A few days later Jonathan received an unwelcome visit from someone working for the Luthors, someone who was trying to find out why Lex was investigating the crash where Clark had saved Lex. Needless to say Jonathan was pissed.
"Lex, you want to explain to me why you are still investigating the crash where you nearly killed Clark?" Jonathan demanded as he stormed into the Luthor Mansion and Lex's office.
"First of all, not here. Second of all I stopped that when I got my answers." Lex said as he hastily got up and immediately turned Jonathan around. "I'll stop by the castle later."
"Alright, we're here. Explain!"
The Mansion residents as well as Clark and Martha looked on as Jonathan angrily challenged Lex who had literally just walked through the door.
"Like I said, I shut down the investigation when Harry and Clark revealed the truth to me." Lex shrugged.
"What right did you have to investigate in the first place?"
"Oh, flag on the play!" Dani called out as she stepped up between the two men. "It was his life, his moment that he was investigating. He didn't know Clark's secret back then. He just knew something had happened and he was desperate to find out what."
"Actually, I suspected Clark had something to do with it, for a while I thought he might be an angel on Earth and I was worried that this was a second chance, I didn't want to mess it up, I just thought I needed more guidance." Lex admitted.
"See! He knew!"
"Jonathan, I think Lex has proved himself over the past few weeks." Martha called out from between Celeste and Mindee. All three of the girls remembered the love and affection Mrs. Kent had given them as they matured and they didn't want to give that up. So long as Martha lived she would be their mother in this universe, or at least a beloved aunt.
"How do we know he isn't carrying on more experiments somewhere?"
"Because Dominic would have mentioned them to get you to reveal the secret." Lex pointed out.
Jonathan fumed on the spot but knew he couldn't push further without angering his wife.
"Is this why you refused the tickets I gave Clark?" Lex asked.
"No Lex." Jonathan bit out. "I refused them because they came from-"
"AHEM!" There was a lot of throat clearing from behind him. He glanced around to see a lot of stern faces glaring at him.
Lex just snorted humourlessly. "Mr. Kent, I didn't give Clark those tickets to win your favour. I gave them to Clark because he is my friend and he wanted to try something different with his dad. Something I never got to do."
"Just the same, we have our tradition."
"Then do both. I've heard all these stories about how a father and son are supposed to go to sports games together as a bonding experience, I just wanted Clark to have that opportunity in style."
"I loved taking my kids to games." Dani said from where she was standing to the side still. "Of course I preferred American Football, but I was happy to sit through a baseball game for them."
Dani was smiling in fond remembrance of years past. Then she noticed Jonathan and Lex staring at her slightly confused. "What?"
"You had kids?" Lex asked.
"Guys, I'm like… thousands of years old! All of us have been mothers, except Scott and Harry… they've been fathers." She added in a conspiratorial whisper.
"All of you?" Jonathan asked weakly. He looked at the fourteen year old triplets and swallowed uncomfortably.
"Some of ours are still alive and out there doing good work." Phoebe shrugged.
"Hopefully Jessica is behaving herself." Celeste frowned.
"She has the others to help her. This is 'us' time." Mindee huffed as she snuggled in closer to Martha.
"Don't you miss them?" Martha asked.
"Sometimes, but we will see them again eventually. They are old enough to take care of themselves, they have kids of their own after all!" Phoebe laughed.
"Girls, perhaps we should change the topic." Emma interjected lightly. "I believe we are about to cause Jonathan and Lex an aneurism."
"Liquor." Lex whispered harshly. "I need a strong drink."
"Ditto." Jonathan muttered.
Scott stood up and went and poured the two men a drink.
"Changing topics slightly, I had an interesting question from Chloe today." Lorna piped up. "She wanted to know if I had ever heard of a human spontaneously combusting."
"Why would Chloe ask you?" Clark asked worriedly.
"She knows I'm a witch." Lorna smirked.
"WHAT!"
"Jeeze, calm down Clark. I don't think Lex or Jonathan have recovered from discovering the triplets are parents!" Dani grimaced. "God knows how they'll take it when they find out they are also great grand mothers." She mumbled afterwards.
