Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville, DC or the Lawrence High School Chesty Lions.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, volunteering and all, Happy Mother's Day! (For the UK at least!) and Happy St Patrick's Day for yesterday to all the other paddies out there! I've Googled some historical info for this chapter, sorry if it isn't 100% accurate, as I've been relying on Wiki!

Chapter 21: Feel the Burn

Thanksgiving Thursday meant two things for Smallville, Food and Football. Everyone would meet with their families, have their Turkey, and then get ready to go the Turkey Bowl. Well almost everyone, one person would be alone today, Coach Arnold. Coach Arnold had never gone in for the sissy family stuff, women only ever harped on at him for is drinking, he's made the mistake of getting married in his twenties but divorce had cured him of that disaster. His life had only ever been about sports, and more importantly, winning. His father, the old bastard, had taught him two things, losers never get anywhere, and if there was someone in your way you crushed them. He'd had an illustrious sports coaching career spanning 25 years following those words, no one had dared question him. But now, the namby pamby, touchy, feely types were trying to say he was old hack, past it, and put a kid barely out of braces in his place.

If someone got in your way you crushed them.

If that little asshole Kwan had brought Teague in as an assistant, maybe he could have handled it, but he'd named him Co-Coach, that was not allowed. But the kid was like rubber, taking every insult, every order, and the team were excelling with his new techniques. So Coach Arnold had gone back to an old standby.

Coach Arnold had been the bully at school, pummelling the smaller kids, he was the one who pulled the wings of flies, used magnifying glasses on ants...and played with matches.

As an adult, he'd kept his fascination with fire, even taking a side job committing arson so people could make insurance claims on dead-end properties. Farmer's were rich in land and buildings, but they didn't make all that much, in the 90's quite a few had cut their losses and asked for help, he'd obliged.

But even torching Teague's car hadn't stopped him, he was from money, he just got a new one.

So he's bided his time, becoming more and more humiliated as Teague wheedled himself into every aspect of the school, taking over, even the football players liked him. A leader shouldn't be liked, he should be respected, or even feared.

When Teague had signed up for the Horror Maze, he'd thought it would be his chance to really show him up. But he'd had a little too much to drink, and turned up after everyone had already left. He'd stumbled around, looking at the monstrosity that Teague had erected; he should have spent his time on something more productive. It was near pitch black in there, and he'd tripped over a rubber Alien that had fallen off the hay bales, and cut his hands on the stupid glowing rocks that Teague had strewn around, he'd been so drunk he couldn't get up, and fell asleep in the Teague's freakin' Roswell nightmare.

The next morning he woke up feeling feverish. His hands were cut up, the shards of rock he was sure he had in them were gone. He'd stumbled to his car and driven home. For the rest of the week he had a high fever, living off a liquid diet and watching re-runs of his greatest games. Finally, he decided to try and fry something, he'd gotten the bacon, turned on the stove, and then gotten a phone call. It was freaking Kwan again, asking why he wasn't in work.

"I'm taking my sick days Principal Kwan, I'm owed around 20 years worth, I'm cashing in!"

"That's fine Arnold, I would have appreciated it if you'd notified either myself or Jason, he's been bearing all the load in your absence."

You bet he had.

"I'll be back at work after Thanksgiving, I have a project to finish up."

"Alright Arnold, take care of yourself, if you need to take a sabbatical, just let me know. I'm sure Jason can take over."

Freaking Jason Teague and Kwan, why couldn't they just back off! Those stupid, yellow little...

At that moment, the flames on the stove flared higher than any setting should allow, and when Arnold jumped in surprise they stopped.

He didn't think anything of it, it was just a fluke, the house was old and the gas works were in need of fine tuning.

But then, later that night, when he was making dinner, beans, his thoughts went back to the conversation with Kwan, the smirk on Teague's face during practice, him laughing with Lang and the others...

The flames suddenly came to life again, and as he watched, they stayed there, and somehow he knew.

He'd practised, with his old lighter and trees from the wood, he could will the fire, shape it, spread it.

He was powerful again.

If someone gets in your way, you crush them.

His old man had been half right, but he'd add an addendum.

If they are too big to crush, your burn them.

Thanksgiving meant two things in Smallville, food and football.

He'd be going to the game after all.

Things would go his way again real soon.

...

Thanksgiving Dinner at the Kent Family Farm was always lavish, even though there were only three of them. Clara could eat enough for four people, and there would still be leftovers for a few days. Despite her many attempts to the contrary, Martha could not convince her father to come to dinner, he had conference calls all day to Japan for a client of his. Martha knew the real reason, Thanksgiving had been one of her mother's favourite occasions, she made a big effort, and her father hadn't celebrated it since she passed. Martha understood, even if she wasn't happy about it. She didn't know what she'd do if she ever lost Jonathan, but God willing she wouldn't have to worry about it for years to come.

