Talisman Part 4
At Smallville High…
Clark stood outside the physics lab. He knew Alicia was inside, and he was nervous to confront her. Clark took in a deep breath and adjusted the glasses on his nose for a final time. He had decided to wear them as a peace offering. He stepped in to find Alicia standing by a table covered in strategically placed pieces of metal and plastic. She was currently holding one such piece under a magnifying lens.
"Hi." Clark gulped.
Alicia looked up and smiled. "There you are."
Clark realized the pieces on the table were from the shooter's weapon. "Hey, you dismantled the stun gun thing. Find anything?"
"Yeah. This device was made by Kord Industries. That should narrow our search down."
An awkward silence filled the air for a minute before Clark began speaking again. "Alicia, I'm so sorry. I really was looking forward to our date, but then something happened and…you're taking this really well. Aren't you disappointed?" Clark couldn't believe Alicia was keeping a calm exterior. If it were Chloe or Lana who this happened to, they would be frowning and waiting for an explanation.
"Well, of course I'm disappointed. I was looking forward to spending time with you. But you wouldn't cancel without a good reason. Right?"
"Yeah." Clark was confused by Alicia's calm behavior. "This is normally the part where people say they're mad and start demanding answers."
"I'm assuming my sexy nerd had to save the day. Am I right?"
"Kind of." Clark gulped. He couldn't tell Alicia anything. Not about Professor Willowbrook, or Palak, or the legend, or what happened to Lionel. He lucked out that Lionel had no interest in this story getting leaked to the press, so the only people who knew had been there.
"This isn't going to work." Clark sighed.
"Why?" Alicia gasped.
"For the same reason it didn't work with Lana." Clark took off the glasses. "Alicia, there are things about me that I can't tell you. I don't know if I can ever be completely honest with you. And that's why this won't work. I'm sorry."
Clark turned to leave, but Alicia appeared in front of him.
"Did I ask for complete honesty?"
"Well, no. But…don't you want honesty?"
"I want you. If that means letting you keep your secrets, that's a price I'm willing to pay." Alicia stepped forward and held on to Clark's shoulders as she looked up at him, pleading for him to listen. "Besides, I have secrets of my own. If ever one of us asks a question the other can't answer, we say 'no comment'. Remember?"
Clark's mind was spinning. His parents had taught him that honesty was one of the founding pillars for a good relationship. But on the other hand, this was what he had always wanted from Lana: acceptance. If he was truly honest, what he was asking Lana was to have blind faith in him.
"And…you're okay with that?"
"I'll do anything if it means having you." Alicia traced a finger back and forth along Clark's jawline.
Clark was touched by Alicia's words. This was what he had wanted for so long. He understood his friends' frustrations. Even now, with Pete knowing, he knew he let his friend down when he had to rush off and ruin their plans. But here was Alicia, saying that she would wait for him. Believe in him. Trust in him.
"Are you for real?" Clark reached out to brush a strand of hair out of Alicia's face. She took his hand and kissed his knuckles.
"The way I see it, you can't be honest with me now because you don't know if you can trust me. If I leave, how will that change? Besides, now you have to make it up to me." Alicia put the glasses back on Clark's face.
"Sounds fair." Clark chuckled. "When?"
"Now."
Clark began to feel the now familiar tingle that meant Alicia had teleported him somewhere. His eyes began to adjust to the dark room and found that they were already seated in the back of a screening room. There were only several other people in the rows closer to the front, oblivious of their presence.
"Did you buy the tickets already?" Clark asked confused.
"No." Alicia didn't appear to be concerned and snuggled closer to him.
"This is stealing," Clark whispered as loud as he dared.
Alicia huffed. "Clark, they are going to play this movie whether or not there are two extra people here, and, as you can see, hardly anyone's here. We're not hurting anyone. And we won't get caught. People like us can get away with it."
"People like us shouldn't use abilities this way." Clark gently held Alicia's hand. "Alicia, we're going to walk through the front door where I will buy us tickets and get us some popcorn."
"Okay. Since it means so much to you."
Alicia teleported them outside the building, against the wall away from the street. It was a shadowed area everyone avoided so their appearance wouldn't be spotted. They walked around the corner and inside to stand in line.
