Chapter Nineteen - Negotiations and Love Songs
Chloe Sullivan lay in bed, trying in vain to get to sleep, when she suddenly heard the sound of Jimmy Olsen's screams. Leaping out of bed, she started running through the Tardis' labyrinthine corridors towards the console room. Within under a minute she'd reached her destination only to witness Ursa standing over Jimmy Olsen, who was on his knees, with one hand resting on the floor, while his other hand was held tightly aloft by Ursa, who was twisting his arm. On the floor lay an unconscious Rose Tyler and, next to Chloe, was The Doctor, looking helplessly on.
"So, Doctor," said Ursa, completely ignoring Chloe's entrance. "Those are my conditions." Jimmy Olsen cried out in pain as Ursa pulled back on one of his fingers. "Please don't make me count to ten."
At which point Lex Luthor entered the scene. "What's going on?" he demanded of The Doctor.
"We walked in on your friend Ursa," he replied. "She was going to kill Jimmy but we interrupted her."
"I'm still going to kill Jimmy," Ursa reminded him. "Unless you give me control of the Tardis."
"How do we know you won't kill him anyway?" asked Lex.
"You don't," replied Ursa with a smile.
Clark hadn't been sure how to introduce himself to his mother-to-be, so instead he'd just followed her at a safe distance through the streets of Smallville, and now into a Smallville High School different than the one he remembered, and into the gym that had various tables set out. As his mother went to lift a heavy box, Clark suddenly saw an opportunity to talk to her.
"Can I help you with that?" he asked.
"Oh, thanks, I'd appreciate it," she said, turning towards him with a smile.
He took the box off her, and looked at her, younger than he'd ever known her.
The woman looked at the boy, who couldn't take his eyes off her. She was amazed that she'd never noticed him before in a town as small as Smallville. "Are you new around here?" she asked.
"Just here for the day," replied Clark. "Where do you want this box putting down?"
She motioned to another table. "Nice of you to help me out. We've got a class reunion tonight and there's so much to do."
"Well, I've got plenty of time on my hands," admitted Clark.
"Thanks, you're a life-saver," she said smiling the smile he knew so well. "If you could help put up some of these, that would be great." She pointed to some pictures in the corner.
Clark smiled the first smile he'd smiled since Lana's death. It was great meeting his mother and helping her out. As he started to take the cover off the first picture he recognized the face immediately.
"Oh, wait a minute," she said. "Where are my manners? Here I am giving you orders and I haven't even introduced myself yet."
"Let me guess," said Clark, with a smile. "You must be Martha Kent."
"No …" she began.
Clark banged his forehead with the back of his palm. How stupid could he be? She'd obviously not married Jonathan yet and was still Martha Clark. "I'm sorry, I meant Clark."
She looked at him in confusion. "No, I'm not Clark Kent … that's Clark Kent!" She pointed towards the half-covered picture that he'd assumed was Dr. Virgil Swann. "I'm Lana Lang," she added, "and you are?"
"I guess I must be Virgil Swann," replied a confused Clark.
"You're not going to kill Jimmy," Chloe Sullivan explained to Ursa matter-of-factly.
"Surely you're not going to stop me?" laughed Ursa. "Although feel free to try, just like Rose did."
"How long is it since you last slept, Ursa? A long time I bet. Me, on the other hand, I don't think I'll be sleeping again for a long time."
"So?" asked Ursa, becoming bored of Chloe's nonsensical meanderings.
"So," replied Chloe. "If you kill Jimmy now, then I'll kill you when you next go to sleep."
"What? And kill my unborn baby as well?" asked Ursa in disbelief.
"I'd kill it first just to show you I meant business."
Ursa smiled. "Surely this is all academic. After all, I could always kill you after Jimmy, or throw you off the Tardis."
"Yes, you could, but I know that I survive this. I've met myself in the future. Destiny's already been changed by the death of Lana. How much more damage do you think it can take before it collapses in on itself?"
"But why do you even care if Jimmy dies? He means nothing to you. He's not even from your reality," argued Ursa.
"I heard Lex and The Doctor speaking in the corridor. A theory about you and your friends trying to kill the rest of us. Now so far I've got no evidence one way or the other, but the moment you kill Jimmy then that theory starts to make sense, and I start to think that you and Zod were behind Lana's death and Lana Lang was my friend."
"So, you've still not got the guts," laughed Ursa.
"I'll kill you because I have to," replied Chloe. "If we think you've killed Lana then so will Clark. Now, I'm sure we've all figured out Clark Kent will become Superman one day. Well, on that other world we visited I did some reading and I know just how important Clark Kent's new identity will become. Sure all the other superheroes wear silly costumes and think everything can be solved by fighting, but Superman's different. He gives mankind hope, he shows us that reality can transcend our dreams. And that's why I'll have to kill you Ursa, because I can't risk Clark doing it. Clark Kent can't become a murderer."
"You're bluffing," laughed Ursa. "I know you're bluffing."
"You think I'm all talk," said Chloe, striding up to Ursa. Chloe smiled as she grabbed hold of Jimmy Olsen's hand. "You're all talk," Chloe explained as she snapped Jimmy Olsen's little finger. "Whereas me … me, I'll do anything for a story."
Ursa released her grip on Jimmy Olsen. "Hey, I was only having some fun. I wasn't really going to hurt him." She then stomped her way out of the console room. "Humans have no sense of humor."
"Doctor, are you a doctor?" asked Jimmy, in shock, as he held his broken finger.
While The Doctor administered to Jimmy's finger, Rose Tyler started to regain consciousness. "What happened?"
"It's over, Rose," said The Doctor.
"No, it isn't," said Chloe. "It's not over yet."
"You've done enough, Chloe," said Lex, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Leave Ursa to me."
"Wow, Virgil, you've been busy while I was gone," said Lana Lang, looking at the transformation that had occurred to the gym while she'd popped out for half an hour.
"It was nothing," replied Clark. "Helped me keep my mind off things."
"Want to tell me about it?" Lana asked, looking through the records she'd brought in the day before.
"Trust me, it's better if I don't," said Clark as he also looked at the records. "Earth Angel, I remember that one."
"Surely you're not old enough," said Lana, who Clark had to keep telling himself was no longer his mother.
"It was in that movie Back To The Future," Clark explained.
"Never heard of it," said Lana, as she took the record from its sleeve.
"Trust me, your kid will love it," said Clark.
"I don't think Ricky's heard of it either," said Lana, as she started the record playing. "So, Virgil, do you want to dance?"
"That would be nice," he replied, "but I think I better be leaving."
"Okay, Virgil, nice meeting you ," she said. "And try not to feel too sorry for yourself. That'll get you nowhere … Oh, listen to me. I sound like your mother."
Clark smiled and got to say the words that he'd wished he'd got to say to his Lana. "Goodbye, Lana. I'll miss you."
