Title: Alternate Exodus
Author: smlvlchk
Rating: PG
Summary: Clark has to face decisions that could rip him away from the people he loves most.  And can he do it without revealing his secrets?
Disclaimer: don’t own ‘em, just borrowing

Chapter 1

Chloe Sullivan pulled into the driveway of the Kent farm in her little red Volkswagen Beetle. She knew Clark was going to tell her something that would change her mind about him. She really hoped he would. But the more she thought about it the more Lionel Luthor seemed right. When love was stripped away, you can see right through the person. Chloe had faith in Clark, and if he told the truth, she knew she could handle it.

But what if he didn’t? What if did not tell her the truth that was so evident from day one? Would she ever be able to face him again? Her confusion on the issue was starting to build. Her reporter instincts were being overloaded with her emotions that were seemingly coming into play. Chloe shook her head trying to rid herself of the questions that kept popping into her head. She had to pull herself together, let Clark tell her the truth, and they’d all live happily ever after…right?

As she climbed out of the car she saw Clark hurriedly walking away from her. Oh no! Is he avoiding me? Chloe asked herself. Whether he was or not, she had to make herself known. “Clark!” She called out, a little rushed.

Clark spun around with the most questionable look Chloe had ever seen. She didn’t even know how to explain it, it was a look of hurt and anger, but also of sadness and confusion. “Chloe! What are you doing here?”

“Not the welcome I was expecting, but…I heard you were looking for me.” She tried not to sound to skeptical, she felt her palms beginning to sweat. What would he do?

Clark smiled, much to her surprise and replied, “Yes, as a matter of fact I was. Glad you found me. I have something very important to tell you, I don’t want you to freak out. I want to come clean with you because in our mutual friend agreement we had the other day that is what I promised you.” Clark saw Chloe’s eyes widen, For once I am keeping my promise to her. “Lana and I are together.” He waited for her reaction, but before she could reply he said something, “And I hope you take my telling you as a sign that I want you to be my friend, because it was very hard not being friends with you. You are perhaps my best friend next to Pete, please understand this.”

Chloe smiled in spite of herself, he told me the truth. He kept his promise, he really does care about me. Even if it’s not in the way I want it. But who cares! He told the truth. She tried to put a smirk on her face and replied, “Well isn’t that ironic. Here all along I thought you were in love with Sarah Javison who sits in front of you in math, but Lana? This is totally unexpected.” She smiled at him, “Sarcasm. Thank you for being honest with me Clark, it means a lot. And to be honest, I prepared myself for that a long time ago,” Well really just before I came, she told herself.

Clark felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and smiled back at her, “Yeah, it feels good to keep my promise to you. I’ve let you down a lot, I’m trying to make up for it.” He glanced at his watch, “Unfortunately, I am going to be late for Lex’s wedding. So I really need to hurry.”

“Thank you, again, for being honest Clark. I will see you later.” With that she almost skipped back to her car. She got in and drove away leaving Clark to his thoughts.

The biggest dilemma for Clark now, was to decide if he’d actually do what he set out to. He stole the kryptonite key from Lionel Luthor just this morning, but should he actually use it? Did he really want to destroy the ship? Was his biological father’s voice actually coming from the ship, or was it from his head? What would happen to the ship? He had no idea anymore.

Clark started to convince himself that since he did not know where the voice was coming from, he had to do what he set out to do. If he didn’t try, then he could be stuck with the crazy symbol on his chest. So he headed towards the cellar, telling himself every step of the way that this was his only choice.

He was not so nervous about if he should be doing it or not, it was rather the idea of putting the kryptonite key into the ship that made him nauseous. He hated being around green meteor rocks just because there was nothing he could do to stop the pain, unlike the red meteor rock he just discovered recently. The pain he felt under green kryptonite was unbearable, and in desperate situations it was all he could do to keep from passing out. Now being under the influence willingly just made him shake his head.

Making a game plan was the most important thing to do right now. He wasn’t sure whether he would be able to get out of the cellar before the ship…did whatever it would do when the key was in it. Would he be able to super speed out of the cellar and get to the wedding on time? Or would he be hypnotized into watching what the ship would do?

“Arg! I don’t have time to think about this!” Clark yelled to himself. He was becoming so fidgety that he was getting blurred vision. Shaking his head, trying to rid himself of his thoughts, once again, was not working. He was standing in front of the ship now, staring down at the steel container that was holding the key that would lead to the destruction of the ship.

Breathing heavily in his anxiousness and extreme nervousness Clark focused on his objective. His head was spinning and was feeling nauseous even before he opened the container. In his head he counted to three and tore open the container using everything in him.

Clark yelped in pain after clutching the key in his hand. The radiation was pulsing through his body nipping at his nerves and putting him at the point of unconsciousness. Overcoming that he kept telling himself why he was doing this, just put the key in it, just put it in. Come one, move your hand. Finally he moved his hand, watching the green light dance around on his arm, rippling through his veins. His muscles weakened and it was all he could do to get to his knees.

He stretched his arm out, eyes bulging from their sockets but he could see the hole for the key right in front of him. Almost…there…just a little…more, he groaned and pushed on. Finally he was able to cram in it to the ship’s key hole and fell backwards breathing very hard, his pulse had gone skyrocketing and could feel his heart beating against his temples.

He watched the ship rise up in the air, making the most horrible creaking sound, like two metals scraping carelessly against each other. The ship filled with a green glow from the meteor key and began to break apart in a rusting method that was incredibly horrifying to watch.

“What am I doing?” Clark yelled, “I need to get out of here!” Gathering all the strength he could he bolted at the highest super speed he could muster and bolted out of the cellar. Knowing he didn’t have time to change into his tux, he kept going, running down the road towards the church.

All of a sudden a huge explosion erupted behind him and he turned to see an enormous electrical filed pulsating towards him in a tidal wave-like fashion. Before the field hit him he glanced forward one last time to see his parents truck driving full speed towards the farm.

“Noooooooooooo!” Clark screamed, but as he let out the last “o”, his world went black.

Jonathan Kent’s bright red truck raced down the off country road that led to their farm. Whatever Clark had done, was doing or was going to do must be big enough to keep him from his best friend’s wedding. He didn’t have time to think out of concern for his son. He was not going to let anything happen to him.

Martha Kent gasped when she looked out the window, “Oh my god! Jonathan! Look, it’s Clark!”

Jonathan frantically looked around where Martha pointed and saw Clark, or rather the super speed version of Clark, racing towards the road at an oblong angle. But even more horrifying was the sight behind him. A electrical field was coming towards them. It looked like a tidal wave but kept its height and rounded shape. It was bursting with electricity and coming for them about as fast as they were moving towards it.

Jonathan slammed on the brakes and they felt the energy surge through their bodies. He heard Martha scream and tried to look over at her, but the car started to roll and he couldn’t see anything anymore.

Several seconds later, Clark awoke from his unconsciousness to see his parent’s red truck rolling over. “Mom!” he screamed and super sped over to the truck. Looking inside he saw his parents hanging upside down, the sight should have made him feel an overwhelming déjà vu, but instead it made him freak out and his heart started beating faster again.

“Mom! Dad! Can you hear me?” Clark semi yelled into the truck. He decided it would be too dangerous to try and turn the truck over with them inside. Instead he opened the door on his mom’s side and climbed under her. He unbuckled her seat belt and slowly lowered her from the seat, being ever so gentle with her in hopes the baby was still alive.

As he was laying her softly on the ground he noticed her heart was beating, her chest was slowly rising and lowering. Yes! She’s breathing. Next he moved to his dad, who had already regained consciousness and was beginning to get himself out.

“Dad! Oh thank God. Don’t move, let me get you out.” Clark exclaimed with a concerned and gentle voice.
Jonathan tried to argue, saying he could do it himself, but he couldn’t muster any strength. “Thank you, son.”
Clark laid his dad beside his mom, who was sitting up and beginning to get misty-eyed. Clark pulled his dad’s cell phone from his pocket and dialed up for an ambulance. After he hung up he faced the truck again and thought he’d better turn it over.

He grabbed the car by its underside and lifted it up. When he had it above the ground he quickly grabbed the roof of the car and flipped it over. The truck landed with a thud, but other than that it was fine.
A minute later the ambulance drove up and started working on his parents.

Chapter 2
Clark walked into the hallway outside of the hospital room his mother was being kept in. He approached his dad, who was standing outside the glass window staring at his wife.

Before saying anything, Clark glanced inside at his mom who had different things being attached to her body allowing the doctors to do whatever they had to do. It always confused Clark, but they were doing what they had to do. "Dad. How's mom?" He let out, almost cautiously.

Jonathan sighed, "The doctors don't know yet, son." He turned to face him, and Clark could see the stitches above his eyebrow, he winced. "What the hell did you do, Clark?"

Clark tried to look his dad in the eye, but found that only the floor would look back at him with more concern. "I stole Lionel's kryptonite key," Clark lifted an eyebrow towards his dad, "and stuck it in the ship. The ship blew up." His eyes were dart around out of nervousness.

"And why would you do that?" Jonathan was almost yelling at him.

"Dad, I lied about the voice. It came back last night again. It said I had to leave by noon. This was the only way," Clark was desperately trying to make his story sound reasonable, because although it was true, he did not know how his dad would react.

Jonathan turned from Clark again, "Clark, you didn't think this through. Didn't your mother and I ever teach you that there are consequences for your actions?"

Clark felt flushed, "Yes, but..."

"But nothing," Jonathan interrupted Clark with a very disturbed look on his face. He's angry, Clark thought. "You rushed into a decision and now your mother is lying in a hospital bed."

Just then the nurse walked out of the room and waited for Jonathan to look at her. Clark nodded in her direction and Jonathan looked and she was suddenly the center of his attention. "Doctor, how is my wife."

The nurse looked up at him and smiled, "Martha had a mild concussion, but she is going to be fine."
"And how is our baby," Jonathan stared at her with the slightest hope of any emotion shown on her face that would make him think a different way than what he was.

The nurse's eyes sagged, but she still looked him in the eye, "I am sorry, Mr. Kent." With that she walked away, leaving Clark and Jonathan with their thoughts.

"Dad...I..." Clark stopped short when Jonathan refused to look at him again. A tear rolled down his dad's cheek, and he slowly entered the room slamming the door in Clark's face.

****
Clark stood in the center of what used to be the storm cellar. He could not believe that this had happened. No way had he thought that the ship would cause an electrical explosion. He looked around at the hole in the ground. Everything that had once been there was now wood chips and soon to be slivers.

What was he going to do? His dad was mad at him, his mom lost the baby and what was he going to tell Lana?
He was in deep this time. Over his head was possible. The electrical storm caused a circuit short in the entire city, the hospital went frantic when the power went out for ten seconds.

He was lost in thought and his mind was torn apart from his body. He felt as if he were looking down at himself standing in the huge hole he had formed in the ground. In the hole he was gazing sadly around, remembering what he had done. He couldn't escape his mind, it was there.

Being so absent minded he hadn't heard Lana walk up behind him. "Clark! What happened? It looks like a bomb went off!" Lana walked slowly towards him from behind, glancing cautiously around as if something was going to jump out at her.

Clark just stood there, lost in the sudden yielding of momentum things had been moving at shortly before. "I did this...I did this," Clark felt as if he were losing his mind, it felt like his mind had been ripped out of his brain. "I tried to cover up my past, I tried to escape the truth. But I did this!"

Lana looked at him in horror, but confusion, "Clark, how did you do this?" She walked around to the front of him and looked him in the eye. But he looked away.

"The same way I always do," Clark began, "Bring pain and suffering to everyone's lives." He took a step forward and collapsed into a heap in front of Lana. She gasped.

"Clark that's not true," she knelt down and wrapped her arm around him. Glancing under his arm, she saw a tear roll down his cheek and land in the dirt.

Clark sniffed, "My mom lost the baby." Quietly he looked up at Lana, "My dad looked at me...I can't even imagine how mad he is at me right now."

"Clark, what baby? I thought your parents couldn't have children?" Lana looked at him with concern, searching his eyes for some notion of what was really going on. He looked down at the ground again, with tears forming in his eyes again.

"My mom...was healed," he managed to get out, "but I ruined it. Pain and suffering..."

Lana quickly interrupted him, "Clark, look at me." She didn't continue until he was looking her in the eye. "Have you noticed that I have had people just abandon me in my life? They have been some of the most important and significant people in my life. Whitney, my parents..." she stopped and gazed into his eyes, "you are still here for me. You welcomed me into your life, have supported me through everything. When everyone let me down, I could turn to you, and I still feel like I can. Now you need to let me be here for you. You have not brought pain and suffering to my life." She moved her hand through his soft, black hair, "I want to be here for you." She leaned over and kissed him softly on the cheek.

"Thanks Lana...." Clark pulled her in close until her head was resting against his chest, she willingly sat in his lap. “But my parents…will they ever forgive me? You should have seen the way my dad looked at me. It was the first time I really felt alienated from him.”

Still running her hand through his hair, Lana looked back up at him, resting her head against his shoulder, “You mean you’ve never felt alienated from him before, Clark?” she smirked, “That’s pretty good, considering he’s your father. I feel alienated from Nell all the time.” Lana looked thoughtful for a moment, and hesitated to continue, “I…I told Chloe you were looking for her. Have you talked to her yet?” She bit her bottom lip and gazed up at Clark.

“Yes, she stopped by the farm right before…right before this happened,” he sighed and gazed around sadly. “She could have been killed if she were here another five minutes.”

Worriedly, Lana replied, “Clark, can you tell me what happened?” She began to wipe the wetness from his tears from his face with her thumb. Would he tell her, she thought, is this another one of the famous Kent secrets?

Looking alarmed, he looked around the hole again, “You’d never believe me. What’s worse, you’d never talk to me again.” Tears formed around his eyes again, Why am I being so vulnerable to this? I never cry. He looked down at Lana, and she closed in on him. Their lips met and they tasted each other for a short while.

“Now tell me I’d never talk to you again,” she whispered teasingly. Why won’t he just open up to me? I want to help.

Any evidence he once had to back up his story was now destroyed. He used the ship to tell Pete, but that blew up, which was why he was in this mess in the first place. Would he actually be able to tell her the whole truth? He wanted to know her too, but he was so afraid that she would look at him like… like he was an alien.

After only receiving silence for a moment, Lana sensed fear in Clarks eyes, “Clark, what is it?”

