Requital
Evening had come to the Kent Farm. Oliver walked across the yard, marveling at the difference in Kansas from Washington State, the flatness of it, and how big the sky seemed. In a way, Kansas reminded him a little of the plains of Montana. All of the misery on the news had not touched this pastoral little place, Oliver thought, until he got into the barn. The large holes in the roof were glaringly obvious from here, and again, Oliver felt a wave of sympathy for Clark Kent.
"Hey, Kent, you in here?" Oliver looked around. All the stock had been tended, the cows milked and the horses fed. He hadn't been out here that long, Oliver thought, stroking the neck of one particularly handsome cow. How could one kid do the work of four men in less than an hour? There was a whooshing sound, and Oliver turned quickly, wishing he had his bow.
"Oliver." Clark appeared from literally out nowhere, and he seemed surprised. "What are you doing out here?" Both men forced themselves to ease out of their defensive postures, and Oliver gestured broadly to the barn around him.
"Thought you could use an extra pair of hands. I do a bit of farming myself, in Montana. But, I can see you got it all covered. Want to get some tarps up on that roof before it gets too much darker?" Queen went to move toward the neatly stacked piles of canvas tarp. "I like to do stuff with my hands. Helps me think."
"I'll get it." Clark said curtly and not at all gratefully, and Oliver dropped the top canvas. "Thanks for the offer."
"Hey, kid." Oliver sat down on the tarps. "Can't shut me out. I'm here. The way I see it, you can tell me what's going on and how you are involved, or, I can find out on my own. Either way, you're stuck with me for the duration. But you telling me will just make things friendlier between us."
Clark slid his hands in his pockets and shook his head, smiling cautiously. "You can start by not calling me kid."
"Fair enough." Oliver nodded. "Now, what's the deal? Who'd kidnap your mom and why?"
"He's not from this planet." Lionel's voice carried from the open barn door. "Clark is from a now lost planet called Krypton."
Oliver looked at Lionel dubiously, and then over at Clark. "Seriously?"
"Um, yeah." Clark nodded. "The problem is being caused by a Kryptonian general who was condemned by my father before our planet was destroyed. He's taken my mother and Chloe's cousin as hostages."
"Okay." Oliver stood, and folded his arms behind his back. "This is all ET stuff."
"Without the cute plant loving alien, yes." Lionel walked toward them. "This is a great deal of information for you to take in, Mr. Queen. But your help will be essential to defeating Zod."
"How?" Clark and Oliver asked at once, one curious, the other defensive.
"Zod has seriously underestimated the abilities and strengths of humanity, Kal-El." Lionel answered. "Mr. Queen is quite talented and very creative. I'm sure he will be able to offer you some valuable insight with this quest."
Oliver and Clark looked at each other for a long moment. Silently, they both turned back to Lionel. Putting a trembling hand into his pocket, Lionel withdrew a stone inscribed with Kryptonian symbols that was all too familiar to Clark. "I think this will also be very useful, Kal-El."
"How did you get that?" Clark asked, and Lionel smiled, and Clark had a brief glimpse of the old, cagey Luthor he had always feared growing up.
"I am not without resources, Clark." A glint in his eye, Lionel pocketed the stone, and looked at Oliver again. "And you, Mr. Queen, are you in?"
"What's the game plan, Coach?" Oliver asked, reaching out to punch Clark lightly on the shoulder. The three men smiled, and began to plan their counter move against Zod.
Lana stayed stone still, in near silence, listening to Zod and his disciple, Brain-IAC make their plans for someone named Kal-El. She didn't know who Kal-El was, but she felt desperately sorry for him. Only catching bits and pieces of the conversation, Lana was able to glean the fact that Kal-El was an alien, and unlike the body hijacking Zod, was in his full physical form. In which case, they deserved what they would get. She pushed her hair from her face, pulling the length over her shoulder and braiding it lightly. All that mattered was somehow getting Lex back. Lex. Hot tears poured from her closed eyes, as she thought of his face when he'd returned to her after being abducted. He'd looked stunned, scared but oddly triumphant. Oh, God. She opened her eyes and looked over at where Zod stood, talking to that thing that followed him. Lex, Lex. Lana wailed inwardly. What have you done? Feeling like she'd failed him by not being enough – enough of an incentive to stay out of trouble, to protect her from her worst fears, Lana slid out of the bed quietly, hoping to avoid Zod. She had not gotten two steps when he turned, and pierced her with the sharp steel of his eyes.
