Chapter One
The Beginning
PRESENT DAY
Morning had broken a few hours ago upon Smallville. Jonathan Kent had been up with the dawn to start work on the farm as usual, his wife Martha soon following right after an hour later. The sun was out and shinning now, giving life and light to the midwestern farmland of Kansas. Martha was downstairs in the kitchen finishing up some cleaning after breakfast, primarily dishwashing. Glancing over at the digital clock on the kitchen stove, Martha sighed while practically turning around to face the staircase leading up to the second story of the farmhouse.
"Clark Kent, get down here before you miss the bus!" she called out and then turned back to the sink to finish washing dishes in the sink. Not even missing a beat, Martha glanced over at the kitchen island and smiled. "Lara, can you go upstairs and get your brother?" she asked the dark haired teen girl sitting comfortably on a wooden stool eating a bowl of cereal while reading a copy of the Daily Planet, her blue eyes moving quickly over the print.
Setting her spoon down inside the still partially full bowl, Lara looked up at her mother and nodded with a smile on her face while getting up off her stool. "I can use force if necessary, right?" she joked and only received a somewhat mock stern look from her mother as she headed for the staircase.
Martha laughed while shaking her head at her daughter's attempt for a joke. Lara ran up the stairs quickly and headed down the straight dead end hallway to the second door on the left that was open with the door pulled inwards. Grabbing on to the side of the doorframe with a hand, Lara swung into the bedroom and stopped so that way she was hanging halfway in. "Clark, come on. I don't wanna run to school again today." She stated while looking over at the young man her own age sitting behind a computer screen staring intently at it.
After hearing his sister's voice, Clark looked up and grinned broadly at her. "Who said you had to wait for me anyways?" Clark asked while getting up from the chair he had been sitting in and turned off the computer screen. Grabbing his backpack off the end of his bed, Clark came over to the door where his sister still hung off the frame.
"You know, I try and be a nice sister and what do I get for it?" Lara asked sarcastically while giving Clark a mock glare.
Clark grinned at her and then set a hand atop her head. "You get the comment of 'You look like a monkey hanging off the door like that'." He replied and then tussled her dark hair a bit to mess it up.
Lara swatted Clark's hand away as he laughed and walked out the room with Lara following right behind him, muttering under her breath and fixing her hair while giving his back the evil eye out from under her bangs.
It wasn't ever really sure if the two teens were identical twins or not, but Jonathan and Martha decided to establish Clark as the big brother to Lara being the younger sibling seeing as how that was in most families and only wanted a normal life for their children. Both Clark and Lara Kent were almost identical in how they looked; dark haired, bright blue eyes, tall stature (Clark only being a few inches taller than Lara), lean body build (Clark again being more muscular than Lara), and both had grown from adorable children to a handsome young man and a beautiful young lady. Only thing was both were incredibly different from their parents and friends. Now, that wasn't because Clark and Lara were adopted, but because both teenagers had incredible gifts that were identical to one another as they were in near likeness. Both Clark and Lara learned at a young age that they were inhumanly strong and inhumanly fast, and not just physically. Both could read at a faster rate than a cram student and yet retain every bit they read to remember weeks and even months later with an accurate photographic memory. Math was never a problem or issues of struggle either as they were able to calculate number formulas faster than any calculator in the house. And of course they could move at an amazing speed, covering great distances in seconds or even minutes depending how far they wanted to go.
When it was said that they were inhumanly strong, it was no joke. Without breaking a sweat, without any effort or aid of any kind, both Clark and Lara were capable of lifting the farm tractor off the ground and hold it up high over their heads separately. As strange as this all may sound, this never changed the type of people their parents raised them to be. Instilled with good moral values of honesty, responsibility, respect for others, and the duty to help those who can't help themselves, Clark and Lara had become two upstanding teen youths. Being so different from everyone else had its affects on the brother and sister duo, one being that they were very close since childhood and stuck together like glue. Wherever Lara went, Clark wasn't that far behind acting his part of the protective older brother and keeping a close eye on his more outgoing and adventurous little sister to make sure she didn't get into any trouble or got hurt. Then, wherever Clark went there was Lara following after like his shadow. They knew they were different and that they were going to have to stick together through the thick and thin in this world.
The two teens came down the stairs, elbowing each other to get down first before the other but somehow managed to get down at the same time and head for the kitchen where their mother had moved from washing the dishes to wiping down the counters. Lara returned to the island where her breakfast was waiting to be finished while Clark headed for the fridge, a slip of white paper in his hand. Martha smiled at her two children and gave her daughter an especially impressed look. "How do you do it?" she asked while gesturing towards Clark with her eyes and a nod of the head.
