This chapter is dedicated to FranknNancyHardy for actually answering the question at the bottom! Thank you!
Whisper – Thirty-Fourth Chapter
Smallville Jewellers
Rory looked around. Finding the perfect present for their mom was getting to be really hard. Everything she would like was way out of their price range, and anything in their price range was made of fake jewels. More often than not, it was kryptonite.
She leant on the counter and smiled at the owner. "Hey, Mr. O'Malley," she said. "Clark and I are looking for something our mom might like?"
Mr. O'Malley smiled back. "Actually, the last time she was in here, she made a point of trying these on." He showed her a small jewellery box with a pretty pair of earrings in it.
Rory checked the price and winced. "Did she try on anything that didn't have four numbers in the price?"
He laughed and told her, "Well, I just got in some nice costume pieces from a local designer. Quite unique."
He pulled out another jewellery box and opened it, revealing a pin with a small green stone as its centrepiece...
"Straight from outer space," Mr. O'Malley was saying, but Rory couldn't hear him very well, her ears were ringing too loudly as pain washed over her.
She managed to smile once again, backing away. "Thanks, but I'll keep looking," she said breathlessly, walking away.
Standing still as she waited for the pain to leave, she noticed a boy, about her age, standing on the other side of the shop. He had dark hair and seemed nervous, glancing around a lot.
Then, he did something very strange. He put his fingers to the sides of his throat, on either side of his voice box. There was a crunching sound, then a low rumbling. It looked like his voice box was bouncing up and down.
Rory knew then that something was wrong, and went to Clark's side as the boy removed his fingers from his throat and a piercing, high-pitched noise emanated from him.
The sound tore at her ears, hurting her and everyone else it seemed as they all screamed and covered their ears.
A man ran in, carrying a gun. Everyone was too distracted to stop him, or see Clark focusing his heat vision on the man. The counter nearby shattered, sending the kryptonite pin whirling through the air.
"Clark!" Rory yelled as he released the heat vision at the gun, making the man drop it.
Some of the heat bursts hit the jewel, reflecting back onto Clark and Rory's faces. A bolt of green light surged back to hit them directly in the eyes.
They screamed in unison, falling to the floor and clutching at their eyes. Rory lay on the floor, sobbing.
She'd never felt pain like that before – normally kryptonite-induced pain lingered, drifting away slowly, clinging to her with all its might, but this pain came and was gone in a second.
She heard Clark asking for her and twisted her head to see him. That was when she realised what the pain had distracted her from.
She couldn't see.
"Clark?" she heard her trembling voice ask. "Where-"
"Here," he replied, finding her hand and grasping it tightly.
The noises around her were confusing as anything, and she turned her head from side to side, trying to work out what was going on.
She felt someone at her side suddenly. She recognised Lana as soon as she spoke, "Rory! Clark! Are you okay?"
Rory's voice was still trembling as she answered, "No."
"Lana, our eyes…" Clark trailed off, still shell-shocked.
"We can't see," Rory finished quietly.
Kent Farm, that night
Martha and Jonathan helped Clark and Rory sit on the couch.
"There, sweetheart," Martha said comfortingly. "Sit back, there you go."
Rory reached behind her, adjusting some of the cushions to make herself more comfortable.
She heard Martha pulling Jonathan away, saying to him quietly, "Jonathan, we have to do something."
"I know," he replied softly. "But what? Their retinas were scarred by the heat burst. You saw the doctor. He was baffled."
"He wasn't baffled, you handcuffed him," Martha corrected angrily.
"The last time we trusted a doctor, she sold Clark's blood to Lionel Luthor," Jonathan reminded her, just as angry.
"Then we'll find someone we can trust," Martha told him matter-of-factly.
"We cannot risk that," Jonathan almost hissed.
"Our children have lost their sight," Martha said, shocked at his obstinacy. "We may have to risk someone learning their secret."
"Martha, this is not about their secret," Jonathan said softly. "Clark's powers have now done something that have hurt them. And I think before we run out and just do something we oughta think this whole thing through."
"Don't we get a vote?" Clark asked. He made to stand but Rory reached for his hand and pulled him down again.
"Of course you do, Clark," Jonathan said. "Both of you."
"I think it may just be a question of time before we get better," Clark said optimistically.
"It could be permanent," Martha said unwillingly.
"In that case," Rory spoke up, "all we have to do is wait until I'm confident enough with healing to fix our eyes."
