Dawn of a Legend

[arkaniel]

Dawn of a Legend

Rating: PG-13 (just to be safe, I am used writing under this rating)
Disclaimer: Except for the DVD-boxes of each season I don’t own anything linked to Smallville. standard disclaimer
This story was already once posted on *** by me, but it is a revised edition.
Summary: This is an AU version of Smallville, now playing in Metropolis. It starts just before Clark’s fourth year of High school. The first chapter will explain more.
Feedback: Feedback, including constructive criticism is very much appreciated, also you can always make suggestions for certain developments in the story. While I already have the first dozen chapters worked out, I have no problem adjusting things to make my story better…


Chapter 1: A New Home


Clark stood gazing at the Redstone townhouse that was about to become the new Kent residence. It was rather large, larger than he expected when his parents told him they had found a nice place in Metropolis. It was still an uncomfortable thought they were moving from a farm to one of the biggest city in the country.

However, moving away from Smallville was a necessity, now they had discovered that Clark was highly allergic to Kryptonite. Until a month ago it wouldn’t have made much of a difference, but recently a new meteor shower hit Smallville. There were so many meteor rocks now around that Clark could barely leave the farm without getting sick.

Unable to come up with a good explanation if anyone saw him collapse out of pain whenever he would be in town or even at school or for why he always stayed on the farm, Martha and Jonathan decided to sell the farm. They good quite a nice price for the farm as well, seeing it was one of the only ones not being hit by the meteors…

“Clark, are you going to stand there all day, gazing like a farmboy in the big city, or could you help carrying our belongings inside”, Jonathan asked with a smirk. Clark was pulled out his thoughts and immediately went to work, a smile playing across his face after his father’s remark.

This was indeed the first time he was in Metropolis and he was a bit shocked at first about the size of it, but he liked the neighbourhood in which they were about to live. It was somewhere in between the city itself and the suburbs. The roads here were broad and there were trees on both sides, but the houses didn’t have a front yard and only a few square metres of yard at the back. That would require some getting used to, but the house looked very nice and spacious.

While carrying the furniture from the truck to the house, he had to pretend everything was heavy, since it was daylight and they were out on the street. Once inside, he could use his strength and speed to quickly arrange the furniture how his mom wanted it. The spaceship was hidden in one of the larger closets they had and once inside he moved it to the basement

As the hours passed, the moving in came to an end. During that time, Clark’s five-year-old sister, Elizabeth, had fallen asleep on one of the couches in the living room. Martha and Jonathan, both exhausted, watched her sleep and shared one of those looks that meant ‘Everything will be all right’. Standing there in an embrace, with a content look on their faces, they were interrupted by the loud rumbling of Clark’s stomach.

“I guess it is time to feed our boy with the bottomless stomach”, Martha remarked. She shrugged her head in amusement and went to the kitchen to prepare something out of the few provisions they had taken with them. Clark smiled at the remark and winked at his dad before he super-speeded through the house, putting as good as everything in its appropriate place. Two minutes later he stopped in exact the same spot where he started, smugly saying: “It is only fair I do something in return for the food.”

At dinner, all the Kents made some small talk, relaxing themselves into their new home and the new life which had now officially started. Both Martha and Jonathan had found a job with decent hours and decent pay. Jonathan would start as the football coach at the local junior high next week, when school started again. Martha would begin at a law firm downtown in two weeks.

They trusted Clark enough to let him watch his little sister, Liz, till they were back from work. Clark would go to the local High school, which was about three blocks away and Liz her school was close to that, so Clark could take her home on his way back from school.

“What are we going to do tomorrow”, Clark asked. “Well, we are going to get both you and your dad a new wardrobe. Now we no longer live in Smallville, the two of you no longer have any excuse to wear plaid ever again. Besides, I don’t think wearing farm clothes would give you a good image in a city like this.” Secretly, Martha had to admit she didn’t mind the plaid at all, but the possibility of dressing up the two gorgeous men in her life was too much to pass up.

“I thought you liked me wearing farm clothes”, Jonathan interrupted, “I even remember you referring to it as giving me this extra-rugged look.” Clark, expecting where this was going, quickly said: “Thanks mom, Liz and I are going to watch some television now…” With these words, he grabbed Liz by the hand and dragged her to the living room…

Days later, the night before school started again, Clark couldn’t get to sleep. He was nervous a bit and also a bit afraid. He never had any real friends in Smallville, since he didn’t dare let anyone get close. At first it was because of his powers, but six years ago he found the spaceship his parents had hidden in the storm cellar. His approach somehow activated it and a voice from the ship announced it was not yet time… after which it emitted a large white pulse of light that hit the entire farm.

Being frightened by the event, he ran to his parents and they explained the little they knew about his origin. Learning that he was an alien was quite a shock, but after a little while that shock wore off when the happy news came his mom was unexpectedly and also miraculously pregnant…

Clark was afraid he would never find friends to confide in, nor someone to share his life with. He had seen how people who were different were treated in Smallville, admittedly, several went insane and homicidal, but there were others who just lived with the abilities they suddenly gained, for no apparent reason.

Well, the reason was apparent now, since LuthorCorp had taken interest in the many strange things happening in Smallville. So when Clark’s secret would be exposed to the wrong person, he would either become a labrat for LuthorCorp or he would be hunted down be people like Van McNulty…

At last, Clark drifted off to sleep, possible scenarios for friends or nightmares spooking through his head…

[smallvillewolf17]

I'm loving this story. PPMS!

[shlyish]

This is very interesting.
I like it.
Glad there wont be a whole lot of plaid on Clark.
I'll look forward to reading more.
And I love that Clark has a lil sister.
PPMS

[Red K 5]

I like it... ppms

He never had any real friends in Smallville, since he didn’t dare let anyone get close.

Clark was afraid he would never find friends to confide in, nor someone to share his life with.
so he never met Chloe or Pete:confused:

[Supertom72]

It´s a great start.
Can´t wait to read more.
PPMS

[arkaniel]

Chapter 2: Many meetings


After dropping of Liz at her school, Clark walked further down the block to his own school. The building was far larger than the one in Smallville and after entering he felt a little lost in the huge entrance hall. He made his way through the crowd of people, which were al catching up with others or trying to find their way like him. He felt a bit like a freshman, everything here was new and unknown. However different and new this was, though, some things are the same everywhere. Here, too, were ‘packs’ of giggling cheerleaders and groups of guys in their sport’s jacket, being white and blue, the colours of Metropolis.

Checking his schedule, He made his way to the second floor, where his History class was supposed to be. Walking through the hallway he heard the first bell, so he hurried a bit to find his class in time. Just when the second bell rang, he entered the right classroom. He quickly scanned it for an empty seat and went to the closest available one. He noticed several people in the room staring at him, probably wondering who he was. This thought was confirmed when his super-hearing picked up some muttered questions between some of the students.

One of these students was a beautiful, exotic-looking girl with long raven-dark hair, by the name of Lana Lang. She whispered to her neighbour: “Chloe, you know who that is?” The blonde girl sitting next to her turned her head and cocked her eyebrow in her smirk when she answered: “Why do you want to know Lana? You have the hots for our stranger? Or is it just your thirst for uncovering secrets that is talking here?” She winked as Lana blushed, for she indeed thought the tall guy was incredibly handsome in his black short-sleeved shirt and his dark blue jeans.

Before she could reply, the teacher entered the room, asking complete silence, before he began with his class. No small talk with this one, not even on the first day of school. Lana, Chloe and Pete followed this class, because it was useful for their future Journalism major at college and, though the teacher was a strict no-nonsense one, the classes were very interesting.

Lana soon noticed she was too distracted to follow the class much and the reason for this distraction sat right in front of her. She admired his dark messy hair (Kal-style) and the broad shoulders and back she saw, which were a promise for the very athletic body hidden underneath the shirt. Also the thick muscles on what showed of his arms were a distracting preview for how he might look without clothes…

‘Right, stop it here Lana, you are way out of the decent area’, she thought to herself, ‘But he is so good-looking…’ She sighed, loud enough for Chloe to hear, and kept staring at the strong back and the little bit of tanned skin from his neck. Chloe snickered softly, but at the same time, feeling sorry for her, since she knew that this was probably another airheaded sports stud, whose only interest in Lana would probably consist of her beauty and nicely shaped body…

Clark was drinking in the words of the teacher. History was one of his favourite classes and this teacher knew his stuff. He also presented the subject in a way that keeps people interested, instead of the boring lecturing of his Smallville High history teacher.
However, his super-hearing caught the soft sigh and the even softer snickering behind him, he wanted to ignore it, but he also felt the familiar sense of eyes looking at him, so he couldn’t resist turning around…

He looked straight into the most intense hazel eyes of the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Clark nearly forgot to breathe, but coming to his senses quickly, he flashed a smile at the girl before turning back again and focussing on the teacher. Somehow it seemed less interesting now and he kept imagining the face and especially the hazel eyes of the girl… ‘Come on Clark, this is no time for such musings, focus again. But she is so gorgeous… True, but will she keep looking at you once she finds out you’re an alien…? Wouldn’t count on it.’ After these thoughts, it was easier to focus on the class again, though he felt a bit sad for it…

Lana nearly had a heart-attack when the stranger suddenly turned around and looked her straight in the face. That heart-attack was instantly replaced by a swarm of butterflies in her bely when she saw his smile. She figured no one could resist such a gorgeous smile, at least she couldn’t and then she noticed his eyes… They were deep emerald green, but at the same time it seemed as if there was a veil of blue over them… it was indescribable, but she nearly drowned in his eyes, only to be released by their spell when he turned back… She was falling for him, quite hard actually, and it felt amazing. She would never have imagined falling for someone just by his looks, since she always thought she was no superficial person when it came to relationships. Clearly she was mistaken, however, maybe she mistook her feelings for physical attraction… She didn’t know…

Being occupied by her thoughts, she didn’t notice the class was already over till Chloe shook her by the shoulders: “Lana, wake up, tall, dark and handsome is long gone already.” She chuckled when Lana looked at her and Pete with a dazed, far away look on her face. ‘’Geez, this girl has it bad, I hope she won’t get hurt. It has been ages since she dated someone, since all her dates immediately went for the make-out session, instead for trying to know the girl underneath all that beauty…’ “Well, maybe I can urge you to some action another way. You can see your stud in his full glory if you come with us now, remember, we have gym now…” She chuckled again when Lana came finally to her senses and hurried getting her stuff together so they could go.

It finally dawned on Pete what was the cause of Lana’s absent minded behaviour. ‘Oh boy, I hope that guy won’t join Whitney’s club of “We like to annoy and make fun of Pete”, It will break her heart by the looks of it… As for that matter, I hope He doesn’t join them for my sake as well, he is even taller and more muscular then the great mighty Whitney himself.’ His thoughts were interrupted by Chloe’s words: “Pete, why don’t you go ahead…” Before she finished her sentence, he kissed her and said: “Okay, I’ll see you there”. And he hurried to the locker room, knowing that she just wanted to talk to Lana a bit more privately…

When Pete hurried ahead of them, Chloe and Lana also made their way, slowly, to the girl’s locker room. Chloe wanted to say something to Lana about her obvious infatuation, but was surprised when Lana suddenly asked: “Do you think I make a chance with him?”

Unsure of how to answer without hurting her, she decided her trademarked straight-to-the-point point of view would be the most appreciated, though maybe less pleasant to hear. “I think you certainly make a chance, any guy who doesn’t want you would have to be either blind or gay, but I think it would be for the wrong reasons that he wanted you…”, Chloe trailed of. Having caught Lana’s attention with those last words, she responded: “What do you mean, the wrong reasons?” Being somewhat comforted by Lana’s casual tone, Chloe tried to explain: “I think he is just like the rest of the sports studs, like Whitney and company. He would just want you for your looks, make out a bit, maybe something more, just so he could brag about it.” Realising this might sound a bit harsh, Chloe added quickly: “I must admit I don’t know if he is like that, but most guys with his looks and body are like that and I would prefer it if you don’t get hurt, for I know you want more out of a relationship.”

Lana felt a sting of hurt after Chloe’s words, but that was quickly drowned when she heard the care in her best friend’s voice. “I know what you mean and you are probably right, Chloe…” She valued her friends honesty and care, but the unexpected feelings kept
nagging at her… “It is just, there are more good looking guys around and none of them makes me feel what I now feel about this one”, Lana said with a wavering voice, unsure what to think about these feelings. Chloe thought for a second and then said: “You know, don’t try anything yet, if you give it some time, we’ll see what kind of guy he really is and with which people he hangs out. If you still like him then, I’ll help you make your move.” That last sentence was accompanied with a smirk and a soft slap on Lana’s shoulder.

During gym, they played basketball. The guys on one field in a six-on-six and the girls on the other field in a five-on-five set up. One of the teams was of course headed by

Whitney and when it came to picking out members, he choose his friends from the football team, sure of another victory against the team of geeks and other weaklings. If there was one more spot on his team, he had wanted to chose the new guy, which was taller and stronger build than even himself. Instead he decided to let him play on the other team, with Pete and the like. If he showed potential, next time, he would invite the guy to his extensive club of friends.

Pete learned that the new guy’s name was Clark Kent and introduced himself, like the rest of the team, as Pete Ross. Clark seemed genuinely nice to them, even if the other team considered them to be weak and unworthy –High school could be so juvenile-.

Discussing their positions and strategy, Clark volunteered to be in defence, reasoning his height and posture would give him an advantage blocking the other team. When the game started, Whitney rushed to the ring, using his body to push any defence in his way aside or simply run them over. His condition was excellent, as he was the starting quarterback, and he could keep up this brutal rush type of playing for an entire game of basketball. Though, when he neared the ring, Clark somehow managed to offhand him the ball, dribble around him and make a shot for Whitney’s ring. It was an amazing shot and it gained Pete’s team their first three points.

