Clark gets to his parents house in a few seconds and tells them what happened and what is about to happen.
Jonathan speaks "Ok first did anyone see you grab the stones?"
Clark tried to think back "I don't believe so. I found one stuffed in a drain pipe outside Lana's apartment"
"Wait. Lana?" his mother asks.
Clark nods "She must of grabbed it in China when I was knocked out". Yeah and so much for any trust that was left between the two of them Clark mentally adds.
"And the other one?" Martha asks.
"It was in Lionel's vault in Luthorcorp. Oh I destroyed the door to that again"
Jonathan shakes his head. Lionel Luthor. Again! "Ok now what about this ice Fortress?"
"Jor-El called it my Fortress of Solitude. It's up in the Arctic. It's so he can train me"
"And you agreed to this?" Jonathan asks confirming Clark's story.
Clark looks at his father "He compromised. When has Jor-El ever compromised. I thought it was best to accept his offer rather than face the alternative"
Clark's parents couldn't actually argue with that. Ok so moving on to Willow and her friends. Martha raises that issue "Well from what you said obviously we have no choice but to tell Willow's friends about you. Can these people be trusted?". Martha asks it with some concern in her voice.
Oh Clark wasn't sure of that himself. He didn't know them that well. "Willow trusts them and they have their own secrets"
Jonathan looks at his son "What secrets?"
Oh boy this was going to be awkward "Well for starters Willow's a witch"
Martha and Jonathan look at their son. He can see the disapproval in their eyes. "A witch? Like Isobel?" Jonathan asks.
"Sort of but Willow's a good one"
"Why didn't you tell us this honey?" Martha asks.
"Well we promised to keep each other's secrets secret. I know that probably doesn't make sense now but it did at the time"
"And her friends? What are their secrets?" Jonathan asks.
Right here Clark goes. Oh his parents are seriously never going to believe this. He takes a breath and goes on to explain about Sunnydale, the Hellmouth, demons and vampires and slayers since Buffy is going to be here soon. Once he's finished he notices the silence. Well at least they aren't calling him insane. That's a good start he hopes.
Back in the car Willow speaks "All right for starters there will be no slaying of Clark under any circumstances. Got it!"
All 3 mumble in agreement.
"Good now explain to me your problem with Clark"
Silence
"I'm waiting" Willow says impatiently.
Xander works up the nerve "It's just Will that you lied to us or more accurately Clark got you to lie to us"
Willow rolls her eyes "He did no such thing. We reached a mutual understanding"
Buffy snorts "Sorry Will but when do we keep secrets from each other?"
"Buffy do you want the list of secrets you've kept over the years" Willow responds barely believing the nerve of Buffy of all people to ask that.
Buffy looks down to the floor of the car. Oh she walked right into that one.
"And do you think it was any easier for Clark. He kept it from his parents. His lovely and extremely nice parents I might add. God they probably think I've corrupted him or something"
Buffy laughs. She can't help herself.
"It's not funny Buffy"
"Actually it is. The idea of you corrupting someone. Me. Yes I can see that. Giles did have his Ripper days and Xander has been corrupting all of us for years"
"Hey" Xander protests.
"But you Will, not a chance"
Willow didn't know whether to be insulted or to take it as a complement. Anyway getting away from that "Look I don't expect you to instantly like Clark. All I'm asking is that you give him a chance. Meet his parents you'll see that Clark is probably more normal than the 4 of us combined.
Today was a day of awkward silences Clark noted as he and his parents and Willow and her friends sit in his kitchen saying nothing. His parents are giving, well everyone including him, disapproving looks.
Buffy has enough of the glaring of Clark's parents "Ok this is stupid. You obviously have something to say so say it"
Martha and Jonathan look at each other. They have no idea what to say exactly. It's one thing to be raised hearing that demons exist. After all they both went to church, they learned about heaven and hell but to be actually told such things exist and then to top it off this small blond girl in their kitchen fights and kills them. It's all just too much. Jonathan gives it a go "This is a lot to absorb…" he trails off there.
Giles speaks up "Mr and Mrs Kent I understand. First I want to say that you have done a wonderful job in raising Clark. It's plain to see that despite the temptations his powers grant him Clark has managed to stay on the right path. I know this is a lot to take in but it seems our worlds have merged. Clark can do so much good in this world. Perhaps if you let us we can help focus his powers to do more"
Martha narrows her eyes at Giles "You mean turn him into a killer like.." she doesn't finish the sentence but her eyes drift off to Buffy.
Buffy notices the look Mrs Kent is giving her "Oh go on say it. You know you want to. A killer like me that's what you mean. That's thanks for you. I die twice to save the world and what do I get, judgemental parents of an alien. An alien! I bet you didn't give Willow this much grief and she is just as much a killer as I am"
In her rant Buffy hadn't noticed Willow's sharp intake of breath or horrified look but Xander had. "Oh you hadn't told them had you?"
