Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Kara stayed with Ben for most the night, only leaving when she knew that the Kents would be waking up. Though neither had gotten much sleep, both Ben and Kara felt better for the emotional release, and for that, Ben was especially grateful. Though both would later remember the event with a touch of awkwardness, neither commented on it. They were friends; awkwardness was expected every now and then.
The next few days may not have been eventful, but they were just what Ben needed. Every day, he would help the Kents with chores and farm work, usually with the help of his aliens. After he was done, he would hang out with Kara; usually he would show her more of his aliens, or tell her more of his adventures. Every night after the first, he would have nightmares but, fortunately, they were not as severe. After the third night, he was actually able to fall asleep again after the nightmare ended.
Ben had more company than just the Kent family. Superman would visit from Metropolis every other day to check up on him, and the other League members each paid the young man a visit as well, only while in civilian clothes, and only by themselves, to avoid suspicion. Except for Batman. The Dark Knight only called the Kent home once, and only briefly. It was certainly a surprise for Ben. Batman had never seemed the comforting type, so even checking up on him via phone call must have been weird. Still, it did wonders for Ben's emotional state to find out that there were people who cared for him. He wasn't alone.
Gotham City, The Batcave
Batman sat at his computer, lost in thought. He had barely left his chair since Ben had left for Smallville. He had even entrusted Batgirl and Robin with more patrol duties to cover for him, much to the surprise of his young partners. He stared at the image on his computer. An image of Ben Tennyson stared back.
Bruce heard footsteps coming from behind him, but he didn't turn around. Years of training had taught him how to recognize the pattern of an individual's footsteps, and even without training, he had heard those shoes against the floor for so many years that he could have recognized their owner anywhere.
"Hello, Alfred."
"You got me again, sir."
"You tried leading with your left foot again." Batman smirked. "It's been awhile since you tried to fool me."
"With all due respect, sir, I was worried that your project concerning young Master Tennyson had distracted you from all else."
Bruce looked up as his butler placed a tray of food next to him. Then he looked at the time. He did need to eat. Bringing his attention back to the screen, he began typing with one hand, while picking up his food with the other. Alfred waited patiently behind him.
"What is it, Alfred?"
"Sir," Alfred began, a hint of trepidation in his voice, "Ben Tennyson is not Bruce Wayne."
Bruce turned around and gave his butler a sharp look. "Are you so sure, Alfred? He lost his family, the girl he loved, everyone who was important to him. How is he not like me?"
"Is that why you are helping him?"
Batman gestured to the computer screen. Under Ben's image was his age, birthday, and every important fact needed in an identity.
"When my parents died, I was left millions of dollars, I was the heir to an incredibly successful company, and I had a home. Ben is from another universe. He has nothing. He doesn't exist in this universe. Not even his hometown exists here. This way, he can at least have an identity. He can have a normal life."
"Will you use this as a bribe to get him to be a hero once more?"
Batman sighed, then looked down. "I'm hoping that he sees it as an incentive to not be."
Alfred looked at him quizzically. "Sir?"
"He blames himself for what happened to his family. He believes that if he hadn't chosen to be a hero, he wouldn't have drawn attention to his family. I can give him a chance to start over, to give up the life of a superhero, if he wants to."
Alfred nodded. "I understand, sir."
Batman resumed typing for a moment, then printed out a piece of paper, which he handed to the butler.
"Call Superman," he instructed, "tell him to give this to Ben before he tries to introduce the kid to anyone."
Smallville
It had been a full week since Ben had arrived at the Kent farm, and on the morning of the seventh day, he had a pleasant surprise.
He had slept through the entire night; in fact, he'd overslept. It was almost 10 AM!
Sure, he'd still had nightmares, so he couldn't call his sleep restful. But heck, it sure beat waking up crying at 2 AM!
After showering and cleaning his clothes with Clockwork (he still didn't have any other clothes), he headed downstairs. He was mildly surprised to find Clark at the table, sipping a cup of coffee. He was in his civilian attire, for which Ben was grateful. He had gotten used to people wearing costumes, but still, he thought it looked a little silly.
"Morning, Ben." Called the Kryptonian, "How did you sleep?"
"Better than usual," Ben replied, "though that hasn't been saying much, lately."
"Still having nightmares?"
Ben sighed as he sat at the table. "I don't know if I'll ever get rid of them and, to be honest, a part of me doesn't want to."
Clark tilted his head, confused. "Why wouldn't you want to…"
"Because I'm in another universe." Ben interrupted, "My family never existed here. The nightmares are the only time that I can see them now. I can't even visit their graves."
