lana. It's not his style. It would be too obvious." Clark forced his temper to calm. "It's more likely that when Lex found out that Lana was leaving him, he would've come after me." Chloe nodded. "You're probably right Clark, but then what is going on?" Clark was silent as Lois opened the door to the coffee shop. "It was nice to watch baldy take the perp walk, well worth the price of admission."

Jimmy remarked. "I hate to rain on your 'save Lex' parade, but what if he did it? I mean it's a crime of passion, right?" Clark disagreed. "Lana came to me before we went to Reeves Dam. She said that she was leaving Lex and...that she was leaving Smallville." Lois placed their orders. "You better make it quick, Marty." She added. "I have to be at my desk in ten minutes."

Chloe and Jimmy considered all this. "She booked!" Chloe exclaimed. "It makes perfect sense. Lana pretends to die so Lex won't hunt her down." Jimmy snapped his fingers. "Of course! Lana splits for parts unknown, and gets her yuks out of seeing Uncle Fester squirming for a while under the long arm of the law! She'll probably let him stew for a few days, cooling his jets in the slammer. Then she makes an appearance on the net, or places a call, stating that Richie Rich is innocent." Clark nodded. "I agree." Chloe wasn't convinced.

Lois grabbed her coffee, paid for it, and turned to Clark, kissing him again. "Don't get used to it, Smallville." She smiled as she wiped the lipstick off Clark's cheek. "This girl has got to clock some time in her cubicle. Chloe, Jimmy, see you upstairs." Chloe gawked as Clark rubbed his chin. "What?" Chloe smirked. "She's got it bad, Clark. Good luck!"

link to ch 4: Rescue