By Supergirl6512428@cs.com
Rated: PG-13
Submitted: February 2002
Summary: Clark's daughter Lisa has a mystery illness. Will Clark be able to help her in time to save her life?
Author's notes: This is my 3 fanfic and I want to know what you guys think about it, so please don't hesitate to email me at: supergirl6512428@cs.com
***
"Lisa, your grades are dropping and you're skipping school. Now tell us what's going on!" Clark said across the dinner table as he held a note from Lisa's school that she was failing school.
Lisa played with her food and Lois barked, "Answer your father!"
Lisa looked at Lois straight in the eye and said, "Nothings going on, okay. So I'm failing a couple of things, what is the big deal!"
"What's the big deal? Lisa, you're failing every subject!"
"Well, sorry if school isn't my thing, and sorry that I'm not perfect."
"We're not asking you to be perfect. We're asking you to do your best, and, Lisa, this isn't," Clark said and he put the note on the table.
Lisa couldn't take it anymore. She had to get out of this somehow and left the table and went into her room. Lisa plopped herself onto her bed and started to cry. If they only knew the truth about everything, they would understand. But Lisa couldn't say it herself because they would surely kill her.
***
The next day Lisa walked down the hall and saw a group of kids that she hoped she wouldn't see. But before Lisa could go the other way one of the jocks put his arm around her and said, "Hey, Kent, how was your locker? I hope it was comfortable."
There was laughter from the other boys and Lisa just went to her next class and was surprised to Clark behind the desk. Lisa smiled and whispered, "What are you doing here?"
Clark smiled and said, "It's for a story."
Lisa nodded and went to her desk but was terrified to think that Clark might find out what was going on with her. The class went smoothly and the bell rang for lunch, the one period that Lisa hated. Lisa sat down at a table and didn't even want to look at food, just knowing the jocks would make fun of her and call her fat.
Lisa saw them coming up to her and Lisa saw Clark coming out of the lunch line with a face on about the way the food looked. Clark then caught the fearful eyes of Lisa and saw the group of boys around her and came up and said, "Hey guys what's the problem?"
One of the boys smiled and said, "Oh nothing, Mr. Kent. Just saying hi to your daughter, that's all." Clark had a gut feeling there was more to it but took the excuse.
Clark was sitting at his desk and heard a thud against the door and someone yelling and a locker slam closed. Clark shrugged it off until he heard a small cry of someone. Clark walked out of the room and closer to the noise and saw it was from a locker. Clark x-rayed the locker and saw Lisa in it. "Lisa? Honey, are you ok?" Lisa sniffed back more tears and said in the hollow locker, "Yeah, don't worry, dad." Clark smiled and said, "Honey what's the combination?"
"7-23-10"
With a 'click' Clark opened the locker and saw Lisa all beaten up. "Honey, what happened?"
Lisa clammed up and said, "Nothing, really."
"Lisa, you're black and blue head to toe. Now tell me what happened?"
"NOTHING! Can we please just go home?"
Clark nodded and helped Lisa up and saw the group of boys at the lunch table walk by laughing and snickering. Clark couldn't figure out why Lisa was shutting him and Lois out of her life but Clark was going to figure it out.
***
That night Lisa cried her self to sleep.
Clark lay in the bed next to Lois and said, "I don't get it at all."
Lois held his hand and said, "What happened?"
Clark shook his head and said, "I heard something but didn't think it was anything until I found her in a locker."
Lois looked at the ceiling and said, "Well maybe if we let her breathe a little maybe she will tell us."
"Maybe," Clark said as he turned out the lights and went to sleep.
Lois was awaken by a 'motherly feeling' that was at the pit of her stomach. Lois walked downstairs and saw the TV on to the news about Superman saving a small town in Italy from a volcano. Lois smiled to think the smell of that smoke still had not come out of his suit. Lois then saw Lisa crying on the couch. Lois walked over to Lisa and said, "Honey, what's wrong?"
Lisa sniffed back the tears and said, "I just have a headache."
"We out of aspirins?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, well, go upstairs and try to sleep it off, okay?" Lois said as she kissed Lisa on the head.
Lisa nodded and headed for the stairs and stopped mid way and dropped to her knees crying in pain. Lois ran to Lisa and Lois could hear Clark fall out of bed and race downstairs and Clark bent down to Lisa and said, "Lisa, honey, what's wrong?"
