Delete Part 5

At the Torch office…

Chloe leaned back in chair for a desperately needed stretch. She had been going over still images of the hijacked broadcast for the past hour, trying to find some clue that could give her a lead.

"Chloe, you remember Jordan?" Clark said as he and the other boy walked into the office.

"Yeah. How's the public school system treating you?"

"Fine. I guess." Jordan seemed nervous.

"It's okay," Clark seemed to be reassuring him. He pulled over two chairs next to where Chloe was sitting. "You can trust Chloe."

Chloe swallowed the guilt she felt. Clark did trust her. At least, to a point. And if he ever found out about her agreement with Lionel, all of it would disappear.

"I…" Jordan took in a deep breath, "I'm infected. Well, I mean, I have a power. See, when I touch someone, I can see how that person dies."

"Oh." Chloe was not expecting this. "Okay."

Jordan glanced to Clark for reassurance before continuing. "I've seen two potential victims from the shooter: Lex Luthor and Megan Calder. They were both shot with the 'Freak' rocks next to them."

"Wait, so Lex and Megan will die that way? It's a for-sure thing?."

"Uh…well..." Jordan's eyes darted over to Clark.

"That's why we need to find out who this shooter is first," Clark interjected.

"Wait, was your vision what caused the famous freak-out during that field trip?"

"Yeah."

"The point is," Clark interrupted, "we know two people who are on the shooter's list. I just don't understand why Lex is on it. Or Megan."

"Think about it, Clark," Chloe brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. "Lex survived the meteor shower, a near fatal car accident, and a plane crash. Even he can't afford a guardian angel with that much clout."

"So, his power's what? Surviving? Luck?"

"Try a heightened white blood cell count."

With a few taps of her fingers, Chloe opened a file on her computer. It was a database she had begun on people she suspected of being infected but never had complete proof. She clicked on Lex's name and with a few more clicks she brought up his medical files.

"Chloe, what is this?" Clark frowned.

"Just my hunches and personal notes. It's kind of a purgatory before graduating to the Wall of Weird."

"You have a file on Megan too?"

"Yeah. Remember that field trip down to Crater Lake where I so gracefully dropped my keys off the pier? Megan fished them out for me, and she was underwater for six minutes. Unless you're David Blaine or a Himalayan yoga master, that's impossible. I'm suspecting she has amphibious abilities of some kind. Not to mention, Megan's also managed to break every swim record by at least ten seconds. That's more than enough to raise an eyebrow."

"Did you do one on Seth?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Chloe, I think this might be the killer's target list."

"What? No way. This is strictly my private notes. It's not even linked to the internet. There's no way anyone else can access this."

"Uh, I'm not in there, am I?" Jordan asked. "And maybe, don't do that."

"Chloe you need to delete those."

Clark had a resolute look on his face. Chloe didn't appreciate being told what to do, but Clark did have a small point. "Look, my database isn't the shooter's hit list. I could show the list of names to the sheriff but without solid proof it might do more harm than good. In the off chance I have been hacked, the shooter doesn't know we know, so it could be useful."

"And don't make one about me."

"Well, if it's not your database, then how will the shooter pick his targets?"

"Now you're thinking like an investigative journalist, Mr. Kent." Chloe grinned. "I'll check with my contacts and see if there have been any other killings with the calling card."

"I'll go through the past Torch articles and see who's already been outed." Clark spun his chair around to the other computer.

"Can I help?"

Chloe snuck glances at Clark setting Jordan up at a computer. Jordan, who might be fighting for his very life. And all three of them were armed with only computers and keyboards. Clark didn't know it, but he was being hunted as well by none other than Lionel Luthor. Chloe understood the powerful CEO must be used to having things his way and people scrambling to do his bidding. Lionel's threats were to be expected when Chloe refused his orders, but there had to be a reason why the billionaire was interested in her friend.

"Be right back," Chloe said nonchalantly as she exited the room to make a necessary phone call.

"Bobby here." The voice said on the other line.

"It's Chloe."

"Sullivan. Perfect timing. I'm feeling hungry."

"Got a job for you. Big one."

"How big we talking?"

"Think all-you-can-eat buffet." Chloe took in a deep breath. The way she saw it, she had already dug herself into a hole. What was another foot down? "I need you to find out why Lionel Luthor is obsessed with Clark Kent."