Lara only grinned while shrugging as she started in on her cereal again to finish it off. Clark on the other hand looked over at his mother before opening the fridge and gave her a somewhat confused look, which only earned a small laugh from his mother who returned to wiping the counters clean. Opening the fridge, Clark grabbed the glass craft holding milk within its body and then closed the door while taking a drink from the wide mouth. Martha happened to turn about at that moment and stepped over to her son and intervened before any more of the creamy white substance could be lost down his throat.
Placing a hand on the craft, Martha guided it away from her son's mouth while giving him a slightly disapproving look. "Ah, use a glass." She stated while taking the craft away from him completely and walked over to the nearest cabinet where the glasses were stored. "Where did you learn your manners?" Martha asked while opening the cabinet door and pulled out a clean glass.
Clark looked over at his sister while pulling a bowl out of the cabinet he was next to and then came to sit down next to her at the island. "I learned them from her." He gestured with a thumb towards Lara while pouring himself a bowl of cereal from the same box that Lara had gotten hers from. For this remark of his, Clark received a punch to the upper arm by his sister that had him looking over at her with a furrowed brow while rubbing the sore spot her punch had left behind. "I was only kidding." He stated while setting the piece of paper down between him and Lara on the counter. While their mom was busy fetching a couple of glasses from the cabinet, Clark nudged his sister's arm and had her looking over at him with a raised brow.
After catching Clark's eye gesture that asked for her to look down in the space between them, Lara quickly looked over the slip of paper and then looked back up at Clark. "Good luck." She stated quietly while returning to her cereal and eating a dripping spoonful. "I just hope you know that it's not going to work."
"What's not going to work?" Jonathan's voice asked as the screen door opened and closed, causing Lara to jump and choke on her cereal before turning in her seat to watch her dad come around from behind them and head towards the coffee pot.
Martha had an alarmed look on her face after Lara nearly drowned herself with milk and cereal, but her concern died when Clark patted his sister's back while his own face looked a bit worried. Sighing to herself in a sort of content way, Martha felt the milk craft leave her hand as Jonathan removed it and took a drink. Shaking her head, Martha finally realized where it was that Clark learned his manners, and it wasn't from his sister. Setting the two glasses down on the counter, Martha looked at her family ready to fill them in on what was going on that day. "All right, I have class tonight so the three of you are on your own." She stated, and then caught the sudden gleam in her daughter's eye that was flashed over at her father. Martha's face took a serious look as she knew what idea was floating around in that head of hers. "There's plenty of food in the fridge for dinner, so no ordering pizza." A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as Lara rested her arms on either side of her cereal bowl and then dropped her head to the counter with a small bang.
Clark had to force himself from laughing at his sister's reaction to the 'no pizza' rule their mom had set down, considering the fact that he had cereal in his mouth at the moment. However, as he looked down at his bowl, his eye wondered over to the slip of paper now under his sister's arm. He had a longing look on his face before reaching over and yanking the paper carefully out from under his sister's arm. "What do you have there son?" Jonathan asked while setting the milk craft down on the island counter while turning back around to the kitchen counter behind him where the coffee pot was located with mug in hand.
Seeing as how he was hesitating, Lara elbowed him in the arm and then gestured with her brows to answer their dad. Clark got up off his seat and stepped over to his dad's side. "Permission slip to tryout for football." He replied and then handed the white piece of paper over to him as he was leaving the coffee pot, a full mug in hand. "A few spots opened up on the team, and they're holding tryouts after school." He explained and then started in on his attempt to get his dad to agree. "Come on dad, you played football in school."
"That was different son." Jonathan stated while taking up a third empty stool seat around the island and took a drink from his mug. His gaze fell over to his daughter who immediately turned her attention away from everyone and placed back intently on the side panel of the cereal box like she was interested in the ingredients to the Honey Combs. Somehow Jonathan had a slight inkling that maybe Lara had a hand in this somehow, while also understanding what she meant by that earlier comment he had walked in on.
"Yeah but, I figure if I run at half speed nobody will get hurt. I promise." Clark returned with a hopeful look on his face as he waited for his dad's answer.
"A lot of things can happen in the heat of a game son." Jonathan replied while taking another drink from his coffee and set the permission slip down on the counter, which Martha picked up to look at and placed then set it back down on the counter.
Clark glanced over at his sister quickly for help, who looked over at her parents, primarily their dad ready to argue Clark's case. "Come on dad, most freshman that make the team nearly warm the benches the whole season. And Clark would be a really good player if he got the chance."
"Lara, it's not that I don't doubt that Clark would be great at football, it's just not safe for either one of you to get involved in such physical activities, like football and soccer." Jonathan stated while looking between his two kids. The soccer part was meant for Lara, seeing as how she had tried the same thing when tryouts for soccer opened up in Junior High and then not too long ago when the announcement for the High School team was made before the start of freshman year. "I know the two of you can be careful, but what if there's an accident?" he asked them seriously. "Look, kids, I know this hard for you. But you've just gotta hang in there like we promised." At this, Jonathan clapped his son on the shoulder.
