Hey, guys!
If you're wondering what took this chapter a bit longer than usual, I have an explanation.
My laptop charger died yesterday so all of my typing is currently being done on a Kindle Fire. It isn't the worst, but it's definitely not as quick and easy. This is along with it being the first chapter of part two, which did take a few minutes to figure out, lol. So if it's awhile til you see another chapter, this is why.
But anyways, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of part two.
Chapter Thirteen.
Martha Kent tried to keep her eyes open as she poured two mugs of coffee.
She sat down at the table with a soft sigh and tried not to let the lump in the back of her throat overcome her emotions.
It had been three weeks.
Three weeks since they had taken in Clark, three weeks of sleepless nights as the poor child was terrorized by nightmares, three weeks of not knowing what to do.
And three weeks since they had last seen or heard from Lex.
Two strong but gentle hands rested on her shoulders and Martha leaned into the hold. If nothing else, at least her husband was there to be a lighthouse in the middle of the storm.
"I made you some coffee," she said, but her voice was barely above a whisper. She was sure that if she spoke any louder, she would start to cry. "I didn't add anything to it, but..."
Jonathan cut off her rambling. "It's okay, Martha," he said. His voice was equally as soft and she wondered if he was trying not to cry as well.
It was frustrating. There was nothing she could do to help Clark. She wanted to scoop him up in her arms, comfort him when he had a nightmare and protect him from the world. But she couldn't. He had grown distant. He didn't want to be touched.
Her heart throbbed every time he cried for his father. Every time he asked where his daddy was and when he would be back. She could either choose to tell him the truth or pretend like she knew the answer. Normally she just stayed quiet.
"How bad was the nightmare?" Martha asked.
Jonathan sighed and took a long sip of his black coffee. He looked so tired, just as broken and defeated as she was. "Bad," he said. "Which reminds me that I need to put the sheets in the washer…"
Martha winced. Accidents normally only happened with the worst of Clark's nightmares, but they seemed to be happening more and more often as the days and weeks went by. Sometimes he would have multiple accidents in one night because of the nightmares.
"You got him bathed, right?" She asked.
Jonathan nodded. "Yeah," he said. "He fought me the whole time, but I got him all cleaned up."
"I feel so bad for the poor boy," she said softly. "He doesn't deserve any of this. He deserves to be with Lex…"
Jonathan took another sip of his coffee and ran a hand across his face. "I just wish I knew how to help him…" He said.
This time the tears did spill from Martha's eyes. They had promised Lex that Clark would be happy and well taken care of. It was obvious to them that the child was miserable…
They were doing their best to take care of him and keep him occupied, but it was clear to them what the child really wanted. He wanted his Daddy.
"Tomorrow I'll take him out to the stables tomorrow," Jonathan said. "He likes the horses and the work. Plus some sunlight will be good for him."
Martha nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes. While their nights with the child had been awful, it hadn't taken long for them to find out just how much Clark enjoyed being around the farm animals and helping out with them. "He likes the chickens too," she said. "But he's not a fan of the roosters."
Jonathan let out a soft chuckle. "He's so funny."
Martha nodded again before taking a sip of her own coffee. It had grown cold while they had been sitting there. "He said the rooster bit him," she explained.
"That'll do it," Jonathan replied with a nod, then looked behind Martha at the clock and sighed. "We should get to bed."
Martha nodded, then stood up. "I'll take the next shift," she said.
Jonathan walked over then wrapped his arms around her, then pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. Martha leaned into his hold. "We're gonna figure this out, Martha," he said. "I promise."
Martha pressed her face to Jonathan's soft shirt, then gave the smallest of nods. "I know," she said.
She wanted things to be better for Clark, but what she really wanted was for Lex to be back. The sooner the better, but she doubted that would happen any time soon. She only knew one thing for certain.
Clark needed his Daddy. Lex needed to come back.
Lex hadn't slept in days.
He clicked on another file in the never-ending files of the Luthorcorp database, but his eyes burned and blurred so badly that he could hardly see it.
He was still looking for the identities of the men who had worked at the lab, on Project 33.1, but his father had hidden the files well. He had hired a private investigator as well, but at the moment they were as useless as the coffee Lex was drinking.
He wanted to sleep. He wanted to spend the whole night in a soft bed with soft covers instead of sitting at his desk with the blue light from the computer burning his eyes.
One look at the velveteen rabbit on his desk reminded him why he was doing this.
His son. His sweet Clark who would curl up to him after a nightmare and fall asleep on his chest. His sweet Clark who would walk into his office every morning wrapped in Julian's blanket. His sweet Clark who deserved the whole moon and all of the stars.
He did this so that Clark would be safe. Every second away from him was torture, and his entire body itched for him to return to his son. But he couldn't.
Alistair was still out there, and Lex knew that Alistair wouldn't stop until he was forced to stop or until he had gotten what he wanted. It was one of the reasons that his father had been such good friends with him. Neither of them gave up.
Lex had seen Alistair since that night. Every time he saw him, he wanted to destroy him right there and then, but he knew better than that. He knew that he couldn't just kill Alistair and expect everything to get better.
If Lex just killed Alistair, the police would get involved, then they would find out about the lab and Clark. If the found out about Clark, then he would be sent to a lab where new people would do tests on him for their own gain. The child would never be anything more than a lab rat, and Lex would be nothing more than a criminal.
He sighed, and continued to look through the files. Maybe looking through every Luthorcorp employee ever was a bad idea…
There had to be some way to find what he was looking for. Surely somewhere had the information he was looking for.
He sighed again, then picked up the velveteen rabbit. His eyes burned so badly that he could hardly see the stain on its ear from where Clark had been handling it with dirty hands.
He stroked its soft back for a moment as he tried to think through everything. He was missing something. He was sure of it. He just didn't know what.
When he had run across the original printed out file about Project 33.1, he hadn't questioned much about where it had come from, only about the project itself. But now that he was looking into his late father's business more and more, he wondered why he hadn't found any more details on it.
He had found details on the lab, of course. He had found the security footage and the leasing details. He even knew what the lab was supposed to be working on from a legal standpoint, but nothing about those who worked there.
After a few more minutes of staring at the blinding lights, Lex closed the laptop and stood up.
As much as he hated it, he had work in the morning, and he needed to look presentable.
Immediately after he had left Smallville, he realized one of his biggest mistakes. He had fallen off the face of the earth and people had begun to wonder what happened.
So now Lex went to the office every day, went to banquets and parties at least once a week. Of course, it was mostly for show though. In the office he would just keep trying to dig up things about the lab, at the banquets, he talked to people who he thought might have a connection to it.
The only thing that mattered right now was taking Alistair and the lab down, but he had to make sure that he did it in a way that didn't make the general public suspicious of his behavior.
He did have to admit, the alcohol eased the pain. Even if it was only temporary and he woke up the next morning feeling sick. A few hours without the feeling of his heart being ripped into pieces was worth working through the migraines.
He carried the stuffed rabbit over to the bed, then put it on the nightstand as he began to undress.
It had been three weeks.
Three weeks with no progress, three weeks of pretending to be okay, three weeks of wishing he was with his son.
He shook his head. He couldn't think about Clark. If he allowed himself to think about how much he missed him, then he would go rushing back to Smallville and put everyone in danger.
He laid down on the bed and pulled the covers over his body. It would be over soon. He would take down Alistair and reunite with his son soon.
He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He just hoped that soon would come quickly.
So! There's the beginning! I hope you enjoyed! Please follow, fave, and review! I would love to know what you thought!
Thanks for reading! Love y'all!