The Edge of Forever (2/2)
Clark had gone home and told his parents what he had seen over at Mr. Kendler's place. They had seemed concerned, but not overly so. Mr. Kendler had lived alone for the last five years since his wife's death and it was possible that he had simply gone somewhere for the night and forgotten to make sure the Mandy was taken care of. Or perhaps he had asked one of the local children to look after her and they had been neglectful. They had called the sheriff, though, and the man had said that he would go out to the farm and check it out.
Clark wasn't convinced. He still had the sneaking feeling that something was wrong. Why would Mr. Kendler leave and not let anyone know where he was going? Why would he leave and not make sure Mandy was cared for? And where was Midnight? Clark wished that he had remembered to call on Sunday night and tell the man about his dog. Perhaps they would have known sooner that he was missing, or perhaps Clark would have a better idea what had happened.
Clark's parents insisted that he shouldn't worry, that he should simply let the sheriff handle it and go out with his friends and have fun. Eventually Clark had agreed and he and Chloe had met up with Pete and Lana and the four of them had gone out to the lake with a picnic lunch and plans for swimming and sunbathing.
Clark tried to have fun, he really did, but by the middle of the afternoon he was so worried that he almost didn't know what to do with himself.
"Clark," Chloe approached him and sat down next to him on a log. Pete and Lana were in the lake swimming. Apparently Pete had said something funny because they were both laughing. "You're not having a lot of fun here, are you?"
"I'm trying, Chlo," Clark assured her and wrapped him arm around her shoulders.
"You know that it's not your job to save everyone, Clark," Chloe insisted. They'd had this conversation in the past, but not recently. Recently Clark had settled down into his job and the pressures and demands of it and had managed, for a while, not to think about how many people he could be helping but wasn't. The problem was that he wasn't sure how much longer he could continue to do that. He knew that Chloe worried about him, but he also knew that helping people was something that he was meant to do.
"How do we know that? How do we know that isn't exactly what I'm meant to do?" Clark insisted.
Chloe didn't know everything about his secret, but she knew most of it. She knew the strength and speed and the vision thing, but she thought that he was a mutant like so many of the other children in Smallville. He'd never been able to tell her the part about being an alien, and he didn't know if he ever would be able to now that he'd avoided it for so long. How would she feel knowing that he had kept it from her all these years?
"Clark," Chloe protested. "Even you have limits. Even you are allowed to have fun with some old friends."
"I just feel like I should be doing something. This isn't right. I know it. Something's happened and I need to go help find Mr. Kendler."
"Well, maybe you should go then," Chloe said. It was said without malice or annoyance or anything else. She knew how he was and she knew that he simply wouldn't be happy until he had made sure that everyone was okay. This was obviously not where he felt like he needed to be right then.
"Yeah."
"Would you like me to come with you?"
"It will be faster on my own," Clark told her and they both knew that it was simply the truth. Clark could move faster on his own than he could if Chloe was with him.
"Okay," Chloe nodded.
"Can you tell them that I'm sorry?" Clark asked and gestured towards Pete and Lana who were still in the lake seemingly having a great time. Pete looked up then and saw Clark and Chloe sitting on the edge of the lake looking at them. He waved and Clark waved back.
"It will be okay," Chloe insisted. "Just keep safe, okay?"
"Of course," Clark assured her, although he was pretty sure that nothing short of exposure to the meteor rocks could hurt him any longer. He knew that she still worried about him all the same, mostly because she didn't know the whole truth.
"I love you," she told him.
"I love you too, Chloe," Clark returned. He leaned down to kiss her gently and then sped off back towards town and Mr. Kendler's farm.
Clark had headed back to his parent's house and found out from them that the sheriff had gone out to Mr. Kendler's place and looked around. He hadn't seen anything suspicious and had told the Kents that the man was probably just out overnight on a hike or something similar. If he hadn't come back by the same time tomorrow, his parents were to call again and the sheriff would start a search of the area. Clark hadn't been impressed, nor convinced, and his parents seemed to have started to feel the same way.
Clark had taken off to look for the man. He had used his sight, his hearing, his speed, and, in the more heavily wooded areas, even some levitation to find the man. It had taken him two hours in total, but he'd finally come across Mr. Kendler at the bottom of a gully. The man was alive, but barely. He appeared to have been thrown from his horse and then to have rolled down the hill. Using his x-ray vision Clark determined that he had a broken arm, a couple broken ribs, and most devastating, a fractured spine. It looked bad, possibly more so due to the length of time he had been lying there unattended, and Clark had been terrified to move him.
