Knight

Chapter 1

Clark didn't like going dancing. In fact he hated it. The only reason he had gone on this particular night is that Lana had wanted to go with Chloe and Lois. They had gone to Atlantis of all places to top it off. It brought back a lot of bad memories from his fateful summer spent in Metropolis. Lucky for him there weren't any employees working that night who would have remembered him.

Currently he was sitting at a table taking a break. For all of his gifts he was not a natural dancer. He watched the girls dance now instead. They danced with each other mostly, occasionally Lois or Chloe would find a random guy buy Lana obviously didn't. He smiled at her. The relationship was going well, but now that he had his powers back he knew that it was in trouble. With Jor-El's threat weighing on him it was hard for him to enjoy anything really. Lana smiled at him and pulled away from her friends. Clark smiled back. When she got to him she leaned in for a kiss, and he reciprocated.

"Having fun," Lana said with a chuckle.

"A blast," Clark replied sarcastically, and yelling to be heard over the music.

"We can leave if you want," she said having a seat on his lap.

"No stay, have fun, I don't mind watching."

Lana smiled that beautiful smile and returned to the dance floor. Clark couldn't help but feel good. Nothing mad him happier than seeing her happy, and she was. He just hoped he could keep it that way.

As Chloe danced she looked over at Clark. She felt bad for him. Land had dragged him to this and she could tell he was miserable. It had been her idea to come to Atlantis and she was regretting it. She just had had so much fun during her time in Metropolis. Seeing Clark and Lana together had been surprisingly easy for her. She had realized long ago that Clark would never harbor the same feelings for her that he did for Lana. It was just a fact of life. Chloe was now just happy to see the two of them together and past all the drama. Besides, she had more important things to worry about at this point, and she could still claim that she was the only one of Clark's friends that knew his secret. Chloe's thought were interrupted by a someone who crossed her vision. He couldn't have been much older than her she deduced but he looked worn. He was also incredibly handsome. A rugged handsome buy handsome none the less. Who was this guy. She had stopped dancing and had made her way towards the bar.

"Yo, Chloe, hellooo," Lois questioned, "What's her deal," Lois asked lana.

Lana could only shrug in return.

Chloe couldn't take her eyes off this tall, and mysterious looking guy. He looked incredibly familiar to her. He wore a worn leather jacket and jeans. She could tell he was asking the bartender questions but couldn't hear what it was about. As she neared the bar she got bumped by someone and fell.

"Watch it bitch," said the guy.

Clark was there instantly.

"Take it easy buddy," Clark said helping Chloe to her feet,"Are you all right," Clark asked but received no answer.

Chloe was still mesmerized by the dark stranger. Then she realized he was gone, as quickly as she'd spotted him he had vanished.

"Did you see that guy?"

"What guy," Clark asked curiously.

"That guy, at the bar, he was tall, wearing a leather jacket," Chloe described in desperation.

"Sorry," Clark answered, " Are you sure you saw someone?"

"I'm positive, but he just vanished."

"Is everything okay," asked Lois as she and Lana approached.

"Fine, Chloe's looking for a guy," Clark said smiling.

"Is that a fact," said Lois snidely.

"He was…amazing, I know I've seen him before, I just don't know where."

"I believe you Chloe," said Lana trying to be supportive.

"Thank you Lana," said Chloe returning to her senses, "Oh well, are you guys ready, I'm tired."

"Yeah I'm ready, and I know Clark's ready," said Lana.

"You guys are no fun, hey let's go to this party I hear about at Met U. I need to work on my beer pong game. I'm a little rusty," said Lois hopefully.

They all just stared at her blankly.

"Fine, lets just go home," she conceded.

"I'm just gonna use the restroom, I'll meet you guys outside."

"One too many diet cokes huh Clark," Lois jabbed.

Clark didn't even respond. He was so used to Lois' verbal barbs they just bounced off him like bullets did. They girls made their way through the thick crowd to the front. It was 2:30 and they all felt like they'd been in the club for a year. The cold fall air hit them all at once.

"Jesus, it's colder than I remember it being when we went in," said Lois pulling her jacket tighter.

"That's because it is," Chloe replied evenly.

They moved away from the building closer to an alley for more warmth. Back inside the line for the restroom was taking a frustratingly long time for Clark.
"What is the hold up in their," Lois growled.

The trio then all turned at once at a noise behind them. Suddenly a man appeared out of the shadows. He looked dirty and had a menacing grin on his face.

