Chapter Fifteen

"Lex!" Maggie exclaims when the study doors fly open and she races across the hardwood floor where Lex wrapped her in a welcoming hug with a matching smile on his face.

He set the girl down and squatted down in front of her, "Are you excited for your birthday next month?" she nods happily causing him the laugh at the child's enthusiasm when he noticed his best friend, "Well don't just stand there Clark. You act like you've never been here before."

"Well its not everyday one of my friends decides to run for mayor of a major city like Metropolis." Clark responds while looking around the empty den then back to Lex, "I expected this place to be filled with campaign workers. Where is everyone?"

"This place is my sanctuary. I'm not about to fill it with strangers who only want to have my name on their applications." He walks around back towards his desk while Maggie plopped down in one of the black leather chairs across from her uncle's desk while Clark walked over looking around to see that Lex had added a few things, "My campaign manager said I needed to make this place more at home for future voters. If my father could see this place now he'd have a fit."

Clark chuckled but suddenly stopped when he noticed several articles about Superman piled on the side of the desk which Lex took notice of, "I hear that Perry White put you with Lois Lane. She's very…" he sees Clark give him a look and just smirked when he finished his sentence, "Interesting."

Maggie looked from her uncle to her father who just nodded off towards something causing her to get off the chair and walk towards the end of the study towards the giant bookcase leaving Clark and Lex to speak alone.

"Why the sudden interest in Superman?"

"Color me intrigued." Replied Lex as he studied his friend very closely then spoke once more, "He's quite the enigma."

Clark's reply was slow when he became distracted by the file that was neatly tucked underneath the newspapers, "He has that affect on people."

"Well from what I read in that interview he gave you and Ms. Lane, Superman leads a tragic life." Clark immediately looks up at Lex taken aback by the comment, "He lives on this planet knowing that he can never return home again. An outsider with the powers of a god pressing his face against the glass on humanity." He leans on his arms closer to Clark, "I've seen enough impossible things in Smallville to know that when someone has those kinds of powers…no good can come of it."

"What are you saying? That he should be locked up in a cage to be poked and prodded by doctors when all he wants to do is have life here on Earth."

Lex and Clark just stare at each other clearly obvious that this conversation would end in an argument that would have no solution, "I will always value your opinion Clark but you don't know the kind of threats that are out there. Humanity must prepare itself for war if the situation calls for it."

"Give it time Lex and you'll see that you were worried for nothing." Clark states rather determined to prove to him and all the naysayers that Superman was in fact one of the good guys even if it took him years to do it.

Maggie and Clark walked back towards his truck when she turned her head and noticed boy watching her from one of the windows of the Luthor Mansion causing her to look back at her father and ask, "Who's that boy?"

"What boy?" she turns back to see that he was no longer there, "You okay?" she shakes off the confusion and just nods as they continue walking towards the truck, "Good because I don't want Grandma and Grandpa to think your not happy to see them." She immediately grows excited at the prospect of going to the farm to visit the family unaware that the boy had returned to the window.

She could see the change in her father the second they left Luthor Mansion and started driving off towards the farm, "Did Lex say something to upset you?" she asks looking up at him with her bright eyes reflecting a sense of worry to the kryptonian.

He gave her a reassuring smile and replied, "We just had a difference of opinion. Lex feels one way about something and I feel the opposite."

"Was it about Superman?"

He stares ahead at the empty road and replied very quietly with a simple yes leaving the rest of the ride up to the farm to the quiet.

"Aunt Martha! Uncle John!" Kara called out from the loft when she spotted the red truck make the turn up the hill as she super sped through her chores and appeared in the driveway just as truck pulled to a stop and the Kents stepped out of the yellow farmhouse to greet Maggie and Clark.

"Well this is an unexpected surprise." Jonathan states while wiping his hands and walking over to embrace his son in a warm hug while Martha and Kara greeted Maggie, "How are you son?" he asks after pulling away to see the look reflected in his child's eyes and they immediately begin walking off into the barn leaving the Kent girls alone.

Martha doesn't say anything and puts on a smile for her granddaughter who was now safely in her arms beaming, "Daddy's upset."

"Why?"

She just shrugged and immediately ran after Shelby who was busy chasing after ducks just as the pair always did whenever they were on the farm while Martha just shook her head and walked back into the house with Kara close behind.

"Do you think he came back home because he's having a hard time dealing with everything?"

"I don't know what you mean Kara." Martha responds while she continued to dry off the dishes with her gaze staring out at the barn where she saw shadows moving.

Kara jumped up and sat on the counter while chewing on an apple, "He's been working triple shifts as the mild mannered reporter, doting father and superhero. Maybe it's becoming too much for him to bear."

"Even if it was he wouldn't tell anyone. Clark's always put his obligations first and his heart last." She replies while her eyes stayed on the barn where her husband and son were talking, even after all these years he still came to them with his problems hoping they had the answers.

Four Years Ago…

Clark had been back from DC a couple of days and right away Martha could tell that something was bothering him from the sounds of wood being splintered at four o'clock in the morning.

The chopped up pieces were piled off to the side with more than enough to last them for the winter, "Between you and your father. I don't know why men need to take out their frustrations with manual labor." She walks towards him to hand him a cup of coffee, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He brushes off the sawdust from his hands and sets the coffee mug off to the side, "How did you know dad was the one?"

"Before I met your father I had to go through all the wrong men to get to him." She moves to sit at his side, "When I met him there was just this spark between us that we couldn't deny even when I called off our wedding." He looks at her surprised, "Back then I were from two different worlds. A city girl and a farmboy just wasn't heard of in Metropolis and I almost let that tear us apart."

"What happened?"

A small smile creeps onto her face at the memory, "We couldn't stop thinking about each other. I was about to take a bus to Smallville when I saw him standing outside my apartment almost as if he knew."

He looks ahead when he turns his head to look at her and she could see that something had changed but he didn't voice what was bothering him instead he just smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"You can tell me what's bothering you. I promise that it won't leave this barn." She places her hand over his as she always did to comfort him in a time of crisis.

"I think I might have made a mistake."

TBC

What mistake did Clark make I wonder? *evil laugh* I love leaving you guys on the edge of your seat. I thought you guys deserved to see what happened after Clark left Lois but from Martha's POV.

Also who do you think that boy is that Maggie saw in the window? I'd like to hear your theories on that one (hint: his identity won't be revealed until Chapter 17)

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