It was apparent she had been over heard as both men downed their drinks before slamming the glasses in front of Scott.
"Why does Chloe know you are a witch?" Clark demanded.
"Because I told her." Lorna enunciated as though he were a five year old.
"Why would you do that?! Does she know about me?"
"Please Clark." Lorna glared. "I would hope you think better of me than that. She only knows about me. She doesn't know about anyone else."
"Pete knows about me… he is still giving me headaches though. Keeps bugging me with question after question." Scott groused.
"Lana seems to be slightly skittish around us." Mindee pouted.
"We could have so much fun together." Phoebe sighed.
"So much fun." Celeste said with a far from innocent leer at Clark.
"Behave girls." Martha laughed as she swatted Celeste's bum lightly.
"I can't believe this." Clark said in a daze.
"Why?" Laura asked quietly. "They haven't broken the trust of any who have told. They aren't running in fear of them."
"Lana is!" Clark argued.
"Clark that really doesn't count. They put me on edge." Lex interjected before downing another glass.
"Ditto." Jonathan agreed before following suit.
"Jonathan, maybe you should slow down." Martha called over.
"God no! Not after tonight, I need this!"
Martha just scowled.
"Don't worry, you can make him suffer in the morning with the hangover." Dani grinned.
"I still have to sleep next to him tonight!"
"By the time they are finished they will be passed out on the couch." Dani assured her. "Enjoy the freedom of a free bed for the night."
Laura indicated for Clark to follow her so when he got close she teleported them up to the top of Clark's jumping tower, the former Astronomy Tower.
"Lorna, Scott and Cuckoos told your friends so that they could test the waters for you, so to speak. They wanted you to see for yourself that when confronted by the supernatural or unknown they wouldn't immediately reach for the pitchforks and torches." Laura explained as she sat on the stone bench that lined the turret.
"Being a witch is a lot different than being an alien." Clark pointed out.
"Not when they also told them that they are thousands of years old and from another reality."
"No wonder Lana is freaking out." Clark muttered.
"No, that is literally the fault of the triplets." She sighed. "I told them I should be the one to tell her about myself, but they insisted. They are very forceful and often confusing. It doesn't help that they are trying to convince her to share you with them."
"Are they really serious about that?" Clark groaned.
"Yes, they want you and they want you to be happy." She smiled. "They aren't trying to force you into a relationship, they are just trying to help you broaden your mind."
"They aren't going to expect me to date guys are they?" He asked suddenly, he was clearly worried.
Laura giggled. "No, Harry and Scott never had relations with men or each other. I've never had relations with women other than my bond mates."
"Other women?"
"The soul bond encourages love, due to the nature of our relationship with Harry that has bled into the bonds between us and we love each other that way as well." She explained matter-of-factly.
Clark was still blushing.
"Let's get back to Lana and the secrets." Laura smirked.
Clark's blush faded but the frown returned. "I just don't want to lose my friends."
"They wouldn't be very good friends if a little thing like this made them turn away."
"Little?!" Clark exclaimed.
"You don't look any different than a human, you won't be changing your personality at all. They already know you are adopted and the only thing you do know about your origins is that they aren't on Earth."
"It's not that simple."
"Really? Why? We know for a fact that none of your friends have reacted badly to finding out about magic and that there are beings from other realities in town. Ones that are thousands of years old. Why would you be too much of a stretch?"
Laura sighed; she and the others knew that as good a father as Jonathan was he had managed to instil a deep sense of paranoia and mistrust of humans in his son. Dani was trying to work on it but he was a hard nut to crack.
"Eventually we will let your friends in on the rest of our secrets. Namely our mutant powers and Harry being able to make magicals. How do you think they will feel in a thousand years or whenever they figure out what you can do that you didn't trust them even though they proved themselves with our secrets?" Laura was getting fairly irritated at this point.
"A thousand years?" Clark doubted that.
"Take a closer look at your parents, Clark. They have already begun to de-age. It's something that Harry emits and he's been doing it for millions of years. It's why we aren't all elderly looking. Eventually he will start sending out a potion that does the same thing for the rest of the world."
