Action Comics #9: "Return to Smallville" Part 1

Her heels clacking loudly on the polished marble floor of the Daily Planet newsroom, interns and veteran staffers alike took one look at the determination on Lois Lane’s face and moved out of her path.

Except one.

“Hey, Lois, what’s put the wiggle in that pretty little tail of yours?”

“Not now, Lombard.” Lois didn’t even glance at the Planet’s newest, sleaziest staffer, the sports writer Steve Lombard. He made an effort at least twice a day to come on to her, but succeeded only in making her want to vomit. He winked at her, all big teeth, slicked back hair and bushy moustache, as she went passed him, pausing only long enough to knock perfunctorily on the door of her Editor-in-Chief before she let herself in.

“Where is he?” She demanded, Perry White looking up from his computer, coffee cup halfway to his mouth, and sloshing over his rim.

“Great Caesar’s Ghost, Lois! Where is who?” Perry dabbed at the spilt coffee on his tie, managing to glare at her at the same time.

“Superman.” She pronounced, stalking up to his desk, putting both hands on the slick surface and leaning towards him intently. “Where the hell has he gone?”

Setting his cup down, Perry White leaned back from his star reporter and frowned.

“What are you talking about? He and the Justice League were just in Canada last week, fighting that monster, the Shaggy Man…”

“Exactly!” Lois interjected. “And before that, he was in Samoa, rescuing people from a tsunami. And before that, he foiled a terrorist attack in New York. And before that he was in Hub City, busting up a branch of Intergang---.”

“Lois, I’m a busy man, get to the point.” Perry growled, searching for his matches as he bit on a cigar.

“When was the last time he was seen in Metropolis?” Lois raised an eyebrow.

Finding the match, Perry struck it, and puffed as he lit his cigar, considering the question. “I don’t know… That Toyman thing?”

“That was six months ago.” Lois snatched the cigar from Perry’s mouth and ground it out in the cluttered desktop ashtray.

“Hey---!”

“Sure, he’s been seen at the Hall of Justice across the Bay in Happy Harbor, but that’s business. When was the last time he broke up a gang fight in Suicide Slum? Or pulled a cat from a tree in Centennial Park? Or helped the Metropolis SCU catch a fleeing suspect?”

“So he’s been elsewhere.” Perry fumed, digging in the ashtray to salvage his cigar. “He’s Superman. You just said it yourself a second ago: he’s been all over the world, helping people and fighting crime.”

“But he always did that!” Lois shot back with some frustration. “There hasn’t been any increase in his involvement elsewhere--- just a decrease in his presence here.” She threw up her hands and came around his desk, pushing aside his ashtray to get his attention. “Look, Perry. Something’s up. It used to be that Superman was spotted in Metropolis several times a day, but in the last year, practically nothing! I used to wake up, glance out the window of my apartment, and see him flying around on his morning patrol. Now, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen him in the skies over Metropolis. In fact, I’ve barely seen him at all since the end of the crisis.”

And there were still things unresolved between them, Lois thought, remembering the moment they shared before he went into battle against his deformed brother, Doomsday. She could hardly forget it… She thought it had meant something…

“Just exactly what are you saying?” Perry sighed.

“That Superman’s moved out of Metropolis!” Lois rallied, swallowing her personal feelings. “But why did he leave? And where has he gone? If the rumor is true that he has a secret identity, did he just relocate for a change of scenery, or did he get a new job? Maybe he moved back in with his parents? Maybe he got married and settled down in Happy Harbor?”

Perry nodded in a mollifying manner, conceding Lois’ instinct that ‘something was up.’

“Okay, so what if you’re right? Superman’s left town. But it’s not like he retired. He’s still out there, Lois, fighting for truth, justice and the American way… Where’s the story in this?”

He had her there. Lois shut her mouth with an audible fume. She knew this was significant. Her instincts were never wrong about these things. If Superman was no longer in Metropolis, there must be a reason for it, a good reason… But what was it? Why did he leave?

“I… I don’t know.” She admitted, losing a little steam. “But I know there’s a story here, Chief. I feel it in my gut.”

Perry White fixed her with a measuring stare, and she met his eyes without blinking. At last he said, “Lois, you’re a great reporter. In fact, you’re probably my best reporter. Trust your instincts. Go find the story.”

Lois nodded, her mind already racing to find all the angles as she left the office. She barely heard Perry yell: “Shut the door!”

The gunman were busy stuffing their bags with money from the teller drawers when Pete Ross emerged from his office, holding his hands in the air, not making any sudden moves.

“Fellas, I think you got off the interstate at the wrong exit.” He said good-naturedly. Pete Ross did everything good-naturedly. “This isn’t Gotham City, this is Smallville. We don’t have bank robberies in Smallville.”

“You do today, wiseguy.” A gunman swung his weapon on Pete. “Now get down on the ground!”

But Pete merely shook his head sadly. “When this is over, would you please tell all the other guys in the joint at Topeka to avoid Smallville in the future…”

The gunman was in the middle of a “Why, you little---!” when he was tapped on the shoulder. He spun around--- and bumped his nose into a big red ‘S’.

“Superman!” A customer gasped in surprise.

The Man of Steel, his arms on his hips, winked at the innocent bystanders, then turned back to the suddenly panicked bank robber. “You know, Batman is a friend of mine. When I tell him what happened here today, he just might be annoyed enough to pay you gentleman a visit in whatever prison you end up in.”

