Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville
Chapter Eight
00 jitters 00
Every year mom and dad went to Metropolis for a couple of days to celebrate their anniversary, and this was the first year Clark and I were trusted to spend that time not in the supervision of one of the family friends.
This new offering of independence was also accompanied by even more worrying on their part, however.
"What else? Oh, don't use the upstairs bathroom. It's backed up. I have to snake the pipes," mom said fretting around the kitchen, holding a notepad and a pen.
"Where's the leftover pizza?" Clark asked, wearing his new Walkman.
"Fridge, second shelf. Or you could nuke the chili for dinner." Clark didn't respond, mom looked at me for help and I smiled unhelpfully, "Clark?" Still he didn't answer so mom went over and pulled off his headphones. "Some clue you actually heard me."
Clark stood carefully, keeping a hold on the pizza, "Upstairs bathroom off-limits after nuclear chili dinner."
I laughed at his mess up.
"Glad to see your hearing hasn't changed," Mom quipped.
"Clark, can I get a hand out here, please?" Dad yelled from outside.
I grabbed mom's purse and followed Clark out the door to the truck dad was working on.
"Son, would you—" dad gestured with his hand in an upward motion.
"Sure."
"Thanks"
Clark went over and picked up the back end of the truck.
"Sure picked on heck of a day to snap an exhaust hanger," dad grumbled, reaching under the truck to pull the dolley out from under the truck.
"Okay, I left the number of our hotel on the nightstand. I think that's everything," Mom said worriedly.
"Relax mom, it's just a couple of days," I assured her.
"That out to do it," dad said, coming out from under the truck and Clark lowered it back down, causing dad to smile, "I'm definitely raising your allowance."
I smiled at the exchange, but for some reason I felt ... something. It was probably the chili, the beans gave me gas and I just couldn't help myself from piling on the cheese.
"If you need anything—" mom began.
"We'll call." I finished, too happy to have parents who cared so much to be annoyed.
"I'm sure they'll be fine. And soon, madame, so shall we be," said dad excitedly.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Clark said, pulling out the card we had bought for them, "Happy anniversary," we said in unison.
"You two," mom sighed, before puling us both into a hug, "bye-bye."
"Thanks for the card," Dad said, going around to the other side of the car after mom was loaded in.
We waved as they drove away.
"Do you think they'll be alright?" I asked worriedly.
Clark snorted.
I stood out there for a while after Clark went in and watching the empty driveway.
And then I let the fart out.
0000
The next day, the four of us, that is Clark, Pete, Chloe, and I, were heading for the bus stop when Clark mentioned something that made me very nervous.
"What are you going to do now that you're officially home alone?" Pete asked.
I didn't understand this question, why would our behavior be any different form when our parents were home?
"I was thinking of having a few people over," said Clark nonchalantly.
"What?" I asked.
"Do my ears deceive me or is Clark Kent actually suggesting a party?" asked Chloe.
"He better not be," I said, only to be ignored once again.
"Small gathering. You guys, a few other people, maybe Lana."
I groaned, "I will not be a part of this."
"With or without her poseable action-figure boyfriend?" Chloe asked gleefully.
Even thinking of the wonder couple at my house made me ill. I surged forward to the waiting bus.
"Eight o'clock. And remember the keyword is 'small'"
"I'll be in my workshop," I grumbled, knowing there was no way I was going to be able to stop this party.
I heard Chloe repeat the word, "Small." And her tone made me distinctly nervous.
But it wasn't my problem.
0000
By eight o'clock our house was packed with strangers and pulsing with loud music, but it was not my problem as I was in my locked workshop, and the sound of my welding gear was enough to block out all sound.
Well, almost all.
I heard a pounding on my door and I went to see who dared disturb my relative peace.
It was Clark, "There's something in the barn, come on."
I trusted that he wouldn't bother me for something stupid so I pulled off my protective gear and pulled on a coat to run out to the barn. When I got there Whitney and Clark were in the loft facing a corner, with Whitney holding a pitchfork, and Lana and Chloe were below. I ran up the stairs to the loft to stand behind Clark and Whitney.
"What is it?" It was a stained tarp covering something moving, and I was incredibly curious as to what was underneath.
(Why did the teenagers always have to investigate the strange sound coming from the barn/basement/whatever? Because hormones make teenagers stupid.)
Neither answered, instead choosing to creep closer, until Whitney was close enough to pull off the tarp, revealing a person.
"Got him!" Whitney shouted.
"Earl?" Clark and I asked in unison.
Clark reached forward and pulled down the pitchfork Whitney was holding, "Back off, I know him."
I took the chance to get closer, and what I saw was disconcerting. Earl was sweaty and his eyes unfocused, and he was rocking slightly in place. All and all he looked like a wreak.