"My friends will live for a thousand years?" Clark asked, there was a little hope now.
"More like four thousand. That's the average length a mortal soul can survive in the mortal realm before insanity sets in." Laura said dismissively. "But don't change the subject. Can you really imagine living all those centuries without telling your friends? Always having to hide who you really are?
"The Cuckoos will tell you that even now, Lana is getting pretty hurt by the fact that you won't open up to her."
"And what if she is so disgusted by me that she turns me into the government?" Clark demanded heatedly.
Laura stared at him unblinkingly for a moment. "I guess I was wrong." She sighed. "It seems like you are the bad friend."
Clark was left feeling like he had been slapped as Laura teleported out.
"Doctor Potter? Are you here?" Chloe called as she knocked on the Doctor's Office door the next day at lunch.
"Come on in Miss Sullivan." She heard his English accented voice call out.
"Hi… erm, Lorna Dane said you might be able to give me some answers." She said nervously.
Harry was at his desk filling out various reports for the State. He couldn't wait to conquer the universe. One of his first acts would be to scare the life out of bureaucrats for the torture they put him through. Voldemort had nothing on paperwork.
"Take a seat. She told me you would be by." He said as he put his pen down and stretched his fingers.
"So… spontaneous human combustion?"
Harry smiled; he loved teaching. "Name one thing that is spontaneous."
Chloe was taken aback, she had been hoping to get information, not give it. "Erm… creation of the universe?"
"How about we start with something that won't lead to a philosophical debate." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Bursting into song?"
"You ever met a man named Alexander 'Xander' Harris?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes.
"Not that I remember."
"Hmm… well, there is always a reason for that person bursting into song. They have one running through their head. They have a sudden burst of adrenalin. Try something else."
"How about that thing in Jurassic Park? Frogs changing sex."
"Which they did to continue the population due to a lack of the opposite sex.
"There is no such thing as spontaneous. Everything happens for a reason or in response to something. The trick is finding out what caused the reaction or response.
"Which brings us back to your case. What appears to be spontaneous human combustion is merely human combustion."
"So someone set her on fire?"
"Or something accidentally sparked a fire."
"Right." Chloe nodded.
"But… there are some fatal flaws in your theory." Harry raised a finger.
"Oh?"
"If it was combustion then why wasn't the bed burnt?"
"Oh." She said quietly. "Then why would she turn to ash?"
"It is not something that naturally occurs in humans." Harry warned.
"You know what did this?" Chloe asked with a hint of accusation.
"No, I just know that it is likely not a naturally occurring event by current human standards. If you continue to investigate this then take Lorna with you. She will be expecting your call."
"She will?" Chloe asked in surprise.
"Would you really want to face an assailant with unknown powers alone or would you rather have someone like Lorna with mystical powers there to defend and aid you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
If there was one disappointing fact about Clark and his friends it was that none of them could lie. Especially when confronted with the truth.
"Well… you tried." Harry chuckled. "Tell her what I said and she will confirm you can talk to me." Harry grinned mischievously. "Then ask her how she got her powers."
"Really Lex, a deserted alley?" Lionel Luthor asked condescendingly as he approached his son who was standing by his car with a beautiful red head. "Must you really be so clichéd?"
"I doubt you would want to have me deliver this package in the lobby of the LuthorCorp building… Dad." Lex countered with a bored air.
"Oh Lex, what have you done now?" Lionel tutted in mock disappointment.
"Wow, you were right Lex, he is an egotistical bastard." The red head spoke up.
Lex didn't know whether to laugh or blush.
"Young lady, you would be doing yourself a favour if you waited in the car." Lionel chided.
"But then I wouldn't get to witness the rest of this interesting meeting." Jean smiled insincerely.
"I see you have moved on to women with backbones." Lionel said with mocking pride.
"He really is annoying, isn't he?"
"Maybe we should finish this up before she forces you to do something you'll regret Dad." Lex interjected quickly. He knew Dani liked to push peoples buttons and so did Harry but he hadn't expected this from Jean of all people.
Lionel was a little confused by his son's statement but shored up his stance and made the best of it. "Very well, what was it you dragged me out here for?"