They had the usual meal, with all the trimmings, as everyone in Smallville did, around 3pm. That gave enough time for it to settle before the Turkey Bowl at 7pm.

Football was a big deal on Thanksgiving, it allowed Smallville and its neighbour Lawrence to exercise some of their demons. In the early 18th Century Smallville and Lawrence has been united in their abolitionist beliefs, but in May 1856 a pro-slavery posse led by Lawrence Sheriff Samuel J. Jones attacked two anti-slavery newspapers and businesses. Abolitionist John Brown retaliated in what would become known as the Pottawatomie Massacre. Smallville, despite its abolitionist ties to Lawrence, couldn't abide with the action, and an enmity existed from then onward. After it passed out of living memory, the rivalry became less moral and more petty. Lawrence became a large city, and the University of Kansas was founded there in 1865, while Smallville stuck to its name. There were more schools, economic opportunities and prosperity in Lawrence than Smallville, yet Smallville consistently beat them in Football and High School Sports. Now it was a sports rivalry and more a running joke than real enmity, but the grudge match's between Lawrence and Smallville remained. Lawrence High School had taken up the mantle, while Lawrence Free State High School remained neutral, and so the Chesty Lions and the Crows had met on the field of contest for over a hundred years, in every sport imaginable, but particularly for Turkey Bowl.

So now the people of Smallville were assembling at "The Nest", filing into the stands while jeering amiably at the Away section. It was Smallville's year to host, next year the Crows would go to "The Den". As both the Crows and the Chesty Lions colours were red and black, the Chesty Lions were in their Away shirts of Gold and Black. It was another point of enmity as to which school had claimed the colours first, both were founded in 1857 and their official Mascots weren't announced until the 1930's. Chesty and Corny were already on the field, raising ire from their opposing fans. Clara took her usual seat with her parents, her mother had brought a blanket and her father was in his old Football coat, not many people's Dad's could fit into the same jacket they did when they were 18. Martha had brought a picnic basket of Turkey, Cranberry and Stuffing sandwiches, as well as pie, as she always did, and a flask of hot chocolate.

Clara could see Jason on the side lines, scouting out the opposing coach, as the teams began to assemble on the field for the coin toss. He waved at someone near the front, and Clara saw a woman with long brown hair, in what looked like an expensive jacket wave back, maybe that was his Mum?

Clara saw no sign of Lex, and he hadn't been answering texts all week, maybe he was visiting family? Clara tried to imagine Lex and Lionel Luthor sitting at opposite ends of the long dining table at Luthor Mansion and it was an odd picture. Clara didn't know if Lex's mother Lillian had any living family, probably not. She hoped he was alright; the holidays were always the hardest time for people without close families.

The corner of Clara's eye caught sight of Chloe by the front, taking photographs of the teams assembling on the field, with Lois in tow. Just then, Mr Sullivan arrived on their bench.

"Gabe" said Jonathan amicably, "grab a pew, we've saved you a space."

"Much obliged Jonathan" said Gabe Sullivan, carrying a tray of corn dogs and drinks.

"The girls are just doing a little journalism before they come up, Chloe wanted Lois to see small town journalism at work."

"That's great, you have two nieces don't you?"

"Yes, but Lucy is still high school age, and their father is stationed in Washington right now, so Lois decided to come to us instead."

Clara felt strange every time she remembered Lois had a younger sister, it made her seem more human. Yes, pot calling kettle black but still. She'd never actually met Lucy, who was always with their father, but it must be hard not being with your family at the holiday's. Come to think of it, she'd never met Lois's Dad either, but from what Chloe hinted, he was a formidable guy.

Gabe Sullivan and her parents were making small talk about Lex's plant while Clara looked out at the crowd, Gabe worked at Lex's plant, it felt strange to think one of her best friends employed another's father.

"Hey Red, Happy Thanksgiving"

Clara's insides jolted as she realised Lex had sidled in next to her while she wasn't looking.

"Lex! Happy Thanksgiving!"

She hugged him tight as he patted her back, before greeting the Kent's and Mr Sullivan, Jonathan nodded and Martha shook hands happily, Gave Sullivan greeted him but looked slightly uncomfortable to see him there, and a little culture shocked.

Lex sat next to Clara, on the opposite side to her parents.

"Sorry I couldn't answer your texts this week, I've been closing a real estate deal that turned out to be more complicated then I anticipated."

"That's alright, I was just worried about you. How did you spend your Thanksgiving?"

"Well, Chef Carl made a veritable feast for me yesterday and put it in the fridge for me. I gave the staff the day off. I had a lot of work to do so it was a working lunch."

"You were on your own?"

Lex smiled at her concern and shook his head.

