A few more weeks of summer passed and soon Smallville was rebuilt. Money and support had flooded in from throughout the country and a huge amount was donated by the newly renamed Lexcorp. In a huge suprise to herself Lois was re-accepted into MetU. This meant that she would be leaving for Metropolis again but so promised the Kent's that she would come and visit on the weekends. Clark didn't know why but the dynamic between Lois and himself had changed during the past few weeks. They still bickered and fought as usual but they also were spending most of their free time together and were quickly becoming very close friends. Clark found himself looking at her when he didn't mean to be, much like he used to do with Lana. Lana had finally warmed back up to Clark, but only after she had found out that he was saving his parents and Lois from a gun-toting madman while she was being held by Lionel. Clark's life finally had settled back down and had reached a pretty stable point.
The sun beat down on Jonathan Kent. Sweat dripped from his head. He was busy out in the middle of one of his fields, digging a hole for a new water pump that Lex had generously offered and Jonathan had in a surprise move accepted. The work was tiring. He was feeling sick, but he passed it off as a side effect of the work he was doing. Suddenly a incredibly sharp pain ripped through his entire body. He let out a scream and collapsed onto the ground.