Chapter 3: The Empty Grave
Takes place during Season 4 Episode 1 and 2. In the series, after Clark found Lex's secret room, he was very angry at Lex. In my alternate, they have come to an understanding. How does that affect the events that unfold at the beginning to season 4?
Chloe's grave is empty and this has Luthercorp written all over it.
Of all of the things that had happened to Clark in the past few days, this one shook him the hardest. He father had been in a coma for 3 months. He had been possessed by an alien computer. He had flown. Lana was in France, Pete was gone, and Chloe-
Chloe's body was missing.
Clark was careful not to clench the steering wheel on his car too tightly as he made his way down the road toward the Luthor mansion. He had already replaced the steering wheel on this truck twice, and he didn't need to do it again. Clark had decided to take the slow route, instead of zipping to Lex's home on foot, in order to give himself an opportunity to think. Something that moving at super-speed didn't allow any time for.
He could have rushed in and slapped the accusation down in front of Lex, to see what the millionare's son would say. There was a time when he would have done exactly that. But things were different now. Since that conversation by the bridge, Clark and Lex's friendship was moving in a different direction.
Which was part of the reason this latest revelation had blindsided him. Another secret. Another lie. Cornfields flicked by as Clark's foot grew heavier on the gas. No more lies, they had promised. No more keeping things from each other. Yet here they were.
"It's been three months," Clark reminded himself. He hadn't actually seen Lex yet, not since Kara had betrayed him. Lex hadn't had a chance to tell him anything. It wasn't fair to expect the truth when Clark hadn't been available for a conversation. "You don't know what is going on. Give him a chance to explain."
Clark let out a long breath. It was strange, thinking this way. His instincts still wanted to send him blurring straight into the mansion. But slowing down and doing things the human way gave him more time to consider.
The mansion came into sight and Clark pulled his car through the gates, the security system allowing him through like always. He held the keys in his hand and stared up at the stone castle, Chloe's voice fixed in his mind, telling him, explore all possibilities, Clark. Nothing is too weird or off the wall.
Was it too weird to think that Lex was trying to do the right thing? That there was a reasonable explanation for an empty grave?
Time to find out.
o0o
Lex sat at his desk, staring at the computer animation of the forensic report regarding the incident on his aircraft. He held a glass of liquor in one hand, sipping occasionally. He never drank enough to become drunk, only enough to lower a few inhibitions. The ones that would prevent him from going down the more interesting lines of thought. Sometimes, those reflections were the ones that proved the most useful.
He had thought that he was past this. It had been three years now since the accident at the bridge. Three years since his life had been changed by the town called Smallville, the family named Kent, and the strange, secretive young man named Clark. It had been three months since his conversation with Clark at the bridge where it all started. Lex had found answers there, had finally been able to move forward in his quest. To let his questions about Clark Kent go, to focus on other matters. Like the artifact in Egypt and the strange glyphs it held. Now, the artifact was gone and Lex was back to staring at models of accidents that should not be possible, looking for answers that refused to be found. Just as he had when his car flew off that bridge.
Somehow, everything still came back to Clark.
"Lex." The familiar voice called Lex out of his ruminations, and he looked up to see the farmboy in question standing in his doorway, angry accusations written all over his tense features.
What had he done wrong now?
Especially since Clark had been 'off the radar' for three months now. At first, Lex had thought he had been hiding from him. Having second thoughts about his confession. That was part of why Lex had thrown himself into the project in Egypt. To give Clark some space. Except, when he had returned to Smallville, he had realized that no one had known where Clark was for three months.
Then, there was the story that had gone around the hospital about a girl who wandered in claiming she had found Clark without clothes or memory in a cornfield. The mystery of Clark Kent was not going away.
No.
It was standing here in his office.
Again.
"Clark. Nice to see you. I heard your dad is doing better?"
