Disclaimer: I do not own the TV show Smallville or any of its characters;
they belong to a combination of the WB and DC comics.
Spoilers: Only for rumours about the beginning of Season Three of Smallville and the end of Season Two if you haven't seen it yet.
**********************************************************************
Clark was sitting up in the barn staring into the early evening sky, it had been a long day what with Lana bringing him home and the discussion he had with his parents. While they were overjoyed to have him back home, Clark sensed a shade of melancholy hidden beneath the surface of their feelings. He was unsure as to how his relationship with his parents would develop from now on, but he could only hope it would become stronger in the face of everything that had happened. There was a glimmer of hope though because after Clark had gotten through talking to his parents they had grounded him for running away and donning the red meteor rock ring. Under normal circumstances Clark would have been upset about being grounded, but he realized he needed to take responsibility for his actions, plus it showed his parents still cared about him.
His thoughts turned to Lex's death, it had been something he'd been trying not to concentrate on since he'd come out of his red meteor rock influenced state, as when he did he got very sad. His parents had expressed surprise that Clark had known about it, but he'd explained that news as big as Lex Luthor dying was something that not even his selfish existence under the influence of the red meteor rocks could have failed to notice. Although some of the circumstances surrounding the crash raised his suspicions, such as the fact that Lex's body was never found and that Helen had survived and now stood to inherit everything Lex had owned.
Eventually Clark heard the noise he was hoping for, the distant sound of a car driving towards the Kent farm, after the talk with his parents he had rung Pete so that they could talk about everything that had happened and it sounded like he had nearly arrived.
Clark went down and out of the barn to go and greet Pete as he pulled up right where they play basketball together whenever they need to burn off nervous energy and discuss things.
"Hey Pete, you wanna play ball?"
"Nah Clark we've got a lot to talk about and I'd rather be somewhere warm."
"Ok, let's go in the barn. I'll go make us some hot chocolate and we can get down to it."
"Ok"
Clark went over into the kitchen and made them both some hot chocolate, cutting some corners using his heat vision, something he'd learned under the influence of the red meteor rocks, although it was less hot chocolate and more sambuca. He then walked back to the barn and found Pete waiting for him, sitting in a chair, he handed Pete the hot chocolate and asked "Where do I start?"
"The beginning's always the best place." Pete pointed out
"Right, well." and so Clark explained everything. Including the consequences of their plan to destroy the ship with the green meteor rock key, Chloe's hostile reaction to his relationship with Lana and then how he just felt like he needed to escape from everything, hence the red meteor rock ring. Plus of course, everything he'd done under its influence and how Lana had caused him to come back.
"Wow, all I did this summer was work at The Talon."
"Yeah Lana told me about that, how come you started working there?"
"Clark, you leaving had a really bad effect on Lana, she became obsessed with finding you and I was worried she might become emotionally unbalanced, so I took a job at The Talon to keep an eye on her."
"Thanks. Pete." Clark replied gratefully
"Hey man I didn't do it for you, I was concerned about her. Anyway it gave me something to do over the summer."
Clark knew from Pete's words that he had also felt abandoned by Clark's behavior, he had just coped in a different way to Lana and unable to think of anything to say they sat in awkward silence for a few minutes.
"So, how come Lana knows about you being ET?" Pete asked, breaking the silence
"Well after she saw me use my heat vision there was no way around it. I tried to bluff my way out of it but she didn't exactly believe my story about how the thugs clothes had caught fire."
"Which was?"
"That one of the guys must have been a smoker and during the fight must have accidentally spilt lighter fluid over their clothes and a match must have accidentally lit causing the lighter fluid to catch fire."
"That was the best you could come up with?" Pete got out between gales of laughter
"Hey, I was thinking on my feet."
"Well I'm glad you don't have to do that too often."
Once his laughter had died down Pete's expression sobered and he asked Clark "Did your parent's tell you about Lex?"
"Yeah but I already knew, the plane crash was pretty much all over the place, even under the influence of the meteor rocks I couldn't have failed to notice it. The thing is."
"What?"
"I just feel like he's still alive out there, somewhere."
