Fanfic: Salvation Ch. 7/11
Chapter 7
Lois only saw darkness, but she didn’t need her eyes to know that it was him.
His large, soft hands were holding her, his fingertips lightly brushing over the sensitive curves of her face. Each slight movement felt like fire under her skin. She felt her heart thudding like a drum and she could hear her own whisper-like breaths as he sent her to a whole other world; a world where there was no pain or sadness, only pleasure. He was not connected to hurt or feelings of abandonment. He was life, he was joy, he was love.
Lois broke from her trance as Chloe snapped her fingers in front of her face, looking pleasantly curious. “Lo? Hello in there? What’s up?” Chloe asked with a beam. One week of being reunited with her cousin had done wonders for her. Chloe had been overjoyed to see a disheveled but very much alive Lois standing on her doorstep that night and had barely let her out of her sight since. Of course, Lois didn’t mind in the least. She was happy to do whatever it took to keep Chloe’s spirits high in her time of mourning. Jimmy’s death was still fresh, but Chloe was smiling again and had begun to decrease her very large dose of antidepressants.
“Lois?” Chloe said again when she didn’t respond.
“Oh, sorry,” Lois said quickly, taking a large gulp of coffee. “I guess the java hasn’t kicked in yet.”
“Yeah, because most people don’t feel the effects of three cups of Irish cream at three in the afternoon.” Chloe said with a smirk.
“Not when you have my tolerance for caffeine.” Lois replied, trying to sound as lighthearted as possible. The last thing her cousin needed was a peek into the sensual fantasies of Lois Lane, starring the infamous plaid-clad farm boy who was now MIA.
“Lois, do you honestly think I can’t tell when you’re lying?” Chloe asked. “Come on, what’s on your mind?”
Lois paused. It was killing her to keep this to herself. Maybe he wouldn’t be as sore a subject for Chloe as she thought.
“It’s um… Clark.” She said hesitantly.
Lois had guessed wrong. Chloe’s face turned stone-cold and she glared into the distance. “What about him?” She asked smoothly.
“Chlo, we don’t have to -”
“No, tell me. What about him?” Chloe interrupted, her throat thick with emotion.
Lois sighed, feeling uncomfortable. “I saw him.”
Chloe’s gaze shot back to Lois. “What? Where? When?”
“It was the night I came back. He was the one who found me at the Planet. He brought me here.” Lois said.
Chloe’s eyes misted over. “He was here?” She asked softly. “He was here and he didn’t even…” Her voice faded.
“He said you weren’t doing well.” Lois said gently.
Chloe’s eyes widened. He had been watching her all this time.
“He said it was his fault.” Lois continued. “About Jimmy…”
Chloe slammed her hand on the table, making Lois jump. “Lois, just forget about him!” She said, her voice raising a few octaves. “Just forget he was ever here!”
“Chloe!” Lois said, shocked. She came around to Chloe’s side of the table and knelt down in front of her. “Chloe, something’s wrong - I could see it in his eyes. We can’t just abandon him.”
“He abandoned me…” Chloe said, tears springing to her eyes.
“Oh, Chloe…” Lois said softly, taking her hand in hers. “Clark… he’s made some mistakes, but… he needs us.”
“He doesn’t want us.” Chloe said, wiping her eyes. “He doesn’t want to be saved.”
Lois came around to hug Chloe, letting her words sink in. She didn’t, couldn’t believe what Chloe was saying. She wasn’t giving up on him that easily, not on Clark. Because when she thought of Clark Kent…
she thought of love. And she would not let that go without a fight.
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10:32 p.m. - Metropolis
Deep in the heart of Metropolis, a blur was tearing through the streets. The naked human eye couldn’t possibly distinguish the red and blue streaks that flew by their very faces, but the Blur was there. He was always there.
Clark had been running for hours, trying to get his mind off of Lois with very little success. Ever since she had reappeared out of thin air, she was the only thing he thought of. Forgetting her and moving away from his human ties was proving to be more difficult than he’d ever imagined. Forgetting Lois Lane was like staying away from the sun; He could only survive without it for so long until he needed that life-giving sustenance again.
