Chapter 3 Part 1

Buffy Summers had just finished unpacking her bags and had to admit to herself that she was surprised. She hadn't expected everything to be so calm when she came home, yet it was. Her mother was in her room doing whatever it was that her mother did, while Dawn was in her room getting ready to go and meet the guys. Coming back home had been hard and in truth she wasn't really sure where to go from here. She wanted to go and see her friends though, that much she knew.

She missed Giles and his lectures about her carelessness. She missed Willow and their long talks, Xander's sense of humour. And although she'd never admit it openly, she even missed Cordelia. More than anything though, she had missed her sister. She'd missed the way they would sneak into each others rooms in the middle of the night and just talk and laugh quietly about things. How they'd talk about the little things that were going on with their lives. Dawn had always been there when she needed her and she was there when Dawn had needed her. Now though she wasn't sure where she stood with her sister and that worried her.

Right now though she decided that she needed to get out of the house and go and see the guys. With that in mind she grabbed her jacket and made her way to her mothers room where she heard Dawn talking. "Mom, that mask looks terrible."

"You kids today just don't have any appreciation for primitive art." Joyce stated with a little disapproval in her voice.

"No offence mom, but it looks like something out of a cheep horror movie." The young brunette slayer quipped.

Joyce looked towards the door as Buffy walked in. "What do you think, Buffy?" She asked her eldest daughter as she held the ugly looking mask up against the wall where she was going to place it.

Buffy looked at the mask before glancing over at Dawn who just shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'Don't Ask.'. "Mom, it looks angry at the room." She stated before adding one of her little quips. "It wants the room to suffer."

Joyce just let out a sigh knowing that she wasn't going to get them to change their opinions on the mask. She was about to say something else when she noticed Buffy holding her jacket in her hands. "Going out?"

Buffy looked down at her jacket before looking back at her mother. "Yeah, if it's alright. I kinda wanna check in with the guys."

"Will you be slaying?" The mother asked. Neither noticed Dawn wince a little at the question since neither Joyce nor Buffy knew that she was a Slayer.

"Only if they give me lip" The blond slayer quipped hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

"Come on." Dawn piped in wanting to get the conversation as far away from slaying as she could. "I was just about to go meet them anyway. They should be at the Bronze." Well she hoped they were at the Bronze.

Buffy nodded her head at her sister before looking back at her mother. "We wont be out late." She said to which she just got a nod from her mother.

Joyce watched as her two daughters left and let out a small sigh. There was so much that had been left unsaid between her and her eldest daughter. However she also knew that now wasn't the time. Dawn had been right, she hadn't helped the situation when she'd learned the truth. It had been easier to think that her daughter was having a mental break rather than face what was really happening. She could only hope that her and Buffy would be able to find their way back to what they once had.

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"These humans are certainly strange creatures." The Old Man said to Clark as the two walked through the streets of Sunnydale. "They seem to ignore or try to seek a more rational explanation for what happens around them."

Clark nodded his head at that knowing that the old man was right. After a lot of prodding he'd managed to get a name out of the man, even if it wasn't his real name. It took a while but he got the name Kai out of the old man. Even if it wasn't the old mans real name, it was something. "True. I've seen it happen in Smallville. Despite all the evidence, the locals seem to want to not admit that the Meteor Infected exist. Even the cops wont admit it and they've had to deal with them a lot."

"It is a condition that is not purely a human one though." Kai admitted. "I've seen it on many worlds. Although never to the extent that these humans can seem to deny what's right in front of them."

"My dad was always afraid that the world wasn't ready. It was one of the reasons my parents were so afraid of anyone finding out about me."

Kai himself nodded at that. "He was right. Humanity isn't ready for such revelations. In time you'll be able to reveal yourself to them, but that time is not now."

"A friend of mine found out about me." Clark admitted. "At first he was freaked. but things seemed to get better after that. But even then, it wasn't the same. The way he'd sometimes look at me. It was as if he was trying to see me as a human instead of something else. I don't think he knew that I knew. Despite that though, he was still a really good friend."

