slayers_desire | Embrace the beast

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Embrace the beast

Five days ago had been a good day for April, since she had been able to protect Clark during a LOL and later helped him to fly. The days following had been normal enough, until the time came for April to return to her Nexus and complete some of her 'hero' expectations.

The situation had been easy enough at basic appearance, all April thought she had to do was get rid of one pesky demon that had a small town under its spell. What she did not know what that the spell had convinced all the mortals that they had to protect the demon.

That in itself had been difficult. April couldn't harm a mortal intentionally. But they sure as hell could harm her. By the time she had managed to get through the small riot crowd of people with their torches and home-made weapons, April had to call out her Beast to fight the demon one-on-one. It had been a more difficult battle than she had anticipated, because every now and then some innocent would try to protect the demon.

Then in the last moments of defeating the demon, he had burnt a rune into her shoulder, right before he took his last breath. It took April five seconds to realize that because of the burning rune, the Beast was not going away. And she was stuck in that form. It gave more reason for the already frightened villagers to attack her some more.

It took a whole lot of control not to fight back, and somehow April managed to get back home. There were small fires still smoldering on her clothes when she appeared at the door to her Nexus apartment. Opening the door slightly, the exhaustion came over her and she sort of slumped to the floor.

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When Clark stopped by in the Nexus for his weekly visit, he was concerned to not see April around. Even when he was Kal-El, she was still there to talk. Of course, she could have all kinds of normal reasons for not being around, but in Clark's experience a break from the norm is rarely good news and he'd rather check up on her, just in case.

Fortunately, he now knows where she lives.

He knows something is wrong the moment he steps into the building. It doesn't sound right, and he can smell burning fabric and flesh. He zips to her door and takes in the scene in an instant.

Oh crap.

There's a lot to address, but first thing's first - Clark pats the smoldering fire out with his bare hands and x-rays her for deeper injuries. "April?"

Fortunately, April doesn't have any internal bleeding, but there is deep bruising. Bruises that are attempting to heal.

He will also note that there is a burning rune on her shoulder blade, that doesn't get extinguished no matter how hard he tries. There is no answer from April at the moment, but a soft growl from her Beast.

Clark is becoming more concerned by the minute. Even covering the rune completely with his hand and blocking out all oxygen, it's still burning. And that growl has him on alert in a way he hasn't been since their sparring session.

"Let's get out of this hallway," he says out loud, and grabs her to drag her into the apartment.

There is not enough energy for April's Beast to fight him now, so Clark is able to drag her into the apartment. But he can see from her face that her Beast is in control right now.

((is Clark in same condition as his recent Nexus-post))

Clark shuts the door and locks it. He doesn't know what's going on or why she isn't her normal self, and he doesn't want to risk interference until he knows she's not going to hurt anyone or have anyone coming after her.

He kneels down next to her again and tries to make eye contact. "April. It's Clark. I know you're in there."

((Nope, he gets better after a few hours - he drank kryptonite-laced Gatorade at football practice.))

Blood-red eyes stare back at him. He can see something struggle inside her, but the Beast stays in control. A hand touches his face, cool to the touch.

He wishes that telepathy was one of his many abilities, because that would come in handy a lot about right now.

Or black kryptonite. He has no idea if it would even work on her, but it was the only thing that saved him from being Kal-El permanently.

He doesn't move as she touches him, maintaining eye contact. It's a good thing he's dealt with so much weird crap from growing up in Smallville or he would be freaking out about now. "Who did this to you?"

"A sedecki demon." Her voice is almost a growl. And the Beast doesn't expect Clark to know anything about the Demon.

"You are solid."

A demon. Great. He can deal with mutants and aliens and stuff like that, but he knows exactly zip about demons.

"I do my best." He isn't quite sure what to make of that statement. It's clear that she isn't herself, but he's not entirely sure who she is. Or how to get his friend back.

Still, at least she's talking now. "Do you know how to get rid of this?" He holds his hand over the still-burning rune, not touching it.

Running the tips of her nails down Clark's neck, April purrs. "I like solid."

"The rune binds me here. Keeps her locked away." The Beast refers to April as a separate person.

Clark blinks, but doesn't move. Okay, this has gone from concerning to creepy.

And he has noticed that she didn't exactly answer his question. Probably doesn't want to tell me. Still, he's encouraged that she recognizes she even has another side. It's more than he was capable of when he was Kal-El.

"I see," he says slowly, carefully. "And why did this demon thing want that?"

"Control. Power. What ever demon wants." She shrugs. Her fingers still caressing down his neck.

He is trying not to get nervous about all this, and he isn't sure how she would react if he pulled away. He's seen what she can do in a fight and it wouldn't be pretty if she reacted badly. So he sits still, not reacting to her touch.

"Is the demon coming here?" He immediately has an even worse thought. "Is the demon already here?"

"The demon is dead. But its last command burns on me." The Beast refers to the rune.

Well, that's one less thing to worry about. It would really be the cherry on the top of today's fail sundae if a demon came bursting through the door or whatever.

Not that this isn't a problem at the moment either. Still, she seems fairly calm, so he has that going for him. Maybe. "Come on, April. This little burn can't keep you down." How can you protect someone from themselves like this? "The demon's dead. Don't let it control you."

There is a slight movement of her hand, as an inner struggle is attempted. The Beast hisses softly and attacks verbally. "Control of the mind is powerful even in death. You should know that. Your father controlled you."

"Yes, he did." It sounds like defeat, but he saw that twitch. He knows April is still in there, and he's determined to fight for her.

Keep her talking.

"He even branded me once. But even after I gave in, he was defeated. My mom fought for me because her love was stronger than anything my father could throw at her."

"You are strong. But are you strong enough?" The Beasts give a growled chuckle. "To change the rune, would change the command."

And Clark knows nothing about runes either. He doesn't know what this one means (besides the symptom of being modelocked into her Beast), or what it could possibly be changed to that would be good. "That can't be the only option." He isn't even sure if he can believe her, being like this. He doesn't know her Beast as closely as he knows her human side, doesn't know if it would lie to stay in control.

"Awww. You don't believe me." The Beast still can use abilities to sense emotions. "Fine. Trade me something. I will give you one truthful answer for something interesting."

Hello, suspicion. He narrows his eyes at her. "That depends on what you had in mind."

"Oh I have lots of things in mind." The Beast purrs again. Her fingers run down Clark's spine. There is more force behind the flirtation when it comes to the Beast, then it would April.

This time he reacts, grabbing her arm firmly and pulling it away from him. "No. Not that." Even if he believed she was in her right mind, he wouldn't be ready for anything close to what she wants. And there's no way he's going to give in to her like this.

He doesn't let her go, either.

His firm denial seems to affect her deeply. And for a moment there are pair of greenish-blue eyes starting at him. "Clark..."

A second later, they are gone. "Let me go!"

Clark is torn. His denial to the Beast was to April, too - they're not completely separate people, no matter how much he wishes the Beast were merely an invader. And he doesn't want to hurt her, ever. But on the other hand, she was there. That was her.

He keeps his grip on her arm, a hand that can crush at the same pressures of the Earth's core locked around her wrist. "You told me once that you refused to let your dark side take you over. That by not defining yourself as a monster, you wouldn't become one. And this isn't the real you."

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