Note: I know I say this every time before an update but, thanks for reviewing! I really appreciate all your reviews. It keeps me writing. This chap is clana-filled so I hope you like it.

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Smallville: The Talon

6:47 P.M.

Friday, June 11th

"Clark, would you take away that chair right there? Apparently, Dean won't be able to make it," Lana called out to Clark. He merely nodded and glided through the crowd of family and friends, muttering an 'excuse me' now and then.

Clark had arrived home to Lana, his mother, and Chloe, their first guest. He had excused himself to take a shower, but not before gazing lovingly at his fiancé. She was dressed in a strapless pink dress complete with a sash. The bottom of her dress curved out, creating an elegant flow. Lana had caught him eyeing her and mouthed 'later', knowing he wanted to have her all to himself.

Easily, Clark lifted the chair off the floor and put it in a corner. Lana and his mother had managed to transform the Talon in a matter of a few hours. The small tables for three were pushed to the side to make room for a larger table. Plates, eating utensils, and the rest of all the necessary mealtime accessories were set out on the plaid table cloth. Numerous people were dining already. Clark spotted Chloe and Pete near the door and made his way toward them.

"Well, if it isn't my cousin's new dog," was how Chloe Sullivan greeted him.

Clark sent a scowl at her and hit Pete Ross alongside the head for laughing at her joke.

"What? It was funny," Pete sniggered, ducking to avoid another blow.

"Yeah; hilarious." Clark replied sarcastically. "I just came here to thank one of you clowns for hacking into the LexCorp system."

"You hacked into LexCorp?" Lana Lang questioned as she joined the three and linked arms with her sweetheart.

"It took six hours and twelve cappuccinos, but I did it," Chloe said smiling.

"You forgot to mention that you had your buddy, Jude, over to help you. The computer wiz?" Pete added, with a knowing smile. "Jude actually works for LexCorp, so of course you got in."

Chloe's smile faltered for a second, but it appeared again. "So, you two, what's the big announcement?"

"Well, you'll find out soon, Chloe," Lana intervened before Clark could speak. She didn't know that Chloe and Pete had gone ring shopping with Clark.

"Judging from your smile, I take it its good news?" Pete played off perfectly. He gave an inconspicuous wink at Clark.

Lana smiled some more and gave Clark's hand a squeeze. Clark couldn't help but notice that she had an extra glow tonight. Her eyes were sparkling and her jubilant expression gave her the look of an angel, in his opinion. Almost everyone in the room could clearly see that whatever the news was, it was good.

"Well, I'm going to find Nell and see if she's ready," Lana raised herself on tip-toes and planted a quick kiss on Clark's lips.

"I'll go with you; let's leave the boys alone for a talk." Chloe handed Pete her cup of coffee and followed after an almost-skipping Lana.

After her and Lana were out of ear-shot, Pete gave a loud whistle and patted Clark on the back. "I should really take a page out of your book, man."

"What do you mean?" Clark was walking toward the center of the room where people were already seated. The guest list didn't contain many people. Apart from his mother, Pete, and Chloe, there wasn't much to it. Lana had invited Nell, Dean, Jane Grayson, her old roommate, and Henry Small, her biological father. Dean couldn't make it, and Henry Small couldn't get away from his work. Clark suspected that there was another reason for Henry's non-appearance, but Lana had said she didn't really care. It was an engagement party for them, their family and friends. Those who couldn't make it or didn't bother to make it were—well, not people that they wanted in their lives. Lana's last words before she had drifted off to sleep last night were, "As long as you're with me, I don't need anyone else."

"I mean, how you keep her so happy all the time," Pete conveyed. "Are you sneaking diamonds onto her pillow every night?"

Clark snorted. "Pete, I could barely afford to buy her engagement ring."

"Well, you must be doing something right, man. Look at her," he gestured toward her chatting with her aunt, Martha Kent, and Chloe. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement and there wasn't a moment that a frown crossed her face during Pete and Clark's examination.

