Clark woke up from sleeping off the side of the highway. He was got up,
yawning. His abilities had never been more tested than in the last few
days. He had rode, without rest, on and on and on, taking instructions from
Jor-el, who had somehow withstood the destruction of the ship. He returned
to his bike, hidden in the bushes. Jonathan's bike, he thought, my father's
bike. But Clark's true feelings were silenced by the power of the red ring,
the power that Jor-el was calling his son. Clark had tried for days to get
back to home, but it was useless. The red ring, Kal-el, was in control. And
Kal-el was controlled by Jor-el's commands. Kal-el firmly pushed Clark back
into his subconscious, and the thought of Jonathan receded with him.
Clark had learned how to fight Kal-el and his father. He did this by
bringing up thoughts of his own family abruptly throughout the days.
Because Clark was a strong person, and was so buried in emotions, he was
able to shock and catch his captors off-guard. Jor-el and Kal-el did not
feel emotion. Clark would ask them questions though, and they would answer
some.
"Why didn't you come after me when I had the red ring on before?" he asked.
"Because your time in Smallville was not finished yet. You were still in what you call school, and I had not yet provided for your family as I should have." Jor-el replied placidly.
"Meaning you hadn't healed my mom."
"That was one of the reasons, yes. I healed her so that she could have a child to replace you. She was an excellent mother, much like your true mother."
"Martha Kent is my true mother!" Clark silently yelled in Jor-el's mind.
"No, she is not. Besides, you have hurt her greatly. She loves you very much. And then, you go off and kill the one she loves just as much. That unborn baby was all she would have after you left. And now, she doesn't even have that." Clark fought to reply, but Kal-el restrained him with his mind. " She almost died, you know. After the accident, the day after you left. My sense is she entered the otherworld of the humans, but was pushed back somehow. My spirit watched her, when Jonathan was talking to doctors. She kept saying words like, baby, daughter, Ryan, and mom and repeatedly, Luthor, Lillian. I do wonder what those words mean." Clark knew their true significance, but kept his thoughts hidden. Kal-el and Jor-el could not read his thoughts that he did not want read, just those that he opened to them and pushed upon them.
"Show me." He said hoarsely.
"Show you what?" asked Jor-el.
"Show me my parents, what they have been doing."
"Alright, I will. But you will not like it. Kal-el, restrain him." Clark at once felt a tighter guard on the body that was once his. Kal-el controlled Clark's body and his mind, but the true Clark was in the head of Jor-el and Kal-el. Whether they wanted him there or not.
"I shall begin." Jor-el said. And so he did. Clark suddenly got a collage of images, all flashing through his head, of his parents crying, Martha dying with Jonathan by her bedside. Lionel in grief beyond words, looking dazed at a photo of himself and his beloved Lillian. Lex, tears streaming down his face, as he crawled up the beach where his ship had laid him. Lana crying in the back room whenever she had a break, and Chloe, Chloe just, existing, and turning her knowledge of him against him, in hatred. Clark felt Kal-el flinch, he suddenly realized that he could feel the images too, and they disturbed him. The hold on him momentarily was gone. Clark knew what he had to do. Screaming, he stuck his hand in the engine of the running bike. Jor-el screamed, but it was too late, the gears in the motorbike had worked the ring loose. Clark, now fully in control of his body, pulled his hand out and hopped on the bike and began to return where he had come from, back to Smallville. And there was nothing Jor-El, or the now defeated Kal-el could do about it.
Martha awoke and momentarily did not know where she was. Then she remembered. Jonathan had found her last night, and they had sat on the kitchen floor together. He had carried her into the living room, where she had fallen asleep on the couch. She looked to the floor, where Jonathan was laying, looking right back up at her. He quickly got to his feet, and rushed into the kitchen. He came out with fresh pancakes, and put them on the coffee table. They shared breakfast together, just smiling and mulling over the early days of their marriage. Jonathan was beginning to be hopefully optimistic. Maybe, maybe, after a long time, this would be all right again. Clark would come home, and Martha would really be happy again. And the family would be all right. Jonathan excused himself to go get the morning paper. It was raining heavily outside, but he did not care. He glanced at the first-page and his hands began to shake. He returned to the house, and put the paper on the table in front of Martha. He joined her on the couch. She looked at it, and could not breath. The headline read; Smallville is more than it seems, meteor rocks live on; a high-school reporter speaks out. The article went on to talk about all the odd events of Smallville, and how they were all meteor-related. About Earl Jenkins, and Desiree Luthor, and Emily, the meteor clone. About Greg, and the boys from the softball team; even about Lex Luthor. And lastly, about Clark.
