The Love of His Life - Chapter Nine

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Chapter Nine

Clark backed away from Lana. As soon as he did he felt himself return to normal. He tried to look inside the pendant she wore but his x-ray vision couldn't penetrate it. 

It's some kind of meteor rock I've never seen before.

Clark had never seen blue meteor rocks before. He'd grown up fearing the green rocks. While the blue didn't cause him any pain, he feared them. They frightened him on a level so deep he couldn't name it. 

"What's wrong?" Lana asked, watching Clark continue to back away from her. She came in and shut the door softly.

"Nothing. Where'd you get that necklace?"

Lana looked down at it and ran her fingers over the stone. "At the fair. I won it shooting ducks."

Clark knew that was a lie. "That's an awfully expensive gift to give away for shooting ducks, Lana."

She decided to change tactics. Her smile went from sweet to hard. "Okay, I'll fess up. It's a gift from Whitney."

"You weren't wearing it when I left you at the fair."

"He and I met up after that. I took the necklace and told him to fuck off. I didn't come  here to talk about Whitney. I came here to apologize for how I acted at the fair. Why don't we go up to your room and talk?"

"I don't think so."

She heaved a sigh. "Fine. Sit with me on the couch."

"Just tell me what you want."

"Come find out."

Clark wanted to kick her out. He figured the blue rock wouldn't render him completely weak, as the green ones did, but he didn't want to chance permanent damage from exposure to a new meteor rock. Still, he had to find out what she wanted. He had to get rid of her but not before he could figure out her game.

Lana patted the seat next to her on the couch so he sat down. As soon as he did his powers left him in an unsettling rush that left him dizzy and confused.

"You okay?" Lana asked.

"I'm fine."

The material on the couch was softer than it looked. Clark had always imagined that his mother and other humans would find the coarse material rough and unpleasant. The room was too warm for his comfort, too humid, and he wondered how in the hell people managed to work outside in the day in temperatures much higher. He gained a completely new appreciation for his mother and Chloe in that moment.

"You look like you're a million miles away," Lana said softly.

Clark felt a spring poke through the back of the couch and into his back. It hurt. 

"Um…not really."

Lana took his distraction the wrong way, assuming it was her nearness that made Clark nervous, when in fact he was suffering from sensory overload in ways he never had with his powers. He could feel his entire body in a completely new way. He felt his jeans caress his skin, his tee-shirt felt soft but thin--

Lana's hand was on his crotch. 

"Hey!" 

He moved her hand away but she wasn't deterred. She simply threw a leg over him and straddled him. The blue stone was inches from his face, tucked between Lana's breasts. 

"We're good together, Clark. Have you forgotten so soon how good we are when we're skin-on-skin?"

"Sex isn't everything, Lana."

She moved in and slipped her tongue into his mouth. She tasted of something sweet she'd eaten at the fair, but it had soured lightly. His mind immediately went to Chloe. He wanted to pull away. He didn't want to lead Lana on for information--at least not this way.

There was a sudden sharp pain at the back of his neck. Clark pushed Lana away and grabbed her hands.

"What the hell? Did you scratch me?"

"Sorry, I got caught up in the moment."

"You've never scratched me, Lana."

She shrugged. Her indifference pissed Clark off. "I said I was sorry."

God, what did I ever see in her?

"Get out."

He moved her off his lap and stood from the couch. As soon as he did he began to feel like his old self again. He was relieved. He was afraid the new meteor rock would take his powers for good if he was around it much longer. 

Lana looked angry and incredulous. "What?"

"I said get out."

She got up from the couch and came toward him. He continued to back away. He pointed to the door. 

"Get out of my house, Lana."

"Clark, if I leave I will never come back. This is your one and only shot at a second chance."

Clark shook his head in disbelief. "You cheat on me, make a fool of me, and then you have the nerve to come in here and act like you're doing me a favor with a second chance?"

She didn't respond. She just cocked an eyebrow.

"I knew you were a pampered princess, Lana, but I never thought you could be so full of shit. I won't say it again. Get out."

She spun and yanked open the front door. She stopped half way out and gave Clark a chilling glare. "You deserve everything that's coming."

She slammed the door so hard Clark was surprised the glass didn't fall from the frame. She stalked off the porch and around the house, heading for the shortcut that led to her house. 

You deserve everything that's coming.

What the hell did that mean?

"Are you okay?" Martha said, coming down the steps first. 

"She scratched me," Clark said, reaching back to touch his neck. There was some blood there but the wound had healed as soon as he'd moved away from the blue meteor rock. 

"How could she do that?" Martha asked. She stood on tiptoe to examine Clark's neck. 

