Phoenix – Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jonathan and Clark grappled with each other, still falling through the air as they both refused to let go.

Rory could see from high above them that they were headed straight for a huge circular spotlight built into the ground that shone upon the LuthorCorp tower.

They crashed into it, shattering a huge hole in the glass and falling into a huge electrical warehouse underneath.

"Here goes nothing," Rory muttered, and jumped out after them.

As she plummeted past the building, she realised that she was gonna need Clark to catch her.

Clark! Heads up!

Clark didn't answer, as he was currently busy being rammed into a concrete pillar. The pillar shattered like glass and Clark struggled through the debris to stand.

He turned and held out his arms and Rory dropped into them.

"Thanks, Clark," she said breathlessly, still recovering from her fall.

"Welcome," he replied, swinging her onto her feet.

They turned to face Jonathan who surprised them both by being much closer than before. He grabbed hold of Clark and threw him into a pile of wood.

Rory sped behind him and smashed him into the same pile of wood. Clark had already gotten up and supersped back to his sister.

"Looks like the old man's been working out!" Clark said, a maniacal grin on his face.

Jonathan rose from the (now destroyed) pile of wood. "Jor-El and I have an understanding," he said darkly. "I'm taking you home."

"I don't care what he's done to you," Rory shot back. "You're not taking us anywhere!"

Jonathan grabbed for her necklace, but Rory used her superior superspeed to get out of the way. He then snatched at Clark's ring, trying to get it off his finger.

Clark shoved him away, sending him flying into a set of pipes which collapsed as soon as Jonathan hit them. White steam shot up out of the ground and Clark walked over to the place Jonathan landed. Jonathan walked out of the steam, unharmed.

Clark pulled off his jacket as Jonathan said, anger and fear in his voice, "Clark! You don't realize how dangerous you are when you're wearing that ring! And you, Rory! You're even worse!"

"It's not the ring, Daddy Dearest," Rory said, a maniacal glint in her eye, "or my necklace. We were born this way. You just can't accept it."

Clark supersped forward, grabbing Jonathan. Jonathan grasped his shirt in his hands and spun him in a complete circle, using his momentum to throw him into a tower of scaffolding.

Clark stood up slowly from the rubble, his shirt almost completely torn away. He grabbed it and ripped it off easily, revealing his scar. Rory went to stand beside him, pulling off her own shirt as she did so.

Jonathan stared at the symbols, identical in every way excluding position, in shock. "What the hell did Jor-El do to you two?" he asked, pain for them in his tone.

"He made sure we'd never forget who our real father is," they answered in unison, creeping Jonathan out.

Rory picked up a steel pipe and hurled it at him. Jonathan ducked, dodging it, but when he stood back up, Clark and Rory were nowhere to be seen.

Jonathan turned, looking for them, and saw Rory standing less than a foot from him.

She raised a fist and Jonathan reached forward.

At the same time her fist smashed into his face, he broke the necklace, freeing her from its influence – but just like with normal Kryptonite, it took a little longer to wear off.

Another fist hit his face, and then Rory was staggering backwards, the scar on her stomach shining brightly. She raised her face to the sky and screamed before collapsing onto the ground, the scar gone.

"Rory!" came a shriek, echoing around the cavern.

Jonathan turned, looking for Clark, when all of a sudden he was smashed into a nearby steel pillar. Clark held him there, indescribable rage and fury all over his face. His other hand was fisted with the red ring shining dully on his finger.

Clark hesitated.

"Go on," Jonathan said, taking advantage of his hesitation. "Do it."

Clark continued to waver, the urge to help his sister warring with the urge to kill his father, and the knowledge that he couldn't truly help his back-to-normal sister with the ring still on his finger...

"If I could raise a son that could kill, then kill!" Jonathan yelled, pushing him to the edge.

Clark howled, smashing his fist into the pillar next to Jonathan's head. The ring smashed and Clark fell back.

Jonathan was illuminated by a sudden flash of white and then he too slumped to the ground.

Rory was stirring several metres away. She looked up just in time to see Clark repeat her motions of a few minutes ago.

Clark rose to his knees, growling like a beast as he raised his face upwards. His scar shone brightly also and then disappeared. He collapsed.

"Clark!" Rory shouted, scrambling over to him. His recovery was much faster than hers and he raised his head almost instantly.

They had the same thought, and looked up at Jonathan's prostrate body, lying on the ground.

Clark and Rory jumped up and ran to him, falling to their knees beside him. Clark pulled his head onto his lap as Rory stroked his hair, repeating softly, "Dad. Dad? Dad?"

