In Somno Omne Revelatur [PG-13] (Clana)

[Gregory H. Bontrager]

PART I: IN SOMNO

Lana Lang surveyed the interior of the Kawatche caves, only half-sure of what she was doing. She didn’t consider herself a superstitious person, but circumstances had to be taken into account. Being possessed by a French witch doesn’t exactly leave one with much reason to deny that there were supernatural elements at work in the world, despite what modern science and reason may ceaselessly preach. Plus, her otherwise Mayberrian hometown had a history of odd phenomena. Most of them involved somehow desperate or even disturbed individuals who developed strange abilities generally thought to be induced by exposure to the meteorites that had rained on the town about a decade ago. When she really thought about it, Lana marveled that the otherwise peaceful town of Smallville hadn’t been swarmed by government scientists years ago.

She had barely had the time to recover from her boyfriend Jason’s death, whom a part of her missed despite the fact that she would’ve broken up with him anyway after learning of some of the drastic and even violent measures he’d resorted to in search of a shiny stone with mysterious properties. Lana wondered sadly for a moment why all of her relationships seemed to end in tragedy, mystery, or both.

Shaking herself away from that line of thought, her eyes fell on the mysterious, presumably ancient American Indian artwork on the cave walls. Slowly and deliberately, she brought her fingers to the center of a concentric octagon of drawings and hieroglyphs, remembering the dream from the night before that could possibly explain a lot that had happened in her life surrounding one of her closest friends.

----------Lana’s Dream----------

Lana found herself in the Kawatche caves, staring at what appeared to be the center of the drawings and paintings on the rocky walls. She could hear a slight murmur from within the wall. Just as she stepped forward cautiously to investigate, a bright white light erupted from the center of the paintings and lit up the cave. She stepped back in awe. Part of her was telling her to flee, but something else within her kept her rooted to the spot.

Her eyes widened as a ghostly female figure seemed to form at the end of the broad beam of light. It looked as if the wall was projecting a holographic image of a beautiful woman with long, curly auburn hair and deep, intelligent brown eyes. She was dressed in white and silver, and Lana wondered momentarily if she was seeing an angel.

The woman spoke. “Please do not be intimidated, Lana.”

Lana was surprised when the figure spoke her name without ever having been introduced to her. “What is this?” she asked, half to herself and half to the figure.

“I am the digitally preserved essence of a person and a race long gone,” the figure answered. “You may call me Lara.”

“Digital?” Lana repeated. “But…I don’t see any machines or computers.”

“My people had the capacity to embed our equipment within most natural surfaces,” Lara explained gently.

“That’s pretty advanced technology,” Lana observed. “I’ve never heard of it.”

Lara smiled warmly. “I believe your race is not far from achieving some of what my own has accomplished.”

“Your race?” Lana repeated her again. “You’re not human?”

The woman pursed her lips, and her expression clearly stated her intent to get down to business. “Technically, I am. I am a Homo sapiens, but I am not a Homo sapiens terrae.” Lana looked puzzled, and Lara noticed this. “You see, your people are forever wondering if there is intelligent life beyond Earth. I believe I can trust you with the answer to that question.”

“You’re from another planet?” Lana asked, not having expected that even in Smallville.

“I was,” Lara corrected, emphasizing the past tense. “I was a member of what could best be described to you as an extraterrestrial human subspecies. Homo sapiens kryptonis, in the taxonomical language of Earth.”

“Kryptonis,” Lana repeated once more.

“We do not know how we got separated from the humans of Earth. Our historians never solved that mystery definitively. All we do know is that our race as we knew it began thousands of years ago and ended just fifteen years ago.”

“What happened?” inquired Lana, her curiosity beginning to overtake the sensation of being in the Twilight Zone.

Lara smiled sadly to no one in particular. “Our planet shifted too far out of orbit and fell into the gravitational pull of our red sun.”

“Oh, my God,” Lana said empathetically. “Did anyone survive?”

“Yes. One.” Lara tilted her head in reminiscence. “My husband, Jor-El, knew what was happening and did his best to convince the Grand Council, but they would hear none of it. Knowing it would cause a panic if we were seen trying to evacuate, they threatened him with the death penalty if he attempted to depart.”

“So, did he escape?”

“No,” said Lara. “We both knew it was hopeless for us and for the rest of our race, and so…we resigned ourselves to die a noble death with the rest of our people. But we determined that our hope would not die with us.”

