My posting schedule for the next couple of weeks is very up in the air as I'm not sure where I'll be when. The goal is to post twice more before January 5th (when I hope to get back to a normal posting schedule, although that will partly depend on my ability to write as I've fallen shamefully behind again), but I'm not sure when those two posts will be.
Thank you, as always, to Carol, Kelly, and Beth for all their help in whipping this into shape to be read!
Incidentally, just in case you were wondering, this chapter includes not only the only mention of Luthor in this story, but also something that will probably explain why it is that nothing in this story is as it was when Clark first arrived Metropolis in canon.
From Chapter 17
“Are you okay?” I asked realizing how pale he looked.
“It was awful,” he said quietly. “There were so many victims – thirty injuries and a dozen deaths.”
“Wow! Did they catch the guy?” I asked. There was still no news on that when I fell asleep.
Chad nodded. “I heard on my way home that the police found him a little ways out of town.”
I placed a hand on his cheek. He still looked pale.
“It was so awful, Lois,” he whispered and I could tell that the breakdown was coming. “There was a little boy there, no older than three. Shot right in the head.”
I moved closer to wrap my arms around him, bringing his head to my breast to stroke his hair.
“I don't understand. How can someone do that?” he asked. I could feel him trembling beneath my hands and I said nothing, letting him get it all out.
“I bet nothing like this ever happens in Smallville,” he whispered before he stilled and fell asleep.
Chapter 18
May 1994
I yawned for the third time in the last hour. It was the slowest news day in the history of the news. Okay, so maybe not, but it was slow.
“Let's do something,” Clark suggested.
“What?”
“Let's go somewhere, do something. You are going to fall asleep if we sit here with nothing to do much longer, and I'm slowly wearing the floor down by moving my chair back and forth. Anything would be more exciting than this,” Clark said.
I got up and grabbed my purse. “I would think you'd be well practiced at slow news days. It couldn't have been busy all the time while you traveled.”
Clark shrugged. “I was freelancing, so I didn't notice it so much. If it was slow, I just had more time to for site seeing.”
“Oh, site seeing. Great idea! Let's go to the top of LexTower!” I said, suddenly excited. Visiting LexTower was one of those things you did often on field trips as a kid, but I hadn't been to the top since sometime in elementary school.
“You want to go to the LexTower observation deck?” Clark asked.
I shrugged. “I haven't been since I was a kid. I haven't even seen what they did to the inside since Luthor donated all his things to Metropolis and moved to that deserted island.”
“What?” Clark asked and I was reminded that not having lived here all his life, Clark probably had no idea who Lex Luthor was.
“Haven't you ever wondered who Lex Luthor is?” I asked him. “LexTower, LNN, Luthor Centennial Park?”
“I thought it was just Centennial Park?” Clark said.
I shrugged. “The Luthor got added on when I was in college. Most people don't use it, but it's on all the signs.”
“So,” Clark asked, grinning at me as we exited the elevator, “who was Lex Luthor?”
“When we were kids, he was the wealthiest man in Metropolis,” I told him. “Luthor owned most of the city – he was the third richest man in the world, I think. But there was some sort of tragedy in his family – I can't recall what, but his wife and daughter died and he kind of retreated. I guess he had been proud of all his success before that, but when he lost his family he realized money couldn't buy him everything.
“So, he donated most of the buildings and stuff to the city, gave them a huge endowment for the park, and just kept enough to be able to spend the rest of his life on this deserted island he owned. I kind of thought it was a joke at the time, and it was only so long before he'd come back, but that was about ten years ago, and he's still there.”
“Wow,” Clark said. “That must be lonely.”
I nodded. “Yeah, so they've redone LexTower. In Luthor's day it was just an office building with only the lobby and the observation deck open to the public. Now, the elevator stops at some floors in the middle that chronicle all the things Luthor did for the city.”
“And that's what you want to do today?” Clark asked me.
“Yes. Is that okay with you?” I asked.
“It's fine with me,” he smiled.
“So,” I asked as we got on the subway. “How are you doing? With the thing with Rachel?” I hadn't asked him about it since the night of the shooting and Clark hadn't volunteered any information either. It had been three weeks now, though. Hopefully it wouldn't be too painful to talk about. He certainly seemed more cheerful.
“I'm okay,” Clark nodded. “I still miss her, but I also still think it was the right thing to do.”
I nodded to show I understood.
“I actually talked to her last night,” Clark said.
“You did?” I was surprised. I know Clark said he still wanted to have her in his life, but I guess I didn't really believe that they'd be able to just be friends.
He nodded. “I'm going home in a couple of weeks for Memorial Day. I thought it made sense to talk by phone first so things wouldn't be awkward if we ran into each other.”
“And?” I prodded him when he didn't offer more information.
“And it was nice. Weird, I guess. This is the longest we haven't spoken in years. It made the conversation feel a bit forced at the beginning. But we got past it and it was good to talk to her.”
“How's she doing?” I asked.
