- - - - -
Something had Clark stranded at Luthor Corp. Nothing much was happening, so he didn't know why he could not bring himself to move on to the next major event in this messed-up flashback. Or better yet, return to the future. His conscience told him that was the correct decision, and his common sense concurred. But he couldn't move. He had to know, he deserved to know.
Lex had Clark wheeled into a "safe room", which was basically a high-security closet Lex had been using for any research he didn't want his father finding. Cameras were set up in each corner, and two security guards assigned the tedious task of watching the blue-and-black camera footage of Clark twisting pathetically on the gurney as he waited for Lex to work up the guts to come in and speak with him.
Hours went by, and still Lex was held up in his office, firing off emails, making phone calls, contacting lawyers, having official documents written up. He would have the rights to this boy before his parents knew he was a missing person, if he could swing it.
However, it didn't take long for Jonathan and Martha to find out from Lois that Clark had attempted to rescue his dog and disappeared that afternoon. They showed up four hours later, let in by a well-meaning secretary who had been told awhile back that the Kent family didn't need an invitation for entry.
Lex looked up, surprised, as the two of them strode up to his desk, each face a picture of parental concern. "Lex," Jonathan began sternly, but Martha put a hand on his arm, halting him.
"Clark hasn't been home for hours, Lex, we're worried about him. Lois thinks he might have gone after a stray dog we've been taking care of."
"Clark told me about the dog," Lex nodded, but did not elaborate.
"You haven't seen Clark or the dog, have you?" Jonathan pressed, stowing the cynical tone he typically used when speaking Lex.
Clark knew what was on Lex's mind; he was in a corner. He couldn't lie to the legal parents, that would look dreadful in a lawsuit. He cleared his throat and stood, adjusting his suit coat. "Mr. and Mrs. Kent. There's really no easy way to broach this subject, but…your son is an anomaly. I assume you knew this?" Martha blanched. Jonathan clenched his jaw so there was a muscle pulsing in his cheek. "Well you don't need to tell me, I have all the evidence I require to prove he has superhuman abilities. You may not like it; in fact…you won't like it." And here the old, respectful Lex peaked between the blinds of his scientist persona. "But Clark could do this whole world so much good."
Jonathan took a heavy, purposeful breath. "Where's our son."
Lex put his teeth on end, eyes darting between them, thinking quickly. "Follow me."
He led them to the control room, silently motioning a few of his bodyguards to follow on their way down the hall. When they reached the door, he hesitated, but one look at Jonathan's livid face told him he would be better off with the appearance of candor. He pushed it open.
"Mr. and Mrs. Kent, this is Thomas Raeli and Graham-" Lex didn't get a chance to introduce the second security guard. Jonathan lurched past him as though shoved from behind, Martha gliding dazedly after him. They had eyes only for the monitors.
Clark's struggles had become feeble to the point of near motionlessness. He still turned his head to the side occasionally, more to cope with the pain than get free, and his fingers flexed unconsciously at his heaving sides. "Clark-" Martha made a sound like she had tried to exhale and inhale at the same time. Jonathan just stood, hands clenching the rim of the desk on top of which the security monitors were perched, eyes struggling with the decision between rage and horror. He turned, a passionate anger boiling beneath the surface, hands balled at his sides.
"Lex? You will go in there now, and let my son go. Now." His voice was eerily even and from the shadows, Clark watched with satisfaction as Lex took a step back, genuinely shaken.
"Mr. Kent, you need to calm-" Jonathan's fist collided with the side of Lex's head and the Luthor Corp bodyguards jumped him. Martha screamed, Lex coughed blood into his sleeve and Jonathan fought back like a madman, until Martha scrambled into the mix and Lex shouted, "Stop!" The fray came to a standstill, Jonathan tense between the burly men in suits as Martha stood with both arms around his chest. Lex bit back the urge to let his guilt rise. "Let him go." Reluctantly, they released him. "Mr. Kent, there's nothing you can do. Clark was sent here for all mankind, and he belongs in a place where the world can witness what a miracle he is. It really is just that simple. I'll show you to the door."
Fistfights Lex could handle. What he couldn't take was the blank, helpless silence that overtook Clark's parents. He had them escorted to the downstairs lobby and should have been relieved they went quietly. But he knew it wasn't that they compliance, it was that they were too numb to protest. Their worst fears had come true and their world crumbled beneath them, stranding them in a black abyss.