“I’m scared, Lana. The only other person who knows, besides my parents, is Pete.” Clark stopped and tried to think things over before continuing. But no matter how long or how hard he thought, or if he used his super speed thinking, he’d never be able to come up with a reasonable way to tell her. But then an idea hit him, maybe a way to prolong the inevitable revealing of his secrets.

“My biological father contacted me,” Clark said, almost smiling at his comment. He waited for the look he would receive from Lana. Not to surprise, her eyes widened and they begged him to continue. “He told me I had to leave home. He sent two messages, the second one told me I had to leave by noon today. Which was why I wasn’t at Lex’s wedding. You could sort of say I ‘killed the messanger’.”

Lana stared at him in disbelief, “Your biological father? Have you ever heard from him before?”
“No,” Clark shook his head and continued, “The first time I ever heard from him was the night after Lex’s rehearsal dinner, after you…left the loft. That was the first time.” Clark’s thoughts went unwillingly back to the events of the night.

“So if I would have stayed a bit longer, I could have met your father?” Lana smiled, “Aw Clark, I was just getting used to your adoptive parents!” She winked, to make sure he knew she was kidding.

Clark laughed, “I don’t think you want to meet him, he wasn’t very nice. “ Sighing, he added another comment, “Now I’m not even sure that I got rid of him. Maybe I killed my mom’s baby for nothing. It’s exactly what he said would happen. If I didn’t go I’d bring pain and suffering…”

“Clark stop it! There’s no way you could have known that was going to happen!” Lana exclaimed, she didn’t understand why Clark was being so hard on himself. “So what are you going to do now?”

Thinking hard, Clark really didn’t know. He thought that by destroying the ship he’d get rid of the voice, which he had so far. But the…whatever it was on his chest hadn’t gone away. Why couldn’t he understand it? It had to be in his native language, but he didn’t understand what it meant. “I don’t know,” he finally replied, “Maybe I have to leave so I…don’t hurt anyone else. Or maybe I should go try and talk to my parents.”

Lana really didn’t want Clark to leave, so she tried to make going to talk to his parents sound like the better choice, “Personally, I think you need to talk to your parents again.” Hesitating she continued, “Would you like me to come with you?”

The hurt, tired look reappeared on Clark’s face again. He couldn’t bare going back to his parents. How would his mom treat him? And his dad, Clark was sure that if his dad ever looked at him again the way he had, he would be forever wounded. “I don’t know,” it seemed to be the only answer he had for anything, “I don’t know anything anymore. All I know is, I don’t think I can talk to my parents anytime soon.”

“I’ll drive you to the hospital, Clark. You need to try to talk to your parents.” Lana strained up, her lips kindly asking Clark’s to introduce themselves again. His agreed.

“Okay, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try,” Clark reluctantly picked Lana up as he stood up. She embraced him and he returned the hug. “Where’s your car?”

Chapter 3
Clark and Lana entered the lobby of the hospital and stood for a moment until Clark remembered where his mom was being held, “Uh…I think its room 203 B. Upstairs in the burn ward.” Clark didn’t know why they put her in the burn ward, she didn’t get burned. Maybe it was just because it was an electricity related issue.

“Alright,” Lana said and they continued. She didn’t know why she was going with Clark, but she knew deep down inside it might prevent Clark from running. If he was going to run, she had no idea how she would be able to stop him.

Suddenly, a group of urgent care personnel were yelling “Emergency! Clear the way please!” Clark and Lana were still in urgent care, so they knew they should stop until the doctors came through. There were about ten doctors surrounding a patient, which took up the entire hallway.

The two quickly shoved themselves into a narrow door to avoid the rush, and Lana found herself pressed against Clark’s chest and stomach. He was so firm, for a farm boy and all, but it still was very nice to have him there instead of…well she knew she felt safe with him.

She gripped his arm with her small hands as the rolling bed carrying the patient came past. “Clark!” she whispered, “that was Anthony Wells!” The name came to her so fast, she had only seen him around a few times but she knew who he was. He went to Smallville High and was in her science class. They had spoken a couple times, mostly him trying to flirt with her. After telling Anthony that she was with someone else, Clark of course, he had begun to back down.

“Anthony Wells, huh. I don’t really know him. His he a good guy?” Clark lead the way down the hall once again. He thought that he’d heard his name around before, but wasn’t really sure. All he knew was that his older brother was killed by the meteor shower, and after the incident his father left he and his mom.

Sighing, and almost blushing, Lana replied, “Yeah, I suppose. He liked to flirt with me a lot, especially in science class. But since we…you know…I’ve had a better reason to tell him to back off. Sometimes he would be really pushy.” Lana smiled up at Clark, she really liked having him around.

Clark was caught off guard by the comment, a hint of jealousy could almost be detected, but he wiped it away. “Hmmm. Interesting,” he said, then smiling back down at her he sarcastically remarked, “I don’t suppose I’ll have to beat him up right now for flirting with my girlfriend, given the…um, circumstances.” Lana blushed.

“It’s handy to have you around you know,” she said, “just like all the other times…” her voice trailed off as they came up to the window that enclosed the room Clark’s mom was in. They looked in and Clark’s parents were crying and hugging each other. Clark’s mom was sobbing. A sharp pain ripped through her stomach, what have I done? Now he is going to run. She quickly looked up at Clark, who was absentmindedly standing by her side. She reached and took his hand in her own. “I’m sorry…”

For the second time that day, Clark fell into a heap on the floor and leaned against the wall. “What have I done?”
“Ironic…” Lana said, “I shouldn’t have made you come. I’m sorry Clark. Do you want to leave?” He nodded and stood up and they embraced.

“Lana, come with me. Let’s get away,” Clark had no idea where to, but he needed to get far away from this place. He grabbed her by the waist gently, “I need to get away from here for a while. I don’t want to be around my parents. Can we…go somewhere other than Smallville?”

Shocked, but not surprised, Lana said, “Clark, are you asking me to run away with you? I can’t…what about…”
Cutting her off, Clark shook his head, “No. Not run, just temporarily. Like a day, just to get away.” He wanted to just super speed out of the hospital so bad right now, but he controlled his urge.
“Let’s go to my car,” Lana said, not knowing what to do. She wasn’t going to give up on him. “I’ll drive you home.”

Chloe walked in to the torch, she had just ran home to get her files and her brand new laptop her dad had given her after she went and talked to Clark. He really surprised her, she had never expected him to just come out and say it. She still wondered why Lana hadn’t just said something.

Walking to the computer on her desk she booted it up and started thumbing through the latest copy of The Daily Planet. She almost jumped through the roof when she heard her name, “Ms. Sullivan. We do have something in common.”

“Mr. Luthor, what are you doing here?” Although Chloe knew real well why he was, or at least had an idea.
Grinning that awful grin of his, Lionel took another sip of coffee from the mug beside him. He had made himself comfortable on the couch that was sitting next to the big file cabinet by the computers. “Why Ms. Sullivan, I am hurt by your logic. I am funding the Torch so am I not entitled to a little room for observation?” He chuckled, “I am here to confirm your article for the daily planet. They want you there by a week after school lets out. Let’s see, that would be next Thursday. Yes, you are to meet with a Mr. Mark…”

Abruptly, Chloe cut him off, “Mr. Luthor. I have said it before, and I will say it again. Take the offer and shove it down you thousand dollar pants. I will not betray Clark the say you want me to, not even for my dream job. And yes, I do know now that Clark would do the same for me. He would not betray me. My friendship with him is just too important.” She shocked herself with her boldness towards the elder Luthor, “Do whatever you want with all this equipment. I am going to organize a fundraiser to help pay the costs for a new office and supplies. Thank you and there’s the door.” She nodded towards the door and sat down and opened her laptop.

Frowning, Lionel stood up, “You are surely making a terrible mistake, Ms. Sullivan. The Daily Planet will miss out on your young, inspiring talent.” He paused right before leaving, “It’s a shame, though. Clark seems to be doing well in your friendship now, but what about next week?” He grinned slyly and waited for a reply.

Chloe, not expecting to reply, almost growled her answer, “Get out.” She looked back down at her laptop, and to her relief, Lionel left.

A single tear rolled slowly down her cheek as she realized what she had done. She was not disappointed with her decision ultimately, but a column in the Daily Planet. She shook it off and went back to work, telling herself another opportunity would come.

****
Meanwhile, at the hospital, the urgent care ward had just stabilized the body of Anthony Wells. He had experienced a traumatic electric ordeal resulting from the power surge from the Kent farm, and he knew it.

Like Clark had been, Anthony was a long-distance admirer of the beautiful Lana Lang. He had not quite reached the point of stalking, but having memorized her class schedule and following her to places where he might “accidentally” run into her came pretty close.

*~*~*
As a young boy, Anthony had been in the middle of the meteor shower. He was sitting in his room listening to his parents fight. His father had been cheating on his mother. His mother was crying and telling his father to get out. He screamed at her saying, “I never loved you anyways!” Anthony burst into tears and, even at the age of four, understood what his parents were arguing about. He was jealous for his mom. He crawled out onto the overhang below his window and sat there crying, telling himself how much he hated his father.

He watched his father storm out of the house and drive away in an angry rage. He hoped that was the last he’d ever see of him. Just as his father drove out, he heard screams coming from every angle, and looked up to see a huge black pillar of smoke form a distinct line from above the clouds to the ground not two miles away. Then without warning, a huge something or other hit the ground in front of his house shaking the very walls of the building and sending him flying to the ground. He heard his mother scream and watched, as if in slow motion, the walls crumble to the ground.

After twenty minutes, or so, he woke to find the smoke of the explosion just settling and his house half standing. He looked himself over and realized, he did not a feel a broken bone or a sore toenail on him. He had several cuts, not, of which, hurt to the point of convulsion. His ears suddenly at attention, he could hear the muffled voice of his mother yelling his name. He stood up and looked around. Not ten feet from him was a meteor rock no bigger than a small car glowing a bright disgusting green. What happened? A meteor? He felt himself think he was crazy. But being only four, he could not distinctly remember his emotion.

He stood looking for a way out, maybe climbing, but the ground was still scorched from the burning meteor rock. He yelled out to his mother, and she came running to him and looked over the hole. Her face was bruised and bleeding and only half of her shirt was intact. Her face was red and wet from crying, and it became even more wet when she saw him. Jumping down into the pit, she embraced her son, and feeling no emotion, the boy didn’t know what to do. He was still in shock.

*~*~*
Growing up was hard. Anthony figured out that what happened to him during the meteor shower effected his hormones, more specifically, whatever caused his “jealousy” hormones. He found himself falling head over heels for girls, not that it was a huge surprise, but was so enraged when he caught his girlfriend talking to another guy he would hunt the guy down and macerate him. He had never killed someone.

But he felt that was going to change. The electrical tidal wave charged his jealousy with even more intense power than before. After following Lana to the Kent farm, he saw her leave alone and decided to pursue her. But before he could come from his hiding spot he saw another girl emerge from the road in a classy VW Beetle. He could not remove himself from hiding unless he wanted to blow his cover. He was mad enough as it was that Lana fell for the Kent boy.

After the girl left, he started running from the farm, but did not get within a few hundred yards before a huge explosion from behind made him turn around. He saw a huge electrical energy surge up from the ground of the Kent storm cellar and cause a rippling from the ground throwing him from his feet and sending a surge of power through his body. He convulsed and then collapsed. Waking up he found himself in a bed in the hospital with dozens of machines and doctors surrounding him saying, “He’s regained consciousness.” He fell back asleep quickly, wishing the doctors away.

He woke up again, about twenty minutes later. He realized, for the second time in his life, he felt no pain. All he felt was an enraging feeling of jealousy towards Mr. Farm Boy. He knew what he had to do, and then Lana could get to know him. Anthony knew Lana would love him if she gave him the chance. But with Clark in the picture, he would never get near her.

With his fingers, he found, he was able to pinch the circuits leading to various parts of his body shut. It would make it seem, to the doctors, that he was still in there, for at least as long as he needed to make his escape from the hospital. He got up and rummaged around for some clothes. He found some old scrubs and put them on and discretely made his way out of the hospital.

****
Clark gazed sadly out the passenger’s window of Lana’s four-door sedan. He had really messed things up this time, and now Lana was starting to see the real him. Whatever that was. Now she was driving him home so he could think things over.

He didn’t want to think things over, he just wanted to leave.

They pulled in front of the Kent farmhouse and they both hopped out of the car. Lana slipped her hand through his arm and they walked into the barn and up towards the loft. She thought back to the first time she had been up there, not two years ago. Clark had called it his “fortress of solitude”. And that it was. Whenever she went looking for him, he would usually be up there, doing homework or star gazing. She thought it was really cool that Clark found an interesting hobby such as astronomy.

As they walked upstairs, they noticed that a lot of items had been knocked off the shelves and his stereo was fuzzing. Clark groaned and collapsed on the couch. Lana sat next to him. “Clark, this isn’t as bad as it could have been.” She didn’t exactly know what happened, she really didn’t have any idea. Only that Clark “killed the messenger” his father had sent.

Clark nodded and stood up again, he didn’t feel like sitting down. He walked over to the open window, generally used as a hay throwing opening in most barns. Lana stayed seated but knew the kind of restlessness Clark was feeling. “I suppose you’re right.” He turned around, “But I can’t stay! I have to go, that is what my father said.”

Lana stood up and walked towards him, “Clark, you can’t run away from your problems. Maybe that’s how your “father” does it, but he didn’t raise you. You can’t think about what you’re birth father thinks, it’s the father that is your conscious you should think about.” She really didn’t know where that came from, but in a weird way it made sense.

Shaking his head, Clark replied, “I have a feeling that my biological father has been keeping tabs on me.” He knew that was true, the ship had shown him images of Lana and his parents, and said that these people have served their purpose. “I think he knows what’s going to happen.”

“Even if he does, Clark,” Lana said as she leaned against the open window sill, “You’re only human, and it goes with the outfit.” She smiled up at him, but he got an even more worried look on his face. What was he thinking?

Suddenly they heard the stairs squeak, and a voice say, “Give it up Kent, she’s mine!”

Chapter 4
Anthony Wells rushed home after his escape from the hospital. The electrical wave charged him up like a battery and his movements were swift and precise. Anger and jealousy raged inside of him and he knew what he had to do.

