Author's Note: Well folks, here it is. The last chapter of my humble little tale. I cannot express how far this story has come and how much of a life of its own it has taken on.

I also want to take this opprotunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all those who have read and written in to review. Even if you just kept reading, that too has meant a great deal to me and driven me to make this story the most that I could. I'd like to think that I've done that, and I hope if nothing else everyone enjoyed the ride.

Thanks once again to all. Write a review and get a response, and I truely hope you enjoy.

--

A soft breeze gently blew across the open beach while the soft lapping of the waves could be heard off to the side. The stars shone brightly overhead, completing the picture perfect ensemble as Clark and Laurie continued to walk hand and hand.

"God, they're so beautiful." Clark looked up in awe, trying to count all the stars at once. "I wish I could see them all. I mean up close."

"Keep dreaming Superboy." Laurie joked as she walked alongside him. Having witnessed him already try to actually leap up and fly tonight, she knew letting him dress up in that Superboy costume was a bad idea. Still, she didn't mind too much the way he'd been sneaking quick glances at her legs all night, so she had decided to let the matter pass.

"Oh come on." Clark looked to his girlfriend for support. He looked back up at all of them with such awe when a sight suddenly caught his eyes. "Laurie, look—up in the sky!"

"Look at what…" Laurie asked as she strained up towards the heavens "the stars?"

"No…" Clark had to squint to make sure he could see it for himself. "Halley's Comet! Can't you see it?"

Now she knew he was going crazy. "Clark, it won't be visible till December."

"I see it, I tell you!" He felt as if he could reach up right then and there and grab it in his hands as if to present it to her as a gift. "And it looks close enough..." The ground vanished beneath his feet as his body rose up independent of gravity's hold "to touch."

"Clark?!" Laurie swore she was going to pass out at the sight. She watched as Clark continued to rise right and higher into the air. "Clark-- am I crazy or are you..."

"Flying!" Clark Kent could scarcely believe his own proclamation as looked down at the ground and Laurie as they both seemed to shrink beneath. "Great Scott-- I'm flying."

--

Within the main room of the Justice League's new bunker, the monitors before them showed Superboy Prime slumbering, peacefully thanks heavens, strapped with heavy metal restraints capable of holding Solomon Grundy to a table with several red sun lamps shinning brightly overhead.

"He looks like a fast food burger roasting under one of those heat lamps." Plastic Man remarked.

"He's still upset McDonalds cancelled his sponsorship deal?" Green Arrow asked of his fellow Leaguers.

"Won't let it go." Ion sighed.

"It's the principle of it, damn it." Plastic Man insisted. "If they don't include a morality clause in the contract, I shouldn't be obligated to follow one."

"We're getting off track." Wonder Woman walked ahead of her colleagues and friends, eyeing the screens before turning back to her teammates. "What do we do with her?"

Wonder Woman indicated to a separate set of monitors, where the images of Laurie Lemmon sniffling and shivering came in painfully clear as she sat at a cold metal table, her hands clutching at her arms.

"She's so frightened." The Amazonian princess sympathized.

"But not of us." Batman declared formally.

There was an uncomfortable silence before Green Arrow finally asked the question on the minds of over half the heroes in the room. "So, is she a prisoner now?"

"No way!" Flash insisted. Then, turning back towards Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, he had to know "Is-is she?"

"She did help us stop him." Hal Jordan reminded.

"Poor kid's been through a lot." Green Arrow remarked.

"Yeah, but she's still got a lousy choice in boyfriends." Guy Gardner, somewhat put off by the direction the conversation had taken, took this opportunity to steer it back as he pointed to the monitors showing Superboy Prime. "If we're taking votes on what to do with him, locking him up and throwing away the keys sounds good." Guy Gardner remarked.

"It just seems so cruel sending him back to Oa." Wonder Woman remarked, drawing a few repressed looks of astonishment from her teammates. For all she had been through, especially this past year, hers was a compassion that rivaled even Superman's. "And unnecessary now."

"I'm ok with it." Guy remarked as he looked at the monitors once again intently.

"We could just lock him up with the all the other crooks and loonies out there." Green Arrow suggested frankly. "Belle Reeves or any number of other places would be more than capable of holding him now."