When the small group reached the front doors, Martha turned suddenly as though snapping out of a coma. "Lex! Lex- wait." He turned, already on his way back up the stairs. "Did you drug him?"
"Mrs. Kent I wouldn't dream of-"
"Why is he in so much pain?" Lex cleared his throat and didn't reply, knowing Martha only asked because she knew the answer. "You have to get rid of it." She noted his skepticism and went on pleadingly, "You don't understand. Those rocks don't just weaken him, Lex, they can kill him!" After a moment, he nodded. It was the least he could do.
"This isn't over," Jonathan said bitterly, and taking Martha by the hand, shut the glass doors behind them.
- - - - -
Clark didn't think he had jumped forward very far this time, but when he let go of the key, he found himself in a courtroom whose calendar read 2005. This was almost exactly a year later.
Clark circled the room and found many familiar faces. Half of Smallville High appeared to have shown up and there were also a great many people in uniforms who appeared to be US Marshals. Jonathan and Martha sat behind a table near the front of the room (Martha was jostling little Lara on her knee) beside a well-dressed man Clark recognized as a famous lawyer from California. Juxtaposed to the Kents' table was a second table surrounded by Lex and his team of lawyers, each more surly-looking than the next. They were in quiet conference with each other, Lex pretending to concentrate on a stack of paper in front him, but clearly keeping his ears tuned for their advice. Clark went over to them to listen in.
"The long and short of it is, they may have a fundamental case-"
"But you have popularity push. We keep spinning this as the good for mankind, not only do you walk away with your project's go-ahead but the judge's blessing and a Nobel Prize nomination."
Lex eyed both of the lawyers briefly. "You don't just usurp a kid out from under his parents. The public hates it, and there goes my popularity vote."
A third lawyer spoke. His voice was low and gravely like he'd been to too many concerts in his younger years. "Mr. Luthor, that's what I've been telling you. Clark may have been seventeen when you commandeered him, but he's eighteen now. He's not a minor anymore; the public needs to stop seeing him as a kid, and so do you. The last thing you need is for the sympathy vote to go to the Kents."
Lex nodded, then said more than a little judgmentally, "I didn't expect for this to go on for almost a year, you know."
"Sir we didn't expect the Kents would have much legal backing."
"How did they get DeGarnel on their payroll, anyway?" Lex glanced coolly over at the Kents' table. "The man's practically untouchable. Tom Cruise couldn't afford him."
"Apparently the editor of Smallville High's newspaper who also happens to be a friend of Clark's, headed up a campaign to raise money for a lawyer for Mr. And Mrs. Kent."
"So much for your 'fear the superpowers' ploy."
"With all due respect sir, we didn't expect the news of Clark's identity to faze many of his closer friends. But we're not trying to win over Smallville's high school, and I doubt Clark has many pen pals in Metropolis. It's all politics, Mr. Luthor. And you know politics and Metropolis knows you."
Lex seemed satisfied by this pep talk, and sat alert as the bailiff rose from her chair, and said in a solid voice, "The court will come to order." The damp conversation hushed to last-minute whispers, then total silence. "This is Custody Case 97-KR-65, Kent vs. Luthor Corporation. The honorable Judge Gregory Wyatt presiding. All rise." They stood and Judge Wyatt came to his chair and told them to be seated.
The proceedings were like something out of a TV drama. People were called forward for testimonies (first, second and in Chloe's case, third time through). It sounded like this case had been chasing circles around Clark's future for the entire year, with Clark's friends vouching for his character while government officials, high-paying businessman, and various other rats from Lex's deepest pockets, repaid their debts and vouched for Luthor Corp's integrity.
It took Clark awhile to figure out where he was in all of this. There was mention of him being put in temporary custody with the Kents (under "supervision"), removed for safety concerns, and then put back again only a month ago. Still under "supervision", presumably for the Kents' protection. DeGarnel and the gravel-voiced man (who turned about to Lex's lead attorney, Frank Tora) kept getting into spats over tiny details of the case.
