Smallville: Frost

by kf6tac

When a winter break snowboarding trip goes bad, can Clark save the day?

Frost

By: kf6tac

Synopsis: When a winter break snowboarding trip takes a turn for the worst, will Clark be able to save the day?

As the dismissal bell rang, a wave of students began flooding into the hallways of Smallville High.  People pushed and shoved each other, all rushing out to their rides home.

"Clark, wait up!" Pete yelled out as Clark shut his locker.

"Pete, hey!  Hurry up or we'll miss the bus!"

"Like that's a problem for you," Pete replied, out of breath, as he finally caught up to Clark.  "Man, what a mob.  I can't wait to get away from all this for two weeks during break.  Any word from your parents about a trip?  I talked to Chloe and she's in."

"Yeah, I talked to my parents and they said that I could go, as long as I cleared the final destination with them first."

"Sweet.  We can ask Lana if she's coming when we see her on the bus."

"Chloe said she's good for a meeting anytime this weekend to plan things out."

As the two got on the bus, they took the empty seats behind Lana.

"Hey Lana, are you going to come with us on our trip for the winter break?" Clark asked, trying not to be let down in case her response was negative.

"Well… things might get pretty busy at the Talon."

"Oh," Clark and Pete said in unison.

"But," Lana's eyes lit up.  "My new assistant manager has been making serious progress and she's offered to hold down the fort for a few days if I go out of town.  Count me in."

"All right!" Pete exclaimed.  "I knew we could count on you Lana."

"Chloe, Pete, and I were hoping to get together over the weekend to make plans.  Think you can meet up with us sometime Lana?"

"Why don't you all come down to the Talon this evening?  I'll be working my shift and we can talk then."

"Sounds like a plan."

"I'll tell Chloe," Lana said.

Later that evening, the four gathered at the Talon as planned.  Chloe and Pete procured a variety of destination brochures.

"Well there's not much going on in the exciting town of Smallville," Chloe said sarcastically.

"So we dug up some info on other places to go," Pete finished for her.  "I'm all for a trip into Metropolis to check out the night-life.  You know, get some hotel rooms, pick up some girls, work my magic…"

"Dream on Pete," Chloe said with a roll of her eyes.

"Sounds like you have some other ideas Chloe?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."  She fanned out her selections on the table.

"Florida, New York, Washington D.C.," Clark read aloud.  "I dunno Chlo', those are some pretty popular destinations.  It could get pretty expensive."

"Am I missing an executive pow-wow?" the voice of Lex Luthor asked from behind the group.

"Lex, hey," Clark greeted his millionaire friend.  "We were just trying to find a place to go for our winter break."

"Well let's see what we've got on the table."  Lex peered above the four teens at the brochures they were reading through.  "Not bad places.  If you don't mind rubbing elbows with all the other eager tourists that is.  I've got an idea.  I own a cabin, out west at Tahoe.  Pretty secluded area, but still only a short trip to most of the ski slopes.  If you four get permission to go, I'll provide you with transportation and free use of the cabin.  All you'll have to do is pay for your own slope passes."

"We couldn't ask you to do that Lex," Clark protested.  "It's got to cost a bunch to send us all the way out there."

"Don't worry, I'll have it deducted from Lana's paycheck for the Talon," Lex quipped.  "Just kidding.  It's no problem.  Clark, I think sometimes you forget I live in a castle."

"Lex, that's really generous of you," Lana stepped in, when Clark seemed unsure of what to say next.  "We'll think it over and let you know as soon as possible."

"Great.  Time isn't really an issue, I can get you transportation up to a few hours before departure if necessary.  Now if you'll all excuse me, I have a meeting to run off to.  Good luck with the vacation plans."

After Lex left, Clark turned back to face the group.  "What do you guys think?"

"I think it sounds like a blast," Lana said.  "I've always wanted a chance to visit the mountains and our own cabin… that would just top things off."

"Chloe?"

The young reporter twisted her lips for a moment in thought.  "Well although I'm not the extreme sports type, I wouldn't mind giving skiing a try.  That and I'm always intrigued as to what I might dig up at the Luthors' private cabin."

"Pete?"  Clark held his breath.  The Ross family had a lot of bad blood between them and the Luthors, and he knew that Pete never really liked Lex.

"I don't really like the idea of Lex Luthor funding putting us up for our vacation, but a private cabin would be really awesome.  Maybe I can dazzle the ladies with my abilities on the slopes."

"You can snowboard Pete?"  Chloe asked, raising her eyebrow skeptically.

"There's more to Pete Ross than meets the eye, my friends of little faith.  I've been known to pull some stunts of my own out there."

"So does that mean you'll go Pete?" Clark asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I'm in if I get my mom's permission."

"All right then, it's settled.  We'll all check with our families and if it's okay, we'll let Lex know the next time we see him."

Later that night, Clark sat at the dining room table with his family trying to convince them to let him go on the trip.

"C'mon guys, it'll just be the four of us there.  Everything will be under control."

"Clark, the last time we let you have a few friends over the place turned into Club Kent," Jonathan responded.

"Yeah, but Lex isn't going to let us haul the entire school to Tahoe even if they do all show up at the airport.  Besides, it's Lex's place – we'd feel terrible if anything bad happened to it."

Jonathan and Martha Kent exchanged glances real quick, and they whispered a few words back and forth that were just beyond Clark's hearing.  After what seemed like an eternity, they turned back to Clark.

"You can go," Jonathan said, "on one condition.  Your mother will be accompanying you and your friends."

Clark turned and gave his mother a somewhat disappointed look.  Martha put up her hands innocently.  "I won't get in the way at all, I promise."

"It's fair I guess," Clark accepted.  "My friends all like Mom anyway so it shouldn't be a big problem at all.  I'll talk to Lex about getting transportation for a fifth person.  Are you going to be all right on the farm by yourself for a few days, Dad?"

"Sure, I'll be great."

"It's settled then!"

A week later, all four friends were gathered at the Metropolis Airport along with Martha Kent.

"Man, I am so stoked!" Pete exclaimed as they stood in line for their flight, barely able to control his excitement.

"I know, I can't believe Lex put us up for first class tickets," Chloe added.  "I've never flown first class before.  Uh… Clark, are you all right?"

