Reveal
Notes: This story only takes into account events leading up to and including "Devoted".
CHAPTER 1: Aftermath
Lex Luthor brought his silver Porsche to a stop outside of Clark's Fortress of Solitude and sighed. During the ten minute drive from Luthor Castle over to the Kent Farm, Lex had tried and failed to find a way to broach the subject he needed to clear the air about that would not irate his friend. However, Lex had learned the hard way that the truth was the most important factor to constructing and preserving a friendship, and he was not about to let his friendship with Clark disintegrate a second time.
Lex climbed the stairs to find Clark sitting at his desk with his notebook in front of him and a Calculus textbook to his left. "Hey, Clark," he greeted.
Clark looked up and smiled. "Hey, Lex," he greeted in kind as he got up to shake his friend's hand. "It's almost midnight. What brings you by this late?"
"I needed to talk to you about something, and I don't think it could wait any longer," Lex said gravely.
"Um, okay," Clark said uncertainly. He motioned to the couch, and he and Lex sat down.
Lex sighed and rubbed his hands together. "Clark, as friends, I think it would be fair to say that we have a duty, an obligation, to look out for each other. Am I right?"
"I think I could agree to that," Clark said, still a little uncertain about where this was going.
"Good," Lex said, nodding. "In that case, I hope you don't mind if I ask if you're sure you didn't see who attacked you last week."
Clark sighed. "Like I told you, Lex," he said, grinding his teeth a bit, "I didn't get a good look at him."
Lex shook his head. Another conversation had yielded yet another stalemate, but Lex wasn't about to give up so easily. "Clark, I'm just trying to be your friend here. Let me help."
Clark thought for a few moments, pondering what he should do. Finally, he said, "Okay, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."
"I promise," Lex said firmly. "You have my word."
Clark took a few deep breaths before answering, "It was Coach Teague."
Lex's eyes went wide with shock. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that," he remarked in surprise. "Do you have any idea why he came after you?"
"I'm not exactly sure," Clark replied. "He did say something about me hitting on his girlfriend, but when I asked him about it, he just chalked it up to the effects of the water." Seeing Lex's jaw tighten, he asked, "What is it?"
Lex stood up and paced for a moment. The conversation had taken a turn toward another subject, one with which Lex had been wrestling for two weeks. A difficult decision lay before him, and he prayed that he wasn't about to make the wrong choice. After a minute, he turned to Clark and said, "I think I know who Jason was talking about."
Seeing Lex hesitate, Clark prompted, "Go on."
Lex sighed before continuing. "When Lana got attacked two weeks ago, I went to visit her at the hospital. I got there to find that she already had a visitor." He looked into Clark's eyes. "It was Jason, Clark."
Clark's face contorted with surprise. "W-what?" he stammered.
"I got there just in time to hear him telling Lana that he hoped that she realized how much she meant to him." Lex paused before concluding heavily, "Clark, Lana is Jason's girlfriend."
Clark involuntarily clenched his right fist as a wave of anger went through his body. "I don't believe this," he breathed.
"Neither did I at first," Lex said, "but I thought about it, and I realized that it made sense. Jason started his job as Assistant Coach two days after Lana came back from Paris. That fact added to the comment that I just told you and his attack on you make for some pretty strong evidence."
Clark was shaking with rage. "That son of a bitch…he looked me right in the eye and he lied to me. And how could Lana keep this from me, especially knowing how I feel about her?" Clark buried his face in his hands.
Lex walked back over and put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Clark," he said earnestly. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know."
"Thanks," Clark said hoarsely. "Listen, Lex, I think I need to get some sleep."
Lex nodded and patted Clark's shoulder. "Call me if you need anything," Lex reiterated. At Clark's curt nod, Lex turned and walked down the stairs. As he got back in his car, he prayed that he hadn't just made a big mistake.
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Clark looked at the office door in front of him and sighed. His anger had cooled off considerably since last night, but Clark needed to get it off his chest. After a moment, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Come in!" yelled a voice from inside. Clark opened the door, and Jason Teague looked up from his playbook and grinned. "Hey, Clark," he greeted. "Take a seat." Clark closed the door and did so, and Jason continued, "So, what can I do for you?"
