That afternoon, following his father's advice to simply live his life, Clark went to football practice. Caitlin tagged along, bundled up in a big red sweater and a striped scarf. She sat on the bleachers, watching Clark throw and catch passes as Coach Teague yelled out directions.
"He's got a good arm." A laconic female voice said near Caitlin's elbow, and she look up with a start to see a slim dark blond standing there, her hair tied back in a ponytail. She was watching Clark as well.
"I hope he's gotten over the urge to show off other assorted body parts in public."
Caitlin raised an eyebrow at the statement, staring at the dark blond woman in the blue turtleneck and jeans.
"Oh I think he has, trust me on that." She stood up and held out her right hand.
"You must be Lois."
"And you must be someone who knows Clark pretty well to make that kind of statement." The girl smiled. "Lois Lane, unwilling participant in the 'let's-send-Lois-back-to-high-school experiment."
"Caitlin Brown…girlfriend of the aforementioned teenager with the temporary el natural streak." They shook hands and Lois looked a little stunned at what she had said.
"Girlfriend? Well! Smallville never mentioned that he had a girlfriend. Guess he was right, he's not too much of a geek after all." Mild affection belied her words as she sat down beside Caitlin.
"So . . . what's it like? I imagine it's like hanging around a flannel-covered tree, but I don't think trees blush nearly as half as often as he does." Lois chuckled as she thought of how she'd walked in on him as he took a shower the week before.
"There's more to Clark then his love of flannel Lois." Caitlin smiled her affection for Clark deep in her light eyes. "But you're right Clark does tend to blush a lot especially if you catch him in the shower." Her face remained passive but the relief that Lois had taken over Lana's old room at Chloe's house showed in her small smile.
"He told me all about your lack of shyness."
"I learned a long time ago that you don't get very far in life being shy. Besides, being raised by a four-star army general doesn't exactly make you a wallflower." She watched Clark throw another pass. "How long have you two been dating?"
Caitlin's gaze went to Clark a moment. She watched him catch a Hail Mary and raise his arms in celebration. She clapped at that, waving at him and he waved back, his grin visible all the way from the field as he took off his helmet.
"Almost eight months." She turned back to Lois. "Seems like a long time doesn't it?"
Lois grinned. "I was with him for three hours and it felt a lot longer than that. He's a nice kid, but Smallville and I don't exactly see eye to eye. He sure seems to have it bad for you, though." Lois commented, noticing Clark's bright grin.
"I have it bad for him too." Caitlin watched as he put his helmet back on and joined a huddle before the team clapped and prepared to run a play. She saw Lois raise an eyebrow.
"Does that surprise you?"
Lois shrugged. "Just because we don't see eye to eye doesn't mean I haven't looked down, Caitlin." She smiled coyly, and then sobered. "No, it doesn't surprise me, and I'm glad he has someone to watch out for him while he's busy watching out for everyone else." Lois stood up as Clark came jogging over, his helmet under one arm.
"Hey Smallville, you keep throwing off-center like that and The Crows are going to end up under the cellar this season." She met his eyes with a challenging smile.
"Thanks. I'll remember that." Clark grated with a long-suffering smile.
Ever since Lois had dunked him at the homecoming fair, there'd been no living with her. "Caitlin, this is-"
"Lois Lane…your rescuer from the cornfield and invader of your shower time." Caitlin stated and hugged him around the waist; his face already red from practice hid his blush. "Lois and I were just talking about you."
Clark's glance flicked between the two women as he remembered well Lana's reaction to Caitlin when they'd first started dating. "Oh. Uh . . . really?"
"Yeah…Lois was just giving me her insights on a few things, that's all." Caitlin kissed Clark on the cheek wrinkling her nose at him teasingly.
Clark turned to look at Lois, his eyes wide, and the other girl laughed boisterously.
"Boy, look at him squirm!"
"Don't worry Clark, just a little harmless girl talk that's all." Caitlin whispered in his ear before giving his cheek another kiss.
"You better get back out there before Coach Teague makes you do extra laps."
"Right!" He gave her a quick kiss before shooting Lois a long-suffering, aggrieved stare. "Lois, always a pleasure." He took off in long strides as the football team spread out along the perimeter of the football field to run laps.
