Clark feels his cell phone vibrate again. He takes it out and it's a call from Chloe. What does she want, Clark thinks. Clark puts his head down, as if he's reaching for something in his bag. He listens to his cell phone and he hears male voice shouting, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now! Let me guess you were calling Clark. You know, let him come. I want him here so he can watch me show Sophie how much of a man that I am." That's all Clark had to hear before he hung up the phone and rose out of his chair.
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"Just leave them alone, John! It's just me that you want anyway." Sophie says.
"Your right. All I want is you." He says, grabbing a hold of her once again. She starts shaking, scared of what he wants to do next. "Why have Clark the boy, when you can have a man?" He asks, grabbing her hips, pulling her as close as he can. More tears fall, as she knows he wont stop until he has what he wants.
"Get away from her!" Clark yells, busting the door down.
"No! You're not stopping me!" John screams, turning around. He points the gun, about to pull the trigger at Clark and Sophie screams. Lana instinctually gets in front of Clark. She doesn't even think, just reacts. Clark's eyes grow big.
"Lana! No!" Clark screams as the gun fires. Clark dives at Lana, pulling her to the floor. The bullet barely misses them and hits a desk. Clark makes sure Lana didn't get hit and he gets up.
"Don't even move, Clark!" John commands and holds the gun to Sophie's throat. She couldn't be any more scared.
"John…" Clark tries to negotiate, slowly walking towards him.
"Stop! I'll shoot her, you know I will!" John tells him.
"No you wont. She's the reason you're doing all this." Clark says.
"Are you that blind! No she isn't! I don't care about her. The reason is you! Don't move!" He screams at him. This time Clark stops. He's close enough to tackle him down anyway.
"You don't want this." Clark tells him.
"Yes I do! I want you to realize you can't have every girl you want! You've stolen every girl I've ever wanted!" John tells him.
"Killing her won't change anything." Clark says and Sophie whimpers. "Don't worry, Sophie." Clark tells her.
"Are you forgetting I'm the one with the gun here? That's it, I'm not playing around. Say goodbye, beautiful." John tells her as he's really going to pull the trigger. Clark focuses on his jacket and lights it on fire. This causes John to lose his grip on Sophie as he rips the jacket off. She tries to run away. John points the gun, trying to shoot her and Clark lunges at the gun. Clark overpowers him and John fires his last chance. He goes limp and Clark drops him. John and the gun fall to the floor. Sophie gasps, as there's a hole in the front of his shirt with blood gushing out.
"Are you ok?" Clark asks Sophie, putting his arms around her as she nods, crying uncontrollably. Lana stares at them, a look of jealousy on her face. A time of turmoil always brings out a person's true feelings.
"What happened here?" Principal Reynolds asks, walking in to the room.
"Clark… saved us." Chloe says. "Again."
"You did this?" He asks Clark, looking down at John.
"John tried to kill Sophie… and Lana." Clark explains.
"So you kill him?" Reynolds asks, blaming Clark.
"Clark did all he could. He tried to wrestle the gun away and John accidentally shot himself." Lana explains.
"Your lucky these girls were here to collaborate your story, Clark." Reynolds tells him.
"Lana!" Jason says, running into the room. He stops as he sees Principal Reynolds. Lana goes to him, not thinking either.
"Lana? The classroom is full of other students, and you're worried about Lana?" Reynolds asks him. Jason can't even think of anything to say. He just has a guilty look on his face.
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The rest of the school day is canceled. Clark is walking Sophie to his car; she's still wrapped in his arms. Clark awkwardly tries to use his cell phone.
"Hey mom… Yeah, I'm all right. She's fine. I'm going to stay with her, I don't want to leave her. Yes, Lana was there. No! Ok, bye." Clark hangs up. When Clark stops at her house, she finally turns to him.
"Thank you Clark. For everything." She says.
"No problem, Sophie. I'm just glad your ok." Clark tells her. They get up to her room and she shuts her door.
"Ah, I thought that would never end." Sophie says, referring to her parent's reaction.
"There just worried about you." Clark says. He sits down on her bed; she sits down next to him.
"Yeah. That's why we left Metropolis, we didn't want anything to happen again." She tells him.
"Again? What happened?" Clark asks. She looks away and gets up.
"Nothing, nothing happened." Sophie says, obviously lying.
"Sophie, you can tell me anything." Clark tells her, getting up and pulling her to him again. He just can't seem to keep his hands off of her.
"I don't want to… talk about it." She says, tears starting to form.
"Ok. It's ok." Clark says, squeezing her gently. They sit back down on the bed, Clark hugs her to stop her from starting to cry again. Sophie looks back up at him.
"Clark? I want to." She changes her mind.
"Ok." Clark says and lets go of her. She gets up and turns toward him.
"My mom took me and David shopping back in Metropolis. It was late at night…" She starts to cry again. Clark just stays, he doesn't want to smother her.
"Who's…" Clark starts.
"My brother. There were only two other people in the store, and the clerk at the cash register. We were minding our own business when two men walked into the store. They were wearing ski masks and one had a handgun, and the other a shotgun." She pauses, trying to hold back tears. Clark now realizes why it's so hard for her.
"Sophie, it's ok." Clark tries to make her feel better.
"They ordered us behind the counter and made the cashier to empty the cash register. They just kept pushing her with the tip of the gun. The way they treated her… and us. We knew if something didn't happen soon, they were going to shoot us. There was no way they could let us live. My brother was your age. He just didn't want anyone to get hurt!" She says and cries more. This time, Clark got up and tried to comfort her. Clark could guess what happened, but Sophie told him anyway. "I don't know what he expected he could do. David tried to wrestle the handgun away from the guy that was watching us and…" Sophie pauses. "The guy with the shotgun didn't even hesitate, he just shot him." She says, more tears running down her face. "He shot his partner too, I guess he wanted the money for himself. He got away, he wasn't even caught." She finishes the story.
"I'm so sorry." Clark tells her, holding her. He knows his apology doesn't help, but he feels he needs to say it.
"I just don't know how anyone can be that horrible." She says with more tears. Just her saying that last sentence makes Clark want to go out and save the world… for her. And to keep all the criminals and terrorists from hurting anyone else and especially her.
"Don't worry. I'll protect you." Clark tells her and kisses her forehead. It takes every ounce of willpower to not kiss her lips and tell her what she really means to him. She closes her eyes and stays in his arms. Clark feels her start to relax so he leans back on her bed and pulls her with him. She soon falls asleep in his arms. He slowly gets up, not disturbing her. She looks so peaceful and beautiful sleeping there, he doesn't want to leave. "Good night Sophie." He whispers and leaves the room.