Clark rushed back to his parent's place and called the paramedics and then the sheriff's office. Fifteen minutes later there were emergency vehicles arriving, but the remoteness of the area made it difficult. Clark had taken two of the paramedics with him and they had hiked into the area. They had left the sheriff back at his farm, calling Metropolis General to send out a helicopter to evacuate the man.
It all took several hours, but eventually Mr. Kendler was safely on his way to the hospital and everyone else was leaving. The prognosis didn't look good for the man, unfortunately. The severity of his injuries and the amount of time he had been exposed to the elements without medical treatment were making everything touch and go. The paramedics had told Clark that he could call the hospital and enquire about Mr. Kendler's condition later that night once the doctors had seen him. They hadn't seemed hopeful, though, and Clark was worried.
The paramedics assured Clark that they could find their own way back to the farm and so Clark spent the next half an hour finding Midnight and taking him back to Mr. Kendler's barn. By the time he returned to the farm with the horse, it was starting to get dark. Once there, Clark rubbed the horse down, made sure he was settled, and then fed all the animals for the night. Mandy seemed to understand that something wasn't right and stuck to his side the entire time he was there.
When Clark went to leave, Mandy followed him. No matter what Clark tried, he simply couldn't convince the dog to stay at the property, and so, instead of fighting with her, he had eventually given in and simply brought Mandy home with him. Once back at his house, she curled up on the front step, seemingly content to stay there, and Clark had allowed it.
He then went inside to find his parents and Chloe. The three of them, along with Pete and Lana, were sitting in the living room watching the news and waiting for Clark.
"Clark," Chloe exclaimed and shot up off the couch as soon as she saw him enter the room. She rushed across the small space separating them and threw herself into his arms. Clark wrapped his arms tightly around her and simply held on. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Chlo," he murmured against the side of her head.
"I was worried. We were coming back from the lake and we heard the sirens, but by the time we got here, you had already left again."
Clark could hear the tears in Chloe voice and he knew that she was close to breaking down in front of everyone. He also knew that wasn't something that she would want them to see. "It's okay, sweetie," he told her softly. "I'm fine, really. You know how hard it is to hurt me." He said the last so softly that he knew that only he and she could have heard it.
Chloe nodded against his chest and then took a deep breath. After a moment she stepped back and wearily looked up at him.
"Clark, man," Pete asked from where he was sitting. "How'd you know where he was?"
"I don't know," Clark said and blushed slightly. He hated talking about this stuff with people. He hated them thinking that he was some kind of hero or something. He was just a guy who could do some things that other people couldn't and because of that he felt an obligation to help. "I just... I guess I was lucky."
"That's some luck, Clark. To find him out there in the middle of the gully?"
"How is he?" Lana asked softly from where she was sitting next to Pete. Lana had known Mr. Kendler and his wife rather well. They had lived on the other side of Clark's farm from Lana. Nell and Mrs. Kendler had been friends, and since Mrs. Kendler had been as interested in riding as Lana, she'd often invited the young woman over to ride with her.
"He's... He's pretty hurt," Clark admitted. "They don't really know yet. Said that I should call the hospital later and see what they knew then."
"I... I just can't believe it," Lana said softly and then she did start crying. It was just a couple of tears slipping down her face, but it was enough to cause Pete to pull her towards him. She accepted the comfort he was offering as if he'd always been the one there for her. And in the middle of fear and pain, Clark saw hope for the future. He almost smiled before he remembered what else was happening.
"We should probably go," Pete said eventually as he released Lana from his embrace.
"You sure you don't want to stay and eat with us?" Clark's mother asked him and Lana.
They both shook their heads. "No, I'm sure my mom has something put aside for us," Pete told her. Clark's mom nodded and then Pete and Lana slipped out almost without Clark noticing.
The four of them ate dinner. It was quiet and subdued. Clark still thought that there was more that he should have done. He should have realized that there was something really wrong right away. He should have insisted on going and looking for the man that morning instead of giving in and going out with his friends to the lake. He should have called Mr. Kendler on Sunday afternoon and maybe the older man wouldn't have had to spend two nights out in the bottom of a gully. There were just so many things that he should have done.
After dinner, his parents tried to talk to him, but Clark insisted that he just wanted to go to bed. Eventually they had let him and Chloe followed him upstairs to the bedroom. The two of them got changed and climbed into bed. Chloe pulled him into her arms and Clark finally let himself break down.
"God, there's so much more that I should have done, Chlo," Clark admitted after several long minutes of silence during which she simply held him and rocked him gently.
"Clark, you did everything that you could have," she insisted.
"I... I should have gone out looking for him this morning."
"And how were you supposed to know that there was something wrong?"