"Besides, what's the worst that could happen?" Clark asked. "Go to school and walk through a wall?"
Rory grinned, her fingers still twined in her brother's.
Smallville High, next day
Rory clutched at Pete's arm, hating the helplessness that came from not being able to see anything.
"Everyone's staring, aren't they?" she heard Clark ask from Pete's other side.
"Uh, they're just digging your shades," Pete excused. Rory laughed a little.
They arrived at Clark's locker, having already been to Rory's. Her book-bag was slung over the shoulder of the arm not attached to Pete.
"Hey, man, let me help," Pete said, guiding the twins to each other. They held each other's arms as Pete started twisting Clark's combination lock. "I've been up on this combination since third grade," he chuckled.
The locker opened and Pete said cheerfully, "Here you go." Rory felt him take one of Clark's hands and place it in his locker.
"If it helps, the guy who did this landed on my mom's court calendar," Pete said. Rory imagined him grinning as he continued, "Somehow, I don't think Judge Ross is going to be giving this Masterson guy any breaks."
Clark continued taking books out of his locker and into a bag as Pete took back Rory's arm.
"Here I am, with the most beautiful girl in school on my arm," he joked to her.
Rory laughed again and smacked him playfully on said arm. Clark pulled the last book out and said mock-sternly to Pete, "Stop hitting on my sister."
Pete laughed and swung the locker door shut. Rory felt Clark wince in pain and connected to his mind to see what was wrong. Clark? she asked.
Then she realised what was wrong. The sound of the door shutting rumbled through Clark's ears. The sliding of the lock into its slot was deafening, and the spinning that followed was excruciating.
Suddenly, other sounds amplified themselves too. Something that could be footsteps, a zipping noise.
Rory returned to her own mind and couldn't hear anything except normal noises.
Clark's got a new power, then, she thought. Shouldn't I be getting one too?
She went back into Clark's mind, trying to help him deal, when suddenly she heard Chloe, as clearly as if she stood next to her.
"Clark, what's the matter?" Pete asked.
"Chloe?" Clark gasped.
"She's not here, Clark," Pete said, worried and confused.
"Hello?" That was Chloe again, her voice echoing slightly.
"Pete, I can hear her right now," Clark said in frustration.
"Yeah, he can Pete," Rory backed him up.
"What do you want?" came Chloe's voice again. She sounded frustrated and upset. "I'm at school. This isn't the best place to talk. I'm done with this."
"What-?" Rory said reflexively.
"Shh," was Clark's response.
"No one can hear me," Chloe said sullenly. "I can't believe you're calling me, especially after everything that's happened. Look, I told you before, my days researching Clark and Rory are over."
Rory felt herself go white. She seized Clark's arm and held onto it with all her strength, thankful that her brother could take it.
"Really?" said a different but still familiar voice. Lionel Luthor. "I have such a vivid memory of that young reporter, just eager to work for the Daily Planet, an opportunity I provided for her with only one requirement."
"Well, I gave you all the information I had, Mr. Luthor," Chloe said defiantly. Part of Rory was proud of her for standing up to him, for them, but the other part was horrified; how could she have done that?
"Look, you have to look at the Kent siblings as a work in progress," Lionel said delicately. "Tell me it didn't arouse your instincts as a journalist when you learned about their collective blindness, especially when others at the scene complained of healing-related traumas."
"You're going to have to find someone else to connect the dots, Mr. Luthor," Chloe said, voice steely, "because I'm done with this."
"What are you going to do, then?" Lionel said softly. "You gonna go running back to Lex?"
"Or what's left of him?" Chloe struck a nerve, both in Lionel and in Rory.
"Lex has a serious mental illness," Lionel almost threatened sternly. "It's as if there is a crack in the foundation. The structure may look stable, but it can't take any pressure. So we will let Lex sit in his office sharpening pencils."
Chloe snorted disbelievingly.
"But I expect a full report from you on the Kent children, Miss Sullivan, by-"
Lionel's last words, and Chloe's response, were cut off by the bell ringing. Its clanging was so loud it forced Rory out of Clark's head, who felt almost deaf at the loss of such great hearing.
"Rory, what's happening?" Pete asked in concern.
"You have to get us home," Rory said quickly. "I'll explain everything then."
Pete led them down the hallway. Suddenly, Rory felt eyes on her… eyes that were unfamiliar, strange eyes, staring at her just as strangely.
She just knew that those eyes were trouble.
