Fallen from Grace

"Clark hurry up! We're gonna be late!" Lois Lane Kent had just finished putting on her earrings and was headed to the door. She grabbed her purse and coat. She turned and looked to her husband Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman. He was already putting on his glasses and reaching for his coat. They were on their way to the grand opening of the new Thomas Wane Memorial Museum in down town Metropolis. The who's who of celebrities and the major movers and shakers were going to be in attendance and Lois didn't want to miss a quote.

Clark laughed, "Don't worry, We'll get there in time." He looked at his watch. "We have an hour before the opening." Lois waved her hand beckoning him to hurry.

"Yeah, the cab is waiting and it's after six. What kind of traffic you think we'll run into?" She said.

Clark smiled. He reached over and pulled Lois close and she leaned into him. Their lips met and for several seconds neither of them moved. Save for the kiss. When Clark pulled back breaking the kiss Lois stood there, her eyes still closed, her lips still slightly parted. She slowly opened her eyes looking at Clark. She licked her lips.

Clark looked at her over his glasses "Don't worry Lois, we'll get there in time. One way or the other." Lois smiled. He knew she liked to fly with him. Again she leaned into him and he leaned over.

Then suddenly there was a blinding flash and the sound of an explosion.

***

Clark jerked awake. "LOIS!!!" Startled by the dream. He was covered in sweat. Looking around at his small apartment he turned, pulling the covers off and let his legs drape over the side of the bed. He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees while he cradled his head. *Another one.* he let out a sigh and rose to his feet.

In short time Clark took a shower and dressed. He no longer wore a suit instead he adopted denim jeans and a leather jacket over a hoodie. Under that he wore a t-shirt under a button down that he left open. He picked up a necklace with a gold ring on it. The Ring wasn't actually made of gold it was a Kryptonian alloy. He looked at it for a moment and slipped it over his head and tucked it in his shirt. It had been two years since he arrived in this new dimension. Two hears since his world got turned upside down. Two years since.... "Lois..."

When he arrived here he was naked and disoriented. His body expended a lot of energy. He was bruised, cut and burned. It didn't take him long to recover though. He flexed his hand. Rolling his fingers to make a fist. He was already at full strength.

After he arrived he tried to find his parents, Martha and Jonathan. They were still alive however they didn't know him. He found out later that they had a son and named him Clark. He lived about 7 months before he died of S.I.D.S. He didn't like it but Clark Kent was who he was. So he adopted the baby's identity using his social security number. He was smart enough to know how to alter records. That was the easy part. Living though... That was the hard part.

Clark picked up his digital recorder and note pad. Shoving them into his pockets he then grabbed a large envelope he had his story in and then left his small studio apartment in Alphabet City. It was just north of the lower east side. He went down stairs and to the sidewalk. He never bothered to lock his apartment. People would just break it and steal what he had anyway. So he did all his typing and printing at the public library.

He made his way to the New York Post and looked up. The skies looked different. Everything was different. Clark took in a deep breath. "Time to get paid." He muttered and walked in.

Some time later Clark exited the building. He looked at the check in his hand and sighed "Two hundred bucks... I need another job." He made his way to Barclays Capital Bank to deposit it. While he was there he got a money order for his rent. "Easy come easy go."

On his way back home he stopped at a local mini mart to pick up some groceries. He flipped up his hood and walked in. As he was browsing the shelves looking for his favorite cereal he lost himself in his thoughts. Since he arrived in this new dimension he began to wonder if anyone else made it out. Bruce was resourceful enough and had a contingency plan for just about everything. He had seen a lot of his friends in the league die in the battle against the Purifiers.

His thoughts were disturbed by someone yelling at the man behind the counter. Clark knew instantly that this was a robbery. He looked at the shelf and focused. His vision passed through it, and the shelf behind it. Soon he had a clear view of the robber. He was holding a gun at the man behind the counter. Instantly his mind went into hero mode and he took note of the man's height, build, Ethnicity and mental stability. He was a white man, no older than twenty, athletic but more on the lean side. *Drug user.* came the thought. He seemed to be a bit unstable. The .357 magnum was over kill in this situation however it still posed a threat to the cashier.

