-----------------------
Part 12 - Building a Future.
Clark had been at the Planet for a week when the advert for the apartment came up, of course he had
cheated slightly in the fact that he had seen the proofs for the classifieds before they were published but
he supposed that this was one of the perks for working for the papers, just as if he worked for a fashion
shop he would get first pick of the sales items. And so for the inflated price of a thousand dollars a
months he was the tenant of a one bedroom, one bathroom and one other room, apartment that while
being a loft space had an amazing view of the industrial (and most criminal) sector of the city.
Pete and Kirsty had offered him a spare room but they really didn't have the space with the children and
Clark did not want to outstay his welcome when they were the only people that he knew in the city that
he could spend any time with.
Now he had moved in and settled Clark was even beginning to get used to the cramped space, it was
not as if he owned a lot of things anyway so there was plenty of space for the few purchases he had
made and the few items that he had brought from Lex's or Smallville. As far as decorating went it was
easy to redo anything that he didn't like once he got used to doing the things at Super speed, in fact
after a few mishaps involving some spilled paint and some broken brushes he had redocorated the
apartment in a fraction of the time it would have taken a professional. He supposed that if the bottom
fell out of the journalism market or he couldn't stick it as a journalist he at least had an alternative
career to fall back on.
He was two blocks from the Planet that morning when he heard the scream, turning he saw a woman
being mugged, without thinking Clark sped after the mugger and grabbed the lady's bag. Pausing to hit
the man unconcious and then dump him, bag and all outside the local police station. Clark knew that
he was supposed to be more discreet, he definitely needed an outfit or costume so that people would
think he was a hero not just a vigilante and he needed a theme, all of the heroes had one and he wasn't
sure what his would be.
Clark was fifteen minutes late for work and found a grumpy Lois already at her desk, it seemed that she
was sure that someone was following her and she couldn't work out why. She had no proof but she had
seen the same man around a few times, and someone had been unobtrusively going through her
personal life, finding out about her likes and dislikes, interviewing her father and even going so far as
to paying her snitches to rat on her.
Clark too was worried, if they were following her then they were more likely to find out about him,
they were really only partners at work but there was already a lot of innuendo about the two being more
than friends. If someone was following Lois they may well start to follow him too and he did not need
that. Clark vowed after that to be more careful. The last thing that he needed was another Phelan or
Nixon on his hands.
-----------------------
Lex stared at the photographs that Dominic had laid out in front of him and tried hard to take in what
he was seeing. Some were less than interesting, where Lois Lane shopped, what take out she used each
night which suggested she was a lousy cook and the ones of her following some Senator that she
thought was embezzling state funds; but others had Lex in a turmoil.
"This is a shot with Lane and her new partner. He calls himself Clark Kent, I haven't found out a lot
about him except he's new to the paper and they are partners, some of my sources say in all senses of
the word." Dominic added with a suggestive leer that made Lex hate him even more than he already
did if that were even possible. "Do you want me to watch him as well, it would cost you a little extra
but it could give you a way in for… well, whatever this information is to be used for."
"NO." Lex said, almost too firmly and too quickly. "No." He said, this time more calmly as he brought
his emotions under wrap. "Keep on Lane but don't bother with Kent, he's just a nobody from
Hicksville." Lex said, hating the words even as they came out of his mouth and knowing just how
untrue they were.
"Okay, you're the boss." Dominic said. "Is there anything else?"
"No, just shut the door on your way out." Lex said. Dominic left, shutting the door behind him as
requested and leaving Lex to ponder the pictures.
If he had hated Lois Lane before then he despised her now, she had taken a lot of his privacy and now
she was trying for his man too. Lex had to admit that Clark looked good in the glasses he had chosen
to wear, maybe to disguise himself a little or just as a fashion accessory, but having the picture was not
good enough for Lex, it made him even more determined to get back the real thing. He knew that he
had to be patient but there was only so much even the most tolerant of people could take and he was
about at the end of his tether. The question was, how did he bring Clark back to him without making
the other man feel stifled?
-------------------------
It did not take Clark long once he knew that Lois was being followed to track down the culprit, he was
good but not good enough for someone as paranoid as Clark. After years of being kept in the confines
of a government lab Clark was so scared that he would be recaptured, despite Lex's papers and threats
to the government that he had started to be extra vigilant, especially now that he was not living within
the relative safety of Lex.