"Sometimes it is difficult to accept the truth, especially when something that you've always believed has been called into question." Kai responded.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't exactly take the revelation that I was an alien very well." Clark said before letting out a small sigh. "Just when I was getting used to it and finally finding a balance in my life, Jor-El showed up."

Kai could sense the sadness in the young Kryptonian over the events that surrounded Jor-El's arrival. "He did not mean to cause you as much pain as he did. On Krypton the path to adulthood is achieved through a series of trials. Jor-El did not take into account your human upbringing."

"Part of me wishes that I could have known them, yet another part of me is afraid to know what they were really like." The young Kryptonian admitted sadly. "I have this vague memory of my mother, they were just putting me in the ship. She sounded heartbroken and she was afraid that I'd be alone."

"It is hard for any parent to give up a child, Kal-El. Even if it is to save the life of that child." Kai stated before letting out a small sigh. "Do not dwell on what ifs. They will cause you more pain than anything else. Right now, focus on the present."

Clark came to a stop and looked at the old man. "What did you mean when you said that my training started with Dawn? What's any of this got to do with her?" That question had been bugging him for hours. After his little chat with Jor-El in the Fortress the old man told him that his training would begin with Dawn Summers. What he didn't understand however was, why.

"There is more to Dawn Summers than even she is aware." Kai stated before looking the young Kryptonian in the eye. "Are you sure you wish to know?"

The way that the old man asked that question made Clark realise that he was about to learn something that could change the way he would look at the girl. However if there was one thing that his parents taught him, it was to always keep an open mind. So with that in mind, he give his answer. "Yes."

"Very well." Came the response from the old man.

The two started walking again and the old man began to tell him all about Dawn Summers. What Clark would learn, took him completely by surprise.

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"So anyway, the guys and I have been doing the patrol thing, trying the keep the Vampire population under control." Dawn said as she and her sister made their way around the corner heading towards the Bronze. They had spent the last hour in the park near their house just talking and catching up, but eventually decided that it was time to go and look for the guys. "Although for some reason, most of the vamps and demons have gone into hiding. The last few days, it's been like they just upped and disappeared."

"Does Giles know why?" Buffy asked with curiosity in her voice. She was kind of glad that the vamps were taking a break as it would mean less work for her. However she also knew that it probably wouldn't last.

"He doesn't know what's going on either." The brunette responded. "He thought I was over-exaggerating when I told him." Hearing a noise in the alleyway both Dawn and Buffy looked in that direction. There they saw someone skulking around and instantly they both thought it was a vampire. "Let's go see what our new friend is doing."

"Dawn!" Buffy warned as she didn't want her sister getting hurt.

"Please Buffy. I've been doing this all summer. I'll be fine." The brunette stated.

Buffy looked at her sister and let out a small sigh. "Fine. But if you get yourself killed, I'm telling." She quipped.

Shaking her head, Dawn let out a small chuckle. "Come on." With that both teens made their way into the alley.

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It had been almost half an hour since Kai had left and Clark's mind was working overtime on what he had learned about Dawn. In many ways he felt really sorry for her, especially when she learns the truth. As he thought about how he acted when he learned the truth about himself, he realised that it was nothing compared to what she would go through when she finds out. The frustrating part though was that Kai had told him not to tell her. Apparently she had to learn the truth on her own if she was going to come to terms with it. "When she learns the truth. You will be the only one that has no illusions of who and what she is. Your memories have not been altered. Everything that you know of the girl are your own real memories." Kai had said.

While he knew what it was to know that what you believed in was a lie, he couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like for her. To one day wake up and learn that the last seventeen years of your life had not really happened. That everything that you have ever experienced, was faked. Even the thought of it sent a shiver down his spine.

Breaking away from those thoughts Clark knew that he needed to find Willow. She'd left several messages on his cell and he knew that she was worried about him. Closing his eyes he activated his hearing and began to listen out for his cousin. As he was doing that though, he caught wind of something else.