Clark set his basket down and was about to move when he felt something against his ear. "Don, even thing about it puto." came a latino accent. Clark looked at the man and rolled his eyes. The man nudged Clark with the shotgun. Clark obliged and moved forward to the front of the store. He lifted his hands in surrender "I'm sure we can work something out. There really is no reason for this. Just put the weapons down and walk away."

The man with the gun looked at Clark and laughed "What are you a cop?! Shut the fuck up and get on the ground! NOW!" Clark remained standing. This seemed to piss the robber off. "I said, ON THE GROUND NOW!!!"

Clark shook his head in disappointment. "It doesn't have to be this way. You can still walk out of here and no one will be hurt."

The latino man laughed this time "Damn straight we're walking outta here. Jus as soon as we get da money!!"

Again Clark sighed. His perception began to speed up while everything else slowed down. Clark turned and took the shotgun from the man behind him then he grabbed the hand cannon from the other. He went to the back room and found some zip-ties. He emptied the shotgun and hand gun setting them on the counter. After that be bound both robbers sitting them on the ground. He finished his shopping and laid the money on the counter. He was out the door and halfway down the block when he heard the sirens, his perception slowing down to normal.

He made his way back to his apartment and noticed that once again his lock was broken. "Darn." Once inside he started to clean up the mess the buglers made. The only thing missing was his food and cellphone charger. He didn't have much. Once he was finished he fixed his lock and went out to get a paper.

"Hey Clark! Got your paper right here." Clark looked at the older man in the booth. There were newspapers and magazines all over the booth. "Hey Jimmy, Here's for yesterday's too." Clark took his paper and started to flip through it.

"See Sasha? That's what I like about Clark here. He's one of the good guys!" Jimmy looked down as he talked. Sasha was a 9 year old Jack Russel Terrier. No thieving ankle was safe around her.

Clark laughed "Yeah well... if more people were like me this city would be a safer place." Clark noticed a new display at the stand. He nodded to it. "Since when did you start selling comic books?"

Jimmy leaned over looking at the display "Just this morning. Darla wanted to try catering to a younger crowd. So we got some teen magazines, as well as video game and some other stuff."

Clark noticed a comic that depicted him. He picked it up and started flipping through it. It was part two in the Brainiac Invasion. He didn't remember that at all. He put it back on the display and nodded to Jimmy "Thank's again Jimmy." He said and started walking. He needed to do two things. 1: Find a new job. and 2: Come up with another story.

So he made his way to Central Park. Sitting down on a bench just off the jogging path he started flipping through his newspaper. He looked at the classifieds and pulled out a pen. He circled a few adds some of them looking for writers others day laborers. He found a construction add that seemed up his alley. He had been meaning to do a story on construction safety and cost cutting. Maybe this would land him a job at the Post.

Looking at his watch he started over to the construction site. It wasn't that far from the park. So he made good time. Everyone was breaking for lunch. He spotted the foreman and raised his hand. "Excuse me!" He shouted and jogged over. The foreman looked a bit annoyed as he was about to take a bite of his pastrami sandwich.

"What!? Can't you see i'm busy!?" The man shouted and set his lunch down.

Clark winced "Yeah, sorry about that, I'm here for the construction worker, position?" He said and set down the paper. The add was circled.

The foreman picked it up and looked at it. Then he looked to Clark and back to his food. He took a bite "I get maybe a hundred guys a day wanting a job. What makes you any different? What are your qualifications?"

Clark nodded "Well sir, I grew up on a farm in Kansas so I'm no stranger to manual labor. I've built barns, lay fences, tile, dry wall, even concrete. I'm fit and healthy, I won't need the medical insurance."

That last part seemed to do it. "Will you sign a paper attesting to that? If so you're hired."

Clark nodded and smiled "Yes I'll sign a waiver."

The man put his food away and stood closing his lunch box. "Okay come with me to the office."

**

An hour later Clark was gainfully employed. He would get a steady paycheck every two weeks and had the option of joining the union after a year. Not to mention the story he would write. He nodded to Eddy "I'll see you tomorrow Eddy."

He tucked the paperwork into his coat pocket and started off. He thought he would celebrate so he went to a nearby cafe. As he walked in he nodded "I'll have a coffee and a menu please." He said and sat down.