"No." Batman interjected. "It's too dangerous. The Society will have signed his death warrant after what he's done to them. If we put him in any sort of conventional prison facility, they will tear him apart."

"It's too dangerous putting him in a normal prison environment anyway." Superman added. "Because of where he's from and what he's seen, he knows things about all of us. Things we can't risk him revealing to anyone else."

"I might be able to help with that." All conversation dropped away sharply as all eyes in the room descended upon Zatanna.

"Don't even think of it." Batman warned.

"I'm not talking about changing his personality." Zatanna insisted. "Just a spell to wipe away everything he knows. I've improved my spell; there's no way he'd be able to remember when it was over."

"Forget it." Green Arrow insisted sharply. "This came back to haunt us before and in a big way. There's no chance I'm going through that again."

"Agreed." Batman added with a sharp tone that ended all further discussion on the matter. "We'll find another way."

But even as Batman spoke, the words that had been spoken echoed in Superman's ears as the Man of Steel thought long and hard.

--

"If this is that sense of humor that you've been working on," the Batman remarked sharply as he eyed the Man of Steel "it needs work."

"I'm serious." Superman eyed the Dark Knight squarely. He'd pulled Batman aside for all of five minutes to explain his plan in privacy. As predicted, the Batman had not been convinced.

"So am I." With a voice that would have caused any other hero in the world to back down and drop the subject immediately, Batman pointedly accused "this is reckless, dangerous and stupid, even for you."

"I thought you'd like it." If Superman was trying to make light of the situation, even the Batman couldn't tell.

"And why's that?"

"Because it's another way." Superman emphasized for effect. "Those were the very words you used on Wonder Woman after she murdered Maxwell Lord. There's always another way for people like us."

"This isn't what I had in mind." Batman glared at Superman, indicating that he hated having his words used against him for a change.

"But it's what should have been done." Superman moderated his voice now. He wasn't speaking as a senior member and president of the Justice League and he wasn't speaking as the Man of Steel. He was speaking as the adopted son of a planet that he had come to love and protect. He was speaking like a man; a great man perhaps but a man just the same. "This isn't the Joker or Brainiac or any of our usual foes. This one was one of us. And we left him behind. We left all of them behind when they needed us most."

"Our mistake." Batman relented. "And now you want to fix it by making a reckless decision motivated by your personal feelings."

"I want to fix it by saving two lives."

"You can justify anything." Batman dismissed. "Where does this new road of yours end? Where do we draw the line?"

"It never ends." Superman admitted. "Nothing is ever black and white, especially not for people like us. We do what we can to save the lives we can. And we do it because we believe in something; something more than just locking up the criminals so that they can escape and we can do it all over again. As simply as it can be put, we believe in helping people." As he saw Batman remain steadfast, Superman gave that last little push. "You looked his fiancée in the eyes and asked for her help to save him." Superman reminded firmly, turning the tables on him. "Were those just words or did you mean it?"

Batman had to raise an eyebrow at this. Clark was actually serious about this. He didn't know whether to be impressed and terrified.

"Bruce," Superman pleaded in the voice of a friend "I need this. We both do. When Conner died, we promised ourselves that we would learn from our mistakes. That we would never allow another tragedy to occur so long as we could prevent it. Now I'm asking you to help us both keep that promise. I need you to stand by my side, because I know I'm right about this. And I think you do too."

For a long moment, the Batman stared intently at Superman, analyzing, scrutinizing. If there was even a single breath out of place, if his eyes wandered any place else…

"If," Batman began "and I stress 'if' I were to agree to this, I have conditions."

"Fair enough."

"Lots of conditions."

--

"Have you both gone crazy?" Green Arrow asked as Batman and Superman stood next to one another, facing down the entire assembly of heroes with Superman's plan. Even with the two standing in support of this plan, the other heroes had not been as easily swayed as Superman had hoped for.

"Ollie…" Superman began.

"You" Green Arrow pointed to Superman "I can understand. Maybe. But you too…" Green Arrow turned to Batman.

The Dark Knight remained completely impassive to the archer's accusations.