Lex opened the boot of the car. "Just returning your lap dog. In the future don't bother sending anymore drones to harass myself or the Kents."
Lex walked to the front of the car where Jean joined him and hooked her arm in his elbow before they walked off leaving his father to deal with the hogtied and embarrassed Dominic in the trunk of his car.
"Pete, you got a minute?"
"Sure Coach."
"Meet me in my office."
Five minutes later Pete was dressed and sitting opposite Scott.
"I am increasing the amount of secret information you know about." Scott said seriously. "Stick with Chloe Sullivan this afternoon and she will introduce you to another magical… well, she won't but she knows a magical and they will introduce themselves to you."
"Wait… there are more of you?!"
Scott smiled slightly. "Pete, I would be greatly understating things if I said I was the tip of the iceberg."
"You're a witch?"
"Yes."
"Wow."
Lorna smiled at Pete's awestruck expression.
"Who told you about Lorna?" Chloe asked, her investigative reporting hat slipping on.
"I… erm… can't say." Pete shuffled uncomfortably.
"But-"
"You never told Pete about me, did you?" Lorna said pointedly.
"You were keeping a secret?"
Pete looked at Lorna desperately.
"Coach Summers is a wizard. He told Pete. And yes, he can know that Harry Potter is also a wizard."
"What did he mean when he said I should ask where you got your powers?" Chloe asked.
"He made me a witch, just like he made Scott a wizard. Man that was a long time ago." She smiled wistfully.
"Made you a witch?" Chloe asked in disbelief.
"Cool! Can he make me into one?"
Chloe looked at Pete with slight disbelief.
"Sure, he can make you into a witch. Are you sure you want to be a girl though?" Lorna smirked.
Pete's eyes widened. "Wizard! I mean wizard!"
"Eventually he will offer you the chance. You need to prove you have a level head as at the moment we are living in secret and don't want to reveal ourselves." She looked straight at Chloe as she spoke.
"Hey, my lips are sealed." Chloe said miming zipping her lips.
"Which makes you one step closer to getting offered the opportunity." Lorna smiled.
"Wait, are there more wizards and witches?" Pete asked.
"A few."
"Have we met any?" Chloe asked.
"Yes, but it is up to them to introduce themselves." Lorna warned. "Now, let's go deal with this Mr. Tyler Randall."
"How do you know about him? Clark only told me an hour ago."
"Martha called Harry and told him who told me."
"Martha Kent? You know the Kents?"
"I know Clark, you already saw that. I also know the Kents. They are good people."
"Do they know your secret? Did you make them wizards?"
Lorna just stared at Chloe with a raised eyebrow.
"Right." Chloe took a deep breath. "Questions that aren't mine to ask."
"Good girl." Lorna teased which caused Chloe to scowl. "Now, you will be meeting another magical today. She is more than a magical though."
Suddenly a tall blonde woman appeared next to Lorna. Just like Lorna she was stunningly beautiful.
Which meant Chloe had to nudge Pete to stop the drooling.
"I am Brunhilde. I am a Valkyrie. It is good to meet you." She smiled.
"That was blunt." Pete shrugged.
"Valkyrie? As in Norse mythology?" Chloe asked.
"Correct, all though I am far from mythical as you can clearly see."
"Aren't you supposed to have wings… or a horse with wings?"
"I used to have a horse with wings." She said with a fond smile. "But they are not as immortal as I am and I have chosen not to replace my old friend."
"So I guess this guy doing an impression of the Grim Reaper is why you are involved?"
"Huh?" Pete intelligently posed his query.
"Valkyries were the ones who would carry fallen warriors from the battlefield back to the Halls of Valhalla. Norse versions of the Angels of Death." Lorna explained.
"Oh… death?!" Pete asked worriedly.
"Do not worry, young man." Hilde smiled. "I do not choose the time of your death, that is the job of my husband."
"We aren't giving out that much information yet, Hilde." Lorna warned.
"I see." She nodded in understanding.
"Now that's not playing nice!" Chloe pouted petulantly.
"I apologise, I was not informed of all the rules." Hilde smirked.
