Chapter 21
Restrained
Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Chloe dictated before she grabbed onto Clark. Danny teleported them all into the barn loft, and Chloe instantly ran down the steps and back towards the house. Rubbing his temples Danny followed Chloe, knowing that he needed to check on Lois and Aunt Martha before he could try to solve this mess. Danny sighed, unsure of whether his rapidly growing headache was from teleporting a Kryptonian or from the severe amount of pressure he was under.
Line Break
Chloe eyed the dark haired boy in the Kent kitchen. Lois was warily watching the unconscious forms of both Clark and Mrs Kent from the opposite side of the kitchen counter. Danny had laid the two out in the living room on the sofa, but Lois didn't want to be around Mrs Kent any longer than she had to be. Chloe was worried; both Mrs K and Clark were still hypnotised, and both had been given instructions to kill. Then there was Lex Luthor, who was probably still unconscious at the Mansion. He had been given the instruction to kill her and Danny specifically. Chloe was genuinely scared of any of them waking up. It wasn't as if any of them were bulletproof.
"Okay, so what are we gonna do?" Lois asked, finally breaking the silence that had mounted in the house.
"'We' are gonna do nothing." Danny replied firmly. "You are going home. I can't promise that this'll be fixed by the time Aunt Martha wakes up, and you are not staying here with that risk." Danny looked Lois firmly in the eye. To Chloe it looked like Lois was about to argue, but instead she sent a furtive glance towards Mrs K before nodding. Lois set the ice pack aside and headed out the front door. Chloe heard the crunch of gravel as her car pulled away.
Chloe was more than a little frustrated with Danny at the moment. He had done so many confusing things in the past day that it left Chloe's head spinning. But there were bigger concerns just now. Snapping to face him she demanded "What's the plan then?"
Chloe was shocked as she saw Danny just give up, banging his head against the tabletop. A muffled "I don't know" came up from the wood. It was the first time she'd seen Danny look so... tired. As if the weight on his shoulders had suddenly become too much to bear. She was instantly reminded of Clark just a few months ago when Jon had died. Before he became angry he had seemed like this. Chloe was about to reach out to comfort him when he sat up, rubbing his temples. He shook his head in clear frustration before he teleported out.
Chloe was about to call out to him, since it really wasn't a good time for a game of Marco Polo, but he came back with the old leather bound book in his hands. He sat back at the table, flicking through the pages to the one with the picture of the turquoise on it. Danny's eyes scanned through the Latin on the page and he frowned again. "I hate this." Danny murmured, more to himself than anything else.
"What's wrong?" Chloe asked.
Danny slammed the book shut. "There's only two ways that I can see to get rid of the hypnotism. First is kill Simone, second is destroying the Turquoise."
"No problem then; we just destroy the Turquoise." Chloe replied with an easy shrug.
"No." Danny stated firmly. "That's not an option. Not for me."
"Okay, I'll bite. Why isn't that an option for you?" Chloe demanded. She thought she heard something about being sentenced to the 'Phantom Zone' if he did.
Louder Danny replied. "The Turquoise isn't just a pretty piece of jewellery. It was made by an alchemist over eight hundred years ago, but he used dark magic to do it. Long story short to make the stone the alchemist split the... soul of a ghost into four." The way Danny said 'soul' was strained. "One of the fragments went into the Turquoise. That's the part that is linked to overshadowing, which is why the Turquoise in essence controls people." Danny paused for a moment, pulling the Turquoise out from his pocket and put it on the table. Chloe was beginning to see why he was so reticent to destroy it. From the first time Chloe had met Phantom it was obvious that Danny was at least sympathetic towards ghosts.
"I won't just destroy it." Danny finished, looking between Chloe and the book. His eyes were pleading, as though he was begging her for understanding. Chloe sighed, conceding the point.
"That still leaves us with the problem of how to get Clark, Martha and Lex all de-hypno'd." Chloe frowned at the younger boy. Danny groaned, running his fingers through his hair. He once more pulled the book towards him.
"I wish I had a proper spell book." Danny murmured eventually, still slowly flicking through the pages.
"Why?" Chloe asked, remembering all the trouble the spell book of Lana's ancestor had caused. It had nearly gotten all of them killed last year when the spirit of Isabelle came back and possessed Lana.
"This book has part of the original spell used to bind the ghost. But I don't know if it was the one to bind the ghost to the Real... to Earth," Danny said a bit quickly; as if he was covering up something he shouldn't have said. "Or it could be the spell that bound the soul fragments to the jewels themselves." Danny flicked a page, reading the script with such intensity that Chloe almost felt bad interrupting him.
"And how would a proper spell book help?" Chloe pressed, pulling the book away from him and trying to make anything out.
"I don't know, could help with the phrasings. I have half an idea, but I'm not at all convinced that it would work..." Danny trailed off and pulled a piece of paper out of one of the kitchen drawers. Chloe sent another glance at Clark and Martha's still unconscious forms. There was another question for Danny; how had he even managed to knock Clark Kent, man of steel out cold? But she was happy enough to sit on that for now. It wasn't as if Danny would give her an answer at the moment.
Danny spent a minute, copying out about twenty lines of Latin onto the piece of paper. With each line he wrote he became more and more disgusted. Once finished he scowled at the page before sighing deeply, taking a quick look over at Clark and Martha.
"Okay, this is the original spell, which is one of the nastiest things I've ever read. Really, you don't want to know what it says." Danny said eventually, looking down at the page. "The thing is, if we were to break the spell completely all the hypnosis would break, including the good things Simone's dad used it for."
"Fair point," Chloe conceded, after all he had been reported to have cured cancer. It would be terrible if that were taken away from his patients. "But how're we gonna stop them from being Trilby O'Farrell?"
"Can I phone a friend on that?" Danny asked sarcastically before shaking his head once more. "The Turquoise is a combination of ghost energy and the type of magic that hasn't been used since before the Salem Witch Trials. Getting a ghost to overshadow them briefly could maybe nullify the effect, but it depends how talented the original ghost was at overshadowing... it could just make it permanent. Not worth the risk..." Danny trailed off. He seemed to be musing aloud, rather than trying to engage her in discussion.
"So countering it that way wouldn't work." Danny continued, picking through the book once more. "So what about using the Turquoise itself? If the focus was on... it might work. Maybe..." Danny said, trailing off. He pulled out another piece of paper and began writing, eyes flicking between the twenty lines Latin and his new page. After five minutes of watching him write, scratch out and start again Chloe became anxious.
"Okay, I give up, what are you working on?" Chloe finally asked. Danny frowned, looking up at Chloe.
"I'm trying to come up with a counter spell that would remove Simone's orders, but not destroy the good that her dad did. The problem is that... well I can't use magic." Danny answered simply. "I understand some of the basic principles, but I can't cast spells." Danny ran his fingers through his hair, taking another look over at Clark and Martha. It looked like the two were close to coming to, and Chloe was worried that they wouldn't have a solution by the time they did.