"Looks like Smallville is well on his way to becoming a jock." Lois observed.
"Yeah he is…" Caitlin smiled proudly as she watched Clark run. "Joining the football team has always been a dream of his. I'm glad this year he got to do it."
"I'm actually surprised he's waited this long." Lois glanced at her watch and rolled her eyes. "Oh great, I'm late for a meeting with my so-called counselor. The last time we met, he spent forty-five minutes calling me Louise and asking what grade I was in. See you later, Caitlin!" She trotted off with a wave and grin, her dark blonde ponytail bouncing against her back as she departed.
"Bye Lois!" Caitlin called back as the young woman disappeared. She couldn't help but smile. In a lot of ways, Lois reminded her of Chloe albeit a bit more daring and bold.
"Quite a pair those two." She said of the two cousins as she sat back down and continued to watch Clark.
Clark finished his laps and came trotting toward her again, his endurance apparently limitless. He hadn't even broken a sweat, and the other players were straggling into the locker room, their hair and jerseys wet with sweat despite the cool weather.
"All done." Clark smiled. "Ready to go?"
"All ready." Caitlin put an arm around his waist. "Can I help you clean up?" She teased grinning at him. "I'd be glad to."
He gave her a dubious smile. "I think mom has caught me in that situation one too many times this month already, but thanks for the offer." He took her hand as they left the football field, and then Clark hesitated as he heard a familiar voice call out to him.
"Clark! Hey, wait up!"
Lana was running toward them, and Clark felt Caitlin stiffen slightly at his side. Clark smiled obligingly as his lifelong crush ran up to him, her almond eyes sparkling.
"I saw you practice, you were great! Why did you wait so long to join the team?"
"Well let's just say that I had to take matters into my own hands…" He glanced at Caitlin a moment and seeing her forced smile, decided quickly to change the subject.
"So I hear the Talon is reopening, any idea when that's going to happen?"
"I'm still negotiating with Lex. I want your mom to manage it so that I can concentrate on enrolling in college next fall. I'm thinking of maybe going to Europe as well . . . maybe Italy or Ireland." She glanced at Caitlin. "What about you, Caitlin? Any plans for college?"
Caitlin smiled, genuinely this time. "Yeah actually." She turned to look at Clark. "Clark and I are thinking about going to KSU for the fall."
"Really, Kansas State?" She looked up Clark. "Sticking close to home, huh?"
Clark nodded. "My dad's heart isn't what it used to be, and this way I can go to school and still help out at home."
"Not all of us can be world travelers, Lana." Caitlin tightened her arm around Clark's waist. "What do you say Clark? Shall we go hit the books up in your loft?" She asked gazing up into his face.
Clark gave her a polite but direct warning with his eyes. The last thing he wanted was to get into the middle of a catfight. Caitlin and Lana had never gotten along, not even when Caitlin had first moved to town, and it had gotten worse when he and Caitlin had begun dating.
"Um, yeah. I have afternoon chores anyway. See you later, Lana."
He led Caitlin away, and then sighed as they walked into the parking lot.
"Caitlin, do you guys have to snipe at each other like that?"
"And her little 'staying close to home' remark wasn't a snipe at you?" Caitlin stopped walking and turned toward her boyfriend. "It was, Clark. Her tone implied a lot, like you don't have any guts or something."
"There's a lot of history there, Caitlin. Lana and I have kind of a complicated relationship, and I think it's hard for her to see me dating someone so seriously." They reached the pickup and Clark opened the passenger side door for her.
Caitlin slipped inside the truck and clicked on her seatbelt. "I know it's hard for her, but I've never done anything to Lana yet she treats me like I don't even have the right to look at you." She leaned towards the driver's side and reached out to touch Clark's face.
"I'm sorry you are constantly put in the middle between us but the way she treats you isn't right Clark. You have a right to be happy if she can't accept that then I'm sorry but I won't let her trample on you, not anymore."
"I appreciate that Caitlin, but like I said Lana and I have a history that goes back to when we were in kindergarten. She gets angry because she's scared about how things are changing, that's all." Clark started the pickup and pulled out of the parking lot, turning away from town and in the direction of The Kent Farm.
"I don't know why she holds on; from what I've heard she seems perfectly happy with Coach Teague." Caitlin leaned back in her seat and rubbed her arms, staring out at the scenery that whipped by.