Lisa held her head and said in a whimper, "My head, it hurts so much…" Lisa all of a sudden fainted from the pain.
Clark picked her up and turned into Superman and said, "I'm going to bring her to Star Labs" and flew out the window. All the time they flew to Star Labs Clark's heart was in his throat not knowing what was happening to his daughter.
Dr. Klein looked up from his papers and saw Superman rounding the corner holding a teenager that was knocked out. Dr. Klein couldn't believe that he actually saw a tear fall from Superman's eye as he said, "You have to help her."
Dr. Klein nodded and said, "What happened?"
Superman tried not to let his voice shake when he said, "I'm not sure. My wife was downstairs with her and my daughter was complaining of a headache. I mean, Dr. Klein, she was on her knees crying in pain."
Dr. Klein nodded and said, "What's her name?"
Superman thought quickly and said, "Huh… Super girl."
"Super girl. Super girl. Super girl, wake up for us," Dr. Klein said as he shone a little light in her eye.
"Superman, why don't you go wait in the waiting room while I work on her."
"Can't I stay?"
"It would help me if you just waited, trust me," Dr. Klein said. Superman nodded and walked the long walk to the waiting room to see Ultra woman waiting in the waiting room. Superman smiled to think Lois looked great in a super hero suit, but saw the tears roll down her eyes and Superman embraced her with a warm huge.
***
"Dad?" Lisa mumbled as she opened her eyes and saw Dr. Klein looking down at her.
"Welcome back, Super girl."
Lisa was confused and was going to protest the name when Superman and Ultra woman walked in and Lisa caught on. Superman then said, "What happened to her, Dr. Klein."
Dr. Klein said, "Stress."
"Stress?" they all said at once.
"Yes. Many times the body has no other way to deal with it other than faint. Super girl, have you been under any stress lately?"
Lois jumped in, knowing Lisa would lie, and said, "Yes, she has been having some trouble with kids at school."
Dr. Klein nodded and said, "Well, that explains the black and blue eyes. Listen, if this happens again just call me."
They nodded and they all walked out hand in hand. As Superman was flying them home, he said to Lisa, "Lisa, can you tell us what's going on?"
Lisa then said, "Nothing, really. I just get picked on, that's all. It's nothing big and, Dad, if you say anything to the school…"
"Wait; why shouldn't he tell the school?"
"Because he'll make it worse!"
Superman landed at the window and Lisa went to bed.
***
The next day Clark and Lisa walked into school when Lisa saw her friend Jay. "Jay!" Lisa said as she waved and ran to him. Clark saw that Jay dressed for a biker with the chains hanging from his pants and wearing black.
"Hey, Lisa. What happened to your eye? Don't tell me you got shoved into a locker again?" Lisa nodded and Jay then saw Clark walk into their English class and Jay and Lisa followed.
"Jay, this is my father, Clark Kent. Dad, this is Jay Daniel."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kent."
"Same here, Jay." Suddenly the bell rang and class filed into the class and Jay and Lisa sat down.
Suddenly as Clark was teaching the class Lisa started to get a headache again, but this time it was worse then the first one. Jay noticed Lisa's pain and whispered, "Lisa, are you ok?" Lisa tried to smile and nodded. Suddenly Lisa saw a flash of white light and was looking through the wall to the next class. The bell rang and the class ran out and Jay said, "Lisa, you sure you're okay?"
Lisa nodded and said, "Yeah, Jay, I'll see you at the next class. I have to talk to my dad." Jay shrugged and left and Lisa said, still looking through the wall, "Hey, Dad."
"Yeah, Lisa?"
"Huh. I can see through the wall."
"What do you see?" Clark said as he lowered his glasses.
"A teacher in a empty classroom."
Suddenly Lisa saw another flash and the vision was gone and Clark smiled ear to ear and said, "That's what the headache must be from. Okay, listen, go to your next class and if it happens again call your mom to drive you home, okay?"
Lisa nodded and went to her next class.
***
The day went on and Lisa didn't have any more headaches the whole day. Jay and Lisa were walking down the hall when the group of jocks cornered Lisa and said, "So, Lisa, ready for the locker?"
"Leave her alone, Jack."
"Shut up, Jay! This isn't your fight; it's hers."
"but if you mess with her you mess with me," Jay said as the group closed in on Jay and Jack pulled Lisa into the locker and shut the door. All Lisa could hear was light thuds of Jay being kicked and punched to the ground. Lisa started to cry and suddenly she heard Jay get to his feet and open the locker. Lisa jumped into Jay's arms and cried.
