Chapter Text
“You’re sure you’ll be all right while I’m gone?” Clark followed Guy as he tried to walk away. It wasn’t the first time he’d asked, and despite already running late, he’d zipped down to the Hall of Justice one last time before heading to the airport.
“Kent, don’t flatter yourself,” Guy said. “I think we can manage a week without you.”
Kendra walked past with one of those fancy Greek yogurts she loved. “C’mon, Clark,” she said through a spoonful. “Have you never gone outta town before?”
“Not with so many people. We’re gonna be close quarters the whole time. It’s not gonna be easy to sneak away and fly back if something happens.”
“Dude,” Kendra said. “It’ll be fine. Go enjoy your nerd convention.”
“Jounralism conference." Clark bit his lip. “Hey, where’s Rex? Shouldn’t he be here?”
“Taking Joey to their sitter,” said Kendra. “He’ll be in soon.”
Clark nodded far more aggressively than he’d intended, not exactly nailing the nonchalance he was going for. “Okay. All right. You’re right—I’m just being anxious.
Guy clapped him on the back. “Atta boy. Now get outta here. Some of us have shit to do.”
Clark sighed. “Thanks, I’ll see y’all around.” He shouldered his bag and headed out. “Bye, Terrific!” he called back.
Mr. Terrific had been laser focused on his computer the entire time Clark had been there, but he did get a mumbled bye in response. He pushed through the doors and took off for the Metropolis airport.
To no one’s surprise, Clark was the last to get there. The others had taken over several benches by the vending machines in the departure hall.
Lois was pacing in front of Mr. White, explaining her latest leads in her Luthorcorp story. She’d given Clark the same spiel last night. She’d gotten reports of the company digging around in small towns across North America since Luthor’s arrest but hadn’t gotten much in the way of solid proof yet. Nevertheless, Clark thought it had promise.
Cat was next to them, on the phone with what sounded like her parents, who were watching her son while she was away.
And then there was Jimmy, who’d had the unfortunate luck of sitting between Steve and Ron as a futile buffer for their bickering.
“Dude, you sound insane right now,” Steve all but yelled. “Who in their right mind wants a hot PB&J?”
Ron inhaled, trying to keep his head. “You’ve never been more wrong in your life. You just toast the bread so it’s a bit crispy and not flopping all over the place!”
“What kind of soggy-ass bread are you buying that that’s a concern?”
“Clark!” Jimmy announced loudly, interrupting them. “You’re here.”
“Well, it’s about damn time, Kent!” Mr. White got to his feet. “We’re running late, you took so long. Plane leaves in three hours.”
Clark pushed his glasses back up his nose. “Sorry, sir. I got stuck in some traffic.
He caught Lois snickering in the corner of his eye. It was one of his weaker excuses, he had to admit. Mr. White grumbled but accepted the answer. “All right everyone. Let’s get going.”
“I gotta call you back, mom,” Cat was saying. “We’re getting in line. Love you too, bye.” She hung up and struggled to pick up her multiple bags and at the same time get her phone back into her pocket.
“Here, Cat,” Clark said. “I can get one of those for you.”
“Oh, thank you Clark. I don’t know how people fit everything in one bag.” she shifted so he’d be able to take her duffle bag off her shoulder.
Clark didn’t have as good a sense of how much a normal human could easily lift as he might have liked. He feigned a stumble upon taking the bag that almost got the better of him, all of which proved entirely unnecessary because everyone aside from Lois had started towards the TSA line and was paying him no mind.
“So, where were you?” Lois said as the two of them walked behind the rest of the group. “Any trouble?”
“No, just wanted to check in with the Justice Gang.”
Lois knocked her shoulder against Clark’s. “Again? You know they can handle it, and I know you trust them.”
Clark didn’t say anything.
“C’mon,” Lois pressed. “You’ve been stressing about this trip for weeks. What’s this about?”