Both teams looked at Clark in awe, as did some of the girls from the other side of the hall, which were admiring the guys in their basketball shirts. As they heard the cheers from Pete and the rest of that team, Chloe and Lana turned their attention to them as well. The coach, who followed the unfolding game, didn’t pay attention to the girls anymore, who took their chance and stopped playing in order to watch the new guy wipe the floor with the other team.

Whitney, feeling humiliated and angry for being stopped so easily by Clark, urged his team mates to play better and a bit ruder, too. They were not going to lose from THEM… When Clark noticed the rude play from the opposite team and the bruises of his own team mates, he decided that it was time these macho’s were taught a little lesson. If there was one thing he hated, it was people like Whitney, not reluctant from using force to get what they want or to win.

Not wanting to be selfish, he also made passes to his team mates, instead of scoring each time himself when he stopped another charge from the opposite team. Though, by still not using his abilities, he wasn’t able to stop every charge. So when time was up, it was a close victory for Pete’s team by 39-34. Except for Clark, all of them were exhausted, panting and sweating like a pig. Not wanting to draw too much attention, he pretended to pant, too, and when drinking a bit, spilled some water on his face and shirt.

Several of the girls tried to ‘comfort’ the losing team, which were the six hunks, with Whitney as captain. The other girls, under which Chloe and Lana, rushed to congratulate Pete and his mates and to give admiring looks to Clark’s body, of which the muscles now showed clearly through his wet shirt. The team mates gave each other friendly punches on the shoulders, exhilarated from winning for once from Whitney.

They all made their way slowly to the locker room, to take a shower and change clothes for lunch. When they were finished, Clark followed Pete and his mates to the lunch hall, where they would meet up with Chloe and Lana. Whitney grabbed Clark by the arm, asking: “Are you really going to hang out with the losers?” Clark pulled his arm loose again and replied: “No, that is why I am going with Pete and the others.”

After having said that, he fastened his pace and headed to the lunch hall. Pete and the other stared in shock to Clark’s moving figure, before hurrying after him and catching up with him. “Hey Clark”, Pete started, “we usually play some three-on-three ball in the park, Thursdays after school and we could really use you as sixth player, care to join?” The others nodded in agreement, all hoping Clark WOULD care to join them.

Clark was a bit caught off guard, not expecting people wanted to be friends with him so soon… He was pondering his options carefully. He really wanted some friends, but on the other hand, what about his secret? Fear gripped him again, trying to come up with a decision. Both fear for being alone if he rejected, and fear for not being accepted if they got closer to him and found out about him…






A/N: Thanks for the nice reviews and Red K 5, here is why he never mt Chloe and PEte in Smallville... ;)

[Nemu]

micely said by Clark to Whitless... and true in a sense... Clark's team are the winner of the match...

PPMS!!!

[smallvillewolf17]

This story is great. PPMS!

[Red K 5]

wow... I like this new attitude that Clark has... I'm still confused about why Lana and Chloe are friends... I know this is 4th season but if Lana never lived in Smallville then her parents are still alive and Lana would have never came into the Torch looking for her mom's speech... there is no Torch... Lana is a cheerleader... Chloe doesn't like cheerleaders... am I wrong... ppms and explain 'cuz I'm so confused

[Nemu]

Red K 5.... First of all they are in Metropolis... and Chloe was originally from there... Lana too... so they became friends...

Remember that Lana stopped being a cheerleader after reading her mother's diary... which she found in a box... so since her parents shouldn't be dead that would mean she knew first hand that her mother didn't like being a cheerleader... so why would she joins to do the same thing...

I might be wrong but that is how I see it...

And is there mention of the Torch?...

[arkaniel]

Chapter 3: Beginnings


Their hopes were lowering while Clark stayed silent during their walk to the cantina. The same thought ran through al of their minds ‘It was too good to be true, that a cool guy would hang out with them’. Still, why did he turn Whitney, the most popular guy on school, down? Pete was a bit disappointed, not only for himself and his mates, but also for Lana. He had seen the way she looked at Clark and for a moment after the game, Pete really thought she would get lucky, but that changed now obviously.

In the meanwhile, Clark was coming to terms with his fears. Being alone was worse than the possibility that they would turn him down in the unlikely case they found out his secret. Besides that, he was done playing the coward and the loner. Didn’t he have the right to have a real life, too? “Sure thing, I’ll be there at 4 pm this Thursday.” Pete and the others stopped dead in their track out of surprise… this was unbelievable…

With a wide grin they moved on again, reaching the lunch hall a few minutes later. They dragged Clark over to their table, where the girls were already enjoying their food. Pete sat down next to Chloe, giving her a quick kiss, not wanting to risk improper PDA and Clark sat down next to Lana, which he recognised from history class.

“Chloe Sullivan, Lana Lang, I present to you Clark Kent, The man that single-handedly wiped the floor with Whitney’s team.” While making these introductions he pointed to the persons in question. Clark was gazing at Lana during the introductions, only vaguely registering their names.

When he heard Pete’s comment on the game, he came back to his senses and replied modestly: “Not single-handedly, we have beaten them with great teamwork, something they clearly lacked.” Chloe and Pete noticed his short gaze and the continuing gaze Lana was giving him and smiled in amusement at the scene. Both were also surprised by his modesty, which was a good sign.

When Clark got up again, to get some food from the counter, Pete took out his lunch package from home. When they noticed Lana was still staring at his back, they both snickered, breaking Lana out of her stare. “What? Can’t I enjoy a nice piece of eye-candy?” She clapped her mouth shut, realising what she had said and blushed furiously as her friends laughed.

After Pete filled them in on the events after the game, both girls and especially Lana were happily surprised at Clark’s acts. Lana let out a wistful sigh, hoping the rest of him was as great as what she has seen and heard up till now. Just when Chloe wanted to make a remark about her sigh, Clark approached the table again and sat down. Instead of the remark, she now exclaimed: “Are you going to eat all that?” voicing the thoughts of her friends exactly.

Clark’s plate was loaded with a steak and a double portion fries, soup, a salad, a sundae and some candy bars accompanied by a large Ice-Tea. “What can I say, sporting makes me hungry”, Clark said with a grin, trying to hide he was lying. In reality, it seemed he didn’t need much food at all, but he liked eating a lot and since it didn’t have influence on his body, what was the harm in doing so…

While they were eating, they made some small talk about the first day of school and the summer holidays. Also, they talked a bit about their background, as in getting to know each other a bit better. Chloe was genuinely shocked when she found out Clark was a salt of the earth farm boy. Her reporter mode kicked in and she asked: “What made you move to the big city then? I can’t imagine farmers making a change like that for no reason…”

Clark, being prepared for such questions answered: “Well, seeing there have been two rather lethal and destructive meteor showers in only thirteen years and the fact that it is hard for regular farmers to compete with the expanding LuthorCorp agricultural plants in the area, my parents decided to move here, the hometown of my mom.”

That was the explanation his parents had agreed on, since it was very close to the truth. It was difficult to compete with LuthorCorp, and indeed the meteor showers were dangerous, but they didn’t have to mention to unhealthy interest of the Luthors in Clark and every other extraordinary happening in Smallville…

After chatting a while longer, they started talking about their hobbies and extracurricular occupations. Lana, conquering her unusual shyness, asked Clark: “Anything that interests you, like art, or are you going to join one of the sports teams? I guess you take the latter, seeing the skill you showed during gym…”

Clark replied: “No, as a matter of fact, I am not that interested in sports for competition, I only play it for fun.” This statement surprised the three listeners. Little did they know that Clark had to avoid competitions because of the medical tests required every once in a while, tests that were impossible because of his secret.

He continued by giving them another surprise: “Actually, I was looking for the school paper office and I wondered if any of you could lead me to it?”
Lana felt as if she had won the lottery. This overly handsome guy kept surprising her in a good way. Not only had they several classes together, but he would come to work with Chloe, Pete and her at the Torch. At least, if Chloe, who was the ‘chief’-editor allowed him to join.

Lana had to withhold herself from showing too much joy by this news, afraid that she either imagined it, or that it was false hope that he would actually work together with her… Pete interrupted her thoughts a bit by telling Clark the three of them worked at the Torch, this High School’s paper. Chloe, being the ever perceptive reporter, noticed Lana’s failing grasp on her emotions, and the obvious hope in her eyes. She knew exactly what she was thinking and if Clark was really the guy he now seemed to be, well, then both he and Lana deserved a chance.

Next to that, if he had any writing skills, it would mean a nice addition to the Torch’s staff, they were already shorthanded as it was. “You know Clark”, Chloe started, “Why don’t you come with us now, then we can show you the office and I’ll give you your first assignment straight away.” She knew from the light shining in both their eyes and their quick glances to one another, when the other wasn’t looking, that she wouldn’t regret her decision any time soon.

Clark felt … He couldn’t explain how he felt. It was a mix of joy, excitement and satisfaction, for lack of a better description. Not only had he found people that wanted to be his friends, but they also seemed genuinely happy that he had the same interests as them. And Lana, well, she was definitely a sight for sore eyes. She was by far the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and now he would even spend more time with her than he would have hoped.

And she seemed to be happy, too, at that prospect. Maybe his parents were right, there was someone on this world even for him. As he wandered through more alike thoughts, he suddenly noticed the expectant look on Chloe’s and Pete’s face and he replied: “Oh, thank you very much, it would be great working with you guys.” He actually smiled at his future now… And to think he was afraid last night that exactly the opposite of this might happen to him.

Once they arrived at the Torch, Pete, Lana and Chloe each went to their desk, and started putting files and personal belongings fro their bag on their desks. In the meanwhile Clark took in the room. One side was completely covered by large windows, giving a nice view at the nearby park. Two sides were packed with drawers, which were probably used as an archive. The fourth wall looked like a scrapbook of articles, divided into two categories. One seemingly consisted of all front page articles published last year and the other one was a collection of articles about… Clark nearly lost his breath when he saw what most of the articles were about.

They handled about freaks, mysterious events and what some would call conspiracy theories. He had virtually walked into a lion’s den, was his first thought. He took a closer look and when the other noticed this, Chloe said: “Clark Kent, meet the Wall of Weird as I like to call it.”

Clark managed to get a grip on himself again and felt obliged to make a comment about it. “This is amazing stuff, but do you have any official proof for these articles and what happens with all those people, the ones you call freaks”, Clark inquired, feeling a bit sorry for the subjects being referred to as freaks.

“The thing is”, Chloe replied, “I always find evidence, in the form of medical reports or eye witnesses, but somehow, those reports never see the daylight. My guess is someone with a lot of power and/or money wants to keep this stuff covered up.” Chloe was surprised when she heard Clark mutter something like ‘Luthors’, but she was not sure she heard it right, especially since it seemed plural.

Still, being a curious reporter, she couldn’t resist asking about it: “Why do you say Luthors? I suspect Lionel from having a hand in this, but I wonder how you know anything about it and talk about more than one Luthor in the process. As far as I know, Lex is banished to some backwater location by his father.”

This caught the attention of Lana and Pete, who were now as curious as Chloe. Clark however was unsure what to say. By the looks of it, this meteor rock experimenting wasn’t just confined to Smallville. If that was the case, he had to be careful, but he couldn’t let everyone in the dark about it.

Forewarned is forearmed after all and if they realised what danger they were in by investigating this stuff, maybe they would stay out of it. “Umm, well, Lex now lives in Smallville, where I come from. He and his father both have an unhealthy interest in these people with abilities that seem to pop up quite often in Smallville.

After they go havoc, they suddenly either die or disappear and what I know of the Luthors, they are likely to try to catch these people to experiment on them. Off course, the dead ones resisted too much for their liking. I didn’t know this was going on beyond Smallville, since everyone thought it had to do with the LuthorCorp pollution in the area.” They don’t have to know about the meteor rocks… not yet at least.

“Wow, you seem to know a lot about it. But it is too much of a coincidence that both Metropolis and Smallville the Luthors are involved. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have a lead to finally solve this mystery”, Chloe exclaimed excited. Lana and Pete obvious shared her excitement, since they started planning where to begin, using this new information. Clark felt it was really time to warn them or even threaten them to stay out, before they got anymore exited.

“I think it is a very bad idea to get involved in this. I’ve dealt with the Luthors before and the only reason I still walk around is because I used my friendship with Lex to get what I want…” This statement obvious had a different effect than he thought it would, when Lana burst out: “So you are here to protect your little friend from US?” She felt her heart break… she had been wrong about a guy again…

Clark, seeing he had blown it, tried to salvage the situation: “Not at all, I am just warning you that if you see what the Luthors can do, covering up something this big, don’t you think they can stop four nosy reporters from ever seeing the daylight again? All I said was that thanks to my temporary friendship with Lex, I had enough protection from Lionel.

But now, Lex doesn’t trust me anymore and instead of opposing his father any longer, they now work together on this, which makes it even more dangerous than before… Lionel is obsessed with it, but also calculated, Lex on the other hand is next to obsessed completely insane. For your own safety, stay out of this, please.” Clark nearly begged in the last sentence, hoping they would heed his warning.

He knew he had failed in making them see his point, when their eyes started twinkling at the same time. “You said four nosy reporters”, Chloe started, but her sentence was finished by Lana, saying, “So that means you’ll join us when we go after this story.” Pete just grinned, though on the inside, he took Clark’s warning to heart, yet realising there was no way stopping Chloe and Lana when they set their mind on something. Besides, he liked a little excitement in his life.

Clark sighed. His dad was going to kill him, but he couldn’t risk that the Luthors killed anymore people. The problem was, if he joined them, it would be a lot more difficult to keep his secret from them. Especially if Lionel sent some of his brainwashed freaks after them, or arranged a little accident involving the four of them dieing… Coming to a decision, he realised his secret wasn’t important enough to risk other people’s lives for it, so he said: “I’ll be there when you need me…” He was interrupted by Lana jumping on him and hugging him tight.

The three of them stood in shock now. Chloe and Pete would never have expected this kind of forwardness from Lana. Clark was completely shocked, too, when she jumped on him and was surprised to find out he really liked her body so close to his. It was as if they fit together like this. His cheeks reddened slightly at what he felt. His instinct told him to wrap his arms around her, too but before he could react on this instinct, Lana suddenly let go.

