I own none of the characters in this story. And please, review. If you liked it, or even if not. Reviews are the only payment i get from this... kinda sad, i know.

Chap 11

Pulling himself out of the rubble left in the trail of his landing, if you could call it that, Lex brushed himself off as best he could. His long trench coat was in tatters, one sleeve missing completely. Cracking his neck, he heard the loud pops as bone shifted against bone, slipping back into place. "Impressive. I have to give him that."

Crouching slightly, Lex prepared to jump into the air. He took flight, but it appeared to be backwards. The streak of Clark Kent appeared out of nowhere, tackling Lex into the woods, leaving a row of fallen trees and disturbed brush behind them. Their momentum stopped by a sudden slam into the side of a large rock face, Lex gasped, spitting blood from the trauma he had just experienced.

Grabbing him by what was left of his lapel, Clark swung Lex around, throwing him into the trees, seeing him wedge under the roots as he went down into the ground. Running over, Clark moved to grab Lex again, only to hit his knees, gasping. Looking down at his hands, he saw his veins standing out, dark and painful. Clark looked around, finally finding what was wrong… Kryptonite. The tree Lex had uprooted had a large piece under the roots, glowing lightly now.

Lex noticed what was happening to his former friend. Looking where Clark was staring, he saw the glowing meteor rock. "That's it. That's what was wrong with you all this time. Lana's necklace, the tank at the Summerholt labs…all of it was because of the meteor." Reaching down, he pried a piece loose, turning it over in his hands. "I guess your home really isn't a comforting place to you is it Clark?"

Before Clark could move, Lex had leapt at him, pressing the meteor to his face. Screaming, Clark tried to pull back, his body fighting against him.

With a sick smile, Lex pulled his hand away, seeing the darkened mark on Clark's skin. "All of those abilities and a piece of rock can take you down." Tossing the rock up and down, Lex circled Clark. "I can definitely have some fun with this. But now, I think it's time to pay the good Kent family a final visit."

Clark lunged as best be could, only to be met with a punch from the hand holding the meteor. Falling in a heap, he gaped up, his vision red. "Lex… no… leave them out of this."

"It's too late Clark. It's too late." Tossing the rock onto Clark's chest, Lex took off for the sky once again, glancing down as he flew above the trees, before bursting off in a blinding speed.

Panting, Clark tried to sit up… then tried to roll to his side, finally managing to knock the rock off of his chest. But there was too much of it laying around, exposed now. Clark couldn't get his power back. Falling flat on his back, he let his head fall to the ground, too tired to hold it up. Eyelids barely cracking, he noticed something a few yards off. Sunlight was hitting the ground where one of the fallen trees had covered before. Forcing himself, Clark rolled onto his stomach, clawing at the dirt, pulling himself across it to try to reach the sun. Gasping, he didn't stop when he went across a patch of meteor rock, fighting not to notice as his skin burned. With several feet left to go, Clark stared at the patch of sun, knowing it was his only hope. Breathing hard, he pushed up to his knees… and leapt, finally landing in the warm grass.

Gasping when he felt the rays warming his body, Clark's body arched, feeling the burns disappear, feeling his muscles recharged. Standing, Clark flexed his arms, feeling the power again. Then he ran.

--

Chloe was standing against a post, staring at Lana as she laid on the floor still. The brunette hadn't said a word for the past ten minutes, sitting with her knees against her chest. Finally, the silence was broken. "You should have told me, Chloe."

Looking over, Chloe was confused. "About what, Lana?"

"About Clark… and you."

She sighed. "Lana, Clark and I have only been together for a few days. We weren't going behind your back."

Lana snorted. "Please. After all the other lies, I'm supposed to believe that?"

Chloe glared at Lana. Walking over slowly, she grabbed her by the collar, pulling her to her feet. Lana glared back, a self satisfied smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. The smirk left when Chloe slapped her, hard.

Gasping, Lana looked back at the blonde. "How dare you!"

Chloe responded with another slap.

Lana stumbled back. "What are you doing? Chloe stop it!"

"I am tired of the self obsessed, uncaring, selfish bitch that you have become. I want to tell myself you weren't always like this, but you were. From day one you've played people to get your way. Remember Whitney? The guy you strung along, and then dumped with a 'Dear John' letter when he was off in the military? He wasn't here anymore, so you moved to Clark. How quickly did you turn your back on the regular old Clark Kent when the popular Whitney came back that time? But Clark still helped you when you found out it was Tina Greer. How many others have you used, Lana? How many other friends have you drug along until they couldn't help you anymore?"

"My parents were killed in the…" Another harder slap knocked Lana back down.

"MY MOTHER DISAPPEARED WHEN I WAS EIGHT!" Chloe roared. "You don't have the market cornered on losing a parent Lana! But your life wasn't horrible! You had friends, family that loved you. People that bent over backwards for you, but it's never been good enough has it! One person wouldn't bow to you on every desire of yours, and that drove you crazy. Clark wouldn't just tell you everything, and you couldn't stand it."

Lana lunged, slamming into Chloe hard, bringing one of the support posts down when they hit it. Managing to get a grip on Chloe's throat, Lana grinned. "I guess Lex has had enough time by now. We're going to go pay the Kents a visit Chloe. Get ready to say goodbye."