"She had some kind of pendant on. It had a blue stone in it. Mom…it took my powers. I was completely normal."

Martha and Chloe shared a worried glance. 

"What are you talking about? What stone?" Chloe asked.

"We've told you Clark's powers. We've never told you his weaknesses," Martha said. "Sit down. I have a lot to tell you."

*****

"What are you doing here?" Lucy had rudely demanded as soon as she stepped out of her truck. "You're supposed to stay at the Facility."

"I'm not going to let you squeeze me out of this, Lucy," Lois said. She would use a desire to be kept in the loop as her excuse to stay in Smallville. It wasn't entirely a ruse. She really did need to stay atop things if her plans were going to work out.

"I'm in charge now, Lois."

"Really? I was under the impression Dad was in charge."

"You dropped the ball with Chloe and now I've picked it up. Unlike you, I don't trust the Kents at their word. Now shut up. I have a few calls to make."



Lucy climbed back in her truck. Time seemed to crawl by while Lois waited for her sister to get off the phone. She noticed the Lang girl stomping across the field. Whatever she'd been doing at the Kent house was over. She didn't look too happy about it.



Lana Lang came through a spot in the fence not far from them. She looked Lois over as she approached Lucy, who'd just finished her last call and gotten out of the truck.



"Did you get it?" Lucy asked briskly. Lana was taken aback by the change in Lucy's demeanor. She'd been positively friendly before. 



"Uh, yeah. Here you are."



Lana put her hand up and pointed to her middle finger. Lucy smiled and took out a Q-Tip. She began rubbing it around under Lana's fingernail, taking some kind of sample. She dropped it into an evidence bag that she'd removed from her back pocket.



"What's that?" Lois asked.



"Who is she?" Lana nodded at Lois.



"My partner. This is a huge help, Lana. You've done a great service to your country. You'd best get home now. Things could get dangerous and I don't want you in harms way."



Lana realized she was being dismissed. She had a lot of question but the two women before her didn't look like the type to tolerate disobedience. She moved on. When she'd disappeared into her house, Lois motioned to the bag in Lucy's hand.



"What is that?"



"DNA sample from Clark Kent. See, I gave Dad my report about the Kent boy. He agrees with me. There's something fishy going on with him. We're going to net the place with the blue lasers and find out exactly what's going on in that house."

Lois remained cool though her pulse jumped in her throat. She resisted the desire to swallow, blink, pace, or rake a hand through her hair. Instead she nodded. Damn it, they had a DNA sample from Kent. It would show that he'd been altered by the meteor rocks. They'd have hard proof he was a freak. Things were spiraling out of Lois's control. They were moving too fast.

"Sounds like a good idea. I should have thought of it myself."

Lucy smirked annoyingly. "Yes, you should have. If you weren't so busy trying to hide Chloe you would -- "

The smirk fell from Lucy's face when Lois pulled the gun and aimed it at her with lightning speed. She frowned in confusion. 

"What the hell are you doing, Lois?"

"Things aren't going quite to plan now, thanks to you, Lucy. I'll have to speed things up."

"You're going to shoot your own sister?" Lucy sounded incredulous. It was damn near comical the way her eyebrows had shot up.

Lois laughed bitterly and shook her head. "Don't play the family card with me, you crazy bitch."

Lucy's face hardened. "This is about that whore mother of ours isn't it?"

There was a cold gleam in Lucy's eyes. Perhaps she wanted to get one last dig in since she knew her life was over. She was too much of a psycho to feel fear. She was too proud to beg for her life. She knew begging wouldn't dissuade Lois anyway.

"You betrayed her. You got our own mother killed because she wanted to be loved. You've called her a whore for the last time."

Lucy started to say something else, most likely trying to rile Lois up for a distraction so she could go for her own gun, but whatever words had formed in her mind never reached her lips. Lois pulled the trigger and Lucy's face blossomed into a red mist. Lois stood over her fallen sister and pulled the trigger over and over again, screaming all the pent up rage she'd held in for the past four years until the clip was emptied. Even then the empty click of the gun was hollow in the warm night air.

We're going to net the place with the blue lasers and find out exactly what's going on in that house.

Lucy's head was splintered and bloody on the ground. Her chest was a mush of bloody meat and bone. The phone in her pocket was untouched by the gore. When it rang with the harsh, old fashioned ringtone Lucy favored, Lois pulled it and looked at the display. It was Shriver.

"Hello?"

"Lois?" he said.

"Yeah."

"What the hell are you doing with Lucy's phone?"

"She's grabbing a few minutes of shuteye before the operation."

