Obsession Part 4

At Smallville High…

Clark felt a sense of pride as he walked down the hallway. Everyone had either a Torch edition or a copy of The Inquisitor in their hands. If they were reading The Inquisitor, their eyes were on page one; if they held The Torch it was open to page three. Both places were where Clark's article "I woke up with Gills" was placed.

"Morning, Jordan," Clark said as he spun the dial on his locker. Jordan was leaning against the one next to his.

"Hi." Jordan was frowning as his eyes were glued to page three.

"Everything okay?"

Jordan seemed to hesitate. "Look, Clark, there's something I think I should mention…"

Jordan's voice trailed off as the crowd parted for Megan. She waltzed down the hallway with a spring in her step. Her wavy hair was pulled back and pinned up, exposing her neck and the slits on either side. She wore seashell jewelry, and her loose clothes were a color combination of greens and blues. Megan looked like a sea nymph pulled from a storybook. Clark's attention was pulled away as Alicia materialized by his side.

"Morning, gorgeous." Alicia kissed his cheek.

Clark didn't get a chance to reply as Megan proudly held a copy of The Inquisitor before her. "Mind signing it for me?"

"Sure." Clark "So, you liked the article?"

"Clark, I absolutely loved it." Megan said, all smiles. "My phone's been ringing off the hook. So many people have apologized; people who haven't spoken to me all year have stopped to say 'hi'. It's like I'm a person again. Clark, thank you." Megan stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"You're welcome."

"Did you just kiss my boyfriend?" Alicia asked.

"Uh…I was just thanking him." Megan tried to laugh it off.

"In other news," Jordan said, "some hikers found a dead body in the woods. The coroner thinks it's Eric Summers."

"Eric?" Clark had heard about Eric's escape from Belle Reeve. He figured that was how Van learned about the kryptonite. Clark assumed he would have to track Eric down later.

"Yeah. Stabbed multiple times."

Maybe Van let him go. Van tended to favor using a gun.

"I can't believe you kissed my boyfriend right in front of me." Alicia wrapped her arms Clark, squeezing him tight. "That's just not something you do. You don't touch him."

"Alicia, it wasn't like that." Clark tried to calm her down.

"Oh, I know. You're dating me." Alicia grabbed his jaw and claimed Clark's lips in a passionate kiss. Clark's eyes wandered over to Jordan and Megan who were watching with confused expressions. Thankfully the bell rang, signaling everyone to start walking to class, and Alicia had to release him.

On his way to class, Clark passed by Mr. Summers in the hallway. The teacher was looking down and bumped into a student, staring at a bulletin board.

"Watch where you are going!" He snapped as his books scattered over the floor. The student ran off. Clark stopped to pick up two of the books that slide farther away.

"Thank you, Mr. Kent."

"Um, I, um, I'm sorry to hear about Eric. If there's anything I can do…" Clark didn't know what else to say. He knew Eric and his father never had the best relationship. Yet, Clark saw the red eyes and the tension in the jaw.

"Get to class!" Mr. Summers barked. He stormed away, leaving Clark alone.

At Luthor Corp…

Martha walked into the cafeteria at the Luthor Corp plaza. She rarely got a chance to eat there during her short lived career; being Lionel's PA kept her chained to the desk outside his office. A part of her missed the interaction, the challenge, of the corporate world. Martha recognized several faces and she forced herself to ignore the urge to stop and say 'hello'. Today, she was on a mission for her family.

"Lynda?" Martha approached the table where Mrs. Baker was eating lunch.

"Oh…Martha, wasn't it?" the woman asks, clearly surprised by the visitor.

"Yes," Martha smiled as she took a seat. "I was hoping to talk with you."

It had been difficult to get a hold of Mrs. Baker. Even more so to try and schedule a visit. The woman seemed hesitant to meet, let alone talk on the phone. Martha still knew a few people in the Luthor Corp building and had reached out to know when she could meet with the elusive Mrs. Baker. The best time she had been told was during lunch.

"Oh?" Lynda busied herself, picking at her salad.

"Yes. Alicia seems to be having a hard time understanding our house rules. When we pressed about it, she seemed scared. I don't mean to pry, but is everything all right at home?"

Lynda laughed. "It must be so wonderful raising a normal kid."

If you only knew, Martha thought to herself. The years of raising Clark had been wonderful but came at a cost. She could not freely share the stories of raising a superpowered toddler with the other moms at the park.

In the moment, all she could say was, "That couldn't have been easy."

"No! It wasn't!" Mrs. Baker bite her lip, holding back tears.

"Lynda, please…she's involved with my son. I'm just trying to understand more about her."

