Chapter 9
Clark looked over at the dark haired woman while they walked. She had an innocent quality about her, something that signaled intelligence, but not only that. By the tilt of her chin and the posture of her back, she exuded strength. It scared him a little. Taking his eyes off her as she turned to stare at him, he fought hard to keep himself from blushing. She had the same innate quality to be able to make him feel awkward with a look. He hated that she was so much like Lois in that respect. Even if they had just met, every time she looked at him she seemed to be staring right into his soul.
"Something wrong Clark?" Candice asked.
He fidgeted in his coat. "No, everything's fine." They were walking down a bustling sidewalk, his hands still in his coat pockets. Both of them had been pretty quiet, but she had just ended the silence.
"Are you sure? You don't seem fine."
"No, I'm good." He said again. He kept his eyes to the ground in front of him, knowing full well that her piercing blue eyes were fixated on him.
She smiled at his uneasiness. He acted like a scared child, but to her she found it incredibly sweet. "We're here." She said suddenly, watching him walk past the entrance. She continued to smile as he stopped abruptly and gave her a sheepish grin.
"Oh." He replied, looking at her and then to the ground as he went towards her. He held the door for her as she let go of it. When she smiled a thank you, he couldn't help but grin back. He let go of the door and entered the sports bar with her. Not bothering to see what the name of place was, he let the door close behind him.
The place was large, littered with close to a hundred people. Large televisions were littered everywhere as he continued his walking, still following where she was going. She looked back over her shoulder and threw him a soft smile, her teeth showing brightly. He grinned back, a slight flutter in his stomach making itself known. His stomach suddenly threw a wrench into everything that was happening. "Oh no." He said with a sigh, his hand going instinctively through his hair. The sudden urge to run overcame him, but he steeled himself and continued to a back corner with her. The place was quite full, but with his large frame he was given a lot of leeway.
She stopped at a table and he walked up beside her, his hands going into his dark jean pockets. There were four women sitting in a booth around an oval table, each one of them clearly enjoying a royalty of liquor.
"Girls." Candice said with a smirk.
"Oh, Candice!" An obviously drunk blond said in excitement. "I thought you weren't going to be back for a while?"
"I got interrupted." She said softly, her eyes trailing to the large man beside her.
"Don't tell me he caught you?" The blond asked with a sloppy grin.
Clark looked to the drunken women, then to Candice. "I thought you said you've never done that before?"
"I lied." She grinned.
Clark frowned at her. He wasn't the picture of honesty himself, but he still didn't like being lied too.
Seeing him tighten up and glare at her, she rested a hand on his arm. He flinched, but gave in to her touch. "I'm sorry, you were a stranger and I didn't want to freak you too much by telling you I lay naked a night all the time."
"All the time?" He asked with a slight rising of his eyebrows.
"As much as I can." When his eyes went wide, she removed her hand and grinned. "I told you before that it's quite invigorating."
"I guess so." Clark replied, his eyes going from her and slyly drifting towards the other women at the table. Her friends were ogling him, their shifty and drunk eyes roaming his body. Being uncomfortable around one woman was enough, but now that there were four others staring, he wanted to speed away faster than lightning.
"Why don't you two sit down?" Another blonder girl said.
"I uh-." But before he could refuse, two of Candice's friends shoved out of the booth and threw him into the middle, then wiggled themselves back in. Clark gulped as he stared at Candice, who was trying desperately to hide her grin. "I don't know-I-uh-help." He asked pleadingly, staring at the dark haired woman who was making no effort to hide her mirth.
"Can I get you something to drink?" Candice asked, letting her friends fret over him as he sat in the middle. His nervousness was too funny not to laugh. He looked like a man whose life was about to come to an end.
Clark looked at the four drunk women who were all staring at him, he swallowed tightly and glanced back to Candice. "Beer." He said simply, hoping they would all stop glancing if in fact he started drinking with them. As soon as Candice left, the four women around him started asking questions, each one of them un-comprehendible because of their drunken state, or the fact that they drowned out his senses and put him in a state of confusion. The world began to spin as he tried desperately to grab a hold of the table.