Arriving at his home, he ran to his dad’s old gun cabinet. The one he so rudely left behind. It was full of his grandfather’s old hunting rifles as well as a couple of pistols. He grabbed the littlest pistol. He had no idea what it was called, a more experienced gunman or someone who actually had a father might know. But he didn’t.
The jealousy was building inside of him, but he tried to maintain a realistic mind. This Clark Kent dude wouldn’t be a contestant for much longer.

He arrived at the Kent farm and listened intently for voices. Be it Lana’s or Clark. They were together a lot so it would figure if he found one the other would be close at hand. Sure enough, he heard voices coming from the barn. He quickly and efficiently made his way towards the voices, which, he figured out, were coming from the loft above the main level of the barn.

Quietly, he creeped up the steps and peaked over the railing. Lana and Clark were talking by the open window. Their hands were together and they were talking intently. He was sure they hadn’t heard them.

Without showing his face, he called out, “Give it up, Kent! She’s mine!” And popped his hand over the railing and shot at him.

Clark whipped around at the voice and then heard a shot fired. He went into super speed and saw where the shot was fired. He saw it coming from the railing by the stairs and almost reacted when he had a second thought. What about Lana? Would she see him move? He didn’t know whether to move or just let it hit him. Then he looked at the bullet again, it wasn’t coming for him. It was headed for Lana! He couldn’t let it go. He reached out and hit it out of the way with the palm of his hand.

Reducing his speed to regular, he reached for Lana and pulled her to the ground and then wrapped himself around her to protect her. Lana screamed.

They heard a voice say, “What the hell?” and then bolt down the stairs, making a thundering noise as the person left.

Clark got to his feet and looked out the window and saw Anthony Wells running down the road. Containing his urge to race after the guy and beat him to a pulp, Clark kneeled down next to Lana, who was trembling. “Lana! Are you alright?” He asked, knowing the only thing hurt was probably her nerves.

“Clark! Hold me.” Lana whispered.

****
Anthony ran as fast as he could down the road and towards the woods. How the hell did Clark push that bullet away? It was inhuman. He did it right in front of Lana too. His mistake was that he accidentally aimed at Lana, in his fury he hadn’t concentrated long enough to aim. How stupid!

He kept running until he collapsed on the ground. Dragging himself to the nearest tree, he leaned against it and fell asleep, dreaming of Lana.

****
Clark drove Lana home in her car, she was shaking so bad he had insisted on it. With a little reluctance, Lana agreed and willingly sat down in the passenger’s seat. Clark got in the driver’s seat and started the car.
They drove to the Sullivan’s in silence. Clark was sure Lana was just to frightened and shocked to say anything, so he didn’t pressure her. He really didn’t want to lead on to anything that had happened, particularly his knocking the bullet down.

When they pulled in to the driveway, Clark quickly went around to help Lana out and walked her to the door. “Thanks Clark,” Lana whispered, “I don’t know how you do the things you do, but you saved my life again.” She strained upwards and their lips met in a long kiss. “I think I need to sleep,” Lana tried to smile, but seeing that Clark understood she walked inside.

Clark watched the door shut and turned away. He couldn’t believe that someone tried to shoot them. And what’s more is that it was Anthony Wells, the boy they had just seen in the hospital not a hour before. How did he get out so fast? And why did he say ‘Give it up Kent, she’s mine!”? He had no idea.

Walking aimlessly down the road he finally began to wonder where he was going to go. There was no way he was going home. His parents were obviously furious at him. Lana’s and Chloe’s was out of the question. Pete’s? That might be a good try, but they had, like, a hundred children. The Luthor Mansion. Lex wasn’t home, but he was sure he wouldn’t mind. He was just ask the maid at the door what she thought, maybe she could fix up a room for him if he promised not to prowl around. Was anyone even home at the mansion? Maybe Lex had given them the week off for their honeymoon.

Instead of walking aimlessly now, since he had a destination, he was walking absentmindedly. He could not think of anything other than Lana. They were finally together. She had willingly come into his life this time, rather than some red kryptonite influenced relationship. Those were bad. He didn’t usually choose to be “on” red kryptonite, first the class ring and then Pete with the parasite. He hated thinking about it, and even more specifically, how he hurt Lana. He hoped that one day he’d be able to tell her like he had told Pete.

The funny thing was, Clark felt that the truth was coming out faster than he’d expected. He was almost positive Lana had seen him move at super speed to hit that bullet out of the way. But she didn’t say a thing. Did she know? He didn’t know for sure, but he knew he would find out soon. When Lana was rested, and had thought things over, she would bring it up without a doubt.

He walked up to the gates of the Luthor mansion and pushed the buzzer. To his surprise a man answered the buzz and said, “Lex isn’t home, Mr. Kent. He went on his honeymoon, remember best man?”

A flood of regret washed over him as he remembered what he had missed. “Oh, yeah I know. I was…uh…just wondering, do you think he would mind if I stayed overnight here. I have some, er, family problems and I can’t stay at home.”

The voice replied, “Not at all Mr. Kent. Mr. Luthor informed us ahead of time that if you were to ever need housing that it would be given to you or your family. Please come in."

Shocked and very pleased, Clark entered the building. A maid met him at the door and told him she would show him where he was to sleep. The place was almost exotic. He had been there many times, but the walls and cases still amazed him. He loved it, in a spooky kind of way. It made him think of the mid-evil times, which it was originally from.

They walked up a flight of stairs and entered a door to his right. The maid said that he would find “everything in order” and if he needed anything to pull the rope in the closet. She also mentioned that they would serve him supper at seven.

Whoa, Clark thought, that was way freaky. Maybe they just are prepared ahead of time for any unexpected guests. He looked around the room. There was a bed the size of his room in the middle against a wall. Next to it was an antique nightstand with a lamp the shape of a cone man sloping along the curved edges. A dresser, almost as tall as Clark, was to the left of the window on the far wall. The window, now that was something to be proud of. It was almost ten feet long and about five feet high. It overlooked woods as thick as anything Clark had ever seen. He had no idea what laid behind the Luthor mansion, and now it was no longer a mystery to him. There was a door on the right side of the window that lead out to the patio. The patio! The room had a patio for God’s sake. Clark walked out on it and breathed in the night air. It felt good, he was glad he had decided not to go home.

He walked back inside and walked over to the closet, which was on the wall that the door to enter the room was. He opened it and saw a row of shirts as well as a jacket hanging. A couple pairs of pants were neatly stacked to the left. They were all the nice black pants that Lex always wore, no jeans.

Closing the closet doors, Clark turned back towards the bed. Then a envelope caught his eye. He didn’t know how he missed it before. It was laying against the pillow nearest him with his name on it. Weird, he thought.
He picked up the envelope and opened it up, it was a letter from Lex.

Dear Clark,
I know you must be thinking, how is it I get a letter when, most likely, Lex doesn’t even know I’m here. I would be too, and in a place like this I’d be almost be a little frightened. I wrote this letter almost a month after you saved my life, I am saving this room for you, whenever you need it. I figured, you being a teen and all, that you might like a place to just come and be when you don’t like being at home. I wish I had a place to go, but my father... you know. I’d really like to know when you actually read this letter, I’m interested to see how long it took before you knew you could come here when I’m gone. Being one of my closest friends, Clark, I want you to feel at home. Please help yourself to any of the clothing, if you like, I know how much you like flannel and all! They are for you when you need them. Best of luck, I know whatever the reason you are here you will work it out.
Your Friend,
Lex Luthor

Well, that was certainly unexpected, Clark thought, its great to know I have a friend like Lex. He looked through the drawers of the nightstand and found a book. Throwing himself on the bed and kicking off his shoes, he laid back and read.

The maid brought him something to eat at seven. It was incredible, although not home cooked. He loved it for what it was. He finished and got some clothes out of the closet to wear to bed.
Out like a light, Clark fell asleep.

****
Lana closed the door to Clark, very reluctantly I might add. She knew she was safe around him and closing the door felt like she was stripped of every weapon she had. It was helpful, though, to know the self-defense moves Lex had taught her before. It gave her much more confidence when she went into dark alleys at night.

She walked upstairs and into her room, her room the Sullivan’s had most willingly granted her. Chloe was a friend she was glad to hang on to.

Standing in the middle of the room, Lana had no idea what to do next. She wanted to sleep, although it was really hard to sleep when someone had just tried to shoot you.

Lana tossed herself on her bed staring at the ceiling. She ran over what had happened in her mind. Nothing made sense right now. She had seen Clark do something very inhuman, or rather didn’t see.

She remembered standing and holding his hands and telling him that he couldn’t run away, or something of the sort. Then all of a sudden a voice said, “Give it up Clark, she’s mine!” And then a shot was fired. Whipping around she saw a bullet coming for her, but it all of a sudden changed directions as a force that looked like Clark’s coat got in the way. Then Clark had her on the ground and wrapped himself around her, which was when she screamed.

It didn’t make sense. How could Clark have redirected the bullet. Somehow she knew that he knew she would see him do it. Maybe this was a start to the big “Kent Family Secret”. If it was, it had been long anticipated. She was trying to prepare herself for what Clark would tell her, and in most cases, what he wouldn’t tell her.

The next mystery was who had shot at them. The voice sounded like Anthony Wells, but that was impossible. He was in the hospital. She and Clark had just seen him being rushed in to the urgent care ward.

Startling her, there was a knock on her door, the one she had forgot to close. “Lana, is everything alright?” It was Chloe, “You look like you just saw a ghost!” When Lana’s expression changed to a very obvious sigh of relief, Chloe came in and sat down at the end of her bed.

“Chloe, you scared me. I need to get my heart rate back down.” Lana took a couple of deep breaths and then continued, “Okay. Hi Chloe!” She tried to smile, but her heart wouldn’t let her.

“Hi…is there something you’d like to talk about?” Chloe searched her face and could tell something was indeed bothering her.

Lana was breathing normal again and said, “Well, besides the fact that I almost got murdered. Yes, I suppose.”

Chloe gasped, “What!? What happened? Were you with Clark?”

“Yes, and thank God. We were in his loft. I had just took him to see his parents in the hospital. Then all of a sudden a voice said…” then Lana blushed, “give it up Kent! She’s mine!” Chloe smirked, but nodded and told her to continue. “Laugh all you want, “Lana couldn’t help but smile, “Then the voice shot at us. But Clark grabbed me and pulled me down so it didn’t hit me, or him I suppose. Maybe it went out the window, or something, because I never heard it hit anything. Then the person ran down the steps and away again. I never saw who it was, but Clark got up and I think he was watching him run down the road.”

Chloe gasped again, “Oh my God! Is he alright? That sounds horrible. Could you tell who’s voice it was?”

“It sounded like Anthony Wells. But that would be impossible because Clark and I had just seen him being brought in by the emergency crew when we were at the hospital. I don’t know why he was there, but it would be almost impossible for him to have gotten out that fast,” Lana shook her head in disbelief. None of it really made sense.

A sly grin crept across Chloe’s face. “Really, sounds interesting. Looks like we’ve got a mystery on our hands. We’ll have to investigate tomorrow at the torch.” Chloe was getting really excited, “Where’s Clark now?”

As soon as Chloe said it Lana gasped, What if Clark ran? Oh no! I have to call him! “Oh no! I have to call him!” Chloe’s expression turned deeply confused. “Clark was telling me he was going to run away. He was blaming himself for the car accident his parents were in. His mom lost her baby. A baby! She was pregnant.” Lana rushed to her phone and dialed up Clark’s number. It kept ringing and ringing and ringing. No one answered.

Lana collapsed on the floor and began to cry, “He’s gone.”

“Maybe he’s not home yet. How long ago did he leave?” Chloe asked, trying to liven Lana’s spirits.

Glancing at the clock Lana’s tears came down more, “A long time ago! Where has time gone? I thought I just walked in here! He dropped me off and, like, four. It’s seven!” Lana got up quickly and looked for her keys, “I have to go look for him! He couldn’t have gone far.”

Chloe grabbed Lana, “Lana you can’t go looking for him now. I know you want to, and personally, I do too. But maybe he didn’t run. You know Clark, he likes to go on walks and be his quite mysterious self. Maybe he’s in his loft. You need to wait before you make any dramatic decisions, I’m sure that’s what you told him.” Lana started to calm down, and Chloe added, “We’ll call his house throughout the night until someone answers, okay?”

Lana nodded, reluctantly. She wanted to go run out and find him right now and let him hold her in his arms. But Chloe’s way made more sense, and then she had to consider that the person may come back for a second shot.

She felt a lot safer here with Chloe and her dad. “Yeah, you’re right Chloe,” she said, then did something very unexpected for both of them. She hugged Chloe. “Thanks, you’re a really great friend.”

Chloe smiled and a tear rolled down her cheek too.

Chapter 5
Lana and Chloe tried Clark’s home all throughout the night. After every call Lana would break down in tears again and Chloe would have to try to think of something funny to say. It worked for a while and then she just gave up. She was worried about Clark too. But her interest was growing more and more with the mystery of Anthony Wells. Or what appeared to be Anthony Wells. She was useless without her computer, which she will have access to again when she went to the torch.

The main goal right now, though, was to keep Lana at home, so she wouldn’t run off looking to Clark. Chloe was sure that, if given the chance, Lana would go looking. With Chloe there, she had a reason to stay. Chloe felt it was more than likely possible that Clark would be at school the next day.

Lana and Chloe pulled out homework, figuring it would distract them enough to get them through the night. Every time the phone would ring Lana would jump clear up from her spot on the floor and answer it on the first ring. Twice Chloe’s dad called home to say he’d be later than expected, and then Nell called for a check-up with Lana, then there were three hang-ups and a recorded message from the local library, Chloe’s book was in.
Finally, at about 11:30 they received a call from Clark’s parents. Lana was shocked that they were home already. She told them she had no idea where he was and that she didn’t know he was missing, which was a lie, but she felt for Clark. Clark’s dad thanked her and hung up.

Nervously Lana suggested they’d go to bed.

****
Clark awoke the next morning and had to stop and think a moment before he knew where he was. He had never slept better in his life. The bed was so soft and the five pillows had kept him warm.

He stood up and stretched. He glanced at the clock and exclaimed, “I’m going to be late for school!” He ran and put his jeans on, but decided against his shirt. It might look a little suspicious to Lana if he was wearing the same shirt. He rummaged through the closet and found a nice short sleeved, black, cotton T-shirt Lex had provided him with.

