Live Another Day
Part 12
His weariness had forced him down with more vengeance than even Clark had anticipated. And not much long after that the usual nightmares were haunting his sleep.
~ ~ ~
“You lying scumbag!” Trask towered over him, bringing the green glowing crystal a little closer to his face. Clark groaned in agony. “Don’t you dare tell me that there is no invasion! I can tell that you’re lying. With powers like yours it would be so easy to rule the world, don’t you think? Why else would the Kryptonians send you? There must have been some subliminal message for you. Where are they going to strike?”
Clark clenched his teeth and fought against the overwhelming pain. “You’re wrong, Trask. There’s no invasion.” He had to pause in order to catch his breath. “I’m the only one left.”
Between the waves of agony, he felt his heart clench in sadness as he thought about his people that would forever be lost. Finally, he knew where he had come from. But the few messages the globe had contained would remain all that he’d ever learn about his origins.
“You think you can fool me, don’t you? Others may believe your lies, but I’m not one of them. And they’re going to realize what kind of scum you are, too. You’re going to tell me what I want to know.” There was an evil gleam in Trasks eyes as he pulled out an army knife and pressed the tip to Clark’s throat. He nicked his skin, just enough to make blood ooze from the wound; enough to show Clark how very vulnerable he was. “And then I’m going to end your sorry existence.”
Clark tried to raise his arms to push Trask’s hand away, but his strength failed him. He closed his eyes, trying to find the last bit of energy that would get him out of this situation. He needed to focus. But his head was swimming.
“Step back, Major! Put that crystal back in its case.”
The voice seemed to come from far away. Clark thought it belonged to General Newcomb.
His order was brief but unmistakable and Clark couldn’t be more relieved to hear it.
Trask obeyed at least the first part of the General’s order. The pain of the crystal receded somewhat as he stepped back. “But he’s the leader of an invasion. I need to find out-”
“Nonsense,” Newcomb barked. “Encase that crystal immediately. That’s an order Major Trask.”
Clark saw Trask flinch at the way Newcomb was emphasizing his inferior rank. And with a grunt of disapproval, Trask followed the order. Clark breathed a sigh of relief as the pain ebbed away. But the paralyzing soreness of his body stayed with him, making it impossible to scramble back to his feet.
“Hand me the case.” Newcomb ordered. Reluctantly, Trask followed that order as well. When Newcomb held the case in a firm grip, he stared Trask down with a grim expression on his face. “You’re dismissed, Major. But rest assured that this insubordination is going to be recorded in your 201 file.”
Trask protested. “With all due respect, Sir-”
“Dismissed!” The general cut him off curtly.
An angry sounding growl left Trask’s throat as he saluted and turned on his heels to leave the room. On his way out, Trask shot him one last hateful glance that sent a shiver down Clark’s spine. The door behind him closed with a resounding bang.
Gradually, Clark began to feel his body again and with difficulty, he got back on wobbly feet. It took him a moment to straighten his stance enough that a well-meaning superior officer could accept it as standing at attention.
He managed a “Thank you, Sir.”
“At ease, soldier.” The general’s expression softened. “Sit down, Edgar, before you topple over. I know he did a number on you and I’m sorry about it.”
Clark followed that order gratefully and eased himself back to a sitting position. Sometimes, he wished that at least the general would call him by his real name instead of using the alias that in reality was just a small village. But given the circumstances, it was better that no one but Newcomb knew about his parents.
The world still seemed to be spinning around Clark. He blinked a few times, trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind that the exposure to the deadly crystal had left him with.
General Newcomb rubbed his eyes. Dark rings were surrounding them that Clark hadn’t noticed before. It was a sure sign that Newcomb had most likely spent the night awake. For a while they just watched each other. Then a frown appeared on the general’s forehead and his expression turned sorrowful.
He cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, Trask managed to convince the right people in the Pentagon that you pose a threat to national security. They were almost ready to order your execution.”
Clark felt like he’d been doused in a bucket of ice water. Ever since he’d learned that Bureau 39 would be shut down in a couple of weeks, he’d wondered what was going to become of him. He’d dreaded the possibility that his powers would be used for other, more sinister purposes. The world was changing since the communists were no longer the enemy. New and less clearly defined threats had appeared around the globe. He had often agonized about the role he could play in that system. But obviously, he wasn’t going to play any role at all. Fear took hold of him.
