Chapter Text
Lois had not realized she had been sleeping poorly until she was woken fully by the jarring buzz from her cell phone on her nightstand. She was even more unsettled when she saw Natalie’s name pop up on the caller ID. It was well past mid night and even later in DC.
“Hello,” Lois answered cautiously, as she placed on hand on Clark’s arm, attempting to wake him. Only to feel the heat radiating off, something was not at all right.
“Lois, hey, it’s the boys, somethings wrong, the paramedics are here and there is an ambulance, and they seem really sick…” Natalie rambled.
“Okay, Okay, slow down,” Lois worked to keep her voice even and calm as Clark sat up next to her and then instantly leaned back against the pillows. “Do you know what is wrong with them, and are they in the ambulance yet?”
“They are loading them up right now, and apparently Jordan passed out while they were playing cards and the Jonathan went down hard after and them Cory and Malcom could not wake them up. They did not look good at dinner, like they looked really sick, and they kept mentioning something about a sun storm and how they would be fine in the morning, but then something happened and I’m not sure…” Natalie explained as Lois tapped on her phone and brought her dad into the conversation. Whatever was affecting the boys was affecting Clark and she needed backup.
“Lois?” Sam asked from the other end of the phone.
“Dad, the boys are sick, and they are headed to a hospital in DC, we need to get them somewhere safe,” Lois commanded quickly, “Natalie’s on the line as well.”
“Where’s Clark?” Sam asked.
“I’m…here…” Clark got out through labored breathing.
“I’m on it, I’ll have the ambulance redirect to a medical transport and get the boys to the DoD. I’ll meet you there.” Sam said as he hung up.
“Thanks Natalie,” Lois replied.
Once the call ended, Lois turned her attention to Clark who was still propped up on the pillows. Lois flipped on the lamp only to see that he had gone pale.
“Clark,” Lois said gently as she pressed a hand into his cheek. “Can you get up?”
“Yeah…I’ll be…” Clark paused as he sat up slowly and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I’ll be okay.” He then tried to stand up, only to quickly fall back into his sitting position on the bed.
“Just stay there,” Lois said as she got up and quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater. She then handed Clark his Smallville crows zip up to put on over his t-shirt. There was no way he would have the energy to actually change into jeans, so pajamas and Smallville spirt wear would have to do.
“Lois, somethings wrong.” Clark said as he slowly worked the zipper up his jacket.
Lois nodded, as she handed Clark his glasses from the bed side table and found a pair of sneakers in the closet. “The boys are headed to the DoD, we need to get there now.”
Clark tried to stand up again and this time succeeding before placing a hand on the railing of the head board on the bed to steady himself.
“We need to get to the car,” Lois explained, gently, working hard to hide the concern etched on her face. She had only seen Clark like this a few times but there had always been an explanation. Now it made no sense. They had been home all night and Clark had mostly been out on the sort of normal, non-supervillain related saves that posed essentially zero risk.
Lois wrapped her arm around Clark’s waste and slowly guided him down the stairs, only stopping to grab her leather jacket and Clark’s red plaid jacket.
She got Clark in the passenger side of her station wagon pulling out of the farm and heading towards the DoD. She risked a glance over to Clark, but he had gone quiet, his head pressed into the glass of the window. She watched as he shivered even though he was dressed in a jacket and Lois was blasting the heat. Lois turned her attention back towards the road and focused on getting to the DoD. She needed to get to the boys and Clark needed help.
When Lois arrived at the DoD, her dad was already there waiting.
“I’m surprised you two drove,” Sam said as Lois got out of the car.
Lois shook her head as she worked through the words, “Whatever is effecting the boys is also effecting Clark.” Lois said as Clark pushed open the passenger’s side door and proceeded to fall towards the pavement.
“Woah, Woah,” Sam said, as he caught Clark before he landed on the asphalt. “Let’s get you inside, the boys just arrived.”
“Dr. Rodriguez…Is Dr. Rodriguez here?” Clark wheezed out as Sam worked to keep him upright.
“She’s inside and she’s looking at the boys,” Sam explained, “And we need to get you inside so she can take a look at you as well.”
“I need to tell her first, she’s the one we can trust,” Clark said, cryptically, but the meaning came across clearly enough.
