Chapter 11 - Non-negotiable
Clark sat miserably on his bed, waiting for his dad to come in to talk to him.
He knew he was in for it. First the party, then running off to the plant while he was grounded, and going over to talk to Lex right after his father had told him to stay put.
On the Kent farm, groundings weren't really about length. They were about severity. Clark generally had a lot of freedom in his life, so there were quite a few degrees of restriction, ranging from just having to come home right after school rather than hanging out with friends, to having to complete hours upon hours of extra chores and being confined to his room with no books or electronics whenever he wasn't working. Clark knew his dad could put him to work on some pretty horrible chores, and not all of them were helped much by his powers.
He knew he was in for the worst of the worst tonight. The wait was killing him.
He quietly opened the door of his bedroom, then sat just outside of it. There, he could hear the conversation his parents were having downstairs.
"He was trying to help, Jonathan," his mom said.
"I specifically told him not to go. He can't run off every time someone's in danger."
"He did save Earl and Lex."
"I know, but that wasn't his job. There was a whole SWAT team outside the plant."
"He's going to want to use his powers, honey. You're not always going to be able to stop him."
"He's fourteen!"
"Exactly—he's old enough to want his independence and young enough to need our guidance. These are critical years, Jonathan."
Clark usually hated it when adults talked about him like that, but he had to appreciate that his mom was trying to defend him.
Unfortunately, his dad wasn't having it, apparently. "He needs to know we're still in charge. We need to lay down the law."
"If we do that, we're going to set ourselves up as as his enemies. And I'm not talking about teenage rebellion. This is part of who Clark is. It's part of who we want him to be."
It was quiet for a long time. Clark's heart pounded in his ears.
Finally, his father sighed. "Okay. But I still want there to be rules for him."
"That's fair. What do you have in mind?"
"He needs to stay away from the Luthors."
A short pause. Clark held his breath.
"I'm not backing down on this one, Martha."
"I understand, honey, I remember what happened with Lionel. It's just that . . ."
"What?"
"Well, you saw them talking after they came out of the building."
"I did. Right after I told Clark not to talk to him."
"I know, but I wonder if . . . I don't know, maybe they could be good for each other."
"He knows Clark's secret. And he was raised by Lionel."
"That's exactly why I think a friendship between them could be good. It would give Clark someone closer to his age to talk to, and it would give Lex a better influence in his life."
Clark let his breath out. It was a little too loud.
His father's voice came a second later. "CLARK!"
Oh, crap.
"You'd better not be eavesdropping up there."
Clark scrambled into his room and closed the door behind himself—again, a little too loud. Great. He was already in trouble, and he'd just made things worse for himself.
He paced in his room for another half an hour before a knock came at the door. Clark went over to open it, and his dad stepped inside, sitting down on a chair as Clark sat on his bed.
"Son, what did I say when you told me you were going to the plant?"
Clark sighed. It seemed that his mom had lost this argument. "You said I couldn't run off every time I saw something I didn't like on the news."
"And what did you say?"
"Uh . . ." Clark swallowed. "I said you could ground me as long as you wanted when I got home."
His father reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. "That's not what I want our relationship to be, son. Heck, that's the last thing I want."
Clark lowered his head, his heart pounding slow and hard.
"Every parent wants to know their kid is going to be safe. They also want to know their kid can reach their full potential. With you, Clark . . . well, I know you. You want to help people. And you're going to want to use your abilities to do that more and more as you get stronger and faster."
Clark could only nod. He'd taken down the occasional bully when he was a kid, but now that he'd found more and more occasions to use his abilities to save people, he felt like he'd never had more purpose.
His father gave him a sad smile. "I'm not going to be able to convince you you're too young to start, am I?"
Clark looked up. "If I see that I can help, and I just don't . . . what would that make me?"
"Fourteen."
Clark shrugged. "I guess I don't see what that has to do with it."
