A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE
By Allegra
See Part One for disclaimers etc.
Author's Note : After what can only be described as a writer's binge, I have shoved the story off in the direction of Lex & kick-started my Smallville urges again. I really hope you all like it & please, please, please review! Just a little one :)
CHAPTER 10 : INTRUDER ALERT
Clark blessed the day he had discovered his x-ray vision. The moon had slid behind some ominous clouds which really shouldn't have been there, considering the beautiful summer's day Smallville had seen. He heard his father curse under his breath for the tenth time that minute as his foot caught in yet another root or his skull slammed into a low hanging branch. The torch had packed up about five minutes walk into the undergrowth of the Medora Woods and even the resourceful Jonathan Kent hadn't expected to need back-up batteries so soon after purchase. Besides the curses and expletives leaving his lips, he was engaged in complaining profusely about being ripped off on the price of good batteries. The offending articles had been bought on a rare trip to Metropolis for imported tractor parts and Jonathan was ever ready to pour on the anger wherever large cities were concerned. He had lectured Clark on countless occasions about the perils of entering the ruthless and dishonest world of corporate business. "Everyone's eyes are filled with little dollar signs, son. All they care about is money and how much they can get before someone notices they're being ripped off."
Usually, Clark would have humoured his father's rant good-naturedly. However, tonight there were more pressing problems at hand, ones which he needed to be ready to face head-on. "Dad!" he snapped. "Do you mind? We're supposed to be tracking this guy, not publicising our presence!"
If he had been able to make out the expression on his father's face clearly, it would have shown sheepish embarrassment at being caught so unprofessionally. "Sorry, son."
The pair picked their way carefully through the dense thickets. The forest floor was thick with pine needles and dead leaves, tangled roots looping randomly in preparation to upturn an unobservant walker. The trek took them deeper and deeper into the heart of the woods and Clark was beginning to wonder if they would step out the other side before they found any sign of human life. He hadn't even felt a moment's twinge of the weakness he experienced when near kryptonite and, given the circumstances, that irritated him.
Suddenly, a movement caught Clark's eye in the brush ahead of them. Whatever it was had been partially hidden by the tree it was hiding behind. Clark hissed at his father to be quiet and the two men stood silently as the teenager allowed his x-ray vision to bring the world ahead of him sharply into inverted focus. Each solid object began to sharpen in his mind, the edges no longer blurred by shadow but brought into vivid white neon light. Then, as the new images settled into place, shades of grey demarcated the frailer natural elements such as grass and leaves and Clark was able to see right into the heart of the trees around them. He could see the visceral mechanics of Mother Nature, the pulsing juices in the tree stems, the fragile skeletons of tiny creatures foraging in the undergrowth.
At first, he wondered if perhaps he was mistaken and that it was nothing more than a busy hedgehog snuffling. Then, Clark caught sight of an elbow joint protruding from behind a large tree to the left side of his vision. There really was somebody there. With one motion of his hand, he kept his father behind him and crept stealthily towards the figure, gradually bringing more and more of the male skeleton into view. As he did so, it was clear the stranger could not be the tramp they were after. There was no tinge of green inside him at all and Clark felt as strong as ever.
Confident that he could take on whoever might be stalking them, he halted. "Who's there? Come out."
Jonathan moved up behind him, the dead torch suddenly raised in preparation for use as a rather lethal truncheon. He narrowed his eyes into the darkness, slowly making out the shape of a young man, at least a head smaller than himself. Then, the person moved closer and whispered, "Clark? Is that you?"
Clark started in surprise. "Pete? What are you doing out here?" He caught his friend's arm and steered him closer to them from where he was obviously floundering. Pete switched on his own flashlight and the glare made Clark and Jonathan squint until they became accustomed to the bright beam. The older Kent was quick to step into parent mode once more. "Pete, it's dangerous out here. What on earth possessed you to come out into the woods so late?"