At the Luthor Mansion…

Recap:

Dr. Foster is with Lex in the study. Lex agrees to undergo the required therapy sessions. As Dr. Foster leaves, Lionel enters. Lex questions Lionel about what he heard of Lachlan Luthor being in Smallville. Lionel admits that he embellished his family history to impress his business rivals. Explains his parents died in a tenement fire and he threw himself consciously into work ever since.

In the Kent barn…

Clark rushed through the afternoon chores. His parents were out on a date night; Clark had the entire farm to himself. All that he had left to do was storing the hay bales. Clark easily carried two in each hand. He could have been done in a matter of minutes if he used superspeed, but tonight, Clark wanted to think. The physical labor occupied his body as he focused on sorting out his thoughts.

Clark couldn't deny he enjoyed his time with Alicia. She was smart, funny, and even pretty as Lex had pointed out. Not to mention she had powers. It wasn't exactly hiding an alien identity, but it was the closest Clark could ever relate to. Or who could relate to him.

But then there was Lana.

Clark still loved her. Watching Lana be with Seth had been difficult. In a strange way, Clark was glad Lana was only with him because of mind manipulation. The truth was, Clark couldn't expect Lana to wait for him forever. And wait for what? Would he ever be able to tell her his secret like he had Pete? Clark had to risk telling Lana his secret or let her go for good. And after some of the things Lana had been saying, Clark didn't know how Lana would react to him having powers.

Clark lifted four more hay bales and when he turned to the stairs, Alicia was standing in front of him.

"Hi, Clark."

"Hi." Clark gulped. He hadn't figured out what to say to her yet.

"Need any help?"

The girl was wearing her usual combo of t-shirt with a skirt; not exactly farm-chore friendly attire. Still, Alicia tried to lift one hay bale with one arm. She frowned as she gained understanding of the actual weight of the bale. "Where are these going?"

Clark pointed up to the other side of the loft that still acted as a normal barn and not a teenager's refuge.

"Hmmm." With a thoughtful expression, Alicia placed each of her hands on a hay bale and transported herself and the cargo to the desired place. In another second, Alicia was back on the barn floor, next to the huge pile with a Cheshire grin.

"Race ya!"

Alicia began to grab two bales at a time and teleport them up to the loft. Clark smiled at seeing someone else use powers to do ordinary farm chores. He picked up two bales and threw them into the loft area. He had plenty of practice over the years, so he knew how much strength to use so that the bales would land safely in the desired location. Then he used his superspeed to race up the stairs to catch them and stack them neatly.

The two didn't speak as they went about transporting hay bales in their different, unique ways. Alicia proved to be a worthy opponent; she was able to transport the bales faster than him, since he had to wait for the hay bales to succumb to gravity to catch them. He only managed to gain speed on her because Alicia took the time to stack them neatly. The job that would take a normal person an hour was over in under ten minutes. After overlooking the job, they completed, Clark and Alicia shared a satisfied grin.

Clark couldn't believe it; He had just finished doing chores using powers with someone else who had powers. It all felt so…normal. Without understanding why, Clark started to laugh. Alicia joined in. Soon, the two teenagers dropped to the floor from side-splitting laughter. Clark turned his head to look at Alicia. She reached out and put her hand on Clark's cheek.

Then, she leaned over and gave Clark the faintest of kisses on his lips.

Lana.

Clark pulled away as gently as he could. He got to his feet and didn't know what to do or say.

"What?" Alicia asked quietly.

"So, you haven't been bringing me coffee this last week."

"Uh…no, I'm pretty sure I did. Hey, what's that place?" Alicia pointed towards Clark's Fortress of Solitude.

"My dad built it for me. It's just a place I hangout in."

Alicia moved to the other side of the loft in a puff of green mist. Clark walked over using normal speed, using the extra time to delay this conversation. By the time Clark joined her, Alicia was gazing outside the window, admiring the sunset.

"People mentioned that you were bringing me coffee cause you expect something." Alicia just stared back. "They think you want me to ask you out on a date."

"Do you want to ask me out on a date?"