"Arisen, my dear?" His voice was cruel parody of Lex at his most civil. "Will you join us?" His voice echoed in the tomblike silence of the Luthor Towers Penthouse.
Lana shuffled over to Zod, pushing her hair over her shoulder to spill unbound again down her back. Lifting her head proudly, she straightened her spine until her petite form was as tall as she could appear. Zod curved Lex's mouth into what could be called a smile, and he held out a hand to her. Brain-IAC started to speak, and Zod silenced him with a wave, his eyes not leaving Lana.
"Ah, a Queen of your people, no doubt." He said, mocking her show of bravery. "A brave Warrior-Princess." Lana noted the books discarded around the room, and sighed. Zod had, literally, been doing his homework. "Pretend whatever you like, my pet. In the end you are simply bait, or a prize. It is your choice which you will end up."
"My choice? I have one?" Lana asked, the illusion of pride gone. She felt elated, hopeful, even in this miserable place.
"Indeed. As does every sentient being in the universe, my pet." Zod tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. "To die bravely and bring honor to your race, or hide away, a coward, selling all your honor for another bitter day of life." Wisdom imparted, Zod looked away, dropping his hand from her face.
Lana hung her head. "I don't know what you mean."
"No, you would not. Pampered, spoiled things, the women of your race." Zod waved at the dark city before them. His favored place was to be seated at this window, reading whatever fell to hand and eating gargantuan amounts of whatever Brain-IAC brought him. "On Krypton, you would have had purpose, drive. You might have been a great poet, an artist, or an astronaut."
"Why did you destroy it? If Krypton was so perfect?" Lana spat, raising her head to glare at her captor. "I don't know all the details, but you must have. The whole planet could not have been like you."
Brain-IAC hissed, and Zod simply laughed. "Ah. Spirit. How charming. It is true, I helped facilitate the destruction of my home world." He looked back out at Metropolis. "So corrupted by softness and mercy that it could not survive."
Lana shook her head. "What did you promise Lex? What did you offer him? Why did he let you take over his body and do this?"
Zod sat back, and eyed her with the complacent eye of an at ease tyrant. "Ah, back to the Vessel. I promised him trivialities. I promised him power."
"He had that." Lana countered and Zod nodded. The child did have a steel spine after all.
"The tragedy for him is that he did not realize that, my dear. I promised him something he always wanted. It is something you want, my dear. I could see it in your eyes when you recognized me. I could offer it to you, at a much less, extreme cost." Zod tapped his chin with steepled hands. "Perhaps, then you will truly understand the power you have in your delicate, and bruised hands."
"How do you know what I want?" Lana asked, searching his face.
"I saw the gleam in your eye when I said a name. A name so burned into my being that I cannot sleep for dreaming of the face attached to it. You also, crave the secret of that person. It will not make you whole, my dear. It will not bring peace, or salvage your parents." Lana's sharp intake of breath made Zod chuckle. "I know everything."
"Then tell me. Tell me what it is you think I want." Lana said, raising her chin again, her eyes dark, glittering mirrors of Zod's disdain.
"Clark Kent. Who is he? What does he hid behind that mild and handsome exterior?" Zod rose, and walked to the window. "I can hear your heart, dear. It has accelerated, and you are perspiring. How droll."
"Clark? What does he have to do with any of this?" Lana asked, her brain spinning. Oh God, she prayed, losing Lex is hard enough. Please, not Clark, too.
"Seventeen years ago, a small ship from Krypton arrived here, having survived against momentous odds. It brought with it a rain of," Zod paused, thinking, "brimstone and gall that changed a small Kansas town forever. And you, my dear one. Your life was irreversibly changed that day."
"Clark was adopted the day of the meteor shower." Lana breathed and Zod turned to face her, his face predatory.
