Chapter Ten: Welcome Back Clark

Zod was busy.

Since his departure from Smallville, the General and his servant had traveled hundreds of miles, from Los Vegas to Monticello and finally to this facility, two miles outside of Metropolis. It seemed fitting that the final phase of restoring the black ship’s hard drive would take place so close to its original point of arrival on this planet. With the moon high in the night sky, Zod and the Construct set down in the main compound of the Metropolis Nuclear Facility.

With the capacity of the boiling water reactors lowered to half power at night, there was no need for a full crew to run the station and only one shift was in operation along with a handful of security guards to ensure the facility protection. Zod and the Construct were detected almost immediately upon landing in the compound. Strobe lights fell upon them from guards on high towers. The facility was almost prison like in its fortifications.

“Hold it right there!” Someone shouted from a tower. “You’re trespassing.”

“Continue to the reactor core,” Zod commanded the Construct. “I will tend to this.”

“Yes Master,” the Construct nodded and proceeded across the concrete floor towards the nearest entry into the building.

“HALT!” The guard shouted again impotently but his demand barely rated a second glance from the Construct.

Zod wasted no time with warnings. His eyes blazed red and the air between the tower and himself shuddered with heat just before the blast consumed it entirely, sending fragments in all directions. After that, alarms screamed throughout the facility as more guards appeared with their weapons, opening fire.

Elsewhere, his enhanced hearing became aware of voices being ushered out of the building evacuation procedures were initiated. With amusement, he noted that some of the frightened voices believed there was a terrorist attack underway while others thought some natural calamity had taken away. Zod listened to this cacophony as sound as he was assailed by a barrage of lead projectiles. They bounced off him harmless and drew in a deep breath, before exhaling with one, forceful puff.

The humans attacking him were hurled through the air, flung about carelessly as if they had been borne away by a tornado. The General did not pause to see where they had landed. It wasn’t necessary really since none of them were moving once he was done. Workers in the facility had wisely departed the premises, careful not to get in his way which was just as well, Zod had no time to deal with the primitives of this world when there was much to do.

He would not be robbed off his dream again, now when there was nothing to stop him from accomplishing it.

The path to the reactor core was not difficult to find after Zod stepped into the door leading into the reactor building. As anticipated, he had a trail of bodies to follow, even if he did not use his x-ray vision to detect the Construct. Those who did not die by the Construct’s bare hands were nothing more than charred remains of ash. The emergency klaxons continued to whine with warning lights flashing.

It did not take him long before he reached the control rod drives. Workers in white laboratory coats and fragile environmental suits, lay strew about unmoving.

“They tried to stop me,” the Construct explained.

“They’re irrelevant,” Zod retorted indifferently. “Get on with it.” He ordered, a hint of impatience creeping into his disposition. Had they been on any civilized world, this rigmarole would be unnecessary. This third rate backwater with its primitive nuclear generators convinced Zod that the race needed expunging for its sheer ineptitude.

The Construct nodded and took the hard drive from inside his coat pocket. The last two attempts had returned it to its hexagonal shape but it still lacked spark needed for it to begin generating its own formidable power reserves. What twenty nuclear facilities would take a hundred years to accomplish, this small piece of technology could produce by the hour. The components were there, all it required was a starter.

Clutching it in one hand, the Construct reached into the reactor core with the other and began draining it of all its powers. Immediately, the lights around them started to dim as the reactor began to hum louder and louder. The Construct began to glow with white light as he acted as a conduit, drawing out all the power and funneling it into the hard drive which began spinning on the top of his palm.

Across its smooth dark surface, symbols came to life with a soothing amber glow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He woke up on the couch.

Clark Kent looked up and saw Lois’ head lolled against her shoulder, snoring lightly as his own head rested against her lap. Eyes shifting across the room, Clark found himself in the living room of the Kent house. Next to him, Clark saw Chloe curled up in Jonathan’s chair, in a similar state of slumber. Glancing out the window, Clark saw that it was dark outside and tried to remember what had happened. As his memories flooded his mind, Clark attempted to sit up and winced at the pain. Looking down at his bare shoulder, he could feel the ache from a now completely healed gunshot wound which served to remind him how mortal he was despite of his invulnerability.

It was not the first time he had been shot nor was it the first scar from a bullet he had ever received but it still struck him to see it nonetheless. An image returned to him in a flash and once again Clark was wincing at the memory of Lois standing before him, pointing a gun and completely unafraid to use it.

God, he had always known she could be strong but until now, he never knew how steely her determination could be. Clark didn’t know if he had that much iron will.

For a few minutes, Clark did nothing but watch the two women who had risked everything to save him.