"Earl, what are you doing here?" Clark asked, kneeling next to him.
"I came to see your dad. He's the only one I can trust," Earl rasped.
"He's out of town." Earl groaned, still lying prone on the ground, "What's wrong with you?" Earl began to shake and Clark put his hand on Earl's knee, only to jerk back. Earl began to shake harder, it was almost like a seizure, but far more unnatural, he was practically vibrating. He wasn't just having a seizure, every inch of him was convulsing.
"Call an ambulance," I yelled down.
So much for my peaceful night.
0000
Hours later I was still awake, waiting in an uncomfortable hospital waiting room chair waiting for news on Earl's condition.
Chloe picked up her Pepsi from the machine, "This guy should be in a detox center."
"He's not on drugs, Chloe," Clark objected.
"Then why was he shaking like a junkie?"
"He wasn't," Chloe turned to me at my comment, eager for information, "Those convulsions weren't natural, that wasn't even a normal seizure, no way garden variety drugs could do that."
"Earl worked on the farm for six seasons. I spent twelve hours a day with the guy in the fields," Clark reminisced. "He even tried to teach me how to play guitar. He says it impresses women."
I smiled at the memory, and wondered how the man I remembered turned into the man I met tonight.
Chloe chuckled, "Yeah, we're all a sucker for a guy with a six-string. How come I've never heard you play?"
Clark smiled, "I kept snapping the guitar strings. I think Earl got sick of replacing them. Clara got pretty good though."
Chloe turned to me, "I haven't touched a guitar in years, but if you got one for me I'll see what I remember sometime."
"I'll take you up on that," Chloe said smiling, then she turned to Clark and her expression turned somber, "You know, just because you spend time with someone doesn't mean you know their darkest secrets."
Oh, Chloe, you were the master at unintentional irony.
"He was like family."
"Then why'd he leave?" asked Chloe.
"He took a job at the LuthorCorp plant," I explained, "It was full time and the pay was better. We didn't blame him for it."
Just then two deputies walked into the room and over to the receptionist. "Where can we find Earl Jenkins?"
"Exam Room 3, down the hall," the receptionist responded.
At the mention of Earl the three of us got up and went over to the deputies.
"Excuse me. I'm a friend of Earl's. Is he in some kind of trouble?" asked Clark.
"Oh, yeah," responded one of the deputies, and his words were immediately followed by a crash.
"We need help in here!" cried a voice.
We all headed toward the commotion, and when we turned the corner a cart, followed by a man, were shoved out of the room. The deputies pushed open the door to the room and inside was none other than a wildly shaking Earl. The deputies moved forward to subdue, but were quickly smacked into the wall.
"Earl!" Clark shouted, going forward himself, only to be thrown through a window. I stayed back, very conscious of all the breakable bones in my body.
Eventually the convulsions slowed and Earl collapsed onto the ground.
We just stared at him in shock and horror, unable to do anything to help.
0000
When we finally got back to the house I was afraid to look, instead choosing to stand in the doorway with my hands covering my eyes.
"How bad is it?" I asked hesitantly.
Clark didn't answer, but I heard a sound that was suspiciously similar to the squelch slide of shoes sliding across a filthy surface. I hesitantly took my hands off my eyes and then almost fainted at the mess that was our house.
"Your party, your mess, you clean it up." I ground out before settling down on the steps. I watched silently as Clark sped cleaned the lower floor, picking up the garbage, sweeping up all the floors, and wiping off all the sticky surfaces. When he was done, and the room was finally clean again I heard a chilling sound.
A long, slow clap.
I got up from my seat and looked over at the stairs to see Dad who was clapping, and mom who was holding a plunger.
"Hi. You're home early." Clark said, his voice lacking infliction of any kind.
"We called six times last night, spoke with six different people, none of whom knew who either of you were," mom said, eerily calm.
"The party was his idea, I was in my workshop the entire time," I said quickly, eager to throw Clark to the dogs.
"You couldn't pick up a phone and tell us about this party?" mom asked archily and I winced, knowing I could have done more.
"It was supposed to be an intimate occasion," Clark mumbled.
"And where have you two been?" dad asked sternly.
"The hospital," Clark answered.
Mom sighed, "That's it. I'm never leaving home again."
"Who got hurt?"
"Nobody, but we found Earl Jenkins hiding in the loft. He was looking for you, dad. He's all messed up."
"I concur with Clark, Earl was in a bad way," I said morosely.
"What's the matter with Earl?" asked dad.
"I don't know," Clark shook his head, "He's wanted for murder."
"Earl?" dad asked incredulously, and we nodded. "What's he have to say for himself?"
"I couldn't get close."
"And I was scared to get close," I added.
"How come, the police?" asked Dad.