"I'm sorry," Alicia said when they were in the ticket line. "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just, in my old town, we didn't have a lot of spending money. So, when I figured out what I could do, every Friday at nine, I would go to a certain room and the same seat at the movie theatre. It was pretty much always empty, so I wasn't worried about getting caught."
"So, it was kind of a Russian roulette on what movie you watched? Well, this time, you get to pick which one."
"That will be nice for a change."
Clark was surprised when Alicia chose a political documentary for them to watch.
"I hope you don't mind. I prefer non-fiction."
"No, this will be interesting. Want any popcorn?"
"I'm not really a popcorn person."
Clark shrugged. "No problem. What's your favorite movie snack?"
"You're going to laugh." Alicia bit her lip.
"I won't. I promise."
"Raisinets. You're laughing!"
"I'm not!" Clark, grinning from ear to ear, put his hands up in surrender. "I've just never met someone who actually eats those." Clark bought the snacks, and they made the way back to the theatre.
"You should try one." Alicia held out a single Raisinet. When Clark tried to grab it, Alicia pulled her hand away and laughed. "No. Open."
Clark realized Alicia meant to feed him instead of hand over the treat. It felt weird, but Clark opened his mouth and allowed Alicia to put the treat on his tongue.
"It's not that bad." Clark said after he chewed. "Kind of like a chocolate gummy."
"That's not too sweet. Exactly! You know, I think raisins get a bad rap. I mean, chocolate covered strawberries are seen as romantic. Then there's chocolate covered oranges, which are traditional at New Year's. No one hates the chocolate covered cranberries, but for some reason, everybody hates the raisins."
"Is that why you like them so much? Raisinets are the underdog of candy?"
"No. Don't get mad at me again, but I wanted a snack during one of the times I snuck in. So, the day before, I went into the storage space to get something and hide it in my seat. I was so panicked doing that, I just grabbed the first thing I could from an open box. And it was Raisinets. It became traditional for me."
"Well, I think I'll stick with the popcorn."
Alicia leaned on Clark's shoulder as the lights dimmed and the projector turned on. Clark stretched his arm out to wrap around her shoulder to pull her closer. They spent the entire documentary in that position. Alicia fed Clark several other Raisinets; he never turned down the offer, though she refused to eat any of the popcorn.
After the exited the theatre, Alicia teleported them to her driveway.
"I believe a normal date means you walk me to the door."
"I believe it does." Clark noticed there were a few lights on inside as they walked towards the front porch. "I hope your mom didn't worry you were out so late."
"She's on a business trip. Hey, Clark why is it so important to you to do things the 'normal way'?"
"Like the tickets?" Clark breathed out, trying to find the words. "I was raised to be normal without actually being normal. My parents wanted to protect me, so they told me constantly how my strength and my speed could hurt others. Even if I didn't mean to. That's why I never got to join a sports team. I knew I could be the best player. I could make every basket. Catch every ball. Be the first to cross the finish line. But I had to stay on the sidelines. I had to hide; I had to learn how to hide."
"Did your parents ever tell you not to use your powers?"
"No, no." Clark shook his head. "My parents are great. They worry about someone finding out, but they don't try to change me. They just try to help me figure out how to use my abilities."
"But we're special, Clark. Certain rules don't apply to people like us."
"I think they do. Maybe even more than others. Like, helping others and..."
"And not using your powers to pop up in movie theaters," Alicia finished. "Are you really telling me you haven't used your powers for personal gain? Even once?"
Clark wanted to deny it. But his mind drifted to the wild summer in Metropolis. Under the influence of red kryptonite, Clark used his strength to rob banks; punched through ATMs. He grabbed the cash and purchased cars only to give them away. Clark had spent his nights going to clubs. He drank alcohol and danced with any girl that approached him. There had even been times he had seen someone who reminded him of Lana. He used his strength to pull them on the dance floor; sometimes against their will. He would kiss them and then shove them aside, laughing.
"No. I did," Clark confessed as they made it to the front door.
Alicia was looking up at him expectedly. Clark's confession didn't seem to bother her in the least.