"There's something that I need to talk to you about," Clark began. "When I first came to you and asked for a tryout with the team, I thought that I'd found an opportunity to broaden my horizons, maybe push away some of the crap that I went through in the past. Now, I'm not so sure that it was the best way to do that."
"Clark, you're not considering quitting the team, are you?" Jason asked warily.
Clark shook his head. "No, I'm not. I love playing football. I just find it hard to play for someone that flat out lied to me." By the end of this sentence, anger was smoldering behind Clark's eyes.
"Clark, when did Quigley lie to you, and about what?" Jason asked curiously.
"I'm not talking about Coach Quigley," Clark said, grinding his teeth. "I'm talking about you."
"Me?" Jason questioned.
"Don't pretend that you don't know!" Clark spat. "You told me that the whole deal about me hitting on your girlfriend was just the effects of the water, but that wasn't the truth, was it?" Jason opened his mouth to speak, but Clark was on a roll. "I know, Coach. I know that Lana Lang is your girlfriend."
Jason opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again. His face had drained of color. "How-how did you find out?" he asked, not trying to deny it.
"Lex told me about the little bedside visit you made two weeks ago," Clark replied coldly.
Jason sighed. "Look, Clark, I'm sorry that you found out like this," he said. "Hiding this from people has been tough, not just on me, but also on Lana. This was the only way I could think of for us to be together." Seeing Clark shake his head, he continued, "You know, I know that Lana's your friend, but I'm curious to understand why you're this upset about it."
"You mean besides the fact that you lied to me, are robbing the cradle, and dating a minor?" Clark questioned sarcastically. When Jason didn't respond, Clark stared at Jason incredulously for a few seconds before he burst into angry laughter. "Oh, God…I don't believe it. She didn't tell you, did she?" Clark said as the laughing spell died out.
Jason furrowed his brows before realization suddenly struck, and his eyes went wide. "You're her ex," he said quietly.
Clark nodded in acquiescence. "Looks like she wasn't as over me as she said she was," he remarked with a smirk. Then, he got up and started to leave the room.
"Clark," Jason called, stopping him. "You're not going to say anything to anyone, are you?"
Clark shook his head. "I'm not that vindictive," he said. "I would make a suggestion, though. Ask yourself if the secrecy is really worth it, because the next person who finds out might not be as generous." With that, Clark opened the door and walked down the hall.
As Jason stood up and closed the door, he missed the figure that had been standing on the opposite side of the doorway from where Clark was now walking. Dan rubbed his hands together, smiling gleefully. He was pissed off over Jason replacing him with Clark as the starting quarterback, and now he had the perfect recipe for revenge.
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Lana finished wiping down the last table and brushed her hands off with a satisfied smile. Whatever lingering doubts she'd had were gone. Lana had definitely missed the Talon.
A knock at the front door startled her from her reverie. She unlocked it, and was surprised to see Clark when she opened it. "Hey, Clark," she greeted cheerfully. "What're you doing here so late?"
"I needed to talk to you about something," Clark said gravely. "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Lana said. She stepped aside and Clark walked in. "You know, I never got a chance to congratulate you on Saturday. You were really great out there."
A shadow of a smile crossed Clark's face before it was quickly wiped away. "While I appreciate the compliment," he said, "we really need to talk."
"Okay," Lana said uncertainly. As she motioned toward a table for him to sit down, Lana was struck with a sudden feeling of doom. "What's up?"
Clark took a deep breath. "There's no easy way for me to say this, so I'm just going to say it. Why didn't you tell me that Jason Teague was the guy you met in Paris?"
Lana's face completely drained of color, and she opened and closed several times before she found her voice. "H-how…?" she stammered.
"How I know is not the issue," Clark said, definite venom in his voice. His eyes narrowed as he continued, "What matters is that not only did you hide this from me, but you looked me in the eye and you lied to me about it. Honestly, I expected better from you."
