When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) Ch 10, 7/10/13 [WIP]

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Cardinal
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When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) Ch 10, 7/10/13 [WIP]

Post by Cardinal »

Title: When Worlds Collide

Author: Cardinal

Rating: Adult, mostly because I have no idea what's going to happen. I may need the flexibility.

Disclaimer: All the characters, except for my self-created supporting characters, belong to the usual suspects...WB, UPN, Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, DC Comics, etc.

Basically everyone but me.

Shit.

If I had an ownership interest in these properties, both shows would have been wildly different.

A/N:Okay boys and girls, it's time for me to try something completely different.

This is my first foray into the world of crossover fanfics. This one will combine the world of Roswell with the world of Smallville, which was another alien-based TV series that started two years after Roswell and lasted for ten seasons. A simple Google search will show you what Clark, Lana, and the rest of the residents of Smallville look like.

This fic will start at the end of Season Three in Smallville and Season Two in Roswell, which will make the two sets of teens all ready to enter their senior years in high school. It will also make a few changes from canon in each world. These should become plain as the fic rolls along, but if you get confused, PM me and I will likely be happy to straighten you out.

I will also likely alternate between Roswell and Smallville chapters until the two worlds...collide.

Having said that, it's time to post the first chapter.


* * * * * * * * * *



When Worlds Collide

Chapter 1


Clark sauntered into the Torch office, fully expecting to see Chloe planted in front of her sleek, silver iMac, working on the layout for this week’s edition. He was surprised to find he had beaten her to the office, even after spending some time right after school working with Pete on their Trig homework. Plopping his backpack down on one side of his desk as he sat down, he turned on his computer and was deep into some last minute edits of his story on the Teen Crisis Center when Chloe finally made an appearance.

“Hi, Clark!” she said, as she almost danced into the room.

Hearing a manic note in her voice, Clark looked up from his computer monitor and said hello just in time to see her do a pirouette before setting her belongings down at her desk and bounding over to stand behind him. Wrapping both arms around his neck, Chloe hugged him affectionately as she asked, “Have I ever thanked you properly for saving Lex’s life?”

Clark was well used to Chloe’s high energy persona, but this sort of behavior was a little out there, even for her. Not even bothering to try to turn his neck so he could see her, he asked, “O.D. again on the triple espresso special at the Talon, Chlo?”

She giggled as she released her hold on him and returned to her own desk. “No, something better. Much better.”

He waited a beat, then leaned back in his swivel chair, and said, “All right, I’ll bite. What happened?” Thinking back to what she had just said about him saving Lex, he added, “What did Lex do?”

Chloe’s fingers clicked away on her keyboard as her computer sprang to life. Her eyes were focused on the screen, but her thoughts were mostly on her conversation with Clark. “You remember when Lex fired my dad, and then hired him back right after Lionel shot himself?”

Wondering where she was going with this, Clark nodded his head and said, “I told you Lionel ordered him to fire your dad in the first place.”

“That’s true, and Lex admitted as much when he rehired Dad.” Chloe clicked through a couple of windows on her monitor, and then looked over to Clark. “The thing is, Lex called me last night and asked me to come over to the mansion after school today.”

“What’d he want?”

“I was getting to that,” Chloe said primly. “What he wanted was to make it up to me.”

“Make up to you for firing your dad?”

“Yeah, I know, right? I was happy with dad being back to cracking awful jokes at the factory, but who am I to turn down a free trip from a goofy billionaire?”

“A trip? A trip to where?” Clark asked, as he continued to edit his story.

“Well…that’s currently what’s up for discussion.” Chloe’s fingers flew over her keyboard while she explained how things stood. “Lex wanted to send me to some place like South Padre Island or Cancun for a couple of weeks of all-expenses-paid fun.”

Clark pushed himself back from his desk and swiveled his chair to face her. “Since you said that’s what Lex wants, I have to assume you want something different; something Lex hasn’t signed off on yet. Where do you want to go?”

Chloe tucked her tongue into the corner of her mouth, knowing Clark wasn’t going to be thrilled with her answer. “I originally wanted to go to Las Vegas.” He was wondering what was wrong with that, until she finished what she had to say. “Using Las Vegas as a base, I was going to search around Nellis Air Force Base and Area 51 for any information about alien sightings. You know, more unexplained stuff related to outer space.” Then she gestured over her shoulder with her thumb. “Think of it as an expansion of the Wall of Weird.”

“And Lex said no.” That definitely wasn’t a question. Clark knew Lex wouldn’t sponsor Chloe getting herself into that sort of trouble, no matter how much he wanted to make things right with her and her father.

“Of course,” she agreed. “He doesn’t want me near any top-secret government installations asking ‘pesky questions’ and ‘making a nuisance of myself,’ so I chose the second spot on my list of places to visit.”

“And that is…?”

“Roswell, New Mexico.”

Roswell, Clark thought. Where have I heard of that town before?

“I figured,” Chloe continued, “where else is more likely to have unexplained mysteries than the fabled home of the supposed 1947 spaceship crash landing?”

The words ‘spaceship crash landing’ nearly made Clark choke, and his eyes did try to bulge right on out of his skull, but Chloe noticed none of that because her eyes were glued to her computer’s LED screen. “What did Lex say to that idea?”

“He thought it sounded ‘boring as Hell,’ as he put it so bluntly, but he said it would be okay, as long as I promised to stay away from the White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss. Both are well to the south and west of Roswell, though, so I don’t see what the problem would be there.”

Clark turned back to his computer and minimized his article before firing up Firefox and searching ‘Roswell, New Mexico’ on Google. He spent a few minutes perusing a few websites while he and Chloe continued to talk. “Is Lana up for this trip?” he asked.

“I haven’t brought up the subject with her yet,” Chloe admitted. “Why?”

“Because,” Clark replied, “there are several reasons she can’t stay here with your dad while you leave town for two weeks: one, she’s your guest and it wouldn’t be right; two, leaving her alone with your dad might start some nasty rumors, which would be unfair to both of them; and three, exposing Lana to two solid weeks of your dad’s awful jokes would have to qualify as a ‘cruel and unusual punishment.’”

Chloe was giggling by the end of Clark’s recitation. “God yes. Even though Lana would be working a fulltime summer schedule at the Talon, she would still be ready to kill me by the end of the first week.”

Looking back his computer’s screen, Clark added, “Looks like Roswell is about as exciting as Smallville. It’s even the same size.” Leaning back in his desk chair, he spun it ninety degrees in Chloe’s direction. “Speaking of the Talon, how is Lana going to manage getting two weeks off in a row?”

“If she chooses to come with us, she will have plenty of time to make sure her assistant manager is ready to run the Talon, since we won’t be leaving until the start of July. That gives her more than a month.”

“July?” Clark asked, as he scrambled back to his computer to check the weather in Roswell in July. “Why then? Why not at the end of school?” And then his thoughts caught up with his hearing. His head whipped back over to where Chloe was sitting quietly, and asked, “Us?” he asked bewilderedly. “When did you become us?”

“That’s the other reason Lex doesn’t mind Lana and me going to Roswell,” Chloe said, hurriedly, “because he thinks you’re coming along, too.” The keys on her computer stopped clicking for the first time since she turned it on, as she turned to face him. “Now I just have to convince you to come along with us.” She paused a moment before breaking out the puppy dog eyes and using her most pleading, borderline whining, tone of voice. “Please, Clark. Puhleeeeese?”

He stared at her and grimaced. The blistering July weather in Roswell was forgotten for the moment, as he asked, “You know Lana and I are having a few issues at the moment, right?”

“Yeeeeeaaahhh,” she replied uncomfortably. She didn’t know exactly what was going on between them, but she did know that several weeks earlier they’d had a meeting in his barn loft that had ended with Lana canceling her planned summer at an art school in Paris. Ever since then, things had been different between the two of them; the most innocent mention of Clark threw Lana into a tizzy, while he was becoming increasingly frustrated with her, and given that he had been able to wait patiently for years for her to notice him, his sudden annoyance with her was noteworthy.

Chloe’s boundless curiosity would have led her to look into the situation already, except that it was a Lana and Clark thing. While she wasn’t actively pursuing him anymore, having conceded the field to Lana on that issue, she wasn’t about to spend her time trying to force the two them to settle their differences.

Clark wasn’t happy with Chloe at the moment either. To him, this looked like a potentially very uncomfortable two weeks spent in close quarters with two women he had issues with, if for differing reasons. He and Chloe were still rebuilding their level of trust after she almost sold him out to Lionel, while with Lana, he was waiting for her to come to terms with his secrets. He’d expected it to take a while, but weeks were starting to stretch into months. He was beginning to wonder if she would ever come around, and it was putting him on edge.

“Have you talked to your dad about this yet?” he asked, stalling for time.

“Lex cleared the concept of a trip with Dad before he ever brought up the subject with me,” Chloe assured him. “I can’t see why Roswell, New Mexico, would be any worse than Cancun.”

“Let me talk to Lex and then my parents before I try to give you any kind of answer,” Clark said. “I don’t have any idea why he wants me along on this trip, and my parents might not let me go in any case. Okay?”

“Sure.” Chloe figured that was the best answer from him she could have hoped for at the moment, so while he was dealing with Lex and his family, she would broach the idea to Lana. Cancun would have been a no-brainer for her, Chloe was quite sure, but a dusty tourist trap like Roswell might require a little persuasion. Her last thought before she returned her attention to her iMac was whether mentioning Clark’s possible participation in the trip to Lana would be a good thing or a bad thing.
Last edited by Cardinal on Wed Jul 10, 2013 5:00 pm, edited 13 times in total.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) Ch. 1 9/15/12

Post by Cardinal »

When Worlds Collide

Chapter 2
Max sauntered into the Crashdown Café, unwillingly joining Michael and Isabel in their usual booth. He unconsciously kept an eye on the door to the employee-only backroom until he realized Liz wasn’t working. That allowed him to relax ever so slightly, and focus on the conversation the other two were having.

“…is lover boy supposed to get here?” Michael asked.

Isabel looked down at the tabletop where her hands were nervously folding and refolding a paper napkin. “Alex is not my ‘lover boy,’ as you so eloquently put it. We’ve only been on two dates.”

Blunt as ever, Michael challenged, “Yeah, but did he get any tongue yet?”

Michael!” Isabel’s faint blush went away as she switched from mildly flustered to moderately annoyed in an instant.

Max rolled his eyes as his best friend teased his sister about her new, and for her, highly unusual relationship. Tall, voluptuous, and altogether beautiful, Isabel was a social butterfly who had dated frequently from the moment their parents had allowed boys to ask her out. In all that time, however, she had never once had a serious boyfriend. Some of that was due to her alien heritage and her need to keep it secret, but at least part had to be chalked up to her social status; she was at the very top of West Roswell’s social strata and didn’t need to be with any particular guy to validate her position.

Max thought Alex, on the other hand, was Isabel’s opposite. He figured most of the students at West Roswell who knew who Alex was would categorize him as a computer nerd. Fewer students were aware the computer nerd was also a dedicated musician, playing bass guitar in a local garage band. That was too bad, as Max figured that sort of thing could only help the guy’s rep. What only Max and his close circle of family and friends knew of Alex was that he was thoughtful, supportive, and loyal. And to that they could now add devoted, as he was currently making obvious in his new relationship with Isabel.

“Alex!” Isabel said, as he opened the door and made his way over to their table.

Speak of the Devil, Max thought. Michael’s response was to make a kissy face at Isabel while Alex still couldn’t see him.

“Hey, Alex,” both guys said as their lanky friend came into view.

“Max, Michael…” Alex replied affably as he slid into the booth. Turning to the reason he was here, he leaned in to peck his expectant girlfriend on the lips. “Hello, Isabel.”

“I guess that’s one question I don’t have to ask,” Michael muttered.

“What question is that?” Maria asked, as she walked up to their table with her order book in hand. She and Alex exchanged greetings while she waited for a reply. She smiled slightly when she noticed how close to each other he and Isabel were sitting. She was so happy for Alex, as he’d been pining after Isabel for what seemed like years, and now she had finally noticed him. Maria didn’t know exactly what had happen to him in Sweden, but whatever it was, it had benefited him greatly.

Michael was about to answer Maria when Max elbowed him in the ribs to get him to shut up, but he knew what Michael had been about to say; even though Alex and Isabel hadn’t said anything official, it was plain as day from the kiss and the way they were snuggled together in the booth that they were a couple.

“I’ll tell you later, Maria,” Michael said.

“In that case,” she deadpanned, “since Don Juan is here now, are you guys ready to order?”