"Rory, Clark," he murmured softly before fainting.

"Dad," Clark and Rory murmured in unison.

The Kent Farm, later that night
Martha sat in the Kent living room, looking at pictures of herself, Clark, Jonathan and Rory. The room was full of boxes and she glanced at the phone, worried. She still hadn't heard from her husband and he'd left hours ago.

Suddenly, someone came through the door, and Martha looked up, surprised. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened with shock when she saw who it was.

"Mom," Rory said, tears in her eyes as she ran to her mother.

Martha stood and hugged her tightly.

"Mom, I'm so sorry, for everything," she said tearfully. "For the baby."

"We never blamed you," Martha replied, crying.

She took Rory's face in her hands and smiled at her daughter.

Rory smiled back, then the expression was wiped from her face as she turned to something only she could hear.

"Where's-" Martha started to ask before her question was answered.

Clark and Jonathan stumbled through the door, the former supporting the latter who seemed to be out cold.

Clark helped Jonathan to a chair, which he collapsed in.

"Oh, my god!" Martha said, panicking.

"Dad," Rory said softly.

"What happened?" Martha asked fearfully as Jonathan woke, disoriented.

Clark continued to support Jonathan as he said, "Whatever Jor-El did to him must have been too much for his body to handle."

"Jor-El?" Martha asked angrily.

"The important thing is that Clark and Rory are back home with us now," Jonathan mumbled deliriously.

Martha hugged Rory to her side, who stared into her brother's eyes miserably.

Kawatche Caves, the next day
Clark, Jonathan and Rory wandered through the caves. Clark shined his flashlight on a drawing of a falling meteor, then turned to Jonathan.

"Dad, I just don't get it. Why would Jor-El help you bring us back when he's the one who wanted us to leave?" he asked, confusion on his face.

Jonathan didn't respond and the twins had the same revelation.

"You made a deal with him, didn't you," Rory said disapprovingly. It was not a question.

He stared at her intensely. "Rory, the most important thing right now is that my children," he looked up at Clark and smiled, "have their life back."

"I'm not sure I want it back," Rory said quietly.

"Being Kal-El, and Kara..." Clark added, "we could just do whatever we wanted."

"It was like this huge weight had been lifted off us," Rory said, still quiet.

There was an awkward silence as Jonathan tried to figure out the best way to comfort them.

"Look," he began, "I'm not saying that staying is going to solve all your problems, but at least this way we can face them together, as a family."

"I wish it were that easy," Clark said darkly.

Rory pulled the box they'd stolen from LuthorCorp out of her pocket and handed it to Jonathan.

"What is this?" Jonathan asked, puzzled.

"We don't know," Rory informed him. "Some guy – Morgan Edge – hired us to steal it."

"You guys have to take this back," Jonathan said sternly.

Clark shook his head.

"We stole it from Lionel Luthor," Rory said bluntly.

Jonathan stared at the box, considering it. "We better find out exactly what it is we're dealing with."

He opened the box, and both Clark and Rory's eyes widened when he pulled out a vial of blood.

"That's my blood isn't it?" Clark asked.

Kent Barn
Clark and Rory stood in the second floor of the loft, watching anxiously as Jonathan took the piece of kryptonite out of the lead box and held it next to the vial of blood.

The rock glowed and the blood began to boil.

"It's your blood alright Clark," Jonathan said, resigned.

He put the rock back in the box and the twins sped down the stairs to stand next to him.

"Do you think Lionel knows?" Rory asked anxiously.

"Helen told me she never labelled it before someone stole it from her office," Jonathan replied and she relaxed a little.

"Why would Lionel want my blood?" Clark asked, curious.

Jonathan threw the vial at the floor, shattering it.

"Doesn't matter now," he said stonily.

"I'm starting to wonder what he really knows about us," Clark said, half to himself.

Jonathan turned to face his children. "Clark, we've managed to stay one step ahead of Lionel Luthor so far. Why don't you just focus on people closer to home, okay?"

Jonathan patted him on the shoulder and left the loft.

Rory and Clark just looked at each other.

Kent Farm, the next day
Rory glanced at the sign that used to say 'KENT FARM' and now read 'Foreclosure Auction' and sighed nostalgically. She still couldn't help but feel that the whole thing was all her fault – if she'd just convinced Clark not to wear the ring, if she'd only disagreed with his plan...

She was jolted out of her dark thoughts by an even darker car sitting in their driveway. It looked expensive, and definitely didn't belong.