“How?” Lana asked, now completely intrigued.

“We spent our final hours preparing our infant son, Kal-El, for a journey that would take him to a galaxy far from our impending doom to a planet with a yellow sun. He alone would be the last survivor of our race.”

“You sent your baby here?” Lana marveled. Then, the realization hit her. “The meteor shower…”

Lara nodded. “I can’t even begin to say how sorry I am that your parents died because of Kal-El’s arrival. Please believe me, we never meant for that to happen. And please do not blame Kal-El. Ever since he discovered the truth about his origins, he has always felt responsible for it on some level. He is plagued enough by guilt as it is.”

Lana swallowed. Part of her wanted to be angry at Lara for taking away her parents, but the sheer earnestness and regret on the holographic ghost’s face somehow deflected that anger.

“You said ‘when he found out about his origins,’” Lana said. “Where has he been all this time?”

“When Jor-El visited on Earth as a youth, he met a farmer in Smallville who helped was of great aid to him when he found himself in dire trouble. Jor-El programmed the ship so that it would land in the presence of the farmer’s son, who by the time of Kal-El’s arrival was grown and wed. As Jor-El anticipated, this couple raised Kal-El as their own, bearing the secret of his origins along with him. They raised him into a fine young man with compassion, integrity, and courage.” Lara chuckled sardonically. “But now, Jor-El’s preserved essence is making it known that these adoptive parents that have given our son so much were little more than pawns in his plan to restore the Kryptonian race.

“What do you mean?” Lana queried, growing concerned.

Lara pursed her lips, holographic tears emerging from her eyes. “We sent our little Kal-El to Earth, where he would have a future.” Her voice turned bitter. “A future,” she restated. “It seems Jor-El had a very narrow-minded idea of what that future would be.” Lara looked downcast. “As I said, Jor-El visited Earth when he was seventeen years old in Earth age. It was sort of a punishment imposed by his father. Ironically, during his stay, Jor-El fell in love with a beautiful Terran woman. She was your great-aunt, Louise.”

Lana’s jaw dropped. “Louise had an affair with a drifter named Joe. Someone tried to kill him and ended up killing her.”

Lara nodded. “Jor-El was that drifter. He returned to Krypton with a broken heart, and his father used the experience and distorted it in way that helped him instill in Jor-El his racist beliefs of Terran inferiority. By the time I became aware of how far it had gone, we were already married.” She spoke of her father-in-law’s brainwashing distastefully and with great resentment.

“So how did that play into Kal-El’s future?” asked Lana, the name feeling strange on her tongue.

“Jor-El’s memories and essence were digitally preserved as well as mine, and our technology allows such virtual personalities to exert their will on their relatives. Jor-El believes Kal-El’s destiny is to conquer the Earth and rule it like a demigod.”

Lana arched her eyebrows, her concern for the fate of the world gaining strength within her. “How would he do that?”

Lara swallowed. “Krypton revolves around a red sun. The Kryptonian race evolved rather rapidly to adapt to and nullify the effect of that sun’s radiation. This is a large part of what differentiates us from your race. Early in our history it was discovered that the very genetic differences that allow us to remain unharmed by the rays of Krypton’s red sun causes Earth’s yellow sun to have a dramatic effect on our physiology if we are thereunto exposed.”

It was Lana’s turn to swallow. The conversation seemed to be leading to the conclusion that the sun gave Kal-El some special abilities that would make him able to conquer the world, and she certainly didn’t like the idea of her beloved Earth being annexed by an invader from another planet. “What happens?” she asked.

Lara looked at her gently, perhaps sensing her train of thought. “A Kryptonian on Earth has physical strength far beyond that of even the strongest Terran. He can also move at speeds that rival that of a bullet fired from a Terran firearm. However, even if he could not move with such speed, no bullet, blade, or flame could scathe or penetrate his unbreakable skin. He can emit beams of heat and fire from his eyes, which are also capable of seeing through solid surfaces. A fully mature Kryptonian can also defy Earth’s gravity and exhale air so cold it freezes anything it strikes. Kal-El is not quite that mature yet.”

“What will happen when he is?”