.Clark Kent, Mystery boy, may not longer be a mystery to all. It is this reporter's opinion that meteor rocks affect him also. We have all seen at least one heroic act of Clark over the past two years, and we are all very grateful. However, the mystery part comes in on how he is able to perform these rescues. Granted, he almost always knows the people in trouble; his friendship with Lex Luthor may have contributed to this, but how does he do it? Recent rescues of the year have included saving Lex from an enraged, insane, Rachel DunLeavy, finding and stopping the man who was attempting to murder Lionel Luthor, rescueing both myself and Lana Lang from being thrown off a bridge, and rescueing Lana once she was thrown into a raging river. These and others are just a few of what we can consider normal from Clark Kent. But despite these heroic tales, Clark is also known to have a dark side. Just ask Lana Lang, Pete Ross, or myself, and we can all tell you tales of when Clark left his good morals far behind him on the farm.
The story went on to talk more about "evil Clark" and then onto other possibly meteor affected residents of Smallville. At the bottom, it was signed, By Chloe Sullivan, Editor of the Smallville Torch
She left the room without speaking. Jonathan followed her, trying to think of what to say. She did not look at him. She entered their room, shutting the door behind her. Jonathan heard the lock click. Sighing, he turned around and went downstairs, unsure of what to do. However, his answer was provided for him when he answered the phone.
"Jonathan? This is Lionel Luthor. I assume you have seen the Smallville Torch." Lionel said once Jonathan had said hello. He quickly continued. "This is rather problematic. Please, if I could meet with you and Martha today, any time,"
"You and I are welcome to meet, Lionel. Martha, she, did not take the article well. She has locked herself in our room."
"I see. This is very problematic. You see, Chloe Sullivan was hired by me too." Martha listened to her husband's footsteps as he paced around. She heard a few words of the conversation, snippets here and there, but nothing she could draw a connection from. She didn't want to think. The article kept ringing out in her mind, what the public now knew about Clark, what Chloe had known about Clark. And one thought continued to ring in her head. What had Clark done to anger Chloe to write this? And what was she going to write next? Martha knew Chloe had been there the day after the accident, and no one else did. But why did she wait there? Why did she watch them for an hour on end? Chloe was very smart, if she knew bits and pieces of Clark's mysteries, what had she put together on her own? And what was she willing to share? Martha did not want to think of it. She sighed, and got out a faded book from her closet. It was the book she assembled of pictures of Clark, a baby book of sorts, but it went from when they found him to recently. She flipped through the pages, reminiscing about her little boy. She didn't hear Jonathan walk up the stairs, but she did hear him knock on the door. Reality came back to her like a slap in the face.
"Martha?" he called. She did not respond, just cried. He could hear her outside the door, and began to tear also. "I'm, I'm going to meet Lionel Luthor. He has some information and advice about the situation." Again, no response. "I'm going to the Talon to meet him, or to the mansion. I'll be home as soon as I can." He paused outside the door. "Martha, talk to me, please. I love you" he rasped the last sentence, it was buried in tears. He listened, and knew that she was leaning against the door. "I love you. I will be home soon." Defeated, he turned away and walked down the hall.
"I love you too." She whispered, knowing he probably didn't hear. But he did
About an hour after Jonathan left, Martha knew what she had to do. Pulling on a hooded sweatshirt (she didn't particularly want to be recognized.) and warm sweatpants (Jonathan would freak out with worry if he thought she was chilled), she left her house. She drove to the Beanery, where she ordered a coffee and looked around. There, she saw her reason for leaving the comforting silence of her room, and the reason all this was happening. Chloe Sullivan was sitting by herself at a table, drinking a coffee and typing furiously on her laptop. Martha went and sat across from her.
"Hello Chloe." She said. Chloe slowly looked up. She knew who it was from the first word.
"Hello Mrs. Kent. I am surprised to find you at the Beanery. Wouldn't you have a Talon discount by now?"