Chloe could only grab at the arm holding her as she was lifted into the air with ease, the loss of air and the sudden slam through the roof knocking her unconscious.

--

Spike was helping Jonathan to salvage anything that was still working in the living room and kitchen. He was lifting a chunk of the window molding to put outside in the trash pile when he heard Jonathan's pained cry, "Aw no! Not again!"

Dropping the molding, Spike dashed over to the kitchen. "Mr. Kent, what is it?!"

Jonathan was crouched by the sink, holding the pieces of his cow mug in his hands. "This is the third one of these I've gone through in a year."

Spike stared, straight-faced. "A cow mug? You've got me worrying that something was really wrong, and it was because your cow mug broke?"

"Don't argue with him, William. I gave up on that one years ago." Martha was walking down the stairs with Buffy, carrying some items that had fallen and shattered from the impact the house had taken.

Going back to moving the trash, Spike glanced up, seeing the look on Buffy's face. He walked over, pulling her next to him by the counter. "Hey, you ok luv?"

She just nodded, unable to look up at him. Spike tilted her face up to his, making her meet his eyes. "Talk to me ok?"

Buffy just sighed. "Spike, this stuff is always happening with us. What if we're bad mojo? What if we brought this on the Kents by coming here? I mean god, our town disappeared into a crater, what are we gonna make happen to Smallville?"

Martha had been listening, and came over, touching Buffy's shoulder. "This isn't your fault at all. None of this has to do with you or William. This has been coming to a head for years, ever since Clark pulled Lex out of his car in that river. Lex was never able to let go of what happened and it drove him crazy. As for Lana…" Martha sighed, rubbing her hands together. "I guess everyone treating her like the perfect little angel wasn't what she needed. But everyone was so worried about her, she saw her parents die in the first meteor shower."

"And it's all because of your son." Everyone spun, seeing Lana floating, carrying an unconscious Chloe. "Now he's going to pay." She threw Chloe at the group with ease.

Spike jumped, catching the blonde before rolling, holding her close to try to keep her from being jarred again. Laying her against what was left of the sofa, he turned, seeing Buffy leaping at the dark clad woman.

If Lana had trouble with Chloe, she was definitely struggling against the experienced Slayer. Every punch and kick were countered with ease. Lana finally had to resort to cheap tactics, speeding around Buffy to punch her in the back of the head. Grabbing her hair, Lana slung Buffy into the wall.

Spike moved quickly to grab at Lana, but he was suddenly slammed through the floor, hitting the foundation of the house.

Lex walked over to Lana, pulling her close. "Good work, my love." He then turned to the Kents. "Your son has caused enough trouble in this town. I won't let him harm the world in the same manner." He stepped up to Jonathan who was putting himself between Martha and Lex. "And you helped him, all these years. You helped him bring all this pain. That makes you no more human than him!"

Martha tried to get past Jonathan, glaring defiantly at the bald billionaire. "How dare you judge someone else's humanity you bastard?"

Lex pushed Jonathan aside, reaching for Martha. Grabbing Lex's coat, Jonathan pulled himself closer, punching Lex as hard as he could, yelling as he felt his hand break. "You don't touch my wife," he got out through gritted teeth.

Lex merely grinned. "Have it your way then." He grabbed Jonathan by the shirt, lifting him. Hearing Spike jump up through the hole, he grabbed the other man by the throat. "Lana, if you would be so kind." He flew off through the hole in the living room, leaving Lana to collect the rest of the people.

Buffy tried to fight her off, Lana trapped her arm. "Don't make me hurt Chloe. There is a chance some of you might live."

Buffy and Martha simply gave in, knowing right now they couldn't fight Lana and protect Chloe. Grabbing Chloe by the collar, she dragged the three of them through the wall, flying up to meet Lex.

--

Clark was making his way towards the house as fast as he could when he heard a voice. Skidding to a stop on the road, he perked his ears to listen.

"Clark. I know you can hear me. I can see you from here. Now don't move, I don't want to have to hurt your father just yet. Do you understand me? Give me a thumbs up if you do." Clark sighed, giving the gesture, knowing he had to play this game for now. "That's good. Now, it's time to make a choice Clark. It's time for you to decide who's more important; your friends, or your family."

Clark's head shot up at that, staring towards the direction of home. He started to move, but was cut off by his mom's scream.

"I didn't say you could move yet Clark!" This made him stand still, not even setting his other foot down. "Good boy. Now, as I said, you must make a choice. Look up."

Doing as he was told, Clark scanned the sky for a moment before noticing a group high in the sky over his home.

"Five people Clark. Five lives. Three are friends, two are family. What choice are you going to make? You're not fast enough to save them all." With that, Lex and Lana spun, flinging their captives high into the air.

Clark stared in horror, seeing all of them fly off in separate directions. He felt his stomach heave, like when he was stared down from the roof of the barn. But he wasn't up high he was… Clark looked down, seeing he was up off the ground by at least ten feet. Not stopping to think, he let instincts take over… and took off in a burst of speed into the sky.