"Told them what?" Buffy asks then she sees Willow's look and it clicks. "Oh god Will I'm sorry"
Clark was looking back between Willow and her friends. "Willow what is this about?" Clark asks.
Willow tears running down her cheeks at the memories of what she did runs out the kitchen outside with Clark in pursuit. "Willow! Stop. What is it?"
Willow halts and turns "I'm so sorry"
Clark walks up to her and wraps his arms around her. "Willow what's wrong? What did Buffy mean?"
Willow still crying chokes out "I killed someone"
Clark was shocked. He still held onto her. He was unsure what to do. He needed to know more. He picks Willow up and walks into the barn and sits her down on the couch. He wipes the tears from her face "Willow tell me what you mean?"
Willow tries to regain her composure. "It's to do with Tara"
"Is this about how she died?"
Willow nods "She was shot. I was so angry. I was in so much pain"
Clark can see where this train of thought is going "You killed Tara's killer"
Willow breaks out into sobs again. "I just wanted it to stop, the pain. I tried everything to numb it. I absorbed all this dark magic and the grief allowed the power to control me. I killed him but the pain wouldn't stop. I even tried to destroy the world, anything to stop the pain. I know you probably hate me now. I'm not sure you can understand trying to blot out that much pain"
Clark watched Willow cry and his memories flooded of the time he wanted the pain to go away. "I do understand" he says gently.
Willow blinks trying to clear her eyes and looks at Clark. He wasn't angry. He looks guilty.
Clark takes a breath "My mother was pregnant last year but she lost the baby because of me"
Willow trying to get her own emotions under control "I don't understand. You wouldn't hurt anyone"
Clark actually managed a small laugh at that "Willow I hurt people all the time with my secrets and my lies. I use to have a ship, the ship I came to Earth in. Through it Jor-El first spoke to me. He said I had to leave Smallville but I refused to leave my parents, my friends, Lana" Clark's voice saddened as he said Lana's name.
"What happened?" Willow asks.
"Jor-El doesn't take no as an answer so I determined to destroy the ship but my parent's truck was caught in the resultant explosion. I was so stupid. I didn't even thing about what would happen. All I thought about was getting rid of that ship. Afterwards in the hospital they looked at me like an alien, not as their son. I couldn't bear that look. All that pain in their eyes and I was the cause of it. I couldn't bear the pain I caused so I put on a ring of red kryptonite and I ran away to Metropolis"
Willow could practically feel the guilt pouring off Clark. "Clark it was an accident. You couldn't know what would happen"
"Perhaps not. It doesn't change the fact that it was my fault and it doesn't change all those things I got up to in Metropolis while I wore that ring. You see the longer I have it on the worse I get. I spent 3 months in Metropolis with that on"
"What did you do?" Willow asks.
"Broke into a lot of ATMs, robbed a bank, blew up a police car…"
Wait that sounded familiar to Willow then she remembers reading about that in the newspaper "You were that masked bandit! The one they said bullets bounced off"
Clark nods. "Yeah. So as I said Willow I do understand trying to block out the pain"
Willow wasn't convinced that he really knew or understood, not really. Her thoughts are interrupted by Clark hugging her once more. She sighs into it. She really likes being wrapped in his strong, warm arms.
"I forgive you" Clark says barely above a whisper. He did forgive her for the simple reason that Clark had never been able to just condemn someone. No matter how many meteor freaks he comes across, he always gives them a chance to stop. Sadly so few seemed to choose that option.
Willow's tears flow once more at his words. "I forgive you" she says in return.
They are interrupted by Xander who had come out worried about Willow. He knew just how difficult this part was for her. He finds her and Clark hugging each other. "Is everything alright?"
Willow pulls back, wipes her tears "Yeah we're good"
"Yes we're fine" Clark adds. He then tries to lighten mood "So tried to destroy the world huh" he says in a teasing tone.
Willow catches Clark's tone. She smiles and shrugs "What can I say? It was the done thing in Sunnydale"
"I think you've left out the important part" Xander reminds her.
Willow rolls her eyes. "You just can't let that go can you?"
"Let what go?" Clark asks.
"How I saved the world from evil Willow" Xander tells him. "You see it goes like this…"
The 3 of them make their back to the house. As they enter the house Xander is still finishing his story "So in a sense a yellow crayon helped save the world"
"Oh god Xander. Not the yellow crayon story again" Buffy exclaims. She gets up from the table ignoring Xander and hugs Willow "I am so sorry Will"
Willow pats Buffy's back "It's fine. I'm good. We're good"
Buffy was relieved at that.
"Everything all right son?" Jonathan asks Clark.