Clark heard the rumble of a motorcycle and saw Lisa get off the bike and walk into the house. Clark looked at her and knew what happened Clark didn't have to say anything, Lisa knew he felt sorry.
That night Lois and Clark were going out for dinner. Clark was still concerned about Lisa, but Lois said it was her own fight and in a way she was right, it wasn't just other people that Lisa was fighting but she was also fighting herself to figure everything out.
"Will you be okay, Lisa?" Clark said as he fixed his tie.
Lisa smiled and said, "Yeah, don't worry about it. Have a good time and Jay is coming over so you better not send the 'big guy'; got it?" Clark nodded with a smile and he and Lois left.
In a couple of minutes, Jay came with pizza in his hand and they sat down to a movie. Lisa saw the grease pouring off it and pushed it to the side with disgust. Jay smiled and said, "Yeah, okay, so it's not a salad but you got to eat."
Lisa smiled and said, "No I got something else. I hope you don't mind." Jay nodded and Lisa grabbed a salad from the refrigerator.
Jay shook his head. This wasn't the Lisa he knew. The Lisa he knew would be chugging sodas with the boys and smashing the can over her head, and not eating green vegetables — not like there was anything wrong with that. Jay didn't get into it and just watched the movie with her, when there was a noise at the door and Jay whispered, "Stay here." And went outside to the front yard.
***
The sound of laughter filled the porch and the front door open and panic filled the house as she heard feet running as fast as they could. One was much faster then the other.
"Lois! In the kitchen!" Clark yelled as he knelt down to Lisa.
"Lisa. Lisa. Lisa," Clark said as he gently tapped her on the cheek. Lisa woke up to the view of the kitchen ceiling and was a little confused where she was. Then it all came to her like a brick.
Lisa scrambled to her feet and said, in a panic, "Where is Jay?"
"Clark! Come over here!" Lois yelled from the living room. Lisa walked in to see the house a total mess. Clark and Lisa saw Lois knelt down to Jay who was tied up.
Clark untied him and said, "Jay, what happened?"
Jay said, "Well, I heard a noise and went to the front yard to see what it was and didn't find anyone. I came back into the house and Lisa was complaining that her eyes felt like they were on fire, so I brought her to the kitchen when they got us from behind. I didn't see who it was."
Clark had a good felling who it was, but focused his attention on Lisa and said, "You ok?"
Lisa nodded and Lois said, "Come on, Jay. I'll drive you home."
Lois and Jay left and Lisa and Clark started to pick up the mess. Lisa stopped and Clark noticed her pain and said, "Lisa?"
Lisa smiled and said, "I'm fine…" Suddenly Lisa's body jolted and a green laser shot out and sent Lisa into a wall.
Clark was in the path of the laser and was up against the wall himself and trying not to cry out in pain so he wouldn't scare her. Clark then shot his lasers at Lisa's and directed it to a mirror; Clark heard the door open and Clark yelled, "LOIS GET DOWN!" Lois dropped to the floor to see a laser pierce a small hole in the door. Clark and Lisa dropped to the floor and Clark mumbled to Lisa, "You ok?"
Lisa rubbed her eyes and said, "Yeah, are you?"
Clark smiled and said, "Yeah."
Lois helped them both up, and said to Lisa, "Now go to bed and we'll go to Star Labs in the morning, okay?"
Lisa nodded and gave Lois a kiss and said to Clark, "Sorry."
Clark hugged her and said, "Honey, this isn't your fault. Now get some sleep."
***
The next morning Lisa woke up to see her pillows below her. Lisa blinked a couple of times and saw she was floating! The door opened and Lisa fell and broke her bed. Superman smiled and said, "Come on, we have a early appointment."
Lisa put on her Super girl costume just until Martha could make her a real one. Lisa walked down the stairs and Superman scooped her up and kissed Lois and said, "We won't be long." Lois nodded and they flow away.
In Star Labs Lisa sat on the examining table waiting for Dr. Klein to come and Superman noticed Lisa was a little wary of everything. Superman said, "What's wrong?"
Lisa smiled and said, "Dad, know how grandpa always said that scientists would dissect us like a frog?"
"Yeah," Superman said with a smile.
"Well, I feel like I'm the frog stuck in the jar."
Superman held Lisa's hand and said, "Now listen to me L… Super Girl I'm sure it's nothing, okay? It's probably your powers coming, that's all."
