Chapter 21

Apollo got home and after showering and helping around on the farm Apollo went to the barn. Apollo had been going to the barn to be alone with his thoughts basically his whole life. His parents began to jokingly call it his 'Fortress of Solitude'. Apollo would chuckle at that sometimes. Apollo climbed up the staircase to the top floor of the barn and looked through the stack of books he kept in his mini personal library, speed reading a few before beginning to read 'The Portable Nietzsche'. Apollo had always liked reading books by various philosophers and having finished reading Kant beginning on reading through another famous philosopher who was inspired by him felt right. Apollo read a little at regular speed before he noticed how beautiful the sunset was, he put the book down and walked towards the window to look out at it. He heard footsteps coming up the steps and he knew it was Skye. He was a little ashamed of how he had acted when they had been at the Torch together so he didn't know what to say. He turned to face her and was about to apologise but she wasn't looking at him instead she was sifting through the book he left on his table.

"Nietzsche. I didn't realise you had a dark side Apollo" Skye said as she looked at him a warm smile on her face.

"Doesn't everybody? Apollo nervously answered as he smiled back at her.

"Yeah I guess so..." Skye said as she looked at him and put the book down.

Skye walked up to him and the two stared at one another briefly. She kindly smiled at him as she held his hands.

"So what are you, Man or Superman?" Skye asked a playful and questioning expression her face.

"I haven't figured it out yet" Apollo answered.

Skye chuckled at his response and then just hugged him. Apollo smiled to himself, a lot of the times he felt like he didn't deserve her.

"By the way I'm sorry for how I acted back at the Torch, I guess as someone who's been called a freak a lot seeing people make headlines about people who are different and demonise them and make them seem inhuman without caring about how those people actually feel made me mad" Apollo finally said still feeling like he needed to address how he acted before.

"I'm not the one you need to apologise to. Chloe felt really hurt when you just ran off like that" Skye said to him.

"I know, I'll apologise to her tomorrow" Apollo said as he turned and faced Skye.

Skye reached up and took off his glasses so she could truly look into Apollo's eyes. Apollo looked back at her and then leaned down and left a soft kiss on her lips. She smiled at him and then the two of them turned back to look at the sunset. Skye stood in front of Apollo and he wrapped his arms around her, Apollo was tall enough that she only reached his lower chest so she leaned back a little on to his chest. The two watched the sunset together and Apollo felt at peace.

"Are you nervous about the game?" Skye asked.

"A little" Apollo admitted, it was a big game and there was a lot of pressure on him.

"They're college scouts coming from all over to watch you play, I can't imagine the pressure of something like that" Skye said to him.

"It's not even that, well it's a little that but the part that's making me nervous is everyone's putting their hopes on to me, from Whitney and the rest of the team, to the teachers and our classmate, even the paramedics and cops I met today and I guess I'm not yet sure of how to deal with that" Apollo told her.

"If there's anyone strong enough to hold the towns hopes up and lead it's you" Skye reassured him and Apollo smiled touched by how much faith she put in him.

"Wait what do you mean paramedics and cops?" Skye asked and Apollo winced realising he hadn't told her about getting run over on the bridge then saving the guy who ran him over's life.

"I kinda saved Justin Hammer's life after he nearly hit me with his car on the Loeb bridge" Apollo informed her.

"You saved Justin Hammer?" Skye said in amazement.

"Yeah" Apollo replied.

"That's amazing! Are you okay? Did you get to talk to him? What's he like?" Skye asked rattling off questions.

"I'm okay, not even a scratch on me and I did talk to him very briefly and he seems nice" Apollo answered.

"I'm glad you're okay but remember what you promised me okay?" Skye told him.

"Don't worry I remember" Apollo told her giving her a peck on the cheek as reassurance.

Skye smiled and the sun finally set giving way to night. The two of them spent the evening looking at the stars and talking about their futures. Apollo talked about what colleges he could see himself going to and Skye talked about her own college prospects as they tried to match up their dream colleges.

"What about you? How're you finding cheerleading? Do you want to stick it out for all of high school cause I know you're against it but a cheer scholarship would help a lot" Apollo said to her as they talked about scholarships they could get to help their parents pay for college.

Apollo knew she may have been a member of the cheer team but she had reservations not just about the scholarship but cheerleading as a whole.

"I don't know how I'm feeling about cheerleading to be honest. It's why I'm so unsure about trying to get a scholarship for it in the first place. When I'm out there cheering, doing routines and watching you play I feel nice but the competitions and everything outside of the moments I'm spreading cheer feel so empty. I don't want to get to college and then feel dragged down by the thing that got me in in the first place. I feel like there's more for me out there than just being the typical cheerleader" Skye told him.

Apollo listened to her and thought about how that echoed how he felt about his gifts at times. How he felt that there was more for him out there but he didn't know what. He hugged Skye tightly.

