Cless

## Clark and Tess

### Intimacy Level

Farmer employer and employee; Close friends; former enemies; teammates; Tess acts like an older sister figure for Clark in later seasons.

### Status

Close Friends, Former Enemies, and Teammates (Earth-1)
Adoptive Siblings/Lovers (Earth-2)

*I have this feeling that you'll never fulfill your great destiny until you meet your greatest challenge."* - Tess Mercer to Clark Kent, *Eternal*

“***Oliver:** I'll relay your message about Cat to Clark. He and I can take care of the blond and her bombshell.
**Tess Mercer:** You don't have to throw me out. I'm just trying to protect Clark.
**Clark:** Protect me from what?
**Tess:** Third wheel of your bullpen bus thinks that Lois is the Blur. Which is why I erased all the security footage of Lois crumpling a metal door with her hand and throwing a security guard across a warehouse. Cat saw what she saw, but at least she can't prove it.
**Clark:** Thanks for the backup.*”
―Tess

**Cless** is the friendship/romantic pairing between Clark Kent and Tess Mercer from *Smallville*.

Despite having an enmity with each other, Tess and Clark eventually became very close friends during their time on the Justice League. Tess acts something of an older sister figure for Clark.

## History

### Early

On Earth-1, Clark Kent and Tess Mercer's fates have been tied together since the meteor shower; due to her biological father, Lionel Luthor dedicating his life to protecting the Traveller.

However, Tess and Clark would not need each other until they were both. young adults

### Season 10

In this season, Tess also acts something of an older sister figure for Clark. After learning that Cat believes Lois is the Blur, Tess decided to warn Oliver and Clark about it. This is presumably born out of fear that Cat will find out the truth and that Clark is the Blur instead of Lois. Learning that Lois was possessed by the spirit of the goddess Isis, Tess revealed her knowledge of how to exorcise the vengeful goddess from Lois' body. After this, Clark officially invited her to join the Watchtower Network due to Chloe's absence. However, Tess was in shock that this had happened but simply left with a "Thank you." Oliver is unsure if they can trust her in Clark says they will see if they can. However, Tess keeps the knowledge that she kept Lex's clone, Alexander, in Luthor mansion.

After learning that Lionel was Tess's biological father and that he abandoned her, Clark was at first angry. However, he later regretted what he said about Luthor blood being poison. Instead, he comforted her. They both comfort each other, both saying they were lucky not to have been raised by Lionel Because of what their counterparts were like on Earth 2.

After learning Clark and Lois were engaged, Tess set up a party in honor of her friends engagement. However, they were later arrested by Slade Wilson and the VRA until Clark saved both Emil and Tess.

Tess informed Clark Kent that the Lionel from Clark Luthor's universe had arrived in this universe. Oliver then came in and told them that Lionel is with Alexander (the Lex clone) and taking back LuthorCorp. Clark said he would find a way to deal with the Luthors. Alexander later held Clark and Tess at gunpoint with a kryptonite gun at Clark's loft. Tess managed to get to Alexander and threw the gun away allowing Clark to recover.

Unfortunately when Apocalypse was descending on Earth, Lex Luthor had been resurrected and he had killed Tess so he could "prevent"her from becoming just like him. During that moment, Tess injected her brother with a neurotoxin developed from the Summerholt Institute so Lex would forget about his time in Smallville, As well as Clark and his secret identity. As she laid dying, Tess stated that Clark had already saved her, proving her loyalty to Clark over Lex.

### Season 11

A few months later, Clark was devastated over the loss of Tess, and like with Lionel, believed Lex was responsible for his sister's death. At LexCorp Plaza, Lex heads towards his office only to find Superman with Green Arrow and Lois Lane revealing they are here to take Tess back. Lois slaps Lex knocking him unconscious. At Watchtower, Clark, Lois and Oliver stands patience as Emil downloads a grateful Tess into a computer system making her a hologram.

### Earth-2

On Earth-2, however, baby Kal-El was found by Lionel Luthor. Despite being raised together as siblings, Tess and Clark from Earth-2 soon developed this romantic feelings for each other and began a sexual relationship with one another. However, Tess never saw anything wrong with the relationship because they were never biologically related.

## Trivia

* It is slightly ironic that relationship between Clark and Tess was originally depicted as being romantic. However nothing really amounts to this due to Clark's romantic feelings for Lois and Tess ultimately ending up with Emil Hamilton at the end of the story line of season 11. Instead Clark and Tess' loyalty and love for each other is strictly platonic akin to that of a brother and a sister. However, on Earth-2, Clark and Tess are romantically and sexually involved with each other.
* Since Conner is a clone of both Clark and Lex, Tess and Clark are technically brother and sister. Seeing as Tess is older, she technically does act like an older sister for Clark, even when they were enemies, she never divulged his secret and claimed everything she was doing was looking out for Clark. She did this by forcing the Jor-El clone to act as the Blur in order to protect Clark from Zod.
* Because of their siblings dynamic, Clark's pairing with Tess marks the second time Clark has a familial relationship with a Luthor.
	+ In his relationship with Lex, the older boy saw Clark has the younger brother he never had and Lionel seems to have regarded Clark as a son.
* Both Clark and Tess were never raised by their biological fathers, Jor-El and Lionel.
* Both Clark and Tess each hold some deep resentment towards Lionel.
	+ Tess deeply resented her father for abandoning her at the

## References

1. ↑ in "Isis," Tess claims she is trying to protect Clark and later, called Oliver to accompany Clark to the Phantom Zone, knowing he was powerless there and needed someone to help him. She also exposes Lex to neurotoxin developed by Summerholt in order for him to forget the last 10 years in Smallville because in order to protect Clark, their friends and is secret identity