"Adopted? That day? My dear girl, that was the day that Kal-El, son of Jor-El, last Son of Krypton landed on Earth. Found by the well intentioned Kents, they did indeed adopt him." Zod leaned forward, his eyes glowing with sheer anticipation, expecting Lana to crumble. "Clark Kent is Kal-El. Because of him, your parents are dead."
"No." Lana bristled, her blood cold. "If what you are saying is true, Clark was a baby, he had no control over anything…"Her hands went to her mouth, and she sank to the floor. "He's tried to protect me my whole life, from that, from himself…"
"And his desire to do so, despite your attachment to this…" Zod gestured to Lex's leather clad body. "Will be what lures him to me. I could not depend on fickle amorous intentions, however. Go to the door, and see."
Lana rose, exulting in her heart the truth Zod had given her. Lana felt every doubt she'd had about Clark vanish. He'd never told her, afraid. She knew that now. And even though her feelings for Lex had not changed in the face of this revelation, she suddenly felt lighter. Being stripped of resentments and anger had a way of making one feel able to fly. Lana schooled herself to not run to the door, and as it swung open, her elation faded. Martha Kent, as limp as a rag doll lay on the floor of the living room, and Lois Lane, sat beside her, her head in her hands. Disbelieving, Lana turned, her face a study of hate that made Zod smile paternally at her.
"Company, my pet." Zod said from behind her. "Precious to Kal-El, just as you are."
Lana did not speak. She walked into the living room and sank down beside Martha.
"Oh please, Mrs. Kent. Please…." Lana wailed, and Lois looked up, shaking her head.
"No use, Lana. They've drugged her with something." Lois took her hand from her face, and Lana gasped at the large, purple bruise that now covered half of Lois' face. "I think I have brain damage, because I can't remember a damn thing from ten minutes ago."
Lana rose, wiping her eyes resolutely. Looking down on Martha and Lois, Lana felt a rage boil within her that she had only felt once in her life. Fiercely, she strode back into the bedroom, and marched up to Zod. "I know you are a monster, the worst kind. What do you think Clark is going to do? Give himself up for us? For Lex?" Lana did not dare to raise her balled fists at him, but all the same, her hands moved of their own accord, until they were nearly in Zod's face.
"My darling girl. I have given you far too little credit for intelligence and spirit." Zod crooned joyfully. "It is EXACTLY what I expect he will do."
"God help us." Lana gasped, stepping back. "I hope to God he runs as far as he can, away from you." Zod took her hard little fists in his hands, and gently lowered them to Lana sides. Satisfied she would not raise her hands again, he turned, looking out the window, as if watching for Clark.
"Explain this to me again." Chloe asked, as they went through the cave portal to the Fortress of Solitude. "You're going to what?"
"Kal-El is going to surrender." Lionel explained reasonably. "But not without weapons at his disposal."
"What kind of weapons?" Chloe asked, shivering as they entered the Fortress.
"This." Lionel showed her the transference stone. "We will change places, Kal-El, Oliver Queen and myself. "
"I still say no." Clark said, going to the darkened crystal console. "You and Ollie can do that. Neither of you will be in my place."
"I second that. Lionel, you're falling apart." Oliver Queen added, only half paying attention to his surroundings. "I can do just fine on my own."
"Neither of you are listening." Lionel shook his head. "I must be near Zod. He will not let me close to him if I am, as I am." He chuckled a little and then coughed, bracing himself on Chloe's shoulder. "Thank you, Ms. Sullivan for your constant support." He smiled at his little pun and Chloe returned the smile, hiding her feeling of panic.
"And I can't let any of you get hurt." Clark touched the console and it sprung to life, but glowed a sickly red, the color of clotting blood. "This is interesting."
"Take this, Ms. Sullivan." Lionel dropped the stone into Chloe's hand. "I would have been gentler in the delivery, but I could not risk a transfer at this time."
"Okay." Chloe looked at the rock, and then back at Lionel. "Oh my God, Clark, this is how…"
"Yeah, Chloe." Clark grinned, the first real smile Chloe had seen from him in hours. "Nice when all pieces fit, huh?"
"It's my life." She smiled back, and Oliver whistled, finally looking around.
"Quite a place. Bright. Airy." He observed wryly. "What'd this cost you, Clark, ten, eleven penguins?"
"And a polar bear," Clark quipped, and Oliver nodded, amused.