Everyone looked over at Clark, who was a little quieter than usual… even for Clark Kent.

"Yeah, it's just that I don't exactly like flying."

"You'll be fine Clark," Lana told him.  "Besides, I'll be there to keep you company.  See?  You're 4A and I'm 4B."

Clark looked at their boarding passes where the seat assignments were listed. 

"Thanks Lana," he said sheepishly.  "I promise I won't be much trouble."

 "Yeah right Clark," Martha interrupted.  "You've been giving me trouble since before you could even spell your name.  Lana, just be glad you don't have to dress this kid!"

"Mom!"

The group's laughter was interrupted by the loudspeaker announcement indicating that they were ready to board first class passengers.  The five took their carry-on bags in hand and proceeded to the entrance.  Ten minutes later, after a baggage check, a pass with the metal detector wand, and a pat-down, Clark was the last of the group to finally make it on board.

"Geez Clark, after all the times you've set off the metal detector today you could convince someone that you were wearing a chain mail under that shirt," Chloe told him.

"Very funny Chloe.  I guess I'm just the type of guy they figure would want to take over a plane."

The five took their seats and got ready for take-off.  As the plane began to taxi down the runway, Lana put her hand on Clark's.

"We'll be there before you know it," she told him reassuringly.

Clark looked at her and smiled.  'So far so good!' he thought to himself.

On the snowy mountainsides of the Sierra Nevadas, two stealthy figures zig-zagged their way along.  They were dressed in white snow combat fatigues, their faces completely shielded from the cold by face masks.  Once they made their way around to the back side of the mountain, they stopped and pulled off their masks.  One of the two men procured a radio.

"Cougar, this is Jackal.  You got me?"

"Cougar here.  Where are you?"

"We're about twenty more miles from the rendezvous point.  We're going to hike a few more miles and set up camp for the night.  We'll meet up with you and Hyena tomorrow."

"Affirmative, we'll do the same.  Do you have the package?"

The radioman, 'Jackal', turned and put his hand on the heavy backpack he was carrying.  "Safe and sound.  We'll divvy it up tomorrow when we meet up.  Stay sharp, we'll meet you tomorrow."

With a push of the button, the radio was silenced and the two men continued their quiet trek across the mountains.

"Clark, get up, we're here."  Lana shook Clark by the shoulders a few more times before he woke up.

"Huh, oh, did we land already?"

"Yeah sleepy-head.  You were out cold the entire second half of the flight."

"Did I miss much?"

"Nah," Pete told his friend.  "Just sodas and peanuts."

Pete tossed a small bag of peanuts to Clark, who shoved them in his pocket.

"Lex said that one of his drivers would be here to meet us," Clark told the group as they walked up the ramp toward the airport.

As they exited into the terminal, they were immediately greeted by a sharply-dressed man.

"Mr. Kent?" the man asked, extending his hand.

"Yes, that's me," Clark told him.

"I'm Jacob Andersen, Mr. Luthor asked me to meet you here."

"Great!" Lana told him.  "Clark was just telling us that Lex had arranged for someone to meet us."

"That would be me, Miss Lang," Jacob told her.  "The car is out in the lot, so once we collect your baggage we can be on our way."

"Whoa man," Pete said when they got out to the parking lot.  "That's one of those SUVs made by BMW."

"Mr. Luthor provides the best for his guests," Jacob told him as he opened the trunk and took their bags.  "I'll be taking you directly to the cabin, if you require any goods or items to be picked up for you I can do that once I drop you off."

"Thank you Mr. Andersen," Martha said to him, "but we've got everything we'll need.  If anything comes up we'll let you know."

"Very good, Mrs. Kent.  And please, it's Jacob.  If you need anything on the way there just push that button there to talk to me."

Jacob turned away, and a tinted black window rolled up between the driver's compartment and the back seats.

"This thing works just like a limo," Pete observed.

"Lex really went all out for us," Chloe said.  "I'm impressed."

"He must be doing pretty good then!" Clark said.

"Well… I'm still also holding out hope that I can get a story out of his cabin."

When they arrived at the cabin a while later, the group was again surprised.

"When he said cabin, I was thinking 'rustic, Abe Lincoln' type cabin," Chloe said.

"Yeah, this thing… it's like a miniature castle!  Let's check it out!"  Pete rushed up the front steps and into cabin.  A few seconds later, he stuck his head out the front door.  "Guys, you have GOT to see this."

None of them were expecting what they found on the other side.  The cabin was fully stocked, with high-quality furniture and decorations.  There were four bathrooms, 6 bedrooms, a master suite on the second floor with an indoor hot tub under a giant skylight, and a large balcony.

"Can you believe all the food Lex had put in here?" Martha asked as she and Lana emerged from the kitchen.  "If you guys order out for pizza I'm going to call you crazy."

"It looks like Lex already covered that," Clark said as he pulled a large pizza out of the freezer.

As the sun set over the mountains, a small hole in the snow served as an observation post for a night sentry, surveying the mountainsides with a hand-held night vision scope.

"All clear, Jackal.  Anything on the waves?"

"Not yet.  Either these marshals are extremely stupid and haven't even figured out what state we're in yet, or they're extremely smart and they're communicating by some other means."

"Or maybe they're just lucky."

"If that's the case, their luck will run out soon.  They'd better pray to whatever god they believe in that we don't catch them snooping on our trail."

Suddenly, the one designated 'Hammer' raised his fist and both men went silent.

"Never mind.  Damn animals.  That would've been a total waste of ammo."

"And of a good snow cave."

Meanwhile, in another part of the Sierras, things were anything but snowy.  Soft jazz was playing while the four teens from Smallville, surrounded by bubbles and jets in the hot tub, sipped their sodas.

"This is totally the life," Pete said as he leaned his shoulders back against the edge of the tub.  "I have got to get me one of these someday."

"It sure is a change from Smallville," Lana said as she wet her dark brown hair in the water.

"Dig up any skeletons in the closets yet Chloe?" Clark asked.

"No success yet, but if this place has four bathrooms… I can only imagine how many closets I have yet to search.  I'll have a publication-worthy story by the end of this trip."

