"Clark."
Lionel grabbed Clark by the back of the neck, "You keep family
differences private."
"You call murder a family
difference?" Clark said, pushing Lionel's hand off of
him.
Lionel's eyes turned unreadable, "What are you talking
about."
Clark smiled, but he wasn't ready to go there
yet.
"You are out of control." Lionel stared at Clark,
making him feel uneasy.
"What! I've never been more
responsible! I actually go to school now! Why don't you just say it!
You are pissed because I'm not acting like daddy's little boy!"
Clark yelled, drastically changing the mood, "What's the matter,
dad? Are you letting your emotions mess you up? I thought Luthors
didn't do that." Clark couldn't have said it with more
disrespect.
Lionel grabbed Clark's arm, "I'm sure you think
you've got all your bases covered, but I'd drop this attitude of
yours. You don't even know what you want to accomplish, by taking me
on."
"What are you going to do, dad?" Clark
challenged, as Lionel's death grip was actually hurting him, but he
didn't want to show it, so he didn't move.
Lionel's eye flashed
with knowledge, "I'm warning you, Clark."
"Warning
me to what? You can't force me to love you." Clark said
confidently, as he couldn't stand Lionel's grip on him any longer,
and forced him to release his arm, by pushing him square in the
chest.
"You will cooperate." He regained his balance and
grabbed Clark's left shoulder, as he pushed backwards, forcing him
against the wall.
Clark resisted the groan of pain, but his face
couldn't hide it, as he felt the corner of a bookshelf stabbing into
his back. Clark tried to move, and managed to step forward a foot,
but Lionel slammed him back against the wall, "Do you
understand?" Lionel threatened, as he had one arm across Clark's
chest forcing him against the bookshelf.
Clark heard the sound of
breaking glass, before he felt it dig into his skin. It took him a
second, to figure out; it must have been the vase on the shelf, which
he was now being crushed into.
"No." Clark felt so
alive, denying Lionel for the very first time. Clark couldn't think
of a better response, as Lionel applied more pressure and Clark felt
something hot and wet run down his back.
Clark found himself
desperately wishing for his super strength, as the realization that
his father was stronger than him, set in.
Clark pushed Lionel
away, as he switched spots, and grabbed Lionel's right arm, as he
raised his own to hit him, but he was distracted by the sound of a
door opening, and Lex said rather loudly, "Clark."
Clark
turned around, leaving him vulnerable, as Lionel shoved Clark away
from him. Clark lost his balance and fell hard; crashing threw the
rather large glass table.
"Clark." Lex said with
concern, as he raced across the room, to Clark.
"What is
going on?" Lex looked up at his father, for an explanation.
Lionel just stood there and watched, as Clark slowly, and by the
looks of it, painfully got up from the broken shards of glass. He
tried to prop himself up with one arm, but immediately retracted it
as he felt glass slice threw his hand.
Lex gave him a hand,
helping him up. Clark just gave Lionel a look of hatred as he stormed
out.
"What the hell happened?" Lex asked again.
"He
was out of control." Lionel said calmly. "You saw him try
and hit me."
"Yeah, and I also saw that Clark was the
only one bleeding." Lex looked down to the carpet, which had
absorbed Clark's blood, " That wasn't an answer, either. What
happened?"
"I don't know. He just blew up. I should get
him a psychiatric evaluation." Lionel blamed the situation on
Clark; But Lex didn't believe
him.
&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&
He sighed, once his shirt was off, and turned around, looking over his shoulder in the mirror. Clark couldn't help but feel more pain, as he saw his back; it was completely cut up. He found that there were pieces of glass still imbedded in his back, he wasn't sure if it was from the vase, or the table, but he removed all that he could, there were still places he couldn't reach.
He looked down at the sink and counter surrounding it, and then to the floor. With all the blood, Clark thought, it looked like someone had been murdered, so he grabbed a towel that as nearby and started to clean it up. He threw his bloody shirt in the trash, as he heard a knock on the locked door, and Lex, "Clark, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Clark lied.
"Clark, what happened?" Lex asked through the door, since Clark obviously wasn't going to open it.
"I don't want to talk about it." Clark was taking it all in. It happened so fast, and the situation quickly escalated into something dangerous. Even though Clark didn't love Lionel, like he had before, it still hurt when your own father could do something like that to you. Even though Clark had gotten the worse of fight, he still felt like he won, because Lionel had let his emotions take over, and get the best of him. He lost control.
Like it or not, Clark realized that, Lionel was emotionally attached and involved, which made him all the more dangerous. Because he was his son (and his favorite at that), everything Clark did would have more of an impact on Lionel. It was an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time.
Lionel would be more motivated to fix things, which meant, make them worse. But he wouldn't be at the top of his game, and he was bound to make more mistakes than usual.
&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&=&
As Clark
walked threw the halls, to lunch, he felt reassured that his action
in quitting the football team, was the right thing to do. If he got
better, he could join again, but just walking down the halls,
hurt.
Once he grabbed his food, he chose a table in the back,
which no one was sitting at. He didn't feel like sitting with his
"friends". He wanted to be alone, to think.
Clark just
sat there, totally engrossed in thought, as he stared at his food,
which he had no interest in eating.
A small figure slid across
from him at the table, "Clark, don't even try and make some lame
excuse why you have to leave. We have to talk." Lana said
firmly.