"I came to talk to you. I know of your coffee addiction, and I highly doubted you would be at the Talon, around my husband, Mr. Luthor and Lana Lang."
"Too true, too true," Chloe mused. It scared Martha to realize how much like Lionel she had become, before Lionel had changed of course. "So, what do you need to talk to me about? I assume the article I wrote for the Ledger. I am surprised it made first page, surprised yet very flattered."
"Why did you write it?" Martha asked her plainly. Chloe looked up sharply.
"Plain and simple Mrs. Kent. It was a story, and I knew stuff about it, that needed to be shared with the public. I've known all this stuff since I came to Smallville. And now I can share it. It's a fascinating and enticing opportunity. It's a start, it's a multi-part article you know."
"Do you still care about Clark?" Chloe looked up again.
"No. You never knew, but he hurt me."
"I'm sure he didn't mean to."
"Yes, his neglect to mean, or care about anything is well known. And, by the way, what does Lionel Luthor have to do with Clark's adoption?"
"I, I can't tell you." She stuttered, caught off-guard at Chloe's knowledge.
"Tsk, tsk, another Kent with secrets. And we know you have secrets. At least you don't bring them up like your son. You keep them from your entire family, for a while at least. Your baby, things like that. Only Ryan may have known them all. But, as with many people in Smallville, Ryan died after learning a Kent secret." Wonder wall, by Oasis, began to play softly on the Beanery speakers. Chloe rose and shut her laptop.
"Mrs. Kent, I must go, but I hope you are well." She said as she walked toward the door. Martha followed her outside.
"Chloe, please. Why do you want to hurt Clark?"
"Because he hurt me," Chloe said, turning on her heel to face her, "he really, really hurt me. I can't forgive him, my god; I can't even talk to him. All I can do is hurt him. It's cruel, but so is your son." Martha flinched; the mother in her crying out at the names her son was being called. Chloe had turned and was walking away. She called out weakly,
"Chloe, please. I'm sorry for what he did to you. But please, don't hurt Clark. This family cannot bear any more pain; I can't lose both of my children. Please, don't hurt him." Chloe turned her head and looked at Martha. In the dim light, she could see what looked like regret on Chloe's face.
"Too Late." Chloe said softly. She then turned and walked out into the darkness. Martha slowly returned to her car. She turned on the radio, which was playing Wonder wall.
.Today was gonna be the day, but they'll never throw it back to you
By now, you should have somehow realized what your not to do.
...And maybe, maybe, your gonna be the one to save me, save me
'Cause after all, you're my Wonder wall. Martha silently drove off; pondering what life would have been if Clark had been more sensitive to Chloe's feelings, or if Chloe had not been there at all.
"Why didn't you come after me when I had the red ring on before?" he asked.
"Because your time in Smallville was not finished yet. You were still in what you call school, and I had not yet provided for your family as I should have." Jor-el replied placidly.
"Meaning you hadn't healed my mom."
"That was one of the reasons, yes. I healed her so that she could have a child to replace you. She was an excellent mother, much like your true mother."
"Martha Kent is my true mother!" Clark silently yelled in Jor-el's mind.
"No, she is not. Besides, you have hurt her greatly. She loves you very much. And then, you go off and kill the one she loves just as much. That unborn baby was all she would have after you left. And now, she doesn't even have that." Clark fought to reply, but Kal-el restrained him with his mind. " She almost died, you know. After the accident, the day after you left. My sense is she entered the otherworld of the humans, but was pushed back somehow. My spirit watched her, when Jonathan was talking to doctors. She kept saying words like, baby, daughter, Ryan, and mom and repeatedly, Luthor, Lillian. I do wonder what those words mean." Clark knew their true significance, but kept his thoughts hidden. Kal-el and Jor-el could not read his thoughts that he did not want read, just those that he opened to them and pushed upon them.
"Show me." He said hoarsely.
"Show you what?" asked Jor-el.
"Show me my parents, what they have been doing."
"Alright, I will. But you will not like it. Kal-el, restrain him." Clark at once felt a tighter guard on the body that was once his. Kal-el controlled Clark's body and his mind, but the true Clark was in the head of Jor-el and Kal-el. Whether they wanted him there or not.
