Disclaimer: I don't own "Smallville"
Chapter 11: Hug
Brianna, Allison, and Sarah were laughing their heads off as they galloped on the horses they borrowed from Lana through the woods. They were spending the day with her, along with Clark and Chloe so they could learn how to ride a horse. The Jr. Torch crew hit it off right away. Chloe however, wasn't so good with the whole "butt-bashing" fun. To get more adventure out of it, the gang decided to play a little game. Lana said there were two routes that led to the same place: The stables. She said whichever group got there first, the loser team would have to treat them to lunch at the Beanery. Finally, they stopped their horses a bit, so they could talk while the horses walked it off a bit.
"So, how's Whitney holding up?" asked Sarah
Allison smiled a bit. Over the past few weeks, ever since she found out about Whitney's dad, Allison had been hanging out at his dad's store, helping him out with some stuff. And since that time, they've become friends. Sometimes Brianna and Sarah thought that she spent more time having fun with him, than with them. But she was happy, and Whitney wasn't that lonely.
"His dad's still in the hospital," she explained. "So he's working extra shifts at the store,"
"It's tough running a family buisness," Sarah commented
"I think he secretly wants his dad to sell it.He deosn't want to deal with it when he graduates,"
"I don't blame him. I don't see myself being the wife of a farmer, when I grow up,"
"Well, what do you want to be?"
"I'm not sure. But if it deals with putting on some sort of suit, or flying, I'd type up my resume for it before you could say..."
"Crap!" shouted Brianna.
Allison and Sarah stopped their horses and turned back. Brianna had an angry look on her face.
"What happened?" asked Sarah.
"I dropped my camera," Brianna said.
"What'd you bring it for, anyway?"
"I'm not out here just for fun. These woods are like the Bermuda Triangle of Smallville,"
Sarah and Allison looked at each other, for a beat. Then suddenly, busted out laughing. Brianna gave them a dark look.
"I'm serious you guys," she urged them to believe. "People come in here, and when they leave, they can't remember a thing. There have been dozens of incidents the past 10 years,"
Allison shook her head, smiling.
"I'll go get your camera," she said.
Allison rode out back to the woods to find Brianna's prized technological posession. Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Bermuda Triangle," she scoffed. "Come on Bri. I know there are weird things in Smallville, but don't you think the world's better off with just one Bermuda Triangle? My dad told me these woods go back to the Civil War,"
"No," Brianna begged to differ. "I'm talking about what happened a week ago. Chloe told me that some surveyors from Rickman Industries came out screaming and can't remember what happened,"
"Well, then, I'm sure you and Chloe have a theory,"
"Oh yeah, and I've got two words for it: Kyle Tippett,"
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"The guy who sells weird sculptures in town?" she asked.
"Yeah," Brianna said. "Don't you think it's a little odd that he lives all alone out here in the woods?"
"Thoreau did," Sarah shrugged.
"Yeah, Sarah, so did the Unabomber,"
Suddenly, there was a scream from behind them. The girls looked behind them, and knew it was Allison's scream
"I think I might take you up on that theory," Sarah said, frightened now.
Just then, the girls felt a sudden woosh go past them, and spooked the horses a bit. Quickly they calmed them down, and looked at each other.
"Clark," the said in unison.
Allison's head was aching as she slowly came out of the dark recesses of her mind. Hands here on her shoulders, shaking her a bit. Slowly, she opened her eyes. It was a man in his early 30's trying to wake her up. Scared, she struggled a bit.
"Get away from her!" shouted a familiar voice.
The man and Allison looked beside them, and saw Clark running (normally) toward her. The man got scared and ran away, as Clark bent down beside Allison to check on her.
"You okay?" he asked helping her up.
"Yeah," she said softly as she leaned on Clark.
The two looked around for any sign of the man. But he just vanished. Nowhere to be found. When Clark looked, down, he saw Brianna's camera and picked it up. They were lucky that Brianna dropped it around here. It might help them to see what happened.
Back at the Kent house, Jonathon, Sarah, and Clark were sitting in front of the TV, while Martha was talking to Mr. Harper on the phone in the kitchen.
"What do you think happened kids?" Jonathon asked them.
"I don't know," Clark admitted, studying the video tape they borrowed from Brianna. "But it doesn't look like he's trying to hurt Allison,"
"OK Richard..." Martha came in talking on the phone. "Thanks...Bye,"
"How's Ali?" asked Sarah sitting up from the couch she was laying on
"She has a mild concussion,"Martha explained as she hung up the phone. "Other than that, she's fine,"
"And Richard?" asked Jonathon.
"That's a different story. He wants Clark to go to the police and say he saw Kyle spook Allison's horse and attack her,"
"That's not what I saw," Clark said.
"From Richard's tone, I don't think we've heard the end of this,"
Sarah sighed. Richard Harper was one of the best lawyers in Smallville, and probably in Metropolis. Allison told them he had a way of winning his side of the story, whether it was murder, or robbery.
"Did Kyle seem at all dangerous to you?" Jonathon asked Clark.
"He seemed...scared," Clark remembered.
"Brianna mentioned that some surveyors were spooked last week in the woods, and now us," Sarah mentioned. "I wonder if there's a connection,"
"Jonathon," Martha said. "You should go talk to Kyle. Get this cleared up,"
"How 'bout me and Sarah go?" asked Clark as he got up to leave
"Clark, I don't think that's a good idea,"Jonathon told his son.
"Aw come on," Sarah groaned. "What's the worse he could do to us? Show us bad sculptures?"
Jonathon looked at his daughter in a stern way.
"That is not the point, young lady," he said.