Clark mumbled something Lois couldn’t make out. She poked him. “Not all of us have super hearing, genius,” she mumbled.
“I’m scared of planes, okay?”
They reached the end of the first line, and Lois nearly walked straight into Jimmy.
“You’re afraid of flying? You? Flying? Afraid? You?”
Jimmy turned around. “Clark’s scared of flying? That tracks—sorry, dude.”
Clark rolled his eyes. “It’s not the flying part— obviously.” He directed this last word rather pointedly towards Lois. “It’s the being trapped in a metal tube that I can’t leave and don’t have any control over part.”
“Aw, don’t worry, man.” Jimmy put an arm around Clark’s shoulders. He had to get on his tip toes to do so, but Clark pretended not to notice. “I’ll be right next to you the whole time. We can even hold hands if you want.”
Jimmy said it as if he were joking, but Clark knew he’d absolutely follow through on the offer if asked.
Lois, meanwhile, had snuck her hand around Clark’s elbow. Shielded by Cat’s bag on his arm and the fact that they were forcibly crammed together in line anyway, no one caught on, but he couldn’t help smiling at her. He never could.
Two hours and multiple agonizingly long lines later, they’d made it to the correct gate and dumped their bags at a cluster of chairs.
“I’m telling you, dude, I could totally finish one of those,” Steve said to Ron, referring to the giant pretzels he’d seen people eating at the airport bar they’d just passed.
“Steve, don’t,” Ron said. “No one wants to deal with you puking your guts out on the plane because you stuffed your face with dough and beer cheese.”
“There will be no puking because I have the stomach of an ox!” Steve marched off towards the bar.
Ron sighed and turned to Clark. “I’m gonna go get him a ginger ale. Keep an eye on our stuff?”
“No problem.”
Clark sat by their bags. Across the aisle, Mr. White was checking the schedule he’d laid out in his traveler’s notebook, and Lois was leaning over Jimmy’s shoulder while he checked the spelling in her latest article. (It sounded like she’d only missed accommodate and consensus so far—not bad, Clark thought.)
The only one next to him was Cat, back on the phone with her parents.
“—and remember he only likes the tops of the broccoli, and it’s really not worth fighting him on that—yes, I know you can—Oh, you’re taking him to the park? Just remember to put on sun—oh, okay. Well, have a good time. Love you too, bye.” She hung up the phone with a huff.
“Everything okay?” Clark asked.
“Hm? Oh, yeah.” She shrugged. “Just, y’know, damn maternal nerves.”
“I get’cha. I mean, I can imagine. Anything I can do?”
“Not really. It’s just something I’m gonna have to power through.”
Clark settled more into his seat. “How is Adam? He’s starting kindergarten in the fall, right?”
“Yeah.” Cat smiled. “He’s good. Real excited for school, always bouncing off the walls, you know.”
Clark nodded. “I was the same way. Have you tried having him move hay bales or repair fences? That usually wore me out.”
Cat laughed. “I haven’t, though I can’t imagine you could’ve been that much of a troublemaker.”
“I dunno,” Clark said, adjusting his glasses. “You might be surprised.”
Feedback sounded over the loudspeakers. “Attention. The following flights are being delayed due to dangerous weather conditions…” Several flights were listed, luckily none of them theirs.
“I hope ours doesn’t get delayed too,” Cat said.
“I don’t think it will,” said Clark, though really he had the same anxiety. “Those destinations are all further north. We should be in the clear.”
Cat nodded, but she started absently bouncing her leg.
“Do you want to play checkers?” Clark asked her.
“Huh?”
“Checkers. I brought a travel set.” He pulled it out of his bag. “It’s magnetic and everything, so you don’t lose the pieces.”
Cat let out an amused but not unkind scoff. “Clark, you are one odd cookie. Why do you have that?”
“Because we’re traveling?” It seemed like an odd question. “When else would it be for?”
“Y’know what?” Cat said, putting her phone away. “Sure, let’s do it.”
