Opponent's Weakest Point - August 10th
Twisted Shorts August Fic-a-Day Challenge - Day 10
Title: Opponent’s Weakest Point
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/Smallville
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Smallville people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: Athena takes on her first meteor infected opponent and has a revelation.
Notes: Athena Luthor Part 6 - Links Page
Seasons: S1Ep2 “Metamorphosis”
Characters: Athena, Lex, Clark
Word Count: 2165
Athena entered Lex’s office with a newspaper in hand. “Did you see this?” she asked. The front page was a description of Clark as a hero, saving Whitney from his car before it exploded yesterday.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” Lex remarked.
“The guy strung him up…I don’t know if I’d be quite so…inclined to save his life.” Athena frowned at her own words. Even the current animosity from Chloe and Pete would not stop her from helping them in a life and death situation - at least she hoped.
“Speaking of,” Lex said.
Athena turned to see Clark entering the office, a pink box in his hand.
“Save any lives on the way over?” Lex teased.
“I just came with Mom to drop off produce and deliver Athena’s pie.”
“Ah, pie,” Athena said taking the pink box. “My friend.” She grinned up at Clark. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
“I fall below pie,” Clark told Lex.
“If memory serves, nothing ranks higher than chocolate cake,” Lex replied.
Athena nodded. “Memory serves. If you’re nice, I may share Mrs. Kent’s pie.”
Lex waved her words aside. “If you see fit to share, I’ll be forever grateful.”
Clark watched them in amusement. This was not the same feuding siblings he had met earlier in the week.
“Why don’t you show Clark your office, Athena,” Lex suggested, “so he knows where to find you.”
“Any idea what happened to Whitney’s car?” Athena asked as they left Lex’s office.
“No. He couldn’t explain what happened.”
She opened the door to her office. “What the hell?” she breathed.
The door had disturbed the butterflies laying on various surfaces of her office. They were blue butterflies, none much bigger than her thumb. They whirled around a moment then left through the open window.
On the desk lay a small card. For your kindness.
“Who…?”
“Greg Arkin,” Clark answered.
“The guy I met at the farmer’s market?” she asked.
“Yeah. He’s been into bugs since we were kids.” He looked over the card. “What did you say to him?”
“I just told Whitney off, like I did at the dance.” She looked at Clark. “Though it was more about Whitney this time, than it was about who I was defending.”
“You don’t have to defend me,” he told her.
Athena grinned. “I’ve never had anyone to defend, except Lex, and I was never really the right age to help him when he needed it most.” She pointed to a small award medal on the wall. “That is the only achievement, I have been proud of the last few years.”
Clark approached it so he could read it. “Sixth place. Martial Arts Competition 1999.”
“I have broken this finger on three separate occasions.” She pointed to her right ring finger. “Sprained ankles and wrists, split toes, fractures, concussions.”
“Why?”
“Because my father never wanted me to be vulnerable to others. So he made sure that I could take on the kind of people that would be sent by his enemies. I have so many black belts that when I turn eighteen I could be charged with murder if I kill someone in a fight.” She stared at the medal. “That was the day I understood my father had turned me into a weapon. Martial arts and business, he had molded me as he saw fit, someone who could strike an opponent’s weakest point and use it to win.” Her eyes went to Clark. “It was also the day I promised myself to only use it in defense of others.” She sighed. “So, yes, I don’t have to defend you, but I like it.”
She watched him. “I don’t know if you can understand being afraid of your own abilities and reactions. Fearing someone being hurt because of something you did - or didn’t do.” She rubbed her hands together.
Cark pressed a hand over hers. “I understand,” he told her.
Athena did not believe him, but smiled in appreciation of his words. She redirected the conversation. “I framed the photo of us at kids,” she said, pointing to the only picture in the room sitting on the bookshelf behind her desk.
Clark grinned.
88888888
Athena followed her Clark-dar to where he was in the school’s newspaper room with Chloe.
“…Greg didn’t move to Smallville until after the meteor shower,” Clark said, “so he couldn’t have been exposed to the blast.”
“Yeah, but his bugs could have been,” Chloe said excitedly. “Think about it, Clark. Pieces of the meteor are still buried all over Smallville. The whole habitat’s infected. So when boy catches bug and bugs bite boy, you end up with…bug boy.”
“Nice to have a theory that isn’t just toxic Luthor-ness,” Athena said, making herself known.
“Athena,” Clark said in surprise. Chloe glared.
“So, you think Greg has literally gone buggy?” Athena asked.
Clark seemed to debate a moment before nodding. “Yeah. It appears he’s changing into a bug.”
“Okay.” She looked between them. “What do we plan to do about it?”