"If she's happy with the coach why does she still make our lives so difficult?"
"I'm sure she doesn't mean to, Caitlin . . . . sometimes its harder for some people than others to move forward, especially someone like Lana. She's had a rough time of it."
Ten minutes later, they reached the farm, and Clark grinned as he saw his dad out by the barn, baling hay and looking so much like his old self that it seemed what had happened to him that summer had been rewound and erased. Clark jumped from the truck and ran toward him, and Jonathan gave him a warm smile.
"Hey All-star." Jonathan beamed and caught the football his son threw at him. "How was practice today?"
"Great!" Clark smiled as he glanced around. "You're not working too hard, are you? You know what the doctor said; he said you shouldn't do too much too soon!"
"Yeah yeah I know." Jonathan took the football in his hands and drew his arm back then mimed the motions as if he was going to throw it into the field. "But that doctor doesn't have a farm to run."
"You also don't have to run it alone. Let me go change and I'll come back and help you, okay?" Clark smiled and headed for the house. Once in his room, he shrugged out of his football uniform, showered quickly, pulled on an old pair of jeans, red tee shirt and a matching hooded sweatshirt, and then jogged back downstairs. His mind on football, the farm and Caitlin, Clark smiled as he slammed out of the front door, the events of the previous night seeming like a bad dream.
Lana arrived at Chloe's house to find it empty and a note on the table from her friend saying that she and Gabe had gone for groceries and would be back around nightfall. With a sigh, Lana dropped her backpack and purse on the dining room table and climbed the steps to the room she shared with Chloe. Her friend's laptop and schoolbooks sat in a neat pile on her desk, and Lana went to the closet to pull out a pale yellow sweat suit, which she laid on the bed to change into after a shower.
Her encounter with Clark and his girlfriend still rankled her. Clark was obviously starting come out of that self-contained phase he'd been going through since his freshman year, and had the potential to become extremely popular at Smallville High this year. Lana hadn't seen anyone throw a football like he had that afternoon since Whitney had played for The Crows, and knew that the team would have a winning season.
Not that I'm not happy for him . . . . I'm glad he's finally starting to open up. To everyone . . . but . . . me. Lana thought as she stalked into the bathroom with her shampoo and towels. She thought of the possessive way that Caitlin Brown had clung to Clark during their entire conversation, and she hadn't been able to resist needling the petite girl just a bit.
"Why her?" Lana asked her reflection in the mirror above the bathroom sink.
"Why did he choose her instead of me, after all these years?"
"Because he does not understand his destiny, Lana Lang."
Lana turned and gasped aloud as the strange voice seemed to come at her from everywhere at once. She swallowed hard.
"No. I'm not hearing this." She laughed nervously, and then cried out in pain as the rune-like symbol tattooed on her back seemed to catch fire and brand her like a calf. Her hands flew to the small of her back as she cried out, and then she turned back toward the mirror. As she watched, her own reflection swam and changed. Her brunette hair shortened and went a deep bluish-black, her almond eyes went catlike, the irises diamond-shaped and the color of old amber. A grin stretched her mouth to reveal gleaming white teeth. Lana trembled. "Who . . . who are you?" She whispered.
"The last residue of a dead race, Lana Lang . . . dead until you help the last son of Krypton realize his true destiny."
"Last son of Krypton?" Lana creased her brow shaking her head slowly. "I don't know who that is and I don't know who you are…" She started backing away from the mirror but stopped when another strong twinge at the small of her back made her sink to her knees. She touched it and her face cringed in agony.
"Please…please stop this…"
"You have been chosen because you understand that his destiny does not lie with the people of this planet, but with us, the Torg.. I am called Domminus. I was once Emperor of The Torg, a people whose sought to rule this planet, but were destroyed by our enemy, Krypton. Knowing that we would never give up our claim on this planet or its people, the ruler of Krypton sent them his only son to watch over and protect it.
Now the time has come for you to join us, and turn him toward his true destiny . . . . the rebirth of the Torg race!"
"Chosen? But why? Why are you doing this?" Lana dropped her head, the pain only intensifying to the point her lower back felt like it was on fire.
"I don't even know who you're talking about!" Her long hair fell forward, concealing her face like a curtain.
