A Lifetime of Tomorrows

[kewl]

just tuned in cardinal, and this is a great story!!!!
wow, lana will do anything for clark!! that's so sweet!!!
*cue bryan adams - everything i do, i do it for you*
*another cue gloria estefan - anything for u* (thx cardnal )
please keep going and more CLANA.

[Cardinal]

Okay, SV, this update is for you, my first pushy poster!
It would be longer, except I spent too much time early this morning defending myself from scurrilous attacks (from Smallvilleman, who else? ). There should be another update this evening to make up for the shortness of this one.

Chapter 6: Martha Learns

As the streaking blur of red and blue approached the Kent’s farm, Clark stopped just beyond the hard-packed dirt drive that led to the house to assess the situation. The first thing he noted was the unexpectedly, but thankfully, quick appearance of the ambulance from Smallville Medical. The second thing he noticed was the stench of burnt rubber that issued from his shoes. Damn, that’s the third pair this month! At least it wasn’t my boots! I’m gonna have to circle around, enter the house from behind, get my boots, go back out into the field and put them on. All before I can run back to the barn at normal speed and be “surprised” at Dad’s condition. The things I have to do…

Two bursts of super-speed and a merely-human sprint from the fields back to the barn later, Clark got a better look at what was going on. The paramedics, having already wrapped his neck in a brace, were just moving Jonathon onto a back-board in preparation for picking him up and placing him on a gurney. As Clark moved closer, he shouted, “Mom, what’s wrong with Dad?”

Martha turned and, with mouth hanging wide open, looked at her only son like he’d lost his mind. Then, thinking fast when she noticed the direction from which Clark had approached the barn, Martha said in a tremulous voice, “Your father fell…he was trying to put the weathervane on the roof and…he just…fell.”

“Is he still alive?”

“He’s breathing, but he’s unconscious,” after waiting for Clark to come close, Martha continued, “I’m going to ride in the ambulance with your father, you lock up here and follow me in your father’s truck.”

“Okay, Mom, but I’ll need your keys. Lana’s got mine and I’m not gonna disturb Dad to get his.”

After closing the barn, shutting off the lights in the house, and locking the house, Clark climbed into his dad’s blue pickup for the drive, a drive made longer than usual by what waited for him at its end.

Finally, pulling up to the small parking lot just off the emergency room entrance, Clark ran inside and was directed to the waiting room where Lana and Pete were sitting with his mom.

Upon seeing them, Clark blurted out, “Where have they taken him?”

“Since he’s doesn’t seem to be in imminent danger, they’ve taken him for tests to determine what is wrong with him. Is his spinal cord damaged, is his back broken, does he have a concussion…that’s what they want to find out first,” Lana said.

After hearing this, a visibly shaken Martha stood up and pulled Clark out into the hall while whispering, “Are you sure you didn’t see anything? You know, when you looked at him?”

“It’s okay, Mom, you don’t have to whisper, and no, since I’m not a radiologist, I couldn’t see anything useful this time.”

Still whispering, she said, “What do you mean, I don’t have to whisper…you’re forgetting about Lana…“ and with a quick look back at Lana, “oh, no, you didn’t…you didn’t tell her, did you?”

“Yes, Mom...everything, last night.” And she’s still here, Clark hooted to himself. Seeing a look of annoyance rapidly overtake the look of fear on his mother’s face, it suddenly occurred to Clark that this might have been the ideal place to tell his mother since she couldn’t very well yell at him about his secret in front of witnesses.

Visibly gathering herself as the thought of outsiders curbed the urge to flay Clark with her tongue, Martha answered, with a reasonable display of equanimity, but still whispering, “You dumped the entire load on her at once? How is Lana dealing with it? Remember what happened the last time you dumped on someone? It took a near-death experience to help Pete see the light!”

“If you want to continue this, we’ll need to go outside, but if you want to know how she’s taking it, ask her, or just look at her left wrist.”

Turning back to the waiting room, Martha saw, glowing dully in the subdued lighting, a silver and turquoise bracelet. Asking a question she already knew the answer to, Martha said, “Is that the bracelet, Clark?”

“Yes, Mom. Lana’s the one, she’s always been the one. I don’t doubt she’ll have some more questions once she’s had time to think over what she learned last night, but the important thing is this: she knows and she still loves me!”

Bowing to the uselessness of arguing over something that has already happened, Martha re-entered the waiting room. After sitting back down, she said to Lana with a wan smile, “First Pete, and now you…welcome to the family.” As the two women hugged, Martha thought, I am not looking forward to Jonathon learning this.