She blushed furiously, while thinking ‘Stupid girl, what must he think about you now. Couldn’t you contain yourself a bit.’ This was soon followed by her other thoughts ‘But he felt so warm and nice. It was perfect… and his muscles are so strong and they feel sexy…’ She blushed even deeper after this thought, barely able to mutter her apology for getting carried away a bit too much.

The awkwardness of the moment was soon forgotten when Chloe pulled Clark to her computer and started filling out a form with his contact info. It took only a few minutes and after that, Clark was officially part of the Torch staff. After that, Chloe gave him his first assignment, a pretty important one at that, but maybe a bit boring.

Off course she kept the really interesting stuff for herself and Lana, dragging Pete along for photographing. Clark made his way to the principal’s office, to make an appointment for the interview about the new schooling plans that would be incorporated this year.

(A/N: any questions you have will slowly be answered throughout the next few chapters. if you have any others. feel free to pm...And thanks for reviewing, it is very much appreaciated)

[Supertom72]

a great update again.

The questions are - will he have to help his new friends? Will he have to reveal his powers?
Will they accept him for who he is?

PPMS

[Nemu]

I hope Lana is the first to learn of his powers... and in a good way... (like not a life or death situation)

So now they are all at the Torch... Kinda funny to see Chloe and Lana as the two headstrong reporters... Bring back the real Lana Lang... not the one from the show...

PPMS!!!

[arkaniel]

Chapter 4: Flyboy


After school, Clark walked home, picking up Liz on his way. The little girl was excited about her first day at school and babbled away about her teacher and her classmates. He really loved his little sister and admired her abundant energy. Though there was the age difference, her presence made him feel at ease, especially when he felt alone. He was happy she had come into their lives, being a source of never-ending joy and happiness for both him and his parents.

Off course, she didn’t know yet her big brother was in fact an alien, but it would be only a matter of time before she found out. She had this way of always ending up hidden somewhere close, overhearing private conversations between him and his parents. She was very sneaky at that, but lucky for them, too young to understand much of what they spoke about. That was changing now rapidly, she was reaching an age where it would be difficult to fool her…

After they had walked a block, Liz suddenly stopped and turned to Clark, holding her arms out to him. Clark knew what this meant and replied her unvoiced request: “Oh no, I am not going to carry you home…” He stopped when he saw her use her trademarked puppy dog look and was unable to resist it, as usual. He lifted her up and sat her down on his shoulders.

Even without superpowers he would barely have felt her weight, so this wasn’t a problem at all. Liz used her position to tousle his already messy hair into an even messier shape. She loved doing this, but she could only when her brother lifted her up, seeing he was nearly three times as big as her (in her mind at least). He asked her to stop, but when she didn’t listen, he started tickling her with one hand, using the other to firmly hold her in place. She squealed in joy and giggled all the way home.

During dinner, Liz dominated the conversation, and nearly chirped about how she played tag with friends during break and how she could now write her own name after practicing on it at school. Martha and Jonathan were immensely pleased with their daughter’s happiness. Seeing her like this made them forget all their regrets for moving away from the farm where she grew up. They had made the right decision, even more so when Clark managed to get in a few words about having found some friends at his first day as well.

When dinner was over, Liz ran off to watch some television, while Clark helped his parents with the dishes. There weren’t really three people needed to do this but he wanted to use Liz’ absence to fill in his parents about what he had learned at the Torch.

They were less than pleased at what they heard, especially Jonathan. They cautioned Clark to stay out of it, but when they heard his reasoning for wanting to help them, they gave in a bit. They understood why Clark felt he had to use his gifts to help them and to possibly stop the Luthors, but they were so afraid for him.

When Clark went to keep his sister some company, Martha and Jonathan discussed about this new turn of events. “I had really hoped we would never run into this again, but I guess we can never escape the Luthors”, Martha sighed. Jonathan embraced his wife and said: “I know, but Clark is right, if they are really so deep in this, it might be dangerous for everyone. It is just, Clark is not even 17 yet and he already carries the weight of this situation. I find it difficult to realise already, but I think Clark is more grown up than we want him to be. We should be proud that our way of raising him has turned out this well.

He is willing to help people, he cares more about their lives than his own and I think we should support him in his choice.” Martha knew Jonathan was right, but still, she was a mother and she felt her son was still too young to be involved in such dangerous affairs. “I know, Jonathan, but don’t you think he risks his secret too much. If he actually is going to use his powers and expose the Luthors as the monsters they are, it is only a matter of time before anyone finds out…”.

“I know Martha, but we have always thought him to help people out when he could. He won’t just stand by now… I guess we have done a better job at raising him than we expected. However difficult this is going to be, Clark is the only one that can make this decision and I am proud he is making the right one, however dangerous it is. All we can do is stand him by and maybe find a way to secure his secret in some way.”

Martha acknowledged the truth of his words and she was indeed very proud of Clark. The last part of Jonathans statement kept twirling through her mind however. Suddenly she smirked at Jonathan, saying: “Are you suggesting he disguises himself like those comic book superheroes. I bet all the girls would love to see our son playing the hero in spandex…”

Her smirk turned into laughter when she imagined how Clark would feel with all that attention… Jonathan joined his wife in laughter, but feeling that she had a point. “Actually, such a disguise wouldn’t be bad at all, but I think convincing him to wear it would be quite difficult. They discussed the idea some more and finally decided to prepare some sort of disguise just in case…

Clark was restless. He kept on turning in his bed. He had already noticed a while ago that
he didn’t need much sleep anymore, but needing and wanting to sleep were two different things. Normally he enjoyed the rest, especially since it was very refreshing for his mind. Now however, there was something on his mind that kept him from sleeping. A something with fierce hazel eyes and long dark hair…

“Lana…”, he muttered softly, “Lana and Clark…” ‘It sounded nice’, he thought, ‘even more so, it sounded right.’ Just thinking about her made him feel warm… he kept imagining her perfect lips as they approached his own, the feel of her body against his own, the pressure of her hands around his neck… ‘Wow’, he thought, ‘I’ve only met her today and here I already am, falling for her…’

While enjoying the feeling this realisation made surge through his body, he felt some thing else, too. Something he couldn’t quite place… as if he was becoming weightless… He opened his eyes and closed them again immediately in shock. ‘Ok Clark, you are not floating a few inches under the ceiling, you are just lying on your bed, dreaming about Lana…’

He opened his eyes again and yelped when he crashed down on his bed… The yell and the sound of his bed sacking through its legs were enough to wake his parents. They came rushing into the room, concerned of what they might find, not being used to a yelling Clark. What they didn’t know was that their daughter also woke up at the noise and sneaked after them, staying well hidden behind the back of her father…

“What’s the matter Clark, are you all right?” Martha started nervously, when she saw the shocked look on Clark’s face. “I am not sure mom, I thought I was dreaming about…and then I woke up and…”, He drifted off in silence. Jonathan wasn’t sure what to make of the things his son were mumbling, but he had the vague idea that this was maybe about a new power or something alike. “Clark, can you maybe try to make it happen again? If it has something to do with your abilities, then you know it is imperative that you learn to control it fast. Wouldn’t want to destruct the house after just one week of living here, now would we?” He asked light-heartedly, trying to make his soon relax a bit.

Still a bit confused, Jonathan’s words registered with Clark. ‘It was pretty logical this was a new power after all, but trying to control this would be something like his heat vision…’ He got up slowly, trying not to trash his bed any further and stood straight. “I’ll give it a try, but I am not sure what triggers it…” After this, he closed his eyes and went through his thoughts again, trying to find what about them made him…float?

Liz was getting confused. What were they all talking about? Abilities? Clark destroying the house? And now her parents were staring at Clark who stood there with his eyes closed, doing God knows what. She looked at Clark intently, trying to make out what her parents were staring at… they stood there for a few minutes in which nothing happened. Suddenly however, it seemed as if there was movement in the air… the it looked as if the air around Clark was moving downwards…?

Clark thought he knew what triggered his new power, when he felt the now familiar warmth and the start of that other feeling surging through his body. He mumbled “Lana” and felt his feet leaving contact with the floor… He slowly drifted upwards. He stopped himself just a few inches below the ceiling and opened his eyes, looking down at his parents with a proud smile. Then he noticed the wide-eyed expression and the open mouth on his sister’s face that appeared from behind his father’s back…

Jonathan and Martha were surprised when Clark floated upwards, but were smiling when they heard what he mumbled before doing so… Lana, the girl Clark had talked about during dinner… They saw the happy look on Clark’s face when he opened his eyes and looked down at them. They turned around quickly when they saw his face becoming one of surprise when he stared to something behind them.

Both parents nearly had a heart-attack when they saw Liz standing there. Martha was the first to react, picking up her daughter and bringing her to her bedroom. In the meanwhile, Clark willed himself to float down. Just when his feet touched the ground again, his mom came back in. “Nice to know you can also land without trashing the furniture.” Jonathan and Martha chuckled at her remark, while Clark looked a bit undignified…

“I’ll remember that for you start floating while you are dreaming… see how much you laugh then”, he countered, trying to fight his own smirk from coming out, but failing miserably. “What about Liz”, Clark managed to ask, “Did she say anything?” “I told her your dad and I would explain her tomorrow. But I think she is going to like the idea of her brother the superhero.” Martha winked at Jonathan, who chuckled again, seeing a clear picture in his head of the disguise Martha had started on earlier this night.

“So how does it feel, being able to fly?” Jonathan asked. “It is indescribable”, Clark answered, “It feels great, as if I am weightless in a pleasant way, it is thrilling and I feel free…” Martha couldn’t resist to remark: “So in other words, it feels the same as thinking about Lana.” When seeing the surprised face of her son she added: “Come on Clark, your dad and I do have a hearing, though it isn’t super… besides, today was the first day ever we saw you being so happy and excited while talking about her over dinner.”

“Ok, ok, I admit it, it feels the same… but I am not sure what to do with it…” Seeing the now forlorn look on Clark’s face, Martha and Jonathan glanced at each other, deciding without words for a hot chocolate and a talk with Clark. Once they were in the kitchen with their chocolate, Clark shifted nervously on his chair. He never had had a talk with his parents about something alike.

“Clark”, Jonathan started, “we know you well enough to understand your uncertainty about this. I am not going to say it will be easy, since we know how much you hate to lie. It is necessary, though, that you get to know her better before you consider telling her your secret. You need to be absolutely sure that she is trustworthy enough and even then, you still should be careful.”

“I know that dad, it is just, I am afraid that my lies will hurt her and the truth will drive her away… That is why I never had friends in Smallville, they all thought I was mysterious and a coward, for never participating in anything and for keeping my distance from everyone. I just don’t want that anymore, but being closer to people will bring them closer to my heritage and possible rejection when they can’t cope with it…”

Martha and Jonathan both felt sorry for Clark. He was such a great guy, always ready to help, decent, polite and friendly. Just because they didn’t want his secret to be out, he couldn’t have a real life… Martha gave Jonathan a look, saying that it was time to change that. “Clark, if you want friends and a girlfriend and everything else other people have, we won’t hold you back any longer”, Martha started, “You are old enough now to decide what to do with your secret yourself. Just don’t be careless with it, everything you do has consequences, consequences that won’t just touch you, but the rest of your family as well.”

Clark looked up at his parents with a hopeful look at these words and Jonathan added: “We are proud, my son, at the person you’ve become. Stay that person and you’ll be all right. You are responsible enough to judge people’s trustworthiness yourself now. As your mother said, just be careful. Especially when you ask a certain someone for a date tomorrow…” Jonathan winked at these last words. Those same words made a smile appear on Clark’s face, a smile that only paled compared to his enormous blush…

[The Black Cat]

Great story! PPMS!

[Nemu]

that was good!!!

And funny...

So the parents will come up with the superman alter-ego... interesting...

All will come down to presentation... if they show him the right way he might accept the disguise faster...

same for Lana... it will depends how long and if he lies to her first or not before telling the secret...

PPMS!!!

[arkaniel]

You won't have to wait long for the revelation. After all, this is not the show itself, there won't be long drawn out angsty "tell her" "tell her not" episdes that will make you hate the characters involved ;)

I'll have the next chapter up in a couple of days. It is already read off course, as are the next few, but I don't want to post them too fast, so I have more time to work ahead without keeping you waiting for too long.

Thanks by the way for the wonderful reviews, I really appreciate them.

[SVsleuth]

Hi - I just read all of your story so far & like it a lot. I can't wait to see Clark ask Lana oout on a date, & to find out more about the superhero costume Jonathan & Martha are making & Clark's reaction to using it. I have a feeling Clark will tell Lana the truth sooner rather than later in this fic.

PPMS!

[Nemu]

there is one major factor in this story that reduce the angst in telling Lana... the fact that Clark's arrival didn't cause her parents' death...

And I understand what you mean about not posting too fast... I will wait patiently for the next chapter ;)

[smlgrl1547]

I just read your story. I really like it :D
PPMS!

[SVsleuth]

update?

[arkaniel]

Chapter 4

Being way too excited to sleep and the fact that the couch was a bit uncomfortable to sleep on for someone his size, Clark got up early and started making breakfast. When his still sleepy parents and his energised sister arrived in the kitchen, they were all surprised at the huge breakfast Clark had managed to make…

There was bacon, eggs, sausages, pancakes, toast and xroissants… ‘Croissants???’ Martha and Jonathan thought simultaneously. “Thank you very much for this surprise breakfast Clark”, they both said smiling, before they dug in, following the example of their excited daughter. “However, Where did you manage to find a bakery with such good croissants open at this hour? I need to start going there, too, it is delicious…” Martha inquired. Clark shot a glance at his sister, who seemed occupied by drowning her pancakes in syrup. His parents followed his glance and realised it probably wasn’t a bakery where they could go. Still this knowledge still didn’t prevent from their jaws dropping open when Clark mouthed “Paris”.