"It's not an unusual occurrence Clara. My family haven't had a real Thanksgiving since my mother passed. Even then, my Father wasn't fond of family gatherings."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm here now aren't I? So, tell me the history of this little grudge match."

Clara felt grateful for the subject change, she didn't like seeing Lex upset, and although he didn't reveal it, she knew he was uncomfortable talking about his family. So she was glad to talk about more historical problems.

Clara's mother offered Lex a sandwich, which he took gratefully, smiling at her warmly. There were times when Martha Kent, with her warm nature and fiery hair, reminded him very much of his own mother, Lillian. Especially today.

The coin toss was about to take place when Chloe and Lois walked into the seats next to Lex and Clara. Clara gave a start, she was absorbed in her talk with Lex and felt like they had snuck up on her.

"Hey Clara, Lex! Lois, this is Lex Luthor, he's one of Clara's friends."

"I know who he is Chloe." Lois stuck out her hand confidently. "Lois Lane, Metro-U Post and Metropolis Inquisitor, I've read all about the boy billionaire out here in the wild from Chloe's Newspaper. How about after all this we have an interview about your time here?"

"Thank you Miss Lane, but I think your cousin Chloe's done a brilliant job with her interviews so far, I'm just here to relax, not have a press conference."

"Lois, please."

"Lois then, let's just enjoy the game. It's a holiday, anything else can wait."

"Sure Luthor Junior, but you'll find I get what I want."

"So do I"

The horn sounded, and the formations began. Chloe and Clara sat down, Chloe next to Lex and Lois by her side, while Mr Sullivan passed along their drinks and food.

Clara suddenly felt a great tide of warmth towards Lex, he'd just turned Lois down flat, no one ever did that. Lex sneakily looked over at her and raised his eyebrow in mock question, and Clara mouthed "Later".

Lois was a spirited sports fan, hollering advice and criticism with the best of the crowd. Clara supposed they did have their love of Football in common, if she had to admit they had shared anything apart from Chloe.

Everything was peaceful until halftime; Jason patted the guys on the back as they ran back to the changing rooms, high fiving Lucas as he went by. Then Jason went in with them to give them their talk. Halftime was usually forty-five minutes and both teams of cheerleaders were lining up on opposite sides of the fields to have a cheer-off. Clara caught sight of Whitney leading her team, looking thinner than before and quite pale. She scanned the crowd and saw that The Fordman's weren't at the game, she wondered why.

The Chesty Lions Cheerleaders made a good show, they were precise, light footed and fast, then it was Smallville's turn. Jason and his opposing coach were back and watching the show while the teams stewed over their advice in the locker room. Then Clara saw a flash of fire.

Whitney had distributed batons, and now they were on fire! The girls did formation movements, careful of the flames but they'd obviously practiced. It was definitely a good show.

Everyone gave them a standing ovation afterwards, and as the Cheerleader's filed off, Jason stuck his hand out to shake Whitney's as she was the last off, but she just shoved the still flaming baton at him and marched off with the others.

Then, all of a sudden, the lightly flaming baton became a full blaze, causing Jason's coaches jacket to catch on fire and him to drop the baton on the field. Jason quickly shrugged off his jacket, which was still alight, and rolled on the floor. But the fire spread unnaturally, the flames from the baton licking at Jason's heels and swelling to cover part of the football field creating an arch around Jason. The crowd started screaming as the flames began to spread to the front benches. Suddenly Clara and everyone else, were on their feet, Lex had instinctively moved slightly in front of Clara, as her parents had done, while Lois has grabbed Chloe's camera and was snapping, moving forward. The crowd began to run, evacuating the stands, and the woman Clara though was Jason's mother made to go onto the pitch, before being grabbed by Sheriff Ethan and forced to evacuate with everyone else, she fought the whole way. Mr Sullivan jumped onto the upper bench and grabbed Chloe, who in turn gave Clara a significant look as she grabbed Lois, who protested as they fled the stands. Chloe was giving Clara her opening. Martha and Jonathan began to urge Lex away, but as he saw Clara begin to step forward he grabbed her arm.

"You can't go down there!"

"Remember your promise, trust me! I've got this!"

Lex looked into her eyes, then looked resigned, and allowed Martha and Jonathan to escort him away from the flames.

"Sweetie be careful!" said her mother as they fled the oncoming flames.

Clara shirked her red leather jacket, leaving it on her seat, the front four rows of benches were aflame and Clara saw no sign of anyone, even those who had rushed to help had been evacuated from the area by the school staff. Clara could see Jason, alone in an unnatural circle of flame, but wait, he wasn't alone, a parting emerged in the flame, and then closed, someone was with him!

Clara rushed down, but couldn't see a way through the flames that was explainable, Jason was still alive in there, she had to find a way to get in!

