Pilot – Fourth Chapter
"Clark..." Rory followed him into the loft where Clark threw himself onto the couch.

"It's not fair," Clark said petulantly.

"Us not getting to keep the truck, or you not getting to be normal?" asked Rory. "Face it Clark: our powers are a gift. They're meant to be used for good. I mean, we could be superheroes if we wanted! Like Spiderman! I mean, he's awesome. We could save lives, just like Spiderman!" she exclaimed getting more and more excited.

"Rory! Calm down. You do realize that Spiderman had problems too, don't you? I mean, he could never get close to Mary-Jane because of his secret," Clark said to her sadly. He looked out the window and said, "You'll never be able get really serious with anybody Rory, and neither will I."

Rory lifted her chin and said strongly, "If I really cared about somebody, I'd be able to tell them. And if they really cared about me, they'd understand."

They both heard the footsteps coming up the stairs into the loft and Rory turned to see Jonathan coming into the loft holding something in his hands. "What's that, Dad?" asked Rory curiously.

Jonathan gave it to her and she looked down at it. It seemed to be some kind of metal diskette with some crystal things sticking out of one end and many strange little symbols on it. She frowned at it and asked him, "What does it say?"

"I don't know. But... we think it's from your parents." Jonathan paused. "Your birth parents."

Clark looked up at this and held out his hand for the diskette. Rory gave it to him and he examined it. "What language is this in?" he asked, despite himself. "Is that... Egyptian or something?"

"No, Clark. It's not," Jonathan said, trying to think of the best way to tell them. "It's... it's not a language spoken," he hesitated, then went on, "on Earth."

"What are you trying to say Dad?" asked Rory, although she had already had a pretty good idea. "Where is it spoken then?"

Jonathan didn't answer her, but instead looked out the window at the sky.

Clark laughed and said, "What does that mean Dad? That we're from another planet?" Jonathan looked at Clark but said nothing. Clark went on sarcastically, "And I suppose you stashed our spaceship in the attic."

Jonathan paused and said to his children, "Actually... it's in the storm cellar."

Storm Cellar
Jonathan pulled the tarp off the spaceship and Clark and Rory stared at it. Rory ran her fingers over it and said, "We both fitted into this? It's so small. How did it make it through space?"

"I don't know," answered Jonathan. "But we - your mother and I - think that that's where you get your powers from. And the allergic reactions to the meteor rocks."

Clark was standing well away from the ship. To him, it symbolized the reason he could never be in love; never have a family, never have friends, never be normal. "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" he asked seriously.

Jonathan looked at him and said, "We wanted to protect you."

Clark couldn't take it in. "Protect us from what? You should have told us! I need to be alone," Clark muttered and without further ado, he supersped away from the farm.

Rory sighed and said, "All he wants is to be normal Dad."

"I know," replied Jonathan. He looked at Rory and said, "Do you think he'll ever get used to it?"

"He's gonna have to," she said. "Clark is a good person. He'll realize eventually that he can use his powers to stop people hurting those that he loves."

At the graveyard
Lana rode up to the gates of the graveyard where her parents were buried and dismounted. She looked down at the flowers she was holding. Suddenly she heard a noise from behind her and she turned. "Who's there?" she called out.

"It's me," came the answer. Clark Kent stepped out of the shadows. "Clark."

From where Lana was standing it looked as though Clark was an angel, with the wings from the statue behind him appearing to come from his shoulders. Lana shook herself mentally and said surprised, "Clark Kent? What are you doing creeping around in the woods?" She took a step towards him and noticed that he seemed to have been crying.

"You'd never believe me if I told you," Clark replied. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He turned to leave.

"Clark, wait," Lana said, stopping him. She walked over to him. "I just wasn't expecting to see anyone out here, that's all. Are you okay?"

"I'm hanging out in a graveyard," Clark responded half-heartedly. "Does that strike you as okay behaviour?"

"Hey," she said. "I'm here too."

Clark sniffed a little and said, "Good point. So what's your story?"

Lana hesitated then said to him, "Can you keep a secret?"

Clark almost laughed at how ironic that question was but instead answered, "I'm the Fort Knox of secrets."

"I... I came out here to talk to my parents," Lana said confidentially. She laughed a little in embarrassment and turned away. "You must think I'm pretty weird. You know, conversing with dead people."

"No, Lana. I don't think you're weird," Clark said to her. He hesitated, looking for something else to say. "Do you remember them?"

"They died when I was three," Lana said sadly.

Clark could have kicked himself. "I'm sorry," he said.

"It's not your fault Clark," she smiled at him. Lana took his hand and led him over to her parent's graves. "Mom – Dad. I'd like you to meet someone. This is Clark Kent. Rory's twin brother."

"Hi," said Clark self-consciously. He looked at Lana and said awkwardly, "Rory 'met' your parents?"

She smiled and responded, "I tell them about her a lot."

They both squatted down and Lana put her flowers on the ground. She tilted her head as though listening to something and said, "Yeah, he is kind of shy." She listened some more and said, "How should I know?" To Clark she said, "Mom wants to know if you're upset about a girl."

Clark shook his head.

Lana listened some more, then she snorted. "Dad wants to know if you're upset about a guy."

"No! No, I'm not," Clark said hurriedly.

Lana laughed and said, "He has a twisted sense of humour." Clark smiled at her and she said to him curiously, "Seriously Clark, why are you out here?"

Clark paused, then said slowly, "Lana, have you ever felt like your life was supposed to be something different?"