Sarah bit her lip. That's the last time she'll ever try to go against Jonathon's word.
"Dad," Clark said softly. "I understand what it's like to be hidden from the world. Give us a shot,"
Jonathon looked at his wife, who was giving him "Let-him-try" look. He sighed.
"All right," he gave in. "Do you two know where Kyle lives?"
"We just follow the trails of bad sculptures," Clark smiled.
Jonathon and Martha smiled as Sarah and Clark got their coats. Sarah sighed as she headed out the door.
"Here we go again," she commented.
It grew dark as Clark pulled up on the gravel road by the trashy trailer of which Kyle lived it. Scultptures of bent metal and trash were all over the grounds, and Sarah thought one of them looked like a giant snail, and raised an eyebrow. When Clark turned off the engine, he looked at her.
"You wanna stay in the car?" he asked.
"Are you kidding?" asked Sarah as she opened her door. "I'm with you all the way,"
Clark and Sarah got out of the car, and walked slowly towards Kyle's metal door.
"Who's gonna knock?" Sarah asked.
"You're not scared of Crazy Kyle, are you Sarah?" teased Clark.
"I'm just asking,"
"Well, if you're that scared I'll knock,"
Sarah was flabergasted (A/N: Is that how you spell it?)
"You will do no such thing," she walked in front of him clse to the door. "I'll knock,"
Clark shook his head, but he let his sister give it a try. She took a deep breath. She really hoped she wasn't that scared of a person everyone in her school thought was crazy. Quickly, she knocked on the door.
"What a shame," she said quickly. "He's not home. So maybe we should go too,"
As Sarah turned around she didn't expect to see Kyle stand right in front of her. She let out a short scream, backed away and bumped into Clark, who put his hands on her shoulders, as he looked at the Thoearu-like man.
"You're trespassing," he said.
"How'd you do that?" asked Sarah, catching her breath.
Kyle smiled at the young girl.
"Magic," he said. "Haven't you ever heard of Crazy Kyle who lives in the woods all by himself? He's somewhere between Bigfoot and the Blair Witch,"
Clark kind of shook his head. This guy may have been a local hermit and sold weird sculptures in town, but seriously. Kyle Tippett was not crazy. He stuck out his hand.
"We're..."He started.
"Clark and Sarah Kent," Kyle said as he looked at Clark's hand. "Jonathon and Martha's kids,"
"How'd you know that?" asked Sarah. "Magic?"
"I live in a trailer. Not a cave,"
Sarah shrugged. She had to admit that. After all, Smallville is a small town. Clark and Sarah walked past him looking around the place.
"We wanted to talk to you about what happened this afternoon," Clark explained.
"You mean the girl?" asked Kyle facing them. "Well, the horse threw her and I went to make sure she was still breathing,"
As Clark looked through the pile of junk. he noticed a very muddy blue hard hat by Rickman Insdustries.He showed it to Kyle.
"So you don't make a habit of scaring people out of the woods, and spooking their hroses?" he asked.
Kyle looked a bit annoyed of the farm boy. He took the helmet back and spoke to the kids in words he wanted to make clear.
"If I wanted to explain myself all the time, I'd get a job," he explained. "But I left that world behind for a reason. Goodbye,"
Clark and Sarah watched as Kyle went to go back inside his trailer, as though he never wanted to be seen again. But then, Sarah wanted to know something.
"Why are you so unfriendly?" she asked.
"Sarah..."Clark whispered, thinking she was being rude.
"Because I'm not interested in friends," Kyle answered.
"Everyone needs a friend," Sarah shrugged.
"No they don't," Kyle looked at them, his face full of remorse. "Because they'll always betrey you in the end,"
After their little meeting with Kyle, Clark and Sarah went to the Beanery to get something hot to drink...Yep, you guessed it: Hot chocolate. As Sarah waited by the counter on the stool, Clark saw Allison sitting at a table. She was waiting for Whitney, who wanted to give her a treat for helping him out so much at his dad's store. He sat across from her with a friendly smile.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Better, thanks," Allison said mildly. "Dad said you're going to talk to the police,"
"...Actually, me and Sarah went out and spoke to Kyle,"
"You talked to that psycho?" asked Whitney as he came and sat down with his latte and Allison's hot chocolate.
Clark seemed a bit surprised by Whitney's tone, but he pushed that aside.
"Yeah," he admitted. "He said he was trying to make sure Allison was okay,"
"Do you believe him?" asked Allison.
"Yeah, I think I do,"
"If I were there, I would've done something," Whitney sipped his drink, eyeing Clark.
"Do you remember anything?" Clark asked Allison softly.
"Not really," Allison looked down at her drink
Clark sighed.
"I gotta take Sarah home," he said. "I'm glad you're okay,"
Clark got up and left as he saw Sarah talking to Lex, while she had their hot chocolate with her. Then he realized that they were watching the whole episode.
"That looked uncomfortable," Lex commented. "...Listen, has Bob Rickman been by the farm?"
"Why would he be interested in us?" asked Clark as he sat down next to his sister.
"He's interested in buying your land,"
Sarah breathed out a laugh.
"You have met our dad," she reasoned. "Why are you even worried?"
"I've seen Rickman talk people out of house and home," Lex explained. "He's a locust. He tears through a community and betrays anyone who trust's him. Tell your dad to be careful,"
Sarah and Clark nodded in understanding. They didn't know, but rumors have been going around Smallville of Rickman buying their farmland. Most people have said that Jonathon would be out of his mind to sell that place. Frankly, others have not said the same, for they knew about Rickman's magical, or maybe not-so-magical gift of persuasion, in this case. They said bye to Lex and headed out the door to go home, when they saw Kyle walking out of the "temporary" headquarters of Rickman Industries.