"Well pom-poms or no, I'll always support you" Apollo told Skye and she smiled.

"I know" Skye said as she kissed him.

The kiss got more passionate turning into a full on make-out session as the two teens let themselves forget about the outside world and the future and just enjoy being together.

The next morning Apollo Kent awoke to a surprise. He walked outside to find a brand new truck with a blue ribbon on top. Apollo got excited and ran up to his Mum.

"Hey Ma, whose truck?" Apollo asked.

"Yours. It's a gift from Justin Hammer" Ajak answered as she handed him a note.

"Dear Apollo, drive safely, always in your debt. The maniac in the Porsche" Apollo read aloud excited and happy as Ajak is watched him speculatively.

"I don't believe it" Apollo said amazed before noticing that something was missing.

He turned back to his Ma and asked "Where are the keys?"

"Your father has them" Ajak told him and Apollo began to feel worried.

Jonathan meanwhile was feeding wood into a large chipper. Apollo walked over to his father, his joyous expression from before had faded and instead he seemed confused. Jonathan noticing him turns off the machine and pulls off his ear protectors and goggles bracing himself for the conversation he was about to have.

"I know how much you want it, son. But you can't keep it" Jonathan simply informs him as he walks past Apollo tapping his shoulder before shaking his head.

"Why not? I saved the guy's life." Apollo said argumentatively.

"So you think that you deserve a prize?" Jonathan questioned Apollo.

"That's not what I meant." Apollo replied as he followed his Dad who had gone to pick up more wood.

"Look, how about you drive the new one and I'll drive the old one? Everybody wins." Apollo offered hoping to reach a compromise with his Dad.

"This is not about winning Apollo" Jonathan told him somewhat forcefully hoping it would end the conversation and allow his son to see the bigger picture.

"It's not like the Hammers can't afford it" Apollo said stridently.

Jonathan sighed as he realised his son wasn't yet fully aware of certain truths. He turned and faced his son.

"Do you want to know why that is? Do you remember Mr. Bell? We used to go fishing on his property? How about Mr. Guy? He used to send us pumpkins every Halloween. Well they got into business with Justin's dad, Jason. Jason Hammer promised to cut them in on a deal in exchange for their land. He sent them flashy gifts" Jonathan said twirling the truck keys around on his finger to emphasise the 'flashy gifts' part.

He then took a deep breath and looked Apollo in the eyes, his expression was one of seriousness.

"Only once they sold him their property, he went back on his word. He had them evicted, Son." Jonathan finally said.

"So you're judging Justin on what his father did?" Apollo responded somewhat belligerently.

"No, Apollo, I'm not. I just want to make sure that you know where the money came from that bought that truck. Justin is not his father but his father made money ripping people off for their land and Justin has done the same since he came back here. Yes, he's built his plants and came to his home in it's time of need but men like him, people who chase money, fame and power. They use that to get away with things, sweep the bad they've done under the rug. And they have a tendency to not view people as people. They use others, abuse the system, exploit and buy people off and leave the minorities and people that society often forgets or doesn't protect about with tattered lives in their wake because that's what they had to do to become that rich."

Apollo took pause with what his father said. Letting his words wash over him. He had never thought much about the supremely wealthy simply because nobody he knew fit that category but now he was and maybe his father was right. However, could he judge Justin before he even got to know him? His Dad could be right, what if he was only sending him the gift to be flashy and sweep this incident under the rug? What if he wasn't truly sorry and merely pretending to be? On the other hand, what if this gift truly was his way of saying sorry? Maybe there was a kind person within him and if there was Apollo would be wrong not to acknowledge that somehow. But did acknowledging it mean having to keep the truck or was Apollo just being selfish? Apollo could acknowledge his apology in other ways. Would Apollo even be fighting this hard to justify keeping the gift if it wasn't something he thought was cool? Apollo looked at his father doubt now in his mind about what he should do with the truck. Jonathan put the keys in Apollo's hands.

"Look son you're going to be a man sooner rather than later so I have to trust you to make your own decisions. So I'll let you make this one, if you really want to keep the truck then keep it but ask yourself do you want to be type of person who wants monetary rewards for the good things they do or do you want to simply do good for goodness sake?" Jonathan said as he got up to continue his work leaving Apollo staring at the keys in hands.

Apollo clenched his fist and realised he couldn't keep the keys. His father was right accepting gifts for saving lives or doing good hoping to get gifts wasn't a characteristic Apollo wanted to cultivate. Especially since his father was possibly right about the Hammers. Apollo wouldn't judge Justin before getting to know him, he could see good in him just like he could see good in everyone and even if his father was right about the type of man Justin was maybe he would change, maybe Apollo could help him be better. Apollo sighed and stood up to go to school. He kissed his Mum on the cheek and walked past his father tapping his shoulder to say goodbye.

"I hate it when you're right" Apollo quipped to him and Jonathan smiled proud his son made the right decision.

