Thanatos

Chapter Sixteen

Clark decided the place to start his search for his father and Thana was downtown inside the coroner's office so that he could try to find out who the kryptonite infected woman's victims were, in hope that who they were might give him a clue as to her whereabouts. He was only a few miles outside of town when he noticed a small car following him. Clark took a few turns down off roads just to be sure and even though the man driving remained several car lengths back, Clark could tell that he was right to be cautious, so he simply continued into town as he had planned. When he pulled up outside of the morgue, Clark was surprised to discover the lights still on inside and a single car parked outside, indicating that the doctor who worked there, and possibly his assistant, was still working even though it was nearly four o'clock in the morning.

He quietly got out of his truck while keeping eyes on his pursuer who had parked a few feet down the street, then crept inside the building until he came to stand outside of the lab where the autopsies took place, and tuned into his super hearing in order to overhear the conversation taking place between the two men, whom he could see through the doors' windows, were standing over a body that appeared to have just been brought in, as the corpse was still inside a body bag. It didn't take long for Clark to discover that these men were not exactly on the up and up, as the doctor was reading off a list of the items it was clear that they had stolen from the dead, which the assistant was to bring down to a pawn shop once they were finally finished for the night.

These men were crooked, which allowed Clark to feel that what he decided to do next was not necessarily in the wrong, though the sheriff and even his father might disagree. He quietly snuck back outside to avoid being seen or heard by the two men inside or the man following him, looked around him to make sure that there was no one else in sight to see what he was about to do, then from against the wall around the side of the building, Clark focused hard on the one parked car in front of him as he used his heat vision to set it on fire in hope of drawing the doctor and his assistant out so that he'd be able to sneak in long enough to go through the files they had on Theresa's victims. His plan worked perfectly as the fire set, causing the vehicle to blow and both the examiner and his young assistant to run outside, only to stand back with their hands on their heads in shock at the sight before them.

"What do we do, Doc?" the younger man asked worryingly, neither of them noticing as Clark slipped inside. "If we call the cops…"

"We're not going to call the cops," the older man responded angrily as he continued to stare ahead of him at what was now nothing more than a bonfire. "But it looks like we're going to have to get that extra couple of grand for the watch after all. Otherwise, we're going to be in a different kind of trouble."

Luckily, Clark had his speed to be able to get inside faster than he would if he were human. It made breaking and entering much easier. Clark couldn't help, but chuckle at the fact that this was the second time he was breaking in someplace that night. All he had to do was make sure he didn't get caught this time. He wasn't too worried, as he knew that the only men who could catch him wouldn't call the sheriff or the rest of the town's law enforcement on him if they wanted to keep themselves out of prison.

Clark looked around quickly, then immediately went to the filing cabinet to search the files for any information he could find. He discovered that five files had been added since Tom and Theresa Callas arrived in Smallville the night before, and one more he found lying out on the table closest to the body within the bag that covered it. When he read the name, Clark pulled back the opening and stared at the young man, discovering him to be one of his school's biggest jocks since Whitney Fordman had left for the Marines years ago; Tom King. And he knew that if Tom had fallen prey to this woman, then his closest friend, Kyle must have too, as one of them was rarely seen without the other. Though, as Kyle wasn't among the dead, Clark realized that he and Tom may have been the men Theresa put under her spell and used to kidnap his father.

When he finished his search, Clark sped out to the alley around the side of the building just as the doctor and assistant walked back inside, and discovered that several onlookers had now gathered around to watch the fire and take pictures on their phones. Clark saw that the man who had followed him here was among them. When he was certain that no one was watching him, least of all the stranger, Clark used his power of speed once again to disappear.

He made his way to the area where Tom King's body had been found, having read the whereabouts from his file at the coroner's office, which was just off the main road into Smallville, not far from where Tom Callas had been in his accident. Meanwhile, the rain, thunder, and lightning above him continued to worsen as Clark stared off into the skies while trying to put all of the pieces together. If Kyle was indeed under Theresa's control and he was the one who had left his friend's body, then it made sense that he had left it where Clark stood because Theresa had enlisted him to collect pieces of the meteor rock for her plan to transform his father into Thanatos. Clark quickly made his way down to where Theresa had been buried and didn't feel sick as he had before, confirming his fear that most of the rock had been taken.

He was close, Clark knew it, so he thought hard and fast about where it was Theresa and Kyle could possibly be hiding, knowing that his father didn't have much time left. Finally, he remembered that there was a smaller dirt road not too far down, which was a bit more than two miles from where the remnants of the old railroad bridge stood. Clark didn't know for certain, but it was the perfect place for them to accomplish Theresa's goal, so he ran there as fast as he could.

