Hi. I'm here once again with the new chapter. I hope you'll like it. Please, R&R.

Chapter 10 - Fotress

Clark was having just a normal day. Well, except for his date with Sarah. He was looking forward to it, but he couldn't help but be nervous about it as well.

It didn't matter that they had one date before, he was still as nervous as before. He really liked her and he didn't want to screw anything up.

Of course, he knew the risks she would unknowingly take if she was dating him. Clark is a lot stronger than your average teenager, so he would have to be very, very careful all the time. Not that he wasn't used to it, but it was getting harder to hold back every single day.

Every single day, he was becoming stronger. Every single day, it took a little more to hold back and look like an average teenager. And he was afraid that Sarah would suffer the consequences. What if he unintentionally hurt her? He couldn't live with himself anymore. He would never forgive himself. Even if she forgave him.

„Why am I having such depressive thoughs?" asked Clark himself. And really, why was he? He is able to hold back. He held back his entire life. He was brought out of his thoughts by a gentle touch on his shoulder. He looked around and saw Sarah, looking as beautiful, cute, amazing, and.. dares he say sexy, as always.

She was wearing blue skinny jeans with a white shirt and black leather jacket. It was March, after all. But since it's the middle of Kansas, it wasn't very cold.

It was currently Friday, 7:00PM, and Clark was waiting for Sarah in front of the Smallville Cinema, where they would have their date, and then dinner in a diner afterwards.

„Hey," said Sarah with a smile. It showed her dimples, which Clark thought was cute.

„Hey. You look amazing," complimented Clark. Sarah gave him a grin.

„Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself, Mr. Kent," said Sarah with a teasing smile. They had their little teasing nicknames, like Ms. Wilson and Mr. Kent. Clark liked it, and apparently, Sarah, too.

Clark was wearing black jeans and dark blue button-up shirt with his sleeves rolled up. Sarah looked him over and was definitely not disappointed.

Sarah really liked Clark. True, she didn't know everything about him, they only had one date, but from what she's learned about him, he was a giant with the heart of gold. And he was sarcastic, too. She liked that even more. And his jawline that she was pretty sure is able to cut glass was not a con, either.

Truth be told, Clark seemed too perfect to be true, but maybe that's karma for her. Maybe she finally deserves some happiness in her life. She was brought back from her thoughts by Clark's deep, gentle voice.

„Hey, are you okay?" asked Clark. Sarah could hear the concern in his voice.

‚Damn, if he isn't perfect...' thought Sarah.

She smiled at him. „Of course, sorry. I was just thinking."

„About what?" asked Clark, as he smiled, too.

„Nothing important. Now, let's get to our date, shall we?" asked Sarah as she gestured to the entrance to the cinema.

Clark shrugged and smiled. She took his hand and they made their way inside. Both of them felt the electricity when they touched, and both of them smiled to themselves.

The movie was great. Clark let Sarah pick the movie, and, of course, she picked up a horror. Not that Clark didn't like it. Apparently, Sarah loved horrors and scary movies in general, and he wasn't against them.

At one point, there was a little jump-scare, and, of course, Sarah gripped his hand in a grip Clark was sure could break his hand were he not invulnerable.

Now, they made their way to the diner hand in hand, talking excitedly about the movie and themselves.

„I liked the part when the killer used the chainsaw, it looked very real," commented Sarah. Apparently, she was an expert in All Things Horror, and Clark was glad she was talking about it so excitedly. When she was excited, Clark felt happier. He was glad she was happy.

„Yeah, it looked amazing. Then the part in the forest... wow," said Clark. Sarah just nodded enthusiastically and started talking about the different movies they would have to watch. Well, apparently, she wasn't just an expert in All Things Horror, as Clark thought before. She was an expert in movies in general.

They talked about everything and nothing until they reached the diner. It was a classic looking diner you would find almost everywhere in America, with barstools, booths and 1950's style in general.

When they sat opposite each other in a boot, a waitress came to them with a smile and a notepad in hand.

