:Grins sheepishly: Sorry for the long wait. I'll try to keep long waiting periods like that to a minimum, especially since the chapters in Numb are shorter than what I usually write. Anyway, here's your Clex fix :)
DISCLAIMER: What are you gonna do if I say I own it? Take away the pennies and one dime that I have in my purse?
WARNINGS: I put them in the first chapter. I will not repeat them. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.
Chapter Six: Watch
Clark was in a much better mood when he returned home than he'd been in when he'd left. Who knew having Lex know would be so... nice? he thought as he walked into the house. The smell of melted cheese and warm tomato sauce permeated the house. Mom must've made lasagna again.
"Oh, good, you're finally back. Your father's been looking for you," Martha said from behind him, catching him by surprise. Clark turned to face her and she pointed to the field. "The tractor broke down again, and it's stuck in the middle of the field. He's been trying to fix it all day."
That brought a grin to Clark's face. His dad's idea of fixing the tractor was poking his head under the hood, giving it a brief glance and maybe an oil change, then kicking the tire and cursing at the top of his lungs. He shook his head and supersped out to Jonathan. Sure enough, when Clark got there his dad was still cursing at the top of his lungs, punctuating his words with an occasional kick to the nearest tire. It took all Clark's willpower not to laugh.
"I'll fix it, Dad," Clark said, putting a hand on his father's elbow to get the man's attention.
Jonathan grinned. "Oh, thanks Clark. When did you get back?"
"Just now," the boy replied as he gave the back of the offending machine a light tap. It hummed back to life instantly.
Jonathan gave his son an irritated look. "How come it'll do that for you, but not for me?"
Clark grinned. "It knows who loves it and who cusses up a blue streak."
His dad groaned. "I already get a lot of guff from your mother about that, and now you're taking her side too?"
"Yup."
"Alright, you, go see if your mother needs help while I put the tractor away." In a superspeeding blur, the teen was back in the house. Jonathan shook his head in amusement.
When dinner was on the table and everyone was seated Martha asked, "So, what did you do today, Clark? Your school called and said you didn't show up today."
Clark froze, his fork halfway to his mouth. "Oh, I... my heat vision was acting up again, so I went swimming instead."
Jonathan crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. "What is going on with you, son? You haven't been yourself, the past couple of days. And a word to the wise: don't lie to your mother and me. We can tell."
"Nothing," Clark sighed. "I've just been feeling a little off, but I think it might be just something Kryptonian adolescents go through." Wow. That was a smooth lie. I'm really getting good at this.
"Well if you need our help with whatever this is, let us know honey," Martha said.
"Okay Mom."
The uncomfortable conversation finally over, Clark finished his dinner quickly and escaped to the safety of his room. He needed to think. Chloe was sure to question his absence in school, tomorrow. He'd have to have something to tell her, because there was no way he was telling her the whole story like he'd done with Lex. There were two differences between her and Lex that gave him reason to tell one but not the other. First, Lex didn't have a press pass or his own newspaper. Second, the journalist usually came before the friend, in Chloe's heart, so no matter how badly he wanted it kept secret it would wind up breaking news if he told her. Clark had thought of all that before.
Clark looked out his bedroom window at the stars that were beginning to come out and wondered not for the first time what Krypton had really been like. Sure it was gone now, but that didn't mean it was irrelevant. It had already forced him to be different from everyone he knew in so many ways. Yet he could pass for a normal human, in most circumstances, or at least pass as a meteor freak. So Krypton couldn't have been too different.
His thoughts continued to wander, and it wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep.
Out on the road that passed the Kent farm, sat a small black car. Its lone passenger frowned at the lack of information gathered from the household that night. No matter. Sooner or later someone would spill the beans, and then it would simply be a matter of getting their hands on the young one before anyone else did. The big man would just have to be patient a little longer.
TBC...
