Chaos Theory

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

"No." The word was so softly spoken that without his super-hearing, Clark wouldn't have heard her.

"No, no, no! They're not dead, they can't be dead!"

"Carrie," Lex rested his hand on her shoulder but she shrugged him off like she'd been burned.

"They are not dead," she said slowly and clearly. "I'll find them."

Clark wanted to argue with her, wanted to take some of her guilt away but he couldn't. Both his parents and his girlfriend were dead. Right now he barely had the strength to keep breathing.

Chloe went to the waiting room window and stared out over Smallville Medical Centre's car park.

This was all her fault; she had thought that with knowledge of the future she could improve things here, make everyone's life happier. Instead she had just killed three of the nicest people she knew.

She had pushed Lionel into a corner and he'd come out fighting. She wished she knew why he blew up the Kent Farm. Clark hadn't been there at the time, so it couldn't be to prove that Clark had powers. Was it just out of spite?

Suddenly her strength faded and she sank to the floor.

The three friends all sat there, all needing comfort but all unable to accept or give it.

"No," Carrie whispered softly again before her tears fell.

III

"Why did you do it?" Carrie asked Lionel through the bars of his cell. He was on death row and so not allowed out of his cell. Not that the state would get a chance to kill him. He had only months left to live now.

"Do what?" he said with a glint in his eye that proved he knew exactly what she was talking about.

She realised that she shouldn't have come. By asking for answers she was giving him power and he was enjoying this. He was getting the reaction he wanted.

She turned and walked away. He was a sociopath, the real question is, why wouldn't he do something like that. He had nothing to lose after all.

III

Even with Clark's powers, it took three months to rebuild the Kent house, mainly because he didn't want to rebuild it. Rebuilding it would mean moving on and he wasn't ready for that. Even now, the structure was finished but very little had been done inside. Clark had a mattress in his room and a rail for his clothes but that was all.

Downstairs the kitchen had been plumbed in but the cupboards had no doors. There were a few beanbags in the living room but there was no television, only a radio.

Every day Clark went to school and every night and weekend he worked the farm. If he had any free time he usually spent it at the fortress. He liked Jor-El's idea of detaching himself from his human emotions.

Every evening Carrie would leave something for him to eat but not knowing when he'd be home, she rarely stayed to wait for him. She also kept him informed of any weird goings on in town and between them, they managed to keep Smallville safe.

Sometimes though, he liked to pretend that she was his Chloe. He would go to her apartment and spend the evening there watching movies. The way she spoke, the way she flicked her hair back, the way she smiled... For a few hours he felt like he had Chloe back.

He would feel guilty after that and stay away for a few days or until he weakened again.

Twice he had kissed her and because she felt that this was all her fault, she had let him. She even tasted like Chloe. Eventually her guilt would become overwhelming and she would push him away. He would let her.