Chapter Four
Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.
"Like what?" Clark asked them. "I mean, I was only there for a couple of days but Lex seemed determined that I get as much information as possible and I wasn't there the whole time so I learned a lot just by flying around. Here in Smallville, we really only see those who have gained power from Kryptonite but in the future we'll be seeing lots of people who have powers for completely different reasons. The Green Lanterns have their rings, J'onn is a Martian, Wonder Woman is from Themyscira, the Flash was in a freak accident…"
"How about you tell us some more about us?" Lana suggested. "Do we grow up to be the kind of people that we can be proud of or should we be grateful for this opportunity to rethink our future plans?"
"Well…this might sound a little jealous but I swear that I'm only trying to protect you by telling you this information," Clark began. "Whitney is a decent boyfriend, Lana, but some of your future ones…not so much. Ian Randall sophomore year gets the ability to duplicate himself and dates both you and Chloe at the same time before trying to kill you both because…well, he's crazy and he didn't want to get caught. That wasn't really a serious relationship, though."
"He cheats on me and tries to kill me, too?" Chloe complained. "That's not good and I already had to deal with Sean. Tell me I don't have as many psycho ex's as Lana does."
Clark looked awkwardly at her. "We'll get to you in a minute. This next one might be the most messed up one. You apparently got trampled by a horse at some point – I don't know the details – and are sent to physical therapy junior year where you meet Adam Knight. Unfortunately, he's actually the reanimated corpse of someone named Chad who died of liver disease and was sent to spy on you although I'm not actually sure why. Mr. Luthor was apparently behind it."
"My father doesn't need a reason to screw with people," Lex informed them.
Pete snorted. "I can't believe I'm actually going to say this but…I agree with Lex."
"Do I ever date anyone who isn't insane?" Lana demanded.
"Well Whitney was never insane," Clark pointed out. "And we date a few times before…but let's get back to this. Lex pays for you to go to Paris after junior year and you meet this guy, Jason Teague. He comes back with you and coaches football and he seems like a really great guy at first. Unfortunately, he decides that he's crazy and evil at the worst possible moment when another meteor shower comes down right after our graduation and I think he was crushed by a meteor."
"So I end up with a two-timing murderous cheater, a zombie, and someone who turns evil for no apparent reason," Lana said flatly. "Please tell me that that's the end of them."
"That's the end of them as far as I know," Clark confirmed. "But you know that I'm working from second-hand information here."
"What about us?" Lana asked him curiously. "You said that we dated a few times?"
Clark nodded. "We did, according to Lex. He said that the reason our relationship kept failing was that I didn't want you to think that I was a freak so I never told you my secret and the lies became too much."
"I could never think that you were a freak!" Lana exclaimed. "I've known you my entire life and all you ever want to do is help people. There's nothing freakish about that, no matter where you come from."
Clark smiled shyly at her. "Thank you. I'd like to think that I did come to realize that soon enough but it's just…Lana, I'm not sure if you've noticed it yet but you will. A good third or so of the meteor mutants that turn violent or will turn violent are obsessed with you and as such you aren't really fond of them which worried me."
"Even if that's true and they do keep coming after me for whatever reason, I know that you're not like that and you never will be," Lana said firmly.
"I know," Clark told her earnestly. "So I'm sorry that I never trusted you."
"Just so we're clear, Clark is now apologizing for something that's never happened?" Chloe asked.
"It's Lana," Pete said as if that explained everything.
"Another reason was that I wanted to protect you but you can protect yourself just fine, especially once you take those martial arts classes," Clark told her. "Tragically, we were finally permanently separated when you were dosed with Kryptonite which didn't hurt you or anybody else at all but made your physical presence enough to kill me."
"W-what?" Lana sputtered. "How could something like that happen?"
Clark shrugged. "I really don't know. Lex said it was some kind of freak accident and I hope that never happens because I don't think I could stand the prospect of being separated from you forever. I, uh, value your friendship too much for that."