"I hope you're right, dad."
Suddenly Dr. Klein came in and looked through his papers and said, "Superman, can you tell me if Super girl's mother is human or Kryptonian?"
Superman shifted uneasily and said, "Well, huh, she is Kryptonian."
"Okay then, we can rule that out," Dr. Klein said to himself.
"Rule out what?" Superman said, a little worried.
Dr. Klein realized that he was talking out loud and said, "Oh well, I had a theory. It's just a theory so it many not be true. But if her mother was human then that can explain why Super girl is in so much pain when her powers develop."
"Wait, what would being human or Kryptonian matter?"
"Well, a human body would clearly not be able to handle the powers and if Super girl's mother is human then Super girl would be half human and half Krypton."
"So she wouldn't develop all the powers?"
"No, she would but it would be extremely painful for her. But the mother is a Kryptonian, right?"
"Right," Lisa and Superman said in one voice. They walked out of the room with more questions than answers. Superman's insides were in one big knot. It was his fault that his daughter was going through this pain… If Clark were a normal human with a normal life, Lisa's life would be normal.
Lisa looked at Superman and said, "Dad, are we going to tell Dr. Klein that mom is, well…human?"
Superman shrugged and said, "I'm going to have to talk about it with your mother."
***
Clark dropped Lisa at school so she wouldn't waste the day, and rushed to the Daily Planet to tell Lois what had happened. Clark took Lois into the conference room and sat her down, and passed around the room trying to figure out how to word everything.
"Clark, what did Dr. Klein say?" Lois said, a little worried.
As Clark was about to answer, Jimmy barged in on them and said, "CK, Dr. Klein is on line 2."
"Can you ask him to leave a message, Jimmy, we're kind of in the middle of something?"
"Dr. Klein said it was urgent. Something about Super Girl," Jimmy said. Clark nodded and Jimmy left.
Clark hit the button and said, "Dr. Klein, it's Clark Kent. You're on the speaker phone. What is it?"
"Clark, I know you and Lois are close to Superman, so tell Superman to bring Super Girl back to the lab as quickly as possible." Dr. Klein and Clark hung up and Clark's heart was in his throat.
Clark rushed out and looked back at Lois who was still confused and said, " I'll explain later." Clark ran out of the Daily Planet and flew away.
***
Lisa stepped up to bat and one of the boys said, "MOVE IN, SHE CAN'T BAT FOR HER LIFE!" There was a laugh and Lisa bent her knees and the boy threw the ball and with a loud crack the ball was screaming in the air. Lisa smiled and ran to the bases and got a burning pain through out her body. Lisa kept running to home base when she couldn't take the pain anymore. Jay caught the ball and saw it was ripped to pieces and looked to Lisa who was lying on ground. Jay ran to her.
Then Superman flew over the field and saw her lying on the ground. Superman's stomach did a 360 to think she may be hurt. Superman pushed his way through the boys and picked her up and flew away. Lisa woke up from the warm air hitting her face and looked up and saw Superman a nervous wreck as he flow to Star Labs. Lisa smiled and said, "Hey, I was winning."
Superman shook his head to think that Lisa always tried to lighten the moment with a joke. As Superman landed a group of doctors took Lisa and a group of officers held Superman back. "Hey! Wait a second, where are you taking my daughter?"
None of the officers would answer. "HEY WAIT! DAD! DADDY!" Lisa screamed as the doctors took her.
Panic rushed through Superman as he lifted one of the officers and said, "Where are they taking her? I wont ask again!"
The officer choked as he said, "Some kind of test. Dr. Klein said not to have you there when they did it." Superman couldn't believe that Dr. Klein would do something without telling him.
***
Superman waited in the waiting room not knowing what was happening and had fights with the front desk on what was going on but even they didn't even now what was going on. Superman was getting tired emotionally as he put his face to his hand and said, "I'll ask you one more time before I jump over that desk and beat it out of you, what are they doing to my daughter?!"
Suddenly a red light flashed through the whole building and a voice came on the intercom, "Red alarm, red alarm, red alarm!"
Superman ran super speed to the problem and saw Lisa in a seizure. Superman went into the room and fell to his knees in pain; Superman looked around and saw a case of Kryptonite open. Superman crawled over and shut it and looked at Lisa who had stabilized and sighed with relief and looked at the doctors and said angrily, "Who had this open?" No one answered and Superman got mad at the silence and tossed the lead box into the wall across the hall and yelled, "WHO LEFT THAT OPEN? I WANT ANSWERS!"