Max and Michael exploded with unexpected laughter, as her bald statement closely and unknowingly mirrored what Michael had said moments earlier. While Isabel glared hotly at Maria, Alex leaned against the backrest and ran a hand through his close-cropped black hair, as he said, “Love you, too, Maria.”

She pursed her lips at him to blow him an air kiss and then gave him an ear-to-ear shit-eating grin. While she loved Alex like the brother she’d never had, that wasn’t about to keep her from giving him a hard time, especially when Liz wasn’t around to ride herd on her. Maria efficiently and expertly took their orders and turned them in at the kitchen window before moving on to her other tables to check on those customers.

Fifteen minutes later, Max, Michael, and Isabel were all shaking Tabasco Sauce all over their burgers, sandwiches, and fries, while Alex was more than happy to stick with ketchup and mustard. “I’ve been watching you guys do that for more than a year,” Alex said, “and my mouth still revolts at the thought of me doing that.”

“Come on, Alex,” Michael teased, “dontcha like a little spice in your life? Live a little.”

“A little spice is fine,” Alex allowed, “but you guys use that stuff in beverage quantities.”

The four of them talked and joked as they ate, with the guys making a special effort to get to know Alex a little better now that he was dating Isabel. They weren’t grilling him, like might be expected for most anyone else because he was already deep in their circle of trust, but before now he had always been more of Maria and Liz’s friend and now, they wanted him to be their friend as much as possible.

Max was just getting around to asking what they were going to do with the rest of their Saturday, when Isabel and Alex looked at the Crashdown’s front door and stiffened as one, waiting for the awkward silence that tended to descend these days whenever Max Evans and Liz Parker were in the same place. As for Max, he didn’t even need to look to know who it was; he could feel her presence as she walked to her family’s apartment, which occupied the whole floor above the café. He turned away from her as much as he could, ostensibly to ask Isabel a question, but everyone in the booth knew the real reason: Max was not about to speak to her.

Liz’s arms were full with purchases and her mom was right behind her with more, so she didn’t stop at their table, but she did greet them. All of them except him. She had no more interest in talking to him than he did in talking to her. “Hi, Alex, Isabel, Michael.”

“Hi, Liz,” Alex and Isabel chorused, while Michael resolutely remained silent.

Liz had been hoping Michael would come around eventually, but ever since Tess had left for Antar, and she and Max had started fighting, Michael had been nothing more than cool to her. Of course, Maria was the same way with Max, but that was understandable because Max Evans was – just thinking of him made her emotions boil up inside of her until she couldn’t think straight – a dickhead, mostly because that’s what he seemed to think with these days. She shouldered her way through the door and into the back room, holding the door for her mother, before heading for the inner staircase that led to the Parkers’ apartment.

Once Liz had dropped her packages on her bed – to be sorted and stored later – she microwaved a Hot Pocket and washed that down with a Coke Zero before changing into her waitress uniform and rushing back down to the Crashdown to clock in for her shift.

“Hey, Liz,” Maria said, as she breezed by her. “How was the retail therapy with your Mom?” Liz smiled widely, which was all Maria really needed to learn to realize the therapy had been a success, but she listened anyway as her lifelong bestie talked.

“Hi, Maria,” Liz replied, as she checked her order book and made sure her ink pen would write before she went out on the floor to relieve Agnes. “You should see the stuff I got today; they had some awesome sales. You have to go back with me tomorrow before all the good stuff is gone.”

“You forget, Petunia,” Maria said pointedly, “you and I don’t exactly have the same taste in clothes.”

“True,” Liz giggled, as she gave her headband and apron a final adjustment, “and if you can’t find anything that suits you, at least we can see if there’s anything out there that might do for a costume for the UFO Festival’s Costume Contest.”

Maria just shook her head and followed Liz out to the dining area. They worked their tables with practiced ease, filling coffee cups, topping off water glasses, and getting refills on sodas, all while engaging their customers in brief, light-hearted chats.

Seeing Liz in her element wasn’t doing Max any good at all. Despite all the anger and heartbreak involved in their very complicated past, he could no more keep his eyes off her form-fitting dress or slender legs than he could stop breathing; both only worked for him for a minute or two at a time at most. Michael, Isabel, and Alex all noticed the phenomenon but chose to ignore it because bringing it up where Max could hear them wasn’t going to help anyone.

Maria noticed it also, but she had no problems relaying what she had seen. “Liz, Max can’t keep his eyes off you.”

Without missing a beat, Liz said, “As long as he keeps his hands off of me, he can look all he wants. He’s a paying customer just like everyone else in here.” Still, the thought that Max was looking at her, even after all they’d put each other through, was enough to get her to glance at his spot in the booth. Their eyes locked and for one unguarded moment they cared. Then the reality of their situation crashed down around them, and the moment was gone.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) Ch. 2 9/18/12

Post by Cardinal »

When Worlds Collide

Chapter 3


As the guard waved Clark’s battered blue Ford F-150 past him and onto the grounds of the Luthor mansion, Clark wondered at the reception he was going to get today. The last time he had been here, Lex had told him to ‘step up or move aside’ when it came to his on and off relationship with Lana. Shortly after that, he’d told her everything during an emotional dinner in the loft; she in turn had cancelled her plans to spend the summer and her senior year studying art in Paris. Since Clark hadn’t spoken to Lex since then, the only way his friend could know about why Lana had cancelled her plans to study in Paris would have come from her, and from what Chloe had told him, Lana wasn’t talking about that particular issue with anyone.

“This should be interesting,” Clark muttered to himself, as he brought the truck to a stop near the mansion’s entrance. The front door was opened for him by another guard who had been alerted to his presence by a call from the front gate. A minute later, Clark was at the door the mansion’s library, only to find yet another guard posted outside the door. Looks like security has been increased around here since Lionel died, he thought.

“Mr. Luthor will see you now,” the guard said, as he held the door open at Clark’s approach.

“Hi, Lex,” Clark said.

“Hi, Clark,” Lex said as he closed his laptop and leaned back in his chair.

“Where are the metal detectors?” Clark kidded.

“You passed through two of them on your way here,” Lex replied smugly.

“So you have boosted security here.”

“Yeah…” Lex’s voice trailed off as he rapped the knuckles of one hand on the glass surface of his desk and stood. “My new security director and I were tired of people walking in on me unannounced.” As he poured himself two fingers of an exquisite vintage Armagnac, he said, “It seems congratulations are in order.”

“For what?” Clark was puzzled and didn’t mind letting Lex know it. As far as he knew, he hadn’t done anything worth mentioning in some time.

“Lana.”

“Lana?”

“Yes, Lana,” Lex said as he headed over to the black leather couches which were arranged in front of the fire. Clark dutifully followed along and took a seat facing Lex. “She wouldn’t say what had changed her mind, but after the most recent incident with Emily Dinsmore’s clone, she came here to return my gift and told me she wasn’t going to Paris after all.

“And since that was just after I’d told you to quit jerking her around, I have to assume you finally stepped up and told her what she needed to hear.” Lex paused and gave Clark a satisfied smile. “I knew you could do it. Congratulations on becoming a man.” Lex raised his glass to Clark in a salute and then tossed off his drink in one pull.

“I ‘stepped up,’ as you put it the other day,” Clark said, slowly, “but now it’s Lana who’s hesitating.”

“I don’t know what you told her, but it must have been monumental to get her to change her mind at this stage of the game.” For the moment, Lex was willing to put aside, for the moment, the fact that he had long hoped Clark would tell him most of the same things Lana had wanted know, as he was happy that his two best friends looked to be finally getting things together. “Give her some time to wrap her mind around it.”

“If understanding was the issue, I could wait. After all, she waited two years for me.”

“Then what is the issue?”

“Acceptance.”

Now that Lex knew Clark had told Lana whatever secret it was he was hiding, he wanted more than ever to know it himself. Knowledge was king as far as Lex was concerned; it always had been and it always would be. Some knowledge had practical applications, while other knowledge was worth little more than giving you the feeling of knowing something that others didn’t, of being on the inside, of belonging. And for someone who had never belonged, not anywhere, not ever, that was a powerful motivation. Lex needed to know Clark’s secret.

But for now, Clark needed a friend, and in particular, he was in need of an older, wiser friend who was more experienced with women. Of course, that’s not hard, Lex thought drolly, as Clark’s experience with women is like my experience with hair: much too brief and altogether unsatisfying.

“If Lana’s half the young woman I think she is, Clark,” Lex said in his most genuine and supportive tone, “then she will accept you. Give…her…time.”

“Well, I guess I can manage that, but then maybe I shouldn’t go with Chloe and Lana to New Mexico. How can I be ‘giving her time’ when I’d be spending nearly every waking moment with her for two weeks? I mean, Chloe says you specifically wanted me along on this trip.”

“Chloe said this UFO festival she wants to attend is at the end of June or the start of July, I forget which, but that should give Lana plenty of time to get things settled in her mind. And as for why I want you along,” Lex leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees as he explained, “we both know Chloe and Lana each have a spectacular talent for getting into trouble. You, on the other hand, have an even more spectacular talent for getting them out of trouble.

“And, even if they weren’t danger-prone, the idea of two very pretty, very small high school girls alone on a long car trip makes me nervous, and it makes Gabe Sullivan nervous, too. Having you along makes them less of a target.”

Clark hadn’t thought about there being a safety issue with Chloe and Lana, but he had to agree they seemed to attract more than their fair share of trouble, and with them the trouble tended to be violent. “Okay,” he said, “I’ll go, but only on two conditions.”

“What are they?” Lex asked as he sat back on the couch, vaguely amused by the concept of Clark Kent negotiating.

“One, my parents have to approve, and two, Pete has to come along on the trip.”

“Your parents I can understand, and I would have called them already, except your dad still can’t get past my last name - the sins of the father and all that - but Pete? He hates me more than your dad ever did.”

“True, but he won’t mind spending your money, and I need someone else along to keep this from becoming the romantic triangle from Hell.”

Lex knew Chloe had fancied herself to be in love with Clark, but he had thought that was a thing of the past. Hearing Clark believed she still harbored feelings for him made him sigh. “Okay, get Pete’s dad to call me and sign off on this and he can go, too.”

Clark talked to his parents about the trip that night over a dinner of spaghetti, made with Martha’s homemade marinara sauce, and loaves of hot, crusty French bread. He was expecting his dad to be resistant and mom to be open to the idea, but in a stunning moment of role reversal, Martha was the skeptic, while Jonathan seemed ready to push him out the door. Clark wondered what was going on there, but he wasn’t going to turn down that sort of help, and with Jonathan on his side, it wasn’t long before they had worn Martha down.

Once she gave in, the only issue left was who was going to perform Clark’s chores while he was in New Mexico. Jonathan offered to take up the slack, but Martha vetoed that idea, reminding him that his heart trouble wouldn’t allow it. That’s where Lex stepped in, offering to hire a couple of part-time farm hands to help out while Clark was gone. While Jonathan’s natural inclination was to despise all things Luthor, he knew he needed the help if he wanted Clark to be able to go.

Pete, of course, was much easier to convince, especially once he knew Chloe was going. While he bitched and moaned about going to New Mexico instead of Cancun, the idea of spending two weeks away from farm work and with the girl of his dreams was irresistible. He figured it was his chance to get past his recent embarrassment with her and finally start showing her what she meant to him. Not being super-powered, Pete was much easier to replace on the Ross farm than Clark had been on the Kent farm, and Mr. Ross didn’t mind his son going as long as straight-arrow Clark Kent would be there, too.

Chloe was happy to hear that Clark had gotten approval to come along on the trip, but was surprised and a little less happy when he told her he wanted Pete to come along, too. After Pete's painfully awkward, truth-serum-induced declaration of love a few weeks ago, the two of them had done a pretty good job of avoiding each other. She still didn’t know what to feel about him, but she found the idea of being pursued for once more intriguing than she cared to admit.

That made three who were ready to go; all that remained was Lana, and Chloe approached her the next day as she purchased an after school latte at the Talon. Lana liked the idea of getting away from Smallville for a while, especially after having cancelled her year in Paris, but as Chloe had thought earlier, Clark coming along was an issue.

“I normally try to stay out of what goes on between you two,” Chloe said, “but what happened? You’ve been after him for a couple of years, and now you’re the one that’s skittish.”

Lana grimaced, wondering what she could say that would satisfy her roommate without giving away any part of Clark’s secrets, or almost as bad, piquing her insatiable curiosity. “As you know, Clark and I had a heart to heart talk.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Chloe encouraged.

“And what he told me…gave me a lot to think about.”

Chloe had been hoping for a little more explanation than that, but after a moment’s pause, it was clear Lana had said all she meant to on the subject. “Okay, well ‘a lot to think about’ is not enough to get you out of this trip,” Chloe said. “I mean, if I have to deal with Pete for two weeks, you can handle Clark.”

