Fixing Up A Car Turned Girl (backdated)

[clockwork_doc]

After meeting up with Clark in the Nexus, Doc's been getting things ready for him to come over and help him and Marty with the repairs on Dee's car form. He's been putting this off for far too long, thanks to some anxieties about what exactly Dee feels, and whether it's even right for him to do anything to her. Dee's assured him about fifty million times that she feels no pain, though, and she really wants to be fixed. And having Marty around now makes things rather easier than before. End result -- he's finally ready to get Dee back to full functioning condition -- or, at least, as close as they can get.

Finally, three days after Clark appeared, everything's set up. Tools and parts are in orderly piles in the parking lot, as are Dee, Marty, and Doc. "We all set, Doc?" Marty asks, looking around.

"I believe we are," Doc says, going over his mental checklist. "Dee? Anything missing that you can see?"

"Nope!" Dee bounces happily on her heels. This is gonna be fun! "Go ahead and call, Dad!"

"Okay!" Doc goes ahead and sends a text message to Clark's PINpoint: Clark -- it's me, Doc. We're all ready to get to work if you are. Let me know if you're in a position to come over.

Comments

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

"We can fix the time circuits, so if all else fails you can go ahead to 2015 and go to a repair shop there," he suggests. "I mean, they probably do that sort of thing all the time, right?"

Clark looks up when Marty speaks, and blinks back into normal sight. "Well... sort of. On accident. It first started in freshman year of high school. I'd just be sitting there and then I'd get an intense headache, and suddenly I'd be looking through things. It's not just like a black and white x-ray either, sometimes it was just under the skin so I'd see muscles and stuff. And sometimes it was just walls, like in, uh, gym class."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Probably, but actually time traveling in this world is going to be the tricky bit," Doc says, mentally prepping himself for the actual "taking stuff apart" bit. "It was a time travel test that brought Dee here. I don't want to try going anywhere else and find I've gone through yet another portal between realities."

"Yeah, let's avoid that by all means possible," Marty says, looking seriously spooked by the possibility of losing his best friend again. Turning to Clark, he grimaces in sympathy. "Ouch. That must have been pretty damn freaky." Seriously, why do people think X-ray vision is cool again?

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

"Agreed," Clark adds with a nod. "If nothing else, you can probably find parts in the Nexus if you can't get them anywhere else."

"Well..." He looks a little sheepish. "The wall incident happened when I was, ah, facing the girl's locker room."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Dee revs her engine, sounding happier at this prospect. Doc pats her steering wheel. "Don't worry, Dee. We'll figure this out somehow."

Marty can't help a snort of laughter as Clark reveals that little tidbit. "Oh man. Everybody must have wondered why the hell you had that look on your face," he says.

"Aren't uncontrollable powers fun?" Doc says, sarcasm mixed with sympathy in his voice. "I remember just how many times I got rained on when I was first getting a handle on the weather control."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

"If you want to start working on the time circuits, I can try to fix what I can of the flying circuits," Clark offers. It'll probably be the more... take-apart-y part of the job.

"Fortunately they thought I hit my head," he says with a laugh. "So it didn't take too much explaining." He looks even more awkward when Doc mentions his own uncontrollable powers. "Um. Yeah. Remind me sometime to tell you about how my heat vision started."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Doc considers that for a moment. "Sounds good to me," he says finally. "Though if you need help, don't hesitate to ask." Not that Doc knows any more about this than Clark, but he is the more experienced one.

"Lucky," Marty says, still looking rather amused. "How horribly embarrassing is that story?"

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

He nods, and locates the tools and parts he'll need, based on what he saw via x-ray vision. "When it's time to try to fix the tire mechanism, we'll need her up on a jack, but she's fine how she is for right now."

"Let's just say it was... hormonally linked. And I was fifteen," he says, as mildly as he can manage.

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Good." Doc gets his own tools, hesitates a moment, then takes a deep breath and starts disassembling the parts he needs to get the microchip properly installed. Dee rumbles her engine at him, letting him know she's okay.

"Ooooh," Marty says, wincing. "I think I know where that's going. That's gotta suck."

"Fifteen is a particularly awkward age for -- self-discovery -- even without superpowers," Doc agrees with a shiver.

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark begins working on stripping out the burned-out wiring to start with, keeping an ear on Doc in case it gets to be too much for him. Although he's sure Marty would be on that first, probably.

"I actually ended up getting arrested for arson," he agrees. "But since I was a minor, and no one saw me do it, and it was my first offense, they let me off with a warning. I kinda had to set fire to the jail though."

[museicalmarty.livejournal.com]

Marty would indeed -- he's keeping a close eye on his best friend for signs of trouble. So far, Doc seems to be doing okay, though his expression is perhaps more serious than the situation warrants.

"Arson? Seriously? And you--" Marty shakes his head. "You know, it's shit like that that makes me think me not using my own powers is the right idea." Yeah, Marty got a few superpowers from Fae. As he's hinted here, though, he doesn't really make use of them. Too many bad memories for one, and -- well, Clark just summed up another good reason.

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark's quiet for a moment, working wire by wire before moving onto larger components, rebuilding it as he goes, as best he can. "I tried living like that once. Not using my powers, I mean. A couple of times I didn't have them at all for a brief while. But... I couldn't stop myself from helping people. It's part of what got me killed. I felt obligated, like that's the whole point of having powers in the first place. I can't stand by and not help, if I can." He looks up at Marty. "I'm not saying everyone should. That's just how I feel about it."

