A/N: Hey there true believers back with another update. I told you it wouldn't be too long, I hope this makes up for my odd upload mistakes for the previous chapter. This chapter is a bit shorter as it retreads some canon established ground and I'm not going to be changing it too much. But addressing these character moments is important to the story I couldn't very well leave them out.
At any rate, I hope you all enjoy it, and be sure to let me know what you think. I love to hear from those who enjoy my work, but any constructive criticism is welcome as well.
Clark hummed happily to himself as he locked his dorm room behind him, he was in high spirits today, exceptionally high spirits as a matter of fact. His two-week confinement to the campus ended that night, so while he hadn't been able to accompany RWBY to the docks to "Welcome", as Weiss put it, the other students arriving for the Vytal festival, he'd be free to leave and visit the city now. He'd never been much for the big city, he found he didn't mind it so much when among friends. On top of the ending of his punishment in two short weeks, he'd be heading back home for the Smallville summer festival and Team RWBY had agreed to take his parents up on the offer to visit.
Ruby and Yang had shown a little more eagerness than Blake or Weiss, but all had seemed more than happy to visit. Unfortunately team JNPR had said they wouldn't be able to tag along for the trip, they had opted to stay on campus to avail themselves of the school's facilities so they could help Jaune train, although none of them had said as much. Clark was disappointed, but he also understood, and they HAD said they would try to drop by for the tail end of festivities so it wasn't all bad. The happy thoughts were shut down when he heard a shout, a door slam shut and the sound of footsteps rapidly running away, the heartbeat was erratic, scared, but it was familiar. It belonged to Blake. He quickly made his way to Team RWBY's dorm and he heard voices arguing.
"SHE LIED TO US!" Weiss shouted angrily.
"No, she didn't...not really, she just didn't tell us everything…" Ruby offered weakly.
"IT'S THE SAME THING!" Weiss shouted back.
"Okay, Weiss you need to chill out-" Yang could be heard saying before Weiss cut her off.
"ENOUGH OF YOUR ICE JOKES XIAO LONG! I. AM. NOT. IN. THE. MOOD!" she screamed and it was then Clark decided to enter. Normally he would never enter a ladies bedroom without knocking, but such hang-ups seemed foolish just now.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa what's happening," Clark said placatingly as he walked into the room, his hands in the air in front of him moving as he spoke.
"CLARK!" Ruby shouted, "Clark's here, let's ask him, he's a pillar of morality," Ruby said frantically as she dragged him into the center of the room in a very transparent attempt to try and de-escalate the tension.
"Ask me what?" Clark asked in utter confusion, and deeply concerned at this point.
"Okay, Clark, what would you do if you found out one of your teammates has been purposely and continuously omitting a very large and important piece of their past, a past that effectively changes everything you thought you understood about them?" Weiss seethed through gritted teeth, and this gave Clark pause. He knew she wasn't talking about him, but it still struck close to home and after a moment he finally answered, they figured out something and he was certain he knew what it was.
"Is this because Blake is a Fanus? I mean...does it really matter?" Clark asked, a little shocked, and admittedly worried, at Weiss' reaction to what he considered an inconsequential fact. But at his words, all three girls looked at him in shock.
"YOU KNEW!" the trio shouted in unison.
"Well...yeah," he said lamely. It had taken him a bit to be sure, but eventually the fact her bow seemed to twitch to audible stimuli or strong emotion like the barn cats back home had clued him in a little bit, but he had become certain of this about two weeks ago when the rain hit her and her "BOW" had laid flat against her head before suitably flicking in irritation. A month ago he would have wondered why she kept it a secret, but after the incident with CRDL, he could honestly say he wasn't surprised. It also wasn't like he could judge her for doing so, given the secrets he was keeping.
"And you didn't say anything?" Weiss asked incredulously.
"That's not my place to say, if she wanted to keep it to herself that was her business. I don't make it a habit to reveal other's secrets. But why does it matter?" he asked, his tone seeming to have become very cool. He was legitimately confused and even a little concerned. He'd never have pegged Weiss; whatever else she was, as a bigot.
"It doesn't," Yang said, her voice as cold as Clark's, shooting a quick glare at Weiss.
"Don't you dare look at me like that. You know that's not all," she shot back sternly, standing her ground, completely unabashed. It was clear something else was going.