Though he didn’t really want to hear the answer, he had to make sure he’d heard right. His voice was barely above a whisper. “They’re going to kill me? Then why didn’t you just let Trask finish what he had begun?”
The general shook his head. “A situation has come up that changed their plans” He took a deep breath and Clark thought he saw fear in the older man’s eyes.
That confused him, because he’d never seen Newcomb afraid of anything. “What situation?”
“An asteroid is heading for earth. It’s larger than the one that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.” He gulped. “Even the most optimistic projections estimate that it’ll be a direct hit.”
Clark stared at him in shock. “How much time have we left?”
Newcomb bit his lower lip. “A little less than two weeks.”
Clark tried to wrap his mind around what the general had just said. “Are there any plans to destroy the asteroid? Is that even possible?”
“The scientists don’t know that,” Newcomb admitted. “Leading NASA engineers tell us that it’ll be next to impossible to manufacture a weapon that will be able to strike the asteroid with enough force to destroy it in such a short amount of time. We’ve come to the conclusion that you’re our best option.”
Clark gasped. “Me?” He tried to imagine how he was supposed to help. Could even the full scale of his powers really make a difference? “What do they expect me to do?”
“Fly up there and reach the asteroid sooner than any of our rockets could,” the general said. “Scientists have estimated that a nuclear weapon exploding close to, or better yet, inside the asteroid might be able to throw it off its course.”
“But they don’t know for sure?” Clark asked quietly.
The general nodded slowly. “To be completely honest with you, we don’t know what you’d be facing up there. I know that you can hold your breath for twenty minutes and that you’re incredibly powerful. But this is an extremely dangerous mission, even for you. You might not return. Particularly, after what Trask just did to you.” He paused for a moment and the look on Newcomb’s face conveyed that at least he didn’t want Clark to die. “That’s why I’m not going to make it an order.”
“You don’t have to,” Clark got up again. “I need to get out in the sun and recover as quickly as possible. I-”
~~~
A wave of pain woke Clark from his sleep. His breathing quickened as panic washed over him and his eyes darted around to look for Trask. It took him a moment to realize where he was and that there was no reason for Trask to be anywhere near him. He spotted Lois sitting next to him, mesmerized by the green glow coming out of the lead box.
“Shut that box,” he croaked.
When Lois didn’t react immediately, he rolled over. Under the influence of the green crystal, even that simple movement was taxing. Clark gritted his teeth against the ever increasing pain in his arm as he reached out. But the box was too far away. With difficulty, he managed to lift his upper body enough to bridge the gap between him and Lois. Finally, he could touch the lid and closed it. What had taken only a few seconds to him had felt like minutes.
The pain ebbed away and Clark collapsed back onto the floor. He felt weak and exhausted. Muttering a curse, he closed his eyes and tried to breathe through the nausea and dizziness.
Lois sounded worried. “Clark? What’s going on? Are you all right?”
A jumble of very different emotions washed over him, ranging from panic over despair to white-hot rage. And he didn’t even try to keep that last one from affecting his voice. “I had secured that box for a reason! Does the word privacy mean anything to you?”
“I’m sorry, Clark,” she whispered.
He wouldn’t let her off the hook that easily. “Did Trask send you?”
The anger seemed to give him some strength and he managed to push himself up into a half sitting position. But his arms were still trembling. Clark wasn’t sure if that was caused by his rage or the effort to keep himself upright.
He gave Lois a stern look. She was a rather pitiful sight. Her lower lip was trembling slightly and she wasn’t quite able to meet his gaze.
“Did he tell you how to kill me?” Clark demanded.
Her eyes widened. “What? No! I have never heard that name! Is he the one you told me about?”
Clark’s only reply was an angry grunt. But as he registered her pale face and the look of pure shock in her eyes, the rage that was pumping through his veins abated. Even without his powers, he could feel that she wasn’t lying. He hung his head and his arm buckled underneath him, forcing him back onto the floor.