[SVsleuth]

Very nice, Cardinal. I was about to log off, and noticed that you just posted onyour story, so I checked. Thanks for this:

Okay, SV, this update is for you, my first pushy poster!

Had to chuckle at the shoes burning rubber.

Ah, & "the" bracelet is here too

[kewl]

great update!!! wow, clark burnt 3 pairs of shoes in a month??? funny!!! being superman can sometimes be a little expensive

[Cardinal]

Yup, it ain't cheap! By the way, kewl...it's always kewl to have a new reader, especially one who posts. Thanks!

[Scotty]

Why didn't I find this fic last week?? Oh well it was nice reading 6 consecutive chapters. This fic is great, can't wait to read more!

[Cardinal]

Welcome onboard, Scotty! Maybe that avatar's not a badger or a muskrat...it might be a wombat!

[MOOman0618]

I wish they would make a shoe reference in the show!

Originally posted by Cardinal

“Yes, Mom...everything, last night.” And she’s still here, Clark hooted to himself! Seeing a look of annoyance rapidly overtake the look of fear on his mother’s face, it suddenly occurred to Clark that this might have been the ideal place to tell his mother since she couldn’t very well yell at him about his secret in front of witnesses.

Heehee Strategic bad news giving is a fine art! Post more soon!

[Cardinal]

Chapter 7: Father Knows Best

While waiting quietly for the test results in the beige-colored room, Clark got a message on his Kryptonian pager: RRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!! Fishing the key out of his pocket, Clark thought, Time to talk, Old Man!

Getting up and facing the other three, Clark said, “I’ve gotta go.” Holding the key so that all three could see it, Clark added, “Someone needs to talk to me. I’ll be back quickly.” I hope so anyway. Before he left, he turned back to Lana and switched keys with her so he’d have his LuthorCorp key to the caves with him.

As Clark left, Lana said, “Pete, I know you said you were gonna let Clark tell me about that key, but I think I’d like to know now, if you don’t mind.”

Looking at Martha for permission, and receiving a reluctant nod in return, Pete replied, “Let’s go for a walk.”

As they got up, Pete led Lana out the door and to a far corner of the parking lot.
Stopping and facing Lana, Pete said, “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be telling anyone about this, much less you! Anyway, as I told you at the caves, that disk came as original equipment on Clark’s spaceship. It apparently has lots of uses, but one of the main ones is that Clark can be contacted by that key, using a painfully loud ringing noise. The secret here is who is using the key to contact him…it’s his father.”

Lana began to absentmindedly point back toward the hospital while asking, “Mr. Kent?”

“No, not Mr. Kent.” Pointing in the general direction of the caves, Pete added, “Mr. El, Jor-El that is. He’s Clark biological father.” At the look of dumbfounded shock on Lana’s face, Pete continued, “He’s dead, has been since just after Clark left his home planet.”

“But if he’s dead, then how is he…”

Seeing that her confusion was only multiplying, Pete said, “Man, I knew Clark should be the one to tell you this.” He’s probably got a script with charts and everything. Running his hand over his face while he gathered his thoughts, Pete said, “There’s a place in the caves where something like the memory of Jor-El lives on. Clark can take the key and go there to talk to him.”

At this, Lana face brightened, “If I could talk to my dad, I mean, really talk to him, I’d be there all the time.” Then, quietly, “It sure would beat talking to a headstone.”

Not hearing this last, Pete said, “You wouldn’t be there all the time if Jor-El was your dad, ‘cause Jor-El’s a dick. He’s the one that caused Clark to leave town last summer and go to Metropolis. Clark destroyed his spaceship to try and get away from Jor-El, but Jor-El just kept after him. Clark finally decided to leave to save his parents, and you, from harm. So anytime you start feeling all warm and fuzzy about Clark finding his real family, remember that Jor-El is responsible for the pain that you suffered last summer.”

After mulling this over for a while, Lana looked back to Pete and asked, “Why is his father after him? What does he want?”

“I think he wants what any father wants, Lana. He wants Clark to reach his full potential. With Clark’s abilities, that’s an awful lot to live up to, and Clark just wants to be a normal guy.” As he looked at Lana with raised eyebrows, he added, “You know, grow up, get married, raise a family.”

Lana couldn’t help laughing as Pete started to wiggle his raised eyebrows at the end of his last statement, but her face was flushed at the thought of marriage and kids.

