Smallville: Power Plays
Regarding last chapter: C'mon, you know you wanted it!! This is not going to turn out to be a Chlex story (at least I don't think it will, I honestly don't know. Stories are weird like that, as I'm sure you all know) but I knew that people here love to see Chloe and Lex together in some way. And I sure as hell wasn't going to write a Lex/Clark slash.those things confuse me to no end, considering how we all know things are going to turn out in the comics. No, I'm not a homophobe.I'm just weirded out by the thought of Clark and Lex together. So, oh yeah, on with the story! I want to finish this part, and then go waste six more precious hours of life on season 1 of Smallville and Babylon 5. Cheers!
PS, any Johnny Cash fans here? Expect a song from the Man Comes Around soon.can't tell you which one though! That would give it away. That and two other songs that I think will fit easily enough into the story, because it wouldn't be Smallville without a few songs of varying genres. Heh, anybody remember the third season premiere, Metallica playing while Clark went Matrix on the robbers? One of TV's greatest moments, in my humble opinion.
Pete was, as usual, winning.
"You know, for being an all-American farm boy with the uncanny ability to miss the bus every day and still get to school on time, you can't jump Clark."
The taller boy shook his head. "Just a little distracted, Pete. You know I'd be putting up more of a fight than this if I wasn't."
Pete smirked. "I don't usually notice a difference."
"Gee thanks."
"No, I think I know what you mean, though." Pete rolled the basketball into the barn, and started up the stairs to the loft. Clark followed him. "Finals kicking your butt, too?"
"Yeah, one of the few things you and the school system have in common." Clark fell back onto the couch. That had been harder than it looked. Losing, that was. "That's not all, though."
Pete leaned against on of the wood pylons that went up to the top of the barn. "I hear you. Chloe's new flame, right?"
Clark winced. "Don't call him that. You and I both know that isn't going to end well."
"You talked to Chloe about it?"
"Yeah. For all the good it did me."
"Hey Clark, man. If you haven't learned this by now, I'm gonna tell you. Chloe Sullivan is the most stubborn person we know, and it doesn't help at all that she's got a uterus. We know how those can complicate things."
Clark nodded, a little smile playing on his lips.
"Yes, they're just such pests, aren't they?" A female voice said, the beautiful Asian owner of which was coming up the stairs.
Pete immediately began to fumble words in a way he never did with a sports ball. "Oh, Lana, um, I was just, I didn't mean-"
"Its ok Pete, trust me, girls have a similar saying about guys." Lana Lang took a seat next to Clark, giving him that nervous/uncomfortable/tingly feeling he always got whenever she did that. "So what's up?"
"Not much. Guy talk."
Pete chuckled, and gave his best impersonation of Pastor Phillip. "Let us, brothers and sisters, proclaim the mystery of.woman."
They all got a laugh out of that, the guys because it was a sad truth, Lana because she found it funny that guys thought girls were so confusing. "We're not so bad once you get to know us, Pete."
The short kid grinned. "Trust me, I know."
They got another round out of that. Lana spoke up. "So, what's the deal with Chloe? She spent the whole day chipper and happy, and there's no trace of a conspiracy afoot."
"Chloe's just got a new. friend, is all. Long distance."
"How long?"
"Gotham City."
"Oh."
Clark nodded. "Just what I thought."
Lana shrugged. "C'mon, guys, it can't be that bad. You act like she has a crush on a politician."
"We don't know she hasn't, that's the thing Lana." Clark rubbed his neck. "There have been so many reports of people meeting online, and.well, bad things happening to one of them. Porn, Murder, Robbery, its all more common than you'd think."
"I didn't think you were a technophobe, Clark."
"I'm not scared of technology, Lana. I'm scared of what people will do with it."
Pete suddenly started. "Oh, hey guys, I gotta get going here. I told Chloe I'd help her with some research into these JLA guys."
Clark raised an eyebrow. "That the only reason you're going?"
Pete sighed. "Ok, fine, I admit it. I'm going to see what this Brad guy is like, get a bearing on him, you know?"
Clark nodded very precisely. "Very well, Pathfinder, report back when recon is complete!"
Pete shook his head. "You've been playing too much Generals, man. Besides, I don't exactly have a sniper rifle or net camo."
Clark laughed, and gave Pete a punch on the shoulder as he went by. "Ok, well good luck."
"Let's hope. Later Lana!"
"Bye Pete."
When he was gone, Clark turned back to Lana. "Not that I don't enjoy the company, but what did you come here to talk about?"
