The Black Coats
Written By: The Ascended Ancient
Chapter XVI: "Endings"

Three days after the mysterious electrical surge in Smallville, which knocked out power for half the town, Jeremy Woodward opens the door to Clark Kent's cell and walks inside. The two men spend the next few moments staring at each other. Finally, Jeremy breaks the silence.

"I don't know what to do about you, Clark," he admits. "On one hand, the I.T.C.'s policy on potential threats is very clear..."

"I'm not a threat," Clark tells him.

"But you could be, Clark," Jeremy says. "Anyone with the amount of power you have is a potential threat." He sighs. "But you saved my life, and probably the lives of everyone in this base. An analysis of our scans of Josh when he was like that... well, we're pretty sure the damage would have been severe."

"So what are you going to do?" Clark asks. Jeremy looks down for a moment, then makes eye contact with Clark.

"Promise me you won't cause any government trouble?" he asks.

"I promise."

"Then, Clark Kent, you're free to go," the major says.

"And my parents?" Clark asks.

"They'll be released in less than a day," Jeremy tells him. Clark stands up and walks over to the major. The young farm boy extends his hand.

"Thank you, Major Woodward," Clark says sincerely. Jeremy shakes Clark's hand.

"You're welcome, Mr. Kent." The major turns to leave.

"So what's going to happen to Smallville?" Clark asks. Jeremy turns around.

"It's going to be put under indefinite observation," the major explains. "That's military-speak for 'there's nothing we can do about it, so we're gonna leave it alone'." Clark smiles, and Jeremy leaves the room.

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At the Kansas State Penitentiary, Lionel Luthor is escorted by a quartet of guards to an armored car. Before they get there, Lex Luthor blocks their path.

"Excuse me, officers," Lex says, pulling a piece of paper out of his coat pocket. "This is an order from the Kansas State Supreme Court terminating the transfer of Lionel Luthor to a standard prison." He hands the document to one of the officers. The officer nods.

"Looks all right to me," he says. "All right, Luthor. Back to your cell." Lionel doesn't bother saying anything. He just glares at Lex as he's escorted back to his cell.

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At the Kent Farm, Clark Kent watches happily as his parents drive up in their truck.

"Mom! Dad!" he exclaims as he runs over and gives them both big hugs. "I'm glad you're alright."

"We're fine, son," Jonathan Kent says. "Thanks to you, I assume?"

"No, actually," Clark tells him. "It's Major Woodward we should thank. He went out on a limb to get us released."

"Well, I guess they weren't all bad, were they?" Martha Kent tells her son with a smile.

"So, what exactly happened, son?" Jonathan asks.

"Well," Clark begins as they walk towards the house, "after they told me they had you, I allowed them to lock me up. Then they had me get them some files from LuthorCorp, which I did." He pauses for a moment. "Then, uh, Colonel Hammond tried to assemble a Kryptonian artifact."

"Oh my god," Martha exclaims. "What was it?"

"Well, according to the symbols on this," Clark pulls out the map from his pocket, "it was a failed experiment. Now, the symbols have worn off a bit, so I'm not quite sure what the experiment was supposed to do, but apparently it was so dangerous that they had to send it off into space."

"And it just happened to crash on Earth?" Jonathan asks. Clark shrugs.

"I guess so," Clark says.

"Well, with everything that's happened so far, I'm starting to think Earth was chosen as a Kryptonian dumping ground," Jonathan says as they walk into the house.

"So what's going to happen to that colonel?" Clark's mom asks as she turns on the lights in the kitchen. Clark shrugs.

"No one really knows," he says.

"Well, he did kinda screw up a big-time military operation," Jonathan says. "I doubt they're just gonna let him off with a slap on the back."

"Yeah, well, he's claiming that he's been compelled to find the crystals ever since getting his hands on this map." Clark places the map on the table. "And since he's been kind of incoherent ever since the incident, Major Woodward thinks that he'll just be shipped off and locked up in a government facility for the rest of his life."

"So where is he now?" Martha asks.

"Belle Reve," Clark tells her. "They're holding him there until he can be transferred."

"Let's hope he's transferred soon," Mrs. Kent tells her son. "I want that man gone and out of our lives."

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In the office of the Smallville High Torch, Chloe Sullivan is hard at work on the next issue when Lana Lang knocks on the door. Chloe looks over and sees who it is.

"Lana, come on in," Chloe tells her. Lana walks over.

"'Student Abducted by Government Agents,'" Lana reads.

"Catchy, isn't it?" Chloe says with a laugh. She has that same, goofy smile she has whenever she's really nervous.

"Oh, yeah," Lana tells her. "But won't they try and arrest you for printing it?"

"The people have a right to know." Chloe is close to tears.

"Chloe, I agree with you, but..." Lana starts to say, but Chloe cuts her off.

"Lana, these guys are bad news!" Tears start to form in Chloe's eyes. "People... people need to be... they need to be warned, ok?"

"Chloe," Lana says with concern, "what did they do to you?" Chloe doesn't say anything. "What did he do to you?" Lana asks intuitively.

"Oh, nothing," Chloe says. "He just pretended to be everything I've ever wanted, used me, then betrayed me! No big deal!"

"Chloe," Lana says soothingly, "it is a big deal." She walks over and rests a hand on Chloe's shoulder. "You thought you'd found someone, and it turned out to be an act. That's got to hurt."

"You have no idea, Lana," Chloe says between sobs. "You have no idea."

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In the Belle Reve Sanitarium, Josh Hammond is led down a corridor in a straightjacket by two guards. As they walk they're intercepted by Jeremy Woodward.

"For what it's worth, Josh, I'm sorry this had to happen to you," Jeremy tells his friend. Josh makes a few noises, and Jeremy rests a hand on his friend's shoulder before turning and walking away.

The guards lead Josh into an elevator. The moment the doors close, Josh's eyes, which were half-closed, shoot open. His arms, which appeared to be restrained by the straightjacket, unfurl, a knife in each hand. He stabs both his guards before they can react.

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The elevator reaches the ground floor a few seconds later. To the surprise of the people waiting to get on it, the doors don't open, and the elevator goes back up. Several minutes later, it comes back down, and the doors open, allowing a single guard to walk out of it. He walks through the lobby and out the front door.

End of Chapter XVI

Author's Note: Interesting plot twist. So, did Josh really go crazy, or was it just an act? Stay tuned, for the last answers will be given in "Epilogue", the final chapter of The Black Coats.