“I don’t know,” Lara shook her head. “Kal-El wants nothing of Jor-El’s designs, a fact of which I am secretly very proud. He wants only to use his special abilities to save lives and help people in need, and he resists Jor-El’s will as much as he can.” Lara continued with great seriousness in her voice. “But Jor-El is quite talented at making his will known. He has driven Kal-El away from his home and family once, having convinced him that staying would only harm the ones he loved. I consider him very lucky to have been brought back.”

It then occurred to Lana that one question that she should’ve asked at the beginning of this eerie conversation had yet to be spoken. “Why are you telling me this?”

Lara smiled at her. “You are among those Kal-El loves most. I fear Jor-El is planning another affront to our son’s free will, and although his adoptive parents are doing all they can, quite admirably I might add, he needs someone else that he can trust and love by his side. I have only now managed to free myself enough from my husband’s silencing hold to come to you in your dreams and divulge this to you.”

Lana swallowed. “You must have some pretty amazing capabilities if you can make me dream of you.”

“Indeed. These are the very capabilities Jor-El uses to impose his Machiavellian will upon our son.”

Lana nodded, beginning to greatly sympathize with Kal-El. This, however, brought up another question. “You said I’m one of the people he loves,” she said. “So,…I know him?” It was more of a statement than a question.

Lara nodded and smiled gently. She turned back towards the origin of the light that surrounded her almost as if looking for something. Before Lana’s eyes, a second holographic figure formed next to Lara. Lana watched intently, and her eyes widened as she found herself staring into a familiar pair of blue-green eyes. “Clark!” she uttered in astonishment.

“This is my Kal-El,” Lara confirmed, giving her holographic son a warm look. “On Earth, he is known as Clark Joseph Kent.”

Lana stepped up cautiously, spellbound by the still yet so realistic image before her. She reached a hand up to touch his cheek and let out a small gasp as her fingers met nothing but air. She paused a moment, gathering her thoughts, before turning back to Lara. As if on cure, the holographic Clark dissolved behind her. “But he was the scarecrow,” she stated, the memory seeming much more distant than a mere four years past. “If he’s as strong as you say he is, Whitney and his friends wouldn’t have been able to subdue him and tie him up in the cornfield.”

She was speaking more to herself than to Lara, but the latter nevertheless seemed to understand. “Kal-El does have two weaknesses.”

Lana’s gaze focused on Lara. “What are they?”

“One is the green meteorites that came with him to Earth. Whenever exposed to their radiation on Earth, a Kryptonian loses his titanic strength, speed, and invincibility. It causes their blood to thicken, and exposure to it for a duration of three hours can be fatal.”

“My necklace…” Lana realized. “I gave it to Whitney.” She suddenly felt a pang of guilt for having armed her now-deceased boyfriend with the one thing that rendered Clark defenseless. She swallowed. “What’s the other weakness?”

“The second is not a physical weakness, but it is just as potent and dangerous. A rarer form of the meteorite, one of a deep red color, affects his mind. It removes nearly all of his inhibitions and causes him to act in an increasingly brazen and amoral manner.” She scowled. “Unfortunately, Jor-El has ways of inducing similar effects without the aid of meteorites."

“He acted like that in Metropolis,” Lana recalled. “I never knew…”

Lara held up a hand. “As I hope you do not blame Kal-El for your parents’ passing, I also beseech you not to blame yourself for not knowing Kal-El’s vulnerabilities. It is not your burden to carry.” She pursed her lips. “For that reason, I am going to give you a choice, Lana Lang. Kal-El needs you, perhaps now more than ever, but I do not wish for you to feel obligated to become involved. Kal-El is strong, and I believe his true character will ultimately triumph, so the autonomy of your planet is not dependent upon your decision. However, I do foresee great struggles ahead for Kal-El if he is to overcome Jor-El’s stubborn presence, and I hate to see my baby suffer alone.”

“I know what you mean,” Lana said, recalling her tragic experience with Evan.

“So, Lana, you have a choice. Many Terrans have waking memory of only a fraction of the dreams that they have. If you choose to help Kal-El and share in his struggles, you will bear great responsibility to keep his secret safe. If you feel that it would be too much to bear, and I shall understand if it is so, you will awaken from your sleep with no recollection of this dream.”

Lana nodded her comprehension, but one last question needed to be asked. “If this is all a dream, how will I know when I wake up if any of what you’ve told me is real?”

