Forbidden Love

Forbidden Love

Flora Winters

I do not own Smallville or any of its amazing characters.

Summary: Kal fell in a crash of booming thunder and hisses of lightning but he was not the only being to fall from the heavens on that night. This takes place at around and about the beginning of Season Four.

Chapter Fourteen

“Dude,” Bart whined hours later as they walked into the Talon, “You didn’t have to throw me in the water…and he was so checking you out.”

“He wasn’t,” Clark hissed.

“He was eyeing you as if you were a snow cone,” Bart said and snorted at Clark’s face, “You should’ve gotten his number.”

“I’m not going to walk up to some strange guy and ask for his number,” Clark whispered wanting him to keep it down.

“Yeah, well, lucky for you,” Bart said pulling out a small piece of paper and handed it to Clark, “I can. He said to call the next time you were in Orlando.”

Clark put a hand over his mouth, “I can’t just run back down there.”

Bart took a step back, freeing his mouth, “Why not?”

“Because,” Clark said.

“Because what,” Bart asked, “Because…it’s too much fun, Clark? Nobody has ever died from it…except for that one jerk, but he had it coming.”

Suddenly Clark’s hair moved and he turned around to see Bart eating a cookie next to him, “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m eating a cookie,” he said and chomped away on it, “I’m starving.”

“You can’t just take things,” Clark said and took it from him and looked at it, “My mom runs this place.”

“Hey, Clark,” a voice said and he turned to see that it was Lindsey walking up with Chloe who was smiling, “What’s up?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, “I thought that you would still be running around playing Sherlock in Metropolis.”

“The cops can do a better job than me,” Clark said and eyed Bart with intense green eyes that dared him to step a toe out of line, “They’re professionals.”

“He never would have caught him anyway,” Bart said from over Chloe’s shoulder which made her turn around to look at him.

“Chloe, Lindsey, this is my friend, Bart. He’s from…”

“The future,” Bart interrupted in awe as he gazed at Lindsey’s dark beauty and Chloe’s blonde cuteness.

“Really,” Chloe asked and Lindsey’s violet eyes looked at him in amusement.

“Yeah,” he said ignoring Clark’s glare, “I ran all the way back in time to tell you that we’re still in love 1000 years from now.”

Chloe threw her head back in laughter at how cute he was and Clark warned, “Bart…”

“What’s your favorite flower, Chloe,” Bart asked with a wink at the tall farmboy.

Chloe smiled, “Tulips.”

“Tulips,” Clark asked and suddenly Chloe looked back to see Bart holding her a pretty yellow one.

Her eyes widened as she took it, “How did you do that?”

“Magic,” Bart said and Lindsey chuckled, “Want to see some more?”

“Clark,” a voice called and he looked to see that it was his mom.

He walked between Chloe and Lindsey to put a hand on Bart’s shoulder, “Behave.”

“Yes, Mommy,” Bart smiled as he watched Clark touch Lindsey’s shoulder before walking away.

“Your dad called,” Martha said as he walked over to her, “Is that the boy who robbed him?”

“Yeah,” Clark said standing next to her to keep an eye on his friends, “His name is Bart Allen.”

“Why is he here,” she asked.

“I think he’s lonely,” Clark said and she looked at him in disbelief, “He wants to be my friend.”

“Good,” she said nodding her head, “Maybe you can slap some sense into him.”

“Oh,” Clark said remembering the day he had had, “I’m trying, Mom.”

“Oh, Lex is looking for you,” she told him as she fixed a hot mocha, “He asked if you would stop by the mansion.”

“I shouldn’t leave Bart alone,” Clark said and turned to see Lindsey and Chloe keeping him company.

“I don’t think he’ll notice you’re gone,” Martha said and smiled when she saw the look on Lindsey’s beautiful face when Bart pulled a quarter from his ear. Chloe was howling with laughter.

Clark looked around and snorted at how at home Bart looked with his friends. Maybe the little interaction will do him some good. He wondered what it was that Lex wanted with him. What did he do now?

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“I purchased this from a private collector in St. Petersburg,” Lex said with pride as he showed Clark his new treasure, “It took vodka and a small fortune to convince the old man to sale it to me.”

“It’s very nice,” Clark said smiling even though he didn’t have a clue what to actually say. It was a piece of paper behind some glass. What in the hell was Lex going to do with a piece of paper. The older man looked so pleased with himself.

