Phoenix – Chapter Twenty-Eight
Kent Farm
Rory carried a chair out to the moving van as Clark walked past her to get another desk or two. She loaded the chair into the van, making sure it was sitting steadily.

"Am I too early for the farm auction?" a familiar voice asked from behind her.

Rory froze, then turned suddenly and grinned hugely at the man standing there. "Lex!" she yelled as she threw herself into his arms.

Hugging him tight, she warned Clark quickly, No powers, Clark.

Rory then remembered suddenly, the plane crash, the searches, the funeral...

She pulled away and looked into his eyes with confusion. "But, you're dead," she said, puzzled.

"You cut your hair," Lex said, trying not to show too much surprise. "What'd you do that for?"

Rory shrugged and flicked the front bangs back. "Needed a change, but this conversation doesn't. You're dead! I was at the funeral!"

"Lex?" they heard a voice ask incredulously. Lex turned and Rory slipped out of his arms as Lex grinned at Clark.

Rory grinned hugely, fighting back laughter at the look on Clark's face.

Lex was evidently thinking along the same lines as her, as he said, "Three months on a deserted island and it was almost worth it to see the look on your face right now."

"Amen to that," Rory said laughingly.

Clark and Lex walked towards each other, both smiling hugely. They embraced warmly and Lex closed his eyes.

"Aw, man! Lex, we thought you died," Clark said happily as they pulled apart.

"Well apparently fate has bigger plans for me," Lex grinned, happy to be with his best friends again. Turning to a more serious matter, he said, "I heard about the farm. Anything I can do?"

"No, Lex, you know our dad," Rory said, still happy just to see him alive.

"It's good to see you," Clark said, bringing the conversation back to Lex. "What happened?"

Lex's expression went a little darker. "Something I didn't know I was capable of."

Rory and Clark both watched him in concern as he went on, "It's ironic. In the most remote solitude I still managed to find an enemy. I suppose I was just hallucinating from the malaria," he shrugged, "but the enemy I found was real. I got a good look at myself, or at least the part I've always tried to ignore," he finished solemnly.

"Lex," Rory said quietly. He looked at her, and she continued, not looking away from him, "I guess we all get a look at our dark side sooner or later."

There was a long pause as Lex stared at her. "The problem is," he began to reply softly, "if you stare at it long enough it can get hard to tell the two sides apart."


After Lex has left
"Hey, Mom!" Rory called, entering the barn with Clark by her side.

"Dad!" Clark yelled.

"Yes, Kal? Kara?"

The twins stopped dead in their tracks, furious.

"Didn't I tell you never to come back here again?" Rory asked quietly, her cold voice expressing more rage than shouting ever could.

"I wanted to meet the parents," Edge said, his voice taking on a slightly menacing tone. "Nice people."

Edge stepped quickly to the side, revealing Martha – tied to a wooden pole with one of Edge's henchmen holding a gun to her head.

"Mom," Rory whispered.

She took a single step forward, stopping when Edge said darkly, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Clark! Rory!"

The shout came from behind them, and Clark spun in response. Jonathan was tied to a chair with another of Edge's men holding a gun to his neck.

"Don't do anything," Jonathan said quickly. "It's okay."

Edge grinned, thinking that he was in control of the situation now. "I know you're quick. But can you get to both of them at the same time?" he asked rhetorically.

Rory smiled slightly. "There is two of us, you know."

Edge's expression flickered.

"Ow! Get your hands off me, asshole! No, wait – no don't! Get it off me! Hey! No-"

Rory and Clark's faces paled simultaneously. They both knew that voice, all too well.

Another man pushed a girl into the barn. With one hand he held a gun to her head and with the other he had one arm wrenched up behind her back. A blindfold covered her eyes and she was struggling hard.

It was Lana.

Edge's expression firmed once again. "But now, Kara, there are three of them. And I doubt even you and your brother are that fast."

Clark's gaze flickered from the girl he loved to his sister to his parents. "We don't have what you're looking for," he said, deepening his voice a little – Edge wasn't calling them by the names Lana knew, and she was blindfolded. If they changed their voices, just a little...

Rory read the thought in his mind and nodded infinitesimally. "Exactly," Rory said, making her voice rougher and slightly higher.

"Do you want me to have to explain that to Lionel Luthor?" Edge said, his voice strained.

The man next to Martha cocked his gun.

