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Chapter Text

The wind rippled through his cape as he surveyed the buildings and streets below him for criminal activity. Clouds hung scattered among the midnight sky. His ears picked up on a woman calling out in distress. ”Help! Help, someone. Please help me.”

”He’s got my car.”

A car swerved out in front of the Daily Planet, tires screeching. Almost hitting a taxi cab. “ Hey, watch it!” 

Clark swooped down, hands on his hips, staring dead ahead at the car speeding towards him. The man in the car slammed on the breaks, his eyes widening. He gasped. Before he could turn the car back around to go the other way, Clark grabbed the car’s front bumper. Sending the wheels kicking up dust and screeching until the driver let up on the gas pedal. The man dashed out of the car, making a run for it. Clark flew to block his path.

He fumbled for a gun tucked underneath his jacket. With each bullet he fired, Clark caught them with lightning speed and accuracy. The man glanced down at his gun in disbelief. Just for the fun of it. He turned his palms up.

Letting the crushed bullets fall to the ground. The man held up his hand in surrender. “Man, don’t nothing hurt you?” He deadpanned. 

“Not so far.” Clark crossed his arms. Thunder roared behind him in the distance.

“Oh, look out, Jimmy.” A man warned Jimmy as he scampered down the stairwell to his desk.

“Start being on time, Jimmy,” Cat complained. “You’ll ruin your reputation.”

”Morning Cat. What do you think?” He motioned to the new watch on his wrist.

“Hmm-mm, I prefer leather.”

Jimmy adjusted the dials on his watch. ”I wasn’t talking about fashion.”

”Neither was I.” Cat flashed her eyes suggestively.

“It’s a Star Labs prototype. The Air Force needs help finding their lost pilots but I was thinking we could use it to get in touch with Superman.”

Cat’s eyes sparked with interest. “May I have, uh, have a look at that?”

Clark pitched a story to Perry that he got wind of from his father. An old friend of his was being thrown off his land by the feds because of pesticides. “Sounds like a story to me.” 

“Then let Clark go,” Lois argued. “I’ll stay and watch for Superman.”

“Oh, Lois, please, just keep an open mind about this. I’m seeing a Plant special investigation.” Perry made a gesture with his hands. “‘The Poisoning of America.”

“Really? I’m seeing guys dressed in overalls discussing hog futures.”

“Private rights versus the public good.” Perry offered. As a blaring sound assaulted his ears. He covered his ears with his hand. 

“We’ve got that story right here in Metropolis.” She retorted. 

Clark squinted, trying to pin point where the noise was coming from. “Urban versus rural. It’s the same story, same problem. Except sometimes it’s easier to understand in a smaller setting. A mico cost about..”

Perry paused to look at Clark with concern on his face. “Kent, are you okay?”

“Sure. Could you excuse me for one second?” He took off in the direction of the noise.

”Oh, I couldn’t hear anything.” Cat held the watch up to her ear.

Jimmy held his hand out for her to hand it back. ”—You’re not supposed to. It’s hypersonic.” 

“Jimmy, the man’s a superhero, not a dog.”

He grabbed it before Cat could hand it to Jimmy. “What is this thing?”

“It’s a signal watch. Superman has super hearing, right? We need him, we call.”

Clark did a double take. ”Maybe you should only use that in a real emergency, Jimmy.”

“Smooth, CK, will do.” Clark left, leaving him to tinker with his new watch. 

Perry walked over to Jimmy’s desk. “How was your trip to Star Labs?”

”Great. You want to see the new watch I got? I was just showing it off to Cat and Clark.”

”Did Clark seem alright to you? He looked like he was having some kind of problem with his ears.”

Furrowing his brows, Jimmy shook his head. Clark hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort. Only asking about the watch—

Meant to reach Superman.

He smiled enthusiastically. “Do you know where Clark went?”

“I sent him and Lois to report on a story in Smallvile. Why?”

”No, reason.” He had so many questions.

Chapter Text

The drive to Smallvile went relatively smoothly. They pulled up to Mr. Irig's property to find it was closed off to the public and press. The E.P.A. field liaison assured them. It was a simple ecological risk assessment, and Mr. Irig had been relocated. “He didn’t say where he went.” The field liaison explained.

”I’m sure you’ll that information somewhere,” Lois argued. “We’ll check back.”

Driving to a festival down town. Clark and Lois drifted through the crowd of people buying food and playing carnival games. In hopes of finding out where Mr. Irig had been relocated. Before they could ask anyone where Mr. Irig went, his mom called him over from where his father was grilling corn and invited them to spend the night at their place. She lent his old bedroom to Lois, showing her the way.

His father arranged some blankets for him to sleep on the couch. ”I, uh, kind of expected you to come alone.”

Titling his head in his direction, he asked. “Why, what’s the problem, dad?” 