The waitress, a woman in her mid twenties began to get Clark's order started as well as handing him a menu. "Here you go sir. I'll get right back to you." The place wasn't hugely busy; but it was obvious the woman was and the few others were understaffed as they had to run around to the various customers. This was with mixed results, however the fact they were able to function at all despite the pressure was a testament to their abilities.

A beautiful young woman with silver hair and red eyes entered the shop, her looks making her stand out from the normal people attending the cafe. By her side was a young boy, probably around five or six from the looks of it. They weren't bouncing off the walls, or otherwise being hyperactive but seemed more on the quite side of things.

Clark took note of the woman and child as they entered the Cafe, when the waitress came back he gave his order of a double bacon cheese burger with a side of cheesy fries. He sipped his coffee the woman and child didn't seem to be in any distress so he kept them at the back of his mind.

He noticed the place he was in was called the Kitty Kafe. He had never seen the place before then again he had only been here for two years. He poured more sugar into his cup and stirred it idly.

Daria was more or less minding her business whole Dorian sat down and ordered something.

"So how has school been?" Daria asked her son as she began drinking a bit of her tea. Her kind was odd. Water effected them negatively, yet water that wasn't 'pure' water had no effect on them what so ever. As a added precaution, her kind either got special shots or pills. It was something essential since water was practically everywhere. A hazard that couldn't be avoided all the time was best met with a more direct solution.

"It was fine.." Dorian mumbled, stirring his drink with his straw idly.

"Fine?" Daria questioned, tilting her head. "You don't sound fine. You don't want your nose to grow too long and get too heavy to walk do you?"

"Mom, that's just a story. My nose won't grow long..." Dorian paused a bit and said in a lower tone. "..It really won't will it?"

"Hm. It depends. Are you lying to me young man?" Daria said in mock seriousness crossing her arms.

"We'll..just.." Dorian stopped playing with his straw. "I don't like Marc..he makes fun of me."

This made his mother frown. "I see." Daria went over and gently ruffled her son's hair making him create a face. "It'll work out. We'll talk about this when we get home. For now, why don't we enjoy things here hm?" To that, Dorian nodded.

While that was happening, Daria noticed a man, Clark. She didn't know him but something seemed to be bothering them. Normally Daria would just leave it alone, she was a stranger after all. However, sometimes she couldn't help but reach out a bit.

"Sorry to bother you sir, but are you all right?"

Clark had been stirring his coffee for the past five minutes. He couldn't stop thinking about the woman and child that just walked in *He would be two now. So many things, gone wrong.* Before he knew it he was holding his wedding ring. Tracing its lines with his finger. He was so lost in thought so focused he didn't hear the woman address him.

Then something in his mind alerted him. "Hmm...?" He looked over. Letting the ring drop. "Oh, yeah. I was just... lost in thought." He tucked the ring back inside his shirt. Clark wasn't the kind to push his problems on other people. At one point he thought about seeing a therapist however he quickly dismissed the idea. *Hi, I'm Superman, My universe was just destroyed and I seem to be the soul survivor. Fix me.* he shook his head slightly. *Yeah, that would go over well.*

He turned slightly in his booth. A strand of hair fell on his forehead. It curled in the shape of an "S" Clearing his throat he opened his mouth to talk. He needed to talk. To someone. He couldn't keep it bottled up. Otherwise he would end up like Bruce. "I..." He swallowed thickly, his mouth suddenly going dry. He took a deep breath and paused. He shook his hand and turned back to his coffee waving a hand. For a few moments he didn't speak.

"Have you ever had something happen to you that was so bad and there was nothing you could do to stop it? Yet, you felt morally responsible even though there was nothing you could do to prevent it?" He didn't mean to just blurt it out like that however he had been holding on to that for two years now.

Daria blinked once, taken back. She had been about to return back to focusing on her meal when Clark spoke again after he said he was fine. The vampire hadn't really been expecting something like that, so it caught her off guard.

Heavy for a first question. But I did ask..

Seeming to mull it over, she finally answered. "..Yes, I have. It's something I've had to struggle with for a long time. I can't say I've gotten completely over it, it still comes to me at times. At the same time I've learned to just..deal with it. I do the best I can with what I have." There was a lot more to it, but Daria wasn't so sure about spilling her entire life story with someone she just met. However, she didn't mind talking.