The two sat In silence for a while, until Clark slid him a piece of paper.
"Batman asked me to give this to you." He smiled sheepishly. "I don't think I was supposed to read it, but I got curious."
Ben raised an eyebrow. "And here I was, thinking you were such a boy scout."
Clark chuckled, remembering Flash saying something similar after the Justice League had defeated their evil, parallel-dimension counterparts, the Justice Lords.
"Never even got my first merit badge."
Ben laughed, then turned his attention to the paper. His eyes widened as he read. It was a short summary of his life. Only, it was not his life. Rather, it was the life of Ben Tennyson if he had lived in this universe. The details on the paper were vague, but Ben realized why. What he had been given was a rough draft of a new life.
According to the paper, his entire family had recently died in an accident (which wasn't entirely untrue), and while he was waiting to receive property that had belonged to his family, he was staying with the Kents, who were apparently family friends.
Ben blinked. Property? What property? He looked over at Clark, who only shrugged.
"Guess he's looking out for you."
Ben smirked. "Aww, and here I thought he didn't care."
Clark's face grew serious. "Bruce might not act it, but he's one of the most caring people on the planet. He once changed the retirement policy throughout Wayne Industries just so one employee didn't have to retire."
"Oh." That eloquent response was all Ben had. While he had figured that Batman wasn't all that Bruce Wayne was, he hadn't realized the guy could be so damn nice. Ben would have to find a way to return the favor one day.
After a moment of awkward silence, Clark asked, "So, Ben, other than when you first arrived in this universe, you haven't seen much of Metropolis, right?"
Ben snorted. "You mean Metropolis without Thanagarians invading it? No, not really."
Clark smiled. "Yeah, alien invaders don't really attract tourists. Anyway, I figured that you could use a change of scenery. After all, a week on a farm could get boring."
Ben didn't necessarily agree. For the most part, he'd been pretty happy at the Kent farm. He had no problem helping out since his aliens made chores a breeze, and the Kents were good people. It was only yesterday that he'd found that he had nothing to do. Normally, after he was done with chores, he would hang out with Kara, either showing her some of his aliens, or telling her about more of his adventures; however, her school had reopened, the world starting to resume its normal schedule following the Thanagarian invasion. And that meant that Ben's newest friend had to finish her last few months of high school.
Ben shrugged. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to see what's there. After all, Metropolis doesn't exist back home."
Clark grinned. "Great. I can introduce you to a few friends of mine. You should probably leave a note for my folks; tell them you'll be out for a couple of days."
As Clark got up to change into his costume, Ben quickly ran up to his room, where he grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. At first, Ben had wondered why those things were in the room, but Clark's parents had later told him that Clark was a journalist. Now it made sense to have those materials. He quickly wrote a note explaining to the elder Kents where he was going, and that he would be back in a few days.
As he was walking out of the room, he paused. He went back to the desk and wrote another note, this one to Kara. It said the same thing as the first, but with one addition.
P.S.
Remind me to tell you the story of when I fell into the Fountain of Youth. Trust me, it's hilarious.
Thanks for being there,
Ben
Before Ben went down the stairs, he slid the note to Kara under her door. By the time he came back down the stairs, Superman was waiting near the door, already in his costume and tapping his foot impatiently. Ben quickly placed the note on the kitchen table and activated the Ultimatrix.
As he cycled through his aliens for Jet Ray, Superman frowned.
"Where's the rest of your stuff?" He asked.
Ben paused, then looked down at himself.
"This is all I've got." He admitted.
Superman mentally kicked himself. Of course Ben wouldn't have anything other than the clothes on his back. Which reminded him…
"What about your jacket?"
"I'm… not sure if I'm ready to put that on again."
Ben turned his attention back to the Ultimatrix. Once he found Jet Ray, he stepped outside and slammed the dial down. There was the familiar green flash, but when it faded, Superman didn't recognize the alien. It was about three feet tall, white with some black on the head and chest, and had three spikes coming out of the top of its head. The Ultimatrix symbol was on its chest.
"DITTO!" he cried. Then he looked down.
"Oh, come on!" Ditto yelled at the Ultimatrix symbol, "You work fine for months, and now you decide to mess up again? What the heck, you stupid watch!?"
Superman was torn between confusion and laughter. Confusion, because he'd never seen Ben turn into something he hadn't wanted before, and laughter because the alien before him looked so harmless.
"Has the Ultimatrix not given you the right alien before?"
Ditto looked up at him. "Yeah, it used to screw up all the time, but Azmuth promised me that he'd fixed it!"