"I shall begin." Jor-el said. And so he did. Clark suddenly got a collage of images, all flashing through his head, of his parents crying, Martha dying with Jonathan by her bedside. Lionel in grief beyond words, looking dazed at a photo of himself and his beloved Lillian. Lex, tears streaming down his face, as he crawled up the beach where his ship had laid him. Lana crying in the back room whenever she had a break, and Chloe, Chloe just, existing, and turning her knowledge of him against him, in hatred. Clark felt Kal-el flinch, he suddenly realized that he could feel the images too, and they disturbed him. The hold on him momentarily was gone. Clark knew what he had to do. Screaming, he stuck his hand in the engine of the running bike. Jor-el screamed, but it was too late, the gears in the motorbike had worked the ring loose. Clark, now fully in control of his body, pulled his hand out and hopped on the bike and began to return where he had come from, back to Smallville. And there was nothing Jor-El, or the now defeated Kal-el could do about it.
Martha awoke and momentarily did not know where she was. Then she remembered. Jonathan had found her last night, and they had sat on the kitchen floor together. He had carried her into the living room, where she had fallen asleep on the couch. She looked to the floor, where Jonathan was laying, looking right back up at her. He quickly got to his feet, and rushed into the kitchen. He came out with fresh pancakes, and put them on the coffee table. They shared breakfast together, just smiling and mulling over the early days of their marriage. Jonathan was beginning to be hopefully optimistic. Maybe, maybe, after a long time, this would be all right again. Clark would come home, and Martha would really be happy again. And the family would be all right. Jonathan excused himself to go get the morning paper. It was raining heavily outside, but he did not care. He glanced at the first-page and his hands began to shake. He returned to the house, and put the paper on the table in front of Martha. He joined her on the couch. She looked at it, and could not breath. The headline read; Smallville is more than it seems, meteor rocks live on; a high-school reporter speaks out. The article went on to talk about all the odd events of Smallville, and how they were all meteor-related. About Earl Jenkins, and Desiree Luthor, and Emily, the meteor clone. About Greg, and the boys from the softball team; even about Lex Luthor. And lastly, about Clark.
.Clark Kent, Mystery boy, may not longer be a mystery to all. It is this reporter's opinion that meteor rocks affect him also. We have all seen at least one heroic act of Clark over the past two years, and we are all very grateful. However, the mystery part comes in on how he is able to perform these rescues. Granted, he almost always knows the people in trouble; his friendship with Lex Luthor may have contributed to this, but how does he do it? Recent rescues of the year have included saving Lex from an enraged, insane, Rachel DunLeavy, finding and stopping the man who was attempting to murder Lionel Luthor, rescueing both myself and Lana Lang from being thrown off a bridge, and rescueing Lana once she was thrown into a raging river. These and others are just a few of what we can consider normal from Clark Kent. But despite these heroic tales, Clark is also known to have a dark side. Just ask Lana Lang, Pete Ross, or myself, and we can all tell you tales of when Clark left his good morals far behind him on the farm.
The story went on to talk more about "evil Clark" and then onto other possibly meteor affected residents of Smallville. At the bottom, it was signed, By Chloe Sullivan, Editor of the Smallville Torch
She left the room without speaking. Jonathan followed her, trying to think of what to say. She did not look at him. She entered their room, shutting the door behind her. Jonathan heard the lock click. Sighing, he turned around and went downstairs, unsure of what to do. However, his answer was provided for him when he answered the phone.
"Jonathan? This is Lionel Luthor. I assume you have seen the Smallville Torch." Lionel said once Jonathan had said hello. He quickly continued. "This is rather problematic. Please, if I could meet with you and Martha today, any time,"
"You and I are welcome to meet, Lionel. Martha, she, did not take the article well. She has locked herself in our room."
"I see. This is very problematic. You see, Chloe Sullivan was hired by me too." Martha listened to her husband's footsteps as he paced around. She heard a few words of the conversation, snippets here and there, but nothing she could draw a connection from. She didn't want to think. The article kept ringing out in her mind, what the public now knew about Clark, what Chloe had known about Clark. And one thought continued to ring in her head. What had Clark done to anger Chloe to write this? And what was she going to write next? Martha knew Chloe had been there the day after the accident, and no one else did. But why did she wait there? Why did she watch them for an hour on end? Chloe was very smart, if she knew bits and pieces of Clark's mysteries, what had she put together on her own? And what was she willing to share? Martha did not want to think of it. She sighed, and got out a faded book from her closet. It was the book she assembled of pictures of Clark, a baby book of sorts, but it went from when they found him to recently. She flipped through the pages, reminiscing about her little boy. She didn't hear Jonathan walk up the stairs, but she did hear him knock on the door. Reality came back to her like a slap in the face.
