Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found
Here Part 50 Author’s Note: My apologies in advance. This part is much longer than my other posting parts, because I wanted to go full circle within one part.
Part 51**********
Lana Lang**********
Clark turned away from Lois, and her teasing about his lack of impolite language. At least she was still talking to him and still treating him as her partner. He didn’t want to be here on Smallville’s town center lawn at the Corn Festival. They should be figuring a way to help Wayne Irig. Clark was frustrated beyond belief at the slow progress they were making, and he was sure it was because of his current lack of powers. Was he a worthless investigator without them? Superman would have had Mr. Irig safe at the Kents’ by now. Of course, Wayne and Thomas had discovered Kryptonite on their property, so were those people on the Irig farm really searching for pesticides as they said they were, or a way to kill Superman? Would Superman be flying into a trap if he tried to rescue Wayne?
He could also see that Lois was starting to doubt Thomas’s story about finding his dad tied up. Clark knew that Thomas had a wild imagination and a love for bizarre and unexplained, but if those EPA agents were actually looking for Kryptonite…
As his gaze lifted to the people in front of them he saw, standing not fifteen feet away, the unmistakable form of Lana Lang. Her blonde hair was swept back off her face, and she was doing something he hadn’t seen Lana do in years. She was laughing with joy. In her arms, she held a baby. Not only that, she held it tenderly, as if she loved the child with all of her heart.
It was an odd sight.
Lana
hated children. She hadn’t babysat in high school. Clark had lost count on the number of times Lana had told him that she hated the yelling, the crying, nagging, whining, and the smelly diapers. She hadn’t wanted to be around other people’s children, and most certainly hadn’t wanted any of her own.
“Women turn into frumps when they have children,” she had told him, and she refused to give up the figure she had worked so many years to maintain. It was one of the reasons that she had given Clark for why she wanted to marry him, because being – whatever it was that he was – he couldn’t possibly be able to father children with her. She had liked
that about him.
Clark remembered the conversation as if it were yesterday. He had been working at the
Smallville Post-Gazette at the time. It had been the summer of 1990, and he and Lana had been dating for around three and half years, give or take. She had marched into the office, just as he had finished typing up an article on the rising price of corn, and said, “Clark, you and I are getting married next year. Take me to Kansas City for a romantic weekend, propose, and buy me a ring.”
Luckily, they had been the only two people in the office at the time. Lucky, because the engagement wasn’t announced for another three years due to their disastrous first time that night, and the whole “floating incident”. Lucky, because the engagement lasted for another three years after it was announced. Lucky, that they still hadn’t tied the knot by 1996, by which time they had moved to Metropolis to get away from the Smallville gossips, and he was working at the Daily Planet. Lucky, because that other Lois Lane had walked into the newsroom and kissed him, changing his life forever.
On the drive to Kansas City, Lana had told him that people were starting to talk. They had been dating for almost four years, and had known each other – off and on – since kindergarten. Her parents were starting to get looks of pity from the good people of Smallville, because Lana and Clark not only were
not married, they weren’t even engaged. They weren’t even living together or, since it was Smallville,
at least they weren’t living together. Their relationship had become stagnant. She had told Clark that to shut up the gossips in Smallville, Maisie especially, he needed to marry her. Not right away, of course. They needed a nice respectable one year engagement and a big wedding. Then in a few years, when people started to talk about their lack of children, she planned to burst into tears and let everyone know that he was sterile. That would shut everyone up, and leave them in peace, she had told him.
They hadn’t had any proof that he was sterile, or unable to father children with an Earth woman because of his unique heritage. It was a distinct possibility, but not a proven fact. It wasn’t as if he had ever been tested; they both generally agreed that keeping him away from doctors and scientists would be for the best. It also wasn’t as if
they had advanced their relationship to that level of intimacy, or he had made love with anyone else, other than Rachel Harris and
she hadn’t become pregnant. Not that he had ever shared that tasty tidbit with his girlfriend.
Clark hadn’t been what Lana really wanted in a husband; he could see that now. At the time, he had just been thrilled that she had wanted to make such a huge commitment to him, despite all of his strangeness, which she had accepted, or tolerated, as long as he kept it hidden. She kept reminding him that the more he used his abilities, the more likely it was that he would be caught and hauled off to a lab, where she’d never see him again.