"Sorry, I seemed to have forgotten my manners. My name is Daria Talban. You seem like you just needed to talk." She introduced herself. "And that's my son Dorian."

Clark smiled a little. "I'm Clark Kent. I know, I know. The name of the guy in the comic book." He held up a hand "I swear it's true." At that moment he realized he hadn't made one friend since he got here. Maybe it was time to open up a little. He looked to Dorian "Hey there, pleased to meet you." He gave the kid a little wave.

Clark then turned his attention back to Daria. He mulled over what he was going to say next. Anything that would come out of his mouth now would make him sound like a lunatic or a terrorist. *'The thing is, Because I wasn't good enough I let my entire universe be destroyed by some kind of super aliens.' Yeah... that would go over well. 'Because of my actions a lot of people were killed.' Yup, I sound like the Unabomber..* He sighed "Sorry if I just blurted that out... I've been holding on to my... guilt for a while now. It's... hard to move on from that." He was fidgeting with his ring again.

Daria smiled faintly at that. "Nice to meet you Clark."

The words Clark Kent got Dorian's attention. "Like the super hero? Does that mean you're Superman?"

His mother was amused. "That doesn't necessarily mean they're one in the same, Dorian." She turned back to Clark. "It's different but not the strangest thing I've heard about really. While Kryptonian's actually exist but they aren't as strong as displayed in the comics. At least not. They took some creative licenses with that series."

Those words probably would surprise Clark. "Anyway, its not a problem Clark. Most races are social beings, they need contact and interaction to keep..sane. So talking about things is healthy. I've learned from past experiences." She didn't really have a lot of friends to interact with, but she was fine.

Clark was taken aback by the news his people were still alive. He recovered as quickly as he could and looked to Dorian "Nope, Sorry kiddo. Not any more." He opened his shirt showing the white A-Shirt underneath. "I hung up my cape a while ago. So many super powered people here one less super won't make a difference." He leaned in close cupping a hand over the side of his mouth. "However, I did manage to stop a robbery this morning." he said in a whisper and gave the boy a wink.

He turned his attention back to Daria "So, Krypton didn't explode thousands of years ago? My peop... Those people are still alive?"

*Wait... creative license? I feel fine. The same as i've always been. Well... Physically anyway.* he leaned back in his seat a bit stunned. "Wow... all this time..." He looked back to Daria "Where are they? Have any ever come to Earth?"

Dorian was, naturally excited about the prospect. "Wow...that's really cool." He was dissapointed he wasn't Superman anymore. But if he was really the real thing, then he had a whole bunch of questions to ask them.

Daria had been around for a little bit now. She was young for one of her kind but she had gathered a considerable amount of knowledge then. Her natural curiosity about other races and knowledge in general had made her quite the book worm when she was younger. To this day to an extent.

"As far as I know, their original planet was lost still." Daria tried to remember what she did know. "However, a large enough group of them managed to leave the planet. The new one they settled on a planet they later dubbed Neo Kyrpton, and others scattered to other worlds. There's a few here, but I literally mean a few." Daria drained more of her tea cup and put it down.

Clark leaned back *So... does that mean that there's another version of myself here?* his head was spinning. At that moment he knew he couldn't use his birth name. If there was another Kal-El he had more a right to be here than some throw away from another universe.

He leaned back in his seat visibly stunned. He could never be Superman again. He could be Clark Kent either. "I... I have to go." He stood his legs shaky. Taking out his wallet he pulled out a few dollars to pay for his meal. He looked to Daria "Thank you. I'll... I'll see you around."

He made his way to the diner exit. Once again his life was tuned upside down. He needed to think. Clark looked up once he was outside. Then he crouched slightly. Suddenly he rocketed into the air. As soon as he cleared the building tops he picked up speed breaking the sound barrier.

On the ground where he was standing his wallet lay half open.

***

Clark knew where he was going. Even in his state of mind. Someplace he could always think. Someplace special to him. When he first arrived here he flew to the Antarctic seeking his Fortress of Solitude. It wasn't there. His father had never sent it. So now he flew west. Over mountains an rivers. Until he came to Kansas. Just outside of Smallville. He slowed and hovered over the Kent Farm. The owners had long since died. The farm went into foreclosure and has since been abandoned.

