"Risk" - Chapter Four: The Final Task
In Metropolis, the clock is reaching midnight as Lex drives through a dark alley, his headlights blasting through the darkness. He drives slowly and cautiously; soon the car comes to a stop. He turns the engine off, causing the lights to fade and the eerie darkness to encompass the area. Lex opens the door and steps out. He closes it and walks towards the fire escape of the building where the disc lies. The steel staircase is just a few yards ahead of him, and he can see the window up top, partially open. Lex begins to wonder if this could all be a set up. Many thoughts race through his head. "What if he is home? Waiting for me." Lex brushes it off and walks towards staircase. He leaps up and grabs onto the ladder, then pulls himself up with all his strength.
Soon he is scaling the clattering metal steps, passing the windows of other residents of the apartment on his way up. He keeps his main objective in mind as he carefully slips his fingertips under the window and slides it up. Everything seems to be going in hyper speed for Lex. It is all a big rush to him as he discretely enters the apartment. Inside, it is as black as the night outside, he scrambles to find a light switch. Lex walks through a hallway with pictures scattered throughout the walls, some of young children, family photos, friends, possibly the man's wife. Lex knows what he is doing is probably wrong, but for all he knows the man whose apartment he is in could be a drug dealer, a terrorist, maybe a murderer. Lex spots a lampshade in the living room as he makes his way out of the hallway. He feels underneath for a switch, which doesn't take him long to find. He clicks it on, illuminating the room with light. Lex slowly moves throughout the room, wondering where the man would keep the disc, which seems to be very important to the Sentinels. "Maybe he has it with him?" Lex thinks, it is possible.
Lex walks into another hallway, past the kitchen and the living room. Two doors are located here. One a bedroom, no one inside, the bed is made neatly and clean. The other door is the man's study, filled with shelves of books and notes. He flips on the light switch and then eyes a computer, which he quickly gets to. He checks around it, he can see several computer discs, but not the unique mini disc he is looking for. Lex skims through CD cases and holders, hoping to find it, but doesn't have much luck. He checks to see if it might possibly be inside the computer drive, but again does not find it. Lex turns around towards the shelves; a hand carved wooden box rests directly in front of him. Lex opens it, some pictures and spare change are cluttered inside, but most importantly the disc rests right on top, safely kept in its plastic case. Lex smiles as he admires the little treasure he came for. He carefully puts it into his pocket and closes the box and places it back how it was on the shelf.
Lex walks back around the desk, which the man's computer rests on and makes his way for the door. Suddenly, Lex hears the sound of the door to the apartment being unlocked, and soon enough opened. It creeks slightly as a man enters, then is closed and locked again a moment later. Lex tries to remain calm, his eyes dart around the room for an exit, but there is none to be found. The owner of the apartment walks into his living room, noticing the lamp, which he doesn't seem to remember turning on before he left. It is evident the man has become suspicious, and even more so when he sees the light at the end of the hallway. He passes his fireplace, picking up one of the hard steel tools used to pick and turn the wood. It looks very sharp, and deadly. The man slowly moves forward into the hallway, very quietly and cautiously. "Alright! If anyone is in my home they have only a second to show themselves before I take action!" Lex takes a very quiet deep breath; he can feel the man getting closer and closer with each passing second. Lex is not afraid, he was always taught to never be afraid.
Finding no other weapons in sight, Lex grabs a carved sculpture of President Lincoln's head off the mantle and prepares to use it. The man continues to pass through the hallway, prepared to defend himself and his home. "I swear! I have a weapon here! Do not make me use it!" Lex prepares himself as well as the man inches forward. Soon enough, the man quickly jumps into the room, but he jumps to the right, directly in front of Lex. Lex does not waste another second; he strikes the man in the back of the head with the hard wooden sculpture, much like he was struck days earlier. He collapses to the floor, out cold. Lex breathes heavily, it was either he or the owner of the apartment. Lex rushes out of the room and back through the hallway, moving quicker as he heads out of the living room.