"Everything's fine dad" Then Clark thinks it over "Well except this situation. Right we need to sort this out"
Willow walks over and takes Clark's hand "Clark's right we do". Willow addresses Clark's parents "I admire your feelings on killing and truthfully we feel the same. You must understand that the things we fight are soulless beings who only care about death and destruction. They can't be reasoned with or persuaded that they're wrong. We don't like or enjoy what we do but someone has to do it"
Clark adds his own piece "I know I lied about a lot of this and I'm sorry to all of you." He turns to his parents "I did it because I didn't want to burden you further. Mom, Dad you already have to carry so much with who I am, not to mention all the covering up you help me do when I battle the meteor infected. As for your feelings towards Buffy, you're wrong. I don't say this to upset you but Willow has spent the last 2 months telling me about her life in Sunnydale and what Buffy does is what has to be done".
Clark turns to Buffy "Buffy, Willow has told me how much you have had to carry and you shouldn't have to. From Willow says you have literally saved this world and I just want to say thank you and if you ever need help from now on just give me a call"
Buffy was speechless. Did he just thank her? No-one ever thanks her. Well they do when she saves them from the odd vampire but the big saving the world stuff just goes on unnoticed. She looks him over. He's just too young and nice and naïve to have the world's burdens placed on him but still an invulnerable alien could come in handy the next time a hell god comes along. "Well thank you Clark. Perhaps we just got off on the wrong foot. Let's start again." Buffy gets up and holds out her hand "I'm Buffy Summers the Vampire Slayer"
Clark takes Buffy's hand "I'm Kal-El the last Son of Krypton but you can call me Clark"
Xander then from behind puts his arms around Clark and Willow "Isn't this great. We're all friends"
Willow looks at him and coughs "I think someone should apologise for accusing Clark of making me lie"
Xander suddenly looks sheepish under Willow's glare as he backs off a bit "Yeah right sorry Clark"
"Apology accepted" Clark replies before he leans in to Willow "I made you lie?"
Willow shakes her head "Don't worry about it. They just like to speak without a whole lot of the thinking first"
Clark accepts her answer and then turns to his parents "Mom, Dad I think you have something to say with Buffy"
Martha and Jonathan couldn't believe this. They were getting chastised by their own son. When did he become the adult? Martha spoke "Buffy we are sorry for what we said"
Ok first a thanks now a apology. Wow what a day Buffy's having. "That's ok. Trust me I've been called worse"
"Right now that's settled I would like to get some rest" Willow complains.
"You alright?" Clark asks with some concern
"Hello. Pregnant with your alien spawn which will have all your powers. Oh goddess how will we cope?"
"Ask my parents" Clark said simply
"Honey, powers?" Martha asks
Oops Clark had forgotten to mention that part "Yes. Jor-El said the baby will have my abilities so I was hoping we could ask you for some advice abut raising a super powered offspring"
Martha smiled. This is why she will love being a grandmother "Of course honey"
Clark's dad had been very quiet he noticed "Dad you ok?"
"Yes son I'm fine"
"Right we should get going" Giles mentions. He was glad that had seemed to sort out most of this.
"Nonsense you should stay for dinner" Martha says
Xander laughs "You may want to rethink that Buffy will eat everything in sight"
"Hey that's a blatant lie and you know it" Buffy protests.
"That's alright. I'm use to it. Clark eats non-stop" Martha says much to Clark's embarrassment. She gently pushes Jonathan forward "Make yourselves at home, we'll just go shopping. Come on Jonathan"
Jonathan knows better than to argue and just lets his wife literally push him out the door. As they get to the truck "Is this a good idea Martha?" he asks.
"Of course it is. These people are literally Willow's family so that make them our family as well"
Jonathan looked sceptical which Martha picked up on "Well do it for Clark's sake at least" she tells him.
Jonathan nods in defeat.
Back in the house Willow is having a lie down on Clark's bed. "Are you sure you're ok?" Clark asks again. He was felling really guilty about what he did as Kal-El.
"Yes Clark" Willow could see the guilt in his eyes. Honestly he has to stop blaming himself. "Although my feet are sore". Hey why not get a foot rub out of it.
Clark at almost super speed has her shoes off and is massaging her feet.
Willow moans. Clark's warm hands are great at that. She can already feel the tension leave her body. Oh she didn't just moan? Crap. Ok she doesn't know how he has done it but she definitely has the stirrings of romantic feelings for him or it could be the pregnancy hormones? Yes pregnancy hormones that's it.
Clark starts work on her other foot and Willow can't help but look at him. He's so sweet and he forgave her for what she did. He actually said that to her. There are feelings running through her heart as she looks at him. She bites her lower lip. Well maybe she can consider letting him in. Perhaps they could have something beyond friendship. How to go about it? "Clark?"
"Yes Willow" Clark replies as he continues on her feet.
"Would you like to go out sometime? On a date" There she's done it. She's put herself out there.
Clark stops. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. He's just realised he's got feelings for Willow and she's asking him out. God a few hours ago even he still thought about Lana a lot but somehow everything was now on its head. Lana had been lying to him about the stone and now he didn't hate her but he seriously considered her as someone who he could no longer trust. He could trust Willow he didn't doubt that. Perhaps he could do this and see if he and Willow could move on beyond simple friendship. Clark breathes in and turns to look Willow in the eye "Sure I would love to"