Lara gave her a gentle half-smile. “After you awaken and have passed a few hours of the day, come to these caves. I will make my true presence known to you then.” Lara then paused courteously, apparently giving Lana due time to make her decision.

Lana pursed her lips and fell silent, contemplating her decision. Her brain told her to give it due thought, but her heart had more or less made up its mind almost immediately. She knew what to do. “I never stopped caring deeply for Clark,” she stated. “I know there are risks, but I’d feel terrible if I let him face them alone now that I know the truth.” She looked Lara in the eye. “If he needs me, I want to be there for him.”

Lara smiled at her warmly. “I have always had faith in you, Lana. You are a strong person.” With that, the light that projected her image grew momentarily brighter before disappearing abruptly, and at that moment, Lana woke up.

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

Lana now sat cross-legged in the cave, still wondering if she wanted it all to be true or not. As her eyes refocused on the center of the cave paintings, a familiar light emerged from the lines forming the ancient artwork. Lana rose to her feet in anticipation. “Lara?” she ventured to utter.

As if on cue, the same angelic figure she had seen in her dream materialized before her. “Now you know,” said Lara. “Thank you, Lana, for being a true friend to my son. Look after him for me.”

Lana nodded, wordlessly making a promise to Lara. Lara smiled for a final time before her image dissolved and the light faded.

[Gregory H. Bontrager]

PART II: SECRETA CONFIRMATA

Clark Kent sat idly on the couch in the loft of the family barn, alone with his thoughts. Even though his father had seemed to reluctantly accept his doubts about leaving the farm and going to college (even showing some hesitant admiration of the decision despite himself), Clark knew that his father still believed his future lay far beyond Smallville. Jonathan Kent wanted only the best for his son, and Clark couldn’t blame him for that. The younger Kent, however, wasn’t so sure leaving his hometown was the right thing.

Clark had let his father believe that it was because he felt obligated to stay and help run the farm. In truth, this was indeed a part of the reason for his reluctance to go to college. However, there was a greater reason that Clark kept to himself, mostly because he knew Jonathan would contest his reasoning even more vehemently than he had the simple reason of farm maintenance.

It was by a sense of responsibility and by no means arrogance that Clark believed that the entire town needed him. With a different supernatural or mutant threat emerging from the midst of meteorites and secret laboratories every couple of weeks, he believed it to be his duty as a superpowered being himself to do his best to protect the town and the people he had grown to love. It was his arrival that had brought the devastating meteor shower and its after-effects to the otherwise pleasant locality in the first place, so his conscience constantly kept him on a crusade to undo what he believed he had done.

But his thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a rather unwelcome voice stating harshly in his ear, Do not feel responsible for all the evils that surround you, Kal-El. They have only made you stronger and all the more ready to fulfill your destiny. Your feelings of guilt are futile and without foundation. You must look beyond them. You must look beyond your so-called home, for those whom you believe to be family are not.

“Family?” Clark repeated aloud with bitterness in his voice. “You don’t know the meaning of the word!”

I am your father. My persistence in attempting to guide you towards your future should demonstrate family loyalty beyond anything any Terran has shown you.

“A real father doesn’t try to coerce and manipulate his son into following a destiny that’s not his to decide!” At that, Clark groaned as a loud ringing filled his head. Rubbing his temples, he leaned back against the couch.

I have decided nothing for you. I have only attempted to guide you towards the destiny fate has so obviously placed on your shoulders. You are the last surviving member of a once mighty race. That alone should tell you that you were meant for greatness.

Clark gritted his teeth and grunted loudly as a familiar burning sensation spread across his chest. He ripped open his flannel shirt to see an all-too-familiar coat-of-arms being branded for the second time onto his otherwise invincible skin. Writhing in pain, Clark collapsed as the figure-eight-shaped emblem briefly emitted a bright light before abruptly extinguishing itself, signaling the completion of the symbol’s formation.

Time is running short, Kal-El. The knowledge of the Kryptonian race was meant for you and you alone. You must recover the three stones I sent to this planet and reunite them within the cave. Once that is achieved, you will learn all you need to know to fulfill your destiny. Heed my words, my son, or you will hurt those you love most.

You sound like a broken record, Clark retorted inwardly as his arched back fell to the floor in relief as the branding ended. Grunting softly, he rose to his feet and looked around him.