"Kyle," Clark greeted. "What are you doing here?"
"I just registered a complaint," shrugged Kyle.
"What do you have against Rickman?" Sarah asked.
"There used to be a town where people just minded their own buisness,"
"Hey Tippett!" shouted Whitney as he ran across the street from the Beanery.
Sarah rolled her eyes as Clark looked down. Whitney had some serious problems about people messing with people he liked and knew.
"And what's your problem?" asked Kyle sarcastically.
"You are," Whitney said through gritted teeth. "Touch Allison Harper again, and I'll take care of you myself,"
"Whitney, back off," Sarah sighed. "Besides, Allison's fine. And he was only trying to help her,"
"I've got my eye on you," Whitney ignored her
Clark, Kyle, and Sarah watched Whitney go to his truck to get ready to leave.
"Don't worry," Sarah reassured. "The worse you can do is take away his football scholarship to Metroplis Sharks,"
"That's why I don't come into town," Kyle pointed at Whitney as he left.
"You want a ride home?" asked Clark
Kyle furrowed his eyesbrows.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" he asked in confusion.
Sarah almost had to laugh. Kyle seriously needed to pick up a book more often. Readers, I have yet another question to ask you that regards our meeting with Kyle Tippet: Have you ever been in a world where nobody seemed to care who you are, except one person, aka: Your best friend in the whole world? A lot of people have these situations, and Kyle was in one of them
"We figured you're not a bad guy," Sarah simply said. "You're just not a people person,"
Kyle chuckled.
"What gave that away?" he asked wryly.
"You want a ride or not?" asked Clark
"Yeah, I gotta stop and get groceries,"
Sarah smiled as they headed for the truck.
"No problem," she said.
Later that night, Clark and Sarah pulled up in front of Kyle's trailer to drop him off. For a trip to the market, it wasn't that bad. It was actually kind of fun. Kyle and Sarah exchanged jokes as Sarah tried to sneak in sweets into the cart. Clark caught her, and told her he'd tell their mother, because after that last cavity she had, sweets were off limits. Kyle looked at them, with paper grocery bags up to his chin.
"Thanks for the ride," he said. "I really appreciate it,"
"Next time, don't talk our ears off," Clark smiled
Kyle grinned, and was about to go out of the car, when Sarah asked a question.
"Why were you at Rickman's?" she asked.
Kyle took one look at her, with a wry smile on his face.
"For someone you age," he said. "You ask a lot of questions,"
"It grows on you a while," Clark commented. "She's head reporter for the Jr. Torch,"
"Really?" Kyle looked at Sarah with interest. "Well isn't that something?...So, why do you want to know why I was at Rickman's?"
Sarah shrugged.
"Same reason every reporter has," she explained. "Curiousity,"
Kyle laughed a bit.
"Well, then," he asked softly as he leaned in forward to her as if to tell her a secret. "Why were you at Rickman's?"
"We heard a rumor he was trying to buy our farm," Sarah answered.
Kyle nodded a bit.
"Stay away from him," he said immedietly.
Kyle opened the door, and sat up to get out. But before he could even get one step on the dirt ground...
"Do you miss it?" Sarah asked. "A regular life I mean?"
Kyle thought about it a moment.
"Some people weren't meant to have a regular life, Sarah," he finally said as he got out. "Thanks,"
Sarah watched as Clark reversed the truck back and pulled out from the driveway. They were both silent for just a minute when Clark started talking.
"Why did you keep asking him these questions?" he asked.
"You know perfectly well why I asked him those questions," Sarah looked at her brother with an expression that could kill.
"And what's that?"
"Concern...Hey, isn't that Whitney's truck?"
Clark did a double-take, and put on the brakes beside Whitney's truck. Clark started to get worried. What was he doing at Kyle's trailer. Quickly he got out of the truck.
"Stay here," he ordered.
Sarah groaned as Clark super-sped back to Kyle's place. She hated being left behind. Everytime her parents or Clark tell her to stay where she is, it makes her fell more and more like a 5-year-old. She was twelve for crying out loud. Pretty soon, she's gonna be flying off to some...I don't know, an Ivy League College or something, and walking down an isle with a bouquet of flowers or something. So, to prove her point of being a mature almost-teenaged young woman, she disobeyed (A/N: Oh yeah,sure, real mature for being diobedient...what?...I disobey only my brothers. They're exceptions, but never my parents. That's like walking into a sand trap, I tell ya) and followed the trail back to Kyle's trailer.But by the time she got there, (since she didn't have Clark's superspeed), all she found was Clark helping Whitney up, the dented trailer door, Kyle on the ground, and a bat broken in half.
About an hour later, Sarah was walking with her dad, his jacket draped around her shoulders, as she watched the police lead Kyle into the back of a police car. Clark and Whitney were leaning against the truck, with arms folded.
"They're booking Kyle for assault," Jonathon said. "All right, what happened guys?"
Whitney sighed.
"I saw Kyle in town," he said. "He blew me off, so I came out here to talk,"
Sarah stood open mouthed.
"Whitney, you know that's not what happened," she said.
"You don't know anything," growled Whitney to the twelve-year-old.
"At least I know something,"
"Enough," Jonathon said firmly.
He looked at Whitney.
"So you drove all they way out here in the middle of the night?" he asked.
"Yeah," Whitney said. "I had a feeling he was gonna attack Allison again. Next thing I know, he attacks me with a bat,"
"Is that what happened?"
Clark didn't know what to think. All of this was messed up. Two people had different stories, but that was common in investigations like these. He sighed.