Pete grinned, toothily. "I could ask you the same thing, Mr. Kent." Jonathan's grimly paternal expression quickly quelled his cockiness. "Actually, it's an assignment. Chloe's roped me in to follow all the breaking stories over the summer for the first Fall edition of the Torch. Now that she's a legitimate reporter with the Metropolis Globe, she's got to delegate. Anyway, she told me the stories right at the beginning of the summer always get forgotten and she seemed pretty interested in that tramp that attacked you the other night, Clark." He spoke the last sentence with a wicked grin on his face which quickly descended into sniggers of derision.
Clark rolled his eyes. He was never going to live that evening down. "Yeah, yea, just get it out, Pete."
Pete thumped his arm. "Sorry, Clark, but if you'd seen it from our point of view, you'd be laughing pretty hard, too."
Jonathan cleared his throat, firmly. "Well, I think Miss Sullivan's taken her dedication to her work a bit too far this time. Entering the woods alone in the middle of the night in search of a madman is a bit out of a high school paper's jurisdiction, don't you think?"
Pete shrugged. He didn't like being there any more than Jonathan did, but Chloe could be really persuasive, in fact, dragonian sprang to mind. Mr. Kent glanced at Clark and sighed, "Well, I guess you'd better stick with us for now, Pete. You've got a torch and we stand a better chance of avoiding danger if we stay together. All right?"
Pete didn't argue. He had no qualms about joining forces with the Kents. After all, he had even phoned Clark that evening in a feeble attempt to rope him into chasing this story with him. Little had he known that his best buddy was roaming the same forest already. Letting Clark take the lead with the torch, Jonathan and Pete followed the teenager deeper into the heart of the woods.
Lana Lang sank down onto her head and tugged futilely at her boots. The shift at the Talon had seemed interminable and it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. Perhaps it was the end of term stress relief. She never felt tired during the term but, subconsciously, her body must have been waiting for the last day before it completely shut down. Every other summer, that had been fine, but not anymore. Lana was trying to earn her keep and get some job experience which meant copious waitressing shifts throughout the holidays.
She lay back on the bed for a moment, closing her eyes. She knew she ought to wash the makeup from her face and get changed into her pyjamas but her body just wouldn't budge. It had worked hard enough for one night. Nell had phoned her mid-shift to say she was staying late at the boutique to work on the books with her accountant. That ruled out any lectures on looking after herself. A moment later, all coherent thought had left her and Lana was drifting into dreamless exhaustion. So deep was her slumber that she failed to hear the creak of footsteps on the porch roof outside her window. Neither did she hear those same footsteps stop and scrape her window sill before landing on soft carpet beside her bed.
Jonathan and Clark followed the strip of Medora Woods for what seemed like miles until the trio emerged from the foliage onto a swathe of farmland. Clark frowned, "I recognise this place."
Jonathan sighed, grimly. "That's because it's our land, Clark."
Pete laughed, "You mean, you didn't know your own farm bordered onto these woods, Clark? And how long have you lived here again?"
Jonathan scratched his head. "I knew it but, what with all those tree roots and a severe lack of light, I figured we were heading in the opposite direction. Well, it looks like this is the end of the line, guys. Maybe we'd be better trying this again in daylight. I mean, there's no good reason why this lunatic should keep to the darkness."
"I guess," said Clark, deflated at the lack of results. He had genuinely wanted some kind of closure. It was disconcerting to think another kryptonite freak was walking, unhindered, around Smallville. It wasn't just his own safety which was at risk but any innocent citizen in the town. Whatever these green rocks brought to their victims, it was never good.
Pete switched off the torch now that they were back in open space and asked, "Should we call it a night then? I'm beat."
"I think that's a good idea. Let's head on back to the house and I'll give you a ride home," Jonathan offered, his betraying his disappointment as clearly as Clark's.
They were halfway across the field in the direction of the lights of the Kent farm when a scream issued high and clear from the Potter house across the way. Clark breathed, "Lana!" Without hesitation, he started running towards her home where he could see the light from her room.
