Part 15
Return home/Isobel's final farewell
There were over thirty people in the office, twenty were on the phone, files were spread everywhere, notes seemed to cover every inch of free space. A giant map of the city had been hung on the wall over Lex's expensive paintings and several dots were highlighted on it. That's why Chloe Sullivan was more than a little surprised when she burst into the office expecting to find Lex Luthor alone at his desk.
"Miss Sullivan!" the frustrated secretary yelled after her, but Chloe simply shut the door in her face and started searching the crowd for Lex. She found him standing next to his desk, holding a phone between his chin and shoulder as he wrote something down on the back of an important looking document. Although confused by all the commotion, Chloe put on her most serious face and neared him as he hung up the phone and turned to one of the many people present in his office.
"Just put it up next to the others," he told him and handed him the piece of paper. He looked up at Chloe and she noticed how tired he looked, like he hadn't slept in days. "Chloe…what brings you to this neck of the woods again? Or are you making a habit out of disturbing my meetings?"
"I'd like to know just what the hell's going on," she said annoyed and threw the latest number of the Enquirer on the desk in front of him. The first page title announced in big bold letters: "Lana Luthor jumps ship" and beneath it in smaller letters "The Metropolis vixen has packed her bags and returned to her hometown Smallville. The Enquirer exclusive inside." Underneath the title there was a picture of Lana on the streets of Smallville.
"Lana went home," was all he said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do."
"No, I'm not going to excuse you!" Chloe let out. "If you think you can get rid of me that easily you got another thing coming! Lana and Clark went missing from my apartment. Next I hear she makes some decisions that sound more and more like Isobel - blowing up the Luthorcorp factory is the best example for it and you didn't deny it. And now she's in Smallville, you're here and obviously freaking out over something."
"Look, this isn't the time or place to discuss this," Lex told her sighing.
"Yes, it so is," she disagreed. "Or do you want me to tell everyone about the ALIEN in your basement?" she said loud enough so everyone in the room could hear her. Her words attracted a few curious glances. Lex pulled her out of the room by the arm annoyed.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked her once they were in his office's reception area. He shot his secretary a glance and the girl instantly stood up and headed out of the room.
"Getting you to be honest with me," she said with a smirk. "You owe me at least that much after everything you've done to Clark and Lana!"
"You can't understand what…," he started saying, but she interrupted him scoffing:
"Can't understand! Ha! Of all the stupid excuses you could come up with, Lex…I had you figured out since Smallville you know. Then again you never bothered much to convince me you were the poster boy for the misunderstood good guy," she shook her head. "And you're standing there pretending I don't have a clue of what's been going on lately," she made a pause before she went on: "Are you willing to bet on it? It has something to do with those plans Isobel put together. About the chemical composure of the products Lang Pharmaceuticals has been selling. But if Isobel's gone though I'm sure everything's going to be easier to fix…"
"Yeah, she's gone now, but what she's done… We can't stop it anymore," he said.
"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.
"I mean something very bad will happen very soon," he replied.
"How soon?" she asked frowning.
"Like this afternoon for example," he sighed. "We've tried our best to delay it, but the situation's starting to turn critical. Haven't you noticed the nervous people in the streets?"
"Come to think of it, people were a lot more testy than usual this morning, but I blamed it on the traffic," she admitted.
"Right now, over 70 of Metropolis's population has been in contact or taken at least once products manufactured by Lang Pharmaceuticals…," she stopped for a second. "You didn't happen to take anything made by them did you?"
"Nah, I never trusted her to produce genuine medication," she assured him.
"Good," he said quickly.
"What did she do? Exactly?" she asked although she realized it was probably something she would rather not know.
"The drugs contain an addictive substance. It's their 'miracle' ingredient. It makes the body believe it's healed although the disease continues to progress undisturbed. That's the reason people have been dying by using their medication as treatment. Doctors haven't realized the problem because the substance can't be broken down into recognizable particles. That's why the medication was approved as well. It was impossible to find something wrong with it. It was Isobel's mix. People didn't even realize they were hooked on it because the prescribed doses were large enough to meet their addictive demands. For those who had non-fatal diseases however the addiction starts showing after six months. The drugs don't affect their mental state, just gives them a general feeling of healthiness so they can continue to work and interact without major changes…," he explained.
"Unless someone cut them off," she realized. "She wanted to control them through the drugs."
"Precisely," he nodded. "The secret ingredient…no one beside her can make it. I don't know if she used magic for it, or some sort of unknown alien rock residue, but it can't be reproduced by any laboratories except those at Lang Pharmaceuticals. But that's not even the worst of it…"
"Shock me," Chloe said raising her eyebrows.
"The addiction can't be cured and it takes only one dose to get it started. Once you take a pill, you're lost," he said.