"I did see Kyle swing at Whitney but..." he started.
Jonathon looked at his son.
"But what?" he asked
"Kyle says Whitney swung at him first," Clark finished.
"That's crazy," Whitney exclaimed. "Why would I do that?"
"Gee, I don't know," Sarah said sarcastically. "Why would you? Oh, yeah! Because you threatened him, and couldn't wait to to let him slip up, so you attacked him,"
"Sarah Marie Kent," Jonathon turned to his youngest. "That is enough. You're grounded for your behavior. Now go wait in the truck. Your mother and I will talk about your punishment later,"
Sarah stormed off to the truck while Jonathon talked to the kids some more. None of this made any sense. So there she sat in the quiet back seat wondering about all that.
The next day, after the girls finished their lunch, Brianna and Sarah raced toward the Jr. Torch room to check up their stats on Kyle Tippet's arrest. Sarah had told Brianna, but Allison wasn't there that day. Brianna said she saw her during social studies but she didn't show up at lunch, and she was unusally quiet all day. They thought she was still recovering from her head injury, so they left her alone.
"Tippet hasn't broken hermit status in years," Brianna explained as she looked at the latest Smallville Ledger. "And all of a sudden he's one of Smallville's most wanted. Something must have made him snap,"
"Oh yeah?" Sarah asked. "You ready for this? I think it's Bob Rickman who's behind all of this,"
Brianna furrowed her eyebrows.
"Yeah," she said. "But what does out rural Rodin have against Rickman other than the obvious poisoning-the-enviorment angle? Don't get me wrong, I hate Rickman's whole stupid company too, but that doesn't give us any info,"
"I don't know," Sarah said. "Could you and Chloe do some digging, and find a connection?"
Brianna smiled.
"For you, my services are free of charge," she said. "Besides, it sounds like an interesting story: Tree-hugging hermit versus pesticde tycoon. But I don't think I'll find anything in common with them,"
Suddenly, Allison stormed into the office, looking angry. Brianna and Sarah have never seen Allison like this before. She wasn't the happy, smart-aliky girl they know and loved. She was different. Brianna groaned.
"Ali," she said. "I swear, I didn't take the last of your gummi bears,"
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.
"Sarah, can I have a minute?" Allison asked sternly. "Brianna out!"
"Hey, hold on here," Brianna protested. "This is my office too!"
"OUT!"
Sarah jumped at the tone of Allison's voice. Brianna shook her head in dismay, and closed the door behind her, so the whole school wouldn't hear this future argument.
"Whitney said you accused him of attacking Kyle," she said getting straight to the point
Sarah stood open mouthed, surprised.
"Is that why you wouldn't talk to us?" she asked. "...I don't believe this. And I didn't accuse him,"
"Oh yeah right. Sarah, he was just trying to talk to Kyle. Look, I know Whitney can be overzealous, but I know him. He's a good person,"
"But Kyle wouldn't hurt a fly. Come on,"
"Sarah, you've known him for what? Two days? He's lived in the woods for 10 years,"
"That doesn't make him dangerous!"
Allison sighed.
"Look, I know I'm not Whitney's girlfriend, but I love him like the brother I wish I had," she said. "Like you and Clark. Whitney wouldn't attack anybody,"
Sarah couldn't believe this.
"He strung Clark up in a field!" she exclaimed.
At this remark, Allison was taken aback.
"So that's what this is about?" she asked. "You haven't forgiven him. Sarah, you didn't even like your brother at that time. He didn't string you up in the field,"
"Allison..." Sarah growled through gritted teeth. "Don't say that I didn't like my brother. OK? Even though he got on my nerves sometimes before I found out about his powers, I still thought he was one of the coolest people in the world. There's just something else going on here,"
"You're looking for an excuse to knock Whitney! You know what he's going through with his dad. I know you don't like him. Don't pretend to be his friend,"
"Then maybe I should stop pretending to be friends with you!"
Sarah, who didn't care about what she said at that moment, walked out of the Torch office, and to her next class.
After school, Brianna and Allison took the bus, while Sarah waited for Clark outside the high school. When he walked out, he saw his sister looking sad, and started walking with her behind the school, and across the football field.
"You wanna take the scenic route, and superspeed home?" he said with a playful grin.
"No," Sarah said.
Clark was shocked to hear this response. Usually Sarah would be happy to take a super-trip back home, but he couldn't figure out why she wasn't in the mood. But they walked home in silence only to find their mother in an outrage with their father.
"How could you do this without telling me?" she yelled. "What happened to 'This land is our legacy'?"
"What's going on guys?" asked Sarah as she and her brother walked through the kitchen door.
"Your father sold the farm to Bob Rickman,"
Clark looked at his father, shocked. There was no way in the world, not for all the tea in China, that their father would sell the family farm.
"What?" he asked in diseblief. "How?"
"I don't know," groaned Mr. Kent. "One minute I'm telling him he doesn't stand a chance. The next, I got a signed contract in my hand,"
"I called our lawyer," Mrs. Kent explained. "He said he can't do anything until he sees the contract but the devil-made-me-do-it argument wouldn't hold up in court,"
"I just can't believe I did this,"
Sarah furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about this.
"What did Rickman do?" she asked.
"Nothing," Mr. Kent explained. "He made his case, he shook my hand. That was it,"
"It can't be that easy,"
"Sweetheart, how else do you explain my signature on this contract?"
Everyone in the family was in despair. But Clark wasn't gonna give up on this matter. The farm was their home. It was all they had.
"I think I know someone who can help," he said picking up the contract.