“Clark, I can tell her, if you trust her, I can tell her and you can get some rest,” Lois tried as Sam started to push forward into the DoD hospital.
“No, I can do it, I should explain,” Clark insisted more frantically, though his words came out strained.
“Son, let’s just get you inside,” Sam said calmly as they walked into the hospital. It was rare that Sam was so gentle with her husband. Usually it was all about business, there relationship had often been less familial and more professional.
The hospital was quite this late at night as they made their way through the winding halls. Sam carefully supporting Clark’s weight as they progressed quickly.
When they entered a large hospital room, Lois should have been prepared for the sight in front of her, but she had been so focused on getting here and Clark, that she had almost forgotten that her sons had been sick enough to be rushed to a hospital in the middle of the night.
They were both laying in bed, still, pale, paler than she had ever seen her in her life. Almost paper white and they both had oxygen masks sitting over their noses. The worst is that they were so still, she could see the rise and fall of their chest and no other movement besides that.
“Are you their parents?” A woman wearing a white coat and scrubs asked as she entered the room.
“Dr. Rodriguez…we need to talk,” Clark insisted, still leaning against Sam.
“This man needs medical attention,” Dr. Rodriguez responded as she assessed Clark, noting his weakened state.
“This is they boys’ father and it’s best for everyone you here what he has to say, we can use the conference room down the hall.” Sam intervened, already leading the way out of the room and towards a private place they could talk.
Sam helped Clark into a chair at the table and then shut the door. Lois sat on one side, holding tight to Clark’s hand and Dr. Rodriguez sat on the other, her stethoscope and a flashlight in her hand, ready to start and examination.
“Doctor…” Clark wheezed out.
“Sir, can you take your jacket off so I can listen to your heartbeat?” Dr. Rodriguez requested bluntly, in a sort of down to business way.
“Wait, I need to explain,” Clark responded and then took a moment to catch his breath and then reached up and pulled off his glasses. He attempted to straighten his shoulders but ended up slumping further in his seat.
“Is it related to what’s wrong with you?” Dr. Rodriguez asked as Clark struggled to find the words.
“Yes, Yes,” Clark blurted out with as much force as possible. “I…look, you helped me before. When that Kryptonite gas was released in the 7734 lab and few years ago and again when I was brought in by Anderson’s SoA members.”
Dr. Rodriguez looked confused and then looked at Sam. “I helped…Superman, but that was top secret, how do you know about that?”
“You helped me, I’m…” Clark wheezed, he was never good at this part. “I’m Superman. My sons…” Clark stopped to catch his breath.
“This isn’t possible, Superman cannot be sitting here, wearing pajamas, at the DoD.” Dr, Rodriguez shook her head in confusion. “Sir, I think you are just sick and confused, we can get you some help.”
“It’s true,” Lois spoke up for the first time since they entered the room. “Clark Kent is Superman, and our sons are half Kryptonian.” Lois was blunt in her delivery. She may spend most of her time making sure her family never felt alien, but she was a realist when it came to things like this.
“I don’t understand,” Dr. Rodriguez spoke again.
“Doctor, my family is sick, they are Kryptonians, did you not volunteer to server as one of our Kryptonian Doctors?” Sam pushed, no sense and all business.
“Yes General, I just never expected…” She trailed off. “Em, Superman, we should get you in a bed.”
“Clark, just Clark,” Clark corrected. “But you have to keep it a secret, no one can know.”
Dr. Rodriguez nodded, “Alright, Clark we needed to get you into a bed, I promise, your secret is safe with me.”
For Lois, things went fast after that. Her dad helped Clark out of his jacket and into a bed and Dr. Rodriguez attached a series of probes to his chest to monitor his vitals. She watched as the doctor attempt to insert a needle into Clark’s arm only for it to bend and snap. His skin resistant to anything like a needle, even in whatever weakened state he was in. She tried on Jordan and failed and then tried a final time on Jonathan, only to find that his skin was still pierceable and filled several vials full of his blood.
Lois watched her family lay eerily still and pale in hospital beds and she could feel the world slipping away. She needed to do something, anything. She needed to save the people she loved. Her whole life was in this room, and she was unsure what she would do if she lost them.