In the end, Lana agreed, but mostly because Chloe wanted the trip so badly. Lana felt like she owed it to her after the way her best friend had offered her a place in her home without asking for anything in return. Damn, Lana thought, looks like I’m going to have to face Clark before I’m ready. And then, in a moment of clarity, she added, Will there ever be a good time for that?
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) Ch 4, 10/14/12,

Post by Cardinal »

When Worlds Collide

Chapter 4


“You know you’re gonna have to talk to Liz eventually,” Michael said, “right?”

“Says who?” Max replied, before taking a sip from his cherry Coke.

Rolling his eyes as if explaining something to a particularly stubborn child, Michael leaned across the booth, and said, “You and I hangout a lot. Liz and Maria are pretty much attached at the hip. Maria and I are still together. You do the math.”

“Two whole months, Michael,” Max snarked. “Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back just yet.”

“Whatever,” Michael replied dismissively. “You’re just jealous that I’m with the girl of my dreams, while you’re locked in a bitter cold war with yours.”

Max started to fire back and then stopped, mostly because Michael was right, but partially because his best friend had correctly used the term ‘cold war’ in a sentence. “Looks like you got something out of World History after all.”

“It was an accident, I swear.” Michael took a drink of his own cherry Coke. “Must have been osmosis or something.”

“Osmosis? Okay, now you’re starting to scare me,” Max chuckled. “Who are you and what did you do with Michael?” Max knew Michael wasn’t stupid, it was just that he didn’t give a rat’s ass when it came to school; they had Michael’s former foster father Hank to thank for that. Not for the first time, Max thanked his lucky stars that he and Isabel had been adopted by Phillip and Diane Evans, while he simultaneously cursed the cruel stroke of fate that had consigned Michael to the useless alcoholic who had ‘raised’ him. Still, Michael was happy with who he was; if other people didn’t like it, they could just kiss his ass.

Looking to change the subject, Max asked, “Are you going to do anything during the UFO Festival?”

“You mean enter the costume contest or participate in the parade?” Michael asked disdainfully. “You’d have an easier time getting me to join a Gay Pride march. But what I am going to do is go to Greg’s alien-themed party a couple of nights before the Festival starts.”

“Greg?”

“Greg Coleman, I doubt you know him. Anyway, his party’s gonna be huge.”

“Michael…” Max looked around to make sure no one was within listening range, “do I have to remind you that we can’t drink beer?”

“Sure we can. It only takes a second to do the Jesus trick.”

“Jesus trick?”

“Yeah,” Michael said, “turn water to into wine, or in this case beer into cherry Coke.”

Max had to admit he hadn’t thought about that possible use of their powers. Leave it to Michael to think of a way to attend parties and not look out of place.

“How big is this party going to be? You know Valenti lives for busting these things.”

“There’s zero chance of that happening, Maxwell, because Greg’s having this little shindig out on his grandpa’s ranch. The nearest neighbor is miles away, and his grandpa doesn’t give a shit.”

His last objection satisfied, Max asked, “Think you’d mind me tagging along?”

“You? At a party?”

“Contrary to popular belief, I can have fun.”

“Maybe,” Michael conceded, “but me saying ‘osmosis’ was less surprising.”

Michael didn’t actually want to go to Greg’s party; anything alien-themed tended to set him on edge, but he was going because it was part of Maria’s whackjob plan to get Max and Liz back together. Now that he had baited Max into going along, he just had to hope Maria would be as subtle as he had just been. Subtle, unfortunately, was not something either Michael or Maria did very often or very well, and he had apparently just used up their entire combined allotment.

“Chica!” Maria barked over her cellphone when Liz answered her call.

“Hi, Maria. What’s up?”

“Just trying to get on your calendar.”

Liz took a moment to call up the calendar function on her phone, and then asked, “What day?”

“Two days before the festival stuff starts.”

Maria didn’t even have to mention the event as Liz was quite a bit more connected to the Roswell teen social scene than Max was. “Greg Coleman’s party? Really?”

“Really,” Maria said, matter-of-factly. “You need to get out and do something other than working and studying for your SATs. You’re grinding yourself into the ground. At this rate, by the time school starts, you’ll be burned out.”

Liz checked the day in question and saw it was clear, which was because Maria was right about her schedule. Ever since school had ended a month earlier, she had thrown herself into work and prepping for her college entrance exams. She’d do anything to take her mind off of Max, because when she had free time, her thoughts tended to drift back to him and that wouldn’t do, because thinking about him and what they had lost hurt too much. Maybe a good party was just what she needed.

“Okay, I’ll go,” she said, before she tapped the information into her phone.

Pleased with her victory, Maria moved on quickly. “What costume did you decide on for the contest?”

“Oh, I picked the Star Trek one.”

“You going with red?”

“Complete with knee-high black leather boots,” Liz affirmed. “Mom’s gonna help me with the dress, and I’ve already made an appointment to have my hair poofed out, sixties style. What are you going to wear?”

“You know I was thinking about going as the Silver Surfer, but I don’t want to put any of that silver crap on my face…”

“Much less wear a silver skullcap.”

“That, too,” Maria readily agreed. “But wearing a silver spandex bodysuit would have made Michael choke.” Both girls giggled at the idea of his reaction to that kind of outfit gracing Maria’s body. It bothered him enough already when other guys looked at her in her short sea green waitress uniform.

“So what did you decide on?”

“I haven’t yet. I was thinking about Sarah Connor from the Terminator movies, until Alex pointed out that movie has nothing to do with aliens.” Maria leaned back on her bed and twirled some hair around a finger of her free hand. “So, if you have any ideas, let me know.”

“I’ll do that, but you’d better hurry up and choose something; the costume contest is only a little more than a week away.”
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) Ch 4, 10/14/12,

Post by Cardinal »

When Worlds Collide

Chapter 5


Clark and Pete had been dropped off at the Sullivan’s by their parents just before six in the morning, which was supposed to be their hour of departure. The boys were smart enough to not protest the early start time, even if they knew neither Chloe nor Lana would be ready at the appointed hour. As expected, when Gabe Sullivan hustled out to meet the boys and unlock the doors of Lana’s dark cherry red Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, he told them to get their stuff loaded while the girls finished getting ready.

Once Gabe disappeared back inside the house, Pete asked, “I know Uncle Fester is sponsoring this little shindig, but how is he gonna pay for everything if we’re there and he’s here?”

“Debit cards, Pete,” Clark said as he lifted their suitcases into the roomy back of the SUV like they were empty. “Lex had his bank make a couple of debit cards in the girls’ names. He said it was the easiest way to do it.”

“Why two cards?” Pete asked, as he jammed his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

“In case one was lost or stolen. And since the cards are for separate accounts, if one is stolen, that card and account can be frozen without affecting the other one, which will let us keep on going.”

“Gotta hand it to Lex,” Pete admitted grudgingly, “when it comes to money, he does know every angle.”

Once the suitcases were packed, the two guys leaned against the side of Lana’s shiny new vehicle to wait, folding their arms across their chests in near-identical poses, even though they looked nothing alike. Both were muscular, but that was the only resemblance. Clark was white, 6’ 3” and 220 lbs., had sea green eyes, wavy dark brown hair, and a chiseled face, while Pete was black, 5’ 8” and 180 lbs, had deep brown eyes, close-cropped frizzy black hair and more rounded facial features, as if he had yet to lose a little baby fat.

“Wanna make a bet on who’s ready first?” Pete asked, more out of boredom than any real desire to bet.

“No bet,” Clark said. “Chloe’s the hyperactive coffee achiever; Lana always takes her time, but the results are generally well worth it.”

Looking around to ensure no one was within hearing range, Pete asked quietly, “And how is Lana dealing with your secrets?”

“Better,” Clark admitted reluctantly, “but she still jumps like a startled fawn every time we meet.”

“Well…I know from hard-won experience just how tough that little secret can be. And Lana hasn’t had the benefit of a Dr. Hamilton experience to help show her the hard truth about why you keep everything secret.”

“That’s true, but her problem with me is different from the one you had,” Clark countered. “You were upset because I had lied to you all those years, not because I am an alien. Lana’s just the opposite. She understood my need to keep things secret; her issues have to do with me being an alien.” Looking down at his feet and kicking aimlessly at a pebble on the ground, Clark sighed, and added, “Maybe she blames me in some way for her parents’ deaths. She hasn’t said it, but she hasn’t said she doesn’t blame me either. And who can fault her for that?”

“Well then, maybe this trip to Alien Central is just what the doctor ordered,” Pete joked.

“How’s that?”

“Where else is she going to meet enough aliens for it to sink in that you all are just people like me and her?”

“Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen.”

The boys waited several more minutes before Pete spoke again. “Lana does know that I know, right?”

“Yes.”

“And she knows I know she knows, right?”

“Yeeeeeeees.” Clark turned his head to look questioningly at his best friend, a title Pete had reclaimed since Lex’s time in Belle Reve Sanitarium. “Is this going somewhere?”

“Maybe,” Pete replied. “Look, I know Lana and I have never been all that close. I mean, we’ve seen each other mostly through our connections with you, but if she needs someone to talk to about this, someone who might have a chance of understanding what she’s dealing with, have her come talk to me.”

“Thanks, Pete,” Clark said sincerely, “that’s a great idea. Why didn’t I think of that before now?”

“You’re the muscle of this operation; someone’s gotta be the brains.”

Clark was about to reply to that with a smartass crack of his own when Chloe came bouncing down the steps from the front door, and said, “And that would be me.”

“Hi, Chloe,” the boys chorused.

If the boys looked markedly different from each other, then the girls did, too. Both were 5’ 4”, but that’s where their similarities ended. Chloe was even paler than Clark, had short, butter blonde hair, a curvy figure, pale green eyes, and a big smile that seemed to be powered by her perpetually bubbly personality. Lana, on the other hand, had fair skin that tanned easily, long, silken brown hair, a slender figure, hazel eyes, and a small, sweet smile that was a close fit for her more reserved personality.

“Clark, Pete,” Chloe said, by way of acknowledging her two best male friends. She and Pete still hadn’t dealt with his Levitas-induced confession that he loved her. Her way of ignoring that inconvenient fact was to treat him like the friend he’d always been to her. She was pretty sure, however, that their avoidance dance was about to come to a screeching halt.

“Is Lana about ready?” Pete asked, “cuz I’d like to get this show on the road.”

“She’ll be down in a minute,” Chloe assured him. “Would you guys please get our bags for us while you wait?”

“Sure thing,” Pete said, as he and Clark headed for the front door of the house.

“Where are they?” Clark asked, as he looked back over his shoulder.

“Just inside the front door. We would have loaded the Jeep last night, but we didn’t want to risk having anything stolen.”

While the boys were doing her and Lana that small favor, she climbed into the front passenger seat of the Jeep and programmed their trip into its GPS. Her dad, Lex, the Kents, and Mr. Ross had all insisted that the kids stick to the main highways so that if something bad happened, it would be easier for them to get help. Chloe was grumbling about that concession until she saw the GPS’ favorite route just happened to take the main roads. Then she saw their trip was going to be at least ten and a half hours, and that was before any stops for gas, food, or visits to the restroom. She was beginning to be glad she had confirmed their rooms and secured them with Lex’s debit card, because they weren’t likely to make it to Roswell until late.

The boys had trudged back to the Grand Cherokee, and were in the process of figuring out how ten suitcases of various sizes were going to fit in the back, when Lana rushed down the steps of the house and trotted out to meet her friends; she was acutely conscious of the fact that she was the last one ready. “Thanks, Guys,” she called out, waving and smiling brightly at Clark and Pete. Clark’s head swiveled to look at her as she drew near, but both Pete and Chloe looked at Clark, if for different reasons.

“No problem, Lana,” Clark said.

Chloe knew something weird was going on between those two, because their entire dynamic had taken a recent 180. Lana used to be irritated with Clark’s impenetrable cloak of secrecy, and now, he was bothered by her sudden skittishness. Whatever it was that had happened, neither one of them would tell her a damn thing, which was like teasing a hungry dog with fresh meat. The only thing keeping her from doing her dead-level best to uncover what had gone on was the solemn promise she had given Clark earlier in the year to not investigate him any further. Her curiosity had almost destroyed their friendship then, and she knew the only way she was going to regain his trust was to honor that promise.

Still, she did want to know what the Hell was going on between those two.

Pete, on the other hand, knew all about what was going on; he just wanted to see the goofy, eager-to-please, and ready to be pleased look that spread across his friend’s face every time Lana made an appearance. It never occurred to him to wonder how he looked every time Chloe walked by, but if he had, he would have realized the looks were likely much the same.

