Chapter 2

Memories

Thursday just after noon - The Talon

Pete and Clark made their way out of the Talon and out onto the sidewalk. As they strolled along, Pete waited patiently for Clark to collect this thoughts.

This has got to be the mother lode of all Clark stories, Pete thought. I mean, he said Lana died and he never jokes around about Lana…at least he didn't when we were in school together.

They had walked past several businesses before Clark asked, "How much did anyone tell you about what happened during senior year at Smallville High?"

"Chloe was…gone before I came back to Smallville to live," Pete said, "otherwise, I'd know the details of senior year, chapter and verse. While that year is not Lana's favorite subject, she did talk about someone I know who led the football team to a state championship that year, even though he'd never so much as been on the team before that season." Looking over at Clark, Pete asked, "How'd you talk your dad into that anyway?"

"Football? I joined the team first and told him about it later. As they say, 'It is easier to ask forgiveness than it is to gain permission.'"

"Who signed your permission slip?"

Clark shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably, and said, "I did."

"Clark Kent, defender of truth and justice, the kid that wouldn't let me copy off of his tests in class, forged his dad's signature? Oh man! Did I ever miss out senior year!"

"There's a lot of things you missed out on, like: thinking Chloe was dead all summer long, Lana moving to Paris to study art, and me spending my summer vacation with Jor-El. All that was before school even started in the fall."

Pete stopped in his tracks, a look of amazement on his face. A couple of steps further up the sidewalk, Clark stopped, turned back to his friend, and waited. When Pete's mental gears slipped back into place, he said, "Lana, as a storyteller, leaves a lot to be desired…but, what does any of this have to do with Lana dying?"

"It doesn't, really, I just got sidetracked by the football question. What does relate to her dying is that near the end of senior year, just after prom, Lana and I started dating, really dating, for the first time…"

"All right!" Pete said. "My man finally got his schwerve on!"

Clark could not help but smile as Pete Ross, Congressman from the 6th District in Kansas morphed into Pete Ross, teenager. Clark waited for Pete's enthusiasm to run its course before continuing, "…and as we got closer, Lana still wanted the answers to the questions she'd been asking ever since I saved her from the tornado."

"Oh man, talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place!"

"Yeah." Clark threw his empty coffee cup in a public trash can, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and said, "I'd always worried about her reaction. How would she take the news? That's why I never told her; I thought I would lose her if I came clean." Clark pulled one hand out of his pocket and ran it through his hair. "When it became clear that I was going to lose her if I didn't tell her, that made my choice for me…I went for it."

"What did she say? Did you ambush her with it like you did me?"

Clark and Pete crossed the street and headed back in the direction of the Talon before Clark answered. "I was in the second semester at Central Kansas A&M, during freshman year, and we'd been having some problems in our relationship for a while. It was January, and I invited her over to the loft, preparatory to going over to the caves. When she showed up, I told her everything. I showed her the caves, including a secret room you hadn't seen yet, and used a transportation device to send us to my Fortress of Solitude in the arctic." Clark snuck a look at Pete to see how he was taking all of this. "Come to think of it, that's something else you haven't seen…man, you did miss a lot senior year. Remind me and I'll take you for a visit sometime."

"Wait, you mean to tell me you found this secret room in the caves and this secret hideaway…wherever it is…all during senior year?"

"Yeah. What else exciting happened that year?" Clark stopped and put his chin in his right hand and braced his right elbow with his left hand as he pretended to think deeply. "I know. I visited China with Lana to chase after her boyfriend and Lex on a Luthor Corp jet supplied by Lionel Luthor, of all people, all to find a Kryptonian crystal of knowledge. Also, I met Chloe's obnoxious cousin Lois, who's now my writing partner at the Planet. Alicia came back from Belle Reve and I dated her for a brief time before she was murdered, but before she died, she arranged for Chloe to see me use my abilities. Finally, in a development even you might have a hard time swallowing, Lana was possessed by the spirit of a 16th century French witch."

After trying to absorb this onslaught of information, Pete asked, "You don't know how to parcel out big surprises in small, easily digestible portions, do you?" Shaking his head in rueful amazement, Pete said, "You aren't even back in town for a day, and this place is back to being Weirdo Central. I'm not even sure which part of that list of impossibilities to respond to first."

Clark held up a hand in caution and said, "Don't. I have to finish my story and if you start in on the other stuff, I'll never get to." The two friends went back to walking down the sidewalk before Clark said, "Anyway. Once I got Lana to the Fortress, I told her I was from another planet. Then, right in front of her eyes, I created a diamond engagement ring, got down on my knee, and proposed."

"What did she say?"

"About what?"

"About all of it you numbskull!" Pete said. "You dropped an H-Bomb of a story on her and followed it up with a marriage proposal. Those are two life-altering events, back-to-back. I want to know about everything!"