"I knew," Clark told her. "I knew, but I wanted to spend time with you and Pete and Lana and I let that take precedence."
"Clark, even you need to have a life."
"You don't understand, Chlo," Clark muttered softly.
"You're, right, I don't. But it's because you won't let me in. Do you think that I don't know that there's more to whatever you are that you're not telling me? Maybe if you let me know, I would understand this need you have to place everyone in front of yourself."
Clark froze against her and didn't breathe for a long moment. "You know?"
"Clark, it's me," Chloe said with a small laugh. "I live with you. I know when you're telling me the whole truth."
"I... I want to tell you."
"I know you do."
"But I can't. Not yet. I'm... I'm trying."
"I know you are," she assured him and held him tighter to her, his back pressed up against her chest. "Before the wedding, though?"
Clark nodded slowly and Chloe seemed to be satisfied by that. They just lay there for several minutes until her rolled over in her arms and buried his face in her neck.
"I love you," he muttered.
"I love you too," Chloe returned.
"What if... What if he dies?" Clark asked softly a moment later.
"Then we go on, Clark. It won't be your fault."
Clark didn't respond to that directly. He held on tighter to Chloe and then very slowly moved his head back from where it was buried in her neck and reached up to kiss her. His lips touched hers and a shock ran through Clark. Suddenly he knew exactly what he needed. He needed Chloe. More than anything he simply needed Chloe.
Their kiss deepened and Clark was moaning into Chloe's mouth and she was letting him press his tongue past her lips and deep into the warm cavern. She opened under him and let him take what he needed. He tasted her and groaned. She was his and his alone. She was the reason all of this was worth doing. She grounded him and he suspected that he would have lost it a long time before that if she hadn't been there for him every time something like this had happened in the past, not that it had been too often. Unfortunately, Clark thought that it might start happening all the more frequently in the future. He simply wasn't going to be able to convince himself to stay detached any longer. Chloe would have her work cut out for her and Clark only hoped that she was up to it.
He rolled them over as gently as he could so that Chloe was underneath him and then started to pull off their clothes. It only took a moment and then they were both naked. Chloe moved underneath him, spreading her legs so that he could more easily settle against her. They both knew that Clark needed this and Chloe seemed willing to give it to him. When he was sure she was ready for him, Clark sunk deep inside her. She wrapped her legs around his back and he groaned. For long moments they simply rocked together in silence and Clark was able to convince himself that everything was going to be okay. He built slowly and steadily, and when he finally came deep inside her, it was like a release of all the fear and pain he'd built up inside himself all day long.
Clark felt a single tear roll down his face and Chloe reached up to kiss it off.
"Thank you," Clark whispered.
Chloe just hummed her acceptance and held him tighter to her.
Wednesday morning it was raining hard. It was the first thing Chloe noticed when she woke up. It was falling hard and fast on the roof and for a moment she thought that it might have been hail. A quick look out the window confirmed that it was only rain, though. The second thing that she noticed was that she was alone. Again. Not new by any means, but she had thought after the night before that Clark might have stayed with her. But she also realized that even if he had wanted to that the storm would have driven him outside to help his father. Things needed to be done and Clark just did them. She knew that, but it didn't mean she was used to it and she wondered if she ever would be.
"Well I might as well get up, then," Chloe said to herself and rolled out of the small bed.
She got dressed and then headed downstairs. Clark's mother was in the kitchen, but, as Chloe suspected, neither of the Kent men were around.
"Chloe," Mrs. Kent greeted her.
"Good morning Mrs. Kent," Chloe said as she sat down at the table and watched the older woman do whatever it was that she was doing. After a moment it appeared that she was making bread dough. It was something that she had never done before and Chloe was only happy that Clark had never seemed to hold Chloe's cooking skills up to his mom's standards. Not that she did a lot of the cooking in their house anyhow. Often it was Clark himself making their dinners or they went out to eat.
"Martha," the older woman insisted.
"Martha," Chloe repeated with a nod and a smile. It was going to take a while for Chloe to start thinking of Clark's mother as anything other than 'Mrs. Kent'. And his father would be even harder, but they were right, if she was going to be part of their family it simply wouldn't be right for her to go around calling them Mr. and Mrs. Kent. Not to mention that soon she would be Mrs. Kent as well. Well, maybe. She and Clark hadn't discussed whether or not she would be changing her name and Chloe wasn't really sure where she stood on it either. She had always thought that she wouldn't change it, but now, faced with the decision, she wasn't as sure any longer.
"Clark and his father are out making sure everything's secure. It's quite a storm coming in," Clark's mother said without Chloe having to ask.