Clark was caught off guard, "Lana." Although he
didn't particularly trust himself around Lana, or what he would say,
he gave in, because he really missed her, and if he had ever needed
Lana, it was now. Even if all she did was yell at him, it would still
make him feel better, just being by her. "Ok." He said, not
quite making eye contact with her.
Lana hadn't quite thought of
what she was going to say, all she really planned was to force him to
talk to her, "Are you okay?"
Clark was immensely
surprised by her question. He had expected her to demand more of an
explanation from him. But then she was Lana. She never pushed you,
when she knew you couldn't handle it. She had always noticed the
slightest change in mood from him, when they were dating. She always
made his feelings more important than hers. He found himself wishing
she had yelled at him, because then he wouldn't find himself loving
her more.
"Yeah. Sure." Clark lied.
"Clark,
please. At least tell me the truth on this. I know you're not... back
to ..." Lana didn't know how to word it, "Your abilities
are still gone."
Lana wanted to know the real truth behind
Clark's break up with her, but she had to know if he was even getting
better, from the explosion.
Clark found himself getting weaker, in
his decision to stay away from her, the decision that had once seemed
so clear, now left doubt in his mind. But to him, it just made him
think that it was even more possible that he could still become what
he saw in the future, if he couldn't even resist for Lana's
sake.
Clark knew he owed her at least that much, "Yeah. They
haven't come back yet. But I'm okay"
Lana didn't know what
to say next, it was all so hard. She had to do everything, "Clark,
what's wrong?" Lana had so many different meanings for that
question.
Clark looked away, "Lana, I'm sorry."
"Clark,
why are you really doing this?" Lana finally asked what was
killing her over the past few weeks.
Clark looked like he was
caught off guard, "Lana, I told you that-"
"I know
what you told me, and I also know that you are lying. If you don't
want to be with me, fine. But at least give me the real reason."
Lana wasn't going to let him tell her anymore lies.
Clark was
silent as he raced threw his options. He could tell her he just
wasn't in love with her anymore, but she would know he was lying,
unless he did something drastic, to convince her. But he wouldn't, he
couldn't. He could just leave her in the dark, like she had been over
the past month, but that wasn't fair to her, because she would never
have closure. He had already made up his mind, to tell her the real
truth, so she would understand why, so she could move on. He hadn't
told her before because, he knew she would just deny it and say she
would never become like that, and that he would never hurt her. Clark
would have said the same thing before his coma; you never believe it,
unless you see. Because it is all too drastic, but it all happens
slowly, first it's just the little things, and then they get bigger
and you say 'It isn't so bad' so you stay and continue on that same
path until, like Lana, it's too late to get out, and the damage is
already done.
"Lana..." Clark whispered, "You
deserve to know the truth..." But he definitely didn't want to
have that conversation in a cafeteria, in front of everyone. He had
already humiliated her once, in the hallway, "I'll come to your
house after school." He proposed. He definitely didn't want to
do it at the mansion; Lionel had been there in all his spare time,
ever since Clark had woken up from his coma.
"Okay."
Lana said hopefully.
They both just sat there in silence, but
amazingly it wasn't awkward. They both just finished their lunches
quietly, Clark would look at Lana but turn away when she made eye
contact with him. He hated the fact that just sitting by her, made
him feel better. It just showed he was never going to get over her,
but that was okay, as long as she got over him. He didn't want to be
with anyone else, anyway, so he guessed it didn't really matter if he
ever got over her. She was his one true friend, his one true love. He
was never going to tell anyone else, especially not a woman, about
his abilities.
Clark finally had to pull himself away from Lana,
before he ruined everything. He got up quickly, and walked out of the
cafeteria.
Clark felt Lana behind him, and that was exactly what
he was afraid of. He stopped in the deserted hallway, and turned to
see Lana behind him, "Lana, look, we can't... do this."
She ignore his comment, "You're bleeding." She looked
worried for him.
"What?" Clark didn't see any blood. She
gently turned him around, and there were about 4 small blood spots
that leaked threw his shirt. She lifted up his shirt, and couldn't
prevent the gasp that escaped her throat.
Clark immediately pulled
his shirt back down, angry. He didn't like her looking at him, with
pity.
"Clark what happened to you?" Lana felt more
fear, than when she saw the car explode, and she didn't know
why.
"Nothing." He said coldly.
"Is that from
the accident?" Lana knew it wasn't, it looked too new.
"No."
Clark didn't like lying to Lana, unless he absolutely had to. He
began to walk away.
"Clark, how did that happen?" She
grabbed his arm. He had lied to her, when she asked him, if he was
alright. He told her what she had wanted to hear, that he was
okay.
Clark looked at the wall, embarrassed and ashamed of the
truth, "I... got in a fight."
"With who?"
Lana couldn't believe anyone would ever challenge Clark, he was a
Luther.
Clark wished she wouldn't have asked, "My dad."
Clark confessed. When he saw the shock and horror on Lana's face, he
couldn't take it, "It's not a big deal."
"Clark..."
Lana was just beginning to realize that Clark was going through
something truly horrible and more complicated than she had even
thought of, "I'm sorry."
"No. Don't feel sorry for
me." Clark hated that.
"I..." Lana didn't know how
to make him feel better, she wanted to hug him, like he had always
done with her, but she couldn't.
"I'll see you after
school." Clark walked away, and he couldn't help feeling guilty,
just by saying that sentence.
&
&
&TBC...
R&R
please