Conner had stared at the woman before him speechless before the shock turned into an emotion he had been trying to evade. He clenched his fists hoping his slipping control wouldn't cause too much damage. Even when his cold stare connected with hers, she didn't flinch. She had seen that look before from the Man of Steel but never directed towards her. Then the house began to creak and groan. Her half empty cup of coffee started to shake before spiderlike webs cracks spread through the surface.
"You had your fun, so what now," he said before the plates and cups levitated from the table and were then placed in the sink.
"You aren't going to call the League?" she asked more curious that surprised.
He glared at her. Of course, the first thing that he thought was about calling the League and get someone to wipe her memory from this finding, but he could sense she was hiding something else.
"You are really different from them, aren't you?" she asked with a smirk, "you only play by the rules when they are looking, don't you?"
"Make your point" he knew the sooner he could dismiss her he could start working on getting things under control.
"I don't want you to tell them that I know," she said.
"Not happening," he said crossing his arms, at which Lois rolled her eyes.
"I saved the information somewhere only I can retrieve it. If you tell the League and they make me forget, it won't be long before I find it again. Once I realize that you heroes tampered with my memories I would publish it."
"I thought you were his friend" that's what really made him angry.
"This has nothing to do with that," she said with a frown, "I want you to keep it a secret until the time is right."
"Right for what?" he asked feeling like he was losing his patience. He didn't trust her, not after lying to them through the previous day.
She sighed, "you want to be a reporter, right?"
"That's beside the point" but found curious she would ask this.
"Here," she said before pulling out of her bag a simple disposable phone, " after those two are gone I will stay in contact with you."
"You still haven't told me what is going on?" he didn't take the phone and made sure to enjoy the bit of rage that emitted from her eyes.
"Some of the information in Dr. Spencer's letter worries me. I believe there is more to it."
"Then why not tell the League?" she was just an ordinary human after all.
"Call it a reporter's intuition," she said placing the cell phone on the table, "there is more to Cadmus than you know."
He gave her a skeptic look.
"I am a reporter, one of the best," she said with confidence, "Cadmus is bigger than you or the League thinks. It appeared out of nowhere and established bases all over the world but somehow always keeping under the radar. Then there is Dr. Spencer."
"What about her?" he asked.
"All the records of her existence; degrees, family, you name it. They are all fake," Lois said pulling him in, "Of the lab where she worked she was the only person to have an entirely false identity. When she disappeared, she did it completely. As if she never existed, don't you find that strange?"
He believed so but didn't voice it. He still didn't believe this was enough to suspect Dr. Spencer had an agenda even before becoming part of Cadmus. Then again, what did he know about her? She had been caring towards him, but what if she had another reason, one not so honorable, to help him.
"Are those two returning anytime soon?" she asked looking towards the door as if they might be back anytime.
Conner concentrated back on the field miles away. The Bio-Ship was arriving with Miss Martian and was helping them.
"Not long" he said before she stood up and walked to the door.
"Come," he followed closely trying to use his abilities to understand what she was after. It was reporters dream to publish something like but she was going to sit on it. He never tried to read a person before on purpose. He found something like mist surrounding her, hiding her emotions and thoughts from him. Lois Lane was not an open book. She walked to the trunk of her car and opened it. The place was a mess but a box stood out at top of everything, "Dr. Spencer sent you this" and she handed the box to him, "she said it would help you"
"What is it?" he asked.
"I asked someone I trusted, someone really smart, and they couldn't even tell what material it was made of" she removed the lid and sitting brightly in red in a black background the S, "he said we were nowhere near in technological advances to make it. As for what it does, we have no idea"
Conner pulled it out and stared at a full body black suit with red piping and the red S on the chest. He swore he would never wear tights, but the moment his fingers touched the material he sensed it was indeed something else, something meant for him. It connected with his powers, like a missing link and that was just by touching it.
"So?" she asked easily reading his expression.
"She made it for me," he said with a smile.
"But you see my point, right? Dr. Spencer and Cadmus are part of something bigger and if they get word that the Justice League has word of it they will make all the clues disappear just as Dr. Spencer did. This is proof that they have the knowledge on how to do it"
Conner nodded, "so you want me to help you by not telling them"
"And going to places I can't" she said admitting as far as her pride would let her that she, Lois Lane was not capable of doing everything she wanted.
"Alright," he said, "they are coming back"
Neither said anything as they went back inside and when Kara and Clark returned they found them going over Conner's unfinished article. Clark gave the Conner a questioning look before he shrugged. It was still a good chance for him to get to get some tips from Lois Lane. If he wasn't so worried about one of the best reporters in the world being in the known of their identities, he would have laughed.
