Thank you for the reviews and sorry for the wait, (school sucks at the moment), I'll try to update more often from now on.
Mega thank you to htbthomas for betaing!
Diverse
Part One: Addition
Smallville, May 2005
The strong, waxy aroma of well-polished wood was the first thing he noticed. Then the lingering, sweet scent of apple pie as he stepped into his new home, (minding to duck his head lest he bang it on the doorframe,) hit his nostrils. The air in the Kent house was fresh, clean, full or promise of a better life.
It didn't smell quite like home, but he supposed he would grow used to it.
Just like he'd grown used to the fact that his mother wasn't coming back.
Just like he'd grown used to the daily drunken rages the man he'd called father was prone to.
Just like he'd grown used to the barren, metallic confines of the research cell in Metropolis, monitored day and night by a team of knowledge-hungry scientists.
"Clark? Would you like something to eat?" Martha Kent's uncertain voice broke through his reverie and he jumped a little, wide eyes darting to rest on his new official mother, as of that morning.
She wasn't so different from his old mother, though they looked nothing alike he could see she was a good person. The man, Jonathan, he was still wary of, but deep down he knew he was a good person, too. He'd become an expert judge of character over the years, determining which people would be best to befriend in the hope they would release him from his prison. It never worked, but still he had years of weighing others' characters to ready him for this new challenge.
Clark eventually shook his head once, but said nothing. Martha looked helplessly to her husband.
Jonathan sighed before clearing his throat and stepping closer to Clark, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder in a friendly gesture. Clark shied away, backing up several paces until he was pressed against the kitchen counter. His eyes grew even wider with terror and apprehension, and he gazed up at his new father as the Kent family kitchen seemed to melt away to be replaced by a much starker home, paint peeling off the greying walls, long-empty beer bottles cluttering the floor, ashtrays overflowing.
Clark's father towered over his small, eight year old frame, as he advanced excruciatingly slowly. A snarl crossed the man's lips as little Clark blinked and looked away from his father's challenging eyes. He'd lost the battle of the wills, just as he'd done so many times before. He knew his punishment for intruding on these homo sapiens five years ago.
Daniel Boswell's breath was alcoholic and foul to his nostrils, suffocating, as his father yelled drunkenly in his eardrums.
"It's all your damn fault! Rose wanted to take you in, not me! If it was up to me you'd be a science experiment by now! If it weren't for you, your mother would be alive and healthy!"
Clark shook his head frantically, the steady trickle of tears giving way to a full-blown flood as he denied what he was hearing.
"I knew you were trouble from the moment I saw you!"
"No." He murmured, pressing his tiny hands to his ears to try to block out the sound of his father's enraged voice. "NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo…"
"You killed her!"
"NO!"
The Kent's warm kitchen jerked back into focus with surprising clarity, Martha standing helpless by the sink, Jonathan staring at him in concern, his arm still outstretched towards the teenager.
Clark's heart was beating so fast from the sudden repressed memory that he thought it would explode out of his chest any second. He shook his head, stemming the tears that threatened to overwhelm him and bolted for the door, yanking it open and rushing out into the night.
Jonathan's arm fell defeated to his side. Husband and wife watched their newly adopted son jog down the driveway, come to a stop at the end and sit down in the dirt. The moonlight picked out his back heaving.
Martha let out a shaky sigh, releasing a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Wordlessly, her husband took two quick strides to envelop her in a hug from behind. She relaxed into his arms and they began to rock gently from side to side, soothing each other by just being there.
After a while, Jonathan brought up the previously unspoken question that had been on both their minds all day. "You really think this will work out?"
Martha hesitated before replying. "Honestly? I don't have a clue. Lex warned us he'd be difficult."
Jonathan thought back to just that morning, when they'd been called to Lex's office in Metropolis to discuss an 'urgent matter.' They'd never dreamed they'd return home with the custody of a fifteen year old boy from another planet who Lex had broken out of the dark confines of his father's lab.