"Can I please get some context?" Clark pleaded desperately, he hadn't seen this type of fighting in the team in weeks and he didn't like it, it made him feel downright awful.
"Okay, so...here's the thing...you see, Blake, she, well, the thing is-" Ruby stammered and rambled hopelessly, desperately trying, hoping to find the right words. But Weiss didn't have any such hangups.
"She was a member of The White Fang," she said, her voice cutting like a frozen knife, and Clark felt his stomach drop, he could tell she wasn't lying but he found it hard to believe. It couldn't be true, it was absurd, there had to be some kind of mistake, some kind of misunderstanding.
"The White Fang? Blake? ...No... she wouldn't-" he started but Weiss cut him off.
"She did, she told us herself, those Faunus have killed people Clark, they've been attacking my family and The Schnee Dust Company as long as I can remember," she fired back angrily and Clark was a little taken aback at the venom in her voice, especially when she had said the word Faunus.
"Look. We can talk about this later, right now we need to go find Blake," Ruby said, her voice much more forceful and commanding than Clark had ever heard before.
"Yeah, we can yell at each other later, let's roll," Yang agreed adamantly and made her way to the door, Ruby followed, then Clark, and then finally and almost reluctantly by Weiss.
"Ruby, what exactly happened?" Clark whispered in a bewildered tone as he fell into step beside her, he felt he only had the barest of understanding of what had transpired.
"Well...it's a bit of a long story," she said before falling silent, seemingly deep in contemplation. Her face was a mixture of confusion, worry, and stress before she slowly began describing to Clark what had transpired that morning, how it had simmered all day, how it finally exploded and Blake let herself slip up and let the truth of her past come out.
"Oh geez," was all Clark could think to say and it was a woeful understatement. But he couldn't even begin to think of the right words to say, so he uttered something that almost sounded dismissive. This couldn't be farther from the truth. But he couldn't dwell on misspoken words, they needed to find their teammate.
It had two days and they hadn't seen hide nor hair of Blake and the team was starting to get worried, well, most of them. Weiss still seemed more angry than worried, but Clark could tell she was still concerned. Not about her physical safety, Blake was more than capable of looking after herself, it was more her emotional state that had them concerned.
For Clark, things were additionally frustrating on a level no one else could imagine. His particular abilities weren't all that helpful. He had thought with his sight, speed, and hearing that they would be able to find Blake without issue. As it turned out, it had done him little good. On-campus it was considerably easier to pick out individuals than in the bustling city. Any time he tried to listen for her heartbeat he'd be overloaded with auditory stimuli to the point he couldn't make out anything. Trying to pick out a face was similarly difficult, it was just too much to try and take in at once. His speed also didn't serve him as well as he had hoped, he was fast but trying to search a crowded city was not a skill he'd practiced, every time he'd moved at high speed had been in the forest, a field, or the open campus, he dreaded to think what would happen to someone if he bumped into them at top speed. So for the past two days, they had been using the "Old Fashion" method.
"This is pointless, she clearly doesn't want to be found, and I'm not sure I want to find her," Weiss said angrily.
"We need to at least let her explain," Ruby offered, clearly still hoping the team could still be mended.
"Explain what?! She was part of a terrorist organization," Weiss snapped.
"But she left, we should at least hear her out, for her sake and ours," Yang offered, Weiss was about to respond when they were interrupted by a rather unexpected appearance.
"Hello friend, what are you doing today?" an extremely upbeat voice behind them asked, causing them all to jump. Turning around they were met with the sight of an extremely chipper looking ginger-haired girl.
"Oh...Hi Penny," Ruby offered awkwardly.
"Yes! Hello, and who is this, I did not see him when I encountered you on Friday," she asked cheerily, swiftly moving in and getting uncomfortably close to Clark and looking him up and down in an oddly analytical and eager way.
"That's Clark, uh, another friend," Ruby told the redhead, seemingly a little put off by the other girl.
"Oh, so that must make him your boyfriend, yes? Well, hello Clark, boyfriend of Ruby!" she declared happily reaching out to shake his hand. Clark was taken aback by this, why on Remnant would she assume that?
"NO...HE'S NOT...THAT'S, NO YOU HAVE IT ALL WRONG!" Ruby cried out frantically, waving her hands spastically, her face turning as red as a cherry.