"No. Because when I got near him, I got sick." He elaborated at our parents confused expression, "It was weird. I mean, every time I stood near him, it got worse. It's kind of like-?" Clark paused, unsure.
"Like what?" asked mom.
"It's kind of like the way I feel around meteor fragments."
Oh, Earl.
0000
A little while later dad had opted to take us to the hospital to check on Earl. We had to wait outside the room while the doctor check on him, and the anticipation was making me antsy. It was very disconcerting to see Earl handcuffed to the bed with a deputy standing watch, the person in my memory would never be in trouble with the law.
When the doctor finally left the room I was almost shaking in anticipation, or maybe that had something to do with the fact that I hadn't slept at all last night.
"What's wrong with him?" Dad asked.
The woman sighed, "Well, to be honest, I haven't the faintest idea. It's amazing his body's been able to survive the seizures this long." This doctor was not very good at being reassuring, I thought, as she walked over to the x-rays and flipped them on. "Take a look at the x-rays. It looks like mineral poisoning, but it's not a mineral I've seen before."
"Is that why he's shaking so bad?" asked Clark while I moved to get a closer look at the x-rays.
"Mineral fragments are embedded under his skin. His body is slowly trying to push them out."
"That doesn't sound good," I muttered wincing at the fractures on Earl's skull.
"How did they get there?"
"He claims there was an explosion at the LuthorCorp plant six months ago." The doctor said.
"I didn't hear about that," Dad said looking at us.
"That's because it didn't happen. I pulled the plant's safety records. I checked with OSHA and the EPA."
Dad exchanged a look with Clark before asking, "Can I go in and talk to him by myself?"
"Better hurry up. Metropolis P.D. will be here any minute to transfer him back to the city," the woman cautioned.
"Thanks."
"I wanna go with you," Clark said moving forward.
"No." Dad reached out a hand to stop him. "Listen, you said that you felt sick when you got around him, right? I bet what he was exposed to has to do with those meteor rocks and I don't want you passing out around here. It'd bring us a whole other set of problems."
"Okay, so Clark can't go in. No reason why I can't." I said and pushed the door open while dad searched and didn't find a plausible excuse to keep me out.
I paused at the side of Earl's bed, remembering the tremors that shook him and tossed aside full grown men before opting to stand a the foot of his bed instead. Dad had no hesitation about standing directly next to Earl.
When Earl saw us he smiled, "Jonathan, Clara." He stuck out his hand to clasp my father's. "Am I glad to see you."
"Hey, look," dad said awkwardly, shifting so that Earl could see Clark standing on the other side of the glass.
Earl shifted up slightly in bed so that he could grab a handheld device with a single red button, he pressed it and spoke, "Clark. Can you hear me?"
Clark smiled and raised his hand in greeting.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—" Earl began.
"I'm fine, don't worry about it," Clark said over the intercom, causing Earl to relax back into the bed and drop the button.
Dad sighed, looking at Earl seriously, "All right, Earl, what's going on? I can't believe you'd wanna kill anybody."
"It was an accident. I was trying to see Lionel Luthor." I was mildly disturbed by the fact that the only thing Earl had to say about his ending a life was that 'it was an accident', but I recognized we had bigger issues at present.
"Why?"
"Find out what they used on Level 3."
Dad looked at me for help, but I was clueless as to how to deal with a delusion dying man, it must have shown on my face because dad turned back to Earl, "Earl, you're not making any sense."
"When I got that job at the Smallville plant I was assigned to clean Level 3. They were doing these hush-hush crop experiments. A new kind of fertilizer supposed to make corn grow twice as fast. There was something in that fertilizer that was unstable. There was a huge explosion. I was cleaning at the time. This stuff, it got under my skin. And the next thing I know they shut it all down and I was transferred to Metropolis. Then two months ago, the jitters started."
It was believable, to a point, especially considering what I knew about the meteor rock, but it would be impossible to prove, given the seemingly mystic properties of the meteors and the deep pockets of Luthor Sr.
"Did you see a doctor?"
"I must have seen fifty. But nobody could tell me what was wrong. They needed to know what I was exposed to." I didn't voice it, but I privately thought it was a little to late for that to do any good now. "But when I went back to the plant, they told me that Level 3 didn't exist. That it never had. I got to find out what they were using. That's why I need you help." Earl said staring at dad intently.
"What exactly do you expect dad to do? How could he possibly help?" I asked, unable to find any sound reasoning that would place my dad as help against a multi-million dollar corporation's conspiracy.
"You gotta get me out of here," Earl practically begged.
"Earl, you're wanted for murder," Dad reasoned.
