*5 Years Earlier*
Clark was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but super hearing surpassed all of that once. This was the night that he heard the single greatest sound he'd ever known.
Clark's blue eyes snapped open, the sheets shifting around him as he sat up in his bed. The apartment around him hadn't changed but the woman sleeping next to him stirred at the sudden movement. She turned around, eyes groggily meeting his gaze.
"What is it, Dorothy?" She murmured tiredly. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
Silvia's voice found air but it was merely white noise to Clark who was still concentrating on the sound that had awoken him. The sound of two heartbeats coming from one person.
His stare broke and in little to no time at all he had jumped out of bed and started pacing around the room. Silvia watched him in absolute confusion.
"We need to get everything checked thoroughly. I'll contact Star Labs. There are people there I trust to be discreet." Clark mumbled but it was uncertain whether he was talking to Silvia or himself.
"Dorothy...?" Silvia rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes to see the pondering man more clearly.
"There shouldn't be any danger in the first trimester but I'm not going to leave it to chance. We'll need a bigger place, obviously."
"What are you talking about?"
He paused, one hand reaching under his chin as if he were still in deep thought. "Maybe we should also consider moving away from Metropolis, Smallville would be a much safer and more private place to raise a child... Though I'd prefer the Metropolis High school to-"
A book flew across the room and whacked across his head with a mean 'thwack'. It didn't hurt him, of course, but he knew that it had happened. This pulled him out of his own mind long enough to glance over at Silvia.
He picked up the book and blinked. "Did you just throw this at me?"
"You're invulnerable. I should be able to throw satisfyingly hard objects at you sometimes." Silvia joked though her body language said different. She got out of bed as well and crossed her arms over her chest. "Mind telling me what's going on?"
"You... don't know?"
"If I did I'm sure your little outburst would've made sense." Silvia sighed.
Clark's mouth stretched into a grin but it was unlike any she had seen before. He looked overjoyed, proud, and amazed all at once. Even his eyes had glazed over with tears from pure happiness. "Sil... I..." He couldn't find the words. They were stuck in his throat like oxygen in a blocked airway. "You're..."
"I'm what?" Silvia tried to push for an answer, hip sticking out and finger tapping against her own arm impatiently.
Clark moved towards her, taking her small shoulders in his hands. "You're amazing." He answered, unsure how to tell her about what he had heard. "And..."
His gaze fell to her flat stomach, one of his hands letting go of her to graze against it lovingly. Silvia was clueless for all but two seconds before it dawned on her.
Silvia felt the panic begin like a cluster of lightening in her abdomen. Tension grew in her face and limbs, her mind replaying the same word over and over again; 'pregnant'. Her breathing became more rapid, more shallow. her heart was hammering painfully against her ribs. The room began to spin and she squatted on the floor, trying to make everything slow to something her brain and body could cope with. She felt so sick.
Clark knelt down beside her, his joy replaced with worry. "Sil, are you alright?"
"A-A baby?... I can't... I never wanted kids, I'd be an a-awful mother. I'd r-ruin its l-life." She heaved each word out through her breathlessness.
Clark's arms wrapped around the girl and he pulled her into his chest. "It's up to you, Sil. I think you'd be a great mother though, and I'll be right beside you the entire time."
His touch always had a strange effect on her. It calmed her down, allowed her mind to think straight again. Silvia shivered but managed to meet his gaze. They had been together quite a while now... Seven years to be exact. He was 35 and she was 31, maybe she had grown enough as a person to hope for a family with the man she loved.
"W-Well... you did just work out a high school plan for a fetus... I'd hate to waste it." She laughed but it came out trembling and nervous.
Clark's face lit up once more and his grip around her tightened. He always thought that he could never love her any more than he already did, but she proved that wrong with every passing day. On this particular night he had felt such adoration for her that he thought his heart might stop beating altogether.
Silvia carried his child within her. Never had he been so proud of her, or so in awe of her capabilities both as a woman and as an individual.
Months passed in the blink of an eye and suddenly Silvia was five months pregnant. Her stomach had visibly swelled and the baby was starting to move every now and then. By night Clark would watch his child growing and developing within Silvia's womb. He liked to guess who their baby would look like. Would they have their mother's eyes, her smile? Would they have his hair? He wouldn't know for a while, but one thing he did discover was that they were having a boy.