In an effort to let the guys each have a turn with the extra leg room in the front seat, it was decided Pete would ride up front with Lana while she drove, while Clark would move up front with Chloe when it was her turn to drive. Both guys were conscious of how the seating arrangements managed to keep Pete away from Chloe and Lana away from Clark, but they were willing to wait; they knew they would have plenty of time with their girls over the next two weeks.

It was almost six-thirty by the time Lana backed out of the Sullivans’ driveway. After a quick stop at the local McDonald’s for coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and hash browns, they were on their way. The GPS directed them on a route that led first to Wichita and then straight south on I-35 to Oklahoma City. Lana was focused on driving and Chloe chattered away about important landmarks they passed, while Pete subtly nudged Lana to let her 470 horsepower monster run free ‘like God intended.’

“Is that Pete ‘The Boss’ Ross speaking?” Chloe snarked from the back seat.

“Hey!” Pete looked back at Clark and shot him a venomous look. “How did you find out about that?”

“It wasn’t Clark,” Chloe assured him. “It appears he can keep more secrets than just his own. Honestly, Pete,” she scoffed, “did you seriously think something like Dante’s illegal drag racing scheme would sneak by me?” Then shifting to caring so fast that it almost gave him whiplash, she added, “I’m just glad Dante’s the one who got hurt in the end instead of you.”

Lana didn’t know what they were talking about, but she was sticking to five miles an hour over the posted speed limit no matter how fast her Jeep could go, and she said so.

“Why did you even buy this one if you’re not gonna speed a little?” Pete finally asked.

“Aunt Nell’s husband Dean helped me pick it,” Lana replied. “He said it was the best they made and it had plenty of power for passing.”

“Not to mention it guzzles gas like a frat boy drinks beer,” Chloe snickered.

“He forgot to mention that little detail,” Lana conceded. “Still, it’s very nice.”

Once in Oklahoma City, they made an unplanned stop to spend a few hours at the bombing memorial and its museum. When they got back on the road, their route veered westward onto I-40 and they headed for Amarillo. From there, the last leg of their drive was very nearly straight southwest, heading through Clovis and Portales on US-70.

About the time they were headed out of Amarillo, Liz and Maria were getting off work at the Crashdown Diner in Roswell. The girls went home to get cleaned up and have dinner with their families before getting ready for Greg’s party. Michael and Max each worked a little later, but Max had already told his parents he would be going directly to Michael’s after his shift at the UFO Museum, so they saved some time when he avoided social hour with his parents. And since Michael was an emancipated minor, he had no one to worry about at home but himself.

Liz and Maria were just beginning to choose outfits for the party about the time the Smallville contingent passed through Portales. From there, the Grand Cherokee had ninety-two miles to go. They were going to arrive much later than originally planned, but the end of their journey was within reach at long last. Lana was back behind the wheel and had been ever since Amarillo, and was tapping her fingertips on the steering wheel as she hummed along to the CD that was playing on the Jeep’s 825-watt Harmon Kardon audio system, while the other three were busy playing Angry Birds on their phones.

“Where is Greg’s grandpa’s place located?” Max asked, as he toweled off his close-cropped brown hair, just after climbing out of the shower.

“It’s several miles north of town.” Michael held up a piece of paper that had been folded several times. “I’ve got a map and directions right here.”

“Is Maria going?” Max asked, as he was vaguely surprised she was letting Michael go to a party without her.

“I don’t think so. When I asked her about it, she said she already had something planned with Liz.”

Showing a rare flash of impatience, Max gave up drying his hair the normal way, choosing instead to pass a hand over his head from side to side, using his powers to instantly change his wet, messy hair into dry hair with a perfect part on the left hand side.

“You know, the girls would kill to be able to do that,” Michael said. “Isabel’s already worked on Maria’s hair a few times.”

“I remember,” Max grinned. “Iz was complaining last summer that Maria was trying to turn her into her personal hairdresser.”

“Are you ready to go yet, Maxwell?”

“What’s the hurry?” Max replied. “You’re never on time anywhere.”

“Yeah, well…” can’t tell you about Maria’s plan to abandon you two together at the party so you’ll have to talk, so “…this party isn’t something I want to miss.”

“Okay then, let’s go.” Max wasn’t quite sure what was supposed to be at this party that was cool enough to get Michael there when the party started, but he didn’t mind. With Michael getting so close to Maria these days, the two guys didn’t hang out together as much as they used to, and he didn’t mind admitting to himself that he missed that.

Liz was sipping a Diet Coke at the counter in the Crashdown Diner as she waited for her ride. It was the first time in longer than she cared to remember since she had gone out with the sole purpose of having fun. She was surprised by how excited she had gotten about this party over the last week, but when she thought about it, it made some sense. This night out was like her official post-Max coming out party. She still wasn’t quite sure what she had been waiting for from him since Tess’ departure, but whatever it was, she hadn’t gotten it and she was tired of waiting. So when Maria stuck her head in the door and called out to get her attention, Liz hopped off her bar stool, stuffed her keys and ID into her jeans pocket, and hustled out the door.

Maria and Liz cruised north on Main Street, which was also US-70 and US-285. Maria was driving her battered red Volkswagen Jetta, while Liz was acting as their navigator with the map and directions in hand. With both girls focused on the road ahead, neither one noticed the elderly, dark green Jeep that was a hundred yards or so behind them. And a few miles ahead of them, a dark cherry red Jeep Grand Cherokee was on the loop that would take it from going westbound on the overpass to southbound on the underpass, heading directly into the heart of Roswell.

Since late June has the longest days of the year in the northern hemisphere, it was still daylight out at this late hour, with the sun just beginning to sink behind the Sacramento Mountains, a knife-edged, north-south mountain range fifty miles to the west of Roswell. While the daylight was fading, the current low angle of the sun was blinding for anyone looking west…like the family that was in a restaurant parking lot after a late meal. Thinking they’d seen an opening in the traffic, the family’s minivan shot out into the street. The problem was that they didn’t see the red Jetta chugging north, only a few yards away and closing.

Maria and Liz saw the minivan at the same time, which was far too late to avoid a wreck. Liz threw her arms forward, trying to brace herself on the dash, while Maria stomped on the brake and desperately whipped the wheel hard left, a reflex reaction on her part that protected her, but lined up the minivan for a perfect strike on the passenger door.

Maria had gotten her Jetta partway past the minivan before it struck, but that just pushed the Jetta farther into the southbound lanes, where Lana’s Grand Cherokee was barreling south just a little over the posted speed limit in the left-hand lane. She hadn’t been looking directly at the road when she heard the crump of the collision and the tinkle of shattering glass; by the time she got focused on the road in front of her, there was no way of avoiding the two vehicles that slid into her lane. She stomped on her brake pedal and hopelessly swerved to the right, while trying to brace herself for the crushing impact that was moments away.

Pete, Chloe, and Clark all looked up when they heard the first crunch of sheet metal from the Jetta meeting the minivan, which gave them just enough time to swear as Lana jammed on the brakes. The Grand Cherokee hit the right side of the Jetta at angle, which pushed the Jeep even farther to the right, allowing it to slide across another lane of traffic, hop the curb, and smack into two brand new cars in the front row of the local Ford dealership.

One hundred yards behind the girls at the time of the wreck, Max and Michael had watched in horror as the minivan plowed into the side of Maria’s car. Max had wanted to hit the gas to reach the girls as soon as possible, but every car between them and the Jetta stopped on the spot to let the wreck sort itself out. He pounded the steering wheel in frustration and then parked the Jeep in the middle of the street before he and Michael sprinted for the wreck with their hearts in their throats, both deathly afraid of what they might find.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
Addicted Roswellian
Posts: 224
Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 4:35 pm

Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) Ch 5, 11/1/12, P

Post by Cardinal »

When Worlds Collide

Chapter 6


Clark was moving inside the SUV before it even came to a stop. Air bags had deployed everywhere inside the top-of-the-line Jeep Grand Cherokee, surrounding the four teens in a fluffy, white wall of safety, but he took a moment to check the health of each of his three friends anyway. Once he was satisfied they were reasonably okay, he forced open his damaged door and raced to help the people in the other two cars. He knew from years of experience at using his abilities to save people that he only had a few moments to get things done before people shook off their initial shock and started coming to their senses.

The white minivan was first, both because there was a family of four inside it as opposed to just two girls in the Jetta, and because it was closer. After giving the family a quick once over with his x-ray vision it was apparent that while they were well and truly shaken up, they were otherwise all right. Then he zipped around the minivan to deal with the Volkswagen Jetta.

One look at the sedan was all it took to make him wince as it was clearly the most ‘fucked up’ – to use one of Pete’s favorite terms – of the three vehicles. The biggest problem at the moment was that the left side of the minivan was pressed hard against the right side of the sedan, from the front passenger door all the way to the back, preventing any access to the girl on that side. Clark was about to zip around the car to the driver’s side when he saw two guys sprinting toward the Jetta.

A quick glance from Clark while he was moving in super-speed allowed him to take in a level of detail that normal people could only perceive from a long stare – mostly because from his perspective everyone else was moving with glacial slowness – and what he saw on the faces of those two guys was desperation, the kind that meant they were prepared to do anything to help. To him, that indicated the girls were more important to those guys than life itself, and that was a feeling he knew intimately.

While the guys continued to run flat out, Clark once again used his x-ray vision to supplement his normal sight as he looked over the two girls. The pale-skinned blonde behind the wheel was bleeding profusely from what looked to be a good-sized gash on her forehead, but other than that she seemed okay. He assumed the medics would take her to the hospital anyway to make sure, but he decided to leave her to the guy with the longish, light brown hair who was charging toward her side of the Jetta.

The lightly tanned brunette on the passenger side was a different story. Her side of the Jetta, and her door in particular, had taken the brunt of the collision with the minivan before the front of the Jetta had smacked into the side of the Grand Cherokee, and her body had the injuries to prove it: her right arm was broken in three places, her forehead already had the beginnings of a spectacular bruise on it, her ankle was trapped in some twisted wreckage, and he more than suspected she would have a line of heavy bruises and/or scrapes on her legs and the right side of her ribcage from impacts with the glove box and the door during the wreck. While her injuries were extensive, they didn’t appear life-threatening, but he couldn’t tell for sure. With an impact like that, there could be internal bleeding which was something his vision might miss.

Clark was trying to decide whether or not to risk being seen using his powers to get the girl out when the guy with the short, dark brown hair came around the back of the Jetta and came to a stop, looking frantically for a way to get to the brunette. Clark had always maintained that someone else’s life was more important than his secret, and added to that, he knew from personal experience exactly what the dark-haired guy was going through. For Clark, seeing the guy go after his girl this way was like seeing Lana get sucked up into the tornado all over again. That made his decision easy, even though the people around them were starting to stir and could very possibly see him by now.

The guy was just starting a frantic scramble up the back of the sedan when Clark slid a hand under the minvan, lifted its front end a foot away from the sedan, then wormed his way in between the two vehicles before pushing the entire minivan three feet away. In that moment, Clark locked eyes with the guy standing on the back of the Jetta, and saw a flicker of fear that was immediately overwhelmed by a look of gratitude.


* * * * * * * * * *


Max was half on the Jetta’s rear bumper and half on the trunk lid when he saw the big, black-haired guy move the front end of the minivan like it was nothing more than a paperweight. And when the guy stepped between the two vehicles and casually shoved the entire minivan three feet, he thought his eyes were going to pop right out of his skull. In that moment, he locked eyes with the guy. Max swallowed back any momentary fear he might have had over the staggering display of strength, and thanked him with the barest of nods as he jumped off the car and raced to Liz’s side.

The car door that was still between them was well and truly ruined, but that was nothing. Max pressed his hand to lock mechanism and willed it to open. His hand glowed red in response and the ruined lock opened. He then did the same for both of the door’s hinges before ripping the door open and putting his hand on Liz’s forehead to see if she was injured and how badly. He was peripherally aware of Michael trying to stop the bleeding on Maria’s forehead as well as the looming presence of the big guy who was almost right behind him, but he himself was busy with Liz.

Just like Clark had done mere moments earlier, Max listed Liz’s injuries in his mind. Unlike Clark, Max could tell she didn’t have any internal bleeding. Technically, she would survive without any help from him, but that trapped ankle was sprained pretty badly, her ribs were seriously bruised, and her broken arm would likely require surgery to be fixed, all of which would make for a pretty crappy summer. While he and she were having some serious difficulties at the moment, he didn’t doubt for a moment that he loved her, and as he considered that to be an immutable truth, he couldn’t let her suffer. With that decided, he leaned forward just enough to place his eyes in front of hers. She seemed to be a bit groggy, likely caused by the collision of her forehead with the dashboard, but she seemed coherent enough for him to talk to.

