Title: Hero

Author: Lance Robert Weeler

Category: Loads of angsty misery. Some C/L.

Rating: PG-13 to be safe.

Spoilers: Up to "Dichotic." "Skinwalker" did not happen! Is this important? Not really.

Disclaimers: I don't own the show or any of the characters. If I did, they'd be on HBO, where you know I'd be doing naughty things with them.

Summary: On a miserable night, two years in the future, a tortured Clark Kent finds himself in the graveyard, mourning the deaths of two loved-ones. He finds a way to go back and save them. but at what price?

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Chapter One: The Fallen

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The wind cracked branches and felled trees. Power lines were down, cars were forced off roads. The rain pelted down sideways with the fury of hail. No one, man or beast would be out on a night like this. But Clark Kent was no mere man, and certainly no beast. He stood tall in the night, ignoring the harsh conditions, the rumbling of the thunder and the flashes of lightning almost surrounding him.

But today was no ordinary day. A year ago today, a precious soul left this earth. A soul full of passion, of possibility, was snuffed out much too early. His parents repeatedly told Clark that it wasn't his fault, but he of course blamed himself. 'You can't save everyone, Clark,' they told him. That day Lex had convinced him to go to Metropolis with him to check out a Sharks game. If he had stayed home that day, he could have easily saved her.

He paced his way through the cemetery until he reached the next familiar grave. Ryan. Another one he could have saved. If he had kept closer contact with him, he could have rescued him from Dr. Garner. Instead, he too laid here. Clark looked around, imagining the empty plots filling with the citizens of Smallville. He would have to be extra vigilant to save them all. A lesser man would have left this town for bigger and better things. He would stay as long as the town needed him. That was his curse, his gift, the burden he wilfully placed on his own shoulders. He would do his best to be their guardian angel, but he feared that one day he would recognize more names on the gravestones than not.

To the casual observer, he was simply a man walking in the rain, but he had cried the whole time, the rain masking his tears. He walked home as he had arrived, choked with guilt. He kicked stones down the road as he went, trying to takes his mind off things. With his senses dulled, he never noticed the ball of fire, falling from the sky toward him. His world abruptly went black.

~~~

With the storm's passing, the rain had been reduced to little more than a drizzle. The moisture in the air did little to cool the smouldering rock that lay at the centre of the crater. Clark arose from the ashes and surveyed the scene before him. He had awoken on the edge an impact crater, about twenty feet in diameter. His clothes were in tatters, his face streaked with ash and mud. What was left of the meteorite looked no more harmless than a large rock.

Clark warily approached it with reservation. He jumped back a moment when he heard a sound emanating from the meteorite. It slowly began to crack in half. Inside, a purple mineral crystal, the size of a mellon ball glowed ominously. He gaped at in awe - it was magnificent. He rolled up his hand in what was left of his sleeve and retrieved it. It didn't seem to affect him, so he picked it up with his bare hand. He could have sworn it glowed more brightly the moment he touched it, but figured he was just seeing things. Clark stuffed the orb in his pocket and ran home.

~~~

Arriving home, he saw several poles and fences uprooted on the property. He sighed knowing there'd be a few more chores to be done tomorrow. He made his way inside, only to find his parents were missing. A message on the answering machine explained that they were spending the night at the Ross' to weather the storm.

It was late, but he wasn't feeling very tired. After changing his clothes, he went into the kitchen to fix himself something to eat before retiring to the loft. Not too surprisingly, he found Lana asleep inside. After Chloe's death, Gabe Sullivan packed up his bags and moved to California. Everyone felt bad for him, but there was nothing they could do. He wanted to get a fresh start.

Henry Small took Lana in, and was slowly learning to be a dad, but she didn't feel comfortable opening up to him. Chloe had quickly become her best friend while she had stayed with them and had begun to confide in her. With Chloe's passing, Lana and Clark grew closer as the days went by. She realized that life was short and even though Clark kept some secrets from her, she knew he'd never hurt her. They helped each other heal and took solace in each other. She was around so much; it was like when she was living next door.

He took a seat beside her and placed a quilt over her sleeping form. He tenderly stroked her face with one hand and took out the meteorite with the other. Perhaps this one was just an innocent space rock. An idea came into his head as he looked back and forth at Lana and the meteorite. He decided that he'd make a new necklace for her, a purple one. Purple after all, was the colour of high school sweethearts.

He placed the rock above her neck and tried to picture what the necklace would look like. A beautiful gem for a beautiful woman. He placed a kiss on her forehead before a shiver ran down his spine and dizziness overcame him. He collapsed to the ground for the second time that night.

~~~

This time when Clark awoke, he realized he was on the ground, feeling very weak. He got up on one knee and looked up to see Lana, passing a book to him. Clark looked at her, perplexed, until he saw the familiar green necklace around her neck, and the title of the book.

"Nietzsche. Didn't realize you had a dark side, Clark," she said with a slight smile.

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