"So what's the plan for tomorrow guys?" Pete asked.  "I'm ready to rent a board and bust some moves on the hillsides."

"Whoa there Pete," Clark said.  "The rest of us have never done this before in our lives.  I was thinking we could get some time in on the practice slopes for the first part of the day.  Jacob recommended one of the instructors at the resort that we could talk to."

"Well…" Pete said, pretending to be deep in thought.  "I am a little rusty.  I guess I could use the practice to, you know, work on my back flips.  Yep.  That's the plan."

"Clark, your mom and I were talking and I think I'm going to take some ski lessons with her while you, Pete, and Lana are learning to snowboard.  I seriously don't have the balance for a board."

"You'll still come to the slopes with us right?"

"Of course!  You think I'd miss that time with you guys?"

"Speaking of time," Lana said, standing up and letting the water drip off her body into the tub.  "It's getting pretty late.  I need to get cleaned up and get some sleep."

"Yeah, I'm out too."  Chloe stood up and grabbed a towel.  The two young women walked off, leaving only Pete and Clark in the hot tub.  A few minutes later, the two could hear laughter coming from the bedroom through the wall.

"Hey Clark, whatta ya think they're doing in there?" Pete asked.

"My best guess?  Comparing who's flannel pajama pants are the most comfortable."

"What, you mean you haven't … you know, scoped things out yet?"

"Pete!"

"Yeah Clark, I know," Pete said, stifling laughter.  "You don't use your powers to invade other people's privacy."

"I have to admit though, it's pretty tempting sometimes."

"Yeah, don't think I didn't catch you watchin' Lana as she walked away.  You can't deny that's a pretty sweet outfit she's got on.  Hey!"  Clark splashed a wave of hot water at Pete in response to his comment.  "Hey I'm just observin'.  Don't have to go and ruin a guy's soda."

Clark just leaned back against the tub, apparently proud of himself.  Pete put his soda on the floor outside the tub and turned around as if he were getting up to leave.

"Tidal wave!" he shouted suddenly, kicking water in Clark's face until he was completely waterlogged.

"Okay okay, I give!" Clark said as he put his hands up to shield his face from more water.  "We'd better get some sleep too."

The next morning, after eating a large breakfast prepared by Martha Kent, the five proceeded to the ski resort for their lessons.  After a few hours of practice on the small slopes, Pete and Lana were both wearing damp clothes from taking their share of spills.  Clark, on the other hand, had fallen only once or twice.

"Ugh," Lana shuddered as she brushed her clothes off from her latest fall.  "Snow down your back is definitely NOT comfortable."

"I agree with you Lana," Pete said as he flicked snow off his hat.

"Lana, you all right?" Clark asked as he slid to a stop on his snowboard, having just come down the slope again.

"Yeah, a little damp and chilled but it's nothing I won't survive.  You, on the other hand, look like you haven't had your fair share of snow yet."

Her comment was followed by a loud SPLAT as the snowball she had hidden behind her back struck Clark square in the chest.

"What was that for?" he asked.

Lana shrugged.  "Call it jealousy."

"Lana and I don't think you've fallen down enough times Clark, so we decided that you needed to get some snow on your clothes so we wouldn't feel bad."

"For a guy with shoulders like yours Clark, you have extremely good balance," Lana observed.

"I don't know what it is," Clark told them.  "There were a few times I thought I was going to become a Clark-sicle but I managed to re-balance myself."

"Hey look," Pete said, pointing back toward the lodge.  "There's your Chloe and your mom.  Looks like they're about ready for some lunch at the cabin."

"Not a moment too soon," Lana said, releasing her boots from the snowboard bindings and heading down the hill.  "I really need to change and put on a shirt that hasn't had snow underneath it."

Pete stuck his arm out and slowed Clark down as he seemingly mindlessly followed Lana down the hillside.

"Down boy," he told Clark.

"Jackal, this is Cougar.  We're about 4 miles from the rendezvous point.  Hyena and I are running low on supplies, but we should be able to make it there without a problem.  No sign of the feds yet."

"Good.  Hammer and I are a bit farther away than you are but we're moving slowly.  There are skiers near where we are – makes it hard to tell if the marshals are on to us.  Can't be too careful with what we've got in tow."

"You said it.  We've got enough to hold our own for a few hours if we're discovered, but that won't be happening.  We'll see you in a bit."

The two pairs of men continued their movement across opposite sides of the mountain.

"Mrs. Kent, this is great," Lana said as she fed herself another spoonful of steaming soup.

"Nothing like a little hot soup and sandwiches to shake off the cold," Chloe concurred.  She yawned, then continued.  "I sure could go for some more sleep before we hit the slopes though."

"Yeah, I'm totally wiped out," Pete said.

"We can all get some sleep before going out again," Clark suggested.  "We're in no hurry anyway.  We have four days to get in our fill of snow."

In a small van parked near the ski lodge, a whole bustle of activity was taking place at once.

"That's right, we have confirmed radio signals in the area."

"Just outside the upper boundary of the ski slopes.  Sounds like our guys."

"Two, but the other two can't be far away."

"All right people, listen up!"  A man dressed in winter gear, apparently in charge, entered the back of the van.  "We've got our guys on radio and they're moving around the hill.  We've got a team tailing them.  Stay sharp and keep monitoring the radios for any more chatter between them."

He picked up a radio microphone and spoke softly.  "Okay alpha team, Operation Fox Hunt is ready to go.  You can proceed when ready."

On the snowy mountainside, a team of three federal troops began slowly following the trail.

A few hours later, Clark and his friends were again being driven to the ski resort by Jacob.

"Oh shoot!" Chloe exclaimed.  "I left my gloves and goggles back at the cabin.  Jacob, would it be too much trouble for you to take me back there after you drop the rest of these guys off?"

"Not at all, Miss Sullivan."

"I'll go with you Chloe," Martha said reassuringly.  "We skiers have to stick together."

"You guys going to be okay Mom?" Clark asked.

"You three get out there and have fun," Chloe chided him.  "We'll be okay.  Just wait up for us after the first incline on the slope."

"All right, we'll be waiting there for you."

"Thanks so much for doing this, Jacob," Martha said to Jacob as he was driving them back to the cabin.