“Anyway,” Pete concluded, “Clark never lets anyone go with him when he talks to Jor-El, ‘cause he’s afraid of what Jor-El might do to them.”

When they turned to head back inside, Pete wrapped one arm around Lana’s shoulders and gave her a hug of reassurance. “He’s gonna be okay, Lana.”

As Pete opened the door for Lana, they heard, “Hey, wait up you guys!” Turning, they were faced with the irrepressibly perky editor-in-chief of the Smallville Torch, Chloe Sullivan. As she reached the door, Chloe said, “Hey, Roomie, I didn’t see you this morning, or last night for that matter.”

Not having told Chloe about the watershed events of the previous night, Lana waffled, “Well, I had some messes to clean up at the Talon, and it made me late. This morning, I went over to the Kents’ to thank Clark for saving me from Adam.”

Walking into the waiting room with Pete and Lana, Chloe said, “I just heard about Mr. Kent, how is he?”

Surprised to hear the new voice, Martha looked up with teary, blood-shot eyes, and said, “He’s unconscious and undergoing some tests right now to find out the extent of the damage.”

As Martha leaned forward in her chair to receive a hug from Chloe, Martha looked at Pete and then Lana, pointed to Chloe with her free hand and mouthed over Chloe’s shoulder, Her, too? Receiving emphatic shakes of the head that clearly said NO, Martha breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she liked Chloe’s spirit, she wouldn’t trust her with Clark’s secret, not after that research paper on Clark she wrote for school.

After waiting companionably for several minutes, Chloe asked, “Umm…where’s Clark? I’d expect him to be plastered to your side at a time like this, Mrs. Kent.”

Covering for her son‘s disappearance, Martha said, “He…uh, couldn’t stand waiting for the test results, so he went back to the farm to do some his father’s work. He’ll be back soon, I’m sure.” I hope. Damn you, Jor-El, leave my son alone.

Meanwhile, back at the caves…

[SVsleuth]

I get to post 1st again? I guess no one expected a 2nd update today. I just happened to see it. Great update. Pete sounds realistic. I could just hear him saying, “Man, I knew Clark should be the one to tell you this.”

[NYC300Z]

I just read both updates!! really great!! PPMS!!

[LuvClana]

Love em! Keep it up! Its great! PPMS!

[Scotty]

We don't see Pete enough in fanfics, so I'm really liking this one

[Cardinal]

Woo-hoo! Three updates in one day. According to the 4EverSmallville scale of production, that means I'm now allowed 9 days before my next update on this thread!

That'll give me enough time to work out the idea that 4Ever gave me for a short story...hopefully anyway!

--------------------------------------------

Chapter 8: The New Deal

Walking into the sandstone caves, Clark went back to the portion of the cave where the octagonal slot used to be…before the last time he dealt with Jor-El. Over and over Clark thought, I’m the one who should pay for my mistakes, not my father!

Holding the key by one corner, Clark said, seemingly to thin air, “Why did you have to bring him into this, Jor-El? Whatever promises my dad made, I’ll take them on. Come on! Come on, Jor-El, I’m the one you want!”

Finally, pointing his hand straight towards the wall, almost as if he’s pushing the key away, the three groupings of Kryptonian symbols on the key began to glow a sickly greenish-yellow as it shook violently in his hand. In response, the slot opened for the first time in nearly a year. This time was different. Far back in the tubular recess that the key slot usually covers, a blue, actinic glow boiled, then, the symbols on the key changed in color to their respective red, blue, and yellow as it floated out of his hand. At last, three colored beams shot out of the key at an angle forming a tripod with the key at its apex, one beam-color for each corresponding spot on the key. As the key-beams rotated into place, a beam of pure, white light shot from the key, searching…searching. When the white beam hit the tubular recess, the three colored beams collapsed into the white one in a thick, blindingly bright pulse of coruscating energy. With the key and the recess connected that way, all Clark could do was stand there, listening to a high-pitched keening which continued until the light beam dropped away and the key returned to his hand.

A bodiless voice emanated from the wall, calling out, “Why have you come here, my son?”

“Whatever is between you and me, I want you to leave my dad out of it. Any promises that he made, I’ll take them on. Punish me if you must, Jor-El, not him.”

“You will fulfill any and all bargains between Jonathon Kent and myself? Without preconditions?”

“Yes!”