Kent Farm
Rory settled into the couch in the loft, Martha sitting on the arm next to her and taking her hand.
"So these sounds," Jonathan said from over near Clark, who he was helping up the stairs, "they just hit you all at once?"
"It's like someone turned on a giant stereo full blast," Clark explained, wincing at the memory. "Suddenly all the sounds were magnified."
"Here's the couch," Jonathan said quickly, lowering Clark into it.
"Then they just all went away," Clark continued. "It was completely random."
"Well, with your x-ray abilities and your heat vision, we're not sure how your senses are supposed to develop," Jonathan pointed out.
"It might just have been a one-time thing," Martha suggested, "or maybe your body's trying to compensate for the lack of sight."
"Then why haven't I gotten the super-hearing?" Rory asked. "I think this is another power."
Clark groaned. "And I was so hoping this would just go away. All the sounds, they were so loud. I didn't even know where they were coming from or what they were."
"And then there was Chloe and Lionel," Rory heard herself say and hated herself for saying it. Her parents would freak about this for sure.
"What about them?" Martha asked in confusion.
"They must've been on the phone," Clark said, just as upset as his sister. "They were talking about us."
"It didn't sound like the first time, either," Rory murmured.
Footsteps came up the stairs. Rory turned her head towards them. A new game she'd invented was to try and ascertain who the person was just by their footsteps.
Hmm… Lex. Possibly Lana. Remembering all the times Lana had managed to sneak up on them because of her soft shoes, Rory reconsidered. Almost definitely Lex.
"Hey," came the familiar voice and Rory smiled in satisfaction.
"Oh, Lex," Martha said, surprised.
"How are you?" he asked her. Martha noted his eyes flicker to Rory.
"It's nice to see you," she said. Rory could hear the smile in her voice as she avoided the very simple question.
"Mr. Kent." The words were accompanied by what sounded like a hand shake. Not being able to see was so frustrating! She felt herself getting hot with irritation.
Clark put out a hand and placed it on her arm, making her feel much better. She smiled in the direction of the arm before remembering he couldn't see it.
"Well, uh, I have to go fill in some paperwork for Clark and Rory's principal," Martha excused herself.
"Yeah, that stuff's due tomorrow," Jonathan added, following his wife out.
There was silence for a moment, broken only by Lex's shifting a little.
"Clark, Rory, I don't know what to say," Lex said uncertainly.
"How about hello?" Rory said laughingly.
"Come on, Lex," Clark prodded him figuratively, "behind the Ray Bans, we're still us."
"You know, when my father lost his sight," Lex said in the tone Rory recognised as his helping-people tone, "I made contact with some of the world's top ophthalmologists. You just say the word and I can make any one of them available to you."
"Well, I appreciate that Lex," Clark replied before Rory could say anything. "But this isn't a problem to be solved. This is something we can learn to live with."
"Look, can we not talk about our condition?" Rory asked. "Even when people don't mention it, I can still hear the concern in their voices. We're both perfectly fine."
Rory felt the couch shift a little as Lex sat on her other side. He was a little closer than they usually sat; close enough that Rory could smell his expensive cologne…
But, Rory reminded herself, your senses aren't exactly normal.
"Trust me, I know the feeling," Lex said wryly. "I discovered there's an almost medieval prejudice against the survivors of mental illness."
Rory put her other hand on his arm gently and interrupted, "I still see you the same way I always did, Lex."
She pictured him smiling at her as he put his hand on top of hers and said softly, "Thank you."
"Stop that," Clark ordered.
"Stop what?" Lex asked.
"Stop having a moment when I can't see if it's appropriate or not."
Rory felt Lex shake his head. He went back to his speech, saying, "I decided the only way I could put the insinuations behind me is by proving my worth."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Clark asked curiously.
"By returning to LuthorCorp," Lex answered casually. "My father's offered me my position back."
"Lex," Rory began before she could stop herself. The rest of the words just spilled out of her mouth, "Do you really think that job offer's for real?"
"Why, Rory?" Lex asked her. Answering questions with questions had always been his speciality.
Rory turned her head towards Clark as she said nervously, "Look, I heard that it's a sham. Your dad doesn't really think you're better."
Lex laughed and Clark shifted uncomfortably.
"So he thinks I'm just going to sit in my office and, uh, twiddle my thumbs?" Lex asked sarcastically. Even after all this time, he still believed his anything-but-trustworthy father over her. It stung.
