The Rise To Power; A Smallville Saga {Part 5 - Glass Heart}

Potential

The hall filled with music. Every person entered, donning masks and formal wear. Acrobats beckoned the entrance. All awaiting for the birthday girl to arrive. The manor was transformed into a picture of the Italian Renaissance. Everyone would be a mystery. But as the candles flickered and the people gathered over to listen to the opera singer. It was Lex who had excused himself. He walked into the study, tossing his dark blue mask onto the chair before he surrendered to a cup of brandy. 

As expected, his father followed him. He slipped off his black mask and tucked it in his jacket pocket before he helped himself to the cart. "I say that it was a bit of a surprise for your beloved to invite me to this party," he said. "Usually, I'm met with a warning not to appear."

"Well, the night is still young. I'm sure you'll do something to make her lose faith in...whatever this is again," Lex replied as he moved away from his father to close the door of the study. "Dad, we have you."

Lionel blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"33.1." The number didn't faze Lionel, so Lex continued talking, knowing that this father could just be having a facade. "Lately, you have concerned yourself with a boy who lost his vision in the meteor shower who now has an uncanny ability to sense others who were affected by the same event."

"It's an intriguing story," Lionel said with a chuckle. "But what makes you think that it is even remotely true?"

"Because who do you think has been destroying the warehouses and gathering data?" Lex asked, finally taking a sip from his cup. Lex smirked as Lionel's chuckle turned to a flicker of shock. Now there was the surprise.

****

The ballroom was in full swing. Those who weren't pouring wine into their glasses were dancing at the classical music. Laughter and music echoed out into the halls. Lana Lang looked on from the bar of the conservatory towards the ballroom, seeing Chloe walk in with Jimmy, and Tyla directing them to where they could put their gifts. The blonde turned around to see Lana staring and she hiked up her silky blue dress. Her dark purple wired mask covered half of her face but there was no fabric that touched the wires. It made her known with a air of mystery among the crowd.

Lana looked very different than her. She had her half-mask, but it was white and gold to match her cocktail dress. A passing thought of her was almost as if the two of them switched roles. She gulped and turned to her white wine glass. "Should you be drinking right now?" She wondered, eyeing the champagne glass in Tyla's glass.

"Sparkling cider," she stated. "Non-alcoholic"

Lana smiled. "I thought when Lex called me, he wanted to talk about business," she replied. "I'm glad that we're friends. Because I work for your father-in-law, it shouldn't change anything."

Tyla glanced over at her as she motioned the bartender to top up her glass. She watched as he took the glass from her. "It does change a lot, Lana," she said. "It's dangerous to work for him."

"You did PR for him."

"You forget that I quit soon after," she added. "Both of those men against each other is not something that you can just pick sides on." This time, she turned to her. "I know about 33.1. Everything." Before Lana opened her mouth, Tyla raised her hand softy to halt her. "Please, don't protest or lie. I have it all. I'm just waiting to pull the trigger."

"Why? To give us a chance to shut it down?"

Tyla shook her head. "I was actually going to ask you why. I know why Lionel would do it. He has some obsession of finding the truth which I realize how hereditary that is. But I never figured you out." Not completely, but Tyla wasn't going to disclose that.

Lana gulped. "Maybe it felt nice to be trusted with a secret."

She didn't acknowledge the jab completely. Instead, she acknowledged the bartender who politely gave her back her drink. Tyla thanked him before speaking again. "Clark and I are good friends. Nothing more. In fact, we thought of inviting you for him. I know you care about him, and he does for you too." She looked around to see if she could find the man through the masked sea of people.

"Well...he doesn't care about me enough to tell me what he was so ready to tell you or Chloe." Lana stared at Tyla to see if she was going to react. Instead, the blonde calmly drank from her glass. She was good. Or maybe all this time spent with Lex made her almost like him. "Let's say I found out on my own. Let's say that I was tired of you and everyone else denying that it is even true. It doesn't change that I was left in the dark. And now I'm finding out more than ever."

"So.." she dragged out the last syllable. "This was because of him. Of how you fell through?" She gave a wry laugh. "Lionel took advantage of that, Lana. You don't know how deep of a rabbit hole you fell into."

"I didn't know anything, and I kept getting hurt. I know everything and I'm preventing myself for getting hurt any longer."

That wasn't what Tyla expected to hear. Instead, she took a deep breath. Clark had pushed her to find out for herself and she wasn't forgiving. She was about to speak again when Clark walked over, fully clad in a dark suit and he wore a light blue mask that covered his entire face. He flipped it up to the top of his head and looked at the two women. "Sorry, I was trying to get away from Lois. She keeps trying to convince me to steal a better mask for her."

Tyla laughed and then looked between him and towards Lana. Her eyes spoke volumes, trying to coax him to talk to her and tell her everything. Whether it was a confession of love, or just to tell her about the meteors but it had be something that she knew that only he could mend. But Clark looked back at her and almost shrugged. He heard everything. He used his super-sensitive hearing powers to know that it was better for her to still guess than to confirm it.

The silence between the three of them was tortuous for her. Lana sighed, shaking her head, and then turning towards her glass. "Then I'm just gonna go," she started to say before Clark stopped her.

"I-uh-and leave the birthday girl unattended?" He said, turning to Lana. "Tell her that it was irresponsible for Lex to leave the party girl all alone. She'll wreck the place."

Lana laughed at the joke, almost forgetting that the three had just shared an uncomfortable silence. "Oh yeah, remember my birthday last year or so? She practically drowned in the pool."

"Hey, one time!" Tyla said, raising one finger before laughing.

"May I have this dance, Ty Ty?" Clark asked. "Lex can interrupt when he gets back."

With that, Tyla shook her hand and smiled. "No.... I'm having you dance with Lois to keep her from taking the party favors. Let's go," she mockingly shoved him before turning back to Lana. "Lana, please...shut it down. Lionel Luthor doesn't have your best interests at hand." She turned back and then walked through the crowd to meet Clark.

The other woman looked down again, trying to think about everything. Was she going the wrong path? Suddenly, her phone chimed in her clutch purse, and she sighed. She looked in to see a text.

Something needs to be done.

She looked back up to see Lex and Lionel enter into the hall. Lionel stopped and looked over to her. He gave a single nod before walking to meet Martha at the other end of the room. It left her to decide on what to do. Her eyes fell to the bottle of sparkling cider.

Something had to be done.

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A/N: Translations;

* This is perfect. Any ties? 

** Yes (or certainly)