"Let's just go and find this Randall guy so we can call it a night." Lorna sighed as she turned and began walking off.
"How can you be sure he'll come here?" Pete asked as they walked down the halls of the Smallville Medical Centre.
"Come on Pete, it's obvious!" Chloe scoffed. "He thinks he's an Angel of Death or something. They always go after the sick."
"Really? If it was me I'd go after the worst bastards Mom puts in jail." He shrugged.
"Pete!"
"What? We already covered that Hilde's husband goes around killing people… don't know why he does it but considering she's friends with Lorna I think I can hold off on the judging this time." He said defensively.
"Actually my husband usually only deals with those who seek to cheat death or take death into their own hands and commit murder." Hilde elaborated. "That said, he does tend to follow the route that young Pete has chosen in that he brings an end to the murderers and rapists."
"Check it out, isn't that our guy?" Lorna asked as she pointed out the man entering a nearby patient's room.
"Yeah, that's him." Chloe confirmed.
"Very well. Wait here and I will subdue him and escort him from the premises if he is the man we seek." Hilde instructed as she gave Lorna a nod and headed off.
"Wait, what if he tries to kill her? He only needs to touch her." Chloe argued.
"Hilde is a true immortal. It would take a lot more than what this guy can do to kill her. Hurt her, sure. But not kill her." Lorna assured them. This was actually based on Clark's report that Tyler Randall had tried to use his powers on him, they had some effect but clearly not enough as he quickly recovered.
Seconds later Hilde exited the room.
"It is done. He is secure and the patient is quite safe and will make a full recovery." Hilde smiled.
"Full recovery?" Lorna smirked..
"It seemed the least I could do considering I did wake him."
"And we call Harry impulsive."
"How can you have possibly managed to do anything? You were only gone- oh wait, never mind." Chloe trailed off with a blush as the answer popped in her head.
"Well, now that is done, I suppose you want to see where we put him." Hilde sighed.
"Damn straight!" Pete grinned.
After a shocking incident of teleportation - shocking because Lorna had grabbed their shoulders without warning and they vanished – Pete and Chloe found themselves in the most advanced dungeon they could imagine. The basic structure was of a castle dungeon with stonewalls and chains all over the place, but there were computer monitors and what looked like fluorescent lights everywhere.
"I see it is time for show and tell." A tall redheaded woman smiled as she walked up.
"Weren't you at the hospital one time?" Chloe asked.
"I occasionally consult on special cases. Dr. Jean Grey, but you can call me Jean." She smiled as she shook their hands.
"And you spend your free time acting as a prison warden?" Chloe asked sceptically.
"In part, yes. I am also studying the effects of the meteor rocks and looking for ways to counter them." She led them past each cell, there weren't many but they were easily recognisable.
"Wait, is that Coach Arnold?" Pete asked.
"Yes, he developed a power involving fire. The technical term is: Pyro-kinetic. That in itself is not a problem with training but he decided to use his powers to try and kill several of your teachers."
"Including Coach Summers, Coach Kinney and Principal Frost." Lorna added.
"Is Smallville a natural breeding ground for psychopaths or are they like this because of the meteor rocks?" Chloe asked.
Jean walked them back past a few cells. "Some of these people, like Greg Arkin here, are compelled by the effects of the meteor rocks. Our current understanding is that Greg was a stalker but the meteors pushed him to act on his obsession. Had we caught him earlier we would have been able to help him before he actively went after Miss. Lang.
"Others like Coach Arnold were always abusive, the powers just gave them the ability to be more so.
"Then there are those like Sean Kelvin who have a fairly reasonable personality but when given power and a choice they decide to abuse it and others for their own personal gain."
"You make it sound like there are a lot more infected out there." Chloe frowned.
"Absolutely, you have to remember that Smallville was blanketed by these rocks. Then you have to take into account all the visitors that may have come or been here at the time, the morbid tourists who came and took a rock as a souvenir, also the governments and the scientists. There could be meteor infected all across the globe by now."
"Whoa." Pete gasped. "Do they all have powers like these do?"
"No. Some actually get severely ill, like the Kent's friend Earl Jenkins. Others appear completely unaffected like Lana Lang who wore a piece of meteor rock as a necklace for over a decade."