Lana sighed. "Actually, I came to ask how you were doing, with these people wanting to buy the farm."
"We're doing ok. Somehow I doubt that JLA has enough money to buy this place from my dad. They'd have to give him Lionel Luther in a butler suit to get him to consider it.
Lana laughed, in that way her entire face lit up and showed all the tiny dimples that Clark had noticed the whole time he'd known her. "Now THAT is an image I want framed and put up on the Talon's wall."
Clark smiled and shrugged. "Who knows, he might just do it. 'LuthorCorp: we're at your service.'"
Lana laughed again, and Clark desperately searched his mind for something else to keep her smiling and happy. "You know, if all else fails, Clark, you could go into advertising."
That got Clark an eyebrow raise. "I don't know Lana, I think Chloe would disown me if I did."
Lana put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You sure you're all right? I mean, stress is going to be pretty common these next few hours, especially in your case."
Clark was actually not that stressed at all. Finally, he'd run into a crisis that really didn't require the use of his abilities. "No, Lana, I'm sure I'm fine. I've had worse."
"I know you have, Clark. But aren't you scared that it will all start chipping away at you? You're a martyr, Clark, and it's not a good thing."
Clark shook his head slowly. "Lana, people have been saved because I'm, as you put it, a martyr. It's who I am."
"I'm just scared, Clark. You act like the-"
"-Weight of the world is on my shoulders." It wasn't the first time Lana had said that about him.
"Exactly. I know that if I had that to bear.I don't know if I could. I'd break down. That's why I'm worried about you." Lana looked at him in her severely cute way, looking up at him, her eyes glistening and her mouth slightly open. Every time she did that, Clark wanted to reach out and kiss her eyes shut.
She beat him to it. Lana leaned forward and laid a peck on Clark's cheek. "You want to be a hero so bad Clark, that sometimes you don't know that you are one already." She stood up, and pulled her jacket a little tighter around herself. "I should probably be getting home. I've got the Earth-Phys test tomorrow, and I still can't remember what the difference between a cumulous and cirrus cloud is. I'll see you tomorrow." She walked down the stairs, and Clark reached up and touched the lip-gloss mark where Lana had kissed him.
Finals week wasn't so bad, once you got used to it.
Regarding last chapter: C'mon, you know you wanted it!! This is not going to turn out to be a Chlex story (at least I don't think it will, I honestly don't know. Stories are weird like that, as I'm sure you all know) but I knew that people here love to see Chloe and Lex together in some way. And I sure as hell wasn't going to write a Lex/Clark slash.those things confuse me to no end, considering how we all know things are going to turn out in the comics. No, I'm not a homophobe.I'm just weirded out by the thought of Clark and Lex together. So, oh yeah, on with the story! I want to finish this part, and then go waste six more precious hours of life on season 1 of Smallville and Babylon 5. Cheers!
PS, any Johnny Cash fans here? Expect a song from the Man Comes Around soon.can't tell you which one though! That would give it away. That and two other songs that I think will fit easily enough into the story, because it wouldn't be Smallville without a few songs of varying genres. Heh, anybody remember the third season premiere, Metallica playing while Clark went Matrix on the robbers? One of TV's greatest moments, in my humble opinion.
Pete was, as usual, winning.
"You know, for being an all-American farm boy with the uncanny ability to miss the bus every day and still get to school on time, you can't jump Clark."
The taller boy shook his head. "Just a little distracted, Pete. You know I'd be putting up more of a fight than this if I wasn't."
Pete smirked. "I don't usually notice a difference."
"Gee thanks."
"No, I think I know what you mean, though." Pete rolled the basketball into the barn, and started up the stairs to the loft. Clark followed him. "Finals kicking your butt, too?"
"Yeah, one of the few things you and the school system have in common." Clark fell back onto the couch. That had been harder than it looked. Losing, that was. "That's not all, though."
Pete leaned against on of the wood pylons that went up to the top of the barn. "I hear you. Chloe's new flame, right?"
Clark winced. "Don't call him that. You and I both know that isn't going to end well."
"You talked to Chloe about it?"
"Yeah. For all the good it did me."
"Hey Clark, man. If you haven't learned this by now, I'm gonna tell you. Chloe Sullivan is the most stubborn person we know, and it doesn't help at all that she's got a uterus. We know how those can complicate things."
Clark nodded, a little smile playing on his lips.
"Yes, they're just such pests, aren't they?" A female voice said, the beautiful Asian owner of which was coming up the stairs.
