Some French Girl
Summary: Lana returns to Smallville after some years away and discovers just how much things can change
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"Lana?"
"Hey Chloe."
The blond woman blinks in surprise at seeing her dark haired (former?) friend. They hadn't really seen each other much since Lana's wedding to Lex Luthor, what was it, 4 years ago now?
And yet now here she was in Chloe's little office of her Metahuman Support Group. Chloe had dedicated herself to helping people, like herself, mutated by the meteor rocks.
"I didn't know you were in town," Chloe remarks as she gestures for Lana to take the chair across her desk.
Lana sits herself down. "Yeah, well, actually I'm looking to move back and start over after...well you know," she says, her voice sad.
Chloe nods. Yep. She knows. "Well it'll be nice to see you around again," she says politely.
Does she mean it?
For the most part, yes. Lana may have chosen Lex over her friends, as unbelievably stupid as that sounds in hindsight but part of her work with her Support Group is learning to forgive any grievances she might have had from those who couldn't control their new powers and may have threatened her once upon a time and Lana was never that bad. Just a bad friend so Chloe is willing to put the past in the past and start over.
Awkward silence follows because neither woman quite knows what to say to start and bridge the gap that has formed.
"You know Clark's in town, visiting his mother," Chloe mentions for no other reason than she hates awkward silences.
"I know. I popped by there earlier. He was..."
Chloe arches an eyebrow at Lana's deeply unhappy expression. "He was," she prompts, her innate curiosity getting the better of her.
Lana folds her arms in front of her looking grumpier by the second. "He was swapping spit with some French girl," she says in distaste. "I didn't stick around," she says grumpily.
Chloe could mention how she doesn't see how Lana gets to be judgemental on the subject. After all who married Lex? But you know what she won't. It'll just start an argument. "Her name is Monique and not meaning to heap misery on the recently divorced it's kinda what couples do," is what she chooses to say.
"Do you know her?"
"She works with my boyfriend...so not at all."
Lana frowns in confusion.
"She's a very private person."
Lana snorts. "Just like Clark then."
'Oh, seriously, get over that already,' Chloe thinks to herself sourly. Surely they were long past the point Lana was still obsessing over Clark keeping secrets since, you know, they're not a couple. He and Lana are not much of anything any longer so where does the woman get off being still sore about it.
"How did they meet?"
Sigh. Maybe if she answers Lana will get off this horse already. "I guess you didn't keep track of Clark after the wedding," she jabs deliberately in the dark-haired woman's direction. After the wedding Lana didn't make any effort at all, at least as far a Chloe is concerned, to keep in touch with any of her friends.
"He made his choice," she gripes.
"As did you," Chloe has to snap back a little, in irritation at Lana still not wanting to, seemingly, take responsibility for her own choices.
Lana glares which Chloe meets back with a steady stare, waiting for Lana to back down which eventually she does, her gaze shifting downward.
Chloe takes a breath. "After the wedding, with Mrs Kent soon going away to Washington Clark decided to reassess his life and decided he wanted to go back and finish college," she says. There is more to it than that she isn't saying about how with the last Phantom defeated and a sort of 'Entente Coridale' between Clark and Jor-El he really did, for the first time in years, have no-one and nothing trying to force him along one particular path.
"He went back to Met U?"
Chloe shakes her head. "Couldn't get back in there. Ended up having to go to New York."
"Oh," Lana says before something occurs to her. "Wait, does that mean he was there when..."
"When?"
"You know, couple of years ago, when that...thing appeared. That giant monster. What did they call it again?"
"Godzilla."
"Yes. That."
"Yes, he was but he was evacuated along with everyone else," the blond explains.
Lana contemplates that for a few minutes before returning to what she wants to know. "So he met this Monique at college?" she asks, unable to hide her dislike when saying the woman's name.
"Sorta," Chloe replies while fighting the urge to roll her eyes at Lana's attitude. "It was through college. One of Clark's teachers. His name is...Nick!" her voice almost turns into a squeal as the door to her office opens.
