Title: Before and After
Author: Meret
Summary: Whitney makes some decisions.
Category: Drama, Tempest Fic
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Pilot, Kinetic, Reaper, Tempest
Email: Feedback is pasted on the walls and gazed at in adoration
at meret118@netscape.net
Web Page: http://www.geocities.com/meretsv/
Thank you to Elrond50 for the football information, and a big
thank you to Wendi for her wonderful beta job.
Before and After by Meret
Before, he would have just asked his buddies to keep an eye on Lana,
and if Kent got to close, they'd simply beat the crap out of him.
Before. Before Clark had helped keep him out of jail. Before he
convinced him to spend time with his dad while he still could.
Before he talked Lex Luthor into letting him play with the Sharks.
Whitney stopped and stretched for a moment. His dad had said that
was the best day he'd ever had.
He still wasn't sure why Clark had done all those things. Not after
the stunt he and the others had pulled at Homecoming. If anyone had
done that to him . . . . He shook his head, beads of sweat flicking
off onto the grass, and started up again. One mile to go. He'd
wondered why he kept training so hard after the season ended. There
wasn't a lot of need for running the 40 in 4.6 managing a store. It
certainly didn't help him do inventory any faster. Now he figured he
could get through basic training easy enough. Another example of how
this was meant to be.
He didn't understand why Lana didn't see that. Especially after
opening the Talon. After his father . . . . The whole world changed
after that. He understood Lana so much better now. She needed that
connection with her parents the Talon provided. Why didn't she see
joining the Marines was giving him the same thing with his dad? This
decision made him feel focused, feel totally real, for the first
time in months. And if she truly understood that, she'd be willing
to wait for him. He could come home on leave, and once he knew
where he'd be stationed, she could apply to a nearby college. So why
wouldn't she promise to wait?
His feet pounded the path rhythmically, keeping time with his
thoughts. Lana was the only bright spot in this horrible year, and
he didn't know how he would have gotten through it without her. Just
thinking about not having her in his life anymore made him ache all
over. He still had one more shot at getting her to agree when he
took her to dance in the gym before the prom started. He didn't know
what to do if she didn't say yes then. Try again at the bus stop,
maybe?
The morning breeze brought the first, faint smell of the fertilizer
plant, and Whitney turned to his left, heading back toward town. He
abandoned the puzzle of female behavior for something he maybe
*could* figure out - what to do about Clark. Lana had said he was
going to the dance with Chloe, but that didn't mean anything. He'd
seen the way Clark and Lana looked at each other. The way things
stood right now, he wouldn't have a girlfriend by the time he
finished training.
Okay, he'd just tell him to stay away from Lana. No, he'd *ask*
Clark to stay away from her. And Clark would laugh in his face. Why
shouldn't he after being strung up like some Wizard of Oz messiah?
How the hell had that ever gotten started anyway? Whitney had never
stopped to think about it before. So, he'd apologize to Clark first.
He'd been meaning to do that for a while anyway. Then what?
He needed to figure Clark out. What would make him stay away from
Lana like the Smallville Sheriff's Office from an honest day's work?
What did he want? Besides Lana, of course. Clark . . . Clark liked
to help people. Look at all the guy had done for him, and they
weren't even friends. Seemed like whenever anyone was in trouble,
he always managed to show up to help. Some sort of hero syndrome
or something. So if he asked him to do it as a favor - sure. Could
you please not hit on my girl as soon as I leave town? That'd work.
*Not.*
Whitney frowned as he completed the turn back to his truck. But he
could - what if he asked him to do it as a favor? Not for him so much,
but for Lana. Say he was worried about her, and would Clark look out
for her while he wasn't there to do it. Man, he'd eat that up faster
than the football team forced to go on a week long fast. He could
even get Clark to swear to it. A promise just between guys. If he
could sell that junk in the store, he could certainly sell that.
He sprinted the last hundred yards to his truck. Grabbing the water
bottle off of the seat, he poured some over his head, before taking
several long swallows. He climbed in the truck and gunned the engine,
turning the air conditioning on high. Yeah, he'd do that before he
left town. After he danced with Lana.