88888888
Athena, Clark, Pete, and Chloe stood outside Greg’s house, peaking through the window.
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s home,” Chloe said.
“This place is a mess,” Pete said. “Remember what a neat freak Greg’s mom was?”
“Yeah,” Clark affirmed, “she used to make us take off our shoes. One time I forgot and she yelled at me.”
“Is that when you guys stopped hanging out?” Athena asked.
“When Greg’s parents got divorced…he just stopped calling,” Clark explained.
“Which sucked,” Pete told them. “He had a killer tree fort.”
“It was okay,” Clark muttered.
“Clark never liked it. He used to get dizzy just walking over there,” Pete chuckled.
“How come?” Chloe asked.
“He was afraid of heights.”
“I didn’t believe it was structurally sound,” Clark told them defensively.
Athena grinned. “No tall buildings for Clark…got it.”
Chloe found a window that budged. “We’re in.”
They all crawled through, ending up among the littered living room.
“It’s hot,” Athena noted.
“Humid too,” Pete agreed.
“And dark,” Chloe noted. “All things bugs like.”
“Split up,” Clark said, “yell if anything moves.”
Athena and Chloe headed for the other bedrooms. “You really hate me?” Athena asked.
“I’m pissed that you lied. But you’re a Luthor, it’s what you do.”
“I don’t even know what kind of Luthor I am, what makes you think you know?” She scoffed. “Your reaction is exactly the reason I didn’t want people to know my last name. I went from being an individual to being reduced to my family’s name.”
Chloe ground her teeth as she pushed open a door.
“Hey guys,” Chloe called.
They were staring at a dark room, half covered in spider webs. What was visible on the walls were photos of Lana. Clark and Pete entered the room.
“Oh man,” Pete said. “Looks like you’re not the only one in Smallville with the hots for Lana.”
Clark flinched slightly and looked at Athena. He opened his mouth to explain but was distracted by something in the corner of the room. He pulled part of the web, revealing mummified remains.
Athena looked at Clark. “We need to get to Lana.”
“She may not be his only interest,” Pete announced, pointing to newer photos. They were of Athena.
“That is creepy,” she muttered. “I can handle creepy mutant. But we need to find Lana.”
They all nodded and ran from the house.
Clark was ahead of them, disappearing before the rest of them got out of the house. He vanished from her radar almost immediately. Athena grabbed Pete’s arm. “Where was this fort you guys hung out in?”
Pete pointed. “That way about half a mile, maybe more. There is an old warehouse a hundred yards west of the fort.”
“Athena!” Chloe called.
“Go,” she told them. “Lana doesn’t even know she’s in danger.”
She waited until they were gone before starting into the woods. He heart was pounding, but she felt calm and in control.
Athena sensed Clark a moment before she saw the fort. Greg and Clark fell from the tree fort. Greg got up like it was nothing and ran for the warehouse.
Athena ran for Clark, surprised to find him getting to his feet. “You’re okay…” she said.
“Lana is in the fort,” Clark said. “Greg-”
“Ran for the warehouse,” she pointed.
“You should stay-”
“No.” She headed for the warehouse. Clark followed, on alert for Greg. They ducked under an edge of damaged chain link fence close to the corner of the warehouse.
They entered the derelict warehouse. A few steps in Clark crumbled to his knees with a grunt of pain.
“Dammit,” Athena wedged herself under his arm and pulled him up, trying to get him to the entrance. She let him go when she heard someone behind them.
Greg wielded a large metal pipe. Athena reacted without thought, she brought her arm up to block the strike. The guy was strong, the hit causing her entire arm to throb. She struck out at Greg with her uninjured arm, sending him ten feet across the floor.
Athena stared at him in surprise. Not just at what she had done, but as he got back up uninjured.
Greg came for them again. Athena swung out with all her power. He flew into a support beam, falling his arm caught on a lever. They could only watch as construction equipment fell on Greg. A moment later bugs scurried out.
Athena pulled Clark up and got him out of the warehouse. They could just see Whitney at the fort, pulling Lana out.
Athena propped Clark against the fence. “You okay?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Mildly disturbed,” she admitted. “Smallville doesn’t seem to be as quiet as I thought.”
“Sorry.”
“Not your fault,” she told him. “I’m thinking we should get out of here. I don’t think anyone is going to believe bug boy did it when now he’s just bugs.”
“You’re probably right.” Clark stood. They snuck out without a word, heading for the Kent Farm.
Clark led her into the loft of the barn. He sat on the red couch, she followed. Neither of them spoke for a time, each caught up in their own thoughts.
“So you think the meteor shower resulted in the whole of Smallville being exposed to…something?”
