And here we go with the rest of Arctic, the seen and unseen.
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Chapter 39
"I must admit, Clark. This is a big step up from the barn." Such flippant words for something so much bigger than he could have imagined. But then he'd always relied on flippancy to get him past painful things. And this might hurt the most.
"It's not what you think, Lex." Clark moved toward him. "You don't understand."
The device shone brightly again and Clark stilled, as if fearful of it. Lex knew the feeling. He felt the same way, always surrounded by events he never understood. Clark's inhuman ability to survive, Clark's strength, Clark's uncanny ability to appear in his home no matter how high the security level. He remembered Kara, setting light to his fireplace. Clark was the same, wasn't he? Except more so.
He was the Traveler. His powers were greater and so was the danger he posed.
Lex held up the device, almost as a talisman to protect him. It hadn't failed him so far, after all. "For the first time, I think I do." He circled Clark, still holding the device. "You see, you live among us as a mild-mannered farm boy. But secretly, you're a strange visitor from another planet, plotting our demise."
"That's not what I'm doing at all."
"It's a brilliant disguise, Clark. You don't even need a mask." Except that supposed purity, that earnestness that had always drawn Lex to him. That sweet family life that Lex yearned for, made him believe being more like Clark held all the answers. Had Jonathon and Martha known? Had they been fooled, too?
"I'm not your enemy, Lex. I've never done anything to hurt you."
Lex stared at him, realizing that was true. The first time they met Clark saved him. And Lex... He'd been unable to forget that, unable to believe Clark was just a noble teenager with a penchant for saving people. He remembered so many times now, so many ways he'd survived near death with only a concussion to show for it.
He thought of Sullivan, wondered if she'd been recruited early on. She was infected with meteor rock. He was an alien. Was that why she was so loyal to him? Did he control her somehow? Was Lana a freak, too?
No. He couldn't excuse Clark based on a few rescues. Not when Clark had caused all this damage, gained his followers, used Lex's help wherever he could. And all with an agenda of his own.
"You didn't trust me," he found himself saying, hating himself for saying it, feeling the pain of it. How could this creature have trusted anyone he couldn't control. "With everything you had, with everything you could do, did you ever think about what we could have accomplished together? I would have helped you become a hero."
Clark stepped back. "When have you ever thought of anyone but yourself?"
Of course, he'd say that. That was what he always said. Lex was selfish and... what was Clark? Was he selfless? Something in his tone told Lex he truly thought that. Lex's mind ran over all the mysterious saves in the town, over the times he himself had survived. He realized it then...
Clark didn't know. He had no idea what a dangerous threat he was.
I'd always thought The Traveler was meant for good.
Kara had said that.
Even he thinks he is. When I went home to Krypton, I learned the truth about his fate. He won't save mankind. He'll destroy it.
And Clark didn't know. Kara was right.
"Right now," he answered calmly. "I'm doing this for the world. I have to protect the human race," he said, his voice rising. That was what he'd do, after all. Whatever it was he was about to do, something he was still unsure of, this was why.
"This is my life," Clark said, his voice raised as well. "You have no right to control it!"
"It's my birthright!" And in this moment, damn it, Lex was thinking of himself, of all he'd lost, the pieces of himself that he'd chipped away to get here. "After all my sacrifices, after all the pain, I finally understand. I was being prepared for a much greater destiny. Everything led me to this moment." No one would know it, but it certainly helped, knowing he'd be a hero in the end.
"And we're both here," Clark said quickly, his voice different, almost desperate now. "We're in that moment. And what happens next is your choice. But no one is controlling you, Lex. No one is forcing you to do this."
Lex had never said anyone was. But he was forced by circumstance. There was no one else here to make the hard decisions. And this was a hard decision. The fact that he'd made it in mere seconds didn't make it easier.
"Who am I to turn my back on my fellow man? Especially after you turned your back on me?" Such a petty thing to say at such a huge moment in his life. The last moment, really. "I'm sorry, Clark," he said softly, both for that last sentence and for what he now knew he had to do. He did resent Clark, resent the years of rejection and isolation from what he'd thought was his first and only true friend. But he never wanted this. "But you are The Traveler." He moved to the center, to the cluster of glowing crystals that had been waiting for this device. He wasn't his father, in the end. He wasn't a man of cold study and precise planning. He'd always been a man of action. He saw that purple glow and knew what he had to do. "You hold the future of the entire planet in your hands. I'm here to take it back."