"Oh? I thought Clark was male, I am terribly sorry, I should not have assumed," she said apologetically. "Hello Clark, GIRLFRIEND, of Ruby!" she said happily correcting herself, apparently quite pleased with herself as well, reaching out again to shake his hand. Ruby seemed utterly dumbstruck by this statement and Clark interjected.
"Hello, Penny was it? Yes, I am a boy, I think you just misunderstood something, that's all," Clark offered a little amused.
"How so? If you are a boy and her friend does that not technically make you a boyfriend?" she asked, seemingly confused by the terminology. But Clark couldn't quite suppress a small chuckle.
"Hehe, not quite, boyfriend refers to a more, well, a more uhh, romantic relationship," Clark offered a little awkwardly and a look of realization spread across Penny's face, although oddly there was none of the embarrassment there like one might expect.
"Oh I see, I apologize for the mistake, allow me to start over. I am Penny, Penny Polendina, hello FRIEND of Ruby," she said in her irrepressibly chipper voice and offered him her hand once more.
"Not a problem, not a problem at all, I'm Clark, Clark Kent," he offered kindly and took her hand and realized immediately something was not normal about this girl. But he kept his face unchanged as he smiled.
"Wonderful, a second friend, excellent, very excellent indeed," she said happily. "So, what brings you to the city today?" she asked and Ruby seemed to have regained sense of herself with this change of subject.
"We're looking for Blake, we haven't seen her since Friday," Ruby told her, her concern for her friend overriding her previous embarrassment.
"A missing friend! How terrible, I shall endeavor to aid you in any way I can," Penny offered with a determination that seemed sincere, but still, it felt somehow off to Clark.
"No, don't trouble yourself we can handle it-" Ruby started but stopped short when she turned around and realized Weiss and Yang had left her and Clark alone with Penny. "Ourselves…" she finished, clearly a little confused.
"They left the moment Penny showed up, I thought it best that some of us kept moving," Clark whispered to Ruby. The younger girl was clearly frustrated but she also recognized the truth in the statement. "Well, I suppose another set of eyes couldn't hurt," she conceited and allowed Penny to join them.
"Wonderful!" she exclaimed in elation and fell into step behind the duo.
Clark couldn't put his finger on what was off about this girl. It wasn't just her mannerism or speech pattern, they weren't exactly "normal" for want of a better term, that was true. But the moment he shook her hand something felt off, and he couldn't quite figure out what it was though. The way she moved wasn't quite right and her grip felt... synthetic? Was that the right word? It was as if she was "nearly human" but not in the same way he was, it was different.
"So, why is it you are searching for your friend? Surely she isn't lost?" Penny asked curiously.
"No, nothing like that, well maybe not in the traditional sense," Ruby answered.
"What is it that you mean by "Not in the traditional sense?" Penny asked, clearly confused.
"I think she has some stuff to work out, you know emotionally and personally," Ruby offered back, clearly still a little uncomfortable.
"What kind of stuff?" she asked. Ruby tried to explain the whole situation as best she could before finally admitting she didn't know everything that was happening.
"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure about everything that's happening, that's why we need to find her. Her and Weiss had a, well, not a fight but I guess it was a falling out, and now things are...strained," Ruby offered, sounding a little defeated, no not defeated, it was more depressed than anything.
"But, are they not friends? Surely a fight would not hinder such things?" Penny asked. Her voice not sounding confused exactly, it was more like not understanding on a deeper level.
"That's why we need to talk to her, she left before saying anything," Ruby said, sounding utterly defeated.
"I don't have many friends, but if I did, I'd like them to talk to me about such things," Penny offered unabashedly, her voice full of utter assurance.
Ruby only responded sadly with a small "Yeah."
"Well, Do not fret Friends Ruby and Clark, we will find Miss Blake before the day is through. I am sure of it," Penny offered excitedly and genuinely and this seemed to make Ruby feel a bit better. This girl may not have been what they were used to but she seemed harmless and genuine.
So the trio wandered the city in search of Blake, stopping to ask people if they had seen her without any luck. Over the course of the day, Ruby steadily became more comfortable with Penny and her odd mannerisms. Clark, however, was starting to notice more and more about her that just confused him.
