The truck whirred and grumbled as Clark put it in park, and he sat back in the driver's seat. In the few hours he and Lois had spent together, a lot had changed. He had gone from feeling mopey and troubled to happy and content.
"You know, I actually had fun with you tonight, Smallville." Lois spoke, breaking the silence.
"Funny." He smiled. "I was just about to say the same thing."
"No, I'm serious." She insisted.
"So am I."
Lois flashed a smile of her own and turned her head towards the passenger side window then looked back at him.
"But I want to be honest…" She began. "I've had some pretty shitty luck in the past but I've never had something real before, I don't want to sound lame or anything but I'm a little out of practice when it comes to a real, serious relationship. So, if that's what you're looking for then I'm cool with it, but I don't wanna disappoint you."
Clark chuckled. It wasn't intentional, but he couldn't help himself. "Sorry, I don't mean to laugh at you."
"Don't worry about it." She sighed.
"And I've had something real… with Lana… but it was a mess. All these secrets and lies piled up and we both got hurt. I don't want that to happen again." He added.
"It won't." She said, her smile widening. "I'm not her, and you aren't the same person you were back when you were with her."
"I know… Actually, Lois, there's something I need to tell you."
"Okay, yeah… whatever it is you can tell me."
"But I should warn you that it might change the way you see me."
"Hah!" She laughed. "I don't think anything will change the fact that you are a plaid shirt wearing, cheeky farm boy."
"Oh, I don't know so much."
"Come on, what are you, an alien? Spill it, Smallville."
"Well, actually… yes. Kind of." He admitted.
"W- what?" She frowned.
"I don't want to keep things from you and make the same mistakes that I did with Lana. I want you to know who I really am."
"Uh-huh." She stammered, barely able to get the sound out.
"And the truth is that I'm not from Smallville, or anywhere on this earth." He explained. "I'm from a planet called Krypton…"
Lois sat next to him in silence with her mouth open wide. Of all the things she had expected him to say, this hadn't been one of them. She had no idea what to say. This was a lot, even for her.
"Clark, I… I don't know what to say."
"It's okay. It's a lot, I know." He assured her.
"You just… you seem so natural here, so…"
"Human?"
"Yeah."
"I was raised by humans after all."
"And lucky enough to have been found by two of the most amazing humans." She added.
"Oh, truly the best." He agreed.
"So… you really are an alien?" She questioned. "Look, Smallville… I know that there are some strange things about you, but I don't quite know if I believe that you're from another planet."
Clark sighed. "I figured you'd say that, but I can prove it."
"What are you gonna do, phone home?" She joked.
"No… actually there's something I wanna show you… But first we need to get inside."
"Okay." She agreed.
Clark got out of the truck first, walked around to the passenger side door, and opened it for Lois. She flashed him a smile as she jumped down, but he couldn't return it. He had no idea if he was doing the right thing by revealing himself to her. It felt like the right thing to do, if he didn't want a repeat of what happened with Lana, but uncertainty loomed over him like a dark storm cloud as they headed inside the house.
"Mom, dad, I'm sorry to ask but… could you please give us a moment alone?" He greeted them.
Martha and Jonathan exchanged a suspicious look, but didn't bother to ask any questions and instead headed out of the room as per his request. With them out of the way, Clark walked over to one of the kitchen cupboards and pulled out a glass, setting it down on the counter. Lois raised an eyebrow in question, glancing back and forth between him and the glass.
"Wow, you put a glass on the counter. Nothing unusual here." She commented.
Clark locked eyes with her, and picked the glass up again. With one hand underneath it, he wrapped the other around its cylinder body and crushed it. The glass shattered in his hand, and Lois gasped as the shards and splinters fell into the other hand he held beneath it. Her eyes were wide with worry as she grabbed the hand that'd been holding the glass.
"Why did you do that? You purposely just hurt yourself!" She panicked. "Is it deep? You'll probably need stitches now!"
"Lois…" He said firmly, interrupting her rambles.
"Open your hand, Smallville. I want to see how bad it is." She ignored him.
Clark simply smiled and allowed her to uncurl his fingers, revealing his hand to be completely uninjured. Lois stared at all the glass in his hand, unable to process the fact that blood wasn't pouring from his palm, and not even the smallest splinter was stuck.
