CHAPTER 2: Reset
Clark had never felt anger of such intensity in his whole life.
Not even red kryptonite had been able to make him this angry.
But Lana losing her faith in him, spitting on whatever tenuous bond lay between them…well, that was another matter.
Damn Jor-El for interfering in his life.
Once more, Clark cursed his biological father.
In that moment, Clark managed to deflect his anger from Lana to Jor-El.
It was so much easier to hate him than Lana.
With that in mind, Clark sped off in the direction of the Kawatche Caves.
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"Jor-El!" Clark yelled at the cave walls. "Answer me, damn you!"
No response came to Clark's angry shouts.
"Are you happy?" Clark continued. "Is this what you wanted, to see me suffer? Is there some sick part of you that's getting off on this? ANSWER ME!"
At Clark's final scream, the keyhole in the cave wall began to glow. The glow spread out from the cave wall until it coalesced into the transparent figure of a man. The man had dark hair streaked with gray and a beard. His blue eyes were piercing in their intensity. "Kal-El," he greeted.
"My name is Clark," he growled.
Jor-El shook his head. "You are still fighting your destiny," he remarked disappointedly.
"Do you think I want to rule the world?" Clark retorted.
Jor-El shook his head. "What your destiny entails is not important," he said. "The consequences of your decision to fight who you are, however, are."
"I just want to live my life!" Clark insisted. "I don't want to be a conqueror!"
"But you are Kryptonian, Kal-El," Jor-El reminded him. "And the more you fight it, the worse things will become for you and those you love."
"Don't threaten them!" Clark yelled.
"I am not," Jor-El replied. "You bring this about all on your own. Consider your choices wisely, my son." With that, Jor-El receded back into the cave wall.
Clark pondered on Jor-El's advice. Was it really hiding his secret from Lana that had caused them to drift apart, or was it Clark's inability to accept his origins?
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Lana furiously scrubbed at the Talon's display counter, taking out her frustrations on the dried coffee stains. Since her fight with Clark yesterday, she'd been in the worst mood imaginable, and it had taken all of her self-control not to start screaming at Talon staff members.
"Need a hand cleaning up?"
Lana's head snapped up. Lex was standing at the front door, the usual smirk on his face. "Lex, I'm really not in the mood to banter right now," she said gruffly.
"So I gathered from the explosiveness of your fight with Clark," Lex remarked.
Lana narrowed her eyes. "Did Clark tell you?" she asked in a soft voice.
"Oh, he didn't have to," Lex replied. "I was there."
"What?" Lana questioned in surprise.
"I'd actually come by to talk to Clark," Lex explained, "but the screaming match the two of you were having dissuaded me."
"I can't believe you listened to us!" Lana yelled indignantly.
"Only because you're both my friends, and as friends, I have a duty to look out for you," Lex countered firmly. "I was surprised at you, Lana. Clark's never shown himself to have the vindictive nature necessary for blackmail. Yet, you judged him without a second thought."
"Clark's the only one who knew about us," Lana stated.
Lex raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about that?" he asked.
"Well, who else could have known?" she snapped.
"I'm not sure about that," Lex answered honestly. "Then again, if Clark really had wanted to blackmail Jason, he could've done it while he still had the bruises to do it."
Lana's eyebrows shot up. "What are you talking about?" she asked in confusion.
"You mean you didn't know?" Lex questioned. "Last Thursday after practice, Jason paid Clark a little visit at the loft. He beat the crap out of him. Good thing I showed up and managed to stop him."
Lana was absolutely speechless. She stared at Lex with wide eyes, mouth agape. Before she could speak, Lex looked at his watch. "Damn, I have to go. Business meeting down at LuthorCorp," he explained. As he turned to leave, he stopped and said over his shoulder, "You know, they say that information is power. The trick is what you do with it. You have the information now, Lana. The ball's in your court." With that, Lex walked out of the Talon.
