Eyes Opened

So, open your eyes,

And, see who I am,

And, not who you want for me to be,

"Don't Wanna Lose You" by Gloria Estefan

April 26, 2003

Kent Farm

"Get out of here, Lex! You do not want to be near me right now."

Contrary to Clark's warning, Lex entered the barn. Staring at all the smoldering black spots on the walls, ceiling and stairs, Lex called out, "Clark, we need to talk about this."

Suddenly, Clark appeared at the banister. His eyes tightly shut, he cried, "Just go away."

"No!" countered Lex. Slowly, he walked over to the foot of the banister as he said, "I saw everything, Clark. I saw your eyes glowing red and how you practically disappeared."

"Oh God."

Pausing on the fifth step, Lex shouted, "Clark?"

"Lex, go away, go back to Grace."

Quickly, Lex ascended the stairs. All the while, he explained, "Grace is leaving tomorrow morning. All you saw was a good-bye kiss. Trust me."

"Why should I trust you, now? You haven't been straight with me about this from the beginning."

On the landing, Lex looked at Clark. Sitting in the darkness, Clark still squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for an answer. Taking a step toward Clark, Lex said, "You're right. There's a lot you don't know. That's my fault and I plan to remedy that now." Eyes still closed, Clark asked, "What do you mean?"

"I'm not a good man."

"You are a good man. You're not like your Father."

Placing his hands on Clark's cheeks, Lex forced Clark to face him. "You've got to start seeing me for who I really I am, Clark."

"I don't understand."

"You look at me and see a far better man than I really am. For you, I try to be that man. But I'm not and you don't let yourself see that. You don't let yourself see the things I've done – The things I keep on doing."

"Lex?"

"No Clark, you want to understand? Then, I'm going to explain it to you. For the past several weeks, I've been helping Grace get her independence from her Father. To accomplish this, I've had to practically destroy the man. I ripped his heart out and showed it to him. Not literally, of course. But in the end, I still threatened the most important thing in his life to get what I wanted. Understand, Clark. That's what I do and I'm good at it. You have got to start seeing that."

"But you were trying to help Grace."

"At what cost, Clark? At what cost? My motives be damned."

"Motives are everything, Lex. So you've got a dark side. Who doesn't? I have one, too. Frankly, I think mine can, on some level, be far more destructive than yours. But you try Lex. You try to do the right thing. That's what makes you a good man."

Slowly, Clark opened his eyes. There were no lasers, no violent displays. Confidently, he looked at Lex and said, "You were right."

"Huh?"

"There was a club that knew my secrets and I never let you be a part of that."

Reaching out, Clark cupped Lex's cheek. "I do see you, Lex. Sometimes, I see what I wish you were more, but I've always seen you for what you really are."

Covering Clark's hand in his own, Lex smiled. He watched numbly as Clark slowly took a hold of his hand and tugged on it. "Come on, I have something to show you."

Standing up, Lex wordlessly followed down the stairs and out of the barn. 'I shouldn't be letting him do this. I shouldn't.'

Across the field to the storm cellar, they said nothing. Finally, at the cellar door, Clark let go of Lex long enough to open the doors. Clark motioned to Lex to follow before descending the stairs. At the bottom, Clark looked back at Lex once before crossing the room and pulling the drape off the spaceship.

Open-mouthed, Lex stumbled forward. Crouching down, he gently caressed the metal hull of the ship. Skimming his fingers over the alien hieroglyphics, he asked, "Is this what I think it is?"

"What do you think it is?"

Doing a double take, Lex looked at Clark. He continued to stare as Clark whispered, "It's time for you to see me as I really am. I'm not Human, Lex. I landed here with the meteors almost 14 years ago. I came in this ship."

"That's how you're able to do the things I saw before."

Nodding, Clark answered, "Yes. I have powers far beyond those of mortal men."

"You look so Human though."

"I feel Human. My parents found me and they raised me as if I were Human. I don't remember where I came from. I have no memory of my birth parents. Kansas is the only home I've ever known."

Slowly, Lex wrapped his arms around Clark. Pulling him close, he said, "I see you clearly and I know that in every way that matters you are Human. In some ways, you're probably more Human than I am."

Clark moved to protest, but he never got the chance.

"Oh my God."

Moving bit-by-bit, Lex and Clark turned to face a stricken Jonathan Kent.

"Clark, what have you done?" Jonathan asked.

Holding Lex tighter, Clark replied, "It was my secret and it was time to tell it."

Gradually, Jonathan fell in a heap on the stairs. Cradling his head in his hands, he took little notice of his wife as she entered the cellar. She looked at Lex and Clark with shock and sadness battling in her eyes. Timidly, she took small steps forward as Lex and Clark stood up and pulled away from each other. Glancing at Clark, she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as she approached her son. She smiled as his eyes followed her hair out of habit. Gently, she placed her hands on either side of his face and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Nodding along with Clark, Martha reached up and pulled him into a firm embrace. After several seconds, she pulled away. With tears in her eyes, she turned to Lex. She paused, staring him in the eyes. A battle waged in her tense body for a few seconds before she took him by the hand. Firmly, she tugged on it until Lex started to follow her. Without saying a word, she led him past Jonathan's still cowering figure. Up the stairs, she continued to tug on his hand. Even when he tugged back, fearful of what she had in store for him, she grasped tightly onto him. Refusing to let go, she dragged him all the way into her kitchen.

There, she pulled a towel off a nearby towel bar. Throwing it at him, she cracked a smile when his mouth fell open as he caught it. Reaching for the kitchen sink faucet, she turned on the hot water as she looked at Lex and said, "I'll wash. You dry."