Cat turned out to be almost as competitive as Lois when it came to board games. They played three full games, and then it came time to get on the plane.
Clark, despite what he’d said to Lois and Jimmy, was at least familiar with airplanes, just—usually from the outside, and when they were crashing or otherwise in crisis.
He helped Lois cram her bag into the overhead, and by the time they managed that, the only seats left were a row apart and across the aisle.
As a group they’d put so much work into forcibly separating Ron and Steve to opposite window seats that Lois and Clark had neglected to subtly arrange their own seats to be next to each other. Clark could feel himself pouting when Lois gave him a what are ya gonna do shrug.
At least he was next to Jimmy. Clark looked over at him, but he’d already made himself comfortable, headphones and all.
Above them, the loudspeakers came on throughout the plane. “Welcome. We hope you will enjoy your flight from Metropolis to San Diego. Please direct your attention to the members of the cabin crew for our safety demonstration.”
Clark nudged him. “Jimmy, take those out, they’re about to do the safety demonstration.”
Jimmy pulled out one earbud. “I know you’re new to this, but I’ve been on dozens of flights. I could recite that safety demonstration in my sleep. I’ll be fine.”
“Sure, but—” Clark gestured aimlessly. “Don’t you think they’d feel bad if no one was paying attention?”
“Clark, buddy, I truly don’t think they could care less.”
“To fasten your seatbelt, insert the metal end into the buckle and pull the strap to tighten...”
Clark fumbled to follow the directions. He wondered if he should be taking notes. “Still, it seems rude.”
“Well, maybe you can just pay double attention.”
“If you have a handheld device, please switch it to airplane mode now…”
“Jimmy—”
“Already done, Clark.”
“U.S. law prohibits smoking including e-cigarettes at any time. Tampering with, destroying, or disabling the smoke detectors in the lavatories may result in a fine...”
Clark frowned. “Do people do that?”
“Yeah, man.”
“But that’s so dangerous!”
Jimmy shrugged. “That’s why there’s a fine.”
“In the unlikely event of evacuation, leave all carry-ons behind and follow the lights quickly and safely to the nearest exit…”
Clark tried to follow where the flight attendants were pointing. He had to use a touch of superspeed just to keep up.
“Life vests are located under, next to, or between your seat…”
“Well, wait…which one is it?”
“Yours is under, Clark.” Jimmy said, still without opening his eyes.
“How do you know?”
“Because you’re not in a weird seat, like by an exit or the wing or something. Trust me, it’s under.”
Clark didn’t feel confident in that answer until he confirmed it himself with his X-ray vision.
“If you have any questions, please refer to the safety card or ask a member of the cabin crew as they do their final check. And as always, let us know if there’s anything we can do to make your journey more enjoyable.”
The cabin crew put the demonstration kits away, then began their final check, making sure the overhead compartments were properly latched and everyone had their seatbelts secure. Finally, they took their seats, and a moment later the plane began to move.
Suddenly, Clark didn’t seem able to turn off his heightened senses. He could hear every word of mindless chatter around him, the creaking of the wheels below, and every whir and groan of the engine as they picked up speed down the runway.
He should be used to the feeling of acceleration, and he was, when his own body was the thing doing the accelerating, but this was different. He was being tugged along, pressed back into his seat. No, this didn’t feel like flying at all, even when the plane began to lift off. This felt like something else entirely.
Clark blanched. He had to restrain himself from completely snapping the armrests off the seat with his grip.
He wished that he had Lois next to him, that he could hold her hand. It was so easy to be gentle with her.
As if summoned, he felt a soft weight against his arm. He glanced over without turning his head.
Jimmy had placed his hand over Clark’s without opening his eyes. He seemed just as absorbed in his music as before, like nothing had happened.
Clark flipped his hand to be palm up and gripped Jimmy’s. He closed his eyes, making himself remember to breathe.