It wasn't long before she and Clark drove back to metropolis. Kara begrudgingly thanked him for the meal and then she too left. It was until nighttime that he went back to the box and cellphone sitting on his bed. There was something very familiar about it and he thought it was because it was similar to the white solar suit he was made to wear years ago. As he went to test it out he realized it had to do with something else. A feeling he was starting to remember. He was centered and felt as if he could go anywhere. And then he was.
"No way," he couldn't help whispering before he started rising higher and higher. He didn't realize until then that his powers were so disconnected but the suit changed that. Now it was as natural as breathing and walking or in this case flying. He went as high as he could until Smallville was but a small spot of light. He stayed there for a while feeling complete. He finally recognized the feeling. It was the way he used to feel when Dr. Spencer took him out of his pot when he was a child. He flew around in the middle of the night enjoying that which he wished since he could remember. He forgot about the issue with Lois Lane, about finding Dr. Spencer, about helping Bart and everything else and just enjoyed himself.
He didn't come down, until the sun started to rise and even then he didn't want to come down but he knew he couldn't allow people to spot him flying about. As he had been descending, he noticed the kid from nights ago riding his bike towards the place where Superman and Supergirl had fought Parasite. Though he was still in a good mood, he was starting to feel like everyone around was just too curious.
Once back home he threw his civilian clothing over his new suit and then jogged towards the destruction zone. Even before he arrived he could already hear the kid.
"Journal of Simon Valentine, entry 989; yesterday my Simon Valentine patented Seismometer registered 2.0 to 2.6 in the Richter scale earthquakes close to Smallville."
Conner wanted to sigh but didn't since he didn't want to make a habit of it. He went from jogging to walking as he continued to listen to the kid.
"As there are no major tectonic plates or other natural events that would cause this type of earthquakes near Smallville I decided to find their source. I have taken into account their irregularity and range. From this, I have found the source was in the direction once again of the Kent farm" And then he went into detail of the craters and the large dead area he had found. Also, why he suspected it had been the place of a confrontation of sorts. Conner stood on the side not saying a word as he watched the boy take into consideration every single detail he could find. After a few minutes bored he coughed loudly so the boy would finally notice him.
"You!" and then the boy realized he was still recording, "end of entry 989." When he stopped recording, he stared at Conner with narrowed eyes. "what do you know about this?" he said as he pointed an accusatory finger at Conner.
"From listening to your rant it sounds like it was a sort of fight," he said looking around. Those two didn't hold back, which he guessed was necessary when it came to Parasite, "what do you think caused it?"
"Like you don't know," Simon said as he went to check another crater, " your house is the closest to the place, you had to notice something."
"I did," he said trying to learn more of what the kid knew. "I noticed a bit of shaking yesterday. But, I didn't think much about it" he tried to look thoughtful, " I thought you were snooping around but I guess now you have a real reason."
"I still think you had something to do with it," Simon said as he continued measuring the diameter and depth of each crater.
He decided to try to humor himself and sat on the ground. After a few minutes of reluctance, Simon began recording his findings again. Conner was doing something similar in his own way. He wondered just how far Parasite could use his abilities to steal the life of others. He spread his senses and found the bottom of Parasite's range. When it came to bacteria and animal life the field didn't go as deep, but plant and fungi were easier to drain and so the range was wider. In case they had to fight the creature again, it would be safer to do it on a place where there wasn't much greenery.
"Interesting" he saw Simon pull out a dead worm from the ground, and then began taking samples of the earth. Probably to check how far the damage went. Conner felt sorry for the kid because he already knew all the answers he was seeking. By the time, he tried to check the extent of the damage nature would have already done its job and restored as much of the taken life. He could already feel other organisms were trying take over the freed space.
"Is it true you are a college student?" Simon asked him with a skeptic look.
"Yeah," Conner said.
"What is your major?"
"Is this an interrogation?"
"No, I am just curious."
"Right," he said not bother thing to hid his disbelief. At the same time he wondered how much he should say, "I want to study social events in today's society. So I am leaning towards journalism but I am more interested in the reaction those events have on people."
The reactions, the way people behave before certain events; he already had a basic understanding, but society was always changing and moving on. The knowledge he was given during his creation was helpful but it was also outdated.
He stopped in mid thought when he realized he hadn't ever told anyone this before. Everyone just assumed he wanted to be the same as Clark, who wrote stories that moved people. He was more interested in the results though he did see the noble intent on informing people of what was happening around them. But it was an action created from those results that he believed were actually significant.
"So you are not a muscle head," Simon said looking slightly uncomfortable. It seemed Conner had taken him out of his comfort zone by making him realize he was smarter than Simon assumed he was.
Conner stood up with a smirk, "if you find something I would like to know. Like you said; this is happening very near where I live" and he needed to keep tabs on the kid.