"Lex..."
"You'll never threaten the world again... Kal-El," he finished, using his true name.
"Lex, don't!"
But he had to. Even when the whole structure began trembling, he knew this was what he had to do. Hell, he knew it was the last thing he'd do.
And everything would be fine. He'd left his files behind. He rather hoped Tess found them before Fucking Regan, but he had to trust that both of them would know what to do, what he wanted them to do. Chloe would be safely away. Lana would be taken to her. Maybe they'd be happy.
He still wished he could he there to see it. See Lana, free of Clark, open to a cure now that he knew what to look for, now that he'd found this place. He could see Chloe, free of the control Clark must have over her with the meteor rock in her system, control Clark might not even understand.
He'd hoped to find her again. He'd actually hoped they might to work together, no lies now, on curing Lana and sending her on her way. And then... maybe that island.
He didn't think he'd see it now. He hoped Chloe would.
A bright, purple glow ripped through the space and he turned as it seemed to rip through Clark as well. And it hurt just like he knew it would. The whole place was shaking.
He moved to Clark, putting that name, Kal-El aside, knowing he'd always be Clark to him. He'd always be that sweet kid who dropped off the produce and asked for advice and tried to do good and never knew that he might destroy this world. He'd actually missed that kid. It felt like he hadn't seen him for years.
He knelt by him and lifted his head. He would never get out in time. But that was okay. He'd nearly known he'd end it here. Every move he'd made these last months had a feeling of finality to it. He wasn't even afraid. But Clark... Clark looked terrified. He held him there, thinking of the idea of brothers. Julian had been gone before he knew him. Lucas was a grifter and a miscreant and would never feel any duty to his name. Grant Gabriel had been a failed experiment. Strangely, even with everything, Clark would always be the closest thing he had to a brother.
He told him so. "I loved you like a brother, Clark. But it has to end this way." Just like a little brother, he never listened. But he'd stay with him, hold him as their worlds ended -- just like a brother would. "I'm sorry."
And he was -- for just so many things. That first crystal fell and he thought of Dr. Langston, the first time he killed someone who posed no physical threat. Langston had been blackmailing him, but did he deserve to die? It had certainly made it easier to hide the clone, the one Lana had been carrying and Langston had seen as a false pregnancy. That clone was supposed to carry his child when the time came, make sure Lana stayed alive so he could finally have a family. He'd been so foolishly focused on her at the time. He supposed he couldn't change any of that. But he could pay for it.
Something sharp hit his back and he suspected he'd only begun to pay. It made him think of Patricia Swann. He'd hired someone just a little too rough, but he never meant for her to die, damn it! But he hadn't shed a tear, had he? In fact, he told himself it would be worth it in the end.
And wouldn't it be?
Was it worth it to sacrifice his father's life for this, too?
Another mass fell on the both of them and he wondered how Lionel felt in that last moment as he fell over Clark, held him closer. He would die with him, die for his own sins and for the sins Clark had yet to commit. Clark could have become something terrible. Maybe, in some hazy afterlife, if there was such a thing, Clark would be grateful.
He was saving them both... and the world while he was at it.
Everything would be wiped away...
***********************
Chloe felt so warm, so comfortable, that she nearly forgot how she'd been dragged away. But only nearly. Because she also felt drugged. She sat up groggily, feeling her own clothes still on her body as the room around her came into focus.
"DDS," she breathed, looking around her, remembering last night. Yet this didn't look to be your average government holding cell. Her bed was soft and large, her room bathed in early morning sunlight from a wide wall of windows.
She vaguely remembered someone dragging her roughly to an SUV, sticking a needle in her arm... And it wasn't that she had expectations of federal custody, but this rather luxurious room wasn't it.
She saw a door. She moved to it with a vague idea of banging on it for all she was worth and demanding answers, then she heard voices.
"... missing without a trace. The plans have been changed."
She pressed her ear closer to the crack. That voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Then again, the DDS might have been monitoring her for a long time now for them to suddenly grab her last night. It could be anyone she thought she knew.
"Regardless," another voice, the man with the syringe, said, "Our instructions were to hold her here until..."
