Lana watched her sleeping friend, his face was ashen, his entire body trembled and shook violently when a new wave of pain washed over him. She had tried earlier to crack the door open, but she wasn't strong enough.

"Hold on, Clark. We'll get out." He had saved her so often, and now she felt like she had to save him, though she had no idea how she was supposed to do that. She hadn't felt that helpless in a long time.

Finally the door was opened again and the small guy stood in the semi-darkness. "I need a decision now."

"Please, let us out of here first, my friend is dying."

"It's his own fault, he shouldn't be that stubborn."

Clark slowly became aware of voices, and finally managed to prye his eyes open. The world was spinning, and he could barely make out the man standing only a few feet away. But the sound of his voice sent chills down his spine. Something bad was going on, he just couldn't quite remember. Then he felt a warm hand in his own cold one and shifted his gaze, he squinted until the beautiful dark-haired girl came into focus. *Lana!*

"Let...her...go!" he forced out, his voice barely a whisper.

"I can't hear you!" The guy replied, obviously enjoying the moment.

Clark repeated it, putting all the effort he could muster up into those three words. "Let - her – go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"You wanted me..." Clark was getting weaker, he could feel his energy drain.

"And if I let her go, I'll get you? Why is it that I don't believe you? Besides, you are half-dead aready. You made me lose this chance to become a legend, and you are gonna pay for it!"

"You are crazy!" Lana sounded much braver than she actually felt.

Instead of answering the guy aimed his gun at Lana and pulled the trigger, his eyes full of uncontrollable fury.

"No!" Clark didn't know where he found the strength, but he pushed himself up and threw his body between Lana and the bullet, shielding her.

Clark felt pain curse through his entire body when the bullet collided with his back, he gritted his teeth, trying not to scream. His whole body ached and he felt himself slide towards blackness.

Then there was a second shot. He felt Lana beneath him and heard her gasp for air, that was all that mattered right now. He prepaired himself for the pain, but there was no second impact.

Everything went black around him as oblivion mercifully engulfed him.

**

Lana had seen the gun and had heard the shot, and then she felt something push her to the floor.

Why was she still feeling? Still breathing? Why didn't she feel any pain?

She heard someone scream, then a second shot, but she still seemed unharmed, merely trapped beneath Clark's motionless form.

"Clark!" The voice sounded familiar. She felt the weight being taken from her slim body and then looked up. Another body was lying on the ground, motionless. Then she saw Mr Kent holding his son in his arms and Peter kneeling beside her.

"Are you OK?" He asked her, his eyes big with worry and shock.

"Yeah...yeah. I think so. How did you...? Cark! The bullet must have hit him...he wanted to protect me." Lana couldn't understand what had happened.

Pete helped her sit up while Jonathan examined Clark. "The bullet must have missed him..." He awkwardly tried to find an explanation.

Lana suddenly was wide awake. "We have to bring him out of here, away from the meteor rocks!" She motioned towards the cot that still covered the green stones.

Jonathan laid Clark over his shoulder and then slowly made his way out, leaving it to Pete to take care of the girl.

"How did you find us?" Lana asked when Pete helped her stand up.

"Your horse, your wallet, then there were noises and screams." Pete supported the shaken young woman. When Lana spied Mr Kent and Clark outside she rushed over.

"What's the matter with him? Is he gonna make it?"

"I hope so, he has never been exposed to those rocks for that long, but he is a fighter. We just have to let him rest."

Jonathan looked up, they were in the middle of nowhere, and even though work on a farm helped building strength, he wasn't sure he could carry Clark back to the car, and there was no way Clark could support himself.

"We need your horse, Lana," he ordered.

The girl understood immediately. "I'll get her." She stood up, eager to help.

Pete watched her walk away and when he was sure she couldn't hear them anymore he turned to Jonathan. "How bad is it?"

"I've never seen him like this." He uncovered Clark's back. A huge bruise spread across his right side. "That's not good. A little longer and he might have been too weak to even shield himself from the bullet."

They heard Lana return.

"Clark? Can you hear me?" Jonathan slightly slapped his cheek. "Listen, son, you have to wake up. You've gotta help us here." Eventually Clark's eyes fluttered open.

"Do you hear me?"

"Dad..." Clark whispered, barely able to open his eyes.

"Everything's gonna be fine. You are Ok now."

"Lana..." He suddenly tensed.