”They’re not looking for pesticides up the road, Clark.” He replied in a measured voice. Clark followed him out to the shed, closing the door behind him to prevent the cold air from coming in. “Wayne Irig found a strange rock on his property last week. He sent a sample of it to Wichita for analysis.”

“Then the feds showed up.” He motioned with his index finger as if to make a point, walking over to another section of the basement. He stored some stuff on a shelf.

“That doesn’t make any sense, dad.” Clark paused, ruminating on what he had said. “I mean, why go all this trouble for a rock?”

“Because the preliminary reports said it’s some kind of meteorite.” His dad hauled a box off the shelf. “Wayne, Wayne thought it might be worth money. He gave it to me for safekeeping. Those federal taxes were giving him such a hard time.”  

Sitting the box on a nearby table, he popped off the lid. “I figure…” The green crystal illuminated the inside of the box with a low hum. Making his ears bleed. “Since we found it a few miles from where we found you, it was probably related.”

“Dad, dad, I’m…” He groaned, his body aching as his strength started to slip away. “I’m feeling kind of strange.”

”My god. You think it could be this?” Clark’s legs collapse from underneath him as he tumbled into a pile of feed bags.

“Clark, what is happening? What’s wrong, son?” He wished he knew. It was like something was draining him. His vision gradually faded away. “Clark?”

”Martha!”

Johnathan wrapped his arm around him in relief when he felt a pulse. ”Oh, my boy.”

Leaning against his father’s shoulder, they straggled into the dining room. Away from the green crystal, his legs regain some of their strength. His mom helped him sit and handed him a thermometer. Clark stared at it uncertainty. He never had a fever.

The thermometer’s glass stem broke.

Lois came walking awkwardly in her pajamas. He whispered, glancing between his parents. “She can’t know anything about this.” 

“I, uh, I-I thought that I heard the fax.” She turned the corner to go check it. “Excuse me.”

When Clark tried lifting a pitcher to pour a glass of water, the pitcher wouldn’t budge. “I’ve lifted a rocket into space before.” He took a deep breath. Staring at the glass incredulously. “Now, I can’t even lift this.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll bounce right back.” His mom assured him. Pouring the pitcher of water into the glass.

”I don’t understand.” Clark’s father furrowed his brows. “How can a rock that probably came from the same planet as Clark, make him sick?”

“Because it’s poison. That’s all we need to know.” She retorted, patting him on the arm. “And we’re not going to let near you again.” 

Clark took a sip of water.

“Look at this.” Lois bought a piece of paper to them. “A working list of all the clean up sites from the Environmental Protection Agency. And guess what? Smallvile is not on it.”

When he didn’t respond immediately. She picked up that something was off. Luckily, they were able to pass it off as allergies. Once she headed back to bed, they sighed in relief. 

Clark retreated to get comfortable on the couch for some rest before returning to Mr. Irig’s property tomorrow. Parking the car outside of Mr. Ing’s property. Lois brought the documents from the fax machine to match the paperwork to the ones they had. They matched. But while still receiving no word on Mr. Ing's location, it didn't sit right with them.

They got lunch at the festival. Sitting down across from her at a panic table, Lois handed him a phone with Mr. Ing on the line. “He sounds weird.” She whispered.

“Hello, Wayne, uh, can I have a number I can call where I can call you back?”

”Uh, I-I don’t see one here. I, uh, I-I’m at a truck stop.”

“Uh, well, what did the E.P.A guys tell you about the work they’re doing on your property?” His fathers warning echoed in his head. What did they want with the meteorite he found? 

“Just that they needed to do some digging.”

“Wayne, is everything okay?” Clark wasn’t sure if it was him just or not. But, it almost sounded like he was being held at gunpoint.

”Yeah, there’s-there’s no problem.”

“Uh, looks like somebody else needs to use the phone. Goodbye, Clark.”

“But wait, Wayne, I…”

He hang up. “Salt Lake City?” Clark asked, squinting at Lois.”

”That’s where he said he was calling from. He could’ve been anywhere.” She shrugged. “Let’s go mingle and see what we can see.”

Haven’t gotten an answer from the people at the festival. Lois joined at him at a ring the bell game. Changed from her work cloths into a dress. They danced on the dance floor for a while before going home to report to Perry.

Jimmy busts into Perry’s office. The sounds of birds chipping play in the background. Caught off guard, he glances around cautiously. “Chief?” He bends down, hands on his thighs.

Perry sat cross-legged, barefoot, on the floor. “The rain forest, Jimmy. The sounds of nature prompt harmony in all living things. There are no animals with high blood pressure.”

“Still stressing, huh?”

“Stressing. I’m not stressing.” Perry glares at him pointedly. “What do you want?” 

“Clark is on the phone.” Jimmy grabs the phone off his desk to hand it to him.

“What? Give me that.” Ripping it out of his hand, Perry answered it. ”Kent, what have you got for me?”

He went back and forth between Lois and Clark for a minute before hanging up. “Jimmy, I gotta get a photographer down there right away.”