"No," Jonathon exclaimed, breaking out of his train of thought. "I will not owe Lex Luthor anything, thank you,"
"Right now, you don't have anything to owe," said a desperate Martha.
That night, Sarah and Clark went to the Beanery, hoping to drown the sad news of the possility of losing their farm. Allison was there too, along with Whitney and Lana. They were ignoring them, obviously. Allison snared a dirty look she gave to Sarah, and turned her back on her.
"I'm gonna go sit with Brianna," she said to her brother as he sat with Lex, who was meeting them.
"OK," Clark said softly.
Sarah took her hot chocolate, and sat with Brianna on a cushioned couch, who was reading their latest issue of the Jr. Torch.
"Beanery's raising their prices again," Sarah said to make conversation.
"I know," said Brianna as she absentmindly sipped her hot chocolate
"Can you believe that?"
"Yeah. Maybe they should stop pretending to try and lower the prices,"
Sarah stopped in mid-sip, and looked at Brianna with a curious expression. Brianna had looked up from the paper she was reading, set down her hot chocolate, and looked at Sarah like a mother would look at a child if it did something bad.
"Why do you say that?" Sarah asked.
"I heard you guys fighting after I left," Brianna said.
"How? The door was closed,"
"Oh, come on Sarah. You know I always go to the janitor's closet and listen through the air vents when I'm desperate for stories,"
"Since when did you get a key?"
"Never! I used my library card. Maybe I should stop trying to be your friend? Sarah, those are the harshest words I have ever heard in my entire life. And it's scary coming from you. I know your parents didn't teach you that,"
Sarah sighed, and put her head in her hands.
"What's going on Sarah?" Brianna asked.
"Ever since Allison fell off the horse, nothing's making sense anymore," Sarah started. "We have totally different sides of a variety of stories, I can't tell which one is the lesser of two evils, and my...my dad sold the farm to Rickman Industries,"
Brianna spit out her hot chocolate she was drinking. Luckily, it only landed on the newspaper, and she was just taking a tiny sip.
"Your dad sold the farm to Bob Rickman?" she asked in disbelief. Then she shifted her eyes. "...Is it possible this is some sick twisted parrallel universe?"
"This is Smallville," Sarah stated. "We're already in some sick twisted parrallel universe,"
"Yeah, well, even in a weird town like Smallville, I know you're dad would not sell the farm. It's been in your family for years,"
"I know...hey, where's Clark going?"
The duo looked up to find Clark grabbing his jacket and heading out the door.
"You wanna follow him?" asked Brianna.
"Can't," Sarah said getting up. "I'm grounded, and I've gotta be home by 9. See ya,"
Brianna watched Sarah put on her jacket, waved at Lex "goodbye" and headed out the door. After quickly downing her hot chocolate (despite the burn in her mouth), and crumpling up the chocolate and saliva stained newspaper, and putting it into the garbage, she went up to Lex.
"Hey Lex," she said.
"Brianna," Lex smiled as he put down his cappucino. "How are you doing?"
"Great. Listen, not that I wouldn't love to talk to you, I do, but do you know where Clark went?"
Brianna was soon riding her bike up the quiet streets of Smallville with her headlight on up to Smallville County Jail. Lex had said that's where CLark might be: Visiting Kyle before visiting hours were up. But when she got there, she found him walking out the front door.
"Brianna," he said taking one look at her. "What are you doing here?"
"Same reason: Kyle," Brianna said taking off her helmet. "Lex told me you'd be here. Did you talk to Kyle?"
"The guy who said was gonna get him didn't come back,"
Brianna grinned.
"Up for another little detective work?" she asked.
Clark rolled his eyes, but smiled at Brianna's enthusiasum. Suddenly (since they were somwhere near the back alley), they heard a bang that would've sounded like you were pushing a hard and very large door closed. They looked at each other and got the same idea. Quietly, they hurried toward the back alley, and saw a man in uniform, keeping his head down, and low from underneath the deputy hat. Brianna would've just walked away after thinking it was just some cop, but Clark knew who it was immedietly.
"Kyle," he simply said.
True enough it was Kyle, all clad in one of Smallville's finest uniforms. He just looked at the two, surprised but calm. Suddenly, they heard the cock of a gun, and they all turned to face a man, his gun pointed at Kyle. Without warning, he fired the bullet.
"No!"
Clark's cry came too late, and even if it didn't, it would be useless. The bullet was already moving fast, and before Brianna could move an inch to run, the bullet had already hit Kyle, but Clark still got him, and got him out of there.
A while later, Brianna was curled up in a chair in one of Lex's many Scottish rooms. She and Clark had taken Kyle and got him some medical attention at Lex's mansion. Some weird guy was sitting by Kyle's bed (who was sleeping), giving him stitches for the bullet wound.
"How bad?" asked Lex.
The weird guy shrugged.
"It's no worse than when Ozzy snorted that row of fire ants down in Queensland," he explained.
Despite her fatigue, Brianna was awake enough to muster an eyebrow.
"Is this guy really a doctor?" asked Clark.
"He was," Lex explained. "Now he's more of an on-call specialist. You know, actors, rock stars, billionaires' sons,"
"How do you know him?"
"Long story," Lex shook his head.
"What's a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?" piped up the weird guy.
"Finish sewing," Lex said cooly. "Don't worry, Toby appreciates discretion. Nobody will ever know Kyle was here,"
"Thanks," Clark said relieved.
"I'm curious, why did you think I'd be willing to harbor a fugitive?"
