Chapter Text
The moment Clark stepped into the office, jacket slightly crooked and Styrofoam coffee cup in hand, he felt a pleased grin form on his face at the sight of the organized chaos before him. People shouted to each other from across the bullpen; at least two phones were ringing; somewhere, Perry was barking at someone over a typo. He moved towards his desk, whistling a bit, dropping his shoulder bag onto the back of his chair and settling in as his computer chugged to life with the haste of a sloth. Sipping coffee, he skimmed through the mountain of unread emails composed of follow-ups, notices from payroll, something from Cat flagged as urgent, and Perry’s usual reminders about deadlines.
He exhaled softly, cracked a few knuckles, then began the long and arduous process of replying to whoever actually looked like priority. Cat’s email got moved to “low urgency”. He replied to several sources about the reconstruction efforts near the bay, saved a PDF from Dr. Hamilton to be reviewed later, and began composing an email to STAR’s geology division about the still ongoing darkness shard research.
He glanced up from his monitor, watching some of his coworkers congregating near the coffee machine and the interns making a mad dash for the copier with piles of paperwork. The screens mounted every few feet were running some story about the cleanup effort near the bay and several other areas around the country from the effects of the shards. A chyron under the anchor’s face announced that the plants had been successfully destroyed in controlled burns, the groundwater reached safe levels again, and there was much progress being made to till the dead earth left behind in the impact zones and revive it.
Clark could feel the difference in the office, like a heavy weight had lifted. Nobody anxiously watched the skies, nor did they keep their eyes glued to the screens waiting for more alerts.
“Heya, Clark!”
He almost spilled coffee on himself as Jimmy came barreling towards him, eyes wide, clutching prints in hand. He shoved the prints in his face, practically vibrating with excitement.
“Uh, good morning!” Clark stammered, “What’s this?”
“Check it out!” he urged as Clark fumbled with the glossy paper. “These kids are great models.”
The first print was a ground shot looking up at the skyline, interrupted by three small figures holding hands and gliding midair, trailing golden sparks behind them. The next was of a sky child standing under a tree in Centennial Park, dandelion in hand, eyes glowing warmly in the shade.
“Wow.” Clark laughed at a shot of another caped kid napping in a little hammock strung between two trees. “These are really good!”
Jimmy preened. “I call this series ‘Urban Sprites,’” he said proudly, his hands doing a little wave midair for emphasis.
Clark winced, handing the prints back. “Might want to rework that title before you present these. You know how the boss is.”
Jimmy groaned, rolling his eyes before walking away, muttering, “I swear, I changed it four times already…” Clark watched him go with a smile.
The moment of peace lasted exactly twelve seconds.
The next thing he knew, he heard the telltale hurried click-clack of Cat’s heels on the floor before she rounded the corner and made a beeline for his desk. Her face was caught between irritation and anxiety, her eyes flaring behind her winged glasses, her mouth pressed in a thin line.
“Kent,” she said in a clipped tone, her heels clattering to a stop at his desk, her razor-sharp eyeliner enhancing the dagger stare she was giving him.
He froze, smile wobbling a bit. Yeah, probably should’ve responded to her email first.
“’Mornin’, Miss Grant!” he replied cheerily.
“Don’t you ‘mornin’’ me!” she huffed. “I’ve been trying to get your attention all week! Did you even read my last email?”
He swallowed hard, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh…yeah, I had a look. Something about sky kids?”
She made an incredulous noise. “Yeah, ‘something about sky kids!’ That’s all people want to talk about now! It’s what they want to read! And you know what the problem with that is, Kent?”
He squinted at her, gauging how best to proceed when she was looking ready to throw him out the window. “Um, no?” Jesus H. Christ.
She jabbed a manicured nail at him. “The problem is I can’t get a hold of one!” she exclaimed. “And since you’re apparently the expert on these guys, I need you to tell me exactly how to get even one to not run away when they see me coming!”
Clark blinked. “Oh, that’s it? Well, there’s that guide I made a couple days ago about befriending them—”
Cat shook her head. “I followed it. Did everything. The last one I tried walking up to looked at me and took off. Literally! How am I supposed to ask them about what drives their fashion choices, what food they like, or what they do for fun if they keep flying off?”
She took a breath, screwed her eyes shut, posture going rigid.
“I cannot believe I am about to say this to you of all people,” she grumbled, then clasped her hands together in front of him. “Please teach me your wisdom!”
