Wayward Children

The Terrible Twos

Clark blinked rapidly trying to dispel the slew of lights swarming his vision. Some lucky crook shot him in the eye and he was seeing double now. Nothing some nourishment and a good night's sleep couldn't cure. At least the CEO of Waynemart could rest easy knowing Superman had put a stop to another toilet paper robbery. Clark soared above the clouds, his heart sinking as he heard all the cries for help that he would never be able to answer. He might have been Superman, but he was no miracle worker. People were desperate and scared.

The evening sunlight cut through a sea of clouds. The cityscape shimmered like gilded gold under the setting sun. The sky was painted in hues of gold and violet; it was as beautiful as a Thomas Kincaid painting, but a cloud of foreboding hovered over the city. Street after street the storefronts were dark, their insides as empty as a bird's nest in December. The smell of grease and fried goods had died down till it was nothing but a whisper, a relic of simpler times. Any stragglers on the streets concealed their faces behind a mask and it wasn't because they had some super alter ego or were up to nefarious deeds. For the first time, Clark truly felt helpless. This wasn't some foul villain he could pummel into the ground and solve the world's problems with his fists. Thousands were dying and he was powerless to help any of them. On the bright side, he didn't have to worry about accidentally swallowing bugs while he flew, not when he had a mask covering the bottom half of his face. But it still felt odd. He didn't think he'd ever get used to wearing a mask.

    He felt a stab of guilt as he flew over the Daily Planet. He had promised Lois no more Superman escapees while she was gone. What Wifey didn't know couldn't hurt her. Besides, he was only gone ten minutes flat. All the same, sometimes it felt like Lois was the one with X-ray vision; she had an uncanny way of seeing right through him. But there were lives in danger! What was he supposed to do? Let the poor bloke who worked the night shift get a bullet in the face. No siree. He was not gonna sit by and do nothing while someone was in danger.

    Clark couldn't shake the feeling that Lois Lane was watching him all the way from Central City where she was stuck quarantined with the Allens; he could feel her disapproving glare from miles away.  He let out a sigh of relief when their suburban house came into view. He scanned the area to make sure there were no neighbors watching. The Wilkes across the street was in the middle of watching reruns of the Metropolis Sharks, but no one was looking his way, thank God. He stuck to the shadows and slipped through the open skylight over his study. He tossed his mask onto the desk and made quick work of changing into a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. There was a lukewarm mug of coffee sitting on his desk. He drained the mug in one gulp and settled into his chair to finish the story on airline cancelations. Fortunately, the kids were fast asleep and Clark could finally get some writing done without worrying about the twins bringing down the house.

Four weeks and three days. That's how long Clark Kent had been cooped up in close quarters with teething toddlers. He'd lost track of how many times Elara broke a priceless artifact or got into tight places she did not belong in. It was a good thing Lois was detained in Central City. She would have had a cow if she saw the state of her Pulitzer Award. Jon was bored one day and decided to give Mommy's pride and joy a long overdue makeover. Now when Clark looked up at the award, the Joker's grinning face slashed across the smooth surface in red sharpie. There was a minuscule chance Lois would not notice that horror when she returned.  He really needed to have a serious conversation with Uncle B about child-appropriate content once they had a modicum of normalcy again. Everything on the Batcomputer should be off-limits.

    Clark put the last finish touch-ups on the article he was working on: Planes Forced to Land Indefinitely. God, he hoped Lois was alright. She would have come up with a snappier title, but his heart wasn't in the story. His heart was miles away in Central City where Lois was stuck with no flight out. Every single bone in his body ached to fly over there this second and bring her back home to Metropolis where she belonged. But they had Jon and Elara to consider now. She didn't want to risk bringing the virus home to the kids. For once in her life Lois Lane was following the rules. He hated it. It made him feel even worse about going out to save the day. He told himself it didn't matter; he was an alien from another planet, and the virus won't affect him. Yet, it still felt like a betrayal to Lois. Clark leaned back in his chair and breathed out a long, frustrated sigh.