An Invulnerable Heart | Man of Steel

IX. Not From Here

It was quiet and still as usual but when Julia pulled up on The Kents driveway, a dog started to bark from the door. She caught a brief glimpse of a small woman by the door, scolding the dog to be quiet. "Angel!" "Hello? Mrs. Kent?" Julia called while tying her long, brown hair into a ponytail. Mrs. Kent was a small woman with a few wrinkles and light gray tinted hair. Julia compared the woman with her mother, the two looked different despite age. If Mrs. Kent was older, her mother definitely out aged her.

Julia chuckled silently to herself with her small joke. "I'm Julia Kingsley from The Daily Planet. I'd like to talk to you about your son." As soon as the words came from Julia's mouth, Mrs. Kent became tense, her eyes stern and firm as she allowed Julia into their home. It was small, neat and it had a homey-feeling to it. She motioned Julia to take a seat on their couch. "Eleanor isn't with you, right?" Mrs. Kent asked. "No. She isn't she's back in New York." Julia smiled. "Now, my son -what are we going to discuss about?"

"Where is he now?" Julia questioned as her hands reached for the notes in her pocket. "Well, after Jonathan passed away, Clark left to, I guess, recompose himself. It was hard on him, very hard for Clark. Jonathan was the perfect father to him." Mrs. Kent said, before breaking into tears. Julia lightly patted Mrs. Kent's back as she continued to cry. "If you don't mind, I'd like to pay my respects to your husband." Julia stated. "He seemed like a great man." Mrs. Kent silently led Julia to Jonathan's small grave, allowing her to have some time by herself.

Overwhelmed by the feeling she felt before, Julia started to tear up. Behind her, Julia couldn't help but feel a presence of another human being. She turned around to find a man dressed in dirty clothing and a baseball cap. Julia suddenly knew who this was - the boy from Eleanor's childhood, her rescuer. The man who went under many names after his father died. Julia had figured out the pieces of his stumbling and reappearing puzzle. The man would leave after a good deed had been done, he would take a new job under a new name.

"I figured if I turned enough stones, you would eventually find Eleanor." Julia said with a small smirk. Julia approached the man in front her as she folded her arms across her chest. "So? Clark Kent? Or, Joe? Sam? Whatever name you go under. Where are you from? Let me tell your little story, starting from the bus accident in 7th grade." "What if? I don't want my story told? Miss Julia Kingsley?" She stopped for a second, confused on how the man knew her name.

"It's going to come out eventually. Someone is going to get a photograph or find out where you live." "I'll just disappear again." The man stated. "Well, disappearing and the charity work you do for people don't go together, I don't think you have much of an option, do you?" Julia said with a brow raised. "My father believed if the world found out who I really was, they would reject me..."

**

"I don't understand! I just want to do something useful in my life!" Clark cried, his hand clutching the seat head of the truck. "So? Farming? Farming isn't useful? Something our family has been in for years, Clark. It isn't useful?" Jonathan responded harshly. Behind in the passenger's seat, Martha shook her head to the boys' argument, stroking Angel as the boys continued." I didn't say that! It's your family but not mine. I don't even know why I'm listening to you. You're not my dad. You're just some guy who found me in the field!"

"Clark!" Martha exclaimed from the back. Clark didn't care. The words were true. He just wanted to do something useful in his life and his 'father' wasn't allowing him. So what if he was different? All he wanted to do was to help people. To farm for the rest of his life? That definitely wasn't an option for Clark. "That's alright, Martha. He's right - Clark has a point. We're not your real parents. But we've been doing the best we can, just making this up as we go.

Maybe, our best isn't good enough anymore." Jonathan stated silently. A muffled sound kept occurring in the background; Martha leaned in slowly, seeing the cars in front of them all parked and unmovable. "Look, Dad. -" "Hold up." Jonathan stopped his car behind all the others. He stepped out to observe the situation around them. The wind was starting to pick up, more quickly than usual. Clark stepped out of the car as well, the wind blowing against his curly hair. In front of them was large, ominous cloud that continued to swerve and grow.

Around them, people started to run frantically from the large cloud. His father approached him and whispered the words, "Head to the overcast." "Head to the overcast!" His father cried more loudly. Clark was suddenly turned and pushed by his father, colliding with his confused mother. The two ran and stopped to help people along the way. It was building up, the large cloud before them. The usual Kansas devil - a tornado. "Angel! She's in the car." Clark's mother cried. Clark pushed his mother toward the safety area before running to the truck.

His father greeted them with a child in his protective hands as Clark brushed by him. "I'll get her." "No. No." His father said to him, before handing the child into Clark's arms. "Bring your mom to the overcast." Clark started to worry about his father, as the storm above him became closer and closer to the cars in front of theirs. Following his father's orders, he slowly pushed his mother to the overcast, silently praying to himself for his father's safety.

As soon as he reached the overcast, he handed the child to her parents then immediately turned to watch his father. The storm was approaching quickly, picking up and tearing apart everything in its path. Clark's heart started to beat as his eyes focused on his father. All of sudden, a large high pitch sound struck them, as they watched a car fall on top of their truck. "Jonathan!" Martha cried as Clark held her back. From their view, Clark's father looked stuck, like his foot was caught in something in the car.

From behind, Angel ran toward them - safe and sound, as for Clark's father, he didn't look so lucky. He managed to make his way out of the car, wobbling a bit before holding onto the top. "Jonathan!" "Mom, stay back!"Clark's heart started to beat rapidly as he turned to the people behind them. He could save his father, but that would mean showing the people behind him what he can do. It didn't matter to Clark; he wanted to save his father. Clark began to walk in his father's direction, ready to fling himself.

Toward him and to immediately grab his father to safety. His father stopped Clark's approach by shaking his head. He didn't understand, he could save his father. His father with tearful eyes nodded slowly and raised his hand to stop Clark. It was almost like a farewell wave to his family. The large tornado reached his father and engulfed him into the storm. Behind Clark, his mother started to cry as people reached out to comfort the new widow. Knowing he could have done something to save his father, Clark let out a tearful cry. "Dad!"

**

"I let my father die because I trusted him. He was convinced that I had to wait. That the world was not ready. What do you think?" Julia looked at the man, the same comforting blue eyes Eleanor had described. He was different. He wasn't like her, Eleanor or anyone on Earth. Just as she predicated and witnessed, he was out of this world. Now, he trusted her to keep this secret hidden. "I think you're right." Julia said. "You like Eleanor don't you?" Julia asked and Clark nodded.

"Ever since we were kids I have but please let me tell her." Clark said. "Your secrets are safe with me." Julia replied. "Thank you for understanding." Clark replied. "You're welcome I'm not the type of person to expose someone's secrets. Until next time Clark." Julia said and Clark nodded. Julia walked back to her car, glad that she had sort things out with Clark. She knew she was going to call Woodburn and tell him to cancel the publication of the article.