He spent most of the next day doing up a temporary room for their son. He was planning on moving them to a farm in Smallville but they'd have to spend at least another year in Metropolis while he saved. When Silvia had come home from work there was a nursery in their spare bedroom filled with different shades of blue. That's how she discovered they were having a boy.
"So... I was thinking about names." Silvia said a few days later at the dinner table. "And I think I got a good one picked out."
Clark crunched into a piece of bacon, smirking between chews. "Oh really? Shouldn't the father have a say in-"
"Jonathan Mason Kent."
Clark gulped down his food a little too early. If he was anyone else he would have choked. He stared at her unblinkingly, surprised and touched at the same time. "Sil... You should put Mason's name first, your family is just as important as mine. Mason Jonathan Kent sounds just as good."
"Nope, I've already decided. Besides, I can call him Jon for short and that was my grandfather's name." Silvia smiled, placing her hand on top of his. "So, do you like it?"
Clark chuckled, turning his hand to entwine his fingers with hers. "I love it... Thank you, Sil."
It didn't seem like anything could wipe the smile off his face... not anything but Silvia's message tone blaring loudly in her pocket.
The blonde jumped and scrambled for her mobile, bringing it up to her line of sight. She chewed on her bottom lip. "There's a new case, I have to go."
"I really don't like that you're still doing this..." Clark sighed. "I worry about you."
"I don't remember you being so protective before I was pregnant." Silvia teased.
"I was, you just never stopped finding trouble."
"Come on, we made a deal." Silvia took her handbag from the counter. "I would try and ignore fighting crime while I'm pregnant if I could keep my job as a private detective."
"I know but-"
"I'm not going to sit on the couch getting bigger while you're out there doing all the hard work. It's not who I am."
Clark looked like he wanted to argue but suddenly stood from his chair and faced the window.
"Trouble?" Silvia asked.
"I don't know... Maybe."
Silvia stepped closer to him, reaching on her tiptoes to press her lips against his. "Go save the world."
Silvia walked along the cobble stone sidewalk, shuffling the fallen leaves with every step she took. When she reached Echo Alley, she paused. It was just a nickname spawned from the rumour that you could sometimes hear screams echo from other dimensions. It was also the last place a missing girl had been seen. Silvia looked down the stretch of the alley. The flickering street light beside her shattered and she gasped at the sound, clutching onto her stomach protectively.
She was meant to be meeting a new contact here but they were no where in sight. Silvia stepped further into the alley, shadows being cast over her body that was soon replaced with smoke... horrible, off-white smoke. It filled the air quicker than she could comprehend and all at once she felt her body tire. Sleep gas... concentrated to overcome her enhanced durability.
She fell on her back, eyelids forcing themselves closed. The last thing she saw were two blurry faces. One was long and thin, the other round and young, both covered in clown makeup.
Silvia's body was long gone by early morning when Clark finally found the place. All that remained there was Silvia's purse and a card with Joker's resemblance painted onto it.
He could feel the sweat drenching his skin, the throbbing of his own eyes, the ringing and terrified thoughts vibrating in his ears, and the thumping of his heart against his chest. Superman's fingers curled into a fist, nails digging into his palm. He couldn't hear his own rapid breathing, but he could feel the oxygen flooding in and out of his lungs. Fear tortured his guts, churning his stomach in tense cramps. It engulfed his conscience, knocking all other thoughts aside. It overwhelmed his body, making him drastically exhausted.
He looked everywhere but Silvia was out of his sights. In a panic he turned toward S.T.A.R Labs where he knew Bruce was investigating a missing invention.
"I can't see her!" He yelled on his way in, halting just inches away from Batman. "I can't see Silvia!"
"We're not alone here... maybe we should discuss this somewhere more private."
Superman didn't seem to have heard him, and if he did than he didn't care about anyone else in the room. He pulled out the card he had found, teeth gritting together. "He has her."
Any light hitting Batman's face suddenly darkened when he was passed the card.
Superman grabbed him by the arms in a frenzy. "Please, help me find her."