“Um, well,” he stammered, frantically sifting through everything he knew. “You could just…try giving them something? Doesn’t have to be big or special, they’ll accept just about anything…”
She shook her head again. “No, did that too.” She gave him a sharp look. “I have to have something legible by noon, so unless you’re willing to shrink down and wear a blanket around your neck-!”
Noon. Noon!
“I’ve got it!” he replied, snapping his fingers. “How many pairs of shoes do you have?”
She blinked. “A lot. Why?”
“Okay,” he leaned forward. “Here’s what you do: put on your coolest shoe, the more intricate the better. Maybe something with glitter.”
She squinted in confusion. “How is that supposed to help?”
He grinned. “Trust me!”
She raised a penciled eyebrow. “And this will make the kids want to come to me.”
He nodded. “Yup.”
She stared at him like he’d grown a second head, then click-clacked back the way she came.
“Not like I have a better option…” she muttered.
Clark waited until she was out of sight to release the breath he’d been holding. Straightening his glasses, he glanced back at his computer, fingers moving to the keyboard to finish drafting a reply.
“The hell’s her problem?”
Clark glanced up at Lois leaning over his desk. “She wants to speak to some of the kids, but they’re kinda scared of her, I guess.”
Lois snorted. “Yeah, that tracks.”
When she continued giving him that knowing smile, he finally glanced up again, returning it. “Okay. What is it? You have a look.”
She pushed off his desk, idly swinging her arms. “Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Come on,” he coaxed, “What are you thinking?”
She came around the desk and leaned in close, eyes sparkling the way they did when she had an idea she couldn’t let go of. “Okay. People are eating up these kids, right?”
“Figuratively, yes.” He carefully moved his coffee away from where her hand perched on the corner of the desk. “Grant said as much.”
“Exactly,” she beamed. “But everyone else is just reporting based on what they hear from the kids themselves or sightings. You know what we have that they don’t?”
Clark spun in his chair, facing her fully. “Lois. You aren’t suggesting—”
“Let’s go through the gate!” she whisper-yelled, “The kids have had the portal open for weeks! Just a peek! It’ll be good for people to see where they come from!”
Clark chewed his lip. “You think the kids will be okay with that? I mean, we only really know three personally…”
“Of course they will!” she insisted, “You saved their world! Why wouldn’t you be welcome?” She raised her eyebrows. “And besides, I think we deserve a little vacation after everything.”
Clark took one look at the fire in her gaze, her eager posture, then sighed and grinned. “Okay, fine. I’d like to see the parts of it that aren’t Eden.”
She straightened, padding away from his desk. “Jimmy!” she called, “I need to borrow your camera!”
The Fortress portal hummed serenely, making the hair on the back of Clark’s neck prickle. Bright colors swirled in the hole in reality, forming constantly shifting indistinct shapes. Sometimes he could make out a towering tree or grassy hill, and others he swore he caught a glimmer of sunny snow.
Sky skipped around them, his little hair tie bouncing against his shoulder as he spun around and gazed up at Lois’s baseball cap.
“I like your hat!” he chirped.
“What, this ratty thing?” Lois touched the well-worn strap. “You kids find the strangest things attractive.”
Sky waved a hand vaguely. “I…like that it’s kinda messy.”
Lois snorted. “Well-loved. I get it.”
Clark shifted the camera strap around his neck. “Where’s Rain and Noon? They coming through?”
Sky shook his head. “They’re on the other side. Everyone’s waiting! We got decorations and everything!”
“Everyone?” Lois repeated, eyes widening. “You mean there’s more kids waiting to meet us?”
Sky nodded so enthusiastically his mask shifted. “Yeah! C’mon!”
He stretched out a hand, offering it to her. Lois carefully grasped it, then took Clark’s, the three of them forming a chain with Sky leading the charge. A safety feature, Rain had explained. A human could only enter the portal if another sky kid allowed it, similar to the spirit gates in some parts of their world.
“Here we go,” Sky said cheerfully, stepping toward the threshold.
His small foot disappeared through the tear, then his body. Still holding onto Sky’s hand, Lois went next, the gate swallowing her next. Finally, Clark slipped through, a rush of colors and light breezing past him until they finally settled into place.
A smattering of what sounded like confetti poppers and fireworks detonated around them. Lois yelped in surprise, blinking in the bright sunlight under a pure blue sky filled with fluffy clouds.