"Hey ladies, have a fun night?"

"Back off buddy, you don't know who you're dealing with," said Lois as tough as she could.

"Whoa relax," he said inching closer, "We just wanna talk."

"Well I don't like talking to crack heads, wait, did you say we?"

They turned to see that two more thugs had appeared behind them. They mad a move to run, but they pulled out guns. A fourth and fifth now appeared to their left.

"Oh shit," said Chloe to herself.

"I don't like being called a crack head," said the man angrily, and now wielding an knife, "You girls are gonna have to make amends."

The men all moved in around the girls who were ready to fight back when, seemingly out of no where, something dropped down from above. In a flash the tow holding guns were down, in the fray all three girls were knocked to the ground. The other three were down moments later. Chloe tried to take in what was going on around her. At first she thought it was Clark but soon realized it wasn't. She surveyed the scene before her. All five of the thugs were unconscious, laying in heaps around her. Whoever that was had moved fast and had completely vanished.

"What… the hell… was that," Lois asked astonished.

"I have know idea," returned Lana just as amazed.

" He just took them out, before they could even move, I've never seen anything like it," said Chloe, who then reconsidered her last statement when she thought about Clark.

Clark exited the club and didn't see the girls. He was concerned immediately. Clark scanned the surrounding area and immediately spotted them around the corner form the club. He super speeded to the alley to find all of them standing and staring.

"A little late aren't you," said Lois.

"What happened," asked an very confused Clark.

"We aren't sure, these crack heads came after us, and they were about to go in for the kill when someone, well…" Lana trailed off.

"Just dropped out of no where and beat their asses," said Chloe indicating the unconscious men around them.

" Are you guys all right," Clark asked as he picked up foot steps in his super hearing.

"Yeah we're fine," said Lana.

"Okay well, you guys go back in the club and call the police, I'll be there in a sec."

"Just come inside Clark, it obviously isn't safe out here," urged Lana.

"I'll just be minute Lana, I promise."

"Just give him a sec, we'll go inside," said Chloe covering for Clark.

They went and Clark immediately super speeded up the ladder. The steps were now moving frantically across a nearby roof top. Clark followed it until he spotted the man. He was running to the edge of the roof, suddenly he stopped and gazed out. Clark leapt the short distance to the next roof, and the man immediately turned around.

"Why are you following me," he asked in a slightly annoyed voice.

"You saved my friends, I just wanna know who you are."

"Look, I saw those guys going after them and thought it looked like they needed help. I don't want to have to deal with the cops and I don't want any recognition so just leave me alone."

Clark was becoming frustrated. This wasn't just an ordinary guy. He couldn't be. Clark moved closer.

"Just tell me who you are."

"I don't know how you found me or why you came out after me at all , but you are really starting to annoy me," he said angrily.

Clark grabbed they man instinctively, something about this person was really bothering Clark and he had to know who he was. The man tried to free himself from Clarks grasp but couldn't.

"I just want to know your name," said Clark.

"You're a strong one, Jesus," he said almost laughing, "Fine you want to know my name, it's Bruce Wayne."

Chapter 2

Clark sat awake in his loft. It was 10:30 the next morning. All three girls were asleep in the house, after the long night in the police station, but Clark couldn't sleep, he was still to distracted by his encounter with this mysterious Bruce Wayne character. Not only had he take out five armed thugs in a matter of seconds, and saved his girls, he had left the scene and wanted no part of any of it. He had no powers that Clark could see, and yet he had done some amazing things. Who was this man, where was he from, how did he do the things he'd done. Questions Clark desperately wanted the answer to.

He had let Bruce go after he'd given him his name and returned to the girls but he was regretting it now. Clark finally left his thoughts for the moment and headed into the house. The sweet aroma of a Martha Kent breakfast hit his nose.

"Hey sweety, rough night huh." she said with a smile.

"You have no idea."

"Chloe and Lana were like this when I got up," she said indicating the two sleeping girls on the couch.

"Yeah. Actually something happened last night," Clark said tentatively.

"Like what?"

"Well we went to this club to go dancing…"

"Whoa, you went dancing," Martha said trying to contain her laughter.

"Don't focus on the wrong part of the story," Clark said somewhat angered.

"I'm sorry, it's just I've seen you dance before and…"

"Anyways, when we left I had to use the restroom, so they waited for me outside, but when I got outside they weren't there, and when I found them they were in an alley and there were a bunch of unconscious thugs around them."