He had noticed that she moved oddly, it was too smooth, too even, too perfect. It was as if she moved as a human was expected to move, but without any of the "imperfections", her gait never changed or altered unless she adjusted her speed. Additionally, her heartbeat and breathing were like a metronome, and not like Yang's heart or breath which were naturally steady but did in fact vary from situation to situation. Penny's seem to be almost programmed in, these things never changed one iota, they seemed synthetic. It was very strange for Clark, even his own heart rate and breathing changed when he was excited or nervous. None of this ever seemed to affect anything for Penny. It was all very odd, but Clark was pulled from his observations by a distance 'BOOM'.
"Did you hear that?" he asked as he stopped in his tracks.
"Hear what?" Ruby asked, but Clark just held up his hand, signaling for her to be quiet. There was another 'BOOM' that Clark now heard clear as day now that he was listening properly again. This time the other two seemed to hear it as well.
"What do you believe it is?" Penny asked, her voice more curious than concerned.
"It doesn't matter, we should check it out," Ruby said seriously and took off in the direction of the sound.
"Delightful!" Penny declared and followed closely behind.
Clark followed as well but found himself deeply conflicted. He could get there in an instant but Ruby and Penny would surely notice him missing. But was that worth allowing people to get hurt? His ingrained habit of protecting his secret was now conflicting directly with his desire to help people to the best of his ability. This had never been an issue before as he had always operated alone, but now that he was working alongside others, he needed to be more aware of when and how he chose to act. The sounds of combat seemed to be escalating, but as far as he could tell no one had yet perished or been seriously injured so for the time being he'd keep himself in check. That was until they rounded the corner and Clark saw the scene unfolding at the docks.
"Let's put an end to this," a cruel voice said with malicious and terrible glee as a shot was fired at the cable holding the shipping container above Blake and Sun.
The round struck its intended target and the container plummeted. Blake made to move but loose gravel strewn about the docks caused her to lose her footing and trip, unable to get back to her feet in time she prepared for the worst and braced herself for the impact, an impact that didn't come. Opening her eyes she looked up and saw the container suspended well above her. She was confused for a minute before she realized it was actually being held aloft, but by a machine or cable support but by a man. A man she knew.
"Are you okay Blake?" Clark asked, seemingly unaffected by the weight he was holding, speaking as though he were asking her about the weather.
"Yeah…" Blake responded, more shocked by Clark's presence than what he was doing.
"Good," was all Clark said in response, giving her a warm smile, before looking at the attacker. He recognized him almost immediately, Roman Torchwick, one of the most wanted men in the country. But this thought was pretty quickly put on the backburner.
"Pretty strong huh? Let's see how fast you are," Torchwick cooed cruelly as he aimed his cane at Blake, he grinned maliciously as his finger started to tighten on the trigger. Only for an explosion at his feet to throw him off balance, causing the shot to go wide. Looking towards the source of the attack he seemed to recognize Ruby. "I think I have some unfinished business with you, little miss," he said with a grin and fired. Ruby screamed and Clark reacted. Without concern for his restraint, he hurled the shipping container at one of the Bullheads that had arrived with Roman for the heist. It struck the ship and tore it apart, shearing metal with terrible screeches and throwing sparks off like fireworks, utterly destroying the ship, the shipping container literally welding itself with the haul and wreckage of the vessel simply from the force of impact. Clark, without a moment of hesitation, began to march determinedly towards Torchwick, a cold look etched across his face.
"Oh, did that make you angry. Allow me the remedy that," Torchwick chuckled in a mocking tone as he leveled the barrel of his cane at Clark and fired, the round struck true, right between Clark's eyes, it didn't even phase him, or slow his approach. "What the…" Torchwick muttered in shock and very nearly fear before he unloaded on the young man. Not one single round seemed to have any effect on his approach. By the time he realized nothing was working Clark was already upon him, Roman let out a growl and tried to strike Clark across the face with his Cudgel only for Clark to catch it. It stopped dead in grasp as if he had tried to strike a mountain in an attempt to move it aside.
"Enough," Clark said coolly as he bent and twisted the weapon into a knot before ripping it from Roman's hands and tossing it away before placing his hand on the other man's chest and giving him a shove, still here Clark found himself able to restrain his strength enough to keep himself from killing the other man outright. He held back, but the man was still sent rocketing into a concrete wall causing him to let out a cry of pain, his back arching as he struck with a sickening crack. Yet despite his state, he was still able to shout out an order.
"STOP HIM! YOU STUPID ANIMALS!" he shouted before doubling over in pain, coughing and hacking up a large amount of blood.