That knocked some of the tension out of him. Clark nodded. "Yeah. Yeah he is. But Lex-" the farmboy could never be diverted for long. "That's not why I'm here. Chloe-"
Oh. That. Lex had known this confrontation might happen. He had hoped his secret keeping abilities were up to the task, but he also knew Clark wasn't the type to let his friends go without a fight.
It was why they were friends, after all.
"She's not in her grave." Clark's tone was sharp, but lacked the accusing edge that Lex had grown used. It was more of a question, with a pause left behind it, waiting for an explanation.
Did you dig her up, or did you look into her coffin with your special x-ray vision? Lex looked Clark in the eye and asked. "And why does that bring you here?"
A reflexive tactic. One that would buy him some time. Even though he knew this had been coming, Lex hadn't quite decided how to handle it yet. He was committed to keeping his promise. No lies. But he had also made a promise to someone else. Lives were at stake.
"It has Luthercorp written all over it. Look, Lex. It's been a few months and I-just wanted to know if you had anything to tell me. About this."
It was an olive branch. An admission that there could be more to this story than Jonathan Kent's worst assumptions. A rare thing, from Clark.
It deserved to be reciprocated in kind.
"Clark, if I promised Chloe that I would not tell you something, then wouldn't you agree that I should keep that promise?"
Clark paused, and Lex could see the gears in his head turning. It was so different from the conversations they had had before. They were still dancing around the truth, but they were doing it in a new way.
His father would laugh at him and call him weak, but his father was behind bars, getting ready to stand trial for murder. Lex was happy to leave his father's philosophies about strength, weakness, and friendship there too. All of his work overseeing experiments at Luthercorp had taught him one thing. You don't find out if something new works until you try it, no matter how crazy it sounds.
"You promised Chloe you would hide her body?"
Lex sighed. Clark wasn't always good at following the more subtle threads in a conversation. He thought about the line that he had prepared. The explosion took out an entire acre and the reason Chloe's casket is empty is because there was nothing left to bury. It was a good line, a good lie. But Lext had promised no more lies.
Could he protect a secret without lying?
"Clark, you should know that the fewer people who know a secret, the better it will be kept. Someone was very determined that Chloe not survive to testify. If she isn't where you think she is, then maybe you shouldn't ask too many questions."
Clark's shoulder's squared and he glared at Lex, offended. "I would never betray Chloe!"
"But you're her best friend. You are the first person that people will go to if they find out she isn't in her grave."
Clark paused, and Lex held his breath, hoping that the logic would be clear to the young Kent.
"And you're the last person she would go to."
Lex tried not to let that one sting too much. It was true, and it was part of why this plan could work. "We want the same thing, Clark. And sometimes, the secrets we keep don't belong to us."
Clark frowned, but the tension faded from his posture. "I don't like not knowing what's going on, Lex."
A smile flicked across Lex's face, although did not permit himself to laugh. Instead he clapped a hand on Clark's shoulder. "Most people don't. I know I don't. That's why I always try to find answers."
Lex glanced at his desk and the airplane data there. The data that looked so much like the accident with his car. The one where an impossibly strong force had reached in from the outside.
"Clark, I want to show you something." Lex turned the laptop screen to face Clark, and watched his friend's expression as he took in the computer animated model of the airplane. A familiar flicker of recognition twitched across Clark's face, to be replaced quickly by his usual bland expression. The expression that said, 'please don't ask me that.'
Sorry, Clark. Lex wouldn't stop asking questions. "I had an interesting experience a few days ago. Another near-death experience, actually. It was only the quick reflexes of an experienced pilot that got us to ground safely."
"What happened?"
"According to the forensic specialist, a very strong force ripped the door off from the outside. Don't worry Clark, I know it wasn't you. You can't fly and you can't levitate. I just wanted to let you know that it happened, and that I'm going to find out how it happened. I am going to find out who—or what—did it."
There was a long pause while Clark stared at the image, and Lex stared at Clark. It was clear the farmboy knew something. Would he admit to it? Lex realized he was holding his breath. Even after what Clark had showed him, he didn't trust their new arrangement. This was the first of many tests. Lex had just refused to lie, would Clark do the same?