At that moment, Lana was just finishing her ascension of the steps that led to the loft. After always having thought it would be a huge relief to know Clark’s mysterious secret, she found herself ironically feeling quite nervous about the confrontation she would have to initiate. She chuckled at the thought that she seemed almost as nervous as Clark would’ve been if he had voluntarily divulged his secret to her.

“Clark, we need to talk...” she began tentatively, but her thoughts of irony and nervousness left her, however, when her eyes met Clark’s and then wandered to his exposed chest. She gasped. “Clark! Oh, my God! What happened?”

Clark was immediately buttoning his shirt protectively. “Um…I…uh…had an accident branding the cattle,” he said, the pitch of his voice at the end of the sentence seeming to ask her, “Would you believe that?”

Lana knew at that moment, just by the look in his eye and the way he was acting, that this had something to do with Jor-El. It seemed that Lara had gotten to her just in time. “That didn’t look like the Kent cattle brand,” she observed skeptically.

“Well,…”

She cut him off. “Clark, look. I think you can save your breath. We need to talk.”

Clark looked surprised for a moment, then a look of nervous impatience clouded his eyes. “About what?”

Lana opened her mouth, then shut it, surprised at her own loss for words. “I don’t really know how to say this. I…”

Clark seemed to take the hint that this would be a rather serious conversation and took a seat on the couch.

Lana briefly admired his sensitivity before returning to the task at hand. She walked over and sat down next to him. “What would you say…if I told you I had a dream about your biological mother?”

Clark arched his eyebrows. “I’d say it was just a dream. I don’t even know anything about my biological mother. It would be pretty amazing if your brain had anything about her that it could craft a dream out of unless it was completely fictional.”

“That’s why I think it wasn’t just a dream,” Lana stated deliberately. “And…your biological mom, she…told me to go to the Kawatche caves when I woke up from what she freely admitted was a dream of mine so that she could prove that she wasn’t just a figment of my imagination.”

“Did you?”

“Yeah, and she appeared before me. She was like a hologram, just like in my dream. Technically, she’s dead, but she said she was some digitally preserved essence or something like that.”

Clark turned his gaze away from her, a deep look in his eye. “That’s some technology!” he remarked dryly. Standing up, he shoved his hands into his pockets thoughtfully. “I don’t know Lana,” he said skeptically. “What all did my birth mom say to you in the dream?”

Lana swallowed, knowing the moment of truth was imminent. “She told me a lot about you…that you keep hidden.”

“So she told you my secret, basically,” said Clark even more skeptically, though Lana could sense a trace of apprehension in his eyes.

“Yeah,” she confirmed.

“Well,…” he began. “…I’d say it was your brain’s desperate attempt to explain all those things about that side of me that I don’t think either one of us are very fond of.”

Lana half-smiled at him sadly, inwardly knowing all too well that he was choosing his words carefully. “Then how do you explain the same woman appearing right in front of me when I was awake?” she challenged him as gently as she could.

He shrugged. “Are you sure what you thought was you waking up and going to see her wasn’t part of the dream itself?”

“I woke up once this morning, and I don’t remember waking up, for real or in a dream, between the time I saw your birth mother and now.”

Clark turned his back towards her and looked outside. “Looks like we have another Wall-of-Weird incident on our hands,” he said. “What all did she tell you about me?”

Lana opened her mouth to respond, but realized that they were both just beating around the bush. “Clark,…do you remember my necklace? The one with the green meteorite rock?”

“Yeah,” he replied, turning around once more to face her. “What about it?”

“Did it make you sick?” she asked before she lost her nerve.

“What?”

The flicker of familiarity in Clark’s eyes did not escape Lana’s notice despite Clark’s puzzled façade. “Does the green meteorite rock make you weak and sick?” she asked again with conviction.

Clark’s jaw dropped slightly, and try as he might to look at her blankly, his eyes betrayed him. She had hit a nerve, and she knew it. She stepped closer to him, and looked him straight in the eye. “Tell me the truth…Kal-El.”

Clark’s jaw dropped once more, this time in no small measure. Staring at her, he managed to utter, “What did you call me?”

“Kal-El,” she repeated. “It’s okay, Clark,” she added, bringing a hand to his cheek. “I know. I know about Krypton, I know about Jor-El…”

Clark took a step back, stuttering in utter bewilderment.