"Jeez, Buff. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that." He heard Xander say.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to play with pointy things?" He then heard a female voice say that he didn't recognise.

"WATCH OUT!" He then heard Dawn shout which caused him to shift into super speed heading towards them.

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Both Xander and Buffy heard Dawn scream out just in time for a Vampire to attack them. Before either could react the two teens were sent to the floor. Dawn was just about to attack the Vampire herself when she felt a gush of wind go past her and she could only stare in both shock and amazement as this blur took hold of the Vampire before shooting up into the sky.

Buffy and Xander were both equally shocked by this blur, but for different reasons. For Buffy, it was the shock of being saved by something for a change. For Xander it was a case of 'How many powers does CK have.' Since Clark was the only guy that he knew that could move like that it made sense that it was him. The other question running though his head was Why didn't Willow tell us he could fly? And flying he was because as Buffy and Xander got back to their feet the could see this person floating in midair. A light on the side of the building was stopping them from seeing his face, but they could still see a human figure.

As for Dawn, she could only stand there with he jaw hanging open at seeing this person floating in midair. The light coming from the building stopped her from making out a face, but it was definitely a man. Before she or anyone else could say anything, this person shot up into the air and a few seconds later they heard a loud boom as their saviour went supersonic.

"What the hell was that?" Buffy asked in shock.

Dawn who was equally shocked just kept staring at the sky as she answered. "I don't know. But I think we just met the reason for the sudden drop in demonic activity."

"Well whoever he is, I think we need to thank him." Xander stated despite knowing that it was Clark that had just saved them. Oh Willow's gonna be pissed. He then thought to himself as he knew that she'd been freaking out over the fact that Clark hadn't been seen or heard off all day. "Come on. Let's go get the guys."

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Arriving back at his Garage slash bedroom Clark just flopped down on the bed and let out a sigh as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He'd been left several messages by Willow and realised that he needed to send her a message that he's ok. "Sorry didn't call. Been with my Father, My Birth Father. Just got home, gonna get some sleep." With that he pressed the send button before putting the phone on the bedside cabinet.

Closing his eyes he let his mind wander as he allowed the events of the day to run through his mind. In only a few hours, he'd learned so much. Why he was sent to Earth, what his parents really had planned for him. The hardest part of that was learning how Krypton was destroyed. He found it hard to believe that his entire civilisation had been wiped out because of one man. All because he couldn't rule the planet. That was a shocking thing to learn. He just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that his people were dead because of one man having a temper tantrum.

The thing that was getting to him the most though, was what he had learned about Dawn. Being so different himself, it hadn't really changed anything for him. He knew that she wasn't responsible for being what she was anymore than he was responsible for being what he was. The main thing that concerned him though was how the others would act if they learned the truth. He knew that they probably wouldn't like the fact that their minds had been messed with. Hopefully they wouldn't blame Dawn for that though.

Right now though he knew that there was nothing he could do, so he decided to stop worrying about it. Doing his best to relax he slowly found himself drifting off to sleep.

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Dawn Summers was in a state of total shock and confusion. After meeting up with the guys they had gone to see Giles and everything seemed fine. There was a little bit of a strain, she had to admit that. At the moment, everyone was trying to avoid confronting the elephant in the room. But besides that everything had gone rather well, or so she thought.

Now the reason Dawn was in a state of shock and confusion was down to the fact that she'd gone to bed, only to wake up to find herself god knows where. She was in some kind of room with a man who seemed to be tied down on some kind of bed. Now what was really confusing her was the fact that she knew the man that was tied up, it was Clark. He was wearing some kind of dark blue bodysuit with a strange emblem on his chest. This suit even had this red cape to it. Now being your typical teenager, the first thing she noticed was how this suit made Clark look. She was not ashamed to admit that he looked damned hot.