"This is useless!" Danny exclaimed exasperated as he took another look at the paper. "Clockwork. I do ghosts, not magic. I don't get it, what am I supposed to be looking for?" Danny abruptly stood up from the table and marched upstairs with one more glance down at Clark and Mrs K. Cautiously Chloe sent them a look herself before heading up the stairs behind him. He was in his room now shuffling through a couple of books that Chloe was sure weren't school issue.
Danny pulled two books off his bookshelf and proceeded to teleport back downstairs. Chloe herself was getting annoyed at the boy, but didn't have a solution herself. She was half tempted to just go and destroy the jewel herself, but got the feeling that Danny wouldn't forgive her for it. That in itself was unusual since he had grown up with two ghost hunters. But it was not a concern for now. Chloe trudged back down the stairs to see Danny pouring over the three books and his little scrap of paper.
He smiled, his cerulean eyes becoming bright and he quickly wrote out four lines. "Figured something out?" Chloe asked curiously.
"I think so." Danny replied, his eyes darting to the oldest looking book. "The thing is I can't do magic, but because of the nature of the jewel I presumed that it had to be a magical solution. But the jewel isn't just magic, it's ghost as well. And ghosts I can deal with.
"Gonna clue me in on your Einstein moment?" Chloe asked, looking over to the two people still sprawled on the couch.
Danny beamed. "It's about control. I think if you just tell the Turquoise to release them it'll work."
"So you're telling me that all we have to do is to pick up the jewel and say 'let my people go?'" Chloe sceptically retorted.
"More like liberum meus populum" Danny answered. "And we're gonna have to be specific. I think this'll need something precise, similar to a spell. Something like this." Danny proclaimed, handing the piece of paper over to her. There were only four lines written on it, the writing was neat when compared to the scrawl on the other pages he had written.
"Abrogare ad ordines de Simone Charcot
Facere postulat inutilis
Tollere horrenda contagio
A animos victimas"
"Basically that translates as 'Repeal the orders of Simone Charcot, make her demands useless, remove the horrible infection, of the victims' minds.' Best I could manage, spells really aren't my thing. The only actual one I know is 'So you have wished it, so shall it be.' And the mantra of a sadistic ghost genie hardly counts." Chloe grimaced at his attempt to ease the tension that had built between them. But hopefully this was a solution that would work. Chloe looked over at the sofa in the living room just as Danny paled. Chloe watched as Clark's eyes flickered open, and by the looks of things he wasn't in a good mood.
"Where's Simone?" Clark demanded looking over at them. His eyes burned with fierce anger and Chloe struggled to keep herself calm under Clark's intense glare.
"She's gone out." Danny quickly replied, and Clark's attention snapped to him.
"You did something to her, didn't you?" Clark spat.
"No, we didn't Clark, calm down." Chloe soothed, trying to keep things from escalating, but it didn't seem to be working. Danny and Chloe shared a glance, and Danny quickly tossed Chloe the jewel.
"I'll distract Clark. Say the spell, tell the jewel what you want." Danny advised before taking Clark's wrist and teleporting away. Chloe stared at the jewel for a moment, unable to believe the trouble that it had caused. She looked over the four lines that Danny had written, they seemed almost useless when she looked at the scrappy page. But Danny was counting on her, and Clark needed her. It was worth Chloe risking making a fool out of herself to keep Clark safe. Hesitatingly she focused on the Turquoise, desperately hoping that this would work.
Line Break
Clark was livid. Danny had seen fit not only to knock him out when he was doing something for Simone, but he had gone out of his way to keep Clark from her. Part of him knew that he normally wouldn't respond this way, but he also knew that he felt freer with Simone than he ever had before in his life, and he wasn't willing to let Danny take that away from him. Danny had teleported them out into the forest, but had instantly collapsed as soon as they arrived.
Danny exhaustedly stood up, he looked bone weary. But all Clark saw was someone standing in his way from doing what Simone wanted him to. He knew that Danny's stupid obsession wouldn't let him stand aside so that Clark could kill Lex, but Clark knew that it had to be done. Simone had ordered it, and he wanted to do what Simone ordered him to do. So Clark knew that he had to get Danny out of the way. Thinking quickly he sent a blast of his heat vision at the blue eyed boy, but it never hit. Danny had raised a green shield around himself just in time to block the fiery blast.
Clark growled, punching at the shield and watching in satisfaction as Danny strained against the force. He could see that Danny was already weakened, and found himself glad that Danny had teleported him out here. By doing that Danny had sacrificed his usual advantage and given Clark a good chance of beating him. Clark pounded the shield one more time, watching as it cracked and crumbled against his fist.
Clark lunged forward, throwing Danny hard against a tree. The tree groaned, tipping over with an almighty crash as roots were torn out of the ground. Danny stood up, shaking his head dazedly. Clark surged forward once more, grabbing Danny's leg and in another burst of speed threw him down hard into the earth leaving a four foot deep crater. Without a second thought he jumped in, pulling his arm back to deliver a final punch to Danny's chest area. If he hit hard enough Clark knew that he would disrupt Danny's core and that would probably render him at least unconscious.
Danny's body was battered; his leg bent at an unusual angle that suggested that it had been broken. A purpling bruise was on his face from where Clark had punched him. His lip was split, and a stream of crimson oozed from the open wound. Clark didn't care all he saw was a threat to Simone's request that had to be taken out. He pulled his arm back, cocking it just over his shoulder to deliver the final blow.
Suddenly an almighty flood of conscience made him freeze. His mind was screaming at him, Lana's heartbroken face jumped unbidden to his mind, followed by a stream of voices yelling at him, screaming for him to stop and think. He saw consequences, the horrible results of blindly following Simone's orders. He'd hurt Lana, the pure betrayal on her face tore through Clark's heart like an arrow. He'd lashed out at Chloe, accusing her of all but betraying him. He'd just about abandoned his mom, had been prepared to kill Lex. All at the command of some blonde puppeteer. And here he stood, hand poised over Danny's chest all but prepared to kill for some wanton desire to be with that floozy.
He watched as Danny breathed a sigh of relief, coughing once and standing up. He said nothing, but somehow Clark saw with the glint in Danny's eyes that he was almost forgiven. Not entirely, but almost. They walked back to the house in silence, Clark constantly looking over his shoulder to check that the younger boy was still alright. His leg looked pretty bad, and he had resorted to floating instead of walking. Clark wasn't sure if it was a conscious action or not.
The two ascended the steps to the porch, and Clark's heart was heavy. Unfortunately this whole situation made him come to one conclusion. He had hurt Lana for the last time and he wasn't about to let it continue. Not anymore. It was time to take responsibility for himself instead of relying on those around him to keep him on track. Simone may have made him do it, but Clark had still been the one doing all those terrible things.
He stepped into the house, hoping to at least get to see Chloe. He dimly recalled that she had been there. But there was no sign of her. She had left a note on the kitchen table saying that she had gone as soon as she realised that his mom was okay, apparently Lois had called and wanted her to come over right away, but she wanted to talk to both of them at the Planet tomorrow. Clark sighed, his gut squirming in guilt. He eyed the blue stone sitting innocently on the table. He was about to pick it up when it was snatched up by Danny.
