o0o

A knock on the barn door made Jonathan Kent look up from the tractor part he was working on. He half expected someone he knew, but instead a young woman with long brunette hair pulled back from her face with a clip. She looked professional in slacks and a green sleeveless top. There was probably heels under the bottoms of those slacks. He wondered what she was selling.

"Jonathan Kent?"

He picked up a cloth from the workbench to wipe his hands. "Yeah. Who are you?"

She walked forward and held out her hand. "My name is Danielle Anderson and I'm a medical intern with Smallville Med. I'd like to ask you a few questions regarding your recent visit."

Jonathan ignored her hand and turned back to the workbench. "I don't really have time to talk to you, Doctor."

This was the last thing he wanted to talk about; which visit was she referring too? There had been several in the last few months, more then he wanted to admit. Their family had shown their faces around the medical center too many times for his comfort. This young woman needed to take her questions back to her superiors and leave it at that. Not usually a rude person, Jonathan Kent was counting on his dismissive comments and her younger years to do the work for him.

Instead of getting the hint and leaving, she stepped closer. "I understand your reluctance to talk a doctor. I really do; I don't like doctors either and I am one. But what I don't get is how a perfectly healthy man suddenly suffers a heart attack or how an eighteen year old farm boy has a medical file thinner then a leaf."

As she finished speaking, she threw a file onto the workbench.

Jonathan slowly put down the wench he had been using and picked up the thin, silver file. It was from Smallville Medical Center and had Clark's name printed neatly in black on the front. Thinning his lips, he looked up at the woman in front of him. "How did you get this?" He asked, motioning with the file.

"I do my research, Mr. Kent." Danielle replied evenly. She pointed to the file in his hand. "I expected to see more visits in there. Now either Clark's been living in a plastic bubble for his entire life or he has the ability to heal himself."

Jonathan forced himself to smile as he threw the file back on the workbench and lifted up the tractor part. "This isn't science fiction, doctor." He told her, grunting with the effort; where was Clark when you needed him? He started towards the barn doors.

She followed him. "Science-fiction in the way that I know you're protecting him?"

Forcing down his annoyance with a sigh, Jonathan set the heavy piece of machinery on the ground and turned to face her. Danielle stepped closer to him.

"That's speculation." Jonathan replied, throughly annoyed at how she kept pushing. Exactly what did she expect to find? What did she want from him?

"Science fiction in the same way that I know you struggle with pain every single day?" She asked him softly.

This time Jonathan did pause. That wasn't in his medical file; no one knew that about him, not even Martha. Danielle stepped into his personal space and gently placed two fingers on his chest in the exact spot that hurt. He winced and instinctively stepped away from her touch.

"Do you believe me now?" She asked quietly.

"How did you know?" He asked.

She hesitated and then continued in the same quiet tone. "I have an ability heal people through touch. Because I can do that, I can also sense where and what needs the healing. Every time your heart beats, it's telling me where the problem is."

"What are you looking for here?" Jonathan asked, sensing that there was more going on under the surface then just a passing interest in a weird medical file. All the medical files at Smallville Med were strange.

She stepped out of his personal space. "If your son has the ability to heal himself, then he may have abilities similar to what I have. I've never found anyone whose come close to know what it's like. I'd like to talk to him."

He shook his head. "I'm afraid that won't be possible. Clark doesn't have what you're looking for."

"But he is different." She pressed. "You didn't even bat an eye when I told you what I can do. You know something..."

They were interrupted when three men showed up in the barn doorway. Danielle turned and ran towards the back door, but quickly backpedaled when a third man entered, pointing a gun in her direction.

Danielle raised her hands and came to a stop beside Jonathan again. They both had guns pointed at them by now.

"I don't take it you're all here for a friendly chat." Jonathan commented, raising his hands.

"Just keep quiet, old man." One of the men said. He was clearly in charge. "No one has to get hurt here."