"He did." Jonathan agreed, no trace of hostility in his voice. Then he chuckled. "Personally, I think 'difficult' was a bit of an understatement, don't you?"
Martha simply glanced up and gave him a sad smile in reply. There was a lull in the conversation as they watched Clark stand up and lean against the fence post, tilting his head towards the night sky. They both wondered what he was thinking, if his thoughts were with the parents that had abandoned their son to live with strangers several billion light-years away. The slump in his shoulders told them he wasn't thinking of anything good, though they supposed he hadn't experienced much 'good' in his short life to think of.
"I should go out to him." Martha said, already starting to pull away from the warm embrace to fetch her coat.
"Don't." Jonathan pulled her back, kissing the top of her head. "He needs time. You'll only scare him off."
Martha sighed and agreed reluctantly, knowing he was right.
"He'll be alright." Jonathan said in an attempt to assure her. The words sounded strangely hollow even to his own ears.
"Yes. I know." Martha said without an ounce of conviction.
Jonathan didn't reply and they again lapsed into comfortable silence for some time, until Martha spoke, "Do you remember, what you said to me, at the adoption service ten years ago?"
Jonathan nodded. "It didn't feel right, adopting a kid so soon after…" He couldn't bring himself to say it, to dredge up feelings long stifled and pushed to the back of his mind.
"After the miscarriage." Martha continued, swallowing deeply as her voice wavered. She'd told herself the only way to move forward was to accept the past. "It didn't feel right before."
Jonathan nodded, knowing what she meant. The most painful thing he'd ever had to go through had not been the death of his baby, it had been going to Metropolis to pick out a… a replacement… from the rows and rows of healthy babies. That hadn't felt right.
"But now, when I look at him, so scared and alone… it feels right, Jonathan."
"I know." He rested his chin on the top of her head, drawing his wife's body even closer to his own. "It does. But this isn't going to be easy."
Martha felt excitement bubble up inside of her. That warning meant he'd given in, as she knew he would eventually. She wasn't the only one who felt the connection.
"I knew this marriage wasn't going to be easy when you proposed to me twenty years ago. I still said yes. Do you want to know why?" She turned, twisting around in his arms to look at his face.
"Why?"
"Because I have faith in us. I have faith in Clark, too. We can do this." She told him earnestly, eyes sparkling with love and determination.
There was a long pause, then, "I hope you're right." Came Jonathan's soft reply.
---
Smallville, November 2005
"You were right."
Martha Kent glanced back from her newspaper to see her son standing awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs, having just silently sneaked down them. She couldn't help but smile. Six months ago, she and Jonathan had had enough trouble getting him to speak when spoken to, or indeed stay in the room with them for longer than five minutes, but here he was, talking to her of his own free will and seeking out her company. They'd come a long way, she realised. A long, long way.
"About what?" She replied, turning back to her paper. She knew he didn't like to be the centre of attention, a personality trait she'd become accustomed to through trial and error. Grimacing, she thought back to the time she'd invited Maggie from the feed store over for dinner. The kind old woman had fussed over Clark like a mother hen. Maggie could have sworn he'd disappeared into thin air right before her astonished eyes, but luckily hindsight made her doubt herself.
"The tractor broke down again." Clark told her quietly, and headed over to the cupboard, digging a glass out from the back.
"Ah." Martha said, turning the page.
"Third time this week." Clark commented, pouring milk into the glass.
"I knew it." Martha had to marvel at his impeccable behaviour as she watched him put the carton back into the fridge, she only had to tell him once not to do something like drinking straight from the bottle and he never did it again. Given the choice, though, she'd rather have him rebel a little than let people walk all over him as she'd learnt he was prone to do.
"I know you did. Dad owes you ten bucks." Clark's voice penetrated her thoughts, and she looked up, a smile on her face as she noted he'd called Jonathan 'Dad.' They really had come a long way.
She folded her newspaper up, and leaning on her elbows she craned forward and said in what was meant to be a lightly teasing tone, "And how would you know about that, Clark Kent?"