"This isn't happening…this is just a bad dream!"
"A dream that will soon become reality, Lana Lang, as you join me in leading the glorious rebirth of our people and turn the last son of Krypton into nothing more than our breeding slave. Once he belongs to us, we will populate this planet with a new breed of Torg, one that cannot be destroyed, and enslave the human race as well as those like them all over the galaxy! Come with me now, Lana Lang, and learn of your destiny!"
A bright blue light washed over the bathroom and Lana shrieked as it consumed her . . . her mind, her body, her soul…
Jonathan flicked off his welding torch and shoved the goggles that protected his eyes up onto his forehead as he scowled at Martha. They were in the doorway of the barn, where Jonathan was welding a crimp in the tractor's exhaust system.
Martha sighed and handed him a towel with which to wipe his face. He relaxed a little at her worried face, and gave her a reproachful look.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I didn't mean . . . " He took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly before continuing. "Look, I'm not saying that Jor-El's motives are completely selfish, I'm just saying that after what happened this summer, it's dangerous for Clark to go down in those caves again!"
"A lot of things happened this summer Jonathan." Martha crossed her arms over her chest as she walked around the barn, glancing up at her son's hang out.
"Jor-El is Clark's biological father whether we like it or not. If it wasn't for Jor-El we wouldn't have Clark." She turned around to face her husband. "I don't understand why it was that Jor-El took him and made him into Kal-El, maybe it was a test. We might not ever know but his warning seems to be for real and we can't just ignore it and get on with our lives."
Jonathan frowned, not much caring to have his own words thrown back at him.
"Martha, that's all we can do! What are supposed to tell Clark, to be suspicious of everyone until he gets so jumpy that he can't even function? What good is that going to do him? He's just getting back to normal after this summer, and now that he's on the football team he's finally starting to feel like he fits in . . . I don't want to take that away from him."
"I don't want to either Jonathan but we have to believe that this warning is real. If someone is truly after Clark…" She touched her hand to her mouth a moment, squeezing her eyes shut as her emotions threatened
"We lost him for three months when his father took him; I don't think I can take it if we lost him again."
"Sweetheart . . . " Jonathan stepped forward and embraced her tightly, resting his chin in her red hair. "We're not going to lose him. I believe Clark when he says he'd never be a part of anything evil. Besides, from what you said, Kal-El is dead, and Clark has control of his own destiny again."
"Kal-El is dead, that's why when Clark first said that Jor-El called him to the cave.. I got nervous. I thought that maybe he was going to do something to Clark." She touched the strong hands around her waist and sighed, leaning back against her husband's strong chest.
"Martha . . . . we can't protect Clark like we used to. He's almost eighteen now, and next year he'll be going off to college. We won't be able to watch him every minute, and we have to show him that we trust the decisions that he makes. He's got to gain confidence in himself, and that won't happen if he thinks we doubt him."
Martha opened the arms around her waist and turned around. "We do trust him Jonathan, we've always trusted him." Her arm looped around his neck as she studied his face.
"But I'd like to think that no matter how old Clark gets or how much he grows up…part of him is always going to need us. That's what is going to give him the confidence he's going to need for the future."
Jonathan nodded. "You're right. Until then, all we can do is love him and try to help him figure things out as best we can." Jonathan chuckled. "It's just that sometimes I'd wish he'd come to me with some normal teenaged problems, like he dented my truck or got into trouble with his teachers. After all, what do you say when your seventeen-year-old son comes to you and says he has to save the world and he needs your advice?"
"Uhhh..." Martha grinned at that but then her smile faded. "You tell him to do the right thing, no matter what." She tugged on the back of her husband's head bringing it closer as she hugged him, sighing against his shirt. "Ward Cleaver made it look so easy didn't he?"
Jonathan chuffed his amusement and kissed his wife gently.
"Yeah, well . . . . that's because The Beaver couldn't see through walls or lift his father's sedan over his head."
Martha chuckled lightly.
"You forgot kicking holes in the walls with his sneakers and making Jiffy Pop without the benefit of the stove."
"Don't remind me." Jonathan said with a shake of his head, and then smiled as he saw Clark jogging up the driveway.
"Speak of devil." He smiled, and waved at his son as he approached the barn.