He shrugged. “Makes about as much sense as anything else.”
“And it could appear…in anyone? Even people who weren’t here during the shower.” She whistled. “Wow.” She rubbed her sore forearm.
“Maybe we shouldn’t tell anyone.”
“No kidding. People would lose their minds - or at least their morals - if they knew something found in abundance here could grant them…powers.” She grimaced. “Not to mention we have no proof. They’d probably just think us crazy.” She looked at him in concern. “But we now know there is something that could potentially hurt a lot of people…”
“Chloe may be able to help. She has a whole wall of things that are strange in Smallville.”
“And we can stop them, if we find someone with powers, we can see about keeping them from being discovered or harmful.” She considered a moment. “At the very least we can protect those without power.”
“We’re those without powers,” he reminded her.
Athena shook her head, still cradling her stinging arm. “I don’t think I’m powerless,” she told him quietly. “I-I can sense…things. And I seem to be strong.”
“You’ve been talking about your training-” Clark said.
“No. I should be able to knock a guy out or back, not knock him across the room.” She looked at her hands oddly. “It started after the school year, so I must have come across something in the last few months.”
Clark drew her attention. “It was just adrenaline. Fight or flight response.”
A stone settled in her chest at his dismissal. “I have spent the last ten years training, I know what I am capable of - what I should be capable of - that’s not it.” She stood up. “So don’t…do that. It’s condescending.” She moved towards the loft stairs. “You don’t have to believe me - or even believe in me. But if we can keep this between us…”
“Athena,” Clark got up, prepared to go after her.
She jumped the railing. Landing unharmed on the barn floor. She glanced up at Clark before running out of the barn.
88888888
Athena sighed as she closed her bedroom door and leaned against it. She had run hard, hoping to put distance between herself and her confession to Clark. It was not his fault that she had become a freak since coming to Smallville.
She rolled up her sleeve to see a large bruise where she had blocked a pipe. It was dark purple and it throbbed. She was certain it should have broken her arm, but as much as it hurt, it was only minor.
But she could no longer deny her abilities. She could hear better, her night vision was nearly perfect, and she had a lot of strength - more than she had before Smallville.
She closed her eyes, hoping she had enough control to keep her promise not to hurt others.
Title: Opponent’s Weakest Point
Author: hermione2be
Rating: PG/FR13/K+
Crossover: BtVS/Smallville
Disclaimer: I do not own any of BtVS/Angel or Smallville people, places, or ideas. This fiction is done simply for pleasure and I receive no profit.
Summary: Athena takes on her first meteor infected opponent and has a revelation.
Notes: Athena Luthor Part 6 - Links Page
Seasons: S1Ep2 “Metamorphosis”
Characters: Athena, Lex, Clark
Word Count: 2165
Athena entered Lex’s office with a newspaper in hand. “Did you see this?” she asked. The front page was a description of Clark as a hero, saving Whitney from his car before it exploded yesterday.
“It’s something, isn’t it?” Lex remarked.
“The guy strung him up…I don’t know if I’d be quite so…inclined to save his life.” Athena frowned at her own words. Even the current animosity from Chloe and Pete would not stop her from helping them in a life and death situation - at least she hoped.
“Speaking of,” Lex said.
Athena turned to see Clark entering the office, a pink box in his hand.
“Save any lives on the way over?” Lex teased.
“I just came with Mom to drop off produce and deliver Athena’s pie.”
“Ah, pie,” Athena said taking the pink box. “My friend.” She grinned up at Clark. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
“I fall below pie,” Clark told Lex.
“If memory serves, nothing ranks higher than chocolate cake,” Lex replied.
Athena nodded. “Memory serves. If you’re nice, I may share Mrs. Kent’s pie.”
Lex waved her words aside. “If you see fit to share, I’ll be forever grateful.”
Clark watched them in amusement. This was not the same feuding siblings he had met earlier in the week.
“Why don’t you show Clark your office, Athena,” Lex suggested, “so he knows where to find you.”
“Any idea what happened to Whitney’s car?” Athena asked as they left Lex’s office.
“No. He couldn’t explain what happened.”
She opened the door to her office. “What the hell?” she breathed.
The door had disturbed the butterflies laying on various surfaces of her office. They were blue butterflies, none much bigger than her thumb. They whirled around a moment then left through the open window.
On the desk lay a small card. For your kindness.
“Who…?”
“Greg Arkin,” Clark answered.
“The guy I met at the farmer’s market?” she asked.
“Yeah. He’s been into bugs since we were kids.” He looked over the card. “What did you say to him?”
“I just told Whitney off, like I did at the dance.” She looked at Clark. “Though it was more about Whitney this time, than it was about who I was defending.”