Clark did not recognise the man but he could clearly see that he was a threat to Clark as he had
followed him home. Clark had the man pinned to the wall before he could even stop to take whatever
notes he was supposed to be making.
Dominic knew that he was in trouble as soon as he felt the pressure at the point of his throat that was
important for his breathing and continued survival, the part that if this man pressed any harder might
just break under the pressure and suffocate him. If this guy didn't kill him then Lex would for having
followed him rather than Lane but Dominic knew enough about Lane to know she was not a threat to
Lex Luthor, not really, but he knew nothing about this man that had gained such a powerful response
from Lex.
As he breathed shallow breathes and tried not to black out Dominic wondered if this man was working
for Luthor too and that was why he had to back off. He really wished that for once he had followed
orders rather than his instincts.
"Who are you and What do you want?" Clark asked, punctuating each with a slight addition of
pressure, as if proving the threat that his sizeable frame and expression already promised.
"I…I was just walking, I don't know what you want. Please, don't hurt me. Take my wallet or
whatever but don't hurt me." Dominic said as if he were scared, trying the dumb approach, as it turned
out it was dumb in more than one way because it earned him a blow to the head.
"Now. Let's try this one more time. Who are you? Who sent you? And What do you want?"
Dominic took a few seconds to tot up the pros and cons of telling the truth, just as a second blow was
about to come, a raised fist telling him so, Dominic decided that his imminent survival was more
important than anything that Lex might do afterwards. He opened his mouth and began to speak just as
Clark decided not to land a second blow.
"Okay, Okay… My name is Dominic Hunt, I used to work for Lionel Luthor. He had me looking out
for his son and they thought that Lois Lane posed a threat to him. He wanted someone to check her out
without Lex knowing so he got me to spy on her." Dominic said, remembering enough to tell the lie
that Lex had told him.
"You really do want to anger me don't you? Nothing happens in this city without Lex Luthor knowing
about it, especially not an action that involves his father, now I want you to try one more time and aim
for the truth this time." Clark said, trying to remember all of the tactics that they had used on him when
they had questioned him after his capture. All of the threats and torture that they had used.
"Okay, I don't work for Lionel Luthor, I work for Lex Luthor." Dominic said. Obviously this was a
good enough answer as it caused the larger man to drop him. As Dominic fought for breath he thought
that this kid was certainly strong for his age, he definitely looked as if he worked out. He hoped that
this was a good enough truth to buy his survival, at least until Lex decided to kill him.
"Lex Luthor had you spy on me?" Clark asked, a little amused, a little angry but also with a warm
feeling inside him. Lex cared, albeit in an unconventional way, and he wanted to check up on him.
"No. He wanted me to follow Lois Lane, I don't know why but when I saw the two of you together…
he told me to stay away from you but I wanted to know why. I guess now I know."
"Why?" Clark asked, genuinely interested in how he had given away the fact that he and Lex were
friends, or maybe more or that he has some kind of powers that would need him to be avoided at all
costs.
"Well, it's obvious that you work for him too. I don't know what you do but he used to have agents that
were powerful, strong and could kill you without getting out of their seats." Dominic said. "I swear, I
didn't know that you were in on this too. Lex never told me that he had more than one person out there
and I didn't mean to mess with whatever he has you doing…"
Clark looked down at the whimpering, blubbering wreck, weak, he thought and wondered when human
life had been less meaningful to him than before. Only that week he had been wanting to be a
superhero, to live up to the ideals that he had thought meant something but now as he looked at this
snivelling snake in the grass and thought of his time at the hands of his human captors he wondered
why he should help them. What had they ever done for him?
Clark turned and walked back to his apartment, knowing that Dominic would not follow him again,
probably wouldn't follow Lois either. But he had more important things on his mind. The
confrontation had made him realise that most of those he cared for were either dead or had moved on.
He didn't really care about the rest of them, not in the way he once had. The ideals of truth and justice
didn't really seem to hold much weight when he had been denied both and he even questioned if a lot of
these humans even had any humanity in them.
There was something wrong with that, this lack of caring, it was a nonchalance that he had never had
and he knew only one other person that was like it. As Clark made it back to his small apartment, a
place that he could not quite get around to calling home he knew that he was not going to find any
answers alone. He wasn't sure if he even had the strength to fight this alone anymore. Instead he
realised that it was time to go back to the one place that did feel like he belonged there and to the one
person that would have the answers.
He just hoped that Lex would let him back into his life.
--------------------
To Be Continued soon…
Thanks to everyone that is sticking with this.
