Martha and Jonathan stared at one another and Jonathan, grimacing, returning from his instinctive dash to the door to follow Clark's raging exit.
There wasn't much to say but things that had to be done. "We'd better...warn Lex." He nodded grimly.
She dialed the number that was almost direct--it went straight to Lex's personal secretary. After a few moments, Lex was on the line.
"Lex, things have changed but not entirely for the better." She rushed that out.
"What do you mean? Is he all right?"
"We didn't want to get your hopes up by saying anything before but the red Kryptonite has the effect of lowering all of Clark's inhibitions, completely blocking his conscience, he's just intent on having whatever he wants. We thought that maybe it would wake him up, if he's been blocking himself." She saw it all too clearly still in her mind, the hand closing on the red stone and his sitting up and looking around. "We thought that it just brought him back to himself, but he was just...disoriented. We couldn't stop him or get the rock away from him. He's gone to find everybody who abused him." Martha swallowed hard. "He said he's going to make them pay. And then he said he's going to find you. He still wants you, Lex, but not...like before."
"I see." A silence extended itself. "How does he know how to find them?"
"I'm not sure but he'd be able to find them very quickly, even if he just narrowed it down to a state. He can run, we don't even know how quickly, faster than any vehicle, and he can see through things."
"I see," Lex repeated. She couldn't read his tone at all and by the time he spoke again, it was back to crisp and decisive. "Pete has the notebook, we'll see if we can figure out from that where he's likely to go."
"Lex," she began, then started again. "Lex, you have to understand that he's dangerous when he's like this. He's perfectly willing to hurt anybody to get what he wants. Be careful."
"Yes. We'll let you know if we find him."
***
*They chatted like they were cutting up a pie, not me. The Orioles, that's Baltimore, and Johns Hopkins is around there. Maybe it's Johns Hopkins. Damn. Nothing looks familiar. What's that other place, Bethesda, something like that. A bit slower, see if anything looks like what I remember.*
*They're really going to pay but they won't be able to pay enough. They'll die, sooner or later, and I wasn't able to. Well, maybe just as well now, but then it was all I wanted. Now, there are a lot more things I want and I'll have every single one of them.*
*I'll make them pay and then start helping myself to all the rest. I was sent to rule here and I see why. Huh, Dad said that Lex was President now. 'Hi, Lex, you're reporting to me now, since I'm ruling everything. Every fucking thing. Oh, speaking of, get that nice tight ass of yours bare for me because I'm coming in!'*
*Wait, that looks familiar, I know that. Do I? Where is this, it doesn't look like an official anything. Okay, the layout could be it. That floor, no, that one, no, that one, no, wait, I think that's it! Yeah, if I was lying on my back, that's what it would look like.*
*Pretty fucking funny, I was looking for another one and found this one. What's Lex's long Lexword for that? Serendipity, that's it. One thing, though. Once I'm done, I won't have any problem finding him, the White House won't be hard to find. Hard, there's a good word.*
*That guy with the lab coat, I know it's him! This is going to be so cool.*
***
"No, Arkins doesn't have any idea, dammit." Pete hung up the phone and turned back to Lex, who was scribbling down possible locations on a list, occasionally stopping to cross one out as another line from the notebooks eliminated it. Lex was looking pretty damn sick, which was no surprise at all. He'd thrown up five or six times, not so much at the pictures and sketches, but knowing that the subject was Clark.
"Pretty safe that it's the same area code," Lex muttered, mostly to himself. "But..."
Pete and he both turned at the pounding at the door. "Come in!" Lex shouted.
"Mr. President! There's been an attack on the Fort Industrials building. It looks like it could be a terrorist attack." That was the first time Pete had ever seen Mark Forrson look anything other than calm.
Pete looked at Lex, who grimaced. "It might not be terrorists, Mark. Not in the classic sense, at least. Keep things as quiet as you can and get cameras to the building."
"Already on their way, Mr. President. It should be live in the Central Room in about a minute."
"Good. Mr. Ross and I want to see if there's something there. We'll know it when we see it."
***
*Char-broiled just the way you like it! This is so great. He wanted to know all about my fucking heat vision, he knows what it feels like now! 'Run the tests for phosphine, Collin. Tell me, do you feel heat anywhere inside yourself before you burn something? If each neuron has 120 millivolts, if it's concentrated that might be enough. Wake up, brat!' Now who's the brat and who's the bratwurst!*
*Yeah, I remember her, too! Coming up behind you, feels a bit hot? Look at her hair go!*
*Don't know who they are, don't think I've seen them. Maybe I'll just scare them a bit.*
*I wonder what that was? Took out the whole floor with it, though. Cool.*
*Okay, where next?*
***
Pete thought he'd been pretty clever at quickly convincing Lex that only one of them should go, now that they'd seen somebody who sure looked like Clark at the third site that had seemingly come under attack. But as usual, Pete thought to himself, if you won an argument with Lex, it meant that he'd just switched something around. "I quite agree. It will create more chaos if we both go and both get killed. So you stay here." Agreeing had been the hardest choice in Pete's life.
Lex had ordered no media access to any of the sites and nobody allowed near except emergency personnel and his own escort. Pete wondered how many other eyes, despite this move on Lex's part, were watching it just the same as he was.
Clark was very clearly dominating the scene. He was leaning against the stop sign in the parking lot, almost casually incinerating anybody who tried to flee the building and occasionally turning to send warning blasts of heat to the small crowd of military and emergency personnel who were arriving and gathering in small, helpless groups.
Pete hadn't realized how much he was sweating until he felt his fingers slip out of the fists he'd formed. He whispered a half-formed prayer as he saw a new group of cars pull up and saw Lex step out.