The soldiers he had brought with him seemed to hesitate, caught between furious and afraid, but still, they obeyed all the same. A half dozen men attacked, all Faunus Clark realized, and he dealt with them handily. They were extremely skilled, exceptionally so, but all the skill in the world didn't matter when strength was so vastly different. Still, Clark managed to restrain himself and keep himself from hurting any of them too badly, however Roman's goal appeared to have been accomplished. He'd bought time for himself.
"Not bad kid, but I win," he shouted from the bay of another Bullhead as two others started to take flight around him. Only for two of the others to be cut in half by twin beams of searing light. Clark could see the look of shock on Roman's face as he looked at the decimated aircraft. "What the?!" he shouted in shock, awe, and abject terror.
"Most impressive Mister Clark Kent, but we can not allow this man to escape, so let us push forward. Shall we?" Penny asked merrily as she walked up next to Clark as she spread her arm as he noticed an arc of glowing blades that had spread and unfurled from her back, fanning out before shooting forward and skewering the Bullhead Torchwick was on and she began to pull it out of the sky.
"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME," Torchwick shouted as he pulled a rifle from the Bullhead and fired at Penny. It never found its mark as Clark had interposed himself between the two.
"You are rather quick as well...delightful," Penny said with a smile, her tone one of utter mirth and joy as she continued to pull the ship from the sky.
Torchwick seemed to recognize his situation and cast a look around, his eyes desperate and wanting. It was then he noticed Ruby had moved to the docks and was near one of the downed Bullheads. "Heh, well, that works for me," he growled to himself flippantly and fired on the down aircraft, which had been filled with the Dust of the intended heist but if he couldn't have it then it would still serve him. "Tata Red," he said to himself as he fired at his target. It was an unfamiliar weapon for him but his aim proved true, true enough at any rate to get the result he wanted.
The payload detonated and served his purpose well enough, it did distract Torchwick's opponents enough for his ship to break free." Thanks for the fun, let me know when the funeral service is, I'll send some roses," Torchwick called as Penny allowed her blades to relax and drop, her shock momentarily causing her to lose her concentration, as Torchwick capitalized on this to make his escape.
"RUBY!" Penny shouted as she ran into the smoke and debris, her voice full of an unfamiliar fear and humanity. She stopped short when she saw a figure stooped over her friend. As the haze cleared she recognized Clark, his body bent double with his arms wrapped protectively around Ruby.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice laced with worry.
"Yeah...my ears might be bleeding but I'm fine, thanks Clark," Ruby said as the pair stood up, only for Ruby to stare at Clark indecently. "Um...Clark, you're kind of…" Ruby stammered, pointing at him before covering her eyes.
Clark was confused for a moment before looking down and realizing most of his clothes had been reduced to tatters and ash. All that remained was a scrap of the collar around his neck, the cuff of his jacket around his wrist. His pants were torn to ribbons and the tatters barely managed to cover him. His face flushed as he tried in a vain effort to try and cover his mostly nude body.
"Here, take this," Ruby stammered as she handed her cloak to Clark, who took it and wrapped it around him. He was a good foot taller than her and at least twice as broad, so it didn't reach the ground but it served to cover most of him.
"Thanks, Ruby," he said gratefully.
"Aww, why you hidin' the goods?" Yang's voice rang out as she and Weiss arrived on the scene, "Did we miss all the fun?" she asked, looking around before her eyes fell on Blake. "Blake-'' she started but Weiss pushed past all of them and walked right up to Blake. Her body language was stiff and purposeful. Blake visibly stiffened as she locked eyes with the heiress.
"Look...I've been thinking, and I've decided I don't care about your past, all I care about is now. You're here with us, and you left them," she said matter of factly, managing to keep her voice even and composed. But Clark could hear her heart rate rise, she was still nervous, borderline terrified. "Whatever you did before you met us...well-" Weiss stopped and looked around, taking note of the unconscious White Fangs members. "You chose us over them," she finished softly, almost sounding abashed or embarrassed.
"Weiss-" Blake began, clearly taken a little aback.
"I'd just ask you'd look to your team for help instead of...well…" she trailed off as she gestured to Sun. "We're supposed to look out for each other," she offered gently, and Blake's eyes suddenly seemed over bright.
"Right...of course," she said quickly as she brushed a tear from her eye.