Dr. Klein walked forward and said, "I'm sorry, Superman, one of my colleagues was testing it and in the rush of everything forgot about it."
Superman looked at Dr. Klein and said sternly, "Then what were you doing to her that you couldn't tell me?"
"No one told you?" Dr. Klein said, confused.
"Tell me what?"
Dr. Klein looked at the staff angrily and said, "OUT!" The staff ran out of the room and Dr. Klein took Superman to where x-rays of Lisa were and said, "Superman, do you see what I see?"
Superman looked at the x-ray and said, "Not really."
Dr. Klein pointed to a small mass on Lisa's brain and said, "That is a tumor and that's why it's so painful for Super girl to develop her powers."
Superman's heart sank. It was something more then what he thought. Superman sat down, his knees weakening, and said, "Can you operate?"
"We're not sure, but I would bring friends and family down because she may not make it. I'm sorry, Superman."
"Dr. Klein nothing can get out about this or my daughter's life will be in more risk," Superman said. Dr. Klein nodded and Superman called Lois, "Hey honey, listen… no, we're still here… no, everything's not okay… Listen, just come by the lab as Ultra woman okay? Okay, love you, honey."
***
Lois walked in and went toward Superman and now something was terribly wrong. Lois' insides were in knots; her heart pounded as she got closer. It seemed Superman couldn't wait for her any longer and met her half way and collapsed into her arms. Automatically without even knowing what happened, Lois started to cry. Superman led her to the seat and pulled one next to her and said, "Honey, Super girl is really sick."
"What happened?"
"Well, first Dr. Klein thought that it was because she was half human and that's why it was so painful for her to develop the powers."
"Okay, so how are they going to help her?"
"That's not it."
"There is more?"
"A lot. You see, when Dr. Klein called Clark to tell me to bring her back to the lab, I went to the school and found her passed out on the baseball field…"
Lois put her hand to Clark's face and said, "Honey, what's wrong with her?"
A tear slid down both of their eyes and Clark said, "Dr. Klein found a tumor on her brain and they don't know if they can operate." Lois' heart shattered and Clark wrapped his strong arms around her and they suddenly saw a flash of a camera go off in the window.
"Please, Superman, don't do anything you'll regret!" Lois said as Superman flew out the door. The reporter ran for his dear life and sped away before Superman could get out there. When Superman did he found dozens of reporters around him like sharks waiting for their prey. Questions were being asked and all Superman could do was run back in and happened to see Dr. Klein walk by.
Superman lost all control and lifted Dr. Klein and said, "I thought I told you no reporters!" Dr. Klein saw the anger in his eyes and said, as he swallowed hard, "Superman I don't know what you're talking about!"
Superman lightly shoved Dr. Klein toward the window and said, "Those! How did they know!"
"Superman!" Superman turned around and saw Ultra woman run toward him and saying, "Come on, please let him go. We have known Dr. Klein for years — do you think he'd do that?"
Superman's eyes got softer and Superman let go of Dr. Klein and said, "Whatever they ask, I don't want you to tell them the real reason she's here, got it?"
Dr. Klein nodded and walked away. Ultra woman held his hand and whispered, "Why don't you air out your brain for a couple of hours why I call our parents, okay?"
Clark hugged Lois again and said, "I'm not leaving."
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me, I just get so mad because I know that by tomorrow everyone in town will know and if they do…"
Lois smiled and said, "You worry too much," and kissed him. Clark's body loosened for a moment he felt himself and not a father who was a wreck and didn't know what he was doing.
***
Martha put a blanket over the Man of Steel who was sleeping like a baby. Sam and Ellen were talking to Lois, and by the look of it Lois didn't seem thrilled. Jonathan was trying to keep his mind off things and started to play checkers with himself. Suddenly Superman jumped out of his sleeping state and Lois sat next to him and said, "I forgot how uncomfortable this suit is."
Superman smiled and his attention was spaced out and he said out loud, "Super girl?" then suddenly ran super speed to Lisa's and saw the dark room untouched.
Superman walked around and heard something drop. "Who's there?" Superman said as he got to Lisa's side to protect her if he had too. There was no answer and Superman saw the window open and looked around and closed it.
"Daddy?" a young, scared voice cried out in the dark room. Superman turned on the light to see Lisa, a little confused about where she was.
