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PRESENT DAY CHICAGO
PERSE FIDDLED WITH THE THREADS in her jacket, as her hands were stuffed into her pockets. She walked with Ikaris and Sersi as they stopped at the lawn of a house, with a kid playing football with his dad, and Phastos fixing the kid's bike.
As the kid looks to the three, his eyes sparkled from seeing only one. "Pearl!" He runs up to the woman and tackles her with a hug.
Ikaris and Sersi stood confused as Perse smiled into his hug and laughed at him trying to throw her down to the ground, all in good fun.
"Hey, Ben," Perse greets, as she ruffed Jack's hair.
"Pearl." He continues to look to Ikaris and Sersi. "Um, who are your friends?"
"Jack, Ben." Phastos walks up to them. "These are me and Pearl's friends from college. This is Sylvia." He points to Sersi. "That's Isaac." He points to Ikaris.
"Dad, dad." Jack jumps, looking wide-eyed at Ikaris. "Dad, that's Superman. Dad, that's Superman!" Phastos tried to deny, but Jack kept on talking. "I saw him on TV. He was in London, fighting a monster. And you were with a cap and you were shooting laser beams out of your eyes."
Perse had a smile on her face, as Jack rambled on and on. Jack was really the only child Perse had communicated with in a long time. Hell, it took her years before getting comfortable with Ben, and many many lectors from Phastos. Ben and Jack were the only humans she truly liked and cared for.
Ikaris couldn't deny it now, so he broke the news. "I don't wear a cape."
"Okay, well, we should just go inside, right?" Phastos spoke up, guiding everyone into the house. He turns to Ikaris. "Can I call you Clark? Is that what you go by now?"
"You've called me worse."
✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼
2011
PERSE was called by Phastos to come to his home in Chicago. As it was only in text, she assumed it was something bad that happened. So she traveled and ran to the house, banging on the door, anxious.
Ben answered the door, "Per——"
"What's wrong? Where's Phastos?!" "What?"
She pushes the man out of the way and ran inside. Heading to the living room, she stopped to see the man standing; completely fine. She stood confused as to what would be so important as for her arrival.
But, she stood stiff when seeing Phastos turnaround, holding a small baby, wrapped in a pastel green blanket.