**********************************************************************
The cool seabreeze coming off the ocean awoke Lex as usual at first light, he wiped the sleep out of his eyes and sat up to give the ocean a customary glance in the vain hope of rescue before diving in for a wash. He'd lost track of the days he had been stuck on this island since the plane crash and he had been unable to salvage anything from the plane wreck as it was currently 100 ft below sea level. After he had finished cleansing himself in the sea he strode back onto the beach and picked up the remnants of his suit jacket and used it to dry himself off. Then he grabbed his shirt, which he had torn the sleeves off of to keep cool, and slipped it on, he finished clothing himself by putting on the suit trousers he had torn from knee level.
Now fully dressed, Lex now had to make the journey to the other side of the island where the only other inhabitant lived so he could borrow his magnifying glass, which was the only way to make fire on the island. Early on in Lex's stay on the island he had gotten on quite well with his neighbor, to the extent they had become close friends, however as time went by each started to aggravate the other to the extent they couldn't even sleep near one another. So Lex had moved out of the makeshift hut and out onto the beach, only returning to the hut in need of tools or shelter from bad weather.
The trail across the island was still difficult no matter how many times Lex used it, everyday the ground seemed to shift causing him to come into contact with various insect colonies and plantlife that seemed to exist for no other reason than to piss him off. Today Lex disturbed a large ant's nest and tripped over a very large log, but he eventually made it to the hut of Louis Leery Jr.
Louis at that moment in time was waist-deep in the sea and seemed to be attempting to fish, until Lex had arrived Louis had been living off what he could forage from the island as he could not fish. Lex's survival training and general ingenuity served him well in being able to catch fish; he simply improvised a fishing net from the torn off pieces of clothing and his tie. However, even when Lex let Louis borrow the fishing net he still had difficulty catching any fish, normally coming back with only one or two after hours of trying. So Louis had gone back to his tried and tested method of trying to grab the fish with his hands, believing he had more success that way.
"Hey Louis" Lex called out
Louis stopped his unsuccessful attempts at fishing and stalked over to Lex, Louis was about 5 ft 11 and had wet scruffy hair from diving about in the sea for the past couple of hours.
"What do you want Lex?" Louis asked walking straight past him to his hut.
"I need the magnifying glass, why else would I come here?"
"I'm busy" Louis said shortly
Lex tried reaching inside the hut, but Louis blocked his way and seemed to be slightly jittery.
"Come on Louis I'm not asking for much, just give me the magnifying glass."
"No Lex, come back later." Louis told him, starting to shake
Lex noticed Louis' body language and asked him "What are you hiding, Louis?"
"N-nothing"
Lex quickly assessed the situation and realizing Louis was not about to let him pass swung a right hook at him; it was just enough to daze Louis while Lex changed his stance and drove a knee into Louis' abdomen. Louis fell to the side allowing Lex full access to the hut, originally his only intention had been to get the magnifying glass and go start a fire to cook himself breakfast, but now he was intrigued.
He searched the hut high and low, but was only able to find Louis' various possessions arranged in a haphazard manner, they included clothing, berries & other foraged food, a flashlight with no batteries and Louis' journal. Until he noticed that some of Louis' clothing seemed to be arranged as if to hide something, as Lex went to remove the clothes, Louis jumped him from behind. Lex quickly disposed of him by flipping Louis' over his head into the hut's right wall. Louis lay on the ground spitting blood while Lex removed the clothes to reveal a two-way radio. Lex checked it over, his hands shaking with excitement and discovered that it was working and attuned to a specific frequency.
Suddenly the implications of what this meant flooded Lex's brain and he turned to face Louis angrily.
"You were going to leave me behind, WHY?" Lex yelled, being stuck on this island for such a long time had caused Lex's emotions to rise to the surface more often.
"I wasn't, it's just that they told me they would only have room for one, I was gonna send them back for you, honest." Louis replied pleadingly
Lex suddenly had another thought "How long have you had this?"
"Well. uh."
"ANSWER ME!!!" Lex bellowed
"A few days, it washed up inside a waterproof bag, I think it came from your plane."
A sudden calm washed over Lex as he realized what he had to do, he picked up a rock from the floor and approached Louis slowly, and his jaw clamped shut determined that what must be done, must be done.
