FicWad

Jonathan and Martha Kent awakened before their son. Unwilling to disturb Clark, their eyes met in silence, communicating their love for each other and for their son without words. Without speaking, Martha knew that Jonathan had the same concerns that she did about Clark's nightmare. She found it disturbing that the source of Clark's distress had been his inability to save his friends, not that he was being slowly killed with kryptonite and electricity. That told her two things; one, her son put the needs of other above his own; two, her son saw himself as in some way less important than others. The former spoke to Clark's good character, the latter spoke to some deep-seated insecurity that she was determined to do her best to remove, no matter how long it took.

After about an hour of watching their son sleep, Martha decided that it was time to get up and prepare some breakfast. When she pulled slowly away, Clark unconsciously sought the missing warmth in his sleep. He buried his head in his father's shoulder and with a soft sigh, fell into a restful sleep once again. Jonathan seemed surprised, but did not move to get up. He flashed Martha a grin that plainly said that he was enjoying this closeness with his son, but knew that the teenager would be embarrassed when he wakened. Leaving her two men in the living room, Martha headed for the kitchen, where she began cooking Clark's favorite breakfast -- pancakes with butter and syrup, scrambled eggs, and crispy bacon.

The smell of sizzling bacon brought Clark slowly to wakefulness. At first, he hovered between sleep and awake, aware of feeling warm, safe, and so comfortable that moving seemed impossible. After remaining in that blissful state for several minutes, he finally opened his eyes. He rolled over onto his back and realized that he had been curled against his father like a small child. The hazy fog of sleep in his mind dissipated, and he remembered last night - the dream, the fear, and his parents' comforting presence.

Jonathan Kent ruffled Clark's hair affectionately. "All right, son?"

Clark nodded, blushing with embarrassment at how the dream had reduced him to a frightened child.

"Don't be embarrassed, Clark. You went through a very traumatic experience trying to save Lex. The kryptonite and the electrocution, and the beating you took must have been terrifying. After something like that, the nightmares are almost to be expected. Your mother and I are glad that we could be there for you, glad that our presence seemed to help you rest."

"You always help me. You and Mom always make things better."

At his son's words, Jonathan felt his heart soar. He couldn't wait to tell Martha what Clark had said. After all of their worries that they simply lacked the strength to help their son deal with the things he had to deal with, here was the confirmation that they had needed. They were helping. Maybe they couldn't fight the meteor freaks like Clark did, couldn't lift cars and houses, see through walls, or burn through solid steel with their eyes, but they still had the power to make things better for their son.

Jonathan hugged his son tightly. "So do you, Clark. You make things better for us."

While Clark was showering and getting dressed for breakfast, Jonathan toldMartha what Clark had said. As he had known that she would, she began to cry. Tears of joy slid down her cheeks.

"I was so worried, Jon. All I could think about was that we had somehow failed him, that there was nothing we could do, no way we could help him ..."

"You help me every day just by being there."

Jonathan and Martha turned around in surprise to see Clark standing in the doorway of the kitchen fully dressed with the exception of his sock-clad feet. His hair was still damp and touseled from his shower, and Martha was reminded once again of the messy-haired toddler he had been.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but - well, I superspeeded my shower because the bacon and pancakes smelled so good." He smiled sheepishly. "Mom, don't worry like that, you don't have to. You both make everything better. I know I can trust you to always do what you think is best for me, even when I don't like it. You'd never - never have me committed and hire somebody to zap my memory away." At the memory of what Lionel had done to his own son, Clark was unable to suppress a shiver. "What you did, taking me away for this weekend ... thank you. I - I felt like I was going to lose it there for awhile. I felt like everything was coming unglued, like pieces of me were being pulled in different directions so hard it was pulling me apart."

Jonathan raised a questioning eyebrow. "Do you still feel that way?" He laid a hand on Clark's shoulder, looking his son in the eyes. "If you do, that's all right. You can be honest with us, you know that."

Clark shook his head. "I still feel awful about what happened to Lex, and about Lana. I really wish the baby had lived, and I'd give anything to be able to take back running away to Metropolis, but I know you never gave up on me. This is going to sound weird, but - but you guys are like my Crazy Glue. No matter how broken or shattered I get, there isn't anything you can't eventually piece back together and make it stick."

Martha met Jonathan's eyes and saw that they were filled with tears like her own. She put down the spatula she had been using to turn the pancakes and took her son and her husband both into her arms, squeezing them tightly. The Kent family stood in the kitchen of the cabin for almost a full minute, holding each other close. The bond of family was strong, intact, and had been the thing that saved Clark from the loneliness and fear that had nearly taken him over.

The smell of the bacon beginning to burn was the only thing that made Martha let go. Clark's appetite had been so small recently that the last thing she wanted to do was burn the first food he was excited about in days. She turned off the burner and began preparing a plate for her son. "How do you feel now, Clark?"

He looked from his mother to his father and smiled. "Safe. I feel safe."