“Ms. Lane,” Dr. Rodriquez spoke as she entered the room and Lois jumped, not expecting the doctor to sneak up. “General, I have some interesting results I need to share. We should talk in the lab, there is something I need to show you.”
Lois nodded and then looked back at Clark and the boys one last time. Hopefully, this would lead to something.
The wound through the hallway and through a few doors with the words, “Restricted” printed on the signs, warning anyone that was not medical personal to keep out.
Dr. Rodriquez pointed to an image on a screen as soon as they entered the lab. “These are Jonathan’s red blood cells.” Dr. Rodriquez explained. “See how they sort of look oddly shaped and dehydrated,” Dr. Rodriquez pulled up another image next two what was on the screen. “These are Morgan Edge’s red blood cells. We were able to get a sample under the red sun lights. You can see how normal they look. They look just like we would expect human red blood cells to look. This was an image we captured when we first took the sample. We also exposed the sample to Kryptonite.” Dr. Rodriquez flipped to another image. “You can see it looks a lot like Jonathan’s sample.”
“You think it’s Kryptonite, but they haven’t been exposed, and the boys were in DC and Clark has been home.” Lois explained.
Dr. Rodriquez nodded slowly, “That’s where things get even stranger. You see, I pulled Edge’s original sample from storage and took a ook and, it looks like this.” Dr. Rodriquez flipped to another image.
“It looks like the Kryptonite Image,” Lois said slowly.
“Exactly, somehow, Edge’s sample, which has been in secure lock up, nowhere near Kryptonite, is now showing signs of Kryptonite exposure.” Dr. Rodriquez explained.
“It’s in the environment,” Sam speculated.
“How about Edge, is he sick?” Lois asked, looking at the Doctor.
Dr. Rodriquez shook her head, “I’m not sure.”
Sam reached into his pocket and quickly punched a few buttons before bringing the phone up to his ear. “Is he responsive?” Sam asked after a few formalities. “Ok, thanks.” Sam ended the call.
“So?” Lois asked as her dad shrugged.
“He’s fine, they said he has been normal, he’s been eating, sleeping, reading, the usual.” Sam explained.
“But he’s also in a lead lined room under the red sun lights,” Dr. Rodriquez added.
“The lead could be helping,” Lois speculated. “This started with a solar storm, what if it’s related, what if this is coming from the sun?”
“How would he even figure it out?” Sam asked.
“We should get Clark and the boys into something lined with Lead and I can call John Henry, if anyone could figure this out, it would be John.” Lois said, her phone out, already making another call.
Sam nodded, already in action, “We have the room we were keeping Edge in before we moved him to a black site, we lined that with lead to keep him secure.”
“Hey Lois, Natalie called about the boys, is everything okay?” John asked as soon as he answered the phone.
“No, but I think you can help.” Lois said and then explained the situation.
***
It had not taken John long at all to confirm Lois’s suspicions about the Kryptonite in the atmosphere and its relation to the Solar storm. Even so, nothing about it made sense. It was not in some sort of temporal state, but rather just excess radiation, it was as if the rays of the sun themselves had been marred by Kryptonite.
John suited up, and progressed through the atmosphere, the sensors on his suit tee-ed up to look for extraneous Kryptonite. In another life, this sort of thing would have the answer to his prayers, the thing that would have saved his world, his family. Now, it had become the opposite. Clark had become a sort of brother in arms, they had both lost count of the amount of time they had saved each other’s lives. The boys had had become his pseudo nephews over the year, and as much as much as John found himself over at the farmhouse for dinner, he found himself feeding the boys just as much. And Lois, well, Lois was still Lois even if he she was not his Lois. To summarize, they were family.
He had made through the first few layers, the residual radiation of the Kryptonite still present but he still could not locate the source. He flew higher and higher, up past the stratosphere, through the mesosphere and finally to the thermosphere. He stopped at the thermosphere, he had been up this high before, mostly in the days of fighting Kal-El. This time, things looked different. There was a green hue that surrounded the earth that had never been there before.
John extended the sensors on the suit, the world was a big place, and flying around, looking for the source was not an option. Neither him nor his suit had the energy necessary for that sort of exploration, but his suit did have the necessary sensors to detect the source of radiation.