„Hey, guys. So, what's it gonna be today?" asked the waitress. Sarah noticed that her smile didn't look fake at all. In fact, it wasn't a fake smile. She liked that. Coming from big city, you see waitresses and other people alike with the plastic, annoyed smiles on their face.

Not here, though.

Clark motioned to Sarah to pick first. She looked at the menu.

„I'll have a double cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake, please," said Sarah. The waitress looked a bit surprised, and so did Clark. She just shrugged. „I like food," was her only explanation. Clark chuckled and gave the waitress his order.

They started talking again. Talking about everything and nothing.

„So, where are you actually from? Like, I know that you moved from somewhere to Smallville, but truth be told, I have no idea where from," asked Clark, curiosity in his eyes. Sarah smiled.

„I'm from Metropolis, originally. After the death of my mother, I moved here with my uncle and aunt," said Sarah with a faraway look in her eyes and a sad smile. Clark felt ashamed, this seemed a little too personal.

„I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that," said Clark as he looked down at the table. Sarah just smiled and took his hand in hers.

„Hey," said Sarah gently, „it's okay. You didn't know."

Clark looked into her eyes and was taken aback by the sincerity in them. He decided to open up a little as well.

„I recently learned that my biological parents died as well.. trying to save me," said Clark. Sarah looked very surprised that he shared this kind of information with her.

Yeah, she knew he was adopted. But she though that his biological parents were either too young to take care of a child, didn't have the money for it, or simply, they didn't want him, which angered her a little. But finding out that his parents died trying to save him.. it pained her to think about it. She couldn't even begin to imagine the pain.. and possibly, knowing Clark, the guilt. She slowly cupped his face.

„I'm so sorry..." said Sarah. Clark smiled.

Sarah then decided to change the topic, to bring both Clark and herself at ease.

„So, tell me something about farming. Like.. what do you do on a farm?" asked Sarah. Clark just smiled, recognizing her attempt to change the topic. He appreciated that.

„Well, I have to fix the tractor every 2 weeks, but if you don't count that..." said Clark and they both chuckled. The conversation then went at ease.

„Sorry, folks. We're closing," said the waitress as she made their way to them. They both looked at each other and then at the clock. It was pretty late.

Clark paid for them both, though Sarah tried to protest, saying she could pay for herself. Clark had none of it. She played she was offended by him, though he could see the sparkle in her eyes.

He accompanied her on the way home, hand in hand, just smiling and talking. After coming to her house, she looked at him.

„Thank you for this date, Clark. I truly enjoyed it," said Sarah sincerely with a smile.

„I enjoyed it, too. Thank you for going with me," said Clark with a smile, too.

Then, Sarah did something that surprised even her. She stood on her toes and kissed him on the lips. Clark looked surprised as well, though he saw it in slow-motion. Damn that super-brain of his.

„Wow," said Clark. Sarah chuckled.

„Good night, Clark," said Sarah, as she hugged him.

Clark was a little surprised about the hug, considering the kiss a few seconds ago, but he learned that Sarah was a tactile person, and he didn't mind it one bit. He wrapped his arms around her.

„Good night, Sarah," said Clark. She smiled and went into the house. He listened to her heartbeart the entire way home.

Well, if that's what a kiss feels like, he couldn't wait to have more. But there was still the matter of hurting her unintentionally. It bothered him. He had to do something about it. And he knew exactly what.

„Mother, father," said Clark as the holograms of his biological parents appeared.

„Yes, son?" asked Jor-El.

„I've decided I need a training on how to use my powers most efficiently and properly. Is there any training program or anything like this in the ship?" asked Clark. Jor-El looked at Lara, then they both nodded to each other.

„Yes, there is. We wanted to give you this once you reach full maturation, but the way your powers are developing, I would say that it is time to give this to you now," said Lara. Clark looked at her a little confused.

Suddenly, Clark heard like something was opening. He walked to the other side of the ship and was surprised to find a pentagon-shaped Crystal. He took it out and went back to the front of the ship, where the holograms of his parents are.

„What is this?" asked Clark.

