"The stairs are getting more dangerous."
Martha rested a hand on her hip, the dish towel still clutched between her fingers. The smell of fermenting dough filled the air with warm sweetness.
"I only went up to grab a clean sheet. I'm not going to stop living because of the belly."
Emily pulled the chair out carefully, sitting upright, her eyes fixed on the rounded belly in front of her.
"But you should. Any effort now could cost a lot. The weight, the imbalance. This house has traps for someone carrying a life."
Silence fell gently. Only the tick-tock of the old clock filled the seconds between words.
Martha ran a hand over her belly, the gesture automatic, almost tender.
"You talk like someone who's been through this."
"I have."
Her gaze didn't waver. Her voice stayed steady. But inside, the void throbbed.
"So listen to someone who lost. Avoid strain. Stairs. Emotional shocks. Even the cold can be treacherous."
Martha smiled with a touch of sweetness and melancholy.
"If I listen to everything you say, you'll have me glued to this chair until the birth."
"If necessary."
The phrase came out softly, but there was iron hidden behind the silk.
An engine roared outside. Loud. Familiar.
Martha looked up, her hands pausing on the towel.
"Clark?"
The sound of tires on gravel confirmed it.
Emily stood as well but stayed two steps behind.
"Clark's coming?"
"Yes."
Martha quickly smoothed her hair and walked to the door, wiping her hands on her apron.
"By the way… I need to introduce you officially."
She opened the door, sunlight flooding in with a gust of fresh air.
Outside, the pickup truck came to a slow stop.
Clark turned off the engine with a calm flick of his wrist. Alicia smiled, a little anxious.
"This is the house."
"I remember. But last time I just… showed up looking for you."
"Now you came with me."
She turned slowly, her eyes seeking his.
"As your girlfriend?"
Clark hesitated.
"Yeah. But…"
She blinked.
"But?"
"Don't say that to my mom yet."
Alicia frowned.
"Why not?"
"She thinks I'm dating Diana. I don't want to complicate things with her right now."
"You still haven't told her?"
"No."
Alicia took a deep breath. Swallowed the unease.
"Fine."
"Thanks."
Clark got out first. The gravel crunched under his boots. Alicia followed, subtly tugging her blouse downward.
The door was already open. Martha stood in front, and just behind her, Emily, hands clasped.
"Clark!"
"Mom."
Martha stepped down one stair, smiling. But the smile wavered slightly when she saw Alicia beside him.
"Hi, Alicia…"
"Hi, Mrs. Kent."
Clark noticed the slight pause in his mother's gaze.
But before any silence could turn awkward, Martha turned slightly and gestured to the woman beside her.
"Oh, this is Emily. She's helping around the house. Today was her first day."
Emily stepped forward. Her light dress swayed in the breeze. Her eyes steady.
"Pleasure to meet you, Clark."
Clark extended his hand.
And the world… exploded in silence.
—
Her hand touched his.
And in that instant, everything screamed inside his mind.
'They're laughing at me. They think I made up the baby. But I saw. I felt him. I still feel him. And now these men… this boy… all trying to take what's mine. But I won't let them. No. If he threatens the baby, I'll end him too. One touch. Just one. And he'll turn to ashes. Like that cab driver. The one in the taxi. He screamed. He shouldn't have screamed. No one's going to scream at me again. Never again.'
Clark's heart stopped for a second. His eyes locked onto hers, and the Speed Force… activated.
Time froze.
The wind stopped. Sound was snuffed out as if someone had yanked the wires of reality.
Martha stood still, her lips parted mid-word. Alicia was frozen on the step, leaning forward. Emily, her hand still extended, touching his.
Clark stepped back.
His speed was now the only thing moving.
'You killed the cab driver.'
'With a touch.'
'You believe my mom's baby is yours.'
'You'll try to kill anyone who gets close.'
He circled Emily slowly, studying every inch of the woman before him.
Her hair, tied up hastily.
Her shoulders, raised with silent tension.
The hand that had touched his. The weapon.
'If you touch my mom…'
Clark closed his eyes for a second.
'Jor-El.'
[Yes, Kal-El.]
'This woman. She has a lethal power. A touch that turns people to ashes.'
[Yes. Detected.]
'I want to take it from her. Now.'
[Power not identified as originating from meteor stones.]
'What do you mean?'
[It was not activated by Kryptonian radiation. It is not based on terrestrial mutation.]
'Then what is it?'
[Anomaly. Her genetic code was altered by another source. Possibly magical. Or another technology.]
'I can't take it?'