He stopped a moment after pulling off his bed shirt and looked at his chest. The mark was still there. He brushed his fingers over it and felt the grooves. It was strange, but he was starting to understand it. It was like it was a sentence in itself.

Pulling on his T-shirt he quickly ran into the bathroom and splashed water over his face. He’d have to do without breakfast.

Zooming downstairs he stopped to say thank you to the maids. When asked if he’d be returning he said yes. Why not? His parents didn’t want him at home anyway.

He super sped to school and nonchalantly walked through the parking lot of the school, cautiously looking for his parents. He didn’t see them as he entered the building. He had made it to school in plenty of time, surprisingly, and made his way to his locker. He thought he’d get all his homework done in study hall second period, if Chloe would let him use the torch office.

Reaching his locker, he heard his name from across the hallway. It was Lana. He turned around and smiled at her, “Hey Lana. Did you have an okay night?” He looked her in the eye, something was obviously wrong.

“Clark where were you last night? I called your home five billion times and you were never home! Where did you go?” Lana looked like she had been crying.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, I just stayed with a friend. I didn’t feel like going home last night. Was there any trouble? Did Anthony come back?” Clark looked worried, and almost angry with himself. He had never considered Lana or Chloe needing him last night.

Lana, looking somewhat relieved, answered, “No trouble at all. I just thought you’d ran away. But that’s all,” she glared at him. Her face softened, “You really scared us last night. I thought for sure you had run away.”

Clark frowned, “I’m sorry, Lana. I didn’t really think things through I guess. I just couldn’t go home, you understand that, right?” She nodded and he bent down and gave her a kiss. “I’m sorry.”

Lana smiled, for the first time in a while, “It’s okay. I guess I should have thought things through too. I don’t really know if I expected you to go home anyway.” Then reflecting she questioned, “What did you mean by Anthony coming back?”

Clark realized she hadn’t seen him running and said, “When I stood up after the person left, I saw Anthony running, full speed down the road. It was weird, but I’m positive that was him.”

“That’s impossible,” Lana pondered, “but we have an expert investigator on our side.”

Chloe had just entered into her database when Lana and Clark entered the torch.

“Clark! Thank God your okay! We were worried sick,” Chloe stood up and walked towards them. “Where did you go?”

Clark hesitated and answered, “A friend very kindly took me in,” he smiled, “my parents wouldn’t have wanted me home anyway.”

Chloe shot a look at Lana, but Lana shook her head violently, so Chloe did not bring up the fact that his parents called. “A friend, huh? Well does that friend have a phone? The least you could of done was called your paranoid girlfriend,” Chloe nodded her head towards Lana. She and Clark both blushed.

“Oh, uh. Yeah, sorry about that,” he grinned. “So I hear you can give me information on Anthony Wells!?”
Chloe lifted an eyebrow and started back towards her computer, “So you’re sure it was Anthony, hmmm.” She tapped in some buttons and up popped a picture of the boy, “This him?”

The two stared at the screen. “That was the guy in the hospital, Clark was that the guy running?”

Clark studied the picture and nodded, “Yeah. That was him. What do you have on him?”

Chloe did some tappity tap work on her keyboard and produced a short background article on him, the one that had appeared in the paper back after the meteor shower. “It says here that Anthony was four at the time of the meteor shower. His parents had split the same day and his mother found him in a crater hole twenty feet from a meteor the size of a car! Talk about a traumatic accident.”

“The connection between all of the meteor infected people is that they were doing something or were feeling something at the time of the crashes that made the rocks intensify their emotions, right?” Clark asked, he didn’t know where he was going, but it was a start.

Chloe brightened and said, “Yes! That’s right! For example, Lex had asthma during the meteor shower, and now he really hasn’t been sick since. And then there’s those two men with the power of persuasion, one tried to take your farm Clark. Oh! And what about our old Sex Ed teacher, the one that married Lex and tried to kill him. Both of them were around the meteor shower when their mysterious powers were produced.” Chloe thought for a moment, “But what would Anthony have been doing at the age of four?”

Clark replied, “I don’t know, there must be a link somewhere.” He glanced at his watch and said, “Chloe would you mind if I did my homework in here second period? I didn’t really have a opportunity to do it this weekend, because, of well the obvious. Would you mind?”

“You know Clark, it was never really established who made you quit the torch. I could just say I am swamped with homework, but it’d be really nice to have you back!” She gave him a big smile.
Clark smiled back and said, “Thanks Chloe. I won’t disappoint you this time.” Turning to Lana he glanced to the door, “We’re going to be late for first period.”

They said their good-byes and left the room, leaving Chloe with her computers.

Clark slipped his arm around Lana and she smiled up at him. She was so relieved to know that Clark hadn’t run away from Smallville, rather just away from home. It was comforting to have him there, his arm around her waist, she felt safe. Especially since Anthony was on the loose. Lana didn’t know whether to be cautious around Clark now or not, considering she thought she saw him push a bullet out of the way. But she didn’t know for sure so she wasn’t going to ruin the moment worrying about it.

Having the same first hour class was nice, it gave them more chances to see each other. Everyone in school knew about them by now, and they were getting smirks and sly glances. Clark got a pat on the back from a bunch of the upper classmen guys. He also got some glares and snide remarks from behind his back, he didn’t care though, he was happier than he’d been all weekend. Lana seemed to be having a good time too.

Entering their class they split up to go sit at their seats, but it was hard to keep focused on the teacher, for both of them. Finally the teacher got so upset with them that he had to send them out of the classroom. They left arm in arm with the class snickering behind them. “It’s better this way Clark,” Lana smiled up at him and they walked towards the torch to find Chloe again.

“Back so soon?” Chloe snickered and the two blushed.

“Yeah, our teacher kinda told us to get out. Oh well, more time to do my homework,” Clark sat down at one of the desks and pulled his work out of his bag. Lana sat down on the couch and flipped through a magazine sitting on one of the tables.

Lana laughed, “Did you know that was the first time I was ever kicked out of class for anything?” Chloe laughed with her, not surprised at all.

“Well I haven’t found anything yet on the Anthony front, but we still have some more digging to do,” Chloe said. “I guess I’ll have to leave you two lovebirds here, I need to go to the library and then my next class. See you later!” Chloe grabbed her backpack and left.

Clark snickered to himself, funny old Chloe. He and Lana spent the next two hours in the Torch office, alone.

****
Anthony Wells ran through the woods and towards, from what he remembered, as a old log cabin in the middle of the woods. It was his grandfather’s old hunting cabin. He’d have to find a gun with more power, preferably small but hefty.

He ran and stopped in his tracks when he came upon the cabin. Showing off his snickering smile to the insects that were no doubt crawling up his pants, he walked into the cabin and found himself surrounded by spider webs and old rotting furniture. He casually walked around the house inspecting every inch, looking for anything that might help his plight.

He walked over to one wall and noticed a long crack in the wood. It ran from about a foot above his head to the ground. Pushing on it, he realized it wasn’t a crack, but the opening to some sort of secret door. He pushed it in and entered a small room, no bigger than a small bathroom.

A broad grin spread across his face as he noticed the contents of the room. Huge hunting rifles to small hand held guns were scattered across the room. Walking over to the biggest rifle, he found he could pick it up using barely any strength. Something definitely effected him, most likely the electrical what not.

To his surprise, he found ammunition in a big chest of drawers located on his left. The drawers were filled with the different ammunition needed to supply an army. Laughing an evil laugh he scoured for the perfect gun needed to put out Clark Kent. Maybe he could survive a bullet from a measly hand pistol, but he’d test his luck with a high-powered definition gun.

Looking for something to carry his possessions in, he found a bag big enough to carry a human in. Way big enough to transport everything he needed back home. The tricky part was not to get caught by his mom. He was doing this for her, after all. His father had so stupidly left her, no doubt making her jealous as hell. Come on, if you caught your boyfriend or girlfriend cheating on you after a long relationship, you’d be jealous too.

Jealousy was a mild way to put what he felt towards Clark. It was an infuriating rage. Lana could do so better than some farm boy mutant. Because obviously, that was what he was. The guy blocked a bullet for God’s sake, faster than you could blink an eye. Lana obviously didn’t know, or else she wouldn’t have looked as frightened as she was when he looked at her. He would rid her of him soon enough, and she would thank him with open arms.

The tricky part was how he was going to prove to Lana that Clark was a mutant, or something of the sort. He needed both of them at the same time and he needed to have control over her so Clark would do his bidding.
He packed all of the ammo and gunnery he needed and headed home.

Chapter 6
Lana entered the back room of the Talon to start her daily shift. Punching in her time card she grabbed an apron and strung it around her neck. She loved being here, it was a place she could go when she needed to think and when the world let her down. Everything was perfect, but she really needed to think about how she was going to ask Clark about the, uh, things he could do, or if she would ask him at all.

She walked behind the counter and began to look over the receipts for the day. It was really hard for her to concentrate. It was the first time in a long time that she had been in a close relationship such as hers and Clark’s. It felt good and had she missed it. When she looked back on her relationship with Whitney she realized their relationship could have been a lot better if he had tried to be her friend before they started dating, like Clark had. Lana felt that their relationship was, now, not just based on the dating, but also the intimate friendship. Clark had said it himself, the friendship wasn’t changing, it was becoming better.

So absorbed in her own thoughts, she hadn’t noticed someone approach her at the counter. A voice said, “Earth to Lana!” Startled, Lana looked up her heart pounding. Chloe was staring back at her with a smirk on her face. “Did you know you haven’t been like this ever? Since when are you one to daydream?”

“Chloe, you frightened me again. You need to stop that,” she smiled and blushed a little, it was true she really never daydreamed. “Espresso?”

Chloe shook her head, “No just regular coffee, thanks. I have the worst headache, no sense in making in worse.” Lana smiled as she handed Chloe her cup of coffee. “So. How does it feel?”

Lana tried to roll her eyes and sigh, “What do you mean Chloe?” When Chloe raised her eyebrow and her eyes seem to stare a hole right through her she giggled. “Okay, okay. It feels good. That was what I was just thinking about. It’s just, I never really expected it to happen.”

Chloe took a sip of coffee and her eyebrows went up, “Oh? Why not?”

Tilting her head to one side and sort of glancing off into space, Lana replied, “Nothing is ever certain when it comes to Clark. You feel like he wants something, and then you hit a hot spot and he closes his shell.” Lana looked at Chloe with, what seemed to her, fear. Fear as in the fear of losing someone, not fear of encountering something. “Do you know what I mean? I can’t even explain it. It’s like, you know you’ve gone through a lot of holes to get where you are, but then you feel like some little thing could happen and it would just take it all away.”

Chloe nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. The exact thing happened to her and Clark right after spring formal last year, the tornado sort of broke them apart. “Like Clark running away,” Chloe said, still lost in her own thoughts.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Lana said. “Well,” she smiled, “I better get to work.”

Chloe hopped off the stool and said, “Yeah, I need to get home. Do you think you’ll be home for dinner?”

Shaking her head, Lana replied, “No. I have to close today, but I will see you around eight.” She waved as Chloe left and then got to work.

****
After school, Clark got everything he needed from his locker to study for finals and zoomed back to Lex’s. The same husky voice answered his buzz and let him in. The maid offered him some food, which he willingly took and thanked her. He jogged up the stairs and into “his” room. It felt good to be at a place away from his parents. He hadn’t seen them in an entire day, and honestly, he didn’t really care.

His thoughts drifted to Lana and he thought he’d better call her and give her the number where he was staying. He picked up the classy phone that was sitting on the desk in the corner of the room nearest the window. He dialed the number for the Talon and waited for an answer. When no one picked up he got kind of nervous. How ironic, Clark thought, that’s exactly what happened to Lana last night. Maybe she’s trying to get her point across. Then he thought again, no she wouldn’t do that.

He tried again a couple minutes later and was relieved to hear her pick up, “Hello Talon, this is Lana.”

“Hey Lana, it’s Clark,” he smiled into the phone, as if she could she him.

Lana’s voice sounded brighter as she replied, “Hi Clark! Haven’t heard from you in a while.” He laughed and she continued, “What do I owe the surprise?”

Clark said, “Oh I was just wondering if you wanted the number to where I’m staying, in case you want to keep track of me. In case I might run away.”

Lana groaned, “Yes! I really do. Hang on let me get a pen.” He could hear her rummaging through a drawer, “Okay go.” She wrote down the number Clark told her and then said, “Isn’t that Lex’s number?”

“Yeah, it is. He so kindly had a room set away for me, in case I ever needed a place to crash,” Clark said.
Lana didn’t know whether to think it a good thing or a bad one, “Okay. Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?” She bit her lip nervously.

“Never been so sure about anything in my life,” then he added, “well, besides us.” They said their good-byes and hung up. Clark got busy on his studying.

****
Anthony arrived at home to find his mother not there, which made his plan a heck of a lot easier. He bounded up the stairs to his room and laid his machinery out in front of him. He wasn’t sure what to use. He’d have to try them out.

Taking three guns of his choice out in the back yard, he found a pile of firewood and set it up against the garage wall. He stacked them up so they formed into the height of a human. He made a couple of these, one for each gun.
Stepping back about fifty feet he picked up the first gun. It was a small pistol, but had a lot of stuff on it. It had appealed to him right away. It was about the size of his head, but it fit comfortably into his hand. He loaded the gun with the corresponding bullets.

Aiming, he shot once at the pile and the piece of wood he hit exploded into two pieces. Not bad. He shot again at the piece that was under it and that one exploded into even more pieces than the first.

Continuing this procedure, he did the same thing for all the guns. Some of them were more powerful than others, which he separated into two piles. Out of the more powerful pile he pulled out a handgun and an automatic rifle. He liked the two the best. He brought them all up to his room and left the two he liked best on his bed. Before going after Clark, he had to go find his lover.

Anthony supposed Lana would be at the Talon, where she worked. She seemed to be always there. So he set out for the Talon.

He approached the building and saw her closing up. He silently hid behind the nearest car and after she shut the door he sneaked around into the alley on the side and waited impatiently for the beautiful Lana Lang.

Lana just began closing up the Talon, the last customer had left and she locked the door. She walked around behind the counter and got all the receipts together. It was getting easier to concentrate, especially since Clark had called with a phone number. She had to resist the urge of calling him every other minute.