"And then there's people like me who appear to have no powers but a startling physical change."
Pete and Chloe spun around to see a smirking Lex Luthor standing there.
"Luthor!" Pete spat. "This is your set up?"
"Pete!" Hilde admonished. "Show some manners."
"This is just what a Luthor would do. Show you something that looks good but behind your back he's just getting ready to stab you and take away everything." He said angrily.
"Pete, I have no power here. This is someone else's business altogether." Lex explained, he was practically pleading for Pete to understand and accept his explanation.
"I'm sure you don't have any direct connections, but I'm also positive that you own this place lock, stock and barrel through whatever side businesses and shell companies you have." He sneered.
"Pete! Enough!" Hilde snapped. "This place is owned by my husband. Lex Luthor has no more power here than you do."
But Pete Ross was fuelled by over a decade of stories about how the Luthors were responsible for his families troubles and how they did the same to others without a hint of guilt.
"No. I know Luthors. Anything he is involved in is sick and wrong and I won't have anything to do with it." Pete declared as he stomped away to the nearest door marked exit.
"Pete!" Chloe cried out.
"Jean." Lorna spoke quietly and sadly to her redheaded friend.
Jean reached out with her telepathy, searching as shallowly as she could to determine just how much of a threat Pete Ross would be to them.
She didn't need to go far before she encountered the wall of hate directed at the Luthors. Given the chance and the ability, Pete Ross would happily kill any Luthor.
She touched his mind and put him to sleep, catching him with her telekinesis as he fell.
"Pete!" Lex called as he darted forward to catch the falling boy.
"It's ok Lex, I've got him." Jean assured him as Pete rose from Lex's arms to float on air.
"What happened to him?" Chloe asked as she darted forward and grabbed Pete's limp hand.
"I made him sleep, Chloe. He was angry and a threat to our secrecy. I scanned his mind lightly to ascertain his intentions and discovered he intended to tell his mother about us." Jean explained. "We will need to remove his memories of our abilities and what he has seen and learnt of us. We will also need to make arrangements for his family to move away from Smallville."
"But he's our friend! You can't just-"
"Chloe, we really don't have a choice." Lorna interrupted compassionately.
"So you'll just wipe his mind because he disagrees with you? You won't even talk to him? How many others have you done this too? Have you messed with my memories? Is this why I can't remember being injured at Lex's Mansion?" She demanded, her anger suddenly turning to fear.
"Chloe! Stop!" Lorna said loudly and firmly. "First of all, none of us has ever altered your memory. The reason you can't remember is because of the head injury you incurred."
"If you want I can help you recover those memories." Jean offered.
Lorna gave Jean a grateful nod. "Secondly, Jean's scan determined his personality type and his ability to overcome his limitations. The only other options are to take him prisoner and use behavioural modification therapy or to simply rewrite his personality."
"Both of those are repugnant to me as a doctor and a telepath." Jean admitted with a wrinkled nose of disgust.
"This option allows him to live his life happily, it will even take him away from the Luthors and give him better opportunities for his life." Lorna finished.
"Lorna, Jean, Hilde, could I speak to you privately for a second?" Lex frowned.
"Chloe, we will be speaking telepathically for a few moments, so we may not respond right away." Jean explained.
"Ok, Lex, just think what you want to say. I've linked us all." Jean informed the bald headed billionaire.
"I thought only magicals could do this?"
"This is my mutant power, not magic." Jean smirked.
"Oh, well, I was thinking that maybe introducing Chloe to Harry as Death might help here. Meeting a being of that much power is like meeting God; it will change you. It might even help with convincing Pete."
"It doesn't matter what Pete is confronted with, he will never trust a Luthor and will always look for revenge." Jean said sadly. "He'd even risk his soul."
"Chloe might respond better. Despite her sometimes-abrasive personality and obsessive-compulsive tendency to uncover the truth, she does accept things better and she doesn't have any grudges… except against her mother maybe. As long as she knows the truth will be revealed eventually or that there is a good reason for hiding the truth, she can be reasoned with." Lorna explained.