Bruce had never been fond of Silvia, nor her of him, but this wasn't about that. She was an innocent in this case and carrying his close friends child. He nodded, and as Superman flew out, Bruce pressed two fingers to the side of his helmet. "This is a priority call to all Justice League members and reserve members. I need as many eyes, ears and minds as we can spare in Metropolis. A woman is missing."
The first voice to answer the call was Green Arrow. "You want the whole Justice League on a missing person case?"
"Absolutely. We believe she was taken by the joker."
Cyborg was just shooting a blast from his arm gun when he responded. "Who is this woman, Batman?"
"She's one of us... Silvia Stone. Formally known as Reaper."
The channel went silent for a few seconds while they all processed what was happening. Though many of them never fully accepted Silvia, others thought she had more than proven her worth. She's helped them save the world on numerous occasions, risking her life each time.
"Silvia..." Wonder Woman finally muttered.
"Wonder Woman, she was last seen at Echo Alley. Head there and find anything you can."
"I'm on my way."
"Flash." Bruce started.
"One second... and I'm in Metropolis." Barry replied in an instant. "What do you need?"
"Search every inch of Metropolis. Superman is scanning the city from above, so start with everywhere he can't see; Underground facilities, sewers, basements, and anything lined with lead."
"On it." And Flash was already gone.
"If Silvia's missing I'll find a way to get there." Richard's voice appeared on the channel.
"No, I need you to watch over Gotham." Bruce answered sharply, not bothering to ask how he got into the line he was using.
"I'm their child's Godfather... and I can't just sit here while Silvia's missing. I won't let her get hurt."
"Dick, my decision is final." Bruce hissed.
He went quiet for a few moments. "... Fine but Starfire's already on her way. She's the Godmother so I doubt you'll be able to convince her otherwise... Bruce, get Silvia back safely."
Batman sighed when he heard Richard pull his ear piece off. "Everyone else, report in as soon as you reach Metropolis. Share anything you-"
"You have to see something." Flash's voice got to Bruce faster than his body... but only just.
"Show me."
Flash rushed Batman to a small laboratory full of stolen S.T.A.R Labs tech. "I figure this could be related."
Batman's eyes flicked around the room before landing on a body on the opposite end, wearing a sack over its face. "It's Crane..." He said to himself, stepping over to pull the mask off of the corpses head. "The scarecrow."
The man's face was stretched into an eerie smile. He died laughing.
"Laugh gas?" Barry questioned.
"Looks like it, and someone's taken his fear toxin as well. Must have been the Joker."
At that moment Wonder Woman's voice rang in Batman's ear. "I followed a trail to the docks. We got lucky, as soon as I showed up someone ran."
"And?"
Wonder Woman tightened the lasso of truth around the man and crouched next to him. "Repeat what you just told me."
The man struggled out each word like they were being forced from his throat. "Joker's not in Metropolis. Him and that clown lady hijacked a submarine."
As quickly as the voice had been processed through the ear pieces, Superman was already at the docks and flying over the open ocean, eyes scanning it in a panic. "I see it."
He dived into the chaotic ocean and emerged holding a giant submarine made of lead. He wanted to throw it to the shore but knowing Silvia was inside made him suppress such an urge. He set it down on the sand delicately and ripped a large hole into the side.
He had never run so fast to such a small distance in his life. He smashed through one of the rooms to find both Joker and Harley wearing surgeon clothing and standing over Silvia's unconscious body.
"Silvia?!" He yelled in horror, pushing straight passed the two villains to undo her restraints and not noticing the green smoke whirling around the room. "What did they do to-"
The smoke around him thickened and he felt his airways begin to seal.
"Something wrong, Supes?" Joker laughed maniacally.
"Yeah, for a man of steel, you look kinda wobbly." Harley added with a resounding giggle.
Superman felt his mind break and his vision blur. When he could finally view the world around him again he was in a trance... hallucinating. He looked up with a raspy gasp. "No... Doomsday..."
A giant monster stood in his view. It was twice his height and weight with sharp bone sticking out on the outside like armour.