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Lana navigated her SUV through Smallville proper, running her conversation with Lex through her head yet again. Why would Jason have beaten up Clark? And, if that was true, why would Jason have hidden it from her? Lana needed answers, and she was going to get them once and for all.
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Jason sat in his apartment, morosely nursing a beer. He felt as though his head was on fire, his mind in shambles. The events of the past two days had drained him, both physically and mentally. A sudden knocking on his door startled him out of his dazed state. Groaning as he stood up, he walked to the door and opened it. "Lana," he greeted in surprise.
"I need to talk to you," she said as she pushed past him and entered the apartment.
"Um, yeah, sure," he answered as he closed the door. "What's wrong?"
Lana took a deep breath before turning around to face him. "Lex told me something that disturbed me, and I want to know if it's true." She paused to gather her strength. "Did you go by Clark's loft last week and beat him up?"
Jason lowered his eyes in shame and nodded. "I had drunk some of that infected water that the cheerleaders were using on the football players," he confessed. "I lost control. If Lex hadn't shown up…" Jason trailed off, unwilling to finish his sentence.
"That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell me about it," Lana noted firmly.
"Clark and I had come to a mutual understanding about what happened," Jason explained. "He agreed that it was the water that had made me flip out like I did, and said that he wasn't going to tell the school board about what happened."
"If that's true, then why did Clark blackmail you about us?" she asked.
Jason looked at her in puzzlement. "Clark isn't the one who's blackmailing me," he said.
Lana froze in shock. "B-but you said…" she stammered.
"I never said that Clark was the one who was blackmailing me," Jason reminded her.
"Then who was it?" Lana asked in a tremulous voice.
"Dan Reese," Jason answered. "He was pissed off about me replacing him with Clark as the starting quarterback, so he decided to get back at me." Seeing Lana sway and grab the nearest table, he said, "What's wrong?"
Lana was pale and shaking. "Oh, God…" she whispered. Then, in a stronger voice, she said, "I-I have to go. I'll see you later." Before Jason could say a word or stop her, she rushed out of the apartment, with only one thought on her mind.
'What have I done?'
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Clark sat in the loft staring morosely out into the night. He had told his parents about his fight with Lana, and though they did their best to comfort and advise him, they couldn't take away the pain he was feeling. Suddenly, the sound of Lana's SUV pulling to a stop in the driveway reached him, and he stiffened. He listened to her soft, delicate tread as she walked up the stairs, and each step sent a pang through his heart. He didn't think he could take another round of shouting with her.
Lana came to a stop a few feet away from him. "Hi," she said softly. When Clark didn't move, she continued, "I know that I'm not your favorite person right now, so I don't expect you to say anything. Just listen." She took a breath. "I…I want to apologize for accusing you like that. I didn't have all the facts, and the fact that I just assumed that it was you…it disgusts me." She sighed. "I don't know where we go from here, Clark, and I'd understand if you couldn't forgive me for what I've done, but our friendship…it's sacred to me, and I don't want to lose it." Lana took a ragged breath. "If there's any chance, Clark…" She trailed off as the emotions overwhelmed her.
An uncomfortable silence ensued for a minute before Clark finally turned to her. "You're right, Lana," he said evenly. "I don't know where we go from here either. All I do know is that we can't go on the way we have." He paused. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you, Lana. But one thing I do know is that I'm not ready to pick up where we left off. I hope you can understand that."
Lana nodded sadly and turned to leave. She descended the stairs quickly, hoping that somehow, she'd set them on the path that would lead them back to each other.
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Lex studied the balls on the pool table, carefully considering his next shot. "So, Clark," he said, "do you want to tell me the real reason you're here?"
"What do you mean?" Clark asked as Lex missed the six-ball.
"I mean that as much as I appreciate you wanting to get back into our old habits," he replied, gesturing at the pool table, "something tells me that a few games of pool don't constitute the real reason that you came out here."
Clark sighed and leaned against the pool table. By now, Lex had told him of his eavesdropping on his explosive confrontation with Lana. "Lana came by the loft last night," he said. "She wanted to know if I'd forgive her for her accusations."
