Chapter 2

That Damn

Pink Tie!

Disclaimer: And here we go yo!

Unfortunately for Clark, Alicia would end up getting him a pink tie to wear for Lex's wedding. One that even had an Oak tree on it curiously enough and causing him to give her a light glare that she merely smiled at. 'It felt fitting.' Is all she would say on the matter in a sweet tone of voice that had him suspicious.

The whole 'Heat Stream Hypothesis' discussion hadn't really gone anywhere either but it was clear to him that his apparent new friend, if he could call her that at this point, enjoyed the whole thing a great deal. No matter how outlandish it seemed to him. From suggesting hormones and meteor rock mixing into a volatile combination for him, that he might have some form of Godhood about him, (though she had been teasing him mercilessly over that one) or that perhaps the heat from the Sun was somehow awakening it in him. That he'd been somehow naturally born with it and just needed an extra push. And those were just a few examples of the theorizing she'd put into the whole thing with him putting in minimal input. He'd been pretty relieved that she hadn't tried to go with him to the wedding as he wasn't sure how much more he could take of her ideas and the like. And despite the odd tension between him and Chloe, his Blonde friend had certainly gotten a kick out of the pink Oak tree tie! Forcing him to reluctantly admit how he had gotten it and surprising her considering how closed off Alicia Baker could be.

And once Lex had said his piece about going for it instead of playing it safe, he'd be the next to question the tie. "And Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you trying to upstage me at my own wedding?" Lex asked jokingly.

Clark stared at him in a startled fashion. "What!? N-No, not at all! Why, why would you ask that?" He asked in return in a nervous tone of voice.

"Well, you are wearing that pink tie. Which is a weird choice even for you. Not to mention that tree on it too. So I had to ask." Informed the man with a grin on his lips.

Causing Clark to let out a tired sigh. "Its the idea of someone who recently came into my life. Thought it would be amusing or something in her view. Amusing for her maybe." Clark grumbled unhappily.

Lex couldn't help but find amusement in the whole thing. "Well, I think I'll have to meet her for myself as clearly she has an interesting taste in fashion. One I approve of since its not your usual color one normally finds in your wardrobe."

The idea of Alicia and Lex meeting horrified the young man a great deal. And Lex couldn't help but feel more amusement at seeing his best friend's look of horror over the thought. "Wow, now I KNOW I have to meet her if the thought is that horrifying for you." Said the man with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Don't you have a new wife to be focusing on instead of the new girl in my life?" Clark asked with a groan.

"Oh ho! New girl in your life!? Its that serious already!?"

Another groan escaped his young friend. "That's… That's not what I meant!"

"Uh-huh, sure its not, Clark. Sure its not." Oh yeah, he definitely had to meet this girl!

If only to see where she got that tie for Clark. As more of those would make a fantastic Christmas gift in the future!

The Next Day

After Clark's night with Lana had turned into a fire hazard much to his annoyance and dismay, he'd chosen to stay home from school so that he could avoid anymore issues with fire starting. Unfortunately, he'd made the mistake of telling Alicia all this and she'd chosen to come over and asked a million questions. Questions he had little in the way of answers of unfortunately. "Oh! That reminds me! I was gonna give this to you at school but since you're not there, I figured I'd go ahead and give it to you here." Informed the girl all of a sudden.

Alicia then reached for her back pack while Clark stared at her in a suspicious manner. "What is it?" Came his weary question.

He'd soon find out seconds later as she pulled out a pink shirt and handed it over to him with a wide smile on her lips. This shirt also had a tree pattern on it much to his annoyance. "I saw this and knew I had to get it for you!" Alicia told him happily with a laugh while he sighed in dismay.

"Gee, I didn't think to get you anything." He told her sarcastically.

"Its okay, your reaction to the shirt is more then enough." Came the cheeky response that made his eye want to twitch.

"You are so lucky I can't just will my eyes to burn this shirt right now."

"Good thing there's more then one of those then!"

"Of course there would be more then one. Why wouldn't there be?"