“You don’t have to defend me,” he told her.
Athena grinned. “I’ve never had anyone to defend, except Lex, and I was never really the right age to help him when he needed it most.” She pointed to a small award medal on the wall. “That is the only achievement, I have been proud of the last few years.”
Clark approached it so he could read it. “Sixth place. Martial Arts Competition 1999.”
“I have broken this finger on three separate occasions.” She pointed to her right ring finger. “Sprained ankles and wrists, split toes, fractures, concussions.”
“Why?”
“Because my father never wanted me to be vulnerable to others. So he made sure that I could take on the kind of people that would be sent by his enemies. I have so many black belts that when I turn eighteen I could be charged with murder if I kill someone in a fight.” She stared at the medal. “That was the day I understood my father had turned me into a weapon. Martial arts and business, he had molded me as he saw fit, someone who could strike an opponent’s weakest point and use it to win.” Her eyes went to Clark. “It was also the day I promised myself to only use it in defense of others.” She sighed. “So, yes, I don’t have to defend you, but I like it.”
She watched him. “I don’t know if you can understand being afraid of your own abilities and reactions. Fearing someone being hurt because of something you did - or didn’t do.” She rubbed her hands together.
Cark pressed a hand over hers. “I understand,” he told her.
Athena did not believe him, but smiled in appreciation of his words. She redirected the conversation. “I framed the photo of us at kids,” she said, pointing to the only picture in the room sitting on the bookshelf behind her desk.
Clark grinned.
88888888
Athena followed her Clark-dar to where he was in the school’s newspaper room with Chloe.
“…Greg didn’t move to Smallville until after the meteor shower,” Clark said, “so he couldn’t have been exposed to the blast.”
“Yeah, but his bugs could have been,” Chloe said excitedly. “Think about it, Clark. Pieces of the meteor are still buried all over Smallville. The whole habitat’s infected. So when boy catches bug and bugs bite boy, you end up with…bug boy.”
“Nice to have a theory that isn’t just toxic Luthor-ness,” Athena said, making herself known.
“Athena,” Clark said in surprise. Chloe glared.
“So, you think Greg has literally gone buggy?” Athena asked.
Clark seemed to debate a moment before nodding. “Yeah. It appears he’s changing into a bug.”
“Okay.” She looked between them. “What do we plan to do about it?”
88888888
Athena, Clark, Pete, and Chloe stood outside Greg’s house, peaking through the window.
“It doesn’t look like anyone’s home,” Chloe said.
“This place is a mess,” Pete said. “Remember what a neat freak Greg’s mom was?”
“Yeah,” Clark affirmed, “she used to make us take off our shoes. One time I forgot and she yelled at me.”
“Is that when you guys stopped hanging out?” Athena asked.
“When Greg’s parents got divorced…he just stopped calling,” Clark explained.
“Which sucked,” Pete told them. “He had a killer tree fort.”
“It was okay,” Clark muttered.
“Clark never liked it. He used to get dizzy just walking over there,” Pete chuckled.
“How come?” Chloe asked.
“He was afraid of heights.”
“I didn’t believe it was structurally sound,” Clark told them defensively.
Athena grinned. “No tall buildings for Clark…got it.”
Chloe found a window that budged. “We’re in.”
They all crawled through, ending up among the littered living room.
“It’s hot,” Athena noted.
“Humid too,” Pete agreed.
“And dark,” Chloe noted. “All things bugs like.”
“Split up,” Clark said, “yell if anything moves.”
Athena and Chloe headed for the other bedrooms. “You really hate me?” Athena asked.
“I’m pissed that you lied. But you’re a Luthor, it’s what you do.”
“I don’t even know what kind of Luthor I am, what makes you think you know?” She scoffed. “Your reaction is exactly the reason I didn’t want people to know my last name. I went from being an individual to being reduced to my family’s name.”
Chloe ground her teeth as she pushed open a door.
“Hey guys,” Chloe called.
They were staring at a dark room, half covered in spider webs. What was visible on the walls were photos of Lana. Clark and Pete entered the room.
“Oh man,” Pete said. “Looks like you’re not the only one in Smallville with the hots for Lana.”
Clark flinched slightly and looked at Athena. He opened his mouth to explain but was distracted by something in the corner of the room. He pulled part of the web, revealing mummified remains.
Athena looked at Clark. “We need to get to Lana.”
“She may not be his only interest,” Pete announced, pointing to newer photos. They were of Athena.
“That is creepy,” she muttered. “I can handle creepy mutant. But we need to find Lana.”
They all nodded and ran from the house.