"You know, I think it's also normal for the date to end in a kiss." The girl took a step closer.
Clark had wanted to kiss Alicia since the start of their date. Now, his stomach twisted as his mind filled with the memories of his crimes. Clark leaned closer; his lips inches away from hers. Alicia made no movement to bridge the distance between them. Clark pulled away, unwilling to kiss her with images of nightmares in his head.
Alicia tried to laugh the attempt off as Clark took a step back.
"Good night." Clark turned to leave.
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No." Clark forced himself to smile. "Alicia, thanks for a normal date."
Clark kissed Alicia on her cheek and super sped back to his home.
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Clark returned to his loft after dropping Alicia off. His parents were already asleep, but he was unable to rest. So, Clark went to his loft to gaze up at the stars. Someone coughed, causing Clark to turn around.
"Had a feeling you were still up. I made cocoa." Alicia lifted two steaming mugs, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. "This could be a 'no comment' moment, but is there something you want to talk about? I don't have to know the details, but I'll listen to anything you want to say."
Alicia took a seat on the sofa, arranging the mugs on the table. Clark found that he did want to talk. His parents said they forgave him for the baby's death; that he had done the right thing to tell the police where to find the stolen money. But he hadn't forgiven himself.
"Well…" Clark walked towards the sofa. "It's no secret that I ran away to Metropolis last summer."
"Why?"
"Because…I…killed my mom's baby." Alicia stayed silent. "I'm adopted. My mom couldn't have kids of her own. Until she did. And then, I caused an explosion which…" Clark thought he had cried all his tears after giving his mom his gift. But more came, causing his throat to choke up. Alicia just held on to his hand.
"So, you ran away," Alicia filled in.
"Yeah." Clark choked out. To distract himself, Clark sipped some of the cocoa. It was sweet and the warmth was soothing.
"That seems understandable."
"You don't get it." Clark sniffed. "People like us can't screw up or people die."
"Shhh." Alicia pulled Clark down so his head was in her lap. She petted his hair as Clark tried to stifle his sobs. "It was an accident."
"That one was."
Clark thought back to the first time they symbol Jor-El burned onto his chest had forced him to take off the ring. The Metropolis Museum had held a gala for the opening of a new exhibit. Clark had planned on attending, even though he wasn't on the invitation list, so he was strolling towards the museum when he came across a man being mugged in an alley.
The man had cried desperately for help as two thugs beat him to a pulp. Maybe he saw Clark; maybe he didn't. Maybe Clark wasn't even the first person to walk by. The two thugs laughed as they shoved their victim between them. Clark had seen the spectacle; but he had somewhere to be, so he walked away. In his mind, he had thought back to all the times he had saved the day and never gotten a 'thank you'.
Clark never made it past the red rope to the museum. The scar on his chest had burned, forcing him to remove the red kryptonite ring. Once the ring had been removed, Clark couldn't believe he had ignored the man being attacked. He supersped back to the ally. Clark wasn't sure what for. To see if the guy was still there, needing a ride to the hospital. Maybe even the thugs were still there, and he could get the wallet back.
The man was still there. Lying in a pool of his blood, already dead.
A phone booth had been nearby. Clark had meant to call the cops, but his fingers dialed the number for home.
"Hello?" His mother had said. It was the first time he heard his mother's voice since he left.
Clark couldn't speak.
"Johnathan! Clark, sweetheart, baby, please come home." His mom's voice had pleaded.
"Clark, where are you?" his father asked.
Their voices were full of love and concern, like they always had. And the dead body in the alley was a reminder that Clark would continue to only bring them pain and death. A man had died, and it had been unnecessary. The man could have returned to his home; to his wife and children if he had any.
Just one second. In one second Clark could have saved that man.
Clark traded that man's life to go to a party.
"I never knew his name," was all Clark could manage to tell Alicia. The tears ran freely as Alicia continued to stroke his hair.
"I'm sorry." Clark managed to sit up after he composed himself an hour later. "This isn't how I wanted our date to end."
"It isn't," Alicia insisted. She managed to sit on Clark's lap and give him a kiss. "This is."
And then, Alicia vanished, leaving Clark alone to stare at the moon.