Superman held her hand and said, "I'm right here, cupcake."
"What happened?"
Superman looked at his feet and said, "Cupcake, know how you thought that I could save you from every thing when you were little?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I couldn't save you from this and I'm so sorry."
"Dad, what did Dr. Klein say?"
"They found a tumor on your brain and that's why your powers were so painful. Honey, I'm so sorry."
Lisa looked at the ceiling, trying not to cry and said, "Can they operate?"
"We don't know yet."
Suddenly they heard Dr. Klein and the rest of the family come in and Dr. Klein said, "I thought Super girl should hear this too. I've done test after test and they all point to Super girl was poisoned that made this tumor."
Superman scratched his head and said, "So the tumor is filled with poison?"
"Yes, and operating is out of the question," Dr. Klein said.
Martha hung on to Lois, who was in tears. Jonathan and Sam hung on to Ellen and Superman could only hold Lisa's hand with no emotion and said, "It's those thugs from school isn't it? Those kids poisoned you. I'm going to kill them!"
***
Lisa held Clark's hand and Clark bent over to hug her when he heard something drop. Superman shot up like a watchdog and went around the room and heard the nervous breathing of someone under a desk. Superman dragged the man out from the desk and said, "YOU!"
It was Jon Smith, a reporter from the Star magazine. He had been on Superman ever since he came to Earth and had been a thorn in Clark's side. "Why can't you just leave my family alone? Why can't you?" Superman said as he shoved Jon into a wall and started to punch him, not because he felt mad that he would stoop that low to get a story but that his little girl was going to die. Somehow Jonathan and Sam got Superman off of Jon and Superman was in such a rage he didn't even know what he was saying. "Let me go! This jerk doesn't deserve to live! They're all the same — do anything to get a story! LET GO OF ME!" Lois went in front of Clark and Clark collapsed into her arms and they both dropped to the ground crying. Clark suddenly got to his feet and took Jon's camera and notes and burnt them with his lasers and said, "I'll be out."
Lisa looked over to him and said, "But, Dad, I need you here."
Clark's soft brown eyes met up with Lisa's worried eyes and Superman said, "I'll be back, trust me." Supermen then flew away.
***
Superman beat the junk out of an old satellite that passed him by; then suddenly he had an idea. He flew to New Krypton and went to the kingdom were he was stopped by guards. Superman then said, "Listen, I'm Kal-el and I need to speak with Ching and Zara."
The guard let him in and Zara and Ching when in the middle of dinner when a guard came up to them and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but there is some one here for you."
"Who?" Zara said.
"Kal-el."
"Well, show him in, what are you waiting for?" The guard showed Clark in and Zara and Ching couldn't believe what they saw, the Man of Steel worn down and was crying at one point.
"Clark, what is it?" Ching said.
"I need one of your best doctors on Krypton; you see, my daughter is sick."
"Do you know what made her sick?"
"Some type of poison and it formed into a tumor. Please, you have to help me," Clark said.
Zara and Ching got up and walked Clark to a small clinic and Zara said, "Clark this is Sara, one of the best doctors here."
Sara shook hands with Clark and said, "How can I help you?" Clark told Sara what happened and Sara said, "I can examine her, but I can't promise you anything."
Clark nodded and they flew down to earth. Star Labs was swarming with reporters. Clark and Sara pushed their way through and into the room where Lisa was. Sara had heard of the famous stories of the young Krypton boy that was raised by humans but never thought it was true until she saw Martha and Jonathan. Clark smiled and said, "Everyone, this is Sara. She will be helping you, sweetheart."
Lisa smiled and said, "Hi, I'm Lisa, but for now just call me Super girl."
Sara nodded and then said, "Do we know what kind of poison is in her?"
Before Clark could answer, Dr. Klein walked in and Superman introduced Sara to him. Dr. Klein said, "Well, Sara, maybe you know what this means."
Dr. Klein gave Sara a piece of paper and Sara's eyes widened and she said quickly, "Let me see that x-ray." Dr. Klein gave her the x-rays and Sara said, "I want another one done on her now."
"What for?"
"Just do it, please. She may not have much time," Sara said as she pushed Lisa out of the room with Dr. Klein and then looked back at Clark and said, "Don't worry; I'll explain later." She then went into the x-ray room when Sara saw that Lisa's temperature was rising again and knew what was happening. Before Dr. Klein's eyes he saw the tumor had grown. Sara said, "We have to operate."