********
A/N: As usual, Mary Ellen was perfectly right, this isn't the last chapter. The next one is (I think).
There wasn't much to say but things that had to be done. "We'd better...warn Lex." He nodded grimly.
She dialed the number that was almost direct--it went straight to Lex's personal secretary. After a few moments, Lex was on the line.
"Lex, things have changed but not entirely for the better." She rushed that out.
"What do you mean? Is he all right?"
"We didn't want to get your hopes up by saying anything before but the red Kryptonite has the effect of lowering all of Clark's inhibitions, completely blocking his conscience, he's just intent on having whatever he wants. We thought that maybe it would wake him up, if he's been blocking himself." She saw it all too clearly still in her mind, the hand closing on the red stone and his sitting up and looking around. "We thought that it just brought him back to himself, but he was just...disoriented. We couldn't stop him or get the rock away from him. He's gone to find everybody who abused him." Martha swallowed hard. "He said he's going to make them pay. And then he said he's going to find you. He still wants you, Lex, but not...like before."
"I see." A silence extended itself. "How does he know how to find them?"
"I'm not sure but he'd be able to find them very quickly, even if he just narrowed it down to a state. He can run, we don't even know how quickly, faster than any vehicle, and he can see through things."
"I see," Lex repeated. She couldn't read his tone at all and by the time he spoke again, it was back to crisp and decisive. "Pete has the notebook, we'll see if we can figure out from that where he's likely to go."
"Lex," she began, then started again. "Lex, you have to understand that he's dangerous when he's like this. He's perfectly willing to hurt anybody to get what he wants. Be careful."
"Yes. We'll let you know if we find him."
***
*They chatted like they were cutting up a pie, not me. The Orioles, that's Baltimore, and Johns Hopkins is around there. Maybe it's Johns Hopkins. Damn. Nothing looks familiar. What's that other place, Bethesda, something like that. A bit slower, see if anything looks like what I remember.*
*They're really going to pay but they won't be able to pay enough. They'll die, sooner or later, and I wasn't able to. Well, maybe just as well now, but then it was all I wanted. Now, there are a lot more things I want and I'll have every single one of them.*
*I'll make them pay and then start helping myself to all the rest. I was sent to rule here and I see why. Huh, Dad said that Lex was President now. 'Hi, Lex, you're reporting to me now, since I'm ruling everything. Every fucking thing. Oh, speaking of, get that nice tight ass of yours bare for me because I'm coming in!'*
*Wait, that looks familiar, I know that. Do I? Where is this, it doesn't look like an official anything. Okay, the layout could be it. That floor, no, that one, no, that one, no, wait, I think that's it! Yeah, if I was lying on my back, that's what it would look like.*
*Pretty fucking funny, I was looking for another one and found this one. What's Lex's long Lexword for that? Serendipity, that's it. One thing, though. Once I'm done, I won't have any problem finding him, the White House won't be hard to find. Hard, there's a good word.*
*That guy with the lab coat, I know it's him! This is going to be so cool.*
***
"No, Arkins doesn't have any idea, dammit." Pete hung up the phone and turned back to Lex, who was scribbling down possible locations on a list, occasionally stopping to cross one out as another line from the notebooks eliminated it. Lex was looking pretty damn sick, which was no surprise at all. He'd thrown up five or six times, not so much at the pictures and sketches, but knowing that the subject was Clark.
"Pretty safe that it's the same area code," Lex muttered, mostly to himself. "But..."
Pete and he both turned at the pounding at the door. "Come in!" Lex shouted.
"Mr. President! There's been an attack on the Fort Industrials building. It looks like it could be a terrorist attack." That was the first time Pete had ever seen Mark Forrson look anything other than calm.
Pete looked at Lex, who grimaced. "It might not be terrorists, Mark. Not in the classic sense, at least. Keep things as quiet as you can and get cameras to the building."
"Already on their way, Mr. President. It should be live in the Central Room in about a minute."
"Good. Mr. Ross and I want to see if there's something there. We'll know it when we see it."
***
*Char-broiled just the way you like it! This is so great. He wanted to know all about my fucking heat vision, he knows what it feels like now! 'Run the tests for phosphine, Collin. Tell me, do you feel heat anywhere inside yourself before you burn something? If each neuron has 120 millivolts, if it's concentrated that might be enough. Wake up, brat!' Now who's the brat and who's the bratwurst!*
*Yeah, I remember her, too! Coming up behind you, feels a bit hot? Look at her hair go!*
*Don't know who they are, don't think I've seen them. Maybe I'll just scare them a bit.*
*I wonder what that was? Took out the whole floor with it, though. Cool.*
*Okay, where next?*
***
Pete thought he'd been pretty clever at quickly convincing Lex that only one of them should go, now that they'd seen somebody who sure looked like Clark at the third site that had seemingly come under attack. But as usual, Pete thought to himself, if you won an argument with Lex, it meant that he'd just switched something around. "I quite agree. It will create more chaos if we both go and both get killed. So you stay here." Agreeing had been the hardest choice in Pete's life.
Lex had ordered no media access to any of the sites and nobody allowed near except emergency personnel and his own escort. Pete wondered how many other eyes, despite this move on Lex's part, were watching it just the same as he was.
Clark was very clearly dominating the scene. He was leaning against the stop sign in the parking lot, almost casually incinerating anybody who tried to flee the building and occasionally turning to send warning blasts of heat to the small crowd of military and emergency personnel who were arriving and gathering in small, helpless groups.
Pete hadn't realized how much he was sweating until he felt his fingers slip out of the fists he'd formed. He whispered a half-formed prayer as he saw a new group of cars pull up and saw Lex step out.
********
A/N: As usual, Mary Ellen was perfectly right, this isn't the last chapter. The next one is (I think).