Lois looked down at Lucy. She had no eyes to shut. She wondered at how easy it had been to kill her sister and how she felt nothing now. Was it shock or was she so completely devoid of love for Lucy that killing her had been as easy as putting down a vicious dog who'd murdered someone she loved?

Lois believed it was the latter.

"What do you want?" Lois asked.

"Tell Lucy to get her ass up. We'll be there in ten."

Lois hung up without another word. She had to move quickly. The team would be there soon and they would undoubtedly find Lucy's remains. When they did she would not be able to talk her way out of it.

Lois grabbed a clip from the van, put on a belt that was supplied with an extra Glock 26 and ammo. She slammed the door, shrugged into a Kevlar vest, and then got a run up to vault the fence. She could make it to the Kent house in one minute if she ran like her hair was on fire, which is exactly what Lois did.

*****

"What does 'net' the house mean?" Martha demanded.

Lois was still panting from her dash across the field when she burst into the house, startling Chloe and Martha. 

"They're going to fire what we call eyes around the house. They plant into the ground and create a network that will scan every inch of the house and give them a complete visual of every room."

"Shit," Chloe breathed.

"Worse, the eyes use blue meteor rock. A house this size will use about ten eyes. They beam through the house, crisscrossing each other."

Chloe spun around to Clark, who stood at the base of the steps, and shook her head. "Clark…"

"Just a sliver of those blue rocks took your powers, Son. Imagine if there were ten of them around the house. You'd be completely mortal. They'd capture you right along with Chloe."

"I'd only be mortal until we got away from the house," Clark countered.

"They use those damned rocks in everything, Clark," Lois said. She didn't have much time to argue with him. "They're even in my vest. We've discovered that the blue stones bond with everything they encounter and enhance them. They're even in my vest."

Lois came within a few feet of Clark and at once he felt his powers fade away. When she backed up he immediately regained his strength. 

"They'll all have vests like these. The stones are in the labs at the Facility. You may never regain your strength enough to escape."

"Who knows, Clark. If you're exposed too long they may permanently take your abilities," Chloe pointed out.

"You have to run, Clark," Martha said.

Outside Lois saw headlights on the road. 

"They're coming. Clark, please," Martha begged.

"I can't just leave you, Mom! They may kill you to take Chloe."

"I'll go surrender."

"No," Clark insisted.

Martha went to her son and took his face in her hands. "Sometimes you have to decide when to fight and when to run. Now is the time to run so you can come back and fight another day."

Clark gasped. 

"What?" I feel weak."

"They're firing the eyes already," Lois said. "Get out the back, Clark. Take me with you. I can't be seen just yet. Trust me on this. I need to go with you. They need to take Chloe."

"Go," Chloe begged. 

Clark didn't have a choice and he knew it. He couldn't fight all of Sam's men while powerless and that's exactly what he'd be when they got here. 

"They'll know she's here soon. Let's go!" Lois insisted. 

He let Lois pull him toward the back door. He gave his mother and Chloe one last look before moving through the kitchen and out the back door where Lois shed her vest. 

As soon as they were half way across the field Clark felt his powers return. Lois surprised him by jumping into his arms.

"Time to fly, Smallville," she said. 

General Sam Lane had arrived at the farm. Clark heard him barking orders to his men as they finished netting the house. 

"She's inside!" a man's voice shouted. It was loud enough even for Lois to hear. It was Shriver.

"Now, Clark!"

Lois tried not to faint when the ground receded at alarming speed. Soon they were high above the farm, looking down on the house. Spotlights on the trucks illuminated the front of the house like it was daylight.

"I'll burn them all to hell," he said. 

"Save it for the Facility. I need you to get me there, Clark. I have a plan that will shut them down for good."

"You keep saying that, Lois, but you haven't told me anything about it. Start talking or I drop you now and destroy your father and his men before they take Chloe and Mom."

"Then listen up. It's time to end this once and for all."

*****

"They'll kill me," Martha said. "You know they will. I'm not a meta human and they can't just leave me to call the police."

Chloe swallowed hard. Crushing guilt made her eyes water with tears. "I should have left Smallville. I'm so sorry, Martha. I'm so sorry."

Martha took Chloe's hand in hers. "I knew the risk when I told you to stay. This isn't your fault. Promise me one thing. Promise you'll take care of Clark. He'll blame himself for this and he'll want to take vengeance on someone. I have no doubt he'll kill Sam Lane and everyone at that Facility but I don't want that to happen."

"You should," Chloe said in a hard voice. "They deserve it."