“Very well my son. His bargain was: in return for the temporary use of Kryptonian powers to bring you back to the farm, he would bring you to me at the time that I chose. Jonathon has been ignoring my summons for some time now. It seemed necessary to gain his attention. In return for your oath, I will release him from his. You will return here tomorrow night and will be gone for some time. I give you this one day to say goodbye to your loved ones.” At this, holographic representations of his parents, Lana, Pete, and Chloe all appeared around him.

Crushed by the thought of leaving Lana so soon after they finally moved past their problems, Clark asked, “Jor-El, might I ask for a delay in coming to you?”

“Why, my son?”

Thinking fast, Clark responded, “We’re not quite to the end of school for this year, if I disappear before then, I will be missed by the government, and people will search for me. Should you wait until the school year is over, my parents can easily excuse my absence and such an absence will go relatively unnoticed.”

“As you wish. Your cover as a human will be useful for a while longer. I will expect you by sundown of the day your school concludes for the summer. If you are late, even a minute, for any reason, what I will do to those closest to you is not something you will be willing to contemplate.”

As Clark left to return to the hospital, Martha’s receiving bad news. Having been escorted by the doctor from the waiting room to a consultation room, the doctor said, with a sorrowful expression on his face, “Mrs. Kent, preliminary tests indicate damage to your husband’s spinal column. He’ll never walk again, though he may regain use of his arms in time. He also has a broken pelvis and right hip. Both are hair-line fractures and should heal on their own, especially since he’ll not be moving around any time soon. He’s also got a mild…”

As a nurse barged in the room, she blurted, “Doctor Barnes, come quick!”

“What’s wrong with you,” he rumbled in annoyance, “can’t you see I’m in the middle of a consultation?”

“But it’s her husband that’s the problem! You know the spinal in 3B?”

"Mrs. Kent, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to see to this.” Rising from his seat, he continued, “You have my apologies for this interruption and condolences for your husband’s condition. I‘ll be back to the waiting room as soon as I know…”

At that moment, the bull-moose bellowing of a very disgruntled Jonathon Kent could be heard in the consultation room. “Martha…MARTHA…where are you? No one will tell me where you’re at.” Up and out of her seat like a rocket, Martha raced along the nondescript hospital corridors, following the sounds to their source. There, standing in the middle of the hall, facing away from her and wearing nothing but a poorly tied hospital gown, was her husband. Lunging at him from behind to embrace him, and to cover up his butt which was showing out the back of his gown, she held him lightly, still worried about his injuries.

“Jonathon, Jonathon, Jonathon,” she said, softly, rapidly, as if the very saying of his name possessed healing power. “What’s going on? The doctor just told me you’d be crippled for life, how are you walking around? Not that I’m complaining, mind you,” she sobbed, wiping her runny nose while crying tears of joy.

As he turned around to face his wife, to hold her as well as to be held, he answered, “I don’t know, Honey. Last thing I remember, I was falling from the roof, then a couple of minutes ago, I woke up feeling fine. I couldn’t remember why I was here, but I knew if I was here, you’d be here somewhere. Please, let’s get me checked out of here, I want to go home.”

As Martha steered her husband back to his room, a veteran nurse standing in the background said, “I don’t know what HMO those Kents belong to, but I want in!”

“What do you mean?” asked one of her co-workers.

“I was part of the team that worked to keep Mrs. Kent alive when she was in with a deadly viral infection last year. She died! The doctor had called out the time for the death certificate and everything, then, all of a sudden, she sits up and starts breathing like coming back from the dead is something she does every day of the week.

“First, that, now this. Captain Cripple over there, who should have been a lifetime poster boy for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, gets up and is ready to walk out of here. All I know is, I want that medical plan for me!”

By the time Clark returned to the hospital in his red truck, Jonathon was ensconced in his bed, propped up with pillows, and smiling. He had agreed to stay the night and let the hospital run extra tests, as long as the hospital picked up the extra cost. Martha was sitting in a chair bedside, and Lana, Pete, and Chloe were standing on the other side of the bed. When Clark entered the room, everyone turned to him and tried to explain all at once what had happened.

“I know what happened,” said Clark, smiling through his tears.

[SVsleuth]

This is getting better & better. Super update. Loved this:

“I was part of the team that worked to keep Mrs. Kent alive when she was in with a deadly viral infection last year. She died! The doctor had called out the time for the death certificate and everything, then, all of a sudden, she sits up and starts breathing like coming back from the dead is something she does every day of the week.

“First, that, now this. Captain Cripple over there, who should have been a lifetime poster boy for the Christopher Reeve Foundation, gets up and is ready to walk out of here. All I know is, I want that medical plan for me!”