Superman shrugged. "Maybe it just won't happen as often."
Ditto grimaced. "I hope it won't."
Ditto slapped the Ultimatrix dial, and in a green flash, stood Jet Ray.
"JET RAY!" the red alien stretched his wings. "There we go. Much better."
The two aliens flew off at a leisurely pace, not in any real hurry to get to Metropolis. Superman pointed down.
"We're passing over Kara's school; she just waved at us."
Jet Ray looked down, but unlike Superman, all he could see were small squares below. They were several hundred feet up, and he didn't have super vision like the Man of Steel. Still, he hovered for a moment to wave his arm-wing at the ground, hoping that Kara was still there to notice. Superman looked down for a moment, then looked back at Jet Ray.
"She saw. She waved again."
Jet Ray smiled and the two resumed their course. After a moment, Superman turned his attention back to him.
"Who's Azmuth?"
"Creator of the Omnitrix and the Ultimatrix. He's also the leader of the Galvan." Seeing the blank look on Superman's face, Jet Ray sighed. "He's a Grey Matter."
Superman nodded in understanding.
"So, why do you call out your aliens' names?"
Jet Ray shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "I guess the Ultimatrix read my mind or something and gave all of my alien's superhero names."
"Now it's my turn," said Jet Ray, "how did you know that I was having nightmares?"
Superman looked away for a moment. "I got home about an hour before you woke up." Then he tapped his ear. "Super hearing. By the way, you snore."
Jet Ray groaned.
Metropolis
Superman guided Jet Ray to his apartment, where Clark quickly changed into his civilian attire. All Jet Ray had to do was slap the Ultimatrix symbol to get back to normal.
Ben took a look at Clark's home. "Nice place." He commented.
"Thanks." Clark replied, "It's not bad for a reporter's home."
"Considering that I was still living at my parents' house until a little over a week ago, this is one heck of a first apartment."
Clark laughed, then went to grab his briefcase, then both headed towards the door. As they were about to leave the apartment, Clark stopped.
"Almost forgot something; be right back." He went into the bathroom for a moment, then came out with a roll of gauze. He tossed it to Ben, who caught it.
"What's this for?"
"To cover the Ultimatrix." Explained Clark. "I don't have any jackets that fit you, and since you didn't bring yours, we need to cover it somehow."
Ben gave a wry smile. He should have known that the Ultimatrix would draw attention; it certainly didn't look like an ordinary watch. He wrapped his wrist up in the gauze, then used a clip to fasten it. The clip and the gauze could be easily removed in case he needed to use his aliens. Ben hoped that he wouldn't need to resort to that, but with his luck, he wouldn't be surprised.
When they left the apartment, Clark hailed a taxi, and the two headed to Clark's office. As they got out of the cab, Ben's jaw dropped. He'd seen this building before!
"You work here?" asked Ben as he gestured to the golden planetoid that topped the Daily Planet.
Clark shrugged. "Yeah. Why, do you know this place?"
Ben lowered his voice, so that no one could overhear. "I 'arrived' not too far from here. That building was the first thing I saw."
Clark grinned. "Well, now you have a landmark."
Before Ben could respond, he saw a woman waving at them. Specifically, at Clark. As she walked over to them, Ben saw Clark's eyes light up. Ben could see why. The woman was certainly attractive, with a good figure, long black hair and a cute face. She wore a purple dress jacket and a short, white skirt.
"Hey, Smallville." The woman greeted. Ben blinked. Smallville? She had nicknamed Clark after his hometown? That was kind of weird. Or was it some sort of pet name?
The woman continued. "So, who's your new friend?"
Clark smiled. "Ben Tennyson, I'd like you to meet Lois Lane, head reporter for the Daily Planet."
Ben shook Lois' hand. Both had polite smiles on their faces.
"So, Ben," said Lois, "how do you know Smallville here?"
Ben paused for a moment, remembering what Batman had written down.
"Well, his family and mine were close, so I'm staying with him until I get my place up and running."
Lois looked confused. "Can't your family do that?"
Ben looked down, his good mood vanishing. It was still hard for him to say it out loud. There was a good chance that it always would be.
Clark noticed his young friends' discomfort, so he decided to take over.
"His family was recently killed in an accident, Lois. My family is all he's got."
Lois put a hand to her mouth, then put a hand on Ben's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry."
Ben shrugged. "I'll be okay."
Lois nodded, then turned to address them both.
"Come on, Smallville, we can give the kid a tour of the place."
Clark nodded, then guided Ben inside the building.
…
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