"I don't my son to shed blood, Chloe. He can't become a killer. With powers like his, Clark has to have an unshakable belief in the sanctity of human life no matter how low the person in question is. He can never believe he can play God with people, Chloe. He can't become bitter. Don't let that happen."

"How can I stop it?"

Martha squeezed Chloe's hand. "Love him. Love him with all your heart and soul."

The door splintered when it was kicked in. A man Martha didn't recognize came in with his gun drawn and aimed at Martha. Chloe stepped in front of her. 

"Back off, Shriver," Sam Lane said, coming in behind him. "You might hit the girl in the heart. Hello, Chloe. How about a hug for your Uncle Sam?"

*****

"Whatever you're going to do, just get it over with," Martha said. She kept trying to move from behind Chloe but the girl refused to stop shielding her.

"You like it when a man just bends you right over, huh?" Shriver said. 

Martha was in her mid fifties, about a decade older than Shriver. She was a beautiful woman yet, with her red hair, lightly streaked with gray, and her still slender figure. He looked her over as much as he could with Chloe trying to shield her.

"I could bend you right over before I do the deed."

"Enough, Shriver," Sam said. 

"Yeah. No need to be disrespectful before you murder her," Chloe said. She spat at both of the men. Shriver's hand shot out like a snake and caught Chloe hard, making dots of light dance before her eyes.

"Do I have to send you outside?" Sam asked Shriver, his voice warming with annoyance.

"No sir. I'll be a good boy."

"See that you do."

Sam looked at Martha. "I figured you were harboring the girl. Now I know I was right. No hard feelings, Mrs. Kent. I know how easy it is for a woman to feel maternal for a lost kid. Especially one as cute as little Chloe here."

Sam drew his gun and aimed it at Martha.

"No hard feelings."

"She's a meteor freak," Chloe said, putting herself in the line of fire by turning to face Martha and hugging her head to her chest.

"She'd say anything to save the old gal," Shriver said.

"I've got all the freaks I need for my…endeavors."

"None of them are like her," Chloe said hastily.

"Really? And what amazing ability does she have?" Sam sounded half bored half aggravated.

"You can't lie to her."

He snorted. Shriver laughed. 

"So?" Shriver asked.

"Test her. Test her right now before you kill her. It won't take a second," Chloe begged. "Please. Don't kill her."

"Even if it's true I don't have a need for a human lie detector."

"There's always a need to be able to tell when someone is lying or not. I know you're working with Lex Luthor. I've seen him at the Facility. Do you really think you can trust him? He's using you as much as you're using him. The only difference is you'll never know when he's about to turn on you. Martha could feel out exactly what he is and isn't lying about."

Sam looked at Martha with renewed interest. "Open your mouth, Shriver, I'll fire a bullet into it," he said, just as Shriver started to speak. "Move, Chloe. I'm not going to kill her--yet."

Though it was the last thing she wanted to do, Chloe released Martha and put her before her uncle, exposed, and hoped to God he wouldn't pull the trigger. To her credit, Martha faced Sam with her chin held high.

"Please Martha. Do this for Clark."

Martha sighed. She wasn't in a hurry to die. She wasn't afraid of death but she didn't want to leave her boy. He still needed her love and guidance. She'd do anything to live for him.

Sam studied her as he thought up some questions that Chloe couldn't have possibly discussed with Martha during her stay on the Kent farm. "Answer true or false. I first drove a car when I was twelve."

"True."

"I had my first hard drink when I was twenty-two."

"False."

"I lost my virginity when I was thirteen."

"True."

"The first person I ever killed was my own father."

"True."

"I'm going to make this world a better place by ruling it with an iron fist. No more murder, no more rape, no more misery from human scum. Justice for all."

"False," Martha said. 

There was a look of triumph in Sam's eyes, as though he'd proven Martha was nothing more than a good guesser. 

"But you believe it's true," she added. "You really believe what you say but I can tell you that taking freedom from the people and oppressing them has never worked to make the world we live in a better place."

"Bring them both, Shriver," Sam said.

He turned and stepped out onto the porch. As Martha passed, he grabbed her by the arm and leaned into whisper so that only she could hear.

"If you ever give me reason to doubt you, Martha Kent, I will personally put a bullet in your heart. I'll do the same to Chloe. Tell me if I'm lying about that."

Martha knew he was serious. She sensed no lying in him now. She nodded, and he released her arm. There'd be a bruise where his hand gripped her within hours. 

Martha was shoved into the back of a truck with Chloe. She held the girl as they pulled away from the farm toward an uncertain future. She looked back at her house, which was still surrounded by Sam Lane's men, and she wondered if she would ever see the place again. 

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