Prior to the day that she had told him they were going to get married, he had begun to think that she was just dating him until someone better came along. He had agreed with the gossips; four years in, and it felt as if he and Lana were treading water in their relationship. She had known about his abilities for over a year, and Clark had been ready to dive deeper into their love, but she kept hesitating. He hadn’t brought up the idea of marriage, because – in all truthfulness – treading water was better than the alternative. He hadn’t wanted to give her the opportunity to reject him. She was his life, his best friend, and the closest thing to family that he had.
Without Lana, Clark had no one.
It wasn’t as if he felt like he was the only one in love, especially with Lana constantly telling him that no one would ever love him as much as her. By the end of their relationship though, he looked at those words to mean that he was lucky that she ‘loved’ him because his differences made him unlovable or too weird to love. Maybe she hadn’t meant it like that in the beginning, but after the “floating incident” they had morphed into this other meaning.
Back before they got engaged, just kissing the most popular girl from high school, and college, still gave him a thrill. He had loved that in revealing his secret to her, Lana had become more protective of him, instead of less so. He would have done anything to make her happy because he thought her lack of running off to the hills upon learning his secret meant that she had accepted him. He had thought that her engagement announcement was proof that she loved him as much as he loved her.
And Clark
had loved Lana, as only a teenage boy could love a teenage girl – with all of his hormones taking over. He had worshipped the ground she walked on since he entered the doors of Smallville High, a shy bespectacled sixteen year old boy, and she had bounced down the hall in her painted-on straight-legged Jordache jeans, the hint of her pink striped tube top peeking out from under her button down blouse, and her Farrah Fawcett hair. She was the height of fashion for Smallville, and he hadn’t been the only guy to stop and watch her bounce by. Yes, “bounce” was definitely the description that best described Lana Lang in high school.
Lana bounced when she walked, a skip in her step, and a spring in her hair. She bounced while she danced in her shorty-short cheerleading outfit. Most of all, Lana bounced from guy to guy… most popular to richest to football quarterback to most likely to succeed to most likely to make her win homecoming queen, and back again.
She hadn’t given Clark Kent the time of day, except when he, as back-up quarterback, got bumped to starting quarterback. Starting quarterback, Hank, had broken his leg cow-tipping with Walt. It was a year and a half after Clark had first seen Lana that first day back in Smallville, and she bounced up to him and said, “You’re Clark Kent, new starting quarterback, right?”
“Yes,” he had humbly replied, amazed that this blonde goddess had spoken with him at all. They had been in classes together, but she had always looked through him as if he were invisible.
Lana had then looked him up and down like a prize piece of meat, and announced, “You’re taking me to Homecoming.” Then she had bounced away.
It had taken a pinch from Rachel Harris to remind him to head to his next class.
Then four days before the dance, Lana had bounced back in front of him. “Clark, I’ve decided that Walt is a much better candidate for Homecoming King, so he’s taking me to the dance. No hard feelings.”
“None,” Clark had sputtered, still in awe whenever Lana spoke to him. “Walt is much more likely to win.”
“Super-duper, Clark. You’re the greatest,” Lana had announced and bounced away, no harm, no foul.
“I’m sorry, Clark,” Rachel had sympathized with him.
“I’m not,” he had replied with a grin. “She knows who I am now.”
Six months later, while at senior prom with Rachel, Clark could have sworn he heard Lana scream.
“Walt! Stop it! I told you, I don’t want to tonight,” Lana had yelled at her on-again-off-again boyfriend.
“You’re such a tease, Lana,” Walt had insisted. “I know you want this as much as I do.”
“No, Walt! We need to talk,” Lana had said.
Upon hearing the tearing of fabric and another scream, Clark had gone outside to see if he could find Lana and Walt. He whisked open the door of Walt’s truck, and pulled Lana out.
“Do you need a lift home, Lana?” he had asked her, setting her down a few feet away.
Lana had nodded, with mascara tears streaming down her cheeks, as she held the front of her torn Gunne Sax dress.
“Kent, you freak, leave us alone!” Walt had roared, charging at him like a bull. “Lana’s my girl, and I can do to her what I want!”
Clark had hit him in the jaw, knocking him back against the truck with that one strike. Then he had walked Lana to where Mr. Ross’s truck was located.
“Thanks. That was some punch, Clark,” Lana had murmured on the drive home, once her tears had subsided.
He had shrugged, uncomfortable about having used his above-average strength to win a fight, even a fight where he was clearly in the right. “I work out.”