A small sigh escaped Lara as she left the kitchen to grab her backpack off one of the dinning room chairs she had left it on. Clark on the other hand wasn't taking it as well as Lara was fronting. "I'm sick of hanging in there." He stated while pulling out from under his dad's hand. "I just wanna get through high school without being a total looser." Clark said while grabbing his backpack off the ground near the kitchen door and then headed off before he missed the bus.
Jonathan and Martha exchanged looks as Lara came over into the kitchen again and stood beside them. "Maybe pizza for dinner would make him feel better?" she suggested in question while placing an arm about her mother's shoulders, a hopeful smile on her face.
"Nice try little miss." Martha grinned while then planting a kiss on her daughter's temple. "Hurry up before you miss the bus." She hugged her and then passed Lara off to her husband.
"Bye dad." Lara bent down and gave her dad a kiss on the cheek, which he returned along with a good-bye as well. Running out the door at a normal pace, Lara jumped off the porch to catch up with her brother who was almost halfway down the gravel drive. "Clark wait up!" she called out.
Pausing his walk, Clark looked over his shoulder and watched as his sister finally caught up with him and then started walking again with her at his side. "Well?" he asked while glancing over at his sister hoping maybe she said something to their dad to turn him over to their side.
Lara looked over at Clark and held a somewhat down look on her face. "Well, no pizza for dinner tonight." She stated with a pout.
A roll of Clark's eyes and a groan was all that was given in return to this statement and adjusted the strap of his backpack. "Gee, thanks sis." He said while looking up towards the end of the driveway where the yellow school bus was now pulling away and leaving the twins behind in the dust as they ran for the end of the driveway only to come to a stop and stare after it.
"Wonderful." Lara commented sarcastically while looking after the departing bus. "That's the third time this week that we've missed the bus again, and now have to run to school…again." She added for the heck of it and then looked over at her brother who had a growing smirk on his face. "You know it's not like I'm complaining or anything about having to run, but this gets old Clark and I'm pretty sure our friends are now taking bets on us." Lara explained while giving a small grin.
Clark returned the grin and only gestured with a nod of his head before both of them disappeared in two distinct blurs of blue and red that raced off across the open flatland that then gave way to cornfields which primarily made up most of Smallville. As the school bus pulled up to its next stop a good three miles from Hickory Lane, address of the Kent Farm, the two blurs of separate color passed through a cornfield causing the stalks to part before swaying back and forth. After the bus came to a complete stop, the two teens were up and over the top of the bus and into the next field passing behind two distinct signs, after of course causing some on the bus, well one person, to wonder what that sound was on the roof. One sign had been replaced after the meteor shower twelve years ago when it was struck and turned into a rain of splinters. It was of course the welcome sign into Smallville, only the picture of ears of corn had been replaced by meteors falling from the sky and now read – WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE METEOR CAPITAL OF THE WORLD! POP. 45,001. The other sign advertised one of those new communities being built soon called Pleasant Meadows. Apparently this was a new Luthor Corp project in the works, only the slogan used of Making America A Better Place To Live, was out shadowed by the fact that these new homes were going be starting at a price range of $245,000.
The doors of Smallville High School were open to its students to start up the new year and begrudgingly the many were walking in through those open doors. The freshman starting this year at the high school had a bit more of a better reason than most to have the high school blues, they were freshman. Most of the buses had pulled into the drop off zone located on the track part of the football field and released the hordes of students out from within its confines, and already the campus was swarming with activity. Two students stepped off the bus that left behind the Kent siblings, and headed towards the school building itself while involved in a conversation between them. Chloe Sullivan and Pete Ross walked side by side as they climbed up the cement steps that brought them up to ground level with their school and continued on across the outdoor basketball court.
"So, has anyone asked you to the dance yet?" Pete asked while looking over at the blonde walking next to him.
Chloe shook her head. "No, not yet." She replied while not really giving Pete real attention as they crossed the basketball court.
"Well, if things don't work out with you-know-who asking you…" he began, only to be cut off as Chloe stopped, spun around, and stared right in the eye with a stern look on her face.
"Pete, for the last time! I do not like Clark!" Chloe nearly hissed. "So drop the soap opera in your head already." She insisted and then turned back around to nearly storm off.
Pete smiled sheepishly as he ran to catch up with her. "Your point as been noted." He stated while coming up to her side and offering an apologetic smile that Chloe seemed to accept. "Well, hey how about if nobody asks you, how about we go? Not like a date-date thing, but as a friend-friend thing." Pete suggested with a hidden look of hopefulness on his face as they passed through the open gate of the court.
Before Chloe could say anything in response, another female voice entered into the conversation suddenly. "Who's going to the dance?" Lara Kent asked as she suddenly popped from almost out of nowhere before her two friends with a quizzical look on her face. Her appearance startled the two completely as they jumped and stepped backwards to keep from running right into the dark haired girl who stood at literally six feet tall, and basically shadowed the both of them.