Jonathan noted the way his son held back from running full speed to keep his super powers from Pete. Turning to Clark's young friend, he pulled him in the direction of the farm, "Pete. Run to the house and call the police! Quickly, go!"
Pete nodded and ran on ahead without argument. Jonathan turned back to his son in time to see him break into a sprint which must have reached at least sixty miles an hour. Praying that Clark would get to Lana or Nell in time, he followed suit, concentrating on the uneven, fallow ground ahead of him.
Clark burst through the front door which had shown no mark of illegal entry and paused momentarily in the hallway. "Lana? Nell? Where are you?!"
"Clark!" Lana's frightened scream emanated from her bedroom and Clark raced up the stairs before bursting into her bedroom, afraid of what he might find there. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw - Lana pinned to her bed with the filthy body of the tramp from the woods pressed down onto her. The teenager made a move towards the bed but he could already feel the effects of the kryptonite taking hold.
Without warning, his legs gave way beneath him and Clark crumpled to the floor. His failing eyes lingered on the veins standing out on his hands and arms. Healthy red blood was replaced with painful green poison, draining him of strength and incapacitating him completely. He was powerless to help Lana even though her pleads for mercy penetrated his brain as clear as day. Clark clawed feebly at the carpet, trying to raise himself to his knees but to no avail. Every time, his body betrayed him and left him sprawling like a newborn. A strangled whisper escaped his lips, "Lana..."
Then, as in slow motion, Jonathan entered the room brandishing a rolling pin he had found in Nell's impeccable kitchen. It took only a cursive glance around the three figures in the room to know exactly what was taking place. Fearlessly, he strode across the room and swung the wooden utensil deftly down onto the crown of the man's head, sending him lolling lifelessly to the floor.
Lana jumped up as if she had been stung, her heart fluttering like a trapped butterfly and her hands trembling with residual fear. "Mr. Kent...thank you!" she stammered before falling into his open arms, tears flooding down her cheeks. Jonathan squeezed her tightly, letting her relax in the warmth and security of his grasp. "It's all right, Lana. Everything's going to be okay. Don't you worry."
He steered her gently towards the door, swiping a throw from the bed which he slung across her slender shoulders. Jonathan was truly concerned for her safety but he also needed to get Clark away from the kryptonite in that man's skeleton. If he could just get Lana downstairs without her seeing the state Clark was in, then that would save a hell of a lot of unwanted questions.
Fortunately, as they reached the foot of the staircase, Pete scrambled up the porch steps and stood catching his breath in the entrance hall. "The police are on their way," he gasped. "Lana, are you okay?" He took in her pale, shaken face and the way her fist tightened on Mr. Kent's lumberjack shirt.
Jonathan released his charge into Pete's arms. "Pete, can you see to Lana? Make her a cup of tea."
Pete nodded and guided the dark-haired girl into the kitchen where he sat her at the small table. "I guess coffee's a bad idea right now, huh?" He laughed, nervously, unsure of exactly how to behave around someone so traumatised. Lana's face was ashen and her eyes rested on items but they did not seem to see anything.
Pete busied himself with the kettle and finding his way around the wall-to-wall cupboards in search of herbal teas. Finally, he sat down opposite and presented his friend with a raspberry and elderflower tea which smelt appetising even to his unadventurous palate. He joked with her for a bit, trying to lessen the tension in the room but eventually the journalist Chloe had beaten into existence began to kick in. Lana was one of the gang and, if they were going to get to the bottom of this, Pete had to know the facts. Tentatively, he asked, "So, what happened up there?"
Meanwhile, Jonathan had practically lifted his son from the floor and helped him into the next room where the effects of the green rock abated. Clark's immediate reaction was concern for his friend. "Where's Lana? Is she okay?"