"It was me." Clark looked up at Lex hesitantly, as if he might run away at any second. "I promise I didn't want to steal from you, Lex, and I can't fly. Not really. It was—I don't really understand it completely myself. I was being controlled by something else."
"Was it meteor rocks, unauthorized experiments, or some prehistoric slug plugged into your brain?" Lex asked without missing a beat. He completely believed everything Clark had just said.
Clark shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you. I think that's one we'll have to leave unexplained."
"Everything has an explanation, Clark. Everything." Lex paused, considering the artifact, the strange glyphs on its back and the stranger crystal inside. Dare he voice the theory he had, the one that might link them all together?
"Was it aliens?"
Clark's head snapped up so fast, Lex knew he had hit on the answer before Clark even had time to think about lying about it.
"What?"
"I have a theory that it might be aliens. I was carrying an ancient artifact with symbols on it that are unknown to any earth culture, and a crystal that no ancient civilization could have manufactured. Whoever took the door off the plane took the crystal too. Levitated it straight through a wall. Is levitation one of your abilities?"
Instantly, Clark shook his head. "No. No, Lex I didn't steal from you—how did you get an artifact like that?"
"Luthercorp doesn't just fund chemistry experiments, Clark. History is valuable too. In this case, history and science are one and the same. If that object was truly an alien artifact that could be the key to new technological development. Besides, the glyphs on the artifact match the caves. So I took an interest."
"Oh." Clark's response was oddly quiet.
"Where did you take it, Clark?"
"Lex, I was possessed by an alien! It's not an experience I want to think about."
Lex looked away from a moment, collecting his thoughts. They had come so far, but there it was again. That old deflection. He looked Clark in the eye and repeated.
"Where did you take it, Clark?"
Clark swallowed hard and closed his mouth. He looked at Lex for several moments before saying, "Where's Chloe?"
"This is an entirely different situation."
"No, it's the same! I don't know what the aliens want and I don't know what that crystal does but if the wrong people get their hands on it, bad things could happen."
The words were like a slap on the face. "So you still think I'm the wrong people."
"No! I just—I don't—it's not safe for you to get to close to this, Lex. It's not safe for anyone."
"Clark, if there are alien beings interested in our planet, or even if it's just other people messing with new technology, then the only safe thing to do is learn more. If we don't know what we're facing, then we can't be prepared to face them if they turn out to be our enemies."
"Why do you think they would be our enemy?" Clark asked. "You think everyone is out to get you-"
"Something possessed you and used your powers to steal from me, and it nearly killed me." Lex said. "That's doesn't seem like the actions of someone who wants to make friends. Clark, my own father had my memory fried and tried to make me believe I was crazy. He planted a bomb intended to kill your best friend. Come on, Clark. I know you've had a pretty sheltered life here in Smallville, and I'm sure it's nice to be surrounded by good people, but you know that there is bad out there in the world. All I want to do is know how to protect myself from forces that could do me harm."
Clark was quiet, and Lex took a step closer.
"Look, Clark, we could work together on this. We can investigate the aliens together."
"What?"
"Think about it, Clark. Whatever they want, it isn't over. I don't know what their plan is, but whatever it is, I'm going to be ready. If we work together, with your abilities-"
"No." Clark's tone was firm as stone, unmoveable. "I don't want anything to to with them, Lex. They took three months of my life and turned me into a—a—No. Just no. I'm done with them, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay as far away from all of this as you can."
"I can keep you out of it, Clark, but I won't stop investigating. Something is coming, and whatever it is, I'm going to be ready for it."
"Lex-"
"Would you rather that I lied and said I wasn't going to? Clark, you have the right to stay out of this, and I have the right to investigate. I hope that disagreeing on this doesn't mean we can't be friends."
"I don't know Lex. I don't know."