"W-what?"
"I don't bleed… not unless I'm around meteor rocks, that is."
"But I- I don't-"
"But that's not all." He said, and disappeared from her sight.
Lois drew in a breath, not sure if she wasn't dreaming this whole thing. After the night they'd shared, it was a lot to take in.
"Clark?" She called.
"Behind you." He answered, and she turned around.
"I don't understand…"
"Yeah, I'm still trying to understand it all myself." He admitted. "I've had these abilities since I was born."
"Uh-huh." She nodded, unable to find an appropriate response. "What have you got there?" She asked, noticing his hands closed around something.
"Oh…" He beamed and opened his hands.
Lois blinked as she saw a dove, forged together from the glass that was previously in pieces. A small smile crept on her face as she began to see the beauty in all of these strange powers that he was revealing to her.
"I really don't know what to say, this is insane."
"You don't need to say anything…" He began. "And, I understand if this changes things. Honestly, I would be having second thoughts too, after learning that I've just been on a date with and even kissed an alien."
Clark cast his eyes down at the floor, admiring his shoes to avoid thinking about the possibility that she could reject him over the next few minutes.
"Oh God, no…" She shook her head. "Sure, it's a lot to take in but I don't see why it should repulse me."
"Well, the whole alien thing can't be attractive." He shrugged.
"Yeah, if you were a little green man." She laughed. "But other than these powers, and not being born on this planet, you look human, you sound human and you feel all the things that a human does. In my eyes, that makes you more human than alien."
Clark lifted his head and glanced up at her with the faintest hint of a smile on his face. He had been expecting the worst when he'd decided to be honest with her, but he was pleasantly surprised.
"I still think you're pretty charming, Smallville." She grinned. "A little annoying at times, but still very attractive."
"Just a little annoying, eh?" He teased her.
"Don't push it." She joked. "So, who else knows?" She asked, her tone serious once more.
"Besides my parents, just Chloe."
"Wait, then you never-"
"I never told Lana, because I was afraid of how she would react." He finished for her.
"And me?" She asked. "Weren't you afraid of how I would react?"
"Even more so than with Lana… but if I want to be with you then it's only fair that I'm honest. I owe it to you."
"You want to be with me, huh?"
"Well… yeah. I do." He admitted, feeling his cheeks heating up.
"I would kiss you right now, but I kinda think we should clean all of this spray cheese off."
"Ladies first." He grinned.
"Aren't you afraid that I'm gonna steal all the hot water?"
"Hmm… Nah, I don't mind if I end up with a cold shower." He dismissed.
"Okay, ew!"
"No, not like that! I was trying to- never mind." He rolled his eyes. "Just give me a shout when you're done."
The Talon…
Bursting through the door, Peter's eyes frantically scanned the building, looking for Gwen. He held onto the hope that she was with Lana or Chloe, though it was highly unlikely that she'd have left his side in the middle of an attack. It was easier than admitting the obvious.
With the place humming and buzzing with a mix of high-school students, business men and other regulars, it was impossible to see clearly.
"Peter, what are you doing here? Where's Clark?"
He hadn't even noticed Chloe approach him and as her voice cut through the noise of the café, bringing him out of his own head.
"Me? I'm looking for Gwen, have you seen her? Is she here?"
"No and no." She answered sharply. "Where's Clark?" She repeated.
"Clark is… Clark is… I don't know where Clark is. Somewhere with Lois is the most I know."
"Right." She acknowledged. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Chloe. I'm just looking for Gwen."
"I caught that, and as I said, she's not here." She answered again. "I'm sure that she's around somewhere though."
"No." He sighed. "She's not."
"Then we'll find her, but I think it'll be a lot easier with Clark."
"Clark could be anywhere, who I need to find is Mysterio. What do you have on him?"
"That's the problem…" She began. "I couldn't find a thing."
"Because you're not looking hard enough!" He accused her.
"Not looking hard enough? Peter, I have exhausted all my resources looking! I know you're worried about Gwen and Mysterio being involved but I do not appreciate you waltzing in here and accusing me of doing a botched job."
"You're right." He exhaled deeply. "I'm sorry."
"As you should be."
