Chapter 11
Buffy knew what she heard. She heard moans coming from the shower over at Clark's. What is he up to over there? She was too curious to just let it go. She put her boots back on and slipped on a lightweight jacket. She went out the back door of her house and kicked off the ground into a slow glide through the air. It had taken her a few weeks to get this flying thing under control, but it was pretty sweet. She flew over to the roof of Clark's barn and perched there for a few minutes, trying to get closer so she could listen. Bad Buffy. Much perv.
Buffy certainly heard a few more moans, the last followed by him saying her name, his voice filled with need. She could feel herself getting wet at the idea of him masturbating to the thought of her. Take it easy Buffy, you don't want to fall off this damn roof!
She heard some moving around and then all of the sudden, Clark was at the front door locking it. Where was he going? From off to the side, Buffy could see Clark looking across the field toward her house. He looked sad as he looked to where she should be right now. She felt bad for leaving so abruptly earlier, but she wasn't going to spill her guts to him right there. And she had been really close to doing so. Between that and Xander's call, it was better for her to do some recon first before getting any more serious with Clark Kent.
Clark stood there for a minute and then—Whoa. Where did he go? He whooshed off, like running but way faster, like me running.
Holy shit! Buffy thought as she barely saw Clark speed off into the night. She jumped off the roof into swift flight, taking to the trees near the road where he was running. She was trying to get a glimpse of him. Am I really seeing this right now? How can he run so fast? What else can he do? He can't be a slayer? What is he? Buffy felt like she was going to hyperventilate from all of her questions. There was no doubt about it though, there he was, running faster than a speeding bullet down the darkened state road. He wasn't even breaking a sweat.
Clark was running toward Metropolis using his super speed, he would be there in less than a few minutes. He could pace himself to be anywhere in any amount of time, tonight he wanted to get the city, but he wasn't necessarily in a hurry. It was dark out tonight, so he didn't notice the small figure flying through the trees to his left. Buffy was keeping herself as quiet as possible, she didn't want to tip him off that she was there. Soon, they were at the edge of Metropolis. Clark came to a stop near the entrance to the city and started to walk.
Buffy glided to a nearby billboard and kneeled on top, watching Clark below her. He took out his cell phone and called a saved number. Buffy could hear Chloe's voice on the other line clearly.
"Hey Clark. How was dinner?"
"Hey Chloe. I'm in town where are you?" Clark wanted to see her and ask her for an update and tell her about the scar. I'll be sure to leave out the touchy feely stuff. Clark turned a little red at the thought.
"I'm at the Planet, are you—?" Before she could finish her statement, Clark was standing in front of her inside her office at The Daily Planet.
Buffy saw him take off and followed him to The Daily Planet. She sat down on a bench outside near the basement window where she knew he was. She picked up a littered tourist magazine off the ground and casually flipped through it. Time to eavesdrop.
"Well hello there Mr. Kent." Chloe was happy to see her close friend. She walked over to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. "Hi Chloe. How are things?"
"Things are good Clark, they still have me at this damn desk doing menial labor, but you know it takes time to make the big leagues. Right?" Chloe shuffled some paperwork around on her desk, hiding her disappointment about not being a big name reporter yet. "At least I have you to keep me busy Clark. How was dinner with Miss Mystery?"
Clark sunk down in Chloe's chair. Chloe could tell something bad happened, suddenly concerned. "Clark what happened? You look like, well, like your dog died."
He looked at her, unamused. "Thanks for that Chloe. No, it was wonderful. She is funny, smart, and beautiful and we had a great time. Everything about being with her was comfortable, relaxed you know? Near the end of the night, I noticed something on her neck. I moved her hair to the side and there was a scar."
"I'm going to put aside my curiosity about this 'noticing something on her neck' business and skip to, what kind of scar?" Chloe knew something else happened, she could see Clark's face blushing when he got to the neck part.
"Okay," Clark chuckled at his friend. "Well, it was a bite mark. There were two puncture wounds and what looked like another bite over those. It's clearly been a while, they were well healed. But as soon as I saw it, she said she had to go. She said we would talk tomorrow and then she left."
"Weird. Well Clark, you know, this does go with my vampire theory."
Vampire theory? What vampire theory? What does Chloe know? Buffy thought to herself as she sat outside, listening. Was Chloe the hacker Willow was dealing with earlier?
"I know Chloe, it just sounds ridiculous. What does Buffy have to do with vampires? Other than clearly being bitten by one." Clark was perplexed.