“Liz?” Max said, with an urgency and care in his voice he hadn’t used since the day she had been shot. “Liz, I need you to open your eyes and look at me. I know you’re in a lot of pain, so let me make this connection and heal you before anyone shows up.”

Liz could hear Max loud and clear. She didn’t want to open her eyes, however, because that would mean staring into those intense, amber-flecked eyes of his that she had lost herself in all too many times, a weakness she could not afford right now. His mention of the immense pain she was in and of him healing it for her, however, was enough to get her to begrudgingly comply. The close personal relationship between Max and Liz made the mental connection between them almost instantaneous, and the flow of personal memories from one to the other – known to them as flashes – began almost as quickly. The flashes were a mere side effect of such a deep connection, but that level of connection was required for such a serious healing.

*Max-Flash* Liz lying helplessly on the floor of the Crashdown Café, her blood rapidly soaking through the bluish-green of her waitress uniform, as she looked up at Max's beautiful face and had the random, absurd thought that he would happen choose the last moments of her life to finally notice her…

*Max-Flash* Liz twirling about in her bedroom with something that looked like a lace doily wrapped about her head, feeling as happy as she could ever remember feeling and dreaming about her wedding day with Max as she said her vows out loud…

*Max-Flash* Liz sitting on her balcony bawling her eyes out, emotionally shattered as she told an older guy who looked like a long-and-greasy haired, B-movie motorcycle gang member that the pain of lying to tell Max she didn’t want to die for him was too much, that she couldn’t go on with their plan…

*Max-Flash* Liz and the same greaser slow dancing on her balcony in what was a supremely bittersweet moment for her, as she desperately grasped this last remnant of a life that was hers once but would never be again…and just before the last flash faded, Max was struck by a curious thought: the old greaseball sort of looks like me.

Max, however, wasn’t the only one getting memories during this connection; this time, because of how close Max and Liz were personally, the images flowed both ways.

*Liz-Flash* A gunshot went off in the Crashdown Café, and Max, who was already having a hard time keeping his eyes off of Liz, watched as she dropped bonelessly to the floor just in front of the condiment station. He was filled with a momentary rage, followed by white-hot terror, and then icy determination as he decided in a moment to put his life and those of his sister and best friend at risk. All to save his secret crush…

*Liz-Flash* Max climbing the steel ladder up to Liz's balcony, determined to try yet again to convince her to overcome her fears and come back to him, only to stop just outside her bedroom window and see her in bed with her ex-boyfriend. Disbelief and horror raced through his mind, only to be replaced by a gut-wrenching agony, the likes of which he had never known before…

*Liz-Flash* Max looking at Liz with no small amount of adoration as he picked her up at her home so they could attend the Junior/Senior Prom together. Despite everything that had happened between them over the last year, he was feeling cautiously optimistic that they were finally easing back toward each other. She could feel his pride as he stood next to her for formal photos, and knew the only reason they sat on the side of the dance floor for even part of a song was that he wanted to wait until a new song started to get out onto the floor. Then his world caved in once more as she told him – in the midst of their first dance – that she was having second thoughts about being with him due to her fear of her rival for his affections. And finally, he had a burst of anger which was followed by a feeling of complete and utter defeat when she announced that her other reason for changing her mind about them was that she had been in pain all year and felt suffocated by it.

His last thoughts before that flash faded were: Her pain was of her own making; I begged her not to leave me at the end of last school year, but she ran away to Florida for the summer to get away from me; once she came back for school in the fall I spent weeks trying to convince her that we were meant to be together, and her response was to stomp on my heart three separate times as she turned me away; and now, as things are finally looking up for us, she kicks me in balls one more time and then has the gall to complain that she’s the one who has been in pain.

I give up.

She’s beaten me.

I’m done.


When Max broke the connection with a shuddering gasp moments later, his face was covered with sweat and Liz was completely healed. The only thing that remained for her was to get her leg unstuck from the car, but Max wasn’t thinking about that, and truth to tell, neither was she, as both of their minds were whirling with images, thoughts, and feelings from the flashes they had just been hammered by.

“Liz?” Max breathed into her ear, softly enough that no one else would overhear him. “I don't know what kind of flashes you might have just seen, but after what I just saw, we've gotta talk.”

Liz was shaky at the moment, though she couldn’t have said whether that was an aftereffect of the healing, a result of the flashes she had just seen, or the fact that Max was still close enough to kiss. She did, however, manage to stammer out, “I th-think you’re right.”

“Hey!” Michael said sharply, his voice cutting into their private little world and directing their attention to him and Maria, who at first glance was still bleeding. “You think you can leave Liz for a minute, Maxwell, and get your ass over here?” Max reached down and used his power to manipulate the steel and plastic of the Jetta just enough to free Liz's ankle before he trotted around to the driver’s side of the car to look at Maria’s forehead gash.

“Hi, Max,” she said, much more softly and sweetly than usual, two sure signs something was off with her. “How’s Liz?”

“She’s healed,” he replied. “And once I fix you up, too, you two can compare notes all you want, but for now, shush.”

Maria rolled her eyes and Max got his first good look at her cut. It really wasn’t bad, but there was a problem with healing it, one that Michael had already recognized. “Even I can heal this one,” he said, “but…” and then he gestured at the blood that was all over her face, dress, the steering wheel, the seat. If they didn’t get that cleaned up, too, then whoever came by to investigate the wreck would wonder how all that blood got there since both girls were unharmed.

“Yeah,” Max replied, “the last thing we need is for someone to start asking awkward questions. I’ll heal the cut and once she gets out, you handle the blood and stains. Got it?”

“Got it.”

Maria elbowed her way into the conversation. “Umm, Guys? Hurry it up; people are starting to come over to take a look, like we're Roswell's newest tourist trap or something.”

“Right.” Max said. For something as simple as this, he didn’t need to establish a connection. He just focused on the cut, on knitting the molecules back together the way they should be, as the pad of his thumb passed over it.

Then the guys backed off long enough for her to grab her car keys and climb out before Michael leaned inside and did much the same thing to her car that Max had done to her head. He watched with satisfaction as he worked, and by the time he was done the car looked like the blood and blood stains had never been there.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) Ch 6, 11/30/12,

Post by Cardinal »

When Worlds Collide

Chapter 7


The next hour and a half was hectic, though not so much for the teens. Clark rejoined his friends as they looked over Lana’s Grand Cherokee, while the four Roswell teens congregated not too far away. Max went back down Main Street to reclaim his Jeep, while Maria, Liz, and all of the Smallville kids except Lana called their families to apprise them of the situation and assure them everyone was just fine. Chloe and Pete went so far as to be quite creative about the severity of the wreck to keep from being ordered home right away. Her reason was that she still wanted to do her research; Pete’s reason was to make sure Chloe got what she wanted.

Clark was considerably more honest with his parents, which was not all that surprising given the close-knit relationship he had with them. His lie was one of omission, making sure to not mention anything about using his powers in broad daylight, or about seeing someone else use a wholly different set of special skills. He’d x-rayed the small brunette no less than four times since she had walked out of the Jetta and still couldn’t believe her seemingly perfect health, despite having watched the healing happen.

With Lana was living with the Sullivan’s, her fate on the trip was tied to Chloe’s, and since her legal guardian – her Aunt Nell – didn’t know she was in New Mexico in the first place, she saw no reason to inform her just yet about the wreck. So, Lana’s call went to her insurance company and required no creative storytelling whatsoever.

Max, Liz, Maria and Michael did much the same, placing calls to those that needed to know, but with one extra twist: Liz placed a call to the local sheriff, but not through any official channels. By this time she could already hear the blast of approaching sirens, so she knew emergency services were already on the way. Instead, her call went straight to the sheriff’s personal cell phone.

“Jim, here,” Valenti said, wondering what had gone wrong enough for him to get a call from Liz Parker, especially at this late hour.

“Hi, Sheriff,” Liz said in her most businesslike voice. “I assume you’re off duty right now, but Maria and I were just in a car wreck on North Main Street right next to the Ford dealership. Max and Michael were close enough at the time to come over and help, and we all thought you might want to come on out and take charge of the accident scene yourself, since Deputy Hanson messed things up so badly for all of us last time.”

That was a not-so-subtle reference to the way the sheriff’s eager beaver of a chief deputy had ramrodded an investigation the previous fall that had nearly cost Michael some serious time in prison. Knowing a good idea when he heard one, he grabbed his hat, badge, brown uniform jacket, and weapon belt before heading out the door. Once in his Chaves County Sheriff’s Department SUV, he got on the radio and gave commands for the crash site to be secured, but for nothing else to be done until he arrived. To make sure Chief Deputy Hanson was nowhere near the crash scene, the sheriff put him in charge of setting up and overseeing a temporary detour route around the crash site.

Once on the scene, the sheriff eyed everything for a minute before directing his investigators to get to work measuring and photographing everything from skid marks to mangled car bodies. And while they started, he called Max and Michael over to him, ostensibly to ask them a few questions, as they had been the first outside witnesses on the scene. After the three men walked out to the three-foot gap between the Jetta and the minivan, the sheriff avoided looking at the concrete street surface as he said, “Guys, see those two three-foot-long horizontal skid marks?”

“Yeah,” they chorused.

“You need to make them disappear before my guys get to this point with that camera. If those get recorded, an insurance investigator or a crash scene investigator from the New Mexico State Police might pause long enough to wonder how a 3,500 pound minivan moved straight sideways after coming to a stop.”

Max dropped to one knee and pretended to be tying his shoe before swiping his hand across the black tire mark and erasing it. He did the same for the other mark and then they followed the sheriff around to the other side of the minivan. While Max talked to the sheriff, Michael ‘dropped’ some change out of his pocket. As he bent to retrieve the lost coins, he reached under the minivan and erased the two horizontal tire marks on that side of the van, too.

“Was it you or Michael that did that?” Sheriff Valenti asked.

“Neither,” Max said. He gestured toward the knot of Smallville folks standing close to the wreck of the dark red Grand Cherokee and pointed out Clark. “It was that big guy.”

“Is he another one of you?”

“No, not a chance. Michael and I together couldn’t do that, but that guy lifted the front end of this minivan like it was a child’s toy.”

“And the tire marks?” the sheriff asked.

“Once he moved the front of minivan enough to get in between it and Maria’s car, he shoved the van out of the way. I’m surprised there isn’t a pair of handprints mashed into the side of the van.” Max thought about the new guy momentarily, then added, “He’s not Antarian, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not an alien.”

While the sheriff was helping cover up a possible alien involvement in the crash, Clark and Pete were doing their best to look after the girls, whether it was needed or not. “How are you, Lana?” Clark asked. Pete and Chloe were several feet away, with Chloe placing one last call to explain everything to Lex.

Lana swiped a few errant strands of hair out of her face as she craned her neck to look up into Clark’s sea-green eyes. “I’ve got a bit of a headache,” she admitted. “I think it’s from the airbags. I didn’t realize how hard those things hit.”

“At least we had the bags.” He tilted his head to where Liz and Maria were sitting and chatting as they watched Max, Michael, and Sheriff Valenti in the middle of the blocked off street. “Those girls didn’t.”

“It looks like they were lucky then.”

“Lucky,” he agreed, “but not in the way you’re thinking.”

“What do you mean?” Lana asked.

“I saw both girls right after the accident, and they were both injured. The blonde had a nasty-looking gash on her forehead, and the brunette was hurt bad enough to have been looking at a few days in the hospital at least.”

“And yet they're sitting there and chatting like nothing happened.” Lana knew better than to ask Clark if he was sure. With his abilities and his extensive experience when it came to crash sites, she knew she could rely on his opinion. That didn’t mean she didn’t have questions. “What happened? How did they get healed so quickly?”

“Did you see those two guys that ran up to the girls’ car?”

“You mean the guys out in the street with the sheriff?”

“That’s them,” Clark acknowledged. “See the guy with the short, dark brown hair and the tan?”

“Yeah.”

“He healed them, and before you ask, I really have no idea how; I mean, I stood right behind him and looked over his shoulder as he worked, and the only thing I could tell is that he seems to require physical contact to heal.”

“That sounds a lot like Cyrus,” Lana said, fondly. “I still remember the way he healed Tyson last year.”

“I remember that, too,” Clark replied quietly. Then, whispering in a voice no one else but her could hope to hear, he added, “And to think that I of all people thought he was an alien.” That wasn’t all he remembered about Cyrus and the events surrounding his time in Smallville. Clark also remembered a private conversation he’d had with Lana as he tried to figure out if he might be able to risk telling her his secret. He’d asked her how she would have felt if Cyrus had been from another planet. Her reply had been that she would try to keep an open mind, but that she would probably be freaked out a little bit. And now her theory had been born out.

