mithen | Fic: Let No Man Put Asunder

Title: Let No Man Put Asunder
Characters/Pairings: Kal/Bruce, Lex Luthor, Lara, Jor-El, Zatanna
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kal is summoned to a meeting and discovers all is not quite as it seems on Krypton. A continuation of the From This Day Forward series.
Word count: 2000

< ...and this latest act by Nightwing and Flamebird shows that the two vigilantes are unlikely to be giving themselves up anytime soon. For the Kryptonopolis News, I'm Kal-El reporting. >

Jor-El harrumphed as the news clip came to a close. < Reckless, mad fools. They'll destabilize Kryptonian society with their antics. >

Kal shot Bruce a quick glance, but Bruce was flipping through the pages of a fashion magazine and didn't respond to Jor-El's statement. Of course, he wasn't supposed to understand Kryptonian at all, so he had little choice.

"Now, Jor," Lara said in English, "You must admit they've done some good as well."

Another annoyed noise from Kal's father, although he switched into English too. "The only good thing they've done is helped Kal's career. They'll get themselves killed, flitting around in the sky like that."

Lara sighed and clasped her hands together dramatically. "Well, I think they're rather dashing."

Bruce held up his fashion magazine. "They seem to have inspired a whole new line of men's wear."

"Oh, let me look!" Lara snatched the magazine from Bruce and flipped through the pages with gusto.

"Orange and indigo seem to be the in colors of the season," Bruce said, looking at Kal. Kal risked a glance at the pages and had a hard time not blushing at the "artist's rendition" of what Nightwing and Flamebird probably looked like without their masks. He was definitely not that good-looking.

Although they didn't really seem to have done Bruce justice.

Lara handed Bruce the magazine back, looking thoughtful. "I think they're doing good things. Kryptonian society is going to have to change, Jor, you know that--"

Jor-El grunted. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, and it won't be because some reckless daredevils risked their necks to push us across it." He stood up and stalked from the room.

Lara smiled after him, a little sadly. "He's having a hard time adjusting to all these new things--these vigilantes, the contact with Terra, it all brings change. And your father's never been comfortable with change." She brightened. "Did you see that a shusi restaurant has opened near the Crystal Square?"

"That's sushi, Mother," said Kal, suppressing a smile.

Lara waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever, I've heard it's delicious. We should go there sometime." She smiled at Bruce. "Not all Kryptonians are completely opposed to change."

: : :

"Zee?"

Kal and Bruce were shopping for appliances--with Bruce casting covetous glances at different bits of technology--when Bruce suddenly darted into the crowd. He came back with a young woman in tow, dark hair tumbling over her shoulders and a rather alarmed look on her face. "Zatanna!" said Bruce. "What are you doing here on Krypton? Travel here is very restricted!" He noticed the woman was casting glances at Kal and stopped abruptly. "Oh, Zatanna, this is my husband Kal-El. Kal-El, this is Zatanna Zatara, an...old friend of mine."

Zatanna didn't attempt to shake Kal's hand, which indicated she knew something about Kryptonian culture. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, nodding politely.

"Zee," Bruce said again, "What are you doing here?"

"I could probably ask you the same," she said with a sudden, impish grin.

"Me? I'm...married. Learning Kryptonian culture. Living quietly."

Zatanna shook her head, still smiling. "Oh, Bruce, really." She raised her hands to brush aside his words. "It's all right, I won't pry." She leaned in close, almost touching him. "Eb efas," she said, then turned and melted into the crowd.

"What was that all about?" Kal felt a twinge of jealousy at how familiar they had seemed. "What was that language at the end?"

"Zee's a magic-user," Bruce said absently. "She speaks her spells backwards. She and her father are two of the greatest escape artists and illusionists on Terra--but for them the magic is real as well."

Kal frowned. "I don't know that word."

"Which one?"

"'Magic.'"

"It's...uh..." Bruce cast his eyes up for a second. "I can't think of a word for it in Kryptonian. It's...power that doesn't conform to the laws of science or nature."

Kal scoffed as they left the store and headed for home. "There's no such thing, Bruce."

Bruce cast him a surprised, somewhat speculative glance. "Not even in your stories? Your legends?"

"Everything can be explained by science, Bruce," Kal said, knowing he sounded a bit pompous.

"That's interesting," Bruce murmured. He frowned. "She still didn't say why she was here."

When they got back to the El compound Bruce immediately started doing research on "magic," but turned up nothing at all in Kryptonian language or culture.

: : :

Kal looked around the meeting room, shifting in his uncomfortable seat. The Council of Science was seated on a dais at the front of the room, Jor-El among the ten men and women seated there. In front of the dais were the Kryptonians who had been married off to Terrans.

Kal had been called abruptly to this meeting but had no idea what it was about. Judging from the puzzled looks on the other Kryptonian's faces, they didn't know either.

The Council members, he noticed, looked very grave. Kal felt a sudden moment of stammering panic--had they figured out about Nightwing and Flamebird? But surely they would have called Bruce here as well in that case. No, it was impossible.

But his heart was still pounding as Jor-El stood to address the group.

"My fellow Kryptonians, we are here today to give you good news, and to explain the precarious situation in which we find ourselves. The good news is that Moka Ghil-Zha and her Terran husband have succeeded in combining their DNA to produce offspring." A murmur went around the room; Moka looked as surprised as everyone else. "The matrix technicians sent word back to us today that the fetus is thriving within her birthing crystal and shows every sign of being strong and healthy." He bowed toward Moka. "Congratulations to you and your husband."