Clark interpreted the look in their eyes as a “how?” and made a motion with his hands. After the confused look his parents gave him, he tried again, now with both hands, imitating a flying bird. His parents stared incredulously at him for a few moments and then glanced at each other, a smile playing across their faces. “Maybe we should put you in charge of breakfast more often…” They snickered. Liz, however, had other plans: “I like mommy’s pancakes better…”, she started, but when she saw the rest of the family chuckling, she knew it was just a joke...

“Clark, maybe you could go to school a bit earlier, then your dad and I talk to Liz about that thing last night…”. Clark knew better than to object and took this cue to prepare himself for school. Minutes later he was outside, walking to school taking a detour through the park. In the meanwhile, his parents urged Liz not to tell anyone what she had seen and explained Clark had some powers like some other people in Smallville. More she needn’t to know at this time.

Unsurprisingly, Liz thought this was very cool and promised not to say anything to anyone…She had heard about the ‘freaks’ before, even seen a few in action and all of them were scary… Her brother however was very sweet. He would never be scary or evil to her. Maybe if she was very nice to him, he would even take her with him when he tried to float again…

Walking through the park, Clark was planning on how to ask Lana for a date. At least, if she wasn’t seeing someone. Actually, that was very likely to be the case. She probably had a lot of suitors with her looks. Maybe he could find out, before making a fool out of himself by asking. Pete would know, he guessed…

“Hey Clark, wait a sec…” Clark turned around, grateful for the clear sign that someone way up there must like him, when he saw Pete approaching him. “Hi there Pete, are you do excited for English literature, or do you just want to spend some time with Chloe this early?” Clark smirked. “Yeah, she is waiting for me at the Torch, I need to bring her some pictures already. So what are you ding here so early?” “Well, I wanted to explore the neighbourhood a bit before school. Didn’t have much time for it last week.” Clark was surprised at the ease he came up with another lie, but it was necessary for now.

When they walked further to school together, they chatted a bit about the classes for today. Pete told Clark everything there was to know about their teachers for this day, as every senior does with a junior, except this time, they both had the same age. Clark felt he could better ask about Lana before someone at school could overhear. Feeling nervous, just by thinking about Lana and possibly asking her out, Clark was unsure how to ask subtle. He settled for “So you and Chloe are an item? Any other items in the Torch staff?” That was subtle enough he hoped, but he didn’t know Pete was well aware of his ‘Lana-gazing’ yesterday…

Pete knew full well what Clark was trying to do so he played along, making use of the situation. “Well besides Chloe and me, no one, but it is quite obvious Lana has her eye on someone. She couldn’t stop talking about him last evening when her and Chloe came over to my place for a movie…” Trying to hide his upcoming evil smirk, he was pleased to see the shocked and disappointed look Clark now had.

Letting go of subtlety, Clark asked: “Have I seen the guy already you think?” Pete’s answer sounded a bit odd: “That depends, maybe last evening or this morning…”
“Really, how does he look like?”
“Well, according to her, he is tall, handsome, has dark hair and the most beautiful eyes she’s ever seen.” When Lana had left, Chloe and he had planned a bit matchmaking, and he felt this was the moment.
He had to admit it might be a bit early, since they knew each other so shortly, but life was too short and Chloe wanted to see Lana happy… Pete moved in to push Clark over the edge now, hoping he would take the obvious course of action.
“Actually, if you have a driver’s licence, I am pretty sure the guy she likes has a picture of him on it, you know, next to your name…”

The look on Clarks face was priceless and he opened his mouth to say something, but when after a minute still nothing had come out of it, he closed it again. Smiling, Pete remarked: “Honestly Clark, I hope you don’t do that when you ask her out, she might say no after all, however handsome she claims you are.”

“How come everyone notices I want to ask her out, it isn’t as if it is written on my face…” Clark asked in confusion. Pete chuckled at this “Man, one just has to see the look in your eyes when you hear her name or the way you two look at each other…”

They stayed silent for the rest of the way to the Torch. Clark’s mind was working overtime… What Pete had told him was more than he could have hoped for. However, now he was even more afraid of screwing it up. He wanted to plan the perfect date, but at the same time, nothing too busy, so they could talk and get to know each other better… Maybe a nice dinner, followed by a movie and afterwards a drink somewhere. When he asked Pete about it, he got reassured that this was a good plan, especially since there was a movie Lana really wanted to see.

Once they arrived at school, Clark followed Pete to the Torch’s office. He nearly lost his breath when he saw Lana sitting next to Chloe. Immediately, his nervousness kicked in and he stuttered a good morning to the two girls, while Pete was his cheerful self and buried Chloe beneath kisses. All Clark could do was stare at Lana, who looked even better than in his dreams (and memories…)

Her heart made a roll-over in her chest when she saw Clark entering the room. She had just been expecting Pete… she was completely unprepared and glanced quickly at the nearest reflective surface to make sure she looked perfect. She had done an extra effort this morning, hoping that Clark would notice her… She heard his stuttered good morning but she couldn’t find words to reply, she just kept gazing at him…

Chloe had to do her best not to laugh at the awkwardness between Lana and Clark. She was especially aware of Clark’s uncertainty, something really unexpected, since he had the qualities and the looks to replace Whitney as the Big Man at School… Somehow, she already knew things between Lana and Clark would work out just fine, they just needed a little push, or occasion for that matter…

She got up and dragged Pete with her to the dark room, telling Lana and Clark they would meet up at English literature… Pete, happy to comply, knowing what the dark room promised, next to developing pictures, grinned and gave a wink at Clark, as to motion him to make his move.

Once in the dark room, Chloe pried Pete for information on Clark and he told her everything about their conversation during their walk earlier. “Well, that is kinda nice”, Clhoe whispered, “but you should have known Lana wanted to see that play at the theatre downtown.” Apologising, Pete smacked himself on the head for forgetting that, she was already talking about it ever since she saw the poster. He wanted to say something, but Chloe cut him short when she heard Clark say something to Lana…

Having super-hearing had his advantages, Clark thought, overhearing the whispers in the dark room. He was just about to scrape together his courage and ask Lana out, thinking it was best to get it over with, when he picked up the part about the theatre play. Quickly adapting the new information, he blurted out nervously: “Lana, I was wondering … would-you-like-to-go-on-a-date-with-me-you-know-maybe-some-dinner-and-then-going-to-the-theatre? … or a movie…?” He added that last part just in time, so that it wouldn’t be too suspicious.

Chloe had to withhold herself from gasping, after hearing Clark. She looked confused at Pete. He knew that look, it was her way of saying ‘What the … is he psychic? Wait a second, is this really happening?’ He didn’t believe it himself completely, but the look on Chloe’s face confirmed that he wasn’t imagining things… ‘Way to go Clark’

Lana could barely believe what she made out of Clark’s outburst. Was he asking her on a date? Wait, did he say theatre? How did he know that? And why did she feel like a the butterflies in her stomach had just multiplied tenfold? She opened her mouth to answer, but the words wouldn’t come, because she didn’t know what to answer. She surprised herself by settling for the short, but affirming: “When?”

Clark’s insides were burning in anticipation, hoping he didn’t make a mistake. When he heard her answer, the burning turned into a pleasant glow of warmth. Wait, he was supposed to answer her question… “What about Saturday? I’ll pick you up at 6 pm, if that’s ok with you?”

Lana couldn’t help but smiling, it was actually happening. A guy SHE was interested in, was asking her out. Basking in the glow of her feelings, she found her voice again and managed to say: “I’ll be ready and waiting for you.” She couldn’t help but to let her eagerness shine in her voice.

Both smiling at each other and feeling very happy, they were disturbed by the ringing of the bell. They quickly went on their way to their class and ended up intertwining their hands…just to be noticed by Chloe and Pete, who were both as happy as the ‘couple’ in front of them…

After English literature, Lana and Chloe made their way to French, while Clark and Pete went to the science workshop. Nothing worth mentioning happened during those classes, but all were eager to see each other again at lunch. Waiting in line for their lunch, the friends were spotted by Whitney.

Whitney, still humiliated by Clark’s remark of the other day and not one to easy forget something like that, was planning to return the favour. Something else that added to Whitney’s grudge, was the fact that almost every girl, except his ‘loyal’ cheerleaders, seemed to prefer staring at Clark over him. That farmboy would not replace him as the big man on school…

Walking with his plate to where some of his mates held some spots free, he passed the table were the reporters of the Torch were eating. he bumped with his plate, on purpose, into Chloe causing his coke to drop in her lap, splashing her clothes. “Oh, I am so sorry, but the smell of manure was distracting me…” This remark caused all of his friends bursting in laughter.

Chloe immediately sped to the toilet, followed by Lana, where she tried to clean her clothes a bit. In the meanwhile, Pete wanted to jump Whitney, not believing it was an accident. Clark was restraining Pete, but nearly let go when he heard Whitney’s remark. He tried to control his rage, while the group of football players made their way to their table.

His parents had taught him not to do something as pitiful as payback, especially since his powers could make it dangerous for everyone involved. However, now that not only he was insulted, but now his friends were victims as well, it was difficult to restrain himself. While he was imagining all sorts of ways to make Whitney sorry for his actions, the girls returned. As soon as he saw Lana, all thoughts left his mind except one: ‘Wow, and I managed to get a date with her…’ He couldn’t help it, but the thought made him smile his killer smile.

Lana nearly melted for his smile and felt her knees going weak. Luckily, she was close enough to her seat to sink down on it. She stared at him and drowned in his eyes, thanking her good luck for introducing Clark in her life. She didn’t know why and she only recently met him, but their was something between them, something she hadn’t expected so soon. This ‘connection’ seemed to be mutual, regarding the sincerity in his eyes and she was happy with it.

She quickly broke her stare and felt a blush raising on her face when she heard Chloe and Pete whispering. The two of them burst in snickers when they saw the blush, which was also mirrored on Clark’s face. “Well lovebirds”, Pete started, “why don’t we got to the Torch, where you have some privacy…” He smirked, when they blushed intensified.

When Clark saw Pete’s deadly glance towards Whitney when they left the lunch hall, he grabbed his arm and pulled him back a bit whispering “Now is not the time, Pete, he’ll probably get what he deserves soon enough, jerks like him always do…” Pete smirked as he was thinking what Whitney really deserved was running into Clark’s fist. Hell, how buff Clark looks, Whitney probably would never recover from a decent punch. That reminded him of something…

When they arrived at the Torch, Pete asked: “So Clark, spill your secret…” Clark’s heart missed a beat, but he relaxed again when he heard the rest of the sentence “…cause there is no way you get that body with what you eat. How many times do you work out, and where, and please take me with you next time… I think Chloe wouldn’t mind me becoming a bit more buff, like you.”

Chloe and Lana both laughed after that remark. Both had already discussed Clark’s obvious athletic and very attractive figure, but both also valued somebody’s character higher than his looks. “Pete, never worry about that, you look good enough and you are the nicest guy I know, so no need to change anything.” Chloe gave him a seductive smile, which promised a nice make-out session just to emphasise how nice he was…

The four of them snickered and Pete would be blushing if not for his dark skin. Clark was glad that the attention was no longer on him. How was he supposed to answer Pete’s question when he didn’t need working out at all. Still, the admiring look on Lana’s face while she glanced at his body, made his day.

They worked at some of the articles for several hours, before they had to go to their last class of the day, being algebra. The course was incredibly boring, and for Clark incredibly easy… When they made their way to the exit of the school, Chloe and Lana decided on a Keanu Reeves marathon, since studying wasn’t really necessary after two days of school. Pete had wanted to do something with Clark, but remembered his brother’s birthday party.

Back at home, Clark superspeeded through his homework, but regretted because there were no farm chores to keep him busy afterwards. Settling for reading the newspaper, at normal speed, he heard his mom coming back from bringing his sister to a friend. As he read on, he was amazed by the amount of crime going on in Metropolis. There were dozens of pages containing murders, robberies, muggings, rape and so on. He felt a bit nauseous when he realised that thanks to his powers he would have been able to help several o these people out…

When he discussed these thoughts over dinner with his parents (Liz still being over at her friend’s place), they glanced at each other, knowingly. They had raised Clark this way and they had realised during his freshman year already that if there was a reason he was sent here, it would be to help people.
“Listen son, your mother and I already thought about something like that and we, or at least your mom, made some preparations, knowing this day would come. Just realise you must stay anonymous, or else all of us have to pay for it…”

“I understand, dad, but how can I stay anonymous. Wearing a mask won’t exactly get me the trust of people and without it, not getting recognised will be quite difficult, once the press goes after me. Another disadvantage of the mask is that it obviously means I try to hide, which will draw several people in hunting my identity.” While saying this, Martha got up and left the room.

“What you say is true, but your mother’s theory is that in lack of a mask, we should just try to make people look at something else than your face.” Just when Jonathan finished speaking, Martha came back, carrying a hanger with a blue and red spandex uniform. The front was decorated with a red and yellow diamond shaped symbol, the same symbol that was on the red cape.

Clark recognised the cape as his baby blanket, and the symbol that had been on it. He had no idea what the stylised S stood for, but aside from the chest and the cape, his mom had etched it into the yellow belt attached to the red shorts… “I am so NOT going to wear that… they will laugh at me… I am going to make a fool of myself… I’ll look like a clown…” Clark babbled, both surprised at how the suit looked as shocked at the amount o work his mother had already done…

“You won’t look like a fool. I always thought red and blue were your colours… besides, the spandex will take some of your invulnerability, which is quite necessary if you want to stop ARMED robberies… just try it on, I promise, it will look good on you…” Martha chuckled at the face Clark was making and at the expected babbling… Clark budged and quickly put on the suit, to get it over with soon.