He flew to the barn and entered the loft. He sat on a musty bail of straw. He had nothing. All was taken from him. He was now a refugee. "Lois, what should I do?" He looked at his ring for what seemed like forever. He could almost hear her. "Clark, hey! Smallville!" He jerked his head. He stood and paced back and forth. Hoping the answers would just come to him. He standing there, sitting, pacing... this went on. Time seemed to slow.

Some time later Clark let out a deep sigh. "I can't keep doing this Lois. I can't. But... I have to... Someone has to remember. Someone has to know."

"I know it's hard Clark. You'll work it out. You're my Superman. You're the only you here. Krypton blew up thousands of years ago."

Clark whirled around. "Lois?!" He searched the entire barn in two seconds flat. "Great... now i'm going crazy." He stuck his hands in his pockets and stepped out into the afternoon air. He hovered there for a moment or two then took off back to New York.

**

Clark landed in the back alley behind his apartment complex and made his way up the stairs. He needed a shower. He felt horrible. Probably looked it too. He ran into a swarm of bugs on his way back. *Well it's what I get for not paying attention.*

Daria felt there was something wrong, there had to be with how Clark reacted and left so quickly. She was just confused of what she had said that may have upset him so much and wanted to apologize. Hard to do when you didn't know what it was exactly. Clark was gone before she could say anything.

"..Mom..what happened?" Dorian asked confused.

"I don't know sweetie. I guess he just had something to do." Partial lie. Daria knew there was more to it. After they finished their meal, Daria noticed a wallet laying on the ground.

Inside were pictures of Clark.

* *

Sometime later, Daria found herself in another part of town. This time she was by herself; leaving Dorian home with a friend of hers. She just wanted to return the wallet and maybe apologize. The area wasn't the best place, and she did get some leers from time to time. Daria wasn't bothered by it, she could take care of herself and after the first time a few tried something, they found themselves getting aquainted with the ground. After that, most of them left her alone.

Best to get this over with.

Reaching the address and making sure it was correct, Daria knocked on Clark's door.

Clark had just finished rinsing his hair when he heard the knock on the door. He turned off the water and stepped out wrapping a towel around his waist. He held it there with one hand as he moved to the door. "Coming!!" He called

He opened the door and brushed a stray hair off his forehead. "Hello?"

Daria was slightly surprised when Clark came in a towel, seemed she came at a somewhat awkward time but she didn't really show it on her face. That and being honest with herself, it wasn't a bad sight.

"I'm sorry for bothering you, but I just wanted to return this." Daria held out the wallet for Clark. "You were in such a hurry that it probably just slipped your mind is all."

Clark blinked a few times then took the wallet. "Yeah... sorry about that. I was... I was a bit rattled." He stepped aside. "Please come in. Lemme change and we can talk." He walked to his bathroom and quickly dried. He dressed at a much slower rate going over what he was going to say.

He decided to just tell her his full story and wait for her reaction. He stepped out of the bathroom wearing an A-Shirt and a pair of sweat pants. "Hey, I want to apologize about bugging out on you like that. I was just very rattled by it all. You see..." *Here it goes* "I'm a refugee from another dimension. I know there are dimensional travelers all around here however my Universe was destroyed by a race of being calling themselves the Purifiers. The Justice League held the battle at Earth. Many, many of my friends fell before my eyes. Diana, Hal, J'onn." He took in a deep breath and blew the air out carefully. "They broke our ranks, blew past us like we were tissue paper. They landed objects on the planet. I managed to take out a few of them when they ignited our atmosphere. It turned the very air we breathed into liquid fire. Six trillion people died in an instant of agony. What survived were hunted down by their drones. We evacuated as many as we could to our base on the moon however... it didn't matter..."

He began to fidget with his necklace that held his ring. "On my way to the moon I noticed they were pulling away from Earth. I followed trying to ascertain what it was they were up to. Their mother ship opened this massive array. I... flew to intercept with what remained of the league. Then..." He swallowed thickly. "Then it unleashed it's weapon. A massive energy beam aimed at our sun." He looked to Daria "I didn't know what else to do so I positioned myself between the beam and the sun..." his eyes wander off into memory and his brow furrowed "It was too much... I wasn't... good enough... wasn't powerful enough... The force of the beam blew me towards the sun. I tried to fight it. The last thing I remember... is watching Sol the Sun... explode..." His voice trailed off.