"N-no. You don't understand. I can't control it. I'm running out of time," Earl reached up and grabbed dad's collar, "The jitters are getting worse. It's already cost me my job, my marriage, my baby. I gotta get back into that plant, or I'm gonna die," Earl was crying now, but instead of making me sympathize it was making me scared. "Help me."
"You get some rest, Earl." Dad said, unwrapping Earl's hand from his shirt and placing it back on the bed.
Dad took a hold of my arm and shepherded me out of the room, an action for which I was grateful as I couldn't stop staring at Earl, but I desperately wanted out of his presence.
"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Clark asked as soon as we came out.
"I have no idea."
I shrugged uncomfortably, "Even if he was, there's no way we could prove it."
"We have a field trip to LuthorCorp today. Maybe we could look around."
Way to volunteer me, Clark.
"I know that you're worried, but Earl has more trouble than he can handle. And I don't even know if he's in his right mind. So, please, both of you, don't do anything." Dad cautioned.
That wasn't going to be a problem for me, I didn't have the hero complex.
Clark was going to be an issue though.
0000
Going on the field trip did nothing to distract me from my worries, in fact it seemed to make them worse. Even thinking about a meteorite testing program underneath me was making me nauseous, or that might have something to do with the fact that I was so low on energy I had eaten a granola bar that had been in my backpack since the beginning of the school year.
Right now I was standing in the crowd of students and leaning heavily on Chloe.
"Hello, everybody, I'm Gabe Sullivan, plant manager and proud father. Hi sweetheart," Chloe's dad said, waving at her.
"Hi, dad," she said weakly, before shifting us behind Clark's much larger form to hide us from view and her from further embarrassment.
"Welcome to LuthorCorp: 'Where we give a crap.'" The students laughed weakly at Chloe's dad's bad pun.
"Okay, somebody kill me now," Chloe ordered.
"Little fertilizer humor there. Alright before we go inside I need you to remove all your cell phones, pagers, jewelry. Anything that jangles, dangles or rings has to go in these plastic tray's. Mr. Sullivan said, passing around some white plastic trays. I put in my cell phone reluctantly, but I was nowhere near as bad as Chloe, who had a habit of never letting her's out of her sight. "Any other questions?"
Clark took the opportunity to raise his hand, "I hear there was a third level to the plant. Is that true?"
"Yeah, yeah. That's where we do the alien autopsies," said Mr. Sullivan, drawing some more laughs from the crowd. "I think we better get started."
"Don't encourage him," said Chloe as she pulled me along.
"This way everybody, All right, people, let's stay together," directed Mr. Sullivan as he began to lead us through the facility.
0000
About ten to fifteen minutes into the tour Clark left the pack, I watched him from over Chloe's shoulder as he used his super-speed to catch a security door before it closed.
I didn't say anything, I knew bringing notice to it would get Clark in trouble, but do nothing to stop him.
Mr. Sullivan was a good conversationalist, he remained just as cheery thirty minutes into the tour as he was at the beginning.
"This is it," He gestured grandly, "The plant's mission control. 100,000 tons of animal waste to process here every year. Trust me. The results can be pretty explosive. So if any of you had beans for lunch, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave," Mr Sullivan said smiling at the spattered laughter he received.
"Among his peers, he's considered witty," said Chloe, and I was reminded that having a parent try to be funny to your peers was often social suicide, especially in our age group.
"Where's Clark?" asked Pete.
"Probably looking for Level 3," I mumbled sleepily, only to be jolted upright by a security rattling.
The big metal lever on the door shook and shook, almost like it was in an earth quake. "What the heck?" asked Mr. Sullivan before going over to the door shaking strangely. Actually, I had seen shaking like that before, with—
"Earl?"
The door opened suddenly, with a well dressed Earl behind it who then strode forward and grabbed Mr. Sullivan, holding up the gun in plain view.
"Don't move!" Earl shouted, turning the gun so that it was aimed at Mr. Sullivan's temple, "Take me to Level 3."
"Dad," said Chloe, eyes trained on the gun.
"Now!"
0000
When Lex Luthor pulled into his plant there was utter bedlam.
The reporters and concerned parents had pushed up against the gate, all wanting to know the condition of the children inside the plant.
He was stopped by an officer and got out and went back to the gate, opening it to let in the Kents.
"Let these two in, just these two."
"We'll check on Derrick and Jeff for you," Jonathan assured a very worried mother before following his wife and Lex.
"Alright, what's going on here?" Jon asked when they got to the command center.
"There's a lunatic inside demanding to be taken to some place called Level 3," informed Lex, "we've managed to evacuate the plant, but he's taken the students hostage." Lex said, signing a paper given to him by an employee.
"Is anyone hurt?" asked Martha.
"Not yet."
"What's his name?" asked Jon.
"Earl Jenkins," Lex said, looking down at the monitors sowing the footage from inside the plant.
