Exile – Chapter Twenty-Five
One month after Chloe found them
Rory danced to the music with a wild abandon. Ever since leaving Smallville, it had been her favourite thing – to find a cool club, sneak in and just let herself go with the music. Most of the time Clark ended up at the same one – they couldn't help the fact they were connected, and the red kryptonite had somehow intensified that connection.
The song finished and Rory swung away from the crowd, walking over to the bar to get a drink. She saw Clark standing near the bar also, a pretty blonde girl all over him.
Rolling her eyes, she made it there and watched them, waiting for the inevitable. They were currently making out.
Rory glanced at the bartender, a guy she knew and made a gagging motion to him while indicating the couple. He laughed, nodding back.
"What is that?" she heard over the music. She turned back to Clark and his hook-up, who had found the scar.
Rory grinned, settling in to watch the show. This oughta be good, she thought with relish. Clark never got rid of his girls in the same way twice.
"It's a birthmark," was Clark's casual reply to the question.
She ran her hand over his chest. "It's pretty big for a birthmark."
Clark grabbed her arm violently. "Don't touch."
"Ow!"
Scowling, the woman yanked her arm away from him. "That hurt!"
She walked off in a huff, muttering, "Jerk."
Rory slipped off her seat and walked quickly over to him.
"That was boring, Kal," Rory emphasised his fake name.
"Oh. I'm sorry. Next time, I'll dump them in a more interesting way, hmm?" Clark said caustically.
"That'd be great, thanks Kal," Rory said innocently, patting his arm.
"Any preferences?" Clark asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, actually, I really liked that time when you told that chick that you heard voices," retorted Rory laughingly.
Clark snorted. Only cause it's true.
Exactly, she agreed.
"So what's the deal, Kal?" the bartender asked. "Every night you roll in here with a babe, but you always leave empty-handed."
Clark didn't reply, and the guy said jokingly, "What are you, a monk or something?"
"What's the point of starting something if it's just gonna end badly?" Clark asked darkly.
"See, that's another area where I'm smarter then you, Clark. I never even try to start anything," Rory told him, smiling annoyingly.
Clark shook his head at her and dropped a 100 bill on the bar.
Outside Atlantis (the club), later that night
Rory sauntered across the street – this was another feeling she loved, the feeling of being completely in control of who she was and what she did.
Except -
The pain lancing through her abdomen made her gasp in pain and double over, wrapping her arms around her stomach as if to hold herself together.
Worse still was the fact that Clark felt the same pain, so all of his pain was coming through the almost-always open connection, quadrupling the pain she could feel.
Clark stumbled into a nearby phone booth, Rory following him blindly. As soon as she reached it, she sank down against the side of it, fumbling for her necklace – this had happened before, and she knew how to stop it.
Clark fought it longer than she did, however, ripping his shirt open, writhing in pain, finally falling to the floor of the phone booth and pulling the ring off. He rolled over, breathing heavily and luxuriating in the feeling of relief.
"Clark?"
He looked up at the door of the booth. Rory stared at him, her eyes wild and her hair messy.
Clark looked back to the telephone.
Seconds later, the twins stood crammed into the telephone box. Clark held the phone between them
so that both of them could hear. Both had the same excited, anticipating but still pained expression on their face.
The phone rang, once, twice, three times -
"Hello?"
Rory closed her eyes, holding on to her mother's voice like it was a lifeline and she drowning in the sea. Breathing softly, aware that Clark was listening just as intently as she was, she wished for Martha to say something, anything else.
"Clark? Rory?" Martha asked, her voice gentle and hopeful. "Is that you?"
Still neither of them said anything, and Martha said softly, sadly, "Please come home."
They waited a moment longer, then, unable to bear it any longer, Clark hung up.
Rory was already putting the necklace to her neck as Clark turned. In an instant, both had gone back to being a part of themselves that was rarely seen.
Back to being free.
A couple of days later
Rory grinned devilishly at Clark. "Ready to roll?"
"You had to ask?" he replied, grinning back.
"Seriously, Clark, we gotta work on that. I mean, can you say cliché?" Rory prattled on.
Clark climbed onto the motorbike, pulling the ski mask over his head at the same time. "Hop on."
Rory slid on behind him, dragging her own ski mask over her head.
"God, I love having short hair," she sighed, wrapping her arms around his waist as he floored it.
Speeding through the streets, Clark asked Rory, See anything good?
No, but there's a place I know...
She gave him the directions mind-to-mind, and he sped up a little.
What kind of dramatic entrance shall we make this time, sister dearest?
Rory grinned. I know just the one...