Before she left, Lana took the last garbage out back to the can. She was always nervous doing this, her self-defense moves gave her a little more confidence but she still wished she never had to do it, especially at night.
To her dismay, a voice in the shadows made her jump clear out of her shoes. “Hello beautiful.”

Anthony!

Chapter 7
Anthony ducked out from the shadows smiling from ear to ear. He had her right where he wanted her. He could tell her that her boyfriend was a meteor freak and then she would be his.

“Hello Lana,” Anthony said slowly, letting her name roll off his tongue. “Why do you fall for a guy like Clark when there are guys like me around?”

Lana sat her trash bag down and folded her arms, “Oh, like the kind of guy that tries to murder me? Yeah, I don’t know how I stand Clark. Hmmm, it must be the fact he treats me good! Isn’t that weird.” Lana rolled her eys at him.

“That was an accident, Clark moved, I was really aiming for him,” Anthony smiled half heartedly, almost knowing her reply.

Again, Lana rolled her eyes, “So instead you go after the people I care about! What is wrong with you?”

Anthony stepped closer, “Don’t you see? We’re meant to be together. It is destiny, you and I were made for each other. That dumb mutant is just standing in the way.” Smiling from the corner of his mouth, Anthony tried to reach for Lana’s hand.

Lana whipped it away from her, “Wait a minute, what do you mean by mutant?” She cautiously let her interest increase.

Anthony stared over her head, kind of as if thinking for the right words, “Well, let’s just say Clark had the ability to stop the bullet from hitting you.” He thought that his choice of words was a little shaky, but it got the job done.
He did stop the bullet, Lana thought, but how could Anthony have seen it if I could barely see him do it? “He stopped the bullet?”

Nodding and stepping closer to her again he replied, “He knocked it out of the way faster than you could snap your fingers.” He snapped his fingers for the effect. Staring at Lana he told her, “It was plain jealousy, I knew we were meant to be together and he is just ruining it.”

“Why are you jealous? We’ve never even considered going out together, it doesn’t make sense Anthony,” Lana shook her head, she was trying to get answers out of him.

“Simple,” Anthony replied, “The meteor shower charged my jealousy emotion. My dad was cheating on my mom and I was jealous for her. The shower just intensified my emotion.” Then he realized that he had just admitted to her that he was, too, a meteor freak. He quickly added, “But I didn’t grow a finger or a bulletproof chest!”

Lana said, “No, but you were still affected by the shower. What’s the difference if you are bulletproof or if you get jealous of someone you hardly know?” She was growing restless from the need to talk to Clark. He had never told her that he was affected by the shower. It all started to make sense, every little thing she couldn’t explain was starting to piece together.

“Agh! That’s not the point! The point is we are supposed to be together!” He grabbed her and tried to hold her in his arms, “We are meant for each other!”

She saw him trying to kiss her, so she slammed her heel down on his foot and swung her elbow across his face. He doubled over in a moment’s pain, but then hopped right back up, “You should have never done that!” He reached for her again but she side kicked him in the stomach and hit his nose with the palm of her hand. Turning around she raced back into the Talon and ran over to the phone.

Speeding through the digits to Lex’s mansion she waited for someone to pick up. “Hello?” Clark answered on the second ring.

“Clark! Help…” Lana let the phone go as Anthony whipped her around and his moment caused her to drop it. “Anthony! No!”

****
Clark heard Lana scream Anthony’s name and knew the guy was attacking her. He hung up the phone and raced for the door. Using his x-ray vision he looked cautiously around for anyone that might see him run at super speed. The close was clear and he took off.

Five seconds later he arrived at the Talon and tried the door. Locked! He raced around to the alley and found Anthony dragging Lana out, her seemingly unconscious.

“Anthony, let her go!” Clark yelled.

Anthony whipped around, still clutching Lana’s arms, “I don’t have to do anything, you freak! You’re just like all the other mutants!” He dropped Lana and started to run, looking back once, which gave Clark an advantage.

Clark focused on his back and looked through the skeleton, no green glowing anything. Good. He ran super speed and was waiting in front of Anthony when he turned back around. “What the hell! Why don’t you stay away from me you meteor freak?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clark asked, almost yelling.

Anthony snarled, “You know what that means. I saw you knock that bullet out of the way.”

Neither of them noticed that Lana was beginning to regain consciousness and she slowly lifted herself from the ground, but collapsed again when she realized she didn’t have the strength. There was nothing she could do to Anthony or to help Clark, which she regretted. Wait! Clark? She had just called him, how did he get there so fast? She kept her eyes shut so Anthony wouldn’t try to take advantage of her consciousness, which was probably the best thing she could do for Clark right now.

Anthony pulled a gun out of his belt and pointed it at Clark, “Now Lana can see what a real freak you are!” He cocked it and pulled the trigger five times in a row. The force of the gun was so great that it made Clark stumble back a few steps, although he felt no pain. He was sure Lana was awake, he glanced over at her and saw his fear had come true.

Lana was staring back at him with a horrified look in her eyes, “Clark!! Claaaaark!”

****
Jonathan Kent poured a cup of fresh coffee and brought it over to his wife, who was sitting on the couch curled up in a blanket and still crying. Neither of them had an idea where Clark was, and Martha was devastated by his disappearance.

“Why would he have left, Jonathan?” Martha asked him as he handed her the cup, “I just don’t understand why he would run away.”

Sadly, Jonathan shook his head and sighed, “I think it would be my fault, dear.” Martha looked at him with great sadness and confusion, so he continued, “At the hospital I yelled at him. I told him his actions had consequences and now you were in the hospital.”

Martha looked at his suspiciously, “What actions?” She knew that Clark blamed a lot on himself, but there was no way that this could have been his fault.

“Martha, Clark blew up the ship. The tidal wave like thing we saw was from the explosion. It blew up the cellar and many things have been noticeably knocked down or broken in the barn. Clark’s stereo is even fuzzing from the electrical surge the blast caused,” Jonathan described the chain of events slowly, as if he were trying to replay t himself.

Crying harder, Martha couldn’t get out what she was trying to say and Jonathan held her in his arms, “It’s okay sweetheart, Clark will come back. He knows he can.”

Chapter 8
Lana cried in horror as she watched Clark being shot at by Anthony. He took at least five bullets to the chest in rapid succession. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as Clark stumbled backwards, but was utterly shocked when Clark was looking up again and glaring at Anthony. Still looking at him her tore off his shirt and was standing half naked in front of both Lana and Anthony, with the symbol of his ancestors burned into his chest.

“Get away from here. Now!” Clark yelled at Anthony, who was seemingly terrified and took off running. Watching Clark alive after the ringing off of his shots, Anthony was more than pleased to get away from the dumb mutant freak.

Lana slowly stood up and walked over to Clark, tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn’t understand, what did Clark just do, or perhaps, didn’t do? “Clark how…what…?” She couldn’t find any words to get her question to make sense.

Clark looked down at her with sadness in his eyes, “I’m sorry Lana. I didn’t want you to have to find out like this.” He looked down at her, wondering if this would be the end. Knowing that they were probably still in danger he mentioned, “We better go inside.”

Lana was hesitant, she didn’t know if Clark would tell her now. She wasn’t sure if he was changing the subject to avoid the conversation or if he thought that they, or rather she, were still in danger. But reluctantly she led the way inside. She made them some coffee and they sat down at a table.

Instead of drinking, Clark played with his glass, obviously nervous. A symbol that looked like an eight in a two dimensional diamond was burned into his chest. “Clark, if you were affected by meteor rocks, it’s okay,” she paused, looking for the right words, “in fact it would be really comforting to know that you are bulletproof.” He looked up at her and kind of lifted his eyebrow. She continued, “The tornado. All the times you’ve been there, everything I can’t explain. It all makes sense, if it’s the truth.”

Clark looked into her eyes, “I wish it were that easy.” He didn’t even know how to begin. He wanted to super speed out of the building, but, once again, he’d be running away from his problem, and this time he could really screw things up.

Lana shook her head, “Clark. What I don’t understand is that your willing to walk into bullets for me, but you won’t let me know what’s going on inside. If you don’t open up to the people who love you, how are you ever going to hold a relationship for very long?” A tear rolled slowly down her cheek. There was no way he could have faked the withstanding of the bullets so she knew she had to get it out of him this time. Lana reached over and touched his chest, she felt the bumps of the symbol and it brought fear into her heart. “I just…” Lana looked longingly into his eyes, “I just want you to be honest with me.”

Realizing he had no way out of this he knew he had to tell her the truth, “I wasn’t affected by the meteor rocks.” She looked at him with what seemed as disappointment, like he wasn’t telling her the truth, “I came down with them.”

****
Chloe worriedly glanced at the clock. It was eight thirty and Lana wasn’t home yet. What if she got attacked by Anthony? She reached for the phone and dialed the Talon. It rang and rang an Chloe worriedly glanced at the clock. It was eight thirty and Lana wasn’t home yet. What if she got attacked by Anthony? She reached for the phone and dialed the Talon. It rang and rang and rang and there was no answer. She hung up and tried again. Still no answer. Shaking her head to rid herself of the ideas that were running through her head of the possibilities she tried to focus on her article for the Torch.

Finally, after her conscious was driving her crazy she picked up her car keys and ran to her car. She knew she couldn’t do anything of assistance if she was being attacked by Anthony, but she had to make sure she was safe.

Driving towards the Talon she saw something whiz by in the distance. What the hell was that? The figure rounded the corner and into the back alley of the Talon, which was where she was going.

She parked her car across the street and hopped out. Shielding herself from anyone that would see her sneak across the street, she hid behind Lana’s car and looked through the series of windows that blocked her direct view of what was going on in the alley.

The figure stopped moving and she recognized him immediately. It was Clark!

Clark! Clark? No. There was no possible way. Being at a loss of words as she already was, she was astounded by the continuing of the confrontation. She saw Anthony Wells dragging Lana out of the Talon’s back door, she seemed to be unconscious. Clark and Anthony began yelling at each other. Chloe figured that Clark was saying, “Let her go!” And Anthony would yell back, “Yeah right!”

To her surprise, Anthony let go of Lana and started running away from Clark and, thankfully, in the opposite in the direction of Chloe. But before he could get fifty feet Clark was in front of him. Chloe gasped. Anthony took a step back and pulled out a gun, Chloe’s eyes widened and she reached for her cell phone, the least she could do was call the police. Alarmed by the sound of shots being fired, she looked up from her cell to see Clark stumble back against the force of the bullets. Lana was screaming.

Chloe’s look of terror changed to horror and curiosity when she saw Clark, amazingly still alive, rip off his shirt. He stood there glaring at Anthony with the most peculiar marking on his chest. Chloe couldn’t really see it but it looked abnormal even from a distance. But what socked her even more was the lack of a drop of blood on him. Anthony had stated running, and kept running until he had blended in with the night.

Lana walked up behind him and touched his shoulder. They stood there only a moment before they walked inside together.

Chloe turned and leaned against the car for support, she could not believe what she had just saw. Not quite absorbing it yet, she ambled back to her car and sat down leaning her head against the head rest. She took a deep breath and started the car.

****
“You…you came down with the?” Lana asked in disbelief. “Does that make you a… that you’re an…” she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Clark finished for her, “Alien.” The word crawled out of his mouth in disgust.

Lana shook her head and didn’t really know how to respond. She started to say something several times, but couldn’t get it out. An alien? She thought, how could he deceive me for so long? “I can’t believe you never told me!” she whispered.

Clark looked down at his cup of coffee, wishing that it would drink him up since he was obviously not drinking it. He didn’t know what to say, but decided on, “Because I knew that when I told you, because I was planning on telling you, you would never look and me or even think of me in the same way again.”

“Does that mean…did you…my parents?” A tear rolled down her cheek, it meant he had killed her parents. “How could you do this to me? I spend all of my emotions on you and you turn around and tell me you’re an alien?”
He couldn’t look at her, he knew she was right. He had, in a way, led her on. Before he could say anything she asked, “I suppose you’re father’s messenger was your spaceship!” her comment seemed almost nasty and it surprised her.

What surprised her even more was his response, “Yes, actually, it was. When I blew it up it destroyed our cellar, killed my mom’s baby and left me with this creepy symbol on my chest.”

Tears were welling up in Lana’s eyes. She couldn’t grasp the reality of it. She wanted to scream and tell him to get out. “I need to go home,” she said, rather rationally.

Clark nodded and stood up. Still not looking at her he said, “I’m sorry,” and was gone.

Lana quickly locked up and ran out to her car. Once inside she burst into tears. It took her several minutes to calm down enough to drive home. Once home she had to wait another couple minutes before entering the house so she wouldn’t look suspicious.

She walked in through the garage door and saw Chloe sitting at the kitchen table doing her homework and nibbling on crackers. Chloe looked and smiled, but it faded when she saw Lana had been crying. “Lana, is everything alright?”

“I need to be alone,” Lana said, brushing off the question and starting up the stairs. She closed her door behind her and collapsed on the bed in tears, and cried herself to sleep.

Chapter 9
Clark was so confused. Lana had told him she wanted to know the truth, and he had told her. He was infuriated with himself. He also knew that girls would tell him one thing and do the total opposite, so he had kind of prepared himself for this. It didn’t make up for the fact that Lana was mad at him, as were his parents and they would soon find him staying at Lex’s, whether Lana told them or not.

He knew that he couldn’t fix this problem without time, and the only way to do that was to get as far away from Smallville as he could. He could go to Metropolis and get a job. That would allow him to stay there for a while, he knew that if given the time, Lana would calm down and maybe even forgive him.

Never stopping at his full speed blast, and in seconds he was at his house. He used his x-ray vision to locate the whereabouts of his parents. They were in their room, probably just getting into bed. He moved at full speed again, and didn’t stop until he had completed his mission. Running up to his room he grabbed a new shirt and his jacket, then he raced out to the barn and got the motorcycle his dad had rebuilt. Quickly finding the keys he revved up the engine and headed out onto the open road.

He heard a door slam and his mother’s voice calling his name. He pretended not to hear and kept riding. The road led to once place, which was his destination: Metropolis.

****
Lana awoke the next morning with a jolt. She realized the terrible thing she had done. She had a dream last night that she was an alien, and when everybody found out they were hissing at her and calling her names, freak among them. LuthorCorp had discovered her secret and took her away to be tested over and over in a lab.