A sudden image of the version of himself he'd seen under the illusion flashed through Peter's mind and he pushed it away. He needed to stop and change his recent behaviour before he became that awful person that he hated.
"Right, here's what we do; we find Clark and then we track down Mysterio, and hopefully find Gwen along with him."
Clark ran his fingers through his soaking wet black hair and then shook his head, spraying droplets of water on the bathroom mirror. With a white towel wrapped around his waist, he unlocked the door and sauntered across the hall into his old bedroom, which he had since loaned to Lois, leaving a trail of water behind him. Lois was absent, which he was grateful for, as he headed over to the chest of drawers that were used to store his underwear, his socks and his t-shirts.
Thundering footsteps down the hall snatched his attention away from the drawer and he turned around just in time to see Lois skidding to a stop in the doorway. His hands instinctively flew to the towel around him, and he gripped it tightly as though he was afraid it would fall.
"Uhh… Trying to get dressed here, Lois." He chuckled.
"Well, don't let me stop you. I just came up here to grab my laptop. If I don't get my term paper done then I'm screwed." She rambled.
"B- b- but-" He stammered.
"Don't be shy, Smallville. Seen it all before." She smirked.
"N- no, it's okay. I'll wait."
Lois flashed a wry smile, amused by his obvious embarrassment and continued into the room to retrieve her laptop. In the hurry she was in, she failed to notice the water puddled on the floor and as she set foot in it, she slipped. Her heart leapt into her chest and she reached out, grabbing Clark's shoulder in an attempt to steady herself. Though instead of stopping her from falling, it sent them both tumbling to the floor with a heavy thump as he fell flat on top of her.
"OW! You elephant, you're squishing me!" She complained.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
As he climbed backwards onto his knees, the towel around his waist loosened and dropped but before he could retrieve it, his parents appeared in the doorway. Clark felt his cheeks heating up and was certain his face was the colour of beetroot already.
"M- mom! Dad!" He squeaked.
"Clark!" Martha gasped, wide eyed with her mouth agape.
In complete shock, Clark scrambled for the towel and he wrapped it around himself quickly as he stood up. He looked at his parents and they looked at him, then at Lois, who remained on the floor with her hair sprawled out around her. His mouth hung open as he tried to gather his thoughts.
"Clark Kent, you need to explain yourself right now." Johnathan ordered him firmly.
"I uh- it's not- it's not what it looks like." He stammered. "I came in here to get dressed, and she came in here to grab something, but the floor was wet and she slipped and then she grabbed my thing and I fell on top of her."
Johnathan and Martha exchanged a look and when they looked back at Clark, it was clear that they were skeptical. He willed his embarrassment to die down so that he could clear up his explanation, but the longer he stood there, wearing nothing but a towel in front of an audience of three, the more embarrassed he felt.
"Clark!" Martha warned.
"Mom, I swear!" He threw his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, that's enough. Clark, get dressed. I want to see the two of you downstairs in the next five minutes. We need to have a talk."
"Oh, Dad no…"
"Don't Dad me. You know exactly what you were doing in here before your mother and I walked in, and I think that a conversation is needed. Five minutes. You best believe if I don't see you in the kitchen, I'll be coming back up here." Johnathan told him firmly. "And I might just bring scissors with me." He added with a playful gleam in his eyes.
"Dad!"
"Snip!" He teased, making a scissor motion with his hand.
Clark cringed as his parents turned to leave the room. He turned back to Lois, who was still on the floor, and sighed. The last thing he'd wanted to do was have 'the talk' with his parents, and in front of Lois too. He hesitated for a second, and then offered out his hand to her. She looked up at him with an expression that he wasn't in the right mind to decipher, but took his hand and allowed him to help her back to her feet regardless.
"Umm, a little privacy please?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Are you getting shy, Smallville?" She teased him.
"Lois…"
"Relax. I'm kidding." She rolled her eyes. "I'll meet you downstairs."
With that, she brushed past him and out of the room, leaving him alone at last. Though it did nothing to ease the embarrassment, even as he went about the room, grabbed his clothes and threw them on before anyone else could come and poke fun at him. Knowing what was waiting for him, he slipped from the room and dawdled his way downstairs, one step at a time until he reached the kitchen. Johnathan eyed him as he walked over to the fridge and pulled out two bacon rashers left over from breakfast.