Chloe just nodded in response. Martha came over to sit at the table with her and brought two mugs of coffee with her. Chloe smiled her gratitude and took a long drink of the dark black liquid.
"How's Clark?"
"Okay," she said slowly.
"He never takes these things well."
"He thinks that it's his fault, that there was more that he should have done."
"I know," Martha said with her own nod. She drank her coffee and looked contemplative.
"I try to help but sometimes I just don't know what to do," Chloe admitted.
"Sometimes there's nothing you can do besides be there for him, Chloe," Martha told her.
Chloe nodded slowly and then smiled. "That sounds like experience."
"Mmm," the older woman murmured and took a drink of her coffee.
Chloe only wished that she were better at the whole comfort thing. She knew that there were things going on with Clark that she didn't know, but she also knew that until she did she wouldn't be able to help him like she wanted to. She wondered if it would always be there between them or if at some point Clark would trust her enough to tell her what was going on. Maybe it hadn't been fair for her to tell him that she wanted him to tell her before the wedding, but Chloe knew that there was no way she could marry him if there was this huge secret between them. She also knew that, no matter what Clark might think, there wasn't anything that he could tell her that would make her want to leave him.
"You'll do fine, sweetie. It will all work out for you two. I can tell how much you love each other."
"It's not easy."
"It never is. You never really know what tomorrow's going to bring," Martha told her.
Chloe nodded. She was going to say something else, but before she could Clark and his father came banging through the kitchen door.
Clark ran his hand through his wet hair. It was really raining outside and more than was strictly normal for the end of June in Kansas. It hadn't been expected, so there had been a couple of things that needed to be brought inside before the worst of the storm hit. His father had also wanted to move the cattle in from one of the far fields to one that was closer to the farm. All together it had taken then about two hours. It had started raining hard about half way through and now both he and his father were soaked.
Next to Clark, Jonathan started to step into the kitchen only to be stopped by his mother. "Jon, no," she cried and jumped up from the table. "You're dripping all over the floor. Let me go get some towels for you two."
Clark watched his mother as she hurried out of the room and smiled. Nothing had changed during the years that he had been away from home. There was still no way that his mother was going to let anyone walk through her home wet, no matter who they were.
He noticed Chloe sitting at the table drinking coffee and smiled at her. She must have just gotten up recently because it didn't appear that she'd been in the shower yet. She was sitting there in her pajamas with her hair pulled back and looking like it hadn't been brushed yet. Clark thought she looked beautiful.
"Morning Chloe," he greeted her.
"Morning. Out working hard already, I see," she teased him gently and continued drinking her coffee.
His mom hurried back into the kitchen with two huge towels before he could respond to that. He knew that she was likely a little annoyed that he hadn't been in bed when she had woken up that morning, but there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it. He'd woken up early, smelled the bad weather coming in, and known that there were things that would need to be taken care of before the rain hit. He'd gotten up and found that his father was just heading out as well. The older man might not have had the strangely enhanced senses like his son, but as a farmer he had instincts about those sorts of things.
Clark took the towel his mother had brought him and dried off the best he could. His jacket had kept most of his upper body dry, but his pants were soaked through and he could feel the water trickling down into his boots. His father was in much the same state. His mother took their jackets and carried them into the laundry room. Clark could hear the dryer come on a moment later.
Shoes and socks off, Clark's father headed to the bathroom to shower and change into dry clothes and Clark headed up to his bedroom. Chloe followed him upstairs and into the room.
"Everything okay?" she asked him as he quickly stripped out of his wet clothing and pulled on an old pair of sweats.
"Yeah, Dad wanted to move the cattle and bring some stuff inside before the storm hit, and I made sure Mandy was in the barn with food and water. I didn't want her to get spooked by the storm. Nothing major, but it all needed to be done."
Chloe nodded and sat down on the bed to wait for him to finish dressing. He pulled on a pair of socks and then turned to look at her.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't here when you woke up this morning," he said. He ran a hand through his hair to try and unsnarl the curls. He really needed to get it cut, but hadn't had the chance recently so it was longer than normal.
"It's okay. I understand that sometimes there's other things you need to do," she told him.
Clark nodded and hoped that Chloe really did understand because he had a feeling that he was going to start being gone a whole lot more than he had in the past. After what had happened with Mr. Kendler, Clark just knew that he couldn't let something like that happen to someone else. If he was able to stop it, if he was able to save someone, then he was going to have to do it. It was simply who he was and he really believed that it was also what he was meant to do with his life. He had been given these abilities for a reason and if it wasn't to help others, then what was it? If he followed his instinct and did that then there would be many nights when he might not get home at all. It would be hard to balance everything and he only hoped that Chloe would be able to do it.
