Lana walked slowly down the hall. Her body ached and she could feel her ribs more than she wanted to. She grimaced as she tripped and fell to the floor. She coughed violently and blood dripped from her lips to the hard wood floor.
Pete and Mollie rushed up behind her and helped her up to her feet.
"Lana, you don't look so good." Mollie said seriously.
"Gee thanks." Lana said weakly, trying to laugh.
"We need to get you to the hospital now." Pete said urgently, half carrying, half dragging Lana to the door.
"What are we going to do about Kal?" Mollie asked anxiously.
"Cla- Kal can handle himself, believe me." Pete said while trying to balance Lana and open the door.
The trio ran to the garage and picked one of the doors to open. Pete shrugged and opened the first one to see a red Ferrari. His eyebrows shot up in disbelief, and then he went for the car. The keys were in a locked case, so Pete put Lana down gently and took the shirt he was wearing off. He wrapped it around his knuckles and punched through the glass.
He replaced his shirt and found the right set of keys and hopped into the car while Mollie put Lana in the back seat and then sat next to her.
"Ready?" Pete asked, revving the engine.
"Yeah, we need to hurry." Mollie yelled over the engine. Pete smirked and put the car into reverse and slammed on the gas. They shot backwards and then Pete put it in drive and hurtled down the driveway and out the open gate.
Five minutes later they reached the hospital and Pete and Mollie rushed Lana into the emergency room. She was taken almost immediately and disappeared into the back.
Clark had just finished his assignment and was returning to Smallville to make sure that the girls were okay. He landed in front of the mansion and barged in to see Lex on his phone.
"That was a stupid thing to do Clark. I told you to break someone out of jail, not put them all in jail." Lex said while hanging up his phone.
"I just couldn't resist." Clark said with a smirk.
"Well, for your obvious refusal to comply with the rules, your friends will just have to die, slowly of course." Lex concluded with a smirk.
"Why do you still want them? Why don't you let them go and keep me here."
"That would be more convenient for you wouldn't it. You would be here, but your little girlfriend would be okay. That's far to nice, and you should know by now that I don't do nice." Lex reminded.
"Then what would you gain from killing them?"
"The satisfaction of watching you suffer." Lex said simply.
"Can I at least see them then?" Clark asked sadly.
"Alright, one last time." Lex said, leading him to the room where Lana and Mollie were being held.
"What the..." Lex said, opening the door and seeing his bodyguards groggily waking up and two empty cells.
"How did this happen!" Lex roared, walking up to his guards.
"I don't know. I was playing card, and then something hit me in the back of the head." The first one explained.
"All I was a chair coming towards me while I tried to get my gun." The second said while rubbing his head.
"Don't just stand there, they couldn't have gotten far! Go look for them!" Lex bellowed as the two guards high tailed it out of the room and started searching the premises.
Clark got far enough away from the cells to not feel their effects and then he yelled to Lex.
"I guess the deal is off." He said with a smirk. Lex strode over to where he was.
"This is just the beginning." He spat angrily before going to aid in the search.
Clark started to wonder where they were and decided to try to listen for their voices. At first he heard a mixture of different noises and a siren, then he heard Pete and Mollie talking to each other. He couldn't tell where they were until he heard Pete address a doctor concerning Lana. He sped to the hospital and arrived just as Pete and Mollie were following the doctor down the hall.
"Pete!" He yelled running down the hall towards them. Pete and Mollie both turned around to see Clark coming to join them.
"What's going on?" He asked worriedly, looking from Pete to Mollie, searching for an answer.
"Lana's got some broken ribs, and she coughed up some blood and then passed out." Pete said slowly. Clark's fists clenched and his knuckles went white.
"She's going to be okay, we were just on our way down to see her." Mollie said when she saw Clark's frustration. He just nodded and followed them to her room.
Clark looked through the window and saw Lana sleeping in one of the hospital beds. She looked a little pale, but not at death's door. He exhaled slowly and opened the door and went inside. Pete and Mollie decided to wait outside and give them a moment.
Mollie turned to Pete and beckoned for him to come sit down next to her on a little bench near the room. He did so and she immediately started questioning him.
"Okay Pete, I know there is something you aren't telling us about Kal." She said bluntly.
"What do you mean?" Pete asked nervously.
"You know what I mean. Why does everyone call him Clark? Why did Lex say that we didn't know who he really was?" Pete took a deep breath; he had to think of a way to explain it without giving anything away.
"Where do you go to school Pete?" This was an easy one.
"Metropolis U, why?"
"And you are Kal's roommate?"
"Yes." He said, wondering what she was getting at.
"Here is my theory. His name is really Clark, and he is the one that Lana has been talking to online for a year." Mollie said confidently. Pete felt his palms clam up and his breathing became ragged.
"Wha... what makes you say that?"