Lana was speechless for a full five seconds. She'd seen an angry Clark before, but this Clark was pissed off to no end. Then, her own temper flared. "You're one to talk," she snapped. "You've been keeping secrets from me for years, secrets that I still don't know about, so I think I'm justified in keeping things from you."
"That's different," Clark countered firmly.
"WHY?" Lana screamed. All of the anger and pain she'd been keeping bottled up inside for the past four months suddenly exploded. "Do you really want to know why I kept this from you? Fine, I'll tell you. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to hurt you any more than I already have. All we do is hurt each other, and I'm sick of it." Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Tell me something, Clark. If you love me so much, then why in hell can't you be honest with me? Why is it that you can't tell me the truth?"
"BECAUSE I CAN'T!" Clark bellowed.
Clark and Lana glared at each other for a long, thick minute before Clark turned and walked out of the Talon, slamming the door behind him. Lana buried her face in her hands and cried, ashamed for once again hurting the one person who cared for her selflessly, no matter what.
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The next day at school, Lana walked around Smallville High with a heavy heart. Her screaming match with Clark had taken a lot out of her, and she wanted to make things right with him. She hoped to catch him before he caught the bus home, so she quickly made her way through the halls toward his locker.
Suddenly, a voice stopped her. "Ms. Lang, can I have a word with you, please?"
Lana turned to find that the speaker was Jason, who had stepped out of his office. The expression on his face was anything but reassuring. "Sure, Coach," she said. Jason stepped aside for her and then closed the door. "Okay, Jason, what's going on?" she asked worriedly.
Jason sighed and sat down at his desk. "Somebody knows about us, Lana," he said quietly.
"W-what?" she stammered in surprise, though not for the reason that Jason thought. Why hadn't Clark told her that he'd talked to Jason, too?
"It gets worse," Jason continued. "This guy is blackmailing me. He says that if I don't do what he wants, he's going to tell the Board of Education about us, and my career will be history." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what the hell I'm going to do."
Lana's face had contorted in anger. "We'll figure something out," she said. "Listen, I've really got to go. I'll call you later." With that, she briskly sped out of Jason's office with one destination in mind.
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Clark was upstairs in the loft, trying to concentrate on his homework, but his mind kept wandering back to Lana. Like her, the fight they'd had the night before had been really heavy on him. Suddenly, Clark was jolted from his thoughts as a tennis ball slammed into the back of his head. He whirled, shocked beyond belief to see Lana standing there with the same expression he'd had on his face only the night before. Immediately feigning pain by bringing his hand to the back of his head, he said, "Lana, what the hell was that for?"
"Like you don't already know," Lana spat. "How typical."
"What are you talking about?" Clark questioned in confusion.
"You know, I knew you were upset, but I can't believe that you'd go so far as to blackmail Jason just to get back at me," Lana continued.
"Blackmail…?" Clark said uncertainly.
"I can't believe you!" Lana yelled. "I thought you were above the notion of revenge, but I guess I was wrong, wasn't I?"
"How can you possibly think that I'm that cruel?" Clark yelled back.
"Oh, come on, Clark," Lana said. "You're jealous of me and Jason, and you're upset that I lied to you, so you decided that a little payback was in order." She gave him a snide look before saying, "I wouldn't have expected it of you."
A look of pure rage had taken over Clark's features. "You know what, Lana?" he yelled. "If you really believe that I'm capable of that, then maybe we shouldn't be friends anymore!"
"Fine with me!" she yelled back.
Once again, Lana and Clark glared at each other, this time without remorse. Finally, Lana turned and began to walk down the stairs, waves of pain crashing over her as something inside her shriveled up. Suddenly, Lana jumped as she heard a bloodcurdling scream of anger. She whirled to see Clark pick up a framed photo of them – the only one he had – and throw it against the loft wall. Lana quickly turned and ran down the stairs and out of the loft as the pain intensified. Climbing into her SUV, she allowed the pain to overtake her, and soon tears were streaming down her cheeks, as she knew that she'd probably lost Clark again…only this time forever.
TO BE CONTINUED…