He watched and let the disturbing events of the day seep into his skin like the blood in wood. The images came slowly at first and then they flashed with such speed, that Clark was overwhelmed. However, being overwhelmed was nowhere as bad as actually remembering it for real, being able to reference it like any other memory, even if it wasn’t him in control. Knowing red kryptonite was responsible did not alleviate his anguish. Every time this happened, it was like waking from a bad dream, except it wasn’t a dream and he didn’t have the luxury of forgetting all that had happened.

And no one else around him did either.

The last time he was under the influence, he had hurt everyone he cared for and this time, this time his behavior was so much worse. He looked at Lois who was wearing one of his plaid shirts and a pair of Martha’s sweats and knew this was son because she didn’t have any clothes left. Clark’s stomach hollowed remembered why. He had torn them off her body when he took her repeatedly and even though she had submitted willingly and could not be held accountable for the responses of her body, Clark knew it had been a means to an end.

She had endured it because of him.

The thought made Clark sick to his stomach.

When Clark thought of all the times he had wanted to spend the night at her apartment, all the feelings she had inspired, the idea that he had taken her spread out over the kitchen table like some cheap tramp was beyond description. Clark had so wanted their first night together to be something special and now for the rest of her life, she’d have the memory of a scene straight out of some tawdry porn film as her first sexual experience with him.

Clark had also wanted to tell her the truth about his heritage, about being Kryptonian before taking that step so Lois would at least know what she was getting into. Clark felt cheated and worse yet, he felt as if he had betrayed Lois.

Then there was the other fear; that perhaps on some level his boldness as Kal would be something he’d never be able to live up to. Clark knew he’d never have the courage to be as bold with Lois as Kal had been. Kal had taken what he wanted and Lois had responded to it on some level. How could he ever be sure that it was Clark Kent she wanted sharing her bed, not Kal? It was a foolish thought and probably unfair considering what Lois had been willing to endure to get him back, but Clark’s psyche was often a paradox of insecurity and confidence and this time he had good reason to fear.

Unable to stay in the room because his guilt felt like bile in his mouth, Clark lifted his head of Lois’ lap, careful not to wake her or Chloe. He was still dressed in his boxers but right now, he didn’t care. Leaving the two women in the house, Clark retreated to his sanctuary in the barn, the place where this whole nightmare had begun. He had yet to deal with the fact that Zod had taken over Oliver’s body and now he had two Kryptonians to deal with instead of just one. It should have been his main priority but as he stared out into the moonlit night, all he could think about was what he had done in the last day.

Not just to Lois but Christ, to Lana and Lex. He had almost killed Lex and recoiled as he remembered what he had said to Lana, not to mention Chloe. Even if he was angry at Lana for her decision to be with Lex, she hadn’t deserved the venomous words he had said to her. Nor had Chloe. Clark was mortified that he had rubbed her face in her unrequited feelings for him. Chloe had been there for him when he had felt completely alone. She did not deserve such humiliation.

No one did.

“Damn it!” Clark swore and lashed out, his fist snapping a support beam in half with a loud crack. Splinters went in all directions and Clark heard the slight heave of the beam above him. He wanted to scream in fury and outrage at what Fine had done to him. It wasn’t fair! Everything had been going so great! He hadn’t been this happy in so long. Why did these things keep happening to him? It was as if the price for these supposedly great powers was a state of perpetual misery where he continued to harm the people that he loved.

Lois. God, how could he ever face Lois?

“Hey Smallville.”

And the misery just kept on coming it seemed.

“Lois,” Clark turned around and saw her at the top of the steps, looking at him with concern. He was unable to meet her eyes for long, especially with images flashing in his mind of whispering cruel things in her ear while manhandling her like a slab of meat. Instead, Clark averted his gaze and went to the loft window staring at the cornfield swaying in the night’s breeze.

“Smallville,” Lois noted the look and guessed perceptively what was on his mind even if he hadn’t said the words. Clark had the most expressive eyes of anyone she had ever met and from the first; her ability to read him had surprised even Lois who considered herself a good judge of character. Sometimes she could see straight through him and some times he was a mystery.

Today, it was more of one rather than the other.

“You should be resting. Getting shot up with red and green kryptonite in one day takes a lot of out of a person. You gotta get your strength back to deal with Zod.” She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Her arms around his body felt good and the comfort she offered even more welcoming but Zod’s name inspired nothing but hatred.

“Zod,” Clark spat with disgust. “I guess that’s not a bad idea considering I’m the one who let him go.”

“Clark,” Lois said gently even though she knew that there would be no easing their way through this. “You weren’t yourself.”

“Yes I was Lois,” Clark retorted, turning around to face her. “Yes I was. Every time, I turn into Kal, it’s always me! He’s not another person Lois! He’s the part of me that I don’t dare show! All those feelings exist somewhere inside of me! I almost killed Lex and what I said to Lana…”

“Stop, please stop,” Lois pleaded as she took his face in her hands and made him stop. It cut her life a knife, seeing those expressive eyes so filled with pain and anguish. Lois couldn’t stand it. “Maybe part of Kal is you but he’s a part you should never have to see. We all have a side of us that’s just like him, aggressive, cruel and selfish. We’re just lucky enough not to have to see it because of red kryptonite. I’m not angry at you Clark and none of the people who know you and love you, are angry for something Fine had no right to do to you.”