There was another man in the room as well, but then all of a sudden alarms started going off and the other man clutched at his throat. The next thing she knew was that Clark suddenly became really strong as he snapped his restraints as if they were nothing, while glaring at the other man who was retreating.

To make things even more confusing was the fact that this other older man seemed to appear out of nowhere as Clark got to his feet. "Is what Zod said about the Fortress true? Can it bring our people back?" Dawn heard Clark ask this older man.

The Older man looked at Clark for a second before glancing at the wall next to them. "Strike that panel." He ordered to which Clark did. Much to her ever growing shock the wall seemed to explode from the force of Clark's fist hitting it. What completely blew Dawn's mind though was the fact that when the debris cleared, it revealed that they were in space orbiting the Earth. "Your mother and I wanted you to learn what it meant to be human first." Dawn heard the Older Man say. "So that one day. When the time was right, you could be the bridge between two peoples." Then the older man looked out into space and Dawn could see some kind of object that looked like it was on fire as she could see smoke coming from it. "Look." The old man ordered.

Dawn watched as Clark looked out towards the burning object and the word that came out of his mouth completely blew her mind for the tenth time in only a few minutes. She could do nothing but stare at Clark in complete shock as he said her name.

"You can save her Kal." The Older Man said causing Clark to look at him. "You can save all of them."

Again Dawn was taken by complete surprise as Clark seemed to just drift out through the opening in the wall into space. She ran to hole in the wall and just stared at Clark as he seemed to turn his body towards the smoking object that apparently had her in it. Then he just seemed to reach out with his arms before shooting off after it.

Before Dawn could do anything the world around her suddenly shifted and she found herself flying almost as if she was watching events unfold on TV. She watched as Clark seemed to race through the sky towards what she could now see as some kind of pod. He was moving faster and faster to catch up to it and when he did, he punched through it before pulling someone out. Then the pod it the ground and it exploded. However just as the pod exploded Clark seemed to turn his body around so that his back was facing the explosion. Again before Dawn could really process what was going on the world shifted around her and she found herself back on the ground.

It was the sound of Clark's voice that brought Dawn out of her state of shock. "Dawn, you ok?" She heard him ask to which she heard an all too familiar voice answer.

"I'm fine Clark," She heard herself say. "But next time, don't leave it so damn close." Dawn knew her own voice well enough to know that she was messing around. Part of her was hoping that she was wrong and that it wasn't her, but that went out the window when she saw Clark holding another Dawn Summers in his arms.

Once down on the ground Clark looked at the other Dawn who looked like she was in her early to mid twenties. "Teleport to Watchtower. Tell them to arm up with Kryptonite weapons. I know how to stop them but it's not going to be ready for a little while."

The other Dawn broke away from Clark and nodded her head. "Ok. But promise me that you'll come back to me." The Other Dawn said to which she got a small smile and a nod from Clark. "Discede!" She then called out before disappearing. What happened next though was something that Dawn would never forget.

Clark turned and looked directly at her. "You know, you told me about this a few years ago." He said before smiling. "Hello Dawn."

It took Dawn a few seconds to register that he was actually talking to her. She'd assumed that she was having some kind of messed up Slayer dream. "You... You can see me?" She eventually asked.

"Yep." Clark responded before the sound of sirens alerted him to the locals arriving. Turning his attention back to the younger Dawn he spoke again. "Hold on." Was all he said.

Dawn didn't have time to respond before the world suddenly turned into a blur. Then as quickly as it started she found herself standing in someone's living room. "What the hell is going on?" She shouted.

Clark knew that Dawn was totally confused and let out a small sigh. "This is actually a dream. One of those Slayer dreams to be more precise, but far more than your normal ones."

"Huh?" Was all that the brunette could say as he jaw dropped slightly.

"Let me get changed and I'll answer what questions I can." Clark said knowing that Dawn needed to know a few things. Thankfully the young girl seemed to need a few minutes to process everything anyways cause all she did was nod her head. With that in mind he decided to stick to human speed and made his way towards the stairs.

