Clark sat on the porch steps.
Jonathan stood by the railing. Arms crossed. His face was tired.
"You wanted to talk," Jonathan said.
"Yeah. I wanted you to become supernateral"
Jonathan sat down beside him. Heavy. Slow.
"You want to make us like you."
"Not like me. Different power, it can make you live longer."
"More."
"Healthier. Stronger. Longer life."
Jonathan looked at the fields. Dark gold under the moon.
"And what do we give up?"
...
"Nothing," Clark said. "Aaron's parents did it. They're fine. His dad is now healthy like teenager. His mom is also they both have perfect human body. But they're still them."
"Still them," Jonathan repeated.
"Clark." Jonathan's voice dropped. "Son. I've spent fifteen years hiding what you are. Protecting you. Keeping this family normal. And now you want me to become something else?"
"For you. For Ma. So you don't—" Clark stopped.
"So we don't what?"
...
Martha came out. Wiping her hands on a towel.
"I heard," she said.
"Ma—"
"Clark. Sweetheart. We love you. More than anything. But we don't want this."
"Why not?"
"Because we chose this life," Jonathan said. "The farm. The quiet. Normal. We chose it before you came. We chose it after."
"And if something happens to you? If you get sick? If you—"
"Then that's what happens to humans," Martha said. "We live. We age. We go. That's the deal."
"It's a bad deal."
"It's our deal."
Clark stood up. His hands were fists.
"Clark—"
"You don't understand."
"Then help us understand."
"I can finally give you something back. All these years you protected me. Hid me. Fed me. Loved me. And I can give you more years. More health. And you say no?"
Jonathan stood. Put a hand on Clark's shoulder.
"Son. You don't owe us anything."
"I owe you everything."
"No. You owe us nothing. That's what being parents means."
...
Silence.
Martha stepped forward. Kissed Clark's forehead.
"We're not saying no to hurt you. We're saying no because we're happy. Right now. Like this."
Clark looked at both of them. Angry. But the anger was cracking. Sadness underneath.
"I just wanted to keep you safe."
"We know," Jonathan said. "Now come with me. There's something you need to see."
...
The storm cellar.
Under the barn. Hidden. Locked.
Jonathan pulled the chain. The trapdoor lifted. Dust floated in the dim light.
"What's down there?" Clark asked.
"Something I should have shown you sooner."
They climbed down. Martha stayed above.
In the corner. Under a tarp. A shape.
Jonathan pulled the tarp away.
The pod was small. Silver. Smooth. Symbols carved into the metal. Symbols that glowed faint blue.
Clark stepped closer.
"Is this..."
"Your ship. The one you came in."
...
Clark touched the metal.
The symbols flared bright.
His head snapped back. Pain behind his eyes. Images flooded in.
Red sun. Tall spires. A woman's face. Blonde hair. Eyes like his. A man's voice. Deep. Commanding. Explosions. Fire. A planet cracking.
Jor-El.
Lara.
Krypton.
He fell to his knees.
...
Jonathan caught him. "Clark! Clark!"
The visions stopped.
Clark gasped. Sweat on his face. Tears he didn't understand.
"I saw... people. A man. A woman. Their faces."
"Your parents," Jonathan said quietly. "Your birth parents."
"She was beautiful. She was..."
His voice broke.
Jonathan held him.
...
Later.
Clark sat on the cellar floor. The pod still glowing.
"There's more," he said. "Inside the ship. A map. Coordinates. Something is calling me."
"Calling you how?"
"I don't know. But it's active. It's been waiting."
Jonathan looked at the pod. The symbols. The glow.
"What are you going to do?"
"I need to show Aaron."
...
Clark flew to Aaron's house. Fast. No hiding.
Aaron was on the porch. Saw Clark's face.
"What happened?"
"My parents said no."
"I know."
"But that's not why I'm here. Come with me."
...
They stood in the cellar. Aaron studied the pod.
His serpent stirred. It recognized something. Not Kryptonian. Older. Deeper.
"The symbols," Aaron said. "Do you understand them?"
"No. But I feel them."
Aaron touched the pod. The symbols pulsed brighter. The serpent absorbed a faint trace of energy.
The pod activated.
Holographic light burst from the metal. Star patterns. Planets. Lines connecting systems. A galaxy map.
Clark stepped back. "It's never done that before."
"It responded to you. And... maybe to me."
They watched the map spin. Stars rotated. Then one point glowed brightest.
Earth. A location. The Arctic.
"There," Clark said. "That's where it's pointing."
"What is there?"
"A ship. Buried in ice. I saw it in the vision. A Kryptonian ship."
...
They copied the map. Symbols. Coordinates. Everything.
Clark looked at Aaron. "Did you want to go?"
"When?"
"Now."
Aaron looked at the map. At Clark. At the glowing pod.
"Yes."
...
They left before dawn.
Clark carried Aaron. One arm hooked under his shoulders. Flying low over the fields. Then up. Through clouds. North.
The world blurred beneath them.
Lake. Forest. Border. Tundra. Ice.
Aaron's eyes watered from the wind. His body was cold. His serpent provided heat. The vampire blood kept him alive.
But Clark never slowed.
Eight hours.
They crossed into white. Endless white. The Arctic.
...
Clark descended.
Below them, an ice shelf. Massive. Ancient. And on it, vehicles. Tents. Men in thick jackets moving like ants.
"Bro. I think there is a ship inside this glacier. And it's calling me."
Clark's x-ray vision activated. Through the ice. Deep. Deep.
Steel. Massive. A shape buried for millennia.
"There."
Aaron looked at the camp below. Soldiers. Scientists. Equipment.
"Someone else found it first."
"They're pulling it out."
They landed behind a ridge. Hidden. Watching.
A crane groaned. Metal cables strained. From a hole in the ice, the nose of a ship was emerging.
Kryptonian design. Same symbols as the pod.
...
Clark stared at it. The ship pulsed in his vision. Green. Then gold. Then...
"It's calling me," Clark whispered. "It knows I'm here."
"We can't go down there. Too many people."
"I know."
"But we will. Later. When the time is right."
Clark nodded. But his eyes never left the ship.
...
They camped behind the ridge. Small fire. Clark's heat vision lighting the kindling.
"You okay?" Aaron asked.
"No. Yes. I don't know."