"You sure?"
"Of course," Chloe said and laughed harshly, "I'm not that much of a bitch. Am I?"
"God, Chlo, no," Clark protested and sat down on the bed next to her. "Not at all."
"Well, good. Did you call the hospital this morning?"
"Yeah, first thing this morning before Dad and I went out." The truth was that he simply couldn't have left it any longer. It had bothered him all night, not knowing what was going on with Mr. Kendler and he had known that there was simply no way that he would have been able to do anything before he knew that the other man was going to be okay.
"And?"
"He's pretty beaten up. His spine was fractured but they can't tell yet if there's any damage to his spinal cord because everything's swollen, but he'll live."
"That's great, Clark," Chloe said and reached out to place her hand on his thigh.
"Yeah," Clark said quietly. "He might not walk again. What will he do then? That farm is all he has. He won't be able to run it if he can't walk."
"It's hardly your fault that his horse threw him, Clark," Chloe assured him.
"I... I know," Clark admitted slowly, "but I can't help feeling that there was more that I could have done."
"No one could have done more," Chloe insisted.
"I could have," he replied. "I... I'm different, you know that, Chlo."
"I know," she told him with a nod. "You're strong, fast, and it's really hard to hurt you. I also know there's more that you haven't told me, but Clark, it doesn't make you any different from anyone else around here. You're still human. You still have limitations, even if they are less than other people's."
Clark cringed and turned away from her. That was the problem right there. That he wasn't human, that he wasn't like anyone else. How was it possible for him to tell her now and not make her feel awful that he hadn't told her sooner? He'd known her for over ten years now. They'd been sleeping together for the last four and living together for the last two. He should have told her so much sooner, but he just hadn't known how to do it.
"Clark?" she asked and reached out to lay her hand on his shoulder as he turned from her.
"I'm not."
"You're not what?"
"I'm not human, Chlo," he whispered. He could hear the fear in his own voice and the quaver in it scared the hell out of him.
"Of course you are, Clark," Chloe told him and then shifted closer so that she could wrap her arms around him. "We all feel like that sometimes, but being different doesn't make you any less human."
"You don't understand," he ground out. "I'm really not."
"Clark..."
"I'm serious," he snapped and cut her off. Why couldn't she simply understand? This was the single hardest thing he'd ever said to anyone and she just wasn't getting it. It wasn't making the situation any easier.
"Okay," she said slowly. "So what are you then?"
"I... I don't know."
"Then how do you know that you're not human?" Chloe asked him calmly and Clark realized that it was a reasonable question.
Had he really expected that he could just come up to her some day and tell her that he wasn't human and she'd just believe him? He realized he had. But maybe just because he'd known it for so long himself that it had become something that he could accept without too much effort. He tried to imagine Pete or Lana coming to him and telling him the same thing and realized that maybe it would be a little hard to believe at first.
"I... I have a ship," he told her quietly.
"A ship," Chloe repeated.
"I came in it. During the meteor shower. It's in my parent's storm cellar."
"There's a ship in your parent's storm cellar?" Chloe asked him.
He turned back to look directly at her and saw the slightly glazed look in her eyes and wondered if he had somehow broken her. She only seemed to be able to repeat what he was saying and she didn't seem to be able to comprehend it properly.
"Chloe?"
"You're an alien?" she asked him eventually. Her voice was soft and a little fearful.
"Chloe," Clark said softly and reached out to touch her.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Clark sighed softly. "I didn't tell anyone, Chloe. I... I guess I was scared when I was a teenager. I didn't know what people would do to me if they found out, and then it had been so long and no one knew and I just didn't know how to tell you. I know that I should have told you when we got together, but..." he trailed off because he didn't really know what to say after that. How could he tell her that he hadn't told her because he didn't know for sure if they would last?
"You wanted to wait until you were sure," she finished for him.
Clark nodded and wondered how it was that she knew exactly what he was going to say. "I... I'm sorry."
Chloe nodded. She looked down at his hand and then back up at his face. "You look so human," she said softly.
"I... I know."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, sweetie, I am," Clark told her softly. He moved so that he could wrap his arms around her and draw her into a hug. She let him and Clark knew then that everything was going to be all right. She hadn't freaked out. She hadn't told him that she didn't want to be with him anymore. He suspected that she hadn't really processed everything yet, either, and that there would be more questions and more discussion later, but it really hadn't been as bad as he had thought it could be.
"Your mom was right," she whispered into his shoulder.
"Hmm?"