It seemed freakishly clear to her that Clark couldn’t have intentionally directed his ship to land in Smallville, or his decoys on top of her parents. It seemed more likely that Clark’s father, whoever he was, was capable of sending him wherever he wanted if he could burn a symbol onto a chest that could no otherwise be burned. She had asked him for the truth last night, she had said that it would bring every piece of the puzzle back together, which it did, but she did not expect it to happen like this. How much she wished she could blame her parent’s death on somebody, it very obviously wasn’t Clark’s fault and she had made the mistake of letting that slip.

Feeling an overwhelming sense of stupidity, Lana knew she had to find Clark before school and apologize with all her heart. She didn’t want to hurt him, because he had done nothing but help her. He only hurt her by keeping a very reasonable secret, the secret governed his entire life. She hopped out of bed and quickly got dressed and ran downstairs.

Chloe had just finished her breakfast, and to Lana’s surprise was all dressed as if she was waiting for Lana to go. “Good morning,” Chloe said groggily. She rinsed out her bowl and stuck it in the dishwasher.

Lana grabbed her backpack that was laying by the door, “Chloe we need to go!” Chloe raised an eyebrow. “NOW!” Lana freaked and ran towards her car.

Grumbling, Chloe snatched her backpack from a chair and said, “Okay, okay.” Lana was waiting for her in the car with the car started, what’s her rush? To her surprise, Lana headed in the opposite direction of school and Chloe tried to look alarmed, when, in reality, she was too tired to show any emotion, “Wait a minute. Where are we going?”

“I have to find Clark!” Lana whispered, biting her lip to keep back the tears. She drove into the Luthor mansion and Chloe started to catch on, but kept her mouth shut to avoid causing a disturbance in Lana’s otherwise feeble emotions. Lana jumped out of the car and ran to the intercom where she buzzed impatiently.

“Yes Miss, what can I do for you?” asked a husky voice.

Lana cleared her throat, “Yes, is Clark here?” Her hopes dropped when the man answered no and Mr. Kent had never returned last night as he said he would. Lana thanked him and headed back for her car and sat down next to a sleeping Chloe. She burst into tears and startled Chloe, who could do nothing but stare sheepishly at her. “He’s gone…Clark ran away this time,” Lana couldn’t contain her tears and just let them stream out of her face.

“Do you want me to drive?” Chloe asked. Lana nodded and they exchanged places. On their way, Chloe tried to keep a conversation going to help take Lana’s mind off of Clark, but she was having enough trouble concentrating on driving as it was, so she finally gave up.

****
They parked in the school lot and walked into school. Lana had regained her composure enough so that she was no longer showing visible wetness. And then it hit her, Pete knows. He must know. Scanning the crowds for him, she knew that he was their only hope. Chloe said goodbye and walked towards the Torch offices and Lana continued her search.

She found him leaning against Clark’s locker reading a newspaper, “Pete!” She called out to him and he waved her over. He smiled at her, “Hey Lana, what’s up?”

“Clark’s gone! He ran away! We’ve got to go find him!” Lana whispered but there was a desperate amount of urgency in her voice.

“Whoa, wait and slow down. What do you mean Clark’s gone? Why would he run away?” Pete looked confused, which was expected, and Lana explained her story.

Taking a deep breath and looking past Pete at Clark’s locker she said, “I know…about Clark. He told me last night and I freaked out at him. I kind of told him to get away from me, and I think that’s why he ran.” Lana closed her eyes and looked away, in disgust with herself.

Pete’s eyes widened, “He told you?” He looked shocked, but, in a way, not surprised. “Are you sure he ran away?”
Nodding vigorously, Lana replied, “He was staying at Lex’s because he was blaming everything on himself. I went to go find him this morning and the guy there said he never came back last night.”

“Maybe he went home. It’s not like Clark to run away,” stopping to think a moment, “well this permanently. I know he likes to run away from his problems…” he looked at Lana through the corner of his eye.

Lana eyed him, “Are you saying that I’m Clark’s problem? I have done nothing but help him and all he would do was close up.”

 Pete shook his head, “No, nevermind. All I meant was that he would save someone, you for example, and then you’d try to pry an answer out of him. That’s acceptable, but when it comes to Clark’s mind all he can think about is ‘am I going to hurt them by saying this?’. You’ve got to understand that Clark only found out himself almost a year or two ago. In fact the day Whitney strung him up as a scarecrow.” Lana gasped, she did not even think that Clark might not have known for that long. Pete continued, “Imagine living with these incredible gifts only to find out your not really human.”

Lana just stood there, she knew Pete was right, he had a way of putting things literal. The only thing she had done was make it worse. She had wanted to know, she needed to know and then she overreacted. It just wasn’t what she was expecting. “So should we go look for him?”

Pete shook his head, “I don’t think so. For one, we have no idea where he went. Plus, Clark can run faster than an Indy car, he could be halfway across the world by now.” He looked Lana in the face, she was really worried. He remembered when Clark had told him, he had freaked out. When he had saw the spaceship he totally thought Clark was putting him on, but it was so real. When the crazy doctor had kidnapped him, it was then that he truly realized the depth of his secret. He understood Lana’s urgency. “The best thing we can do right now is wait, if we do something stupid we could push Clark away forever.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Lana said, holding back the tears once again. “But we have to do something.”
Nodding Pete said, “Tell you what, if he’s not back by lunch we will drive over to the Kent farm during lunch break and tell them. Do they know that Clark ran away from you? Or that you know?” Lana shook her head and he continued, “I suppose they’d better know that too.”
“Alright, lunch it is then. Do you think he’ll show?”

****
Clark rode into the busy streets of Metropolis. There were so many cars going as fast as they could to nowhere. He didn’t really like the sensation it gave him but it felt friendlier than home. At least it would give him some company.

He kept riding and started looking around for help wanted signs in windows of stores, maybe by working it could take his mind off of everything. He spotted one in the window of a drugstore along the first offroad, but decided against it. He also drove past a hardware store, several clothing cliques and a liquor store. None of them seemed like the smartest place to work. Then he spotted a small diner on the corner of Elm Avenue and 34th. It was called “Al’s Diner”, not too showy and it looked like it had a steady stream of customers. He drove over to it and parked his bike close.

Walking into the diner was like taking a step back in time. It was old and the machinery out dated, but it was clean and lively. There were only three waiters, two of them male, and at least thirty tables. He could see why they needed help. He walked over to the counter and saw a man on the phone. He was tall and thin, his hair was cropped on top of his head like a black mat. The man was yelling at the person on the other side of the phone saying he would get the check as soon as possible, definitely financial problems.

The man slammed the phone back on the receiver that hung on the wall and turned around, a little startled to see Clark standing there he said, “Geez kid, you scared me.” Then smiling he said, “What can I do for you?”

Clark smiled out of the corner of his mouth, “I uh, well I was kind of hoping for a job. The sign in the window said help wanted and, well I want a job.”

The man stuck out his hand and said, “I’m Al by the way. Al junior actually, my old man owned the place and passed it down.” He looked around, “It kind of grows on you I guess.”

Clark shook his hand, “Clark Kent. It’s a great place.” The man smiled again, “Thanks. Well as far as I’m concerned, you’re hired. What can you do?”

Shrugging, Clark said, “Whatever you need, I learn pretty fast. I actually had a part time job at a coffee house once.”

Lifting an eyebrow, Al asked, “Oh yeah? What happened?”

“Ah, well, my girlfriend owns it…” Clark said sheepishly. The man laughed and motioned for Clark to follow him. They went into the back through some swinging doors that reminded Clark of the one’s at the Talon. They walked clear to the back of the room where a small desk with papers cluttered over them and two chairs on either side.

“Have a seat Clark,” Al said. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a clipboard, then he picked up a stack of papers and quickly shuffled through them to find a specific one. “Here we are. I just need to go through a short interview, for my sake, before I give you an application. It’s just the basics, you’ve got the job if you can answer these.” He grinned.

Clark answered, “Fire away.”

“Okay, first I need to know your birthday and your age,” Al plucked a pen from behind his ears and prepared to write.

And so it went. Al asked Clark about his life in general, basic questions that Clark remembered answering for Lana. Clark also told Al that he was adopted and didn’t know his exact birthday. By the time they were done it was like they had been friends since they were kids, even though Al was quite a bit older than him, at least ten years.

Before Clark left, because Al said that he could start the next day, he asked him about accommodations. “Hey Al, do you know where a good place to stay is? I don’t have any money right now and I don’t have a place to stay.”

“You can stay with me. I live in a small two bedroom apartment about two blocks from here,” Al said. “If you want to wait fifteen minutes I will let the others know I’m leaving and go with you. When you get money you can get a place for yourself.” Al turned and quickly ran back into the back room and announced his leave and then he took Clark to his apartment.

Chapter 10
Lunch came and there was still no still no sign of Clark. Pete and Lana piled in her car and they drove down to the Kent farm. Upon arriving they noticed that Mr. Kent’s truck was there, he had not gone looking for Clark. But then again they hadn’t seen him for days. Martha was sitting on the porch wrapped in a blanket, but threw it off and hurried down to the approaching car. Jonathan appeared from the barn when he heard the car and dropped his tools to greet them.

Lana and Martha embraced and a tear rolled down Martha’s cheeks. “Mr. and Mrs. Kent I am so sorry,” she began. She could tell by their faces that they were very worried, about Clark and probably the reason that the two had shown up in the middle of a school day. “It’s all my fault,” how ironic, she thought.

Martha let go of her and looked her in the eyes, “Oh no dear, Clark is just having some…family problems. You couldn’t have done anything.” The look in Lana’s eyes made her think there was something deeper than what just appeared to be.

“I know…about Clark, and I think that’s why he ran away,” Lana looked away, knowing the pain in their hearts. She looked at Jonathan and tried to smile, “He saved me from a guy named Anthony last night. He tried to attack me but Clark got there soon enough to stop him.” A tear rolled down her cheek as she remembered the sight of Clark getting beaned with the bullets, “Anthony shot him and I saw him survive the bullets. One thing led to another and it ended up with me knowing about his origins.”

Martha gasped but Jonathan took a step forward and looked deep into Lana’s eyes, “How much did he tell you?”
Lana continued, “Everything, I think. I only know that he can run extremely fast and has a bulletproof body, but I know that he’s…a…well…you know.” She was almost embarrassed to say it, but knew that she was just getting used to it. “Oh, and the weird mark on his chest.”

“What weird mark on his chest?” Jonathan asked.

Jumping to Lana’s rescue, Pete answered for her, “His biological father, Jor-El I’m guessing, burned a symbol into Clark’s chest before Clark destroyed the ship. It was an eight in a triangular figure. No, more like a two dimensional diamond.” He tried to draw the shape in the dirt, but it didn’t work too well.

“But why would Jor-El do that? How could he burn something into Clark’s chest? Clark can pick up a burning log and not even get a blister,” Martha asked Pete.

Pete shrugged, “My guess is that it was his way of telling Clark he had to obey him. Clark said it was the mark of his ancestors.”

Jonathan shook his head, “Why wouldn’t Clark have told us that the voice had come back?” Then turning to Lana he asked, “Was Clark acting strange before he left? As if he were on drugs or just not himself?”

Thinking back, Lana knew Clark wasn’t acting strange, but the memories of when he did flooded back. “No, Clark was acting normal.”

“You’re thinking about the red meteor rocks aren’t you, Mr. Kent?” Pete said.

Nodding Jonathan continued, “Yes. I know we destroyed the first ring, but there must be more. I hope he didn’t go looking for one.”

There was a moment of silence in the group, each confused and lost in their own thoughts. None of them knew what to say or how to propose a plan. Lana tried, “So what do we do now?”

Jonathan and Martha looked at each other and Jonathan said, “There’s not much we can do. Clark can run faster than anything and can see through walls, how are we going to compete with that?”

****
Chloe looked at the clock, she was sitting in the Torch office, again, and debating whether to go looking for Lana. She didn’t know where she had run off to, but wherever she had gone, Chloe figured Pete must be with her. They never showed up for lunch.

She looked back at her laptop, she was working on the latest article for the Torch. It was a story about the new business movement Lionel Luthor had put into play. He was hiring hundreds of scientists from across the globe to unlock the mystery in the new species of flower found in downtown Metropolis. Chloe just thought it was a big waste of money, but he had his reasons.

The man had not confronted her since she had kicked him out of the office. But he had sent a message saying to keep the computers, he didn’t know what else to do with them, and that he had disconnected his company from them. Yeah right, Chloe thought, he probably just wants to see if I’ll slip and put something on about Clark. She was keeping them, but was going to be a hundred times more careful about what she put on them.

That got her back to thinking about the business offer Lionel had made her. Why was he so interested in Clark? Well she had a pretty good idea judging from what she had witnessed last night. She didn’t know exactly what she had seen but she did know that Clark had ran really fast, faster than anything Chloe had ever seen and then withstood the bullets that Anthony Wells had fired at him. It was really weird, but for some reason she wasn’t really surprised. It answered the question of how Clark got to school so fast when he missed the bus, how he had survived the numerous falls he had demonstrated ever so slyly and how he was able to save her and Lana from the meteor freaks all the time. It was still a mystery to her, but she at least knew the beginning.

Perhaps he had told Lana about himself, whatever his secret was. The big Kent Family Secret was a joke that Lana, Pete and she had shared for many years. Maybe he had opened up to her. Of course he would have, he’s in love with her. He had always been in love with her, Chloe had tried to make something work out figuring that if Clark got to really take a good look at her that he would fall for her. That didn’t exactly happen. Now his Lana-lusting was complete, because Lana returned the infatuation, which Chloe had witnessed in Clark’s barn several nights ago.

Looking at the clock again, Chloe decided to pack up and head to her next class. She wasn’t late, but she also wasn’t getting anywhere on her article. She would work on it at the Talon later so she could ask Lana about her disappearance at the same time. She picked up her books and stuffed them and her laptop in her backpack and headed out the door.

On the way to her class she spotted Lana entering the front door of the school and hurried over to her. Lana looked up and tried to smile. “Lana! Where were you for lunch?” Chloe asked concerned.

Lana sighed, “Pete and I went to the Kent farm to talk to Clark’s parents.” Lana had been crying, again, Chloe noticed and it looked like she could start up again. “They only know that he came and took the motorcycle last night and left without saying anything.”

Chloe started to laugh, but then held it in, “Ah, the bad Clark returns.”