"I figured my parents would freak," Clark sighed. "And if I took him to a hospital, they'd put him back in jail. You're the only one I could trust,"
"All in all," Toby said again to Lex. "It's easier than that knife wound of yours. Club Zero, remember that? Blood all over my mustang,"
Okay Brianna thought. Now this guy is just plain creepy.
"Can we talk to him now?" asked Lex, irritated.
"I gave him something for the pain," Toby said getting up and packing his medical stuff. "It's lights out until the morning,"
After he finished packing he turned to Lex.
"My usual payment?" he asked.
Lex sighed.
"Brown bag on my desk," he said.
They guy seemed like he wanted the money given to him on a silver platter, but he went out to get it anyway.
"See ya, Toby," Lex said casually.
"Lex," Toby returned the goodbye as he went out.
"You better take Brianna home," Lex said to Clark. "It's late,"
Clark nodded in understanding, and walked toward Brianna's chair, and shook her shoulder, as if to shake the sleep from her body. Tiredly, she got up and leaned on to Clark a bit, rubbing her eyes, and followed him out the door.
"Hey Atticus!" Lex caught their attention. "You may wanna change your shirt,"
The next morning Sarah was mucking the horse stalls as part of her punishment. It would probably be a disgusting job, but Sarah was used to it. But she was enjoying every minute of it. After all, wouldn't you if you found out your dad sold the farm to a very persusive businessman. Sighing, she wiped sweat off her forehead, and continued to work until she heard a knock. Turning around she saw Allison in her favorite green jacket with a hand on the wall she knocked on.
"Hey," she said softly.
"Hi," Sarah said. "...Still wearing that jacket?"
"Yeah. It's my favorite. You gave it to me on my 10th birthday remember? I've always seen it on the window shops, and you sold your favorite N Sync CD to get it for me?"
Sarah nodded, remembering the joys of her childhood before Jr. High.
"Listen," Allison said walking over. "Brianna told me what happened. I'm sorry,"
"Sorry?" asked Sarah.
With that, Sarah threw down the mucking shovel with a tip of grace to it.
"I thought you should be happy, that after that argument, I'm finally getting a life I deserve,"
Allison sighed.
"I would never think that about my best friend," she explained. "Look, after Brianna told me about last night, and your dad somehow selling the farm without a memory, I kind of...well, you know...you had some points, and I had points...you were right. You had every reason to be angry at Whitney for stringing up Clark in a field...and I don't think Kyle's all that dangerous. It didn't seem like he was trying to hurt me from the beginning,"
Sarah sighed as she sat on a stack of empty fruit crates.
"You were right too," she said. "I don't think that Whitney would try and attack someone...But I swear, I saw him go to his truck to go home...there are two sides of stories, that doesn't make any sense,"
"I'm sorry,"
"...Me too...Friends again?"
"Friends,"
With that, Allison and Sraah crossed their pinkys with one another like doing a pinky swear. But it was their way of making friends up.
"So, about this Rickman," Allison started. "You ready to try and bring this guy down to his knees?"
"Yeah," Sarah said.
"Brianna and Chloe called me half an hour ago. They found something that you might love,"
"Enough to kick Rickman's butt?"
"Yeah,"
"Well come on! Help me finish mucking the stalls. We don't wanna waste any minutes,"
Later, Allison hitched a ride with Clark and Sarah, picked up Brianna and Chloe fromChloe'shouse, and drove into town to the Beanery. They were meeting Lex because he was part of their little plot too. When they got there however, as soon as they walked through the crowded pathway to Lex's table, the met Bob Rickman. Chloe took Brianna and Allison to the table to avoid tension, but Clark and Sarah stayed behind.
"How'd you get out dad to sign that contract?" she asked.
Rickman had to think about it for a moment, and then realized who he was dealing with.
"Oh you must be the Kent kids," he said. "I'm a very good businessman," He put up his hand to Clark. "No hard feelings?"
Clark took one look at it, but wanting to be polite, shook it. Rickman looked as if waiting for something to happen. As he did, Clark was crushing his hand just a bit. Sarah winced a little as she heard a tiny crunch. Rickman wrench Clark's hold out of his hand and watched them as they sat with Lex and the rest of the gang.
"So," Chloe started taking out an article. "Bri and I've spent the morning delving into the exotic world of agriculture equipment, and it seems that...Brianna, would you do the honors?"
"Gladly," Brianna said. "Kyle and Rickman were partners in the mid 80's,"
"No way," Sarah said surprised.
"They sold farm equipment?" asked Allison with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah," Chloe smiled. "They were salesmen of the year three years running, '89, '90, and '91,"
"The next year," Brianna continued. "Rickman started his own company, and Kyle went Walden,"
"I wonder what happened," Clark wondered aloud.
"I don't know, but we found this story in the Smallville Ledger,"
Brianna took the article from Chloe, and gave it to Clark for him to see.
"SALESMEN TRAPPED IN CAR DURING METEOR SHOWER," he said out loud.
"I'm guessing whatever's going on started that sunny October day, 12 years ago," Allison stated.
Lex smiled.
"Let's go ask him," he mildly said.
"Wait, you know where he is?" asked Chloe confused.
Clark nodded and turned to the younger kids.
"Who wants to tag along this time?" he asked.
"Allison's turn," Brianna and Sarah said pointing to Allison
Allison rolled her eyes but went along anyway just for the heck of it.
About a few minutes later, Allison was on her way with Clark and Chloe to Kyle's trailer. They stopped by Lex's mansion first, but it turned out that he used his powers to get out of there. The nurse who was supposed to be watching him had no idea who Kyle was. So the one place that Clark thought he might be was at his trailer. When they got there, he was just coming out the door, carrying two bags of the few things he had. When he spotted the teenagers, he sighed as he walked past them.
