Chapter Seven: Life, nightmares, and reality
One Year Later...
Martha and Jonathan still spent almost every weekend in Metropolis looking. Pete had decided to move back in with his Dad in Smallville.
Lois, Chloe, Lana, Jason and Pete had all stayed close; now bound by a common secret.
They told themselves that they hadn't given up, but they were quickly running out of places to look.
Tonight, everyone was gathered at the Talon. Jonathan was waiting for Martha to finish closing the Talon. Their entire group was gathered at their usual booth, having a usual discussion.
"Have you found anything new on Swann, Chloe?" Lois asked.
Chloe had been trying to hack into his e-mails and just find anything that might help them in their search.
Pete had been in a quiet conversation with Lana and Jason.
"Mind if we join in the conversation?" Chloe asked.
"Lana, Jason and Pete suddenly looked up, realizing they had unintentionally drawn attention to themselves.
"Oh nothing, never mind." Lana said, trying to dismiss it.
"No, it's not nothing." Pete said, finding his voice.
"We've done everything we can to try and find Clark, but we can't keep doing it like this. We'll never find him at this rate. Mr. Kent, if you and Mrs. Kent really want to find your son, why won't you ask for help? Lionel may be a major bad guy, and I'll admit that I had my doubts about Lex, but we've been looking for him for over a year, with nothing to show for it. Lex knows that we're all looking for Clark, and he's asked Jason, and all of us if there's anything he can do to help. He is Clark's best friend. You can't trust him, if you don't give him a chance. We all believe that he truly just wants to help."
Just then, Lex walked in. He seemed to have been waiting for just that moment to come in.
"All I want to do is help you, Mr. Kent; help Clark." Lex said.
Mr. Kent looked at his wife and sighed.
"Lex, I need you to promise me that I can trust you." Jonathan said.
"You can, Mr. Kent, I promise." Lex said, reassuringly.
"There are some things that you need to know about this whole thing, before you can help any of us. I want you to know that it wasn't my idea to bring you into this, but the majority of us believe that we won't be able to find Clark without your help."
Martha could see where this was going to be headed. She decided to take matters into her own hands.
"Lex, Clark is an alien. His ship's landing was disguised by the meteor shower. We've spent every second since trying to keep that secret from the world; and now...and now they have him...somewhere."
The entire group was watching his face, waiting to see his reaction.
This is what Lex had been waiting to hear since the moment he had met Clark. Through all the years Lex had wanted to know the truth, he always thought that Mr. Kent's mistrust of him was what had held back the truth from him. Now was his opportunity to prove his loyalty to the Kent's, to the family he always wanted.
"You can still trust me, Mr. Kent. I want you to know that I still want to help find Clark. I need you to trust me." Lex stated reassuringly.
The group, now including Lex, was discussing their new options.
"I can try and contact this Dr. Swann guy, and maybe pretend to be interested in donating money, or getting involved in the project." Lex offered.
"How will getting you involved in the project going to help us rescue Clark?" Jonathan asked.
"If I can really get in, we will know where Clark is, and start thinking of ways to get him out." Lex said.
"I hope it will be that easy." Jonathan said.
Everyone seeing that the 'meeting' was over, started to get up and leave.
Later that night at the Talon...
Jason had stayed behind everyone, so he could say goodnight to Lana. She hadn't said anything more to him about her tattoo, or her name on the cave wall. She seemed different now, more distant to him, and everyone for that matter.
"Hey Lana, can we talk?" Jason asked.
"Sure, what about?"
"I just was wondering if there is anything bothering you. You've seemed so withdrawn from everything lately. I told you that we would go through this together, and that's still true."
Lana hesitated, "Jason, I know that I said I wanted to be totally honest with you, but I can't. I need to figure them out for myself before, I can expect you to understand."
"I don't need to understand, Lana. We can figure it out together."
"I'm sorry. I just need you to be patient with me."
