Clara Kent Superwoman

Chapter 5: Contracts

The Kent's had been surprised on Sunday morning to receive a large order for produce to be sent up to the Luthor Mansion on a weekly basis. None so much as Clara, who had thought she was finding Lex a supplier at the market by introducing him to the store vendors. The regular order would definitely help them out financially; it had been a slow year. They had lost some of their regular customers when the organic green grocers in town had closed. Times had been hard in Smallville, many of the younger people and businesses couldn't compete with massive supply chains and so were forced to close. Organic foods were more expensive and so her Mrs Whittacker could not compete with the alternative and was forced to close after nearly 20 years of trading.

A contract like this was crucial to the continued success of the farm, they'd seen many of their friends flounder in the last year.

Martha had seemed optimistic about this turn of events, Jonathan was not. Everything the Luthor's did had a price. What would Lex Luthor want in return for this contract? Jonathan Kent had a suspicious feeling it had something to do with his daughter. However, he had to put aside his pride; the farm may fail without this extra income. He would accept the order, but remain cautious.

A Luthor's generosity was like a Trojan horse, but one that was slighted was as dangerous as a cobra.

It was time to tell Clara about the circumstances of her "legal" adoption. She needed to be warned.

...

Clara has been shocked but exceedingly pleased that Lex had given them the contract. It would give them steady income through the slow winter months. She had watched her parents struggle over the past two years to make ends meet, this was a good sign.

Yet, her father had not looked pleased, he had taken her mother aside to talk, Clara resisted the urge to listen in. Sometimes her father forgot her differences.

They'd come back and said they would accept the contract but that Clara needed to know something before they did. It was about Lionel Luthor and Lex himself.

After they had sat down in the living room, her parents on the couch holding hands and Clara on the easy chair opposite, her father began.

"Clara, the day we found you was complete chaos, we'd swerved and rolled in the truck after nearly being hit by a meteor. We were upside down when we found you, or as your mother says, you found us."

Her parents looked at each other fondly.

"We were near the Williams' property, they lent us their truck to get you home, and we loaded your ship into the back under a tarp. We were on the road home before we were stopped by a man running onto the road. He was frantic, yelling his son was hurt. The poor child had half of his hair blown clean off, he was slipping in and out of consciousness on the side of the road on a corn patch. Your mother wrapped the boy in a blanket and we told his father we'd drive them to the hospital."

Clara had a sudden vision of being held by her mother in a moving truck, a man with a goatee and long hair holding a boy with some red hair on his mostly bald head. He opened his blue eyes and looked at her in confusion. She reached out her small hand and stroked his pained face, he closed his eyes again.

"When we got to the hospital, he gave us his business card, and said if we ever needed anything to call."

Jonathan Kent looked Clara in the eye.