It had been the wrong thing to say. Clark's eyes dropped from hers to the floor, guilt and fear changing his expression. The slightest reprimand could change his demeanour in the space of a second, and once more Martha cursed the so called 'parents' who'd scarred this beautiful, wonderful child for life. He said nothing but glanced up at her with worried eyes, as if expecting a punishment though he'd done nothing wrong. If Martha's heart hadn't already melted it would have been in pain at the look on his face.
"It's alright, Clark. Don't worry, I'm not mad." She said gently, and he frowned slightly as if trying to figure out if she was being sincere or not.
At that moment the door slammed open and Jonathan stormed in, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of a gloved and oily hand. Clark started, whipping around to face the noise before relaxing, but only slightly, when he saw it was only Jonathan.
Jonathan strolled over to Martha, kissing her on the cheek and not even noticing he'd caused such distress. Clark started towards the door, forgetting the glass of milk in his haste to get some air.
"Clark, you ready for your first day of school, son?"
Jonathan's voice halted him in his tracks and he looked back, nodding at he same time as saying, "Yeah. I mean, I guess. I'm going to go… feed the cows." With that he took his opportunity to escape and headed out the door with startling speed, though not startling in the way of 'super'.
In fact, Clark hadn't displayed any of his powers during the six months he'd been staying with the Kents; they'd soon come to realise it was a sort of taboo subject with the teenager though they had yet to find out exactly why. Still, they couldn't help but secretly gape when he accidentally let the knife slip whilst he was cutting potatoes only to have the sharp blade bounce off his skin, the sharp metal now blunt and twisted.
"Sure…" Jonathan trailed off, watching Clark's disappearing back. He turned back to Martha with a 'what was all that about' expression, but she simply shrugged and sighed in reply.
Jonathan shook his head and tugged the oily gloves off, tossing them to land on the kitchen counter. Martha snatched them up with a frown. "Jonathan." She said, a warning tone in her voice. She'd just cleaned the work surface and wasn't about to let it get dirty only a few minutes later.
"Sorry." He said absently, fishing the milk bottle put the fridge and bringing it to his lips.
"You know, it doesn't reflect well on you when your son behaves better than you do." Martha's dry voice came from behind him and he sheepishly fetched a glass.
"Sorry." He said again. "Clark's still not putting a toe out of line?"
Martha shook her head. "It's like he's scared to go wrong. Like we'll hit him, or… or send him away as a punishment or something."
Jonathan looked at his wife. "Well, after all he's been through you can't expect him not to have some abandonment issues."
Martha flinched despite herself as he reminded her all the suffering their son had endured.
Jonathan noticed and said a little more softly, "What I'm trying to say is, don't expect too much. We've come so far already, there's bound to be some bumps along the road."
"Hmm." Martha said in reply, rubbing the counter down with a wet cloth again without even realising it. After a while she said suddenly, "Do you really think he's ready to go to school?"
"He's got to go sometime, sweetheart." Jonathan reminded her, taking up the newspaper she'd left.
"I know." She admitted sadly.
"He's been up since five, excited about it." Jonathan said, now eating some toast with too much marmalade balancing precariously on top.
"Or worried about it." Martha said under her breath. Jonathan didn't hear her.
---
Outside, Clark didn't go to feed the cows as he'd said he would, but walked up the dusty old road leading to the front of the Kent farm. He kicked at the stones as he walked, sending up billowing clouds of dust as he did so, but the dust didn't bother him. Just like knives and fire didn't bother him. What really bothered him was the impending school day.
He hadn't been in close contact with kids his own age for nearly five whole years - half a decade. It was a long, long time and now Clark's stomach was twisting in knots, figuratively speaking of course. The only time his stomach really could knot was when meteor rocks were around.
Speaking of meteor rocks… he backed off from the dull, green glow in the grass, the beginnings of a reaction starting to take place. He stood just out of its range, transfixed by the sight of the little green rock he'd seen every day for five years of his life. They'd become bitter enemies, he and that little green rock. A breeze suddenly blew across the track, parting the grass for Clark to see the whole meteor clearly. He trembled.