“Take a close look at the border design,” Lex told him and watched as Clark stepped closer to it, “The glyphs look similar to the ones in the Kawatche Cave.”

Clark was looking at them intently and storing them away when Lex said, “No ones spent more time down there than you. Any ideas on what they might mean, Clark?

“No,” Clark told him honestly, “I have amnesia, Lex, and I thought you told me that you were no longer interested in this stuff.”

“I thought you,” Lex said remembering those words, “How?”

“I read my journal,” Clark told him, “And then I burned it.”

Lex nodded. He had Clark’s friendship. That was good enough, for now.

“I’m still interested in the topic, Clark,” he said as he gazed into those green depths, “Just not obsessed to the point of self destruction, which is why I’m not keeping this from you. I would like for us to work on this mystery together.”

“I’d like that,” Clark said with a nod, “It might help me to remember some things.”

“Good,” Lex said only to be cut off.

“What is it,” Clark asked turning back to the piece of paper.

“The last surviving page from a 14th century manuscript, Clark,” Lex said in joy from owning it and went back to his desk to take a seat, “It depicts the Grand Prince Donskay’s victory over his mortal enemy at the battle of Kulikovo.”

Clark looked at him from the page in interest and waited for the older man to continue.

“Legend has it that this was the only object adorning the wall of Rasputin’s chamber while he studied at the Verkhotourye Monastery,” Lex told him like it was a bedtime story and Clark went into x-ray move, “He would stare at it for hours…he believed that this page would reveal the path to unimaginable power, Clark.”

Clark saw that it looked like a map and Lex continued his tale, “As I said, Rasputin would stare at it for days at a time attempting to penetrate its secret.”

“It is incredible,” Clark said and reached out to touch it.

“Don’t,” Lex warned and Clark’s hand froze, “I’ve had state of the art security installed to protect this priceless treasure.”

Clark kept staring at the map and Lex said, “I’m keeping it at the mansion for a few days before it goes into the vault at Luthorcorp.”

A beeping noise suddenly went off and Lex looked at his beeper, “I have an appointment, sorry Clark. Why don’t you pop in tomorrow and we’ll roll up our sleeves?”

Clark smiled as Lex got his jacket, “Yeah,” and walked out wondering what in the hell was Lex up to now, “See you.”

He came to a grinding halt when Bart suddenly appeared in front of him, “Dude, you know Lex Luthor?”

“What are you doing here,” Clark asked looking around to make sure nobody was watching.

“L.L,” Bart thought and then said, “Chloe shut me down and Lindsey’s eyes freaked me out. It was like he was looking inside my soul and judging me.”

Clark narrowed his eyes. Lindsey was nice…and sweet…sweet like honey.

“This place is freaking awesome,” Bart said, “Have you seen all his cool stuff?”

“You were just in there,” Clark asked and pointed at Lex’s study.

“Yeah,” Bart smiled, “It was just a quick spin.”

Clark looked worried and Bart rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry, your lover boy didn’t have a clue.”

“You need to go,” Clark said and fought not to blush at what Bart had just said to him.

“Clark,” Lex asked from behind him and Clark spun around to see the look of worry in Lex’s eyes, “Who are you talking to?”

Clark shrugged, “Myself?”

Lex loved the young man before him dearly…but sometimes…he just wanted to smack that handsome face silly.

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“Dad,” Clark called as he quickly made his way into the house looking around for him. Those emblems on that page were exactly the same as the ones in the cave. They had spoken to him and told him to, “Look deeper.”

“Hey,” Jonathan said and he was fixing the couch and table in front of the TV, “You’re just in time. Your mom’s working late, and I thought we could watch the game we missed on TV.”

“I saw something at Lex’s, Dad,” he told him as his dad looked up from some chips and drinks, “It was a page from some old manuscript with those cave symbols on it.”

“The cave symbols,” Jonathan asked in concern and wishing that Jor-El would leave his family alone, “Do you remember how to read them?”

“I’m not sure,” Clark said following him into the living room, “It was like they were talking to me. They kept telling me to look deeper. So, I used my x-ray vision and I saw what looked to be a map hidden inside the thing.”

“A map,” Jonathan asked walking by him to get more chips out of the cabinet just wondering what the hell that Luthor was up to now, “A map to what?”

“I don’t know,” Clark told him honestly, “But Lex said that it was believed by some guy called Raspukein or something like that, that it led to ultimate power.”