"Hey son! How was-" He cut himself off and frowned when he saw Clark's expression. It was distinctly nervous. His sea foam eyes darted around constantly, lighting on one thing and then flitting off again like a nervous insect.
"Clark? Are you okay?"
Martha creased her brow at the look on her son's face and untangled herself from her husband's embrace. She approached him, both of hands touching his forearms.
"Clark? What is it?" She asked her stomach knotting.
Clark looked down at her, and Martha noticed that her son was sweating, something he hardly ever did under normal circumstances.
"I . . . I don't know." He said softly. "I went to school this morning and the whole day I just felt . . . wrong." He finished lamely.
Nodding, Martha touched his forehead, the skin under her fingers felt warm.
"Did you eat something wrong or go near the caves?" His cheeks were flushed, his pupils so wide his green irises were completely overtaken.
"Something's definitely going on Clark."
Jonathan touched his son's shoulder and he started so badly that Jonathan took a hasty step backwards. "I think you're right, Martha, and whatever it is doesn't look good. What about what your mom asked you, Clark, did you eat anything strange or go near the caves?"
Clark shook his head. "No . . . no, I just went to school. That's all. But the whole day I just felt like someone or something was watching my every move. I know that sounds strange but that's the only way I can describe it!"
"Like..." Martha looked at her son's heaving chest a moment. "Like something instinctual inside of you was trying to tell you something?"
"I don't know, I'm not sure. Maybe." Clark wiped his upper lip with the sleeve of his over shirt. "I'm going to go inside and take a shower, okay?"
"All right, Sweetheart." Martha forced herself to smile at her son, and then shot a worried glance at her husband before turning her attention back to Clark. "Then we'll have some dinner."
"Yeah . . . okay." Clark's eyes darted to the left and right before he started for the house, and Jonathan stared at his son's departing figure worriedly. "This is one of those times, Martha."
"Jor-El's warning was right Jonathan...and we just got the proof." Martha shuddered as a chill ran down her spine and suddenly her dark maroon sweater did little to ward off the cool autumn air.
Clark tossed his backpack onto a kitchen chair and bolted for his room, pulling off his flannel over shirt and yellow tee shirt as he went. He was nearly nude when he reached the bathroom, and kicked off his underwear as he slammed the door shut and turned on the shower. He turned on the hot water as high as it would go and stepped under the spray, letting the steaming water soak his hair. He rested his hands on the slick tiles of the shower stall, his breathing coming in short, quick pants.
"Clark!" Caitlin called out as she came barreling up the stairs, tossing her backpack into Clark's room. She heard the sound of the shower and opened the bathroom door. A wave of boiling steam hit her, the temperature so hot it nearly suffocated her and instant sweat broke out under her grey sweater.
Jerking the curtain back, her eyes widened at the sight of her trembling boyfriend.
"Clark what happened? You just took off!"
Clark cried out loudly as the curtain pulled back, and then relaxed when he saw it was Caitlin. Despite the scalding temperature of the water, he was still shivering.
"I know, I'm sorry. Can you . . . just give me a minute? Please?"
"All...all right." Caitlin forced herself to take a deep breath. She pulled the curtain gently this time and left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Going into Clark's room, she sat down on the bed folding her denim-covered legs under her. She too trembled and the sight of Clark so obviously rattled did little to comfort her.
Clark came into the room a few minutes later, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair still dripping. He spared Caitlin a brief wide-eyed glance before he went to his closet and began to go through his clothes like a man who wasn't really sure where he was or what he was doing.
She rose from the bed and came up behind him, gently wrapping her arms around his waist. She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to his back.
"What's going on Clark? Why did you just leave like that?" Caitlin asked quietly.
"I don't know . . . . I'm sorry." He pulled down a red plaid overshirt and then went to his dresser for a pair of faded blue jeans and a white tee-shirt. After slipping on some clean underwear, he pulled on his jeans and shirt. "I just felt . . . sick or something."
Caitlin turned him around and took a hold of his hands. "You think that what Jor-El said..." She trailed off, gazing into Clark's worried face.
"I don't know!" Clark cried, and pulled his hands away. "I just felt like something is wrong but I have no clue to what it might be! It really-" Clark suddenly broke off as his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open in a wounded gasp. His throat worked, and for a moment, he looked like an animal caught in some horrible trap.