"No, don't –" Jonathan was cut off by his guard who hit him across the face with his gun.

"Wait!" Clark yelled at the same time Rory cried, "Stop!"

We have to do something!

I know, Rors. I think I have an idea...

Clark watched Edge for a long moment, trying not to let Rory see his plan – he was sure she'd object. Moving quickly and suddenly, he grabbed an empty jar from a nearby workbench and put it on top of the tool chest.

Opening one of the drawers, moving at superspeed in an attempt to prevent Rory stopping him, he pulled out the familiar lead box and put it down on the chest. He pulled up his left sleeve just as Rory yelled, "No!"

Clark turned to look at her, seeing the blistering expression on her face. She was glaring at him, rage and fear filling her face. "No," she said, enraged.

Clark turned back to the box which abruptly disappeared. He exhaled angrily and faced Rory again. "Give it back."

"No," Rory said defiantly.

Edge watched this exchange with interest. "The vial's in that box, then?"

"Shut up," Rory said without looking at him. "Don't be so stubborn, C-Kal."

"Give me the damn box, Kara," Clark said through clenched teeth.

"I will not give you the box, Kal," Rory imitated.

Clark narrowed his eyes at her and they stared at one another for a long moment. Edge continued to watch them, his curiosity piqued.

Clark's shoulders slumped suddenly as he gave in. "Fine," he sighed, and Rory relaxed as well.

"See, Kal-" Rory never got to finish her sentence.

Clark had already snatched the box back, opening it quickly and grabbing the kryptonite. Rory staggered back, already feeling the effects of it. Clark dragged the kryptonite shakily across his forearm, drawing blood.

He grunted in pain as he held the cut over the jar so his blood would fall into it. Clenching his fist so the blood would flow faster, he carefully put the kryptonite back in the box. Before he could close it, however, he joined his sister on the floor just moments after her.

Rory vaguely heard Martha gasp, but nothing really seemed to matter to her anymore: nothing but the pain. Pain that licked through her body like fire, like ice, like being buried alive, like everything she'd ever felt before crammed into one long moment.

Vibrations through the floor jarred her body and she moaned. Someone stopped near her head and she opened her eyes just enough to see what was going on around her.

"What the hell is this?" a faintly familiar voice that seemed to belong to Edge asked. Like his footsteps, his voice also jarred her body, hurting her even more – something she wouldn't have thought possible just a moment ago.

"It's what you're looking for," the voice she would know anywhere said weakly.

"It better be," Edge said menacingly. He put a lid on the jar and left.

Rory lay her head back down, wishing for death or at least unconsciousness to stop the pain.


Rory couldn't remember much of that time – drifting in and out of the blackness that signposted no pain. She remembered thinking that she must have been lying there for days, and she remembered losing all contact with Clark sometimes – even the corner of her brain that always knew his turned off.

She remembered being scared, and she remembered hoping the men hadn't taken Lana's blindfold off.

But mostly she just remembered the pain.

The worst past was that the longer she lay there, the worse it got. Or maybe the worst part was that her pain was doubled by Clark's, until she wished for the moments that her brain lost all contact with his.

The first difference she knew was when her shirt was ripped open and piece of kryptonite was taped to her chest. She vaguely heard men joking and laughing in sotto voices, but she wasn't really paying attention.

She also vaguely heard her father shouting something, but she couldn't make out the words.

Suddenly, there was a loud smashing noise and a few sounds that indicated a scuffle.

"Jonathan!" she could just make out her father's name in her mother's voice. A cell phone buzz pierced her head and she moaned, twisting her head away.

"Yeah?" she heard someone say. The noises were all fuzzy, but a little clearer than before – Rory inferred that this was because she was losing the feeling in her body slowly. It felt good.

"Yes sir," continued the voice. The phone snapped shut and he addressed someone else.

"That was Edge. He wants us to take the kids to him."

Rory felt someone stick their hands under her armpits and drag them out, but not before she heard Lana saying, "Kids? What's going on?"

She felt herself being stuck in some kind of vehicle, Clark nearby.

Rory... a faint nudge came at the edge of her thoughts. It brought only pain, so she ignored it completely.

She blacked out again for what felt like a while. When she came to, Clark was pulling the kryptonite off her skin and throwing it to the other side of the truck.

The feeling started to return to her limbs, but not fast enough.