“…and by the way, if I ever find out you’ve used your see-through vision to look through my clothes, I’ll make the Kryptonian race officially extinct,” she joked, trying lamely to lighten the mood just a little.

Clark swallowed and turned to lean over the railing of the loft. Lana looked at her tortured friend. “What was her name?” she heard him say almost at a whisper after a long and heavy pause.

“Lara,” Lana answered. She stepped up to him silently and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Clark,…are you okay?”

Clark nodded and even gave her a small smile, the first one she’d seen since the conversation had started, and stated frankly, “I’m just trying to decide if I should curse my birth mom…or thank her.”

[General Zod]

I'm glad to see that you started reposting this here. I enjoyed reading this before, and I hope that you can find the time to finish it. Please update soon!

[Gregory H. Bontrager]

PART III: TAMEN TE AMO

Before either Clark or Lana knew it, midnight had come and gone, and they were still not done talking. Clark had reclaimed his seat on the couch and begun speaking slowly and deliberately. If Lana knew, she might as well know it all. Lana had instinctively sat down beside him. With one leg curled up underneath her and the opposite foot kissing the floor, she had positioned herself to face Clark as everything he had kept bottled up inside of him now spilled forth. He confessed that he had indeed been in the tornado that would’ve otherwise killed her. He told her how the fire at the Talon really started. He told her the truth about how he had saved her from Adam with a little help from a time anomaly. He revealed the circumstances that had led to his three-month exodus to Metropolis and what had happened while he was there. He divulged the truth about his more recent absence and near-amnesiac behavior. Finally, he explained to her the importance of the three mythical stones sought by the Teagues, Isabel, and himself.

Lana listened intently, catching his gaze every so often as if to say, “Keep going. I’m not going anywhere.” Clark was leaving himself exposed and vulnerable, and she inwardly reveled in the fact that he trusted her so thoroughly.

As if he read her thoughts, Clark stated as he neared the end of his revelations, “The truth is, Lana, if it had only been a matter of trust, I would’ve told you along time ago. Whether or not I trusted you wasn’t the issue. It’s just…”

“I know,” Lana interrupted gently. “You were trying to protect me,” she said for him, suddenly not wanting to hear the same tired excuse from Clark’s own lips again.
“But Clark, your mother gave me a choice, and I made it. I love you for wanting to keep me safe, but at the end of the day, the decision is mine to make.”

“You still love me…after everything I’ve put you through?” Clark marveled.

“Clark, you may have your…off days, but that doesn’t change who you truly are. And I happen to love who you truly are.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Clark,…” she interrupted, more firmly this time. “Do you still love me after everything Isabel has done.”

“Of course.”

She looked at him pointedly, and he scowled slightly in concession. “You see,” stated Lana. “You’re not the only one with paranormal baggage.” She took his hand in hers. “If you can look at me the same way you always have after I’ve cast evil spells and made a mess of everything, the least I can do is return the favor.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Clark admitted. Half of him wanted to breathe a huge sigh of relief and even elation, the other half wasn’t quite ready to let his guard down. “But still, Isabel never gave you a choice. That time I ran off to Metropolis, I willingly exposed myself to red kryptonite.”

“Well, that I think we can chalk up to you being just as flawed as the rest of us. The truth is, with everything you’ve had to deal with, I’m amazed you haven’t had more breakdowns like that. You made a mistake, and I believe you learned from it. It’s what makes you human.” As Clark opened his mouth to protest, Lana swiftly brought a finger to his lips and silenced him. “And you are human, Clark. Your own mother says so. You may be an extraterrestrial subspecies, but get this through your head: you are human.”

“Lara said that?” replied Clark.

Lana nodded. “I’m a Homo sapiens terrae and you’re a Homo sapiens kryptonis.” Clark chuckled, and Lana was pleased to see a smile on his face for only the second time that evening. “What?” she asked with a grin of her own.

“It’s just that I’ve fantasized about this conversation hundreds of times, but I never dreamed that *you* would give *me* new information.”

“Well, your mother was very thorough,” Lana explained matter-of-factly. She then grew serious. “Now about these stones,” she began. “Your biological dad’s disposition aside, I do think it would be best if you got them all together and saw what they have to offer. I don’t think anything good will come of anyone else getting a hold of all three.”

“I think so too,” Clark agreed. “I have one safely placed in that chamber in the cave I told you about, but the other two are still out there somewhere. I think one of the Luthors might have one, maybe even both.”