"Did you know that it takes only thirty minutes for sperm to reach an egg?"
Clark blinked at the bacon in his hands and then looked over at his father. He found his appetite had all but disappeared, and threw the rashers into the trash.
"Yeah. Pretty sure I learned that in biology. Thanks, dad." He sighed.
"Oh. Well… Good." Johnathan commented. "Because from where I was standing in the doorway upstairs, I was worried you may have forgotten."
"Dad, please. It's not like that." Clark protested. "We were-"
"You don't need to tell me, Clark. I am aware of what you were doing up there."
"Look, what your father is trying to say is that we know that you're not a little boy anymore, and as you move into adulthood, there's going to be some… urges. We accept that, but we just want you to be careful."
"Urges?" He repeated, and glanced briefly at Lois, who shrugged through her silent laughter. "Mom, it really was just an accident."
"And so are half the babies born in this town." Johnathan added. "Which is why your mother and I are setting some ground rules."
"But-"
"It's for the best, Clark. We know that you two are dating and that's fine, but we don't want you to make mistakes that are going to change your life." Martha reasoned.
"I guess…"
Johnathan patted Clark on the back with a grin that made him dread the next part of the conversation. He wanted nothing more than to crawl under a rock and hide until he was thirty, but even then he figured that they would still lecture him.
"Now, these rules. First; no loud music. We want to be able to hear you when you're up there together."
"Fine." He sighed, having expected the first rule to be a lot worse.
"Second; you are not to be in that room together beyond nine pm." Martha added.
"Come on, what if-"
"Clark!" Johnathan warned.
"Alright. What's the next one?" He questioned.
"The third and final rule is that when you are up there together, you keep the door open." Martha finished.
"Okay. Those I can handle." Clark agreed. "Are we done now?"
"Not quite, son." Johnathan said, fishing through one of the drawers until he found what he was looking for.
Clark frowned in confusion as his dad held out a small box to him, but his jaw hit the floor as he examined it closely. He looked up at Jonathan's smiling face and then back at the little blue box.
"Really, Dad?" He questioned in disbelief. "Condoms…"
"Just in case." Johnathan shrugged.
"Yeah, you can keep those." Clark shook his head and offered the box back.
"Oh really?"
"Yes. Really." He insisted.
"Okay, let's say I take them back from you and a week from now you are up in the bedroom as you were just now and we don't interrupt you-"
"Dad!"
"Let me finish!" He snapped. "You two get down to business and then something happens-"
"Dad!"
"She gets pregnant and what? You dropout of college, you rush and get married, then you're stuck with a baby and what if you decide you can't handle it? Then you split up and you turn to alcohol and-"
"Enough!" Clark yelled. "Lois and I are dating. You hear me? Dating. That is it. Yes, I was upstairs getting dressed and we both fell on the floor, but there's nothing more to it. We are not sex-crazy teenagers!"
"Clark-"
"I'm not done." He cut in. "Okay, it is not like that. And even if we were, I think we are both responsible enough not to let anything happen. But I will say that even if it did happen, I would not be that lousy man who becomes an alcoholic and abandons my family. I would be a man about it. But it won't happen because we are responsible enough not to let it happen."
"We were just-"
"Yeah, just being good parents. I know." He finished. "And job done… I'll be in my barn if anyone needs me."
"Clark…" Lois began, but stopped as he walked out of the house.
"Sorry, Lois. We're only trying to do what's best." Martha began.
"No, it's fine, Mrs Kent. I get it." Lois laughed. "Let me go and talk to him. Maybe I can smooth things over."
Before the awkwardness of the room could reach its peak, Lois followed Clark's lead and headed out the front. She paused as she saw him on his knees in the middle of the driveway, confused about him being there instead of in the barn. A flash of glowing green caught her eye, and Clark's voice echoed in her mind.
'I don't bleed… not unless I'm around meteor rocks, that is'
Though afraid of what she might see, Lois hurried over to the driveway and knelt in front of him. It took less than a second for her to see the jagged-edged meteor rock lodged in his chest and she swallowed to suppress a scream.
"Clark…" She whispered. "What do I do?"
Without an answer from him, she wrapped her fingers around the meteor rock and yanked it free from his chest before throwing it as far away as possible.