"Not even you two can ask us to condone this on blind faith." Green Arrow insisted.

"Superman," Wonder Woman was the first to admit her own uncertainty "do you realize what you're asking?"

"Yes I do." Superman turned to face the crowd of anxious glares. The last Crisis had come about in part because of his inability to step forward when the world needed him and be the leader it needed him to be. This was his chance to be that leader and he would not shy from it. "And I stand by it. We have a chance to save two lives or let them fall apart. I understand everyone's feelings on this, I truly do. I know a lot of you would rather see him get the punishment we all agree he deserves. But I'm not making this plea on behalf of punishment or even justice. I'm making it for mercy's sake. But it's a big decision," Superman acknowledged with a heavy breath "and I won't be the one to make it for everyone. That's why I want to put it to a vote."

"I hope there's a section on the ballot for 'Hell-No.'" Guy Gardner remarked somewhat weakly in the face of Superman's rousing words. "There's no way the Guardians are ever going to go along with this."

"Really Guy?" Alan Scott asked with a raised eyebrow. "I never realized you lost so much sleep over what they thought. You've certainly stepped back in line ever since getting your ring back."

Guy seemed to softly growl at the remark. "Watch it."

"There's no way." The Flash stepped in coldly. "This is too good for him. That maniac deserves to be shut in coffin, stuck in a slab of concrete and dropped to the bottom of the ocean for what he's done."

"That's not justice." Wonder Woman reminded. "Superman does have a point. We're being asked to choose between a path that will trap him in damnation, or one that might save him."

"It's not that simple! This isn't just mercy." The Flash retorted. "This isn't even a slap on the wrist. It's an acquittal on all charges." Flash calmed himself long enough to turn back to the world's greatest heroes. "I say he goes back to Oa." A general murmur of concurrence seemed to rise up among the crowd gathered as Flash pressed on "Besides, even if we went along with Superman's plan, who's going to watch over him?"

"I will." At this, the Batman drew a hush over the group. The silence did not last.

"Maybe that's not good enough for us this time." Green Arrow retorted. "I'm with Flash. Send him back. He can sit in the middle of a red sun until…"

"I agree with Superman."

The room went silent. If they had been shocked to hear Superman describe his plan, then 'astonished' would scarcely do their reactions justice as Power Girl, who had until now been very quiet and contemplative, suddenly stood up and brought the whole house down.

"You-you do?" Guy Gardner asked in utter disbelief.

"Yes." Power Girl met his glance firmly but briefly before turning to look up at Superman. "I think we should do it."

"Kara," Alan Scott stepped towards her "do you know what you're saying?"

Power Girl took a deep breath. She tried to step outside of herself for only a second and look in at what she was agreeing to. "Yes. I do."

Silence. No one else said a word for several long seconds. Finally, Superman brought the issue back to point. "Let's vote."

--

"Really?" Laurie sniffled, uncertain if she had heard correctly as across the table where she had sat at for the past several hours, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman had explained their plan. "You'd do this… for him. For us? Even after everything...?"

"Yes." Superman nodded compassionately as he looked into her frightened eyes. "We will. But we will need your help again."

"If we do this, you'll be responsible for him." Wonder Woman pulled up a chair next to Laurie.

"Ok." Laurie nodded in acknowledgement.

"If anything happens to him, you have to tell us." Wonder Woman reminded. "If you think he suspects, you have to let us know, or else it'll start all over."

"I will. I promise." Laurie went on hopefully, wiping the tears from the sides of her face.

"He must never suspect a thing."

"He won't." Laurie continued.

"He can't." Batman took this opportunity to step into the conversation. "I'll be checking in on both of you regularly. If either of you try to conceal anything from me…"

"Batman, please." Wonder Woman protested on the young woman's behalf.

"No. I get it." Laurie interjected, her voice faltering somewhat in concession. "You're not really sure it's safe to let him out. I can't say I blame you."

"Miss." Superman rejoined the conversation "We're asking a lot of you. And we need to know if you're up to it. If not, you need to tell us now."

Laurie sniffled for the last time. Rising up, she looked the Man of Steel squarely in the eye. "I won't let anyone down."

