But for the Grace of God

By NostalgiaKick <feli290412@gmail.com>

Rated: G

Submitted: June 2015

Summary: What would Clark’s life have been like if it weren’t for the Kents? #7 in the At First Sight series.

Story Size: 373 words (2Kb as text)

Disclaimer: All recognisable characters, etc. are property of DC Comics, Warner Bros. and December 3rd Productions.

Author’s Note: Seventh in the series started by At First Sight, set at the end of ‘Smart Kids.’ Thanks goes to Trina for beta-reading.

This story is part of a series following “At First Sight,” “A Matter of Time,” “Evil Lurks,” “Invisible,” “Gratitude” and “Unprofessional Behaviour.”

***

When I look at the kids of the Beckworth School, I can’t help but think ‘there but for the grace of God go I.’

I could have ended up like these kids.

I was lucky.

***

If Jonathan and Martha Kent hadn’t had been driving past when my ship crashed in Shuster’s Field, my life could have been very different.

If I’d ended up in an orphanage, would it have been one like the Beckworth School? Would I have been branded a problem kid?

Probably. At least once my powers started to develop. I started a lot of accidental fires before I learned to control my heat vision.

I wonder what kind of person I’d be now if it wasn’t for the Kents. So many of my values and my sense of ethics come from them. If they weren’t there, would I be more like Luthor, for example? Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

A super-powered Luthor is cause for nightmares.

But the Kents were there. They did find me. I was incredibly lucky. They raised me to be a good person, not a thing to be feared.

The way I use my powers is the only thing that keeps me from being feared.

There’s one thing that I envy the Smart Kids, however.

When it came to their differences, they had a choice. They could choose to be normal.

I don’t have that choice. My differences will forever mark me as what I am — the sole survivor of an alien world.

If I could trade all my powers for a normal, human life, would I do it?

I honestly don’t know.

Superman has become an unstoppable juggernaut, taking over Clark Kent. But becoming him has given me something invaluable.

The ability to be me.

THE END

This story is part of a series following “At First Sight,” “A Matter of Time,” “Evil Lurks,” “Invisible,” “Gratitude” and “Unprofessional Behaviour.”

Table of Contents

But for the Grace of God