Title: The Handmaid's Tragedy

By: Amanda

Feedback: sweety167@yahoo.ca

Rating: Will probably end up as R

Spoilers: Up to the minute…anything aired is fair game.

Disclaimer: I only own Anna Clarkson and the plot…

Summery: Anna Clarkson returns to Smallville, and maybe that wasn't such a good idea…

Chapter Completed: January 27, 2003

"And the trees about me,

Let them be dry and leafless; let the rocks

Groan with continual surges; and behind me

Make all a desolation."

~ The Maid's Tragedy

Anna Clarkson climbed the stairs in the Kent Farm barn, to the loft. Her bag flung over her shoulder and her coat wrapped tightly around her as she shivered at the oddly frigid December air. When she reached the top she was surprised to find the blonde girl there, instead of Clark, perched at the window.

Tentatively she stepped up on the landing, "I was looking for Clark…his parents said he was here."

"He was, but probably went off to save a certain brown haired, dark eyes damsel in distress," Chloe over emphasised her words and snide tone. "Sorry," she turned to shrug at the visitor.

"Chloe?" Anna questioned, searching her mind to match the face to the name.

She looked over the other girl, "Anna," she recognised her instantly, noting how comfortable she was now in jeans and a wool coat instead of a stuffy wool suit or running barefoot in the road. "You haven't been here in months…what brings you back?"

The older one dropped down on the bench with a sigh, resting her head in her hands, "That's why I wanted to talk to Clark." She looked up at her, "You know what my…situation was here, right?" She chose her words carefully, hating to revisit the past and not wanting to go over it.

Chloe nodded, taking a seat across from her, she remembered the scene at the Luthor Castle and the explanation she coaxed out of the blushing Clark. The twisted Lionel-Lex connection, which she personally credited as to why Lionel went back to Metropolis. Not that anyone was sorry to see him go.

Anna groaned with frustration, confusion and the burden of carrying her secret. She needed to release it, and the genuine glare from Chloe's eyes made her, "I'm pregnant."

Her eyes widened, "Whoa." Her investigative mind kicked in, "And you don't know if it's Lionel's…"

"Or Lex's," Anna nodded, covering her face with her hands.

Chloe silently let this absorb, as well as the assumption that neither man knew anything about it.

Lex strided up the stairs, "Hey Clar--," he stopped short when he spotted the girls instead of Clark. "Anna," he said with surprise when he noticed her seated on the side bench.

"Lex," she stood at his entrance, her voice calmer. But her knees felt weak at seeing him; his strong presence and the flood of memories with him. She could cry and rush to him, instead she stayed planted.

He actually seemed speechless, his mouth hung slightly ajar before any sound escaped, "You look good," he told her, and she did. She looked better, healthier then he remembered from the last time he saw her, the month ago when he left her bed and didn't come back. Without a word.

"You too," she was almost breathless – he did disappear from her life, but was the first man she ever loved. And now she was reappearing in his.

He did seem weary of that, "What brings you here?" He shoved his hands into his pockets. He was curious as to why she was in Smallville and maybe more so as to why she was in Clark's room.

"Can't a girl visit old friends?" Chloe made her presence known, drawing the attention away from Anna, sho seemed to need the mental space.

"Miss Sullivan," he nodded and smirked to her, "Seems Clark has evaded us all."

She grumbled, "He probably went off to do something heroic," her statement dripped with sarcasm.

Lex just nodded in understanding. The generally understood, unknown that is Clark Kent.

"It's not like he abandoned us here," Anna regretted it as soon as it left her mouth. She was looking directly at Lex, and knew exactly what she implied. She was also sure the others had a slight idea too. Mentally she chalked it up to hormones and shrugged.

"I…well…yes," the unmoveable Lex Luthor seemed taken aback and even blindsided, "Can I offer you a drive home? Unless you're planning on waiting around for him," he was still directed at Chloe, but unable to forget Anna's presence. Even when he thought he wanted to.

She thought about it. Being here, waiting for when Clark came home, just like a little puppy. Someone to just walk over, always expected to be there. The idea scared her, "That'd be good," she nodded, grabbing her bag and waited at the stairs. That's when she felt the uneasiness settling between the other two, "I'll just go wait out there…yeah," she descended the stairs.

He now turned to Anna, actually seeming the slightest bit nervous, "Can I drop you somewhere?"

"ah…actually…" she brushed her hair behind her ear and bit the inside of her lips, "I haven't gotten as far as finding a place to go to yet." She hated sounding pathetic and covered with a little laugh.

His hand travelled the same path behind her ear as hers did. He mused on how she had cut her hair. "There's always room at the castle," he raised his eyebrow, laughing at it as a castle.

An unasked question hung between them.

"He's back in Metropolis," Lex answered like he could read her mind.

She nodded slowly, his hand still gracing the side of her face.

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A/N: Hello Readers! Welcome back to the life of the handmaid…

Title is taken from the play "The Maid's Tragedy" by some guys whose names have escaped me at the moment…*shrug*