"Good, well, we should be heading back," Weiss said abruptly, losing her soft tone, but her attempt at seeming composed, aloof, and cold did not fool anyone. Ruby was utterly jubilant.
"YES! Team RWBY, back together and stronger than ever!" she cried jumping up and down before running to pull Blake and Weiss into tight a hug.
"Ruby, please, it's not that-" Weiss started but Ruby interrupted her.
"HUSH! I'm exercising my right as team leader to hug!" she said fiercely and Blake chuckled, and even Weiss smirked, even if it had been a small one.
"That's not really a right," Blake offered, though her voice sounded amused.
"IS SO! It was written down at the friendship convention and was codified in the BFF accords," Ruby shouted this utter nonsense and the others couldn't suppress their laughter.
"Hehe, I'm glad things worked out," Yang said with a small chuckle. "So, what happened to you. I know I said you should show some more skin to the other girls, but this is going a bit far don't you think?" Yang teased as she turned to speak to Clark.
"Haha, that Torchwick guy tried to detonate a payload of dust to kill Ruby, I was able to cover her up, but my clothes kind of paid the price," Clark said simply, gesturing to his tattered rags before quickly letting his arms drop so the cloak could cover him.
"Torchwick? But those guys are Whitefang," Yang said in a confused tone, gesturing to the unconscious men strewn about the dock. "That's...weird…" she finished, trailing off.
Clark agreed, the fact that a well known Faunus extremist group was working with a human was strange enough. But it was even odder that they seemed to be taking orders from the man. A man who seemed to have no concern or respect for them. Clark was even certain he heard him refer to them as animals. But all this was above him, he was a student, and right now he was just happy to have Blake back, the grand schemes of criminals should not be for him to worry about, although he knew he would.
"Well, that's an issue for another day I guess, let's go break up the lovefest, it's getting late and we should get back to campus, we do have classes tomorrow," Yang said cheekily pointing to the trio where Ruby has still refused to relinquish her teammates as she held Blake and Weiss in an iron-like grip.
"Let them be, it's been a rough few days, especially for them," Clark offered.
"And it hasn't been for us?" Yang asked, sounding indignant.
"You know that's not what I meant. Ruby's team lead and Blake and Weiss were the ones that had the falling out, we were a little more removed than them," Clark offered.
"Still…" Yang said and Clark wasn't quite what the tone in her voice was.
"Did you want a hug, Yang?" Clark teased, which earned him a punch in the arm.
"Shut up," she said with a chuckle.
Clark laughed, as he readjusted the cloak Ruby had loaned him. It wasn't great as Clark was so much bigger than Ruby, but he was at least able to pull it enough around himself to cover himself somewhat adequately.
"Stop fidgeting, you'll be fine until we get back," Yang said a little exasperated.
"You might be comfortable showing some skin but I'm not," Clark said back, his voice a little more clipped than he had intended, and much to his surprise Yang didn't fire back as she normally would. Instead, she offered a response Clark didn't expect.
"I get it, I used to be the same way. I wasn't always the confident dynamo you see before you now, but you gotta embrace yourself, you gotta be you," She said sagely and Clark looked at her, a little surprised by this level of depth from her.
"Well, Thanks Yang," Clark offered genuinely, but when he saw her grin he felt his gratitude falter a bit.
"Hey, if you're not comfortable with your body how can I be?" she whispered as she gently ran her hand over his chest causing Clark to seize up and his face to flush violently and Yang laughed." Ha! I KNEW I could still make you blush," she cried as she slapped his chest.
"Sometimes I don't know what to make of you Yang," Clark mumbled and Yang could only let out a laugh.
"What can I say I'm the best at what I do," she said with a shrug before turning to face the others completely. "By the way, you look good in a red cape, maybe consider picking up one of your own instead of wearing my sister's clothes, unless wearing girl's clothes is a "thing" for you," she said evenly causing Clark to look at her with a mixture of confusion and embarrassment at the suggestion and Yang dealt the final blow. "Hey, I don't judge or kink shame, might even be kinda hot, just not in my sister's clothes alright?" she said without a hint of sarcasm as she turned back toward him and reaching up to his face and giving his cheek a gentle pat before she turned to walk away, and Clark could practically hear the grin cracking across her face.
"I don't think I'll ever get a bead on her," Clark mumbled to himself as he slowly followed after her.