“Do you know what you’re doing after graduation?” she had asked, more inquisitive about him or anyone else, than he had ever seen before. He had figured she just wanted to get her mind off of what had happened.
“I’m going to work on the Ross’s farm this summer and then, in the fall, I’m heading to Kansas State. They offered me a full ride football scholarship,” Clark had told her. It was the longest conversation they had ever had.
Her eyes had lit up at this news. “Kansas State? Me, too,” she had said as he had pulled the grumbling, rumbling truck up outside of her house. Then she had leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad you’ll be there to watch over me, Clark, like my own private Guardian Angel.”
‘Guardian Angel.’ That was the first time he had heard someone refer to him and his abilities in such a positive light. The fact that it had been Lana, who had done so, had locked in his love. He’d known then and there, that he would do anything for her,
anything she asked.
Mr. Ross’s truck had broken down halfway back to the school, but knowing he had to return to retrieve his date, Rachel, Clark had pushed the junker back to the parking lot. Walt’s truck was already gone by the time he returned. Clark ended up walking Rachel home, but she hadn’t minded. Her twin brother, Max, and her father, Mr. Harris, hadn’t been thrilled at their late arrival though.
Returning to the Ross Farm that night, Clark had taken off into a dead run on the old country road and with one of his leaps of happiness that Lana had kissed his cheek, he had found himself airborne. For the first time in his life, he had felt free.
Walt had crashed his truck heading home that night. Clark hadn’t known if it was the drinking, or his punch, or a combination of the two, that had been the cause. Walt had broken his leg, dislocated his shoulder, broken his collar bone, and had given himself a concussion bad enough that he blacked out everything from Prom night. At least, that was what Walt had always said.
Lana wasn’t the same after that night either. Everyone said it was because Walt had ditched her at Prom and ended up in the hospital. Lana and Clark had known the truth, but neither of them were talking. Lana cut off her Farrah Fawcett locks into something more conservative, stopped wearing tube tops, and clothes that were so tight, toned down her make-up, and stopped hanging out with the party crowd. Everyone said it was worry over Walt’s behavior, but when she dumped Walt before he was out of the hospital, they had changed their tune, saying that Lana Lang was finally growing up, now that she was graduating from high school.
Clark had known the truth. Lana had lost her bounce.
At Kansas State that fall, the coach moved Clark from quarterback to defensive back. It was nice to be out of the spotlight and protecting the goal, instead of attacking someone else’s.
Lana had almost seemed like her old self again, except with the glaring oddity that she no longer completely ignored Clark Kent. They hadn’t become friends, by any means, but she greeted him by name whenever they passed, much to the chagrin of her sorority sisters and fraternity admirers. Lana had even sought Clark out, on occasion, at parties. Not so much by name, or voice, but with her eyes. He had seen tension in Lana at these events until she noticed him. Then she would smile at him and relax, allowing herself to have a good time, knowing her Guardian Angel was there to rescue her, if she needed him to. He started attending more and more parties, not because he enjoyed them – he didn’t – but just to give her peace of mind. Okay, he had gone to see her smile at him, like he was her ‘angel’; she almost seemed like her old self with that smile. He kept hoping to see her bounce return, but it never did.
Other girls started flirting with Clark at these parties, but he wasn’t interested in drunk girls. He was polite. He danced with them, and talked with them, before they got smashed and tried to kiss him or more. He often walked them back to their dorms, but he wasn’t interested in doing more with them. They hadn’t made him feel like Lana did when she smiled at him.
He hadn’t gone to Kansas State to party. He hadn’t gone to college to play football, even; it had been more of a means to an end. He had gone to college to study. Lana had been the one distraction he allowed himself from his studies, the Kansas State Collegian student newspaper, and Wildcats football.
After his freshman year at college, Clark had returned to Smallville, not quite sure where else to go. The Ross family had hired him again as a field hand. He hadn’t seen Lana during that summer. He had hoped to, but according to rumor, she had spent the summer with an aunt who had moved to Kansas City. He and Rachel had hung out during his free time, laughing and talking about his college experiences and what hers might be like.
One weekend, shortly before they both headed off to their respective universities, Clark and Rachel had spent an evening stargazing in Shuster’s field. They decided that they would rather have their first time be with a friend than with someone who might break their heart. All in all, they had made love four times before Clark returned to college a few days later.