"Lois…" He choked, still recovering.
"It's okay, whatever happened, the meteor is gone and-"
"Be- Behind you." He wheezed as the breath returned to his body.
"Huh?"
As she turned around, she didn't have time to dodge the rock that was swung at her head. Intense pain erupted in her skull and everything around her went momentarily blurry before fading to black as she dropped to the ground.
"Lois!" Clark panicked, and hovered over her.
Completely distracted, Clark forgot all about Mysterio, allowing the latter to creep behind him with another green meteor rock in his hand. Clark felt his chest tighten and gasped for air as the glowing green reflected in his face and looked up through hooded, unfocused eyes at his enemy before being struck in the face with the rock, rendering him unconscious.
The sky was pitch black by the time Chloe, with Peter in the passenger seat, pulled up to the Kent farm. As the headlights illuminated the driveway, Chloe slammed on the breaks as she noticed a figure lying on the ground and exhaled as she narrowly avoided running over them.
"What the Hell?" Peter whispered.
"Wait…" Chloe said, squinting to get a better look. "Oh my God, Lois!" She realized, and unbuckled her belt before hurriedly getting out of the car and running over to where she was laid.
"Lois?" She questioned, kneeling down and rolling her over onto her side. "Lois, get up!"
As she began to regain consciousness, Lois groaned and opened her eyes to see Chloe through her blurred vision. She brought her hand up to her head, where she could feel a dull throbbing and winced as she made contact with the wound.
"Chloe?" She questioned in confusion.
"What the Hell happened? I thought you were with Clark. Where is he? I almost ran you over!"
"I- I don't-" Lois began, propping herself up on her elbows. "Clark was in the shower, Mr and Mrs Kent saw us and they lectured him. He stormed out and… and…"
"And what?"
"Oh no… Clark!" She called as she remembered what followed after the awkward kitchen conversation.
"What's going on? Where's Clark?" Peter questioned, only just having approached the two girls.
"Lois, we need you to remember what happened." Chloe insisted.
"I'm trying!" She sighed. "It's just hazy, and I don't remember much of anything after being hit in the head with a rock."
"Maybe a more calmer approach." Peter shrugged.
"Right." Chloe agreed. "But first, you're gonna need stitches." She said, grimacing at the bloodied wound on Lois's forehead.
Lois, having almost completely forgotten about her injury, screwed her face up as the reminder brought a fresh wave of throbbing with it. Instead of letting herself fall back to the ground, she grit her teeth and forced herself up off the ground.
"I really would rather go back to bed right now, but if I have to ride in the car with you then I'm calling shotgun."
"Fine by me. Your friend talks too much for me to keep up." Peter joked.
"Cousin." Lois corrected him.
"Okay, first we go by the emergency room and get you stitched up, maybe then you'll be able to remember something useful." Chloe planned aloud.
"She literally got hit over the head with a rock and knocked unconscious, unless she's Hudini, I doubt she's gonna remember what happened to Clark after she passed out."
"And we don't have time for it either." Lois added. "Something is up, and if we don't find Clark then it could end even worse."
"Is there any chance he could be taken where you were?" Peter questioned.
"You mean Luthorcorp?" Lois arched an eyebrow. "Hmm, I don't think so. If it's the same guy, then why would they choose a place that would be the first we'd think of?"
"Good point." He sighed.
"Not to hurry you, but just to hurry you, we can list some places to check out later. For now, let's get to the emergency room before you pass out again." Chloe interrupted. "Oh, and please try not to bleed all over my seats."
"Jee, thanks for the concern."
"Clark…"
A female voice echoed his name before Clark had even opened his eyes. Though he could not see her face, he knew that the voice didn't belong to Lois and began to panic. Preparing himself for the worst, he slowly opened his eyes.
"Clark…"
"Gwen?" He questioned.
With effort, Clark pulled himself into a sitting position as her face came into view. She was bound to a chair the same way that Lois had been, though this one was made of metal, and it was shackles with a tonne of wires that held her there. Swallowing his fear, he glanced around the room, though was unable to find any indication of their location.
"Clark?... What's happening?"
"I don't… I don't know." He stammered.
"Where are we?"
"I don't know, Gwen!" He snapped. "I don't know."