888
The days passed and all he could do was find more about Lois Lane and practice with his honed abilities. Even though it seemed they had an agreement he couldn't trust her blindly. She was indeed a terrific reporter and her stories rang true and purposeful. Also, for a quite a few years she was close to his mentor to the point where there were rumors there was something between them. He wondered if she was tricking him into thinking she would indeed publish a story like that. He hoped it was just a rouse, but still he wouldn't take a chance.
After an afternoon of much thought, he decided he had to face this head on so he packed his bags and headed for metropolis.
888
The top reporter for the news blog website Clarkcatropolis had seen many things in his life, more than ordinary people could guess, but never a teenager waiting in front of his apartment door.
"Conner?" he asked the youth who stood with his bags before his door.
"Can we talk?" he asked feeling sorry for placing Clark in this situation. He wasn't going to leave him with many choices since he already brought his stuff with him.
Once inside the apartment he wondered how to start. The plan was laid in his mind but as he looked at Clark hurry to make space for him to sit (the man had almost no time to clean.) He wondered if he should try something else.
"Everything okay?" Clark asked him worried.
Conner looked around the room and thought for a moment and then spoke hoping he wasn't embarrassing himself, "I want you to teach me more about how to use my powers."
Clark looked shocked for a moment and then said, "I am not saying no, but I am not sure I will be of much help."
"I thought the same too," he said, "but I think I finally got a good hold of them. I think they might be more alike than we thought" and then his feet left the ground and he was floating.
"That's…"
"But it isn't all," he said before looking around for something that wouldn't be missed. He picked a disposable pen and then made it float before him " look" he said before he concentrated his sight on the pen. A moment later the carpet was on fire. Conner was stomping on the scorched spot until it was completely off, "sorry, I still can't…"
"Is alright," said his mentor with a laugh which made Conner's eyes widen, "now I see you were so worried. Is there something else I should know?"
"I am faster and stronger, though I think is just my tactile telekinesis acting around my own body"
"What do you mean?"
"I think my powers are more like yours than we thought" Conner said sitting down again, "but where is second nature to you for me it requires concentration. I mean, how do really your powers work?"
"I have met a few who had shared their ideas with me since I don't understand it fully myself" Clark admitted, "but someone from the League, the Atom theorized, though we had no way of testing, that my strength and flight was created by a barrier webbed within my own cellular structure as my flesh was just flesh and so was the blood when I allowed them take samples"
Conner thought about this. Was it possible that because he was only half Kryptonian that he lacked this second nature? Still, maybe he would reach through training the same abilities.
"My heat vision might be just an illusion…" he snapped his head up to look at his mentor staring at the scorched spot, "what exactly did you do?"
"I glared at the pen and…" he shook his head "I concentrated on what was before me, not just…"
Conner forgot this was supposed to be just an excuse to be in Metropolis so he could keep tabs on Lois Lane. They kept talking about what could be the engine behind their abilities well into the night until.
"Ehm… settle in," Superman said after receiving a distress call.
Conner could simply nod before his mentor left. He looked around the bachelor pad. It was a complete mess but he had to guess Superman didn't have much time for cleaning with his day job and being a hero. Interesting enough there was a space with a rather clean perimeter. As he got closer he realized this was where Clark worked. He knew Clarkcatropolis had a headquarters but he guessed his mentor preferred his own space. Still he couldn't leave the rest of the space just like this. He took a deep breath to remind himself that he had done his fair share of training those past months and this should not be difficult at all. He got a sense for where everything was in the pad before getting to work.
About thirty minutes after Clark returned through the front door with some take out. The whole deal by the bay didn't take more than ten minutes but the take out he was brining from around the corner took about fifteen. He opened the door.
"Sorry!" he said surprised closing the door before checking the number on the door and realizing it was indeed his own place. He opened it again and this time he spotted Conner on a chair with a book.
"Hey" he said not looking away from his book, though simply to hide his smirk.
"You did this?"
"You said to settle in" he said putting his book on the coffee table Clark had completely forgotten existed, "is that from around the corner?" he said spotting the food.
"Yes," he said placing the food on the small table before looking around. Close to the small kitchen he spotted quite a few trash bags. He used his x-ray vision to check that everything was trash. He couldn't believe a teenager could be this through, especially when it came to cleaning.
"I haven't eaten this in ages," Conner said digging in before he noted his mentor was still looking around, "you okay?"
"Just surprised," he said before spotting on the kitchen counter a tin can filled with coins "this place wasn't even this clean when I moved in"
Conner shrugged starting to think he had gone too far. It really had been no issue for him.
Clark finally sat down to eat and turned the TV on where they watched the news as they ate. There was a short news piece of the gun traffickers Superman had just stopped.