He leaves the same way he came in, through the window next to the kitchen. Lex scampers down the staircase, the clanging metal noise awaking some of the other residents. Lex doesn't care though, he has the disc and that's all that matters at this point. He gets into the car and hits the accelerator the second he starts the engine. The car squeals off through the alley, the window of the apartment remains open, the drapes flow gracefully as a cool breeze of the night passes through.
Lex speeds down the road, the bright lights of other cars, businesses and the street seem like a complete blur to him. Lex pulls into the parking lot of a large used car dealership. He regains himself as he takes out his cell phone and the folder that was given to him by Nick Avery. He dials the number of the Sentinels as he reads it off the sheet of paper. Immediately, he gets a response. "Lex…"
"I have the disc."
"We know."
"Tell me what I have to do now."
"Just count to three, Lex." Lex is a little perplexed by the question, but in his head he does, and as he gets to three another car pulls up to him very quickly, a black one with a silver trim. The window rolls down and a man turns to him.
"Give me the disc!" Lex takes it out of his pocket and hands it to him. The window rolls back up and the car pulls out of the lot just as fast as it pulled in. Lex then again hears Avery's voice on the phone.
"You did well, Lex. Report back to the warehouse tomorrow, 3pm. Don't be late." Then, Nick Avery hangs up. Lex puts the phone back down and lays back into his chair, wishing he had some kind of clue as to what is going on in his life, and who exactly the Sentinels really are. A few moments later, Lex makes his way to an apartment of his own on in central Metropolis, hoping to get some sleep and try and make sense of the situation.
Early the next morning in Smallville, Kansas, at the Kent Farm, Clark is just making his way out of the house and down the front steps to start on his chores. Martha and Jonathan are already out and about, he is feeding the cows and Martha is working on repairing a break in the fence. Clark heads toward the barn, but Martha and Jonathan don't let him get far. "Clark, come over here!" Clark does what he's told and approaches his parents.
"Yeah?"
"You didn't get in till after midnight last night, where were you?" Martha asks, a little concerned.
"Oh, I just went for a walk. I better get to my chores now."
"Just wait a minute there, Clark. You don't seem like yourself today, did you have any breakfast?"
"No, I'm not that hungry, I thought I should just head out and help you guys."
"Clark…what happened with Lana last night, she left here alone and walked home. I take it things didn't go the way you would have hoped." Jonathan asks, Clark sighs as his eyes roll to the ground.
"I didn't tell her anything. I thought she might understand and I would be able to talk to her about the strangeness in my life, but instead she ended up saying she wished the meteor shower never happened…and I wish the same thing, all of it is my fault."
"Clark! You can't say that!" Martha says, hugging her son to try and comfort him, just like she always used to when he was younger, even though now he is at least a few inches taller than her. "Your father and I are so thankful, every day that the meteor shower brought you down to us. You were a blessing, Clark, we thank God every day for putting you here."
"Your mother's right, Clark. You are just where you belong, and don't ever think otherwise. The meteor shower did a lot of bad things to this town, people died, but it also brought you. I don't know what we would have done all these years without you here, I try not to think about that."
"It's for the best that Lana doesn't know about you. Right now you might not think so, but telling someone about you and your abilities, it is a lot for someone to handle that kind of responsibility." Clark looks into his parent's eyes and smiles.
"Yeah, you're right. I know now I should have never said anything, but now that I haven't said anything Lana must be more suspicious than ever. I can't just tell her I made it out and that was it. If I do than she'll never be able to trust me again, and I can't let that happen."
"We know you'll do the right thing, Clark."
"I just don't want to lose her." Martha smiles, being reminded of her son's sweet and good-natured soul.
"Lana is one of the good one's, just like you. You're not going to lose her."
"I hope not, I just have to think of something to tell her, I have to apologize."
"Well, you can think about what you're going to say when you're bailing that hay in the barn." Jonathan says with a smile. Clark smiles back.
"Yeah, and maybe after I'll have some corn flakes, I am kind of hungry." The three share a hug, smiles on their faces. Clark has learned another lesson in his strange, sometimes scary, but happy life. Thanks to his parents, who always have a way of putting things into perspective.