After his experience with Rachel, Clark had concluded that making love was certainly too good, too intimate, too personal, too revealing, to be shared with just anybody. If he wasn’t willing to share his secret with that person, he shouldn’t be willing to share his body either. The next time he made love, he had vowed to himself, it would be to the woman he would marry… unless he happened to bump into Rachel Harris again before then.
Sophomore year, he fell back into his old routine from Freshman year, but the parties and university social life had all seemed more hollow and meaningless after the intense feelings of intimacy being with Rachel had given him. He had missed his best friend terribly, and by Thanksgiving break he’d decided to find out if she wanted to be more than friends. The distance between their two schools wouldn’t matter, because he could easily run or fly over to see her whenever their busy school schedules allowed.
Clark did a fly-over Smallville on Thanksgiving Day but, unfortunately, the Harrises weren’t in town. The holidays had always been the toughest time for Clark since his folks died. So lonely, Clark even longed for the superficial university social scene, so he could be surrounded by people.
After the break, he started hanging out once more at Lana’s sorority house, so much so that Lana’s sorority sisters designated him as house puppy. They even had a contest on who in the house could tempt the cute defensive end into their bed first, which might have taken him by surprise, especially since he had never considered himself either cute or a challenge, if he hadn’t overheard them talking about it. If they had only known, he had already lost his virginity the summer before with Rachel. None of those girls could hold a candle to her, and his intense feelings of love, respect, and friendship that he had for his best friend.
Clark hadn’t liked the sorority girls’ laughter and teasing, or playing him as a fool, and had been about to move on with his life, letting Lana move on with hers, when he heard Lana speak up in his defense.
“Clark’s a good guy. He’s here because
I want him to be here, and if any of you have a problem with that, you can take it up with me,” she had told them in no uncertain terms. Even as a college sophomore Lana had been a force to reckon with.
When Clark returned to Smallville at Christmas, he learned from the Harris family that Rachel had dropped out of KU after one semester and joined the Army. He returned to his university apartment, feeling empty and alone. He got a job at a local department store as a Santa, bringing joy to little kids instead. When not at the store, he kept himself busy by walking the icy streets, looking for odd-jobs, or helping out the less fortunate by clearing snow and ice off sidewalks and driveways for free.
After the holidays, Clark remembered Lana’s defense of him, and he gravitated back to that social scene. Because alcohol never seemed to affect him, so he found it pointless to drink, he became the sorority’s designated driver (or home walker, as the case may be), the safe date, the house protector, and on rare occasion, house bouncer. He went from being the sorority house’s joke to being house bodyguard in the space of a few months.
Even though Lana didn’t consider Clark boyfriend material for herself, her sorority sisters did and often tried to interest him in fooling around. While his experience with Rachel had made him more comfortable with his body, and gave him a deeper love of a woman’s, and he occasionally dated or kissed the girls he met, he still felt he could only share total intimacy with someone he would reveal his deepest secret to.
When erroneous rumors started to spread around the sorority house that Clark was saving himself for marriage, he became an honoree sorority “big brother”, which gave him a sense of family he hadn’t had in a long time. He knew it wasn’t a true family, because he couldn’t trust them with his secrets, but it was nice to be needed again. His abilities had made him a valuable researcher and investigator for the Kansas State Collegian newspaper, and Lana’s sorority sisters, noticing this, started asking him to screen potential dates and boyfriends for them. The more they talked with him, they discovered what a great listener Clark was, and they began to talk to him about their problems and come to him for advice.
The guys on campus weren’t thrilled that Clark ran interference between them and the hottest chicks on campus, and thus he was often ostracized. He couldn’t believe how many fights he got into with just his football teammates, or actually, how many fights they picked with him. It usually started with one of Lana’s current boyfriends being jealous that Clark hung out with Lana’s sorority.
Clark had tried to explain to them that he and Lana were just friends from back home, but her boyfriends never believed him. That might have had to do with the fact that as soon as any of her beaus did anything to displease Lana, step over the line, pressure her to do something she didn’t want to do, it was Clark’s name she called, and he always appeared to bounce the guy out of there.
Clark spent the summer between sophomore and junior year fishing in Alaska. He couldn’t bring himself to return to Smallville; it held too many memories of Rachel, who had clearly moved on with her life. The only other reason to return was Lana and she had spent that summer traveling Europe with her family.