"A dermal regenerator will be used to erase his scars." Superman explained. "It will be up to the two of you then," Superman indicated both to her and Batman "to sell him on the rest."

"There's one more thing." Batman interjected, causing everyone in the room to turn to him. Glancing down at Laurie's hand, he indicated "Your ring."

Laurie looked down at the ring Clark had made for her and the other worldly gem glaring brightly in its center. She knew it was a dead give away as anyone looking at it for longer than a second would have to ask where she'd got it. She took a deep gulp, eyeing it one last time and even rubbing a finger longingly over it before reaching over with her spare hand and wrestling it from it's place and handing it over to Batman.

--

With a soft groan, the figure resting in the hospital bed began to stir, the soft beat of his heart monitor the only other sound in the room as bright sunlight shinned through the windows. Opening his eyes, he let out a soft moan, wincing in subtle agony at the pain; Clark Kent Prime took a long look around him. Sitting anxiously at his bedside within his apparently private hospital room, an angel adorned in long brown hair with deep jewel eyes sparkling at him welcomed him back into the world with a deep smile.

"Hey."

"Hey." He smiled. He didn't know who she was, but he smiled. But then, names and faces began to sort themselves out within his mind. All at once, his life's memories returned to him, cutting back to a long walk on a beach on the New England shore after a costume party. "Laurie?"

"Clark." She looked to be seconds away from tears as she rubbed the side of his face longingly. "I was afraid I might never see you again."

"Oooh, what happened to me?" Clark asked as his head shook back and forth atop his pillow, trying to recall. "I feel like I got beat up by a train."

"Yes, I'm afraid a car accident will feel that way." Both Laurie and Clark turned to look up at the white coated doctor as he walked into the room with a clipboard in hand, looking over some charts. Right behind him, a gentleman in a tall, expensive suit with what seemed to be an equally expensive hair cut followed into the room.

"Car accident?" Clark asked, confused.

"You don't remember?" Dr. Morris asked uncertainly.

Clark looked aside for a moment, lost in thought before shaking his head in the negative.

"I'm not surprised." The man in the suit chuckled. "After an impact like that, I suppose I'd be lucky to remember where I left my good suit. Of course, that's why I keep my tailor on speed dial."

"Who are you?" Clark asked finally, more than slightly confused by the man's presence. He was disorientated enough as it was, the last thing Clark needed right now was to be made a spectacle of, particularly when it seemed he was the only one who didn't even know what was going on.

"Bruce Wayne." The man extended his hand out eagerly for a shake which Clark took only reluctantly for courtesy's sake.

"Mr. Wayne," Dr. Morris interjected "has insisted on taking responsibility for your care and your hospital bills."

"Oh." Clark replied simply, having been presented with the answer to at least one question. "Why?"

At this, Mr. Wayne just chuckled once again. "Oh, you're far too modest young man. After what you did for me, it was the least I could do."

Clark Kent just nodded at this as he continued to look up at Mr. Wayne. "Why?"

"Clark, Mr. Wayne says he was almost hit by a truck." Laurie took Clark's hand as she explained "He says you drove straight in the way and took the impact yourself."

"I did?"

"One of the most selfless things I've ever seen." Bruce Wayne insisted with that picture perfect smile of his.

"You don't remember?" Laurie asked intently.

Clark lay back in his bed for a long moment, trying to recall. A jumble of images like those from a bad dream seemed to dance briefly in his mind, but didn't linger long enough for their significance to be revealed. He remembered only flashes of his life of late, glimpses of him and Laurie living in Metropolis. He remembered… a hovel they shared together, the two of them recently visiting Laurie's mother, visiting the cemetery where Laurie's dad and Clark's parents were buried… but no. Nothing more. He didn't even remember owning a car.

"I got nothing." Clark admitted.

"Not surprising." Dr. Morris assured. "You suffered some serious head trauma, particularly to your frontal lobe. The good news is you didn't suffer any permanent brain damage. Your memory should sort itself out in a few days so long as you just take it easy."

"Must be that thick skull of yours." Laurie teased as she brushed a stray stand of hair from his face.