"So I should get Harry?" Hilde asked.
"Not yet, we will finish up here and invite her upstairs to meet everyone and let her in on the whole secret." Jean said.
"Wait… what about Clark's secret?" Lex asked.
"I will explain the situation to Harry and ask him to try and convince Clark. If he doesn't agree then we will just have to avoid mentioning it." Lorna offered.
Clark barely realised he had made it home he was in such a daze. Pete had approached him with the news that he and his family were moving to Wichita. What really hurt Clark was that Pete was excited about it. His mother had been offered a Federal Judgeship and his father had headed out to look for work whilst they packed up. Pete would be gone by the end of the semester.
He soon realised that his parents weren't home. He also remembered that he was supposed to be at the castle for training.
A few seconds of super speed and he was standing in the living area with Harry's family and his own parents. There were two people there who Clark was shocked to see and were clearly shocked to see Clark arrive in such a manner.
"And that is why you should always knock before entering a room." Dani smirked as she looked between Lana, Chloe and Clark, all of whom had gobsmacked expressions.
"I-I-I… I can explain!" Clark stuttered.
"Oh this ought to be bloody marvellous!" Harry grinned as he put an arm around Lorna and Amara and settled in to watch.
"You can explain how you managed to arrive at what appears to be either super speed or teleportation?" Chloe asked with wide eyes. "Although I haven't seen any of them cause gusts of wind when they teleport." She said as she jerked a thumb at the castle residents.
"You aren't a wizard or witch like they are? Are you Clark?" Lana frowned in thought. "Meteor infected?"
Clark turned to Harry with a look of pleading.
Harry just laughed. "Hell no! I want to hear your explanation."
"Just tell the truth son." Jonathan sighed. "Jean already assured us that they can be trusted. They've known about magic for a few weeks so I think they've proven themselves."
"Clark, we've always taught you to hide your powers because we were afraid the wrong people would find out and they would take you away from us. But you were young and your friends were young. Your friends were too young to know how to keep a secret." Martha explained. "You and your friends are older now. You are capable of keeping secrets and so are your friends. Maybe it is time you started to learn the difference between keeping a secret safe and dangerous paranoia."
Clark was still torn. The look of hurt on Chloe and Lana's faces was clear. Clark couldn't trust them.
Emma decided to step in. "Miss Lang, Miss Sullivan, Mr. Kent has a huge secret. This secret does not really change anything about the person you know. He is still the same decent and honourable young man you've have known over the years. This secret is a danger, to him. His real worry is not that you will tell others, it is that you will see him differently, that you will fear him."
"Is it any bigger than sitting in the same room as Death?" Chloe asked with a raised eyebrow.
Clark's head shot up. "You told them about that?!"
Harry just shrugged. "I also told them that eventually if they continue to prove their worth then I will make them magicals as well. I also told them that I eventually intend to rule the world. Of course I already rule North Korea." He grinned.
Clark had no way of knowing that Harry was being serious and not joking. But Harry had learnt from his home world and that of his soul mates that North Korea was easy to conquer as they were very insular. They guarded their borders heavily and took great pains to control the flow of information into and out of the country.
Death's conquest of Earth had begun.
"How do you feel about Harry? Now that you know just who and what he is?" Amara asked the girls.
"I already knew that Hilde was married to someone who dealt with Death at a high level, I just didn't know who." Chloe admitted. "It's weird to think that that the eccentric school doctor is actually Death though."
"How did you know that?" Lana asked curiously.
"She was with us earlier today and she let it slip."
"Let slip?" Jean asked the Valkyrie with an amused look.
"I was bored. I don't mind hiding who we are but I was also fed up with Clark's gloomy mood over dealing with his friends." She threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Anyway," Lorna interrupted, "Lana, what about you? How do you feel?"
"I've only known for half an hour, I guess I am still trying to process it." The dark haired beauty frowned. "I don't fear Harry at all. None of you have been threatening to me… aside from you three." She shot the triplets a scowl that they just smiled happily at. "If Harry really is Death, then I can't see Clark's secret being any worse."
"Same here." Chloe offered as they looked at Clark expectantly.