Clark stopped the Smallville Movers truck they were in and jumped out. Rory copied him and walked round to his side. Together they approached the car, to find that the last person they'd expected was sitting in the back seat.

Morgan Edge.

"I must admit, this is the last place I expected you two to show up," he said, his voice and tone bringing back memories of what it was like to be free.

"How'd you find us?" Clark asked, his tone menacing.

"Where's my package?" Edge countered.

"We don't have it," Rory said shortly.

Edge nodded slowly. "I wonder if the cops know where you are," he said in a purely speculative voice. As he said it, he pulled out a mobile phone and started to dial.

Clark slammed his hands against the door and growled, "I don't think you heard her!"

He ripped the door off the car and grabbed Edge out, slamming him against the side of the car.

"The package is gone!" he shouted. The driver was quickly getting out of the car to intervene as Clark continued to yell, "Luthor doesn't know who took it so forget about it!"

The driver pointed a gun at Clark's head. "Take your hands off of him right now!"

Edge pushed the gun away slowly and subtly motioned to Rory.

The driver grabbed ahold of her and pointed the gun at her head. "I said now!"

Clark looked at him, rage in his eyes. Moving at superspeed, Rory simultaneously stamped on the driver's foot, jabbed her elbow into his stomach and grabbed the gun, holding it away from her head.

Clark turned his attention back to Edge and said in a low, dangerous voice, "Take your sorry ass back down the road to Metropolis."

Rory wrenched the gun out of the driver's hand and stepped away from him quickly.

"I don't want to see you in Smallville again," she said threateningly. "Ever."

Edge and his driver scurried back to the car. Rory threw the gun in after them just before they drove off.

Clark hugged his sister with one arm and kissed her temple.

Smallville High, the next day
Rory took a deep breath and glanced at Clark. "Do we really have to do this?" she asked in a tone some may have called whiny.

"Yes," Clark replied shortly. "Come on, it won't be that bad."

"Easy for you to say," Rory grumbled. "You didn't threaten to kill her, twice."

Clark shook his head and went into the Torch office. Rory sighed and followed him.

Chloe, as usual, was working there. She looked up to see who it was and promptly looked back down when she saw them.

"Kinda far from your new hood, aren't you?" she asked coldly. So coldly, in fact, a blind person could've mistaken the Torch for the Arctic.

"We just came to say thank you," Clark said weakly.

"Oh, it's one of those days," Chloe said caustically with the air of one who's just had a great revelation, "because I can never tell with you two, whether you're gonna walk in and it's gonna be an apology, or an accusation," she stared straight at Rory accusingly, "or a threat."

Rory winced and said to Chloe, "Chloe, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, and I know that doesn't help at all. The way I acted, I wouldn't be surprised if you never forgave me. And the only excuse I have is that I wasn't myself, and it's a pretty poor one."

Chloe didn't respond and Rory plunged ahead, "I gave you absolutely no reason to stand by us. But you knew where we were all summer and you didn't tell anyone."

"Yeah, well, that's what friends do for each other, Rory," Chloe said stonily, but it was apparent Rory's apology had mollified her – well, mollified her a little. "Apologized to Lana yet?"

Rory shook her head and said, "I didn't really talk to her at all in Metropolis..."

"Except to tell her she'd betrayed you," Clark reminded her.

"Yeah," Rory sighed. Looking at Chloe, she said, "You know, if I could go back and do all that again-"

"You can't," Chloe interrupted. "So let's not go there." Focusing on Clark, she asked again, "Have you talked to Lana yet?"

Clark sat on one of the desks and said heavily, "I tried."

Chloe let out a snort of laughter and asked disbelievingly, "That's it? After two years of non-stop Lana lusting, that's the best you can do? Come on."

"I think it's for the best," Clark said dully and Rory nodded.

"You're not staying, are you," Chloe realised.

"We haven't decided yet," Rory murmured.

"You can't keep running away, Rory," Chloe said angrily, facing her. "We all do things we regret. Sometimes, you have to turn and face your demons."

Rory just nodded noncommittally and Clark shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

A/N Well, there's another update for you, I might be able to finish Phoenix for you guys before my holidays are over. Also, I'm currently plotting out the ending for this story – I've always had a vague idea of where it was going that got vaguer and vaguer the further into Smallville it went, so I'm getting everything together.

Remember, all questions are welcome!

Question no. 6:
What colour do you think best suits Clark? Not physically, but which colour best represents who he is as a person.

Yes, that series of questioning will continue for a while. :o) I do actually want to know the answers to these questions by the way, they aren't just filler or whatever!

Love you all,
Xx.maddy-sparx.xX