"No, his exact words were 'sharpening pencils'," Rory said, the stinging making her voice sharp.
"Rory, where did you hear this?" Lex asked her, his hand suddenly tight on hers, his voice suddenly low and terse.
"It doesn't matter, Lex," Clark said abruptly. "What matters is that you should be careful."
Rory was very glad that Clark couldn't read her mind unless she was willing – he'd have been very upset at certain thoughts running through her head.
Kent Farm, afternoon
"So why do you think I don't have a new superpower yet?" Rory asked Clark. They were sitting outside on some bales of hay while Jonathan fed the hay to the cattle.
"I know, it's weird," Clark said. "Normally our powers come at the same time or within a few minutes of each other. But this time-"
"It's been hours, and still nothing," Rory finished, and sighed.
Jonathan came back just in time to hear the end of the conversation.
"Hey, Rors, don't worry about it," he said. "Your powers develop differently, I thought you'd accepted that."
"Yeah, but it doesn't stop it being frustrating," Rory replied. "Not to mention, that I can't see anymore-!"
The bale of hay she was currently resting her hand on burst into flames.
Jonathan yelled and jumped backwards. Rory felt the heat swirling around her hand and said in panic, "Dad? What's happening?"
"The bale's on fire!" he shouted.
Clark tried to yank her away and get between her and it, before she said wildly, "But it doesn't hurt!"
Then something inside her clicked back into place and it did hurt, burning her hand. She screamed and yanked it back, but not before water spurted from her hand all over the fire.
Jonathan stared at Rory's hand in shock, which was now spurting water everywhere.
"Dad?" Rory asked again, afraid. Water began to pour down her body and she shrieked.
"What's going on?" Clark yelled.
"I'm all wet!" she cried back. "Dad!"
"Sweetheart, just calm down, all right," Jonathan said as calmly as possible.
Rory took a deep breath and managed to calm down. The water stopped drenching her, leaving a huge puddle around her feet.
Her hand was still in pain though, so she instinctively sent sparks flying to it. She felt them working over the damaged skin, finally repairing it.
There was absolute silence for a long, long time.
"I think you have a new power, Rory," Jonathan said finally.
Inside
"So the bale of hay just burst into flames?" Martha asked incredulously.
"No," Rory corrected, "that would be my hand."
"Your hand burst into flames?" Clark asked angrily.
"Clark, the fire didn't hurt me until it stopped coming from me," Rory explained.
"Then, all this water started coming from the same hand," Jonathan continued for Rory. "After that-"
"It was coming from everywhere," Rory finished.
"So, now Clark has superhearing, and you have-" Martha was at a loss for a description.
"The ability to burst into flames then start spurting water?" Rory suggested scathingly.
"Rory, I think you should just return to school like everything is normal," Jonathan said firmly.
"And what do I do if I burst into flames during Chemistry?" she asked caustically. "Cry spontaneous combustion?"
"Maybe, you could try to control your temper," Martha said meaningfully.
"So you expect me to control my temper, stop myself running into walls, deal with new superpowers, keep this secret and still do well at school?" Rory vented her frustration. "Honestly, Mom, I'm not some kind of superwoman!"
Her hair burst into flames.
Martha screamed and Jonathan went straight for the sink.
"What's going on?" Clark asked. "Is she on fire again?"
Rory just sat there, horrified. She could feel her whole head going up in flames, the heat was terrible!
What if I lose control of it this time? she thought in fear and was suddenly doused in water.
"Nobody just poured water over my head?" she heard herself ask.
"No," Martha replied, her voice strangled.
Rory took a deep breath, then, trying to keep her voice steady, said, "Controlling my temper it is, then."
Clark realised something suddenly. "Rory?"
"Yeah?"
"The first time, when you put the bale of hay on fire, what were you feeling?" Clark asked.
Rory thought for a moment, before answering slowly, "I was frustrated, about not being able to see, and not having a new power."
"And just now, with your hair?" Clark asked significantally.
Rory stared at him, before a smile grew over her face. "Clark, you're a genius!"
"So frustration makes fire," Clark pointed out. "What were you feeling when the water came both times?"
Rory thought about this for a second, before saying, "I was afraid, cause I couldn't see what was going on."
"So, frustration makes fire, fear makes water," Clark said confidently.
"Hang on," Rory said slowly. "Fire and water... they're two of the four elements."
"Elements?" Martha asked. "There are over 30 of them, Rory."
