recovering from an ordeal

[slayers_desire]

Clark and April had stayed in her home universe. It had been a day since the whole ordeal with the kidnapping and everything. April was still not talking about anything.

In fact, for the last couple of hours, she had stayed in the guest bed that the others had given the couple.

Comments

[slayers_desire]

She thinks about it for a moment. "I want to do something. Going back to our dimension will allow us to go talk to Tess."

"Unless you have another idea?"

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"No, that's fine by me." He imagines she's probably had enough of lying around for now anyway.

Clark opens the portal to their world, bringing them out in Watchtower.

[slayers_desire]

April is quite happy to be out of the bed, and back doing something. She needs to stay active. And let herself start to work on the healing process of the incident.

She smiles, seeing Watchtower again. And looks around to see if Tess is there.

[smallvillains]

Tess is working in one of the smaller side rooms, within earshot of the Watchtower computer if it announces anything important. She has her laptop open and is typing away, and a hinged box the size of a small purse is on the desk next to it. She looks up when they arrive. "I was just about to text you. How did you know?"

[slayers_desire]

"Know what?" April is going to allow Tess the opportunity to explain first.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Tess looks a little surprised that April doesn't seem to know, having expected their arrival to be due to her clairvoyance. "I got a package today."

"The one on the desk?" Clark asks, glancing towards it, and Tess nods in affirmation.

[slayers_desire]

"What is it?" April is curious about the box. "Who sent it to you?"

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"It's... hard to explain. After Lionel Luthor died, Lex inherited most of his estate, but a few personal items were designated to go to a specific beneficiary."

"And that was you," Clark pretends to guess. "Why did you only get it now though?"

"He didn't exactly name me directly in his will."

[slayers_desire]

"We think we know why you were designated as that specific beneficiary." April states softly.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Tess feels anxious about their reaction, afraid that they will mistrust her. But there's also a small measure of relief, knowing that she won't have to hide at least this one secret from them. "You know?"

"You're Lionel's daughter," Clark says, careful of his own reaction.

[slayers_desire]

"How long have you been keeping this secret from us Tess?" April is not so careful with her reactions. They trusted her... and placed her in a place of respect... and she personally feels hurt.

[smallvillains]

"I only found out after we went to Granny Goodness's orphanage," Tess promises. "I didn't want to believe it at first. I needed time to accept it..." And I didn't want you to hate me.

[slayers_desire]

So that wasn't the secret that Tess had been keeping before the orphanage. April closes her eyes for a moment. A part of her anger is the fact that she was so surprised by Clark Luthor's appearance. And thought that if Tess had known about that...

But she didn't.

"And now... you know and you are receiving his inheritance?"

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Tess nods. "A few personal items he had. I thought Clark might want to give this one a look. I think it's Kryptonian."

That sparks Clark's interest, beyond the usual temptation of an unknown artifact of his people. And he thinks that since she's offering it up willingly, that seems fairly trustworthy. "Show me."

[slayers_desire]

April meanwhile is feeling uneasy about this. Lionel had kept Kryptonite artifacts before too. And there could be anything in the box. Anything that could hurl their life into chaos in a second...

But she stays by her husband's side, so she can support him. No matter what happens.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Tess unlatches the box and turns it towards him, swinging the lid open. Clark's breath catches in his throat for a moment. "That's the mirror box."

[slayers_desire]

"You recognize it?"

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"Yes. Don't touch it," he warns them. "It's the same device that my double used to switch places with me."

"Your double?" Tess echoes, startled.

[slayers_desire]

"Close the box... just close it..." That freaks April out. She holds herself, as if in fear that his double will emerge suddenly.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

Clark does as she asks, and latches it closed. "So long as no one completes the symbol, nothing will happen." Even so, he doesn't want to look at it either. "We should destroy it."

[slayers_desire]

"Is that going to be okay, destroying it?" She has fears of randomly opening portals right now.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"The other Victor didn't seem to know how it worked, but seeing this now, our worlds must be linked somehow, through the mirror boxes. Destroy one door, maybe he won't be able to get through."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tess says, puzzled.

[slayers_desire]

"The Mirror Box opens an doorway to an alternate universe. Earlier today, a duplicate of Clark... raised by Lionel Luthor, opened his Mirror Box and was brought to our world."

April still feels uncertain. Destroying portals never worked that easy.

[kalel_ofkrypton]

"I thought you already could access alternate worlds?"

"This isn't the same," Clark clarifies. "He switched places with me, completely. I ended up in... Earth Two. Fortunately we managed to switch back before he could cause any permanent damage."

[slayers_desire]

"Your alternate is in that world too Tess. A proper Luthor."