"I appreciate the help Clark," he said. "But I'm done here,"
"We know that Rickman used to be your partner," Clark stated.
"That was a million years ago.
"What happened to you guys in that meteor shower?" asked Chloe.
"Trust us," Allison pointed out. "You're not the only ones that were affected by it,"
Kyle looked back slowly, as Clark went up to him.
"What's going on with you and Rickman?" he asked. "How did he get my dad to sell our farm?"
Kyle fully turned back to face the kids and sighed.
"You know," he said. "Until that day, we were the worst salesmen ever to carry a catalog. But all that changed after they pulled us out of that car. With a single handshake, we could get people to do whatever we wanted them to do: Buy a tractor, stand on one leg,"
"You're saying you have the power of persuasion?" Clark asked.
"How long does it last?" asked Chloe.
"Until the person does what I tell them to do," Kyle shrugged. "It could be two minutes, two hours...Then they come out of it without a memory,"
"What happens if they can't do what you want?" asked Allison.
"They keep trying, unless they're forcibly snapped out of it, like your friend Whitney,"
"Well, it sounds good in theory," Chloe commented as she went up to him. "But, uh, how about you prove it?"
"Chloe..." Clark didn't like what she said.
"What? The guy lives in a crappy trailer out in the woods. You think if he has these powers, he'd use it to sell these sculptures,"
"It's dangerous," Kyle simply said.
Chloe looked at the hermit with a determined look on her face.
"I'm used to living on the edge," she said.
Allison watched all this with a bit of an interest. Kyle seemed to be a bit all right with Chloe's decision. He slowly put his hand out, and without hesitation, Chloe put her hand in his. Suddenly, Clark and Allison could see a glow between the small spaces of the hands. Allison looked at Chloe and noticed that her brown eyes were glowin green.
"You have feelings for Clark, don't you Chloe?" he asked
Clark and Allison raised their eyebrows and looked at each other.
"You see him, and you want him," Kyle continued. "All this time, you've been hiding it. Now you can show him,"
Clark rolled his eyes. Chloe was his friend. She didn't like-him-like-him. But his thoughts would soon be changed. Allison wished she had a camera for this moment. As soon as Kyle let go of her hand, Chloe turned to Clark with a gleam in her her hands up his chest, she grabbed him by the collar, and they shared a passionate kiss. Allison held her stomach as she doubled over in silent laughs. As soon as she was done, Clark stood open mouthed, and Chloe was back to normal. She stared up at Kyle.
"OK, come on," she said. "I'm ready,"
Total silence. Chloe looked at everyone around her.
"What?" she asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?...And why is my mouth minty?"
Allison let out another silent laugh, as she clutched her laugh-obbsessed stomach.
"Let's just say he proved his point," she said gasping for air.
Chloe looked at Clark in confusion, but then got the picture.
"Did I just..." she started.
"Don't worry," Clark interuppted. "It was...fine,"
"Well, now that the party trick's over," Kyle picked up his bags. "I gotta hit the road,"
"Wait," Allison went after him a bit. "You have these gifts, but you hid in the woods. Why?"
Kyle let out an irritated sigh.
"Because I was scared," he admitted as Clark came over. "That I wouldn't be able to control it, and I would wind up like Bob,"
"What happened between you and Rickman?" he asked. "Why does he want he kill you?"
"He knows that I know his secret, and I threatened to expose him if he built a plant here,"
"Yeah," Chloe said. "But he's been destroying communities like this for years. How come you let him get away with it for so long?"
"Because I wanted to be left alone! As long as it wasn't here, it wasn't my problem,"
"My dad lost our farm you didn't tell anyone," Clark said.
"Do you know what it's like to have to hide because of who you are?"
"...Yes I do. But when you have a gift, you can't just hide in a hole and hope it goes away,"
A while later, after they convinced Kyle to come with them, Clark and Allison were at a payphone around a Route 7 Gas Station. Allison waited with Kyle as she heard Clark's conversation with Lex.
"Lex, it's me," Clark said.
"What's going on?" Allison heard Lex ask from a distant
"Me and Allison are with Kyle. He wants to go public about Rickman,"
"No kidding? What does he know?"
"...Enough to bring him down,"
"All right I'm coming to pick you up. Where are you?"
Clark told Lex their destination, and waited for him with Allison and Kyle. This whole "Bring-Down-Rickman" thing was gonna be a piece of cake. Hopefully nobody was gonna get hurt...yeah right. When was the last time they ran into somebody who was gonna kill them, and didn't get hurt?...Never! Anyway, Lex had finally come in his car, and pulled next to a gas pump. They all walked up to each other.
"I called some friends at the Planet and the Inquisitor," Lex told Kyle. "Would you be willing to talk to them?"
"I'll do what I have to to stop him," Kyle simply said.
Lex seemed to think they had a chance.
"Get in," he said to the others. "I have to fill up if we're going to Metropolis,"
"Thanks Lex," Allison and Clark said together, as they walked toward the car.
As Lex went to go get some gas, Allison got into the backseat with Kyle while Clark was in front. They settled in as they put on their seatbelts. So far, no explosions, no interupptions, things were going pretty smoothly...Remember I said "so far". About a minute later, Clark noticed the door pegs going down, locking them in.
"Lex?" he called in a cautious voice.
Allison started to grow nervous. She tried pulling the door pegs up with her fingers, but they wouldn't budge. Looking out the window, she saw Lex with the gas gun in his hand, and started to spray gasoline all over his car.