A moment later, Clark was gone in a huff of air, leaving Lex to stare at the empty space he had left behind
o0o
Lois will be here. Clark looked up at the gates to the army base. He hadn't know Miss Lane for very long, but he thought he had a pretty good sense of who she was. She was irritating, bossy, and too stubborn to give up on anything. Especially on a mystery like Chloe's disappearance.
And I have to stop her.
Clark surprised himself with the thought. He was still angry with Lex, and terrified of the information Lex had provided.
There were other Kryptonian artifacts on earth.
Other people might know about aliens.
Other people might find out about him.
Depsite his pleadings, despite their freindship, Lex was going to be one of those people. What would he find? What would he do if he learned the truth? Letting Lex think we hast just another meteor freak was one thing. Lex finding out about Krypton?
Clark trusted Lex to protect Chloe. That was why he was here, slipping through a hole in the army base fence. To stop Lois from finding her.
But did Clark trust Lex with the rest of his secrets?
There. Clark spotted Lois' brown pony tail across the parking lot and followed carefully after her. He would plan to meet her in her father's office, and act like coming here had been all his own idea. He would be irritated to see her, she would be pleased at having irritated him and not question it.
Hopefully.
In his pocket, Clark's phone buzzed. He pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. Lex.
Not now. Clark put the phone back in his pocket. He didn't want to have another argument right now. He needed time to think.
The phone bused again, insistently. Clark stepped behind a corner and answered it. "Lex, I'm a little busy right now-"
"He knows. Chloe's in danger. I've got men heading there now but you can get there faster, Clark. I've got an address for you."
"On my way." Clark was in motion, the world around him turning into a blur as he shifted speed. It was one of the longest seconds of his life, but a moment later he arrived on the front porch of a small house. It looked normal, quiet, safe. There was a light on inside.
Clark didn't bother to know. He walked in the front door, not stopping as two men in suits stood up to intercept him. He walked straight toward the small woman they protected. Short, blonde, and staring at him with a gaping mouth.
"Clark! What-"
Clark wrapped his arms around Chloe in a fierce hug. "Chloe, I got a message from Lex. Lionel knows where you are. We have to go. Now."
Behind him, the men in suits lowered the guns. They moved as a team, the three of them surrounding Chloe with Clark in the lead, out the door, to the waiting car, and down the road away from the house.
"Where are we going?" Chloe asked.
"I have no idea." Clark was tucked into the back seat next to her, his eyes moving I all directions, looking for threats. "We'll drive until Lex figures it out. Chloe, did you ask him not to tell me you were alive?"
"I'm sorry, Clark. I thought it was safer that way."
"It's ok. I'm just glad you're not dead." Clark hugged her again.
"I'm glad you were close!" Chloe looked from the rear view mirror and then turend in her seat to look out the back window. Clark followed her gaze in time to see a team of armed men jump out of a black sedan and run into the safe house they had just left.
The driver turned the corner, speeding up as they drove away from danger.
"You and Lex make a weirdly good team, Clark, did you know that?"
o0o
"It's over." Lex stood outside the courtroom, where he had just seen his father receive a guilty verdict and be led away in chains. He knew that this didn't mean he was completely free of Lionel Luthor. The man had proven that he could still be a threat even in prison. But it was still a victory. One that changed Lex's world.
Luthorcorp was his for the foreseeable future. His future was his own.
"Thanks, Lex. For protecting Chloe." Clark was standing beside him, dressed in a suit for once instead of flannel.
"We both wanted the same thing, Clark. To see my father behind bars. Don't read too much into it."
"Are you going to do anything to celebrate tonight?"
Lex shrugged. "I thought I might to watch them transfer him to the new prison." It would be so satisfying to see Lionel defeated. But there was something bitter about the thought. Even in defeat, Lionel still occupied Lex's thoughts. The man was harder to get rid of than Lex had anticipated.
"You could come to my place. Mom made up this apple pie for the general, but he didn't stay to dinner, and I thought maybe you'd like to be somewhere else today."
Gloat over his father's defeat or enjoy apple pie with the Kents? There was no debate. Lex turned to Clark with a smile.
"That sounds great."