Daughter of Superman

Schooled - Part 2

"You seem awfully quiet." Madine said. "Not that you're really a talker..."

"I'm just..." he didn't know how to say it in a light way, so he decided for the blunt truth. "I wish I could learn fast like you. You already improved a lot since we got here, and you weren't even coming in the first place!"

He saw how Madine's eyes widened in surprise, and looked away to avoid seeing if he had hurt her with his words. He didn't want to know.

But then, Madine was sitting beside him, a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Con, everyone has a different pace to learn new things. The fact that we're half kryptonians doesn't change that." She chuckled a little. "I may have been training on my own for a while, that's why I learned this landing thing a little faster. I was training on my own."

Conner looked at her now.

"Dad knows?"

She shook her head. "He doesn't even dream about it. And please, let it be our little secret, ok?"

He bit his lip, but nodded.

"Let's try it again, shall we? Dad's taking a little bit longer than he said he would." She frowned.

"Ok..."

They got up, and Madine helped him with more landings. They were on the same routine, doing things over and over again, and Conner was starting to know his strength a bit more, and how to do what he needed to do.

When he finally made the perfect landing, something like two hours later, Madine was there, clapping and cheering, and he had a big smile on his lips.

"I knew you could do it!" she said, hugging him fiercely. He returned the hug.

"Thanks."

She let him go, and then frowned. "I just... I think dad missed the best part of your training."

Conner noticed the sun was starting to fall, some stars already visible to human eyes in the sky.

"Is he okay?"

Madine didn't know.

They decided to wait. He said he was coming back, and he never broke his promises if he could avoid it, Madine said. So they sat in the rock they talked earlier and talked a little more. About the things Conner wanted to learn. About Madine's solo-training, and what she had learned so far (nothing much, she said she started training barely a month ago). Another hour passed, and Clark was nowhere to be seen.

"Ok, I'm officially worried now." Madine said, picking up her phone from her top, right between her cleavage. Conner blinked, and she smiled sheepishly. "It was the only place I had to put it."

He didn't answer.

She unlocked the screen, making sure she had service before hitting a few buttons and putting the phone on speaker, so they both could hear.

"Hello. You called Clark Kent, from the Daily Planet. I'm sorry but now I can't answer. Please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can, if needed be."

The beep the followed made Madine frown. She hit a few more buttons, calling again. The call was never completed, and then she bit her lip.

"His phone in out of service, and I can't reach his comm link from the League." She looked at him. "And he never turns his comm link off."

"Something must've happened." Conner concluded. "But what?"

"I don't..."

Her answer was interrupted by a phone call. Conner looked at the screen just as Madine pressed the button to answer the call. The caller ID had Unknown on it.