Lana turns round to be greeted by a not all that remarkable looking man, in her opinion, with straight brown hair. Her eyebrows rise slightly as Chloe zips up from her chair, strides over to the man and plants one on his lips. This must be the boyfriend Chloe mentioned Lana deduces.
"Hi Chloe," the man says. "Am I interrupting?" he asks, casting his gaze at Lana.
Chloe shakes her head. "No, no, no, no, no, no. This is my old friend from school Lana. I mentioned her right?" she seeks to confirm even if she is sure she must have.
"Yeah, you did," he confirms as he turns to the other person in the room and says, "It's very nice to meet you."
"Lana, this is Dr Nick Tatopoulos," Chloe introduces him, pride clear in her voice.
"Technically it's Niko but I prefer Nick," he just has to throw in there.
Lana sorta nods her head in a wordless acknowledgement while trying to figure out why he looks familiar. "So what are you a doctor of?" she asks in the meantime.
"I'm a biologist."
"Nick specialises in genetic mutations," Chloe adds on. "Which kinda makes me his favourite walking, talking lab specimen," she snarks in her classic manner.
Nick lets out a long suffering sigh as if this is a long running thing. "Chloe how many times do I have to say it. You're not a lab specimen. You are so much more," he says his voice deepening and his eyes softening with clear affection, his hand gently caressing her cheek.
In response Chloe's whole demeanour softens.
Lana sure feels like a third wheel here. She clears her throat. "I didn't realise, Chloe, that you were..." she trails off, unsure what term to use.
"Well that's what you get for not staying in touch," the blond replies, letting her hurt at that bleed through a little in her voice. She turns back to her boyfriend. "So are you in town just to see me or is this a HEAT thing?"
"Heat thing?" Lana queries.
"Humanitarian Environmental Analysis Team," Nick elaborates.
"Oh right," Lana says, her eyes widening in now recognition. "That's where I know you from. You're the ones who deal with all these mutated creatures."
"That's right," Nick confirms.
"That's how we met," Chloe adds. "HEAT came here to study all the people changed by the meteors, see what could be done to help them."
"Work in progress," Nick calls it, some regret and irritation in his voice at not being further along in the research.
Chloe pats him on the shoulder with a warm, supportive smile. "So you never answered my question about what brings you round? Anything up? New Mutations?"
"Nope. Been kinda quiet lately actually so the team voted that it was time for a vacation."
"They outvoted you didn't they," Chloe assumes, mirth in her eyes.
Nick folds his arms in a huff. "Yes," he says in annoyance.
"Oh, honey you work too hard and when even I think you're being a workaholic it's time to take a break. Besides are you really going to complain about spending time with your gorgeous girlfriend?" she asks him, actually going as far as to theatrically flutter her eyebrows.
"You know I'm not."
"Good boy. We'll get you trained yet," she jokes, patting him on the head like a dog.
Nick rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
"So the rest of the team are here too I'm assuming. I mean I knew Monique was."
Nick nods. "They were on their way to Clark's."
"Ooh, I hope they phone ahead," Chloe remarks. "Otherwise they might walk in on him and Monique being biz-zay," she says with the necessary suggestiveness and waggling her eyebrows for good measure. After all it's quite clear from what Lana said she walked in on the couple at least making out.
"Please Chloe, I don't need that sort of imagery in my head," Nick begs her.
Chloe chortles lightly before turning back to the other person in the room. "Want to come along Lana?" she asks. "You know I'm sure Clark would be happy to see you," she believes because Clark rarely holds grudges and also she knows that he's moved on and is in a much happier place now.
"Sure I guess," Lana agrees, not sounding too enthused. On the way out the office she ends up asking, "So Dr Tatopoulos, you know Clark?"
"Of course. He's my best student."
"Don't tell Randy that," Chloe snorts in amusement, referencing Nick's intern and HEAT's resident hacker.
"I tell him that frequently," Nick dead-pans making Chloe laugh.
As they reach Nick's car, Chloe finds her sleeve getting tugged by Lana. "I thought you said Clark went back to college?" she queries, confused.
"I did," Chloe says, confused herself until she figures it out. "Oh right. I didn't say he went back to journalism though."
Lana is more confused than ever.