"Oh my god," she let out. "Lang Pharmaceuticals released a world wide product only a few weeks ago. If it affects everyone who takes it…"
"There is one solution," he admitted. "It won't cure anyone, but it will put a definite end to it."
"You mean destroy the factories?" she understood. "Won't that send people into withdrawal?"
"If there was such a thing as withdrawal," he rubbed his face tiredly. "No, I'm afraid everyone that took the drugs is going to spend the rest of their lives looking for more."
"Geez," she still couldn't believe it.
"We have to deal with the immediate implications of our actions though. The destruction of Lang Pharmaceuticals is going to create panic and chaos on a grand scale. If we can contain it, it will die down and the addicts will be able to continue their everyday lives even if constantly searching for a fix they can no longer be provided with," he said. "Psychologists I've spoken to about this have pointed out the fact it will probably be responsible for many suicides on the long term."
"Well, you can't continue to make the drugs just so they can continue to lie to themselves that they're healthy," she said and for the slightest of moments she was afraid Lex might do the unthinkable and continue with Isobel's plans for his own personal benefit. Perhaps Lex would have considered the possibility if he had known how to obtain Isobel's secret ingredient, but since he didn't, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind.
"You're right," he agreed. "You wanted to know the truth, there it is."
"And Lana?" she reminded him.
"She just decided to go home. She didn't give me a reason for it," he simply answered her. "I suggest you get out of town for the next few days for your own safety. Maybe visit Smallville."
"Thanks for the concern, I didn't know you cared," she smiled. "But I'm a journalist and my job's to be right where the action is. And I have a sneaking suspicion the eyes of the world are going to be fixed on Metropolis this week."
"Take care of yourself," he told her as she headed for the door, giving her that patented Luthor smirk.
"Don't worry, I will," she assured him with a last grin before she closed the door shut behind her.
"Mr. Luthor, the mayor wants to speak to you," a man came out of his office to tell him.
"I'll be right there," Lex told him and sighing turned on his heels and walked back into his office.
Far away from Metropolis, in Smallville, Lana Lang felt like she was walking into a dream. She realized now that it was a while since she had been there. Because everything seemed foreign somehow, yet familiar and although she was already there for more than a day, she just couldn't get used to it. Most of the buildings had been rebuilt and few still had the same shape or size, but there were tiny bits of them that still reminded her of the Smallville she knew. There, that part of the highschool was still the same, there, the football field, there, a corner of the Talon, there, Lex's mansion, there, the windmill. She absently wondered as she drove past Lex's mansion who lived there now. Obviously Lex had made it his business to make sure the castle looked as if it had never been touched by a meteor shower, but for whom?
Since she had gotten hostile reactions upon her arrival to Smallville, she had been very hesitant about taking the step that needed to be taken. She had allowed herself to postpone the visit for one day, but promised herself she would not wait longer than that. It was strange how everyone seemed to hate her there. In Metropolis it was something like a combination of hate and admiration. Although she was despised she was sought out constantly, but here…here the food got caught in her throat when she ate alone at the inn's restaurant because of all the angry glares she was getting. Had Isobel done something to Smallville too?
The car stopped in front of the Kent house and she smiled when she realized they had rebuilt it exactly the same as it had been before. Stepping out of the car, she neared the door. It was open. She entered the house hesitantly.
"Clark?" she called out to him. No one answered. She moved toward the kitchen and found Mrs. Kent there, baking something. She looked at her shocked and the spoon she had in her hand dropped to the floor. "Hi, Mrs. Kent," she said and suddenly felt ashamed of herself for everything she was sure she knew about her life over the last two years.
"Mrs. Luthor," she replied on a chilling tone that Lana had never heard her use before. With anyone. She was always such a kind loving person, even to those who didn't deserve it. An uncomfortable silence laid itself over the kitchen. Martha leaned over and picked up the fallen spoon and walking over to the sink, started washing it. "You know, you have some nerve coming here after everything you've done," she said, not looking at her for a second.
"Mrs. Kent, I…," she didn't know how to say it. She didn't even know where to start. "I'm sorry for everything I might have done to upset you over the last two years…"
"You're sorry," she laughed bitterly. "For what? For caging my son up? For breaking his heart? For betraying us all?"
"That…that wasn't me…look, when I woke up…after the meteor shower…That wasn't me. It was Isobel. I just…I just woke up a few days ago," she tried to explain, but she knew just how crazy it all sounded. Sometimes she had trouble believing it herself.
"And I suppose, out of the goodness of your heart, you slept with Clark and then jumped into bed with someone else who wasn't even your husband?" she asked scoffing. "When he came here, with his heart in pieces, he didn't even know you were married to Lex! I had to tell him that. You know how hard that was? To explain to him that you and him…and all the rotten things you've done over the last two years?"
"It wasn't me! It was Isobel I swear! She came back, but now she's gone for good," she said distressed. "Even the tattoo's gone."