End
Author: Meret
Summary: Whitney makes some decisions.
Category: Drama, Tempest Fic
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Pilot, Kinetic, Reaper, Tempest
Email: Feedback is pasted on the walls and gazed at in adoration
at meret118@netscape.net
Web Page: http://www.geocities.com/meretsv/
Thank you to Elrond50 for the football information, and a big
thank you to Wendi for her wonderful beta job.
Before and After by Meret
Before, he would have just asked his buddies to keep an eye on Lana,
and if Kent got to close, they'd simply beat the crap out of him.
Before. Before Clark had helped keep him out of jail. Before he
convinced him to spend time with his dad while he still could.
Before he talked Lex Luthor into letting him play with the Sharks.
Whitney stopped and stretched for a moment. His dad had said that
was the best day he'd ever had.
He still wasn't sure why Clark had done all those things. Not after
the stunt he and the others had pulled at Homecoming. If anyone had
done that to him . . . . He shook his head, beads of sweat flicking
off onto the grass, and started up again. One mile to go. He'd
wondered why he kept training so hard after the season ended. There
wasn't a lot of need for running the 40 in 4.6 managing a store. It
certainly didn't help him do inventory any faster. Now he figured he
could get through basic training easy enough. Another example of how
this was meant to be.
He didn't understand why Lana didn't see that. Especially after
opening the Talon. After his father . . . . The whole world changed
after that. He understood Lana so much better now. She needed that
connection with her parents the Talon provided. Why didn't she see
joining the Marines was giving him the same thing with his dad? This
decision made him feel focused, feel totally real, for the first
time in months. And if she truly understood that, she'd be willing
to wait for him. He could come home on leave, and once he knew
where he'd be stationed, she could apply to a nearby college. So why
wouldn't she promise to wait?
His feet pounded the path rhythmically, keeping time with his
thoughts. Lana was the only bright spot in this horrible year, and
he didn't know how he would have gotten through it without her. Just
thinking about not having her in his life anymore made him ache all
over. He still had one more shot at getting her to agree when he
took her to dance in the gym before the prom started. He didn't know
what to do if she didn't say yes then. Try again at the bus stop,
maybe?
The morning breeze brought the first, faint smell of the fertilizer
plant, and Whitney turned to his left, heading back toward town. He
abandoned the puzzle of female behavior for something he maybe
*could* figure out - what to do about Clark. Lana had said he was
going to the dance with Chloe, but that didn't mean anything. He'd
seen the way Clark and Lana looked at each other. The way things
stood right now, he wouldn't have a girlfriend by the time he
finished training.
Okay, he'd just tell him to stay away from Lana. No, he'd *ask*
Clark to stay away from her. And Clark would laugh in his face. Why
shouldn't he after being strung up like some Wizard of Oz messiah?
How the hell had that ever gotten started anyway? Whitney had never
stopped to think about it before. So, he'd apologize to Clark first.
He'd been meaning to do that for a while anyway. Then what?
He needed to figure Clark out. What would make him stay away from
Lana like the Smallville Sheriff's Office from an honest day's work?
What did he want? Besides Lana, of course. Clark . . . Clark liked
to help people. Look at all the guy had done for him, and they
weren't even friends. Seemed like whenever anyone was in trouble,
he always managed to show up to help. Some sort of hero syndrome
or something. So if he asked him to do it as a favor - sure. Could
you please not hit on my girl as soon as I leave town? That'd work.
*Not.*
Whitney frowned as he completed the turn back to his truck. But he
could - what if he asked him to do it as a favor? Not for him so much,
but for Lana. Say he was worried about her, and would Clark look out
for her while he wasn't there to do it. Man, he'd eat that up faster
than the football team forced to go on a week long fast. He could
even get Clark to swear to it. A promise just between guys. If he
could sell that junk in the store, he could certainly sell that.
He sprinted the last hundred yards to his truck. Grabbing the water
bottle off of the seat, he poured some over his head, before taking
several long swallows. He climbed in the truck and gunned the engine,
turning the air conditioning on high. Yeah, he'd do that before he
left town. After he danced with Lana.
End