"How did you…?" Chloe started as her entire face showed just how confused she was at Lara's appearance. Both Lara and her brother Clark had missed the bus, and there was no way that they could have gotten to school before or even at the same time as her and Pete.
Pete just grinned at his friend's sister and shook his head at Chloe's confusion while laughing quietly. "So where's your brother at?" he asked while swinging his backpack onto his shoulder. Lara only looked in between the two with a gesture of her eyes to indicate answer to Pete's question.
"Hey guys." Clark's voice came from behind Pete and Chloe, which had them turning around staring just as dumbfounded at the other Kent as they had the first. Clark had appeared just like his sister, from out of nowhere, a pile of books in his hands.
"Wait, didn't you? How did the both of you…?" Chloe tried to make sense of all this while looking between the two Kents.
Lara looked over at Clark with a look on her face telling him to come up with something before Chloe looked back at her, and Lara only gave Chloe a quick smile as her brown-eyed gaze had been placed upon her. Clark looked down at his books for a moment to try and think up an excuse and then got something. "We took a shortcut." Clark stated quickly, which didn't sound that convincing as Chloe wrinkled her nose.
"Through what, black hole?" she asked while looking over at Pete for support on this sudden interrogation upon the two siblings.
Pete only shook his head and came around to Clark's side to clap him on the shoulder. "Clark, Lara," he looked over at the sister half and grinned at her. "You'll have to excuse our intrepid reporter." He stated while guiding his friend forward towards the school, grabbing Lara on the way as well. "It seems as though her weirdar is on Defcon 5." He explained as they walked. "She thought someone attacked the bus this morning."
At this point Chloe had run to catch up with her friends and came around to put herself in front of them to halt their advancement towards the building. "Okay, just because everyone else chooses to ignore all the strange things that happen in this leafy little hamlet, doesn't mean they don't happen." Chloe stated in defense of herself.
Lara grinned at her friend. "Chloe I don't think anyone chooses to ignore the weird and strange, rather than the fact that they don't notice it or go looking for it." She pointed out while receiving a somewhat unamused look from Chloe in return for this. "Hey, I was only trying to help you out." Lara stated while putting her hands up in defensive protest.
"Chloe, as much as we'd like to join you and Scooby in the Mystery Machine for another zany adventure, we have permission slips to turn in before homeroom." Pete said while pulling out a white slip of paper from his jeans pocket and held it up while grabbing a hold of Clark's arm and started to walk again towards the school building while leaving behind Lara and Chloe.
Chloe looked over at her dark haired friend and raised a brow. "What are they up to?" she asked while then looked over at the two boys who had retreated a few feet ahead of them and had stopped yet again as they seemed involved in a small discussion.
For a moment, Lara's gaze lingered on Clark's back as she knew what Pete was talking to him about. Sighing mentally, she looked over at Chloe and just smiled. "Guy stuff." She simply replied in which was meant as a tease at the curious mind of Chloe Sullivan. A reply from Chloe came as a suspicious look and raised brows. "So go ask them then." Lara shot back while gesturing with her hand for Chloe to go over.
As both girls were coming up on Pete and Clark they heard a bit of the end of the conversation. "I don't think trying out for the team is such a good idea." Clark stated in a tone of voice that was both doubtful and a bit disappointed, considering the fact that his dad had shot down the attempt of trying out by not signing the permission slip that morning.
"Clark, it's the only way." Pete insisted while holding the slip up for Clark to see as a reminder to what they had agreed upon early before the start of the school year.
"Wait, wait, wait. You two are trying out for the football team?" Chloe asked as both she and Lara came up on the boys. An amused grin was on her face as she came to stand by Pete and look at Clark. "What is this, some sort of teen suicide pack?" she asked with a laugh in her voice.
Clark and Lara gave Pete a look that had him grabbing Chloe and pulling her off to the side quickly. The group of four moved off a bit further from the rest of the student body swarming about them. Pete stopped and started to speak in a quiet tone of voice. "Look, we're trying to avoid becoming this years 'Scarecrow'." Pete explained in a near whisper as Clark and Lara came up to sort of block off their conversation from any near passers by in a letterman jacket.
"What are you talking about? And why are we whispering?" Chloe asked, her voice rising from a whisper in mock of Pete to that of a normal voice range.
"It's a homecoming tradition." Pete explained, his voice no longer that much of a whisper. "Every year before homecoming game, the football players select a freshman, take him out to Riley Field, strip him down to his boxers, paint an S on his chest –"
"And then string him up like a Scarecrow." Clark finished with a look on his face that had the same amount of concern that Pete had for not wanting to end up that way.
Chloe furrowed her brow and looked over at Lara to confirm this, and received a nod of the head. "Wow, sounds like years of therapy waiting to happen." Chloe commented while looking at the boys with a new amount of concern to mirror their own.