Part 12 - Building a Future.
Clark had been at the Planet for a week when the advert for the apartment came up, of course he had
cheated slightly in the fact that he had seen the proofs for the classifieds before they were published but
he supposed that this was one of the perks for working for the papers, just as if he worked for a fashion
shop he would get first pick of the sales items. And so for the inflated price of a thousand dollars a
months he was the tenant of a one bedroom, one bathroom and one other room, apartment that while
being a loft space had an amazing view of the industrial (and most criminal) sector of the city.
Pete and Kirsty had offered him a spare room but they really didn't have the space with the children and
Clark did not want to outstay his welcome when they were the only people that he knew in the city that
he could spend any time with.
Now he had moved in and settled Clark was even beginning to get used to the cramped space, it was
not as if he owned a lot of things anyway so there was plenty of space for the few purchases he had
made and the few items that he had brought from Lex's or Smallville. As far as decorating went it was
easy to redo anything that he didn't like once he got used to doing the things at Super speed, in fact
after a few mishaps involving some spilled paint and some broken brushes he had redocorated the
apartment in a fraction of the time it would have taken a professional. He supposed that if the bottom
fell out of the journalism market or he couldn't stick it as a journalist he at least had an alternative
career to fall back on.
He was two blocks from the Planet that morning when he heard the scream, turning he saw a woman
being mugged, without thinking Clark sped after the mugger and grabbed the lady's bag. Pausing to hit
the man unconcious and then dump him, bag and all outside the local police station. Clark knew that
he was supposed to be more discreet, he definitely needed an outfit or costume so that people would
think he was a hero not just a vigilante and he needed a theme, all of the heroes had one and he wasn't
sure what his would be.
Clark was fifteen minutes late for work and found a grumpy Lois already at her desk, it seemed that she
was sure that someone was following her and she couldn't work out why. She had no proof but she had
seen the same man around a few times, and someone had been unobtrusively going through her
personal life, finding out about her likes and dislikes, interviewing her father and even going so far as
to paying her snitches to rat on her.
Clark too was worried, if they were following her then they were more likely to find out about him,
they were really only partners at work but there was already a lot of innuendo about the two being more
than friends. If someone was following Lois they may well start to follow him too and he did not need
that. Clark vowed after that to be more careful. The last thing that he needed was another Phelan or
Nixon on his hands.
-----------------------
Lex stared at the photographs that Dominic had laid out in front of him and tried hard to take in what
he was seeing. Some were less than interesting, where Lois Lane shopped, what take out she used each
night which suggested she was a lousy cook and the ones of her following some Senator that she
thought was embezzling state funds; but others had Lex in a turmoil.
"This is a shot with Lane and her new partner. He calls himself Clark Kent, I haven't found out a lot
about him except he's new to the paper and they are partners, some of my sources say in all senses of
the word." Dominic added with a suggestive leer that made Lex hate him even more than he already
did if that were even possible. "Do you want me to watch him as well, it would cost you a little extra
but it could give you a way in for… well, whatever this information is to be used for."
"NO." Lex said, almost too firmly and too quickly. "No." He said, this time more calmly as he brought
his emotions under wrap. "Keep on Lane but don't bother with Kent, he's just a nobody from
Hicksville." Lex said, hating the words even as they came out of his mouth and knowing just how
untrue they were.
"Okay, you're the boss." Dominic said. "Is there anything else?"
"No, just shut the door on your way out." Lex said. Dominic left, shutting the door behind him as
requested and leaving Lex to ponder the pictures.
If he had hated Lois Lane before then he despised her now, she had taken a lot of his privacy and now
she was trying for his man too. Lex had to admit that Clark looked good in the glasses he had chosen
to wear, maybe to disguise himself a little or just as a fashion accessory, but having the picture was not
good enough for Lex, it made him even more determined to get back the real thing. He knew that he
had to be patient but there was only so much even the most tolerant of people could take and he was
about at the end of his tether. The question was, how did he bring Clark back to him without making
the other man feel stifled?
-------------------------
It did not take Clark long once he knew that Lois was being followed to track down the culprit, he was
good but not good enough for someone as paranoid as Clark. After years of being kept in the confines
of a government lab Clark was so scared that he would be recaptured, despite Lex's papers and threats
to the government that he had started to be extra vigilant, especially now that he was not living within
the relative safety of Lex.