"No, I mean the traditional, mythological elements, Mom," Rory explained. "Fire, water, air and earth."
"You think this new power might be... element control?" Jonathan asked.
"Maybe," Rory replied. "And if my moods are triggering them..."
"Then we need to know which moods trigger the other two," Clark finished. "Let's go outside, Rory."
Outside
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Martha asked in concern.
"Look, Mom, if you're really that worried about us, you can just stand a little way away," Rory suggested. "That way, you won't get hurt if I lose control."
"Okay, sweetheart," Martha said, backing away. She stopped at the fence; Clark and Rory stood in the middle of the field.
"Okay," Clark said. "Let's start. Try happy."
"How am I supposed to make myself feel happy, exactly?" Rory asked.
"Think happy memories, happy thoughts, sunshine, lollipops, rainbows, that sort of thing," Clark told her.
Rory shrugged and started to think. After a minute, nothing had happened and she sighed in frustration.
"Rory," Clark said warningly, hearing the sigh.
"Right," she said. "Happiness isn't working. What else have you got?"
"Well, the obvious one is anger," Clark replied. "Try that."
"Can't you just rile me up somehow?" Rory asked.
"All right," Clark said, thinking. "Remember when we were four, and five of your dolls went missing?"
"If this is heading where I think it's heading..." Rory said, anger lacing her voice.
"Mom and Dad took them off you cause they thought you were getting too attached," Clark said casually, a grin on his face.
Suddenly, the wind picked up, blowing madly around them, whipping their hair around their faces as Rory stood with her fists clenched.
"And we have wind!" Clark cried in triumph. "Okay, Rory, you can calm down now."
The wind continued to gust around him and he said cautiously, "Rory?"
There was no answer except the wind picking up.
"Oh, come on Rors," he sighed, "They only did it cause they thought you'd get teased at school, and they loved you so much they didn't want that to happen to you."
The wind abruptly stopped and the earth began to shake under them.
"Oh," Clark said, surprised. "Rory?"
"Um, I think love does earth," Rory called to him, having fallen over from the shakes. They stopped quickly and Martha ran over.
"Rory, are you all right?"
"Mom, did you feel that?" she asked.
"Feel what?"
"The wind, the shaking..."
"I didn't feel anything."
"Good," Rory sighed, allowing her mother to pull her to her feet. "So, frustration is fire, fear is water, anger is air, and love is earth."
"None of which actually makes sense, of course, but..." Clark trailed off.
"Clark, it's us, the twins who can talk to each other in our heads and make it to Metropolis faster than a helicopter," Rory pointed out. "Since when has anything we do or anything that happens to us made sense?"
"Good point."
"Thank you."
That afternoon, in the loft
Rory sighed, leaning back. She was alone, for the first time since she and Clark had lost their sight. Clark was inside helping Martha with the paperwork, but Rory had gotten too worked up and had left them, not wanting her temper to get them hurt.
Footsteps echoed up the stairs.
"Who's there?" Rory asked, not wanting to play her footsteps game right now.
"Hey, Rory," Lex said.
"Oh," she sighed, slumping back onto the couch. "Hi, Lex."
"What's the matter?" he asked, sitting down next to her.
"It's just," she waved her hand dismissively, "the sight thing. I'm fine, Lex, really." Turning in his direction, she asked, "Are you okay?"
Lex looked at her, at how innocent and defenceless she looked, wearing the dark sunglasses that contrasted with her pale skin, her blonde hair which now curled to her shoulders, and her light-coloured clothing.
She looked vulnerable and he both hated and loved it; loved, because it made him feel like he could protect her; hated, because she was one of the strongest people he knew.
"I'm fine," he replied finally.
"Not that I want you to go, but..." she said, "why did you come?"
"I wanted to see you," he told her.
Rory smiled and asked, "Not Clark?"
"You know, I don't think you and I have ever had a private conversation, as in without Clark there," Lex said thoughtfully.
"I'm sure we have at some point, Lex," Rory responded. "Besides, he's my brother, and a little protective."
"Doesn't he trust me?" Lex asked jokingly.
"Of course he does," Rory answered seriously. "It's just – when it comes to me, Clark dislikes being rational unless it will work in his favour."
"You're lucky to have someone who cares about you so much," Lex said, looking at her and thinking that it was impossible for people not to care about her, not with the goodness in her shining out through every pore.