Jonathan nodded. "She's fine. Pete's looking after her downstairs." He watched Clark with concern. It made no difference how many times Clark was exposed to the extraterrestrial meteor rock, its extraordinary impact on the teenager always made his parents anxious. It was difficult to fully believe that the pain which had paralysed Clark only moments ago could be relieved in an instant, that no residual agony remained.
The police sirens grew louder and by the time the pair had reached the foot of the staircase two patrol cars screeched to a halt outside. They raced inside, guns cocked and ready but Jonathan waved his hand. "The assailant is upstairs. I knocked him out cold." The policemen regarded the farmer and his son suspiciously before heading up the stairs in search of the aggressor.
Clark followed his father into the kitchen where Lana and Pete were talking. A little colour was already returning to her colourless cheeks and she even managed a small smile at her two rescuers. "Thank you, Mr. Kent. I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't been there."
Jonathan assured her, "No thanks is necessary. I'm just glad we heard you."
Lana's gaze settled on Clark, her brow furrowing. "Clark, you were there, weren't you?" He nodded, sheepishly, disgusted at himself that he had been so useless at such a critical moment. "Everything just went by in a haze, like a dream...but you were there. Are you okay? I saw you fall."
Clark opened his mouth to stammer some kind of explanation but his father swooped in to his aid. "Clark pulled an old knee injury out of line on the farm earlier. I told him to take it easy but he's been out all night. I guess the run over here must have been the last straw."
If Lana was unconvinced, she didn't mention it. "Oh, I'm sorry, Clark. Are you okay now?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'll just rest it for a couple of days." He made brief eye contact with his father, giving a silent gesture of gratitude before looking over at Pete. If anyone questioned that little account, it would be Pete, but he was already busily making teas and coffees for the policemen and the Kents.
Jonathan sighed, "Well, I guess we'd better face the music."
Two policeman manoeuvred the unconscious tramp down the stairs and into a waiting vehicle. One returned, propping up the door frame with his heavy shoulder. "Listen, folks, it's late and I'm guessing you're all pretty tired. What say we leave your statements 'til tomorrow?" The party nodded and mumbled words of approval. "Excellent. If you could all come down to the station first thing, we'll get this straightened out in no time."
The officer was quickly replaced by Martha Kent's arrival. She immediately ran to hug her son and husband, assuring herself that they were safe before turning her attention to the two young teenagers beside her. "Lana, are you all right? You must be shaken after such an ordeal." The mother hen in her quickly took charge and brushed a dark lock of hair from the girl's face. Her voice was soft and soothing. "I phoned Nell at the boutique. She's on her way back now."
Lana nodded, relieved. She couldn't bear the thought of being alone right now. "Thank you, Mrs. Kent." No sooner had the words left her lips than she felt the tears welling up again and she could no longer hold back the dam. Martha hugged her tightly and rocked her gently, whispering words of encouragement in her ear.
Clark stood by, helplessly. He didn't get a kick out of being the hero all the time, if anything it often brought more attention to him than he would like. However, where Lana was concerned, he wanted to protect her, to be her knight in shining armour. He had never really imagined that kryptonite would create such a chasm between him and the woman he loved. Shuffling out of the door, he followed his father back across the field with Pete in tow. At this rate, the Ross family would be starting to worry and even Clark was starting to feel tired after such a long day. They had achieved one goal, that of finding the strange man from the woods, but it had done nothing to help his relationship with Lana. If it were an emotion Clark had experienced more often, he might have identified it as bitterness.
Lex put down his knife and fork. He hated eating alone regardless of the number of times he had done so. It gave him too much time to think. Usually, he would invite a dinner guest, whether a business associate or not, or he would bring his work to the table. Anything was a good enough excuse to put aside the empty knowledge that it was likely no one would ever share this table with him as a family, not unless they were in it for the money.
Tonight, however, Lex didn't want to eat for another reason. He was feeling restless and had done for days. He couldn't put his finger on what the problem was but it was similar to that feeling of recuperation when one had spent too many days ailing in bed and finally wanted to stretch one's legs. Lex felt like he'd been lying down for days without any significant movement, which was not the case at all.
