Smallville: An Alternate Future Chapter 10, a smallville fanfic

Author's Note: Italics signify thought or emphasis. Underlined is telepathic communication.

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"Hello, Lex," Martha smiled as the billionaire businessman walked in through the open kitchen door.

"Good afternoon, Martha, you're looking as lovely as ever today."

Martha's smile widened and she laughed lightly. "If you're here to see Clark I'm afraid he's not home. He went for a walk this morning and hasn't come back yet. He probably went to see Aen."

"Actually, he was supposed to give me a call, but I decided to come by instead." Lex held up a manila envelope he was carrying. "I brought copies of the pictures. You and I can look through them while I wait if you'd like."

Martha started to nod eagerly before she suddenly frowned. "Everyone should be here to share them. I'll call and see if Aen can come over with Clark. Zoey should be home in another ten minutes from her play-date."

Lex nodded in acknowledgement. Martha told him to make himself at home, and he made his way to the couch in the living room. Martha approached him a few minutes later, a worried expression on her face.

"Aen's not home either, she left on foot this morning as well, and her housemates haven't seen her or Clark all day."

"I'm sure they're fine, Martha," Lex soothed. "They probably ran into each other and lost track of time."

Martha nodded slowly but didn't seem appeased. When Zoey arrived fifteen minutes later, Martha asked her daughter's friend Mary and the girl's mother to stay while she and Jonathan looked for Clark. Lex offered to help in the search. Unlike her mother, Zoey didn't seem at all worried about Clark, the two young girls heading for the shelves near the TV to pick out a movie to watch.

Another call was placed to the Smith farm, and Martha went out to get Jonathan from the barn as Lex waited for Jisin and Zin to show up. When everyone had gathered, Jisin reported that she had seen Aen that morning headed in the direction of the old mine that was located somewhat between the two properties. It was as good a place as any to begin searching as any, so the Kent and Smith trucks headed in that direction, Lex following in the sports car he had chosen to drive that day.

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"Clark, did you hear something?" Aen asked tiredly, snuggling tighter into him.

They had both put their clothes back on a couple hours ago, and Aen was now wearing Clark's flannel shirt on top of her own t-shirt. He had given it to her when he felt the goosebumps on her bare arms. Clark was plenty warm enough in his own t-shirt with Aen curled up on his lap, her upper torso plastered to his and their arms wrapped around each other.

"Hm?" he murmured, but a noise saved Aen from repeating herself.

"Clark? Aen?" a faint voice reached them.

Clark's eyes flew wide. "That's Lex."

They both scrambled to their feet and hurried to the rubble that blocked their escape.

"Lex?" Clark yelled through one of the holes they had earlier made. "We're down here!"

There was shouting and other noises from the other side of the blockade before a light shone through one of the holes.

This time it was Jonathan who said their names. "Clark? Aen? Are you two alright?"

"We're fine, Dad," Clark answered. "Neither one of us was hurt other than a scratch or bruise, and we were able to dig small holes for air. We just can't get out."

"Hold on just a minute, son."

Aen leaned against Clark's side as odd noises sounded through the air vents they had managed to dig. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders comfortingly, leaning down to press a light kiss on her still dusty forehead. A few seconds later Martha's voice floated through the same hole Jonathan had spoken to them through.

"There's big rock right under one of the holes you dug. We're going to pry it loose and expand the hole enough for you two to get out, so just sit tight for a few minutes."

"Thanks, Mom," Clark answered before moving himself and Aen back.

He didn't want to risk her getting hurt by anything that might be jostled loose in the rescue process. Aen reached up and pulled his head down for a deep kiss.

"Don't forget that I love you," she whispered when their mouths parted.

"I'll never forget what happened here," he promised her fervently. "I love you, Aen."

Clark couldn't say any more than that because they had both agreed that there was too much keeping them from making this a more long-term thing. They both had to be satisfied with the hours they had been able to steal in their own little world.

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Lex smiled in satisfaction as the large rock he and Zin had been fighting… with a lever made of a broom handle that had been in Jonathan's truck… finally gave way. It fell and rolled only about a foot from where it had been, but it was enough to enable Jisin and Martha to get in and dig out the dirt under the hole Aen and Clark had previously made. They widened it enough for Aen and Clark to scramble through with a bit of help.

As soon as the couple was out, they were ushered out of the mineshaft into the dying light of evening where the Kents fussed over Clark, and Zin and Jisin hugged Aen and asked if she was all right. Lex voiced the fact that he was glad they had both made it through the event unharmed, but mostly he stood back and observed, noting the longing and heat in Aen and Clark's gazes as they caught each other's eyes over and over. Something had happened while they were trapped, and Lex was pretty sure he knew what it was.