"Sorry Clark, I'm taking this into the Zone where it belongs." Danny said as he pushed the jewel into his pocket. His eyes flashed silver and Clark knew to back down. Danny didn't even bother leaving the house; he simply opened a portal to the Zone and stepped through. Clark sighed heavily before heading up to his own bedroom. He heard the soft tones of his mom's breathing and registered dimly that she must have fallen asleep.
Clark flopped onto his bed staring at the ceiling. So this is what it felt like to be controlled. He didn't blame Danny for being so upset about it all those weeks ago. The emotional upheaval was terrible. He couldn't believe what he'd done to Lana. And he had been prepared to kill. Had Danny not stepped in when he had there was a very real possibility that he would have had Lex's blood on his hands. Clark frowned, rolling over onto his side. He hated what he had been forced to do, and he hadn't even put up a fight. He hated that he had partially enjoyed it, the feeling of liberty he'd gotten from it. He hated what he could have done if Danny hadn't stepped in to save him from himself again. But most of all he hated the fact that he had betrayed Lana. He had hurt her, and he couldn't bring himself to ever do that again.
It was a long time before Clark fell to sleep, his guilty thoughts still rampaging a mile a minute. But when he did it barely felt like a minute later that he woke up. He took a deep breath as he rose from the bed, knowing what he needed to do. Even if it killed him inside to do it he had to steel himself to do the right thing by Lana. He dialled her number, each ring clanging painfully in synchronisation with the gut wrenching guilt surging through his stomach. On the fourth ring she picked up, and Clark asked if she could come to the barn. He needed to do this somewhere private.
Half an hour later he was staring out the barn window. In the distance the cows were grazing, the grass shifting gently in the wind. But somehow it all seemed cold. The sun was hidden behind the clouds, casting the farm in a cool steely light. Clark sighed deeply, he spent so much time up here but this time felt so different. He hated the way this had turned out. Part of him would always love Lana; he couldn't imagine that ever changing. But that love meant sacrifice, and the most important thing in the world was keeping Lana safe. Even from him.
"I've climbed these stairs so many times before," Clark heard Lana's voice from behind him "Why do they seem steeper than ever?" Clark turned, his stomach writhing for what he knew he had to do.
"Thanks for coming." Clark replied as evenly as he could. "I didn't wanna bother you at school."
"Clark," Lana interrupted, a soft smile playing on her lips. In her eyes Clark saw that he was forgiven, but he wasn't sure that he deserved it. "You can spare me the speech about how sorry you are. I know you were hypnotised and I know that you weren't in control of your actions."
Clark looked up to meet her in the eyes, squelching down the guilt that wormed its way into his stomach at that last comment. "I have to be honest with you." Clark said steadily.
"That would be refreshing." Lana acknowledged with a small smile that only hurt Clark more. He couldn't meet her eyes. But he had to do this.
"I don't know any other way to say it." Clark squeezed out, walking past her to lean over the railing of the stairs, far easier than meeting Lana in the eyes. "But the truth is... my feelings for you have changed." Clark fought to hold back the stinging in his eyes. It was a lie, he still loved her and he probably always would. But he had to keep her safe, and if that meant letting her go he would do it. He had to.
Lana stepped around him, turning him slightly so they were facing each other. Her brown eyes, usually so carefree were creased in confusion and hurt. "Clark, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me."
Clark steeled himself, freezing his face in a cool mask so he could do what had to be done. He looked at her, meeting her firmly in the eyes and knowing that he was as good as saying goodbye forever. "I don't love you." Clark heard himself say, and felt his own heart break as he watched the pain flood into Lana's eyes. She stepped back, as though wounded, settling herself gently into the worn sofa that sat in the barn loft.
"I have waited for you to grow up." Lana murmured; her voice quiet and steady as though she too was forcing herself into a mask. "To get over whatever hang-ups you may have."
Clark leaned down, knowing it was far too little and far too late. Nothing he could say would be enough and she deserved so much more, so much better than he could ever hope to give him. "I never meant to hurt you." Clark whispered, his eyes as soft as he could make them while he tried to hide the pain tearing through his own heart.
"I don't want another Clark Kent apology." Lana retorted vehemently. Her lips steeled, her eyes becoming cold. "It's over." Lana said coldly. "Forever."
Clark watched her retreating back as she stalked quietly out of the barn. He had never felt as cold as he did right then. Not when he was lost in the Arctic Circle before the fortress was founded. Not when he was trudging through the Far Frozen with an unconscious Danny limp in his arms. The pain and anger and hate in Lana's eyes had frozen his blood, making him desperately wish that he could help her, save her from the pain. But this time he had to leave it, he had to let her go. And that chilled him to the core.
Tears stung in his eyes as he stared at the place she had just left. He stood there frozen, blearily watching the world pass as he silently wished that just once his powers, his Kryptonian Heritage, hadn't given him such a heavy burden to bear.
Line Break
Phantom frowned as he soared through the infinite green spirals of the Ghost Zone. When he had opened the portal he had originally planned to go straight to Clockwork's tower. Instead he found himself drifting several miles off, closer to the door of a certain fiery haired singer. Phantom sighed, looking down at the Turquoise that lay curled between his fingers. The original silver setting and chain had been left in the Luthor Mansion, along with a now destroyed ice replica of the jewel. Hopefully that would convince Lex not to go looking for it.
But the blue jewel and its cousins were a conundrum in and of themselves. By all rights Phantom should have done the easy thing and just destroyed the Turquoise, it would have solved all his problems. But he couldn't bring himself to destroy it, not when he knew that it contained a part of a ghost's core. The idea sounded abhorrent to him, like he would be destroying his own kin. Therein lay the problem. Lately he didn't know who he identified with more, the ghosts or the humans.
When Sam, Tuck and his family had been around it was simple, he was human. Sure he had cool ghost powers but he drew his strength from his family. But now they were gone. Now he had more ties to the world of ghosts. Now he was thinking more like a ghost than he ever had before. And he didn't know what to make of that. After all, if he'd just acted like a normal living human he would have destroyed the Turquoise rather than try to preserve the last vestiges of an ended ghost's core.
He came to a sudden halt just outside Ember's door, hesitating to knock. He could have floated there for minutes or hours, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that she pulled the door open and let him in, guiding him towards her small kitchenette. Before he really knew what was happening he was seated in her red sofa with a mug of ghost coffee in front of him.
"You look dead on your feet, babypop." Ember finally commented, pink lipstick staining the rim of her own coffee mug as she stared at him. "What have those humans been doing to you?"
Phantom sighed, looking into the dark liquid as if hit could solve all his problems. "Guess I'm just...tired." He eventually answered. "It's been a rough couple of days."
"Yeah?" Ember pressed.
"Well, it kinda started, what was it, two days ago?" Phantom began. "I'd just come back from the Zone..."
"You were in the Zone and you didn't visit!?" Ember interjected with light hearted aggression. Phantom rolled his eyes, grateful for her attempt to lighten the mood.
