Part 6
Martha turned on the news to learn the latest on the fallout from Zod's attack. Clark cleared the table after having three helpings of the wonderful supper his Mom had prepared. He laughed as he finished putting away the last of the now clean dishes; I've got to stop eating so much!! Clark joined his Mom in the family room to watch the news, and as he saw the images – a grimace grew across his face. Martha glanced over at Clark and caught the look on his face; it was one she had gotten to know all too often over the years. Before she could say anything to him Clark stood, turned to her long enough to say,
"I've got to go to work. This is my responsibility and I am going to make it right."
With that, Clark cut out the front door at top speed towards Metropolis. The scene that met his eyes was worse than what the images on the news had depicted. Taking a deep breath, Clark set about the task of 'cleaning up the town'. With the cover of darkness to aid him, along with power not yet restored to all the parts of the city, Clark made steady progress of clearing away the rubble that lay before him. His now well developed hearing tuned in for the slightest cry for help, or a moan of a person too weak to cry out for help.
As dawn approached, Clark had lost count of the number of people he had taken to the hospital, most of which were on the edge of unconsciousness or injured to the point that he did not hesitate to travel at super-speed to get them there. Clark slowed down just long enough to get the attention of a doctor, nurse, or medic to help the person he had brought in before going back to super-speed back to the city. As Clark now looked around, he knew more needed to be done – but with the sun now rising over the skyline he knew he could not risk using his abilities any further.
Before he took off back towards Smallville, he made one more attempt to listen for anyone that might be trapped. Clark was relieved to find his attempt was met with beautiful silence, and he said a silent prayer of thanks for something good happening to start off this new day. It appeared to Clark that the run back to Smallville took longer than usual as he slowed down, getting back to the farm. Clark had felt worn out before, but only on those odd occasions where he had lost his abilities for one reason or another. He noted, however, that standing on the porch soaking up the sun's morning rays seemed to make him feel better. Clark sighed as he opened his eyes, as good as the sun felt; he knew there were chores that needed to be tended to.
Martha glanced up from her coffee as Clark walked in the house, noting the look of fatigue on his face.
"Have you been out all night?"
"I can't take care of the mess Zod created in Metropolis during the day Mom; there's just too many people around then to try to use my abilities. Still it was worth working through the night, there were a lot of people that needed help, and I can't just stay here and do nothing."
"Hey, you are doing the best you can, remember Zod did this – not you. Now, why don't you go try to get some rest, it looks like you could use it."
"I can't Mom, there are chores to be done, plus there's other things I left unresolved that have been eating away at me. I meant to see to them last night, but after seeing just a glance of the discourse going on I had to put them on hold."
"Okay but don't push yourself too hard out there, even you have to rest at some point."
"I will Mom, I promise, I love you."
Clark kissed his Mom on her forehead as he headed out the door to see to his chores. After a couple of hours Clark was finishing up the last of his chores, he had taken it easy as his Mom suggested – though Clark thought he would never get used to having to do chores at this pace on a daily basis.
He remembered asking his Dad how he found the strength to do this everyday without any special abilities; he smiled as he remembered his Dad's response, "Lots of practice and knowing that a good day's work never killed anybody." Clark shook his head thinking, well Dad I know you said practice makes perfect, but I can do without having to have this kind of practice everyday!! Shelby ran up to him from the house as he was walking up from the barn.
"Hey buddy, did you finally decide to get up from your nap now that the chores are done?"
Shelby turned his head quizzically to Clark before letting out a short, but strong "woof" in response. Then he wagged his tail at his master, waiting to be praised for what he saw as being a good deed.
"Ha-ha, yeah I know, you were 'guarding the house', good boy Shelby!"
Clark patted Shelby on his head and took a moment to scratch behind Shelby's left ear. Clark noted this always made Shelby kick his back leg out furiously, like a certain animated rabbit he'd seen in a film when he was a kid, which always hung around a deer when he was excited. Clark laughed out loud in spite of himself; it felt good to have a light hearted laugh after all the recent events. Then as he turned to make his way back up to the house, Shelby followed along side him, taking his usual spot near the front door to "guard the farm."
Clark saw this and chuckled at how Shelby was pricking his ears up from the mooing cows, and how that reminded him of another golden retriever he had seen on television recently. However, the television dog Clark was thinking of seemed to be making a career out of trying to sell "the secret family recipe" for beans, not exactly the work of your typical farm dog. Still, Shelby was hardly your "typical farm dog", Shelby had saved his Dad's life from a dog that (he later discovered) had been drugged with refined meteor rock.