Jon sighed, "I know Earl Jenkins. He used to work for us."
"Well, what's he doing in my plant?"
Jonathan looked away, "Well, he claims that LuthorCorp is doing some crop experiments on some secret level three, and that's what made him sick. He's convinced it's the only place he can get a cure."
Unbelievable, "We've got a serious problem, because there is no Level 3."
"Where's Clark?" asked Martha looking at the monitor in dismay.
0000
"I swear, I don't know anything about a Level 3," insisted Mr. Sullivan for the umpteenth time.
"You're lying." I put my head between my knees, they had done this song and dance at least five times already, and it was getting redundant.
"He's not lying!" I looked up to see Clark coming in, holding some large white rolls of paper.
Imbecile, how could he just annoyance his presence like that?
Clark held up the papers, "I found these blueprints. There is no Level 3."
Earl walked over to him and snatched the blue prints. While Clark recovered from the brief proximity Earl took the blueprints and spread them out on the table. "Every night, I go down to Level 2, follow the red pipes down that long hallway, go to the door, I open it, and I TAKE THE ELEVATOR DOWN TO LEVEL 3!" Earl shouted, shoving the plans into our faces and pointing at the invisible elevator with his gun. He walked over and got into Clark's face, "You're just like everybody else. Get over there and you sit down!"
Clark sat down next to me and I leaned on his shoulder, "Nice going, now you're a hostage too."
"I thought I could get through to him," Clark sighed.
"News flash, Clark. That isn't the man who worked with you all those years ago. That's a man with nothing left to loose holding a gun. You may be bulletproof if he gets angry, but the rest of us aren't, so I'll thank you kindly to stop helping," I whispered fiercely, mentally noting that I needed to install more protective measures on my crystal.
I really didn't want to die.
0000
Outside the factory, a helicopter was arriving.
"Who's that?" Martha shouted over the noise.
"My father," said Lex, walking forward to face him.
"Mr. Luthor, we have a hostage situation," a SWAT member began.
"I was briefed on my way down," Mr. Luthor interrupted. "Lex! How did you allow this to happen?"
"I didn't allow—" Lex objected.
"Then how did this man get inside?" demanded Lex's father.
"I think—" Lex began.
"You think? Why don't you know?" berated Lionel.
"Can we focus on what's important?" interrupted Jonathan, drawing Lionel's attention. "We've got innocent kids in there."
"This is Jonathan Kent," introduced Lex.
Luthor sr. turned to face Jonathan, "It's been a long time, but I never forget a face." He said, sticking out his hand.
"Kent's children are inside. They know the gunman personally," Lex said, answering the unasked question of why they were here.
Lionel's eye's narrowed, "What's your assessment of this lunatic?" he asked, pushing past them to get a closer look at the monitors.
"He's sick, he's desperate, and he blames your plant for his condition," explained Jonathan.
"This Level 3 nonsense," Lionel asked, without bothering to ask.
"I've assured everyone there is no Level 3. That is the truth, isn't it?" Lex asked, looking beseechingly into his father's face.
"Of course it is."
"People's lives are at stake. What will you do about it?" asked Jonathan.
"I'm going to let SWAT do their job. When he makes a mistake, they'll move in."
Lex looked away, knowing his father wouldn't budge.
"What about the kids?" demanded Martha. "You need to get on the phone and talk to him!"
"Mrs. Kent, I understand how you feel. I want everyone to walk out of there—"
"Somethings ha happening!" one of the SWAT guys said, interrupting the Luthor.
They turned their a attention to the monitor, where their attention landed on none other than Clara Kent.
"Earl, I think you should calm down." She said, shifting in her seated position so she was in plain view of him.
"Calm down?" Earl demanded, waving his gun around.
"Your holding a gun, Earl. You said yourself you couldn't control the 'jitters', if you have one while holding that gun, someone's going to get hurt. Do you really want to kill another person?" She asked him, the picture of concern.
"What the hell is that girl doing?" demanded Lionel.
"She's trying to talk him down," said Jonathan in awe and fear.
"That wasn't my fault!"
"Why would she try to do something like that?"
"Well, you aren't doing anything," Martha bit out.
"That may have not been your fault, but shooting, hostages, shooting kids?" Earl didn't answer. "Your sick, Earl, you need a hospital," and in what was obviously supposed to be under her breath, "Preferably one with padded walls."
Earl was at attention again, pointing the gun in Clara's face, and Lex felt like he couldn't breathe. "Are you calling me crazy?"
"Clara," Martha groaned, "you were doing so well."
"Did I say crazy? No, of course not, your not crazy, your just holding a group of teenage children hostage so you can gain access to a floor that doesn't exist. Does that sound crazy to you?" Clara asked blithely.