It appeared he wasn’t the only one who remembered that conversation, as a revelatory look spread across her face when she asked, “You wanted to tell me about yourself last year, didn’t you? You were testing me.”

“You’re right, I was.”

“And my answer pushed you away.” Lana looked up at Clark, saddened by the time together they had lost. First, it had been his refusal to share his secrets with her, and now it was her need to evaluate everything about him, about them, in light of his stunning revelations. You see, Lana didn’t have any doubts about Clark himself; to her he was still the same guy she had loved for the past two-plus years.

Now that she knew his secrets, her concerns were focused on what kind of life they could hope to have together, and other things like: how many of her dreams would she have to sacrifice to have him, did an average, small-town girl like her really deserve someone as wonderful as him, and could she really be selfish enough to claim him as her own, when so many people needed him?

Those questions had been eating her alive ever since he had opened up to her. She knew she was hurting Clark right now, but she couldn’t risk being with him as a couple until she could answer those questions to her own satisfaction, because she did know one thing about him with absolute certainty: if she chose to go back to him this time, there would be no turning back.

Not now.

Not ever.

Pete and Chloe came over once the call with Lex was complete. “I called Lex to keep him up to date and he said he’d send someone out to our hotel tomorrow morning with a LuthorCorp Escalade for you to drive, Lana. He also said you should call him if the insurance adjuster gives you any crap about your Jeep. I got the distinct impression he’ll hire some local hotshot attorney if he has to.”

“Okay, thanks,” Lana said, relieved that one detail had been taken care of.

While Chloe was talking, Pete was looking around. When she finished, he said, “The sheriff’s department’s been here for a while. Where the heck is the ambulance?”

One surprising thing about Roswell is that it has two separate hospitals, which are less than a mile apart; most towns that size are doing good to have one hospital. When the first 911 call came in, the dispatcher initially tried to send an ambulance from Eastern New Mexico Medical Center since it was slightly closer to the wreck. The problem was that all of that hospital’s on-duty ambulances were busy. It took a few minutes for that misunderstanding to be corrected, after which an ambulance was sent from Lovelace Regional Hospital. That misunderstanding was why the ambulance was just now arriving at the wreck. One look at the cars, especially the Jetta, was enough to convince them they were going to be needed.

The paramedics checked everyone, starting with Liz and Maria since they had been in the car that was the most messed up, followed by the family of four, and ending with the four teens from Smallville. When the ambulance left half an hour later, the paramedics were quite happy to have been wrong about being needed, and spent the drive back to their hospital mumbling to each other about how the two girls in the Jetta had to have had the dumbest luck they had heard of in their entire careers.

As the four Smallville teens watched the ambulance drive off, Chloe said, “Now that we’re done playing doctor, maybe we can get checked in at our hotel.”

“Speaking of our hotel,” Pete said, “how far away from it are we?”

One of the sheriff’s deputies came up at that point to see Lana’s license and her proof of insurance, along with collecting everyone’s contact information just in case they needed to get ahold of the witnesses at a later date. Once that was done, they were free to go. As they collected their luggage and personal items from the wreckage, Pete reiterated his concern over where they were staying. Just as they decided to approach the sheriff and see if he could give them a ride, or at least give them the number of the local taxi service, the four Roswell teens made a cautious approach.

“Hi, I’m Max,” Max said, as he wiped the damp palms of his hands on his thighs, “and these are friends of mine: Liz, Michael, and Maria.” Each of the three Roswellians waved a hand and said hi as Max introduced them. Then he extended his right hand toward Clark. “I wanted to thank you for what you did tonight for Liz and me. You risked a lot for two people you’ve never met before.”

Clark reached out and shook Max’s hand, letting loose a breath he didn’t know he had been holding, when Max stopped talking without revealing anything about his secret to Chloe. “I’m, Clark, and my friends are Lana, Pete, and Chloe.” Just like their counterparts, the Smallville kids waved and said hello when introduced. “As far as taking that risk went, I’m not sure I would have done it until I saw how desperate you were to get to your girl.” Max and Liz blushed profusely, but not knowing what was going on between them, Clark plowed on, much to Michael and Maria’s amusement. “I’m just glad I was able to help in some small way.”

“You helped in a big way, so I’d like to help you as much as I can,” Max assured him. He had already seen the Kansas license plate on Lana’s Jeep, so he knew they were probably tourists here for the various UFO celebrations. That led him to ask, “Are you here for the UFO Festival?”

Clark looked back over his shoulder and looked at Chloe. “Chlo, do you want to answer that one?”

“We’re here for the UFO Festival, the UFO Conference, and the Galaxy Fest,” she replied. “Once those are over, we’ll spend the rest of our two weeks here doing research on unusual or unexplained phenomena, and enjoying the local sights.”

“In that case, allow me to be your guide,” Max said. “I think we could all do with a good night’s sleep right about now, but how about meeting for a late breakfast tomorrow. I think we would like to get to know all of you better.”

When Clark hesitated to accept, Lana flashed one of her million-dollar smiles and said warmly, “We accept. We won’t get our loaner until ten in the morning, but we can meet you after that, just tell us what time and where.”

“Make it ten-thirty then at the Crashdown Cafe,” Max said. “It’s right on Main Street, just south of Second Street, right across from the International UFO Museum and Research Center.”

“Sounds good to us,” Lana said. “We’ll be there.”
Last edited by Cardinal on Thu Dec 06, 2012 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) A/N, 3/14/13, PG

Post by Cardinal »

When Worlds Collide

Chapter 8


While Max finished up making introductions with the Smallville teens, Michael trotted over to Sheriff Valenti and asked if he could take the four and their luggage to their hotel since Max’s jeep didn’t have nearly enough room. The sheriff was already planning on it, but he was pleasantly surprised that Michael of all people had been the one thoughtful enough to suggest it. So while Max and Michael were taking Liz and Maria home, the Smallville kids got a ride to their hotel in the sheriff’s SUV.

Wondering about the big kid, and if he was an alien or not, Sheriff Valenti decided to do a little digging into the boy’s past to see what there was to be seen. His name’s Clark Kent and he’s from Smallville, Kansas. That should be enough to start with, he thought.

The Smallville kids got their room key cards and got settled into their rooms, deciding to meet downstairs at eight a.m. before going their rooms for the night. As Clark and Pete undressed for bed they talked about the aftermath of the accident, especially the fact that the Max kid had some sort of supernatural healing power.

“Do you think he’s a meteor freak?” Pete asked.

“If we were in Smallville right now, I would say yes right away,” Clark replied. “But I don’t have any idea if he’s ever been to the state of Kansas, much less to Smallville, so I guess we’ll have to keep our minds open.”

“And keep our eyes on him,” Pete asserted. “He could be able to do more than just heal. And this is Roswell. Maybe there are aliens here after all.”

“Maybe,” Clark agreed reluctantly, “but at least we know he’s not Kryptonian.”

“That’s a relief.” Then changing the subject just a bit, Pete asked, “How much does he know about you?”

“Just that I’m crazy strong. I didn’t do anything else super.”

“Good.”

“Why’s that?” Clark asked.

“If he pushes for information about you and your abilities, we can pass you off as a meteor freak.”

Clark was really liking that plan, until he noticed its fatal flaw. “There’s just one little problem with that idea, Pete.”

“What?”

“A little, blonde problem I should say,” Clark amended.

“Oh, Chloe.”

“Yeah.”

Resting his fists on the sides of his torso just below his ribcage, Pete cocked his head to one side, and asked, “Why haven’t you told her about you yet? You’ve told me and Lana…why not Chloe?”

Clark drummed his fingers on the bedside table as he thought of how to tell Pete enough to satisfy him without revealing too much, as he wanted his issues with Chloe to remain a secret; he had no idea how either Pete or Lana would react upon learning she had gone after his secret for Lionel Luthor on more than one occasion. “I’m not sure how good Chloe is at keeping secrets,” That much was absolutely true as far as Clark was concerned. “Her primary mission in life seems to be digging for information and then telling the world about it…especially when it comes to people that she thinks are meteor freaks.”

Thinking of The Wall of Weird – Chloe’s gallery of all the strange, unexplained, and mutated things in Smallville ever since the meteor shower – Pete was forced to agree with Clark. “So…we can’t pass you off as meteor freak because Chloe will react to that like a bird dog going on point. And while this Max might keep your secret so you will keep his, we still can’t tell it to him, again because of Chloe.”

“Pretty much,” Clark agreed, “unless…can you help get Chloe started on her research and keep her away from Lana and I while we talk with Max and his friends?”

“Spend a couple of hours alone with the girl of my dreams?” Pete scoffed. “Give me a real challenge.” As Clark reached over and turned off a bedside lamp, leaving their room in darkness, Pete added, “You realize if Chloe and I ever do get together, you’re going to have to tell her your secret. Between her rooming with Lana and dating me, there will be no way to keep from her, and it will be much better if she hears it from you before she figures it out herself.”

While Pete and Clark were deciding how to deal with Chloe, the girls were next door, just settling into their beds after removing their makeup and brushing out their hair.

“I’m sorry about what happened to your Jeep,” Chloe said quietly.

“Thanks for the thought,” Lana replied, “but I’ll get another one. Dean had me get full replacement cost coverage when I insured it. And having a LuthorCorp Escalade to drive until then won’t be bad either.”

“I suppose not.” Chloe rolled onto her side to face Lana. “We are rather lucky to have a wealthy benefactor. This trip and the help with your Jeep are just the latest examples. And now with Lionel gone, I’m hoping the power games Lionel liked to play with me and rest of Smallville will stop, too.”

“Power games? Like what?” Lana had barely even met Lionel; she had definitely never made it onto his radar screen, so she didn’t know a whole lot of what went on with him.

“Like when he donated all of those nice computers to the school, but took them back when I wouldn’t do what he wanted.”

Lana remembered hearing about the loss of the donated computers, mostly because Chloe had been nearly inconsolable at the time, but she never had learned why they had been taken back. Speaking cautiously, Lana asked, “What did he want you to do?”

Realizing she had said a little more to Lana than she had intended, Chloe kicked herself, and then said, “Lionel wanted me to put my journalistic skills to use on a private project of his.”

Something about what Chloe said bothered Lana, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on it, and as her mind was worn out from the long day of driving which had been topped by the severe stress of the accident, she decided to leave that alone until morning. “Good night, Chloe.”

“G’night.”

While the Smallville foursome was getting settled in at the local Best Western Plus, the four Roswell youths were holding an impromptu meeting at Michael’s apartment. Not only were Max, Michael, Liz, and Maria present, but so were Isabel, Alex, and the sheriff’s son Kyle. Other than the sheriff himself, this was everyone who knew about the three teenaged Antarians and their secrets.

Everyone waited for Max to begin things, even the headstrong Michael, as he was the generally acknowledged leader of the group. And as Max scanned the room, he realized how much he had come to trust these people, even the humans, and to rely on them. Now he, Michael, and Isabel needed their help again to deal with this new alien situation.

“I assume you’ve all heard about the car wreck Maria and Liz got into tonight,” Max said. They all nodded an acknowledgment of his statement before he went on. “Good, but you likely haven’t heard the whole story.” Max asked Liz to tell the story of the wreck, which she did with several corrections and additions from the excitable Maria. Once Liz reached the end of the wreck, Max took over the story, telling how it had looked like from his perspective and asking Michael to chip in anything extra he had noticed.

Having Max truly value his opinions in something of this importance was a new sensation for Michael and he rewarded Max’s trust by taking the extra time to settle down and try to be as thoughtful as Max tended to be. Even a hothead like Michael knew this was not the time for a knee-jerk reaction.

Both guys told of the sheer terror they felt as they sprinted to reach the girls. Maria leaned against Michael’s side and flushed prettily upon hearing him admit to all their friends just how scared he had been. He normally wasn’t one for public displays of emotion – not the romantic kind anyway – but ever since he had chosen her over the chance to return to his home planet a few months ago, things had been different. As for Max and Liz, they shared a look, some might say ‘the look,’ which caused Isabel to wonder what had changed between them in the past few hours.

Michael told how badly Maria had been bleeding, and Max described how he had been climbing up the back of Maria’s Jetta to get to Liz before he dropped the bomb about Clark. He told about how Clark lifted the front end of the van out of the way and then shoved the whole vehicle a few feet away from the totaled Jetta.

That news made Isabel, Alex, and Kyle blanch. There was total silence for a few moments, and then three newcomers to this situation started to ask questions, which Max asked them to hold off on until he was done with his story. As he finished the story, he relieved some of their anxiety by telling them of Liz’s smart idea to bring the sheriff in right away to help them hide the telltale signs of super-powered involvement. Max told about her injuries and healing her on the spot, followed by healing Maria’s heavily bleeding head wound. He finished by telling them that they were meeting the newcomers for breakfast at the Crashdown at ten the next morning and he wanted all of them that didn’t have to work to be there.