"It was a purely educational visit. Anyway, when I got back I found Lana outside the barn, crying." Phantom paused, recalling the pure agony, of betrayal that had been written on Lana's face. Some ghosts may gain strength from making people miserable, but seeing and feeling Lana's pain like that had shaken him to the core. "Clark hurt her, it wasn't his fault, but she was in pain.
"I took her to her Aunt's place in the city for safety, but then I got distracted by... well your ex and a couple of his friends. So I didn't get any sleep. Then it kinda got a bit crazy." Phantom pulled out the Turquoise and set it on the coffee table between them.
"What's that?" Ember demanded, prodding at the jewel. She gasped when her fingers slipped through. "That's a Real World item! Phantom I don't want that in my home!"
"It's not." Phantom quickly replied "Not entirely." Ember crossed her arms stiffly.
"You have one minute to explain before I kick you out. I do not want Real World contraband in my lair." Ember coldly ordered, her fiery hair flicking wildly.
Phantom stared at the jewel. "It needs more than a minute to explain. But the short version is that it's a real world item fused with a fragment of a ghost's core by a dark alchemist back in the thirteenth century. So yes, it's a Real World item, but there was no way in hell I was gonna leave it in the Real World."
"Okay." Ember replied softly, clearly taken aback. "I'll buy it. What's it do?"
Phantom sighed. "It's one of four jewels. See way back when we were having the Magus wars the alchemists and sorcerers on Earth were experimenting. One of them kidnapped a ghost, and bound them to Earth. I read the spell he used and it wasn't nice at all." Ember's blue skin paled and Phantom knew why. To bind a full ghost to Earth was a sure path to its end, they all needed access to the Zone, even if it was just the comforting ambient energy that pervaded the Earth. But to bind a ghost was to cut them off from that energy permanently. At best the ghost would be driven mad before it was ended, at worst... well that wasn't worth consideration.
"Clockwork, even your parents didn't take things that far." Ember murmured.
"None of the modern 'Hunters could, we're safe in that respect. Humans don't believe in magic like they used to; even I was sceptical of human magic until I was sat down and told differently. But that wasn't the worst the alchemist did. He basically split the ghost's core into four and sealed it into four jewels; the Turquoise here and three others. Each of them sort of gave the humans a ghost like power. The Turquoise here essentially allows a human to control others."
"Like when Freakshow...?" Ember queried.
"No." Phantom stopped her coldly. Clark had gotten off lucky. While Danny didn't envy him being controlled, his own experiences with Freakshow and more recently Rosaline were on a whole different level. "Nothing like that. With that stone ghosts have no control, barely any consciousness unless our obsession is threatened. With that thing..."Phantom gestured the stone. "The person controlled knows what's going on. If they had a strong enough will they could fight it, but it's more like their inhibitions get taken away. It's closer to hypnotism than pure control."
"Okay, I get it. No need to bite my head off babypop." Ember said, holding her hands up between them. "So what exactly happened?"
"This girl, Simone," Phantom explained "The descendant of the alchemist, thought that Clark was good boyfriend material. So she told him to break up with Lana. After that the girl decided to go after Lex Luthor, I'm not entirely sure why... then again he's that much like Vlad that it's possible that he put her onto Clark in the first place." Phantom shook his head, musings like that were for another time. "Simone told Clark to kill Lex, and then when Chloe and I got there and knocked Clark out, she told Lex to kill us."
"I'm guessing that you stopped her before any of that could happen." Ember deduced accurately.
Phantom frowned. "Yeah, but the thing is I almost didn't." That was the real problem. "I mean, I chose this over the lives of four humans. Chloe and Lex could have been killed. Lois could have been killed. Hecate, Simone probably would've died if I hadn't been there and just let things play out."
"But you were there." Ember interjected bluntly. "Phantom we both know that you physically couldn't let any of them die. Even if that chick did the wrong thing it's not like you were just gonna kill her to make things easier."
"But I chose to preserve the Turquoise; it would've been so much easier if I'd just destroyed it. Instead I spend an hour trying to figure out how to break the spell, almost getting Chloe killed again in the process." Phantom argued, upset with himself and his own poor decisions.
"Phantom stop." Ember said, cutting him off from his self loathing. "Now you're gonna listen to me. I don't care what anyone else tells you, but you're as much one of us as you are human. In that room, you protected all of us, both human and ghost. I'm not gonna listen to you kick yourself for protecting one of your own. You did the best thing you could in a tough situation. Sure a human could've got hurt, but whatever. With you around no one's gotta worry about being killed or ended, so just stop beating yourself up about it. 'Kay dipstick?"
"Sure Ember," Phantom replied. While he was heartened by her words they felt hollow. There was more to it than that; he just didn't know what it was. "Guess I'm gonna have to figure some stuff out on my own is all."
"We all do sometimes babypop. I may not have been around long but even I know that." Ember paused briefly, setting her own coffee mug aside on the table. "But for now, I wanna meet some of these new human pets of yours."
"They're not pets." Phantom sputtered indignantly, sufficiently distracted. "You've been spending too much time with Skulker."
"What can I say," Ember shrugged with a nonchalant smile, and Phantom realised she had just been trying to change the subject. "Just 'cos we aren't together anymore doesn't mean I can't hang around with him. 'Sides, they're just humans."
Phantom shook his head as he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Sure. Half human here, Ember."
"Yes, but you're half ghost, that's an entirely different thing. So can I come back with you for a little while?" Ember practically begged. Phantom sighed knowing that she wouldn't let up until he said yes, and really he didn't mind spending a bit of time with the blue-haired ghost.
"Fine." Phantom replied with a light huff, pocketing the Turquoise once more. He could return it to Clockwork later, but for now he spending a bit of time in the Real World with Ember didn't sound like a bad idea. Without another thought he opened a portal back to the storm cellar, reverting to his human form as soon as they got there.
"You live here?" Ember asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nah, this is the storm cellar. I usually open a portal here since nobody ever comes down." Danny replied as he led her up the stairs.
"Wow, never expected you to live somewhere normal." Ember commented as soon as she saw the house. Danny smiled, it had been nearly nine months since he moved in here, and the cosy yellow farmhouse almost felt like home. Danny frowned as he remembered the image of Lana, crouched down and broken just outside the barn. But he forced himself to wave it off. Clark was the one who had to sort that mess out, Danny couldn't do anything for him. He just hoped that Clark would do the right thing by Lana.
He plastered a smile on his face and turned to face the blue-haired ghost. "Ha, ha, very funny." Danny replied rolling his eyes. "And living in an auditorium is perfectly normal."
"It's a lair, dipstick." Ember replied. "You know, where all the normal ghosts go home to after a nice long day of terrorising the villagers."
"Okay, fine. Whatever you say." Danny replied, shaking his head. "Where do you want to go? I'd say let's head into Smallville, but something tells me you'd prefer Metropolis."