Lex got a call on his cell phone and had to excuse himself, taking off after once more telling Aen and Clark he was glad they were safe. Minutes later, the two remaining groups made their excuses as well, each saying they needed to get home and share the news that everyone had been found and was safe. Because of the hustling of both families, Clark and Aen didn't even get to say good-bye to each other, the two trucks heading in opposite directions with their passengers.

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"Pull over, Dad."

Clark had felt a tingle on his scalp that usually signaled his advanced healing had kicked in back when they were at the mouth of the mine, but with the audience he had been unable to test if all his powers were back. When Jonathan pulled off the road, Clark climbed out of the vehicle, his parents following suit.

Pushing off the ground, he flew straight up in the air before landing lightly beside his mother. He raced in a circle around the truck at full speed before stopping to lift the vehicle by its bumper with one finger. Clark squinted and looked into and through the engine before turning to the side of the road and setting a patch of grass on fire with his heat vision. He blew hard on the blaze, instantly smothering it.

"Whatever made me lose my powers, it was restricted to that mine," Clark said, letting his parents know that everything was back to normal and confirming that he had indeed been without his powers when he and Aen had been trapped.

After all, they knew it had to be either that or the fact that he couldn't let Aen know about him that had kept him in there for any length of time at all. Martha hugged her son and they all got back in the truck. The drive was silent for a couple minutes.

Clark turned his head to look at his parents, his mother once more sitting between he and his father on the truck's bench seat, "I have to see her soon, I have to make sure she's okay."

Martha took on a worried expression, "Sweetheart, she seemed fine, maybe a little tired, but no injuries or anything. And I'm sure Aen's friends took her to get checked out at the hospital. You can call her later."

"I need to see for myself that she's okay," Clark said forcefully.

"Clark," Jonathan said reproachfully, "you'll have to wait at least a few days to see her. How would you explain your head wound already being gone?"

He knew his father was right. Clark's broad shoulders drooped and he turned to stare, unseeing, out of the truck window as Jonathan drove toward the Kent Farm.

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Aen was furious. She had never been this angry before in her life. As soon as she had been able to assure the others there was no lasting effect from her loss of powers (Zin hadn't been effected at all and Jisin had only felt a slight dip in her strength due to the fact that they hadn't gotten near the blue glowing stone) and slip away to her room to shower and change her clothes, she had left again. And with what she had found, or rather not found, she had made it back to the Smith farm far faster than even she had thought possible.

Thankfully, she had enough presence of mind to listen carefully as she approached the house. Hearing the hated voice of Tep Sen, who masqueraded on Earth as Senate Carter, arguing with Zin stopped Aen in her tracks. She spun in a tight circle a few inches above the ground, shedding the dirt that had clung to her in the mine.

"Gamma," she snapped as she entered the kitchen where the two men were arguing about her whereabouts. "Upsilon and Beta are in London at one of Luthor's international warehouses checking it for the target. Go help them."

"But…" Tep started.

Now! Aen commanded directly to his mind, her fury making Tep flinch. Do not forget that I am Omega.

The brown haired man who "secretly" worked for her father glared at her before leaving the house to do as she had commanded. Beta and Upsilon would be done with their mission before he even got there and all three of them knew it. But Tep had no choice in the matter, if she reported his insubordination to the Council, his planet-visiting rights would be revoked. And then he couldn't spy on her at all… at least until they left Earth. Zin waited silently until they were both sure their teammate was gone.

"Where is it?" Aen seethed, intense anger clear in her tone and her flashing eyes.

"I assume you mean the blue…"

"You know that's what I mean! Don't play dumb with me!" Aen interrupted. "It's not in that mine anymore. What did you do with it?"

Zin took a deep breathand stated calmly, "I did what we've been ordered to do."

Aen's eyes widened before she choked on a sob. "Please, Zin, tell me this is some sick joke… tell me you didn't destroy it."

"I'm afraid I can't," he said simply.

Aen hung her head and collapsed to her knees. Zin flinched when his sister punched the floor, putting a sizeable hole through it. When she lifted her face to look at him, silent tears were sliding down her face.

"Do you realize what you've done?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Aen, even if it didn't have obvious harmful side effects like the green ones do, it could still be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. It had to be done."

Aen shook her head slowly. "I could have just kept a small piece of it. I could have been… human."

Zin frowned and studied her for several silent minutes. "You really do love him that much, don't you? Enough to give up your people… your family."

"Zin," she said in a pleading tone. Zin knew she was asking for his understanding. "You're my brother, and I love you, and I wish I could have it both ways, but…" Aen sighed softly. "If Sar had been an alien from one of the planets we've visited instead of one of us, would you have just let it go?"