Clark was ahead of them, disappearing before the rest of them got out of the house. He vanished from her radar almost immediately. Athena grabbed Pete’s arm. “Where was this fort you guys hung out in?”
Pete pointed. “That way about half a mile, maybe more. There is an old warehouse a hundred yards west of the fort.”
“Athena!” Chloe called.
“Go,” she told them. “Lana doesn’t even know she’s in danger.”
She waited until they were gone before starting into the woods. He heart was pounding, but she felt calm and in control.
Athena sensed Clark a moment before she saw the fort. Greg and Clark fell from the tree fort. Greg got up like it was nothing and ran for the warehouse.
Athena ran for Clark, surprised to find him getting to his feet. “You’re okay…” she said.
“Lana is in the fort,” Clark said. “Greg-”
“Ran for the warehouse,” she pointed.
“You should stay-”
“No.” She headed for the warehouse. Clark followed, on alert for Greg. They ducked under an edge of damaged chain link fence close to the corner of the warehouse.
They entered the derelict warehouse. A few steps in Clark crumbled to his knees with a grunt of pain.
“Dammit,” Athena wedged herself under his arm and pulled him up, trying to get him to the entrance. She let him go when she heard someone behind them.
Greg wielded a large metal pipe. Athena reacted without thought, she brought her arm up to block the strike. The guy was strong, the hit causing her entire arm to throb. She struck out at Greg with her uninjured arm, sending him ten feet across the floor.
Athena stared at him in surprise. Not just at what she had done, but as he got back up uninjured.
Greg came for them again. Athena swung out with all her power. He flew into a support beam, falling his arm caught on a lever. They could only watch as construction equipment fell on Greg. A moment later bugs scurried out.
Athena pulled Clark up and got him out of the warehouse. They could just see Whitney at the fort, pulling Lana out.
Athena propped Clark against the fence. “You okay?”
“Yeah, you?”
“Mildly disturbed,” she admitted. “Smallville doesn’t seem to be as quiet as I thought.”
“Sorry.”
“Not your fault,” she told him. “I’m thinking we should get out of here. I don’t think anyone is going to believe bug boy did it when now he’s just bugs.”
“You’re probably right.” Clark stood. They snuck out without a word, heading for the Kent Farm.
Clark led her into the loft of the barn. He sat on the red couch, she followed. Neither of them spoke for a time, each caught up in their own thoughts.
“So you think the meteor shower resulted in the whole of Smallville being exposed to…something?”
He shrugged. “Makes about as much sense as anything else.”
“And it could appear…in anyone? Even people who weren’t here during the shower.” She whistled. “Wow.” She rubbed her sore forearm.
“Maybe we shouldn’t tell anyone.”
“No kidding. People would lose their minds - or at least their morals - if they knew something found in abundance here could grant them…powers.” She grimaced. “Not to mention we have no proof. They’d probably just think us crazy.” She looked at him in concern. “But we now know there is something that could potentially hurt a lot of people…”
“Chloe may be able to help. She has a whole wall of things that are strange in Smallville.”
“And we can stop them, if we find someone with powers, we can see about keeping them from being discovered or harmful.” She considered a moment. “At the very least we can protect those without power.”
“We’re those without powers,” he reminded her.
Athena shook her head, still cradling her stinging arm. “I don’t think I’m powerless,” she told him quietly. “I-I can sense…things. And I seem to be strong.”
“You’ve been talking about your training-” Clark said.
“No. I should be able to knock a guy out or back, not knock him across the room.” She looked at her hands oddly. “It started after the school year, so I must have come across something in the last few months.”
Clark drew her attention. “It was just adrenaline. Fight or flight response.”
A stone settled in her chest at his dismissal. “I have spent the last ten years training, I know what I am capable of - what I should be capable of - that’s not it.” She stood up. “So don’t…do that. It’s condescending.” She moved towards the loft stairs. “You don’t have to believe me - or even believe in me. But if we can keep this between us…”
“Athena,” Clark got up, prepared to go after her.
She jumped the railing. Landing unharmed on the barn floor. She glanced up at Clark before running out of the barn.
88888888
Athena sighed as she closed her bedroom door and leaned against it. She had run hard, hoping to put distance between herself and her confession to Clark. It was not his fault that she had become a freak since coming to Smallville.
She rolled up her sleeve to see a large bruise where she had blocked a pipe. It was dark purple and it throbbed. She was certain it should have broken her arm, but as much as it hurt, it was only minor.
But she could no longer deny her abilities. She could hear better, her night vision was nearly perfect, and she had a lot of strength - more than she had before Smallville.
She closed her eyes, hoping she had enough control to keep her promise not to hurt others.