As he arrived, he came upon them just in time to see Kyle standing on top of the bridge over the creek running beneath as he loomed over his father, who was laid out and bound tightly across the metal beams, conscious or unconscious, Clark couldn't tell. What he could see was the high school football star holding a large chunk of the meteor rock within his hands as he was about to steal his father's life away as Tom Callas had stolen Theresa's life. Even though the rock was mostly kryptonite, Clark rushed Kyle without hesitation, knocking the rock from his hands as he tackled him down to the planks beneath them, then both struggled for control until they suddenly fell over the side of the bridge as Clark grabbed hold of metal bar sticking out above them with one hand, holding onto Kyle with the other to keep him from falling.

Clark looked down at his schoolmate as he cried out, "Kyle, hold on! Stop flailing. If you want me to lift back up over the top, I need you to let go of the meteor rock, then grab hold of me with both hands. Please!"

Kyle didn't listen as he stared down at the ground beneath him and replied, "I can't do that, Clark. Thana needs me to kill Jonathan Kent with this green rock. It's what gave my goddess her power and what will give Thanatos his."

"You don't have to listen to her," Clark said again, but with more force as he could feel Kyle slipping from his grip. "She isn't what she says she is. She's using you and if you don't grab onto me right now, you're going to die! Fight her, Kyle!"

"No," the student answered calmly and without fear as Clark's grasp faltered and Kyle fell to his death on the ground below without so much as a scream.

Clark cried out for him and as soon as he awoke from his moment of shock, he climbed back up to the top of the bridge and looked toward where he had seen his dad bound, but when he did he saw Theresa grinning cruelly as she was kneeling over him where Kyle had been standing before. She held an even larger piece of the green stone within her hands while she carefully laid smaller pieces across Jonathan's chest, all without taking her eyes away from the young man who was more than human.

She spoke first saying coolly, "It's amazing how this beautiful stone has the power to resurrect both me and my Love, isn't it… Kal-El?"

Clark slowly raised himself from the bridge as he stood up straight and responded pleadingly, "Please Theresa, let my father go. Whatever you think you can…"

"I am not Theresa!" she replied angrily as she stood. "Theresa is dead. She was weak, allowing me to become reborn. Jonathan Kent is weak just like she was, which makes his body the perfect vessel for Thanatos."

"You're wrong, my dad is far stronger than anyone I know," Clark answered in defiance. "The only thing you will succeed in doing is kill him. And even if you can revive him, he won't be this reaper you claim Thanatos to be. He'll only be one more person infected and consumed by the meteor rock."

She chuckled as she looked down at the man at her feet, then responded, "That's exactly what he said to me. I didn't believe him, just as I do not believe you. Did you know Kal-El, that the man you call Father is already as good as dead? His heart is weak. There is only so much time that he has left before the toll of the agony your real father, Jor-El, has inflicted upon his body destroys him once and for all. I have seen it, deep inside his mind. He has seen it. Jonathan knows that he is dying. He dreams of his torment at the hands of Jor-El, he dreams of your suffering and that of his wife's, and he dreams of death every time he closes his eyes, all because you had to come into their lives. But I can save him. I can help him live, forever."

What she was saying struck a nerve and he couldn't help, but feel that she was right, but Clark fought against the guilt that rose heavily within him as he slowly moved closer and replied gravely, "He won't be Jonathan Kent any longer if I allow you to do this. I won't let you do that to him. I won't let you kill him. Jonathan is my father and I am tired of people trying to tell me he's not! You will not hurt him again!"

"You don't have a choice!" she shouted as she suddenly raised one hand high into the air to draw the lightning in the skies to her and lowered her other hand against his dad's chest, then began to discharge her power from her body into his, a bright green glow once again surrounding them both.

"No!" Clark cried out when without even thinking he ran full speed directly at the woman who called herself Thana and thrust all of his strength against her body, the force knocking her back through the air, until she suddenly fell from the sky to her death down into the shallow creek below as Kyle had, her powers no longer protecting her as she believed they always would. "Dad!"

He didn't have time to think about what he had just done as he saw that the lightning was still striking all around them, growing closer and closer, so he swiftly grabbed the meteor rocks from off of his dad's chest and tossed them away despite the sickness it caused him, then thrust his own body over his father's just in time as a burst struck down across his back, Clark taking the full force of the surge upon himself until it all finally dispersed completely. When the danger passed and Clark was able to move again as the pain radiating through him began to fade, he slowly and gently rose from off of his father and fearfully looked him over feeling the fever that radiated off of him and seeing the pain etched across his face, then he laid his head upon his chest in hope of hearing a heartbeat.

Jonathan was barely conscious as he weakly ran his hand along his son's back and struggled to speak saying raspingly, "It's… alri… right, son. I'm… okay."