By junior year, Lana fell into the habit of bringing Clark as her escort to whichever function she attended as her own personal bodyguard. They would go as friends, so she still flirted with, danced with, and kissed other guys, but it was always in Clark’s care she returned to the sorority house in the late hours of the night.
One night, when Clark had arrived to escort the girls to some fraternity party, he found Lana wasn’t her usual bubbly self. She had still never recovered her bounce that she had once had, but the mood from that night reminded him of the darkness she had developed after prom. She never said a word about what might have happened while he was out of town the previous weekend with the team, and, frankly, he hadn’t trusted himself with the information. Had some guy done something to Lana back then, he doubted he could have controlled his anger as well as he could these days. At that time, and other than Rachel, Lana was the only other woman who Clark didn’t have any resistance to. Her smile still brought up memories of her calling him her ‘angel’ and he would have done anything to make her happy.
Lana didn’t drink that night, at least not more than one glass of beer. She didn’t dance with any other guys, or even in the group with her other sorority sisters. She had hardly left Clark’s side, and when she did, she hadn’t left his sight. It frightened him, how fragile and tentative she had been acting. Lana Lang hadn’t a fragile bone in her body.
At the end of the night, when everyone else had stumbled off to their beds, Lana had looked him square in the eyes and said, “You’re not like other guys, are you, Clark?”
“What do you mean, Lana?” he had asked nervously, wondering if her anxiety had been because she had discovered his secret. They had been spending more time together, and it was possible he had slipped up in her presence. He had no recollection of doing so, but when he was around Lana mistakes were bound to happen.
“You like me, right?” she demanded flat out.
“Of course, Lana. It’s impossible not to,” Clark insisted, knowing flattery always seemed to make her happier.
“I mean, do you like me like other guys like me?” she asked, clarifying.
He hadn’t been quite sure what she was driving at, and her subterfuge had made his heart race. “I’m not like those other guys, Lana, but if you mean, do I like you like a man is supposed to like a woman, then yes.”
Lana had nodded as if this was an acceptable answer. “Good. If anyone asks, you’re my boyfriend now,” she announced, then turned and left the room.
Clark had been floored. What had she meant by that? He wanted to call out to her or follow her and ask, but he had been afraid that it would have turned that fantasy into a nightmare.
Apparently, Clark becoming her boyfriend was a subtle thing, especially between them. Lana continued to go to parties, drank, and had a good ol’ time, but the only man she let come near her from then on was Clark.
Whenever another guy asked her to dance, she’d point over her shoulder with her thumb to where Clark was standing against the wall, observing, and advise the man, “I’ve got a boyfriend, and he doesn’t like it when other guys touch me; so buzz off.”
Luckily, none of the men tested this theory.
After a month passed in this fashion, Clark had guessed he was her boyfriend in name only, which was okay with him. It meant that Lana trusted him. Trust, in his book, was almost as good as love.
Lana came up to him after Thanksgiving break, crossed her arms, and said, “Clark, you’re coming home with me for Christmas holidays. My mother heard that you were
the Kent orphan and insisted I invite you. She wants to meet you.”
“She does, Lana?” he had sputtered his reply, not wishing to remind Lana that Mrs. Lang had already met him. He had interviewed her as PTA President for the Smallville High newspaper during their senior year. “You mentioned me?” That fact itself had amazed him immensely.
“Of course, I mentioned you, Clark,” she had said bitterly. “You’re my boyfriend. We’ve been going steady for over a month now.”
Good to know.
“Here are the ground rules. You will continue to be your usual unassuming self. You won’t tell anyone here, especially any buddies on the team, about this. You will bring a gift for every member of my family. I’ll supply you with a list. You will refer any questions regarding our relationship for me to answer. You will not embarrass me in any way, shape, or form. You’ll be staying in the guest room, and
not in my room,” she told him.
“Of course!” he said, flushing. “I wouldn’t dare presume that… that…” Especially since they had never even kissed.
Lana had smiled at his innocent response. “That’s why I like you, Clark. You let me make all the decisions in our relationship.”
It wasn’t until that very moment when she had said the words to his face that he had realized that was true. Their relationship wasn’t one of equals, but of control, and he had given up his. Just as suddenly, he felt his backbone solidify. “May I choose your gift?”
“I’ll supply you with a list,” Lana said. “I’ll buy you a tie, something simple and conservative. Yours are atrocious.”