Zin moved to join his sister on the floor, wrapping his arms around the distraught young woman. He wanted to tell her what she wanted to hear. He wished he could assure her that she could have everything she wanted and deserved. But false promises wouldn't help Aen deal with the reality of her situation. He had never seen her break down like this, and it just proved even more how much the human known as Clark Kent had come to mean to her.

"You know it's not that simple," he said as gently as he could. Realizing that Aen may not give up on finding more of the item that could render her 'human' without good reason, Zin told her, "If you had done something like that without express permission from the Council, they would have had no choice but to punish you severely. They would have sent you to the Phantom Zone."

Aen sighed and leaned more heavily against him.

"I could… just leave the Purists," she said quietly after a few minutes. "Take a chance that Clark could love me despite what I am."

Zin closed his eyes in pain. "No, Aen, you can't. A whole House has to choose to leave, not a single individual. You know that."

Aen seemed to sag into herself for a minute before she said carefully, "I am the last of my mother's House. If I separated from Jisin's mother's protection…"

"And what do you think Geo would do if he found out a human was the reason you finally decided to get away from him once and for all?"

The mention of their father's name halted all arguments. For they both knew Geo was vindictive enough to destroy the only thing that had brought Aen complete happiness since her mother's death. And Aen would not risk Clark's life.

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Lex watched silently as Clark half-heartedly lined up his cue on the pool table. The younger man had come over half an hour before, looking lost. It made him even more certain that something serious had happened between Aen and his best friend while they were trapped in that collapsed mine. Lex had suggested a game of eight ball when he couldn't stand the sullen silence anymore. But the occasionalcrack of cue striking ball and the balls rattling around the table wasn't much better.

"Clark," Lex finally said. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

The dark-haired young man sighed heavily and straightened, never having taken his shot. Clark nodded his head jerkily and put away the cue stick he had been using. Together the friends moved to two chairs that were set facing each other on the other side of the room.

Clark sighed again and looked at Lex for a moment before his gaze turned inward. "I love her, and I don't know what to do about it."

"I have an illustrated copy of the Kama Sutra I can give you," Lex said with a straight face, trying to lighten his younger friend's mood.

Clark blinked in surprise before muttering under his breath, "We didn't need it two days ago."

Lex's eyebrows rose at the vocal confirmation of what he had suspected but not been able to come straight out and ask.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd take this seriously, Lex."

"I am," Lex said apologetically. "I'm sorry I said that, I was just trying to get you out of this melancholy." He let a significant pause pass before he spoke again. "Have you told her how you feel?"

"I've told her I love her. She was actually the one to say it first, but we've both said it. But she's leaving soon and…"

With a frustrated noise, Clark stood and began pacing. Lex leaned back in his seat and watched his friend's movements for a few minutes. Lex had never seen Clark this way, not even at his most infatuated in high school when Lana had been the girl Clark wanted but couldn't seem to actually approach. Lex was glad to see that the redhead meant so much more to Clark, but he was also worried about how Aen's leaving would affect the farm boy.

"What's holding you back from asking her to stay?" he asked quietly.

Clark sat back down and lowered his head, seemingly staring at the expensive carpet beneath his feet.

"I don't have anything to offer her. I know one day the farm will be mine and it's actually out of debt now, but I'll never be rich and it wouldn't be just her and me until my dad retires, which I don't think will happen for a good long time. And don't you think it's a bit selfish to ask her to give up her lifestyle and her family just to stay here in Smallville with me?"

"Clark, when two people love each other, they become each other's family. And from what I know of Aen, she doesn't need the extras, so to speak." Lex waved a hand around the room at some of his own 'extras'. "Look, Clark, the worst she could say is no, and would that be any worse than how things are now?"

"I'm afraid to find out," Clark mumbled.

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That afternoon Clark was at the grocery store picking up some things for the household, still mulling over what Lex had told him. His parents were still adamant that no one find out his secret, and for Aen to stay, she would have to be told. Clark wanted to tell her. He wanted to believe that she would be okay with the fact that he wasn't human and that she would accept him for who he was.

But would it be fair to give her that burden? And what would happen if she didn't accept it? Clark was pretty sure it would destroy him if she looked at him with anything but love in her eyes. Sighing, Clark wheeled his cart into the next aisle, almost crashing into Aen and Jisin's cart.

His eyes immediately locked onto Aen's, her own widening slightly before she smiled shyly at him. Jisin cleared her throat and looked back and forth between the two of them before taking control of the cart Aen had been pushing.

"I'll be in the dairy aisle," she told her cousin.

Aen nodded in acceptance but her gaze never left Clark's.

"I've missed you," she confessed softly as she moved closer, walking around his cart to stand about a foot away from him.

Clark couldn't stop himself from reaching up and gently tucking her hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on the tip of her ear and the silky mass of flame colored hair behind it. Aen's green eyes darkened at his light touch and she unconsciously leaned toward him.