"We all want to blame someone for our mistakes, Lana," she said shaking her head.
"Please, listen to me, I will do anything you want me to do to prove that I'm telling the truth," she said tears forming in her eyes.
"I want only one thing from you," she replied coolly. "Leave and never come back. Never bother Clark again."
"Mrs. Kent…," she was sobbing by now.
"Get out before I take my husband's shotgun out of the closet," she said not even looking up at her. Lana Luthor had said and done enough things since her marriage to Lex Luthor to leave even the kindest of hearts cold to her tears.
Lana ran out of the house and got back in her car where she struggled to stop herself from crying again. As she started the engine, she saw someone outside the barn. Biting her lip, she got out of the car again and ran toward him.
"What are you doing here?" Clark asked frowning when he noticed her approaching.
"I wanted to explain. Everything," she said wiping her wet cheeks with her sleeve.
"There's nothing to explain. Mom told me everything," he told her on an angry tone walking into the barn.
"Wait! Clark!" she went in after him. "I want you to know the truth. I couldn't live with myself if you didn't…So just…listen to me for a moment, okay?" she begged and he was silent. "When I came to, after the meteor shower, that wasn't me. Isobel somehow took me over and yes, she was the one that put you in a tank and the person that's done all those horrible things…it was her. And if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here today – as myself. You took away her powers I don't know how after she woke up. That's why she married Lex and put you away. She only let me come back so I could find you and you would give me her powers back willingly. After that she took me over again," she said not mentioning the fact it had been her utter despair that had allowed Isobel to resurface. "But now I'm me again and this time it's for good and…I know all this is hard to believe, but it's the truth."
"Did you really want to make love to me or was that just Isobel?" he asked looking her in the eye and she could see how hurt he was.
"I don't know," she lifted her shoulders. There was a moment of silence. "Clark, all this time hasn't changed the way I feel about you…"
"Well, it might've changed the way I feel about you," he said after a moment of consideration. "Maybe I could get over the fact you slept with all the men in Metropolis and even the contaminated pharmaceuticals, but your marriage to Lex…that I'll never be able to forgive. Not you. Not him."
"I want to make a fresh start. Here, in Smallville, far away from Metropolis. I just…want to start over. Go back to where I left off," she explained. "But I can't do it alone, Clark. I need you to stand by me."
"I'm sorry, but it's too late now," he said. "You know I've thought about this since I got home. That you would leave Metropolis and come back here and ask me to forgive you and I would say yes every time, but then the next moment all these things just came back to me…things I could just not get over," he explained, referring to the pictures he had seen in newspapers of her and other men or Lex Luthor. He recalled one particularly disturbing picture taken on a beach on some exotic island with Lex's hand down her bikini and the look of absolute delight on her face.
"But Clark…you're all I have left good in my life. Everything else has been tainted. Turned ugly," she couldn't hold back her tears anymore.
"I'm sorry," was all he could say before he walked away.
Lana fell to her knees sobbing and although Clark felt the need to comfort her for a moment, he suppressed it, knowing it would not do her any good. How long she stayed there, crying, she didn't know. She just seemed to notice at one point that she still had her wedding ring on. She took it off furiously and wanted to throw it away, but then, inspecting it closer, she finally managed to make out the inscription on it. You are my world. LL.
As soon as he had managed to get out of the barn, Clark had run away at superspeed. He couldn't stand to hear her cry, but he knew there was nothing he could do to help her. He went to the windmill which he realized – since it held many memories of his time spent with Lana – had been a bad idea. He sat down on the grass with his head leaned on his arms. He felt empty. Like there was nothing left inside him. He knew it was impossible to return to the world after two years of absence and expect everything to be the same. But too many things had changed too fast.
"Hey, I heard you got back," someone said from behind him and he turned around to find Lois standing a few feet away from him.
"Lois!" he said standing up and nearing her, drew her into a hug.
"Wow, slow down, tiger," she said chuckling, but returned the hug nonetheless.
"Sorry, I just…I guess I just wanted to see a friendly face," he said with a half-smile.
"So…what was the mysterious disappearance about this time?" she asked curiously.
"Just…a little exploration before college," he explained.
"Yeah, that's what your parents told me too," she said chuckling.
"Boy, it's really good to see not everyone's changed," he admitted.
"Who said I didn't?" she asked raising her eyebrows as a little boy ran up to her and she took him up in her arms.
"Is he your…," he barely managed to form the words.
"Yeah, just like me to get knocked up, huh?" she asked rolling her eyes. "My dad literarily blew a fuse. Wanted to kill the guy who did this to me. But if you ask me, I didn't do so badly," she said smiling at the boy.
"He's beautiful," Clark said with a smile. "What's his name?"
"Alexander. After his father," she told him as the boy looked up at him with big blue eyes.
End Part 15