"I told her I didn't want her to say anything right then, because I had laid too much on her all at once and she needed time to think about it. Later that day, she came to meet me at the house before we went to Dad's watch party at the Talon. She wasn't supposed to be there because we were going to meet at the Talon, but she wanted to tell me her decision without crowds of people around."

Thoughts of that sublime moment nineteen years later, still had the power to make Clark smile, and smile he did.

"That was the best moment of my life, Pete. Nothing before or since can possibly compare to the moment I heard Lana say she would marry me. To know that she knew everything there was to know about me and still accepted me, still loved me…"

Clark basked in the warmth of that memory until tears began to trickle down his cheeks as thoughts of what were collided with dreams of what might have been. "We would have been the best couple, Pete. At that moment, everything I had belonged to her. Every hope, every dream…all I ever wanted to be had been laid at her feet."

A few sniffles issued forth as Clark tried to regain his emotional balance. "We went to the party and had just watched a local newscaster announce Dad's victory when Lana got a call. Lex was drunk and angry over losing to Dad, so she went out to the mansion to see how he was doing. He saw the engagement ring and tumbled to the fact that Lana knew all about me. She drove away from him, but he chased her and distracted her, right into the path of an oncoming school bus. I was on the phone with her when it happened, and could hear the crunch of metal. I ran like never before, Pete, and was at the accident site in seconds but it was too late. Lana had been thrown from her SUV. She was lying on the highway with a pool of blood surrounding her body. She was dead."

His tears started in earnest now, rolling down his face like a river at flood stage, and sobs were coming uncontrollably from his mouth. Pete wrapped his old friend in a bearhug and waited. The sidewalks were mostly empty at this time of day and whatever people were out gave Clark and Pete a wide berth.

When Pete finally relaxed his hold, they went back to walking, and Clark continued his story, saying, "I went to the Fortress and begged Jor-El to let me fix it. I knew there had to be a way to go back and keep her safe. Jor-El showed me how to go back in time, just one day back, so I'd be able to set things right.

"This time, instead of telling Lana everything, I turned her away, sure that if she didn't learn about me, Lex would never chase after her and she wouldn't die in the wreck. But, despite me sacrificing our relationship, it almost happened again. Lana visited Lex that night, and something happened. She ran from him and he chased after her just as before. Knowing what was about to happen, I managed to get to the bus just in time to slow it. Lana barely missed being smashed. In that moment, it was all worth it. It had worked! Lana was safe. Giving up our life together was a small price for me to pay to keep her safe."

Pete wondered how to phrase the question that was percolating in his mind. "Umm…Clark?" Pete asked. "Why didn't you just go back in time, tell her everything, and then stop the wreck? That way, you could have saved Lana and maintained your relationship at the same time."

"I wasn't just saving Lana from that danger, Pete. I was saving her from every future danger that might come to her from knowing my secret. You, of all people, ought to know the risks involved with keeping my secret. You almost died twice. How much more danger would my wife have been in?"

"No one's after you now, are they?"

"No. With the Luthors dead and me being able to use my abilities as, well…I assume you know about Superman?"

"Oh yeah," Pete said, "that grease you put in your hair couldn't fool me."

"Well, with me being able to use my abilities as Superman, no one pays any attention to mild-mannered Clark Kent, so I get a free ride these days."

"Everyone loves Supes. They think you're the best."

"I hope they do, Pete. I hope they do." Clark kicked at a pebble on the sidewalk, and said, "Given what that spandex-wearing do-gooder has cost me, someone better be enjoying the show."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've been Superman for the better part of twelve years now and I'm tired. Tired of the twenty-hour workdays between the Planet and being Superman. Tired of people who have come to expect me to be there for them like I owe it to them. Tired of coming home to a beautiful apartment, full of the best furnishings and empty of the one thing I want, the one thing I need."

"And that is…?" Pete asked.

"Someone to share my life with, someone who wants to knows the little details of the Clark side of my life, someone who likes and admires Superman, but loves Clark Kent with all of her heart. What I need, Pete, is love."

Suddenly feeling crowded on the city sidewalk as they wandered back to the vicinity of the Talon, Clark said, "Let's go drive somewhere, Pete. I need to get out of here for a while."

"Sure, no problem. You'll have to drive, though. My wife dropped me off in the hopes I'd be able to talk you into joining us for dinner." Scanning the vehicles lining the sides of the street, Pete asked, "Which truck is yours?"

Clark grinned as he reached into his pocket for the key fob. He pressed the button for auto-start and watched Pete's face as the black Audi A8 rumbled to life. "The Audi's mine."

Pete let out a low whistle of appreciation and said, "Proof positive that you've changed."

"A little bit, but not where it counts." Tapping his chest, Clark said, "In here, I'm still the Clark you remember."

The two friends drove off together and spent the rest of the day, and well into the evening, catching up on each other's life, trying to make up twenty-years' separation in one night's time.