His fitness regime had spurted suddenly into an occupation which was taking up more and more of his valuable time. Laps round the pool, fencing, boxing, jogging, weight training - nothing seemed to be too much for the young Luthor's virile body. Tonight was no different. It was as though his body was overloaded with adrenaline. He wasn't hungry in the least and his mind kept wandering to the idea of going for a long walk in the countryside. It was an unfamiliar urge to the devout city boy and even he couldn't understand it. At least the doctor had ruled out anything noteworthy in his bi-annual check up.
Lex stood up and regarded the remains of his pasta dish somewhat disdainfully. If anything, the sight of food was starting to make him feel nauseous. He decided to get changed and go for a run. He knew his mind wouldn't rest until he'd done his body's bidding.
Fifteen minutes later, Lex was standing in the library, stocking up on good CDs to plug himself into during the circuit. He was just about to set off when the butler knocked with the message that Clark Kent was waiting to speak to him. Lex didn't like to turn his friend away even though he was starting to feel a bit desperate about getting moving. "Show him in."
"Hi, Lex!" Clark greeted him cheerfully. "You going out?"
"For a run. To what do I owe the pleasure, Clark?" He didn't want to sound like he was rushing the teenager but the sensation of all that adrenaline surging through his system was getting uncomfortable.
Clark parked himself in one of the large leather chairs at the side of the room, oblivious to his friend's apparent discomfort. "Did you hear about the incident at Nell's house last night?"
Lex dimly recalled scanning the pages of the Smallville Ledger over breakfast. "The break and entering? Sounds like Lana escaped by the skin of her teeth...no thanks to your dad." Clark gave him a lopsided smile, displaying a note of sadness. Lex picked up on it and sat down. His own needs would have to wait. He had neglected Clark lately and he didn't want to risk losing the kid's friendship completely if he kept ignoring these social calls. "What's the matter, Clark? Bummed that you're not the hero in this one?" It was meant as a joke but Clark's face showed he hadn't seen the funny side.
"I just...things have been weird between me and Lana." Clark fiddled with the braid on the edge of the chair arm and glanced up at Lex who was sitting passively opposite. He appeared twitchy to Clark, his foot tapping rapidly on the Persian rug and his fingers drumming his knee impatiently.
"Lex, are you okay? You seem kind of agitated."
Lex raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I'm fine, Clark." His gaze wandered longingly to the window and the gardens beyond. "I don't know what to say, Clark. You come to me with your girlfriend problems and I give you advice, but you never take it."
Clark regarded his friend with indignation. A tiny muscle flexed in Lex's tightened jaw and his irritation was almost tangible. Whatever the billionaire was worried about, it was leaking into every corner of his life. Clark inwardly reprimanded himself for being so insensitive. After all, he had a habit of showing up unannounced without a moment's thought to whether Lex might be indisposed, then he flounced in with high school problems which his friend had left behind years ago. "Lex, is this a bad time?"
"No," Lex retorted, bluntly. "I just don't really know why you come to me for help and then ignore everything I say. The routine's getting pretty tired, Clark, even for you." He knew how cutting the words must have seemed but he couldn't stop himself. The anger seemed to be coming from nowhere.
Clark stood up, unsteadily. It was rare for Lex to be so cold towards him and, even when he was rude, he usually apologised immediately for acting so irrationally. Today, there was no apology, just an incensed glare. The young man could take a hint that unsubtle. "I'm sorry, Lex. I'll get out of your way." When Lex made no response, Clark made a quick exit, shutting the front door firmly behind him. He wanted nothing more than to be off the estate was quickly as possible.
Back inside the mansion, Lex appeared unperturbed by his testiness with Clark. He didn't recognise how out of character the cutting words had been and instead donned his earphones and cranked up the volume on his Andrew WK album. Forgetting his trainer's words of wisdom about limbering up before going for a long run, he made his way out of the back door and let his body go.
END OF PART 10
