A/N: I am so sorry for it taking so long to update. I guess it isn't very high on my priority list and I apologize. I'll try not to take so long next time.
"Clark!" Lois shouts and points out the right corner of the windshield. "Did you see that?"
"Yeah, something tells me that wasn't a meteor." Clark says and pulls the car over to the side of the road. The three of them get out of the car and run towards the smoking pile of metal. Once they get closer, they can make out the cockpit.
"It's a helicopter." Clark comments.
"Uh yeah. What did you think it was, a spaceship?" Lois asks with sarcasm.
Clark just stares at her, annoyed. "Come on."
"Who in their right mind would fly through a meteor shower?" Lois asks and picks up her pace.
"That's Lex's helicopter. It says LexCorp on it." Chloe comments.
Clark gets to the crashed helicopter and prepares to see an unconscious or dead Lex Luthor. "Lana?" He asks, shocked to see her his unconscious ex-girlfriend. Clark immediately begins to pull her out while Lois checks on the pilot.
"Clark, he's dead. How's Lana?" Lois asks, joining him and Chloe on the ground beside Lana.
Besides a few cuts and bruises, she only looks to be knocked out. "She's alive. We have to get her to a hospital." Clark says and begins to pick her up. Just as he gets her in his arms, she starts to stir. "Lana!" He sets her back down.
After a series of rough coughs, she opens her eyes. "Clark?"
"Lana, are you ok?" He asks, touching her cheek.
"I… I think so. My leg hurts." She answers and tries to sit up.
"No, don't move. We need to get you to a hospital." Clark says and scoops her up. He carries her to the car with Lois and Chloe following.
:o
Driving back into Smallville is like driving through a war zone. Cars are overturned, buildings destroyed and craters the size of small swimming pools. Surprisingly, the Smallville medical center was safe from the meteors. With all natural disasters, the hospital is buzzing with activity. Doctors running from room to room, and patients walking and being carried in.
"This is horrible. Two meteor showers in the same place within 15 years. Smallville definitely must be marked ground zero for all things strange." Chloe says.
"Chloe, can you forget about the journalist inside you and help Lois find a doctor?" Clark lays Lana down on a stretcher while Chloe runs off with Lois to find a doctor. "Clark, really. I'm fine." Lana tries to convince him.
"Just let a doctor look at you." Clark tells her and sees her starting to argue further. "For me? Please?" He asks.
Lana smiles weakly, as much as she can with her face bruised and cut. "Fine."
:o
Clark sits with Lois outside the room while the doctor checks on Lana. "Clark, what is she doing here?" Lois asks.
"I don't know. I haven't exactly had a chance yet. Seeing her again just brought back so many emotions. I thought I'd never see her again, and now she's here." Clark tells her.
Lois looks at him. "Well, seeing her again after she got up and left you, would do that to you. Just because she's hurt, doesn't mean you should forgive her."
"Trust me, I'm going to ask her plenty of questions as to why she left." Clark says, raising his eyebrows.
"She was in a LexCorp helicopter, Clark. Lana isn't the only one you should be asking questions." Chloe says, nodding her head towards a billionaire rushing up the hallway.
"I just heard my helicopter went down. How is she?" Lex asks them, fearing the worst.
"I don't know, Lex. How about you tell me what she was doing in your heli…" Clark starts to ask in a raised voice and stops when someone begins to walk out of the room.
The doctor comes out of the room and walks up to them. "I just got done checking her over and she seems fine, other than some cuts and bruises. Her leg isn't broken, its just going to be sore for awhile. You can see your girlfriend now if you want." He tells Clark and Lois rolls her eyes.
Clark smiles. "Ok, thank you. I will see my friend now." Clark walks into the room and sits down beside her bed. "How are you feeling?"
Lana smiles. "As good as possible for being in a helicopter crash."
"Lana, what are you doing here?" Clark asks.
Lana sighs. This conversation was inevitable. "I came to see you, Clark."
Clark looks confused. "Then why were you in Lex's helicopter headed for Metropolis?"
Lana gives him a hurt look. "Because after seeing you begin to make out with some girl, I didn't want to stick around and see the rest." She tells him.
