"Clark, don't do this!"

Clark turned towards his friend, " Chloe, look at the news report the mine collapsed on a gas line, there are 100 people down there and if I don't get to them then the line could explode." He turned towards the door to leave when she grabbed his arm.

" Don't you remember your last trip underground? The whole area is littered with meteor rock." She grabbed him by the face and made him look at her. " You could die!"

She watched Clark's face take on a look that only appeared in moments like these and she knew there was no stopping. " I'll be back as soon as I can."

With that there was a rush of wind and he was gone. Chloe turned her attention back to the television. She knew she wouldn't be able to see the results of Clark's work until miners mysteriously started to show up and that worried her more than anything. " Why does he have to be so damn selfless." Chloe wiped a tear from her eye.

" Who are you talking about sweetie?" Martha Kent walked into the house and made her way to the living room.

" Who do you think?" She nodded towards the television and Martha looked to see what was worrying Chloe so much. It didn't take her long to figure it out.

" He didn't go in there did he?" Martha had heard Clark talk about the collapse in the tunnel with Lex and knew how dangerous the mines were to him. It only took one look from Chloe to confirm her fears.

They both stared at the T.V. hoping for some sort of confirmation that Clark was all right. Sure enough little by little miners began to slowly make their way onto the screen.

We have unconfirmed reports that miraculously many of the miners trapped in the collapse have begun to appear at the beginning of the mine. Even more unbelievable is that some of theses men have been unconscious. We will try to find out more details as the story progresses…

Both Martha and Chloe sighed in relief if more and more kept showing up, it mean that Clark was still running at full power. All they had to do now was wait for him to get the last of the victims and come back home.

" Thank God." They both said in unison, they took a sigh of relief and Martha was about to ask what had led up to this but they both froze at the noise that emanated from the box behind them.

"BOOOOOOOOOM!" Time slowed down for the both of them as they turned around and both vaguely heard the announcer from the television speaking. " we are receiving reports that the gas line below has indeed exploded, experts say that anyone trapped within five hundred feet would be within the projected blast range."[/i] Both women knew that was the reporter's tactful way of saying all those trapped in the mine, were now probably dead.

Chloe had the sense to know that keeping Mrs. Kent calm was probably the most important thing to do right now. " Okay Mrs. Kent he's probably fine, remember he's pretty much invulnerable."

Martha fell back onto the couch with a stunned expression on her face as the last few minutes went through her head over and over again. Chloe not knowing what to do simply sat down right beside her. It was a couple of hours before any noise was made and it wasn't from the two women in the room. Both were lost in their own thoughts knowing that their wasn't any reason Clark shouldn't have been back by now.

" Hello. Doesn't anyone answer their phone around here?" Lois lane walked in and dropped her bag on the counter before continuing into the living room, when she saw the ghost white complexions of both women she instantly grew concerned.

" Chloe, Mrs. Kent what's wrong?" She sat down in the chair next to them before Chloe turned her expressionless face towards her.

" There…there…was a collapse at the mine…and…and…" Lois was getting scared when she saw tears well up in both women's eyes, but didn't have time to ask any questions before she was distracted by lights outside.

As the blue and red lights showed through the window there was a knock on the door and Lois was now down right scared and she was now realizing that there was one person who was conspicuously absent at the moment.

They all made their way to the door and Lois was the one to open it and she wasn't pleased to see two officers with their hats in their hands. " Good evening Mrs. Kent."

" Officer." She managed to get out in a small voice.

" I take it you heard about the mine collapse." Martha only nodded her head in response; " Well about half of the miners who were trapped were carried to safety by a man who for whatever reason risked his life to go into the mines when no one else thought it was possible." Lois and Chloe were growing more and more weary with every word. " In fact the only reason we know it was Clark was because the survivors saw Clark entering and exiting the mine a few times, and the miners who were conscious caught glimpses of his face when they could." None of the women liked the word survivors and now new beyond a doubt where this conversation was going. " On his last trip down the gas line exploded, there were no survivors. I'm sorry mam but your son was caught in the blast, but you should know that he was a hero."

All three women stood in shock before Lois and Chloe had to catch Martha as she broke down.

******************************************

There was no body to bury at Clark's funeral, no remains had been found and it was assumed that he was incinerated in the blast. Chloe had been in denial until she walked by the mine and saw the meteor rock on the ground.

" All of us knew what a hero Clark was before he went into the mine…" Whatever the officer was saying was nothing but white noise to Lois. She couldn't quite believe he was gone. Sure he put himself in danger a lot, but he had always come back without a scratch on him.

She had no idea what to do, she had never realized it while he had been here but he was kind of an anchor in her life. No matter what article Chloe was researching, or where Mrs. Kent was, Clark was always there no matter what the situation. A safety net that she realized she never thought she'd lose.