Clark did not recognise the man but he could clearly see that he was a threat to Clark as he had
followed him home. Clark had the man pinned to the wall before he could even stop to take whatever
notes he was supposed to be making.
Dominic knew that he was in trouble as soon as he felt the pressure at the point of his throat that was
important for his breathing and continued survival, the part that if this man pressed any harder might
just break under the pressure and suffocate him. If this guy didn't kill him then Lex would for having
followed him rather than Lane but Dominic knew enough about Lane to know she was not a threat to
Lex Luthor, not really, but he knew nothing about this man that had gained such a powerful response
from Lex.
As he breathed shallow breathes and tried not to black out Dominic wondered if this man was working
for Luthor too and that was why he had to back off. He really wished that for once he had followed
orders rather than his instincts.
"Who are you and What do you want?" Clark asked, punctuating each with a slight addition of
pressure, as if proving the threat that his sizeable frame and expression already promised.
"I…I was just walking, I don't know what you want. Please, don't hurt me. Take my wallet or
whatever but don't hurt me." Dominic said as if he were scared, trying the dumb approach, as it turned
out it was dumb in more than one way because it earned him a blow to the head.
"Now. Let's try this one more time. Who are you? Who sent you? And What do you want?"
Dominic took a few seconds to tot up the pros and cons of telling the truth, just as a second blow was
about to come, a raised fist telling him so, Dominic decided that his imminent survival was more
important than anything that Lex might do afterwards. He opened his mouth and began to speak just as
Clark decided not to land a second blow.
"Okay, Okay… My name is Dominic Hunt, I used to work for Lionel Luthor. He had me looking out
for his son and they thought that Lois Lane posed a threat to him. He wanted someone to check her out
without Lex knowing so he got me to spy on her." Dominic said, remembering enough to tell the lie
that Lex had told him.
"You really do want to anger me don't you? Nothing happens in this city without Lex Luthor knowing
about it, especially not an action that involves his father, now I want you to try one more time and aim
for the truth this time." Clark said, trying to remember all of the tactics that they had used on him when
they had questioned him after his capture. All of the threats and torture that they had used.
"Okay, I don't work for Lionel Luthor, I work for Lex Luthor." Dominic said. Obviously this was a
good enough answer as it caused the larger man to drop him. As Dominic fought for breath he thought
that this kid was certainly strong for his age, he definitely looked as if he worked out. He hoped that
this was a good enough truth to buy his survival, at least until Lex decided to kill him.
"Lex Luthor had you spy on me?" Clark asked, a little amused, a little angry but also with a warm
feeling inside him. Lex cared, albeit in an unconventional way, and he wanted to check up on him.
"No. He wanted me to follow Lois Lane, I don't know why but when I saw the two of you together…
he told me to stay away from you but I wanted to know why. I guess now I know."
"Why?" Clark asked, genuinely interested in how he had given away the fact that he and Lex were
friends, or maybe more or that he has some kind of powers that would need him to be avoided at all
costs.
"Well, it's obvious that you work for him too. I don't know what you do but he used to have agents that
were powerful, strong and could kill you without getting out of their seats." Dominic said. "I swear, I
didn't know that you were in on this too. Lex never told me that he had more than one person out there
and I didn't mean to mess with whatever he has you doing…"
Clark looked down at the whimpering, blubbering wreck, weak, he thought and wondered when human
life had been less meaningful to him than before. Only that week he had been wanting to be a
superhero, to live up to the ideals that he had thought meant something but now as he looked at this
snivelling snake in the grass and thought of his time at the hands of his human captors he wondered
why he should help them. What had they ever done for him?
Clark turned and walked back to his apartment, knowing that Dominic would not follow him again,
probably wouldn't follow Lois either. But he had more important things on his mind. The
confrontation had made him realise that most of those he cared for were either dead or had moved on.
He didn't really care about the rest of them, not in the way he once had. The ideals of truth and justice
didn't really seem to hold much weight when he had been denied both and he even questioned if a lot of
these humans even had any humanity in them.
There was something wrong with that, this lack of caring, it was a nonchalance that he had never had
and he knew only one other person that was like it. As Clark made it back to his small apartment, a
place that he could not quite get around to calling home he knew that he was not going to find any
answers alone. He wasn't sure if he even had the strength to fight this alone anymore. Instead he
realised that it was time to go back to the one place that did feel like he belonged there and to the one
person that would have the answers.
He just hoped that Lex would let him back into his life.
--------------------
To Be Continued soon…
Thanks to everyone that is sticking with this.