Martha couldn’t help but admire how nicely his body filled out the spandex. Not a single woman would consider not looking at his body… Jonathan, on the other hand, was more impressed by something else. The disguise made Clark stand straighter and prouder. No man would dare to look such an intimidating figure in the eye. If it weren’t for the rather bright colours, Clark would even be a scary view…

The looks on his parents faces reassured Clark. Next to that, he felt as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders. Wearing this, he wouldn’t have to worry abut his secret while trying to help people. Besides, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as he had anticipated… He was rather anxious to try it out, but he was unsure how to start…

“How am I supposed to start with this? Just run around till I see a crime, help out and run away?” He sighed… not expecting Jonathan’s answer: “Look at the bigger picture Clark, you shouldn’t just fight crime, like a vigilante, you can use your powers for so much more. You can help out at accidents, disasters and at nearly everything else, actually save human lives, not just aid at something the police department should take care of… Besides, your mother and I were thinking more along the lines of flying, not running, hence the cape…”

Taking his father’s comment by heart, Clark dressed up in black after getting out of the suit. Thank god he had super-speed, he thought, or it would take hours to get the tight material of his body. Once dressed up, he super-sped out of the house to a more deserted and less lightened part of Metropolis.

He figured that if he had to fly around, navigating the city, at high speeds, it would probably be best to actually practice it with the obstacles present. He focussed and felt himself levitate again. ‘So far the easy part, now I actually have to mmanouver’. He focussed on the chimney of one of the abandoned buildings close to him… he stayed stationary just a few feet above the street.

‘Ok, this isn’t working…’ After trying this way a bit longer, still without results, he tried something that had worked before. He imagined Lana sitting on top of the chimney, wearing her pink top and white skirt, the ones she wore to school. For a second, nothing happened, but suddenly he shot towards to imaginative Lana a t an incredible speed…

‘Apparently, this flying thing works on feeling, instead of focussing, weird…’ After a bit more of trying out, letting go of the imaginative Lana, Clark started flying towards the city. He kept a high enough altitude that, combined with his dark clothing and the darkness of midnight, made him practically invisible.

He tried speeding up, which worked quite well. Suddenly, however, he started shaking and his ears plopped. He mumbled “odd” when the feeling got worse, so he stopped mid-air. Wondering what the problem was, he heard the word odd aloud. Strangely, it was in his own voice… then it hit him… the speed of sound.

He flew quickly away from the city, so he was above the endless cornfields of Kansas… He started accelerating again and this time, accelerated so fast that the odd feeling only took an instant before it went away, taking the sound of the rushing wind with it… He stopped again and all sound came rushing back to him, along with a loud whooshing sound…

‘hmm, luckily I don’t make a big bang like planes do. This way, I can probably go through the sound barrier mid-city without breaking windows…’ Having enjoyed flying around, Clark decided on ‘practicing’ some more. Losing track of time, he was surprised by dawn, so he flew as fast as he could towards home, landing in the park close to where he lived.

Seeing Liz was still asleep, he quickly brought his parents up to date while they were preparing breakfast. “You actually mean you can fly faster than the speed of sound?” Jonathan exclaimed, followed closely by a hushing sound from Martha, who heard Liz coming down the stairs.

After breakfast, Clark hurried upstairs to make himself ready for school. Any possibility of tiredness was driven away by the energetic chattering of his little sister over breakfast. ‘Gee, the girl is barely higher than my knee and she talks everyone under the table… A discussion between her and Chloe would be a sight to see…’

By the time he got back downstairs, his father had already left with Liz. “Clark, for being the fastest guy on the planet, you sure always take your time. Get going or you’re late for school.” Martha was always amazed at this specific trait of Clark… his uncanny ability to always be barely on time, if not too late…

Grinning, he pecked his mom on the cheek and hurried out of the house. When he passed a flower shop, he held his step. ‘Maybe I should thank Lana for helping me out with the flying lessons… though, she isn’t aware of it… maybe she thinks I am too pushy for giving flowers before our date… Wait, didn’t Lex say flowers are the keys to a woman’s heart?’

Taking Lex advice for once, he picked out a bouquet of Iris-flowers, figuring that if Lana’s perfume smelled like it, she must like them. Happy with his choice, he hurried to school, not wanting to be late. ‘Aargh, that was the advantage of Smallville, I could super-speed about anywhere, without people noticing…’

Once at school, he rushed to the Torch, hoping he would catch her there, before going to class. Chloe, Pete and Lana were just about to leave the office when Clark arrived, timely holding the flowers behind his back… After the usual greetings, they all headed for their class, but Clark softly held Lana back a bit, turning towards her…

Seeing the confused look on her face, he opened his mouth to explain what he was doing, but then his nerves kicked in. “Lana, um, … well …” He felt his face flushing in embarrassment, his mind racing to find the right words. ‘This is just like flying, Clark, come on, try to do it without distractions…’

Lana felt the familiar butterflies stir when she saw Clark approaching them. She was glad Pete and Chloe greeted him before her… she wasn’t sure she would have found her voice. She managed to mutter a faint ‘hi’, not daring to look him straight in the eye, trying to hide her blush… She was quite surprised when she felt his hand grabbing her arm softly, holding her from walking further.

The halls were emptying quickly now, everyone heading for their classes, though it had not ringed yet. Feeling a bit more reassured by the privacy they now had, Clark pulled himself together and said shyly: “I thought you maybe would like these… I mean… maybe a perquisite for our date…” He handed her the flowers, his stomach clenching from nervousness.

Lana didn’t know what to say, feeling the same nervousness Clark showed…she took the bouquet with shaking hands and smelled the flowers. He was so sweet to do this for her and also incredible. How had he figured out these were her favourites? She looked up into his emerald eyes for the first time today, immediately melting for the smoldering look in them.

“They are beautiful, thank you very much…” She was unsure what to do now. Her knees were giving away, her heart was beating rapidly and her stomach was flittering with something indefinable… She was in love with him, though she barely knew him. She placed her hand on his arm, wanting to make contact and assure herself this was really happening.

When he felt her hand on his arm, something in Clark stirred. Usually he wasn’t this forward, but now he felt urged to do something. He placed his hands on her sides, pulling her closer to him, while keeping eye-contact. He wanted to feel her and he needed her. Unconsciously, he moved his face closer to hers, he was drowning in her hazel eyes…

Their lips gently touched each other in a soft kiss. Something changed in both of them… their nervousness flowed away like water, while their kiss intensified. He moved his hand to the small of her back, pulling her even closer to his body. She held the flowers in one hand next to her body, moving her other hand up to cup his cheek…

He felt her hand touch his cheek and then slowly sliding to the back of his hair, pulling him closer to her face. The kiss was both passionate and lingering, and seemed to last forever. Shortly however, Lana broke to kiss to draw breath… she was panting heavily and her heart was racing… Both were dazed and a bit flushed at the unexpected kiss… their first kiss nonetheless…

When they were over their first shock, they both had a goofy smile plastered on their face. Reassured with what they saw on each other’s face, they started making way to their class, holding each other’s hand, casting smiles at each other… As this was how they entered the room, Chloe and Pete had a good idea of what was going on. Pete gave the thumbs up to Clark and Chloe winked at Lana, not having the chance to do or say more, since the second bell rang, accompanied by their teacher entering the room.

[Nemu]

Yay they kissed... and it was kinda natural...

That was good!!!

I wonder what will happen to Withless...

PPMS!!!

[SVsleuth]

Wow, those two have fallen hard. You write their every emotion so well. Amazing kiss before they ever had a date. Beautiful.

Thanks for the update. PPMS!

[arkaniel]

Chapter 5



Usually, Clark paid attention to what the teacher was saying, but not now. Usually, he would spend the evening up his loft, wondering if there was a girl out there for him. That wasn’t likely to happen soon, though, and not for lack of a loft now they moved to Metropolis. No, everything Clark usually did, ceased to be usual for him this morning, when the girl he was falling hard for responded his spontaneous kiss…

The kiss… ah yes… it was so unlike Clark to do something as spontaneous as that. It was also so unlike Clark to stare at a girl instead of paying attention to the teacher… However unlikely, both were happening this very morning. His gaze was fixed on Lana as soon as he sat down after the teacher had entered. It might have been disturbing to a girl, noticing a guy staring at her… In this case, however, the gaze was returned with equal intensity…

It was impossible for Clark to focus, for every second his thoughts drifted of to the beautiful girl he was staring at. More specific, they drifted to the kiss they shared… the long, passionate, lingering kiss. He was still somewhat dazed by the amazing sensation of kissing her, still tasting her on his own lips, in want for more. Never would he have imagined a simple kiss could be like this…

Amazing… that was the only way Lana could describe Clark. It was also the only way she could describe their kiss. She was taken by surprise when she saw him bringing his face closer, but as soon as his lips touched hers, the sensation shot her straight to cloud Nine… She was unaware of the chuckles exchanged between Pete and Chloe, since all she had in mind now was looking at the amazing Clark Kent… Her amazing Clark Kent…

The bell shook both lovebirds out of their dreamlike state and they started to pack their stuff, preparing to go to the next class. Once outside the room, they were awaited by a smirking Chloe and a grinning Pete. “I am afraid Pete and I have to split you up here, so if you would be so kind to let go of each other, we can all head to our proper classes.”

Reluctantly, Clark let go of Lana’s hand, being brusquely awaked from his bliss by the realization of the separate course Chloe and Lana followed from him and Pete. Why oh why couldn’t I have picked French as well… He already spoke the language fluently, as he did with every language he heard a couple of sentences from. Sometimes being a seemingly advanced alien life-form had his advantages, even for school…

Lana was disappointed when Clark indeed let go of her. She knew they had to go different ways from here, but it felt as if it lacked something. She took Clark’s hand again and pulled him closer to her, while tiptoeing so she could give him a quick kiss on the cheek. While moving, she changed her thought and it became a somewhat longer kiss on Clark’s delicious lips.

By the time they let go of each other, their two-man public was already becoming impatient. Chloe rolled her eyes when Clark reached out to pull Lana in for another kiss. By this time, Pete decided to take an example from the couple and he rapidly pulled Chloe to him as well, quickly checking for some PDA-inspector, better known as a teacher, on the lure, before pressing his lips on hers…

Alas, the bell interrupted, so the couples split up and headed towards their classes. This time, all of them made an effort to pay attention, saving up their tension for after school… At noon, they met up at the Torch. The three veteran reporters packed out their lunch and prepared for a long session of doing research and coming up with articles to fill the remaining pages of the school paper.

Clark, not used to the standard schedule of the others, didn’t have lunch with him. Off course he didn’t need to eat, but it would look suspicious and the smell of food always made him hungry, no matter how much he ate… “Um, I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow then… I didn’t know this was on the agenda…” The others, especially Lana, were a bit disappointed when they saw him turn away, silently blaming themselves for forgetting to mention their usual Wednesday afternoon planning…

“Wait, Clark, you can join us”, Lana jumped and hurried towards the door, trying to catch Clark before he left… “Unfortunately, my dad is waiting for me at home. I promised him to help him … um … repair the wiring in the basement…” That wasn’t exactly true, but it was reasonably close. In fact, they still needed to cover up the spaceship, by building some sort of secret compartment in the basement.

Seeing the disappointed look on Lana’s face he quickly added: “As soon as we’re ready, I’ll join you guys up here, if you’re still here.” He marvelled on the inside, when he saw her face lit up in a smile, just before she hugged him and kissed him. “You better hurry then, I won’t stay here all day waiting…” He kissed her quickly goodbye, waved at the other two reporters and headed out.

As soon as he was around the corner, he threw in ‘some’ superspeed and a mere second later, he was in the kitchen at home. Liz was over at a friend and Martha had an appointment for her work already, so it was just Clark and his dad at lunch. Motivated by Lana’s words, Clark used his strength and speed to the maximum, only slowing down to get instructions from his father.

The compartment was taking shape quickly and in about half an hour all was ready and cleaned up. The two men made their way to the kitchen, to grab some refreshments, when they heard the bleep of the television announcing a breaking news report on LNN. At the same time, the breaking news report opened on Chloe’s computer at the Torch and she quickly called her friends to join her watching it…

“About fifteen minutes ago, a group of heavily-armed men broke and entered the Metro Cultural Museum. Upon entering they shot all the guards and regular staff-members. The museum was closed today so the famous collection of Templar-gold, found by Ben Gates, could be set up in the museum. The treasure now is in hands of the criminals, but they are surrounded in the museum, which is now virtually under siege by the MePD. The criminals refuse to surrender, though having no hostages, and have taken defensive positions in the central hall of the museum.

From the little security feed we received before they took out the surveillance cameras, there are at least twenty armed robbers inside, having enough weapons to fight a war. All of MePD’s SWAT teams are preparing to enter and arrest them. Reinforcement units are being flown in from both Star City and Edge City. The police asks all people to keep their distance from the scene, since a heavy gunfight is expected…”

Clark exchanged a glance with his father, saying: “I can help dad, I can round them up without causing casualties, you have to let me go.”

“If you are sure this is the right time, then you must go, but you must feel ready for it…”

“Ready or not, I can truly make a difference there… oh and don’t worry, I won’t do a press conference so they can get a good look at my face…”

With these words, Clark rushed of, speeding into his suit, applying some gel to his hair, which just sprang into his mind as means of extra disguise and flew out of the attic window at top speed, so that no one would see him. He didn’t know exactly where the museum was, but the huge amounts of sirens coming from a particular area were a dead give away.

The first SWAT teams were on the move, though were immediately pinned down by enemy fire. They all hid behind the police cars spread around the museum. Regular police officers were being equipped with machine guns, snipers and bullet-proof vests now, too, so they could give suppressing fire to cover the advance of SWAT.

When everyone was in position for the second attempt at action, the scene looked like a war zone, both sides anticipating in a full fight. Just as the SWAT agents were preparing to get up and rush for it, a blue figure in a red cape just dropped out of the sky, accompanied by a loud whooshing sound.

Both sides were stunned out of confusion. Then the orders were coming in for the agents “Alpha team, get that clown away, before he gets hurt, we can’t risk casualties amongst civilians, even if he is a nutter.” The brave members of Alpha team were about to move in to rescue the weird brightly coloured figure, when he slowly started stepping towards the museum entrance.