He was suddenly snapped out of the spin with a loud clank. Focusing his eyes, he saw a beer in front of him. Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed it and took a long draught, the foaming and bitter taste correcting the dryness that had been in place. Setting down the half empty bottle, he left out a long breath as he watched Candice sit down at the far end of the semi circle bench. She gave him a helpless grin, and he mouthed. "Why?" She simply shrugged, a new smile etching her features. Groaning in discomfort, he grabbed the beer and finished in record time. It was one of those moments where he wished his tolerance to alcohol didn't exist.
Suddenly he felt a hand grip his inner thigh, his eyes snapping open wildly and his own clench fisting. Problem was it was the same hand with the beer bottle in it. Glass went flying outwards as the bottle shattered in his grip, the remaining liquid spilling out onto the table and drenching his hand. The hand on his thigh instantly disappeared and all voices went silent.
Candice stared at the scene before her. On the table were pieces of the once well together bottle and a few small pieces were still resting in his hand as he stared at her with wide eyes. Blinking in confusion, she quickly called over to a waitress. Instructing her that they needed a towel to clean up, she stood to let the others get out. Her eyes never left Clark though, his blue-green orbs fixed solely on hers. She had no idea why he was uninjured, but the look on his face said something about it. As she helped her friends out of the booth, she smiled nervously as he got out. He quickly brushed past her and walked briskly towards the door. It took her a few seconds to respond from the shock of what had just happened, but she finally managed to work her way after him.
Clark pushed himself out the door and looked left to right. There were too many people around to speed away, and he resigned to heading back to the hotel. He was almost running as he felt a hand tug on his sleeve.
"Clark?"
He turned around and was met with two very blue, very round eyes. "Candice!" He exclaimed loudly.
"Are you okay?" She asked with a frown.
He could tell she was clearly concerned, but he didn't feel like talking. "Yeah." He went to pull from her grasp, but her grip was surprisingly strong. He cleared his throat and finally wrenched his sleeve from her grasp. "I have to go."
"Clark!" She called after him as he began to walk away. She quickly galloped after him and swung herself in front of him.
He came to a sliding halt as she positioned herself in front of him, her hair covering the left side of her face as she looked up at him. She seemed concerned, but deep within her eyes there was something else, something that hinted at understanding. "I said I should get going." He tried to push her aside softly, but she grabbed his coat collar and shoved him into a small alley. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" He asked. He would have struggled with her, but he wasn't in the mood.
Pushing him up against a brick wall, she let go of his coat and looked to her left and then to her right. Backing up a bit, she stared at him. He was looking at her pointedly, his eyebrows arched deeply in confusion. "It's okay Clark." She assured him.
"What are you saying?" He asked.
She ignored him and started in with her own questions. "What happened?"
He frowned even deeper as she stared at him. "I think you saw what happened. I broke a beer bottle."
She rolled her eyes. "I saw that, but I'm confused as to how you're not hurt." She grabbed his hand to inspect it, but he quickly pulled it from her grasp. When she went for it again, she gripped it hard and pulled it to her eyes. She only got a one second viewing as he ripped it from her again. Her eyes went wide as she stared into his. No one was stronger than her. "How?" She fumbled with her words.
"How what?" He asked in confusion. She seemed strong, but he knew he was stronger.
"How did you rip your hand away from mine? No one is stronger than I am."
He cocked an eyebrow at her words. Realization slammed into him as he leaned forward. She was obviously afraid of him, her recent boldness and warm nature disappearing in an instant. "What are you?" He hissed.
"I-I." She stammered. Things were getting heated and she didn't want to risk revealing herself. "I'm nobody." She said.
Clark sneered and gripped her hand as she tried to move away. She struggled in his grasp, but he held strong. No matter what strength she possessed, he was stronger. The more she began to struggle, the more he gripped harder. It was his turn to be forceful. Pushing her hand up against the opposite wall of the alley, his looked right at her. "What are you?"
She struggled as hard as she could, but she was no match for him overwhelming strength. "I could ask you the same thing." She snapped back, her eyes staring lethally at his.
