Chapter1 – OrphansBruce looked down at his parents as the rain fell heavily on him, soaking him to the bone. A red pool of his parent's blood flowed around his knees mixing with the puddles of rain. They were so quiet and still, almost like they were sleeping. He was alone…He was in a city with several million people and he felt completely and utterly...alone. The cops finally arrived after a passerby had seen him kneeling next to his parents. A young cop named Gordon told him he was in shock and that everything would be ok.
How could anything ever be ok again? Why God WHY DID YOU TAKE THEM?
Bruce woke in a cold sweat. It was the anniversary of his parent's death. People had told him it would get easier with time but it never did. His body seemed to have it's own calendar and knew the exact day and hour when his parents were murdered. He slowly got out of bed and looked out his window into the cold, dark morning.
He quietly got his clothes on and made his way downstairs and out onto the front porch, being careful not to let the door squeak. It was nice here…quiet. The moon was big and hung low over the cornfields. A breeze swept through the trees, blowing the branches back and forth, making a soothing sound.
Bruce turned as the front door opened.
"Hey man how you doing?" Clark asked him as he handed Bruce a cup of coffee.
"Thanks." Bruce took the warm cup gratefully.
After his parents death Alfred had sent him to live with his mom's second cousin, Martha Kent. Clark and Bruce hadn't hit it off right away; Clark was a very happy child and Bruce was very quiet and brooding. They fought often but time soon molded them into a friendship that brought them as close as brothers. Now they were both eighteen and pretty much inseparable.
The two watched quietly as the first rays of the sun broke over the cornfields warming their faces with its heat.
"I just wish there was something I could have done." Bruce broke the silence.
Clark was shocked, in the years Bruce had been on the farm he had never opened up before about his feelings of his parent's death.
"You were a kid Bruce, what could you have done against a grown man with a loaded gun?"
"Yeah I know; I know…nothing. There was nothing I could have done. I was weak and helpless…"
Clark said nothing, there was nothing more to say.
Changing the subject, Clark set his cup down, "We might as well get going, the south fence needs mending. Maybe we can get out of here early today and head down to the Talon." Clark said as he sipped his coffee.
Bruce nodded, the change of subject worked, "Yeah you would like that, anything to see Lana sooner."
"Bruce…was that a joke?" Clark shot back.
They laughed quietly as to not wake Jonathan and Martha. Everyone knew of Clark's undying love of Lana. Bruce rarely made jokes but when he did they were actually pretty funny.
They headed to the barn and loaded up tools on their ATV's and headed down to the south field. Being guys the trip instantly became a race and they gunned their ATV's as soon as they were far enough away from the house. There were some definite advantages to growing up on a farm. Of course Bruce won; he always won the driving races. Back when Pete raced with them before he moved, he would swear that Bruce had Jedi reflexes like Anakin did in Star Wars Episode 1.
The fence repair went quickly enough, giving them a chance to rest and catch their breath before heading back to the house for breakfast. The sun was up and had warmed the morning and the shade of the trees next to the fence was a welcome relief.
"Clark." Bruce said without looking over.
"Yeah Bruce?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"For getting up this morning. The work and company…helped."
"Hey that's what family does. We help each other." Clark said slapping Bruce on the shoulder and then he smirked, "Although what you did today could hardly be called working. Man you are such a slacker."
Bruce cracked a smile but before he could respond he heard a huge bang like a bomb going off.
Both boys jumped up to see the sky filled with streaking meteors and the first one had crashed not 300 yards from where they were sitting.
Bruce to his ATV and gunned the throttle. Clark sped off as fast as he could towards the house, as fast as he was the meteor had a head start and hit the house leaving a huge hole in the ground.
"NOOOO!" Clark screamed.
Clark reached the edge of the hole about a few seconds later; only to drop to the ground in pain.
Bruce ran to his friend, he had only seen this a few times before; Clark's skin had turned bright green in color. Bruce dragged Clark back towards the bikes and leaned him against the nearest one. Almost instantly Clark was feeling better and he jumped up again to make for the house only to drop to the ground again about the same distance from the hole.
"Please God No!" Clark groaned his hand stretched towards the burning crater.
Bruce dragged him back again and ran back towards the hole in the ground. He cautiously approached the edge, he looked down, there was nothing left of the house except a burning pieces of house. The meteor had destroyed everything and had splintered into little green glowing pieces.
Clark was shaking as Bruce made his way back to the ATVs. Clark took one look at Bruce's face and he broke down falling to his knees. Bruce put his hand on his friend's shoulder, unsure of what he should do. Comfort was not something he was even remotely good at.
He looked around and in the distance he could see that Smallville had been obliterated. Helicopters were starting to fill the sky; Bruce moved them out of the open area to the cover of trees. He pulled out his phone and hit speed dial two.
It was dark when Alfred pulled the car into the long drive leading up to Wayne manor. Clark looked out the window and saw the brightly lit windows of the many rooms of the manor. It was a massive mansion; the Luther's paled in comparison. The bright moon broke through the clouds and showed off the well kept lawns and gardens. Throwing a sharp contrast to the dark and gloomy city they had just left.
Bruce's call that morning had found that Alfred was already on his way. He had seen the reports and was in Smallville in the matter of hours. Although the area was declared a disaster zone, a few calls from Bruce had allowed Alfred to easily land at a Lexcorp landing strip near by and pick them up.
Alfred walked them inside and showed Clark to one of the rooms. It was huge; the whole second floor of his house would fit in this room. He looked out the window, it faced into one of the gardens, and the roses were blooming.
"Clark." Bruce knocked on the door frame.
"Yeah?"
"If you need anything…"
"Thanks Bro."
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