"What happened?"

"Apparently they were coming after them when someone came out of nowhere and took out all five of them, and then just disappeared. But I went after him and he said his name was…"

"Hmmm, something smells good," said Lois loudly as she entered the room.

The other two girls stirred as well, rising from there slumber.

Martha offered Lois some orange juice.

"Thank you," said Lois taking a drink, "I assume Clark told you about our little adventure. We got to be pretty tight with the boys down at the twelfth precinct last night."

Clark rolled his eyes. Land and Chloe took seats next to him at the counter.

"I'm exhausted," said Chloe rubbing her eyes.

"Same here," agreed Lana.

"Well I've got to get to the Talon, so I'll see you kids later. There's plenty of food and you can stay as long as you'd like. Oh and Clark your father's out in the field, he said he need your help later," said Martha as she headed out the door.

"Well I'm going to take a shower because I feel disgusting," said Lois.

"Do you have to work today," asked Chloe.

"Yeah at two."

" I'll probably stop by then."

"Well I've got chores to do, so…" said Clark faintly.

"Yeah I'm gonna head home too, can you give me a ride," Lana asked Chloe.

"Sure."

"I'll call you later okay," she said giving Clark a peck on the cheek.

Chapter 3

Here's chapter three. Read , review. Bruce meets the gang and we learn what the deal Bruce wants to strike with Lex. More action coming soon.

Bruce was tired. He was always tired, but he still worked himself to the brink, he didn't have a choice. He was on his thirtieth push up when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said rising.

A servant dressed in all black entered the room.

"Mr. Luthor would like to meet with you."

"Tell him I'll be down shortly."

Lex sat in his study. Currently he was viewing the security footage from the previous night, more specifically the lack of footage. The camera that viewed the area outside Bruce's bedroom had been disabled for a period of several hours the previous night. Lex didn't really trust Bruce and he knew Bruce didn't trust him. But you don't they way he saw it you didn't have to totally trust someone to do business with them. Wayne Enterprises was even more successful than Luthorcorp and they could be a valuable partner for the future. Plus he and Bruce had a great deal in common. Both had grown up with tremendous wealth, both were young and now at the head of major corporations.

Lex recalled a meeting they had when they were little. Lionel had taken Lex to a conference in Gotham City and ran into Thomas Wayne who was with Bruce. They were both eight years old, but the differences were obvious. Bruce was bold and fearless. The product of the fairly normal upbringing he'd had. Lex was shy and afraid. He'd always kept this encounter in his mind. Partly because it was a memorable experience but mostly because it drove him because he didn't want to be that scared little boy ever again.

Bruce entered the study, and took a seat.

"Late night," asked Lex.

"Not really." said Bruce casually.

"Uh-huh. Well Bruce I've been reviewing your proposal and I have to tell I'm not totally comfortable with it."

"What's the problem."

"Well quite frankly it's a little too, charitable, don't you think?"

"No. I mean yes it does have a certain philanthropical aspect to it, but we could also both stand to make a great deal of money in the long run, besides, you can't overlook the public relations value of a project like this, giving back to people of Metropolis. We've done this type of urban development before in Gotham and it's been very successful. Cheap affordable housing, cheap transportation. It helps the people, it helps the economy and eventually it will help you."

Lex smiled. He and Bruce were different. Bruce was a product of his father and Lex was a product of his. At first he'd thought the good guy act was just a ploy, but he was starting to realize that this wasn't an act. Bruce did genuinely want to help. Lex was starting to see how this type of compassion could be a weakness. He saw it in Bruce. Maybe they really had traded places since their last meeting.

"Come on Lex, what's the worst thing that could happen, the people of Metropolis actually thinking you're a good guy."

"I'll think about it. In the meantime there's some people I want you to meet."

"Come on Lex…"

"Just come with me, what's the worst thing that could happen."

Clark sat in Lana's apartment waiting for her to get ready. They were planning on spending the day together. He'd finished his chores in five minutes but had waited at his house so it wouldn't seem suspicious. That was one thing he like about his powers. What he didn't like was having to sit at his house for an hour so he could seem like a normal guy to Lana. His mind also kept wandering back to Bruce. How could one, ordinary man do what he'd done.

Chloe was also thinking about the previous night.. She sipped on her coffee as Lois waited on customers. She was trying to recall what had happened. Focus on the attack. More was coming back to her. She had definitely seen a male face and whoever he was, he definitely knew martial arts and he was fast. Not superhuman fast, but fast. The whole event was just so blurry. It frustrated her.