She looked at Chloe and Martha; Chloe was still in a state of shock while Martha was inconsolable and Lois had no idea what to do. She was still dealing with how the loss was affecting her and honestly couldn't be much help.

Chloe cursed whoever it was that had decided to build the mine near meteor rock, wondering what life would hold for her now without her best friend. Every future she had ever pictured involved him in one way or another, and without him she felt lost. Jimmy had come back from Europe for the funeral and was doing everything he could to help, but in the end it was no use.

The empty coffin was lowered into the grave and everyone at the funeral rose to pay their respects, Chloe looked down and saw a green meteor rock and couldn't help but feel like it was a cruel joke to have it at his funeral and picked it up to toss it as far as possible. She got a few odd looks but it didn't bother her though, these people only knew Clark as the golden boy of Smallville not the true man that he was. She hated those meteor rocks more than anything for taking away her best friend.

If only anyone had known that while there was green meteor rock on the surface, within the mine all of the meteor rock had been red…

***********************************************

6 years later…

" Three cheers for Lane and Sullivan." The bullpen let out a roar and both reporters smiled. Neither normally would have liked the attention but they couldn't help it, this was so big they were both guaranteed a Pulitzer nomination.

" I don't know how you two managed to bust the leader of Intergang but I'm so proud I'm tempted to give you the week off." Perry White was in a rare good mood, he couldn't have been prouder of the two women he couldn't help but see as daughters.

" Really Chief, I could use a vacation." Lois smirked as he shook his head.

" I said I was tempted, but I still expect you here the same time as usual tomorrow morning. But feel free to take the rest of the day off." With that Perry went back to his office leaving both Lois and Chloe to themselves.

Chloe still wore a big grin on her face as she turned to her cousin, " I can't believe we did it cuz."

Lois sat back in her chair and put on a triumphant smirk, " What can I say we're just that good."

Chloe sat in the chair across from her cousin, " Even though we did have a little bit of help from the boyfriends."

Lois shrugged her shoulders; it was true that both Bruce and Ollie had helped towards the end. But it was Chloe and herself that had found out that Trask was the head of Intergang and had gotten the hard proof they had needed to put him away for life.

" Maybe, but we were the one's to do most of the work they simply saved us from the mass of thugs trying to kill us." Chloe laughed slightly at her cousins stubbornness but it was cut short when the phone rang.

Lois answered, " Dailey Planet, Lois Lane speaking."

" After five years on the top floor you still answer it the same way you did on the first one." Lois smiled at the sound of her boyfriend's voice.

" Hey Bruce, to what do I owe the mid day phone call." Chloe rolled her eyes, sometimes she wondered how they had each landed their own separate billionaire boyfriends, who just happened to be super heroes on the side.

" Well me and a friend of mine were reading about the fall of Intergang and wanted to know if we could celebrate with the two ladies responsible." She could see him smirking from the other end of the phone line.

" You know, saying that you and Ollie wanted to take us to lunch would have been a lot easier."

Bruce laughed from the other end of the phone, " Yea, but my way seemed more billionaire like."

" Well you do have a point there." One of Lois's favorite things about Bruce was that he was just a guy who happened to be really rich. The money hadn't gone to his head at all.

" Besides it will nice to have dinner with my girlfriend knowing that Intergang is on the run and therefore not worrying about killing the reporter trying to uncover it's secrets." Lois rolled her eyes at Bruce's flattery.

" How about we meet at Chili's in an hour." It was simple but Lois just felt like having a relaxing meal in a casual environment, and she could tell that her cousin felt the same way.

" I'll look forward to it." With that Bruce hung up the phone and Lois turned back to her cousin.

Chloe was the first to speak, " So I take it we have lunch in an hour." Lois nodded her head. It was true what Bruce had said; as she sat there police were rounding up Inetgang members by the boatload. Not only had she and Chloe incriminated a handful of them but some of those arrested were already turning in their partners in crime for reduced sentences. As far as Metropolis was concerned Intergang was over and it was all thanks to Lois Lane and Chloe Sullivan.

********************************************************

Las Vegas, Nevada

Three black Aston Martin Vanquishes pulled up to the Phoenix hotel and casino. It had been open for about three years and was still the nicest and most popular destination on the Las Vegas strip.

The inhabitants of the car stepped out and the lone passenger of the middle car was surrounded by what onlookers could only assume were five body guards. They walked with enough space between them and the man to be comfortable enough, but close enough that they could speak if necessary.

The man in the center had dark unruly hair that was longer than average and was wearing an all black suit with a full length jacket that cost more than most people's entire wardrobe. He was sporting Oakley sunglasses and sported a look that showed he was clearly not pleased.