"She looks breath-taking," Clark said quietly. "She always does."

"So, she does," Clark heard Pete say.

"What did you say?"

"Huh?"

"Did you just agree with me?" Clark pulled his gaze away from his fiancé and glared at his best friend.

"What? No, I'm not like that, man," Pete said, shaking his head vividly. "Lana Lang is property of Clark Kent. It's like a written rule."

"Then what were you agreeing on?" Clark repeated, relieved that his best friend didn't have his heart set on his fiancé, because if that were the case, things would've turned ugly a long time ago.

Pete turned reluctant and kicked at the ground as if he were kicking dirt. He had tossed the coffee cup on the table and his hands now rested in his pockets. After a prolonged silence he finally said, "I meant Chloe."

Pete had muttered the last part so it took Clark a few seconds to register the new information in his mind. "Wait—what?"

Pete sighed and mumbled, "I think I like Chloe."

Clark caught what was said through super hearing. "You and Chloe? When?"

"Since junior year."

"Wait—junior year in Smallville or Metro?"

"I think you already know the answer to that."

Clark stood there stunned. He knew something was up when Chloe took the meaning of the words 'the truth' too seriously and managed to bring out the Romeo in Pete. Clark had had the opportunity of viewing Pete kiss Chloe in an elevator. He had even confronted Pete about it.

"Clark, Pete, are you two coming to the table?" Martha Kent called out to them, discontinuing their enlightening conversation.

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"Well, Martha, that was a wonderful apple pie."

"Why, thank you, Nell. But, I can't take all the credit for it. Your niece helped me with it."

"Oh, she did now?"

"Yes, and she did a great job too. I think she learned from her aunt, Grandville's best apple pie winner."

"Oh now, that was a long time ago and the only reason I won was because you were out of commission that year. Something about a canned foods drive, was it?"

"Canned foods drive for a shelter in Metropolis. But, I'm sure your pie was still wonderful, Nell."

Clark and Lana watched the conversation with mild interest equivalent to a tennis tournament. It wasn't everyday that Nell Potter and Martha Kent got along so well. The ball had been dropped and now they were just waiting for it to get to their court.

"How long do you think we should let this lovey-dovey conversation continue?" Clark whispered inconspicuously in his girlfriend's ear.

Lana scouted her chair closer to her lover's and leaned her head on his shoulder to make it seem like it was a simple gesture of affection with no hidden messages. The couple pulled it off perfectly, it seemed. Pete sniggered at Clark and gave him a wink and Chloe rolled her eyes. Yup, it was played off beautifully.

"Hmm…I don't know. I'm sort of enjoying this. Brings back memories, don't you think?" Lana smiled and buried her head in his shoulder as Clark's strong arms snaked around her small waist.

"Yeah? How do you mean?" Clark asked, not really caring where the chat was going.

"Doesn't it bring you back to the days where I was simply the girl next door and you were just a lone rider sitting out there, waiting to make your move?" Lana said in undertone. "And Nell kept cutting your lasso to stop you from dragging me in."

"You mean the time she caught us almost kissing after our meeting about the blood drive?" Clark smiled, remembering how Nell had sent him the message to go home by asking for the time.

Lana giggled and leaned her head up to give him a peck on the underside of his chin. "You still remember that….?"

Lana was cut off by snorts of laughter coming from Pete and Chloe. She sent Clark a bewildered glance but received the same back.

"What's going on?" Clark asked his mom.

"Oh, I'm just sharing some of the more memorable moments of you as a child," Martha waved it off as it was nothing. "Like the time you got mud all over your clothes and your father told you that I would never let you in the house with them on. We were at the Farmer's Market at that time. You took all your clothes off and ran around buck-naked because of what Jonathon said."