"Wherever babypop, you're officially my escort so you get to decide where we're going." Danny nodded, taking her arm and teleporting them straight into Metropolis. Ember's green eyes brightened at the bustle of the city. Danny could tell how much she loved being in the crowds. Sure she liked being noticed, but part of her just loved being a part of the buzz of the human world. That was one thing that was always absent in the Zone, the sheer mass of people that gathered in cities was always lacking in the infinity of the green world.
They spent a little while just walking through the streets. One of the good things about Ember was that she was humanoid enough to pass as fully human. That was how she'd picked up her first record deal and been able to go on tour. She even managed to dim down her hair a bit, it was still blue, but passed as a windblown pony tail rather than a wild live flame.
They picked through some of the smaller streets towards the shopping district. The tall office buildings gave way to smaller businesses. Small bookshops and clothes stores took the place of corporate signs as the two walked through the city.
"How long till your deathday?" Ember asked.
"Well that was random." Danny commented, looking confusedly towards her. "Um... August the seventeenth, so four months away. Why do you ask?"
"We were talking about lairs," Ember answered. "I was wondering how long it'd be before you lined up with the proper ghosts."
Danny paused mid-step. That was something he hadn't really been thinking about, didn't really want to think about. For all that he had accepted his ghost powers, for all the time he had spent with Victor, telling him not to reject what had happened to him, Danny was still downright terrified of his ghost half. The idea of his third deathday, of somehow coming into his powers... he couldn't help but shudder as a pair of blood red eyes and a desolate wasteland swam before his eyes. White flaming hair and a terrible cry as the Wailing of the Damned destroyed what little of civilisation is left.
He looked to the female ghost next to him, and his eyes stung as he recalled the vision of Ember from that future. Her dulcet voice reduced to a harsh rasp and her vibrant personality reduced to hate and loathing. He had promised never to let that happen, never to let himself fall into that darkness. But he was scared. Maybe that was why he hadn't let himself make many human friends, that way if he fell there would be no one to hurt. And if he ever let go then... he could hope Clark would stop him.
That was the other terrifying thing. In that world no one had been able to stop him. Lana, the Kents, Lois and Chloe had all been dead and gone. Lex, the strong man who in so many ways was like Vlad was gone. He didn't know whether Victor would have had the opportunity to get his powers, but he too had been destroyed. And worst was Clark, the small farm boy who in so many ways Danny identified with had been dead. Despite all his powers Danny's evil alternate had destroyed Clark. And that terrified Danny. If that was what his third deathday would entail... he wanted nothing of it.
"Babypop?" Ember said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. "You there?" Danny shook his head, trying to shake the fear that had pushed its way into his gut and pounded through his core. 'Everything will be fine' Danny told himself. 'It'll be okay.' Danny just hoped that it would be. He didn't like the idea of being ended on his third deathday, but that was preferable to the thought of him ending the world.
"Sorry" Danny apologised, forcing a smile onto his face. "Guess I just spaced out a little there." He forced all of those thoughts aside. That was something to worry about another day and a discussion best kept between him and Clockwork. Nobody else ever needed to know. Even Sam, Tuck and Jazz had only known the bare basics. "So, where would you like to go from here? I'd offer to get you dinner but..."
"It'd kinda be pointless since we don't really eat human food? Pretty much. Then again, just for flavour's sake..." Ember paused, a curious look in her eye. "When was the last time you actually ate?"
"Day before yesterday, or was it the day before?" Danny paused for a moment. By now it had probably been two, maybe three days since he'd last eaten, or slept for that matter.
"Okay, you need to eat." Ember ordered "And I kinda want to try human food again. Haven't had any since I was on tour..." She sent him a half hearted evil eye. Danny was happy that she hadn't read anything out of his strange silence, or was happy to blatantly ignore it. Either worked for him. She was just...being nice, trying to cheer him up like a friend would. Like Sam and Tuck once did.
Danny's face brightened. It was just after midday now and the lunchtime rush would have slowed down. "I know exactly where to go." Danny said and promptly dragged her through an arcade and down into a little food hall. It was still busy, but Danny had been in here when there were so many people you could barely breathe. It was filled with tiny little shops; a delicatessen, a cupcake shop, fresh fruit. There was one shop that specialised in chocolate coated strawberries and fruits. There were exotic flavours, all stashed together in a hall under the city. It wasn't your typical burgers and chips place; it was a bit classier than that. But it was almost unique as far as Danny was concerned. He'd never seen a place like it in Amity Park.
Ember immediately picked her way over to a salad bar, choosing an exotic looking couscous salad. Danny paid seeing as how the only currency Ember had on her wasn't even valid in this world. After picking himself up a fresh sub sandwich Danny guided her over towards the secluded dining area. Most people tended to buy something and then take it back to their office, but there was some seating provided. Although Danny did disappear for a minute to bring something back to the table.
"Chocolate coated cherries?" Ember asked, a strange look in her eye. It was almost as if Danny had done something that surprised her. "Since when do they even sell those?" Danny just smiled and pushed the box over to the blue haired ghost. The good thing about the city was that it was very difficult to stand out. No one even gave her a second glance, probably assuming that she was just a Punk Goth. Then again, Ember obviously knew how to blend well with humans since she had gone on tour in the human world for over a year before she arrived in Amity Park.
"Surprise. You said you hadn't had human food in a while, so I figured you might like to try some of the stuff here." Danny answered smiling softly
Ember beamed. "Well I gotta admit, I haven't had couscous this good since I was in LA three years ago. You know..." Ember aimlessly waved her fork at Danny "You're lucky that you live here. Our food just doesn't taste the same."
"Oh, so you admit there's one thing that Earth has over the Zone." Danny scoffed, raising an eyebrow over his half eaten sandwich. He hadn't really noticed just how hungry he was, but he wasn't going to go skipping meals again for a while.
"Well, babypop there had to be some redeeming qualities." Ember mused "Although I'm not convinced that the whole having four seasons thing is cool. Or the traffic. I mean, in New York if you catch a cab it takes ten minutes to go a block. What's the point?"
"Oh woe; poor little people who aren't able to float above the ground. You know us humans have to walk, and... really ten minutes?" Danny trailed off distractedly, his blue eyes blinking.
"Yep." Ember happily replied, popping the 'P'. "And don't even get me started on the tour bus. The fans love you, but Clockwork they have no idea how to get out of the way."
Danny laughed. It was surreal in a way talking to her about fans. He certainly had his own following, and it was... slightly disturbing in school to realise that half the students were emblazoned with his symbol. Even Jay had a black and white Phantom t-shirt under his letterman jacket. Danny shook his head and relaxed, enjoying the company of the blue haired ghost. He was glad that he had found a friend in her since she was sort of around his age. Not that it mattered with ghosts, but... it was just nice to have a friend.
Line Break
Chloe smiled as she walked through the front doors of the Planet. Yesterday had been an emotionally exhausting day what with Simone's hypnotic pendant that turned out to be some kind of almost ghostly artefact. Chloe had been surprised more than once at Danny and now wanted to take the opportunity to get into some research. Hopefully both Clark and Danny would stop by later to talk, but for now she was keen to find some things out.