"I know" Jonathan said, "now run off you don't want to be late for school".

Apollo laughed at that.

"Dad you should know by now, I could leave here a minute before the bell rings and still not be late" Apollo said somewhat cockily before blurring off at super speed to school.

Apollo arrived at school well before the bell rang and waited for Chloe outside of the Torch. Chloe saw him and Apollo nervously smiled as he pulled out the Lily's he'd gotten for her as he super sped to school.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I'm sorry I ran off and I'm sorry I reacted so badly. I didn't mean to make you feel bad about your Wall. Can you forgive me?" Apollo said as he offered her the flowers.

Chloe just stared at him before accepting the flowers, giving them a small sniff and then she smiled at him as she let out an exasperated sigh.

"You're forgiven. You know I can't stay mad at you forever besides I've got an investigation that I kinda need your help on but trust me one of these days your farm-boy charm will run out" Chloe told him a smile on her face and Apollo smirked at her.

Apollo and her walked into the Torch and were soon joined by Pete and they all went through the stories they had written for today's school paper. Apollo mentioned saving Justin Hammer which opened him up to a barrage of questions from Chloe. Luckily there wasn't too much of a story so Chloe didn't bother him too much although she told him she was tempted to get a story on him about all his saves at some point. Apollo got a bit nervous at that especially with Chloe's Wall but he knew ultimately Chloe's heart was in a good place and trusted she wouldn't go too far if she ever did write a story about him. Pete finished up with his work and ran off to hang out with his girlfriend leaving just Chloe and Apollo alone together in the Torch.

"Oh, get this. The inequity within the athletics department runs even deeper than we first thought. I found irrefutable proof of an attempted cover-up last summer." Chloe informed him.

"Like, in the accounting?" Apollo asked.

"You got it." Chloe said a smirk on her face, once again proud of herself for her stellar reporting. Chloe was good at asking questions. And even better at getting answers.

"Can you believe something like this could be happening right here under our noses? At Smallville High?" Chloe said a little disbelief in her voice.

Chloe's current story centered on how much of the school budget was spent on athletics. More specifically, male athletics. Even more specifically, football. Chloe, Pete and he had investigated in secret and Chloe had apparently discovered that Principal Rice had been bloating the school's athletics budget and then stealing money from it. Essentially preying on Smallville's love of football and their willingness to donate to the school's athletics department. The story made Apollo feel sick, he'd helped take part in one of the team's fundraisers and part of their donations came from the fact that Apollo was basically a national sensation. He couldn't believe that someone would exploit their own community like that.

Apollo shook himself out of those thoughts and listened to Chloe as she went on a tangent. This was the way it had always worked between Apollo and Chloe; whatever story she was currently working on became a big part of their conversations. Chloe liked using Apollo as a sounding board, and Apollo enjoyed being part of her investigative whirlwinds.

"Is Rice cooperating?" Apollo asked, referring to their principal.

"Oh, yes, she is." Chloe said beckoning Apollo to come look at her monitor.

"She's sent me three emails over the last two hours."

Apollo grinned. No one could make a powerful adult sweat quite like Chloe Sullivan could.

Apollo wanted to congratulate her but a sound drew his attention. Someone was crying, Apollo could feel the vibrations from their body trembling but could tell they were containing themselves. They wanted to breakdown but were holding it together. Apollo quickly filtered out all the peripheral noise and focused solely on the crying. It was a girl; she was trying and failing to compose herself.

What was wrong? he wondered. Was she hurt? No he couldn't smell or taste any blood so and her body sounded healthy so whatever was causing her distress was emotional not physical.

"What's wrong Apollo?" Chloe said having noticed the change in Apollo's demeanor.

"Nothing, I just think I hear something" Apollo said being partially honest with her.

Chloe looked at him quizzically no doubt waiting for him to elaborate.

"Wait here, there's something I gotta do real fast" Apollo told her.

"Sounds mildly intriguing. What's up? Having another Kent premonition" Chloe said raising an eyebrow.

Kent premonitions were what Chloe called it when Apollo noticed things nobody else did, I think Chloe thought Apollo was mildly psychic and Apollo let her because better she thinks that he's psychic than know he's an alien who could hear the heartbeats of everyone in Smallville with ease.

"Something like that, I'll be right back" Apollo said before walking to the door he opened it and saw Principal Rice standing in the doorway of the Torch, wearing her usual gray power suit. Speak of the devil Apollo thought.

"Chloe, can I have a quick word?" Principal Rice said.

Apollo and Chloe shared a knowing glance.

Apollo turned back to Chloe and whispered, "Meet you at the front steps in ten?"

Chloe nodded and turned to Principal Rice.

"Of course, ma'am. Would you like to speak in your office or are you comfortable here?" Chloe said still confident.

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Also read Superman(Marvel+DC) and Marvel: Hyperion.