As far as Clark was concerned, that earned Shelby the right to do as he pleased on the farm, his personal favorite being – annoying the daylights out of Lois!! Although Clark felt bad that she had been injured so bad that she was required to stay in the hospital, he was thrilled to have her gone!! This thought really lit up as face, as he smiled ear-to-ear, walking upstairs to get cleaned up.
After a short time Clark came back downstairs to find his Mom packing up some documents into an attaché case. She was dressed up in one of her new business suits that Clark was still getting used to seeing her in as part of her job for being a State Senator.
"Wow, you look great Mom!! You look like you're in a rush, do you have to head out already?"
"Yes, Lionel called earlier to let me know the governor had given him advanced notice of a trip out to Metropolis to survey the damage."
Clark frowned at the mention of Lionel, he still had a hard time trusting him – even with his connection to Jor-El.
"Mom…"
"I know Clark, I will be careful of Lionel, I don't trust him completely either – but he has helped us out a lot lately so try not to be too hard on him. I take it you're on your way out to see Chloe?"
"MOM!! How could you possibly know that?? Did I say anything about Chloe?"
"No, but I am your mother Clark, and a mother tends to know these things. Be sure to give her my love when you see her."
Clark shook his head in amazement at this revelation from his Mom. Maybe Jor-El had given her some sort of telekinesis ability she had failed to tell him about while at the fortress. Finally thinking that was highly unlikely, Clark went back to his conversation with his Mom while examining his Dad's watch, but he could not recall anything said then that would have told her about his new found feelings for Chloe.
He finally decided to let it go, he needed to go over again what he planned to say to Chloe as he drove their truck into town. Although Clark figured he could have just super-sped his way to the Talon, he figured it was a smart move to drive in to let himself continue to rest up. He knew the logical thing to do would have been to have just gone to bed to get some rest after getting cleaned up from doing his chores. However, when it came to Chloe and how he now realized he felt about her, being logical was the last thing on his mind – I mean, how do you tell the girl that has been your best friend since eighth grade that you're in love with her.
Right now, Clark just hoped that Chloe would have cooled down to the point to where he would have the chance to tell her that. Not only that; but Clark could not shake the image stuck in his mind of how happy Chloe looked sitting in the break room with Jimmy. Now, he knew (especially since Chloe had vehemently told him as such) that she and Jimmy were old news, but a part of him just couldn't shake the idea that the two of them looked a little "too" comfortable sitting there together. Clark felt his grip tighten on the steering wheel and managed to shake out of his thought process before snapping it like a twig. Wow, I've got to be more careful here, I can't let my emotions run away on me like that, lecturing to himself in a stern voice.
Before long Clark pulled into a parking space at the Talon, although this time he made it a point to take a few deep breaths before getting out. He also noticed he had the sensation that he could only relate to being what he had heard Pete call, having butterflies in your stomach, back when Pete ranted on about first asking out a girl he liked. Clark could not believe it; he never had anything like this happen to him before – not even when he was working up the nerve to ask Lana out. Yup, this was definitely new territory for him, and like heights, it terrified him. Still, he was here, and he was not going to back down now.
As he entered the Talon he went up to the counter to buy some reinforcements for his trek upstairs to Chloe's apartment. Clark was greeted by the lady that Martha had hired to fill in for her at the Talon since taking the job as State Senator. Her name was Caroline Cake, a sweet lady that had retired from teaching for 35 years, and was glad to have this job to get out of the house. Luckily for Clark, Caroline had been working there long enough to have filled several orders for Chloe's favorite combination. It was an astute mix of coffees and so forth that – to this day – Clark could not figure out how Chloe thought to order.
"Good morning Caroline! I need the Chloe Sullivan special, in fact make it a double!! Also, could you add a couple of glazed blueberry muffins to that order?"
"Whoa, a double!? Clark you must have really gotten into the doghouse this time to need a double! No worries though, the delivery truck still made it through on time so I'll have your order ready in a jiffy."
Clark went ahead and paid Caroline the total for his order as he began pacing the floor in front of the counter to wait. Okay Clark, just remember to take it slow; don't say "I" all the time, don't get caught in her eyes (yeah right), and most importantly listen carefully to her responses – THINK before you speak!! Clark did not get any further than this as he was suddenly jolted from his train of thought.
"Here you go Clark, a double Chloe Sullivan special, and two glazed blueberry muffins – fresh out of the oven!"
"Thanks Caroline, you are a life saver!!"
"Ha-ha! Well, I'll wait to see you walk out of Chloe's apartment alive before I take credit on that one!!" She followed that comment with a kind hearted smile, a quick wink and added, "Good Luck Clark!"
Clark gave Caroline his best "puppy dog" look, smiled, and turned to head upstairs to Chloe's apartment. Somehow, the stairs seemed to have an ominous look to them, even though the handrails were adorned with the same accent lights as they always had been.