[Negative. Any attempt at forced removal would cause cellular collapse. And death.]
Clark took a deep breath.
'Her power could kill my mom… and the baby.'
[Yes.]
He opened his eyes.
'Then there's no choice.'
The light in his eyes shifted. The world stopped again, but this time… he accelerated beyond the visible line.
Clark reached out.
Two fingers touched Emily's wrist.
And in the next instant, they vanished like a golden flash slicing through time.
The air around them exploded in a silent vacuum.
When the world resumed, Emily was no longer there.
Alicia turned to the side.
"Clark?"
Martha clutched her belly.
"What happened?!"
Alicia blinked, her chest rising quickly.
"He's gone… he took her…"
Martha held her belly, her body slightly hunched.
"But… why?"
Alicia closed her eyes. Her voice came out low.
"She's dangerous, Mrs. Kent."
---
Kawatche Caves
The world returned in black.
The walls, covered in symbols, pulsed with a faint, greenish glow, as if the rock were breathing.
The silence was absolute. No wind. No time.
Emily knelt in the center of the chamber. Her hands still raised, as if searching for the touch that had vanished.
"Clark?"
The echo of her own voice answered with a delay.
She blinked several times. The floor beneath her knees was cold, uneven. Living stone. The air smelled of ancient earth and dry humidity.
"What is this place?"
The words came out trembling, as if they didn't want to exist there.
She turned in slow circles, her wide eyes scanning the walls filled with inscriptions.
"This isn't the farm."
Panic came in waves. Small at first. Then stronger.
"You… brought me where?"
Clark stood still, a few meters ahead, wrapped in a silence that seemed not to belong to this world. The faint light barely touched his face.
"How… how did we get here? I didn't even see… you move."
Emily staggered to her feet. Her breathing quickened.
"You did something to me. It was like… a jump. Like the whole world turned to smoke and… and now I'm trapped here with you."
She took a step back.
"Clark, what are you?"
Clark finally spoke. His voice was low, firm.
"Someone who saw what you carry."
Emily frowned. The trembling in her hands intensified.
"What are you talking about?"
Clark stepped forward. The sound of his boot against the stone rang like contained thunder.
"I read your mind, Emily."
Emily froze.
"You… what?"
"When you touched me. I saw everything."
The words came like blades. Dry. Inescapable.
"I saw the cab driver turn to ashes. I saw what you wanted to do to Ben. I saw you looking at my mom with that plan in the back of your eyes."
Emily staggered again. Her lips parted, but no words came.
"You think my mom's baby is yours."
"He is!"
Her voice erupted, desperate, shattering the silence of the walls.
"I felt it! I… I dreamed of him before I even knew she was pregnant. I heard the crying. I felt the warmth. He called to me, Clark. He called me!"
Clark didn't move.
"No one called you."
"You don't understand!"
She took two steps forward, her eyes now brimming with tears.
"That baby… he's my second chance! Life took everything from me, but it gave me this. I… I lost before, but now it's different. Now I have him. And no one's going to take him from me."
Clark stared at her face without blinking.
"If you touch her… she dies. And the baby too."
Emily squeezed her eyes shut. Tears fell quickly, but they didn't soften what came next.
"Then kill me."
The whisper slipped through her teeth.
"If you won't let me have him, then kill me."
Clark looked at her for a long time. His eyes burned under the greenish glow of the Kawatche symbols.
"You think this is about justice? That it's just a choice between you or her?"
Emily raised her face, trembling.
"I just wanted to be a mother. I just wanted… not to be so alone."
Clark took another step.
"You killed someone, Emily. Burned their body with a touch. You would've done the same to my brother if you thought he was a threat."
"I just wanted to protect."
"You want to control. And when you can't, you destroy."
The anger faded from her eyes for a moment. Only emptiness remained.
"I tried to be normal. I swear. I tried. I took the pills. I smiled in the right places. I prayed. Do you believe in prayer, Clark?"
Clark stayed silent.
"I prayed… for years… for God to give me a child. A baby. And then one day I saw your mom pregnant… and I knew. I knew it was Him answering."
She fell to her knees, her shoulders collapsing as if broken from within.
"I'm not a monster… just… just the wrong one in everyone else's story."
Clark closed his eyes.
'Jor-El.'
[Yes, Kal-El.]
'What do I do with her?'
[You need to build the Fortress. You need a secure location. To contain… study… understand anomalies like this.]
'She's a danger now.'
[Yes.]
'I can't let her go free. And I can't lock her here forever.'
[You will have to decide.]
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