“I’d rather have a kiss,” he replied after she turned away. He had liked his ties.
She had stiffened and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Don’t press your luck, Clark.”
“It wouldn’t be good to have our first kiss under the mistletoe with your whole family watching, now would it?” he said, feeling more confident than he ever had in her presence. “Especially if we’ve been going steady for a while now.”
Her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together. “I’ll take it under advisement.”
“How about this?” he suggested, leaning against the doorway. “Next Friday night, I take you out to dinner on a real date. I’ll tell you about my hopes and dreams, and you’ll tell me about yours. We get to know each other, and if you’re still interested, you kiss me at the end of the evening, and we go from there.”
“Saturday night,” Lana amended.
“Saturday is game night, Lana,” Clark reminded her. No matter how much he liked Lana he refused to sacrifice his scholarship for her. “You could always come to the game and watch me play. We could then go out afterwards.”
“That’s acceptable,” she agreed.
Their first date had been successful in the fact that Lana accepted a second date and had kissed him goodnight. He had wished to make this first move, but had given it up in negotiations. It was a nothing of a kiss, really, but it was more of a kiss than the one she had planted on his cheek on prom night. At least, this one was on his mouth. There had been no fireworks, nor tongue, not that he had expected either from such a kiss. He had hoped more for the former, than the latter. After all, this was the woman who had made him fly.
He had kissed her after the second date. It was a soft kiss and lasted longer than the one she had given him after their first date.
Christmas with the Langs was different than Christmas had been at the Kents or any of his other foster families. Dinner was catered. The gift exchange orchestrated. The talk small, bland, and not very personal, with the exception of Clark. Mr. and Mrs. Lang were determined to see if Lana’s beau would be a good (that was financially successful) match for their daughter. That Lana seemed to like him made no difference whatsoever with them. They disliked him from before their re-introduction, since they had forgotten that he had met both of them before, and tried to dissuade him from having any hope of a serious relationship with their daughter.
The best part of the holidays was spending time with Lana, the little time he did spend with her, as she often hung out with her elder sisters and cousins. He often spent much of this break taking walks alone in the snow, but he did receive a kiss from her every night before bed and every morning before breakfast. Truthfully, he would have much rather spent the holidays as a department store Santa again. At least the children had been happy to see him.
Lana wasn’t a big touchy-feely type person, except when she had been drinking, and Clark refused to take advantage of someone while they were drunk. Personally, he found drunk behavior in general unappealing, but this was probably because he was always the sober one. Lana didn’t like to make-out, even in private, so their dates and relationship continued on mostly as before. She seemed to enjoy his company, in so much that she didn’t yawn when he spoke, continued to make plans with him, and remained his girlfriend.
Clark had been on dates before, a few each year of college, not to mention all those dances he and Rachel had gone to. Hanging out with Lana felt different though. Perhaps he had felt more protective of her than he had with other girls because of what happened on prom night. Maybe it was because he had been attracted to Lana since the first moment he had seen her.
His fascination with Lana though, had been completely different than his attraction to Lois. In hindsight, during months of aloneness after he first became Superman, Clark realized he had considered Lana beautiful, and therefore thought that he was in love. He felt an instantaneous connection and bond with Lois, and consequently thought only of her. Naturally, he always thought Lois was alluring, even in baggy sweats and no makeup.
Clark and Lana dated through the last two years at Kansas State, and moved back to Smallville together after graduation. Well, not
together together, but at the same time. She moved into a rental cottage that her parents owned, and Clark into an apartment over Maisie’s Diner. There was nothing really in his hometown to draw him back, but he didn’t know where else to go and Lana’s father had offered her a job at his bank. Luckily, there had been an opening at the
Smallville Post-Gazette, so he had followed her back. She was the closest thing to family he had.
He hadn’t meant to reveal his secret to Lana in the way he did. He had been building up to telling her. He hoped that their relationship was finally close enough after two years, that she would consider a more physically intimate relationship with him.
They had been watching a movie at his apartment one night, and when it ended, it had been late. Clark had glanced out the window and saw that it had snowed. “Stay.”
“Clark,” Lana had said, standing up and moving to put on her coat.
“It’s cold outside, baby. Stay,” he whispered, coming to her side. He kissed her lips gently. “Stay.” He kissed her again.
“I thought you didn’t want a physical relationship,” she had murmured, leaning against his chest. She had sounded tempted.