Turning back to the fuller assembly, he said, "Even more importantly, the fetus shows signs of being able to use...magic." He used the English word; puzzled frowns creased the faces of the other Kryptonians. "Magic is an ability to manipulate reality in ways not bound by the laws of science."

Beside Kal, Jhal Farad-Ko snorted. "That's impossible."

Jor-El shook his head gravely. "I have seen this magic, and I assure you it is real, and it is not science. The human species has within them the ability--latent in most--to use this kind of power. Kryptonians do not." He paused and took a deep breath. "This is why we are doomed if we do not change our ways."

"Speak clearly, Jor-El," snapped Jhal as the room erupted in chatter. "What do you mean, doomed?"

Jor-El looked pained. "Two decades ago, I discovered a seismic flaw at the heart of our planet. Countermeasures were taken which we thought halted the process." His hands clenched. "They merely delayed it." He raised his voice to cut over the frightened babble. "The flaw is not scientific, it is a rift caused by magic of some sort, and it can only be halted by magic." His shoulders slumped. "We have been borrowing Terrans skilled in its use, asking them to help hold our splintering planet together. But even with their help, we have merely slowed down the process. We are doomed...unless we interbreed with them to create Kryptonians who can sense and use this magic. It seems, based on scans by the Terran magicians, that Kryptonian/Terran crossbreeds may be strong in magic, strong enough to hold our world together. For all our sakes, we can only hope so."

Jhal Farad-Ko was on her feet. "So you're saying that without help from Terra--"

"--Krypton will die within decades. Yes."

Jhal seemed deeply disturbed by this; she chewed on her lower lip, her hands clenched. "There must be some other way," she muttered.

"I know you have hated the idea of contact with Terran culture, Jhal." Jor-El's voice was compassionate. "I also find the idea...upsetting. But there is no other way. We must begin to open up communication and interchange with Terra, to create as many chances as possible for magic to enter our race's genetic makeup."

Jhal wrung her hands sharply, then turned and left the room.

The Council Chair stood as Jor-El sat down, his posture sagging. "This meeting is adjourned," she announced.

As Kal and his father walked home, Kal cast a sideways glance at Jor-El. "Does it upset you so much?"

Jor-El's chuckle was bleak. "The prospect of our world exploding? A little, yes."

"No, I mean...the idea of having grandchildren that are half-Terran. Bruce's children."

Jor-El stopped, frowning, and looked at Kal. "That's not it at all, Kal. Bruce is..." he paused as if looking for the right words, "...a fitting mate for you. I would be proud to have his children within the House of El." Kal blinked, surprised at Jor-El's praise. Usually he tried to act as if Bruce weren't even there.

His father laughed weakly at Kal's expression. "Oh, my son. Your mother and I aren't as--" He broke off. "Well, never mind that." He turned away and resumed walking. "I'll admit I've been resistant to the idea of interaction with Terran culture. It's so...alien. But my observations of Bruce, and of the brave magicians who have come from Terra to exert their energies to save a planet, for no reason than because they will not let sentient beings die..." He sighed. "Krypton could do worse than to join our genetic destiny to Terra's."

: : :

"--I refuse to go through with it!" Jhal Farad-Ko's voice was sharp enough to rattle the beakers in their shared laboratory. "Are you mad? When I thought it would merely isolate the two planets, that was different. But I will not be a party to an action that will mean the eventual doom of my entire planet, Lex!"

Lex looked around the lab at the crystal wonders he had yet to figure out, the technology still waiting to be looted. "But we're nearly ready! We've been planning this for nearly a year now, surely you won't back out just because--"

"--Just because it will condemn my planet to death within a few decades?" Jhal stared at him. "You are mad!"

"The explosions will trap some of the magicians here on Krypton, they'll be able to hold the place together." Lex didn't like the look in Jhal's eyes at all.

"It isn't enough, Lex. If we do it now, there won't be enough humans on Krypton to affect our DNA in any meaningful way. When the Terran magicians grow older and weaker, we'll all be doomed. No, we must delay at least another ten years. Repugnant as it is to me, I see no other way."

Lex studied Jhal's face. Her jaw was set in a stubborn, closed line, her eyes narrowed. "But surely--"

Jhal's eyes snapped fury. "If you persist in this course, I will have no choice but to report you to the authorities."

Lex sighed and let his shoulders slump. He slowly walked over to his workbench. "I'm sorry you feel this way, Jhal." His hand came to rest on the lead container filled with the jagged shards of his green mineral. His Luthorium. "I'm really quite sorry."

: : :

He was lucky, Lex considered as he washed his hands later, that Kryptonians were such an insular lot. It might be a week or two before someone came by to check on Jhal, who was known for disappearing into her lab for days at a time. Threads of red lifted from his hands and faded into the water, and he soaped his hands one more time, contemplating his next course of action. It was going to be more difficult to pull this off with only one person, but he was sure it could be done.

He was whistling to himself as he headed back to his drafting board.

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From:

anthraciteowl.livejournal.com

And so, the plot thickens. Positively curdles, in fact. How did a planet with no magic come to have a magical rift at its heart? Does Lex realize that he would be stranding himself on a dying planet? How many children will Clark and Bruce be creating, out of their partiotic duty?

I adore this series, especially the glimpses of Kryptonian culture.

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