"Silvia... The baby..." His mind was working in overdrive. He had to get Doomsday away from his family before he could deal with the clowns. Anger built up in his very being, pumping through his veins and burning them like lava. He pushed off of the ground without any hesitation and flew toward Doomsday. "Stay away from them!"
He hoisted the monster over his shoulder and took off straight into the sky. The quickest way to defeat Doomsday was to take him into space.
Back in the submarine Joker and Harley jumped out of the massive hole Superman had made.
"Time to go." Joker said, amused tone only coming second to the smile plastered on his face.
"We're just going to leave? But this is the first submarine I've ever owned." Harley pouted.
Joker pulled off his surgeon mask and threw it into the sand. "We'll get you another one."
"I can't just get another one! I've named this one. You can't abandon something once it has a name. Everyone knows that."
She was delaying, walking slower and dragging her feet like a child being refused what they want. Joker growled, the red paint crinkling around his cheeks as he snatched onto her wrist with a vice-like grip. He held it tight enough to bruise. "Harley, any minute now angry do-gooders are going to realize what we're up to. If we're still here when they arrive, they will hit us over and over again. Say goodbye to your damn submarine!"
Joker practically dragged her away but Harley was so use to it that she didn't seem too bothered by the pain around her wrist. "Goodbye, Gunter!" She waved to the submarine before a heavy weight fell on top of them both.
The thing that had dropped on them was a hand... a giant, glowing, green one comprised purely of energy. Hal appeared soon after along with Wonder Woman, holding out his ring to control the hand. "Gunter's a stupid name for a submarine." He quipped.
Batman and Flash arrived seconds later and Joker's laugh lines returned as his lips stretched into a smile. "Batsy!"
Batman didn't respond.
"Wait a minute." Joker continued as the hand disappeared and allowed him to stand. "Did Flash carry you here? HA! Putting fear in the hearts of criminals... While his bright red friend carries him through the night!"
Joker's eyes lit up with glee and his cackle punctuated the docks. Still Batman ignored him and started towards the submarine. He hopped into the hole with but quickly held his hand out to stop Flash from following.
"Wait." He said sternly, bringing a mask up to cover his mouth. "Scarecrow's fear toxin."
The bat continued into each room but when he found nothing he jumped back out with a grimace. "Where is she Joker?"
Wonder Woman hissed. "My lasso of truth will-"
"No." Batman replied, pulling the mask off of his mouth. "Not on him. I'm not sure what would spew out of that mouth of his but it wouldn't be the truth."
Joker flashed his yellowing teeth at the two of them. "Come on, Batsy. Use that pointy-eared head of yours. You can see the truth. You just don't want to look at it too hard."
"What did you do to her?!" Hal finally spat out, voice strained in worry.
"Well, if you must know." Joker grinned, tapping his gloved, blood soaked fingers together. "Batman's already worked it out. I operated on her."
"Flash. The missile on the submarine-" batman started but was quickly interrupted by Harley's high pitched voice.
"His name is Gunter!"
"Check to see if the warhead is still there." He finished with a snarl.
"Don't bother checking. It isn't." Joker said between bursts of low cackling. "When her heart stops, every heart in Metropolis stops too."
"Why would her...?" Batman's voice trailed off then his eyes flashed with horror. "The Kryptonite. Scarecrow added it to his fear toxin so it could enter Superman's blood stream through his lungs." He turned his gaze upward to the small speck in the sky, hand darting up to the ear piece on the side of his mask. "Superman! Can you hear me?"
But it was far too late. Superman was almost out of the atmosphere, snarling and growling. "You won't take them away from me!" Then he was through the ozone and floating in space. Doomsday clawed at his back frantically for at least two minutes before he took him further into space. Doomsday stiffened as if his body was freezing.
"Superman Stop!" Batman said for the fifth time. "Whatever you're seeing... It's not real!"
Superman gasped, Doomsday's body floating a few inches away from him as he grabbed his throbbing head. His vision blurred again and he gave a pained grunt that never made a sound in the vacuum of space.
When his eyes had at last stopped pounding in his skull he looked up. What he saw broke him more than any man has ever been broken.
"It's Silvia!" Batman said but it was of no help now.
And then two heart beats coming from one person... stopped beating.
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