That afternoon, after he's finished all his chores and had something to eat, Clark drives down main-street, past local businesses and several familiar faces he waves to on the streets and sidewalks. Clark pulls over to the side of the street, outside the Talon. He catches Lana getting out and locking up the store prepared to leave. Clark gets out and approaches her. "Hey, Lana, closing early?" She turns around and sees him standing there. "We always close early on Sundays." Lana starts walking away down the sidewalk. "Lana, wait!" Clark hurries in front of her, she is obviously not very excited about talking to him. "Lana, I'm really sorry about last night."
"It's ok, Clark, I've gotten used to you leaving me hanging like that."
"I know I shouldn't have left you like that. It's just…" Clark starts.
"Just what, Clark? You don't want to talk to me about it, and that's ok, it is. I'll just say what you want me to say, which is…I'll forget it, we both will. Let's just drop everything, I'll accept you somehow managed to get out with that little boy before the explosion."
"Well did you want me to tell you I somehow wasn't hurt at all during the blast, that it didn't even phase me, that I couldn't even feel the flames all around me?"
"I wanted you to tell me something, Clark. I wanted to try and understand, and I was sure you would help me understand. But instead you ran away, but don't worry, I wasn't surprised." Lana pushes past him and starts walking again, but Clark soon catches up.
"Lana I wanted to tell you what happened, but I couldn't, I can't. You have to know that I'm sorry, and I know that I hurt you, and Lana…that is the last thing I would ever want to do. Please, our friendship means a lot to me; you mean a lot to me."
"I know, Clark, I feel the same way about you, and I really do want to get past this. I don't want to fight you, or feel any anger about what happened last night, but I have to be able to trust you."
"You can, it's just…" Clark starts, but again the words are lost. "Let me give you a ride home, Lana." Not exactly what Lana wanted Clark to say, but she could use that ride home.
"Alright, Clark." The two walk back to Clark's truck, that big question mark in Lana's mind is left unanswered.
In Metropolis, Lex again finds himself driving back to the warehouse. He passes through the same area of Metropolis, filled with tiny homes, abandoned and condemned buildings, a park that no one ever goes to, a part of town he would normally avoid. He's thought all night and most of the day about what they might have him do next, but the fact remains in his mind that he is smarter than Nick Avery and the Sentinels. He checks the clock, about ten to three, he has time. Soon enough, Lex pulls up to the warehouse once again; this time even less enthused about seeing the two bulky men standing near the door. Lex gets out and makes his way forward; the two men open the doors, as he is lead inside.
Just like before, the long, grim hallways, the sour stench, the lack of lighting, the drab colors, Lex is used to it. The doors are pushed open, before he knows it Lex is back in the large, dim, dusty old room. "There's my guy!" The voice of Nick Avery echoes throughout as he comes into the light. "Howdy Lex, how's it hanging man?"
"Couldn't you have just told me whatever my third task is over the phone, I'm really getting sick of coming here and seeing that stupid grin on your face." One of the Sentinels moves towards Lex, prepared to bring some kind of physical harm upon him, but Nick quickly motions for him to move back.
"Come on, Lex, gotta have some kind of dramatic effect. This place is perfect!"
"What do I have to do, Nick?"
"Well now, let's see here. You delivered the money just as you were told, our suppliers were pleased. You retrieved the disc from that nimrod who shouldn't have had it in the first place. Oh by the way, I heard about that slam to the back of the head, very nice Lex."
"What do I have to do?" Lex repeats, growing more and more impatient.
"Oh alright, I wanted a little build up before I laid your third objective on you, but have it your way. Lex my boy…" Nick says, walking closer to Lex and resting a hand on his shoulder, which is quickly brushed off.
"Just say it, Nick, so we can get this over with." Nick looks at him with one of those stupid grins Lex had commented on, then a moment or two later, he speaks up.
"Lex, you are going to kill Lionel Luthor."