“I love you with all my heart, Lana. Of course, I want to share that love with you physically,” Clark whispered, brushing her lips again with his as his hand feather lightly danced down her body. “We’ve been together two years. You are my life. Stay.”
He could feel her wince against his cheek and shake her head. “I can’t. I’m not ready.”
Clark conceded. He knew that Lana had been more sexually active than he had ever been, but something had happened to change that. He wasn’t going to push her. “I’ll wait for as long as you need, Lana.”
He had gone to put on his coat, and she had stayed him by raising her hand.
“I’ll be fine, Clark. This is Smallville, not Metropolis, for heaven’s sake. No point in you getting bundled up to walk me to my car. You’ve got that early meeting with the mayor tomorrow,” she reassured him as she walked to his door. “It’s already late.”
Clark had padded after her in his socks, and brushed her lips with another kiss. “Stay, anyway, Lana. I want to hold you all night long.”
She pulled on her hat and touched his cheek. “This doesn’t mean that I don’t love you, Clark. I do care very deeply for you,” she murmured, backing out the door. “You’re the most thoughtful and caring person I’ve ever met, but I’m just not ready to do that again.”
He followed her out onto the landing, and kissed her again. “I understand,” he murmured. “I’ll wait.”
She lifted her jaw to accept his kiss, and pulled him closer. “Soon,” she moaned. “You keep kissing me like that, and it’ll be soon.”
He smiled, glad he had brought up the subject.
She grabbed onto the wrought iron railing, and turned to wave at him, but her high heeled boots slipped on the icy steps and she fell backwards over the railing, disappearing into the dark.
Working on autopilot, Clark caught her before she hit the ground. “Lana, are you all right?”
“You were there, and then you were here,” she sputtered in disbelief, her heart racing. She pointed at him and then back up at his open door.
He smiled sheepishly. “There’s something you should know about me.”
“I’m thinking you’re right,” she muttered, moving her hand to her head. “Got any bourbon?”
“No, but I can get you whatever you want,” Clark replied.
“Everything’s closed in Smallville,” Lana said.
“I know, but I’m not limited by that.” He zipped up the stairs with her in his arms, and set her down on the sofa. “I’ll be right back.”
Less than five minutes later, he returned with a bottle of bourbon. She hadn’t moved. At his entrance, she gasped and pointed at him. “When did you put on your shoes and jacket?”
Clark wiped the fresh snow off his sleeve. “Before I left, Lana,” he explained, going into the kitchen and getting her a glass with ice.
“You move so quick,” Lana said, taking the glass from his hand. “Where…?”
“There was a shop open outside of Topeka,” he replied, sitting down next to her on the sofa.
She let this information sink in as she took another sip. “How?”
“I flew.”
Lana’s eyes widened and she pointed out the closed door and up into the sky. “Flew?”
He nodded.
She took another sip, and then another, before swallowing. “You’re really an angel then, aren’t you?” she asked, looking at him hopefully.
I wish. Clark hated to dash this impression she had of him, but he shook his head. He needed to be honest. “I’m not sure what I am, Lana.”
Then he went into the description of what his folks had told him about the day they found him, about the men who had come searching for the downed Chinese satellite, and the development of his abilities. He told her about having to hide each new development and ability from his foster parents, and about the one family who had thought he was the devil incarnate because of his heat vision.
Lana downed a quarter of the bottle before he was through, and ended up staying the night. She had passed out on his bed, and he slept on the couch, although slept was a generous term for what he had done that night. She got up and stumbled to his kitchen table, where Clark already had a hot cup of coffee waiting for her, just the way she liked it. He was too nervous to sit.
“Clark, I’ve been thinking about this,” Lana said in her ‘I’ve made a decision’ tone.
“Uh-huh,” he replied.
“I don’t want anyone to know about this.”
Clark nodded in complete agreement.
“If someone found out about it, about you, they’d put you into a lab and dissect you,” she said, reaching out for him.
He took hold of her hands and sat down opposite her. He didn’t want that option either.
“So, no one can know about this. No one. This stays between you and me. I won’t even tell my folks. You need to never use these abilities, ever. You need to be normal,” Lana told him.
“I
am normal, Lana. I just can do extraordinary things. Just think about what we can do together. If we ever want to go to the Mexico, zip and we’re…” he said, moving his hand up.