"Yes it is." Lara confirmed while adjusting the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. "I heard last years 'Scarecrow' was left out in the field all night, and when someone finally found him, he had to be taken to the hospital for fear that he might have ammonia or be suffering from dehydration." She explained while looking between all three. "Then four months later his parents pulled him out of school and put him in a private school in Metropolis, where he has private consoling sessions nearly everyday to get over the trauma of being the Scarecrow."
"And we figure if we try out for the team, they won't choose one of their own." Pete concluded to finish out the whole explanation about the trying out for the football team.
While Pete and Lara were finishing the story for Chloe, Clark's attention happened to waver over towards the front entrance of the school were it happened to fall upon a brunette girl laughing with a few cheerleaders near an information desk for freshman. To Clark, this girl was incredibly beautiful and nearly always had his attention when she was around. Looking back at his friends and sister, Clark had made up his mind to try and go over to talk with her. "I'll see you guys in class." He stated while then leaving them to walk over towards where this girl stood.
Chloe, Lara, and Pete gave a short 'okay' or 'bye' as he walked away. However, Chloe and Pete had another idea as they turned about to watch Clark. Lara was slightly intrigued with what they were doing and stood in between them from behind and watched as Pete pulled out a folded five dollar bill. "I give him ten seconds." He declared while glancing over at Chloe.
"Five." Chloe stated to start the new bet, and then Pete began the count starting from one. As Clark walked towards the brunette, on Pete's count of five, he tripped up and fell to the cement sidewalk and sent his books skittering out from his hands. Everyone's attention that was nearby turned to the downed Clark Kent. "It's a statistical fact." Chloe stated while taking the bill from Pete's fingers. "Clark Kent can't get within five feet of Lana Lang without turning into a freak show." She stated in a sort of triumphant for winning the bet. From behind, Lara rolled her eyes and then reached out and grabbed the five from Chloe's hand whiel walking between her two friends. "Hey!" Chloe cried out as her friend walked off with her money.
Lara turned about while still walking and smiled while waving the five. "My brother, my money." She stated while then turning about to finish her walk towards her brother. As Lara approached, she started to feel rather sick to her stomach and her body seemed tired and heavy the closer she got to her brother and Lana. Grimacing a bit, Lara looked up as she heard a male voice she somewhat knew speak.
Standing next to Lana Lang was Whitney Foreman, star quarter back for the Smallville football team. And sitting on the railing bordering the small lawn before the school, bent over with a somewhat sick look on his face, was her brother Clark Kent. Somehow Lara managed to finish out her walk and came to sit down next to Clark with the same look on her face and set a hand on his back. Clark looked over at his sister and tried to smile, even though he was completely embarrassed and not feeling all that well. The smile was returned and then Lara held out the five-dollar bill to her brother. "What's this?" Clark asked while taking and holding it still out in the open in question to his sister.
"Just something you earned." She replied while trying to smile for real, but it didn't work out that way as the sick feeling in her body was still there and bothered her greatly.
"Dude, you two feeling alright?" Whitney asked as he took notice of the two Kents and the way they looked sitting there on the railing. "You guys look like you're ready to hurl." He commented. When they both answered with a 'fine' in unison, Whitney's gaze lingered a bit on Lara as he had a question for her primarily. "Hey Lara, you trying out for the girl's soccer team this year?" he asked with a somewhat hopeful look on his face.
Lara looked over at Whitney with a half-hearted smile and shook her head. "I'm not sure." She answered in reply.
"Too bad. I'm sure the team could use someone like you on it for a season or two." Whitney stated with a genuine smile while then turning to Lana and gesturing with his head for them to head inside. However, he stopped a moment and bent down to pick up a red book that Clark hadn't gathered up after falling. "You forgot one Clark." He said whiel turning around and then tossed it at him.
Clark went to catch it, only to find that his sense of balance and coordination was still off and fell to the ground re-spilling his books to the sidewalk again in an attempt to try and catch the tossed book. Whitney only gave a quirked smile before wrapping an arm around Lana's shoulders to walk her off with him towards the front doors of the school. Almost as soon as Lana and Whitney left, Clark and Lana could feel that sick feeling leave them as they returned to normal as far as normal for them went. Crouching down beside her fallen brother, Lara helped him gather up his books all over again while offering him a sympathetic smile before they stood up. Lara, like Chloe and Pete, knew that Clark had a crush on Lana Lang ever since her and her Aunt Nell moved in next door to their farm about a mile away. But no matter how much Clark liked Lana there was one thing keeping him from attempting to ask Lana or out or getting to know her a bit better – Whitney Foreman. After Clark stood up with his books restacked and in his arms again, he looked over at his sister as she stood up beside him. "You don't seem that bothered by it." He commented while swinging his backpack back on to his shoulder.