"I have been putting everything together. At first you two were really good at covering it up. Then we were at the Talon, and Chloe called him Clark and looked confused when he said his name was Kal. This you almost called him Clark but you corrected yourself. The other day before all this started, Lana talked to a guy named Pete who was Clark's roommate. It just all makes sense." Mollie concluded.
"Alright. Since you pretty much have it down to a T, I will just tell you. You're right. His real name is Clark and the reason you guys were in danger was not because he came to your dorm a few times, it was because Lex knew about Clark and Lana talking online." Pete finished.
"I knew it! Wait till I tell Lana. She will totally flip."
"No, don't tell Lana. I think Clark was planning on doing that after this is all sorted out."
"Alright. I won't say anything. Thanks for being honest Pete." Mollie finished before getting up and heading into the room.
"Has she woken up yet?" Mollie asked once she entered.
"Nope. I think I will go inform the police about Lex, excuse me." Clark said, getting up and exiting the room.
"Hey Lana." Mollie said softly, taking the seat Clark had just vacated.
"Mollie? Is that you?" Lana said, opening her eyes.
"Yep. Glad to see you're back!" Mollie said cheerfully.
"Yeah. Was Kal just in here? I could've sworn I heard him talking to me. He said something about him not being who he told me he was, or something." Mollie decided to play dumb.
"It's just me and Pete." She said innocently. Lana just nodded and closed her eyes again.
A nurse came into the room and informed the two that Lana would be ready to go by morning and that they would have to leave now, as visiting hours were over.
"What time can we pick her up?" Mollie asked.
"She will be ready to go by 9." The nurse said sweetly.
"Alright. See you tomorrow Lana." Mollie said, getting up and following Pete out of the room. They met Clark back in the lobby and came in at the end of his phone call.
"They said that Lex had already fled the mansion. They are going to try to find him, but I don't think we will be seeing him for a while." Clark said sadly.
"At least he won't be bothering us for a long time, and when he does, you can just take him in." Pete said, trying to cheer up his friend.
"I know. When can we take Lana home?" He asked, trying to change the subject.
"Tomorrow at 9. So lets just get some sleep and then this whole thing will be over." Pete said, putting a comforting hand on Clark's shoulder and ushering him out of the hospital.
The air outside was crisp and clean as a drizzle fell from the sky and slightly dampened everything. Clark noticed the Ferrari parked in the parking lot and looked at Pete.
"What? I needed to get here fast. I don't think he will miss it." Pete said with a smirk. "It was great too, you should drive it."
"Alright, then give me the keys." Clark said, putting his hand out.
"I said you should drive it, not that you were going to. This is mine tonight! You can drive it back to MU, alright." Pete compromised.
"Fine," Clark agreed, "but I call shotgun." He said with a grin. Mollie gave him a challenging look and they raced for the passenger side. Mollie was pretty fast, so Clark cheated a bit a super sped the last few yards.
"You cheater!" Mollie said jokingly. Clark just shrugged his shoulder innocently and got in. Mollie folded her arms but got in the back.
Once they were home, Martha came rushing out to the car.
"Where have you been? We were so worried." She exclaimed, throwing her arms around her son.
"We are alright. Lex took Lana and Mollie, so I went after them, then there were some complications, but everything is alright now. Lana will be out of the hospital tomorrow and we shouldn't see Lex for a while."
"Lana is in the hospital? What happened, is she alright?" Clark just nodded and promised to tell them everything once they were inside.
After the story about the day's events, everyone went to bed and anxiously waited for the next day.
Clark was the first one to rise the next morning. He shot out of bed as his alarm went off. He looked around his room and saw that the sun was just beginning to come up.
He got up, sped through the shower and rushed downstairs to get breakfast. Pete was sleeping on the couch and was snoring loudly.
While Clark was rushing around trying to find something to eat, Pete shot straight up and looked at him.
"What time is it?" Pete asked indignantly, his clothes ruffled and his eyes still half closed.
"It's about 6:30. Why?" Clark said while shoving a piece of toast into his mouth.
"We don't need to get her until 9, why are you up?" Pete said while falling back down on the couch.
"I needed to get some chores done before we go, and I didn't want to take too long and then run late." Clark explained, speaking at two times his normal speed.
"Right, well, you do that, and I am going to sleep." Pete said, already falling back into his dreams. Clark hurriedly went outside and finished his chores quickly. About 30 minutes later, he came back in and took another shower.
This time he came downstairs much more slowly, and seemed to be down from his earlier hi.
"Will you get up Pete. Mollie is already up, and we have to leave in 20 minutes." Clark said, looking down at his watch.
"Mmmhhmm. Whatever you say man." Pete said into his pillow.
"I'm serious Pete, wake up." Clark said while pulling the pillow away from Pete's grip and tossing it aside.