"Hey, cuz, you want some more coffee," asked Lois.

"Huh, yeah, sure."

"Are you okay, you've been very out of it since you got here."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Thinking about last night," Lois asked.

"Affirmative. I just can't get it out of my head."

"I'm the same way. The whole thing was just so bizarre."

Chloe's attention was then drawn to the front door. Lex entered, but what caught here attention was the man with him. It was the guy from last night, at the club. 'What's he dong with Lex,' she thought.

Lex smiled as he notice Chloe and Lois. He led Bruce over to them.

"What a hotty," said Lois underneath her breath.

"Ladies, I want you to meet someone, this is Bruce Wayne, he's in town doing some business with me. Bruce this is Chole Sullivan and Lois Lane. Chloe is attending Met U, and Lois, well what exactly are you doing?"

"I'm still figuring that out," she said.

"Me too," said Bruce quickly.

"So Chloe, what are you majoring in?"

Chloe had to clear her thoughts before she could even answer. That's who it was. That's why she'd recognized him. She'd been fascinated with Bruce Wayne for a long time. A billionaire who for no discernable reason just disappears.

"Um, journalism."

"Um journalism, I'm not sure I'm familiar with that field," Bruce said chuckling.

"Sorry, journalism."

"Well if you ever need a job, my company owns several newspapers in and around Gotham City."

"I'll remember that," she said trying to contain her grin.

Lois also grinned, she could tell Chloe was attracted to this Wayne character.

Lana and Clark approached.

"Lex who's your friend," asked Clark before he could get a good look at his face.

"Oh Clark, this is Bruce Wayne, Bruce this is Clark Kent and Lana Lang."

The situation now dawned on both Bruce and Clark.

"Clark, it's nice to meet you," said Bruce gripping his hand extra firmly.

"Likewise," said Clark nodding.

Lana noticed the awkwardness immediately, as did Lex.

"Do you two know each other," Lex asked amused.

"Of course not," said Bruce quickly.

"Well we need to get going, I'll talk to you soon Clark."

And with that the two billionaires walked off. But not before Bruce gave Clark a warning look. The girls didn't know but this mystery had just grown a lot deeper.

"Do you guys realize who we just met," exclaimed Chloe.

"No," said Clark unimpressed.

"You don't know who Bruce Wayne is. He's like Lex Luthor times ten. He's the owner of Wayne Enterprises. It's like one of the most successful major corporations in the world. They're into everything."

"So you're saying he's loaded," asked Lois.

"Beyond loaded."

"And cute," Lana blurted.

"What," said Clark shooting her a look.

"I'm sorry, he is," she said shrugging her shoulders.

"There's more. This guy's only been in the country for like nine months. He disappeared when he was like ten and was gone for over eleven years. No one knows where he went."

"Weird," Lana and Lois said almost in unison.

"I don't like him," said Clark suddenly.

"You don't like anyone," said Lois cleaning off a table.

"Seriously, if he's as mysterious as you say he is then there's obviously a lot we don't know about him. Plus he's friends with Lex."

"You used to be friends with Lex," Chloe offered.

Clark didn't have response for that. He did. But Lex had endangered him and his family one to many time. He just couldn't trust him anymore. And now with this strange new visitor in town, it could only create more problems for him.

Chapter 4

Clark gazed out onto the lake. He and Lana had found a secluded part of the Crater Lake to have picnic.

"Hey, I'm here," said Lana trying to draw Clark's attention.

"Sorry, just thinking."

"This Bruce Wayne is really getting to you, I just don't get why."

"It's hard to explain. I guess he just reminds me a lot of Lex," Clark said withholding, " People like that are dangerous, they don't care about any thing except profit."

"He didn't seem that bad to me. A little gruff, but…"

"I know he's up to something, I just don't know what."

"You shouldn't let it bother you."

"Yeah, I know."

Lex poured the scotch slowly.

"You thirsty," Lex offered.

"No," returned Bruce evenly.

Lex sat and gazed across the desk at Bruce. His father had always wanted Wayne Enterprises. More than any other company. Mainly because they had been more successful, but also because of simple rivalry. Thomas Wayne wasn't crooked or dirty like Lionel and the two hadn't liked each other. Of this Lex was sure, and now he was beginning to see why.

"Do we have a deal," said Bruce finally.

"How well do you remember your parents?"