Lana smiled back at him. "Me, too."
"So I think that just about covers everything," Clark said slowly before snapping his fingers. "No, wait. There was the witchcraft thing."
"Witchcraft?" Lex repeated. "Aliens and mutants I can believe but now we're throwing witchcraft into the equation? Is there anything that isn't real?"
"After the things I heard about and saw, I really don't feel comfortable guaranteeing anything isn't true," Clark said, grinning.
"So at some point I run into witches?" Lana inquired. "That…does not sound good."
"You actually end up possessed by one," Clark corrected her, wincing. "While in Paris, stay away from the tomb of Countess Margaret Isobel Thoreaux. She was apparently your ancestor and visiting there and then touching Isobel's spellbook causes her to possess you all year until she eventually murders Jason's mother. I guess Jason's ancestors had Isobel burned at the stake or something. It's all quite odd. People should really let these things go after hundreds of years."
"Maybe Paris isn't the best place for me to spend time in after all," Lana said, looking stunned. "I mean, it just screams 'bad idea.' Maybe London, if I ever go to Europe."
"That does seem like it would solve all of your problems," Clark agreed. "Or at least a great many of them. And hopefully now that all the secrets are out in the open if we were to ever date it would be less…tumultuous."
"I'm starting to wonder if I should ever date again," Lana said, still stricken. "Men just don't seem to be something I'm going to have much luck with."
"Oh, it's not just men. Tina Greer apparently comes back at one point pretending to be Whitney," Clark offered. "Though that's not until next year. She's in love with you so I'm not sure why she keeps trying to kill you but, well, crazy."
"Should I just never talk to anyone new ever?" Lana demanded. "And not even new because I knew Tina for years!"
"Well, I did hear that you were happily married in the future so it all seems to work out," Clark said lamely.
"To who?" Lana wondered.
"I really shouldn't say," Clark said awkwardly. "It might mess up the future or something and if nothing else it would probably freak you out. I mean, even if I said that you were married to Whitney how would you react to knowing you married your high school boyfriend?"
"Like I reallyneed to live more," Lana confessed.
"Well you seem to live plenty in the future so hang in there," Clark encouraged her. "In fact, Lex said something about you getting superpowers and being a hero at some point though I don't think I ever actually found out how that happened."
"I could really make a difference if I had powers," Lana mused. "I wouldn't be helpless anymore and I could try to stop others from having to feel that way. But still, it's a huge responsibility, isn't it?"
"I'm sure that when the time comes, you'll rise to meet the challenge," Clark said sincerely.
Lana smiled and blushed but said nothing.
"Okay, how about me?" Pete asked eagerly.
"I…don't actually know as much about you as I do about Lana," Clark admitted, embarrassed.
"Big surprise," Chloe muttered.
"Trust me, I'm not going to take that personally," Pete promised. "So what do you know?"
"I don't really know anything about any murderous ex's so apparently your dating life is a bit more successful than Lana's and you, too, are happily married in the future," Clark began.
"How far into the future did you go again?" Pete wanted to know. "It wouldn't do to get married right out of high school, now would it?"
"No, I think you get married awhile after that," Clark told him. "And I went twenty-five years into the future."
Pete whistled. "Twenty-five years, huh? We'd all be forty. Except Lex. He'd be even older."
"Forty-six isn't that much older," Lex protested.
"It's practically fifty," Pete disagreed.
"Fifty isn't that old, really," Lex claimed.
Pete snorted. "I'm sure that will be of great comfort to you when you reach that age. But hey, on the plus side apparently everyone survives for the next twenty-five years! That's quite an accomplishment in Smallville."
"I haven't heard anything about me," Chloe pointed out.
"You survive, too," Clark assured her.
"Good to know," Chloe said brightly.
"That doesn't mean you should trust that you can't die though and take stupid risks!" Clark was quick to add.
"Please," Chloe sniffed, looking insulted. "I never take 'stupid risks.'"