“No, Clark,” Lana interrupted, taking hold of his ‘flying’ hand and setting it back on the table. “If we ever want to go to Mexico, we’ll save up our money and fly on a plane. The more you use these powers, the more likely it is that someone will see you and take you away from me,” she said, staring into his eyes with more warmth he had never seen before.
“But, Lana, I must have been given these powers for a reason,” Clark said. “I got such a thrill saving you last night. Just think what I could do, if I could help other people that way.”
“Oh, Clark, think about the risk of discovery and chance of exposure. I love you too much to ever let that happen,” she said, leaning into his shoulder as if she wouldn’t know what to do if she lost him, as if he was her entire world. It was the first time she had told him that she loved him. Lana loved him.
“I love you, too, Lana,” Clark had repeated back to her, before he kissed her. He really had thought they would be together forever.
Clark watched as this Lana, the woman holding an infant and laughing, called out to two towheaded boys running around her ankles. Lana had three children?
He had wanted children and a family so desperately. A family of his own would make him feel like he belonged somewhere, like he had roots. He had known early on that Lana hadn’t wanted children. She repeated this fact often enough, it was almost a mantra. Now, he was beginning to wonder if it was just
his children she hadn’t wanted to have. She had seemed so accepting of him, so loving, as long as he didn’t use his powers, but as soon as he did, Lana would bring out her finger and scold him, like an errant child.
A husky, brown haired farmer with a mustache came up and kissed Lana with affection. Clark recognized him as Walt’s best friend from high school, Hank. Lana gave Hank a glowing smile, especially when he scooped up the two boys, one on each arm, and carried them off to the kiddy games.
This Lana had the one thing he had never been able to give her. This Lana, who had never known a Clark, still had her bounce.
“Clark?” Lois asked softly, setting her hand on his arm. “Do you know them?”
“No,” he replied curtly, turning away. “She reminds me of someone I used to know.” He couldn’t even look at this Lana; all he saw in her was his failure in ever making his Lana happy.
“What is it, Clark?”
How could he explain to Lois how he had let down his Lana, when he had disappointed this Lois just as often?
“Jerome,” Clark reminded her. He needed to protect the Kents. He couldn’t have his failure as human being, be traced back to them and cause them any trouble. He started to walk off in the opposite direction, away from Lana, but Lois’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“It’s not ‘nothing’, Clark,” she whispered, low enough only for him to hear without his super hearing, which still hadn’t returned.
Clark cupped her jaw in his palm, wishing he could explain how seeing Lana had made him feel. “Have you ever felt the world would be a better place if only you hadn’t been born?” he asked.
Lois’s scowling glare, showed she had misinterpreted his universal ‘you’ as ‘her’. “
You lied to me,
Jer…” she growled.
“No, Lois,” he interrupted gently. “The world would be better without
me.” Lana’s life seemed to be the ideal he had always wanted to give her. How much better would this Lois’s life be, if she didn’t have to deal with a commitment phobic superhero, and a partner who couldn’t be honest with her?
Her expression lost all its anger with her shock. “Don’t be ridiculous, Smallville,” she scoffed at him as if he was being ridiculous. “You’ve stopped me from killing Ralph twice this month alone, not to mention you’re the reason Jimmy and I survived Dr. Baines’s death trap at the Messenger hanger. I may be angry at you, but I’m glad you were born.”
That sure sounded a lot like she had forgiven him, and he leaned in to kiss her, but she stepped away.
Lois pointed her index finger at him. “Still mad, here, Chuck.”
He nodded once with understanding. “If you change your mind about that, I’m going to be over at the corn husking contest,” he told her, hoping more than believing that she would. He headed off across the green.
Of course, Lois hadn’t forgiven him. How could she when he couldn’t even forgive himself?
***End of Part 51*** Part 52So, what did you think of Lana? Tell me,
Here .
The
Gunne Sax style dress was all the rage in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I imagine Lana’s dress as being one of the ones with a revealing bodice as opposed to a dress that covered one’s chest in lace to her neck.
Jordache Jeans were one of the styles of skin tight jeans popular in the early 1980s.
Farrah Fawcett was an actress on television in the late 1970s and early 1980s, best known as one of “Charlie’s Angels” and for popularizing a certain style of hair.
Baby, It's Cold Outside The dialogue from the night when he tries to convince Lana to stay was inspired by this song, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser.