"What's that got to do with this," said Bruce growing more angry.

"Nothing, I'm just curious. Their demise was so tragic, so sudden, so unfair."

"Not that well, it was a long time ago."

"Too bad, your father was a good man. Did a lot of great things in Gotham. To bad you weren't around to continue them. I heard your father nearly bankrupted Wayne Enterprises fighting poverty."

"Does this have a point Lex, because my patience is wearing a little thin."

"The point is Wayne Enterprises does business a little bit differently than Luthorcorp. I'm sorry Bruce but I'm afraid that there isn't a deal."

Bruce sighed and rose.

"I'm sorry to hear that Lex, we could have done some great things together."

Bruce turned to go to the door.

"Why'd you come here Bruce, you had to have known I wouldn't go for something like this," asked Lex.

"I thought maybe you'd changed, I was wrong."

Chloe scanned her computer. She'd been searching for information on Bruce all night, and still had no leads. Nothing was turning up on him. 'Maybe I could check on his parents,' she thought. She searched for Thomas and Martha. She'd read some things about them. They were both major philanthropists. She clicked on the first article that came up on the Gotham Globe's archives. As her eyes scanned the screen, she became more shocked.

"Oh my god," she said picking up the phone and dialing Clark's number.

"Hello."

"Clark, you need to get over here right away, I found something interesting about our new friend."

The couple walked slowly away from the theater. They didn't even hear the footsteps behind them. You Bruce looked knowingly at his father. He had gotten scared at the movie and forced his parents to leave. But they weren't angry. The simply smiled and did as their son wished. As they made there way to the train, the footsteps behind them became more audible. Bruce became scared again. His parents both turned. He could see the look of concern in his mother's eyes. The man drew his gun and came at his father, then shots rang out. Then silence, except for the bouncing pearls around him. Blood was spattered on his face. Bruce then saw his father looking up at him.

"You killed us."

Bruce came to in mid kick. The memories of his parents murder often came to him when he trained. It drove him. He looked at the door. A girl was silhouetted against the frame. She entered, he saw it was Lana, the girl he met earlier that day.

"Hi."

"Hi," Bruce returned, grabbing a towel and wiping his face.

"What's that," asked Lana indicating the necklace around Bruce's neck.

"This, it's a bat."

"Why a bat?"

"That's a good question, why a bat. What's a bat make you think of Lana."

"They're nasty. I'm actually kind of afraid of them."

"Exactly, this was given to me, a long time ago. You know in China the bat is a symbol of good luck, but here it is associated with fear. That's what I like about them. I can relate with being isolated."

Bruce put his shirt on and threw some of his things into a bag.

"Are you leaving," asked Lana.

"Yeah, my deal with Lex fell through, so there's no reason to stay here."

"That's a shame my friend Chloe is quite fascinated with you. I can't say I totally blame her. Young billionaire who disappears for twelve years only to mysteriously return with no evidence of where he's been"

"Everybody has secrets Lana. Some are just bigger than others."

"Where did you go?"

"All over," answered Bruce with a smile.

"What were you doing when I got here?"

"So many questions," Bruce eyed Lana for a moment, debating whether to answer, "Ju-Jit-Su. I like to stay in shape. Look Lana what are you doing here," Bruce asked finally.

"Clark doesn't trust you, I just wanted to see for myself."

"Well you've seen, what do you think?"

"Maybe Clark's wrong," said Lana as she turned and headed out the door.

Bruce smiled then picked up his phone.

"Alfred, meet me at the hotel in an hour, yeah, yeah, we're gonna give the suit a little test run."

Clark looked at the article in front of him in disbelief.

"He saw the whole thing," Clark finally asked.

"Uh-huh, he was nine," answered Chloe.

The headline read "Prominent Doctor and Wife Slain. Son survives, and is unharmed." The picture featured Bruce standing in a crowd of police and crime scene workers.

"Look at him. He isn't crying," noticed Clark.

"Yeah I noticed that. What do you think that does to a kid?"

"I think I have an idea. The other night at the club Bruce was the one who took down those guys, he saved you."

"So what you think he's on some quest sort of quest," asked Chloe skeptically.

"I don't know, maybe. It still doesn't explain the Jackie Chan impersonation the other night. I'm going to go pay him a visit."

"Clark…" before she could finish her sentence Clark was gone.

Moments later he arrived at Luthor Mansion, only to see Clark pulling away in a Black Mercedes. Clark debated and decided to follow him.

