Lois slides into the seat across from them, arms crossed. âAnd for the record? Iâve got a lot of questions. But letâs start with the most important oneâDanny, do you like ginger ale?â
The kid blinks at her. ââŚWhat?â
She gestures at the flight attendant, who is still staring at them like theyâre all ghosts. âHe needs a ginger ale. And some napkins.â
The flight attendant startles, then rushes off.
Lois leans in, smirking. âTrust me, kid. Plane ride rule number oneâginger ale fixes everything.â
And just like that, Danny almost smiles.
Danny almost smiles, but the exhaustion wins out. He slumps against the seat, rubbing his sleeve under his nose, smearing blood. Clark grabs a napkin from the pocket in front of him and hands it over.
âHere, use this instead.â
Danny takes it with a small nod, dabbing at his nose. His ears are still bleeding a little, too, but the worst of it seems to be over.
Lois, ever the strategist, is already thinking three steps ahead. âAlright, Danny. You just did something impossible, and whether or not anyone caught it on camera, people are going to talk.â She leans forward, lacing her fingers together. âWe need to get ahead of this. Do your parents know youâre on this flight?â
Danny stiffens. âYeah. Theyâre waiting for me at the airport.â
Clark keeps his voice light. âFlying alone?â
Danny nods, staring down at his lap. âI was visiting my aunt. They sent me to stay with her for a bit.â
Lois tilts her head, catching something in the way he said it. âFor a bit?â
Danny shrugs one shoulder. âThey thought I needed some time away. Fromâ from school. And other stuff.â
Clark shares a glance with Lois. That explains a lot. The parents have suspicions about Danny, even if they donât know the full story. Maybe heâs had slip-ups before, maybe weird things happened around him. Enough to make them uneasy. Enough to send him away.
Lois sighs. âAlright. That complicates things.â
Danny tenses again. âAreâ are you gonna tell them?â
Clark shakes his head. âNot if you donât want us to. But we do need a plan for when we land.â
Danny looks uncertain. âI could justâpretend nothing happened?â
Lois snorts. âKid, that was national-news-level weirdness. You think no oneâs gonna be talking about it?â
Danny shrinks in on himself. ââŚOh.â
Clark leans in a little. âWhat do you want to happen, Danny?â
Danny hesitates. ââŚI want to go home. I donât want them to look at me like Iâmâ like Iâm something wrong.â His voice is small, fragile.
Clarkâs heart clenches. He knows that feeling. Heâs lived that feeling.
Lois exhales sharply and runs a hand through her hair. âOkay. Hereâs what weâre not gonna do: throw a kid under the media bus. So letâs focus on damage control.â
Danny peeks up at her. âDamage control?â
Clark nods. âWe make sure no one remembers exactly what happened. Confusion works in our favor. When things are too impossible, people try to rationalize them away. We just have to nudge them in the right direction.â
Lois smirks. âGood thing we know a couple of reporters who can spin a story.â
Danny looks between them, brows knitting. ââŚWhy are you helping me?â
Clark blinks. âBecause you need it.â
Danny frowns, suspicious. âBut you donât even know me.â
Lois leans forward, voice soft but firm. âDanny, listen to me. You just saved every single person on this plane. Youâre bleeding, exhausted, and scared out of your mind. And you still have the heart to be worried about what your parents will think. That tells me exactly what kind of kid you are.â
Clark rests a hand on his shoulder. âYouâre not alone in this. Weâre gonna help you, okay?â
Danny stares at him for a long moment. Then, finally, he nods.
Clark squeezes his shoulder. âGood. Now drink your ginger ale.â
Danny huffs a small, tired laugh and takes the can Lois hands him.
The plane is still full of murmuring passengers, and the flight attendants are still whispering frantically to each other. Outside, the pilots are likely already talking to air traffic control.
Clark glances at Lois. She quirks a brow.
They both know this is far from over.
The moment the plane lands, Clark, Lois, and Danny are moving fast.
Lois has already slipped into full damage-control mode. Sheâs got her phone out, typing up a quick, vague social media post: Freak optical illusion at the airport todayâplanes looked like they phased through each other. Wild! More details soon.