"I thought you cared about me so much too, Lex," Rory said quietly. She became hyperaware of how close they were, close enough that she could feel the heat coming off his skin.
"I do," he said, just as quiet.
All was silent for a moment, just a moment, as Lex leaned forward just a little and Rory tilted her head towards his -
The earth shook, violently, tossing them both to the floor. Rory's sunglasses flew off, hitting the floor and shattering as the earth continued to roll under them.
In the house, Martha and Clark felt it shake and realised at the same time; "Rory!"
Martha said quickly, "Stay here!"
She jumped up and ran out to the barn, finding Lex holding on to her tightly, dragging her down the stairs. They fell down the last few just as Martha reached them.
"Mrs. Kent," Lex gasped. "What's going on?"
The earth began to quiet itself as Lex stood, allowing Martha to pull her daughter to her feet.
"Mom?" Rory asked. Without any warning, she began to cry. Martha pulled her into a hug, pressing Rory's head into her shoulder.
"Shh, it's okay, it's okay," she soothed.
"Mrs. Kent," Lex began without any idea of what he was going to say.
"Lex, thank you for coming and seeing Rory, but you should go," Martha said firmly.
"Rory," Lex tried, reaching for her.
"I'm sorry, Lex," she said, pulling her head away from Martha and looking at him blindly. "You should go."
He touched her face for an instant before turning and leaving for his car.
"Rory, are you-" Martha began before Rory cut her off.
"I'm fine, Mom," she said brusquely. "I'd like to be alone."
"Are – are you sure?" Martha asked, her voice trembling.
"Yes," Rory said, and Martha noted how her face was expressionless, her voice lacking any sort of intonation, and Martha was worried for her.
Rory turned and slowly made her way up the stairs and back into the loft. From downstairs, Martha thought she heard the wind pick up... but that wasn't right, there wasn't so much as a breeze down here...
Evening
Clark made his way slowly up the stairs to the loft.
"Rory?" he called.
"What, Clark?" snapped her familiar voice, the first voice he could remember hearing in his life.
"Dinner's gonna be ready soon," Clark hinted.
"I'm not hungry," she answered coldly.
"Rory, you can't stay up here forever," he said, exasperated.
"I wasn't planning on it," she said, her voice still cold.
"You have to eat!"
"Look, Clark, either accept that I'm not coming down or don't, but either way you have to get out," she said angrily. The wind picked up a little.
Clark folded his arms and retorted angrily, "Well I'm not leaving until you do."
"I refuse to hurt anybody, Clark!" she yelled at him. A huge gust of wind flew at him, forcing him backwards. He fell down the stairs, tumbling head over heels, being pushed by the wind all the way.
Clark stood back up, furious. He went up the stairs again before he ran into what felt like a wall. He pushed at it but it refused to yield.
Forcefield, he thought.
"Rory! Rory, let me in!" he screamed, pounding on the field with his fists. There was no reply.
Clark stayed there for fifteen minutes, then Jonathan came and took him back to the house, telling him that Rory would come out when she was ready.
A week passed. Pete was kidnapped, Clark's eyes started to get better after the kidnapper waved a blowtorch in his face and Clark managed to control his superhearing. He saved Pete, found out about Chloe's father losing his job, finally recovered his eyesight and still Rory didn't leave the loft.
Every day, whenever Clark had a spare moment, he sat just outside her forcefield, waiting. Every day, he waited in vain.
After a week and a half, Rory finally came down. It was early morning and Clark wasn't awake yet.
Martha was in the kitchen, drinking some coffee, when Rory walked through the door. Martha was shocked – her face was haggard and thin, her clothes hung off her and she looked like hell.
"Rory!" she cried, rushing to her. She hugged her and Rory hugged back feebly.
"Here, have something to eat," Martha said quickly, making her a bowl of cereal as Rory sat down. "Rory, you look like death warmed up."
"I feel like death warmed up," she said, and her voice was cracked and hoarse.
"I'll make you some more food," Martha said, turning to the fridge.
"No, Mom," Rory said in her terrible new voice. "If I eat too much after eating nothing I'll get sick."
"Why did you do this to yourself, sweetheart?" Martha asked sadly.
Rory just looked at her, her normally vibrant eyes dull and lifeless. "I had to practice," she said in a toneless voice. "I had to get control of them."
"You didn't have to starve yourself," Martha pointed out.
"I couldn't hurt anybody, Mom," Rory whispered. "And the fire, it burns. It burns even Clark."