"You first." He offered, his sneer still present as he got closer to her to make her feel uncomfortable. She hunkered under his height, her own six feet quickly shrinking to five as he puffed out his chest in determination. She could be a Zoner for all he knew.
She had to tell him. He wasn't going to let her go unless she did. "I'm from Smallville." She said quickly. When she saw his eyes go wide and soften, she finally took the chance to rip her arm from his steel grasp.
"What?" He asked in complete confusion. He let his guard slip, but he quickly reloaded and looked back at her with his cold glare was again. "Explain."
She gulped. Her parents had told her never to reveal her powers because in the end she knew it could be her downfall, but the man in front of her wasn't normal either. Maybe just maybe he was someone she could trust. He put on a good show of being a sweet and sincere man, but she couldn't be sure if he really was. When she didn't answer, he stepped closer, her eyes trailing to his large chest and back up to his eyes. "I grew up in Smallville, but moved soon after the meteor shower."
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" He inquired, still not relenting on his closeness.
"I couldn't risk letting my secret slip." She said with a shaky voice. She knew exactly what kind of people had lived in Smallville, and she knew that many people had been affected by the meteor shower.
"Secret?" He asked.
"I was affected by the meteor showers like you were."
Clark frowned suddenly, letting his guard finally fall by the wayside. "I wasn't affected by the meteors."
Her eyes squinted, and she took the chance to be bold. "You weren't?"
"No."
"Care to explain that to me?" She was certain he had to be affected. He was from Smallville after all.
"First you explain to me how you were affected, and then maybe I'll tell you." He shoved his hands into his coat pockets as he took a step back to give her room.
She mimicked him by sticking her hands in her white winter vest. She looked around to see that they were the only ones in the dark alley. "You can't tell anyone." She said with a grave voice.
Clark smiled at her to relieve her tension. "I'm pretty good at keeping secrets."
When he smiled, she melted and let all her worries fall away. "It all started with the meteor shower." She began. When he nodded, she continued. "I was in our backyard on our swing set when the first meteors began to fall." She paused for a second and took a deep breath. It was the first time in her life that she was willingly exposing herself. "I ran for the house, but a shockwave from the first strike to our house threw me back towards the swings. I was knocked unconscious from hitting my head."
Clark listened to her pained words, her voice shaking and soft. "Is that all you remember?" He asked.
She shook her head and leaned up against the brick wall beside him. "No."
"What happened?" When she looked like she was going to say anything more, he reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "It's okay Candice."
Wiping away a surprising tear, she nodded. "I know, but it's just that it's still painful to talk about it."
"You don't have to." He said quickly.
She smiled at him, her blue eyes sparkling in the dark alley. "So you really are a sweet guy. I thought you were just hiding behind that cloak of uneasiness." When he gave her a sheepish grin and a shrug, she chuckled softly and continued her explanation. "When I woke up, I was trapped under a huge meteor rock. It was night time, the moon was out."
"What about your parents?" He asked suddenly.
"Killed."
"I'm sorry." Clark said hurriedly. "I didn't mean to-."
"It's fine." She cut him off. "A larger meteor crashed into our house, killing them instantly." He was looking at her sadly, and she surprisingly felt safe. "Like I said, it was night, and I was trapped underneath a large rock. My legs were broken, and I couldn't recall how many ribs were broken, but I don't think I've ever been in so much pain."
Clark didn't know what to do. She had gone through something overly traumatic, but he was unable to find a way to comfort her. The silence soon ended as she continued.
"I have trouble finding words too." She said with a tight smile. He grinned back helplessly. "Once the moon settled over me, the light of it shone through the green meteor rock and onto me. Suddenly this warmth enveloped me. It was as if I was looking at the moon through a diamond, but once the hundreds of moons in my vision came into focus, the warmth was quickly replaced by coldness. After a few seconds, my body's bones began to realign themselves, setting each one back into place. That was quite possibly more painful that being crushed, but once everything was back in place, I felt great."