Firstly there was that book; it seemed strange that just when it was needed Danny somehow magically had the exact book with all the answers. But for its age it had looked like a genuine alchemical book, handwritten in the middle ages. However the book was perfectly preserved, it was well loved, but didn't look like something nearly a millennium old. Therefore it had to be a copy, the problem was who was the source and how on Earth did Danny Fenton get a hold of them?
Half an hour digging in that regard gave her no results. There were modern copies of alchemical books, but without a working knowledge of how to read Latin Chloe hadn't even been able to successfully glean the title. For now she would have to set that problem aside. Maybe later she could convince Danny to just tell her where he'd gotten it. After all, it wasn't exactly possible that he had just gone back in time to somehow get it from the source.
The next question was how Danny had come to even read Latin. Sure it could be taught, but there weren't very many schools that had it on the curriculum, and certainly didn't teach it to the proficiency to which Danny had read it. It was possible that he had learned it from his parent's research; after all many official looking texts on ghosts were almost entirely written in Latin. But that didn't sit right. With what Chloe understood of Danny's parents they wouldn't trust those for being too unscientific and delving too much into mysticism and magic. No, Danny had been far too proficient in Latin for it to simply come from his parents. He hadn't even noticed that it was a different language at first.
Chloe sighed, absently looking at the build up in her 'to do' pile. There were a couple of obits that needed typing up, but they did not take very long to get out of the way. As she typed her mind wandered, flitting to something that Simone had mentioned in passing. She had suggested that Danny could fly. Chloe had no proof of that, but somehow with Danny the notion didn't seem too absurd. He did have meteor powers after all, and the Kents had suggested that he had more than one power. Sure, Chloe had never seen a Meteor Freak with the ability to fly, but that hardly meant it was impossible. New powers seemed to show up all the time and Chloe had seen hundreds of different varieties over the years.
The only question was how did flying fit in with Danny's near death experience with the meteor? The power always seemed to somehow relate to a near death experience in contact with kryptonite. For example an old woman blinded in the fallout from the first shower gained the ability to see the future, or a football coach who almost dies from heat in a sauna gaining the ability to generate and control fire. They all connected in some strange tangential way.
Chloe thought of what she knew about the meteor that hit Amity Park. It had been an offshoot from their own shower, which was unusual in and of itself. There was no real reason for it to have gone so far off course. But it had landed on Danny's house, vaporising the building instantaneously. From the police report there had been little left, there were no bodies to be found aside from Danny who was lying miraculously on the crater line unconscious. He hadn't roused at all when he was rushed to hospital, but he had barely arrived before he had been transferred into the private care of Vlad Masters.
It was possible that a piece of active kryptonite had been lodged in Danny's skin somewhere while he was in transit, thereby assimilating the power of flight as he moved in the helicopter. His ability to heal was obviously an instantaneous effect and saved him from being destroyed with his family, and probably teleporting played a part too. The question was, if there had been a piece of active kryptonite with him the whole time, what had happened to it after he got into Vlad's care? And had Danny picked up any other meteor powers while it was on him? And did that somehow play into his ability to read Latin?
Chloe didn't want to think about it, but there was a genuine possibility that Danny's meteor powers would eventually drive him insane. It happened to most of them who had strong meteor powers. If it was something inane they were generally okay, but the stronger the power and the more it was relied on the faster they descended into madness. But... there was another inconsistency. Danny used his powers almost daily by the sounds of it. He often teleported into and out of Metropolis to visit her, but he had shown no signs of mental instability at all. It was as if there was another piece of the puzzle that she was just missing, but she couldn't fathom what it could be.
Unbidden memory of Danny leapt to mind, sitting by her bedside as she fought off her inner demons when the kryptonite powered spirit wrought havoc. He had given her the kindest of smiles as he held her hand. There was something about him in that instant that was so comforting, so kind and protective that she felt safe. Then there was the bright smile he had sent her on Christmas Eve as the two of them finished sorting gifts out. That warm infectious smile beneath his bright blue eyes was something precious. Danny was one of the most paradoxical people she had ever met, and that included Clark. But somehow there was a level of honesty about him that just made him seem innocently trustworthy. It was strange, but there it was.
Chloe's phone rang at two as Clark asked if she would mind an interruption. Chloe had finished most of her day's work while she mused, so didn't think a visit from Clark would go too far amiss. However she was hungry and the sound of a late lunch didn't sound too bad. They decided to meet up outside the Planet and then head on out to get lunch from there. Chloe shut down the computer and headed on out, her smile brightening when she saw the broad shouldered blue eyed young man.
"Hey, so how are you faring?" Chloe asked, curious to see how everything had played out. They started walking off, winding through the streets towards a smallish underground food court. It had healthier fare than most places and by this time of day usually quietened down.
"I feel like I just woke up from a bad dream, except I remember all the gory details." Clark replied. His tone was light, but there was a dark undertone that Chloe couldn't quite decipher.
Chloe couldn't help her own dark curiosity and soon found herself awkwardly asking "Yeah. Um, did you and Simone ever actually...?"
"No." Clark cut her off, thankfully saving her from asking that. "Thank God." The relief in his tone was obvious and Chloe quietly applauded his self control. Even when he was hypnotised Clark had managed to avoid compromising his own set of morals.
"Okay." Chloe commented, leading Clark down the wide staircase "So then the moral of the story is just never gaze into the eyes of a seductive woman wearing a sparkly gemstone around her neck. Unless of course her name is Lana Lang." Chloe smiled at him, joining a line in front of a sushi shop. "Have you talked to her yet? You guys kiss and make up?" Chloe asked, sneaking a glance at Clark's blue eyes. Despite her confusion and curiosity she was in a remarkably good mood. It seemed that Danny's makeshift 'spell' had done exactly what he'd wanted. Everyone who Simone had hypnotised was free, and Chloe had a couple of new leads into the mystery of Danny Fenton. Chloe paid for her sushi before looking back to her blue eyed friend.
Clark looked away guiltily, and Chloe saw a pained look in his eye. He sighed deeply, and Chloe's positive mood came crashing down. "No." Clark replied sadly. "See, as horrible as all this was, it did accomplish one thing that I didn't have the guts to do myself. It broke me and Lana up."
Chloe scoffed disbelievingly. "What? Wait a minute, are you still hypno'd?" Chloe grabbed his arm and dragged him around the corner to the small eating area. She was surprised to see Danny there with a blue haired girl. Successfully distracted the two walked over to the table where Danny and the girl were seated. Danny looked up, but his smile dropped when he saw the pain in Clark's eyes.
"You broke up with her, didn't you?" Danny asked gently. His way of immediately cutting to the point was probably for the best in this case. Clark nodded tersely, his arms crossed across his broad chest. Chloe eyed the girl Danny was with; there was something off about her. Her skin was slightly too pale and Chloe would never have imagined Danny to spend time with someone with such a blatant Punk Goth attire.
"Okay babypop, you gonna introduce me to your friends this time, or am I gonna have to introduce myself?" The girl asked almost presumptuously.