Clark wanted so much to believe her. As much as he wished he could admit Kal was someone else, he couldn’t. It would be a lie and Lois deserved the truth. He was every much Kal as Clark Kent was. “How can you say that Lois?” Clark blinked, eyes becoming moist with emotion. “I remember how I touched you, how I treated you. Lois, I was like an animal and what did to you…!” He faltered unable to say it.

God it hurt her seeing him like this. However seeing his pain gave Lois a sense of clarity she had never had about their relationship and making the realization gave her a sense of liberation as well as strength to do find the right words to say to him.

“I can say that because I love you Clark.”

There. She had said it.

Even though Lois had known how deeply she had fallen for Clark, she had never felt brave enough to say it to him until now. She had thought speaking the words might jinx it somehow and things had been going so well between, Lois hadn’t dared to risk it. So many relationships, full of hope and expectation had come crashing down because she had opened herself up to soon and the result had been heartache. Lois didn’t want to happen with Clark. As happy as he had made her, Lois had become too conditioned to hurt to let herself become so vulnerable.

But if it meant that ridding him off the agony he was going through now, then she would shout it from the rooftops.

Clark’s eyes widened in surprise. Staring into Lois’ one hazel ones, he knew she wasn’t lying. She did love him and Clark knew how he felt about her. So not like Lana where he had cultivated his feelings over time. All those years of yearning and dreaming, not seeing the forest for the trees. Coins in a piggy bank, he almost smiled. Lois’ own words. He had been saving for a bike never realizing it was a Harley he was getting.

His love for Lois was so unexpected, it had struck him deaf, dumb and blind all at once. He had never imagined that she could make him happy let alone that he could fall for her.

In truth, Clark Kent never seen Lois Lane coming.

“I love you,” Lois repeated, staring into his eyes. “I didn’t realize how much until I thought I might lose you and I was prepared to move heaven and earth to get you back Clark. I didn’t care if I had to play a part to keep Kal off balance, Clark. None of it mattered because the man I wanted, no the man I loved, for once needed me to save him. Clark, even when you were Kal, you still cared about me. I see that more than I see the guy who went all Sex God on me. The only thing that made me go through what I did was knowing that I’d get you back. Don’t ever think for a moment that I don’t love you because I do and I always will. You’re in my heart Clark. That’s all there is to it.”

Clark embraced her hard, burying his face his hair. “God Lois,” he whispered. “I am so sorry for everything I did. I never wanted to hurt you or anyone.” Closing his eyes, the tears ran down his cheeks as he held her, not understanding what he had done do deserve this unconditional love from her, especially after how he had treated her. There were still deep wounds that needed healing between them but for right now, he could manage. When this business with Zod was done, he and Lois would need to mend.

Knowing that she loved him was enough. For now.

*****************

The hard drive was spinning harder now.

It spun so fast that one could not longer see any shape except a glowing orb of bright amber. It illuminated the darkened interior of the almost exhausted nuclear reactor. Zod saw the device approaching its fully functional capabilities and concluded that it wouldn’t be long before he could use it to reshape the earth’s crust and rebuild Krypton. This time, Kal-El would be at his side as an ally, a delicious bit of irony that was sure to cause Jor-El to spin in his grave.

If he had one that is.

The humming that had filled the air at the onset of the process had metamorphosed into a loud drone the more and more power was siphoned from the reactor core. As the Construct began diverting every available bit of energy out of the facility, other systems in the building began losing power. Electrical systems throughout the complex were failing, the emergency klaxons had fallen into silence and now the lights were flickering out one by one, like candles snuffed out by the wind.

“We’re almost done General.” The Construct announced.

“Finish it,” Zod commanded.

As always, the Construct obeyed without question and retrieved his hand from the reactor as the hard drive devoured every last particle of energy left remaining. Zod watched dispassionately as the Construct too began to break down. The formidable energy contained in its matrix, being drained into the hard drive of the black ship. As the Construct began to disintegrate before the General’s eyes, Zod reached down and reclaimed the device. It stopped spinning almost immediately upon contact. Falling dormant, Zod looked up long enough to see the Construct vanished into wave of blue energy, expanding outward and creating a volatile mix with the spent uranium rods.

Leaping into the air, Zod smashed through the ceiling of the complex as he felt the rumble of the earth beneath him. He flew straight into the atmosphere until clouds were beneath his feet and gave him a good view of the explosion as everything in a two mile radius was vaporized.

PART ELEVEN