He was furious with himself for letting his weak human side get the better of him. He’d become soft and vulnerable in his loneliness, and seeing Lois again after believing her to be gone forever had triggered something inside him that had been impossible to ignore… and still was.
Clark rounded a sharp corner and changed direction, heading towards the outskirts of the city. He came to a stop in the middle of a vacant field, a few miles away from where Smallville began. It was the closest he’d been to home in months. Clark briefly checked to see that the area was free from prying eyes, reaching out with his super-sensitive hearing until he heard the first sounds of human life three miles away.
Letting himself relax, Clark stared silently into the sky, wondering what to do. He had been sent her to be a savior to the people of Earth. He knew that now. He knew his purpose, and yet his life felt so empty and meaningless. He could not make himself forget so easily the life he’d given up.
Clark clenched his fists tightly. All his life, he’d had to make difficult decisions, and now he seemed to be facing the toughest one of all: Go back to being Clark Kent and risk losing more people who were important to him, or remain solely the Blur, unattached and a better hero for it. Unattached and unloved, never to speak to or be near Lois again. Wtaching her from the shadows, eavesdropping on her conversations from miles away like a lowly stalker. Seeing her move on and make her mark on the world, as he knew she would. Meeting another man who would be able to keep up with her and make her smile and laugh. Getting married and start a family with this faceless man. Clark would watch her life unfold before him, and yet he would never be there. He would always be on the outside of a very thick window, looking in on the life he could’ve had.
Clark felt violently sick and tears sprang to his eyes as the picture in his head manifested into something much more vivid. Without realizing what he was doing, he crouched low to the ground, bending his knees as far as they would go without touching the ground. Letting out a strangled scream, he pushed off in a mighty vertical leap. The air made a sharp hissing noise in his ears as he rose higher and higher; the clouds disintegrated in his path, leaving a cold moisture on Clark’s face that he could not feel. He’d never jumped so high before, but this thought did not occur to him. His anger and loneliness were too prominent for Clark to notice anything else. He became the anger, he became the pain that had been slowly building up in his heart for the last three months. He forgot about Kal-El and the Blur and Clark Kent and simply became raw, uncontainable emotion.
It felt like hours as he shot higher and higher into the sky. He wanted to reach out and touch the stars, and he unthinkingly raised his arms out above his head. He closed his hands into fists, the motion feeling so natural. An instant later, he felt his speed decrease and he hovered for barely a second before his descent began. He fell straight down, gravity taking over. Clark twisted his body so that he was falling head-first, his arms plastered to his sides. He could make out the details of the empty field in what felt like barely a minute.
Clark closed his eyes, waiting for the crash. He knew no harm would come to him, but he didn’t care. He was so tired of caring about anything when all it brought him was pain.
Suddenly, the memory of meeting Lois for the first time came to him. It had happened in a field very much like this one, completely deserted and insignificant, yet it held so much meaning. He could see it all like he was still there, the colors so vivid and real that he could recall the shape of every corn stalk. He could sense the very smell on the air, feel the grass beneath his feet, and he could see the Lois Lane he had met five years ago as clearly as if she were right here, falling beside him. The memory brought tears to Clark’s eyes, gravity pushing them towards the corners where they disappeared in streaks behind him as he continued to fall. He thought of her smile, and it made him smile too. He remembered dancing with her at Chloe’s wedding and how beautiful she had looked. He thought of finding her after being so sure he would never see her face again, and of their tender kiss, how it had made him feel lighter than air.
Clark felt the change before it happened.
A hot warmth started from the center of his chest and spread outwards like branches of a tree throughout his limbs like wildfire. It burned, but there was no pain. His fingers began to tingle, and then the sensation spread to the rest of his body as well. Clark’s eyes snapped open. He was thirty feet from the ground. And then -
His vertical drop became horizontal, and he was shooting forward instead of falling like a stone. The ground flew past him and blurred from his sudden increase of speed.
It only lasted a second.
The sensations disappeared almost as quickly as they had come, and Clark hit the ground with a deafening thud. The force of the crash sent him flying across the field, bouncing across the soil like a skipping stone, rolling several times until he finally came to a stop. Clark laid where he was for a moment, shocked, but unhurt. He propped himself up, staring at the trail of skid marks left behind from his crash.
Kal-El of Krypton had just taken his first flight.