Lifting an eyebrow, Lana asked, “What do you mean by that?”

Chloe rolled her eyes, “Come on. When Clark went all ‘I’m all that’ and pulled out the motorcycle bit before, don’t you remember? Of course you do, he asked you out and then left you at the club. Silly me.” Lana’s eyes closed with the memory. Chloe winced, she had hit a sensitive spot. “Oops, sorry about that.”

Lana visibly shook it off and replied, “It’s okay. I’m just really confused right now.” She looked towards her class, “I think I need to go sit down.” She smiled and left Chloe standing alone in the hall.

****
Clark woke up and looked around before he remembered where he was, Al’s apartment. He threw off the covers and pulled on his shirt. He could smell coffee out in the kitchen so he walked out to find Al sitting at the table sipping coffee and reading the paper.

“Hey Clark,” Al grinned at him, “how’d you sleep?” He got up and poured Clark a cup of coffee. Greedily taking the cup, Clark sat down and took a long swig. “Whoa boy, don’t burn your throat off.”

Clark laughed, “Ah…this is good. I didn’t sleep too good, don’t get me wrong, the bed was great. I just had some bad dreams.” All he could think about last night was Lana, and every time he closed his eyes he heard her say ‘You killed my parents!’

“That’s too bad,” Al folded up his paper, “Well, do you need anything before we head over to the diner?”
Clark shook his head and downed the rest of his coffee. “Nah, I’m good. Let’s go.” He picked up his jacket that he had laid on the chair last night and Al led the way to the outside.

Al’s apartment was on the third floor of a very classy apartment building. He said he “barely paid a dime for it”, but it looked like it cost a large amount judging from the furniture and big windows placed around the room. Clark could tell Al was proud of it and he took good care of it.

They came to Al’s truck and piled in. The morning air was cool and the wind felt good going through Clark’s hair. There was a soft breeze, but other than that, not a cloud in the sky. Al started it up and started driving towards the diner. Neither man said a word on the way, both still tired.

“Well, here we are,” Al said as he stopped the truck in front of the diner. He hopped out and locked the door. Clark got out and shut his door, the diner looked a lot different in the daylight but it was still small. They’ll never find me here, Clark thought.

Al unlocked the doors and opened up the diner. They entered and Clark looked around. The place was nice and spiffy, very clean and all the chairs were stacked on top of the tables. “Out first job is to put the chairs down,” Al said and pointed around the room. “How ‘bout you do that while I get the ovens started and put on some more coffee.”

Clark nodded and walked over to the first table. He heard the swinging doors swish and Al move into the back. He went into full motion and got all the chairs down in no time. As he was taking down the last chair, Al walked back in through the doors and almost stopped in his tracks. “Wow, that was fast,” he said.

Clark grinned, “Thanks. I’m a fast worker.” Al nodded in agreement and motioned for Clark to come over to him.

“Alright, Clark, the first thing you need to do is take this card and insert it into the machine over on the wall by the phone, it’s your time card. You put it in before you leave too.” He handed Clark the card and Clark did as he said. When he turned around Al was holding an apron, “This is your apron. All employees are required to wear one.” Clark put the apron on and looked back up at Al. “Now, for the cash register.”

Chapter 11
Jonathan and Pete drove towards Metropolis, they had persuaded Lana to stay and go back to school while they went and looked for Clark. They weren’t sure where to go or how to look, but driving around a bit couldn’t hurt things.

They turned onto a road crowded with cars and semis, not that it was a huge surprise considering all streets were like that. They slowly drove and looked out their windows, not exactly sure what to be looking for but they kept an eye out for flannel. Several caught their eye, old men in flannel with long, gray beards seemed to be the most popular. They noticed the difference in scenery compared to Smallville, big skyscrapers with towering steeples and big signs advertising big company names. LuthorCorp seemed to be the most abundant. Both Pete and Jonathan had been to Metropolis, but neither had really stopped to look at the buildings.

Jonathan parked the truck in a open parking lot and the two decided to do a little searching on foot. They walked down 34th Street and looked in each of the windows of the stores along the way. Would Clark look for a job? It seemed reasonable to Jonathan but he didn’t know what Clark’s motive was.

They came to a corner and debated which way to go, west or east on Elm Avenue. They didn’t know the area at all so they decided to split up, Pete would go west and Jonathan would go east. They would walk two blocks and back.
Pete began his route westbound. On the corner was a small diner called ‘Al’s Diner’. Very small and very old, it looked brand new on the outside. He glanced in the window and couldn’t see much so he continued down the street. There were antique stores next to liquor stores and next to those were clothing departments. “Talk about diversity,” Pete mumbled.

Reaching the two block mark, Pete stopped and casually glanced around. He saw a guy about Clark’s height duck out of a grocery store and disappear. Clark! He raced over to the grocery store and looked around, there was not a trace of him. He ran inside and over to the counter near the front of the small building.
“Hey! Mister, was a guy around the age of seventeen with dark black hair just in here?” Pete put his hand over his head to show the height of Clark. The man turned around. He was old and had glasses that sat on the end of his nose.

The man looked over his glasses at Pete, “Yeah. The boy just left, you just missed him.” And he turned around.
Pete looked confused, expecting more information he tried to ask again. “Well do you know where he went?”
Turning around again, the man said, “Uh…he said something about a diner. Sorry kid, the boy was just picking up lettuce for, uh, Al. That’s all I know.”

Pete rushed a thank you and bolted out of the door. He ran down the sidewalk back towards the meeting place he and Jonathan ha set up. Al’s diner was the only diner he had seen, it had to be that one. He saw Jonathan and waved him over.

“I saw Clark, just briefly. He was coming out of a grocery store and the man inside said he was doing errands for Al, the diner guy,” Pete stopped and pointed to the diner on the corner. “That’s the only one I’ve seen.”
Jonathan took the lead and started over to it. They entered the little clique and looked around. The place was bustling with customers, many were waiting to sit down. “Must be a good place,” Pete commented. Jonathan nodded.

“Can I help you?” A man about Jonathan’s age and height approached them. He had black hair and wore a white shirt that had the words ‘Al’s Diner’ printed across the chest.

Jonathan looked him over said, “We’re looking for my son. We thought we had seen him walk in here. He’s tall, dark wear’s flannel….” His voice trailed off.

Al’s face made a jump, almost, as if it clicked in his head immediately. But instead he said, “Ah…sorry buddy. I’m not sure if I’ve seen your son. But I will keep an eye out for him. Thanks for checking.” Al started pushing them out the door.

Pete put his foot down to stop the movement, “Hey! I’m hungry!”

Al kept pushing, “Sorry, we’re closing.” He finally got them out the door and slammed the door.

Pete and Jonathan stood there and stared at the door, then looked at each other. That was certainly strange, but Clark definitely had to be in there. Why else would the guy push them out?

Al slammed the door and turned around and headed straight back to the kitchen where Clark was. “Hey Clark!” He motioned for Clark to come over.

Clark dropped the rest of the lettuce in the bowl and walked over to Al. “Yeah?”

“I kept an eye out for people who were looking for you,” Al began, “two walked. There was an older man, blondish hair, and a black guy about your age.” His nose twitched and then he sneezed into his elbow. “I pushed them out and said we were closing,” he blushed slightly, out of embarrassment.

Clark’s eyes widened and he looked through the circular windows on the swinging doors. He saw right through to the outside window and saw his dad and Pete standing bewildered on the sidewalk outside of the diner. He turned back around and heaved a sigh. He wanted to run out there and tell his dad he was sorry and to take him home, but he couldn’t bring himself to move from the spot he was standing in.

“Hey, kid, you okay?” Al asked.

Clark looked up and nodded,” Yeah, I’m great,” and then walked back to the salad. He didn’t understand why he ran away, that’s just what his biological father told him to do and he didn’t want to obey him in the first place. That was what got him into this mess and now he was giving in.

Dropping the salad he ran out of the kitchen and through the small restaurant. He got out onto the street and looked around, they were gone. He hung his head and shuffled back inside.

Clark walked over to the entertainment center, where he was supposed to control the music that was played in the diner. He looked through the assortment of cd’s and pulled out Simple Plan, he was in a miserable mood and they had good songs for sulking. He pushed the cd in and turned the volume down so that it wouldn’t cause a disturbance. He set the track to number two “Worst Day Ever”.

***
Lana drove home after school instead of going to the Talon, she called in and said she wasn’t feeling well. Which was absolutely true, she could barely walk. She couldn’t believe she let Pete and the Kent’s talk her out of going with them to look for Clark.

She walked straight to her room and shut the door. She collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Tears started to roll down her cheeks again, she knew that Clark wasn’t hurt, physically anyway, but she still worried about him. She wanted him to hold her in his arms and for her to say she was so sorry and it wasn’t his fault. She would change everything if she could go back.

Thinking about Clark brought back millions of memories, all incredibly clear now. The tornado made sense, the incident with Ian made sense, everything was clear. As soon as she found him, she would thank him for all the times he was miraculously there to save her. There were so many times she was in situations where Clark had just shown up and “saved the day” that she could barely remember them all. One she specifically remembered was when Tina Greer posed as Whitney and put her in a coffin. She had woken up to find herself being carried in Clark’s arms and brought back to her house. She shuddered at the memory.

Lana turned to her cd player and looked through her stack of cd’s. She pulled out Simple Plan and stuck it in. “I’d Do Anything” flooded through the room and the tears welled up in her eyes again.

She eventually fell asleep, and when she awoke she heard Pete and Chloe whispering outside of her door.
“No Pete, she’s asleep,” Chloe was saying.

Pete was trying hard to whisper, “But we told her that if we found anything we’d come tell her!”

Chloe answered, her voice raising slightly, “But you didn’t find anything. So why wake her up? She’s a wreck, Clark is just putting her through more agony. Until you have some hard core evidence, let her sleep!” Reporter girl strikes again.

"But Chloe, that’s the point!” Pete argued. “The guy at the diner pushed us out of the diner like he was hiding something,” Pete paused and then remembered, “how do you explain the site at the grocery store, huh? He was there! I asked the man inside and he said that a tall dark guy was running errands for Al. What more do you want?”

That was all Lana wanted to hear. She picked up her jacket and car keys and raced out of her room. Pete and Chloe whirled around at the sound of the door and ran after her. Lana raced out to her car and quickly jumped in ad started it up. Pete and Chloe were close on her heels, but were too late to stop her from backing out of the driveway.

Lana didn’t know where she was going, but she knew it was a diner with a worker named Al. Not stopping for anything, she headed for Metropolis.

Chapter 12
Clark willingly took the check from Al. It had only been one day but Al decided to start him off with some money so Clark wouldn’t be bored all evening. The check was for $150. The guy was paying him fifteen dollars an hour! Clark was incredibly surprised. Al told him it was just to start him out, because, obviously, Clark was in need of money and that they would work out a price when Clark established a firm schedule. But Clark caught a glimpse of the other checks, they were all in quantities of fifteen too.

“Are you sure you can afford his?” Clark asked, not knowing how to soak it all in.

Al shrugged, “Yea, why not. This guy bought the building and pays me five hundred grand a month to run the dumb place.”

Clark’s eyes widened, “Five hundred grand? Holy cow!” Then his heart dropped, “It isn’t Lionel Luthor is it?”
Shaking his head, Al replied, “No. Actually his son, Lex, set me up. He heard I was going out of business and bought it for me, then he says he’s going to pay me to keep it going.”

Amazed, but not surprised, Clark replied, “Wow. I know Lex, he’s a great guy and I know he does stuff like that...but why?" ”lark stuck the check in his back pocket and started to take off his apron.

Again, Al shrugged, “We knew each other throughout boarding school. I was the only one who never made fun of him.” He paused and looked around, “And he said something about keeping an eye on his dad. I guess LuthorCorp is across the street.”

They both looked out the window and sure enough, the tall LuthorCorp building loomed over them. Clark’s stomach knotted up just looking at the site. He looked at Al, he was a good guy from what Clark had seen so far. He had given him a job, a place to stay and an incredible first day payment.

“Hey Al,” Clark started, “did your dad own this place before you?”

Al nodded and turned to face him. For the first time, Clark noticed Al’s broad shoulders and lean upper body, he was as nearly as tall as Clark. “Yeah. My dad started it when I was real little,” Al’s eyes started to wander at the memory. “My parents were killed two years ago by thieves when they were coming out of a movie theater. My dad made me promise to keep this place going.”

Clark watched Al close his eyes and breathe in the air around the room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stir up any bad memories.”

Al shook his head, “No, you didn’t. I don’t mind talking about them actually.” He laughed slightly and turned back to Clark, “I took up martial arts so I would feel comfortable being alone. Pretty stupid, huh? I feel like I’m supposed to die young like my parents did.”

The statement seemed totally ironic to Clark, it felt like something Lana would say. “Not at all, I mean, I don’t think you’re stupid. My girlfriend, well, I’m not too sure of our status right now, but her parents died in the meteor shower. She took up self defense to boost her confidence.”

“The meteor shower, huh? That’s right, your from Smallville. Were you in the city during the time of the showers? Or are you too young to remember?”

Not knowing how to answer the question, Clark stuttered, “I uh…well yeah..sort of….” Just then the phone rang and Al held up a finger and walked over to the phone.

“Yeah? This is Al,” Al said into the phone. “What do you mean filing problems? Lex is in charge of that!” Al continued arguing over the phone for several minutes before hanging up. He growled and turned back to Clark, “The bank needs me. We’ll have to continue this conversation later.” Al dug in his jean pockets for his keys and pulled them out, “You’re bike is around back, go get aquainted with the city. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Clark watched Al hustle outside and into his car, Turning around, he headed towards the back door to retrieve his motorcycle. He pulled out his keys, revved it up and pulled out. It was dark now, and he turned on his headlight. He drove and drove, looking for a place to hang out.

Every other car looked like Lana’s, and he wished she were there with him, but she was so mad at him right now he couldn’t even imagine her talking to him again. That made his mood worse, he felt like sulking all night.
On every corner there was a different night club, Clark decided that would be a place to try and lift his spirits. He found the busiest one and parked his bike. Walking up to the entrance of the club “Atlantis” he found the security guard sleeping. “I’m glad to know this place is well guarded,” he mumbled.

He walked inside and a blast of music flooded over his body. His mood wasn’t lifting, but the music kept him from going further into his black hole. Not knowing what else to do, he ended up walking to the back wall and leaning against it. He let his mind wander and his dark figure blend in with the wall.