“Ready, Chief.”

”—Oh!” Using the front of his desk, Perry struggled to push himself off the floor. “Where’s Johnson?”

Jimmy ran to help him pull him up by his armpits. “Uh, Utah.”

“I got, I got it.” He swatted him away, pushing himself to his feet. “Sevens?”

”Winnipeg, sir.”

”Oh, photographers! Just when you need one, you can’t find one.”

”Maybe there’s a new guy looking for an opportunity.” Lois had him pulled everything up on Georgie Thompson a few weeks ago.  The man had enough context to clean up. Jason Trask’s mess of the false raid at the daily plant in search for Superman. It wouldn't be impossible for him to pull something similar. 

“Oh, no, no, Jimmy. I can’t take the chance.”

”Somebody had to take a chance on you once,” Jimmy pleaded. He had to get there in time to warn Clark.

”Alright, alright, you go, but don’t blow it.”

“Thanks, Chief.”

”You’re welcome.”

Chapter Text

Lois dragged him out to the woods of Mr. Irig's property. The supposed plan was to wait and see what they were really up to. Bickering back and forth with her about it. Four guys in camouflage took them by surprise, popped out from behind the bushes surrounding them, and pointed guns at them. Out of habit, he glanced around for an exit to change into his Superman suit.

He frowned.

Right. No powers

The men didn’t take their eyes off them as they were led to their camp. Leaving Clark at a loss for how he was going to get out of this one. Out of one of the tents, Trask came out and took in their familiar appearance with a grin on his face. He clenched his jaw. Last time he questioned him and Lois for information on Superman at the Daily Planet. Trask put Lois’s life on the line just to get the answers he wanted. If he hurt Wayne Irig, powers or not, he’ll kill him.

Trask motioned with his hand for his men to escort Lois somewhere else. A dismissive look in his eyes as she struggled to free herself from the guard’s hold.

“Lois!”

He struggled against Trask’s guard’s hold on him. A surge of helplessness rippled through his skin. “Relax, Kent.”

The guard yanked on his shirt’s collar to keep him from attacking Trask. “My business is my you.”

Brought inside a tent Clark sat down at a desk, listening as Trask proposed a deal. It soon became clear that it was nothing more than an interrogation-style guessing game of conspiratorial theories.

“There’s another possibility…” Trask prowled around the desk to stare directly at him. “Perhaps this alien has taken over your mind.”

“Perhaps he has infused you with his power.” He pointed his finger at his forehead.

“No one has infused me with power,” Clark added patiently, “and nobody has taken over my mind.” Any more ludicrous questions, and he felt he might go insane. The E.P.A. field liaison came in through an opening in the tent.

“We’ve got a location on Irig. He’s heading down the access road to the home of a Jonathan Kent.”

“Clark, why didn’t you tell me this was a family affair?” Trask scolded him childishly. His mouth gaped open, his heart in his throat.

Great. Now he was going to drag his parents into this.

Sent by Perry to collect photos for the daily plant. Jimmy laid low on the ground behind, some bushes. A stand-up camera pointed through the leaves. At the sound of commotion, he peered through it to observe Clark being put in a camouflage tuck. Shit. 

One of the men surrendering him was Task, the UFO-obsessed jerk. This couldn’t be good. If Clark used his powers in front of him, he wouldn’t spend another day avoiding being experimented on. He glanced around the surrounding area. Where was Lois? She had to be around here somewhere.

Jimmy took a few photos to take back for work. Before packing up his stuff and snooping to find a guard checking over some equipment. A few feet from it he heard muffled voices in a tent. One of them sounded like Lois. He crouched, moving over towards it slowly to avoid detection. 

“Look, he’s got your friend’s parents…he is going to make it look like a fire burn the place down.” Jimmy froze as he lifted the tent flap up. Both women stared at him. Recovering from her shook, Lois let out a sigh in relief.

“Jimmy! What are you doing here?”

“I begged Perry into letting me take photos to put in the article. A few minutes ago, I spotted Trask putting Clark into a truck.” His heart raced at implication. There was a pretty big chance Trask was adding him to burn with his parents.

“What does Trask want with Clark?” Lois asked, making it sound like both insult and a concerned at the same time.

“Trask thinks he knows how to find Superman.” Well, he technically wasn’t wrong. Jimmy reflected on the irony of the situation. The E.P.A. field liaison paused before elaborating.

“He found some rock here he thinks can kill him.” Forcing himself to take a deep breath. He hoped Trask hadn’t bought the rock in the truck they took.

Lois furrowed her brows. “We’ve to find a way to warn him. Do you’ve any ideas?”

Jimmy glanced down at his watch and bit his lip. The last time he turned the sonic sound on, it hurt Clark’s ears. But he had no way to tell Lois that. Without revealing his secret. “Superman is probably busy, um, saving people. Somewhere, likely, far far away from here.”