"Your Honor, Mr. Luthor is not attempting to undermine any of Clark Kent's rights. But the court must consider, he is no longer a minor-"
DeGarnel stood. "A fact Mr. Tora, that is irrelevant in cases of abduction."
"We have been over this, your Honor; Clark was apprehended while attempting to make away with Luthor Corp property."
"Yes, we've heard that before, Mr. Tora, we have heard it many times now, and still sans any details of the supposed Luthor Corp property the Kent's son is meant to have-"
"That information is classified and to reveal it would-"
"Gentleman." Judge Wyatt folded his hands on the desk. "I believe we were discussing the question of Mr. Clark Kent's safety to himself and others, were we not?"
"Yes your Honor," they chorused.
"Then will you please steer the questions back to that point. Mr. Tora, I believe you have the floor."
"Thank you, your Honor. Ladies and gentleman, we have heard many testimonies throughout this case. There have been positive things to say about every aspect of Clark Kent's character, his past performance in his community, his schooling, many, many bouts of glowing praise which could all be true. But my client, Mr. Luthor, has all the evidence we need to show what a danger Clark could be. Not just to those around him, but to himself. We are not attempting to take him away from his home, ladies and gentlemen, no. No." His grating voice softened a little to a gentle, preening tone that made Clark's skin crawl. "We are only trying, for the good of this country-of this world-to discover how to protect us from Clark Kent, and above all, to protect Clark Kent from himself. If we can learn this, your Honor, we could go to the next step: Allowing Clark to do what he was born to do. Use his abilities to better our world."
DeGarnel folded his hands calmly in front of him. "Underneath the word games, the charades, Mr. Tora, all we have is evidence to the contrary. All we really have are solid testimonies in favor of the Kent's son. What evidence have you, aside from speculation, that he is a danger to anyone?"
An oily smile seeped into Tora's eyes. "Your Honor, I would like to call Miss Jessica Brooks to the stands."
An all-too-familiar blonde-headed girl dressed in a low-hanging, red shirt and leather boots approached the stand. She plunked herself down on the chair, slapped the Bible placed before her with a set of black-painted nails, and swore herself in. Lex whispered something to Tora who began making "I'm handling it" gestures. Clearly, the fact that Jessie Brooks looked like an escapee from an Evanescence music video was not lost on Lex, who had been told she was their pivotal witness. It would help if she at least looked credible.
"Miss Brooks."
"Jessie," she corrected sassily, tapping her gothic nails on the varnished wood. Her voice sent shivers of unpleasant memory down Clark's back. There was a time he had genuinely felt for her, but now…it was as if she had glossed over, like a preserved reminder of something ugly he'd buried long ago.
"Jessie," Tora continued serenely. "Can you please tell the court what happened May fifteenth of two-thousand and two?"
"First day at Smallville High, I met Clark. On May fifteenth, I ran into him at a bar."
"Which bar?"
"The Wild Coyote."
"Please let the record show that we have already had a testimony from the bar tender of the Wild Coyote, describing Clark Kent as 'acting strangely' on the May the fifteenth. Please continue, Miss Brooks."
She leaned forward, suddenly keen to tell her story. Maybe it was revenge. "Clark was there with another girl. Short, blonde chick- didn't catch her name. But he wanted to dance with me instead, cause she was being a real party-crasher. She said she was going to bail, and he tried to stop her. Some guy tried to stop him pushing the girl around, and he got all hot under the collar. Pitched this guy straight across the room."
"Did Clark Kent know this man?"
"Huh-uh. Like I said, he just got hot. Then the bar tender tried to stop him with a baseball bat, and Clark sort of stared at the bat till it caught on fire. Then he tried to strangle the guy, and said, 'anybody else?' And I thought he was probably brewing for a fight, so I said we had to get the h-"
"Can you please tell us what happened the next day?"
She slid back in her chair, the first signs of the girl Clark had once pitied for her mixed-up life poking through like a needle through cardboard. "He came to my house. Said he wanted some…stuff of my dad's. Something he wanted to sell. I told him no, and I ran cause he started attacking my dad. I ran across the road and into a cornfield, but he just appeared in front of me, out of no place." Her voice quivered a little. Either Clark had done more damage that day than he thought, or she was just a good actress. "I swear, I think he was going to kill me. And then his parents showed up and told me to run, so I did. I ran all the way back to the house, where my dad was lying on the floor, half-conscious. I took him to Smallville Medical Center myself."