****
Lana kept driving and driving. She had been driving for a half an hour and just entered the city limits of Metropolis. It was dark now and it would be harder to find Clark. She had no idea where to start looking so she started going up and down every street.

The first road she approached was 28th Street and drove down it slowly and looking carefully. The pattern continued as she found her way west and eventually on 34th Street. For some reason, her heart was telling her to slow down and look harder, so she did. That was when she heard a motorcycle rev up, out of all the chaos and commotion on the street, she heard it and saw it coming out of the corner of her eye.
The cyclist came from behind her and when he passed, Lana caught a full image of the guy on the bike. It was Clark!

She kept in pursuit of the motorcycle and follow him as he roamed the streets, seemingly not having a notion to where he was.

Finally, Clark stopped and climbed off the motorcycle. He was heading into a night club. Confused, but determined, Lana parked her car and hopped out. She kept a safe distance between her and Clark until she had a plan of what she was going to do. As she approached the door, she saw the guard sleeping, so she quietly made her way inside. Amazed by the power the music was giving off, she momentarily forgot her purpose. Regaining her state of mind, Lana scanned the crowds.

She could not see him, so she moved further into the crowds. The smell of alcohol was terrible and Lana had to hold her breath to keep from gagging.

Glancing to her right she spotted a slight movement in the shadows. Clark was there, leaning against the wall and sulking in his clear misery. She hurried over in his direction, as fast as she could over the crowded club dance floor.
As she was speed walking and dodging waitresses, Simple Plan’s “I’d Do Anything” came on over the speakers. She approached Clark, who hadn’t seen or heard her come up.

Another day is going by
I'm thinking about you all the time
But you're out there
And I'm here waiting
And I wrote this letter in my head
Cuz so many things were left unsaid
But now you're gone
And I can't think straight

“Ironic isn’t it?” Lana asked Clark, unsure about how to strike up a conversation.

“Lana!” Clark jumped and his eyes filled with sorrow.

Lana looked up, as if trying to reading the words floating through the room, “This song is exactly how I feel.” Clark noticeably started to listen to the lyrics.

This could be the one last chance
To make you understand
I'd do anything
Just to hold you in my arms
To try to make you laugh
Cuz somehow I can't put you in the past
I'd do anything
Just to fall asleep with you
Will you remember me?
Cuz I know
I won't forget you

Clark looked at Lana and said, “Lana, I am so sorry.”

Lana put her finger to his lips, “You have nothing to be sorry about. It wasn’t your fault, I should have seen that in the beginning.” For the first time that day she felt a surge of joy rise in her heart. “No, I’m sorry. I asked you for the truth, preparing myself for what you might say,” she paused and looked deep into his eyes, “I guess I just wasn’t expecting that.”

I close my eyes
And all I see is you
I close my eyes
I try to sleep
I can't forget you
Nanana....
And I'd do anything for you
Nanana....

Clark looked down at her, his expression unchanged. “That doesn’t make up for what happened. My people killed your parents…I don’t think I could ever forgive myself for that.”

Lana sort of smiled through the corner of her mouth, “I have, so now it’s you turn.”

Clark looked confused, “To do what?”

“Forgive yourself.”

I'd do anything
To fall asleep with you
I'd do anything
There's nothing I won't do
I'd do anything
To fall asleep with you
I'd do anything
Cuz I know
I won't forget you

Clark started to say something, but before he could Lana pulled him down by his collar and kissed him. His words became muffled in her mouth so he just stopped and enjoyed the moment. She brought her hands up and around his head and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Both of them, deciding to come up for air, pulled away slowly.

“I love you Clark,” Lana whispered.

Clark breathed in the smell of her hair, “I love you too, more than you could ever know.”

Just then, emerging from the shadows on their right, appeared Anthony.

Chapter 13
Little did Lana know, that as she was pursuing Clark, she had a pursuer herself. Anthony followed her in his own car though Metropolis and into the night club. After camping out at her house all day, he figured out that Clark had run away. He felt it would be the perfect time for an ambush.

But before he could make his move, she left abruptly in her car and he was forced to follow her. She had driven for nearly forty-five minutes before parking and going into the “Atlantis” night club. He was confused while following her through the crowd, but hit himself over the head when he saw Clark in the shadows. Of course, she was looking for him.

He hid himself off to their right and watched the lovesick twosome exchange saliva. With energy boiling up inside him he knew it was time to break it up. He didn’t think anybody could hurt him, Lana had dropped kicked him and punched him and he barely felt a thing. He guessed he could fare well against Clark.

Anthony crossed his arms ands sneered at the two standing in front of him, “Well, well, well. If it isn’t freak and freakette.” He closed in a small distance between the them and himself and glared even harder. “I thought I’d shown Lana what a freak you are,” Anthony directed his comment at Clark, but kept Lana in the corner of his eye.
Clark wrapped his arms very protectively around Lana. “Anthony, she doesn’t like you. You need help!”

Anthony yelled, “NO! I need Lana!” He came after Clark, who pushed Lana behind him. Anthony hit Clark in the face and brought his hand back that was throbbing with pain. It was like he had a face of steel. Clark didn’t even flinch and the blow left Anthony at a weak point. “You are a freak!” Anthony yelled again.

Clark grabbed Anthony by his shirt and threw him into the wall. Anthony collapsed on the ground and moaned, but stood up. A small crowd began to gather around the fight and Anthony pulled out a gun. “Now all these people will get to see what a freak you are!” He turned and pointed the gun at Lana and fired.

Clark went into slow motion and saw the bullet heading for Lana, and a horrified look on her face. He didn’t know what to do, he had an audience waiting to see what he’d do. If he reached out and grabbed the bullet, it would make officials all over him. He could melt it with his fire eyes, but then they would think that he could control things with his mind.

He was just about to go ahead and melt the bullet when something caught his eye. Another bullet was heading for the original. It crossed a few feet in front of Clark’s eyes and collided with the bullet heading for Lana. Coming out of super speed he looked around. Police officials were apprehending Anthony and they wrestled his gun away. He was yelling and screaming, almost to the point of convulsion.

Lana ran up to Clark and he wrapped his arms around her. “Clark did you do that?” Lana asked.

Clark shook his head and looked up. He saw Al standing in the midst of the crowd holding a gun. People around him were smiling and patting him on the back. The two walked towards each other, Lana’s hand still in Clark’s. “Al? How did you know where I was?” Clark was shocked to see him, but also very relieved because it took the spotlight off of him.

Al stuck his gun back in the inside of his jacket and answered, “I saw you park your bike and walk in, then your girl follow you in,” he nodded towards Lana. “Then I saw the guy that shot at her follow her in,” he laughed, “I thought I’d better follow him in to find out what was going on.”

“What about the bank?” Clark asked.

Shrugging Al replied, “It was a mix up, the bank is down a block and I was just walking out as you passed.” Then he asked, “Why was that guy shooting your girlfriend?”

Clark blushed, “I guess he is obsessed with her. Pretty silly, huh?” He looked down at Lana, who tried to smile up at him but was really terrified.

Lana broke the silence, “How did you do that?”

Al looked at her and smiled, “I was telling Clark here about taking up Martial Arts to regain my confidence after my parents death. Well I am also taking a specialized gunnery class that teaches you how to use your gun for self defense rather than to kill.” Clark grinned slyly, but Al continued, “I’m working with the police to prevent juvenile crime, such as the case of your stalker over there,” Al looked over at Anthony, “sometimes you can spot kids with weapons, other times you can’t. But I’ve been using my diner as a place to promote a safe haven, under a fake identity.”

Clark looked at him suspiciously, “Why are you telling us this?”

Al shrugged again, “You know Lex. He set me up and I figured you’d like to know, considering you worked for me.”

“What do you mean worked?” Clark asked.

Al replied, “I think it’s time for you to go home Clark, your family needs you.” He turned around and started to walk away.

“Wait,” Clark shouted, “who are you.”

“The name’s Bruce, Bruce Wayne.”

****
Clark and Lana walked in the front door of the Kent farm house and Martha bombarded Clark with a giant hug. “Oh Clark! We were so worried!”

Clark looked down at his mom with sorrow in his eyes, “Mom, I’m so sorry. For the baby….”

Jonathan stepped up to his son, “Son, that’s my fault. I know there is no excuse for what I said, but I know now that you did not mean for this to happen. I’m sorry son.” He embraced Clark, in an awkward sort of way and they all took a turn to laugh to themselves.

Remembering Lana’s presence, Martha spoke up, “Well it seems we have a new member of the family secret, eh?” She looked at Lana then to Clark, both who were blushing and avoiding eye contact with her.

Lana smirked, “Don’t worry Mrs. Kent, I’ll take good care of Clark.” They all laughed and Jonathan and Martha decided to leave them alone and went upstairs to bed.

Clark and Lana moved out to the barn and up to the loft. They really didn’t know how to start a conversation so they leaned against the window sill of the opening in the loft. They stared up into the night’s sky and up at the stars. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the air was cool and refreshing.

Without turning towards Clark, Lana said, “Everything makes sense now.”

Clark looked at her through the corner of his eye, “Is that what you wanted?”

Smiling out of the corner of her mouth, Lana said, “I think so. It was really hard when you would do something incredible, like rescue me from the tornado, and not say a thing about it.” She leaned sideways on the window and looked at him, “And its really comforting to know that my boyfriend is bullet proof.” She was smiling and looking up at him.

Clark grinned sheepishly, “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

Nodding Lana said, “Yeah, I can imagine.”

Clark walked away from the window and looked around the loft, “I mean, its like I’m trapped in this little shell and I can’t do anything, or tell the ones I care about the most.” He turned around and looked at her, “I thought by not telling you, I would protect you from the truth about me and the connection to your parents. I thought it would make all of my friendships go easier.”

Lana walked over to him and took his hand, “It came at the right time, Clark. I might not have been able to handle this kind of news a year or two ago. You did the right thing, it is just an incredible thought to realize how different you really are.”

“It doesn’t bother you though?” Clark asked.

Lana looked at Clark’s chest and replied, “Well, it did at first. I mean, you have to admit, you’re an alien. But you look normal, you act normal and you have normal problems, and then some abnormal problems. Basically, your just from the other side of the world, that’s how I’ve started to think about it.” She looked up at him again, “I’ve learned to trust you though, and no matter what planet you’re from, trust is a very important thing. The kind of trust I have in you makes up for your citizenship.”

Clark looked at her softly, and smiled a little. “Thanks Lana, I’m glad to know you trust me. I trust you too.”
Lana smirked, “So are you ready to show me your other powers?”

Clark laughed, “You mean you want to see them all?”

Lana smirked and hopped up on the ledge of one of the walls. “If I jump, can you catch me?” She was a good twenty feet away from Clark. He nodded and she jumped straight up in the air. Before you could breathe, Clark was under her and caught her in his arms. “Wow, I’m impressed.”

“Well, you’re not that heavy,” Clark emphasized that and rolled his eyes. “But I got something better,” Clark set her down and looked around. He spotted a candle on the wall by his desk. “Keep your eyes on that candle.” He pointed towards the candle and Lana stared at it. He concentrated and lit it.

Lana gasped, “What did you do?”

Clark shrugged, “Lit it with my eyes.”

Lana had to laugh, it was too weird to be anything else but funny. “Do you think you know whether your man or superman yet, Clark?”

Clark remembered the first time she had asked him that, it was during one his clumsy moments before the knowledge of his origins. He laughed too and then remembered her necklace. He always kept it with him, mostly because it was neutralized and he could have it with him, but also because he never knew if he would get the chance to give it back. He produced it from his pocket and dangled it in front of her.

Lana stared at it, it was her necklace alright, but why was it clear? “Clark, what happened to it?”

“Remember when you gave it to Tina, who was posing as Whitney? She trapped me down in our cellar and tied it around my neck. The meteor rock that was in it gives off a radiation,” he shuddered at the thought, “and if I’m exposed to it for too long I will die.”

Lana’s eyes narrowed and she took it from him. Almost smirking she asked, “So all the times I thought you were just being clumsy, it was actually because your, well, allergic to it and I was wearing it around my neck?” Clark nodded sheepishly. “Well that’s good to know,” Clark gave her a weird look and she caught on, “just because I know how to kill you now.” A grin spread across her face but Clark had an alarmed look on his, “Clark, I’m just kidding. Now I know so I will make sure to get them out of your way in case we come across one or something.”

Lana’s eyes narrowed and she took it from him. Almost smirking she asked, “So all the times I thought you were just being clumsy, it was actually because your, well, allergic to it and I was wearing it around my neck?” Clark nodded sheepishly. “Well that’s good to know,” Clark gave her a weird look and she caught on, “just because I know how to kill you now.” A grin spread across her face but Clark had an alarmed look on his, “Clark, I’m just kidding. Now I know so I will make sure to get them out of your way in case we come across one or something."  Clark’s face changed into a more pleasant mood, he knew she was kidding, but the idea of being around the stuff made him nauseous. Lana said, “So, anymore miraculous things that Clark Kent can do?”

“Some of them are hard to just show you, because it isn’t really something that you can see,” Clark was thinking about his x-ray vision. That would scare her, she would think he was violating her. Instead he went into super speed and stood behind her, leaving Lana looking around in front of her. “Over here!” Clark said, she whipped around and gave him a very weird look.

“Okay, now that was weird. Do you move really fast or do you stop time?” She asked and then she was looking at nothing. She turned around again and Clark was flipping through a magazine on his couch.

Casually, Clark said, “I just move really fast.” Lana came over and sat by him.

“Can you see through walls? Control things with your mind? You didn’t make me fall in love with you did you?” Lana asked him suspiciously.

Clark laughed, “No, no, you did that on your own.” He smiled, “Besides, even if I could I would never want to do that. Its just the wrong way to do things. But I can see through walls.” He smiled again and Lana didn’t really know how to respond. So instead she just laughed.
“If it wasn’t so weird,” Lana said, “I’d be freaked out.” They both stood up and walked back over to the window. Lana’s heart was smiling because it finally had the answers she had long anticipated. Sure it wasn’t what she had expected, but it was far better than what she could have imagined.

Lana looked up at him, “Is that all?”

Clark smirked and looked into her eyes. “No, one more.” She gave him a look and he bent down and kissed her.

~The End~