Sally MacDougal was a secretary working at a big, important bank. It was a pretty good job – good pay, good hours, good employers and the people who worked with her were great.
There was just one hazard, though.
"Everyone on the floor now!" yelled one of the men. About five minutes ago, these guys had run in wearing hideous, almost demonic clown masks and wielding guns. They'd shut the whole bank down – nobody could get out or in.
They were here for money, obviously, grabbing as many bank notes as they could find and putting them in big bags.
"Stay down!" another man yelled at a guy near Sally. "Face down! Hit the floor!"
A security guard crawled up behind him, trying to attack him using surprise. The thief turned and shot him, and Sally screamed and cringed away, covering her head.
Suddenly, a big, black motorcycle crashed through a nearby window. It swerved to a stop not far from Sally, knocking over one of the thieves.
A man and a woman rode the bike. Sally thought, for a split second, Our salvation?
The woman snickered and turned to look at her. "Not quite, honey!"
Both of them wore ski masks and were dressed all in black. The man wore a ring with a red gem on his finger, while the woman wore a necklace with the outline of a flower in the same red crystal-like material.
"Shoot the bastards!" shouted one of the clown-men.
Another one obeyed him, opening fire on the two people. Sally saw, impossibly, that they were dodging the bullets, moving faster than she could see. Not only that, but the man appeared to be knocking the bullets away with his hands – there wasn't even a scratch on him!
Then they disappeared.
Sally blinked, and heard an unfamiliar male voice.
"Stick to balloon animals."
She turned towards it, her mouth dropping open when she saw the man and woman standing behind the thief that had shot them. The man opened his fist, and several compressed bullets fell to the floor.
The man then threw the thief across the room as if he weighed nothing. Sally's mind couldn't handle the impossibilities any longer and it shut down. She slumped to the side, blissfully unconscious.
Rory turned her attention to one of the clowns, who was standing at a desk holding a bag of money. The clown masks are appropriate, she thought disdainfully, these guys suck at this.
The man raised the gun and Rory instantly raised a forcefield in front of her. He started to shoot at her. She smirked and just kept coming.
Grabbing him by the neck, she said sweetly, "Sorry, Krusty. We saw the bank first."
She lifted him over the desk and threw him to the floor. Picking up the bag of money, she saw that Clark had disposed of the rest of them and grabbed several bags of money.
"So kind of you to do our work for us," Clark told one of the unconscious men.
"We outbound?" Rory asked.
Clark nodded and together they walked towards the door.
What they didn't see was that the clown on the floor behind them pulled off his mask to watch them go in wonder. There was a very distinctive tattoo on the side of his face.
Clark stopped suddenly at the door.
Clark, what? Rory asked.
Maybe you should take the bike back. I don't want to lose it, and the cops have guns out there.
I can take care of the guns, Clark.
I know, but there's still the matter of the bike. You want us to lose it?
Rory sighed, knowing he was right. Fine. But you take all the money, got it?
Done.
Rory turned, walking quickly back to the bike and swinging on. She wheeled it round and sped towards the back of the bank, where several glass door stood leading to a back street.
Hearing sirens and seeing flashing lights, she revved the bike and floored it, going as fast as she could towards the doors.
Rory smashed through them, her clothes protecting her for the most part. A police helicopter wheeled overhead, but it was paying attention to the front of the bank.
Clark had just walked outside, and everyone was paying attention to that. Rory grinned, murmuring to herself, "God, I love my brother."
Speeding through the streets, she yanked off the ski mask one-handed, ripping it apart with her powers and letting the pieces fall onto the road.
Rory changed the colour of her clothes until she was wearing dark blue jeans and a white top with her black jacket over the top, unchanged.
Merging with the traffic, she knew that she had just made the perfect getaway.
The Kent Farm, the next night
"Their crimes just keep getting bigger and bigger," Pete told Jonathan and Martha. Jonathan held an issue of the Daily Planet with a headline that read, 'Masked Duo Continue to Rampage Metropolis'.
"We can't be sure it's them," Martha said defensively.
"Look," Pete said sympathetically, "I know you don't want to believe, but... it's definitely them." There was a pause, then Pete asked, "What are we gonna do?"
"There isn't really anything-" Martha began.
Jonathan interrupted her, saying to Pete, "Yeah. You get in the truck. I'm gonna get my coat."
Jonathan left the room and Pete started to follow him. Martha stopped Pete, putting her hand on his arm, then followed her husband.
"Where are you going?" she asked, her voice challenging him.
Jonathan turned to face her. "I'm going to get them," he said defiantly.
"They know what red kryptonite does. They can take it off at any time," Martha reminded him.