"What did you say?" Lex inquired.
"I told her that I wasn't sure if I could forgive her, let alone be friends with her again," Clark explained.
"I see," Lex said. "I guess the real question is what you want, Clark."
"It's hard," Clark admitted. "I want Lana in my life, but I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to look at her and not remember how much she hurt me."
"You know, that works both ways, Clark," Lex pointed out. "Lana had the exact reservations about you before she decided to leave for Paris. It's possible that she still does, but it seems to me that she's willing to put her faith in you and take a chance. Can you say the same?" Clark opened his mouth, but Lex continued, "You don't have to answer that. But I will tell you something." He put a comforting hand on Clark's shoulder. "Everyone deserves a second chance, an opportunity to redeem themselves. I'm grateful to you for giving me one, and I have no intention of wasting it. I seriously doubt that Lana, or you, for that matter, would either." Gesturing again at the pool table, Lex prompted, "Your shot, Clark."
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Lana leaned on the counter and let out a huff. The afternoon rush was taking its toll on her, and she was grateful for the breather. As her gaze wandered to the front of the Talon, she caught sight of Clark and immediately straightened up. Her heart involuntarily skipped a beat as he made his way purposely toward her. "Hey, Clark," she greeted, smiling slightly.
Clark's face, however, remained serious. "I've been thinking about what you said last night, and I've come to a decision." Lana opened her mouth, but Clark raised a hand, stopping her. "Just let me talk for now." He sighed. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think we can just pick up where we left off." Lana's face fell as Clark continued, "There's so much water under the bridge, from both of us, that I don't see how we can just go on like nothing happened."
Lana sniffled. "I guess I can accept that," she said sadly.
"That's why I've decided that the best thing for both of us would be to start over, redo our friendship from the beginning," Clark concluded.
Lana gasped in surprise. "What?" she questioned.
"Like I said, we can't continue from where we were, and I think it's obvious by now that we're both miserable when we're not talking to each other," Clark pointed out. "But I think that if we started our friendship over again, wiped the slate clean, then things might work between us again."
Despite her own inner enthusiasm at his idea, she questioned cautiously, "It sounds fine in theory, Clark, but do you really think we can just reset our entire relationship like some video game?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Clark admitted. "But I'm willing to try, Lana. I have faith in you, in us." Clark paused, thinking over Lex's words. "Everyone deserves a second chance, Lana, and I think that we're both long overdue for one."
Lana nodded slowly, a smile creeping over her face. "Yeah, absolutely," she agreed.
"Good," Clark said, a dimmed version of his famous megawatt smile coming to his face. "So, to make this work, we need to make a promise right now, to always tell the truth. No more lies."
"And what about secrets?" Lana questioned softly.
Fortunately, Clark had anticipated this question. "I can't tell you everything now, Lana," he said, "but I'm making my own amendment to our promise. One day down the road, I will tell you what I've been hiding from you. I'm not ready yet, so don't ask me any questions. I do promise that I won't lie to you about it anymore. If a circumstance comes up where I have no choice but to tell you, then I will. Can you accept that?"
Lana carefully studied Clark's face. A small part of her desperately wanted to know what Clark had been hiding, but mostly she just wanted him in her life. Nodding, she vowed, "Yeah, I think so. And I do promise, no more secrets, no more lies."
Clark nodded and sighed. Seeing the crowd beginning to gain numbers again, he said, "Well, I guess I'd better let you get back to work."
"Yeah," she agreed. Giving him another smile, she said, "I'll see you later, Clark."
"Okay," Clark said and turned to leave. After a few steps, he turned back toward her and said, "Hey, Lana?"
"Yeah?" she called back.
Clark smiled, and this time it was full. "I won't let you down this time," he said.
Lana smiled to herself as Clark left. Their friendship had been destroyed and reset in a matter of days, and she prayed that this time, the foundation would hold. Only time would tell.
TO BE CONTINUED…