"It's too risky, isn't it?"
"Dr. Klein, what are we supposed to do? Let her die?"
"No, but what kind of poison are we talking about?"
"On Krypton we call it Phantom venom. It just grows over the brain until there is nothing left. Superman's father died because of this and I'm not going to let his daughter die from it," Sara said as they retrieved Lisa and brought her back to the room. Sara then said to the family "We can operate but she may not make it, she has a 8% chance of making it."
Before Clark or Lois could say anything, Lisa said, "I'll do it."
"Okay then, tomorrow we will start and I'll bring in kryptonite now to weaken your skin."
"Ok," Lisa said with a small shake in her voice.
Sara then left to get the kryptonite and Clark said, "Honey, are you sure?"
"Dad, I don't think I have any other options."
Suddenly Sara came in with a lead suit on so it wouldn't hurt her and said, "I'm sorry, but we have to ask you guys to leave."
Clark hesitated to leave but Lisa smiled and said "Dad, I'll be okay." With that Clark gave her a kiss and left. The box opened and Lisa was overwhelmed with pain… Pain that she never felt; the one pain Clark tried to save Lisa from and now it was the only thing that would save her.
***
Star Labs was so busy with Super Girl that they didn't realize another reporter had slipped through the cracks and into a room across from Lisa's. The reporter saw Superman and the rest of them go into the waiting room so Lisa could get some sleep and the reporter went into the room and started to take pictures. He couldn't believe what he saw. 'What a scoop!' the man thought to himself.
Suddenly his worst nightmare came true, his camera started to rewind and Lisa said in pain, "Who's there?" The man stopped like a deer in headlights and didn't answer. Lisa then said, "I'll give you 10 seconds to leave before I call my dad, and trust me, he's not in the mood to make a statement to the press."
The man took Lisa's option and in a second Lisa heard the door close. The next morning Clark went to the vending machine to buy a cup of coffee and smiled at his reflection of a 5 o'clock shadow forming over his face. Clark then noticed the Daily Planet newspaper and saw the cover picture was of Lisa's hospital room. Clark searched frantically for the person's name who took the picture. 'Taken by: Jimmy Olsen.' Clark couldn't believe it Jimmy would stoop so low to do this to a friend, but Clark knew he would say something like, "Hey, this would put me on the map with Perry!"
Clark didn't have the strength to deal with that now and saw Sara wheeling Lisa into the operating room.
***
Martha looked at her worn-out son and daughter-in-law and said, "Guys, why don't you get some rest at home? We can stay here and call you if anything happens."
"Martha, are you sure?" Lois asked. Martha nodded and Lois and Clark gave them all hugs and left.
When Lois and Clark got to the house it seemed so…empty without Lisa. Clark smiled and thought he would finally be able to take a shower and sleep on a comfortable bed… Sleep, what a great sound. Once Clark's head was on the pillow he was out like a light. Lois on the other hand was downstairs and looking out the window. All of Lisa's problems were from that jerk Jack but couldn't figure out how he could get Phantom Venom from…
Wait a second! Jack's father was a colleague of Dr. Klein's!
Lois decided to let Clark sleep and slipped out the door. Lois Kent drove up to Star Labs and pulled Jimmy out of the mess of reporters and said, "Come on!"
"Lois, where are we going?" Jimmy said as he reloaded his camera.
"We're nailing this guy good."
"Who?"
"Don't worry about it. Just shut up and take pictures," Lois said. God must have been on her side that day, you could only guess who walked past her but Jack Jackson.
"JACK! Jack!" Lois said as she ran up to him.
Jack stopped and got white in his face and said, "Mrs. Kent, nice to see you."
"Same here, Jack. Can you tell me if your father works with a poison Phantom Venom?"
"Ummm… huh… I'm really not the one to be answering that. My dad should know that."
"Ok then…" Suddenly Lois' beeper went off and Lois said to Jimmy, "Jimmy go with the other reporters I got to do something!" Lois ran off.
Sara was waiting for Superman and Lois and they both ran down the hall with a knot in their heart and throat, not knowing what had happened. They got to the waiting room and Sara said, "We were working on Super girl with no problem… Until she started to arrest and her heart stopped and we tried to start it again… I'm sorry."
Clark's heart shattered he collapsed into his crying wife's arms. Clark rose his head and saw Dan Jackson walk by and said out loud, "Why didn't I see that?" and in a flash lifted Dan by the shirt and said in tears, "Last week Phantom venom was stolen here and you were working on it, weren't you!"