Jonathan just kept his mouth shut to listen to what his son had to say. Lex was always up to something and always found a way to get Clark involved. It was really starting to piss him off.

“Mom said Jor-El had a mission for me and that I flew away from her to get something while he was controlling me,” Clark told him, wishing he could remember why he was in the cave.

“I want you to leave this alone,” Jonathan said.

“No, Dad,” Clark began only to stop when his dad walked away to sit the popcorn down.

“Son,” he said and turned to him, “You told me you wanted to have a normal school year and have fun with your friends. How does skipping around the world fit in with that?”

“I guess it doesn’t,” Clark said with a frown. He didn’t skip. He ran like a manly man. He only skipped when he was on red k. His mom said so.

“But hanging out with Bart reminded me that I’m not like everyone else,” he whispered, “I’m not human.”

“You’re 17 years old,” Jonathan said leading him to the couch where they both took a seat.

“It doesn’t matter how old I am,” Clark said getting worried, “Whatever Jor-El sent me to find is very powerful and dangerous, especially if it falls into the wrong hands. I need to stop that from happening.”

“How,” Jonathan asked, not liking where this was going, “Are you going to steal that manuscript from Lex?”

“No, he has no clue what he has,” Clark said a little smugly, “All I have to do is sneak in and get a better look at it.”

“No,” Jonathan said and if he had Clark’s power he would put his foot down, right through the floor, “He could see you.”

“I’ll be in and out before he even knows I’m there,” Clark said hinting that he was promising.

Jonathan did not like this idea, but Clark is as hard headed as he is…sometimes. He told his son to be careful and sighed before putting some yummy chips into his mouth. Those stupid Luthors and their stupid curiosity!

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Clark ran to his loft and quickly tore out some paper from his sketchbook. He was going to try and make a copy of that map.

“Dude,” Bart said making him spin around, “Lex’s home is sweet. He has 20 cars. There is no freaking way you can get that rich playing it straight.”

Clark rolled his eyes. He didn’t care about Lex’s money.

“I got to step it up a bit because that is how I want to live,” Bart said with a big grin as he watched Clark.

“Listen,” Clark said, happy that his new friend had such realistic goals, “There is something I need to take care of real quick, all right?”

He started to walk away only to stop when Bart stepped in front of him, “Can I come?”

“No,” Clark said, “Its personal, Bart. But we can hang out when I get back, I promise.”

Clark walked around him and Bart followed him down the stairs. That was when Clark started to wonder. It had to be eighty degree out and why was Bart wearing a hoody?”

“There’s a midnight showing of Alien at this cool theater I know,” Bart said, “They have the best popcorn, Clark, and Weaver rules in this movie. You want to go?”

“Sounds great,” Clark said and hid a smile even though that title made him a little nervous, “Just don’t tell my dad.”

“Okay,” Bart smiled and he watched Clark walk away from the foot of the stairs, “Clark?”

Clark counted to three and turned to look at him, “Yeah?”

“It has been really cool hanging out with someone like me,” he said and stepped closer to him, “You know?”

Clark nodded and Bart smiled, “So I got you something just to say thanks for everything.”

Clark smiled. A present? He watched Bart pull it out of his backpack.

“It’s an MP3 player,” he said holding it up to him, “This way you can download all your favorite songs and listen to them wherever we go.”

Clark took it with a smile as he looked it over. He had no idea how to make it work. But, where did Bart get it?


“Where did you get this,” Clark asked.

“I got it for you, Clark,” Bart said trying not to feel guilty under Clark’s emerald gaze. His eyes were a lot like Lindsey’s. They were judging him.

“It doesn’t matter where I got it at,” he said.

“Yes it does,” Clark said and sighed when Bart merely shrugged, “You haven’t been listening. You can’t go around stealing, Bart.”

“Why not,” Bart asked and used anger to hide his hurt. He thought Clark would be happy with his gift.

“Because there are laws, Bart,” Clark told him.

“For normal people,” Bart said, “Why do you treat your powers like they’re a curse Clark? They’re not! They’re a gift! I’m going to use them!”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t,” Clark said, “Use them to help people, not hurt them.”

“Who am I hurting,” Bart asked, “The store I swiped this from is insured.”

“That doesn’t make it right, Bart,” Clark said really wanting him to understand.

“Whatever,” Bart said and shook his head, “We break laws everyday, Clark, just by being what we are. I’m not sticking around for another lecture.”