Kent Farm…
Clark knows his face has a dopey smile. One that always gets a good eye roll from his girlfriend, Monique Dupre but he can't help it. Especially when his eyes takes in the visage of his beautiful, dark haired, French-Vietnamese girlfriend, dressed in such a way that you can't hide how sexy, toned and athletic her body is. She does it on purpose. He's sure of it and therefore the eye-roll is just a cover. Right now she's making herself a coffee which has a real sense of irony about it. Though she does so with an air of deep satisfaction around her.
"Company," Clark mentions mere moments before a red-haired woman strides in to the kitchen.
"Hey you two love-birds!" she greets them cheerfully and knowingly.
"Hello Elsie," Clark greets Dr Elsie Chapman, one of the world's foremost palaeontologists and animal behaviour experts.
"I protest to the use of that term," Monique says in her thickest French accent.
"You always do yet it does not stop me," Elsie says with a shit-eating grin. This relationship is the one thing she can really use to get under Monique's otherwise nearly impenetrable skin.
"You are aware of just how many ways I know with how to silence you, oui?"
"Vaguely," the redhead replies, waving her hand dismissively.
Monique's dark eyes narrow as she sips on her coffee. "What brings you here?"
"Oh since things were quiet we, as a team, decided a vacation might be nice."
"And you chose Smallville?" Clark questions that.
Elsie shrugs. "Well you two were already here and Nickie's squeeze was as well and lets face it, he needs to get laid. I am so tried of cranky Nickie," she complains.
"Preaching to the converted compadre," comes the dread-locked figure of Nick's intern Randy Hernandez. "Dr T has been majorly stressed to the point I think his aura has been flattening my locks."
"One of these days I swear you'll say something that actually makes sense," Elsie snarks.
"I doubt it," Monique states sceptically.
"Anyway," Elsie says forcefully. "If this gets congenial Nickie back I'm all for it. Then again I've been all for it ever since he dumped the trampy reporter."
That would be Audrey Timmonds who revealed something on the news Nick had told her in what he thought was confidence and well that was that. The trust was gone. Later he would go into meet Chloe when he started looking into Smallville's meteor altered people and they would hit it off.
"You know Elsie Chloe was, once upon a time, a reporter you know," Clark mentions.
"I was slating the person, not the profession."
"If you need someone to slate the profession I have some free time," Monique offers making Elsie snort in amusement.
Clark rolls his eyes before turning to his red-headed work colleague again. "Where's Dr Craven?" he wonders.
Elsie huffs. "Where he always is. Tinkering with that talking pile of junk," she says, annoyed that it gets more attention than her.
"Ah," Clark says.
"Mrs K not around?" Randy asks.
"Visiting friends," Clark replies before turning his head to the side as he hears a car approaching. "Here's Dr Tatopoulos and Chloe and..." he chokes suddenly.
"What is it?" Monique asks, a clear hint of concern in her voice, something she rarely shows except when it involves Clark.
"Lana's with them," he says quietly.
"Lana...wait your ex Lana?" Randy queries as that name strikes a bell.
Clark nods.
"Awkward," Elsie singsongs.
"Not helping," Clark bites...and yes if it wasn't obvious by now they know about his abilities and what he is. In all honesty there was no way he could work with them and keep it hidden.
Elsie shrugs.
"I didn't know she was in town," he says, showing he completely missed her earlier appearance but then again he was very, very, very distracted. Clark finds Monique by his side, sliding her hand into his. It's a small gesture which for her speaks volumes as she is not an expressive person by nature. Unfortunately Elsie is right. This is going to be awkward.
The car pulls up and the 3 occupants exit. For Lana this is a fairly quick return from when she was here previously. She had wanted to surprise Clark, only for her herself to be surprised when she heard voices coming from the barn. Clark and a female one with a French accent. By the time she got inside the voices had dropped in volume and by the time she was walking up the stairs to the loft the voices had stopped for a good reason. That being the two were on the couch, their lips fused together and hands beginning to yank at clothing...at which point Lana turned and bolted and headed off to find Chloe.
"Hey Mendel," Chloe greets a bearded man working on a dumb looking robot.