They had come out into some kind of town square scattered with tiny glowing orbs of light and colorful flags festooning the grassy knolls along a gravel path. A small crowd of sky kids of every size and appearance surrounded them, all in various stages of clapping, cheering, and—for those who had staffs like Rain’s—launching fireworks. Small kids wearing plain brown capes, bigger ones cloaked in fuzzy stoles or shawls of feathers. Some wore no masks at all, and some wore masks resembling animals. Not a single one looked alike, save for the youngest ones, who had yet to reshape their forms according to their self-image.
“Oh my gosh!” Lois laughed at those running up to her and offering candles while eyeing her cap or her hiking boots. “Hi! It’s so nice to meet you all!”
Clark grinned and crouched near the few that flocked to him, forming a line to offer him candles as well. “This is a surprise! Who was in charge of this?”
“That would be us.”
Deep crimson fabric fluttered in the gentle breeze as Dawn approached the square from the path, flanked by Rain and Noon. The golden band on her forehead shone in the sunlight, her eyes scrunched in what Clark assumed was a smile. Rain had his hands clasped behind his head as he walked, giving the two adults a small wave. Noon proudly strutted down the path, her feet adorned with—
“Are those Cat’s shoes?” Lois asked, squinting at the glitter and butterflies on the toes.
Noon giggled, spinning on one toe. “A replica!” She did a little curtsey, clutching the corners of her ivory and gold dress like it was the skirt of a fancy gown. “I like Cat. She likes clothes.”
Lois crouched to hug her and ruffle her wild curls. “They suit you,” she replied.
Dawn stepped forward to offer Lois a candle, then cleared her throat with a sound like a raspy organ. “Well, since you wanted to see our home, let me show you through Aviary Village.”
Lois shifted her camera into her hands, snapping behind them at a half-broken bell tower, then at the throngs of caped kids, and at Eden rising in the distance behind the stone wall that marked the end of the gravel path.
There weren’t just kids. Ghostly figures of people breezed past them as they walked along the main road, some stopping to stare. Their bodies were pale and sparkling in the sunlight, their feet translucent where they touched the ground.
Spirits, Clark thought, waving at a skinny apparition trimming a flowering bush outside one of the windows carved into the stone under the knolls. Now that he looked closer, the knolls weren’t knolls at all. Window frames had been set into carved-out holes, warm light leaked from the arching doorways. Fabric painted and stitched in cheerful colors were draped like awnings outside the entrances.
“The spirits helped us make this place,” Dawn explained, gesturing at the sun-warmed walls of the buildings. “Well, it existed before, but they helped us make it into all this.”
Rain pointed at some of the flags. “Some also run shops here,” he added, “There’s places to buy spells or clothes. Y’know, for those of us who don’t want to spend all their time weaving.”
Noon elbowed him before waving a flourishing hand at the many spirits milling about. “And the spirits sometimes offer us the light to forge candles in exchange for requests. Like helping them sort through their memories again, finding stuff they lost, that kinda thing.”
They passed through a small tunnel bored through the retaining wall of the village, following the path down a small hill toward six stone archways, each with a portal up and running. Beyond them, a larger gate rose, carved with the faces of the Elders. A second Eden gate.
Dawn, seeing his stare, gave what he assumed was a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We’re not going there today.”
Lois paused, staring at the giant gate. She took a quick picture, her expression solemn.
“That’s the way to Eden, right?” she asked softly.
Clark nodded. “Yeah.”
She said nothing in response, only looking between the gate and the kids, who ushered them both over to the second gate from the left. The portal under the stone arch swirled bright blue and green. Chirping birds and breezy winds emanated from it, along with the smell of fresh grass and wildflowers.
Dawn stepped back, nodding to Sky, Rain and Noon. “I will be here when you return. There should be no eruption at Sanctuary today, I think you’re safe.”
“Thanks, Dawn!” Sky warbled, waving as he stepped into the portal.
Noon followed next, then Rain, then Clark and Lois joined hands and stepped through. The dizzying mess of colors returned, then their feet stood in soft, lush grass.
Blinking in the light, Lois stepped forward, then let out a startled yelp, arms snapping out as she nearly toppled over. Clark rushed forward, grabbing her elbow and pulling her back. He glanced over her shoulder and noticed that they had been deposited atop a small overhang jutting out between two rocks. Lois had nearly fallen off. There was soft ground below, but the chances of her breaking an ankle or an arm were within the realm of possibility.
