Chapter Text
Seventeen years old... Clair thought. She leaned against Jim, his trollish skin warm. They were out, in the woods, the moon rising while the hills still retained the heat of the day.
"It's not your fault," she said. "Merlin..."
"Didn't care," Jim growled. "He just wanted Morganna gone."
"If you hadn't taken the potion, you would be dead," Claire said. She put a hand on him. "Not everyone has kids. We'll deal."
"I--" Jim fell silent.
Claire didn't say anything. Because older people might think teenaged stupidity, and she hadn't thought of a child now, because yeah, 17 was way too young, but one day? Claire wanted her own child, born of her and Jim. A little crib, a room, watching them grow and...
Claire bit her lip. Jim didn't need to have her start crying, especially after... Merlin.
Why should you worry about a child? You have other duties. With that, he'd dismissed their dreams, telling them that there was no hope of a child. He'd even casually pointed out that they didn't need to worry about any... accidents now.
Behind Claire, flickers of witch-fire started to rise. She fought them down.
"We'll... I mean, we have a long time and--" And I wish there had been some other way. I wish... Is it too greedy to wish for this thing for us? Settling the trolls, fighting Morganna, leaving home... We didn't even get to march for Graduation...
And that hurt worse than it should have. Worse than Claire thought it would when she proudly left to help the trolls on their journey. it--
And then a star blazed in the sky above them, roaring as it headed for the ground. Moments later, there was a flash and thunder.
"Was that an airplane?" Jim asked. Soon, the two were moving, Jim holding Claire in a bridal carry so she didn't have to use her energy just to get there.
And over a little hill, they paused. There was a crater, and in it... A ship.
"Akkridion?" Jim asked. "No...they use force fields..."
"Jim... There's someone alive down there!" With that, ignoring the heat, Jim charged into the burning brush as Claire banished it with her sorcery. There was a little...
Jim stopped dead, staring down.
"What--" Claire stared at what Jim saw, a crystal... resting place, and in it, a sleeping baby. "Who would put a baby in a rocket ship?"
"I don't know--we have to get it out--" Jim reached forward, and the crystal shield just retracted. Then, there was a flare, and a man and a woman, wearing black, gold, and white clothing, looked at them, and started saying... gibberish.
Except for one thing. "They keep pointing at the baby," Claire said, reaching forward and picking up the sleeping baby. "I think that's his name. Kal El."
"What do we do?" Jim asked. "Should we..."
"Turn him over to the authorities?" Claire shook her head. "like Colonel Kubritz? I know Area 49 is gone, but do you think it's the only one? He's just a baby and..."
"Claire?" Jim paused. "Even if Merlin had been able... we were thinking about a kid, but not now. We're seventeen."
"So?" Claire asked. "We were sixteen when we saved the world, and sure, this can be harder... But he came here, to us. And magic... maybe it was fate."
"But the trolls," Jim shook his head. "They're used to people a lot tougher. New Troll Market isn't... safe."
"You're right. We'll buy a house," Claire said. "It's gonna be hard, but you can just say you have a driving job during the day and use a chameleon mask at night. A lot of my work doesn't need me to be out, and it's not like we've seen a lot of monsters lately. I can run a web business, and it's not like we don't have..." She shook her head. "No, if we just show up and never seem to need money, people will get suspicious. We can fluff an inheritance at the beginning, but after that, I'll need to make enough money to... okay, we can do this. A Mageweb has a thing for contract work..."
"And if I'm gone for the day, we'll just say I work as a trucker, like you said... well something and we can ask our families for help converting the gold into dollars," Jim said. He held out his hand, and the sleepy baby giggled and patted it. "He's not afraid."
"Who would be? Everyone knows you, Jim," Claire said.
Jim shook his head. "Well then..."
With a single move, the two turned to face the frozen holograms. "I don't know why you sent your son, Kal El here, but we'll care for him as our own," Claire said.
"We swear it," Jim added. The holograms flickered, then died.
"We're gonna have to have Mom come out, " Jim said. "He might have special dietary needs."
"Well," Claire sniffed, "His digestive system works. We need diapers."
"I'll have Blinky get some help to move the ship into a cave."
"Right."
As the two headed away, their voices faded.
"Kal El might raise questions, so he's gonna need a name for here. What should we name him, for, you know, here. Stan?"
"Not Stan."
"Steve?"
"After Palchuk? ugh!"
"Okay.... How about Clark..."
"Why?"
"My third-grade teacher was named Clark. I liked him."
There was a pause.
"Clark it is, Jim, and since you named him, have you ever changed diapers before?"
"Uhh..."
"Good! Mama's gonna show Papa how to get you all clean, Clark!"
A giggle answered her.