"I don't get it, does she want him to shoot her?" asked Lionel in shock. "Why is she deliberately taunting the lunatic with a gun."
"That's Clara," Jonathan said, pinching the bridge of him nose with his fingers, as if this whole situation was giving him a headache.
It probably was.
"Shut up, just sit down and stay quiet!"
"Earl, you know me, when have I ever stayed quiet?"
"YOU"LL SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP OR I'LL PUT A BULLET THROUGH YOU"RE SKULL!"
Clara sighed, settling back and nestling herself under Clark's arm.
"We need to talk to him," Martha said, when she could speak again.
Clara was so getting grounded for antagonizing men with guns.
"I don't negotiate with terrorists," asserted Lionel.
"He's not a terrorist, he's sick!" Martha cried, "If you won't talk to him, Jonathan will."
Jonathan went to go find a phone, but was stopped by Lex. "Your not the one he blames, is he dad?"
Ten minutes later a line was ready for Lionel's call.
The phone had barely rung twice before it was answered by the plant manager.
"Gabe, it's Luthor."
"Lionel Luthor." Came Gabe Sullivan's voice over the phone.
"Speaker." There was the the beep that signaled Gabe had followed Earl's order. "Mr. Luthor. I've finally got your attention haven't I?"
"Earl, why don't you come out? We've got a lot to talk about." Said Lionel.
"Just tell me what you were using down on Level three."
"Your sick, Earl," Lionel said into the headset. "Let everyone go, we'll get you help."
Just then, Earl Jenkins started to convulse on the monitor. He flailed around in place until he latched onto a methane pump for support.
Clark stood up and went over to him, only to get thrown back when he was hit with the wheel after it came off in Earl's hands. Earl watched in horror as the pressure gauge started to rise.
"Oh, no. See what you made me do? See what you made me-?" Earl walked over and looked straight into the security camera, making his face large on the monitor, "See what you made me do?"
"Way to go, Dad. I see you haven't lost your touch," said Lex dryly, eyeing his father.
0000
"The methane gas valve just broke. The whole place is gonna go up," said Earl to the camera.
"God, today sucks," I whined.
"We need to do something," said Whitney.
I groaned, it just kept getting better and better.
"I don't think that's a good idea," said Clark reasonably, for once.
"The man's nuts. He's not listening to the cops, and that gas is going to blow," listed Whitney.
"Don't do anything stupid, Fordman," I said.
"Your one to talk," he sneered at me.
I glowered at him, "At least with what I did, I'm the only on that gets hurt. You go over and try to tackle him like you're in a football game and you'll be lucky if you're the only one that gets shot."
"Whitney, I don't want you to get hurt," said Lana.
"I'm not putting my life in that man's hands. The two of us can take him. How about it, Clark?"
"If you even think about it, I will castrate you in your sleep," I growled at him, completely serious.
Clark gulped audibly, "I can't."
Whitney looked at us searchingly before he stood up. I watched silently as Whitney crept up behind Earl, and closed my eyes when Earl spotted him.
"What are you doing?" Earl shouted.
There was a scuffle and then the sound of the gun going off, "Get back!"
I opened my eyes to see Whitney being shuffled back to the wall with a bullet hole in his arm.
He looked at it to me before growling, "Yeah, yeah, I know, lucky I was the only one that got shot."
I reached into my bag and pulled out my scarf and tying it tight over Whitney's wound as a tourniquet and then using the left overs to wrap the wound, ignoring his pained grunts. He wouldn't have been shot if he had just listened to me.
I looked over to Earl, "It's all your fault Luthor," he said, before shooting out the camera.
"Actually, you're lucky that the spark from the gun going off wasn't enough to make the whole room blow," I said dryly, pulling the bandage together so I could tie it in place.
"Oh god." I heard someone whimper at my comment.
I felt like joining them.
0000
When I heard over the phone that Lex Luthor was coming in I thought they were joking.
Because today? Today seemed like a cruel joke, I hadn't gotten any sleep, I was starving, the room smelt like a really bad fart, I was being held hostage by a family friend, Chloe and her father were in danger, Clark couldn't fight, the whole room was about to blow, and now Lex was putting himself in danger.
It was like a bad dream, or one of those scenarios the scientists used to put me through, a train for failure exercise. I had always hated those, because no matter what you did to fix the problem, the situation would just keep getting worse.
So here I was in what felt like a cruel joke and I was really starting to worry the punchline was going to be a death.
So when Lex entered the room wearing only a bullet proof vest I wanted to throttle him.
"What kind of man sends his own kid to do his dirty work?" asked Earl derisively.
"I'm not doing anybody's dirty work. This is my plant." Lex said, walking forward. He looked at Whitney who was cradled in Lana's arms, "How is he?"