Clark smiled. “She's good. She just got re-elected.”
“I didn't realize her term was almost up,” I said.
“Well, she doesn't like to talk about it. The whole thing makes her nervous. This is what she's wanted to do her whole life. I'm not sure what she would do if she lost. Personally, I don't think it's likely to ever happen. Lowell County doesn't have term limits for sheriff and Dan was sheriff all the time I was growing up until Rachel took over.”
“And she's good at it,” I said.
“Yes, she is,” Clark said, sounding a little sad now.
“So, aside from work. Is she doing well?” I asked.
“She sounded… like she was doing okay. Some of the early vegetables are blooming in her garden and she said she planted some flowers this year,” he said.
“I can't imagine having a garden that big to take care,” I admitted.
Clark laughed, “Yeah, I can't imagine you having a garden that big either. But Rachel loves it.”
We grew silent as the subway reached our stop and we made our way back to street-level. “She's going on vacation this summer,” Clark said, seeming to be deep in thought. “She hasn't taken a real vacation in awhile as she's used all her vacation days to visit me where ever I've been.”
“Where's she going?” I asked.
“She said she wasn't sure. She was thinking of going to Alaska. Her dad has an old friend who lives up there she could stay with.”
“Wow!” I said impressed. “That would be quite a trip. Is she at all nervous about it?”
“I don't know,” Clark said. “I don't think she'd say. We're both a little skittish around each other now, you know? We need to negotiate carefully so we can still be friends when it's over.”
I nodded. “If anyone can make it work, it's you and Rachel.”
************************
“You're in a good mood,” Chad mentioned as I closed the door. “I thought it was a slow news day.”
“It was,” I told him. “So, Clark and I played hooky for most of the afternoon.”
“What did you do?” he smiled at me.
“We went to the top of LexTowers. Explored those new floors. Well, old floors I guess, but the ones about Luthor.”
“Were they interesting?” he asked as I sat down on the couch next to him.
I shrugged, “The stuff about all Luthor did for Metropolis? No. I knew all of that and even if I didn't, I'm not sure I'd care. But it was a beautiful day to be outside and clear enough that the view from the top was great.”
Chad moved closer to place a kiss on the top of my head. “I have to go,” he said, getting up.
“I thought you were done with the ER shifts,” I whined.
Chad gave me a strange look. “I'm not going to the ER. I told you. I'm going out with Clark. We're going to start the first of the tests.”
“Oh,” I said, remembering now. Chad and Clark were supposed to go out tonight to test Clark's abilities and then come by a little later for dinner.
“Clark said he'd pick something up for dinner if you have any special requests,” Chad told me. I thought carefully. It was definitely different trying to choose what I wanted for dinner when Clark was picking it up.
“I don't care,” I finally said. “Anything you two want.”
************************
I heard Chad's key in the lock two hours later and he came in, smiling. “Clark said he'd be back in a minute. He's just going to pick up the food.”
“What's he getting?” I asked.
“I don't know. I told him that anything we hadn't tried before would be good as long as it wasn't too out there,” Chad said.
“How did it go?”
Chad shrugged. “I don't know. I'm a little worried about pushing him too much.”
“Isn't that the point?”
“Not physically. Or… let me rephrase,” Chad said. “I'm not afraid to push him too much physically. I'm afraid to push him too much emotionally. I don't want to scare him off.
“I mean, I am curious about his biology, but I want his questions to guide what we do, you know? I don't want him to feel like… I don't know how to say what I'm thinking,” Chad sat down looking frustrated.
“It's okay,” I said, placing a hand on his arm. “I understand.”
Clark knocked right then and Chad got up to let him in.
“So, what'd you get?” I asked.
“Well, I'm not sure what you'll think, but I decided on fish and chips from England. But in case you didn't like that, I got a Ploughman's Platter, too. It's sort of a weird dinner, but makes a nice appetizer if you're okay with fish and chips,” Clark explained.
“What is it?” Chad asked as Clark started unpacking the bag.
“It's finger food mostly,” Clark explained. “It's Irish, I think. It comes with different things, but mostly fruit and cheese. This one has a hunk of Stilton Cheddar and a bleu cheese. There are some grapes and apple slices and some mango chutney. Also, some pickles – these look like sours to me. And some bread.”
“Wow,” I said. “That's a dinner?”
“No,” Clark smiled. “Like I said it is a sort of weird dinner. Although it's not uncommon to have at a pub, particularly at lunch time.”
We each put some of the food on our plate and sat down. “So, want to talk about it?” I asked Clark.
“What?” he asked and I had to wonder if he was being purposely obtuse.
“The tests?” I prodded him.
“Oh. They were… well, I think they went well. Right, Chad?” Clark asked.
Chad swallowed the French fry he was eating, although I guess these were called chips, and smiled. “Yeah, I think we're already learning a lot.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“The fastest I can go around the world is 3.67 seconds,” Clark told me.
“You can go around the world in less than five seconds?” I asked amazed.