“This guy clearly isn’t Antarian,” Max concluded, “but he could be an alien; I can’t imagine how else he could be so strong. And since we know his secret, I’m not quite so worried about him having seen me heal Liz and Maria.” Once Max finished his story, he opened the floor. “If you have any questions, or ideas on how to handle this, now’s the time to speak.”

They spent the better part of an hour debating things, before concluding that Max’s plan of getting closer to their new danger was the best plan for now. “After all,” Michael said, as the others prepared to leave, “Machiavelli said to ‘keep your friends close but your enemies closer.’”

Max knew that Michael was very well-read, a fact that Maria had discovered the year before when she and Michael had been assigned to do a report on each other in history class. Everyone else stared at Michael like he had just grown a third eye.

“What?” Michael asked, as he shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s my Spaceboy,” Maria chuckled while looping an arm around him and giving him a brief hug. “Always full of surprises.”

“Oh, Kyle?” Max said, as everyone headed for the door. “Can you keep your dad up to date about this?”

“I always do,” Kyle assured him. “He can’t help us effectively if we keep him in the dark.

Liz was about to hitch a ride home with Maria in Alex’s car, when Max caught her by the arm and offered to walk her home. It took her a moment to realize what he really wanted was to be alone with her. Once she told Alex and Maria of her change in plans, and Max gave Isabel the keys to the Jeep, they left Michael’s place and made their way across town. They walked a block and a half before either one of them worked up the nerve to speak.

When he finally did speak, Max asked the first question that came to mind, the one that was driving him crazy. “Sooooo…who was the greaseball I saw you dancing arm-in-arm with on your rooftop balcony?”
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) A/N, 4/3/13, PG

Post by Cardinal »

I found my ending at long last. :mrgreen:

It's a huge update for me...maybe not to you folks.
* * * * * * * * * *
When Worlds Collide

Chapter 9


As soon as the word ‘greaseball’ came out of Max’s mouth, Liz did the last thing in the world he would have expected: she doubled over right in the middle of the sidewalk and laughed her ass off. Forget walking. Forget talking even. Drawing in a ragged breath now and then was all she could managed, as tears rolled down her cheeks. Bewildered at first by Liz’s reaction, Max started getting more and more annoyed the longer Liz kept laughing.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, when he couldn’t make himself wait any longer.

Liz noted the edge to Max’s voice and tried to rein in her laughter, but it was hard. Not only was his clueless question one of the funniest things she’d ever heard, but her laughter also released the tension and pressure that had been building inside her for more than a year. To her it felt like a mountain had just been lifted from her back; now she just knew she and Max would find their ways back to each other.

Somehow.

Some way.

If only they survived the rest of their talk.

By the time Liz had her laughter under control and had enough breath to talk, she found herself with a vicious case of the hiccups, which made Max grin, as he figured it was what she deserved for laughing at him.

“Y- *hic* - you are *hic.* ” Liz grimaced, then swore under her breath before being hit with two more hiccups. Max’s grin threatened to break into a face-swallowing smile, which was something much more unexpected than her laughing in the first place.

The lightening of Max’s mood brought on by Liz’s temporary problem was enough to let think about something other than why she had been laughing at him. When he thought about those two flashes of the greaser, he remembered he had thought ‘the old greaseball’ had sort of looked like him. When he added that particular flash of her memory to the way she had reacted to his question, he had an epiphany: Liz believed the guy on the balcony was him.

“That was me?” he asked, as he watched her face carefully to see her reaction. He had been very cautious to not even hint that he didn’t believe her; weird things did happen when alien powers were involved, but she was going to have to prove it was him before he really believed.

“Yeah, it was.” Liz couldn’t believe how easy it was to finally say it to him after almost nine months of lying to him about everything that happened during the visit from the other Max, the future Max, the Max who would now never be. “It was you, but you from the future…fourteen years in the future to be exact.”

“How was that possible?” he asked. “I know we are capable of doing some pretty impressive things, but bending the space/time continuum?”

“You…he…future you – let’s call him Old Max – he told me that you and I got help from a future friend of ours named Serena to modify the Granolith for that purpose. Apparently I couldn’t come along with you, which makes me think the Granolith only works with aliens.”

“And you believed him?” Max asked. “What if he was a shapeshifter like Nasedo who was intent on separating us?”

“That’s a fair question,” Liz acknowledged. “The night Old Max showed up outside my window was the same night you showed up with the mariachi band and threw me those gorgeous roses before serenading me in Spanish. He predicted it mere moments before I heard the first notes waft up from the alley below.” Liz turned and resumed their walk to her home with Max right by her side. “He then told me that you had spent all week after school learning the words to the song from Mr. Delgado at the hardware store. And when the roses changed from red to white when you tossed them up to me, he told me you had remembered in the nick of time that I prefer white ones. No shapeshifter could possibly have known all that.” She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “I knew it had to be you.”

Max remained quiet for a few moments as he digested what Liz had told him. To say his mind was blown would be a mild understatement, but what she had told him had the ring of truth. “So,” he said at last, “what was so important that I had to come back from the future?”

Liz took a deep breath and stared at her toes as she gathered her courage, then she turned her head, looked up at him, and said, “He came back to us, to that very moment, to prevent you and I from becoming a permanent couple.”

“No fu…I mean, no way!” Max said disbelievingly. “I loved you!! I always have. I always will.”

You love me? she thought. How can the guy who thought so clearly that he was done with me just a few months ago still love me? Liz put those concerns aside, though, to focus on the question at hand. “What was so important?” she asked rhetorically. “Nothing less than the end of the world.”

Max didn’t even have to look at Liz to know she was deadly serious about what she had just said. That helped him calm down before he asked, “What happened?”

“Enemies, presumably aliens, who I’m guessing had something to do with the nice folks of the Universal Friendship League over in Copper Summit.” Before Max could ask how Nicholas and his band of aliens – who were known as Skins – could manage that, Liz pushed on. “Old Max said you and I were about to get together for good, and that our relationship and the way you treated Tess after we got together drove her out of Roswell for good. And without her to complete the four-square, you, Michael, and Isabel weren’t enough to stop the takeover of the Earth. So…he thought he needed to break us up to ensure Tess stayed around.”

“That explains a lot,” Max said thoughtfully. “You trying to set me up with Tess, coming to my bedroom just so you could tell me off even though I knew you still felt something for me, and worst of all, you pretending to have sex with Kyle.” Now it was Max’s turn to laugh, but unlike her laughter, his was pure acid. “Seeing you in bed with another guy was the most painful experience of my life, by far, and the whole thing was a fake.”

“I’m sorry I did that to you, Max.” She couldn’t face him at the moment; all she could do was stare at her feet as she offered her apology. “I’d already tried everything else I could think of to get you to give up on me. That was my last chance.” She shrugged her shoulders, tears formed in her eyes, and her voice cracked, as she said, “Old Max and I were desperate.”

“All that pain, all that suffering, and all we got out of it was maybe six extra months with Tess. I hope it was enough.”

“Me, too,” Liz added. “We both suffered so much just to keep that little bitch happy, and all she wanted to do was leave anyway.”

There was no mistaking the venom in Liz’s voice when she called Tess a bitch, and Max didn’t blame her one bit. His mind didn’t stay on the evil little blonde very long though, as something Liz had just said was bothering him. It took him a few moments to figure out what it was, and then he asked, “How did you know I would be at your bedroom window while you were in bed with Kyle? Did old me tell you?”

“Yeah,” Liz said, “he said that was the night where you broke down my defenses once and for all. After that, we were pretty much inseparable.” She wasn’t ready to tell him that instead of going with him to the Gomez concert, that night had been the first time they had made love. Two stupid kids, neither one quite seventeen…Liz still had a hard time believing that little miss ‘Always Have a Plan’ had allowed herself to get caught up in the moment, but Old Max had assured her it had happened.

“I had those Gomez tickets tucked in my pocket, and the Jeep was gassed up and ready to go.”

“It’s not all you had in your pocket,” she blurted. Liz’s face flushed red – though it was too dark outside for Max to see it – when she realized what she had said.

“Huh?”

Liz hesitated telling him, and then decided, In for a penny, in for a pound, and went for it. “Why did you just happen to have a condom in your pocket? How long had you been carrying one around, and why? We weren’t dating and hadn’t even talked about sex yet.”

It was Max’s turn to blush, and he waited until he had composed himself before he said, “After how close we had come to having unprotected sex in the middle of the desert just months earlier, I thought one of us needed to have protection at all times, just in case. And since there was no way in Hell I was going to be able to make myself bring up that subject with you, I went ahead and took care of it.”

When Liz thought about it that way, she realized her initial anger upon learning about the condom had been stupid. He was just being himself, she thought. Mr. Responsible. A girl could do a lot worse, especially when her guy is a high school junior.

Liz looked up just then, saw they were nearing the Crashdown Café, and nudged Max. Neither one of them wanted to end this talk with important questions left unasked, so they darted across the street with him close behind and took seats on a wrought-iron park bench.

When they got settled on the bench, Liz noticed they weren’t sitting thigh to thigh like they would have back before Tess came to town and ruined everything, but they weren’t sitting at opposite ends of the bench either. To her that was a small sign, something to be hopeful about. And while she was thinking about that, Max was thinking Old Max had a big mouth. Did he have to tell her everything? Jesus! What else did he tell her about me? And then, something else hit him.

“Why didn’t Old Me come and talk to me directly?” he asked.

Liz had been waiting for this question, and had the answer ready. “He said it had something to do with quantum mechanics, and he didn’t really understand it himself, but it meant if you met Old Max, there was a very good chance you would both be destroyed instantly.”

“Oh.”

That quieted Max quite a bit, giving Liz a chance to ask a question of her own. It was really the only question she had, but it was a question that was dying to be asked, and she knew there would never be a better time to get it off her chest.

“How could you sleep with Tess? Why were you even with her in the first place?”

Max turned his head toward Liz and said sharply, “That’s not any of your business.” He was very touchy whenever the subject of his brief relationship with Tess was brought up. Having Liz be the one to ask about it just made things ten times worse for him. “You gave up your right to know what I did, with who, and why when you kicked me to the curb at the prom.”

“If you and Tess were still together, that would be true.” Liz said softly, trying to ease the tone of their conversation, “but that was then and this is now. And now, you and I are trying, or at least seem to be trying, to put the past behind us so we can move on with our lives which makes it my business…as long as you want me in your life from here on out.”

“Oooookay, you asked for it,” Max said. He sucked in a deep breath and rested the palms of his hands on his thighs while he organized his thoughts. “I could give you the long version, but we both already know our history. The short version is: I spent most of the last year trying to be with you, to be the kind of guy you wanted, but you kept rejecting me and did so in ways that were both highly personal and excruciatingly painful.

“I had done everything I could think of to get you to give us a real chance, and it wasn’t enough. After you had dumped me at the prom, I had to admit that you had beaten me. And there waiting for me was a girl who wanted nothing more than to be with me, to have the place in my life that I had thought belonged to you, and all she wanted in return was to love me. Can you see how attractive that could be to someone in my situation? The girl I loved had destroyed me, and there was Tess to help me pick up the pieces.

“As for the sex, it just happened. I know that’s a really stupid reason for taking that step, but you and I had just fought – again – and she was comforting me, and it…happened.” Seeing that Liz’s jaw was set and her hands were white-knuckled on the edge of the bench seat, he wisely avoided adding any details. “And it only happened once.”

“Just once?” she asked, trying desperately to maintain control. She didn’t want him to see her fly into a rage over something from the past she was trying to get over.

“Just once,” he reassured her.

“I meant it when I said I had saved myself for you, Max.”

Liz didn’t fly into a rage like she feared; instead, she collapsed into a puddle of tears. And no matter how he was feeling at the moment about the way she had dealt with him over the past year, he still couldn’t stand to see her in pain. Sliding over to her, he enfolded her in his arms and pulled her close. She tried to push him away at first, which only caused Max to tighten his grip. She gave in and snuggled against him, drinking in his love and support like a sponge.

Max didn’t say anything; he just rubbed her lower back with one hand while the fingers of the other hand slowly stroked the length of her long brown hair. Right then he decided that whatever pain he still felt, whatever issues he had with her, he had to let them go. He wasn’t quite sure if Liz would see things the same way, but if someone had to be first, he was willing to be the one. He would do anything for her. When Liz cried herself out at long last he just continued to hold her, rocked her gently, and allowed her to take all the time she needed.