The manager walked up and was allowed to stand beside the man, " Welcome back sir, would you like to hit the table's before retiring for the night."

" No tonight I'll be going straight to my room, " he finally turned to look at the manager, " Are my guests here?"

The manager nodded his head, " Yes sir, all are waiting in your penthouse." The man only nodded his head

" How's business?" The manager was used to this question and already had his folder pulled out.

" Here are the numbers sir." The man took the folder and only looked them over briefly looked them over. He didn't know how but his boss could always see an error in the numbers.

" Everything looks good." They paused as they made it to the man's private elevator and called it down.

" When's your next raise do?" The manager looked up surprised, it was an odd experience looking up to a man that was half your age.

" I believe it's in six months." The man nodded his head as the elevator doors opened.

The man walked in with three bodyguards as two stayed behind and stood on each side of the elevator. " Tell the men in accounting to bump that up to the next pay check."

" Thank you sir." The elevator doors closed and the manager left with a smile on his face.

" Why the raise Boss?" One of the bodyguards spoke to the man; they were now in the privacy of the elevator and could speak freely.

" Because a man who can run a casino as well as he can, and yet still be blind to what goes on here is a man worth keeping happy." The bodyguards smirked and nodded; somehow their boss was always thinking three steps ahead of everyone else.

As the man stepped out of the elevator two of the guards took their posts on the outside of the elevator as the one remaining guard walked two steps behind and to the side of the man. As the man entered the doorway the remaining guard took his post out side the door.

The man entered his penthouse suite to see eleven men sitting around his table. Normally it would have been twelve but the remaining member was currently behind bars. It was a tradition that Intergang had twelve lieutenants and one leader, this man was the unchallenged leader of Intergang and no one dared question that, not after what happened to the last man who tried to usurp power.

" Thank you all for coming, I felt it necessary to meet as a group to discuss yesterday's events." He walked to the head of the table and sat down as all eyes were on him.

" I take it you all know what happened so I wont bore you with the details." The man pressed a button and an article titled " The Fall of Intergang." appeared on a large screen from behind him.

" We all know this isn't true. Trask was taken into custody and a large portion of the Metropolis operation had been compromised, but the rest of our business is still running strong." He paused and took in the looks of the other men across the table, and the eagerness their eyes held. Metropolis was the most coveted city within Intergang. Whoever was in control of operations there made the most money and gained the most influence the only problem was that it was much harder to be a criminal there than in any other city in the world. In Metropolis you had to contend not only with Luthor, but with cops who for the most part could not be bought and reporters who could not be scared away. The only advantages Intergang had over the city now were one, that the city believed that Intergang had fallen apart. And Second that no one knew the members of Intergang's identity unless a member betrayed the organization.

" What I want to know is who gave Trask up." There was a silence until the guy who ran operations in England spoke up.

" My contacts are on it as we speak, I have been helped by a few of my partners at this table and we believe we will have his name by the end of tomorrow." The man nodded his head, many would have been angry they didn't already have a name but the man knew that things such as this took time.

" As you've all probably guessed I called this meeting so that we could decide who would take over Metropolis." All the people around him sat up a little bit straighter.

" Originally I was going to do as we normally do and decide together who had earned it but on the way here I came to a decision myself." The others in the room were surprised, the boss had a tendency to make important decisions as a group. In the end it was his decision but all the lieutenants appreciated that their input was taken.

" I know that this is out of character, but after looking over the extent to the damage done to our Metropolis operation I realized how hard it would be to get it back on track. So after much consideration, I've decided to take it over myself." There was a murmur amongst the group, normally the boss like to keep out of direct business for anonymity reasons, but they all knew he would do a better job than anyone else could.

" As a trade off, the next lieutenant will be selected by you all and when you have decided you can notify me. As for the city he will run I want him in Macau." The person who ran Chinese operations was about to speak up but the boss cut him off. " Don't worry Kenji, I still have complete faith in you, but China is becoming a larger business opportunity than any one anticipated. Just as America had multiple representatives I believe more will be required there." This silenced Kenji and he sat down.

The boss stood and turned his back to the group as he walked up to the screen, the man in charge of Gotham operations spoke up, " Do you want us to deal with the reporters who named Trask."

The man looked at the names on the article and shook his head, " No, I will deal with them myself, but I expect the person who betrayed us to be waiting for me when I arrive in Metropolis, and I expect him to be unharmed." A few of the Lietenants smirked not envying the position the person who had turned on the group was in.

The boss made his way to look outside at the lights of Las Vegas. He waived a hand behind him and the group new it was time to leave. When they were all gone the man took a deep breath and removed his coat and sunglasses. He smirked a little as he took in the few of sin city. He doubted Metropolis was ready but one thing was sure, Kal was coming home.

TBC…