What followed was caught live on video and millions of Americans watched in awe at their televisions and computers. People in the streets stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what was happening on huge vid screens spread throughout the city against the skyscrapers or in the windows of electronic stores…

As soon as Clark made the first step, the thugs in the museum opened fire. Everyone watched in shock, expecting to witness a body being shred to pieces by the bullets of two dozen machine guns. Instead of the expected horrific scene, what they saw was impossible… Clark saw the bullets racing towards him in slow motion and thought ‘well, let’s give the people a good show’…

The bullets crashed against his body and just bounced of the floor. The news anchor presenting the report was speechless, as was everyone else when they saw the trail of flattened bullets that formed behind the slowly moving figure. The SWAT teams could have tried to make their move now, without risking their lives, but they were stunned, watching the red-caped ‘clown’ reaching the stairs up to the entrance of the museum.
Clark felt his self-confidence growing with each step. ‘This is easy, much easier than any meteor freak.’ He had to smile when his superhearing picked up the gasps and the racing heartbeats of the murderous criminals inside. He entered the main hall and overlooked the situation.

The bags containing the templar gold treasure were spread throughout the room and the criminals, who formerly had taken positions at the windows now were all retreating to the backside of the room. One of them threw a grenade at him; which Clark caught in his hand and simply crushed, preventing the explosion from staining his suit. Luckily, so far, his suit was undamaged by the bullets, but you never know if the same applied for explosions…

Deciding to round it up quickly after his display of power outside, he just supersped around, disarming the thugs and throwing them outside though the window after having them knocked unconscious. When he grabbed the last two, he simply dragged them outside over the floor. Once outside, he dropped them, saluted the officers watching him and took of to the sky, making a nice looping just for show before he disappeared again at full speed.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we’d like to end this report by asking you to call in all information you might have on this mystery saviour… this superhero… this Superman. This was Lois Lane, reporting live to you, from the Metro Cultural Museum, for LNN.”

Martha was still staring speechlessly at the huge vid screen on the building opposite her office. Knowing Clark had these gifts and seeing him use them for chores was something entirely different from seeing her son rounding up a small army without blinking. Still, she would give him a fierce lecture when she got home, what was he thinking, letting her be so worried. He might at least have dodged the bullets, for which he was fast enough…

Chloe, Pete and Lana were staring at the screen, rerunning the scene where he got out of the museum, facing the camera. They were trying to get a good focus of his face and of his body. Despite the state-of-the-art Photo programs Chloe had, he was just to far away from the camera to get more than a blur out of his face. The only thing they could identify was the S-shield on his chest, though it was quite vague. No wonder the reporter had called him ‘Superman’. Chloe would have to call her cousin Lois for more information…

Jonathan was still gazing at the screen when Clark came walking inside, towel wrapped around his waist after a super-shower. “I guess I made a good impression by the looks of it…”Jonathan turned around and said: “They are not exaggerating when they call you Superman, Clark, you did a great job and I am very proud of you… Not a single casualty thanks to you.” The two men hugged…in a manly way off course.

[SVsleuth]

cool - I don't think I've read a story where Clark is still in high school when he becomes Superman. I wonder if Lana will figure it out before Chloe...

Waiting for the Clana date. PPMS!

[Nemu]

That was good!!!!

Like SV said.. I hope Lana finds out before Chloe... or Lois... but I would prefer him telling her instead of her figuring it out...

PPMS!!!

[arkaniel]

don't worry, Lana will find out first... as to how, in my opinion it is satisfactory and very very very soon.

For Superman appearing while Clark is in High School, I reasoned it would be the perfect cover. Who would expect a very adult and good looking Superman to be still in third year (Junior year I believe) of High School. And, he needed the disguise if he wants to use his gifts in Metropolis, seeing there are many more witnesses and cameras,...

It would be too difficult to avoid being seen as just Clark.


Thx for the nice reviews, update will come either Sunday or monday

[arkaniel]

Chapter 6


After having talked with his father about his experiences at the museum, Clark was heading out to join his friends like he promised. He regretted having to go at normal speed. Usually, he liked being and acting normal, but now it meant an additional twenty minutes before he saw Lana again… oh and Chloe and Pete… off course…

Passing the local Starbucks on his way, Clark decided on ordering four ice-coffees, which would probably appreciated by his friends during the current heat-wave. The cute-looking girl behind the counter was making some small talk while making the order, with special interest in Clark’s address and phone number, but he was too distracted daydreaming about Lana to notice it.

Exactly five minutes later, he arrived at the Torch office. He placed the cartridge with the coffee-cups on the nearest desk and turned towards his friends. The three of them were captivated with the computer screen on Chloe’s desk. Before making his presence known, Clark marvelled again in the sight of Lana. Though she was obviously sweating and a bit flushed from the heat, she still looked gorgeous…

“I hope you like the ice-coffee while it is still cold…”, Clark intoned, startling them, “Or are you all still recovering from watching our brightly clad superhero…”. They were rerunning the highlights of the breaking news report over and over, ever since he got home. All of them took their refreshment, muttering thanks and greetings to Clark.
‘This mystery saviour… this superhero… this Superman’

Chloe and Pete were occupied on one computer, editing the stories handed in so far, while Clark and Lana were just quietly enjoying each other’s presence, sipping from their coffee. ‘This day can’t get any better’, Clark thought as he took Lana’s free hand in his own one, giving her a soft squeeze. He was instantly rewarded with a dazzling smile from his girlfriend-to-be…

During her work, Chloe observed the couple at the other desk. Seeing the sincere look and loving way they looked at each other made her happy. Her best friend deserved to be happy. Besides, Clark appeared to be a real catch, both for her and for the Torch. Boy, that guy even made an interview with the principal sound interesting. So far, it would even make the front page Friday; unless they succeeded in digging up a juicy story…

Having finished editing the last article, Pete got up and pulled Chloe along with him. “Chloe and I are going to get some printing paper”, after which they left the office hurriedly. When Lana noticed Clark’s confused look, she squeezed his hand and said: “They probably want to give us some privacy, besides, the storage room is their private make-out place.”

She moved her hand to his face, wanting to wipe away the smudge of whipped cream above his lips. ‘He seems so untouched by the heat, I on the contrary am cooking over, and not just from the heat… I am going to give him a taste of his own medicine… okay, now I sound too dirty…’ She moved her finger with the whipped cream to her mouth and slowly licked it of as sensual as she knew how.

Her actions clearly had some effect, judging from the shade of red Clark’s face became at the view. Lana let go of her usual shyness at the sight of an overheated Clark and practically jumped him, pressing her lips hungrily on his…’Oh my God, this is so unlike me, what am I doing? … hmmm… his lips feel great…’

Clark was getting slightly aroused from the view and when he felt her sweet lips assaulting his, he didn’t hesitate responding. He slipped his arms around Lana, who was now sitting on his lap, her petite frame pressed tight against his broad chest…
Clark opened his mouth slightly, tracing her lips with his tongue, savouring her own sweetness mixed with the taste of coffee. He felt Lana imitating his actions, one of her hands tracing his spine, the other one grabbing the hair at the back of his head…

When she came up for air, Clark traced a path of soft kisses towards her ear, dropping there to slowly nuzzle her neck. Lana rejoiced in the feeling and couldn’t help but utter soft moans of pleasure…

These moans stirred something in Clark and he felt all the heat that was swirling through his body now concentrating in his eyes… ‘Oh no, not now…’ He started panicking, standing up quickly, which caused Lana to slip of his lap onto the floor rather painfully.
“What the…”, she started, more out of shock at his action than out of pain, but she quickly went silent as she saw Clark fidgeting and stumbling through the office, his eyes tightly closed…

“What is the matter Clark? Did I do something…”, she asked concerned, but her words trailed of as she saw the fear growing on his face…

He heard her broken off curse and her pleading questions afterwards and desperately wanted to comfort her and excuse himself, but his situation was growing more dire. He couldn’t escape the room, not being able to see where he was going. ‘If I want something with her, she’ll need to know eventually…But can I trust her yet?’

When he felt his foot collide with a trash can, he took a decision… ‘It is not as if I can withhold the heat any longer anyway’… So he opened his eyes and a strong bolt of fire left his eyes, setting the contents of the trash can ablaze…

Lana watched in shock as she saw the reddish beams, coming from Clark’s red-glowing eyes, igniting the trash. She was too stunned to say anything as she saw Clark taking a deep breath, followed by him blowing out the flames in one breath…
She desperately wanted to say something, but she couldn’t find the words, she could barely even think…

’What was that? How did he do that? Is he one of those so-called meteor freaks? Is he going to kill me now?’ She became more afraid with each thought, but that fear turned slightly into surprise at seeing the mixture of emotions on Clark’s face, now looking at her.

He looked so sad and at the same time so full of fear, the look in his eyes begging for her understanding as he asked her with a trembling voice: “Please don’t tell anyone…”
At his words, Lana calmed down a bit… ‘Don’t be silly girl, he is an amazing guy, with amazing lips… umm…anyway, just because he can do something weird doesn’t turn him into a killer… I hope’

She could still see how afraid Clark was … he was extremely tense, but his hands were trembling and his eyes a bit watery… ‘I think I am already in love with him… and this thingy doesn’t change anything about it…’ Lana slowly moved over to where Clark was standing and took his hands in her own…

“Clark, it is all right… I won’t tell a living soul about it if you don’t want me to… you can trust me…” At her words, Clark started relaxing visibly and pulled her closer to him in a hug. Her reassurance together with the feel of her in her arms made the butterflies in his stomach fly up again. At the same time, he felt like he belonged, that for once his secret wouldn’t ruin everything.

He cupped her cheek and lifted her face a bit, so he could look her in the eyes… she needed to know it all, for her to accept him… “There is more… much more in fact. I don’t want it to stand in the way of ‘us’, so if you think you are ready, I’ll tell you everything about the mystery that is… well… me.”

She smiled at his words and murmured: “Us?” At seeing the blush blooming on his cheeks, she whispered in her sexiest voice: “I’d like there to an ‘us’.” After which she kissed him softly, letting her lips linger on his.

“I like the sound… of ‘us’, too,… especially when… you… say it like that…”, he managed to utter between more kisses.

The starting make out session was interrupted by the other couple re-entering the office. “Wow, major make-out session at 12 o’clock. You know guys, the storage room is free at the moment, no fee necessary since it is you two.” At these last words, Chloe winked, before continuing to work on her computer, accompanied by a beaming Pete.
Clark stared at Chloe and Pete for a moment, thinking about what to do and his promise to Lana… “Lana, you haven’t seen my house, have you?” Lana, easily picking up the cue, answered quickly: “I’d love to see it now.” Packing their stuff, they said goodbye to the other two reporters and left.

“Oh Chloe”, Clark started, his head peeking around the corner, “I didn’t do much this afternoon, but I think I have an interesting, somewhat juicy story, that I probably have finished tomorrow before noon…”

His super-hearing had given him the clues to chase down the story about one of the teachers harassing some of the girls in his class. ‘Gotta love being the ultimate eavesdropper sometimes’. In fact, sometimes, Clark couldn’t help catching stuff from people in need. He could easily block out every sound, but somehow a person in need always came through…Maybe he should look into refining it, so he would hear call for helps and related stuff from long distances, preferably the entire city.

The couple walked towards the Kent residence, holding hands for everybody to see. They were officially together now and both marvelled at the feeling and the possibility to openly show their affection. That reminded Lana she forget to tell Chloe and Pete, so she text messaged them ‘Me + Clark official luv, X’

Clark eagerly made use of her distraction to give her another kiss, on the cheek this time, just before they arrived at his home…

Tightening his grip on her hand, he started heading up to the door. His nerves started tensing, especially since he picked up the discussion going on between his parents, which he quickly shut out, not wanting to violate their privacy.

Lana, mistaking Clark’s nervousness, tried to reassure him: “Don’t worry, I won’t run off…”
Clark flashed her a quick smile in acknowledgement and mustered his courage to enter the house and face his parents. He imagined them not being too glad about the sharing the secret part of his visit. He knew, though, that after the how-could-you-do-this-so-fast part, they would accept Lana as if she were family. His parents were great people, just a bit overprotective, but who can blame them as their soon is an alien…

As Clark guided her to, supposedly, the living room, Lana took in as much of the house as she could. It sure looked cosy and the furniture was old-style in light oak wood. She preferred the cosiness of this way over the cold design furniture her aunt Nell seemed to prefer, not to mention it was incredibly uncomfortable. Everywhere there were pictures of the family. She especially liked the one with a ten year old Clark on a red tractor.

“Jonathan, you could have at least let me know something before I saw it on the news. I was dead worried about him getting…”

Clark interrupted the conversation with a cough, immediately getting full attention from his parents. “Clark, we didn’t know you were back already. Who is your friend?”

Lana suddenly got nervous at the curious glances from the two people. She was also slightly confused about the odd discussion she heard. Clark gave her a glance before he proudly introduced her: “Mom, dad, this is Lana Lang, my girlfriend.” He positively beamed at that and Lana felt her heart melted right away at his statement. Her nerves went away completely, being replaced by intense happiness as she now knew for sure how she meant enough for Clark to tell his parents about it…

“Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I am pleased to meet you…”

His parents looked surprised at the news, but both got up coming towards her and Clark. “We are also very pleased to meet the mysterious Lana Clark told us so much about.” Jonathan gave her a warm handshake after which Martha hugged her. They seemed genuinely nice people and as genuinely pleased with her, too.

“Would you like to stay for dinner Lana? We’d love to get to know you better.” Lana was glad at the invitation. Nell always came home late, so she usually had to eat either alone, or over at Chloe’s place. “That would be very nice, Mrs. Kent, if it is not too much trouble;”

“Not at all, my dear, and please, it is Martha. Clark, why don’t you show her around, while your dad and I prepare dinner?”

Clark did a tour of the house, with Lana snuggled closely against him. She fell instantly in love with the house and with the warmth and cosiness it literally radiated. When they got at Clark’s room, they sat down on the bed, exchanging short kisses, not wanting to be caught making out.