To be continued in Chapter Five…
In Metropolis, the clock is reaching midnight as Lex drives through a dark alley, his headlights blasting through the darkness. He drives slowly and cautiously; soon the car comes to a stop. He turns the engine off, causing the lights to fade and the eerie darkness to encompass the area. Lex opens the door and steps out. He closes it and walks towards the fire escape of the building where the disc lies. The steel staircase is just a few yards ahead of him, and he can see the window up top, partially open. Lex begins to wonder if this could all be a set up. Many thoughts race through his head. "What if he is home? Waiting for me." Lex brushes it off and walks towards staircase. He leaps up and grabs onto the ladder, then pulls himself up with all his strength.
Soon he is scaling the clattering metal steps, passing the windows of other residents of the apartment on his way up. He keeps his main objective in mind as he carefully slips his fingertips under the window and slides it up. Everything seems to be going in hyper speed for Lex. It is all a big rush to him as he discretely enters the apartment. Inside, it is as black as the night outside, he scrambles to find a light switch. Lex walks through a hallway with pictures scattered throughout the walls, some of young children, family photos, friends, possibly the man's wife. Lex knows what he is doing is probably wrong, but for all he knows the man whose apartment he is in could be a drug dealer, a terrorist, maybe a murderer. Lex spots a lampshade in the living room as he makes his way out of the hallway. He feels underneath for a switch, which doesn't take him long to find. He clicks it on, illuminating the room with light. Lex slowly moves throughout the room, wondering where the man would keep the disc, which seems to be very important to the Sentinels. "Maybe he has it with him?" Lex thinks, it is possible.
Lex walks into another hallway, past the kitchen and the living room. Two doors are located here. One a bedroom, no one inside, the bed is made neatly and clean. The other door is the man's study, filled with shelves of books and notes. He flips on the light switch and then eyes a computer, which he quickly gets to. He checks around it, he can see several computer discs, but not the unique mini disc he is looking for. Lex skims through CD cases and holders, hoping to find it, but doesn't have much luck. He checks to see if it might possibly be inside the computer drive, but again does not find it. Lex turns around towards the shelves; a hand carved wooden box rests directly in front of him. Lex opens it, some pictures and spare change are cluttered inside, but most importantly the disc rests right on top, safely kept in its plastic case. Lex smiles as he admires the little treasure he came for. He carefully puts it into his pocket and closes the box and places it back how it was on the shelf.
Lex walks back around the desk, which the man's computer rests on and makes his way for the door. Suddenly, Lex hears the sound of the door to the apartment being unlocked, and soon enough opened. It creeks slightly as a man enters, then is closed and locked again a moment later. Lex tries to remain calm, his eyes dart around the room for an exit, but there is none to be found. The owner of the apartment walks into his living room, noticing the lamp, which he doesn't seem to remember turning on before he left. It is evident the man has become suspicious, and even more so when he sees the light at the end of the hallway. He passes his fireplace, picking up one of the hard steel tools used to pick and turn the wood. It looks very sharp, and deadly. The man slowly moves forward into the hallway, very quietly and cautiously. "Alright! If anyone is in my home they have only a second to show themselves before I take action!" Lex takes a very quiet deep breath; he can feel the man getting closer and closer with each passing second. Lex is not afraid, he was always taught to never be afraid.
Finding no other weapons in sight, Lex grabs a carved sculpture of President Lincoln's head off the mantle and prepares to use it. The man continues to pass through the hallway, prepared to defend himself and his home. "I swear! I have a weapon here! Do not make me use it!" Lex prepares himself as well as the man inches forward. Soon enough, the man quickly jumps into the room, but he jumps to the right, directly in front of Lex. Lex does not waste another second; he strikes the man in the back of the head with the hard wooden sculpture, much like he was struck days earlier. He collapses to the floor, out cold. Lex breathes heavily, it was either he or the owner of the apartment. Lex rushes out of the room and back through the hallway, moving quicker as he heads out of the living room.
