Hereafter Part 3

In Metropolis…

Recap:

Chloe visits Lionel in his office. When she enters, she overhears Lionel talking on the phone.

"There was an attempt on my son's life. I want that security footage."

Seeing Chloe, Lionel ends his phone call. She hands in her last article and declares she's done spying on Clark. Lionel threatens Chloe's father and insists they continue their work relationship.

Meanwhile at the Torch…

"Jordan, I don't know what you expect me to do." Clark leaned back in his chair.

Clark had been saved by Jordan's plea by the bell. Jordan's look had haunted him throughout the rest of the school day. But now, school had ended, and Jordan appeared again to insist that Clark save Megan.

"What you did before."

"I…" Clark sighed in frustration. He hadn't done anything special 'before' with Lex. He merely did what he always did when his friends were in trouble. "Why tell don't you tell me about your vision."

Jordan shrugged. "There's not much to tell. She's swimming in her lane and gets shot in the head."

"And you're sure it's this Saturday?"

"Yes. And…" Jordan hesitated for a moment, "I think it's the same person who tried to kill Lex."

"Why do you say that?""

"In both visions, the killer left a rock next to the bodies. It had the word 'Freak' written on it in white chalk or paint."

"Sounds like a serial killer. I'll see if there are any other reports with that." Clark began to type up a search. "At Luthor Corp, you shuddered when you shook Lex's hand. Was that another vision?"

"Yeah. Normally I don't see anything if I've already touched the person. This is the first time I've seen a person's fate changed."

"Is the killer planning a round two?"

"Not in the vision I had. Your friend's got more time. Just let him know he shouldn't anger any brunettes."
Clark raised an eyebrow. "Could you be more specific?"

"Not really. It's too far away in the future. Give it a year."

There was a heavy silence as Clark shifted through the search results. "So, how long have you been able to do it? You don't have to answer that, if you don't want to."

"The first time I really remember it happening was when I was six. My Dad took me to Rockin' Roadshow Theme Park. I was so excited to ride the roller coaster; I was finally tall enough. I insisted to my Dad that we ride in the first car. And right before we got on, I bumped into the woman in front of me. I saw the car get separated from the other ones. It was like I was standing right next to her bloody corpse.

"Anyway, I started freaking out, and the attendants made my Dad take me off to the side. No one listened to me, and everything happened just the way I saw it. She died, and she looked exactly like it saw it a minute before." Jordan smiled, like he was sharing a precious memory. "You know, you're the first person I told that story to. Besides my Dad, that is. Hey, Clark? Could you keep this just between us? The whole vision thing?"

"Of course."

"Thanks."

"It's not that unusual, you know." Clark made a gesture towards the Wall of Weird. "Chloe has a theory that sometimes people are infected by the meteor rocks and gain certain abilities."

Jordan got up from his chair to view the wall. "I always wondered why I was able to do this. At first, I thought it was to help, but I never could change anything." He turned to look at Clark. "I've seen so many people die, but it feels like this is the first time I could help save someone. Clark, what do we do?"

Clark looked away from Jordan's gaze, turning his attention back to the computer scene. Jordan was looking at him like some kind of savior. But Clark knew the truth: he wasn't one. Not even close.

The truth was, Clark didn't know how to save Megan.

In the Talon…

"One blueberry muffin, warmed for one minute with a black coffee, two sugars." Lana placed the order in front of her Thursday regular, Mr. Wallace, the local Smallville mechanic.

"Why, thank you, Miss Lang." The old man smiled.

Lana smiled in return. The Talon was her refuge. Perhaps she spent too much time here if she had certain orders memorized.

Another order was ready to be run out. The coffees were for none other than her good friend Megan, and Jake, her boyfriend. The two of them were in a hidden corner, sitting side by side, their trig homework untouched.

"Here you go. And I think you'll find these somehow got extra pumps of chocolate." Lana winked.

"I got it," Jake wiped out a credit card.

"Aww, thanks babe. That's so sweet. Isn't he so sweet?" Megan nestled against Jake's shoulder.

Lana smiled as she walked away to run the charge, giving them their desired privacy. The afternoon was a whirlwind of espresso shots, card charges, and wiping down tables. The only break Lana got was when Megan made a stop to talk.

"Hey, I just wanted to see if you're all right. You seem a little down."

"It's nothing."

"Ah, that means boy trouble." Megan smirked.

"I don't know if you could call it that when there isn't a boy involved."

"Okay, you do realize there's a line a mile long of eligible bachelors willing to be your boyfriend. Like, how about…Seth?" Megan pointed to the group of jocks nearby. "You know him, right?"

Lana snorted. "I do. And that's why I won't date him."

"No more jocks for Lana Lang?" Megan wiggled her eyebrows.

Lana shook her head. "I don't care if the next person I date is a jock or a…nerd with glasses. I just want someone who will be honest with me. Why is that so much to ask?"

"Not sure. Sometimes, the truth is overrated." Megan glanced towards Jake.

"Well, good luck on the meet on Saturday. Think Smallville will win again?"

Megan sighed. "With all this pressure, I hope so. I'd hate to let everyone down."

At the Kent barn at night…

Clark gazed out at the stars. His mind was swirling again with thoughts of destiny and fate. Of course, he had to tell Jordan he would try to save Megan. Clark certainly didn't want Megan to die.

But the question was: could he save her?

Jordan had looked at him like a supernatural savior. When in reality, Clark knew he only caused pain to others.

"You look lost in thought," Lex said as he walked up the stairs.

"Hi, Lex."

"What are you thinking about?"

"Fate. Destiny. Think someone can change it?"

"I like to think I'm in charge of my future."

"But if someone does something that…could change what you would do, how does that work?"

Lex smiled. "Clark, you're over thinking it. A person stays true to the morals and values they uphold. That never changes, despite what occurs around them."

"Even when it's an attempt on your life?"

"Sure." Lex shrugged like it was a normal occurrence. "Happens all the time in business."

"But…anything out of the ordinary?"

"No. Clark, what's this about?"

"I'm just wondering about what happened during the field trip."

"Someone wanted me dead. It's nothing new. That's why I have a security team." Lex seemed so sure. "Turns out, whoever it was had two methods in place. An elevator was sabotaged; the cable was had been cut. If I had been in that one, I would have plummeted to the floor."

"Was anyone hurt?" Clark asked.

"No. Thankfully, it was empty when it crashed to the ground."

"So, you believe what we do can never change someone else's fate? Their destiny?"

"On some level, I'm sure it does. You just have to ask yourself how important it is."

I'm pretty sure the one touch=one vision is my own addition. In the show's Hereafter episode, when Jordan is trying to save the coach, it looks like he gets multiple visions.