Spoilers: Only for rumours about the beginning of Season Three of Smallville and the end of Season Two if you haven't seen it yet.
**********************************************************************
Clark was sitting up in the barn staring into the early evening sky, it had been a long day what with Lana bringing him home and the discussion he had with his parents. While they were overjoyed to have him back home, Clark sensed a shade of melancholy hidden beneath the surface of their feelings. He was unsure as to how his relationship with his parents would develop from now on, but he could only hope it would become stronger in the face of everything that had happened. There was a glimmer of hope though because after Clark had gotten through talking to his parents they had grounded him for running away and donning the red meteor rock ring. Under normal circumstances Clark would have been upset about being grounded, but he realized he needed to take responsibility for his actions, plus it showed his parents still cared about him.
His thoughts turned to Lex's death, it had been something he'd been trying not to concentrate on since he'd come out of his red meteor rock influenced state, as when he did he got very sad. His parents had expressed surprise that Clark had known about it, but he'd explained that news as big as Lex Luthor dying was something that not even his selfish existence under the influence of the red meteor rocks could have failed to notice. Although some of the circumstances surrounding the crash raised his suspicions, such as the fact that Lex's body was never found and that Helen had survived and now stood to inherit everything Lex had owned.
Eventually Clark heard the noise he was hoping for, the distant sound of a car driving towards the Kent farm, after the talk with his parents he had rung Pete so that they could talk about everything that had happened and it sounded like he had nearly arrived.
Clark went down and out of the barn to go and greet Pete as he pulled up right where they play basketball together whenever they need to burn off nervous energy and discuss things.
"Hey Pete, you wanna play ball?"
"Nah Clark we've got a lot to talk about and I'd rather be somewhere warm."
"Ok, let's go in the barn. I'll go make us some hot chocolate and we can get down to it."
"Ok"
Clark went over into the kitchen and made them both some hot chocolate, cutting some corners using his heat vision, something he'd learned under the influence of the red meteor rocks, although it was less hot chocolate and more sambuca. He then walked back to the barn and found Pete waiting for him, sitting in a chair, he handed Pete the hot chocolate and asked "Where do I start?"
"The beginning's always the best place." Pete pointed out
"Right, well." and so Clark explained everything. Including the consequences of their plan to destroy the ship with the green meteor rock key, Chloe's hostile reaction to his relationship with Lana and then how he just felt like he needed to escape from everything, hence the red meteor rock ring. Plus of course, everything he'd done under its influence and how Lana had caused him to come back.
"Wow, all I did this summer was work at The Talon."
"Yeah Lana told me about that, how come you started working there?"
"Clark, you leaving had a really bad effect on Lana, she became obsessed with finding you and I was worried she might become emotionally unbalanced, so I took a job at The Talon to keep an eye on her."
"Thanks. Pete." Clark replied gratefully
"Hey man I didn't do it for you, I was concerned about her. Anyway it gave me something to do over the summer."
Clark knew from Pete's words that he had also felt abandoned by Clark's behavior, he had just coped in a different way to Lana and unable to think of anything to say they sat in awkward silence for a few minutes.
"So, how come Lana knows about you being ET?" Pete asked, breaking the silence
"Well after she saw me use my heat vision there was no way around it. I tried to bluff my way out of it but she didn't exactly believe my story about how the thugs clothes had caught fire."
"Which was?"
"That one of the guys must have been a smoker and during the fight must have accidentally spilt lighter fluid over their clothes and a match must have accidentally lit causing the lighter fluid to catch fire."
"That was the best you could come up with?" Pete got out between gales of laughter
"Hey, I was thinking on my feet."
"Well I'm glad you don't have to do that too often."
Once his laughter had died down Pete's expression sobered and he asked Clark "Did your parent's tell you about Lex?"
"Yeah but I already knew, the plane crash was pretty much all over the place, even under the influence of the meteor rocks I couldn't have failed to notice it. The thing is."
"What?"
"I just feel like he's still alive out there, somewhere."