Clark stared at her, his jaw hanging lightly as he gaped. When she looked directly at him, he quickly snapped it shut and said. "And then you lifted the meteor off yourself?"
Her eyes went wide at his question. "How do you know that?"
He shrugged. "It's obvious enough." He smiled at her. She grinned back at him.
"So, as I was saying. I lifted the rock off of myself. After that everything became a blur. Firstly I looked for my parents." She paused in remembrance for a second. "Someone found me wandering the streets and took me to the hospital because I was covered in blood. After they found nothing wrong with me, they placed me in social services. I spent a year in a foster home before I was adopted by a family in Granville."
"But you didn't stay, did you?"
She liked how perceptive he was. "No, I didn't. My adopted parents found out the strength I had gained from the meteors. It was surprising to me too; I was only five at the time." Smiling wide, she took her arms out of her pockets and rubbed her hands together for warmth. "My new family accepted that I was different, but they thought it was best that we move out of state. We packed up and moved to just outside New York City. The move was good for all of us."
Seeing that she was picking her spirits up at the mention of her adopted parents, he asked. "What do mean it was good?"
"Their marriage began to crumble when they found out about my strength, but as soon as we moved away, things between them got so much better. After losing my real parents, I felt like I had finally found a replacement. I know now that no one could replace my real parents, but they loved me like a daughter, and I loved them back."
"I'm glad." Clark said softly, getting caught up in her happiness. He was in the same position as her. He had been adopted by a loving couple and raised as their own. "How did you handle growing up with such strength?" He asked politely.
"I was hard sometimes, but my parents always kept me from getting angry or upset. I was a popular girl at school, so no one ever teased me. Upside of looking attractive I guess."
Clark frowned suddenly. "Explain to me the lying naked on the picnic table in the moonlight. I'm guessing you weren't doing that just for the fresh air."
"Not really." She said with a sly grin. "I wasn't feeling very well today. The girls and I had some seafood at the hotel restaurant for lunch." When he raised an eyebrow in her direction, she continued. "When I lie in the moonlight I can get my body to heal. Once when I was fifteen, I fell out of a tree from twenty feet up. Take it, I'm strong and all, but I'm not invincible. I bent my arm sideways at the elbow."
"Ouch." Clark said, visioning the injury.
"Yes." She laughed. "It hurt a lot, but it was night time and while I was lying on the ground, the moon was out. After a few seconds, the warmth from when my bones corrected when I was younger, came back over me. It took maybe ten seconds and I was healed, my elbow back in its right place."
"Wow." He exclaimed.
"That's what I said to. After a few months I experimented with what lying in the moonlight would do to me if I wasn't injured. I found out that my strength would increase two fold what it was, and last for days."
Clark was still shocked, but he was intrigued to say the least. "And the naked part?"
She got a little red in embarrassment. "I experimented with that in college. I found that my strength would increase almost ten fold if I was completely naked. That's why you found me like that. I heal even faster when I'm naked."
"Do you have to be still for the moonlight to work?"
"Yes. That's the only drawback I've found so far, but I haven't been in a spot where I needed to gain back any strength while on the move."
Clark shook his head in utter amazement. He thought all the freaks from Smallville actually lived there, but he was wrong. Wait, he was wrong on two accounts. She wasn't a freak; she was just different, like him.
She could tell he was pondering something over, his eyes clouding. "What about you?" She asked, ripping him out of his inner thoughts. "You said you weren't affected by the meteors. Care to explain?"
Clark sighed and leaned back against the opposite wall. "I was born this way."
"Really?"
"Yes."
He was being evasive about something. There was much more to it, she could tell, but he wasn't elaborating. "I told you the truth, can't you?"
"It's hard." He admitted. "All the people with abilities from Smallville turn out to be either evil or insane."
She laughed at him. "Do I look like I'm evil or insane?"
"Well, before you told me everything, I thought so. I don't know anyone else who lies naked in the moonlight. I would usually classify that as a little insane."
Her laughter echoed of the small alley walls. "I don't blame you." When he smiled back, pushing further. "Tell me some more."
"I was adopted like you." He said.
"How old were you?"