Lana snorted and clutched her stomach in fear of letting the apple pie she had just eaten go. Her petite body rocked against his in silent laughter. Clark cringed and groaned, "Mom…"

"Wait 'til I tell the James and the other guys this," Colin Fowl spoke up. Colin had been one of Clark and Pete's football teammates at Metropolis U. Granted; he wasn't as close to Clark as Pete was, the friendship that the two had cultivated over the past four years was still important to Clark. Not many guys on the team had respected his need for privacy to keep his secret—well, a secret.

"Oh, shut up, Colin, or I'll tell Pete where his real autographed ball from the Sharks went." That managed to shut him up, Clark thought with a satisfied smile.

"Don't think I didn't forget about you, Lana," Nell warned her niece who was consumed with such laughter that all she could do was nod. "I have stories that can shake your boyfriend up with hysterics too."

"Really?" Clark prompted with a small smile as Lana's giggles faded away. "I would love to hear them, Mrs. Potter." He hoped that Nell wasn't holding a grudge against him for his last visit.

Lana gave a small cough and eased herself off of Clark's shoulder. "Actually, as much as I would love to see Clark over here choke on his water, I think it's time for us to say something."

"Finally we get to hear what the big Kent-Lang announcement is," Chloe teased, sitting up straighter in her purple cushioned chair. "Wait—don't tell, you're pregnant, Lana?"

"Well, I certainly hope not!" Nell said jokingly, but both Lana and Clark knew there was a stern warning behind her innocent comment.

"No, Clark hasn't banged me up, if that's what you're thinking," Lana played along, rising from her chair and tugging on Clark's hand to signal that he should also do the same.

Clark rose steadily to his feet and sucked in a deep breath. The added amount of pressure on his hand indicated that Lana was probably a bit nervous. Clark caught her eye and squeezed her hand gently to tell her he could do it alone if she was too tense. But, the slight shake of her head told him that wasn't happening. They were in it together.

"Well," Clark began nervously. "As you all know, Lana and I have been dating for quite some time now—about four years. And, if you had known me well enough in my high school years, you would've known I had the biggest crush on the most popular, beautiful, and caring girl in school. It was the end of our senior year that marked the beginning of a steady and secret-free relationship between us." Clark paused and glanced at Lana. She was gazing up adoringly at him and her eyes were misted over.

"Now, our senior year in college just ended, marking our 4th anniversary. It was the day after graduation that I suddenly wondered where did the past four years go. Where am I going to go from here? Who am I going to tackle life with? It was then that I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Lana Lang, the one constant thing in my life that I couldn't ever bare to lose," Clark swallowed and noticed that his mom was dabbing her eyes with a napkin. It seemed that everyone knew where this was going since the only sound that could be heard was breathing. "I asked Lana to marry me last Sunday night."

"And in case you have to even wonder what my answer was," Lana jumped in, "I said yes." She clasped Clark's hand tighter and drew in breath. "We're engaged."

Silence. Then…

"Finally!" Pete exclaimed, jumping out of his seat and running over to the two happily engaged couple.

"Hey, I second that!" Chloe said, following Pete and giving Lana a big hug.

During the pats-on-the-back and hugs session, Clark noticed that not everyone in the room was thrilled with their announcement. Nell's smile seemed forced.

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"Thanks for driving out all the way, here," Lana said, hugging Chloe one more time.

"Hey, it was worth seeing the big smile on your face when you announced that you were engaged," Chloe said, hugging her back and moving toward Clark to give him a quick hug.

"Yeah, thanks for coming, Chloe, it meant a lot to us," Clark added, grateful that he had such great friends that were willing to drive three hours to hear something that they already knew.

"Hey, what about me?" Pete clowned, pretending to feel a little left out.

Lana moved to give Pete a 'pity' hug. "You too, Pete."

"Don't get too comfortable there, buddy," Clark warned jokingly when the hug lasted longer than he had anticipated it to.

"Don't worry, she's all yours, man," Pete said, releasing Lana. "You two have a fun night. Don't stay up too late now." Pete winked and guided Chloe to his car. With a wave from inside the car, they were gone.