"If you were an ordinary kid, I'd say the difference is that you don't have the wisdom and maturity to make the tough calls yet. And while I think that's still true . . . you're not an ordinary kid."
"I wish I was."
"I don't. You're going to help a lot of people."
Clark let himself half-smile.
His dad's eyes pierced his. "Clark . . . in the eyes of the law, and everyone else we know, I'm your father. But we both know, your, ah, origins, and your abilities . . . it's all beyond me."
"Dad." He hated when his dad talked like this. "It doesn't matter. You're my father, I don't care where I was born, I don't care what I can do. You are my father."
"Then . . . then let me be your father. I know I can't stop you, and God knows I never want to fight against you, but if I say it's too dangerous, if I say to back off . . ."
"Okay, Dad." Clark didn't know if he'd always be able to obey, but he was willing to try, for his dad's peace of mind. "Okay."
"Good." His dad clapped him on the shoulder. "Thank you."
Clark smiled.
"And, um . . . look, son, I know you're not going to like this, but I've really got a bad feeling about Lex."
Clark shifted his weight. It was worth trying to discuss this. "I have sort of a good feeling about him. I think he could be a good friend."
"Clark—"
"Dad, you're always the one saying we're supposed to see the good in people. We're not supposed to look at the past, and we're supposed to give everyone a chance."
"I know, I know, son, but the Luthors are different."
"Why?"
"Because anyone knowing your secret is dangerous, but the Luthors have the power to make your life very complicated. And it's exactly the kind of thing Lionel would do."
"Lex isn't Lionel."
"Lionel is the only person who's had any influence on who Lex has turned out to be."
"Then why did risk his life to save those kids at the plant tonight?"
"I'm sure he knew where Level 3 was."
Clark didn't even know how to respond to that. It seemed so obviously false to him that he didn't know how to put it into words. So he tried a different tactic. "Lex already knows my secret. If he already knows, isn't it safer to be friends with him than to make him hate me?"
"I'm not asking you to make him hate you. I'm asking you to stay away from him, so there's no chance he'll ever have the opportunity to hate you. No, I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. This is my one non-negotiable rule."
Clark felt a little like he usually did when he stood too close to a meteor rock. "Thought you said you didn't want to fight against me."
"Are you going to fight me on this?"
Clark grimaced.
His dad took a deep breath. "I don't want to fight you. But this is the one area I will. You need to trust my gut when it comes to the Luthors. As your father, I'm telling you to stay away from them. There will be consequences if you disobey me."
Clark nodded, trying to keep his expression as neutral as he could. "Um, how long am I grounded for . . . what I did at the plant?"
"Right. Uh, Clark, you saved Earl's life tonight. And for that—"
"And Lex's."
His father nodded, though he looked uncomfortable. "And Lex's. Your mom and I . . . we're very, very proud of you."
Clark grinned. His mom hadn't completely lost this argument after all. "Thanks, Dad."
"You're going to have a few extra chores tomorrow morning for eavesdropping on our conversation tonight, but other than that, we're not going to punish you for disobeying this time."
"No extra grounding?"
"No, and . . ." His dad took a deep breath. "As a one-time reward, you're off the hook for the party."
Clark could never have believed his luck. He wanted to throw himself into his father's arms, but he'd felt weird about doing that since he'd reached middle school. So instead, he just grinned.
"One time, Clark."
"I hear you. Thank Mom for me."
His dad chuckled and gave him a playful swat on the shoulder, then said, "Get some sleep. I'm waking you up at five."
"Okay." He tried to keep his tone casual as he said, "So, I can hang out with my friends after school tomorrow?"
"You're not grounded, you can do whatever you like as long as you get your homework and chores done."
Clark's stomach turned, and he hoped his smile looked real to his dad. It needed to be as convincing as possible. Clark was going to have to get a lot better at lying, if he was going to keep visiting Lex.
And whatever his dad said, he was definitely going to keep visiting Lex.