Lois huffed, straightening her posture and peering over the ledge, then gazing back at Clark with her eyes narrowed in outrage. “Why is there no sign here?”
“Sorry! Should’ve warned you!”
Sky was already below, waiting near a little pond surrounded by grassy hills and leading up to another stone archway. Lois groaned, seeing that beyond the arch was another drop with nothing but clouds ahead.
“Guess you need to have wings to live here, huh?” Lois grumbled, “Otherwise you’d be constantly breaking your legs.”
Clark laughed lightly. “Do you want me to fly you down this first bit?”
She waved a hand. “No, no, I got it.”
With the air of someone who’d spent her childhood being drilled over rough terrain, she found a foothold, then, in several swift movements, she ran down over the side of the ledge. She stopped below, hands on her hips, grinning triumphantly. Clark smirked back and gently floated down to both her and the kids.
“Here we are,” Rain announced, pointing toward the clouds, which Clark now realized formed a tunnel. “Daylight Prairie proper is just ahead.”
The three kids approached the arch and opened their wings. One by one, they leapt off the ledge and were carried along by the currents.
Lois linked one arm through his. “Shall we?”
“Up, up, and away,” he replied, adjusting his hold on her and leaping after the kids.
Wind pushed them forward like water, the air smelling fresh and cool. Small pylons broke through the clouds at intervals, tipped with bronze arrows that guided them forward. When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, the Prairie opened before their eyes.
Rolling hills covered in the softest grass Clark had ever seen. Butterflies made of pure light bobbed lazily through the flowers dotting the field. The sky above was the purest blue, the sun high and warm. Kids grouped in clusters or by themselves stopped whatever they were doing to look up at them.
An amazed laugh left Lois’s mouth. “It’s…beautiful.”
“The perfect day,” Clark mused, “Guess that’s how it got its name.”
A wave of nostalgia rolled through him. Perhaps it was the endless blue sky, or the lush hills, but he couldn’t help but remember a simpler time. When he just ran through the wheat fields without a care in the world.
“C’mon!” Sky called over his shoulder as the three kids ahead banked. He deep called back at them for good measure, his bell-like tone startling a few butterflies. “This way!”
They continued on past floating islands of earth supporting crumbling towers, the buildings long since reclaimed by nature and covered in moss. Far below, Clark caught the reflective glimmer of sunlit water. They breezed past the small islands, crossing over one last one before the kids shouted back at them to look.
The planet’s ocean stretched out below them, as azure as the sky above it. A crescent-shaped island dominated the landscape, adorned with smaller chunks of land floating nearby, some with waterfalls cascading over their edges and into the calm waters below. On the main island, small geysers spewed steam into the air. White sand beaches edged the coast. A tall, rocky outcropping with a misty waterfall dominated the center of it.
Finally, the kids began to descend toward the largest beach. Clark followed, seeing Rain nail the landing, Noon gracefully floating down, and Sky careening down and skidding to a stop while kicking up a cloud of sand. Lois and Clark howled with laughter as they touched down.
“Ugh, Sky!” Noon groaned, dusting herself off. “You got sand all over me!”
Sky shook more sand out of his hair, looking sheepish. “Sorry.”
Rain shook his head, sighing, then faced Clark and Lois while spreading his arms wide.
“Welcome to Sanctuary Islands!” he announced. “Just stay away from the crabs.”
Lois had the biggest smile as she looked around at the turquoise water and the shady lagoon full of golden jellyfish bobbing above the water just behind them.
“It’s…” she tried, “I don’t have words.”
“Oh no, what have you kids done?” Clark half-groaned, playfully nudging Rain. “Now she’ll want to move here.”
Lois rolled her eyes, taking off her boots and jacket, leaving just her pants and tank. “Clark! This is probably one of the most untouched beaches ever! I’m not gonna build here! Think of the jellyfish!”
Rain gathered some light in his hands. Out of that same nowhere that the kids seemed to store things, several beach chairs materialized in the sand, complete with umbrellas.
“Now this,” Lois sighed, laying back in one of the chairs, “This is ‘hardly working.’”
Noon stopped dusting herself, sighed, then was suddenly engulfed in light. When it cleared, she no longer wore her copy of Cat’s shoes or her usual robe. She wore a striped t-shirt and shorts, flip flops, and a wide sun hat adorned with a ribbon.
“There!” she said proudly, “Now I’m ready.”