Lana nodded and told him, "Sometimes I dream I'm at school, waiting for Nell to pick me up. But she doesn't come, so my parents drive up. They're not dead, they're just really late. Then I get in their car and we drive back to my real life in Metropolis. That's usually when I wake up. But for a minute, I'm totally happy, until I realize I'm still alone." She turned away and Clark tried to think of a way to cheer her up. Suddenly he had an idea.

"What's that Mrs. Lang?" he said to the grave. Lana turned and looked at him. Clark nodded and said, "Yeah – yeah, I'll tell her." He looked at Lana and said to her, "Your mom wants you to know that you're never alone. That she'll always be looking out for you, no matter what."

Lana smiled at him happily with tears in her eyes. But Clark wasn't done yet. "What's that Mr. Lang?" he asked. He turned back to Lana smiling and said, "And your dad thinks you're a shoo-in for homecoming queen."

Lana laughed and said, "They really said all that?"

"Oh yeah," Clark assured her. "They're quite chatty, once you get them started."

Lana smiled.

Just outside the Kent farm/Lana's house
"Thanks for walking me home Clark," Lana said to him as they stopped outside her house.

"Beats creeping around in the woods," Clark said to her happily.

Lana laughed and said to him, "Do you realize this is the longest conversation we've ever had without Rory here to keep the talking flowing?" She stopped walking and paused, then continued, "We should do it again sometime."

"Yeah, we should," said Clark comfortably. He looked at her and thought about how pretty she was. Making up his mind, he said in a rush, "So are you going to the dance?"

Lana said, slowly and in a puzzled tone, "Yeah, with Whitney."

Clark cursed himself and said, "Right. Of course."

"Are you going?"

"Nah. Figured I'd sit it out."

Lana smiled. "Well... if you change your mind, I'll save you a dance." She kissed him on the cheek and said, "Goodnight Clark."

She walked away. Clark was grinning like an idiot, but he didn't care, cause Lana Lang had just kissed him. Sure, it had only been on the cheek, and she had a boyfriend, but still!

He turned and walked away, not knowing that he was being watched by said boyfriend, who immediately began to concoct a plan. Purpose: get Clark Kent out of the way.

Lex's Mansion the next day
Clark and Rory walked up yet another flight of stairs in the Luthor Mansion. "Jesus, how big is this place?" said Rory in awe.

Clark laughed and led her into yet another room. He stopped when he heard a noise. "Listen," he said to Rory and she stopped.

The sound grew louder until suddenly two people dressed in fencing gear came in, still fencing furiously. They stopped moving in the middle of the room and one of them quickly disarmed the other.

Both pulled their masks off and the one who had lost turned and hurled the sword at the wall where it stuck, quivering right next to Clark's head.

"Clark. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," said Lex apologetically. He glanced at Rory and then looked back at Clark. "How did you two get past security?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, well, we kinda just um, squeezed through the bars," said Rory.

"Right," said Lex, not believing her. "So how do you like the new ride?"

"That's actually why we're here," Rory said.

Lex nodded. "Your dad doesn't like me, does he?"

"I don't think it's you. He said something about your father?" Rory said questioningly.

"But, you know. I think that the son or daughter shouldn't be blamed for the sins of their parents," said Clark.

Lex smiled and said, "Open-mindedness will take you far Clark. Do you see things the same way Aurora?"

"Please. Nobody calls me Aurora. Call me Rory, or I'll call you Alexander," Rory said to him humorously. "And yeah, I share Clark's views. You shouldn't be held responsible for what your father did."

"That's good to know," replied Lex, staring at her face. A cough from Clark broke the moment and Clark proceeded to say, "So, nice place, huh?"

Lex looked at Clark and said with raised eyebrows, "Sure."

"It's a... really nice place?" Rory offered.

Lex said sarcastically, "Yeah, if you're dead and in the market for something to haunt."

"What she – we meant was that it's… big," Clark amended lamely.

"It's the Luthor ancestral home," Lex said grandly as he led them out of the room, "or so my father claims. He had it shipped over from Scotland, stone by stone."

"Yeah, I remember that. The trucks rolled through town for weeks but nobody ever moved in," Rory recalled.

"Oh, my father had no intention of ever living here. He's never even stepped through the front door," Lex said dismissively.

"Then why'd he ship it over?" Clark asked curiously.

Lex led them into his study and got himself a drink of water. "Because he could," he said to them. He held up the glass and said, "Would you like a drink?"

"We aren't thirsty," Clark said.

"Actually..." said Rory reluctantly. "We should probably be getting home. We really only came by to drop off the truck."

She gave him the keys, feeling a slight tingle in her fingers as they brushed against his. She turned to leave with Clark. Lex said, "Just a sec."

They both turned back to face him. "Do you believe a man can fly? Not in an aeroplane, or a helicopter. I mean unsupported by anything. Just by himself," Lex asked them.

Neither of them had the slightest idea how ironic this question was. "People can't fly, Lex," Clark said shortly.

"I did," Lex said quietly. He turned away and continued, "After the accident, when my heart stopped." He turned back to face them. "It was the most exhilarating two minutes of my life. I flew over Smallville, and for the first time, I didn't see a dead end. I saw a new beginning. Thanks to you two, I have a second chance."

Clark looked down and Lex said, now looking at Rory, "We have a future, you two and I. And I don't want anything to stand in the way of our - friendship."

Rory smiled at him and said softly, "I'd like to be friends too, Lex."