"Jason!" she shouted, but heard no reply, but the flames directly in front of her moved violently backwards as if by a strong wind. Thinking on the spot Clara drew air into her lungs and blew with all her might, and a part of the wall of fire was momentarily extinguished, Clara ran in before it closed behind her. Jason had his arm partly across his face, his was on the ground and coughing badly from the smoke as Coach Arnold stood over him.

"Just couldn't stay in your place could you! Had to be the big man on campus, well if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!"

The flames rose higher, and drew in closer, Clara could feel their blistering heat.

Clara saw Coach Arnold was sweating too, and he had burn marks on his hands.

"Coach Arnold, you have to stop!"

He started round in surprise.

"What are you doing in here Kent? This doesn't concern you girl, leave!"

A doorway in the flames opened, but Clara didn't move.

"You can't do this, Jason hasn't done anything!"

"Oh, he's done plenty! Made me look like an old fool in front of all the staff, the freakin' kids! I get no respect round here anymore! They thought I was burned out. But I have to thank you Teague, your little Roswell maze is responsible for relighting my fire! I've heard about meteor rock giving wacko's abilities, but I never dreamed I could get something this good! If I can do this with one exposure, then what'll the team be able to do once I add the rocks to the sauna? We'll be invincible, it's untraceable!"

Jason looked at him in horror.

"You're insane, you can't give this stuff to the team! It's dangerous, look what it's done to you! You'll never get away with it!"

"Once you're gone, who's going to stop me? Kwan? The little twerp is going to start seeing things my way real soon, and if not, then he'll get a little trial by fire."

The flames closed in further, and were licking at Clara's back, she had to get Jason out. Clara realised while he was ranting Coach Arnold hadn't closed the door in the fire.

Jason saw that burns on Coach Arnold too, he looked to Clara, who looked right at him, then moved her eyes to the gap in the flames, it seems she had an idea.

Jason stood up, coughing as he did so, once he had his footing Clara moved forward, catching Coach Arnold's attention, Jason took the opening and tackled him to the ground, they landed by the flames, Arnold's jacket caught fire and the flames multiplied in his fury, Jason rolled off and Clara grabbed his shirt and they stumbled to the exit, Clara pushed Jason in front of her and gave a shove that caused him to fly a few feet forward and out of harms way, he hit his head on the landing and lay still on the ground, unconscious. But at least he was safe. Clara turned around to see Coach Arnold scream as the fire crept up his arm, consuming his body, one impulse she tried to blow it out, but it kept multiplying, and her heart sunk as she knew it was too late, then there was an explosion, and Coach Arnold was gone, as well as the fire, all that remained was ash and the charred remains of the bottom of the stands.

Clara rushed to Jason, who was stirring, and she heard the fire brigade arriving, followed quickly by the ambulance and the police.

Clara was wrapped in a blanket, and she realised her shirt was charred to pieces, and suddenly Lex and her parents were around her, her mother had retrieved her jacket, and Clara was acutely aware that Lex was near as her mother helped her zip up the jacket under her blanket. Jonathan Kent put an arm around his daughter once it was done.

"I'm fine, it was Coach Arnold, he was meteor infected, he could control fire! But he wasn't immune, he burned himself to death."

Clara looked over to Jason, who was on a stretcher with paramedics, he must have a concussion. He was being fussed over by a beautiful woman, who for some odd reason Clara though looked like Dr Quinn Medicine Woman. She was examining him in the same way that her parents had examined her, working around the EMT's.

"Why would he do something like this?" asked Lex, who was also looking over at Jason's companion with recognition on his face.

"He said Jason was upstaging him, he wanted control of the team back."

"Power is often the best motivation for bad deeds" Lex said grimly, he had experience of this kind of high handed behaviour.

Sheriff Ethan came over, and suddenly Clara was whisked away for a verbal statement.

This had been a very odd Thanksgiving, she'd saved Jason Teague's life, again, and for the first time in her own, seen someone die.

But looking over Sheriff Ethan's shoulder at her parents, who stood with Lex, and an approaching Mr Sullivan, Chloe and even at Lois, who was heading in Jason's direction with a camera, she knew she had a lot to be thankful for.

Clara didn't notice the significant glances Jason's mother was giving to Lex and herself when not looking at Jason.

Genevieve Teague didn't know that Lex Luthor had noticed. He also noticed that Clara's parents had let her run into the line of fire, literally, and that while Teague has minor burns, Clara had no blemishes. For this he was grateful, a promise was a promise, he would keep to it, he wouldn't question, he wouldn't investigate, but that didn't mean he would discount what he saw with his own eyes.

Clara Kent was a special girl and he didn't like the Teague's interest in her, at all.

Clara hadn't said not to investigate anyone else.

Luthor's are Lords of the Loophole.

Author's Note: Thanks for all your reviews, let's have more please! Hope you liked it!