Clark lifted his head and looked down upon him sadly as he stated with relief, "Dad, thank God! I thought… I thought for sure I was going to lose you this time."

"Not yet," his father answered weakly as Clark carefully helped him up, though he nearly collapsed back down to the ground as he slowly lost consciousness once again until Clark pulled him into his arms and carried him home where he'd be safe and able to rest peacefully while he and his mother took care of him.

Midafternoon the next day at the Luthor mansion…

"You failed me, Anson, despite your assurances that I could count on you," Lex said coldly as he looked up at the man standing before him while he remained sitting upon his couch near the fireplace in his study. "I warned you what would happen should you do so."

Jerald nervously responded, "Please, Lex. I did all I could. The Kent kid gave me the slip, then Theresa Callas' body was brought to the morgue earlier this morning. Your friend said the she mysteriously fell upon the rocks within the creek beneath a railroad bridge."

Lex stared into the fire as he replied, "Yes, mysteriously is the key word, but none of that matters right now. You failed to bring her to me alive as promised."

"Maybe so, but surely her body can still be of use to you," Anson answered coldly. "Just because she's dead, doesn't mean that the powers she had somehow become infused with have disappeared. I will collect her body and have it brought into your lab for the autopsy and its examination."

"Maybe I am acting a little hasty, but then again, maybe not," Lex said when all of a sudden his former associate was struck over his head from behind, then was lifted and dragged away by another associate who also worked for the young Luthor. "Be sure that Jerald is back inside his prison cell where he belongs before he wakes up again."

Someone else who entered with the other nodded and responded, "Don't worry, he'll be back where he can't disappoint you again and where he won't be able to tell anyone anything about our… business."

Lex smiled as he replied, "I always can count on you. Let me know once you get started on Mrs. Callas' autopsy. I'd like to observe this one myself."

At the Kent Farm…

When Clark had made it back home with his father in his arms, he immediately carried him to his and his mother's room, then both he and Martha remained at his bedside over the next several hours so long as he remained unconscious, doing all they could for him to help him fight against the raging fever that burned within him. Lois also remained close, to get for them anything they needed, even though she didn't understand why they didn't just take him to the hospital. Clark simply stated that it was better for him to remain close to those that loved him.

After Lois finally went to go lie down when noon came around, Clark decided it was the best time for him to talk about what Theresa had said to him about his father's dreams before she died, and when he finished, Martha took her husband's hand within her own and held it gently against her cheek as she looked at their son and said quietly, "I knew it was bad, but… Surely there is something we can do to help him, at least to be able to sleep without being so afraid."

"It's not like he can see a psychiatrist about his nightmares," Clark answered in an attempt to be funny, though it didn't actually come across that way. "I'm so sorry, Mom. This is all my fault. If I hadn't have felt sorry for myself and put on the damn ring, none of this would have ever happened and now Dad might die… because of me."

"You're wrong Clark," Jonathan weakly responded suddenly, having awoken sometime within the middle of their conversation, startling both his wife and son, though they were incredibly relieved to see him awake again and seeming to be getting better. "I told you, I made my choice and I would make it again in a second if it meant protecting you and your mother. It's my job to look after you."

"Yes, but you shouldn't have to fight against a God from another world along with Lionel and others like him," Clark replied despondently as he took his father's other hand. "Not if it will one day cost you your life."

Jonathan struggled to sit up with their help and then looked at their son as he answered sincerely, "No matter the circumstances, a father is always willing to give his life for those he loves, as would his mother, as you would do for either of us, though it better not ever come to that. I may be struggling with the nightmares all we have been through have caused, but I made peace with my choices the moment I made them. I am just sorry that I didn't share what I was going through with either of you. I didn't intend to worry you. I'll be alright in time."

Martha smiled as she leaned in to kiss her husband and then responded, "At least maybe you'll be able to heal, now that you're able to speak with us about what is worrying you. Please just let us in, Jonathan."

"I promise, hon," he replied as he looked back at Clark and smiled. "I don't know what happened up on that bridge between you and Theresa, but I want you to know how proud of you I am. Not just for what's happened recently, but for the man I've seen you've become. I love you, and I love you, Martha."

"I love you too, Dad," Clark answered as he leaned down and wrapped his arms around the man who was his greatest hero, despite being just a man with no powers of his own.

It was several days before Jonathan was on his feet again. Clark, Martha, and even Lois picked up the slack while he recuperated. Between the extra work around the farm, Clark and Lois were finally able to get the truth behind Chloe's disappearance and found her alive and well. Troubles came and went, as did times for celebration. What was important was that through it all, the Kents remained a family, fighting for what was right against what was wrong.

The End