Then he locked onto something, he zoomed over the earth to detect the odd source of radiation. He had seen a lot of weird things in his days, heck, he was one of those weird things by most counts, but he was not expecting this…
***
Lois watched as uniformed service members moved her family from their hospital room to a lead lined room in another part of the DoD facility. The room had previously served as Edge’s temporary prison after he had been captured both times.
Now, it was her family’s best chance at survival as the sun that had given them nourishment before only seemed to poison them.
Lois watched as Dr. Rodriquez examined the machines providing output and placed her stethoscope to Clark’s chest, then Jordan’s and finally Jonathan’s.
“Their breathing’s clearing,” she said, as she took out a package of clean needles and tried to insert one into Jonathan’s arm to take more blood, only for the needle to bend against Jonathan’s impenetrable skin.
Clark was the first to come to, taking of the oxygen mask as he rubbed his eyes and sat up in the bed. He looked around and at Lois before saying, “I never thought I’d be in this room again, especially not like this.”
“It’s the lead,” Lois responded as she walked over to his bed and placed a hand on his arm. “It’s blocking out the Kryptonite.”
“Kryptonite,” Clark said as he swung his feet over the bed and then got out of bed, walking over to where Jordan was starting to stir. Lois walked over and wrapped an arm around Clark’s waist.
“Yeah, John Henry’s investigating. The radiation from the Kryptonite seems to be mixing with the sun,” Lois explained slowly. Clark still felt warm, and he was moving more cautiously around the room than normal. He was not all the way better, even if he was up and moving around.
“What, Kryptonite, the sun, I should go help.” Clark said, straightening a little and looking towards the door.
“Babe, you need to stay here, this is the only thing protecting you from the Kryptonite,” Lois said, gently pulling him back. “John Henry’s got it.”
“Mom, dad,” Jordan spoke, his voice sounded raspy, and he pushed up on his bed. “What happened, how’d we get here, where are we?” Jordan said, panic rising in his voice.
“Hey, sweetie, it’s okay. Just get some rest,” Lois soothed as she placed her free hand on Jordan’s shoulder.
Jordan laid back down and let his eyes flutter close again, this time curling up in the ball he usually slept in, instead of the more ridged posture on his back. He looked more comfortable, more natural and Lois looked over as Jonathan also shifted into a more normal sleeping position without coming to fully.
Clark slumped a little against Lois, “I would say I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, but I have before and it’s usually the truck that comes out worse off, so maybe I should say I feel like a truck that has hit me.” Clark teased.
“Come on Superman, let’s get you back to bed,” Lois said, pulling him back towards the bed he had been assigned.
“Only if you keep me company,” Clark said as he sat on the side of the bed and pulled Lois down next to him.
“I’m not going anywhere as long as you three are stuck in here,” Lois replied as she reached down and took Clark’s hand.
“Thankyou,” Clark said suddenly as he gave Lois’s hand a gentle squeeze.
“For what?” Lois asked, a confused smile on her face.
“For taking care of me and the boys, for just being my incredible, beautiful, strong, amazing wife,” Clark said as he looked into Lois’s eyes.
“Clark, you’re being sappy again,” Lois said, but could not help but smile and beam, at his words
“I am just telling the truth is all,” Clark responded as Lois leaned against his shoulder.
“I love you,” Lois responded.
“I love you too,” Clark murmured as he buried his head into Lois’s hair and kissed her head.
***
John Henry approached a green, humanoid looking form floating high above the earth’s atmosphere. It was hard to make out if it was actually a temporal form or if it was more abstract.
He made his way closer to the green form and reached out his metal gloved hand and let his finger meet the green form.
As John Henry’s glove connected, it suddenly felt like his brain was sucked through a plastic straw. No longer was he in space, or even still dressed in Steel suit. He was simply wearing his normal jeans and he was standing in something that did not feel like anywhere. He was surrounded in green and there was no up or down. Just simply being.
“Hello?” John Henry called out, only for his voice to echo as if in a vast expanse of nothing. “Where am I?”
John spun around, floating, not floating, there was both a floor and ceiling, and limit and no limit. Things were both infinite and finite. He was both somewhere and nowhere, floating in space and on earth.
“John Henry Irons,” A very strange voice boomed through the anti-space.