The man with the gun came closer to Danielle and grabbed her upper arm. She turned and touched his bare face. In only took a few seconds, but the man gasped for air and then collapsed onto the ground. He didn't move and the paleness of his face suggested that he was dead.

"That was a mistake." The man in charge said.

"Maybe." Danielle said. "But now I'll have enough energy to keep going for quite a while. Wanna test me?"

Both he and his companion snapped out batons and moved towards the two of them. "We're going to have to do this the hard way. Get these two to the van and then search the property." He ordered the other man.

Jonathan didn't know what was happening, but it was clear that these men weren't here just for Danielle. They were intent on taking the whole family if he'd let them. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let them get ahold of Clark. If their reaction to how Danielle had killed their partner was any indication, he wouldn't be surprised if they worked for someone who knew a lot about people with powers.

Danielle was the first to act. "They won't shoot you!" She yelled at him as she traded blows with the baton wielding thug.

Jonathan looked towards the guy with the gun who was tracking his every movement.

"Don't even think about it." The man said.

But Jonathan was thinking about it. He stepped back, grabbed the wrench on the worktable and threw. The man had been ready for that. The gun fired; the bullet flew past him, missing, but the object flew through the air and whacked the gunman on the head. He went down in a heap.

Jonathan turned around to deal with the second baton wielding man and realized that the bullet had hit Danielle. She looked up from her torso where blood had started to show through her shirt. She grabbed a post for balance and sank to the floor.

The baton slammed into Jonathan's head, making the world spun as he fell to the floor, but he didn't black out. A well placed foot and Danielle was on her back. The man above her laughed. "It's going to take you another jolt to recover from that." He teased. "But we're not going to give you the chance."

He laughed again and motioned for his colleague to come over. Jonathan looked over at Danielle and saw that her eyes were filling with tears. He realized what he would have to do to save them both.

o0o

Danielle felt her eyes fill up with tears. It was going to be the end. These guys were too smart to let their skin touch hers and their thick clothing would prevent her from forcing the contact. She looked up at Jonathan; their eyes meeting across the short distance that separated them and she knew what he wanted her to do. The thought was confirmed when Jonathan gave her the tiniest of nods. Unable to do more, she gave a slight inclination of her head; yes.

Gathering her strength, she slowly pushed herself up and painfully crawled across the floor. Painfully aware of the two men behind her, she heard them laugh as he realized what she was trying to do. She ignored them, hearing footsteps coming towards her.

She was by Jonathan's side by now. With a quick glance at his face, she placed her hand on his chest. The feeling was electric. Sparks of static electricity danced between the surface of her bare palm and the thin material of the cotton t-shirt that he wore. Everything else faded into the background as she threw back her head in ecstasy; the power flooding her body. The power of a human life force.

There was no other feeling like it in the world. For a moment, everything was amplified. A cool breeze dancing along her bare shoulders, Jonathan's body shuddering, his gasp for air that wouldn't come.

A quick prick of concern washed over her at what she was doing, but it was quickly swept away. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing but the power coursing through her body at this moment. She could feel her strength returning as her reserve was replenished and the wound healed. The parts that were Jonathan, what made up his soul, settled and she could feel his strength of character, his love for his family, and the lengths he would go to protect Clark; who wasn't from Earth.

Reality crashed in too soon. Like water cut off at it source, the connection between them faded with a snap. She half-collapsed, throwing out her free hand over Jonathan's body to steady herself. Beneath her other hand, Jonathan slumped, his body suddenly weak. His eyes slipped closed as his chest stilled; his heart stopped a split second later.

The men behind them, whom had been too awed by what they had just witnessed, now started forward; intent on finishing the job that they had come here to do.

In a quick motion she stood and threw out her hands, catching both men on on the chest. The electric feeling returned only for a moment before the men collapsed to the floor. She didn't need it; didn't usually take in this much, but it felt so good. It had been a long while since she had felt this strong.

"Dad?"

Clark's voice echoed from the barn doorway...