"Three or four I believe." When she looked at him with wide and expecting eyes, he had to continue. "I can't remember that far back, but it was around the day of the meteor shower." He slapped himself mentally for saying that much. He didn't know if he could trust her, especially with the truth. If she knew that he was the peripheral cause for her parent's death, she might get upset and try to hurt him.
"There's more, isn't there?" She asked, walking up to him.
Clark stared into her blue eyes, her penetrating blue eyes. They screamed for knowledge. He took a leap of faith. If she didn't know his weakness, she couldn't hurt him. "I camw the day of the meteor showers actually."
"What are you saying?" She asked with a frown.
"I came with it. My ship crashed into a field at the same time. The meteors disguised arrival." He looked at her pleadingly. He could tell by her wide eyes she understood what he meant.
Her eyes traveled down his chest and to his feet. When her eyes came into contact with his again, she let her jaw drop in awe. "You're not from earth?" She squeaked. When he shook his head and smiled helplessly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small ring. Opening her hand, she looked at the green band. "So you came with these?" She asked in disbelief. Her eyes went wide as he suddenly stepped back and slammed into the wall. He fell to the ground in pain, his face contorting strangely and his eyes bulging. "What?" She asked in fright.
"Put away the ring." He said in desperation, trying hard to raise his voice high enough so that she could see him.
She did as he requested and slipped it back into her jean pocket. She watched as he visibly relaxed. Grabbing him by the arm, she helped him to his feet. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Clark adjusted his leather coat and rubbed his right temple. "The meteor rocks make me sick."
"How?" She asked.
"They're pieces of my home world, and they are incredibly dangerous to me."
She frowned. "That must be hard, since Smallville is littered with this stuff."
Clark finally stood straight and said. "I manage."
She grinned at his poor attempt at humor. "I can see that." When he shrugged, she smiled even wider. "So, where are you exactly from?"
"Krypton."
"Where?" She asked in complete confusion.
Clark gave her a helpless look. "I don't know where exactly. I just know I came from a planet named Krypton."
"What about your strength, do all of you people from Krypton posses them." When his face became sour, she laid a hand on his arm. "What is it?"
"I'm the last of Krypton. None other than me exist in the universe."
"What?"
Clark sighed as he shook his arm free and turned his back to her. "I am the last son of Krypton, or so I've been told. None others exist."
Candice looked at his back with sad eyes. He was alone in the world. "How did you get to earth then?"
Clark walked a little farther into the alley. He had used his hearing to make sure no one else was listing in on them. He scanned the walls for any openings or recording devices. He could never be too careful.
"Clark?"
"My mother and father sent me here just before our planet was destroyed." He turned around to face her. She was closer than he thought. She had followed him on his little stroll down the alley.
"I'm sorry Clark." She said softly.
"About what?" He asked.
"That you're so alone. I know how you feel. Even though I have my friends, they wouldn't understand what I possess. No one does. My parents do, but that's different. I think you know that."
"I do." He replied. "I have one friend who knows my secret, and she's been a great help, but still, I will always feel alone." He didn't know why he was opening up to her, but it felt so good that he couldn't help himself. She was doing the same thing, and he knew she had been incredibly scared at telling him, but she looked calm now.
"Is that why you act all meek and scared around everyone?" He nodded, and she smiled. "I know your pain Clark." She softly put a hand on his arm. "It's okay to be scared Clark, I know what people would do if they found out. I won't tell anyone if you do the same for me."
Clark grinned at her. "I believe I already said that I wouldn't. I don't break promises." She let go of his arm and stared deeply at him.
"Is this why you have trouble being around this woman that is back at the hotel." She knew this was a tender subject, but he seemed as if he needed to get it off his chest.
Clark swallowed hard and nodded. He didn't know how much he should tell her, but the truth was the woman knew his secret, and in the end that was more heavy than his petty relationship problems. "It's not the root of it, but it complicates everything."
"You said something about wanting to prove yourself to her. What if you were to show her your strength, she would definitely see you in a different light."
"I think she wouldn't have a problem with the strength and my other abilities, but the fact that I'm from another planet might be a problem."