"He needs a doctor," answered Lana.
"What are we gonna do about these kids, Earl?" Lex asked, gesturing around the room.
"I never meant to hurt anybody." Earl said, ashamed, "I tired talking to your father, but he wouldn't listen to me."
"I know the feeling," Lex said tightly, before taking off his vest.
If I wasn't going to kill him before, I definitely was going to now, that utter moron.
Lex set aside the vest, "Earl, you say that everybody's been lying to you. I'm gonna tell you the truth. My father doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anybody in this room. Because if we all die, his PR firm will spin it. His insurance company will pay and you will go down as the bad guy."
Real cheery, Lex.
"I'm not the bad guy. I'm just trying to get better."
"How are you gonna get better by killing a bunch of kids?" Lex asked. "If you let everybody go, I'll take you to Level three."
Earl cocked the gun and aimed it at Lex, and I hoped that Lex had a damn good plan.
"You stop lying."
"Let them go, and I'll show you where it is," promised Lex. "Earl, trust me. I'm a man of my word."
"Get out," Earl whispered, before raising his voice, "Get out. Get out! Everybody, get out!"
As the crowd shuffled out of the room, Clark and I went to Lex.
"Do you really know where it is?" asked Clark.
"Yeah, it's in his imagination. There is no Level 3, Clark. Now, get out of here."
I inwardly seethed, "Just what do you think he'll do when you can't show him anything?" I whispered at Lex, ignoring Clark tugging at my shirt. "He's gonna kill you Lex! He's gon—"
What I was about to say was cut off as Clark grabbed me and then carried me out of the room, ignoring my thrashing. He carried me as he ran through the facility.
It was when we finally reached the outside that a new problem became apparent.
The fire doors were closing, with Earl and Lex inside.
"They're gonna seal Lex in," I screamed in Clark's ear, my thrashing that had previously calmed renewed with a vengeance.
Clark looked back, then he looked at me, and then the sunlight, before turning once again to the closing fire door. I could have cheered when he turned back, dropping me, so that we could roll under the closing door and make it inside.
I saw Pete's panicked face and smiled, "Don't worry about us!" and then the door closed, sealing us inside.
I climbed onto Clark's back without prompting and we sped through the facility, and I made a mental note to destroy all footage the plant had recorded outside the control man, I could probably make it look like damage caused accidentally by Earl. Clark returned to normal speed outside the hallway that Earl had said the elevator was. When Clark opened the door all I could see was a closet that had been trashed.
"Anything there, or is Earl actually nuts?" I asked.
Clark didn't answer, instead hopping over a table and squinting at the wall in a way I took to mean he was using x-ray vision. Then he pulled back his fist and punched the wall, moving aside the heavy bricks to reveal an elevator.
"So, not crazy, then?" I asked quietly.
Clark found an intercom and used it to talk to Earl. "Earl, I found Level 3. They built a wall in front of the elevator, but it'll still here."
"Stop playing with me," Earl shouted over the intercom.
"Get out of the building, Clark!" Lex screamed.
"Earl, it's here! Don't you want to see it? I promise."
While we were waiting for Earl and Lex to arrive Clark ran over to the control room to switch off the gas. Unfortunately, he did not come back in time to be there with me when Earl and Lex arrived.
"Clara! What are you doing here? And where's Clark?" Lex asked with a surprising amount of concerned outrage, considering the fact that he was being manhandled and had a gun to his head.
"Clark is going to try and see if he can turn off the gas. With the pressure so high the cops closed the fire doors," I said wincing at how Lex was being treated.
Earl ignored me, instead focusing on the elevator behind me, "Son of a bitch! How do you explain that?" he shouted at Lex, who was staring at it in shock.
"I can't."
I was herded into the elevator along with Lex, but maintained the maximum distance from Earl and his gun as possible. I really started to sweat when the only buttons the elevator had were for floors one and two.
"Two buttons. Two levels. I'm sorry, alright?" Lex said, positioning his body so that he was as much in front of me as he could be.
Earl looked around before pressing on the space below the second button, which lighted up on contact. Lex looked at me in dread as we rode down, and I tried to keep from panicking. When the elevators door opened into a black room, Earl pushed Lex out and onto the floor., before going over to the wall and flipping a switch.
The room lit up in sections, working it's way across. It was as large as a warehouse, and also completely empty. I walked out of the elevator to get a better look, standing closer to Lex, and flinching as the elevator doors closed behind me.
"I told you it was here," Earl said, walking out onto the bridge that spanned across the room. Lex followed him, turning around so that he could get a full view of the floor that should not exist.