"You never really know what's going to happen tomorrow," she muttered.
Clark nodded. It sounded like his mother and it was certainly true in this situation. He'd never suspected when he got up this morning that this would be the day that he told Chloe everything.
"I love you," she told him.
Clark smiled and held her closer to him. "I love you, too." Everything was going to be okay.
"I really love it," Chloe said and looked down at her ring. Clark smiled from where he was watching her from across their table at the Talon.
Pete had called the house around ten that morning and told Clark that he and Lana were going to spend the day at Pete's house. It was raining too hard and neither of them felt like going out, but Clark and Chloe were more than welcome to come over and join them. Clark had gotten a definite feeling that Pete really wanted him to say no and leave the two of them alone for the day and so he'd begged off saying that he and Chloe needed to go into town and look at rings. It had been part of the truth, anyhow. It was definitely something that they had been planning on doing, but originally they'd thought that they would leave it until Saturday afternoon once Lana had left. If Pete wanted some alone time with Lana, though, Clark had no trouble changing his plans and it hadn't been too difficult to convince Chloe.
The worst of the storm had passed by one and that was when he and Chloe headed out to the jewelry store. Finding a ring that Chloe liked had been both easier and harder than Clark had anticipated. It was easier because there had been many rings that Chloe liked, and harder because they needed to pick just one. Eventually they settled on a rather simple ring that seemed understated in a sophisticated way, Chloe hadn't wanted anything too large or too flashy.
"I'm glad," Clark told her with a smile. He was happy. He loved Chloe and she was going to be his wife. And for the first time in his whole life, he felt like he knew what he needed to do with it, like he'd finally found his purpose. He knew, somehow, that Chloe would understand it. They would be able to work their lives around his need to help others.
"How did I know I would find you here?" a voice that Clark was sure he recognized called from the entrance of the Talon. He swung around to look and knew immediately that he had been right.
"Lex," he called out and gestured for the older man to come over and join them.
Lex looked older than he had before, but other than that very little about him had changed. He still carried himself with a careless arrogance that spoke of exactly how much money he had. If nothing else, he was dressed better than before in his black pants, blue shirt, and long, long jacket. As Clark watched Lex cross the room, he noticed that people turned and stared. They still looked at Lex like he was the spawn on Satan and he still pretended not to care, although Clark knew that it was an act on Lex's part. He had tried so hard to make the people here believe that he was different from his father, and, for a while, he had almost succeeded, but five years was a long time and they had obviously forgotten the difference since then.
"Clark, Chloe," Lex greeted them as he moved to take the seat next to Clark.
"Lex," Chloe greeted him with a nod.
"I wasn't sure that you were going to make it," Clark told his friend.
"For a while, neither was I. I had some business that I needed to finalize and at the last minute it got held up. That's why I wasn't here on Monday. Then there was the storm this morning. My pilot didn't want to chance it."
"You brought the helicopter?" Clark asked with an incredulous note in his voice. Sometimes he didn't understand Lex at all. He could have simply driven out here. Why on earth would he have needed to bring the helicopter? It was things like that that made people think that the Luthors thought they were above everyone else.
"Yes," Lex said and waved over one of the servers. He made his order quickly and then turned back to look at Clark. "My cars," he started again and there was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes, "the ones here in the States, anyhow, are all at the castle."
Clark nodded. "Did you just come in this morning, then?"
"Flew all night," Lex confirmed.
Clark couldn't help but feel that there was something slightly off about Lex. It was almost like he was jumpy about something, maybe something that he wanted to tell Clark, but didn't want to say in public. He doubted that anyone else would even be able to tell, but Lex had been his best friend for years and Clark was perhaps more in tune with what the older man was thinking and feeling than anyone else.
"You're okay?" Clark asked slowly.
"Yes," Lex said, "now I'm fine."
Clark wasn't sure what to say to that. He wasn't even sure what Lex was talking about.
"You never called back," Chloe accused quietly after a moment of silence between the three of them.
"Ah, Chloe," Lex said with a smirk, "Never one to be subtle. No, I didn't. I'd rather not talk about why here. I was hoping that I could invite you back to the castle for dinner and we could talk there."
"Unfortunately, we're having dinner with Chloe's father tonight," Clark told him.
"Mmm," Lex nodded his acceptance of that, "Maybe you could come over after, then. I would leave it until tomorrow, but it's kind of important that we talk tonight."
"I guess we can do that," Clark conceded.
"Good," Lex said. The server finally came back with the coffee he had ordered and placed in on the table in front of him. Lex picked up the mug and took a sip before grimacing slightly and placing it back on the table. He stood up and pulled his wallet out of his pocket. "I should be going," he told them. He pulled a five out and placed it on the table.