“Well, not with stopping,” Clark said.
“And he slows down to a full three minutes if he carries me,” Chad said.
“You flew around the world with Clark?” I asked. Now I was getting jealous.
“It wasn't… that much fun,” Chad blushed, and I knew he was lying.
“Yeah, right,” I said, smiling at him. “So why so much slower with Chad?” I asked Clark.
“Well, it's actually sort of hard to determine my fastest speed with someone else. The three minute estimate is really more indicative of what I'm comfortable with. I know I can't carry people and go as fast I normally go without it being detrimental to them, but I'm not really sure how fast is too fast. I went faster with Chad than I've ever gone before, and obviously much faster than when I flew with you to Kansas, but… I just can't go any faster. It makes me nervous that by the time Chad told me something was wrong, it would be too late.”
I nodded. I had never really thought before about how much Clark must hold himself back given his abilities. I know I'm competitive, but I have to imagine that almost anyone would feel this way – it's just weird not to do things the best you are able.
Clark, though, couldn't really do that, could he? I mean, imagine him in the newsroom typing as fast as he could. Not only would that draw a lot of attention, but I'm not even sure keyboards are made to withstand that kind of speed.
It must be really hard for him though, when he has someone who's injured – when he needs to get them to the hospital as fast as possible, but can't hurt them in the process.
“How do you do it?” I asked him.
“Do what?” both Chad and Clark responded.
“Manage to act normal all the time. Don't you just want to type faster, run faster… I don't know. It just seems like it must be so hard to hold yourself back.”
Clark laughed. “I can't imagine how you would ever do it.”
“Very funny,” I gave him a look to let him know I did not appreciate the sentiment.
“I don't know that I can explain it,” he said. “I don't have to try to do something super, so much as I can sort of feel when I'm doing it. Sort of like an appliance with a low and a high setting. I can feel when I'm on my "super' setting. If I just don't… turn it on, I guess, I don't have trouble not going faster than normal.”
“Wow,” I thought. Not that this was a new thought, but how cool would it be to have a super setting?
“Although,” Clark admitted, “I do sort of "cheat' a lot.”
“Like how?” I asked, and I could hear the slight challenge in my voice.
“Well, if I'm late for a deadline, I'll use super-speed typing when no one's watching. And when I'm alone I tend to do things that way. Or there are some things that don't have an… off switch or whatever. Rachel could never understand why I refused to buy pot holders, but the truth was that I'd forget since I never need them.”
“That would be cool to test,” Chad said.
“What?” I asked and I could see Clark looking at Chad quizzically.
“Well, I wonder why you can withstand hotter things. It's not the same as speed really. Do you have less heat receptors?” Chad wondered.
“That can't be it,” I said. “Isn't there some sort of disease like that? And those people burn even though they don't feel the heat.”
Chad nodded. “You're right. So, maybe Clark's skin is…”
“Flame retardant,” Clark suggested, smiling. I realized it was the first time I had ever seen him smiling when talking about his special abilities.
“Something like that,” Chad smiled back at him.
************************
“Where's Clark?” I asked Perry. It was the Tuesday after Memorial Day weekend, and while Clark took off early on Friday, I was pretty sure he was supposed to be back today. I had been running sort of late myself, but was pretty sure I hadn't seen Clark at his desk when I passed by.
“He called in sick,” Perry told me. Clark was sick? How was that possible?
“Perry… I just remembered, I'm supposed to check with a source this morning. Can I be a little late to the meeting?”
Perry gave me a dirty look, but didn't say anything, so I took my stuff and ran back to my desk. I had to make the call quickly or he would have managed to assign me to some lame dog show or something by the time I got to the meeting.
“Hello?” came the voice on the other end of the line.
“Martha?” I asked. “This is Lois.”
“Lois, hi!” she replied, sounding genuinely pleased to hear from me.
“Hi. Um… Perry said Clark called in sick. I didn't think he could get sick,” I said quietly, deciding not to beat around the bush.
Martha laughed slightly. “I think he's fine, but I'm sure he'll be happy to talk to you. I'll go get him.”
“Thanks, Martha,” I said before I heard her place the phone on the counter.
“Didn't you get my message?” Clark asked a second later.
I glanced at my phone and realized the message light was blinking, but I hadn't really paid attention before now. “No,” I admitted. “I was running late today so went directly to the staff meeting. What's going on?”
Clark sighed, “I was helping my dad with some stuff on the farm. Remember I told you there's some weird green rock that saps my powers?”
“Yes,” I answered, seeing where this was going.
“Well, we turned up more of it,” Clark said.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I felt pretty awful yesterday, but I seem to be okay today. But no super-powers so I don't have a way back to Metropolis.”
I laughed. “I guess that makes sense. Do you think you'll be back tomorrow?”
“I hope so,” he said. “You know, when I was a teenager I wanted nothing more than to be normal. But now… I feel like something's missing when I am.”
“Trust me, Clark,” I told him. “Powers or not, you are not normal.”