„Why don't you scan it?" said Jor-El with a smile. A little teasing smile.

So, Clark scanned it with his x-ray vision and his newly discovered micro and macro visions. He discovered these new vision powers only a few days ago, but he mastered it already. He could basically see atoms and molecules, which, he thought, was pretty amazing. He didn't use it very often, though.

The crystal seemed to detect Kryptonian brain activity. Based on his scan, the crystal had something coded into it. It looked like plans for something. Something big.

Clark looked at his parents.

„Son. I need you to take the crystal, as well as the ship, to a deserted place where the sun shines the most," said Lara.

Clark immediately knew the place. So, Clark smiled, turned off the A.I.s and picked up the ship. And then, he ran.

A few minutes later, he arrived to the place he had in mind. The Arctic. No people, lot of sunlight. Brilliant.

Clark then scanned the surroundings with his vision and found the perfect spot in the middle of Arctic. He scanned the ice as well – it was stable.

He ran there and put the ship down. He touched the symbol on the ship. After the holograms appeared, the ship seemed to scan the area.

„Very well done, Kal. This place seems like the best one. The North Pole of Earth," said Lara.

„Indeed. Now, I need you to bury the crystal into the ground," said Jor-El.

Clark had the rough idea about what was about to happen, but he still didn't believe it. Even as an advanced race, Kryptonians couldn't build fortresses out of 7 inches long crystals. Right? RIGHT?!

Clark shrugged and buried the crystal right next to the ship. He looked at his parents, who nodded.

After he buried the crystal, nothing happened for a few seconds. Then, the ground started to shake. He didn't know what to think, the only thing in his mind was „RUN!" – and so, he ran. When he stopped running, which was like 2 seconds, he looked back and saw crystal-like walls puncturing from the ground.

One wall, another wall, another, another, and then, the walls seemed to connect with one another and created one building. Or, should he say.. fortress? The place seemed massive.

The fortress itself looked crystalline.

‚Well, duh,' thought Clark.

He couldn't scan it with his x-ray vision, which was weird, but he supposed it was because of the Kryptonian technology. He ran around it and noticed that it didn't have any windows. He went then noticed something that looked like a door.

He went over there. He stopped right in front of the door. He suddenly felt like he was being scanned. Well, he wasn't mistaken.

A mechanical voice started him, „DNA SCAN CONFIRMED. WELCOME, KAL OF THE HOUSE OF EL."

The door opened and he stepped inside. The place seemed even bigger from the inside. In the middle of it all, he noticed the ship. He quickly went over to it.

„What is this place?" asked Clark.

„This is the last gift from us to you. This place is called the Fortress of Solitude. You can live here, or you can just come here to relax or work. This fortress has its own security system, artificial butler Kelex, as well as the most advanced Kryptonian technology," said Jor-El and Lara continued.

„The fortress cannot be found be any satellites of radars. It was a project of your father, it's the only one of its kind. And it's yours. In the computers, you have access to Kryptonian database, which contains everything Kryptonians learned and discovered. It also contains Kryptonian culture, languages and physiology. The fortress itself also has a Phantom Zone projector, which you learned about a few weeks ago, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, solar room and much more. It is yours to explore."

Clark didn't know what to say. The only thing he was able to tell was, „Thank you."

Both of his parents just smiled.

„You are welcome, Kal. Don't forget. You are a child of Krypton as you are a child of Earth. You are the best from both worlds, and we are proud of you. As for the training program you asked for, I have created a program specialized in testing the upper limitations of your abilities, as well as their control. It is all in the main computer," said Lara.

Clark sometimes forgets that his mother was one of the best scientist on Krypton as well.

„Don't forget, Kal. You are not alone," said Jor-El.

„Don't worry, father. I know."

So, Clark finally got his fortress. Sorry if it's a bit rushed for your taste. :D

Tell me what do you think about the chapter, please, I would really appreciate it.

And don't worry, in the next chapter, we will see Luthor, as well as Clark's parents.

See ya around :)

7 inches - approximately 18cm