"Until what? There will be no further instructions at this time as all operations will focus on the search. But this subject has proved slippery in the past. She needs to be moved to general population."
She glanced around her again. She'd had a feeling this wasn't your average federal holding cell, especially in this economy.
"But, Sir..."
"Just get her processed. She needs to be tested with the others."
Tested? She backed away from the door, shaking as she heard footsteps moving closer. She hadn't had much time to work this out. But her hacking transgressions had been weeks ago. For the DDS to take her now meant one thing... They'd looked closer. They knew what she was. That was why they'd swooped in now. It had to be. But the DDS? Did they seriously think a healer could pose a threat?
Then again, maybe they didn't know what she did.
The door opened and she caught sight of the back of a suited man before the uniforms moved in, blocking her view. "Miss Sullivan, it seems there's been some kind of mistake with regards to your accommodations here."
"I think there's been a mistake all around," she said, trying to keep her voice even. "I'm not a threat. I'm only..."
"There will be plenty of time to get into that later," the man said, blank faced as the others moved to either side of her, one holding a gray jumpsuit.
A chill moved over her as she realized that telling them what she was wouldn't make a bit of difference. She was just another freak, wasn't she? The government had to know about meteor freaks by now. Was this how they dealt with them? Maybe, in their eyes, she shouldn't be loose on the world, no matter how harmless she thought she was.
They left her in a bare, dark cell, bereft of light even in day time, told her to change. She did, feeling her identity fall away with each carefully peeled off item of clothing. Just another freak, she thought as she put on the plain, gray t-shirt and darker jumpsuit. Maybe that's why she felt so calm. She'd known this was coming. Hell, Lex even seemed to know.
She laid on her bed, waited for them to come back, take her clothes away. She wondered if she should have taken Lex's offer. She wondered where he was. She wondered if he was still doggedly questing for more misery. She wondered if he even realized she was gone.
*********************
He wondered if they were looking and he rather hoped they wouldn't find him. He didn't exactly want his life anymore.
Lex took another gulp of the bitter coffee, heavily laced with cheap whiskey if he wasn't mistaken. It was disgusting, but he was glad to have it at the moment. Glad to be alive. Who knew?
Then again, for all intents and purposes, his life had still ended. He wouldn't go back. He'd ended the life of Clark Kent, after all. And maybe that was for the best, but he didn't think he could face his old life after that. He most definitely couldn't face Chloe, face the outright hatred he would see in her eyes. He shivered at the thought.
"Cold, ain't it?" the fat man grunted, leaning on the railing next to him. "You believe they call this summer up here?"
Lex just pulled the ill-fitting coat tighter. It covered even worse-fitting garments. "I take it you're not from here."
"Thought I saw a future in whaling. That and I'm not exactly welcome in the states anymore."
Lex almost smiled. "What a coincidence."
"Huh?"
"Nothing. Thanks for pulling me out."
He chuckled. "Other bastards were about to leave you. But I told em, I says, I seen him twitchin'. What were you doing out here anyway? You weren't dressed for a swim." He chuckled again. He seemed to find himself very amusing.
"Maybe I thought I saw a future in oil drilling," Lex said, thinking of the lie he fed Jimmy.
"Bad time of year for that." The fat man handed him a hat. "Here, put this on, what's-your name. I couldn't imagine being out here with no hair on my head. You'll catch your death, there."
It was cold, but it wasn't affecting him as much as it should. "I don't get sick," he said. But it was surprising, that he could survive even this. He had no idea how long he'd been floating in the freezing water. "What day is it?"
"Friday."
So not even a day.
"What is your name, anyhow?" The man gasped. "Or don't you know?"
"Alex," he said, remembering a safe deposit box in the Cayman Islands with proper identification and an account set up using his grandfather's first name. "Alex Lachlan." Only Gina had known about that one. And she was gone. It was safe to access that identity, those funds. "Did you see anyone else out there?"
"Just the damned Russian smugglers." He spat over the edge. "Borderline pirates, scary bastards. We steer clear of 'em."
"And what's your name?"
"Otis Bergman." The man held out a dirty hand.
Lex didn't take it. "How would you like to make some real money, Otis?"
CHAPTER FORTY - EPILOGUE
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