He leaves the same way he came in, through the window next to the kitchen. Lex scampers down the staircase, the clanging metal noise awaking some of the other residents. Lex doesn't care though, he has the disc and that's all that matters at this point. He gets into the car and hits the accelerator the second he starts the engine. The car squeals off through the alley, the window of the apartment remains open, the drapes flow gracefully as a cool breeze of the night passes through.
Lex speeds down the road, the bright lights of other cars, businesses and the street seem like a complete blur to him. Lex pulls into the parking lot of a large used car dealership. He regains himself as he takes out his cell phone and the folder that was given to him by Nick Avery. He dials the number of the Sentinels as he reads it off the sheet of paper. Immediately, he gets a response. "Lex…"
"I have the disc."
"We know."
"Tell me what I have to do now."
"Just count to three, Lex." Lex is a little perplexed by the question, but in his head he does, and as he gets to three another car pulls up to him very quickly, a black one with a silver trim. The window rolls down and a man turns to him.
"Give me the disc!" Lex takes it out of his pocket and hands it to him. The window rolls back up and the car pulls out of the lot just as fast as it pulled in. Lex then again hears Avery's voice on the phone.
"You did well, Lex. Report back to the warehouse tomorrow, 3pm. Don't be late." Then, Nick Avery hangs up. Lex puts the phone back down and lays back into his chair, wishing he had some kind of clue as to what is going on in his life, and who exactly the Sentinels really are. A few moments later, Lex makes his way to an apartment of his own on in central Metropolis, hoping to get some sleep and try and make sense of the situation.
Early the next morning in Smallville, Kansas, at the Kent Farm, Clark is just making his way out of the house and down the front steps to start on his chores. Martha and Jonathan are already out and about, he is feeding the cows and Martha is working on repairing a break in the fence. Clark heads toward the barn, but Martha and Jonathan don't let him get far. "Clark, come over here!" Clark does what he's told and approaches his parents.
"Yeah?"
"You didn't get in till after midnight last night, where were you?" Martha asks, a little concerned.
"Oh, I just went for a walk. I better get to my chores now."
"Just wait a minute there, Clark. You don't seem like yourself today, did you have any breakfast?"
"No, I'm not that hungry, I thought I should just head out and help you guys."
"Clark…what happened with Lana last night, she left here alone and walked home. I take it things didn't go the way you would have hoped." Jonathan asks, Clark sighs as his eyes roll to the ground.
"I didn't tell her anything. I thought she might understand and I would be able to talk to her about the strangeness in my life, but instead she ended up saying she wished the meteor shower never happened…and I wish the same thing, all of it is my fault."
"Clark! You can't say that!" Martha says, hugging her son to try and comfort him, just like she always used to when he was younger, even though now he is at least a few inches taller than her. "Your father and I are so thankful, every day that the meteor shower brought you down to us. You were a blessing, Clark, we thank God every day for putting you here."
"Your mother's right, Clark. You are just where you belong, and don't ever think otherwise. The meteor shower did a lot of bad things to this town, people died, but it also brought you. I don't know what we would have done all these years without you here, I try not to think about that."
"It's for the best that Lana doesn't know about you. Right now you might not think so, but telling someone about you and your abilities, it is a lot for someone to handle that kind of responsibility." Clark looks into his parent's eyes and smiles.
"Yeah, you're right. I know now I should have never said anything, but now that I haven't said anything Lana must be more suspicious than ever. I can't just tell her I made it out and that was it. If I do than she'll never be able to trust me again, and I can't let that happen."
"We know you'll do the right thing, Clark."
"I just don't want to lose her." Martha smiles, being reminded of her son's sweet and good-natured soul.
"Lana is one of the good one's, just like you. You're not going to lose her."
"I hope not, I just have to think of something to tell her, I have to apologize."
"Well, you can think about what you're going to say when you're bailing that hay in the barn." Jonathan says with a smile. Clark smiles back.
"Yeah, and maybe after I'll have some corn flakes, I am kind of hungry." The three share a hug, smiles on their faces. Clark has learned another lesson in his strange, sometimes scary, but happy life. Thanks to his parents, who always have a way of putting things into perspective.