No! Yes? Maybe. Clark couldn't form his thoughts into words. But he knew he had to say something. "Look, it's been great hanging out. It's just…I don't think I'm ready to be in a relationship right now. I kinda just got out of one. It didn't even last that long…it's complicated."

Alicia nodded in understanding. "I get that. I recently came out of a relationship myself. Clark, I promise it's just coffee."

Clark breathed a sigh of relief.

"But I would be lying if I said I'm not hoping for you to ask me out to dinner and a movie."

Clark closed his eyes in confusion. "Alicia, I am so sorry for misleading you in any way. I'm just not ready for a new dating relationship." When he opened them, Alicia was standing mere inches away.

"This is about Lana, isn't it?" Alicia said softly and calmly.

"Well…yeah."

Alicia took a step forwards; Clark tried walking backwards to get some space but found himself stumbling into the couch.

"I understand what you're going through." Alicia took a seat next to him. "At my old school, there was this boy. I really liked him; we even went out a few times. Then I foolishly told him what I could do. He completely flipped out on me. He even called me a monster." Alicia didn't look at Clark as she confessed the last line.

Clark's heart went out to her. Alicia had lived through his worst fear. Clark took her hand in his. "What he thought, doesn't matter."

"Thank you." Alicia encircled Clark's hand with her free one and scooted closer to him. Her head was now resting on his shoulder, and, in the back of Clark's mind, something was telling him to move away. With Clark's strength, it would have been a simple thing, but Clark found he didn't want to. "I know what it's like to think you're all alone in the world. That you'll never find that one person who can understand you better than anyone else. But against all odds, Clark, we found each other. We don't have to be alone. Never, ever again."

Alicia adjusted herself so that their foreheads were touching. Clark allowed himself to relax in the presence of someone who understood. Everything she had said was what he had felt the moment he understood how different he was from the rest of the world. Clark closed his eyes and breathed in Alicia's scent of lilac perfume, hay, and a hint of her sweat. He felt Alicia play with the ends of his hair by his right ear.

"It's okay," Alicia whispered. "We'll take this slow."

Their lips met again, and Clark didn't know who kissed who first. But this time, he did not pull away.

At the Talon…

Lana surveyed the floor with a dissatisfied frown. The coffee shop would close in an hour, but there were only two occupied tables compared to the normal six or seven. The last few days at the Talon had been slow. Even some of the regular customers hadn't made an appearance. Lana had kept the two-for-one special going, even if it meant she risked interacting with Alicia.

As Lana began to close up, her mind drifted to what she could do to bring her customers back. It was a nice mental exercise to keep her busy through the monotonous tasks of wiping down tables and cleaning the floor. If Lana had to guess, her customers were scared to leave their homes with a supposed "shooter" on the loose. Why didn't people understand? The masked man was acting as a guardian angel for the town. He wouldn't harm anyone who didn't threaten the lives of others.

"Hey." A voice said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Lana's body defied her desire to stay calm and she jumped three feet into the air. The ceramic plate and cup she just picked up fell crashing to the floor.

"Woah." The voice belonged to Van McNulty, a fellow student at Smallville High. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't." Lana rasped out. Her throat still felt swollen.

"Could have fooled me." Van took a few steps back as Lana maneuvered to get the broom. "Everything ok?"

"Just fine." Lana cleaned up the broken shards in record time. "The Talon is closing soon, so I need to ask you to leave."

The young manager turned her attention to picking up chairs and turning them up on the tables to make room for the broom and mop. Lana turned around, expecting Van to have left, but he was still there, putting up the other chairs.

When she gave him a look, he only shrugged. "Do you mind if I hang around here? It's been hard going home."

Lana only nodded her consent. Truth be told, she didn't mind the company after what had happened. Van quietly helped with the closing tasks, taking after her lead. When Lana brought out the mop, he turned on the radio and made Lana chuckle as he semi-danced while he wiped down the counter.

"Can I walk you to your car?" Van asked when everything was done.

"You don't have to," Lana protested, even though she wanted to accept the offer.

"You aren't scared? With the gunman on the loose?" Van questioned as Lana locked the door.

"He doesn't scare me. Good night."

As Lana walked to her car, she remembered how safe she had felt when the gunman appeared in the alley, rescuing her from the depraved maniac.

Lana had felt as safe as she felt when she was with Clark.