"No problem at all, Mrs. Kent.  Mr. Luthor has no problem with minute gas expenditures."

"Even still," Chloe told him.  "We appreciate your effort."

Back at the resort, Clark, Pete, and Lana were riding one of the new gondolas up the hillside.

"These gondolas sure beat the old ski lifts," Pete said.  "It makes things a lot easier for snowboarders."

"Yeah, and you can just walk around and enjoy both sides of the view," Lana added as she walked from one window to the next.  "Plus… Clark here doesn't have to worry about looking down."

"I'm getting better," he told Lana.  "Just needed to ease myself into the water instead of diving in I guess."

"Hold up Hammer."

"What is it Jackal?"

The lead man beckoned to his travel companion, who looked around before stealthily moving up to where his cohort lay prone in the snow.  'Jackal' handed the radio earpiece to 'Hammer.'

"Marshals," he said after listening to the radio signal.

'Jackal' nodded.  "They're tailing us."

"Well then, what do you say we leave them a few surprises?"

'Hammer' slowly advanced forward about one hundred yards while 'Jackal' reached into his pack and procured several large metallic disks, which he buried a few inches beneath the powdery snow.  After pushing a few keys on a pad he held in his hand, he moved quickly to join 'Hammer.'

"Let's go.  We don't want to be around in fifteen minutes when those sensors kick in."

Clark and Lana slid to a stop at the end of the first incline on the ski slope, where Pete was waiting for them.  Pete, being the more experienced snowboarder, had arrived a few minutes in advance.  Clark had started out slow and also stayed behind to help Lana up a few times when she slipped.

"You think Chloe and your mom will be here soon?" Pete asked when Clark arrived.  "All those hills down there are just calling to me."

"Well if they take too long you can always go ahead, Pete," Lana told him.  "We can wait up while I catch my breath.  I wouldn't want to keep you from your fun."

"Oh I'll stay a bit longer," Pete said.

"Alpha team to base camp.  They were here all right.  Fresh tracks in the snow, and body prints.  I'd say maybe fifteen, twenty minutes max."

"Alpha team, we're detecting some strange radio signals in your vicinity.  Check it out, but proceed with caution."

"Base camp, we've found the source.  Old walkie-talkie, rigged up to transmit continuously.  Probably just to throw us off track.  Wait a minute, there's something here…"

In the command van, the radio suddenly cut into static as the entire ski resort echoed with a loud sound, almost like an enormous thunderclap.

"Alpha team!  Alpha team, do you copy?  What's going on up there?"

"What the…???" Clark yelled over the booming in the mountains as he struggled to regain his balance.  He reached over and grabbed Lana's gloved hand, pulling her upright onto her snowboard.

"Holy…"

Clark and Lana turned to look up the hill, where Pete's eyes were locked.  They stood frozen when they saw the giant sheet of white snow that was rapidly sliding down the mountain, right in their direction.

"Chloe, are you all right?" Martha called into the bathroom where Chloe had just entered.

"I'm fine, what in the world was that?"

"I don't know!"

"Clark, Lana…" Pete chided.  "I think it'd be in our best interest to go.  NOW!"

Pete took off down the slope, leaning forward and moving himself as fast as he could.  After a brief moment's pause, Clark grabbed Lana's hand and they pushed off in the same direction.

"What the hell caused that?" Lana screamed over the noise as she and Clark sped down the hill.

"I don't know!  We have to get off this mountain!"

The way down wasn't easy, despite the fact that there were few people still on the slopes in the late afternoon.  The slope was lumpy in some areas, too gradual at some points and too steep at others.  After a few hard bumps Lana's glove slipped off her hand, leaving Clark gripping an empty ski glove.  The two continued to race down the mountain with Pete a distance ahead, but without Clark's guidance Lana began to slip more often and soon fell behind.  Suddenly, her board struck a bump in the snow and sent her tumbling.

"Lana!" Clark yelled over his shoulder as he watched her fall.  With his feet bound to the snowboard, he was being dominated by his own inertia and couldn't stop his forward motion.  Clark watched in horror as the rapidly approaching avalanche washed over Lana.

Left with little choice, Clark drew in his arms and leaned forward.  He fixed his eyes on the distant bottom of the hill, knowing that if he was to have any chance of helping Lana he had to avoid letting himself be buried under several thousand tons of snow.  He willed himself forward, and very slowly he began gaining on Pete's position.

"Where's Lana?" Pete asked, shouting over the noise when Clark was a few feet behind him.

Clark turned his head slightly back up the slope, and Pete knew the answer.  The two teens continued down the slope, with the wall of snow only feet behind them.

"Sounds like the marshals wandered right into our trap."

"Jackal, Hammer, what the hell was that?" asked 'Hyena'.

"A little something we left for the marshals," replied 'Hammer', as 'Jackal' opened his fist to reveal the control pad he was holding.

"Proximity mines," they observed.

"It's good to see you two," Jackal told Cougar and Hyena.  "I hope the jailbreak wasn't too far off from the plan."

"Not at all.  Actually it went better than planned.  Five dead guards instead of three."

"Since we had to blow away some federal marshals, we need to find a new spot to hide out for the night.  Any ideas?"

"I've got one," Cougar spoke up.  "Hyena and I saw a huge cabin through the scope on the way here.  Off the beaten path, trees all around.  If we get in there we can hole up for awhile before heading out again."

"Did you see anyone there?"

"Just a few kids and a pretty good lookin' redhead."

"We can use 'em for leverage then.  Or target practice."

"Speaking of… you got the goods?"

"Right here."  Jackal opened up his pack to reveal the precious cargo he had hauled across the mountain.  "Fresh off the black market."

"Excellent," Hyena said as he surveyed the contents of the pack.  "Silenced MP5's, grenades, proximity mines, AK-47s, plenty of ammo.  Nice work."

The four divided up the weapons and ammunition before getting ready to move again.

"Lead the way, Cougar."

Despite their best efforts, Clark and Pete knew they were losing the battle against the avalanche.  The bottom of the slope was still far away, and the snow was already nipping at their heels.

"Clark, you better pull my sorry butt out of this when we get hit!" Pete shouted.

Clark nodded, and he and Pete both braced themselves for impact.