"Clark, what's going on?" she asked her friend
"It's okay, Allison," Clark calmed her down. "Everything's gonna be fine,"
But as soon as Clark said that, they both saw fire starting behind the car. Lex was setting the car on fire with them inside of it! That could only mean one thing, and Kyle knew what it was immedietly.
"Rickman's got to him!" he exclaimed.
Allison started to panic, and ripped off her seatbelt, trying again with a useless effort of bringing the door pegs up.
"The door won't unlock!" she screamed. "Clark!"
Clark knew this wasn't a good time for hiding his secret. He kicked his door open with his leg, got out, and went over to Kyle's side. He let them out, and took Allison in his arms since she couldn't run fast. She hung on for dear life, but then KA-BOOM! The car had exploded, the impact sending them into the air. Clark landed with a crouch on the ground, and supersped to an open garage full of tires, and mechanical tools. He set her down behind a big rack of tires.
"Stay here, all right?" he asked.
Allison nodded, and within seconds Clark came back with Kyle. Kyle crouched behind the front of a car that was facing the wall. Clark went to go hide behind another car, and hid just in time as Lex came in slowly...but with a gun in his hand.
"I always knew you were keeping secrets from me Clark," he said aloud. "...But I never thought they were this good,"
Allison kept her breathing at a low, silent level, watching Lex's every move through the small space of the tires. Suddenly, she heard a clatter and a clang, and gasped to herself as she found that Lex had found Kyle. He slammed him against the car, the gun pointed at him.
"Clark!" Lex called out. "You know that guy you're trying to protect?...I'm gonna shoot him now,"
Clark couldn't take it anymore. He came out of his hiding spot.
"Lex," Clark tried to stop him.
"There you are," Lex smiled.
Allison watched as Kyle collapsed to the floor, and Clark being a good distance away from Lex.
"Don't do this," Clark pleaded Lex. "I'm your friend,"
"Oh please," Lex rolled his eyes. "You think I don't see the way your parents look at me, the way half the town looks at me? You're no different. Friendship's a fairy tale, Clark. Respect and fear are the best you can hope for,"
Allison was shocked. She couldn't believe this. Lex was their friend. He knew his friendship was more than anything with the gang. Bravely she got up...but not before sticking a long pole into her back pocket that was big enough to be hid behind her back...just in case. I would've done so, if I were her.
"Rickman's doing this to you," she said.
"What if he did?" Lex spat.
"You hate Rickman!"
"You can learn a lot from someone you hate,"
Suddenly, Lex started shooting at Clark without another word. Allison screamed, and backed away a bit. Glass from cars windshelds went everywhere as the bullets hit them. Once or twice there was a clink and a clank that sounded. As soon as the gun was out of its load. Clark was down on the ground, bullet holes in his jacket. Allison watched as Lex went over to Clark and turned him over. This was it. She had to stop him. Pulling out the metal pole she had for emergencies, just about when Lex was gonna shoot Clark some more, she hit Lex over the head with the pole as hard as she could. He collapsed to the ground, and Allison helped Clark up.
"Don't tell Lex I was the one that hit him," she begged him.
"It's all right, Allison," Clark waved her plead off. "You did what you had to do,"
Allison smiled. But then, they both heard a gun shot from outside. Allison looked around and saw that Kyle had gone. They both ran out of the garage, only to find exactly the opposite of what they expected. Rickman lay dead on the ground, and bullet in his chest, blood staining his white shirt. Kyle stood over him, and looked up to find them.
"I always was the better salesman," he said.
Allison smiled a bit. But Kyle looked at Clark in a curious way.
"Are you okay?" Clark asked.
"I saw you get shot, Clark," Kyle said.
Clark was surprised but then looked at a bullet hole on his brown jacket that was keft over from the shooting. Allison closed her eyes. For the past few months, they had always tried to keep Clark's gift a secret.
"Don't worry," Kyle said to them. "Just don't hide in the woods like I did...You got a gift. Use it to do great things. I think I'll do the same with mine,"
The next morning, Sarah sat at the kitchen table drinking some orange juice, watching her mother put an ice pack an few spots of Clark's back. Her father sat reading the paper about "Rickman's Suicide". Everything was back to normal for a little while.
"I can't believe each one of these bruises was a bullet," Martha exclaimed as she put an ice pack on a bruise.
Clark winced. Not even super-human powers was gonna help the stinging sensation of bullet bruises, and an ice cold brocolli ag wrapped in a dish towel.
"Sorry," Martha apologized to her son.
"Guess that answers that question," Jonathon smiled as he put down the paper.
"It's weird," Clark said. "I get shot at, and the bullets are fired by my best friend,"
"What do you think happened to Kyle?" asked Sarah as she put her empty glass in the sink.
"I don't know, but I think he's out in the world trying to make a difference now,"
Sarah smiled, happy for Kyle. Soon, there was a knock on the door, and Lana came in slowly.
"Hi," she said softly. "I hope I'm not interuppting,"
Clark was surprised to see Lana here at his house, but quickly got his cool.
"No," he said. "Come on in,"
"We'll be outside," Jonathon told his son. "Sport, out of the kitchen,"
Sarah groaned, but got out of the kitchen, and obeyed...but who said she couldn't stay in the living room to eavesdrop?
Later that day, after Lana left, Sarah's punishments were lifted and she practically flew towards the phone, speed dialing Allison's number. After a few rings, she answered it.
"Hello," she said politlely. "Harper residence. Allison speaking,"
"How come nobody told me Chloe kissed Clark?" was Sarah's immediate question
(A/N: Thank you for waiting patiently guys. I've been dodging exams all month. I'm really gonna try and update on this more often. Hold on to your hats for the next one. It's gonna be a doozy)