Chapter 27 [Storm Cellar]

Clark blinked his eyes open. He had to readjust to the cellar's darkness. His skin tingled and burned. His arms and legs felt stiff. His mind spun over what had just happened. He struggled to believe that he'd just met his parents….

…no his birth parents….

They can't just tell me what to do. How can that Jor-El just tell me what to do? Mom and Dad are the ones who raised me. He scratched his head. He glanced toward the Ship. What else can it do? He pulled himself into a sitting position. Discomfort ate at him but not just from himself. He felt it coming from somewhere else. What else? I….

"Clark, enough questions already," Lana griped. She rolled over and let out a slight moan.

"Lana?" He shoved his own pain deep down. Somehow he made it to her side. He cradled her head against his chest. Now what? He considered her face and barely opened eyes. The additional pain seemed to be coming from her somehow.

Wait…her pain?

"Clark, I don't know. Just take it down a bit? Not so loud." Lana grimaced. She slowly opened her eyes the rest of the way.

"I didn't say anything. I did think it though," he told her.

She narrowed her eyes. "I heard you say those things. You didn't but…." Then she sighed. "Those people…they used telepathy. Maybe we are too?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. Guess something happened?" He shook his head wondering how Jonathan and Martha were going to deal with this scenario.

She coughed. "You think? Somehow, Clark, you met my Great Aunt Louise. We met your birth parents. Your spaceship did something to us. Despite this, you don't know what's going on?"

"I don't, Lana. I'm sorry. This stuff sometimes happens." He shook his head.

"Happens? This is kind of a big deal. You mean this has happened before?" she insisted. She noticed his eyes averting themselves. "Clark?"

He coughed. Guilt pushed him. "Yeah when some new ability comes up. I learn about it. Then comes the learning curve."

"New ability? Clark, you said you'd be honest! What happened like this before?" Frustration frothed up inside of herself. She slapped at the concrete floor.

Her hand's impact shook the entire area. Jars swayed and shattered against the floor. Other items simply fell and clattered. The floor cracked.

"Lana?" Clark stared. His jaw dropped. He blinked trying to digest what he'd just witnessed.

She stared at her hand. Incredulity numbed her mind. "Clark, what just happened?" She shook her head at the crack in the floor.

"You slapped the floor." He frowned and squirmed. "You kind of shook everything up." Again the thought of Jonathan and Martha going off about the storm cellar came to mind. "Give me a second." He rushed about the area at super speed. He straightened the fallen items. He swept up the glass shards and debris.

As he progressed, she could somehow watch him. While to a normal Earther, his motion would be too fast to see, she saw him almost in slow motion. She could hear his heart beating rapidly. She could sense his emotions churning within him. Still she didn't understand how she was able to do these things. "Clark, what are you doing?"

Just cleaning so my parents don't scream at us, he noted more to himself. He finished the sweeping. He composed himself. "There. All set."

"You've obviously done this before," she presumed. She raised an eyebrow.

"Uh yeah. Sometimes for myself. Sometimes for others. Remember that party last year when everyone kind of showed up? I had to clear everything out after that," he revealed.

She nodded. "So you didn't intend that party to be so big? Or for Lex to show up with the fireworks?"

"Nope and nope. I just wanted Chloe, Pete and you over. A few friends was all I had in mind. Word got out and well…." He shrugged again.

"Well you got more than that. I just wish I knew more about this. I…." She winced. "Is it getting warm in here?"

"No." He could actually feel a slight chill from the area even if it didn't affect him. "You're sweating."

"Why am I so hot all of a sudden? I…" A sharp pain seared through her eyes. "Clark, what is this?" Her eyes glowed crimson. Her forehead flushed beet-red.

Instinct guided him to pull her close to himself. He braced himself for what he knew was coming next.

Just as he did so, she released twin heat vision bursts. She screamed.

He grabbed onto her tighter than ever. His clothes smoldered and smoked. Then they caught on fire. Still he didn't stop holding her. He only knew to support her….

…at least until his nostrils picked up on the shirt….

He tore off the burning remains allowing her to keep aimed at his chest. Still he couldn't keep her in check.

Before he could stop her, her heat vision boiled jelly jars and preserves. Sooty ashen streaks seared the far wall. For several more seconds, the onslaught continued. Then, as suddenly as they had started, the heat beams stopped. She trembled. Shock paled her face. Tears steamed from her still hot eyes. Her jaw slackened. Her eyes widened. "I…I…did that? What was that?"

"That's heat vision," he informed her. He considered the charred remains of his shirt. Fortunately the crimson streaks in his skin had already faded.

She continued to stare at the accidental onslaught. "I did that?" Then Memoria nagged at her about the recent incident in the Talon. "Wait." She put her finger up and frowned. "This is like what happened in the Talon."

He grimaced. "Uh yeah it is." He ran his hands through his already mussed hair. He had really hoped she wouldn't have put two and two together.

"You did that, Clark?" she put forward albeit as more of an affirmation than an actual question.

He bowed his head. "Yes. It was like the second time I ever did it. My emotions got the better of me, Lana. Then I got hot and the heat vision kind of took over."

She sighed. While she had suspected he'd had something to do with the fires from several months earlier, she hadn't connected him to the café's incident. "Thankfully Lex paid for the new coffee machine and the repairs. And the jail?"

"I had been practicing out back on scarecrows and candles," he explained. "I got some self control. I used my heat vision on the alarm to escape. Then I used it on the handle in Lex's study to stop Desiree from escaping." He rubbed her arm. "You just need practice with everything."

"Practice? Clark, this is all too weird! I know you're from some other world but how can I be doing this?" she pressed.

"That energy from the Ship gave me knowledge and changed you." He embraced her. "You're like me now."

"You'll help me. Right?" She trembled. Her eyes sought his out.

His eyes twinkled. Reassurance shone through them into her mind and heart. "Try and get rid of me. I love you, Lana." His lips brushed across hers.

While she still felt overwhelmed, Support and Amor eased her mood. And in that, everything would be okay….