"Okay Clark, here goes everything!" He said quietly to himself as he knocked (maybe a little louder than usual) on the door.
A few moments later the door opened by a sleepy-eyed Chloe, clad in a bath robe, she reached up to rub her eyes as she spoke.
"Clark? What's wrong? Is your Mom okay? Did something happen to Lois that I have not heard about?"
"No, no, everyone's fine Chloe!! It's just….well…the other day…that is our last conversation….some of the things I said came out wrong….oh man, this was so much easier practicing on my way over here in the truck!"
Chloe had stood there in her groggy state, doing her best to listen to Clark without the aid of her morning coffee, until the last part of what he said registered in her brain.
"You did what?? Clark come on in here, we're not going to get anywhere with you standing in the doorway!"
Now Chloe was concerned, Clark rarely would take the time to drive over in the family's truck to see her. In fact, she was just starting to get used to the papers at wherever she happened to be rustling about every which way from Clark speeding in to speak to her with whatever the latest crisis was.
"Thanks Chloe!! Oh, I almost forgot, I come bearing gifts – the Chloe Sullivan special, a double as a matter of fact!! Caroline just fixed it up for me, and I had her put in a couple of freshly made blueberry muffins."
As Chloe took the bag, she nearly lost her train of thought as she breathed in the sweet savory aroma of her coffee, and those wonderful glazed blueberry muffins!! Wow, Clark had really gone all out, and it was this thought that shocked her back to her train of thought as they sat down at the kitchen table. Chloe took a sip of her coffee and spoke.
"Okay Clark, spill it, you don't normally drive anywhere unless you are getting equipment for the farm, and unless the Talon is now stocking tractor parts I doubt you are here for that, what's going on?"
"Well, that's kind of a long story, and given how things went last time, I don't know if you'd be up to talking to me that long." Clark threw in his best 'sad puppy dog' to reinforce the solemness of what he was saying.
Clark's only weakness maybe meteor rocks (or as Chloe was learning to call it, kryptonite) but that "sad puppy dog" look that Clark could do oh-so-well was her weakness, I mean how can a person stay mad at a face like that!! Chloe felt herself crumble as she gave into his gaze.
"Okay, I forgive you Clark!! It's just, sometimes I think you get so wrapped up in worrying about your abilities that you forget what's going around you – especially when you make comments like you did the other day."
"I know Chloe, I'm really sorry about that!! In fact, I've spent a lot of time thinking about that, and it's one of the many reasons I came over here – there's actually a lot we need to talk about."
Chloe grinned at Clark's words, wondering for a moment if this was the same Clark that she had seen sulking around the farm for so long. Shaking her head, she knew she couldn't let herself go off on a tangent.
"Well, then it's a good thing you got me a double 'Chloe Sullivan Special' to go along with these muffins! So, let's start off with why you drove here instead of taking the 'Clark Kent Express'?
Relieved beyond words at Chloe's acceptance of his apology Clark began speaking.
"Well, you know Zod made a real mess of things, especially in Metropolis?"
Chloe nodded, which Clark took as a sign to continue; "My Mom and I saw the news last night showing a lot of it, as well as hearing reports of how many people were suspected injured among all the rubble. So, I took off from the farm to Metropolis…"
Clark continued to recant the events of the past evening and continued all the way up to when he had arrived there to speak to her. All the time he was speaking, it appeared to Clark that Chloe was soaking all this up like a sponge, well, she is a reporter, and that's what good reporters do – they take in all the details. As he finished this part of his story, Clark raised his eyebrows in a quizzical fashion – waiting for Chloe to respond.
"So, do you think you are back to normal now? Well, normal for you I mean?"
"I'm not really sure; I haven't really pushed myself to see whether or not I am back up to full strength."
"I don't get it Clark; you have expended energy multiple times in the past. I mean only a few months ago you rushed back to Smallville from the artic to catch up with a nuclear missile. This after being brought back from the dead for crying out loud!! Then you wound up having to disarm the warhead on the missile, toss it out into space, survive the shockwave from the blast, and live through the crash landing after making it back through the Earth's atmosphere. It just seems like all of that would have taken its toll with similar side effects to what you did while in Metropolis."
"I think I might have an explanation for you, and it goes back to when I had first come back to Metropolis looking for you at the Planet. I know I've taken up a lot of your time with just this part of the story, are you sure you have time now to hear the rest?"
Chloe went wide-eyed at Clark's question, and Clark was afraid he had stepped in it again (although he did not even know he had stepped in it the first time back at the Planet – you'd think a guy that lived on a farm would be better about knowing how to avoid stepping in it).