"How do you know?" Martha asked sadly.
"I just do," Rory murmured.
For a few minutes, there was silence as Rory slowly ate the cereal.
Then Clark came down the stairs. For the last week and a half, he too had been sleeping badly and looking terrible.
He stopped when he saw her sitting at the table.
"Rory?" he breathed in disbelief. He ran to her, hugging her tightly.
"Hey, Clark," she said weakly.
He took one look at her face and ordered, "Bed, now. Then when you wake up, have a shower and eat something."
Rory nodded, far too exhausted to argue with him. She slowly went up the stairs and fell into bed, sleep claiming her immediately.
That was when she remembered why she hadn't been sleeping recently.
Rory stands in the middle of a huge city. Suddenly, she rises into the air, flying high above the city, until she sees that it extends in every direction as far as she can see. There are no trees to be seen.
She raises her hands and makes trees grow, just to get some life back into the cold, dead city.
However, the trees get away from her somehow, growing and growing. They begin to suck the people of the city into their roots, killing them.
"No!" she cries, and lowers herself back down to the ground. She starts some fires then, to control the trees.
But the fire get away from her too, burning all the people, who scream in agony. The trees grow strong and tall with the fire feeding them.
Rory lifts her hands towards the sky and makes it rain heavily. But the water feeds the fire somehow and the fire grows stronger still, killing more and more people.
Time speeds up and Rory stands now on a desolate plain.
"This is where the city used to be," says a familiar voice, one she thought she would never hear again.
She turns and sees Sam smiling at her. "Sam?" she asks tremulously.
"You did well, Rory," he says, coming towards her. "Killing all the vampires like that."
He was too close to her now, making it hard to think. "But you said vampires aren't real," she breathes, his head so close to hers that he hears her clearly.
"Don't be silly, Rory," he says, amused. "Everyone's a vampire now!"
People appear behind him, baring their teeth at her. Instead of just two fangs, all of their teeth are jagged and terrible. There are thousands of them, all advancing on her.
She takes a step back as Sam smiles cruelly, revealing the same set of teeth in his own face.
All the other vampires turn into bats and swarm her. She screams in terror and crouches to the ground, too afraid to do anything. She hears Sam's wicked laughter just before it begins to rain again.
The bats turn back into vampires before melting away when the water touches them, just like the Wicked Witch of the West.
Sam is the only one left, and now it is just him and her, standing alone on the desolate landscape.
Rory tries to look at him but can't, he's too beautiful; even her superior eyes can't take it.
"It's all right, Rory," he croons, suddenly next to her again. He tilts her head up towards his and murmurs lovingly, "I won't hurt you."
Rory woke with a gasp, sweating in fear. She stumbled from the bed and into her bathroom, desperate to wash herself clean.
Fifteen minutes later, she left the bathroom and went downstairs. Clark and Martha were sitting at the table.
"How long was I asleep?" Rory asked. Her voice was still croaky but that was from disuse.
"You went to sleep yesterday morning," Martha told her.
"Yeah, and you need to go back, Rory, you still look terrible," Clark said in concern.
"I'm fine, I feel much better. Mom, I'm starving, could you make me something?" Rory asked.
"Sure."
"Well you definitely don't look better," Clark said honestly.
"That's because I had a nightmare," Rory said as Martha gave her a plate of bacon and eggs. She dug in enthusiastically.
"What about?" Clark asked.
She didn't want to tell him about her dreams of Sam; she told him another version of the truth. "Vampires and the apocalypse."
"Come on Rory, be serious."
"It was a dream, Clark. They can be about anything."
Clark shook his head. "You can control your powers now then?" he asked.
"Yes, I can," she said darkly, remembering her nightmare, how her powers acted as though they were alive...
Just a dream, she reminded herself. Just a dream.
A/N Well, that's the end of that! The dream doesn't have much significance, it's not going to come true or anything, I just had to show that she's still attached to Sam, and that was a good way to do it.
Also, while writing this I listened to a song called 'Long Distance' by Turin Brakes. It doesn't really apply to the events happening but it does to how Rory feels about Sam and to some degree Lex. It also describes how Lex feels about her.
Question:
Seeing as only one person has answered the question and I really want more answers, what do you think the title of this fic refers to?
All questions and constructive criticism welcome!
PS Forgot to mention, I'm soon going away for ten days and won't be able to write or update. I'll do my best to get the next chapter well on its way before I leave, though.