Dr Mendel Craven looks up. "Hi Chloe."
"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun," the robot quotes.
Chloe tries and doesn't quite succeed stifling a laugh. "Randy been teaching NIGEL Shakespeare I see."
"That little no good punk is going to get his one of these days. I swear," Mendel says, beyond sick of that punk messing with NIGEL's linguistics.
"Yep, well, just remember to take pictures for us all to share in it," Chloe requests.
"I'll upload the whole thing onto the internet for the whole world to share!" Mendel vows.
The rest of the gang exit the house which allows Clark to actually lay eyes on Lana for the first time face to face since his last attempt to make her see what sort of person Lex was. That didn't end well. Lana had a blind spot when it came to Lex. He refused to even attend the freaking wedding after that before he went on to re-evaluating his life and well that led to the interesting place his life is at now. "Hello Lana," he greets her politely. No need to reopen old wounds if it can be avoided. "You're looking well," he gives a bland compliment. "How have you been?"
Lana's eyes flicker over to the dark-haired French woman before focussing in on Clark. "Hello Clark. Alright I guess, considering."
"Yeah. I heard about you and Lex separating. I'm sorry."
"I think the whole world knows about me and Lex separating," she says bitterly that her life ended up as news fodder but what can you do? People love all that celebrity gossip. "So I hear you're studying biology now?" she raises from what Chloe told her in the car trip over.
"Biology, medicine, genetics. Considering what happened to people here I decided I wanted to try and help them," he explains what motivated that very sudden change in his life-choices.
It had been bugging him for years the fact he wasn't able to do more than simply stop those changed and lock them up. It wasn't their fault and then there is Chloe. When he found out his best friend was infected with kryptonite that was the final straw in regards to the guilt he had been storing up for years over what had happened to Smallville's population and it finally motivated him to try and think of something he could do. Course it wasn't an instant decision. He had to stop the Zoners he had accidentally released first. All the angst over Lana marrying Lex was a distraction and then there was Lex's super-soldier program, experimenting on the poor people, another not insignificant reason he felt a need to try and help all those infected with kryptonite. Not that Lana ever acknowledged that little part of her husband-to-be's business practices. Clark tried telling her. She didn't want to listen.
"That's noble," Lana remarks blandly, unsure what else she can say.
"Thank you. Course what I didn't expect is ending up the surrogate father to a giant mutated iguana."
Lana blinks. "What?"
Two Years ago...
One might think that the appearance of a giant rampaging lizard in New York is exactly the sort of thing Clark would get involved in. You know, using his vast power to aid people but the sad truth is Clark was frozen in indecision. Once the military got involved he didn't see how he could do anything and not be seen.
Clark wrestled and wrestled with whether he should do anything for so long that by the time he came to a decision it was over. The military had killed the creature, labelled Godzilla, on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Course he had been surprised to see his college professor Dr Niko Tatopoulos involved but that's an aside.
At that point all that was left that Clark could do was zip around Manhattan and make sure there weren't any stragglers left trapped or hurt. He was just zipping around when he paused momentarily to take in the destroyed Madison Square Garden and that was when the ground underneath him gave way and he tumbled all the way down into the sewers, landing in some awful smelling yellow gunk which he would later conclude was actually amniotic fluid from one of Godzilla's destroyed eggs.
As he got back to his feet he heard a noise behind him, spun round and found himself looking at a leathery egg big enough he could have fitted inside. The egg hatched right in front of him and now he found himself face to face with a mini-Godzilla, as big as he was. Not surprisingly he was kind of struck dumbfounded. I mean what does one do? Even a super-powered alien. The creature eyed him up, before sniffing him and then to Clark's complete shock it began to lick his face.
They were then interrupted by the appearance of before mentioned Professor of Clark's tumbling down a tunnel and landing next to them.
"Dr Tatopoulos?" Clark queries as he aids the man up while the creature looks at them curiously.
"Kent?" the older man queries in surprise at seeing his student. "What are you doing..."
Skreeongk!
The question is cut off by the high-pitched roar of the infant offspring of Godzilla.