"Chloe, Clark, this is Ember. Ember, Clark and Chloe." Danny quickly introduced. Chloe reached out to shake the girl's hand, and was surprised by how bright Ember's green eyes were. They were almost reminiscent of Phantom's, but didn't have the same other-worldly hue. "Okay, this time please don't play games with my friends." Danny added, looking at Ember almost accusingly.
"Fine, fine." Ember dismissed, waving her hand at Danny. "Glad to finally meet you. Babypop here has been talking about you for ages." Ember said, extending her hand to Clark to shake.
"So you knew Danny in Amity Park?" Chloe asked confused. After all Danny hadn't spoken about any friends that he'd made here in Smallville, and had reported very few from his home town.
"You could say that." Ember replied, nudging Danny's shoulder. Chloe half smiled at that, it seemed that maybe Danny wasn't so alone as he'd once thought. That said there was an odd twinge in Chloe's heart when she saw how freely Ember was acting around Danny. Danny shook his head at Ember with an indulgent smile.
"Ember." Danny warned, looking sternly at the girl.
"Relax, babypop. I don't care, it's not like they're gonna tell anyone about it." Ember dismissed. "I'm Ember McLain, punk diva extraordinaire and best singer this side of the Ghost Zone." Chloe blinked as realisation crashed in. Ember was a ghost; that was why she looked so pale and had such vivid green eyes. More than that, Chloe vaguely recalled her as a singer. She'd been popular a couple of years back, and her song 'You Will Remember My Name' had even played at their Senior Prom.
Danny rolled his eyes as Ember's unashamed boasting. "Yes, and you remember exactly why you have to stay this side of the Zone. Don't you?"
Ember raised her hands in mock surrender. "Look, no guitar, no love spells, no sonic hypnotism. Nothing, babypop. I promised I'd be on good behaviour and I am." Chloe raised an eyebrow at the display.
"What do you think...?" Chloe whispered to Clark.
"I'm guessing that Danny and Ember got off on the wrong foot, and she's on temporary leave from the Ghost Zone until next time Phantom shows up to take her home. Right Danny?" Clark answered, raising his voice at the end to interrupt the shoving war that Danny and Ember had started. Danny looked up innocently at them, his blue eyes sparkling with a delight that Chloe hadn't seen before.
"Yeah, sure." Danny replied to Clark's stern voice. "Phantom. Got it. So, um, what actually brought you two out here?" Danny pressed, abruptly changing the subject.
"I wanted to get away from the farm." Clark replied sadly, and the light mood shattered instantly. The atmosphere became heavy and sombre in an instant. Ember seemed to pick up on it, deciding that she'd head off for an hour or so.
Chloe watched as Ember stood up, her eyes meeting Danny's shining blue. "I'll meet you at the clock tower later, okay dipstick?" Ember nudged his shoulder one more time as she headed out, disappearing into the crowd.
Danny sighed, looking between Clark and Chloe. Chloe frowned, storing the fact that Danny is apparently friends with a ghost away for a more appropriate moment. For now Clark needed someone to talk to. "So why did you...?" Chloe began, pressing for an answer to their earlier conversation. Clark loved Lana, there was no way that he'd just break up with her.
"Chloe, how many times can I break someone's heart before it crumbles to pieces?" Clark retorted, Chloe flinched at the depressed anger that cut through his voice like a knife.
"Yeah," Chloe admitted. "But it wasn't your fault. You were hypnotised." Chloe implored. She noted that Danny was staying pointedly silent.
"Lana wasn't." Clark answered sadly, as if it physically pained him to admit it. "Her feelings were real. The look of pain in her eye when she walked in on Simone and I, it made me realise that my power to hurt Lana is stronger than all my powers put together."
Chloe shook her head vehemently; it wasn't like Clark to just give like this. "But it's not like meeting a girl with hocus-pocus jewellery is an everyday occurrence."
"But hurting Lana has become one." Clark returned sadly. "And as long as I have to lie to her about who I am, I'm only gonna cause her pain."
"And as long as you don't set the record straight, she's gonna hate you." Chloe shot back. "Tell him Danny."
Danny looked up slowly, briefly meeting Danny's eyes before turning to Clark. "We all make our choices. Sometimes things work out, other times we wish we could have a second chance. Are you really prepared for her to not be with you? To let go of her forever? For her to look you in the eye and for you to only see hate?"
"Maybe that won't be such a bad thing." Clark shrugged. "Maybe it'll help her move on with her life, forget I ever existed and find someone who can actually give her what she deserves. Either way it's done."
Chloe looked at him sadly, knowing exactly what he was giving up. If he followed through, she'd do her best to support him. But she needed to make sure that he knew exactly what he was setting himself up for. "You just need to know that if you do this, that's it. Game over, there's no more quarters left. I mean, you're saying goodbye forever. This will crush her Clark, please tell me you've thought long and hard before you let her go for good."
"I have Chloe. I really have." Clark answered, his shoulders slumping over. "I can't do this to her anymore, it's not fair on her. On either of us."
"Clark, we'll support you." Danny murmured softly. "And if I said it would be an easy choice I'd be lying. But I can at least understand your decision." Danny nodded to him, and Chloe got the feeling that the cousins had discussed this before, gone over the arguments and the possible results. In the look Danny sent Clark Chloe saw empathy, as though Danny had been forced into a similar situation and could understand what Clark was going through.
"Thanks." Clark eventually replied, his voice soft and as weak as Chloe had ever heard it. "The hard thing is... I've never seen her so hurt. So angry." He paused, looking down to the clenched fists in his lap. "Saying those words, it was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do."
"I know." Danny said softly "these things rarely end the way we want them to." Chloe looked on with sympathy. Clark may just have broken up with Lana, but Danny was still mourning the loss of Sam Manson. By the way he spoke of her they had been at least as close as Lana and Clark. The pain in his voice was telling, and Chloe quietened, trying not to impose on what was a private moment between the dark haired boys.
"I just didn't know what else to do." Clark murmured more to himself than anyone else. "It was either make a clean break or tell her my secret."
Danny nodded in acknowledgement. "I know you didn't tell her the truth because you wanted to protect her. I think... I would have made the same choice. Some of the things I've seen... they're not safe." Danny shook his head "But maybe there was more to it than that, maybe deep down you didn't think she was the one."
"I don't understand. I'll always love Lana." Clark scoffed.
Danny smiled grimly, his blue eyes lit with sympathy. "I know, and I'll always love Sam. But the truth is you both deserve someone who is your equal. You loved Lana, but part of you would always be held back by the need to stay and keep her safe. You need someone who can let you go, and can support you when you come back. I don't think Lana was ready for that."
Chloe was surprised at the depth of that last statement, but it made sense. Even she herself was guilty of wanting to hold Clark back. Sure she pushed him to use his powers, but at the same time she tied him down with responsibilities. She always tried to be level headed, but in retrospect some of the things she had advised had turned out to be wrong. Maybe Danny had a better handle on things than Chloe had ever thought to presume. But still, she was concerned for Lana. For what this could do to her.