Lara gave him a confused look to this as they started to walk towards the front entrance of the school side by side. "What are you talking about?" she asked while taking the cement steps two at a time and then held open the door for her brother to safely pass through in a hidden tease to his twice fallen act outside.
"Come on Lara, you know what I'm talking about." Clark stated as they headed towards their lockers. "The soccer team, tryouts, any of this ringing a bell?" he asked sarcastically as they turned a corner.
"Oh." Lara mused quietly to herself partially as it 'dawned on her' as to what he was referring to even though she knew what he was talking about at the first question. "That thing, right." She grinned while glancing over to see Clark roll his eyes in response.
It wasn't any real secret about Lara's want to tryout for the soccer team to both him, their friends, or their parents. And the truth was, Lara was actually really good at soccer and would more than likely make the team if she tried out. A lot of other people knew of Lara's talent with the black and white ball, Whitney of course being one of them, only because often at times she would goof around after school out on the field during junior high and her last two years of grade school. But no matter how much she wanted to try out or people wanted her to try out, there was one thing keeping Lara from soccer just like Clark was kept from football no matter how great of a player he would be, and it was called – Dad.
Stopping at their lockers, which happened to be right next to each other's, Lara quickly found the combination on the lock and opened the door. "It doesn't bother me as much the less I think about it, but when people ask me if I'm going to tryout and stuff, then it does sort of bother me I guess." She finally answered Clark's question while pulling out several books from her locker. "Why do you ask?"
Clark finished shoving the last of his books into his locker and closed the door before looking over at his sister who was busy with organizing the inside of her backpack. "Because you were trying to help out this morning with convincing dad in letting me tryout for football. So I was just wondering." He explained.
Pausing a moment before shutting her locker door, Lara sighed and then looked over at her brother. "You really want to tryout for football, and not just because you don't want to be this year's Scarecrow, don't you?" she asked while then closing her locker door and picked her backpack up to slip the strap over her shoulder. When Clark nodded slowly, Lara only gave him a small smile. "I wanted to at least try to help you out, even though I knew we would fall flat on our face." Lara stated while starting to walk towards homeroom. "I even tried to get us pizza tonight too." She added as Clark jogged to catch up with her.
Clark laughed at what his sister had said while remembering her reaction earlier that morning to the 'no pizza' statement their mother had given them at breakfast. As the Kents headed off for homeroom like everyone else as the bell suddenly rang out through the halls of the school, no seemed to really notice a student staring in at the trophy case containing past awards won by the football team along with photographs of star players from pervious years before. When the halls finally cleared and the last classroom door shut behind a student, that same young man continued to stare in at the photograph of three jocks from nearly twelve year ago or so. Without any warning, the young man punched a hand into the glass of the case, shattering it and sending a spray of glass into the cabinet itself. A black handkerchief had been wrapped around his hand to protect the flesh from the sharp pieces. Reaching into the case, the young man pulled out the photograph of the three players and stared at it with a satisfied smirk on his face before walking off.
By the end of the school day, things had gone a bit better than they had first started off with. When the final class of the day finally let out, everyone went somewhere else other than straight home. If you were a jock of some kind, you went to wherever it was that you had practice or tryouts. Cheerleader, it was either tryouts, practice, or watching the male jocks practice their certain sports. If it happened that you were apart of a club of some kind, you had an activity you were involved with that was going to take up another good portion of your day before you headed home to get a boat load of homework done. However, for Clark and Lara Kent, none of these things were apart of their day as they just decided to head home. They had chores that needed to be done around the farm while also helping out their dad with anything that needed to have their help in. The day hadn't really been one of the best for them, and a bit of a depressed mood had come over the two as they skipped the bus and walked. Somewhere along the trek home, the two siblings had veered off and stopped at a bridge crossing one of several rivers running through Smallville.
The brother and sister duo stood on the bridge side by side, just staring out across the water without a word passing between them. Clark was leaning forward against the railing of the bridge with his arms crossed atop it, while Lara sat on the railing facing out towards the water with her feet dangling down. They were lost in thoughts of their own, and not even the sounds of an approaching semi carrying rolls of barbed wire on its flat bed or the distant approach of a very expensive sports car. As the semi passed behind them, it managed to hit a small bump in the road, which jiggled loose a small roll of the razor wire enough for it to roll off the bed and land in the middle of the road. The expensive sports car that was now ready to pass across the bridge at an extremely fast speed, and was headed straight for the roll of razor wire sitting in the road. Before the driver could slow sown enough to get around the roll of wire he had to slam on the brakes and hope for the best as the wheels rolled over the wire and popped immediately. The commotion behind them on the road had both Clark and Lara looking back over their shoulders to see what was going on. The sports car swerved still going an extreme speed even with the brakes applied and headed straight for the spot in which was located the Kent teens. Lara didn't have any time to get off the railing, and Clark certainly didn't have it to get out of the way when the car struck them both and broke through the railing barrier taking the two with it right into the water below.