What seemed like an eternity after the white wave washed over him, Clark felt himself stop moving and he opened his eyes.  All he could see in front of his mask was snow.  He focused his eyes on the plastic of the ski mask, and moments later unleashed a barrage of heat on the goggles.  They melted quickly and the snow above him began to melt, until suddenly a burst of natural light flooded into his otherwise dark, snowy confines.  Using all his strength, Clark pushed himself up toward the light.  His arms slowly but surely moved upward through the densely packed snow, until finally his hand broke free.  Grasping the surface, he pulled the rest of his body to the top.  Climbing free, he saw that his snowboard was thoroughly beaten and mangled.  All around him, he saw nothing but white-covered landscape with a few sturdy treetops protruding.

He turned his attention to the snow beneath him, and he began scanning below the snow with his x-ray vision.  A few hundred yards away, he found another form – it was encased in snow, with a small airspace located just above the face.  Clark rushed over and quickly melted the snow away with his x-ray vision to reveal Pete, lying beneath the snow.

"Pete, are you all right?" Clark asked as he hauled his friend out of the snow.

"AAHH!!!" Pete shouted as he was pulled free.  "It's my ankle.  Damn snowboard bindings twisted it around."

"And you thought navigating the crowds at school was rough huh?"

"Yeah, I won't complain for a few weeks now when we get back.  Where are we?"

"We're still a ways from the bottom of the hill, but we we're a lot closer than we were when the avalanche hit us.  I'll take you down there, but then I have to find Lana."

Clark picked up his injured friend and, using all of his super-speed to avoid collapsing the snow beneath them, raced to the bottom of the hill.  When he got there, he saw that ambulances had already arrived at the resort.

"My friend needs a doctor," Clark told the nearest EMT as he set Pete down on a gurney.  "His ankle is hurt."

"Okay kid," the EMT said as he turned around to grab a bandage out of the ambulance.  "I'll just…"

But Clark was already gone.  The EMT looked at Pete as if to ask 'What just happened?'

"Don't worry, he does that disappearing routine a lot.  He's a regular magician."

Back at the cabin, Martha hung up the phone.

"Well I just got word from Jonathan, apparently there was a huge avalanche nearby.  It's all over the news."

Chloe was terrified.  "We need to call the resort!  I hope Clark and the gang are okay."

Martha picked up the phone to dial the resort, but hung it up again.

"That's funny," she told Chloe.  "The phones just went dead."

"Whoever owns this place must be living fat," Cougar said to Hammer.  "Look at that Beamer SUV."

"Well let's just ditch this body so we can get in there already."

The two dragged Jacob's body into the woods, the driver laid low by a single silenced shot to the head.  After they had abandoned the body in a hastily dug crypt in the snow, the two men covered the bloody tracks with fresh snow.

"We went through the car," Jackal told them when they returned.  "Looks like most of them were at the ski resort we blew sky high."  He nodded toward the house.  "Only the redhead and the blonde are here."

Hyena licked his lips.  "Sounds good to me.  We already got the phone lines."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Cougar asked, pulling the lever on his firearm to chamber the first round from the new clip he loaded.

"Nothing."

The four men burst into the cabin, taking Chloe and Martha completely by surprise.  They were then tied up at gunpoint as the four men made themselves at home.

Clark didn't make it far up the hill when he saw a hand extending from the snow.  He grabbed the hand and pulled upward while using his heat vision to soften the snow, pulling the buried man to the surface.

"Thanks," the man coughed as his face surfaced.

"Don't worry about it.  The paramedics are here, the rescue teams will be reaching you shortly."  He sped off up the hill, searching for Lana.

After stopping to pull out two more trapped skiers, however, he realized his task was not going to be easy.  He had lost Lana to the avalanche fairly near the top of the slope, and as it was turning out there were a lot more people near the bottom half.  He couldn't leave them, and as much as he wanted to help Lana he knew that he also needed to help those he came to first.

"Hold on Lana, hold on."

"Who the hell are you?" Martha demanded.

The four men who had taken her and Chloe hostage were stripping out of their heavy snow jackets, revealing heavily tattooed arms.  Each of the four bore some sort of military tattoo: Green berets, Navy SEALS, and other special forces emblems that the two women didn't immediately recognize.

"My name is Jackson Briggs," the lead man introduced himself.  "But most people call me Jackal when they're begging for their lives at gunpoint.  Of course," he gripped Martha's face by her chin.  "If things go my way I'll have you doin' a lot more than begging."

"Don't count on it, dirtbag," Martha shot back at him.

"Just you wait honey.  I'll have my way with you yet.  These here are my associates, all you need to know is that they're called Hammer, Cougar, and Hyena.  Hyena and Cougar have spent the last five years in a federal prison, so once I'm through I'm sure both of you will be getting to know them very well."

Martha and Chloe exchanged very worried glances.

"Hey Jackal, this place is so packed!  We could feed an entire army here."

"Enjoy yourselves boys.  You've earned it after the last two weeks of hiking through these damn mountains.  But don't touch the women – not until I give the word."

About halfway up the hill, Clark's x-ray vision detected a large rectangular object buried underneath the snow.  As he got closer, he realized what it was: a ski gondola that had gotten caught up in the avalanche after the support poles had fallen over.  Inside he could see that several of the people were unconscious, and a few more were desperately pushing at the door, which was securely lodged against the snow.

Clark's eyes flashed and more waves of heat poured out toward the snow, melting it away until he could see the door of the gondola.  He grabbed the metal fixture and peeled it back like an orange peel.  The people trapped inside frantically scrambled out of the gondola while Clark helped to pull out those who were unconscious.  After taking a head count of all in the gondola, the apparent leader of the ski group turned to thank Clark.  But again, he was already gone.

By the time Clark got to the area where he thought Lana would be, the sun had disappeared behind the mountain and the wind was picking up.  There were still no rescue crews in sight, and he figured they were still tied up with the injured people further down the hill.  Surveying the area around him, he found one body a few hundred feet beyond the resort's side boundary.  One arm was raised in a swimming motion, and another was cupped over the face.  The body was also slightly turned, as if the person had been trying to roll away from the avalanche.  Those were all techniques the ski instructor had taught them before they went onto the slopes, and Clark knew it had to be Lana.  He sped over to her and quickly melted the snow away.  When he pulled her out, Lana was unconscious.

