Chapter Twenty-Two - Rock & Rule
"So, Doctor, when does this honesty begin?"
The Doctor looked at Chloe Sullivan, who was the only other person left in the console room.
"Guess it'll have to wait until morning, no, make that afternoon. That'll give people, and the Tardis, time to start getting over their hangovers."
"So how exactly do we know when it is the afternoon?" asked Chloe, who tended to lose all track of time while stuck in the Tardis.
"It's the afternoon when we feel like it being the afternoon," said The Doctor smiling. "That's one of the perks of time travel."
Chloe yawned. "So, Doctor, if you don't mind me asking, do you ever sleep?"
"Not since I was six hundred. Thing is, Chloe, you'll find you need less sleep as you get older."
"Well, I need some sleep now, Doctor, so I'll bid you goodnight."
"Night, Chloe, if you bump into Rose could you tell her to go to sleep too, or at least to stop singing."
Rose Tyler enjoyed being drunk in the Tardis. The rooms and the corridors were aligned in such a way that her singing voice was currently echoing throughout them all.
"Why you gotta play that song so loud?" she sang, bouncing up and down, when suddenly a fist came flying towards her face.
"Goodnight," said Ursa, as she walked away from Rose Tyler's now unconscious body and towards where Clark Kent was sleeping.
Chloe Sullivan was wandering the Tardis' corridors, towards her bedroom, when she heard Rose Tyler's singing come to a sudden stop. As she breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that she might now stand a chance of getting some sleep, Ursa suddenly strode into view.
"Well, Miss Sullivan, I believe I owe you some thanks."
"You do?" replied Chloe suspiciously.
"I'll explain later," said Ursa cryptically. "First I've got to go and check on Clark."
Lex had been left with nothing, not even the shirt on his back, but there was still something here for him on the Tardis, something he'd hidden here shortly after arriving. In the Tardis' dressing room he was dismayed to see that the patchwork coat was no longer where he'd left it. Who in their right mind could have chosen that to wear? Frantically he searched through the many clothes there and at last he found it. Slowly he looked in the bottom left-hand pocket and there, just where he'd left it, was the one thing they could never take away from him.
His memories.
"Wake up, Clark," said Ursa, when her hands started to hurt from slapping him. "I bet you'd have woken up for Lana."
At the mention of Lana's name, Clark's eyes opened. His vision was blurry. He was still drunk even though it wasn't even possible (well, not in his reality anyway). "Lana?"
Ursa paused for a while, wondering whether to play along, but no, she didn't need to resort to such trickery. Not anymore.
"It's me, Ursa. I thought it was about time we talked. I'm sure you'd like that."
"Talk?" replied a groggy Clark.
"Or we could just keep it physical if you preferred," suggested Ursa.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," said Clark, struggling to focus on Ursa.
"Oh, don't worry, Clark," she said, leaning over him. "I can see you're not in the best of shape, and you're probably fairly new at this, but trust me, I'll do all the driving. After all, I've been driving most of the night, the wind flowing through my hair, dazzling people with my headlights, my hand wrapped firmly around the gearshift lever …"
Clark was suddenly wide awake. He could see through Ursa's subtle allusions. It was time to slam on the brakes. "Stop! This is all wrong!"
"Don't you find me attractive, Clark?"
"But there's your boyfriend, Zod, and your unborn baby."
"You know about the baby?" Ursa said, surprise in her voice. "Who told you? Lex? Chloe?"
"I heard about it myself," replied Clark.
"Well, I guess that puts a bit of a damper on my seducing you," she said regretfully as she drew back her hand. "Sorry, Clark. No hard feelings I hope."
"Erm, no," said Clark, blushing.
"It's just in that world we were just in, I was nothing, just black and white, except for that red and yellow symbol on my back. I thought you'd be able to bring some color into my life, Clark."
"I'm sorry," said Clark, as she turned away from him, her head bowed and left the room.
After Ursa had left Clark's room, she made her way to Chloe's.
"Chloe, still awake I see."
"Can't sleep," explained Chloe. "So, have you come back to thank me again?"
"Yes, you stopped me acting impulsively. You made me think about things, obstacles … Clark."
"So, how was Clark? Still mumbling about Lana?"
"No, but he failed to fall for my many charms." Ursa smiled at Chloe. "You must know what that's like."
"Yeah, I'd never fall for your many charms either," said Chloe with a forced smile.
"Still, I got something off Lex earlier, after I shot him," she said, taking a box out.
"You shot Lex?" exclaimed Chloe.
"Oh, he'll forgive me, we're friends," said Ursa dismissively. "Anyway, there was something he had that I needed. Something that stood out in that black and white world." She opened the box. "Something green."
Chloe was silent.
"So, with this I can control Clark. Won't that be fun?"
"And what about me?" asked Chloe. "Have you come here to kill me?"
"What, and upset destiny? No, that would be tempting fate. And besides I want you to witness all the fun I'm going to have. Oh, and don't tell anybody else about this or I'll kill Clark, even if it'll cause a temporal paradox destroying time as we know it."
"You're bluffing," said Chloe.
"Try me," said Ursa, a large smile on her face. "Now, I'm going to get some sleep so if you feel like murdering me here's your chance. My guess is you're the one who was bluffing."
As Ursa left the room, Chloe sat in bed, wondering what to do. Surely she couldn't just kill Ursa in cold blood? As she heard Ursa's mocking laughter echoing through the corridors outside, Chloe Sullivan felt helpless. She wished that she could kill Ursa without a second thought, wished that she could just ignore her conscience. For the first time in her life she wished she was insane.