"Martha, I don't know that," Jonathan said, almost pleading with her.
"Jonathan, the phone calls," Martha said gently but firmly. "They're the first step."
"I can't just sit around this farmhouse and do nothing anymore!" Jonathan almost yelled, his frustration getting the better of him.
"Well, even if you find them, how do you plan on bringing them home?" Martha retorted. Her voice getting softer, she continued, "It's been three months. We've been searching all that time. We filed a missing persons report, we have done everything we can."
"Martha-"
"The fact is they don't want to be found," Martha said loudly, talking over the top of him. Holding onto his shoulders, she said to him quietly, "They'll come home to us when they're ready. We just have to have faith, okay?"
"Yeah," Jonathan whispered.
Clark and Rory's apartment, the next day
Rory lay in her bed, satin sheets covering her body. She was drifting in that point between sleep and consciousness, that point when you're aware of everything but not aware that you're aware of it all.
Suddenly, she heard the door open. All her senses went on red alert and she immediately created a force field to protect herself.
She could hear that two people had entered. One had gone to Clark's bed, while the other was standing at the foot of her own.
The silence was broken by the sound of guns firing. Rory lay motionless, asking Clark, You thinking what I'm thinking?
Only if you're thinking scare the shit out of them, Clark replied mercilessly.
Exactly, Rory agreed.
Rory felt something poke her side. She moved with precision, flinging the blankets off herself and grabbing the guy by the neck.
She threw him across the room and two thuds sounded just seconds after one another, Clark having thrown his attacker too.
One of the guys had a big tattoo down one side of his face.
The twins stood up, Clark playing with the ring on his finger as he asked coldly, "Who sent you?"
"I did."
A well-dressed and obviously rich middle-aged man walked up to them. He wore glasses and had white hair.
"Morgan Edge," the man smiled, holding out his hand to shake. Both twins ignored it as Clark reached for a shirt, pulling it over his head.
"That's a hell of a scar," Edge noted. "How'd you get it?"
"Our dad's a real bastard," Rory replied emotionlessly. "What do you want?"
Clark sat on a couch and Rory sat next to him, both appearing relaxed but actually poised and ready for anything.
"You two came to my club flashing money," Edge said, getting straight down to business, "and then you interrupt my guys at the bank. I take it that was not coincidence."
Clark laughed and Rory grinned. "Those clowns?" Clark said derisively. "They work for you?"
"You've both made quite a reputation for yourselves," Edge said, the interest in his voice just barely concealed. "I set up this... test so I could see with my own eyes if you were man or myth. And clearly, you're both."
"Well. I'm glad we could clear that up for you... Morgan," Rory said mockingly.
"I'd like to talk about a job opportunity," Edge said, ignoring her disdainful tone.
It was Clark who spoke this time. "Thanks, but we're really not looking for work at the moment."
"We like to fly solo," Rory explained.
Edge sat down and said darkly, "No matter how many bullets bounce off you and your brother, Kara, you two are still just kids, and I'm the biggest crime boss in Metropolis."
"Well, I would think you could afford better help," Rory jibed, glancing over at their attackers who were only just getting off the ground.
"That's why we're talking," Edge said, ready to hook them on his plan. "I got this one job. It'll make you two Midas rich." He paused for a moment, attempting to evaluate their reactions. "So when you're tired of playing little league? You know where to find me."
He stood and left, his goons hurrying out after him. Clark and Rory pondered his proposal, neither saying anything to the other.
Lex's funeral, the next day
Lana stood with Jonathan and Martha, wearing black clothes. The three of them weren't just mourning Lex's death, however – they were also mourning the disappearance of Clark and Rory.
"I think the cruellest fate a parent can suffer is to lose a child," Lionel Luthor said, standing beside a big tombstone with the name Lex Luthor etched into it.
Poor Mr and Mrs Kent, Lana thought, to lose not just one child, but both of them.
"Lex was touched with greatness..." Lionel's voice trailed off as Lana got the feeling that someone was watching her.
Turning around, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Clark and Rory stood at the back of the group of people, both listening intently and sombrely. They both wore black clothes and stood very close to one another.
Rory's hair was cut short and flippy, and seemed to have several black streaks in it – not at all like Lana remembered it.
Maybe...maybe that means it's not a hallucination. Maybe it's real.
Lana started to edge her way through the crowd, trying to be subtle, trying not to get her hopes up. Unable to help herself, she pushed eagerly through the last row, then stood, silent.
Clark and Rory had disappeared.
Clark and Rory's apartment, later that day
The twins rode the elevator up to their penthouse apartment, neither one talking and both looking pensive.