Clark just shook his head. "Apparently it was really hard for you to keep my secret, Pete. You said that you always had to make sure to call them meteor rocks instead of Kryptonite and to cover my quick exits whenever I run off. That's why I wanted to be absolutely sure that you really wanted to know before I told you."
"Well, with Chloe, Lana, and Lex all knowing as well they can help make up excuses and I won't need to lie to them," Pete said, unconcerned.
"How did you know to start calling it Kryptonite, anyway?" Lex inquired.
"A Dr. Virgil Swann contacted me at some point in high school and told me where Krypton was and what it's name was," Clark explained. "I'm not sure exactly when, though."
"Is he trustworthy?" Lex asked immediately. "If he is then maybe we can contact him and speed it up. We could even claim that he discovered the former planet and named it so that, official or not, there's cause to refer to it as Kryptonite."
"It's something we could look into, I guess," Clark said uncertainly. "I'm pretty sure he was trustworthy because I didn't hear anything about him abusing my trust."
"So see? Keeping your secret should be a breeze," Pete said easily.
"I hope so," Clark said worriedly. "Because last time apparently people somehow kept finding out that you knew my secret and kidnapping you and torturing you to find out what it was. You said that you didn't think you could stay in Smallville and both stay alive and keep my secret so at the earliest possible opportunity, you left and didn't look back. You and Chloe still kept in touch but since you left because of me and then started blaming the burden of my secrets on anything that went wrong in your life, we didn't really keep in touch. Although I am told that we reconnected a few years down the line."
"Damn," Pete swore. "I guess I really let you down, huh?"
"Never!" Clark said fiercely. "You never told anyone my secret and when you left it was just as much about protecting me as it was about protecting yourself. I was the reason you were in danger in the first place. You never asked to be burdened by my secret."
"Well, yeah, but this time I did," Pete pointed out. "And this time is what matters. And you're my best friend and that was a really crappy thing to do."
"You could always not do it," Lana suggested. "Just like how I'm probably just going to go join a convent or something."
"If it makes you feel any better, you were a senator in the future," Clark informed him. "You and my mom."
"Your mom?" Chloe couldn't believe it. "Good for her. How'd your dad take it?"
"Apparently my mother got into political office when my father ran for state senator and won but then suffered a fatal heart attack and so my mother took his seat and then when a US senator died she took his seat," Clark said hollowly.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Chloe said, looking horrified.
"Don't be," Clark said, forcing a smile. "I don't know how far this is in the future and you had no way of knowing. Besides, I heard that a good way to avoid that would be not running off to Metropolis and forcing my dad to kept powers his body can't handle from the insane and probably evil AI of my dead biological father and then getting rid of my powers and dying causing said AI to bring me back to life at the cost of someone I loved a few months later."
"You have an insane and probably evil AI of your dead biological father?" Lex repeated incredulously.
Clark shrugged. "So I've been told. I haven't actually met him but I'm really not looking forward to it, you know? Some of the things he did…enabling my mother to get pregnant then causing a miscarriage when I didn't leave Smallville forever, erasing my memories, abducting a teenage girl the day of the meteor shower and brainwashing her so she'd think she was my cousin…he actually kind of reminds me of Lex's dad."
"I can confirm that my father is, indeed, insane and probably evil," Lex offered.
"The best part is is that in the future we apparently get along fine as all the things he did to me and to others, which I'm sure qualify as child abuse, were all a part of my 'trials' so I would be ready to…well, he said 'be a superhero' but apparently for years he'd been giving me the impression he wanted me to take over the world so who really knows? He's crazy, too," Clark said bitterly.
"He and my dad really would get along," Lex said, nodding.
"Supposedly he uses your father as a vessel in the future and this actually makes him a semi-good person," Clark informed him.
"Okay, this I have to hear," Lex said flatly. "Were you done telling Pete about his future?"
Clark nodded. "Just about, I think. Okay, I don't know very much about that but it all starts when your father is sent to prison for the murder of his parents…"
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