Was he somehow being punished for not having the same feelings as Chloe? Or for staring at Lex's new wife more then what he should have? Or was it something else? Whatever it was, he just wished he could apologize and end this pink nightmare! "Clark? Thought you'd be in school already." Came the voice of his dad as he made his way up the steps.

Having heard voices in the barn once he came in and grew a bit concerned. The fact that a girl, an admittedly beautiful one, was up in the Loft with his son made him wonder if his son had decided to be irresponsible. Which from a parental view, Johnathan should be disappointed over (and he was) but he also felt a bit proud of his son too since because of his powers, he tended to be pretty serious a lot of the time. Which admittedly he and Martha had a bit to do with due to their concerns and fears for his safety. I wonder if he's moving on from Lana finally with this girl?

Clark sighed. "Decided not to go today."

Despite the fact he'd rather not be the tough parent, Johnathan knew he would have to be in this case. Or to some extent anyway. "Now son, I know having a very pretty girl around is tempting enough to skip school but it should really wait til after school or during the weekend." Warned the man sternly.

Watching as his son's eyes went wide while the girl (Alicia if he recalled right) began to laugh. "The… The look… On, on your face! Priceless!" Gasped out the girl in between laughs.

"Da-Dad! That's, that's not what's happening! I swear! I'm, I'm only staying home cause of the thing from yesterday! Which kinda happened with Lana too but no way is what you think is happening!" Got out Clark in a horrified tone as Alicia continued to laugh.

"Damn! Everyone knows you're hot for Lana but I didn't think it was THAT hot!" Alicia said laughingly.

Making Johnathan's eyes widen in quick realization! "SHE KNOWS!?"

Causing Clark to wince. "Umm… Yeah? She uhh… She kinda saw me do it in the classroom."

"But not to worry Mr. Kent! I've promised not to say a word! Mostly because I'm a bit different myself AND I want to help Clark here figure out the whole Heat Streams thing."

"Heat Vision!"

Alicia scoffed. "No way! I told you that's too hokey!"

"And 'Heat Streams' somehow isn't?"

"Nope!"

Clark shot his dad a helpless and frustrated look and despite the seriousness of the situation, Johnathan couldn't help but find amusement in the whole thing. "Its bad enough you're torturing me with pink clothing." Grumbled the dark haired teenager with a pout.

A pout he'd heavily deny to anyone if asked about! "I don't know, son, I thought the tie looked really good on you yesterday." Johnathan found himself saying.

Gaining a look of betrayal in return from his son while Alicia giggled over it! "Day's barely started and its already been a great one so far."

"For you maybe."

Alicia just grinned at him before Johnathan got things back on track. "I'm sure you understand that I am greatly concerned about you knowing my son can shoot fire out of his eyes, right?" He asked her seriously.

The girl looked at him and gave a serious nod, knowing the time for joking was over with. "I totally understand that, Mr. Kent. As like I said, I have my own secret I'm not really wanting others to find out about." Replied Alicia as she demonstrated said secret and making the man's eyes widen in surprise.

"I, I see. But I'm sure you'll understand that I'll more then likely remain suspicious until I feel you can be fully trusted?"

"I do. No worries. But if it helps to get the ball rolling, lead is about the only thing that blocks me from teleporting." Admitted the girl with a hint of bitterness in her voice, surprising the two Kents.

An idea then hit Clark and he had to refrain from grinning while wondering how he could pull it off without too many questions being asked. Payback is mine!

Johnathan stared at the girl for a moment, clearly being able to see how nervous she was after admitting that. Not to mention the hint of bitterness that could be heard, making him wonder on it. He then sighed. "That… That helps some. I take it you're gonna want to stay and help my son figure out things?"

Both Alicia and Clark were surprised by that, though Alicia felt pretty happy he was apparently gonna let her stick around! Dad! Whined Clark in his head at the 'betrayal' he felt from the older man.

"You betcha!"