The elevator dinged and as the door open, Rory saw the last person she'd expected looking through their window, turning when she heard the elevator sound.
"Guys, I need to talk to you about-" Chloe began, coming towards them.
Rory walked forward quickly, her face vicious. "I thought I told you never to come back here again." Her voice was a complete contrast to her face, soft and sickly sweet. "Who else know we're here?"
"No one," Chloe said, trying not to show her irrational fear – and it was irrational, she was sure of that. Rory would never really hurt her. "Your secret's safe with me, but we need to talk."
Rory glanced at Clark and indicated Chloe with her head. You deal with her.
Following Rory into the apartment, Clark said in a monotone, "We're busy."
"Well I'm coming in," Chloe said, anger taking over. She followed them inside, saying, "Now what's the deal with you two? You come to Metropolis and you're both completely different people!"
"Maybe these are the real us," Clark said darkly, as he so often did nowadays.
"Well, if it is, then I definitely prefer the country Clark-and-Rory," Chloe said caustically, looking around. "How did you afford all of this?"
"Why, Chloe?" Clark asked angrily. "So you can put us in your column and write a big story about us? Maybe that's why you kept our secret."
"I kept your secret because you asked me too," Chloe fought back aggressively. "I was hoping that if I left you alone, you'd both get a grip and come home. Cause there are people in Smallville who haven't given up the search."
"We've erased Smallville from our past," Rory said, Clark sitting down next to her.
"Really?" Chloe asked. "Is that why he's still wearing the school ring?"
Clark touched the ring, and Chloe continued, almost smugly, "Sooner or later, someone else is gonna find you."
Rory looked at her. Chloe couldn't help but notice how eerie it was when Rory did that – opening her bright blue eyes wide. It made her look like an innocent child, and yet at the same time, one could see the danger hidden right at the back of them.
"You were lucky," she said dangerously.
Summoning all her courage, Chloe rebutted, "Maybe so. But what will you do if one day Lana shows up on your doorstep, or your dad? How are you gonna explain this to them?"
Rory stood suddenly. "We are through explaining ourselves to anybody!"
"Rory," Chloe pleaded, "Lana is a wreck and your parents are losing the farm!"
"What do we care?" Rory asked ruthlessly. Walking across the room, she said, "We're never going back, anyway."
"Rory, Clark," Chloe tried to get through to her friends. "You were not forced into exile – either of you. You ran away from your problems." There was no response and Chloe yelled, angry and proud, "You are not being noble, you are being cowards!"
Rory felt the first jolting pain shoot through her stomach. It took all of her self-control not to simply topple over, but instead she turned and walked towards Chloe, her face frightening in its' anger and pain.
"Chloe, get out!" she yelled at her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pushing her towards the door. "If you tell anyone where we are-"
"You'll kill me?" Chloe asked, raising her voice. "I remember your threat, Rory, and I don't think you've got it in you!"
"Maybe not," Rory said, her voice poisonous, "but I will make sure we both leave, and go so far away
that no one will ever find us!"
Chloe yanked out of her grip. "I don't even know who you are anymore!" she shouted furiously.
"Get out!" Rory screamed in her face, the pain doubling her rage.
Chloe left and Rory slammed the door shut behind her. Turning back towards Clark she fell to the ground, ripping her shirt open to reveal a white bra and the scar, glowing on her abdomen.
Not concentrating on Clark who was attempting to pull off the ring, she scrabbled at the necklace, not bothering with the catch.
Finally managing to wrench it off, the pain stopped abruptly and she lay on the floor, breathing heavily.
Looking for her brother, she saw him lying in a similar position. When her eyes met him, she could see the fear in them.
Don't worry, she wanted to tell him. But she still hurt so badly she couldn't muster the energy.
Rory let her head drop to the floor, closing her eyes.
A/N Sorry for not updating as soon as I almost-promised... :o( But I'm back! So yeah. I am back at school though, so I'll be busy a lot, but I really love your reviews! They make me all happy. :o)
It's kinda weird, but nobody seems to like Lana – the answer for the last question was pretty much 'Lana' from everyone! Here's the next question.
Question 4:
For girls: If you were Rory, which Winchester brother would you choose (when they appear, of course).
For guys: If you were one of the Winchesters, which Smallville girl would you choose?
I already know which Winchester goes with which girl and such... but I wanna know what you think! If you have any ideas for questions, send them to me, and I shall update ASAP.
Xx.maddy-sparx.xX
PS Rory put black streaks in her hair in honour of Lex, and she did it with her powers so she can take it out whenever she likes.
PPS Sorry about the long AN!