He felt ashamed. “I… Sorry about that. I know that you didn’t want to kill me. I guess your curiosity just got the better of you again.”
She nodded feebly. “That stuff in the box, it can really kill you?”
His heart was beating wildly in his chest. She was this close to finding out his secret. It was his own stupidity that was handing it to her on a silver platter. But it was really no use trying to deny that fact after his outburst.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Yes.”
“There was blood on that green-glowing rock.” Her voice was quiet, as if she didn’t dare to say those words. Maybe she was afraid that he would once again yell at her. “It’s yours, isn’t it? Did you use that stuff on yourself when you had me stay in the bathroom?”
Clark had to admit she was quite observant. He didn’t reply and he didn’t have to. As he looked at her, he could see it in her eyes that her question had actually been a rhetorical one. Lois wasn’t stupid. She could put two and two together. With the state he’d been in when she’d found him in the hotel room and the way he was acting now, that really was a no-brainer.
She frowned. “Why?”
He didn’t know how to answer that.
“Was this all just an act to convince me that you’re one of the good guys?” Now she sounded angry. “Is this just some elaborated scheme?”
Startled, Clark scrambled back to his wobbly half sitting position. He couldn’t let her believe that. “No, Lois. It had nothing to do with you. I was just trying to protect my secret.”
She gasped. “By almost killing yourself?”
“Yes, it’s that important to me!” He gritted his teeth. “Duh, I’m a freak! Now you’ve found out!”
He turned his back on her, wishing that he could simply leave and escape this particular conversation. But his bones still felt pretty much like Jello. It wasn’t as bad as it had been this morning, so he probably hadn’t been exposed all that long. Perhaps a few more hours of sleep could bring him back to human strength, even without the help of the sun. But if he wanted to regain his strength, he couldn’t waste it by exerting himself any further. So running out on Lois simply wasn’t an option. He rubbed his eyes with a weary hand.
Suddenly he felt her hand on his shoulder, gently stroking him. Her voice was soft as she spoke to him. “Why are you calling yourself that, Clark?”
“It’s true,” he said thickly. “I’m more freakish than you could possibly imagine.” He looked over his shoulder. “You were scared of me when we first met. You can’t even begin to understand how right you were to fear me.”
“No.” Her hand squeezed his shoulder lightly. “I know that you’re a good person and I refuse to believe that I’d have any reason to be scared of you. Not anymore. Not when you’d rather risk your own life than hurt anyone else.”
Despite himself, he felt a smile tug at his lips. His heart filled with hope, but he tried to suppress that feeling. He knew that she’d never feel that way about him if she knew that he was the most powerful being on the planet.
He shook his head. “You don’t know what I am.”
“Then tell me, Clark,” she begged. “Tell me and you’ll see that I won’t be afraid of you.” Her eyes were so open and sincere that for the first time in his life he felt really tempted to share his secret with another person.
It was so strange. He should be absolutely terrified that she even knew as much about him as she already did. But for some reason that he couldn’t fathom he wasn’t. He couldn’t claim that he was totally cool with her knowing, far from it. But it wasn’t quite the catastrophe that he thought it would be. Clark took deep calming breaths. There was this irrational hope bubbling up inside him again, the tiny voice in the back of his mind that kept whispering that maybe he should just give her a chance.
Clark turned around and her hand lost contact with his shoulder. Instantly, he regretted the motion and at the same time chastised himself for letting her have such an impact on him. There was just one possible outcome for this scenario. He’d end up with a broken heart. So why was he so ready to kiss all reason goodbye?
“I can’t,” he said firmly. He wasn’t so sure if he was addressing Lois or himself. “As long as you don’t know, you have nothing you could write about me. I can’t risk the lives of my parents.”
“I told you I wouldn’t write about you and I’m sticking to that promise, no matter what,” she vowed.
He flashed her a thin-lipped smile. “It’s a huge promise. You have no idea how huge.”
She looked a little flustered. He could practically see the wheels inside her mind turn while she was likely imagining what it might be that he was hiding from her. He took another calming breath. This was the right decision and he knew it. Whatever there was between him and Lois, whatever she thought they could become, after a little over a day of knowing her it was too early to drop his secret on her.