"She is right here and she is fine." Jonathan helped the young man sit up. "We've gotta get you on that horse. Do you think you are up for a ride?"

"I...dizzy."

Pete and Jonathan both helped him stand up and he swayed, trying to find a semblance of balance.

"Whoa...I need to..." Clark bent over and landed hard on his knees before he emptied his stomach, a shocked and scared expression on his face.

"I have never..."

"It's OK, Clark. You're gonna be fine." Jonathan quickly interrupted his son, before he could say something that would uncover his secret in front of Lana. "Let's go home. You're Mom is worrying."

It was a bit of a struggle to get him on the horse but eventually they managed.

"I can sit behind him and support him," Lana offered. Her face had regained some color and her voice was steady again.

"OK." Jonathan helped her on the horse and then grabbed the rein.

**

Fifteen minutes later they had reached the pick-up and helped Clark from the horse. His condition had hardly improved, he still seemed weak and helpless. That was very untypical and worried Jonathan. Usually Clark felt fine merely seconds after he was far enough away from the meteor rocks.

At least he was concious again and helped Pete and Jonathan when they situated him in the truck.

"Are you Ok, Lana?" The farmer looked at her, worried.

"Yeah, I think so. I'll take care of Winnie and then would like to come over. Is that OK?"

"Sure, you are positive you can ride back? Pete can take care of your horse and you can come with me."

"I'll be fine, I need to clear my head. Take care of Clark."

"Ok, see you later. Thanks for everything – and I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"It's Ok. Not your fault. Bye." With one last glance at the now unconcious form of her friend she turned towards her horse.

**

"Ok, Pete. Let's get him home."

"I'll call your wife and Chloe to let them know we've found him." Pete climbed in the pick-up on Clark's right side, worriedly observing his best friend.

"Thanks, Pete." Jonathan suddenly remembered the body still lying in the container. "And please call Ethan and explain what happened."

**

When Lana knocked on the door of the farmhouse, everything was already taken care of. Pete and Jonathan sat in the kitchen with Ethan.

"Come on in, Lana!!" Jonathan smiled at her. "God you are here. Ethan has some questions." Jonathan was worried Lana might express her surprise and shock towards the bullet that must've had hit his son, but miracously hadn't hurt him.

"Sure, but would you mind if I..." He motined towards the staircase.

"Of course, go ahead." Ethan nodded his understanding.

"Thank you."

*

"Hey!"

"Hi Lana." Martha greeted her with a warm smile and stood up to embrace her. "Are you Ok?"

"I am. What about Clark?"

"A little better, and he is gonna be fine. Thanks to you."

"All I did was being stupid enough to be caught. Clark saved my life."

"Lana?" Both women turned towards the bed and Martha instantly understood.

"I'll leave you two alone." She warmly smiled at the two teenagers before slowly clsing the door behind her.

Lana moved closer. "Hey, how do you feel?"

"Pretty drained." He forced a weak smile on his face.

"You know, Clark...what you told me in that cave...I mean you probably don't even remember and I'm making a fool out of myself to even consider you knew what you were talking about..."

That was it, that was his chance to play it down. He only had to act dumb now and everything would be back to normal.

"I...I knew what I was talking about, Lana," he whispered.

"Do you want to say that you were serious about the alien story?"

"I'm afraid so..."

"Wow, I can't believe it. My best friend is not at all what he seems to be...so you are superman and not man, huh?"

"If it weren't for you more of a dead man."

"Don't say that..."

"But at least I would have gotten to tell you the truth before...you know." He weakly reached out for her hand. "Do you think you can forgive me?"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I was scared, that's not something you easily talk about during lunchbreak. 'Hey, by the way, I can run to Metropolis in twenty minutes...' If anything slips, I'll probably end up as a lab rat and could never have a normal life. And all that I ever wanted was to be normal. I grew up with this secret, and it hurt so much not being able to tell anyone...I'm sorry."

Lana stared out the window for a long moment. After what seemed like an eternity she spoke again.

"I guess I need some time to get used to the thought. But I can understand why you kept it from me, though it still hurts. But no matter what, Clark, your secret is safe with me. I swear."

"I know."

"Thanks for being honest." She bent down and gently kissed him on the lips.

"Do you think I might experience something pretty amazing, now that I took the risk?"

Lana smiled. "You never know."

THE END

**

I hope you liked it!!!!