Pete immediately began to fumble words in a way he never did with a sports ball. "Oh, Lana, um, I was just, I didn't mean-"
"Its ok Pete, trust me, girls have a similar saying about guys." Lana Lang took a seat next to Clark, giving him that nervous/uncomfortable/tingly feeling he always got whenever she did that. "So what's up?"
"Not much. Guy talk."
Pete chuckled, and gave his best impersonation of Pastor Phillip. "Let us, brothers and sisters, proclaim the mystery of.woman."
They all got a laugh out of that, the guys because it was a sad truth, Lana because she found it funny that guys thought girls were so confusing. "We're not so bad once you get to know us, Pete."
The short kid grinned. "Trust me, I know."
They got another round out of that. Lana spoke up. "So, what's the deal with Chloe? She spent the whole day chipper and happy, and there's no trace of a conspiracy afoot."
"Chloe's just got a new. friend, is all. Long distance."
"How long?"
"Gotham City."
"Oh."
Clark nodded. "Just what I thought."
Lana shrugged. "C'mon, guys, it can't be that bad. You act like she has a crush on a politician."
"We don't know she hasn't, that's the thing Lana." Clark rubbed his neck. "There have been so many reports of people meeting online, and.well, bad things happening to one of them. Porn, Murder, Robbery, its all more common than you'd think."
"I didn't think you were a technophobe, Clark."
"I'm not scared of technology, Lana. I'm scared of what people will do with it."
Pete suddenly started. "Oh, hey guys, I gotta get going here. I told Chloe I'd help her with some research into these JLA guys."
Clark raised an eyebrow. "That the only reason you're going?"
Pete sighed. "Ok, fine, I admit it. I'm going to see what this Brad guy is like, get a bearing on him, you know?"
Clark nodded very precisely. "Very well, Pathfinder, report back when recon is complete!"
Pete shook his head. "You've been playing too much Generals, man. Besides, I don't exactly have a sniper rifle or net camo."
Clark laughed, and gave Pete a punch on the shoulder as he went by. "Ok, well good luck."
"Let's hope. Later Lana!"
"Bye Pete."
When he was gone, Clark turned back to Lana. "Not that I don't enjoy the company, but what did you come here to talk about?"
Lana sighed. "Actually, I came to ask how you were doing, with these people wanting to buy the farm."
"We're doing ok. Somehow I doubt that JLA has enough money to buy this place from my dad. They'd have to give him Lionel Luther in a butler suit to get him to consider it.
Lana laughed, in that way her entire face lit up and showed all the tiny dimples that Clark had noticed the whole time he'd known her. "Now THAT is an image I want framed and put up on the Talon's wall."
Clark smiled and shrugged. "Who knows, he might just do it. 'LuthorCorp: we're at your service.'"
Lana laughed again, and Clark desperately searched his mind for something else to keep her smiling and happy. "You know, if all else fails, Clark, you could go into advertising."
That got Clark an eyebrow raise. "I don't know Lana, I think Chloe would disown me if I did."
Lana put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey. You sure you're all right? I mean, stress is going to be pretty common these next few hours, especially in your case."
Clark was actually not that stressed at all. Finally, he'd run into a crisis that really didn't require the use of his abilities. "No, Lana, I'm sure I'm fine. I've had worse."
"I know you have, Clark. But aren't you scared that it will all start chipping away at you? You're a martyr, Clark, and it's not a good thing."
Clark shook his head slowly. "Lana, people have been saved because I'm, as you put it, a martyr. It's who I am."
"I'm just scared, Clark. You act like the-"
"-Weight of the world is on my shoulders." It wasn't the first time Lana had said that about him.
"Exactly. I know that if I had that to bear.I don't know if I could. I'd break down. That's why I'm worried about you." Lana looked at him in her severely cute way, looking up at him, her eyes glistening and her mouth slightly open. Every time she did that, Clark wanted to reach out and kiss her eyes shut.
She beat him to it. Lana leaned forward and laid a peck on Clark's cheek. "You want to be a hero so bad Clark, that sometimes you don't know that you are one already." She stood up, and pulled her jacket a little tighter around herself. "I should probably be getting home. I've got the Earth-Phys test tomorrow, and I still can't remember what the difference between a cumulous and cirrus cloud is. I'll see you tomorrow." She walked down the stairs, and Clark reached up and touched the lip-gloss mark where Lana had kissed him.
Finals week wasn't so bad, once you got used to it.