Lana swallowed, looking a little guilty as she retrieved her purse from its perch atop the right arm of the sofa. “I always knew somehow that this was meant for you,” she admitted, reaching in and drawing forth a large, shiny stone with a single Kryptonian hieroglyph carved into its surface.”

Clark’s jaw dropped for the third time that night. “I thought Jason had it…or he’d given it to Lex or Lionel.”

“No. He gave it to me. It was probably his last really noble act,” she said, a trace of bitterness in her voice. “I’m sorry I kept it for this long. I just wasn’t sure what to do with it.” She looked down at the gem on her hands. “Huh,” she remarked.

“What is it?” asked Clark.

“Open your shirt a minute,” replied Lana.

Clark smirked, inwardly thinking he could interpret that request two ways. He unbuttoned his shirt and held it open for her.

“It’s the same,” she observed. “The symbol on the stone and on your chest are the same.”

“Yeah,” said Clark letting his shirt fall loosely closed. “It’s sort of the El family coat-of-arms or something.” He explained. “Needless to say, it’s become a symbol of everything I hate about my…situation.”

“I can imagine,” she replied. “I hate Jor-El already just for branding you like some farm animal!”

Clark got a distinct look on his face.

“What is it now?” Lana asked, amused.

“It’s just…weird…hearing you say Jor-El’s name.”

Lana smiled and nodded. “It’s weird for me knowing that there are no more secrets between us. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Clark grinned at her. “Me neither.”

[Gregory H. Bontrager]

PART IV: OSCULUM DIUTISSIME EXSPECTATUM

“Clark…,” Martha Kent half-whispered as she shook her son on the shoulder. When he didn’t stir, she shook him a little harder and raised her voice. “Clark!”

Clark stirred, and his eyes fluttered open. “Mom?” he said, blinking in rapid succession for a few moments to assure that he stayed awake.

“You have a lot of explaining to do,” she said, only half-serious.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for starters, it’s after ten o’clock and you’re just now waking up,” his mother began. “Secondly, there’s the mystery of why you apparently fell asleep fully clothed in the loft instead of on your bed and in your usual boxers and a T-shirt.” Martha then half-smiled. “But I think the most important thing you have to explain…is her.” She directed her gaze just behind his range of vision, and Clark turned his head to find Lana asleep next to him. Her head was resting on his shoulder, her left hand was laid delicately on his thigh, and her right arm was curled up and tucked against his forearm. She looked so cute and peaceful that Clark could’ve looked at the sight for hours and not grown tired of it.

For a moment, he didn’t remember why she was there. Then, the past night’s events flooded back into his conscious memory, and he couldn’t help but beam at Lana with a small smile on his lips. He was still somewhat in awe of the whole situation. Lana knowing his secret had forever been something he had thought would only happen in his dreams.

Martha saw Clark’s smile through the back of his head even without x-ray vision. “I know it’s been tough for you keeping your secret and feeling you have to push her away. For what it’s worth, I’m really glad that you and Lana are still good enough friends to fall asleep together on a couch occasionally.”

Clark turned back to face his mother and smiled genuinely, secretly reveling in the irony of his mother’s words. He decided that telling his parents Lana knew could wait for now. “Thanks, Mom. Me too.”

Martha nodded warmly. “If you’ll wake her up, you guys can come down for a late breakfast. Whatever you want.”

Clark grinned his trademark Kent grin. It was times like these he felt like a little boy again. “Thanks, Mom. We’ll be down in a little bit.”

“Okay,” Martha replied quietly before turning and leaving the loft quietly.

Clark turned back to Lana and groaned. Who was he to disturb such a peacefully sleeping creature? But then again, she can be even more beautiful when she’s awake. He rested his head upon the crown of hers. “Lana,” he said gently, nudging her softly with his shoulder. “G’morning, Lana,” he said with a little more volume, nudging her again.