Clark watches as a couple of other passengers glance at their phones, seeing her post pop up in real time. A few seem to relax, nodding to themselves. People want explanations, and if they get a reasonable one, they wonât dig too deep. It wonât erase the story, but it will plant the idea that it was a trick of the light, a bizarre coincidenceâanything but what actually happened.
Danny, still clutching his half-empty ginger ale, looks at her with something like awe. âYou made the story.â
Lois smirks. âI guided the story.â
Clark squeezes Dannyâs shoulder. âNow we just need to get you to your parents without anyone asking too many questions.â
Danny swallows hard. âAnd if they do?â
Lois flips her phone shut. âLet us handle that.â
The moment they step into the terminal, itâs clear this is going to be harder than they thought.
A few passengers from their flight are still talking, some looking around like they expect a news crew to pop out at any moment. A couple of people have their phones up, probably recording their post-landing thoughts.
And then there are Dannyâs parents.
Clark spots them immediately. A man and a woman standing near the arrivals gate, scanning the crowd. The womanâtall, stiff posture, arms crossedâspots Danny first, and her eyes narrow. The man next to her, shorter, stockier, looks relieved for a half-second before his face hardens into something unreadable.
Danny stiffens beside Clark. âTheyâre mad.â
Clark keeps his voice steady. âTheyâre worried.â
Danny huffs. âYou donât know them.â
Clark doesnât press. He just keeps walking, gently guiding Danny forward.
Lois, always the fastest to adapt, takes the lead. The moment they reach Dannyâs parents, sheâs all easy smiles and smooth confidence. âMr. and Mrs. Fenton?â
Dannyâs mom eyes her suspiciously. âWhoâs asking?â
âLois Lane. Daily Planet.â Lois flashes her press badge like sheâs showing a winning poker hand. âThis is my husband, Clark Kent. We were on the same flight as Danny.â
Dannyâs dadâs eyes flick to Clark, then to Danny. âYou were on that flight?â
Danny shifts uncomfortably. âUh. Yeah.â
Dannyâs mom is still staring at Lois like sheâs waiting for a trap to spring. âAnd why are you two here?â
Lois, undeterred, lets out a good-natured laugh. âWell, weâre reporters. And that was one heck of a landing.â She waves a hand. âWe just wanted to check in, make sure everything was okay. Bit of a scare, huh?â
Dannyâs dad frowns. âWe saw some posts about it. People are saying it wasâwhat? An optical illusion?â
Lois grins. âWild, right? Looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. But you know how these things goâpeople see something weird, jump to conclusions. In a few days, itâll be just another airport ghost story.â
Dannyâs parents glance at each other. Danny stays quiet, gripping the hem of his hoodie.
Clark watches carefully. The way Mrs. Fenton keeps sneaking glances at Danny like sheâs searching for something. The way Mr. Fenton keeps shifting his weight, like heâs uncomfortable about something but wonât say what.
Lois doesnât give them time to dwell. âAnyway, Danny did great on the flight. Super calm, real trooper. Figured youâd want to know.â She claps Danny on the shoulder with casual ease, like this is just a normal chat between strangers.
Danny flinches, just barely.
Mrs. Fenton presses her lips together. âYes. Well. Thank you.â
Itâs cold. Polite, but cold.
Clark kneels slightly, putting himself at Dannyâs level. His voice is soft, just for him. âYou gonna be okay?â
Danny hesitates. His parents are watching. The whole terminal feels like itâs watching.
Finally, he nods. ââŚYeah.â
Clark doesnât quite believe him. But Danny is already taking a step back, toward his parents. Toward the unknown.
Lois gives the parents a winning smile. âTake care, alright?â
Mrs. Fenton nods stiffly. Mr. Fenton mutters a quiet, âThanks.â
And just like that, Danny is walking away.
Clark watches him go, feeling something in his chest ache.
Lois loops an arm through his. âWeâre not done here, are we?â
Clark exhales. âNo. Weâre not.â
Danny may have saved the entire plane. But right now, Clark isnât sure if anyone is going to save Danny.