"We'll see you tonight," Clark said.
Lex nodded and started to head for the door. He was almost out when he called back over his shoulder, "Oh, by the way, I like the ring, Chloe." The door closed heavily behind the older man.
Clark groaned. He had wanted to tell Lex at the right time and knew that it hadn't been here in front of all these people. He'd thought that night at Lex's place would have been perfect, but the other had beaten him to it. And really, Clark shouldn't have been too surprised, Lex had always been observant and Chloe wasn't exactly hiding the ring, nor did Clark want her to.
"He's still bitter, isn't he?" Chloe asked softly.
"Apparently. Not that you need to worry."
Chloe snorted and went back to drinking her coffee. Clark smiled. She was so unladylike when she did that. And he only loved her more for it.
The Luthor Castle was almost exactly the same as it had been five years ago when Lex had lived there full time. Clark had almost been expecting that. The lawns and gardens weren't overgrown, so obviously someone was being paid to come out and tend them, but he had somehow expected that the interior would be different, or at least that it would feel less lived in than before. But it didn't. It almost felt like Lex had never left the place and had Clark not known better, he would have believed it to be true.
"Clark," Lex called as he came to meet the younger man in the foyer.
"Lex," Clark greeted his friend.
"Where's Chloe?"
"She's still at her father's place. Figured that we needed some time to talk. You were acting a little... strange earlier," Clark prompted.
"Forgive me, I didn't mean to be rude," Lex insisted.
"Yes, you did," Clark returned.
Lex didn't answer. He simply turned and started to lead Clark through the house. He could tell from the direction they were heading that they were going to one of the sitting rooms. It was a place that they had hung out in many times before and it felt like coming back to a part of his past that he thought he had left behind long before. The friendship that he had shared with Lex had always been particularly intense, and not even Lex's unexpected expression of desire for Clark had been able to force them apart, not until time and distance did it for them, anyhow.
They entered the sitting room and Clark sat down on one of the sofas.
"Do you want anything to drink?"
"Water, if you have it," Clark answered. He rarely drank, and, even though he knew that it was likely second nature for Lex, he wasn't going to indulge that night either.
For a moment, Lex looked like he was going to say something but, at the last moment, he decided against it. He nodded and then turned and went to the bar in the corner. He opened the little fridge at the bottom and pulled out two blue bottles of water. He walked back across the room and handed one to Clark before sitting down across from him on the other couch.
"It's like you never left," Clark observed and gestured around himself to indicate the entire place.
"Hmm," Lex muttered around his drink of water. "I had some people come out here earlier this week and get it ready for me to come back. I hate arriving to a closed house."
Clark nodded and drank his water. He didn't know what to say to that. He couldn't agree or disagree because he'd never really had the experience.
"So," Lex said eventually, "you're marrying her?"
"Yes."
The older man nodded. Clark watched the soft light in the room reflect off his bald head. "You love her," he said eventually.
"I do."
"You're sure?" And Clark knew that he was asking about the whole situation and not just his feelings for Chloe.
"We had this conversation a long time ago, Lex, and I don't feel any differently now than I did then. I love Chloe. We're right together. I'm sure."
Lex nodded slowly. "Then I'm happy for you, Clark," he said and held Clark's eyes.
Clark knew that Lex was telling the truth. He was happy that Clark was happy. Clark knew it wasn't what Lex would have chosen if this were his choice, but it wasn't. He had managed to change enough to know that he couldn't force Clark to feel differently than he did.
"Thank you."
The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, both of them drinking their water and not saying too much. The tension had eased, but it was still there somewhat. It was mostly just the time and distance that separated them now as opposed to the other stuff.
"So," Clark started eventually, "you wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Yes," Lex agreed with a nod. He sat forward, placed his bottle of water on the table in front of him, and then put his hands on his knees.
Clark tilted his head in a question and waited for Lex to continue.
"I know you think there's something up and that's why I haven't been returning your calls. And you're right, there is something up and it's fairly big. I didn't call you back for a couple of reasons. The first was that I needed absolute confidentiality about this and as much as I trust you, Clark, phone lines are known to be trouble. The other reason is that I didn't want to make you chose between me and your journalistic integrity."
Clark's eyebrow shot up at that. He hadn't even known that Lex knew that he was a reporter now.
"Oh, you thought I didn't know? Did you really think that I wouldn't keep tabs on my best friend?"
"I guess you would," Clark conceded. "And I would have chosen you. You know that, right?"
"Yes," Lex agreed with a nod, "but it still would have been hard on you and that was something that I didn't want."