"Good one, sport. Didn't see it coming. There's hope for you yet." Oliver shrugged off his jacket and threw it around Chloe. "I'm not much for warmth." He had changed into a pair of Clark's jeans and a hooded sweatshirt Chloe had never seen Clark wear. He winked, and rubbed her shoulder a little, more just to touch her than to make her warm.
"Thanks," Chloe gasped gratefully, blinking against the battery of his glance. "I was getting numb."
Lionel had moved to the console, and placing his hands on either side of it, began to chant in Kryptonian. The blood red light first grew brighter and then flashed blue, yellow, and bright red, then brilliantly white. The music of a thousand chimes heralded a rush of light from the console, blinding, warming, the beam shooting up through the ceiling of the Fortress and out into the universe. Time itself seemed to stop, and Clark, Oliver and Chloe all followed the beam with their eyes. Lionel broke away, panting and his hands stinging. His heart beat furiously in his chest, his ears ringing.
"It's done, Kal-El. It is time to reset the imprint.." Lionel sagged, and Chloe caught him, easing him to the floor. "Come, you must touch my forehead."
Clark knelt in front of Lionel, and reached out, barely grazing the older man's head with his extended index finger. Lionel's eyes flashed white, glowing as brilliantly as the newly rebooted console.
"My son.." Jor-El, no longer simply a disembodied voice appeared in the air, a shimmering hologram. "Times are desperate."
"I know." Clark answered, and Jor-El smiled. "I need your help."
"You have all the help with you that you could require, Kal-El." Jor-El looked over Clark's companions. "I see the Oracle, the Archer and the Historian. You need no more. You must follow the Oracle's instructions, Kal-El. Th danger faced by your friends is theirs to face – it is their world that must be freed from Zod's onslaught. You cannot do this alone."
Clark closed his eyes. The idea of Chloe in trouble yet again filled him with that same nauseated feeling he had experienced when he had flown into the atmosphere. But Jor-El was right. It had now become their fight, too. Opening his eyes, he looked at the hologram of his father and sighed. "Lex, how do I free Lex?" Clark asked, and Jor-El nodded.
"Your loyalty to your friend, even in the face of his betrayal is truly one of your most astonishing human gifts, my son." Jor-El smiled. "He will be restored, regardless of the justice of the situation, when Zod is returned to the Phantom Zone. I have tried to make him aware of the gravity of his crime, but he resists."
"Obstinate boy, Jor-El, I apologize. This is a different world." Lionel said, very much himself. "I would expect you could understand about difficult sons."
"Having been one, yes." Jor-El nodded. "Kal-El has not known me. He has known the corrupted data that has infected the Fortress from the first. What I have been able to observe is the kind of son I am proud to have some claim over. Chloe Suli-Van," Jor-El turned to Chloe, this code will unlock your technology. Do not use it until Zod and his pet machine are engaged with Kal-El. Remember, when this is over, you will be one of only a handful who remembers. The rest of humanity will be absolved, both in memory and in spirit. There is more to your task, Chloe Suli-Van."
"Yes…" Chloe rose, and was surrounded by a cylinder of swirling light. "I see it…oh Clark, it was so simple…" Chloe gasped, through the winds that affected only her. "Yes…I see it." Then, finally, ominously. "I understand."
"What the holy hell is going on?" Oliver bellowed, and Jor-El raised a hand. "Let her go, damn you!"
"Silence, Archer." Another cylinder appeared around Oliver. "Chloe Suli-Van will not be harmed. I have a gift for you as well, Archer." The wind swirled around Oliver, and at his feet appeared arrows, ten, all tipped with sharp glowing arrowheads of blue, red and yellow. "These will pierce the flesh of Zod, make him weak enough to send back to the Phantom Zone. They will cause him to hallucinate, but other than that, he will not be mortally wounded."
Oliver stooped to pick them up. "These aren't like any arrow I've ever seen. Light, dead straight.." The wind stopped, and Oliver looked over at the hologram of Jor-El. "You know your stuff, space man."