Lana sighed, content, and leaned against Clark. "Doesn't this seem sort of surreal?"

"Hmm…not for me because I've been dreaming up this kind of stuff since I was five," Clark replied, kissing the top of her head.

Lana giggled and turned around. Her strawberry-lip-gloss-covered lips were drawing closer to Clark's when…

"Lana, could I talk to you for a minute?"

Clark closed his eyes for a momentarily and opened them to find Lana's eyes pleading for him to forgive her aunt.

"Umm…just a moment, Nell," Lana called out to Nell who was standing right outside the door of the Talon. Nell hesitated, unsure if leaving her niece alone with her fiancé at this late an hour was such a good idea. When Lana didn't move, she went inside.

Lana sighed, this time it was a sigh of frustration. "I guess that make-out session will have to wait."

Clark also sighed and held her to him. "Nell's timing was always crummy."

"Yes it was, and still is," Lana said, burying her face in his chest.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Kent came out telling Lana that Nell wanted to see her. Usually Lana tried her best to get along with her aunt, but as fast as she was growing up, it was getting difficult every step she took into the adult world. With every step came new opinions and new views. And every time she was confronted with them, she pondered if Nell's beliefs and opinions were necessary right.

Lana gave Clark a swift kiss and her soon-to-be-mother-in-law a quick hug before proceeding into the building.

A blanket of peaceful silence soon fell upon Clark and his mother. Clark didn't have to ask what she was thinking about, he knew. After the death of Jonathon Kent, Clark, lying in his boyhood bed, would sometimes hear sobs late at night. And they just weren't quiet sobs; they were wreaked, pain-filled sobs that would break his heart and fill it with guilt. There was nothing he could do for his mother. Clark wondered if she still cried late at night; he hadn't been home in a while. In the clear, warm, moon-light night, Clark could make out his mom's face. It was aging now, and although he never noticed before, there was gray hair on her head and wrinkles underneath her eyes. It was a sight that hurt him dearly to see. It hurt because he couldn't do anything for her; he could never take Jonathon Kent's place as provider, care-taker, and husband. He could do a lot of things like dodge a speeding bullet, but the one thing Clark Kent couldn't mend was a broken heart.

"I'm happy for you, Clark," Clark heard his mother say. He swallowed hard. How could he think her voice sounded so frail and weak?

"You're father would've been proud; proud that you've finally gotten the girl of your dreams. Proud that you're going to be married soon and leaving your old mother behind," Martha Kent was crying silently now.

"Mom…I'm not leaving you…." He walked over to her and gave her a long-needed hug.

"I know, Clark….I'm just happy that you're not going to be alone. I'm happy because you're happy." Martha sobbed into her son's shirt.

"I just wish dad could see this…." Clark said sadly.

"He can…from where he is, he can," Martha replied. "Don't you ever forget that, Clark."

"I won't," Clark promised.

"Why don't we go and see if Nell is ready?" Martha said. "She's planning to stay at the farm until morning, when she's not so tired to drive back into the city. It'll give us a chance for two old ladies to catch up on life."

Clark opened the door for his mother and got a view of the end of a very heated argument between Lana and her aunt. It even resulted in Lana storming up the stairs and a loud slam of their apartment door that echoed throughout the premises. Nell stood there shell shocked.

"Nell, what happened?" Martha asked, concerned.

"Nothing….Do you mind if we head to the farm now? I'm now feeling so well…." Was all Nell said.

"Certainly…." Martha glanced at her son who was still holding the door for her to go in. "Clark, why don't you step aside for Nell to pass?"

"Right, sorry…." Clark muttered, confused. His eyes traveled toward the staircase that led to their apartment.

When Nell passed through the door, Martha said, "Why don't you lock up, Clark? Go check if Lana's okay. If you need anything, Nell and I will be at the farm."

Clark nodded and closed the door behind his mother's retreating back. He locked the door and pulled it to check if it was secure. Satisfied with his handiwork, he headed up the stairs to where his angel was.