When he heard her sniffle a couple of times, he reached into his back left pocket and handed her a neatly folded linen handkerchief. “Here you go.”

Accepting the cloth with a tremulous smile, Liz said, “I’m glad to see there’s something in your pockets besides condoms.”

Max smiled at her small joke, pleased she could find something funny at that moment. He continued to slowly rub the small of her back and stroke her hair, as he took a deep breath and dove in. “I’m sorry, Liz.”

“I’m sorry, too.”

Nothing else needed to be said at the moment. Explanations could wait for another day. All that mattered right now was that the alien boy and his dream girl were back where they belonged: together.
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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Cardinal
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Re: When Worlds Collide (SV, XO, ADULT, CC) A/N, 7/4/13, PG

Post by Cardinal »

My beta seems to be a little bit busy at the moment, so I'm just going to release this update to you in its unedited form. I think the few remaining readers of this story have waited far too long already for a new update.

Thanks for your patience!
When Worlds Collide

Chapter 10


The next morning, Liz was up early, which surprised her parents as she wasn’t scheduled to work. When they asked what she had going on, she told them only that she and Maria had made some new friends the night before and had made arrangements to meet them for a late breakfast in the Crashdown. Like most parents, they were happy to see their daughter widen her circle of friends, but what made them really happy this day was the bounce in her step and the cheerful-sounding ditty she hummed as she wafted through the family apartment.

Liz wasn’t the only teen surprising parents this morning. Max was also up early, so much so that he was done with his morning workout and showered and dressed before Isabel was even up. By the time she made her way to the kitchen, Max had already told their mother about their breakfast appointment at the Crashdown so she wouldn’t waste time making one of her frittatas.

All seven of the Roswell teens were in the Crashdown a few minutes after ten, but only the four who had been involved with the wreck knew the Smallville teens wouldn’t be expected until 10:30. Kyle, Isabel, and Alex were all set to order their meals when Max asked them to wait. When asked why, he said, “I told you ten o’clock because I wanted to make sure we would all be here well before our visitors.” He paused a moment, and then decided to share a little bit more, which made him wonder briefly if opening up to Liz the night before was affecting him this morning. “I’d like to lie and tell you I thought we just needed to go over a few things in private, but really, I think that Isabel, Michael and especially me need all the support we can get. I have to admit this has the potential to be scary for us.”

Liz got her dad’s permission to move one of the tables next to a booth so all eleven kids could sit together as they ate, and once the table and chairs were in place, the Roswell kids ordered drinks and occupied their time by sharing their plans for the upcoming UFO festivities. Liz let everyone else in on her plan to go 1960s-style in a red Star Trek minidress and black boots, while Maria announced her plan to dress like Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager.

Alex chimed in then, saying he felt lazy this year and was just going to tape a set of TV antenna rabbit ears to a headband and go as Uncle Martin from “My Favorite Martian.” That announcement drew chuckles all around, especially when Michael pointed out that if Alex was really going as his favorite Martian he would have to wear women’s clothing, a blonde wig, and then stuff a bra. Alex blushed faintly but smiled unapologetically while Isabel glared at Michael. He was impervious to her glare, however, and her pleasure with her newfound relationship with Alex made her glare quickly melt into a pleased smile.

While Liz was arranging the table and the Roswell kids were settling into their seats, Lana was accepting the keys to a black LuthorCorp Cadillac Escalade from a stern-looking man from LuthorCorp security, who said, “Mr. Luthor said to call him on his private line if you have any other needs, Miss Lang.”

“I will, thank you, Mr. King,” she replied sweetly to the man she had just met.

The four Smallville teens clambered into the Escalade and headed south on Main Street with three sets of eyes drinking in the sights, while Lana’s eyes were glued to the road in front of her. It didn’t take long for Clark to notice the way her long, slender fingers were white-knuckling the steering wheel, and he quickly decided the accident had shaken her more than she had let on. But now wasn’t the time to bring it up.

Not too much later, Lana parallel parked the huge SUV just down the street from the café, and the four of them piled out it. Chloe couldn’t help but notice the imposing façade of the UFO Center right across the street and gave it an eager look, causing Clark to glance at Pete and say, “Maybe you won’t have to work very hard to persuade her to go over there early after all.”

“We can only hope.”

Once the four Kansans entered the long, narrow café, they were greeted almost immediately by their short, tanned, brown-eyed, and brown-haired hostess. “Welcome to the Crashdown Café!” Liz said enthusiastically. “We’re glad to see you again.” The warmth and sincerity of her greeting made it nearly impossible for the Kansans to not smile in reply, and as they were being ushered to the table Liz went on to introduce them to the three New Mexicans they hadn’t met yet.

Alex and Isabel were sitting together on one side of the booth, with Michael and Maria sitting across from them. Max and Liz sat across from each other on the outside seats of booth benches, while Kyle sat next to Liz in a chair at the table. Chloe sat across from Kyle, while Clark sat at the end of the long, makeshift table with Lana next to Chloe and Pete next Kyle.

As Pete and Clark seated Chloe and Lana, Maria waved Agnes over to take their orders. The business of this morning meeting was forgotten as orders were placed, with the locals guiding the newcomers through the alien-themed menu choices. Once the orders were in there was a brief awkward moment when no one knew what to say, until Maria piped up and asked the Smallville people what the accident looked like from their point of view.

Lana and Pete went first, mostly because they had been in front, but there wasn’t much they could add other than relate the shock of seeing Maria’s red Wolkswagen hurtling toward them. “I didn’t even have time to be scared,” Lana said. “I was just trying to miss your car.”

“You did well enough,” Max said. His voice was rough and choked with emotion, but while he was talking to Lana, his amber-flecked brown eyes were fixed on Liz. Not caring who was watching or what they might think, he reached across the table and clasped his hands around hers, which surprised her as much as anyone. “I don’t know what might have happened if you had hit Maria’s car more directly, but…I do know I wouldn’t want to live without Liz.”

Liz’s startlement was only momentary, as a radiant smile spread across her face. All she had wanted for the past two years was to be with Max and be able to enjoy their relationship the same way her friends enjoyed theirs. And now that they had broken down their walls and started rebuilding things between them, she wanted everyone to know that Max was hers and she was his.

The other five Roswell teens were doubly shocked. Not only was the normally shy, almost painfully reserved Max Evans making a very public show of his feelings for Liz Parker, but they didn’t even know what had happened between the two of them after the meeting the night before. As far as they had known, Max and Liz were still at odds. Obviously, things had changed.

Chloe’s reporter instincts were good enough to piece together the fact that this was unexpected, and the naked emotion on Max and Liz’s faces told her that this was not a new relationship. She was sure there was a story here worth the telling, but she wasn’t about to dig into someone else’s personal business…at least not when it wasn’t newsworthy. That was one lesson she had learned the hard way; she just hoped Clark would take notice.

Pete, meanwhile, was busy trying to ‘not notice’ what was obviously a private moment for two people he had just met; Clark, however, had a different reaction entirely. Like everyone present, he couldn’t help noticing the electricity between Max and Liz, and even though he didn’t know the difficult history those two shared, he did know what he wanted was for him and Lana to be like that, too.

Lana reacted to Max and Liz’s show of affection in her own way; seeing them in such a personal moment was too much for her, it hit so close to home that it forced her to look away, but when she did, her gaze settled on Clark. The naked longing on his face hammered at her heart, making it ache like it had never ached before, and she had an epiphany of sorts. What am I doing to him? she wondered. Alien or not, he’s just a boy, one who wants me like I want him, and the only thing keeping us apart is me and my doubts about a future that might never come. Damn it! I have to fix this.

Lana leapt to her feet and put her hand into one of Clark’s. Feeling in his hand the fine bones and smooth skin that he had been craving to touch for longer than he could remember, Clark wrenched his gaze away from the local lovebirds and looked up curiously at Lana. When she felt his attention was fully on her, she began to pull him to his feet, and said, “We need to talk.”

“Now?” he asked.

“Now.”

As he stood and allowed Lana to lead him out of the café, Clark looked back over his shoulder, and said, “Pete…Chloe…maybe you two can talk about the museum and all that stuff while we’re gone.”

When the door shut closed behind Lana and Clark, Michael looked down at the two remaining Kansans and asked irritatedly, “What was that all about?”

Chloe and Pete shared a look as they tried to decide just how much they should say. There was no doubt, however, about which one of them was going to answer. “They’ve been having ‘issues’ recently,” Chloe said, using her hands to make air quotes, “and it looks like Lana has decided it’s time to clear the air.” She then looked at the Roswell kids one at a time before saying, “So, who can tell me about the UFO Center and the kinds of research materials that are available there?”

Six pairs of eyes focused on Max as he had a part-time job working there. This was a constant source of amusement to his human friends and a source of disbelief for his fellow aliens. “Well, the displays are touristy junk,” Max admitted, “but there is a fairly extensive library of UFO-related books in the back. I don’t think Brody will mind letting you look if you want.”

While Max and Chloe talked about her Wall of Weird research, Lana and Clark were walking down the sidewalk hand-in-hand. But while his thoughts were focused on the heat coming from the small hand enfolded by his own, her mind was a thousand miles away as she tried to figure out how to explain things, how to apologize for the anguish she now knew she had to have put him through. Like most apologies, hers started with three little words.

“I am sorry.”

The sound of her voice broke Clark out of his reverie, and his eyes went from their joined hands to her face. “Sorry for what?”

Lana looked up into those trusting sea green eyes and took a deep breath before leaping in. “I’m sorry for my doubts, my fears, and for making you wait while I came to realize I'm cheating the present for a future that might never happen.” Lana came to a stop then and turned toward Clark, who unconsciously mimicked her movement. When they were facing each other, she slipped her other hand into his free one, and added, “And presently, what I want is to be with you.” Lana wanted nothing more in that moment than to rise up on her tiptoes and kiss Clark senseless, to reinforce what she had just told him, but she wasn’t that kind of girl. She needed him to react, to give her some kind of sign before she could be that forward.

“Could you…say that again?” Clark asked, his voice an odd mixture of old hurt and newborn hope.

“The short version?” she asked, nervously hoping she was reading him correctly. When he nodded his head, she stood on her tiptoes, looped her arms around his neck to pull him down to her, and pressed her lips to his for a brief, hopeful kiss. When her heels hit the ground again, she released his neck, and said, “That’s it in a nutshell.”

“And me being…what I am…doesn’t bother you?”

“No,” Lana assured him. “Where you came from doesn’t matter to me, Clark, it never has. My problem was that I’ve spent the last couple of months worrying about things that won’t happen for years, if ever, and completely forgot about enjoying what I have right now.”

Clark still didn’t look like he believed what he was hearing. Lana’s acceptance was something that he had wanted so badly for years – it was the main reason it had taken him so long to tell her his secrets in the first place – so much so that he had begun to despair of ever having it, and now that it was his, he wasn’t quite sure what to do next.

Lana waited patiently, okay maybe not so patiently, for Clark’s reaction. Just as she was about to give him a nudge to make sure he was still conscious, his mouth formed a small smile which slowly widened until it threatened to swallow his face. He then bent his knees and dipped his back just enough to lock his arms around the small of her back and sweep her off her feet. Lana squawked momentarily as she floated into the air, but by the time her mouth crashed into his, her fingers were already sinking into his thick, dark, wavy hair while her booted feet dangled a full foot off the sidewalk.

Lana and Clark’s first kisses a year earlier – in the solitude of the Kent barn – had been a slow, patient, almost luxurious exploration of what they were then coming to feel for each other. Even their kisses the next day as they cuddled in an empty farm field under the spreading branches of a solitary oak tree had been gentle and unhurried.

This time, however, was different.

These kisses burned hot, as if the first touch of their lips had unleashed a hunger that had been building since that day under the tree. And for two basically shy people, they managed to put on quite a show, something neither one would have believed even minutes earlier. The passersby at that time of the morning were few, on the sidewalk anyway, and the motorists in their cars did little more than smile at the joyous expression of young love as they drove by. Lana and Clark, however, were oblivious to the world around them, only breaking their furious lip lock when she ran out of oxygen and began gasping for breath.

Easily keeping her tiny form off the ground and pressed against his chest, Clark’s wide grin returned as he asked, “Enjoying what you have yet?”

“Enjoying you?” Lana giggled. “I’m just getting started. I’ve waited a long time for this.”

Stretching slightly to press his lips against the tip of her nose, Clark sighed, and said, “We both have, Lana. We both have.”
"In the Name of the King"
-----Winner, Round 15 - Favorite Lead Portrayal of Liz Parker
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Use of a Supporting Character (Jeff Parker)
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best New Fic
-----Winner, Round 15 - Best Period Fanfiction
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