The slightest moan escaped her lips as she stirred slightly before appearing to settle back into her slumber, amusingly defiant even in her sleep. Clark chuckled to himself. He then nearly laughed out loud as an idea struck him. Her movement, however slight, showed that she was at least marginally conscious. “Oh, well,” he said slyly, “Still asleep, are you? Then I guess you won’t mind if I take a little peek with my x-ray vision…”

Lana’s eyes shot open, and her head jolted off its post upon his shoulder so that she could look him straight in the eyes. She gaped at him, and it wasn’t long before her intuition (and a certain pair of blue eyes) told her he had been joking. However, she decided to play along for the moment. “Clark Joseph Kent!” she admonished, slapping him playfully on the chest. “You wouldn’t!”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t,” he admitted resignedly. “But a certain sleepy-head needed something to get her attention before she’d let the circulation return to my shoulder.”

Her resolve melted as he smiled once more at her, and she laughed. “You’re bad!” she protested, rising to her feet and giving in to the urge to yawn.

Clark stood up next to her as she stretched her arms far above her head, letting the last of her sleepiness leave her. “Mom’s offered us breakfast,…if you can still call it that.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s a quarter past ten,” answered Clark, looking at his watch.

“That late?”

“Well, we were up pretty late at night,” he reminded her.

“Could anyone blame us? We had a lot to talk about.”

Clark gave her a small grin before growing serious.

“What?” asked Lana.

“It’s just…you’re being really amazing about all this. I mean, with everything you just found out I would think you’d be a little upset or overwhelmed.”

“Well, I did take several hours yesterday to get my head around the whole thing before I came to talk to you about it,” she explained. “And I feel a little gypped by the fact that you were so protective of me that you didn’t really consider my right to decide whether being a part of your life is worth the risks or not.” She smiled at him gently as his expression turned apologetic. “But, on the other hand, it’s actually admirable.”

“I felt I was doing the right thing, as much as I hated it,” Clark explained somewhat meekly.

“It’s okay,” she stated. “Just…promise me you’re not going to give me any more of that Spider-Man nonsense.”

“I’ll always be concerned for your safety…”

“Clark…”

“But I promise,” he reassured her quickly. “You’re involved now whether I like it or not, although I must admit most of me is liking it.”

“Good,” Lana said, relieved that Clark wasn’t resisting it any more. “I never liked having these secrets between us.”

“I hope you don’t think I did,” Clark replied.

Her expression turned sympathetic. “I never knew what all you had to deal with every day.”

“It’s not easy,” he conceded. “But having the support of people like you really helps.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Lana said warmly.

An awkward but pleasant moment passed between the two before Clark let out a heavy sigh and decided to go out on a limb. “Lana, now that you know…and you’re going to be a part of this…there’s really no sense in me holding back.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I…” Clark began, scratching the back of his neck. “I love the fact that we’re still friends after everything that’s happened, and I’m glad we have this new opportunity to get even closer.”

“Closer…how?” Lana asked, though she had her suspicions as to what Clark was trying to say.

“I know there are some things neither one of us can recover from…” He stepped closer to her and took her hands in his, looking her in the eyes the whole time. “But I just have to ask…”

“What is it, Clark?” Lana said at almost a whisper, her heart rate increasing at his proximity.

“Is there still a chance? You know, for us?”

Lana closed her eyes as she let the emotions of the moment envelop her. How many times had she dreamed of Clark letting down his guard and opening up to her and allowing himself to act on his true feelings, whatever they may be? How many times had she imagined how she would react if he did indeed still feel the way she had always suspected? She knew Clark had gone out on a limb, and her heart told her almost immediately that she was ready to receive him with open arms. She had already done so to the fullest extent in a platonic sense, but she knew that both of them were on the brink of casting off the chains of platonic pretense. All Clark needed was for her to say the word.

Lana’s momentary silence caused Clark’s doubt to grow. “I know you may need time to get over Jason,” he said with a swallow. “I just need to know, could you ever…?”

Lana brought an index finger to his lips. “Just kiss me,” she commanded at a whisper before removing it.

Clark hesitated barely a second before he complied with a vengeance. Wrapping his arms around her waist and closing what little space was left between them, he pressed his lips to hers. Her arms found their place around his neck, and she returned his kiss passionately. Clark’s passion and boldness grew, and the kiss deepened. Lana moaned softly. Everything the two of them had held unexpressed within themselves finally found silent voice in the hungry yet loving lip-lock.

When they finally broke apart, Clark said breathlessly, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes.’”

Lana nodded, and added just as breathlessly. “Maybe we should go down for breakfast.”

Clark shook his head as he gathered her up in his arms and lifted her off her feet. “Breakfast can wait.”