"You're sure she isn't a vampire right?"
Buffy scoffed at the question, me, a vampire, yeah right! Only in my nightmares.
"I'm sure. She has a heartbeat, I could hear it all night. She honestly just seems to be someone who has gone through a lot. I know she's keeping secrets, but so am I. I just need to know if she's on our side or if she's evil." Please don't be evil, Clark hoped to himself.
"Did you get any Krypton vibes from her?" Chloe figured she would cover all of her bases.
Krypton, what the hell is Krypton? Some kind of demon cult? Please don't be a demon. Buffy was getting more confused by the minute.
"No, not at all. She didn't show any super strength or speed, but I guess neither do I when I'm hiding from someone. What did you find on your searches?"
Hiding? What do Krypton, Clark, and super strength and speed have in common? Hmm. Buffy was putting on her Giles hat and making a genuine effort to connect the dots.
"Let me tell you Clark, I've never been more frustrated in my whole life! I was running some simple encrypted military searches and then at every turn I was getting kicked out. For every firewall I demolished, another stronger one was put up. Whoever was on the other side of that hacker battle royale was seriously in the know."
Okay, so she was the hacker, looking for answers about how I'm connected to vampires and the military. How'd they get to the vampire part? Willow wiped me from the system a long time ago. Maybe we missed something.
"So, at this point all we know is that the strange deaths all but stopped in Sunnydale after she arrived, then the town imploded and there's nothing on her after that?"
"That's right. For all we know she could be just like you, a hero, her brand of heroism is simply more specialized."
Buffy was glad to hear that they didn't think she was evil or anything, they were still curious about her, but they weren't mobilizing the pitchforks and battle axes. And, I could be like him, a hero? So he was a hero? Good call Buffy! I knew it was too much of a coincidence, him being in all those news reports.
"She knows I've seen the scar and so now she's going to build some kind of story for when we talk tomorrow. Should I just tell her I know something? Get it out there?" Clark thought honesty might be the best option right now, especially if they were alike somehow. Maybe they could help each other. Honesty would certainly help us grow closer. Besides, we've all seen how secrets tear people apart.
"Wow Clark. I am surprised. Opting for honesty instead of secrecy, you must really like this girl. I mean, you know that if you do this, she'll want to know how you know, why you know, why you care, and who you are. If you can handle those questions, then I say go for it. If you want to keep your identity from her, maybe you should just let her tell you whatever story she cooks up." Chloe was surprised at Clark's willingness to be honest with Buffy, but she was also nervous for him. Sharing his secret has had terrible consequences in the past. But also good ones in their case. Who knows what's best?
"I don't know either Chloe. I'll see how it goes. I'm just so tired of being alone. Alone in this fight against evil, alone at home, alone in general. She made me feel alive tonight Chloe, laughing and sharing and just being together. I don't want to mess it up, but I know that I need to be careful. Just like I'm sure she's being careful."
Buffy was happy to know that he felt the same way she did about tonight. And to know that he recognized they were both hiding from each other out of cautiousness. He knew something about her, and now she knew something about him. He could run faster than a speeding bullet, what else could he do? Could they do all the same things? Could he take her in a fight? What would the sex be like? Buffy was getting increasingly excited at the prospects.
"Clark I'm glad to see you happy, well kind of happy I guess. I think that if she makes you feel that way, you should tell her. If that's what you want to do." Chloe was so happy to hear Clark feeling again, feeling anything. He had been sad for so long, it was time for him to be happy again. Happiness that doesn't involve Lana! Ugh!
Clark could hear a fire siren several blocks downtown. He stood up, "Chloe I need to go, there's a fire. Thank you for everything. I'll let you know what happens with Buffy." He leaned down to give Chloe a quick hug and left in a blur.
Buffy heard him getting ready to leave, she had heard the siren too. She flew up the side of the building, not wanting to be seen by Clark. She followed him to the fire. He took a deep breath and blew out the fire, then ran inside to bring people out. Within seconds, the fire was out and people were outside, how incredible, Buffy thought. He didn't have a scratch on him.
She watched him for a few hours, saving people all over the city all while going unnoticed. When he ran to go back to Smallville it was close to 2am and she flew ahead of him to go home. She went inside and changed. Lying down in bed, she heard him get back to the farm, closing the front door. Her mind was reeling attempting to process all of the new information she had acquired over the course of the day. She also had to reconcile the fact that Clark knew much more about her than she had ever anticipated being able to share with him.
One thing was certain, they had a lot to discuss.