Nick stumbles back in shock, knocking into some broken power cables which luckily don't electrocute him but do cause a spark, frightening the infant which runs and then burrows away. The two men run down the tunnel it made after it only to find it leads into the river and that the creature is gone.
Nick gives his student a hard glare. "Care to explain yourself, Mr Kent," he says in his best intimidating Professor routine.
Clark actually manages to come up with some bullshit reason about wanting to gather some biological samples to study. After all from a purely scientific point of view Godzilla was a remarkable biological specimen. He doesn't think for an instant that his teacher actually buys a word of it yet Clark finds himself involved in Nick's idea of putting a team together and trying to capture and study the infant.
Only by the time they manage to lure the infant to them a few days later it had already grown to be as tall as a two-storey building. Quite incredible actually. Just imagine the rate at which its cells must metabolise and where did it find the energy to grow at such a rate. Clark didn't think eating fish alone could provide enough nourishment. He had rattled all this off in a babble almost...much to the pride of his teacher.
Of course they also discovered something else that day.
The present…
"What happened was that because I was the first person the infant saw when it hatched, combined with that I was covered in the amniotic fluid of its brethren and covered in the scent it imprinted on me as if I was its parent," Clark is finishing explaining to Lana.
"What?" Lana asks, clearly unable to take this in.
"Did Chloe forget to mention any of this?" he asks.
"Oh I didn't forget," Chloe says with a devious smile.
Clark rolls his eyes. Honestly why is he still friends with her again.
"Give it a minute. It'll sink in," the blond advises.
Suddenly the ground vibrates with a tremor. Followed by another and then another.
"Minute's up," Elsie singsongs.
"He really does follow you everywhere doesn't he," Chloe remarks.
Clark shrugs helplessly.
"Who?" Lana asks as the tremors get louder and louder and then…
SKREEONGK!
Striding into view, towering over all of them, comes the giant lizard. At least as tall as a 15 storey building and longer than a football field head to tail.
Lana stutters in terror, "God….God..." before her eyes roll into the back of her head and she faints.
Clark catches her long before she hits the ground and sighs before looking at his surrogate child. "You cause nothing but trouble, you know that right," he chastises the behemoth.
Godzilla cocks his head and makes a sound almost as if querying what was said.
Clark shakes his head. Some days it's not easy being a parent.
"Oh really, Lana, you are completely overreacting," Clark finds himself arguing with his ex once she has recovered. They were in the lounge of the house as he had put her on the couch to rest up from the shock.
"Overreacting?" she says, unable to believe the words being spoken.
"Yes. Overreacting. Seriously why is it everyone jumps right to 'lets kill Godzilla'?" he says, almost mockingly at what her reaction had been.
"It's a monster!"
"No, he's not. He's a highly intelligent animal who, by the way, has almost died several times over trying to protect the world from the less...genial mutations. He can demonstrate loyalty and playfulness."
"He's not Shelby, Clark," Lana derides him, mentioning the Kent's pet dog.
"Of course he's not Shelby and that is not a fair comparison...though if I wanted to simplify it I could use that comparison but Godzilla is more complex than that."
Lana can't believe she is hearing this.
"Seriously how did you not know I was part of this?" he just has to ask. "It's not like HEAT is low profile."
"I stopped watching the news the day I became celebrity gossip fodder."
Clark still isn't sure that explains it. Whatever.
"I'm guessing that is how you met your little girlfriend," Lana sneers.
"Lana I am seriously not revisiting this...us," he tries to warn her off because he can practically smell her jealousy.
"Why not? She's just some French girl and we're..."
"Nothing," Clark snaps. "We're nothing. A choice you made," he reminds her, his hurt bleeding through. "I offered to be there if you called off the wedding. You decided to go ahead."
"I was suppose to what? Listen to your incoherent ramblings about Lex conducting secret experiments on people?"
"I'm not revisiting that either since you clearly still won't believe me."
"Fine then let us talk about us."
Clark pinches the bridge of his nose. "Is that why you're back in town? To see if I was what? Still moping around, waiting for Lana Lang to return? You must really think very little of me if you believe I'm that pathetic. I do not sit around Smallville waiting to be your back-up boyfriend or whatever Lana. I do have a life and right now that life involves Monique."