"Clark?" Caitlin saw his gaze and put both hands on either side of his face.
"What is it?" She gave him a little shake as she asked, her heart pounding in her ears. "Clark! Talk to me!" She said firmly, her voice rose in a near shout.
Clark choked out a sound that was so foreign to Caitlin's ears that it took her a moment to realize that the sound had been a word, but a word spoken in a language so alien to her that she'd been unable to recognize it as such.
"What? What did you say?" She cupped his head more firmly between her hands, bringing it down so she could peer into his wild eyes. "What did you say?"
Clark made the sound again, and although her brain registered phonetics, she couldn't even begin to spell it out to herself. Finally, Clark exhaled harshly with a panicked gasp, and his eyes focused on Caitlin again.
"Caitlin . . . Jor-El was right. Come on . . . you've got to pack. Right now. I'll take you home and help you, and then you and my folks can be gone by morning."
"Gone? Gone where?" Caitlin shook her head, her throat growing tight. "Clark I don't understand the word you said, what did it mean and what did it have to do with Jor-El?"
"There's no time for questions, Caitlin. Look, I want you to get your stuff together, and I'm going to call Lex. Maybe he can help me get you guys somewhere safe." Clark began opening dresser drawers at random as the phone rang downstairs. A moment later, his mom called up the stairs. "Clark! Telephone! It's Chloe!"
He slammed the drawer closed and ran his fingers through his wet hair. "Mom, can you take a message?"
"She says it's important! Come on, I'm not a secretary! Pick it up!" Martha replied, and Clark stalked out into the hallway where a white push button phone sat on a small table. He picked up the receiver. "Got it!" He called down the stairs, and put the phone to his ear. "Chloe, I'd love to chat but now is really not a good time."
"I'm sorry if its not a good time but this is important…"She paused a moment and took a deep breath. "Clark…have you seen Lana?" The worry in Chloe's normally strong tone made Clark's heart sink into his stomach. "She's been missing since yesterday afternoon."
"Lana's missing?" He repeatedly numbly. "Chloe . . . . are you sure?"
"Yeah..."Chloe replied, her voice trembling with tears.
"Sheriff Adams found the loft apartment a wreck, Lana's stuff thrown everywhere and so was the room we shared at my house. They don't know what happened to her Clark. They don't have a clue."
"Okay. Take it easy Chloe, we'll find her. I'll be right there. Don't go anywhere, just . . . stay right there. Bye." Clark hung up the phone and went back into his room, his head whirling. Caitlin gazed up at him, and he shook his head a little.
"Lana's missing. No one's seen her since yesterday afternoon."
"Missing?" Caitlin's eyes grew round at the news and she sat down on the corner of the bed. "I...I didn't even notice that she wasn't in school." She raised her eyes to look at Clark. "Could that be what you were feeling?"
"No." Said Clark tersely, and he looked down at her. "You're not staying in Smallville one second longer Caitlin, and neither are my folks. Something's very wrong here, and until I can find out what it is, I don't want you to be here. Understand?"
She shook her head slowly, her sandy brown hair shifting with the motion. "No I don't understand and I don't want to leave you." Caitlin got up from the bed. "How can you ask me to just go, knowing what Jor-El said! He said I had to face whatever this is! We both have to face it Clark!"
"Its not for you to face!" Clark shouted back, his voice going deep and almost hoarse. "Whatever's happening here is because of me and I have to find out what that is! Please Caitlin, do as I tell you!"
Caitlin felt her tears start to well up in her eyes and swallowed down a lump in her throat. "I'll do what you want Clark." She whispered, and then wrapped her arms around him pressing her face to his t-shirt.
Clark hugged her back, wishing that sometimes he could be exactly as he appeared to everybody else.
"It'll be okay." He whispered, and kissed the top of her head. "It won't be forever . . . . just for a few days, until I can figure out what's going on around here and while I try and find Lana. Okay?"
"Your parents won't buy that explanation Clark. They won't want to leave." She took a deep breath then raised her wet face to peer into his. "I know they won't."
"No more than you do, but I think you'll all be in danger if you stay."
Clark replied, completely unaware that the word he'd spoken in his home world language before had been that very word- danger.