”Um, I don’t want to sound pushy, but didn’t we come here to talk about… well… Not that I am not enjoying what we’re doing now…” She finished, pressing her lips fiercely against his again.

“Yes, But I think it is better we do it over dinner. I’ve never told anyone before and I also need some sort of approval from my parents…”, Clark muttered when she let go of his lips again. “The other times people found out, it didn’t turn out too well for anyone involved…”
Just as Lana wanted to say something to reassure her boyfriend, who was tensing up again, Jonathan called dinner was ready.

The meal Martha had prepared fitted the hot weather nicely: A lovely farmer’s salad, some home-made freshly baked French bread and grilled steak. Desert would be a fresh apple pie with home made vanilla ice. Off course, a large can of cooled ice tea was also present.

The four people chatted throughout the meal, asking everything about Lana. They were surprised to hear she lived with her aunt now her parents were abroad for a year, both working for “Medecins without Borders” in Africa. Off course, Martha couldn’t resist dishing up embarrassing stories about Clark’s childhood. All in all, they had a great time.

As they were finishing of desert, Clark felt he could no longer postpone the important conversation. After all, Liz would arrive home in about an hour or two. “Mom, dad, there is another reason I brought Lana here today.” At the questioning looks from his parents and Lana’s visibly growing anticipation, he continued: “Um, earlier today, there was this little incident at the Torch and I… Eh… accidentally put a trash can on fire with my eyes…”

Both his parents dropped their forks on their plates in utter astonishment. They both looked at Lana intently, understanding the full implications of her presence, while deciding which emotion to show from the mixture they felt surging through them. After a quick glance at each other, they decided not to become angry too fast. “So, I gather Lana saw it happening… What else does she know?”

Clark fidgeted nervously on his chair. “Um…She probably guessed I also have a very strong breath, which I used to put the fire out… And… Eh… I was planning on telling her everything right now… I just liked you to be present…” Okay, telling it made it sound more ridiculous that thinking this…

Lana, sensing the tension of the moment and seeing its effect on Clark, slid her hand to his, took it and softly squeezed it, as to give him support. She was unsure if she should say something to Clark’s parents and even so, what could she say?

Seeing the interaction between the couple and the sincere looks, the same Chloe had noticed earlier that day, Martha and Jonathan knew enough. Their son was serious about it and Lana apparently seemed to be ready. Martha motioned her husband to take the word.

“Lana, you have to realise everything you are going to hear, must remain between these four walls. And… um… I hope you still feel the same way about Clark after you know everything. You have to remember he still is the same guy you apparently fell in love with.” A small smile tugged at his lips with that last sentence, being happy Clark had found someone. He gave Clark a reassuring nod, passing on the word to him.
Though his parents amazingly enough encouraged him in telling his secret, he was still nervous, but now more for Lana’s reaction.

”Well, um, the abilities you saw me use at school are just two of many more I have. Those two we tend to call heat-vision and superbreath…” Clark paused and noticed Lana’s amazed look, taking in every word he said. Yet he was unsure how to continue. It was, after all, a bit different than discussing the weather.

“My other abilities include enhanced strength and speed, near invulnerability, some other vision gizmos and my other senses are also enhanced… I can control them all very good now, but all of them still grow stronger every day, so I have no idea where the limits of these powers are… Next to that, I get a new ability every once in a while.” When his parents smirked, Clark got the cue, so he continued: “Oh, and two days ago I learned how to fly…”

Lana was too stunned to react immediately, all she just got told whirled through her mind… “Are you one of those so-called meteor freaks? The ones we read about in the Smallville High school paper and as of late, quite often pop up here as well? But don’t they usually have only one ability?”

Clark shifted a bit uncomfortably on his chair, dreading what he had to say now. After all, he promised her to tell her everything. “Well… what you say about the meteor freaks is right. I am not one of them and the meteors certainly didn’t affect me in that way… They… they… are pieces of my home world… My spaceship arrived together with the meteor shower. But I don’t know anything else about my origin…”

Lana could barely believe what he told her. Her boyfriend… was an alien? She let go of Clark’s hand and started fidgeting, avoiding his gaze. She was afraid, or rather shocked after the revelation. The first guy she thought was out of this world and fell in love with was literally out of this world… A bit of normalcy in her life was probably too much to ask…
But what did it mean for them? Could she live with the fact her boyfriend wasn’t human at all, instead of just a bit genetically different? When Clark touched her, she couldn’t help but shriek in fear and pull away from him. Next thing she heard was his chair scraping the floor and a loud whoosh with a faint choked noise in its wake…

Lana immediately looked around, but Clark was nowhere to be seen. When she looked questioningly at his parents, she shrunk under their hurt and utterly disappointed looks. Martha even had tears in her eyes, while anger flashed in Jonathan’s. Martha got up and went over to the sink, her shoulders shaking as she started crying softly.

Jonathan got up and joined his wife, embracing her in an attempt to comfort her. “Miss Lang, I think it is better if you leave this house now, you’ve caused a lot of grief here. Frankly, I had expected more of you, seeing how you and Clark were together… I trust you to respect my earlier request and don’t tell anyone, as you promised…”

His words hit Lana hard, especially because they were true, and she realised what her unthoughtful actions had caused. She had hurt Clark… neglected the fact that, as Jonathan had said earlier, he was still the same… Sadness took over and she made her way through the living room, intent on leaving the house, when the Television sprung to life with another breaking news report…

One of the highest skyscrapers downtown was on fire. The top fifteen floors were all burning fiercely and according to the news anchor, at least fifty people were trapped inside, cut of from the fire escape. Then she heard the whooshing sound again…
The news anchor suddenly exclaimed: “Oh my god, we just got word from our reporters that the hero, now called Superman, just arrived at the scene. We are getting now live feed from our reporter, Lois Lane…

“It is amazing, really, Superman just flew in here and went straight through the flames to enter the building. Is he going to display another set of abilities than earlier at the bank? Will he be able to also save many lives here?” Lois was interrupted as the crowd around her started cheering and pointing upwards. Soon the camera followed and all could see now the figure in red and blue jumped out of the window on the top floor, carrying no less than 3 children, tightly held in his arms.

As soon as they were on the ground, he sped up again, repeating the process many times, evacuating all people and handing them over to the medical teams. Miraculously no one was badly injured, just some cases of light smoke poisoning and some first degree burns. He was discussing something with the firemen now gathered around him.

“Come, hurry up, we might get some nice quotes from him…” Just as Lois and the cameraman were coming close enough to get a good view on the superhero, he took off again, hovering near the burning floors. As everyone was wondering what he was going to do, they suddenly saw him take an immense deep breath, even at this distance visible. “What is he doing? Going to blow out the… fire…”

As Lois said this, an immense white cloud left his mouth under high pressure, extinguishing a large part of the fire. He kept repeating his action, floating around the skyscraper. In about ten minutes, he had made the entire building fire-free. The camera zoomed in on his figure, when he stayed in one place for a moment, and showed his face and body nearly completely covered in sooth. He gave a short wave and disappeared in a blur, accompanied by the now familiar loud whooshing sound.

“That was… Clark… Clark is Superman…” It was more a statement than a question Lana voiced…

Anyway, that was confirmed as a soot-covered Clark/Superman suddenly appeared in the living room, looking shyly at his parents and Lana… Lana immediately rushed over to him, jumping in his arms, kissing every spot of his face that wasn’t covered in sooth, while whispering: “I am so sorry and I hope you can forgive me for the way I acted before… I was just shocked and surprised and… and…” She trailed of, her lips too occupied to be able to talk. But her short explanation was enough to lift the hearts of the elderly couple and their son.

[Nemu]

yeah it was just a spur of the moment reaction from the shock... we all knew that and the Kents should have understood that too...

YAY finally Lana knows... that should help him throw off Pete and Chloe for a while once they really get down on that story...

PPMS!!!!

[basketballstar23]

this story is fantasic! PPMS! :)

[SVsleuth]

Awesome! So, Clark only left to go take care of a fire. Cool that Lana knows now. Amazing that all of this happened so quickly.
looking forward to more soon.

[arkaniel]

no, SVSleuth, he left in grief/sadness/dissapointment/hurt. But when he was up in his room, he heard the calls for help from that fire and then left...

about this happening so quickly, I need them to be a strong couple for the rest of the story, so no lies and everything between them, it would lead to situations that would be irreparable in real life... and i am not planning on writing 7 seasons of relationship angst...

[Nemu]

thats a wise idea (about having them strong and no 7 seasons of angst ;))

But I am kinda worried... usually when a writer needs them strong in their relationship it means they are going to be facing hell...

PPMS!!!

[arkaniel]

I don't want to spoil things, but hell is pretty close, for there is Whitney, Lois, Both Luthors, Intergang and a whole can of meteorfreaks to come ;)

[The Black Cat]

This story is awesome!!!! PPMS!!!!

[Nemu]

I don't want to spoil things, but hell is pretty close, for there is Whitney, Lois, Both Luthors, Intergang and a whole can of meteorfreaks to come ;)

Whitney and Lois... who cares... (but it is the hell i was talking about)

The Luthors, Intergang and the freaks are Supes job... I hope Lana can face that...

PPMS!!!

[smlgrl1547]

Great Updates! this storys great.
PPMS!:D

[Nemu]

hmm an update coming soon? please?

[arkaniel]

Chapter 7

After the happy reunion moments before, Martha ushered her son to the bathroom, so he wouldn’t leave soot throughout the house. Also Liz would be brought home any moment now, so it was time for some secrecy again. Yet, Martha was happy… her son was finally accepted and even loved by a very nice, decent and beautiful girl. Indeed, she wouldn’t mind Lana to become her daughter-in-law one day…

Clark, overjoyed by Lana’s words and passionate greeting, wanted to take the opportunity to show off for his girlfriend. In the blink of an eye, he sat next to her on the couch, washed up and dressed in a dark blue shirt and black jeans, his hair still slightly wet. “Wow, I think I am never going to get used to that… wish I was that fast in the morning”, Lana remarked, an attractive smile playing around her soft lips. They cuddled together, watching the repeated footage from both the robbery and the fire, with comments from a whole board of people.

As the several ‘specialists’ on the matter gave their opinion about Superman, all positive mind you, Lana rejoiced in the feeling of Clark’s strong arms around her. ‘Mr. Kent was more than right’, she thought, ‘He is definitely the same guy I fell in love with, alien or not, and the way he uses his powers only makes me fall deeper in love with him more and incredibly proud…’

“Clark, I am really sorry for the way I reacted earlier… it was just… a lot to take in and I… I freaked out before letting it sink in properly… I just hope you can forgive me”, she whispered sincerely, watching the profile of his handsome, chiselled face. Clark slowly faced her, giving her his dazzling smile, while replying: “There is nothing to forgive and I am glad you accept me now, the way I am, and that is al that matters to me.” They bent closer, their lips brushing softly against each other. Soon, the kiss grew more passionate and intense…

“Eeeeeewwww”, Liz exclaimed after entering the room, interrupting the teenagers, now both blushing furiously. The little girl stuck her tongue out at her brother before running off to the kitchen, yelling “Mommy, daddy, Clark and that girl are doing naughty stuff on the couch…”

”Lana Lang, meet my little sister, Elizabeth Kent, source of many frustrations to come…” Clark whispered in her ear, following it up with a gentle kiss on the cheek.

Later that evening, when Liz was already in bed, Lana was getting ready to go home. “Mr. and Mrs. Kent, thank you for letting me stay here and for the opportunity to get to know Clark a lot better… and I apologise again for the way I reacted earlier, I should have trusted all of you better…”

”Lana, it was nice to have you over, and we hope to see more of you. Don’t worry about apologising… My husband and I overreacted, too, and we’re sorry for the harsh words said then… words you didn’t actually deserve.” The two women hugged warmly, before the final goodbye.

Lana and Clark walked outside and just when she wanted to kiss him goodbye, Clark said: “Come, I’ll walk you home, then I know where you live, too.”

Lana couldn’t say how happy she was with his offer, and simply walked arm in arm with him through the streets. ‘Oh my God, here am I, being escorted home by Superman… no… by my Superboyfriend.’ Three blocks further, the houses were replaced by apartment buildings, each about five floors high. A few minutes later, they arrived at the one where Nell and Lana lived. At the door of the building, Lana and Clark shared a long lingering good night’s kiss.

“Date still on for Saturday, right?” Clark asked when they came up for air.
”Can’t wait. I wouldn’t dream of letting you down, flyboy”, Lana giggled.
”Speaking about flying, what floor do you live?”
”My aunt has the penthouse, with roof access.”
“That’s great, then I pick you up there tomorrow at 11 pm. Well… at least if you’d like to go flying with me…”
”Really?” Lana embraced him in joy, muttering “I’d love to” in his chest.

After a final good night’s kiss, Clark disappeared in a blur, not yet done showing off.
The following morning, the four friends met at the sports fields. They were lucky, this early in the morning, it wasn’t that hot yet. They had to run six miles, pausing or walking costing grades. The entire group started, Whitney and his gang off course nearly sprinting away.

Whitney slowed down enough to let Clark and his friends catch up, so he could taunt him. “Well, farmboy, don’t they teach you how to run in Smallville, or are you just related to a snail?”

Clark looked at Lana, who was running next to him, as if to ask permission and when she nodded, he replied to Whitney “Actually, I didn’t want to humiliate you today, but since you’re asking for it…”

After those words, Clark Sped up at almost Olympic level, catching up and even passing by Whitney and all of his friends, leaving an agape Pete and Chloe in his wake. He kept up the speed, round after round, though not overdoing it to prevent suspicion. Whitney started running as fast as he could as well, and when passing his friends, urged them to go along, too. After several rounds, Clark and his chasers had doubled everyone else on the track.