"Yeah, but it's a cute thick skull." Clark joked back to her, smiling. "And don't you forget it."

"Well," Bruce Wayne took a moment to cough loudly enough to be noticed "I suppose that just leaves the matter of repayment."

"Huh?" Clark looked up at the gentleman. "Oh, uhmm, I'm sorry about your car. Uh, I guess I'll have to pay you back or…" But Clark Kent was cut off by Mr. Wayne's charming-as-ever laughter.

"Oh no son. My car's fine, thanks to you. And a good thing too. You know how expensive those Aston Martin's are today."

"Not really." Clark admitted.

"I meant repaying you."

"Oh. Oh, that's ok." Clark assured. The idea of some rich guy tossing a couple of twenties at him as a way of saying 'thank you' was just too much for Clark to suffer at the moment. "It was nothing. I guess."

"You see," Bruce Wayne went on; seemingly oblivious to Clark's protests "it seems that Ms. Lemmon here," he gestured to Laurie "is a very talented writer. And as majority holder over the Gotham Gazette, I happen to need a few. I admit, it's an entry level position, but don't worry, I take excellent care of my employees."

Laurie took her cue. "Clark, Mr. Wayne has offered to pay for our moving expenses and even set us up in a new place."

"I really do insist." Bruce Wayne continued. "It's the least I can do after all."

Clark just cast a wary eye at Mr. Wayne before turning to Laurie. "I… I don't even know what to say. This is all a bit much; just give me a second here." Clark rested back long enough to try and put everything together. It was quite a bit for him to come to terms with. But as he stared into Laurie's hopeful eyes, he knew his decision. "It's fine by me. If you want to do this then…"

"Clark," Laurie looked him squarely in the eye "I'm really not interested in going back to our place. So unless you want to live with my mom."

Clark considered the possibility before shrugging "Well your mom is hot."

At this, Laurie gave him a much needed slap to the side even as Clark just laughed. "I hope that hurt." She prayed angrily.

"Totally worth it." Clark insisted just before wincing at the discomfort.

--

It had taken a few hours while some more tests had been run. Laurie had been at Clark's side for as much of it as she was able. When she had to leave the room, Clark noticed she would leave to talk to Mr. Wayne or Dr. Morris. He'd been relieved when the last of the tests had come back all clear and he'd been told that Laurie could take him home.

"I still don't get why I have to take a wheel chair out of here." Clark insisted as Laurie brought in his clothes. Much as he remembered what his mother taught him about arguing with a doctor, he was longing to get back to his own clothes and out of that miserable hospital gown.

"You were in a car accident." She reminded emphatically as he pulled up his pants. "Besides, I think it's a tradition or something."

"Well it's still dumb." Clark insisted as he pulled up his gown, revealing his bare, taught chest, adorned only by a single bruise around his right ribs. "And really, if you ignore the fact that the room still spins whenever I try to breath I feel fine."

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Boy of Steel." Laurie smirked as she patted to the chair that she had brought in. "Now get in the chair."

Now, dressed in khaki pants, a blue shirt and with his leather jacket in his lap, Laurie pushed him out in a wheel chair down the hall towards a reception area. "Wait here." She leaned in down towards him. "I've got to go sign you out." She planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Don't go anywhere."

"Not a chance." He smiled back at her, planting a kiss of his own on her lips before she rose and walked over to the reception's desk.

Sitting in his chair, Clark just seemed to look around before his eyes came upon a blonde woman sitting in a chair to the side of the hall, reading a magazine. He thought he might have caught her glance momentarily, but the moment had definitely passed as she was now thoroughly engrossed in her reading.

"Excuse me?" Clark called out to the woman. She didn't respond at first. "Excuse me."

She finally looked up at him.

"I-I'm sorry." He smiled nervously, suddenly feeling like a complete fool caught in the act. "Do, do I know you?" He glared at her as if seeing her in a different light might jog his memory.

"Kid, you're not my type." She smiled warily at him. "And you'd better be careful about talking to strange women before your girlfriend catches you."

"Oh. Oh no." Clark insisted, blushing furiously. "I'm sorry, I didn't, I didn't mean it that way."