"Wait." She said suddenly, holding up her hand. "Other abilities?"
"Yeah." He replied, looking away sheepishly.
"Care to elaborate?" She asked with a sly grin.
Clark backed away from her a little. "I didn't need to see you naked earlier. If I wanted I could do that anytime I wanted." When she frowned, he elaborated. "I can see through things." He focused his eyes on the alley wall and peered into the bar. "Right now your friends are at the bar drinking heavily. The blond one is practically sucking on a stranger's neck."
Her eyes went wide at his words. That was Marissa alright. Laughing and shaking her head, she said. "I believe you."
"There's more."
"More?" She asked in wonder.
"Yes." Her eyes were wider than golf balls as she seemingly hung on his every word. "I can hear what they're saying too.
"Super hearing too?" She asked in amazement. He nodded back to her. "Anything else?"
Clark nodded and said. "My breath can knock over trees, and my eyes shoot fire." He smiled sheepishly as she stared in wonder.
"This person back at the hotel, what's her name?"
Surprised with her sudden question, he blinked and frowned. She continued to stare at him until he told her. "Lois."
Candice pondered the name. "What would Lois do if you showed her all these abilities?"
Clark thought about it for a second. A grin split his features, but it quickly disappeared a second later. "She would be surprised, but in the end I think she'd find a way to make fun of me somehow."
Shaking her head, she got close to him and pushed him up against the wall of the alley. Craning her neck up just a little, her height close to his, she put a hand to his chest. "You said you came along for your other friends, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun either."
"What?" He asked, pushing himself up against the wall even tighter as she leaned into him.
"This Lois is ruining your vacation; don't you think you should be enjoying yourself?" She took a giant leap at being this bold. After everything they had just found out about one another, she needed to take a chance. She was selfish, but she knew she couldn't live with herself if she didn't take that leap.
"I-uh-I don't know." He said haltingly.
She gauged his uneasiness and put her other hand on his chest. "Do you love her?"
Clark swallowed hard as he kept his eyes on hers. "I think so."
Those were the words she wanted to here. He didn't say yes, instead he said he thought so. That meant there was lingering doubts, and in her mind that meant good things for her. "You wouldn't have hesitated if you did."
Clark stared in fright, but her words were true. All the lingering doubts about whether or not Lois could handle his secret, and whether or not she would accept him for who he was, flooded his mind. Lana had proven that a woman without powers couldn't handle him, and Alicia had proven how happy he could be with a woman who shared his feeling of loneliness. Then there was Lois. She was so confusing that he didn't know what to make of her. One moment he thought she could handle the truth, but other moments he thought about how she could crush him by despising him. There was a woman in front of him that understood his pain and seemed attracted to him. He couldn't lie to himself; he was attracted to her too. She was incredibly sexy, her sleek black hair and her bright blue eyes adding to her exquisite features. He didn't know what to do.
She softly leaned up and pressed her lips to his. She barely touched them, but she could feel the heat of his breath bathing her tender lips.
His eyes closed instinctively as her soft touch. He was still confused, but he indulged her by pressing himself a little harder against her mouth. It screamed to him that it was all wrong, but in the back of his mind he knew he owed nothing to Lois. Sure, it was his fault to that they were at a weird place because of his stubbornness, but he felt that she too that she played an even larger part. Was it so wrong to want to be loved by someone unconditionally? Lois hadn't shown that she could do that. She had told him she loved him, but could she possibly love him knowing the truth? Without being able to put an answer to that question, he finally made his decision. He broke the soft kiss.
"What?" She asked, pouting slightly as he pulled back.
"You're right." He said, staring deep into her eyes.
"Right about what?" She asked hazily, her emotions caught up in the moment.
"I wouldn't have hesitated if I was sure."
"That's what I thought." She replied with a devilish grin. Quickly capturing his lips again, she lost herself in the taste of his mouth.
Clark moaned into her lips, his eyes closing as he placed a hand on her back to pull her tighter to him. He was getting lost in her touch, but his eyes suddenly snapped open as his mind screamed 'No!'