After four miles of running, most of Whitney’s friends were too tired to keep up and started slowing down to a slow jog, leaving Whitney in the exhausting run. Whitney, determined to finish before Farmboy Kent, didn’t give up, but his endurance and speed were both wavering. In a last effort, he started a sprint to catch up with Clark, but failed miserably when he tripped out of tiredness, bruising and burning his elbows and knees on the orange gravel. Too tired to even move, he earned himself an F for not finishing the run and a lot of laughter from his classmates.

Having finished the run first, Clark faked panting while talking to the admiring coach, silently thanking the morning humidity so he appeared to be soaked in sweat. Off course, the fact his shirt clung to his chest as a near see-through, earned him a lot of staring from the still running girls.

After their last class before lunch, Clark and Lana went to the Torch, to eat while helping out there, putting the Torch to bed as Chloe called it.

”Ah, there is mister marathon… Gee are you related to a leopard,” Pete greeted, in mock imitation of Whitney’s earlier remark.

”Wow, Pete, you have me completely figured out”, Clark replied in a smirk to his friend. Yep friend, he liked the sound of that. With the luck he had the past few days, getting friends, a girlfriend, a hero’s carrier and so on, he definitely needed to try his hand at the lottery…

“Well mister hotshot, you promised me a juicy article and now is your last chance to shine on tomorrow’s edition”, Chloe teased. A little. She actually craved for that story. Well maybe not crave…
”Careful, Chloe, he is MY mister hotshot…”, Lana stuck out her tongue at her best friend, while ruffling up Clark’s hair affectionately.

”As if a guy like him wouldn’t get something better than you to ornate his arm”, Chloe chuckled back, sticking her tongue out as well, to assure she didn’t mean that last remark.

Clark, having finally found the article in his bag, looked up and couldn’t help but add to the conversation, “As if I would ever find someone better to ‘ornate my arm’”. At his profound compliment, Lana gazed dreamily at him, muttering “Anytime, hotshot.” ‘Yep definitely my mister hotshot…’

FORMER BIOLOGY TEACHER TRIED GIVING FEMALE STUDENTS LIVE SEX-ED LESSONS

“The title is a bit long, Clark, but for the rest, definitely a great article you wrote here”, Chloe commented professionally as she and Pete proofread it.
”Thanks, I just overheard one of the conversations, so I could inform the principal… Well, the rest of the story was quite easy to get then.”

Lana raised an eyebrow at him, as if to ask ‘as in super-overheard, you cheater’ at which Clark nodded, smirking.
”Still, we have our first hot front page story for the year, thanks to you, Bro”, Pete added, “Let’s keep it up.”

As the four friends ate and worked together, putting the Torch to bed, as Chloe affectionately called it, someone else was working on something, too.


”I hate that Kent. He humiliates me over and over again, tries to be the big man himself. Not to mention he has hooked up the most beautiful girl on school in the blink of an eye. No matter if she is a bit of a prudish geek, she is hot and he doesn’t deserve her. He doesn’t even play varsity sports… Let’s teach the guy some manners after school. What do you say?”

The three guys listening to Whitney all nodded in agreement. They would wait for him after school and beat him up in front of his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend. She should go to Homecoming with one of them, not with that stable-mucking farmboy…

The day went on, rumour of the upcoming fight spreading like a wildfire through school, eventually reaching Clark. After classes were over, Clark and Lana walked to the exit, closely followed by an anxious and concerned Pete and Chloe. ‘Four to one, how is he even going to survive that…’ Both Chloe and Pete thought.

“Clark, how are you going to do this? Won’t you risk your… your heritage if you fight them”, Lana whispered, worried.

”Don’t worry Lana, I’ve fought people before, while still protecting… it. I usually give a surge of adrenaline as explanation, always works… or I could blame it on self-defence lessons Lex gave me or something. Besides, I’ll try to persuade them to back off first.”
Backing off wasn’t exactly in their minds when they saw Clark and Lana leaving the building arm in arm. They were blocking his way, a large crowd of students gathered in a circle around them to watch the anticipated fight. As Chloe, Lana and Pete stopped in their tracks, Clark walked on further, glowing with confidence.

Whitney called out at Clark: “Well well, look who’s there, our own private stinking farmboy from Nowheresville. In case you didn’t notice it yet, we don’t like your kind disgracing our school, Kent.”

”Did you come up with that pun all by yourself? I didn’t know you had it in you to put that many letters behind each other.” Clark’s pace didn’t even waver and the self-confidence was now practically radiating from him.

Whitney’s temper was raising at Clark’s smug remark and unfazed appearance. Next thing, he lunged at Clark, putting all his force in a right hook. Clark simply dodged, grabbed the fist punching the empty air next to him, and turned Whitney’s arm on his back, rotating him towards his buddies, squirming to get free. He pushed Whitney towards his closest buddy, sending both to the ground.

The other two both rushed at Clark, wanting to wrestle him down, but he sidestepped them smoothly. The two goons turned around quickly and wanted to rush at him again, but a teacher called them off, threatening with detention.

The crowd quickly dissolved, now the spectacle was over. Lana immediately hurried to Clark, hugging him tightly. “I didn’t know you were so adept at handling people like them”, she whispered in his ear. “How did you think all those meteor freaks back in Smallville got stopped from hurting more people”, he whispered back, trying to sound casual. She smacked him on the arm, a smile playing across her face. “Not too arrogant there, Mister Nowheresville.”

Pete, now joined by his friends from basketball, watched Clark, deeply impressed by his earlier performance. Chloe on the contrary, eyed him intently. “What’s the matter, Chloe? Not cheating on me I hope”, Pete teased her.

”Don’t you think it is weird? I know Clark is buff and everything, but so were those four others and they didn’t even manage to touch him… Oh all right, I am probably looking too deep in it”, she trailed off.

Half an hour later in Centennial Park, the guys were playing basketball, while Lana and Chloe, now joined by some other girls, the not so popular ones (after all, this is High school were talking about), were watching. Though not the popular ones, they still liked discussing about things like cloths, guys, …

“I wish someone like Clark, or preferably Clark himself, would ask me to Homecoming next week. That guy is really yummy… and really nice as well. That’s a rare combination here on High School.” She was joined by her friends in cooing over Clark, not yet up to date about his new relationship, while Chloe and Lana did their best to stifle their chuckles.

”He is also really caring”, Lana started, deciding she should probably mark her territory, “and he is an incredible kisser…” Yep, this statement definitely did the trick…
“He kissed you?” The shock was evident in their trembling voices. Dreamily Lana gazed at her boyfriend, replying, “Oh yes, several times so far and I intend to do a whole lot more of it…”

”You guys are dating?” The happy smile on Lana’s face answered the question for them.
Now the difference between these girls and the popular group, also referred to as the cheerleaders, became apparent. Instead of showing jealousy or envy, they all were genuinely happy for their friend, congratulating her with her great catch.

The game and the chatter was disturbed by an explosion not too far away…

[The Black Cat]

That was great!!! PPMS!

[SVsleuth]

Uh-oh, an explosion. I guess Clark will disappear to go into Superman mode.

Loved how Clark handled the jocks - and how Lana marked her teritorry.

Wonderful story. PPMS!

****

[Nemu]

Well.... I agree with SV...

And... erm... I wonder how Clark will be able to go... to explain his need to leave...

Chloe was really looking too deep in that moment after the fight...

If they had hit him I could understand... but he was able to dodge the attacks... nothing *that* incredible... with a little practice ;)

PPMS!!!!

[basketballstar23]

have i told you that i love this story? well i do! i think it's fantastic! PPMS! :)

[smlgrl1547]

Great Updates!!!
I really like this story!!
PPMS!!

[playboykal]

cool story
ppms!

[Nemu]

an update please?

[basketballstar23]

okay. maybe it was jsut me but i didn't catch that last update. oh well, i read it now and i think it was great! can't wait for another :) PPMS!

[arkaniel]

Chapter 8


Curiosity won over and they all went to check the explosion out. Clark kissed Lana on the cheek, whispering “The other me is needed, stay safe…”

A moment later he disappeared in a blur, unnoticed by the others, who were far too excited because of the situation.

As the group arrived at the scene, they saw several burning cars and a very skinny and tall guy, quite creepy looking due to his paleness, gross hair and even more due to his green glowing eyes. Suddenly, he shot a bright green beam from his hands at another
car, luckily an empty one. A large crowd was gathered around the scene, yet keeping a respectful distance.

Suddenly a loud whoosh resonated through the street and the now famous red-and-blue clad figure of Superman landed in front of the assailant.

“Superman, I’ve been expecting you… my boss sends you his regards.” And with that he shot two beams from his hands directly at the superhero. Clark was tossed away by the impact, crashing into a nearby building.

“Farewell, we’ll miss your short carrier, Super-Dead-man.”

The rubble suddenly moved, Superman breaking through it, floating slowly towards the freak. News van and police cars were approaching now and soon the public was being pushed aside by many reporters and police officers.

“You’ll have to do better than this next time, once you get out of jail”, Clark called out.
The freak’s single response was shooting his twin green energy beams at Clark again, at full power this time. Clark countered with his bright rays of heat vision. The green beams hit the fire-ish beams from Clark’s eyes mid-air. The crowd, now joined with news reporters and police officers, watched in amazement at the battle and the newest power Superman displayed.

The creepy guy was slowly pushed backwards as Clark floated closer towards him. Keeping up the green beams clearly cost him a lot of energy, as he started panting and sweating, while his powers grew weaker. Suddenly, they disappeared completely and the freak collapsed, having fainted from the exertion. The officers immediately closed in on his unconscious body and handcuffed him, while Superman waved at the crowd before flying of swiftly.

Exactly five seconds later, Clark wrapped his arms around his girl from behind, which startled her slightly. She eased immediately when she felt his lips trailing over the left side of her neck.

“You handled that nicely…superman”, Lana purred, squirming at the sensations she felt from his soft kisses.

Neither one of them knew Chloe had noticed Clark’s absence and sudden reappearance. Her famous reporter mind was already making up and going through various wild theories, one of them involving Clark as Superman…

‘Don’t be ridiculous Chloe, it was just a coincidence…’ But then the running session from earlier this morning came up in her mind, together with Clark’s behaviour during the “showdown” with Whitney and his friends… not to mention the odd burning smell at the Torch yesterday, just after Clark and Lana had left.

She would have to discuss this with Pete, do some investigating and a background check on Clark… or maybe corner Lana…

Later that night, Lana was awaiting Clark on the rooftop, wearing black trousers, a black top and a black summer coat, as Clark had asked. This way, they would be practically invisible against the night’s sky.

‘Of the three billion guys on this planet, I manage to get the only one that can fly; how cool is that.’ She sighed happily. Being in love was definitely a great feeling. Being in love with a guy that can do practically everything one could imagine and is caring enough to help everyone to the best of his abilities was Super…

“I never thought you would start referring to me with my media nickname.” Clark’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Lana turned around quickly, heart beat rising. At the sight of her boyfriend she felt the heat surging through her body. He looked so incredibly sexy all dressed in black.

“Sorry I am late, there is a lot more crime here than I ever imagined”, Clark apologised, enveloping Lana in his arms, practically lifting her up against him.

“You have to make it up to me then, an I have a suggestion for that”, she whispered, after which she kissed him softly, hungry for more. Clark was happy to comply. Then a thought crossed his mind…

When Lana finally came up for some air she whispered: “I didn’t know your kisses could get any better than before, but they certainly do now.”

“I don’t think it is my kissing that made you feel that way”, Clark replied, smirking, when he glanced to the floor. Lana followed his gaze and nearly squealed as she noticed the rooftop was more than a hundred feet below them now.

“Wow, flying feels really good, even better than I thought…”

“Almost as great as being in love”, Clark replied smirking.

“Never thought you could talk so smooth with the ladies, Mr. Kent… what else is there to discover about you?”

“I’ll soon have my own action-doll?”

Lana slapped him as well as she could without losing her grip.

“Oh, you mean the part where I have this amazing and beautiful girlfriend.”

As they floated higher and higher, they only had eye for each other, forgetting their playful bantering. Slowly they started kissing, channelling all their feelings for each other in their most passionate kiss yet.

A while later, both were gazing at the moon, never having been so close to it before, undisturbed by nose, light pollution or clouds. Suddenly Lana let out giggle. At Clark’s confused look, she explained.

“If someone had told me a week ago what I would be doing now and with whom, I would have brushed him away as a complete nutcase… Sometimes I still think all this is a dream.”

She squealed as Clark nuzzled her neck ferociously, whispering something along the lines of this being one hell of a good dream. She tried to squirm her way out of his grasp, but stopped as she realised that would evolve into a deep bungee jump, without the bungee…
He stopped teasing his girlfriend as his hearing picked up the first midnight chime of the Metropolis Clock Tower. Clark started descending again and just as the twelfth chime echoed through the city, they touched down on the rooftop. After a long good night’s kiss, Clark blurred away as Lana went inside.


-

[basketballstar23]

that was fantastic! very cute :) PPMS!

[Nemu]

List of do's and don'ts for Chloe...

1- Don't corner Lana;
2- Don't run her theory with Pete;
3- Don't do a background check on Clark;

4- Do ask Clark first.

Sure she might not get any answers to her taste but she wont be doing anything that might cause her a lot of trouble...

Beside that... was good!!! I feared for a second that the green was due to some kind of kryptonite beams... luckily not the case...

PPMS!!!

[arkaniel]

The green is just because it is a meteorrock induced power, not because it has the same radiation as the meteorrocks/kryptonite.

[SVsleuth]

Thanks for the update. Clana are sweet together. Glad Clark took care of that freak in no time. Sweet Clana flying together.

PPMS!

[CaptainObvious]

I finally got a chance to read this story. Once I started, I could not stop! It's great! Chloe has got her reporter hat on that's for sure. I hope she doesn't figure it all out, approach Clark with her discovery and leave Clark to wonder if Lana spilled the Beans to her!! We don't need any mistrust issues with Clana!

Can't wait for more!!

[smlgrl1547]

Great Update! Very Cute!
PPMS!

[CaptainObvious]

Another update would be great right about now! Will wait patiently!