He trembled as the scientist leaned closer, a glowing green syringe aimed straight for the artery in his neck. The man wore a white coat and gloves, a pale green mask obscuring the lower half of his face as if he was worried he'd catch some sort of germ from Clark.
Clark didn't mind, he'd much rather be left alone than to be touched by this man who'd already hurt him so much.
The needle burned with a brighter light as it hovered next to Clark's neck, taunting him by keeping him awake in such agony. Fire tore up and down every single muscle, every nerve, every cell in his body. He prayed for the moment the liquid would enter his body and put him out of such agony with pain-free sleep.
True, the liquidised meteors in his veins would hurt a hell of a lot more than just being in close proximity to them, but he knew it would only be a second before he passed out from the pain. When he'd first come here it had taken much longer for him to fall unconscious, but over time his resistance to the rocks had worn down, and now he blessed the times he was put to sleep with the injections. If it was the only relief he could get, he would take it with open arms.
The scientist laughed softly as Clark arched his body up to the needle, reading his body language and knowing every second he prolonged injecting the substance into the boy's body, the longer he was prolonging his pain.
His small smirk widening, he adopted a relaxed position, sitting next to Clark as of they were chatting over a cup of tea and perhaps a biscuit. Clark squirmed and trembled again.
"So, Clark. How's your day been so far?"
He didn't reply, his lips drawn back against his teeth in a grimace of pain. The scientist chuckled lowly and leaned closer.
"I said, how was your day Clark?" There was no trace of laughter in his voice, now only grim determination that told Clark he was going to be there for a long time.
"Clark! Answer me!"
Clark forced his eyes open into slits, and once he'd seen the foul face of his tormentor he felt a new sense of purpose. He set his teeth together, locking his jaw in a gesture of defiance.
"Clark!" The man said again, getting irate. "Clark!"
"Clark?"
Clark jumped and whirled around, his breathing ragged, his eyes clouded with fear. Lex Luthor stood before him, shielding his eyes from the glare of the early morning sun with one hand.
"Clark?"
Clark averted his eyes, still struggling to breathe. "Hi. Er, what - what are you doing out here?"
Lex let slip a smile, turning his back on Clark and wandering leisurely to lean on the fence. His impeccable black shoes squeaked and seemed to repel the dust wherever he trod. "I've come to wish you good luck, of course." A pause, then Lex glanced back. "Nervous?"
"No." Clark's voice sounded shaky and uncertain to his own ears.
Lex gave him an odd stare that told him it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard. The silence stretched uncomfortably. Clark fiddled nervously and tried to pluck up the courage to say what he wanted to.
"Why-" Lex's cool gaze fixed on him. Clark hesitated. "I'm going to miss my bus." He said finally and backed off along the drive to the house.
Lex simply nodded sadly, and climbed into his car. Clark quickened his pace, cursing himself for being such a coward. He could have prodded their precarious friendship on the road back to normal if he'd only he'd taken the chance when he'd had it. The meteor rock's and Lex's presence faded the further he went.
Only when he was at the gate did he pause and glance back. An involuntary shiver tickled his spine at the sight of the innocent-looking stone blending in with the rich green grass.
End of Part One
south manger 2004: I think this chapter answers your question. :)
Doranwen: Aww thank you I'm so flattered! Hope this chapter isn't disappointing.
chloedouble1011: Thanks for reviewing Mindgames BTW! I changed the names because Jonathon and Martha don't find Clark, Daniel and Rose Boswell do. I wasn't sure whether to keep the first part of the prologue in actually - depends on what you want it for?
Emily M. Hanson: These are OCs, you'll see what happened to them in flashbacks throughout the rest of the story. :)
Also thanks to magpiez55, iluvsmallville1 and of course htbthomas. I thought I'd do a list because it's nice to be appreciated!
P.S. The next chapter will be more interesting, that's your incentive to return and leave lots of lovely reviews!