But Clark had one other issue with telling them. One that Lana might truly hate him for.
"For mercy's sake!" Emma exclaimed as she read the thoughts racing at the front of Clark's mind. "Girls, Clark is an alien from another planet, he arrived in the meteor storm and Lana he is scared you will hate him for arriving in the meteor storm that killed your parents." She explained, finishing with a breath of relief.
Clark looked at her with betrayal.
"Wait… we grew up with Clark. I've known him since the eighth grade, right?" She turned to Lana.
"Right, I've known him for longer, Pete too. He's lived across from me ever since my aunt took me in." She confirmed.
"So Clark must have been what? Two, three years old when he arrived?"
Clark was confused. He had expected recrimination, anger, shouting and so on. Instead there was a session of deductive reasoning taking place and his origins were being accepted as fact.
"We think so." Martha nodded.
"He didn't come with a birth certificate though." Jonathan smirked, he was enjoying the frank discussion about his sons secret, almost as much as the look on his sons face.
"Was he super intelligent when he arrived? Could he walk and talk?" Chloe asked.
"He could walk a bit. He seemed to know a few words, but they weren't English. We think they may have been his native planets language, words like 'mom', 'dad' and so on." Jonathan explained.
Chloe turned and glared at Clark. "In that case, how would you be responsible for the meteor shower? You were a victim like Lana. She lost both parents, you seem to have lost everything."
"See, I told you she had some common sense." Lorna stage whispered to Emma. Chloe just glared.
"My parents died in an accident, a horrible accident which I still have nightmares about." Lana said softly. "But unless you can prove you are responsible then all you are doing by claiming you are is hurting me. Trying to make me angry because it wasn't a freak accident, it was the malicious act of a monster." Lana was getting a bit upset. "So you don't come from Earth, is that human body a disguise? Do you have green skin? Shoot lasers from your eyes? Eat children in their sleep? Get over yourself Clark!" She shouted as she stormed from the room.
"I should have just kept it a secret." Clark muttered.
"Oh god! Would someone please kick his arse!" Dani moaned loudly.
"Excuse me, I'll go and check on Lana." Lorna said as she wriggled off the couch. She was quickly replaced by a grinning Laura.
"Nothing doing Missy. You're coming with." Lorna smirked as she pulled her friend up.
Mindee quickly teleported into her place. "Heaven." She sighed happily as she snuggled into Harry's sighed.
"See Clark, that's what honesty gets you." Dani pointed at the purring third of the Cuckoos. "Three girls in less than ten seconds and plenty more willing to fill the void."
"Ahem!"
"What?" Dani asked Martha with an innocent face that nobody bought.
"I don't believe that is the lesson Clark needs to learn." Martha informed her with a wry smile.
"Please, this me using the carrot, if this doesn't work I'm breaking out the stick!" Dani said dismissively.
"I don't believe Mr. Kent is quite into that scene." Emma commented drolly.
Clark and Chloe's eyes widened comically before Chloe snorted a laugh.
"'Scuse me, I think Lana could use some cheering up and that might help." She giggled as she stood up and moved to the door.
"I'll come with." Phoebe offered.
"I suppose Clark needs to see the world as it should truly be." Harry sighed. "Martha, Jonathan, with your permission I would like to take Clark away on a trip. We might be gone for a week or so but you have my word that he will be perfectly safe."
"What about school?" Martha asked.
"Clark will be learning some very important things, Emma can handle his absence easily enough."
"Where will you take him?" Jonathan asked.
"On a trip through time, space and reality. His life so far has revolved around this farm and town. I just want to broaden his horizons, we won't do a lot, just enough to blow his mind and make him more open to other ideas."
"I believe I will accompany you husband. I would enjoy seeing our children again. Any messages?" She asked the room.
"I guess the usual messages of love." Jean shrugged.
"And pictures!" Celeste added.
"We'll see you in a bit then." Harry smiled as Harry, Hilde and Clark simply vanished.
"Umfph! I hate it when he does that." Celeste moaned as she pushed herself up from where she had fallen into Harry's now vacant spot.
"More cuddles for me!" Dani grinned as she quickly slipped in.