[museicalmarty.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but it's easier when you have powers that really can help people, and that you had from -- maybe not the start, but for a while," Marty says. "My stuff -- I can make myself sound amazing on stage which, while pretty awesome, doesn't really help anybody much. And the only one one I've got a handle on makes somebody think I'm somebody in charge of them somehow. Maybe good for getting somebody off a friend's back, but. . . ." He grimaces. "And remembering where I got them is -- well, you know a little about that. I'm all for helping people out, but I dunno if I'm superhero material."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

"It doesn't mean you have to go out and stop muggings or supervillains, necessarily. That other power, the Jedi mind trick kind of thing, that could be really helpful when it comes to trying to get information. And never underestimate the power of raising morale." He shrugs a little. "Some of my best friends are as human as they come, and they're some of the best backup I've ever had. One of them works as an actual superhero."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"He's definitely got a point there," Doc says, pausing in his work. "Both in gathering information and keeping morale up. God knows people could definitely use more of the latter in times of stress. Not trying to force you into anything, understand -- just know it's an option."

"Yeah, okay," Marty allows. "I'll keep it in mind. Won't do me much good around here, but if some shit goes down in the Nexus or somewhere. . . ." There's a brief internal guilt attack as he suddenly wonders if he could have successfully used the "mind trick" power on the King of Hearts. Then again, who knows if he would have had the presence of mind to do anything like that. Clark's last statement, however, gets a look of surprise. "Really?"

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

He nods with a smile. "Yeah. Victor Allen, also known as Doc." The irony does not escape him here, and he gives a slightly apologetic glance at this Doc. "She's been doing the hero thing for years now, actually. And her husband, who is also a hundred percent ordinary human."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Doc laughs a little. "So she's got either the same name as our Victor or the same name as me. That's something you wouldn't expect even out of the Nexus."

"That's pretty cool," Marty says, though he looks slightly puzzled. "Though -- Victor? Not Victoria?" Dee adds her own questioning honk.

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark shrugs, and pulls out another component of the flying circuits, turning it over in his hands to see how bad the damage is. "It's her name. Sometimes she goes by Vic, though. If that helps make things less confusing."

His pupils contract as he stares at the circuit, almost like a bionic eye might, examining it on a microscopic level. Then a short burst of pinpoint-accurate heat vision to solder a few connections, and he slots it back in.

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Just wondering -- you don't see many women going by Victor," Marty says with a shrug.

Doc watches as Clark does his heat vision thing. "Now that I could see being useful," he says approvingly. "Make certain repairs a lot easier."

"Hey, don't you still have the ability to fix just about anything with pocket lint?" Marty notes.

"Only very temporarily, and only if I really concentrate. Trust me, that's the better power." Pause. "Once you get past the awkward phase."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

"I can also make popcorn and toast," he agrees with a grin, and he's actually not joking. Heat vision toast is the best toast. "One of the nice things about superpowers is you don't need to save them for the big serious stuff, you know? I was putting up fences by hand by the time I was fourteen, and it only took so long because Dad thought I might somehow put a nail through my hand when I pushed them in. I also have absolutely no need for potholders or oven mitts."

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Lucky," Marty says. "I guess I could put on a really good concert if I wanted."

"So long as I don't make myself upset, I don't have to suffer any bad weather I don't want to," Doc adds with a smile of his own. "And what Fae-granted powers I retain are actually perfect for more mundane utilities. Marty just mentioned I can fix anything temporarily with whatever's on hand. I can also break something in a minor way with just a touch, or cause something to run perfectly for a short time. Both take a bit to actually get working, though -- they were severely weakened when I got my weather powers. I used to be able to manipulate metal too, but that was completely removed by the Rift."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark thinks about that for a minute while he continues to work. "So what you're saying is you're magical MacGyver," he says, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

Dee does a little series of honks, apparently also amused. "Pretty much," Doc allows. "Though I'd like to reiterate that the repairs from the first power don't last very long -- a day at most. Same with the Blessing of Perfection -- though if you really want one, Dee, I'll give it to you once we're done," he says. Dee beeps in a currently noncommittal way.

"From what I've heard, he was always like that, even before that bastard Andrew took everything up a notch," Marty comments, leaning against the DeeLorean. "Doc's just good."

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

"Gotcha," he nods. "I was kind of wondering why you couldn't fix all the damage that way. That makes sense."

"Always? So you were born with these powers?" It's a relevant topic, with him.

[clockwork-doc.livejournal.com]

"Trust me, I'd love to," Doc says, finally getting to the place he needs to be. He lightly brushes his fingers over it, feeling a little odd. He knows he has to do this, knows Dee wants him to do this, but still. . . .

Marty notices and goes around to pat his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just -- getting used to the idea," he says. Taking a deep breath, he gets back to work. "No," he says in response to Clark's question. "Got them as a result of being brought to Arcadia. I think what Marty meant is that I've always had a reputation as a tinkerer."

"One who could do some pretty crazy stuff," Marty nods.

[kalel-ofkrypton.livejournal.com]

Clark pauses in a moment, in concern, but not wanting to interfere unless he's needed. Marty and Doc know each other a lot better than he does, after all, and he wouldn't want to intrude.

"Ah." It reminds him a lot of meteor freaks back home, where their powers usually refer back to part of their personality, or hobbies, or some other aspect of themselves. But this was something that was done to Doc on purpose, sort of, so he won't bring up bad memories if he can get around it. "I know you're not the exact same as your... movie selves, but did you ever build that crazy Rube Goldberg dog food thing?" If anyone understands what it feels like to feel completely separate from your so-called "canon" self, it's Clark.