They could almost hear the sound of the tables turning. Red Kryptonite. Of all the injustices, Clark lost his freedom over Red Kryptonite.
He could tell DeGarnel was shocked by this information. He turned to the Kents, holding a brief, whispered conversation with Jonathan. It looked stressful and unnerving. Finally, he stood, straightening his suit. "Your Honor, I would like to request a continence due to unknown evidence."
"Mr. DeGarnel, were you not aware of Miss Jessica Brooks' appearance as a witness?"
"Yes your Honor, but I-"
"Then Mr. DeGarnel, you have been adequately informed. Mr. Tora, do you have any further questions?"
"Just one, your Honor. Miss Brooks, are you aware of anything else that Clark did during that week that seemed out of the ordinary?"
"Well he told me he bought a bunch of awesome stuff down in Metropolis. Maxed out his dad's Visa getting that bike of his. And yeah, if you're talking about his anger issues, definitely. He threw his dad into a car."
"Can you elaborate on that please?" Tora asked over the quiet murmuring that snaked through their audience.
"He just said, 'you're not my father, you never were' and shoved him into a red pickup truck. Needed some real body work, too, he dented it good."
"Thank you, Miss Brooks. You may take your seat." He brushed a regal hand down his coat. "Your Honor, I move that in view of Clark's unpredictable state, he be moved to a secure location where Luthor Corp's highly advanced research team can further our knowledge of him before he is left to the care of his parents who, by this testimony, may or may not know how to deal with his…special requirements."
"Your Honor?" DeGarnel said. "It has come to my attention that by this last statement, Mr. Tora has altered Mr. Luthor's case against the Kents from a custody issue to a question of Clark Kent's mental status. If we are to address this subject, my clients and I ought to be able to prepare for it with decent documentation and testimonies."
"Very well, Councilor, you have a twenty-four hour recess. The court will reconvene at this same time, tomorrow afternoon."
The gavel went down, DeGarnel muttered his thanks, and then turned to Jonathan and Martha. Clark crossed the room quickly so he could catch the conversation. "Jonathan, you should have told me about this."
"I promise you, Brian, we had no idea about this incident."
"So he's lying?" Jonathan glanced at Martha. DeGarnel sighed pleadingly. "I told you, you need to tell me everything."
Martha shifted Lara on her lap. "You know how he reacts to green meteor rocks." DeGarnel nodded. "There is also red meteor in some places around Smallville. When Clark's around it, he doesn't act like himself. Brian, he bought a class ring that year and it had a red meteor rock set in it. He started to behave like a juvenile delinquent, maxing out Jonathan's credit cards, buying a motorcycle, that's all true. But we didn't know about this bar fight. I guess he was too embarrassed by it to tell us once he was off the rock."
DeGarnel was kneading his forehead, rifling through his notes in an unnerving fervor. "So you're saying he does have the ability to lose control of himself."
"Only around the red meteor rock," Martha said defensively. Jonathan gave her hand a squeeze.
"What uh…what does this mean for the case, Brian?"
DeGarnel stopped shuffling and looked up. "We can still fight this. We have one incident in eighteen years and no one was killed. But…what I don't get is why you didn't tell me about this before."
"Because…" Jonathan glanced around briefly. The courtroom was emptying swiftly and soon the only people left were a few of Lex's lawyers collecting up their briefcases. Lex had already left. "Because it would mean telling you more about Clark than we were willing for anyone to know."
It was a surreal picture, Jonathan Kent telling someone Clark didn't even know that his son was an alien. That he'd come to earth in a meteor shower. Had DeGarnel not been the seen-it-all type, his shock would have probably sent him straight off the case. He stuffed a hand in his pocket, putting the other one to the back of his neck. "…Oh."
"Lex knows. At least, we're fairly certain he does."
"Then he's going to use that, Jonathan, you can bet he is."
"I don't think he will. Word gets out Luthor Corp has a matter of national security on their hands and not just another meteor mutant, Clark will be airmailed NASA. Lex is that determined to be the one who does the experimentation."
DeGarnel gathered his things up. "Let's go back to the hotel. We need to discuss this in detail."
Clark left the courtroom behind.
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