They ended up at the Ritz in Metropolis. Bruce exited the car and let the valet park it. Clark wondered why he'd left the mansion. He followed Bruce up to the top floor to the presidential sweet and watched him enter.

Alfred was sitting on in the chair by the window reading, when Bruce entered. A large black leather bag lay across the bed.

"Master Wayne," Alfred said looking up from his book.

"Thanks, I think I'm going to need it tonight."

"I hope you're prepared to pay a hospital bill, I think I threw out my back lugging that bloody thing from the airport."

"Sorry," Bruce said smiling and removing his shirt.

"It's 11:30, I've got an hour," noted Bruce sliding on the top part of the suit.

Clark stood down the hall from the room listening and was quite perplexed. What was this suit? What was happening in an hour, he'd just have to wait to find out.

Lex reviewed the file on Bruce Wayne. His investigators hadn't turned up much, but what they had was quite interesting. After his parents death he'd left Gotham with his loyal servant Alfred. He had spent time at every major center of education in Europe. The Sarbonne, The Berlin School of Science, Oxford were only a few. But he never spent more than four months at a time at any of them, before leaving and disappearing. They had found been able to turn up a plain flight into Tokyo but that was it. Who was this guy. Why had he come to Smallville. Lex would know.

Chapter 5

He waited, silently, in the shadows. Unmoving, like a ghost. Bruce had mastered the ability to blend with his surroundings and was finding it very useful in his mission. The night air blew across his face, but he remained still.

Several buildings away Clark watched, more than anything else out of curiosity. Why was Bruce sitting, on the top of the warehouse. Why were they a the pier. Even with Clark's vision he was having trouble seeing Bruce.

Below Bruce some activity started to develop. Bruce pulled out his mask, as simple rubber mask, to conceal his identity. Several vans pulled into the warehouse and men started to unload it. Bruce moved towards the ventilation shaft to his left and climbed in silently. Clark super-sped across the roof behind Bruce, unnoticed.

Bruce watched silently as the boxes were being transferred from these vans to the large black SUVs. He then pulled out and cocked is grapple gun and slid down to the catwalk below him. Clark watched from Bruce's previous location. There appeared to be some sort of deal going down. Several men watched as the boxes were being moved. Clark then scanned with his X-Ray vision and found Bruce. Clark decided to wait and see.

Freddie pulled several boxes off of the van and walked over to one of the trucks. He wasn't getting payed much for this job, but he needed the money. His attention was caught by a noise above him.

"Hey, Joey, did you hear that," he asked his partner.

"Hear what, you paranoid," returned Joey indignantly.

Suddenly something dropped down on top of them and brought their heads together, knocking them both unconscious, then disappeared.

"What the hell was that," said Bishop, another one of the workers.

All of the men drew their guns.

Bruce saw his opportunity. He dropped down into the crowd and immediately brought down two with several swift punches. The thugs were firing everywhere. Clark watched as the chaos unfolded. He couldn't take it anymore and super speeded into the warehouse. As Bruce spin kicked one, while holding the other, he saw Clark enter. Several shots were fired at him but the did nothing. Bruce was distracted for a moment and he took a shot to his side and fell over. Two thugs turned and saw him but he tripped on and kicked the other as he sprang back up. He then looked over at Clark, who was laying now, clearly in pain, but no wounded. Bruce also glanced over to see the main men he'd come for escaping. He also heard police sirens nearing the warehouse. Acting quickly he grabbed Clark, dropped and exploding gas ball to mask his escape and took out a fleeing thug.

"How much do you weigh," he asked Clark quickly.

"About 220," he answered faintly, barely able to speak.

"We'll be cutting it close," Bruce said shooting his grapple gun to the ceiling and rising quickly out of the fog.

As they sped to the roof, several police cars swarmed into the building. Clark was able to pull himself back up the shaft, as some of his strength had returned. They made it to the roof, and Bruce called Alfred.

"Alfred… yeah… meet me at the corner of Harbor and Eighth in ten minutes," Bruce then turned to Clark, "Are you okay?"

Clark rose slowly, and looked around.

"Yeah, I'm fine, what were you doing in there?"

"Trying to stop Lex Luthor. You shouldn't have come here, no matter what powers you have."

" I don't know what you're talking about," Clark said realizing what Bruce had seen.

"Sure you don't," said Bruce with a chuckle, "Come on, you and me need to have a little chat."

Chapter 6