"Martha?" he called. She did not respond, just cried. He could hear her outside the door, and began to tear also. "I'm, I'm going to meet Lionel Luthor. He has some information and advice about the situation." Again, no response. "I'm going to the Talon to meet him, or to the mansion. I'll be home as soon as I can." He paused outside the door. "Martha, talk to me, please. I love you" he rasped the last sentence, it was buried in tears. He listened, and knew that she was leaning against the door. "I love you. I will be home soon." Defeated, he turned away and walked down the hall.
"I love you too." She whispered, knowing he probably didn't hear. But he did
About an hour after Jonathan left, Martha knew what she had to do. Pulling on a hooded sweatshirt (she didn't particularly want to be recognized.) and warm sweatpants (Jonathan would freak out with worry if he thought she was chilled), she left her house. She drove to the Beanery, where she ordered a coffee and looked around. There, she saw her reason for leaving the comforting silence of her room, and the reason all this was happening. Chloe Sullivan was sitting by herself at a table, drinking a coffee and typing furiously on her laptop. Martha went and sat across from her.
"Hello Chloe." She said. Chloe slowly looked up. She knew who it was from the first word.
"Hello Mrs. Kent. I am surprised to find you at the Beanery. Wouldn't you have a Talon discount by now?"
"I came to talk to you. I know of your coffee addiction, and I highly doubted you would be at the Talon, around my husband, Mr. Luthor and Lana Lang."
"Too true, too true," Chloe mused. It scared Martha to realize how much like Lionel she had become, before Lionel had changed of course. "So, what do you need to talk to me about? I assume the article I wrote for the Ledger. I am surprised it made first page, surprised yet very flattered."
"Why did you write it?" Martha asked her plainly. Chloe looked up sharply.
"Plain and simple Mrs. Kent. It was a story, and I knew stuff about it, that needed to be shared with the public. I've known all this stuff since I came to Smallville. And now I can share it. It's a fascinating and enticing opportunity. It's a start, it's a multi-part article you know."
"Do you still care about Clark?" Chloe looked up again.
"No. You never knew, but he hurt me."
"I'm sure he didn't mean to."
"Yes, his neglect to mean, or care about anything is well known. And, by the way, what does Lionel Luthor have to do with Clark's adoption?"
"I, I can't tell you." She stuttered, caught off-guard at Chloe's knowledge.
"Tsk, tsk, another Kent with secrets. And we know you have secrets. At least you don't bring them up like your son. You keep them from your entire family, for a while at least. Your baby, things like that. Only Ryan may have known them all. But, as with many people in Smallville, Ryan died after learning a Kent secret." Wonder wall, by Oasis, began to play softly on the Beanery speakers. Chloe rose and shut her laptop.
"Mrs. Kent, I must go, but I hope you are well." She said as she walked toward the door. Martha followed her outside.
"Chloe, please. Why do you want to hurt Clark?"
"Because he hurt me," Chloe said, turning on her heel to face her, "he really, really hurt me. I can't forgive him, my god; I can't even talk to him. All I can do is hurt him. It's cruel, but so is your son." Martha flinched; the mother in her crying out at the names her son was being called. Chloe had turned and was walking away. She called out weakly,
"Chloe, please. I'm sorry for what he did to you. But please, don't hurt Clark. This family cannot bear any more pain; I can't lose both of my children. Please, don't hurt him." Chloe turned her head and looked at Martha. In the dim light, she could see what looked like regret on Chloe's face.
"Too Late." Chloe said softly. She then turned and walked out into the darkness. Martha slowly returned to her car. She turned on the radio, which was playing Wonder wall.
.Today was gonna be the day, but they'll never throw it back to you
By now, you should have somehow realized what your not to do.
...And maybe, maybe, your gonna be the one to save me, save me
'Cause after all, you're my Wonder wall. Martha silently drove off; pondering what life would have been if Clark had been more sensitive to Chloe's feelings, or if Chloe had not been there at all.