Chapter Four

Lionel couldn't let Martha leave unprotected.

He knew something was incredibly wrong, and he had no doubts about who was behind it. The second she left his office, he put a phone call through to his security detail and assigned someone to keep a close watch on her. He received updates every half an hour. She went to work, stopped at the bank, went into the grocery store, and pulledi nto the drivethrough at Starbucks – her secret guilty pleasure, which Lionel had discovered during her time as his assistant, and not even Jonathan knew about. Lionel smiled to himself as he imagined her quickly discarding the empty coffee cup and tossing an Altoid in her mouth to keep her husband from tasting it on her. He had no idea why she insisted upon keeping it a secret, but her little Starbucks addiction, like so many other things, only endeared her to him more.

By six o'clock, Lionel had received the report that she was home. Clark was there too, Jonathan was not. Somewhat satisfied, Lionel told the remarkably discreet security officer to leave her alone for the night, convinced that there was very little chance Martha would leave the farm until morning.

Martha found Clark in his fortress of solitude, doing homework, she hoped. He flashed her a winning smile when he noticed her coming up the stairs, weary and anxious as ever.

"Hey, Mom." He stood. "Everything okay?"

"Clark, I need to tell you something." She sat down on the couch, and he followed suit.

Clark watched skeptically as she reached into her bag and pulled out the photograph of the crystal. "Where did you get this?" He questioned with mild alarm.

"Jason's mother," she replied. "Genevieve Teague."

Clark frowned in confusion. "Why? What does she want from you?"

Martha sighed. "She's under the impression that I have some kind of powerful influence over Lionel Luthor, and she wants me to convince him to give the crystal to her."

Clark looked on incredulously. "Or what?"

She hesitated, pursing her lips. "Or she's going to blackmail me."

"About what? About me?" Clark's eyes widened in both anger and fear. "Mom, does Genevieve Teague know my secret?"

"No, no, no." Martha shook her head. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

She sighed, reluctantly. "Years ago, when your father and I learned we couldn't…conceive. I got the phone call from the doctor telling me your dad….was sterile. But I decided to…"

"Tell him it was you," Clark finished.

"Yes." Her eyes searched his, trying to gauge his reaction. "She also…doctored some papers."

"What papers?"

"Papers that…name Lionel as the baby's father. The baby I lost two years ago."

What?!" Clark exclaimed, rising to his feet.

"They're doctored, Clark. Forged. But she's threatening to show them to your dad if I don't do what she asks. And you know how insecure he's always been about Lionel. Whether it's true or not, just raising the question will kill him."

"I can't believe this," Clark breathed, pacing both and forth.

"Clark, there's more." He turned to her expectantly. "Genevieve Teague…is a woman without a conscience. She's ruthless, she'll stop at nothing to get what she wants. She made that very clear to me when we met." Martha paused. "I think our lives may be in danger."

Clark sighed, overwhelmed by the revelations that had juts been thrown at him in the past few minutes. He returned to his place beside her on the couch. Martha reached over and squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"I'm sorry to bring you into this."

Clark shook his head, deeming the apology unnecessary. "This is why you were acting so strange last night."

Martha nodded. "Yes. And Clark, you cannot tell your father."

"But…" He protested.

"Clark. You can't tell him, do you understand me?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

They sat together for a few minutes, ruminating upon the situation at hand. It wasn't until Jonathan's voice echoed through the barn that they were thrust back into reality.

Jonathan smiled as he walked up the stairs to greet them. "What is this, a little Kent family cabal?"

"Uh," Clark stumbled over his words. "Mom was just…helping me with my history."

Jonathan glanced down at the book on the table. "That's a Calculus book, son."

Jumping to the rescue, Martha stood and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck, dropping several light kisses on his lips.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to distract me, Martha Kent."

Martha grinned up at him, one eyebrow raised seductively. "Is it working?" She planted another kiss on his lips, this time for much longer.

"Uh…yeah, I'd say so."

Martha giggled and took his hand, leading him down the stairs. "You might want to start dinner, Clark…"

Jonathan chuckled as he willingly followed her. "What, are you going to take me out behind the barn and have your wicked way with me?"

"That, Jonathan Kent, is precisely what I'm going to do."

Clark laughed and shook his head. As much as it made him uncomfortable to ese his parents act this way, he was routinely thankful for the love and intimacy his parents shared between them. He grabbed his Calculus book and headed inside to start dinner, as the news of what his mother had just told him lingered in his mind.

TBC.