"Yes, but…"
"But you were the one who stole it, weren't you? You killed my daughter, didn't you?"
"No! I didn't!"
"Maybe this will change your mind!" Superman then brought Dan to the top floor and opened a window and hung Dan out the window and said, "I'll ask you again! Were you the one who killed my daughter?"
"NO! It was my son! He stole it and I know about it but didn't tell anyone because I didn't want him to get in trouble. Honest, that's the truth."
Superman pulled Dan back in and shoved him into the arms of the police and went to Lisa where she was silently at rest from all the pain… The pain that he had given her with his superpowers. Clark held her cold hand and cried and said, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
A tear hit Lisa's hand and they started to flood out of Clark like a waterfall, Suddenly Lisa's eye opened and she was looking around unsure of what happened and saw Clark crying. She never had seen Clark cry before, and mumbled "Daddy?"
Clark looked up with tears still rolling down his eyes and saw his pumpkin; his cupcake, his little girl was alive! Clark thought he was dreaming and said, "Cupcake?"
Lisa smiled and hugged him and right away Clark knew it was real. Clark then said, "Hang on right there."
"HONEY! ULTRA WOMAN!" Superman said as he flew into the waiting room, falling into the chairs in his excitement.
Lois helped him up and said, "Honey, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. She's alive! She's alive," Clark said as he spun Lois around.
Lois was so confused and said, "What are you talking about, honey?"
"Just come and look. She's alive!" Superman flew them to the room and they saw Lisa was sitting on the side of her bed. Lois could believe it and bust into the room and collapsed into Lisa's arms.
Sara came in and could believe her eyes. This was a medical miracle. Lisa was the first Kryptonian to ever survive the Phantom Venom. Sara then said, "Lisa I just want to take one more x-ray to make sure everything is okay."
Lisa nodded and she was wheeled away from her family once again. Superman then saw Dr. Klein walk past and said, "Dr. Klein I want to thank you so much. Without you my daughter would be dead right now and I want to apologize for my moodiness."
Dr. Klein smiled and said, "Superman don't worry. Emotions get the best of us and you already lost your father to it so I don't blame you getting upset like that."
***
Clark was confused about what Dr. Klein had said, knowing his father had died on Krypton when it blew up and not from the Phantom Venom. Sara came back in with a smile and said, "L… Super girl has a clean bill of health. She can go home."
Clark looked at Lois and said, "Honey, why don't you help Super girl get ready while I take Sara to Krypton."
Lois nodded and Clark and Sara walked out of Star Labs and flew away. Clark then said, "I can't thank you enough."
"It's okay, Clark, I was just doing my job."
Clark hesitated and then said, "Did you know my father?"
Sara knew this was going to come one of these days, and said, "Yeah, very well."
"Can you tell me how he really died?"
Sara stopped flying and said, "Well, he came to me after he got the symptoms of the Phantom Venom and I told him he was right, that he did have it. It was 10 days before Krypton blew up and he told me to gather a group of people, including Zara, and get away from Krypton. I trusted your father and took a couple of people and made New Krypton and Krypton blew up. You see, if it hadn't your father would have died from the Phantom Venom."
Clark couldn't believe it and said, "How did you know my father?"
They began to fly again and Sara said, "I'm his sister, Clark."
Again Clark was amazed he had someone living in his family and said, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were a wreck with Lisa and I didn't want you to lose it to know that your father was doomed by the same thing. But let me tell you, Clark, the day before me and your father and mother got in a fight about where to send you and he said earth was the best thing for you, I told him it was a waste of his time… But when I saw the love in Martha and Jonathan's eyes let me tell you it was the best thing your father could have ever done for you."
Clark and Sara stopped at the gates of Krypton and Clark gave her a hug and said, "Thank you again aunt Sara." Sara smiled and Clark left.
***
Lois and Clark sat on the couch with the fire going and a glass of wine. Lois placed her head on his shoulder and said, "Clark, I'm sorry."
Clark put his glass on the coffee table and looked at Lois and said, "Sorry about what?"
Lois played with her wine and said, "About your father."
Clark smiled and said, "At least Lisa didn't die from this thing, and so in a way he didn't either." Lois and Clark got closer and then worn out, tired lips met and Clark was renewed again to have Lois and Lisa in his life.
THE END