Hitting the water with a huge splash following right after it, Lara popped back up a few seconds later miraculously, sputtering river water from her mouth and started to look around frantically for her brother. "Clark!" she called out his name and turned about in the deep cold water looking for her brother. The fear that he hadn't been as lucky as she did was overwhelming her since she couldn't see him.
Almost on cue, Clark's head popped up out of the water and coughed out a mouthful of river water while the shaking his head to get his hair out of his eyes. "Lara!" he called his sister's name and got her attention on him as she spun about in water to see where it was he was at.
"Clark!" Lara swam over to her brother and looked him over quickly. "Are you okay?" she asked with a look of concern on her face while treading water in front of him. Clark only nodded after making sure his sister was okay as well. "What happened?" Lara asked while looking around before it hit her and then looked over at Clark with a rather pale face. "Clark, the guy who was driving the car!"
Before anything else could be said between them, Clark took a breath and then dove down into the water with Lara following after him. Down on the bottom of the river the two found the wrecked sports car and its driver still strapped inside unconscious. Swimming closer, Lara grabbed a hold of the lip of the roof where the window had been busted out, and then pulled it back like a lid on a can of food. This cleared the way for Clark to reach in and rip the seatbelt off the driver and then pull him out. Breaking the surface of the water, Clark swam towards the shore with the driver in his hold. On the gravel shore of the river, Clark laid the driver out on his back. Lara came to sit down on her knees beside the unconscious driver who wasn't breathing. Lara checked his pulse quickly before opening the guy's mouth and closing her mouth over his to start CPR. Blowing into his mouth twice, Lara pulled away as Clark started to push on his chest to force out the water that had collected within his lungs.
"Come on, don't die on me." Clark stated under his breath while giving one final push on the guy's chest. That last push forced out the water in one giant cough as the guy came too finally. Clark gave a sigh of relief and looked over at his sister who smiled a bit in the same sense of relief that he had.
The driver of the now wrecked car was a man no more than maybe five even seven years older than both Clark and Lara, maybe somewhere in his early or mid twenties. For as young as he did indeed look, his head was completely bald but yet he still had a rather handsome look that was mature and almost dignified. Lara looked down at the driver of the car that had hit them as he coughed a few more times to make sure that the water was all gone, and as he turned his head towards the people who saved him, his eyes fell upon the first face hovering above him. Staring into a pair of rather exotic blue that stared back at him from the face of an attractive young woman with dark hair hanging limp about her face, a somewhat strange sense of awe came over him as for a moment he figured he had died, gone to heaven and now had possibly an angel looking at him before realizing of course that he was wrong. Her eyes held his a gaze a moment longer as she smiled a bit at him before looking away towards the other beside her who had a part in his survival after the accident. The driver's eyes flickered over to who it was that the girl was staring at. A young man around her age in appearance with the same eye and hair color was staring at her with a tired look and then looked down at the guy they had just saved.
"I could have sworn I hit you." The driver stated while looking between the two teens sitting beside him with a confused look on his face.
This had the two Kents thinking a minute before looking at each other as they realized something and then back to the driver they had rescued. Clark was the one to speak up first. "If you did, we'd be –" Clark paused a moment as his brow furrowed in confusion.
"We'd be dead." Lara finished while then turning partially to look back at the bridge where there was a huge hole busted out of the bridge railing as it dawned on her the reality of their situation. Looking back over at Clark she had a look on her face that was a bit startled and afraid.
Clark looked from his sister with an unsure look back to the driver they had saved. Well, first things first, they needed to get some help for this guy and that was what Clark figured he have his sister do since the look she was now getting from this unknown guy was starting annoy Clark a bit for some reason. The driver of the wrecked car was staring at Lara with a hidden smile that was starting to grow more apparent. Clark secretly elbowed his sister to get her attention as it had somehow drifted down to the guy staring at her. "Lara, go see if you can flag someone down on the road to call help." He stated in suggestion to her while gesturing with his head in the direction of the road while the look in his eyes said something else aside from flagging someone down.
Nodding to this while also winking at him with the eye that couldn't be seen, Lara got up off her knees and started up the slope towards the road. As soon as she was up on the road and out of sight, Lara took off down the road in a blur of red before coming to a stop about a mile from the bridge as she saw a tow truck turning onto the road she was on. Coming to running stop, Lara stepped off to the side and waved her hand above her head to flag down the truck. As soon as the truck came to a stop beside her, Lara ran around to the driver side as the window was rolled down.
"What's wrong?" the middle-aged male driver asked while leaning out the window, he could see that she was somewhat wet (since running at the high velocity that she had traveled at had nearly dried her off).
"There was a car accident up a mile on Lake Bridge." She explained quickly with a look on her face as she stared up at him from the ground.