Nodding to himself, Johnathan then got Clark to explain what happened last night while Alicia stayed silent while watching the two talk. Telling Clark and his dad that lead could stop her from teleporting had been a huge gamble on her end and she could only hope that wouldn't back fire on her in the future. She wasn't even entirely sure why she had even admitted to it despite the clear suspicious and paranoid way the man had been over her knowing about Clark. Eventually, the three of them left the barn and went out to the field where Clark's dad put together a few Scarecrow targets. "Dad, I don't get it. I thought the whole point was to stop this from happening."

"Somehow, I doubt its that simple." Piped in Alicia.

Johnathan nodded at that. "If this is anything like your other abilities, then we need to figure out an off switch and an on switch. Right?"

Clark reluctantly nodded, not liking the fact that he was apparently going to be having one more ability in his roster of super skills. "Other abilities huh? Gotta admit, this girl is curious about that."

"Lets just say that I could probably beat you in a race to the school." Clark told her before he could really even so much as stop himself.

And then winced while his dad glared at him. "What!? You already dropped the ball so its not like I could do any worse." Defended Clark when he came to that realization moments later.

Drawing the man up short and looking a bit sheepish. "Good point."

I'm just gonna blame the heat on that one. Johnathan thought to himself.

He then cleared his throat and stared at his son. "Now, I want you to remember exactly what you were thinking about in both instances when you caused the fires."

Clark stared at the Scarecrow target and blushed as his dad urged him on while Alicia just smirked. "Dad… This, this might be easier if I was..." Trailed off the teenager in a strained voice.

"Alone? Yeah, right, sorry." Apologized the man and walked off, leaving the two teens on their own.

"You gonna leave too?" Clark asked Alicia hopefully.

But all she did was smirk at him. "Nope! This is part of the 'Heat Stream Hypothesis' and I gotta be here for it!"

"But… We figured it out? Hormonal kind of thing?"

"That we did. And now we see how you'll be able to gain control so when you get that kind of happy you aren't literally setting things on fire." She told him while idly playing with the top of her shirt.

Showing a little more skin then necessary to get a reaction out of him while he tried NOT to look. It helped his eyes lit up however and he had to turn in an opposite direction while she smirked and a short time later got a glare in return for messing with him.

Sometime later

Johnathan made his way to his son and Alicia, one looking more amused then the other as well. As Alicia had definitely had some fun toying with Clark while he attempted to learn control of his Heat Streams. Or Heat Vision as he preferred to call them like a hokey old timer. Even having ran around in a blue bikini at one point when she teleported home to grab it much to a mixture of Clark's liking and disliking. But eventually though, Clark managed to gain control much to his immense relief! "Five Scarecrows, a Hay stack, two water barrels, and our mailbox later." Remarked the man as he came up to the two and gaining a giggle from the girl while Clark looked sheepish.

"Sorry."

"Don't be, accidents were bound to happen while learning control." Replied his dad in a kind voice.

"And after today, I'm pretty sure I can control it without sex being a factor in some way."

"You sure, son?"

Clark gave a pointed look towards Alicia who smiled back at him in an innocent matter. He then looked back at his dad. "I'm sure. Next date I go on, there won't be any worries about setting her on fire."

"Or if he happens to be at a pool and there are scantily clad girls walking around." Teased Alicia with a smile and gaining an eyeroll from Clark.

Johnathan stared at the two and decided that he was gonna leave it be. "Right. Well, I'm sure you're probably hungry after all that." Remarked the man and true enough, his son's stomach growled.

"I've got that covered Mr. Kent. We are gonna go out for a bite to eat and then ice skating at the rink."

"We/You are?" Came both Kent men's voices.

Though there was a hint of dismay in Clark's voice as he wasn't sure he could handle the girl anymore! "Yep! Now come on Clark!" Ordered the girl with a smile and then walked towards him, grabbed his shoulder, and teleported away.

Leaving Johnathan behind in a somewhat dumbfounded way. He then shook himself out of it. "Alright then..." He wondered what Martha would think of all this as he made his way back to the house. Not even paying attention to the fact that one of the Scarecrows had a certain pink tie still burning. Something Alicia hadn't been too enthused about earlier and had promised retribution at a later time!

Author's Notes: Thank God this chapter is finally finished!