Dawn watched as Clark walked away and she just didn't know what to say or do. All she'd done was go to bed and woken up in the Twilight Zone. Right now though he mind was working overtime trying to process what Clark had just said.

Turning her head she took in the view of the house that she was in. It was nice and cosy, with a nice homey feel to it. However as her eyes got to the fireplace she stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a photo on the shelf above the fire. Walking over to it she reached out and picked up the photo. It was an image of her and Clark. He was wearing a black suite and tie, while she was wearing what she knew without a doubt was a wedding dress. Oh god. Was the only thought that popped into her mind. "Seems like only yesterday that that was taken." She heard Clark say causing her to turn and look at him.

"We're married?" She asked in shocked.

"Well that's up to you." Clark answered with a small smirk only to get a look of confusion from Dawn. "This is only a possible future, and it may not come to pass if you choose to change it."

"Ok, cut the cryptic." Dawn told him with a little frustration and confusion evident in her voice.

"I'm not being cryptic." Clark said defending himself. "This is a dream. Right now your asleep in your bed in Sunnydale."

Dawn looked at him and in truth, she just found it hard to believe him. Despite every part of her being telling her that he was being truthful. "How can this be a dream? Your a little too lifelike. Despite that really hot suit you were just wearing." She couldn't stop herself from adding that last part. If it really was a dream, well she's got a really good imagination.

Clark let out a sigh of frustration over Dawn's words. "Trust me, this is a dream." He repeated. "We don't have much time. Soon you'll wake up and we have a few things to talk about."

Whether or not Dawn believed Clark didn't matter at this point. As she looked into his eyes something told her that what she was about to learn, would change everything.

Back in the real world, the man that Clark had come to know as Kai was sitting on Dawn's bed as she slept. His right hand glowing just above her head as he fed her the dream that would push her in the Kryptonians direction. There was little more he could do to in regards to joining their destines together. All that could be done had now been done. It would be up to them, where they would go from here.

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He couldn't really tell you what had suddenly changed in him, but Clark felt different. Having had a good nights sleep and allowing himself chance to process everything that he'd learned, he felt different. He'd had his first real conversation with Jor-El and for the first time could see his Kryptonian father as something other than a monster. He still wasn't happy about all those 'trials' that Jor-El had planned, but he understood why. His parents had sent him to Earth for a reason and part of that reason was to save him from the fate that had befallen Krypton. Learning what he had, he finally felt a sense of peace that he'd never known before.

Breaking out of his thoughts Clark made his way out of the bathroom and came to a stop as he approached his bed. There on his bed was a silver metal briefcase with a note on it. Picking up the note he unfolded it and was shocked when he noticed that the writing was in Kryptonian. {These will help you in your training Kal-El.} was all it said. Curiosity kicking in he placed the sheet of paper on the bed and opened the briefcase.

Inside the briefcase were six items and another sheet of paper. He put the sheet of paper to the side and focused on the contents of the case. Resting comfortable in their holding spaces were two rings with what looked like a clear crystal band going around it. Next there were two large bracelets that also had a clear crystal running through them. Lastly were two chains with crosses on them and again they were equipped with a clear crystal.

Now confused he picked up the sheet of paper that was inside the briefcase and read it to himself. As he did a small smile formed on his face. After spending a few seconds reading through the letter again he put it down and reached into the briefcase and pulled out one of the rings. Placing the ring on his right ring finger he closed his eyes for a few seconds and concentrated on it. After a few seconds he felt a tingle so he opened his eyes and saw that the clear crystal inside the ring had turned a dark purple. "Well this should be interesting." He said to nobody in particular as he made his way out of his bedroom and towards the house.

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Note To Readers: I know the old man has been interfering a lot lately, but you wont see him for a little while now. He will be back a little later in the story though and you'll actually get to learn a little about him and what he's up to.

There you go people Part 1 of Chapter 3 is up so let me know what you think.

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