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? Clark, I guess you have kind of lost track of time with everything going on, but it is Saturday, I have the entire weekend free. And (snarking just a bit as she said the next part), fortunately for you, wisdom graced you with the forethought to bring me a double of my coffee fix."
Clark smiled his biggest smile at hearing the spark of good humor back in Chloe's voice. Even though she had accepted his apology earlier, it took hearing that familiar tone in her voice – and he even caught that glint in her eye she only seemed to get when she was intrigued with something. Clark began to notice that he was holding his glance at Chloe a little too long, and shook himself out of his current train of thought. Taking a deep breath he braced himself to start at the beginning.
"We have to go back to when I left you at the Planet to stop Zod." Clark blushed a little at remembering the circumstances between he and Chloe when he left the Planet, but continued on point with his story. "Well, I got back to the farm to find Lex waiting for me in the barn. We got into a fight that took its toll on the barn. I mean it has gotten beat up a lot over the years, but this really tore up the loft good and proper!! At any rate, I managed to subdue him long enough to draw the knife Jor-El gave me and I lunged at Lex's throat."
"But…I…well…I just couldn't do it Chloe. I knew I was supposed to kill Zod's vessel, but all I could see was Lex staring back at me with fear and confusion on his face – and as much as things have changed I could not bring myself to kill him. The next thing I know, I hear Milton Fine hollering something about me not being able to change the course of destiny. So, without any forethought I threw the knife at him. I saw the knife plunge right into his heart, well where his heart should have been, only to see the handle on the knife's handle begin glowing red in a strange pulsing manner."
"I walked over towards Fine, concluding that the glow was some kind of reaction to the blade reacting to his kryptonian technology. I was shocked to hear Fine begin laughing as he told me I had opened the portal for Zod. Then next thing I know, I am thrown back against the remains of the stairwell and I hear Lex screaming at the top of his lungs."
"A moment later I made it back onto my feet only to find Lex standing over me, with this weird looking grin on his face as he greeted me with, 'Hello Kal-El.'"
Clark continued to tell Chloe of his brief interaction with Zod before being sent into the Phantom Zone. He explained that once he was there, he found that all his abilities were gone and how he was being attacked by the phantoms there. Chloe sipped the last of her coffee as she listened with great interest to the events she had missed being a part of. It took Clark a little longer than he expected to tell Chloe about Raya, and all that had happened to ultimately lead to his escaping the Phantom Zone. Seeing that Chloe's interest was still intense, noting how she kept her gaze fixed on him as she slowly ate the last of her two blueberry muffins, Clark continued with his story. He recalled making a "big hit" as he put it when he made it back to Earth, returning to his barn just in time to keep a stairwell from crushing his Mom and Lionel, and then heading off to the Luthor mansion to face Zod.
"Okay, so this is where my explanation as to why I seemed to 'run out of gas' coming back from Metropolis this morning comes into play."
"Clark, I hate to interrupt you, but I was still asleep when you knocked on the door earlier. I know you're on a roll here and all but I need to take a break. I mean two mega-sized cups of coffee runs its course eventually, at least for us humans it does!! Besides that, I still need to get ready for the day."
"Oh, I am so sorry!! I wasn't even thinking things have been so crazy; it seems like an eternity since we've spoke, and my 'cliff notes' version of what's happened is turning more into a 'novel by Tolstoy'." Kicking himself for being so inconsiderate, he continued. "Take all the time you need, do you mind if I hang out here and wait for you? I mean…that is…well…if it's too awkward I can wait downstairs."
Chloe shook her head with a comforting grin as she leaned forward, taking Clark's hand as she said, "Clark, you're fine! I won't be all day – I don't take as long as Lois to get ready for goodness sakes!"
Feeling some of the uneasiness dissipate, Clark returned her smile as he leaned over to her, playfully wiping away some of the glaze from the blueberry muffins that had settled onto the corners of her mouth. Suddenly, he felt a little blush rising over his cheeks as he noted Chloe's bathrobe had loosened just a bit from her leaning towards him. Clark hadn't noticed this before but he now noted that there was a little 'more' of Chloe there than there had been a moment ago.
Although her nightgown kept everything covered, Clark was still caught off guard by this, and doing his best to remain a gentleman, quickly sat back in his chair. Chloe noted Clark's quick movement back in his chair but chalked it up to Clark being Clark.
"Okay, well I'm going to go listen to the news while you go get ready."
"Sounds good, just don't go taking off on me, I want to hear this theory of yours, (then Chloe laughed quietly to herself has she quoted one of her favorite news reporters growing up, Paul Harvey, as she said the last of her thought) and I want to know 'the rest of the story'".
"Don't worry Chloe, I'm not going anywhere." Clark said with a wink as Chloe got up.