“What are you going to do,” Clark asked turning around to watch Bart walk away, not seeing the tears threatening to spill from his eyes, “Are you going to run away again? You’re not going to solve all your problems like that.”

“I’m not running away,” Bart said turning to look at him even though he has been running all his life after “it” happened, “I’m running towards something. I’ll have everything I’ve ever dreamed of one way or another, Clark.”

Was he going to cry?

“Bart,” Clark whispered sadly and reached out.

“Look,” Bart snapped and slapped his hand away, “I thought you and I were the same, but I was wrong. You are nothing like me.”

Clark reached out for him again but he was gone. He looked down at his empty hand and it trembled. He would try and fix this later. Right now, he needed to look at that map.

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In a whoosh, Clark was standing in front of the manuscript and bent over to look at it. He blinked and it was gone. All he was left with was an empty glass case and the wailing of sirens.

“Bart,” he said sadly.

“Don’t move,” a man in black shouted with a gun pointed right at his face.

Lex walked in and froze in his tracks, “Clark?”

This was not good. His dad had been right. He watched Lex walk over to see that the manuscript was gone and quickly blanked his face.

“What the hell are you doing here,” Lex hissed.

He was clearly upset and Clark could only picture Bart laughing at him.

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About twenty minutes later, Lex had his study cleared of everyone so he could have some “quality” time with Clark. He was not happy and Clark could feel it like scorching waves of heat just radiating from the bald man.

Lex counted to ten and told himself to remember that he loved Clark with all his heart. He would not hurt Clark in any way. He would not walk to his desk, pull the whip from the bottom left drawer, and scare the hell out of the hunky farmboy all dressed in plaid.

“Would you care to explain to me what happened here,” Lex asked, closing the door in case he changed his mind about getting that whip out. He was in the frame of mind to just go through with it.

“I,” Clark said, “I just came by to say howdy do.”

Lex’s left eye twitched, “Howdy do, Clark?”

“The next thing I know all this noise and shiny lights were going off,” Clark said, keeping the fact that he did not appreciate having a gun pointed at him. He hated guns.

Lex just looked at Clark’s broad back remembering the feel of that soft golden skin that was as smooth as liquid sunlight, “It’s a little late for a visit, Clark.”

“Yeah, I just,” Clark stuttered, not liking the coldness in those eyes, “I really should have called first…but I just figured you would still be awake and all.”

“I love him, I love him, I love him,” Lex kept chanting over and over in his head, “Don’t hit him, don’t hit him, don’t hit him!”

“Um, Lex,” Clark asked taking a step back from those scary eyes, “Are you okay?”

Lex’s cold eyes flashed mercury, “Are you sure you didn’t see anyone else when you came in?”

“No,” Clark said feeling even more nervous, “I didn’t see anyone, Lex.”

“Then you don’t know who did this,” Lex asked and walked around him with a sigh.

“No, I don’t,” Clark lied all too easily. Why had he said that? He looked away.

Lex just stood there with his back to him, “I believe you,” he said softly, “I know a real friend would never lie to me.”

Clark lowered his head. If Lex was to suddenly turn around he would see the lie written all over his face. Did Lex know he was lying? Why didn’t Lex call him on it? Why was he lying to Lex? They had made a promise. No more lies! He knew who took the damn thing.

“I better go and let you take care of this,” Clark said turning to walk towards the door.

“I’ll tell you a secret,” Lex called to stop him and it did, “I’m not that worried.”

“You said that the page was worth a fortune,” Clark said turning to look back at him.

“It is,” Lex said, turning to look at the empty display case, “And there aren’t many fences in Metropolis who can move such a high end item.”

Clark almost snorted but didn’t. Bart could be in St. Petersburg right now, selling it back to that old man.

“If I put the word out,” Lex said, looking into those green eyes, “Someone will point me in the right direction.”

“You really think that’ll work,” Clark asked suddenly feeling worried about Bart’s safety. This could really get him hurt.

Lex took two steps and was right in Clark’s personal space, looking up at him, “Don’t worry, Clark,” he smiled and it hinted of secret evil, “Our little thief is going to learn that there is nowhere on earth he can run from Lex Luthor.”

“Okay,” Clark said while nodding his head. He really wanted to get the hell away before he tripped over his tongue and spilled the beans.

“I’ll see you later,” he said.

“Sure thing,” Lex smiled, “Goodnight, Clark.”

“Night, Lex,” Clark called and was gone.

TBC…

Please review and tell me what you think.

Flora.