"I don't see what is so special about her."
"That's some judgement you're making there when so far you haven't exchanged two words with her. You know nothing about her, Lana nor am I going to indulge you in some childish exercise in listing her qualities for two reasons. One; it's none of your business and two she can speak for herself. What I will say is that over the last couple of years Monique has demonstrated time and time again that she is a brave and fearless person who under a frosty exterior has a good heart. Regretfully something I can no longer say about you. "
Lana opens her mouth to protest but Clark cuts her off.
"Don't interrupt," he tells her off. "I don't know what happened to you Lana that turned you into someone this petty, bitter and selfish. I don't know what happened to the girl I did care for an awful lot. I do genuinely hope that one day you find your way back to being the person you use to be but let me be clear; You and me are done. I'm in a relationship with someone who makes me happy. I have a life that while may not be conventional is very important in helping keep the world safe and right now that life has no room for Lana Lang...or at least this version of her. Here's my final piece of advice Lana so listen well. Do what I did after the wedding. Go and re-evaluate your life and if you can rediscover the good person within then maybe we can be friends again. Think about it," he says before walking off.
Outside the rest of the gang are hanging around awkwardly, sensing that the former couple needed some space to hash things out.
"Shouldn't you be in there," Elsie suggests to Monique.
"Clark does not need me to fight his battles for him," she coolly replies.
"How do you know that they're arguing?" Randy wonders which earns him a glare that can cut steel. "Right. Scary spy lady. Forget I asked."
"Besides," Chloe chips in, "Because she is a spy when Monique decides to make Lana's life a living hell she'll never see it coming."
"How did I get sucked into this again?" Nick wonders at the insanity that his life has become.
Aw sweetie," Chloe saddles up to her beau. "If you hadn't you'd still be the 'Worm Guy'," she jokes.
Randy snorts, his hand over his mouth trying to supress the laugh.
Nick frowns. He hates, hates, hates that moniker. "It was a research project investigating the effect of the radiation from Chernobyl on the wildlife surrounding the plant," he says, overly defensively.
Chloe pinches his cheek. "Of course my honey bear," she humours him.
"Since when do we do nicknames?" he asks her. "You hate them."
"I'm in a mood. Woman's prerogative."
"You said it sister," Elsie agrees. "By the way what is the story with the former Mrs Luthor and Clark?"
"They were like Ross and Rachel only with all 10 seasons crammed into about a month and without the happy ending."
"Yikes!" the redhead winces.
"Actually Monique quick question?" Chloe raises.
"If you must," she permits.
"What was it that first attracted you to Clark?"
"He brought me coffee," she answers simply. What she means is that there is what Americans laughably call coffee and then there is the real thing and after complaining for weeks about the sludge that was being served around HEAT headquarters one day Clark came up to her and suggested she try a cup he had in his hand. Heaven. Real French coffee. If she wasn't a highly trained professional and master of keeping her emotions in check she might have otherwise taken him right there and then.
Speaking of Clark sees him storm out the house and stomp away. That's Monique's cue as she follows him, her emotions for once written clear on her face. Concern being the primary one. She finally catches up to him once he has stopped atop of a small hill.
"So do I need to kill Ms Lang in her sleep?" she queries.
"That's probably too much a kindness," he rumbles.
"Ah, so I need to engage in 'enhanced interrogation' techniques first. Bien."
Clark's chest rumbles in amusement. Monique's sense of humour was an acquired taste. He puts an arm over her shoulders and she wraps one around his waist.
"Do you wish to talk?" she asks him.
"I don't know what happened to her. I can barely see anything of the girl I use to know."
"People change but not always for the better."
"She is under some strange delusion that I've been sitting around waiting for her to come back." He can feel her tense slightly. "Relax. I told her I'm perfectly happy with you."
"You are?"
"Yes. I am."
"I know I am not always an...easy person to get to know," Monique is aware of her prickliness.