"I just hope," Chloe mused aloud, incidentally drawing the attention of the two dark haired boys. "I hope that her anger doesn't drive her to do something we'll all regret." All three of them sat silent after that, a sort of quiet understanding that focused the sombre mood. It was a scary thought, but with how hurt Lana was, how angry Chloe knew she would be with this turn of events. She just hoped that she didn't seek solace in the wrong people.
Line Break
Lex smiled as he looked into the fire. While things had gone a little askew he had found out a lot. The night prior he had woken up on the floor of his office alone but for Simone, who was tied up but equally unconscious. The police had arrived and taken her away, but not before Lex found her pendant destroyed. The blue stone fragments were cool to the touch, and it was disappointing to have lost that power, he would have liked to have acquisitioned it. But that was no matter in the long run.
He had discovered numerous things in the past two days and all of which were particularly interesting. Simone, in her hesitation had implied that there was in fact something truly exceptional about Clark. While that was far from proof it warranted renewed investigation. The second interesting thing was that Danny was far more knowledgeable in martial arts that he let on. He had known the exact pressure point to knock Clark out with a single blow, and Lex himself had been unconscious for exactly one hour.
The most interesting piece of information he had garnered from the surveillance tapes was Danny's speech to Simone. Unfortunately there was no audio, it had been knocked out by Simone earlier in the evening, and Danny had managed to position himself exactly so that his face could not be seen. But the expressions in Simone's face were telling, and he had clearly known something devastating about the jewel by the way Simone protectively clutched at it. And then there was the easy way he had taken it off her, jumping over her and removing it while she ducked. It was quite a feat in acrobatics.
Unfortunately he had almost immediately dropped the jewel to the floor and shot it, destroying it forever. Lex would have to lecture him about items of power and the need to preserve them, both for protection and for use in the future. Then again, Danny was quite vocal about responsibility and weapons of power winding up in the wrong person's hands. It was an unfortunate loss for the jewel to have been destroyed, but the knowledge he had garnered from that half hour worth of surveillance was worth it.
Then there were the discoveries he had made on his trip to Honduras. He was keen to share that with Lana, given her keen interest in the spaceship and anything relating to the second meteor shower. He was almost certain that this was the key to ensuring that Lana stayed as a constant part of his life. Fine's suggestion of a potential extraterrestrial invasion was discomforting, but Lex was sure that Lana would be interested in involving herself in the process of the planet's protection. Yes, Lex was very happy with the information he had gathered in the last few days.
There was a clicking noise as the office door swung open. Lex turned to face the person who had intruded on his musings, but beamed as he realised that it was Lana. "Oh," He commented with wide open arms as he welcomed Lana into his presence. "Just the woman that I wanted to see."
Lana walked in, coming to join him as he stood in front of the fire. She looked upset, but Lex was keen to tell her the news. "So it turns out that everyone's favourite academic, Milton Fine, isn't an academic at all."
"Lex," Lana interrupted. "I'm not here to talk about Milton Fine." Lex frowned as he looked at Lana, truly looked. Her eyes were dark and haunted and she looked so sad, so empty. Lex wanted then to reach out and pull her into a warm embrace, just to alleviate some of the hurt from her beautiful brown eyes. "I actually wanted you to be the first to know." She continued, looking past his shoulder and into the distance.
"Is everything okay?" Lex asked, realising from the way she stood that her world must be collapsing around her. What else could put such pain into the proud, fierce and strong Lana Lang?
Lana looked at him, her eyes glistening with tears. "Clark and I broke up. For real." Lex was shocked... he would never have believed that of Clark. While the two of them may have parted ways, he had always been loyal to Lana. From the beginning Clark had spoken of how much he loved Lana, how much he needed her in his life. For him to have just pushed that all away; rejected her like this. Well it was no wonder that Lana looked like her world was collapsing.
"Lana, I'm" he stammered, fumbling to find the right words. Words that could help and words that could heal. "I'm sorry."
"No," Lana interrupted quickly "It's okay. Don't be." She stepped away, taking an opportunity to vent aloud. "I actually do feel like a hundred tons of secrets and lies have been lifted off my shoulders. You know what it's like, being friends with Clark." Lex watched sadly as she took a seat on his black leather sofa, staring aimlessly off into the aether. "No matter what he tells you, you don't know if it's the truth. You can't ever trust him."
Lex sighed, taking the seat next to her. "Lana," he murmured softly, hoping to console her. "I know Clark's probably not the easiest guy to be in a relationship with. But I don't think..." Lex paused as Lana raised her hand in a silent signal for him to stop.
"Please, don't defend him Lex." Lana whispered sadly. "How could I have been so stupid?"
Lex leaned in, gently resting his hand on her shoulder and trying to take some of the pain away. "You're not stupid." Lex said, putting as much strength into that simple statement as he could. Lana looked at him, demanding an explanation, so Lex expanded. "You just put your trust into the wrong person."
Lana fell silent, her brown eyes strangely vacant. Lex watched her go, worried that perhaps he had said the wrong thing. But Lana had a lot to think about, and she knew that he was always going to be there for her. Part of him was glad that she'd come to him first, after all there were other people in her life that she could have turned to for support, and yet she'd come to him.
Lex knew that Lana would be devastated for quite some time, but couldn't help but think that this turn of events played to his favour. After all, Lana was now free of Clark. She was safe from the web of lies that he spun so artlessly out from him. Now Lex could protect her, keep her safe. He had a dim flash of the strange future he had half dreamt on Christmas Eve. In that world Lana had been his wife. Perhaps it was still possible for him to have that, to have a life equally shared with love and power.
However things played out he would be there for Lana. He would catch her this time where Clark had let her fall. He would be the one to help Lana pick up the pieces, and the one to give Lana something to look forward to. After all, what could be a more worthwhile pursuit for both of them than the continuation of their investigation on the spaceship and their fledgling alliance with Milton Fine? Something in his chest purred possessively at the thought that Lana had come to him. That she had sought him out for comfort and solace.
Lex leaned back in the sofa, staring thoughtfully at the flickering flames in the fireplace. Much had changed in the past few days. He was glad that he had invited Simone to come to Smallville. Without her he would have no further proof into Clark's abnormalities. Without Simone he would never have found out so much more about Danny. Without Simone Clark would never have been forced to break up with Lana properly, rather than continue hurting her the way he was. Yes, Lex owed quite a bit to Simone. It was such a pity that she would never see the light of day again, after all murder is not an excusable offense.
For Lex things had just taken a definite turn for the better, and he was quietly looking forward to witnessing how the next few months turned out. Perhaps for once things would turn out his way.
AN: Well... um, it's finished. I hadn't originally wanted to use this episode, but then I realised that it was a fundamental part of the Clark and Lana breakup and I couldn't think of a good enough alternative to break them up.
Plus now Clark has (sort of) another way to empathise with Danny.
Danny is being friendlier with Ember, and both Chloe and Clark have met one of Danny's ghost friends.
As to the jewel, well that's maybe a story for another day. I did take a bit of creative liberty on it, but this way Danny has a legitimate reason not to destroy it.
Oh well, that's enough excuses. 'Till next we meet again,
Bluerose