Conversation flowed naturally through the rest of dinner. Jonathan talked about farming challenges, crop yields, weather patterns. Martha asked about Gotham and what city life was like. Clark stayed mostly quiet but seemed happy to have Bruce there.
After dinner, Bruce insisted on helping with dishes despite Martha's protests. He and Clark washed while Martha dried and put away.
"Want to see the barn?" Clark asked when they finished. "I can show you around the farm."
"Sure."
They stepped out into the evening air. The sun was setting, painting the sky in oranges and reds. Kansas sunsets were something else, Bruce had to admit. No light pollution, just pure color stretching across the horizon.
Clark led him across the yard toward the large red barn. "Thanks for coming. I know it's not exciting compared to Gotham."
"It's different. Not better or worse, just different." Bruce looked around at the open space. "Must be peaceful out here. Room to think."
"Sometimes too much room to think," Clark said quietly. He opened the barn door and they stepped inside.
The interior was dimly lit, filled with farming equipment, hay bales, and the smell of animals. A few cows in stalls looked up at them curiously, then went back to eating.
Clark walked to the center of the barn and turned to face Bruce. "I've been thinking about what you said yesterday. About how you saw what happened in the Chemistry lab."
"Yeah?"
"Nobody's ever noticed before. Or if they did, they didn't say anything." Clark's hands clenched and unclenched nervously. "How did you know? Really? Because you said you're just observant, but it's more than that. You figured out things about me in one day that I've been hiding my whole life."
Bruce considered his answer carefully. This was a pivotal moment. Too much truth would scare Clark off. Too little would insult his intelligence.
"I pay attention to details most people miss," Bruce said finally. "It's something I trained myself to do after my parents died. Reading people, situations, looking for patterns. And you have patterns, Clark. Specific ones that pointed to something being different about you."
"Different." Clark laughed bitterly. "That's one word for it."
"Show me."
Clark's head snapped up. "What?"
"Show me what you can do. Whatever you've been hiding. I told you yesterday, I'm not going to judge you or freak out. And we're alone out here. Nobody can see." Bruce kept his voice calm and encouraging. "You need to talk to someone who knows. Holding it in is eating you alive."
Clark stared at him for a long moment. Bruce could see the internal struggle playing out on his face. Fear warring with desperate need to share the burden.
Finally, Clark walked over to a hay bale that probably weighed two hundred pounds. He grabbed it with one hand and lifted it over his head like it weighed nothing.
Whoosh!
He tossed it fifteen feet through the air. It landed with a heavy thud that shook the barn floor.
"That's not even trying hard," Clark said quietly. "I could throw it through the roof if I wanted to. Could probably throw it into the next county."
Bruce walked over to the hay bale and tried to lift it himself. It took significant effort just to budge it off the ground. He let it drop and looked at Clark.
"How strong are you exactly?"
"I don't know. I've never pushed it to the limit. I'm afraid to." Clark picked up a horseshoe from a nearby workbench. He squeezed it. Metal groaned and bent like clay in his grip. "This is me barely trying. I've accidentally broken so many things over the years. Door handles, tools, furniture. My parents have gotten really good at explaining away the damage."
"What else?"
Clark set down the mangled horseshoe. "I can hear things I shouldn't be able to. Right now I can hear your heartbeat from here. Can hear my parents talking in the house. Can hear cars on the highway three miles away. Sometimes it's overwhelming, all the sounds coming in at once."
"And the heat vision?"
"Yeah." Clark looked away. "Started about six months ago. When I get stressed or emotional, my eyes heat up. If I don't control it, they shoot out, I don't know, heat beams? Fire? It burns things. Started three fires so far, all on the farm where I could cover them up. But yesterday in Chemistry, I couldn't stop it in time."
"Can you control it at all?"
"Sometimes. If I'm calm and focused, I can keep it from happening. But if I'm surprised or angry or scared, it just comes out." Clark's voice was thick with frustration. "I'm like a walking disaster waiting to happen."
Bruce walked closer. "You're not a disaster. You're someone dealing with abilities you don't understand yet. That's scary, but it doesn't make you dangerous."
"You don't know that. What if I lose control around someone? What if I hurt somebody because I can't stop myself?"
"Have you hurt anyone yet?"
"No, but..."
"Then you're doing better than you think." Bruce met Clark's eyes steadily. "The fact that you're terrified of hurting people tells me you won't. Dangerous people don't worry about the damage they might cause. You're not dangerous, Clark. You're careful to the point of paralysis."
"I have to be careful. You don't understand what it's like."
Read more chapters, 32+ days ahead of Webnovel Updates, on Patreon marvelstark