The gunman raised his weapon and fired. The bullet hit Superman pointblank on the chest, rebounding harmlessly. But the Man of Steel’s hand was faster than it was. Anticipating its trajectory, he reached out and snatched the smashed shell out of midair as it ricocheted away, extending his arm to present it to the gunman.

“I believe this belongs to you…?” With a quick motion, he flicked it at the gunman’s head, the glancing blow causing the would-be bank robber to drop like a stone.

“Next…?” Superman turned on the other two, who had watched the brief exchange in stunned disbelief.

The remaining gunman hesitated only a moment before dropping their weapons and throwing up their hands in surrender.

Washing up after dinner, Martha Kent looked over her shoulder at her son. Clark was pushing around the last forkful of pie on his plate, his attention obviously elsewhere. He had seemed distracted all through dinner, and was now making no attempt to conceal it.

She cleared her throat, and when he blinked and glanced up at her, she said: “You should go say ‘Hi’. Welcome her back to town.”

“What…?”

Martha dried her hands on a towel, and took a seat next to her son. “Clark Joseph Kent, one of your oldest friends just moved back into town, don’t you think you should go over there and welcome her?”

“I don’t know, Ma… We haven’t exactly stayed in touch, and we left things kind of awkward between us… Maybe she doesn’t want to see me.”

“Now why on Earth would she feel that way?” Martha chided, swatting at his thick shoulder. “I’ve known Lana Lang all her life, and she’ll always be that sweet girl-next-door! You’ve lived in Metropolis too long.”

Clark wasn’t so sure. Lana seemed to belong to another time, for him. Once, they had meant quite a bit to one another. The last thing he wanted to do was reopen old wounds.

Yet, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He suddenly realized that he’d been wanting to see her all day…

“Besides,” Martha was saying. “Smallville isn’t like Metropolis. You’re bound to run into each other eventually! If it’s going to be awkward, get it out of the way now, so you can get on with your lives!”

Clark couldn’t help but think that his mother had a point. He resigned himself to it with a sigh, got to his feet, and kissed her cheek.

“You’re a wise lady, you know that?” He smiled at her, then grabbed his old Smallville High Varsity jacket off the coat rack and went out the porch door…

They sat on the porch swing, staring up at the stars like they used to do. And while they didn’t exactly touch, there was no space between them now.

“I can’t believe we’ve both ended up back in Smallville.” Lana cupped her hot chocolate with both hands, glancing at him sidelong. “Especially as we were both in such a hurry to get away… Didn’t you like living in Metropolis?”

“Oh, I loved it,” He admitted. He always found it easy to be himself around Lana. No clumsy, mild-mannered pretense necessary with her. “I really felt I was making a difference working at the Daily Planet… I miss it. But… after Pa died, I couldn’t let Ma go it alone…”

Her hand fell on his, squeezing softly as she leaned against him.

“I was so sorry to hear about your dad, Clark. How did he die?”

“It was during the crisis. Town Hall was hit by a plasma shell from an Apokoliptian battleship in space. Pa went into the bombed-out and burning building to pull out survivors. He was the only casualty. He saved them all.” His throat caught at the last words. And yet with all my powers, I couldn’t even save him…

“He was a hero.” Lana told him, comfortingly.

Clark nodded. “I always thought so.”

They sat in companionable silence for some moments before Lana spoke again.

“I heard that Chloe is working for the government now. Do you hear much from her?”

“About as much as I heard from you.” Clark chided gently. “I think her wacky conspiracy theories finally paid off. I think she’s an analyst or something for the F.B.I., but I haven’t seen her in years. Have you seen Pete, yet?” Clark asked, his eyes following a shooting star across the clear night sky.

Lana chuckled. “Seen him? I can’t get rid of him! He picked me up at the airport this afternoon, and has already proposed marriage three times.”

Clark joined her laughter, but remembered the strange look his friend had given him earlier in the day at the bank. A probing, testing stare, as if he were considering whether or not to reveal a secret.

“You know, Pete’s done very well for himself.” Clark told her. “Vice President of the bank, city councilman, chairman of the chamber of commerce… He’s Smallville’s favorite son--- you could do a lot worse!”

He felt Lana stiffen a little, and she twisted in the porch swing to face him, holding her hot chocolate in front of her like a shield.

“I’ve only ever wanted to marry one man in my life.” She said matter-of-factly, much to his chagrin.

He opened his mouth, but closed it just as quickly. He had no idea what to say to that. The mood changed very quickly.

“Lana, you know I---.”

“Don’t say it Clark.” She cut him off, but not unkindly. “That night in the hayloft… I know we were headed in two very different directions. You were in the process of discovering who you were, your place in the world. I always knew who I was, and where I was going. But it was very special to me, and I will always treasure the memory of what we shared that night.”

He could not take his eyes off her. He could see the tears welling in her eyes, and he wanted nothing more in that moment to pull her to him, comfort her, save her…

They reached for each other at the same time, on that cold winter night, on her aunt’s porch swing in Smallville, and it was like they were both 17 again…

“Mom!”

The voice of the little boy was like a bucket of cold water over them, and they jumped apart, startled, as a dark-haired child bounded out the front door in his pajamas and leaped into Lana’s lap.

“Mom, Aunt Nell says I have to ask you if I can have dessert…”

Clark could only stare, amazed, at the little boy with his thick black hair and bright blue eyes… He looked about nine years old…

Great Krypton…

“Clark, I want you to meet my son,” Lana clutched the little boy to her, and gave Clark a steadying look. “His name is Connor…”