At this, Karen Starr finally took pity on the young man. "Relax kid. You're fine."

"It's just; I got hit on the head lately." Clark Kent rambled on, not really listening to the pitiful words coming out of his mouth. "And I can't remember…do I know you?" He just spit it out. "You look really familiar."

Karen let out a long sigh, looking Clark Kent up and down for a long moment before deciding "No. I don't know you."

"Oh." Clark sat back in the seat, frustrated by his fractured memory. "Sorry."

Karen didn't respond. She just went back to her magazine as Laurie came up from behind, grabbing the back of Clark's chair. "You ok?"

"Yeah." Clark looked up at Laurie, smiling. "Let's go."

Only glancing up once at Karen, Laurie took Clark's chair and guided it down the long white halls and towards the main entrance, its automatic doors parting for them as the two departed from sight.

--

"Doctor, how is she?" Clark Kent asked as he walked eagerly down the hall ways of the hospital, keeping in stride all the way to her room.

"Excellent Mr. Kent." Dr. Bugges insisted, re-reading the charts before him. "Her blood pressure is stable, her vitals are all excellent. I'd like to wait for one more test result to come back but quite frankly, I don't see any reason why she can't go home today."

"Don't give me that!" From the very room that the pair had been walking towards, a woman's voice could be heard shouting. The noise seemed to have little effect on the hospital staff within earshot, who Clark quickly guessed, were well used to it by now.

"Something else I should know, doctor?" Clark Kent turned back to the physician, who seemed to need a moment to collect himself.

"Someone named Perry called for Mrs. Kent about fifteen minutes ago." The doctor confessed. "I'm afraid she's been somewhat…agitated, since then."

Clark Kent just chuckled, smiling widely for the first time in days. Thanking the doctor for all his help, he clutched at the bouquet of flowers in his hand as he opened up the door leading to her room where Mrs. Lois Lane-Kent lay in bed, shouting into her cell phone.

"It's a Lexcorp press conference." Lois insisted as she continued shouting at her mobile device. "I can cover one of those in my sleep, and still grill Luthor enough to make page one." She paused long enough to listen to the response over the phone. "Well if I'm so valuable, why don't you let me do my job?" She barely looked up to acknowledge her husband as she waited to get the next word in edgewise. "You're not putting me on anything. I'll be in tomorrow and that's that." Slamming her phone off, she looked squarely at her husband. "I don't suppose you know anything about this."

"Not a thing." Clark Kent insisted with that down home innocence that had never fooled Lois Lane Kent a day in her life. "The doctors tell me that you need to rest so rest is what you get."

"I have never taken a sick day in my entire life and I am not about to start over a little scratch." Lois crossed her arms squarely, refusing to relent on the subject.

"Lois, it's just a few days off. Think of it as a vacation." Clark Kent swaggered over to her bedside, finally holding out the bouquet to her. "Just a few days of lounging around the house, being pampered to and waited on hand and foot."

Lois let out a reluctant smile as she took the flowers in hand, sniffing at their wonderful fragrance. "Well, I suppose I am overdue for a small vacation. No distractions?"

"None."

"No interruptions?"

"Not a one." He insisted, leaning up to her until he was centimeters from her face.

"Nothing but take out?"

"Anywhere in the world." Clark insisted, drawing a chuckle from his wife.

"Sounds perfect." She agreed, leaning in and planting a desperately needed kiss on her husband's lips.

--

From her vantage point, looking down from one of the windows, Karen watched as Clark followed Laurie inside a cab, as the two drove off.

"I must confess," a Martian voice came from the good Dr. Morris, standing behind Karen. "I was surprised by your vote. And for a Martian telepath, that is quite a feat."

"I was surprised too." Karen admitted.

"If I may ask," J'onn J'onzz decided to broach the subject further "what made you support this plan?"

Karen gave a heavy sigh as her eyes continued to follow Clark and Laurie down the street. "It was easy; I just asked myself what my cousin would have wanted."

The disguised Martian seemed to nod with approval. "Admirable wisdom."

"Well if there's one lesson I've learned J'onn," Karen Starr said with as much assuredness as she had ever possessed in her life "it's that you can't live trapped in the past."