He sat down in a chair. "I... I woke up here... well" he shrugged "About six and a half blocks from here. I was naked, burned and drained of all my power... It took me months to recover. That was two years ago." He looked back at Daria, "So... when your son asked if I was Superman... I was telling the truth... I'm not Superman... Not any more." He let the ring drop as he stood walking to his fridge. He grabbed a couple of glasses and poured some orange juice. He offered Daria a glass.

He took a sip as he sat back down "So you see, where I come from... I am the Last Krypronian. To hear that the house of El has survived I was... well... a bit rattled... I... there's just so many other things... I'm..." He couldn't finish the thought...

Daria there in deep quite silence repeating the things that were told to her in her head. She had heard many strange things in her two hundred odd years of life, anything from someone claiming to be a reincarnation of somebody to supposed time travelers. Despite all this, the story Clark told was out there, to be claiming to be the real Superman.

But things did add up. His scent for example, a few other things. It made more sense then just happening to have the same name. She felt bad for the man but this was far out of her depth to deal with. The only thing she could do was maybe be there to talk, every little bit helped.

Somehow she felt he was telling the truth. If he wanted to lie, he would have put together something less stretching.

After mentally debating with herself for a moment, and putting aside her slight reservations she went over and briefly gave Clark a hug before pulling away. "I'm sorry Clark. I really don't know what to say..or do. Only thing I can do is be around to talk."

She moved back to sit down. "Is there anything you want to know about before you ran off?"

Maybe he just needed a friend.

Clark took a sip from his glass thoughts swirling. He looked up and opened his mouth... He closed it again hesitating... Then He looked back to Daria, "What do you know about the House of El?" There were so many other questions. However he decided to stick with something simple.

This made Daria shake her head a bit. "That's something I don't know much about, I'm sorry. If you want to know a bit more about it, I'd recommend visiting one of the libraries and going from there." She wished she did have more information to offer him, but she didn't honestly. "Only thing I know of it was it was supposedly a royal bloodline."

Clark nodded "Yeah the house of El was highly regarded. My father Jor El was the leading scientist on the planet Krypton. Their last act was saving me. Sending me to Earth." He looked to Daria for a long moment as if he wanted to say something... but couldn't find the words. He shook his head sharply. "I'm sorry, this must all seem like the ravings of a mad man however I assure you it's all true." He stood and downed his glass of juice then he paused looking back "Where's your boy? Is everything okay?"

"Your story is a bit out there, even by our standards but stranger things have happened so I'm inclined to believe you for now. As for Dorian..I left him with a friend. I had a few things I needed to take care of." Daria explained. "I just finished my last of running around before I ended up coming here to drop off your wallet. I thought I'd almost lost mine; I wouldn't want that experience repeated."

Clark nodded "Yeah, thanks for that. Not many people would go out of their way for something like that." Walking to his sink he rinsed his glass and set it in the sink. "I hope you didn't go too far out of your way."

Daria shook her head to that. "I couldn't in good conscious just not do anything. That's a big part of your lively hood with all the things in there. I didn't go too far out of my way." She looked at the clock, she had a few other things she needed to do in the mean time. So she stood. "Thank you for the tea, but I have to get going soon and I'm sure you have other things you need to be doing."

Maybe it wouldn't hurt..

After a few moments of musing to herself, she pulled out a card and gave it to Clark. "If you just want to talk again."

Clark flashed a boyish grin. This was perhaps the first person he had met since he arrived here that wanted to help him and not want anything in return. He took the card and set it next to his wallet after briefly looking at it. "Thank you very much."

He reached over and grabbed his jacket and slipped it on. "I was actually getting ready to step out and get some things for my new job tomorrow." He didn't really need them however it was required by law that he had his steel toed boots. He picked up his wallet and her card. Slipping it into the billfold he grabbed his keys.

He opened the door for her and held it. "The hardware store is just down the street." He pointed a direction to the south west. "I can walk with you if you like."

Daria thought about it, then slowly nodded smiling faintly. "..All right." She wasn't as worried about being away from Dorian because she knew he was in good hands with where he was currently at. This was her first time meeting a Kryptoninan face to face that she could remember anyway.