"That's not a good idea." Lynda looked around. "She can be anywhere."

"Are you afraid of your own daughter?"

"Yes," Lynda sobbed at her confession.

Martha moved her chair, so she was sitting next to her. She put her arm around the sobbing woman.

"It's all right. Everything is all right."

"She hates me," Lynda got out. "My own daughter. She hates me."

Martha remained silent, waiting for Mrs. Baker to continue on her own.

"I know I made mistakes. Getting married to that poor excuse for a man is my top one."

"Alicia's father?"

"He beat me," Mrs. Baker whispered. "I finally had the courage to get away from him. Then, it was just me and Alicia. Things were hard; I worked full time and then took night classes so I could get a better job. She was by herself at home most of the time; I knew that wasn't ideal, but I thought everything was fine. Alicia did well in school. My daughter is smart. She's so, so smart. And we would have evenings where I'd make cocoa and we'd sit on the couch and talk about our days. I thought everything was fine.

"Then, her father came back. He said he'd changed, and I thought I owed it to Alicia to give him another chance. Everything was fine; at first. And then, he stopped going to work. He stole my credit card and made all these purchases I had to pay off. He fell back into his old ways. When he tried to…to hit me again, Alicia appeared in front of him. I screamed. I don't think that's the reaction Alicia wanted. Ever since then, she hasn't paid attention to me. She hasn't cared what I've said or thought. I don't know where she is or where she'll go. She won't listen to me, and I don't know how to fix this. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have…"

"It's all right. I do understand."

Lynda pulled away and dabbed her eyes with a napkin. "You did a good job, raising your son. He's a very nice young man."

"Thank you."

"He's…he's not going to leave Alicia, is he? She's…she's just crazy about him."

"I don't think so. He seems…very taken with Alicia."

"Good," Mrs. Baker relaxed after that.

Lynda had to return to her desk, so Martha took her leave. The conversation had done little to dissolve Martha's fears. Walking back to her car, she met Lionel in the hallway.

"Martha. I was told you were in the building."

"Just having lunch with a friend."

"I hope you consider me a friend." Lionel sighed. "I miss your sage advice, Martha. There's always a job here for you. Especially if you find you need extra funds after his surgery."

"Don't worry. His strength of character will see us through anything."

At the Torch office…

Pete looked at the photo. The face haunting his dreams now stared back at him in black and white.

"Sarah Conroy," Pete said her name aloud.

Pete had more dreams in the hospital. It was always the same girl, screaming to him for help. The time spent in the hospital bed gave him time to read through all the boring police reports. Pete distinctly remembered the girl wearing a soccer jersey, so he investigated the dates of when local soccer matches had occurred. That helped narrow down the dates for the accidents. Now, Pete had her name.

What am I supposed to do now?

Chloe barged into the room. She was loudly putting papers down and opening drawers. Her mouth was set in a thin line.

"Bad day?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I got two ears. I can lend you one."

Chloe rolled her eyes at the comment. "All everyone's talking about is Clark's article. And it's good. And I should be happy. And the Torch is getting positive feedback on this…it's just no one is paying attention to what I wrote."

"Hey, I read it. It was good."

"But no one's talking about it. My article had no impact."

Pete glanced over to Sarah's photo. He could ask for Chloe's help; a story like this was right up her alley and was sure to spark her interest. Pete could be Chloe's hero and cheer her up.

"I'm being stupid. I'm the editor and this is good for the paper." Chloe put on a brave smile. "Besides, I should be a good friend and be more supportive of Clark's work."

Clark. Pete could see the shift in Chloe's mood. Pete gulped down his disappointment. He was destined to be in Clark's shadow forever. Pete slid Sarah's photo into a folder and listened as Chloe went on praising Clark Kent.

At the Kent farm…

Clark went through his chores in the barn. Thankfully, his girlfriend hadn't insisted on coming home with him. That attitude changed when Clark noticed Alicia spying on him from behind a post.

"Alicia," Clark groaned.

She coyly put a finger to her lips. "I'm not here."

"You got to go."

"Please? I just need to see you. I'm content to gaze upon you from afar."

"Fine."

Clark turned his attention back to his work. True to her word, Alicia never engaged in conversation. On occasion she would get up and inch closer to him.

"Alicia…"

"Do you feel anything?"

"Feel anything? Like what?"

Alicia took another step closer. "Anything?"

"No?"

Alicia seemed pleased by the answer.

"Oh, I can't wait to give you your surprise!"

Mrs. Baker is never given an official first name, so I'm giving her the first name of the actress who played her: Lynda Boyd. Also, got to say I feel terrible making Alicia's dad an abusive jerk. He seemed really nice from the two minutes he got.