Lois stared at Clark, still in his suit. “Didn’t you bring anything more comfortable?”
He was unable to keep the smirk from forming. Her brows lowered.
“No.”
He smiled harder.
“Clark Joseph Kent—”
With a flourish, he unzipped the suit and stepped out. Garish, neon, dumb Hawaiian print swim trunks flapped proudly in the breeze. Sky cheered, Rain stared in confusion. Noon gave him a skeptical once-over. Lois gave him a long-suffering stare.
“I thought I got rid of those,” she deadpanned.
Clark beamed. “I rescued them from the trash.”
She groaned, but her mouth curled back into a smile. “You’re lucky I love you.”
Water splashed him from behind him. Rain stepped back, looking very interested in the sheer cliffside behind them.
“Oho! Are you sure you wanna do this?” Clark challenged.
Rain calmly walked towards the water. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Within seconds, he and all three kids were in the water, splashing each other and shouting how many points they had. Lois looked on from her serene spot on her chair, shaking her head and grinning.
They didn’t stop there. They hiked back up to the main island and watched the geysers erupt, looked down into the two-tiered waterfall rushing down the outcropping, waded through the warm water in the jellyfish lagoon, and watched an ancient-looking sea turtle shamble along through the shallows.
Finally, as the sun began to dip, the kids ushered them back to the beach, where they sat on the sand and watched the water.
“It’ll be here any second now!” Sky declared.
“You said that already,” Rain groaned.
“Maybe it’s asleep?” Noon suggested.
Sky turned to her. “It doesn’t sleep. No way.”
“How do you know?” Noon replied nonchalantly, “Maybe it doesn’t need to.”
Rain shushed them both. “Quiet. Be patient.”
Lois leaned over. “Um, what exactly are we waiting for?”
Sky’s eyes widened. “It’s a surprise!”
Clark scanned the water and the horizon. “Is it the turtle? We already saw it a bit ago…”
He paused. Felt the sand shifting between his toes. Saw the still water begin to ripple and churn.
“Uh…” he said slowly, getting up and backing away from the surf.
The kids jumped to their feet just as the water exploded up and something huge, white and shimmering rose into the air.
A giant manta, fins gracefully swimming through the air, letting out a warbling call as it arced across the sky. Lois gasped, grabbed her camera, then took several more photos. The kids cheered, jumping up and down.
“Manta!” Sky crowed.
Clark stared up at the beautiful creature with a wide smile, watching it flick seawater off its shining tail.
“First one to get there wins!” Rain shouted, then bolted into the air. He was followed by cries of “Hey!” and “No fair!” as Sky and Noon sped after him.
The air left Clark’s lungs and his heart raced as the kids zoomed to catch up with the giant manta. They dropped onto its back, whooping and clinging to its slippery, still wet skin.
“Hey!” he shouted, running under the shadow of the flying creature. “Hey, get down from there! You’ll slip!”
“We do this all the time!” Noon laughed, throwing her hands up in glee.
Lois cackled below him as he shot into the air after them. “Clark, they have wings, remember?”
He refused to turn around, heart beating out of his chest as the huge manta banked gently and Rain fully stood on its back. His red fox mask stared right at Clark in a way Clark learned to interpret as a smirk.
“Watch this!”
Before Clark could get a word in edgewise, Rain jumped.
Not like he usually did where he would flare his cape out to catch the air and slow his fall, no. This time, Rain launched himself like a cork. He became a blue of black and red and blue, tumbling toward the surface of the water while Sky and Noon cheered.
Clark, hands trembling and hovering uselessly between “catch him you moron” and “maybe he’s practiced this”, watched Rain expertly dive into the sea. Seconds later, his head broke the surface with a shout of joy, waving up at his friends. Clark finally allowed himself to breathe, landing back beside Lois on the sand and sitting down while he tried to calm his nerves. Lois plopped down beside him, her smirk just about as mischievous as Rain’s had been.
“Don’t worry, I saw Sky using the geyser steam as a launchpad earlier,” she said brightly, patting him on the shoulder. “You need to let skykids be skykids.”
Clark rubbed his eyes with his palms, laughing weakly. “I’m getting too old for this.”
She laughed, leaning into him as Sky’s whoop echoed down to them as he jumped off the great manta’s back next. Noon followed, elegantly gliding down to the water’s surface and kicking up mist around the other two. Nearby, the sea turtle startled and dipped below the ocean’s surface.