Chapter 7 [Twenty minutes earlier—20,000 feet above the eastern seaboard]
Clark finished a soda and glanced out the window at the clouds. He wished he could float along as peacefully as they seemed to. He considered the ten really basic questions on his pad. How would he do a story like this one if he couldn't get near the interviewee? And how would he edit the piece so as to keep her identity a secret? Trapped in this nightmare. Hey, maybe they could make a TV movie out of it!
He looked down at the cell phone sitting beside himself next. Why is Mom sending someone? She knows I can zip over there in seconds anyhow!
"How's it going back there, Mr. Kent?" Druthers wondered.
"I'm doing great, Mr. Druthers. Thank you. How much longer if I can ask?" Clark replied.
"Best to buckle your seatbelt. We'll be landing in a few minutes. If you want, take a look out the window," Druthers concluded before getting on the radio to Oliver.
Clark did so and took his look. He saw the plane cross over the Potomac and bank right. Beneath him, the nation's capital spread itself out almost in welcome. He could see the fabled monuments and sites beneath them. The cars—almost seeming like the toys he'd played with as a boy—flowed along in a steady stream of activity. Yet he could almost sense that Lana was down there. He scanned the area beneath himself.
His heart though confirmed The Truth for him.
Amidst the cars, he could almost make out a raven colored object zipping its way on a parallel course to his own. When he blinked, it was gone. Even now, I want to see her. Come on, Kent. You can't have her. Deal with it.
The plane descended from the clear sky. Its wheels kissed the tarmac. Then it slowed and taxied to its final position on the runway.
Druthers came out with a briefcase in hand. "Welcome to Washington, Mr. Kent. Mr. Queen has informed me that you're taken care of. So I'll leave you to your devices. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"I'm fine for now. Thanks for the great flight," Clark expressed.
"My pleasure," the pilot noted before opening the door and letting the stairs down. "You indeed have company, Mr. Kent. Have a good stay." With that, he descended the stairs and greeted, "Good morning, Ma 'am."
"Good morning, sir," Lana replied courteously.
Clark jumped to attention at the sound of her voice. Mom sent Lana? She knows we can't be together! He gulped anxiously and headed for the door.
She looked up from the bottom of the stairs at him. She held a bouquet of red roses. Her eyes glistened in the sun. She smiled warmly at him. "Hi, Clark. Have a good flight?"
"Lana? Umm…You know we can't get close to each other," he reminded her nervously. "The kryptonite, remember?"
She laughed; the tones ringing to his ears like gentle church bells on a gentle spring breeze calling the faithful to service. "Clark, it's okay."
"What?" He stared at her.
"The radiation's gone! I'm clean!" she revealed enthusiastically.
"I thought it was permanent!" he assumed in disbelief. He had recalled what everyone had told them before she left—that there was no hope or chance. He wanted to believe so badly that what she said was true. Oliver said that he had someone on the case but could he or she work that fast? He trembled almost falling forward; his knees quivering in anticipation and nerves.
"You know a lady named Zatanna, Clark?" she queried.
"She's a magician and…." He panicked while recalling his earlier experiences. "Lana, what did she do to you?"
"She showed up in your Mom's apartment and cast some sort of spell. The room glowed green. The energy flowed into a ball and apparently flew into space. It's gone, Clark!" Her eyes watered in desperation. "We're free! Lex can't hurt us anymore!"
He looked around the area while trying to digest that account. In the adjacent terminal building, he could've sworn he saw Zatanna wave to him for a split second before vanishing again. She was there! It did happen. He felt himself relaxing.
He gazed down upon her once again with new eyes.
She seemed to glow in the morning sunshine. The warm breeze ruffled through her raven locks. Her eyes implored him onward. "Please, Clark. Can't we…at least…test it?"
He took a small step forward and hesitated while waiting for the meteor weakness and nausea. When none came, he took another and then another. Each step. One at a time.
As he did so, he never took his eyes off of hers. Each of his guarded steps guided ahead by her twin polarii in the darkness of his despair and the dim dawning of hope.
"I'm here, Clark. Just keep coming," she urged patiently. They had run from each other far too many times. Now was the time to stand their ground and let things happen.
He nodded and kept coming. He felt none of the symptoms. Love pushed him onward.
When he reached her, he hesitated about a hand's length away. He reached out and gently wiped the tears from her face. Then his fingers gently whispered across her cheeks taking in their softness. He lightly ran his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. "God knows, I missed you."
She trembled and her eyes watered anew. She lost herself in the warmth of his eyes and the feather soft touches. Her heart soared among the angels. "Please," she begged in a cracked dry whisper.
Needing no further request, he embraced her tightly. His lips sought hers out hungrily. He needed to feel her against him and would wait no longer.
She reciprocated, holding him against herself even more tightly. The suit's strength matched his Kryptonian counterpart allowing her to match him. Her mouth savored the sanctuary of his lips against it.