"Rory, Rory, can you make it out?" she heard Clark asking.

Rory managed to mumble incoherently, "You're gonna have to carry me."

Clark somehow got the message and pulled her into his arms. Can you make a field around yourself?

Rory concentrated, harder than she'd ever done before, and somehow managed to pull a faint blue shield into being around herself. Holding it up, however, took all of her concentration and then some.

Clark wasted no time. He used his heat vision on some containers of acetone in the corner and Rory felt the rush of heat and energy around her as he supersped away.

Then the blackness came back to claim her and she knew no more.


Kent Farm, the next day
Clark carried a box down the stairs to the living room, where Martha and Jonathan were taping more boxes up. Rory lay on the couch, a frown on her face.

"Are you sure I can't help?" she asked petulantly. "I feel so useless."

"No," Martha said severely. "You are resting. Besides, you still can't stand."

Rory scowled harder. "Sure I can!"

The effect was ruined by the weakness of her voice.

"Yes, but you're not going to try, are you, Rory?" Clark said threateningly. Rory sighed and sank back into the cushions.

"It just won't seem right calling any other place home," Jonathan said resignedly.

Rory smiled and said, "It's not the place that makes the home, Dad."

"Does that mean you're staying?" Martha asked hopefully.

"Well, I can hardly go anywhere, right Mom?" Rory asked playfully, her voice still weak. "After all, you need to make up for years of neither of us ever getting sick."

Clark laughed and added his own reasons, "Besides, we've kinda closed the door on our time in Metropolis." He finally put the box down and continued, "I called the police and told them where the money we took is."

"I guess you can't run away from your problems when your problem is in your blood," Rory said quietly.

Clark nodded in agreement but Jonathan shook his head. "Don't you two be so hard on yourselves."

There was a knock on the screen door. The Kents all looked towards it and saw Lex smiling at them.

"Hi, Lex," Martha greeted him.

"Hey, Lex," Rory said, a smile spreading over her face. "You missed the garage sale, but we've got tons of those macramé plant holders left."

Lex stared at her with concern. "What happened?"

Rory waved her hand dismissively and said, a little hoarsely, "Oh, nothing, I just don't feel too great, that's all."

Lex frowned, still looking worried.

"Any particular reason for the visit, Lex?" Clark asked curiously.

"Actually, there is," Lex replied, distracted for now. He handed a piece of paper to Jonathan. Martha hurried to his side to look at it.

"You bought our farm?" Martha asked in hopeful disbelief.

"I put your names on the deed," Lex shrugged.

"We can't accept this," Jonathan said, shaking his head.

"Sure we can, Dad!" Rory said, sitting up a little. Everyone in the room scowled at her and she meekly slid back down. "I mean, this is home. What does it matter how we keep it?"

"I thought it didn't matter where we were, Rors," Clark teased her.

"Besides, Mr. Kent," Lex interrupted, "There's nothing to accept but my gratitude."

"Lex-"

"After the plane went down," Lex cut him off, "I made my way onto one of the broken wings." He held up an antique compass.

"This compass, your wedding present, guided me to safe harbour," Lex explained. "The least I can do is help you keep your farm."

Jonathan looked at Martha for a moment, then back to Lex.

"We will find a way to pay you back," Jonathan promised. Rory cheered hoarsely.

"I'm not worried about that, Mr. Kent," Lex said, smiling. "If it's not too presumptuous, I hope you'll just consider me part of the family."

Rory's eyes began to droop shut as she murmured, "Already do, Lex..."

She fell asleep and Clark said quietly, "I'll take her upstairs. Lex-"

"Don't worry about it, Clark," Lex said, still smiling.

Clark eased his sister into his arms and carried her up the stairs.

"Thank you, Lex," Jonathan said.

"No, Mr. Kent," Lex replied. "Thank you."

They smiled at one another, the animosity between them finally seeming to be gone.


A/N I'm incredibly sorry I took so long, these ANs all seem to sound the same now, but I've been really really busy lately with assignments etc.
Obama got in! Well done to him, I would've voted for him if I'd a) been a US citizen b) been the right age.
Also, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to update soon, but no promises as exam week is really soon.

Question no. 7:
Which colour do you think best suits Rory? Once again, I don't mean in terms of her appearance.

Sorry again!
Thank you all for the support, you're all wonderful people. :o)