"Where is it?" Earl asked, and I backed closer to the wall. "Where is everything? There used to be a—It was a field of corn with sprayers all over it," Earl said, gesturing to the now empty floor with his gun. "And every night, they'd spray this green mist on it. What have you done with it? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH IT?" I flinched at the sound of Earl yelling, and wanted desperately for Lex to come back over near me, but too scared to say it aloud.
"I don't know." Lex said, "They lied to me too, Earl. I had no idea this was here."
Earl looked at him, and then sighed defeatedly. The elevator doors opened, revealing Clark.
"Earl! Let's go back upstairs and talk about this." Clark told him.
When Earl spoke, he sounded defeated, and it terrified me. "It's all gone, Clark. How am I gonna get better if I don't know what poisoned me?"
"I didn't know about this place. You gotta believe me," Lex said looking at us beseechingly.
"We believe you Lex," I said with forced calm, "But I would very much appreciate it if you would come back over here." And away from Earl went unspoken.
"He's lying! He's just like his father!" Earl shouted, pointing his gun at Lex, only to once again, as he put it, go into the 'jitters'. He flailed about before bracing himself on the railing of the bridge.
"Lex, get over here!" I shouted frantically. He never got the chance as just then, Earl shook out the bolts holding the bridge together, flipping both him and Lex over.
"Clark!"
I stayed, frozen in place, as Clark ran past me and out onto the bridge. When Clark faltered due to Earl's proximity the situation got worse, the railing that Earl was holding fell down, forcing him to hold onto the bridge itself. The shock of this caused Lex to lose his grip, only to latch onto Earl's ankles to stop him from falling to his death. So, if Clark was going to pull them up, he was going to have to pull up meteorite Earl first.
"No, oh god!" Lex cried, looking down.
I watched nervously as Clark began to climb down to where Earl was hanging on. Clark reached down and grabbed Earl's wrist, and I would have prayed if I believed in god that he didn't drop him. After much straining he was able to pull Earl up enough that the man could climb up himself, so Clark moved onto Lex.
"Get to the elevator!" Clark called to Earl.
Clark was able to pull up Lex with far less difficulty, and then the two of them climbed up the bridge and over to the still standing part of it. Earl stood at the opening of the bridge and then he began to shake again.
"Move!" I shouted at the two of them, and they burst into motion until we all collapsed through the open doors of the elevator, with the bridge completely collapsing behind us.
"Are we all alright?" I asked hysterically, waiting for the three men to nod. I took a deep calming breath, "Good, then I can finally do this." I turned to Lex and slapped him as hard as I could across the face. Which considering the fact that used my right hand, was pretty hard.
"You're worse than Clark!" I screamed, "You had a vest, and then you took it off! Then you made us leave you behind, with only an empty promise to protect you in a room filling with methane gas. You idiot! You could have died!" I could hear Clark laughing but I wasn't finished. "If you ever deliberately put yourself in that much danger again, and with no escape plan, I will feed you laxatives for months. Months! It will be on and off, and you'll never be safe, every bite you take, you'll wonder if I got to it first. Every taste of nummy chocolate will be suspect, and, just when you think I've let it go, I'll start again! You understand me! Do you?" I was red in the face and Clark was shaking with hysterics, but I didn't care.
"I understand you," Lex said weakly, still reeling from my outburst.
I immediately deflated, "Oh, good," I threw my arms around him in a hug, "Thank god your alright."
Clark couldn't take it anymore, he laughed so loud I wouldn't be surprised if he rocked the elevator. He stood up, because I wasn't done hugging Lex yet, and pressed the button for the second floor.
I felt Lex shift, so he could see Lex over my head, "Clark, how did you pull us up?"
"I don't know. Adrenaline, I guess."
"I don't care how he did it, I'm just glad he did," I mumbled into Lex's shirt before raising my head to look Lex in the eye, "Your my friend now Lex, that means if you die, I'll be very cross. If you do die, I just might bring you back to life so I can kill you myself." I could probably do it too. I looked straight into Lex's eye for a minute longer before once again lowering my head.
It had been such a bad day, and Lex was so warm…
...and I was so tired…
0000
Clark looked down at his sister, still firmly latched onto the billionare and sighed fondly, "Let Lex go, Clara. We need to get going."
When Clara didn't respond Clark and Lex exchanged a look and Lex shifted enough to see Clara's face, her eyes were closed, and she looked positively angelic.
"Is she asleep?" asked Earl.
"Yeah, I think she is," Lex answered.
The elevator doors opened into the second floor and Clark mentally shrugged, bending down to pick up Clara princess style. "We didn't get any sleep last night, and we haven't eaten in hours, she must have been running on adrenaline all day."
"So she fell asleep?" Lex asked, eyeing Clara incredulously.
Clara hummed and shifted in Clark's arms, mumbling something that sounded remarkably like 'idiots'.
Lex huffed a laugh, before going off to confront his father.