The tow truck driver took a serious look on his face and then motioned with his hand for her to get inside. Lara smiled broadly in relief while going back around to the other side and got in the cab of the truck. As the tow truck driver pulled back on to the road he got onto his CB radio and called in the car accident along with a request for medical help out on Lake Bridge. By the time the tow truck arrived at the bridge, the driver of the car was sitting up on the shore with Clark, the only injury to him was a cut on the cheek. As soon as the truck came to a stop Lara jumped out of the passenger side and made her way back down to where her brother was at, sliding most of the way on her feet as the gravel and dirt was a bit slippery under the soles of her shoes. Upon the arrival of the tow truck, both Clark and the guy he saved looked up at the top where the road was located and watched as the dark haired teen girl appeared.
The driver of the car looked over at Clark. "Your sister moves fast." He stated with a small smile on his face.
Clark only smiled nervously in return to this statement even though this guy more than likely meant that she had brought back help pretty fast. Which of course was a good thing and all. Lara came up to the two and stopped just a few feet from them with a smile meant for good news on the way. "The tow truck driver I flagged down called in for someone to come out this way about five minutes ago." She explained while coming to sit down next to her brother.
Before another word was exchanged between the small party, sirens could be heard in the distance as they approached in response to the CB call that the tow truck driver had broadcasted. In a few moments an ambulance, a few police cars, and even a fire truck had pulled up on the bridge and the side road. The medics had brought down several blankets for the still somewhat wet three while checking them all over for signs of injury, and a police officer made call to the Kent Farm to inform the parents of the brother and sister about what had happened and for someone to come get them. During the whole time they were still sitting down on the riverside in which the two siblings had introduced themselves to the guy they had saved. In return the driver introduced himself as Lex Luthor. Whiel they waited down on the shore of the river for their dad to arrive, Clark kept his sister close at hand as something was starting to bother him a bit more now. Neither one of them seemed bothered by the cold wet clothes they were in. In fact they weren't even shivering at all. However, the other thing that was bothering him was the fact he knew the car had hit them dead on and yet both of them were still alive without a scratch on them. Clark hid this concern for the most part as he stared off at the river water, while Lara on the other hand seemed to be doing the same but every once in a while she would steal a glance over at Lex. Every time she looked over at him, she caught his gaze focused on her or maybe both her and her brother, but for some reason she couldn't help but wonder if he was staring at her.
"Clark! Lara!" a voice called out from the side road above them on the top of the slope, causing both to turn their heads over their shoulder and up towards the person calling out to them. Their dad had arrived finally and was now coming down the embankment straight towards them with a worried look on his face. As soon as Lara stood, Jonathan had grabbed her in a massive hug before holding her out at arm's length to look her over. "Are you okay?" he asked in complete and total worry after what he had been told by the police over the phone. When Lara assured him she was fine, Jonathan looked over at his son who had now also stood to his feet, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Clark, you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah dad." He answered while giving an assuring look along with a nod of his head.
Jonathan smiled at his two children and then looked over his shoulder at the police that were coming down behind him. "Whose the maniac that was driving that car?" he asked of the nearest officer.
Before the officer could answer, the driver of the wrecked car stood up, the blanket wrapped about him dropping to the ground. "That would be me." He stated whiel coming over towards the small family. Jonathan's attention had turned around immediately to the guy who had answered his question and now had a hand out stretched towards him. "Lex Luthor." He greeted, only to have the look on Jonathan's face suddenly fall a bit before it took on a very stern look.
Looking at his kids, Jonathan gestured with his head towards the top of the embankment. "Clark, Lara, come on. Let's go home." He stated while turning them both about and guiding them up towards the side road and completely ignored Lex Luthor's offered handshake. However as he looked up at his daughter, he took notice of the look on Lara's face that was a bit stern, just like her mother's when she was trying to make a point. Sighing quietly and smiling in defeat at his daughter, Jonathan stopped and then turned around to face Lex. "Jonathan Kent. I'm Clark and Lara's father." He introduced himself rather quickly and bluntly before starting to turn back around to follow his kids up the bank.
"Mr. Kent I'm indebted to your son and daughter for saving my life. If there's anything I can do in return –" Lex was suddenly cut off as Jonathan nearly whirled back around to face him.
"Don't worry Mr. Luthor we won't be looking for any favors from you." Jonathan stated in ending of their conversation and then hiked back up the slope after his kids who were already up on the road and heading for the pickup truck.
At that moment the crane that had arrived to haul the wrecked sports car out of the river, pulled the automobile up out of the river water causing Lex to look over at the sound of the water rushing out of the busted windows. The nose of the car was scrunched up from hitting the guardrail, but the odd thing was that the roof of the car starting at the window shield was pulled back as if it were some sort of can lid. Lex raised a curious brow to this and then turned his attention up at the side road where the pickup truck the Kents had gotten into was now pulling away and out on to the main road.