That afternoon, after he's finished all his chores and had something to eat, Clark drives down main-street, past local businesses and several familiar faces he waves to on the streets and sidewalks. Clark pulls over to the side of the street, outside the Talon. He catches Lana getting out and locking up the store prepared to leave. Clark gets out and approaches her. "Hey, Lana, closing early?" She turns around and sees him standing there. "We always close early on Sundays." Lana starts walking away down the sidewalk. "Lana, wait!" Clark hurries in front of her, she is obviously not very excited about talking to him. "Lana, I'm really sorry about last night."
"It's ok, Clark, I've gotten used to you leaving me hanging like that."
"I know I shouldn't have left you like that. It's just…" Clark starts.
"Just what, Clark? You don't want to talk to me about it, and that's ok, it is. I'll just say what you want me to say, which is…I'll forget it, we both will. Let's just drop everything, I'll accept you somehow managed to get out with that little boy before the explosion."
"Well did you want me to tell you I somehow wasn't hurt at all during the blast, that it didn't even phase me, that I couldn't even feel the flames all around me?"
"I wanted you to tell me something, Clark. I wanted to try and understand, and I was sure you would help me understand. But instead you ran away, but don't worry, I wasn't surprised." Lana pushes past him and starts walking again, but Clark soon catches up.
"Lana I wanted to tell you what happened, but I couldn't, I can't. You have to know that I'm sorry, and I know that I hurt you, and Lana…that is the last thing I would ever want to do. Please, our friendship means a lot to me; you mean a lot to me."
"I know, Clark, I feel the same way about you, and I really do want to get past this. I don't want to fight you, or feel any anger about what happened last night, but I have to be able to trust you."
"You can, it's just…" Clark starts, but again the words are lost. "Let me give you a ride home, Lana." Not exactly what Lana wanted Clark to say, but she could use that ride home.
"Alright, Clark." The two walk back to Clark's truck, that big question mark in Lana's mind is left unanswered.
In Metropolis, Lex again finds himself driving back to the warehouse. He passes through the same area of Metropolis, filled with tiny homes, abandoned and condemned buildings, a park that no one ever goes to, a part of town he would normally avoid. He's thought all night and most of the day about what they might have him do next, but the fact remains in his mind that he is smarter than Nick Avery and the Sentinels. He checks the clock, about ten to three, he has time. Soon enough, Lex pulls up to the warehouse once again; this time even less enthused about seeing the two bulky men standing near the door. Lex gets out and makes his way forward; the two men open the doors, as he is lead inside.
Just like before, the long, grim hallways, the sour stench, the lack of lighting, the drab colors, Lex is used to it. The doors are pushed open, before he knows it Lex is back in the large, dim, dusty old room. "There's my guy!" The voice of Nick Avery echoes throughout as he comes into the light. "Howdy Lex, how's it hanging man?"
"Couldn't you have just told me whatever my third task is over the phone, I'm really getting sick of coming here and seeing that stupid grin on your face." One of the Sentinels moves towards Lex, prepared to bring some kind of physical harm upon him, but Nick quickly motions for him to move back.
"Come on, Lex, gotta have some kind of dramatic effect. This place is perfect!"
"What do I have to do, Nick?"
"Well now, let's see here. You delivered the money just as you were told, our suppliers were pleased. You retrieved the disc from that nimrod who shouldn't have had it in the first place. Oh by the way, I heard about that slam to the back of the head, very nice Lex."
"What do I have to do?" Lex repeats, growing more and more impatient.
"Oh alright, I wanted a little build up before I laid your third objective on you, but have it your way. Lex my boy…" Nick says, walking closer to Lex and resting a hand on his shoulder, which is quickly brushed off.
"Just say it, Nick, so we can get this over with." Nick looks at him with one of those stupid grins Lex had commented on, then a moment or two later, he speaks up.
"Lex, you are going to kill Lionel Luthor."
To be continued in Chapter Five…