"Lana?  Lana can you hear me?"  His questions were met with silence.

Clark hurriedly pulled his jacket off and covered Lana with it like a blanket.

'Think Clark, think.  What did they tell you about survival?'

He began going down the list of survival priorities they had been taught.

"Positive attitude.  Well.  I can't die out here, no matter how much snow there is.  That's positive."  Then he turned to Lana, and touched his forehead to hers.  Her skin was chilly, but he could still feel her breathing against his lips.  "I'm guessing you can hear me Lana, because they say that even comatose people can hear what others are saying.  I'm going to get you out of this, you're going to be okay.  You just have to trust me."

'Like she has much of a choice,' he thought to himself.  'What's next?  First aid.'

He x-rayed Lana's body for any broken bones.  Miraculously, the girl had gotten through with only a small break in her left leg.  Clark did what he could to immobilize her leg, using available branches and a portion of his own T-shirt.  Clark had no way to treat her scrapes and bruises, so he let those be.  Even in the dark, he could see that her lips and fingertips were turning blue.  He knew that the most important thing he could do for her was to warm her up, and to keep her warm.  He didn't want to worsen her leg's condition, so he had to come up with an alternative to moving her.

'I need a fire.'

Looking to his left, Clark saw a few exposed treetops.  Racing to them with super-speed, he began to break off the exposed branches with a combination of his strength and heat vision.  He brought the broken branches back to where Lana lied on the snow and stacked them a few feet from her.  He ignited the evergreen branches with his heat vision, but was immediately greeted by a thick cloud of smoke from the wet, green boughs.

'Okay farm boy, you should've known.  Dry wood burns cleaner than wet wood.'

Toning down the strength of his heat vision, Clark dried the remaining branches and piled them on top of the fire.  The thick smoke burned away to reveal a bright orange flame.  He turned back to Lana and, upon putting his hand on her shoulder, realized that her ski clothes were soaked from the melting snow.  He began to remove her outer layers, but Lana was soaked down to her thermal underwear.  He lifted her up and spread his ski jacket out underneath her, setting her back down on top of it.  He pulled off her thermals and set them out by the rest of her clothes to dry in the heat of the fire.

Lana was unconscious, but her mind was still struggling to stay functional.  She couldn't see in whatever subconscious dream world she was in, but she could feel the numbing tingling of her skin – the thousands of tiny needles constantly pricking at her arms, legs, stomach, and face.  Then she saw Clark's face, inches from hers.  She felt his hands traveling her body, slowly removing her clothes.

Clark stood back from where Lana lied on his jacket, naked.  Her skin was light blue and he knew that he had to do something to warm her up more quickly.  The fire wasn't enough.  He turned his eyes to her and began to focus his heat vision.

'Think toast.  You don't want to set her on fire, just heat her up.  Use the same heat vision you use to make toast.'

A moderate wave of heat fanned out of his eyes, engulfing Lana's body.

Lana still couldn't see anything but Clark's face.  She felt his touch cease and she reached up, yearning for it.  She wanted him, needed him to stop the pins and needles.  Suddenly, her body flushed hot and she gasped.  The pins and needles had stopped.

Clark turned his attention to Lana's clothes which were drying by the fire.  Using even less intensity in his heat vision, he began rapidly drying the garments.  Puffs of steam rose from the wet clothes as they dried under the heat of his eyes.  Once they were dry and warm, he carefully put Lana's clothes back onto her body.

"Can you tell me what you saw?"  The man from the command van had begun actively interrogating survivors of the avalanche at the ski lodge.

"Have you ever seen these two men?"

"No, I haven't," Pete told him, still lying with his leg in a splint in the makeshift hospital that had been set up in the lodge.  "My buddies and I were here skiing when we heard a loud boom and then there was the avalanche.  Two of them are still out there."

"Same as everyone else."  The man sighed, then handed Pete a card.  "Well if you hear anyone else, you get ahold of me."

"Samuel Richards," Pete read out loud.  "Federal Marshal.  Damn.  What the hell is going on?"

Back at the cabin, Jackal and his gang were helping themselves to all of the amenities that Lex Luthor had provided for his guests.

"Damn Hyena," exclaimed Cougar.  "I haven't had stuff this good in a long time.  They didn't' have anything close in that hellhole of a prison."

"Yeah, I know.  Of course, they didn't have anything as good as those two tied up in the living room either."

"You heard me earlier, Hyena," Jackal spoke up.  "Those two are left alone until I say so.  And I get the first go."

'Next up, shelter.'

Clark grabbed the remnants of Lana's snowboard and snapped it in half, binding one half to each foot.  At super speed, he began trampling down part of the hillside, packing the snow.  Then he went down hill of where he had just packed the snow and trained his heat vision on the side of the mound of snow.  Within moments, he had melted away a cavern right by the fire.

"Not too bad," he said to himself.

He picked Lana up and hugged her close to him, wrapping his jacket around the both of them as they sat by the fire.  The temperature was dropping and he knew that he'd have to move her into the cave soon, and then he'd have to restart the fire inside.  He still held out hope that they would be found before that was necessary.

'Water and food,' he thought to himself.  'As long as Lana isn't awake, she can't eat anything.  Not that I have much besides for this bag of peanuts anyway.  And if she gets thirsty I can melt her some snow in a hurry.'

Lana eventually settled down as she got used to the warmth that had spread over her body.  She could feel Clark's presence all around her now, his arms wrapped around her and holding her.

"Clark…" she whispered.

Clark looked down at the unconscious figure of the girl he held in his arms.  He could've sworn she said something to him.

"Clark…" Lana said again, softly.

"Lana?"  He brushed her hair out of her face with his thumb.  Lana turned her head and instinctively rubbed her cheek against the palm of his hand.

"Clark…"

"Lana, hang in there.  Stay with me.  We're going to get out of this."

The girl's eyes fluttered open and she blinked, trying to focus.  She could see Clark's face, blurred, and nothing else.  "Clark I…" she began, but trailed off again.

"Lana, focus on my voice.  Stay with me."