He ran a hand through his hair. Even Scardino only knew about some of his powers, and he had no idea that Clark was an alien. He probably thought that he was an army experiment. Besides the people from Bureau 39 only his parents knew the truth. It was better if things stayed that way.
Her hand on his knee pulled him from his musings. She smiled at him. “Whatever you think you are – you’re not a freak.”
And before he could stop her, before he really knew what happened, she got up on her knees and bent forward. Her lips brushed against his cheek in a soft kiss that touched not only his skin but his soul, leaving a mark that would forever be engraved into his essence. And once again, his aches and pains faded. He closed his eyes, savoring that moment, because he knew that this was never going to happen again. Tears were stinging in his eyes, but he blinked them away. He knew that if he were to stay with her just one more minute, he was going to lose his mind completely.
Clark pulled back. “I can’t do this.”
He got up on two wobbly feet and swayed a little. Steadying himself against the wall, Clark managed to remain upright. It took a moment until the dizziness passed. When Clark felt he could walk without falling, he brought some distance between him and Lois.
He went over to one of the overhead windows and stared out. The streetlamp outside the window almost blinded him. The immediate area was deserted, but Clark could only see a small section of the street. It was impossible to tell if Joe was still waiting somewhere outside their building.
He felt Lois’ eyes on him. Her voice was quiet. “I’m so sorry for exposing you to that stuff!”
He didn’t look at her. “You couldn’t have known that it would be dangerous for me.”
It sounded like she got up as well. “Are you going to be all right till morning?”
He gave her a non-committal shrug. “I guess I’m going to be better than now.”
As she spoke to him again, she sounded so worried that it tore at his heart. “Will you be ready to keep up with the Shamrock of Horrors and escape Luthor?” He felt her hand on his back. Even that light touch sent sparks of electricity through his whole body.
He still couldn’t look at her. Trying to sound more optimistic than he felt, he said, “All I need to do is get caught. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem, particularly not in my current state.”
Her hand left his body and in the next moment she slapped him on the shoulder – hard. By the sound of her voice he could tell that she’d started crying. “How can you be so casual about risking your own life?” She slapped him again and again, muttering curses until he turned around and caught her hands before she could hit him again.
“I’m not casual about dying, Lois,” he said sincerely. “But it’s not like I have very much to live for at the moment, either. Several people I’ve been working for since I was twelve were ready to kill me. I’ve lost my job and my purpose. And now, I’ve got a chance to do something meaningful and I’m not going to stop at the first sign of trouble.” He drew in a shaky breath. His voice was barely above a whisper when he added “I want to prove that I’m not the threat they said I am. I want to make a difference.”
Lois was biting her lower lip. “Promise me to be careful.”
He nodded solemnly. “I will be. And now we should both get some rest.”
Lois’ shook her head. “I don’t think I will be able to sleep.”
He smiled at her. “You should give it a try.”
Clark hobbled back to the spot on the floor where he had been sleeping until Lois had woken him so violently. Gingerly, he lowered himself to his knees and then sat down next to his makeshift bed. Lois got down beside him and slid open the zipper of the sleeping bag. She spread out the bag until there was enough room for two people to lay down on it.
“Here, that should make you more comfortable,” she said. She patted on the bedding invitingly. “It’s a big bag.” Clark could hardly tell in the dark, but he thought her cheeks looked flushed. “We could share.”
Though the invitation was tempting, he hesitated. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Please, Clark,” she begged. “I get that you don’t think that we can ever be friends. But perhaps just for tonight you could let me be your friend.”
“Okay.” Clark reluctantly gave in as she reached for his hand and pulled him toward the sleeping bag that now resembled a blanket rather than a bag.
He lay down on one side with his back on her. From behind him, he felt her arm around his chest, lightly touching him. As Clark’s eye-lids drooped, he felt better than he had in hours. It was as though the kryptonite poisoning had never happened.
“Good night, Clark,” he heard her whisper from behind.
“G’night, Lois,” he mumbled.
Then he was fast asleep.
To be continued…
Last edited by bakasi; 08/27/21 08:19 AM.