"Perhaps but it is worth it," Clark assures her. He bends his head down and kisses the top of her head. Yeah, from the outside she doesn't seem his type really. A tough, emotionally distant French spy but she is a good person. He saw it the day she stood up to her superior, Phillipe, in defence of Godzilla when the man wanted to destroy him after Cameron Winter had framed the giant lizard for acts of destruction with his own twisted creation.
Her punishment for that was permanent assignment to HEAT which, you know, gave Clark the time to win her over.
Clark sighs. "She called you 'some French girl' and the worst part is that she's right. You are some French girl," he changes the emphasis and then just to be clear, "Some-thing special."
"And here I thought you had not noticed," she says with the superior air that sometimes enters her voice.
"Believe me Monique I notice everything about you."
"This is good. Otherwise I might think I had chosen poorly."
Clark can't hold it in and chuckles and actually gets a small laugh in return. She has such a nice laugh. It's a shame she doesn't show it more often.
"What are we going to do when I'm outed. I'm amazed no-one has caught footage of me doing anything super," he has to raise.
He has a point, Monique must concede. Many times Clark has gotten involved in their battles with all the giant mutations that have crawled out of the radioactive woodwork these last couple of years yet somehow no-one has seen him. "Perhaps we must 'out' you on our terms," she suggests.
"Meaning what?"
"I am not certain precisely. I require time to consider the possibilities."
"Ok but whatever you come up with thank you for everything. Especially just accepting what I am."
"Clark you are a good person. That is what is important. Not your species," she assures him. Honestly, it barely occurs to her at this point to really even notice his alien origin.
"Not sure everyone would agree. Especially your government. I know that, for me, you are walking a thin line between your feelings and your duty to your country considering what I am. For that I can not appreciate you enough."
She is walking a thin line. This she cannot deny but the fact Clark recognises it is part of the man's character that had her fall for him. God knows how he did it. She is very protective of her heart but somehow his innate goodness had him worm his way in. That and the coffee. Her lips quirk up a little. "I think you may be giving me too much credit."
"In what way?"
"How does that saying go? One keeps their friends close and potential threats to global security closer."
They turn to look each other in the eye and Clark can see the spark of humour. Perhaps something she shows to no-one but him. They move closer to each other. "Just how much closer are we talking about here?" he asks, his voice lowering in pitch and increasing in intensity, his hands sliding down her back and coming to rest on her rear as he gently tugs her closer.
It is a voice that secretly gives Monique chills. The good kind. She wraps her arms around his strong neck and tilts her head upward, moving her lips towards his. She slips into her native French. "Much, much closer. As if our bodies were to become one."
Clark replies in French, something he learned for her. "I cannot imagine a single person other than you I would rather become one with."
And then just as their lips are about to touch...they are showered in a storm of dust. Monique swears...colourfully.
Clark snaps his head round, decidedly unamused at the culprit. His surrogate child which if it were possible he swears would be laughing right now. "Excuse me Monique. A certain someone needs some obedience training," he apologises to her, giving her a brief kiss before he blurs off at the 200 foot lizard and the two end up playfully wrestling. After all who but Clark could wrestle Godzilla.
Monique shakes her head, wondering how on Earth she let anyone that goofy get into her heart but then again Clark is not just any man. He's...he's...a Superman.
She makes a face. She has been hanging around these people too long if she is coming with up stuff that lame. Yet her heart beats faster at the mere sight of her lover.
Merd.
She is doomed.
Author's note: So this came from two thoughts. One; the image of Clark wrestling Godzilla and two; me rediscovering my fond nostalgic remembrance of Godzilla The Series which did a very good job of salvaging what they could from the wreckage of the movie. They gave Godzilla a personality, made him a protector and turned some of the criticisms of the design into strengths for the way he fights; his quickness, his agility, his ability to burrow rapidly and giving him proper atomic breath. While the series has its flaws I remember enjoying it and you know maybe it is the nostalgia talking but I think 98 Godzilla deserves a redemption. Right so onto my AU Smallville. It's basically the show through season 6 only with a few changes. Lana never discovers Clark's secret, marries Lex and goes off with him. There is no Kara after Clark stops Bizarro and he reaches some sort of ceasefire with Jor-El which would allow him to basically reset his life and start over afresh. Thanks to everyone who has previously written reviews.