Lana closed her eyes again, and rested herself against Clark's chest.  He knew she was probably tired, but wanted to give her something to stay focused on.  Not knowing what drove him to it, Clark began to sing, an old song he had heard on the radio one day.

From the moment I saw you...

From the moment I looked into your eyes...

There was something about you...I knew...I knew

You were once in a lifetime, a treasure near impossible to find,

And I know how lucky I am to have you

I've seen rainbows that can take your breath away

the Beauty of the setting sun on any given day

When it comes to shooting stars, I've seen a few,

But I've never seen anything as beautiful as you...

I can't believe that I have you

I can't believe that you're here in my arms

I've been waiting a lifetime for you...for you.

And I've dreamed about you

Pictured in my mind who I would see

But I never imagined just how beautiful you'd be...

I've seen rainbows that can take your breath away

the Beauty of the setting sun on any given day

When it comes to shooting stars, I have seen a few,

But I've never seen anything as beautiful as you...

Clark was ready to continue with the end of the song, but just then he was interrupted by the sound of a helicopter overhead.  Looking around, he finally saw the spotlight that was approaching his direction.  Staring right into the fire, he poured in his heat vision at maximum intensity and the flames shot up toward the sky.

In the helicopter, the rescue teams immediately saw the bright beacon Clark had lit up for them.

"There, someone's over there."

The pilot steered the helicopter toward the fire and rescue crews prepared to descend to pick up the survivors.  As the helicopter came closer, Clark turned his body to shield Lana from the debris it was kicking up.  A rescue worker descended from a rope in the helicopter and ran up to Clark.

"Her leg's broken!" he shouted to the worker over the sound of the propeller blades.  "She was unconscious, but I think she's coming to now."

The rescue worker signaled to the helicopter to send down a transport for Lana, and Clark helped him load her on.  After she was safely aboard, Clark allowed himself to be lifted up and the two were then flown back to the ski lodge.

"Pete!"  Clark made his way toward his other injured friend when he got into the lodge.

"Hey Clark, did you get her?"

"Yeah, I found her.  She was a little beat up but the doctors say she'll be okay.  Do you have any idea yet what the heck caused all this?"

"I dunno, but there's a federal marshal here asking about some guys they were tracking.  There he is now!"

Marshal Richards approached Clark.  "Let me guess – you were snowboarding with your buddy here when you heard a loud boom – then you were too busy running from the avalanche."

"Pretty much."

"Damn.  I'm not getting anywhere."

"Excuse me for asking Marshal, but what exactly are you looking for?"

"Not what, who.  I'm looking for four men – they go by code names, Jackal, Hyena, Cougar and Hammer.  They're all on the federal most wanted list.  Cougar and Hyena just busted out of a federal prison awhile back, Jackal and Hammer are their contacts with the outside."

"Why are they so dangerous?"

"They're all ex-special forces of one sort of another.  They're disgruntled, have some sort of axe to grind with the government and they're all pretty nuts.  Most of them have murdered several people and have connections with the black market.  We were tracking Jackal and Hammer today until we lost contact with our recon team.  About the same time as the avalanche."

"Do you think maybe they died in the avalanche?" Clark asked.

"Possibly.  But they could've also caused it.  Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to head back and do some more investigating."

"Hey Clark," Pete asked.  "Have you called the cabin yet and checked on your mom and Chloe?"

Marshal Richards stopped dead in his tracks.  "What cabin?"

"We're staying at a friend's cabin nearby," Clark told him.  "Lex Luthor.  He loaned it to us for a few days."

"Can you point this cabin out on a map?"

"I think so."

Within a minute, a map of the area was provided and Clark pointed to the location of the cabin.

"Damn.  That's not too far from where our team was when we lost contact."  Marshal Richards pointed to a spot just above the ski slope's boundaries.  "If those guys set off the avalanche, they might've gone into hiding at the cabin.  It's isolated, hard to find… perfect for them.  Andrews, get our teams up there immediately.  Daniels, get Lex Luthor on the phone."

Lex was enjoying a glass of brandy in his study when the phone call came through.

"Mr. Luthor, this is Federal Marshal Samuel Richards.  It's come to my attention that four fugitives may have taken up hiding in your cabin in the Sierras.  I'm calling to inform you of my intention to send my men in."

"Marshal, I loaned that cabin to friends for the weekend.  Are they safe?"

"Three of them are safe, the other two are unaccounted for."

"I don't want anyone going in shooting until you can guarantee my friends' safety.  I'll send my own people to stand in your way if I have to."

"Mr. Luthor, if you do that you WILL be charged for obstruction of justice."

"Threaten me all you want, Marshal, no one goes in until my friends are safe.  My lawyers can hold their own against the Department of Justice."

"I'll worry about that after I've put down these men."

"Marshal, if any of my friends are hurt there'll be hell to pay."

"This Lex Luthor is sure a pain to work with," Richards told Clark after he hung up.  "He'll try to mess around with anything… even this."

"You are talking about sending your men in at the expense of the lives of my mom and my friend," Clark replied, upset by the Marshal's decision.

"Yeah well look kid, I've got a job to do and I'm going to do it.  You better hope your mom and friend weren't in there."

As the Marshal turned and walked away, Pete grabbed Clark's hand.

"Clark, you gotta get there before the feds do.  It's the only way to protect Chloe and your mom."

"Don't worry Pete, I'm on my way."

Clark slipped out the back door of the lodge and took off at super-speed across the snow.

Back at the cabin, Chloe had managed to shuffle her cell phone out of her pocket and was in the process of dialing the emergency number with her fingers to allow for a trace.  Her efforts were interrupted, however, when Cougar came out of the kitchen and bumped into the back of her chair.

"Hey honey, sorry about that," he said sarcastically.  Then he heard the cell phone clatter to the floor.  "What the hell… hey Jackal, we got ourselves a little stool pigeon!"

He tossed the phone over to Jackal, who set it on the coffee table and shattered it with a single bullet from his MP5.

"So," he said, walking over and stroking Chloe's face with his thumb.  Chloe shirked away, but could get nowhere because Cougar and Hyena were standing behind her.  "Someone wants to cause trouble.  I'll give you something more than trouble.  Hyena, you do what you like with this one here.  Cougar, Hammer, get the redhead upstairs.  She's all mine."