"Indeed." Jor-El smiled and nodded. "To you, Kal-El, a warning. The portal to the Phantom Zone will be opened when Zod is weakened by the arrows. Use this.." The silver circle bracelet Clark had seen Zod throw into the air appeared before him. "Once Zod is through, I can return Alexander to Earth. Seek him out in the field near the Kent farm, where you were found. He will be confused, frightened. But know this, the knowledge of who you are will not leave him. It will exist in the back of his consciousness forever. That is the price, my son."
"As long as he comes back, and Zod is contained." Clark said. "I'll worry about what Lex knows later."
"It is done, then." Jor-El raised his hands in blessing. "Rao defend your steps, Kal-El, and those of your companions. May he make your courage not falter, and your companions steadfast." And, as suddenly as it had appeared, the imprint was gone.
Clark stood, grasping the silver metal bracelet, his face set in grim, determined lines. Chloe had slumped to the floor, next to Lionel, her head in her hands.
"Where is the transference stone?" Clark asked, and Chloe held it up, holding it in the cuff of Oliver's jacket as if it were hot. "Give it to me, Chloe."
"No, not yet." She turned quickly, before Clark realized what her intentions were, slapping the stone into Lionel's hands. Closing her other hand around the stone and Lionel's palm, Chloe looked into Lionel's eyes and spoke the word for "Oracle" in Kryptonian, and then "Open…"
"CHLOE!" Oliver and Clark screamed at once, and found themselves surrounded by a pillar of light.
"This is her choice, Kal-El. Lionel Luthor is weakening. He is not strong enough to maintain the Oracle any further. Zod will not be expecting this." Jor-El's voice rang through the Fortress. "He must be there to reclaim his son, Kal-El."
"Chloe!" Clark called and she stood, turning toward the pillars that held Clark and Oliver. Her eyes were glowing white.
"Hey, Clark." Chloe said, waving a hand. The pillars vanished and Chloe looked at her hand. "Whoa."
"Chloe." Clark and Oliver went to her, and both stared down into her face.
"You okay, Goldilocks?" Oliver asked, and Chloe smiled at him.
"Never better." She placed the stone in Clark's hand. "You may now decide what to do, Kal-El. The Oracle has been hidden for the time being." She knelt beside Lionel, whose breaths were coming in short, ragged gasps. "For your service, for preserving the knowledge of Krypton, you get your reward now." Chloe leaned forward and kissed Lionel gently on the lips, a formal kiss. Immediately, his color improved and his eyes blinked open.
"Miss Sullivan? Clark?" He got to his feet, looking around him. "The last I remember, we were in the caves.."
"You remember your promise?" Chloe asked cryptically, and Lionel nodded.
"I won't soon forget it, Ms. Sullivan. I have seen too much to revert to my old ways." Lionel smiled, rubbing his chin. "I do feel a good deal stronger."
"Your health has been restored, but your mortality rests on keeping your promise." Chloe replied. "Clark, it's time to go. I'm not going to be able to keep this up much longer either." She walked to the console, and moved her hand across it, the varying tubes shifting colors. "I'm opening a direct portal to Zod's location. He knows we are coming."
"Fine." Clark set the stone down on the console. "I'm not taking that. The rest we do as ourselves."
"Works for me, Clark." Oliver had drawn his bow and loaded one of the Kryptonian arrows. "Let's see what these babies can do."
"Lionel, you have to go back through the caves, and get to Mayers Field, and wait for Lex to get there. He's going to need you." Clark said urgently to Lionel, who nodded.
"I understand." Lionel clasped Clark on the shoulder. "I can't thank you enough, Son, for what you are about to do."
"Don't thank me yet, Lionel." Clark nodded and moved toward the open portal Chloe had activated. "See you in Smallville." Clark leapt through the portal, followed by Oliver and Chloe, leaving Lionel alone in the Fortress.
"Yes." Lionel raised a hand in farewell. "In Smallville."
Clark landed on his feet on the rooftop of the LuthorCorp building. Chloe and Oliver were with him, but he barely registered their presence. Before him, stood Zod.
'Hello, Kal-El." Zod greeted him warmly. "How did you find the Phantom Zone?"
"Ursa says hi." Clark replied. "She's not happy about the way you left things."