"So, what's going on then?"
"I took over part of my father's company," Lex said calmly. Too calmly for what he had just said.
"What?"
"You heard me. The Asia-Pacific operations, the division that I've been running for the last five years."
"I... I haven't heard anything about it," Clark said. He felt a little stunned. He had always known that Lex would do this someday, but he hadn't expected that it would be now.
"Of course you haven't," Lex chided. "I take control at midnight. It's been a strict secret until now."
"Why?"
Lex laughed softly. "I'm going to assume that you're not asking me why it was a secret and go right on to why I'm telling you now."
Clark nodded.
"I want you to write the story."
"What?" Clark blurted out again.
Lex just looked at him in a way that clearly told Clark once more that he had heard exactly what Lex had said and that he shouldn't be questioning it. But he was. Why would Lex want him to write the story? He was just a year out of university, a junior reporter at the Planet. There were so many people more qualified than him to do this.
"You're my best friend," Lex told him.
"Which makes me biased," Clark insisted.
"You'll be fair to me."
"Lex... I haven't even seen you in five years," Clark protested.
"This would seem to be an argument in my favor, farmboy," Lex said with a smirk and leaned back into the cushions of the sofa.
Clark bristled at being called that and frowned. "If you're really sure this is what you want..."
"It is," Lex assured him.
"Okay," Clark gave in with a sigh. Really, he had known from the start that there was no way that he wasn't going to do what Lex had asked, but he hadn't wanted it to seem too obvious. If Lex wanted him to do this, then Clark would do it for him, because that's what friends did, they helped each other out.
"Good," Lex said.
He dug his phone out of his pocket and tossed it at Clark. Clark caught it easily.
"Call whoever you need to, and let's get this done tonight."
Clark nodded and punched in a number he knew by heart.
Chloe felt the bed move as Clark got in beside her and she was immediately awake. She rolled over slightly so that Clark had more room and then wrapped her body around him as he settled in next to her.
"What time is it?" she asked softly.
"Just after one," Clark told her and turned so that he was facing her. He pulled her to him and she buried her face in his chest.
"Late."
"Yes," he agreed. Clark kissed her on the top of the head.
"You get everything done?" she asked after a moment of snuggling.
Clark had called her earlier in the night after he had spoken with Lex and told her what was going on. She'd been a little annoyed at the time, she knew how Lex sometimes liked to play games where Clark was concerned, but he had eventually convinced her how important this was. Not that it had taken much convincing. The knowledge that Lex had finally managed to oust his father, even if only partially at this point, was big news. Doing this story would instantly make Clark known amongst his peers. Something that Chloe was sure that Lex was well aware of. This was another way to pay his friend back once again for saving his life all those years ago. Or maybe that wasn't all that it was, because Clark had agreed to it, and Chloe knew that he wouldn't have if he felt it was only gratitude that made Lex ask him.
"Yes," Clark told her. "It's printing now."
"How was he?"
"Good," Clark said. "Still Lex, you know?"
"It's pretty wild, though. Taking over his father's company and all."
"Yeah," he agreed. "I guess it is."
He was silent for a long moment and Chloe just left him to his thoughts. She had a feeling that Clark had a lot of things to think over right now.
"He'll be thirty next month," he said eventually. "Did you know that?"
"No," Chloe admitted. She hadn't and she didn't really know how it was relevant except that Clark obviously thought that it was.
"We're getting old, Chlo."
"Not that old," she said with a soft laugh.
"I'm twenty-four."
"And I'm twenty-three, Clark," she chided him. "We're not exactly over the hill here."
"But we're not kids anymore, either. Things... things are changing."
"I know."
"I'm not going to be able to stay out of it anymore," he told her suddenly.
She had no idea what he was talking about. "What?" she asked.
"When people are hurt or in trouble or whatever. I'm not going to be able to stay out of it. I just can't. I can help and I need to do that."
"O... okay," Chloe stuttered. She was willing to go along with almost anything for Clark and she knew that the situation with Mr. Kendler had hit him hard. If this was what he felt he needed to do, then he was certainly more than physically capable of doing it. "How do you see that working?"
"I... I really don't know yet," Clark said with a sigh. "I just know that I need to do it."
There was a note of desperation of in his voice and Chloe instinctively held onto him tighter. She ran her hand up and down his back and nuzzled her face into his chest. "It's okay," she told him. "We'll figure this out together."
"Together," Clark repeated.
"Always," Chloe said with a smile. She reached up and kissed him gently. She knew that this was all going to work out in the end. She simply loved him too much for it not to.
-end-
02-07-08