**********************************************************************
The cool seabreeze coming off the ocean awoke Lex as usual at first light, he wiped the sleep out of his eyes and sat up to give the ocean a customary glance in the vain hope of rescue before diving in for a wash. He'd lost track of the days he had been stuck on this island since the plane crash and he had been unable to salvage anything from the plane wreck as it was currently 100 ft below sea level. After he had finished cleansing himself in the sea he strode back onto the beach and picked up the remnants of his suit jacket and used it to dry himself off. Then he grabbed his shirt, which he had torn the sleeves off of to keep cool, and slipped it on, he finished clothing himself by putting on the suit trousers he had torn from knee level.
Now fully dressed, Lex now had to make the journey to the other side of the island where the only other inhabitant lived so he could borrow his magnifying glass, which was the only way to make fire on the island. Early on in Lex's stay on the island he had gotten on quite well with his neighbor, to the extent they had become close friends, however as time went by each started to aggravate the other to the extent they couldn't even sleep near one another. So Lex had moved out of the makeshift hut and out onto the beach, only returning to the hut in need of tools or shelter from bad weather.
The trail across the island was still difficult no matter how many times Lex used it, everyday the ground seemed to shift causing him to come into contact with various insect colonies and plantlife that seemed to exist for no other reason than to piss him off. Today Lex disturbed a large ant's nest and tripped over a very large log, but he eventually made it to the hut of Louis Leery Jr.
Louis at that moment in time was waist-deep in the sea and seemed to be attempting to fish, until Lex had arrived Louis had been living off what he could forage from the island as he could not fish. Lex's survival training and general ingenuity served him well in being able to catch fish; he simply improvised a fishing net from the torn off pieces of clothing and his tie. However, even when Lex let Louis borrow the fishing net he still had difficulty catching any fish, normally coming back with only one or two after hours of trying. So Louis had gone back to his tried and tested method of trying to grab the fish with his hands, believing he had more success that way.
"Hey Louis" Lex called out
Louis stopped his unsuccessful attempts at fishing and stalked over to Lex, Louis was about 5 ft 11 and had wet scruffy hair from diving about in the sea for the past couple of hours.
"What do you want Lex?" Louis asked walking straight past him to his hut.
"I need the magnifying glass, why else would I come here?"
"I'm busy" Louis said shortly
Lex tried reaching inside the hut, but Louis blocked his way and seemed to be slightly jittery.
"Come on Louis I'm not asking for much, just give me the magnifying glass."
"No Lex, come back later." Louis told him, starting to shake
Lex noticed Louis' body language and asked him "What are you hiding, Louis?"
"N-nothing"
Lex quickly assessed the situation and realizing Louis was not about to let him pass swung a right hook at him; it was just enough to daze Louis while Lex changed his stance and drove a knee into Louis' abdomen. Louis fell to the side allowing Lex full access to the hut, originally his only intention had been to get the magnifying glass and go start a fire to cook himself breakfast, but now he was intrigued.
He searched the hut high and low, but was only able to find Louis' various possessions arranged in a haphazard manner, they included clothing, berries & other foraged food, a flashlight with no batteries and Louis' journal. Until he noticed that some of Louis' clothing seemed to be arranged as if to hide something, as Lex went to remove the clothes, Louis jumped him from behind. Lex quickly disposed of him by flipping Louis' over his head into the hut's right wall. Louis lay on the ground spitting blood while Lex removed the clothes to reveal a two-way radio. Lex checked it over, his hands shaking with excitement and discovered that it was working and attuned to a specific frequency.
Suddenly the implications of what this meant flooded Lex's brain and he turned to face Louis angrily.
"You were going to leave me behind, WHY?" Lex yelled, being stuck on this island for such a long time had caused Lex's emotions to rise to the surface more often.
"I wasn't, it's just that they told me they would only have room for one, I was gonna send them back for you, honest." Louis replied pleadingly
Lex suddenly had another thought "How long have you had this?"
"Well. uh."
"ANSWER ME!!!" Lex bellowed
"A few days, it washed up inside a waterproof bag, I think it came from your plane."
A sudden calm washed over Lex as he realized what he had to do, he picked up a rock from the floor and approached Louis slowly, and his jaw clamped shut determined that what must be done, must be done.