"I missed you, too," he admitted huskily. Something inside him shifted when Aen's eyes drifted closed and a delicate shiver shook her body. "Don't leave Smallville. Stay with me, Aen. I love you, and I want…"

"I can't," she interrupted, pain in her beautiful eyes as they snapped open to gaze at him. "I'm sorry, Clark, you have no idea how much, but I just can't."

Before he was able to say another word, Aen had left the aisle. He didn't see her again before he headed home. And now Clark knew that, yes, his pain could get much worse than it had been.

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A few nights later Clark was at the Talon. He had been unable to sleep yet again and the coffeehouse that had been one of his most frequent haunts as a teenager was one of the few places open this late. Once he was there, though, he didn't feel much like staying, so he got into the line that was set up for to-go orders.

He was surprised to find Lana behind the counter. Though she had been the full owner of the coffeehouse for several years now… his half ownership a graduation present from Lex… she very rarely worked a shift herself, financially secure enough to have a full staff.

"Hi, Clark," she greeted brightly when it was his turn at the counter.

"Hey, Lana. Short staffed tonight?"

"No," she answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I've been a little bored lately and I've taken any shifts the employees don't want. I've been hoping you'd come in."

Clark forced himself to smile in what he hoped was a friendly but vague way, not really wanting to get dragged into whatever drama she and Pete were going through this week. The couple had been dating on and off for two years, and every time it was "off" again, Lana went looking for someone to make Pete jealous with. When Lana tilted her head in what could only be described as a flirty pose, he realized she was waiting for some kind of response.

He sighed internally before asking noncommittally, "Oh?"

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Aen was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice that Clark was two people ahead of her in line until he spoke to the young woman behind the counter. She appeared to be about their age, with dark hair and dainty features. And judging from the sparkle in her eyes and the way she was talking to Clark, they had history. History that the young woman named Lana evidently wanted to revisit if her flirting was any indication.

When Lana said she had been waiting for Clark and Clark responded with a simple "oh," Lana leaned closer to Clark and lowered her voice. But Aen could still hear her.

"I know how much you used to want me. I think you still do, and I thought maybe now would be a good time to see what could be between us."

All of the things that kept her from Clark were brought to the surface when Aen thought about everything Clark could have with the pretty brunette… a human like him. Aen clenched her fists so hard that if anything had been in her hands it would have turned to powder. She had no right to keep Clark from having something with someone else, especially not after turning him down without an explanation, but she wouldn't… couldn't be a witness to it.

Aen abandoned her place in line and headed for the exit, muttering a wounded, "No."

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Clark's head snapped around when he heard a single negative word uttered by Aen. How could he have not noticed her presence until just then? He caught sight of her red hair headed quickly toward the door. Lana was promptly ignored and forgotten when Clark realized what Aen must have assumed from Lana's flirting and the fact that their own relationship was so undefined. Clark ran after her, catching up with her outside on the sidewalk.

Aen was trapped, obviously having to wait for whichever member of her family was supposed to pick her up. Clark could only be grateful. He gently turned her to face him, but she refused to look at him.

"Aen," he said, "I wasn't going to say yes. My infatuation with her was years ago, when we were still in high school together."

She finally looked up at him, and he saw that her dark green eyes were full of hurt.

"Aen," Clark said almost mournfully, "she's just a friend now. Wasn't there ever someone you cared about before me?"

Aen's lips parted and her expression turned from one of present hurt to past pain.

"There was someone once. It was only puppy love, though… the last time I saw him we were only three. His name was Kal." The name struck a chord in Clark but he ignored it. "I still remember the last time I saw him. My mother and I went to visit his family before we…moved. Kal and I had been betrothed at birth, but since my mother and I were leaving, the betrothal had to be broken. Anyway, my mother was wearing this awful hat made of metal that was fashioned to look like a halo of twigs." She smiled at the memory and he smiled with her, her words triggering a long buried memory in his own mind. "We went out into the garden so Kal and I could play while our parents talked. A wystril, a type of bird," she explained somehow unnecessarily, "flew down…"

"…and laid an egg on her head," Clark finished for her, laughter in his blue eyes that died suddenly as he realized what he had said.

Aen had gone completely white, and her chest was rising and falling so rapidly that Clark thought she was going to hyperventilate.

When she opened her mouth, one word came out as barely a whisper, "Kal?"

Just then, Zin pulled up in his truck, leaning out the window, "Come on, Aen, we're late."

Mechanically, Aen obeyed her brother and got in the truck. As they drove away, Clark snapped out of his shock-induced trance and began walking out of town. As soon as he was out of sight of anyone, Clark took off at top speed, arriving at the Smith's house eight minutes before Zin's truck.