“Yes,” John replied, sure but cautious. He needed to get back to his daughter. He needed to help Lois and Clark and their kids. As many moments that he had been in, this one somehow felt the most threatening. He had no idea what to expect. “Who are you, or what are you?”
“I am a traveler of this universe. I seek to learn everything about the worlds, to store their histories so that I may keep a record even after the world has gone,” The disembodied voice spoke.
“You seek to destroy our world?” John Henry questioned, he had watched the destruction of his own earth, and had thwarted more than a few attempts on this planet.
“No, not at all. Many of the worlds I have visited still exist and prosper. I simply visit, as a historian and anthropologist. I observe, almost always unnoticed before leaving.” The voice in the void spoke again.
“And they worlds that no longer exist, what happened to them?” John Henry questioned, still working through if this thing was a threat to this earth.
“All sorts of things mostly, though their destruction is almost always caused by beings of that planet. It will never cease to amaze me how many planets are destroyed by the hubris of their own inhabitants.” The being continued on.
“You have witnessed the destruction of a planet before?” John asked, cautiously, probing if this celestial being was actually as innocent as it claimed.
“Only once,” The being admitted, its lofty voice taking on an air of sadness. “I had not intended to; it was such a beautiful planet. I watched from high above as their people celebrated what they created even though something more sinister was brewing.”
Suddenly, the green void was surrounded by a place that seemed to completely foreign, except for one, famous symbol. A “S” contained in a familiar uneven pentagram.
“Krypton?’ John Henry question as he watched the planet implode back into the green void.
“Yes,” The voice agreed, surprised that John had realized where they were. “You know of it?”
John nodded, “My friend is from Krypton. He escaped as a child, when the planet was destroyed.”
“I was changed forever that day, in a way I have never understood,” The voice provided.
“It is the Kryptonite, the last remains of Krypton, it makes my friends sick.” John explained.
“I did not realize,” The traveler said as the void shifted again.
This time, John was standing in the same lead lined room where they had temporarily kept Morgan Edge after his initial capture. It was different though, someone had crammed in hospital beds, and the control panels stood empty. Whatever Kryptonite enforced cell that was there before had been removed.
Jordan and Jonathan were sleeping peaceful. John’s heart constricted as he unintentionally ease dropped on what was meant to be a private and tender moment. Lois and Clark were both laying the remaining bed. It was technically too small for two people, so Lois was sort of draped over Clark.
“The boys missed their spring trip,” Lois whispered to Clark.
“We could make it up to them this summer, maybe go to Greece if we are on the theme of democracy,” Clark responded as his hand gently traced Lois’s. John could not help but feel his heart constrict at the soft moment. He was unsure and unwilling to ever fully let the loss of his wife go, but most days, the grief was manageable. Watching her doppelganger so settled, so attached to someone else still hurt given he was not expecting it or prepared.
“Those friends, they are hurting because of the Kryptonite,” John said, hoping this would be enough to stop what he was witnessing.
It was, the void turned to green and the traveler spoke again. “I was unaware. I have always done my observations by letting the light from each worlds’ star pass through my form and then reflect back on me. I have never caused a planet or its people harm before. That was not my intent.”
“Will you leave, so that they can get better?” John asked, hopeful this was the end.
“I will John Henry, I will leave so that your friends will get better.” The traveler said and suddenly the green void was gone, and John was back in the upper parts of the atmosphere, in his Steel suit, floating. The green hue that had surrounded his planet was gone and everything was back to how it was supposed to be.
*** One Week Later ***
“Man, I cannot believe we missed Coach Gaines at Karaoke,” Jonathan said from where he was sitting on the living room sofa in the farmhouse as Natalie recounted the remaining parts of the DC trip.
“Yeah, but you two getting trucked out by an ambulance and then completely disappearing will still be the weirdest thing on the trip.” Natalie explained as she nodded over to Jordan who was sitting next to Jonathan.
“At least grandpa was able to cover with some long story about how he accidentally exposed us to some weird experimental substance from the DoD,” Jordan added.
“Dinner’s ready,” Lois said as she stepped into the living room.
The three teens got up headed into the kitchen where Clark was taking a casserole dish out of the oven and John was putting the finishing touches on a salad. Lois reached under the counter and pulled out a bottle of wine and the two families took a seat around the dinning room table. Healthy, Happy, and here.