Zod smiled, Lex's familiar rueful smile. "Ursa will have her chance to tell me all of her grievances soon enough. But behold, Kal-El. I brought some friends." He gestured to where Lana sat, holding Martha Kent in her lap, and Lois leaned against an exhaust fan. Lois simply stared at him, but Lana shook her head, tears streaking down her cheeks. "We both know why you have come."
"Yes." Clark replied. He stepped forward. "I surrender." Lana's pained wail did not cause Clark to waver. "You have me, let them go."
"So it would seem." Zod looked across the rooftop. Oliver and Chloe had ducked behind chimney stack, barely breathing. "The Oracle has not accompanied you?"
"No." Clark took a step closer. "It's just me and you."
Brain-IAC appeared at Zod's side. "The Fortress has been purified, my lord. The beam is reversed. Jor-El…"
"Is dead." Zod grinned maliciously. "And I have won. Come, Kal-El. Pledge your devotion, and kneel before me."
The sky above them seemed to swirl, the dark clouds mixing with lighter ones, until blue began to appear behind them.
Clark took two more steps toward Zod, and stopped. "Let them go."
"Kneel." Zod said flatly. "Then you shall see these women go free."
Clark nodded, and slowly walked until he was just in front of Zod. Bowing his head, he dropped to one knee. Zod nodded, a hand reaching down to clutch Clark's dark hair.
"You have done well, Kal-El. Now you are my creature, and the ghosts of Krypton weep. My revenge is complete." Zod told him. "You may do as you wish with your human pets. I am done with them."
"Oh, Clark! Oh no! No!" Lana screamed, her heart shattered into a million pieces. This time, Clark looked at her, and Lana gasped at the gleam in his eye. This was NOT over at all.
"This is for Lex." Clark plunged a blue tipped arrow into Zod's side. "Ollie! Now!"
Zod roared, but Oliver Queen's arrows were fast, even faster than he himself could have believed. Four arrows sailed at Zod, landing in his shoulders and abdomen. Falling forward, Zod clutched his torn abdomen and howled. Three more arrows sailed, hitting home in his back, side and one burying itself deeply through his ribs.
"Master!" Brain-IAC screamed, reaching for Zod, but Chloe was faster. She placed her hands on him, her eyes ablaze with light. "It cannot be…."
"But it is." The Oracle said, through Chloe's mouth. "As it was meant to be."
Brain-IAC writhed under her grip, vanishing in a flash of white light. The ship, cloaked, appeared from where it hovered over the LuthorCorp building. Chloe looked up, and raised her hands toward the ship. White light shot from her hands, and enveloped the ship, and in moments, it too was gone in a blinding flash. Chloe slumped to the floor, and opened her laptop. Placing her hand on the keyboard, she spoke the code Jor-El had given her, and one by one, lights began to appear across the Metropolis skyline.
"NO!" Zod struggled to his feet. "Kal-El…." He looked up at Clark, who stood over him like an angel. "You cannot defeat me. I am Zod."
Clark pulled the silver bracelet from his pocket and tossed it into the sky, where it burst into sparkling light. "I am the last Son of Krypton, son of Jor-El. On behalf of the Council of Krypton and the people of Earth, I condemn you to eternity in the Phantom Zone." Clark looked up at the shimmering portal. "May Rao have mercy on your soul."
"THIS IS NOT OVER!" Zod screamed, as the beam from the Phantom Zone shot down and locked on him. "I WILL RETURN!" Still railing, Zod vanished, into the Phantom Zone. The sounds of Metropolis coming back to life drifted up to the rooftop, carried by the music of cheering.
"Lana." Clark went to her. "Is Mom okay?"
"She's fine," Lana said, a quavering smile on her face. "Lois needs the hospital, though."
"And you? Are you okay? He didn't…."Clark asked, blushing. "Hurt you?"
"Nothing that won't heal." Lana assured him. "What about Lex?"
"He'll be in Smallville by breakfast and he'll need you." Clark told her. "I'll be right back."
"Okay…" Lana nodded. "And Clark.." he turned and looked down at her. "I owe you an apology, about what I said back at Lex's. I understand now...about the secrets, the lies."
"It's all okay." Clark smiled. He went to Chloe. Oliver Queen had also gone to her and helped her into a sitting position.
