Epilogue
"I thought it was a very productive day Senator, you received several accolades from the media, and the governor seemed impressed with the current situation from his tour." Lionel observed as the limousine pulled to a stop in front of the Kent farm.
"I'm just thankful no one was killed with everything that happened with Zod in Metropolis. I noticed there was no new report of the ongoing investigation at the Pentagon; I take it we are to conclude that 'no news is good news' from that?"
"I spoke with several of my contacts at the Pentagon after the governor concluded his remarks. They are still puzzled at how someone was able to break into the heavily secured bunker that contained the launch codes for our nuclear arsenal. When I pressed them for details on the intruder, they responded that they had none as the intruder had disabled all the audio and video surveillance equipment before entering the premises. With that being the case, at least I do not have to worry about them coming after Lex. Although he claims to not have any knowledge of what happened to him, but I don't know how truthful he's being.
"When I spoke to him on the phone before meeting up with you to leave Metropolis, he said the last thing he remembered was being out in a field with Lana when he was knocked unconscious by a bright beam of light. Still, you would do well to remind Clark to keep a watchful eye out for Lex, especially since my link with Jor-El does not seem to be as strong as it was."
"I'll be sure to let him know, are you saying your connection to Jor-El has been severed completely?"
"I'm not certain, I cannot feel his presence as strongly as I could before, although I can tell there is still an essence in some form of contact with me – though it takes a great deal of concentration to discern anything it is conveying. Perhaps now that the threat Zod posed has been quelled, Jor-El is bidding his time to see how events will unfold."
"Well, thank you for the ride to and from Metropolis, I certainly have plenty to work on before the next full senate assembly. I'd best be getting inside to see about supper, you're welcome to stay if you'd like."
"That's very kind of you, but there's still quite a bit I need to see to at Luthorcorp. Besides, I think it would be a smart idea to pay Lex a visit in person, and see if he has recalled anything of recent events. Good day Senator."
"Lionel, I told you to call me Martha, have a safe trip." Martha replied as she stepped out of the car. She was met with a grin and a wave from Lionel as she turned and shut the door.
As the limousine made its way up the driveway, Martha had a little shiver run through her spine. She was well aware what kind of a world the Luthors dealt in, and the prices they paid for doing so. However, with circumstances being as they were, Martha knew it was to her advantage (and more to the point, her son's advantage) to keep tabs on the Luthors through Lionel. Remembering her husband's words from a few years ago, "Maybe it's time we take a page from the Luthor's playbook."
That was back right after she quit her position as Lionel's assistant, once she discovered he was collecting information regarding Clark, and his unique heritage. Still, as Jonathan had pointed out, it was her being Lionel's assistant that led her to the discovery of Lionel being onto Clark. So now, especially with Lionel's connection to Jor-El, she knew it was more important than ever to stay on friendly terms with Lionel.
As Martha entered the kitchen, she took note of some muffled noises, and called out "Clark, I'm home."
Her announcement was met with silence; Martha figured that Clark probably had the radio on in his room – that would account for the muffled noises and not getting a reply from Clark. However, Martha could not keep her memory from drifting to all the times she had found Clark injured in the house, unable to reply to her calls, and decided to hurry around to check on him. She managed to stop herself dead in her tracks at the sight that she was met with in the family room – a sight that suddenly accounted for the muffled noises she heard upon entering the house.
There, lying on the sofa, were Chloe and her son – rather Clark was sprawled out on the sofa with Chloe draped over him. Somewhat embarrassed to walk-in on them like this, Martha carefully backed up around the corner to the kitchen. A smile crept across her face as she made it back into the kitchen, evidently Clark had taken her advice – and it had been met with a favorable outcome.
Still, Martha had seen the friendship between Chloe and her son blossoming towards the next level for some time now, though neither of them wanted to take that scary step of admitting it to the other. Glancing at the time, Martha realized that there were chores that Clark, for obvious reasons had forgotten about, needed to see to before supper. So, she cleared her throat as loudly as she could, and called out;
"CLARK, I'M BACK HOME, HOW DID THINGS GO TODAY WITH CHLOE?"
Clark and Chloe sprang up at the sound of Martha's voice. In fact, they sat up so quickly, that Chloe lost her balance – and although Clark managed to catch her from hitting the floor – her foot inadvertently landed on poor Shelby's tail. This elicited a loud yelp from the dog as he had been sleeping comfortably there in front of the fireplace.
"Sorry Shelby!" said Clark and Chloe in unison as the dog made his way quickly to the kitchen, apparently in fear of his tail being trampled again. They immediately began straightening themselves up as their clothes had become somewhat disheveled during the course of their make-out session. As they busied themselves with that, Clark quickly hollered out in response to his Mom;
"Hey Mom, I'm in the family room with Chloe, we've been having a pretty serious discussion about things."
Chloe couldn't help but give Clark one of her no kidding glances, followed by a sheepish grin as she said quietly, "discussion huh? Why didn't you warn me that your Mom was home? Did your impeccable hearing suffer a glitch?"
Clark quickly shot back one of his famous ear-to-ear Kent smiles in response to Chloe's playful query. "Sorry about that Chloe, I was sort of preoccupied." Then he reached out to take Chloe's hand as they both walked into the kitchen to greet Martha.
"A pretty serious discussion huh, I take it the conversation has been going well?" Martha asked, noting that both Clark and Chloe turned three shades of red at her comment.
Finding her voice first, Chloe quickly announced; "You could say that, Clark and I are in love!!"
Chloe gleamed with delight that threatened to outshine the sun itself, as she hurried over to give Martha a hug.
"That's wonderful news sweetheart! I'm so happy for you two!!" Martha said as they pulled back from the hug.
"Clark it's getting late and I saw coming in that the fencing on the west field needs mending, fresh hay needs to be put out in the stalls and Shelby's water dish needs to be cleaned out before supper. I'm heading up stairs to get changed and then I'll be down to get started fixing. Chloe, please stay and have supper with us, we need to celebrate!"
"Oh jeez, I'm sorry Mom!! I guess I got so caught up with….with what was going on that I completely forgot about my chores!! I'll get them taken care of right away." And with that, Clark was out the door in a flash.
"Thanks Martha, supper sounds wonderful. By the way, I've been meaning to ask, have you ever gotten used to him zipping out like that?"
Martha laughed as she started upstairs to get changed, "Well, you learn pretty quickly to not leave loose papers lying around, but other than that I still haven't gotten used to his quick entrances or exits. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Okay, thanks Martha!" Chloe smiled as she turned to look out at a blur as Clark went about getting his chores done.
Now convinced that his tail was safe since everyone was up, Shelby walked over and stood beside Chloe. Chloe looked down and posed the same question to Shelby, "How about you buddy, you ever get used to him zipping around like that?"
Shelby looked up at her, propped his ears up, turned his head slightly askew, and whined quizzically in response to her query. Chloe could not help but laugh at the canine's reaction and exclaimed, "That says it all Shelby, yes sir that says it all."
THE END
As my quasi-Uncle, Paul Harvey would say "...and now you know the rest of the story."