"Fine." Pete growled, getting up and walking over to the kitchen.
"What do you want to eat? We don't have that much time, so hurry up." Clark said while going back upstairs.
"Uh huh." Pete said to himself, still not fully awake. He ate some toast and then decided to change shirts before leaving. He was heading up the stairs when Clark and Mollie came down.
"Where are you going, we have to leave man." Clark said while backing him back down the stairs.
"I just want to change shirts. It won't take me but a minute or two." Pete said, trying to get up the stairs.
"Sorry Pete, but we are leaving right now, you can change later." Clark said, pushing him out the door.
"Alright fine. I'm driving though." Pete said while putting his hand in his pocket to get the keys. He heard a jingling in his ear and turned around the see Mollie holding the keys.
"You are going to let her drive!" Pete said.
"Yeah, she really wants to, so why not." Clark said with a smile.
"I think I'll walk then." Pete said, walking away from the car.
"We won't wait for you." Clark called, getting in next to Mollie and looking over at Pete. Pete sighed and hopped into the back seat before they sped off towards the hospital.
When they arrived, Lana was trying to walk out with a nurse running behind her trying to get her to get in the wheel chair she had brought.
"I'm fine." Lana insisted, but the nurse wasn't listening.
"We can take it from here ma'am." Clark said, getting out of the car and walking towards Lana. She looked very relieved to see a friendly face and smiled.
"Alright, good luck." The nurse muttered, turning and heading back into the hospital.
"How are you feeling?" Clark asked softly. Lana just shrugged and raised an eyebrow as she saw the expensive car behind him.
"And when did you get that?" She said, looking at Mollie.
"It was a going away gift from Lex." She said before laughing. Lana looked confused, but shrugged it off and started walking towards the car.
"You ready to go home Lana?" Mollie asked her friend while they pulled up in at the Kent farm.
"I don't know. I suppose we need to be getting back to class don't we." Lana said, looking out at the open fields, knowing she was going to miss it.
"We need to be going back to school too, since someone forgot that they were supposed to get my homework and came here instead." Clark said, shooting an accusing glance at his roommate.
"Yeah well, turns out you needed me." Pete said while getting out.
As the girls were getting their things downstairs, Mollie turned to Lana.
"Didn't we need to make a trip to MU before we head home. I understand that this really hot guy goes to school there and we should pay him a visit." Mollie said, making sure the guys heard.
"Oh yeah, we do need to do that. I cannot wait to see Clark." Lana said excitedly. Clark smiled a little and looked over at Pete. Mollie was looking at them and gave Pete a knowing smile before turning back to her roommate.'
"Pete, why don't you give us a ride up there. Don't you go to MU?" Mollie asked.
"Why yes I do. I actually know this Clark guy; I'll drive you guys up there right now. I think Kal probably has some Superman stuff to do, so we will leave you to it buddy." Clark nodded, giving Pete a look and then turned to Lana.
"I guess I'll be seeing you." He said before giving her a hug and going back up stairs. Lana looked after him and smiled.
"Ready ladies?" Pete asked. Both girls nodded and they loaded their things into the Ferrari and headed out. Once they were gone, Clark packed up some of his things and super sped back to his dorm.
Pacing. Pacing was all Clark had been doing for the past two hours. He was so anxious that he couldn't sit still for more than two minutes. He didn't know what he was going to say once they got here. He kept trying to think of something to say, but the only thing that came to mind was... well... nothing.
'There has to be some perfect phrase I could say that would explain everything.' Clark thought to himself. In movies the guys had always managed to say the right thing and the girl would just run into their arms and kiss them, but this was a lot harder now that he had to do it.
'Alright, you've got time man, you can do this.' Clark said to himself nervously. Just as he thought this, a knock came at the door and he could hear Pete yelling at him to open up.
His heart raced. ' This is it.' He said to himself as he smoothed his hair and then went for the door. The moment he opened it, Pete came in and then Mollie and Lana's head turned up from where she had been digging in her purse and she dropped it to the ground. Her eyes went wide and tears started to form. One silently ran down her cheek and a look of utter disbelief filled her features.
Clark quickly walked up to her and wiped the tears running down her cheeks away and held her face in his hands.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before." He said softly. He was trying to think of something else to say, but luckily, he didn't need to.
Lana's face broke into a beautiful smile and she leaned up and brought her lips hungrily to his. He returned her kiss with fervor, closing his eyes and letting his hand slip to the back of her neck and pulled her closer.
When they broke apart at last, Lana's head was spinning and her breaths were coming out heavily. She looked up into the eyes of the man who she had grown to love in only a few short days and had liked for a year before that. He looked back down at her, a smile of relief and joy playing across his face.
"I'm so glad it was you." Lana said finally.
"Me too." Clark said before lowering his head and capturing her lips in another passion filled kiss.