"How are you doing?" Clark asked, and Chloe looked up, her eyes still gleaming. "Chloe?"
"This world will not bear the scars of Zod…they are innocent…" Chloe stood, and took Clark's hand. "We must fly." She lifted off the ground, and Clark flew with her, until they reached high enough to see far beyond Metropolis.
"Absolution." The Oracle said, hands outstretched. Light poured from her, spilling down on the Earth like healing rain. "All will be as it was, and only a handful will remember." The light faded, and Clark quickly caught Chloe in his arms. She blinked twice and shook her head.
"I've heard of sweeping a girl off her feet, Kent, but I have to say, this is completely unexpected.' She smiled, and Clark grinned back at her. "Did we do it?
"Do what?" Clark asked, and Chloe punched him lightly as they sailed back to the LuthorCorp building.
"Save the day, you big dumb alien. Did we?" Chloe asked again, looking down.
"We sure did." Clark held her close, not wanting to let her go. He wanted to tell Chloe about something he had discovered in the Phantom Zone, but stopped seeing Oliver watching them as they came in to land. Remembering what Chloe had said about their kisses, Clark gently kissed her cheek. "I like Oliver, Chloe. He's a nice guy."
"Yeah. I think so too." Chloe replied, her hand going to her cheek. A surprised smile lit her face. "You're not so bad either there, Kent." She searched his eyes, her smile fading a little. "What are you trying to tell me?
"If he's what you want, then that's great." Clark set her down on the concrete roof. "You deserve so much, Chloe. I just want what's right for you." He nodded at Oliver. "Get her home safe for me."
"With pleasure." Oliver said, taking Chloe's hand in his own. "Come on, Goldilocks. Let's go help the others." Chloe nodded, and watched Clark turn midair, and fly off toward home. "Chloe?" Oliver leaned in, "He'll be back, you know. That didn't look like goodbye forever to me."
"I know. That's Clark." Chloe smiled, making her way across the rooftop to embrace Lana and Lois.
Clark sped off toward Smallville, to where Lionel sat alone in his car, waiting for Lex. Now that Clark was sure everyone else was okay, there was one last person to check in on. He landed a few feet away from the stretch limousine, and Lionel got out.
"I gather you were successful, Clark." Lionel extended a hand, smiling. Clark nodded as he shook Lionel's hand and looked over at the empty field.
"No sign yet?" He asked, and the elder Luthor shook his head.
"Not so much as a hailstone." Lionel looked up into the sky. "How did you leave Metropolis?"
"Restored, thanks to the Oracle." Clark told him, and then frowned a little. "How much do you remember, Lionel?"
"Remember? Why, all of it, son." Lionel pursed his lips. "Every last detail, as a matter of fact." He turned to Clark. "There is much more to this story than you know, Clark. I too, spent some time in the Phantom Zone, and met your father. We agreed that I could return to Earth if I aided your quest to stop Zod. And here I am. He is quite an interesting man, your father. You have quite a legacy, my boy, between Jonathan Kent and Jor-El."
"You and Jor-El. I should have known.You're the Historian." Clark replied, not bothering to hide a smile. "What did you see when you were there, Lionel?"
"I saw the many, many mistakes I've made in my life, and the way to make reparations." Lionel said. "I wanted to see Jonathan Kent the night he died for that reason, to explain, to make him understand that I simply wanted to help. But old prejudices die hard, I'm afraid. We both over-reacted, and I am horribly sorry for my part in his death."
"I understand, Lionel." Clark nodded, and then looking up, saw what he was waiting for. "Look!"
A white beam of light shot from the sky, parting the evening clouds like a laser. A small form, huddled in fetal position lie just on the end of the beam. A deafening hum split the air, and in a burst of sound and light, Lex appeared, curled in a ball, amongst the bent cornstalks of Mayers Field. Lionel ran to his son, and Clark stayed behind. Realizing he was suddenly alone, Lionel stopped and turned.
"He'll want to see you, Clark. Come.." Lionel offered a hand, and Clark took a step back, shaking his head.
"Maybe I'll wait, let him get himself back on track first." Clark nodded in Lex's direction. "You'd better go."
Lionel nodded, and when he had finished helping Lex to his feet, covering him with a blanket, Clark was gone.