As the three men picked up Martha's chair and carried her upstairs, Hyena smiled fiendishly at Chloe.  From the glimmer in his eye, she knew she was in for some trouble.

When Clark reached the cabin, he saw two men emerge from the door carrying some sort of assault rifles.  He considered just charging in, but then he realized that with his mother and Chloe somewhere inside it was too risky.  He watched as the two guards split off around opposite sides of the house, and then he followed the one to the right.  Clark stayed low while the guard approached the ring of trees around the cabin.  When the man was close enough, Clark tapped him on the shoulder and then tossed him against a tree.  After pinching the muzzle of his weapon shut, Clark proceeded to dispatch of the other guard.  While he was securing the second man's weapon, he heard Chloe scream from inside of the cabin.

"Get off me! No!!  Get away!"

Clark burst through the front door and saw Chloe struggling with a third man, who had her pinned on the couch and was in the process of ripping her shirt open.

Clark walked up to the man and grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar.  He was about to toss him across the room when he reconsidered and wrapped his other arm in front and around the man's neck, dragging him away from Chloe as he slowly cut off his air supply.  Once the man collapsed to the floor, unconscious, Clark released his grip.

"Chloe, are you okay?" he asked, running up to the blonde who was frantically trying to piece together what remained of her shirt.

"Clark, your mom… upstairs…"

Clark looked to the stairs, but the commotion had already attracted Jackal's attention as he emerged from the room.

"Who the hell interrupted me?  I told you I didn't want to be disturbed.  Wait a minute – who are you?"  Jackal walked down the stairs to the ground floor, and awaited an answer.

Clark walked up and stood face to face with Jackal.

"Clark Kent, who are you?"

"Boy, you don't want to know.  And you just bought yourself a heap of trouble."

Jackal reached around behind to the sidearm he had tucked into his belt and drew it, aiming it at Clark's head.  Clark normally could have disarmed the man easily and subdued him, but with Chloe present he didn't want to risk exposing himself unless it was absolutely necessary.  He began backing away from Jackal, as if he was afraid of the weapon the man held.

"Not so gutsy now, are you boy?" Jackal smiled in his own self-arrogance.  "How's it feel to be within a few seconds of your life?  You can't win.  Once I've taken care of you, I'm going to do things to your friend here and your mother that would make a porn star blush."

At that moment, Chloe struck Jackal's arm and knocked his weapon to the floor.

"You dumb broad," Jackal sneered, slapping Chloe across the face and sending her falling to the floor.  He looked back to see Clark kicking the gun into the kitchen.

"Stupid.  Brave, but stupid."  Jackal assumed a fighting stance and beckoned for Clark to approach him, daring the young man to fight.

Clark did indeed approach Jackal, and the moment he grabbed the older man's wrist, Jackal threw the first punch.  Jackal was fast, but there was no way any of his special forces training could match Clark's speed.  Clark matched him blow for blow, allowing him a few hits to put up the appearance of being human.  As Chloe watched, astonished, Clark dodged punch after punch.  Waiting for the right opportunity, Clark finally saw an opening and struck Jackal square in the chest – not hard enough to send him sailing into the opposite wall, but hard enough to knock the wind out of him.  Jackal reeled for a moment, and as he stood up all the doors in the cabin burst open as federal troops swarmed into the cabin with their weapons pointed at Jackal.

A few moments later, it was all over.  Jackal was led out of the cabin in shackles, and his partners were strapped down to gurneys that were to be sent to a medical facility at a military base.  Lex had arrived to see to the safety of his guests.

"Clark, I'm glad you're all okay.  The Marshal had me worried for awhile.  I just checked with the doctors, Lana is awake and they say she's going to be just fine.  Pete's leg is in a cast, but at least football season is over.  How exactly did you manage to hold Jackal off, anyway?"

"Well, I had a little help from a friend," Clark nodded toward Chloe, who was wrapped up in a towel while Martha searched through their bags for an extra shirt.  "She knocked his gun away.  If it hadn't been for her, he probably would've shot me."

"What were you thinking going in there alone anyway?  You should've stayed with the Marshals."

"I don't know Lex, I just… I didn't want my mom or Chloe to get hurt.  I had to do whatever I could."

"Well try to be more careful next time.  You could've gotten yourself killed."

"I will, Lex."

At the hospital, Clark sat with Lana at her bedside.  The two of them sat in silence for awhile before Lana spoke.

"Clark, thank you for saving my life.  The doctors said that had you not been there, I would've died long before the rescue crews found me."

"Don't worry about it Lana."

"Don't worry about it?  You were lucky just to get out of that avalanche alive and you came back for me.  It means a lot to me Clark."

Clark sat silently a little while before asking his next question.  "What do you remember?"

"Not that much really."  Lana sighed and closed her eyes.  "I remember, my glove slipping off my hand, tumbling and falling down, and then the avalanche was all over me.  I tried some of the things our ski instructor taught us, but I couldn't get far enough out.  I guess I blacked out down there, because the next thing I remember… I was awake in the hospital."

"You don't remember anything in between?"

"Well… there was this really weird dream."  She crinkled her nose and smiled.  "It was probably nothing really, but in this dream my body was numb.  Then I remembered your face, near mine, and your hands touching me.  Everywhere you touched the numbness went away, but when you stopped it came back.  I just wanted your hands to stay on me, so that the numb feeling would stay away.  And then there was this warmth that just surged through me, and then you were holding me.  That's when I said your name, because I knew it had to be you.  I knew you were there, helping me, just like during the tornado."

"I heard you, you know." 

"Huh?"

"I heard you when you whispered my name.  It's how I knew you were okay."

Lana reached out and held Clark's hand in hers.  "Thanks Clark.  I really needed you and you were there.  You were there for all of us today."

"I'm just sorry the trip got ruined."

"It's okay.  None of us were seriously injured so we'll all be fine."

"You're right.  I should get going – you're probably exhausted."

Clark got up and headed for the door.

"Hey Clark?"

"Yeah Lana?"

"I really liked the song."

Then she flashed him one of her million-dollar smiles, leaving Clark completely speechless.