As if a sudden monsoon had swept across a drought starved strip of prairie, they felt their souls expanding once more. They filled themselves. The shared energy completed each one. Their hearts beat to each other's rhythm. The despair dissipated on the warm waves of romance and under the tears of joy they shed in unison.
The couple was back.
For a brief second, nothing was said. Then she broke the silence. "I know the guy usually does this but well…." She shrugged nervously while handing him the roses. "Clark, I love you. I never want to be apart from you again."
He accepted the roses. "They're beautiful, Lana. Thank you." He sniffed deeply of the blooms admiring their scent mixed with the gentle lilac one from her perfume. "This is what I want." He gazed into her eyes. "Really. It's what I want."
She shook her head and put her hand over his mouth, stopping the words. "I know. You never have to say that to me. I have faith in us."
He took a deep breath and considered everything he'd lived for since he landed in the field. Everything he'd done. Everything he'd believed in.
One of the Chief Reasons stood right in front of him.
And she was telling him she felt the same for him.
His mind flashed back to the night before Lex's rehearsal dinner with Helen Bryce.
Lana brought him a cake with a candle for his birthday. "Go ahead and make a wish, Clark," she told him.
He thought for a minute. Then he gazed into her eyes.
Her pools reflected both the starlight and the flickering candles. They shone with gentle yet passionate strength.
"I've wished for the same thing every year since I was five years old," he told her. While gazing into those eyes, he blew out the candle.
She smiled at him knowing that their wish was the same….
As his mind returned to the present, he looked at his beloved once more. He'd cared for other women. Each one, Alicia Baker, Kyla Buckwater, Lois and Chloe had struck a chord in him for one reason or another.
Still none of them held a candle to the singular brunette in front of him.
His One.
His Lana.
In that moment, he knew what he had to do. He took another breath.
"Clark, are you okay?" she wondered.
"I've never felt better. Nor have I known what I've wanted to do more. Let's make it official," he assured her.
"What?" she asked not believing what she was hearing.
"I was remembering the night sophomore year when you brought me the birthday cake. Remember you had me make a wish and blow out the candle?" he revealed.
"I do. You said it was the same wish you always make," she remembered. Then she smiled. "I'm the wish."
"You've been my wish for our entire lives. You'll always be that for me," he noted. Then he let his lips whisper another sweet nothing across hers to punctuate that point. Then he got down on one knee and took her hands in his.
She sucked in a breath of her own. "It's happening. You're really going to ask me."
"I am. Lana, I know I've taken you for granted at times. I am so sorry for that. I've been so obsessed with keeping you safe. The stuff surrounding the double heritage makes it more difficult. I wanted you to be happy. But the only way that we can both be happy is if we're together. You're my security. Beside my parents, your love keeps me going. I am nothing without you. I can't stand being apart from you. I want us to spend the rest of our lives together. Lana Lang, will you marry me?"
"Umm, Clark, aren't you missing something?" she queried almost mischievously.
"Yeah. I have a ring that Oliver ordered for me. I had it ordered before the whole bomb deal and…."
A playful whistle interrupted Clark's explanation.
"Clark, isn't that Bart Allen?" Lana queried.
"Yeah it is," Clark indicated. He turned toward the younger man. "Sorry, Bart, but…."
Bart zipped to their side. "Don't move, Stretch." He took out the velvet box. "I think you'll be needing this." He placed it in Clark's hand and grinned. "As if we'd let you two down? Go for the gusto, Amigo."
Clark popped it open to find a single stone diamond ring. Then he looked up into her eyes. "Well?"
She smiled softly. Her heart knew the answer even before he asked the Question. "Yes, Clark. I'll be with you. Forever."
He plucked the ring from its pillow and held it up to let it glisten in the sunlight. "May I have your hand?"
She let the happy tears dribble down her cheeks as she did so.
The gold band slid almost effortlessly onto her ring finger, the cool metal caressing and meeting the skin underneath itself as it fit into place.
"It looks great there. Thank you for the honor, Lana." He kissed her again.
"Thank you, Clark." She hugged him again. Then she turned to Bart. "Thank you for the save. How'd you know?"
Bart motioned to the jet. "Sorry to bust your privacy bubble but we were watching back in Metro. Can't resist some good stuff, ya know." He shook his hand. "Way to go, Stretch. Knew you had it in you. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Thanks. I think," Clark jabbed with a smirk of his own.
Bart rolled his eyes good naturedly before heading for Lana. "And, you, my Dear, are a lucky woman. It looks awesome." He kissed the back of her hand before streaking back toward Metropolis.
Lana looked at Clark skeptically. "Did you plan to have him bring it, Clark?"
"Lana, I didn't plan any of this. I really left the ring with Oliver a couple of days ago. Bart improvised. Sorry it wasn't better prepared," he explained.
"It was beautiful, Clark. I couldn't be happier. We have some great friends. You know that?" she inquired.
"I know. Let's tell Mom?" he supposed.
"Let's." She grinned at him while taking his hand. "Keep up with me if you can, Mr. Kent."
With that, they sprinted off toward Martha's apartment hand in hand on their first official steps into the next phase of their lives together.