Clark's confused expression changes as he realizes why she left. "I should have known someone was back there. Lana, I didn't make out with her. I didn't even kiss her." He explains.
Tears start to form in her eyes. "That isn't the point, Clark. You wanted to kiss her, I could tell."
Clark first has a guilty expression and then sadly looks up at her. "Well, you don't have anything to worry about. Thanks to me."
Lana wipes the tears from her eyes. "And why's that? Did she break up with you because of your secrets?" She asks him with an edgy voice.
"No." Clark answers and looks down. "She's dead."
Now it's Lana's turn to look guilty. "Oh Clark, I'm sorry. I shouldn't of said that." Lana says.
"Why shouldn't you? I deserve it. I kept so many secrets from you, I ended up driving you away." Clark tells her.
Lana reaches over and puts her hand on Clark's. "No, Clark. You didn't do anything this time. I always told you I would be able to handle the truth, but I couldn't." She explains.
Clark leaves his hand under Lana's. It feels so good to feel her hand again, he can't bring himself to take it away. "So, why did you come back?"
:o
Outside in the hall, Chloe peeks through the window around the half-closed blinds to "monitor" their conversation. She has this feeling that Clark will drop everything and return to Lana's side, and she wants to see if her feeling is right. Lois notices this and tries to pull away her snoop of a cousin from the window. "Chloe, you know you shouldn't be peeking in on their conversation."
"Lois! Shut up! Lana has her hand where it doesn't belong." Chloe tells her and keeps her feet strongly on the ground.
"What!" Lois shreiks, getting the wrong impression. With all the commotion in the hospital, it doesn't attract much attention. Lois pushes Chloe out of the way and looks through the window.
"Well, its obvious who has a thing for Clark, now." Chloe comments and sits back down on the bench.
Lois shoots Chloe a dirty look. "I do not have a thing for Clark. I just… want to make sure he's alright." She explains and continues to peek.
:o
Lana looks into his eyes, and just receiving that look again just about makes Clark melt. "Because I had to see you. I decided that having you in my life is better than not having you in my life at all."
"Do you regret leaving, then?" Clark asks.
"Yes. I wish I could take it back, but I can't." Lana tells him.
Clark takes his hand out from under Lana's. "Your right, you can't." He says and gets up from his chair. "You really hurt me, Lana. I feel responsible enough for what happened that day, 16 years ago. But to know that you resent me for it? It kills me."
Lana's eyes can't hold back any more tears and they start to run down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Clark. I hate myself… for saying those things. You really have no reason… to forgive me."
Clark sits back down in the chair beside her bed. "Lana, please don't cry. Your face is way too pretty to be streaked with tears." He says with a smile and wipes the tears from her face.
Lana's heart flutters when she sees his smile and her breathing deepens as his hand strokes her cheek. Why does he do that? Here, he should hate me… But instead, he tries to make me feel better.
"I don't want to talk about this right now. All I care about right now, is that your alright." Clark tells her.
Lana smiles. "Ok yeah, that sounds good. So, what's new with Smallville High?" She asks. Clark proceeds to tell her about everything that's happened in the past few months. Clark is just happy they can talk about something besides Lana running away and the meteor shower. Even with everything that's happened, it feels good to be able to talk to Lana again. After awhile, Chloe and Lois come in, once they decided the conversation about their relationship ended and it was safe to come in.
:o
The next morning, Clark superspeeds down the stairs, nearly knocking his dad over.
"Whoa, easy Clark. Breakfast isn't going anywhere." Jonathon says and sits down at the table as Martha sets plates out.
"Sorry, Dad. It's just that I woke up late, and I usually have my chores done by now." Clark tells them and hurries over to his chair.
"Already done, Clark." Jonathon says with a smile and sips his coffee.
"What?" Clark asks with raised eyebrows. It's not often that his dad lets him completely off the hook with the farm chores.
"Your father tackled all the chores before you got up. With everything that happened yesterday, we figured you would need your rest." Martha explains.
The small TV on the kitchen counter turned to the CNN news channel catches their attention. A small picture pops up in the top right corner of the screen with the state of Kansas and a red dot, labeling the location of Smallville. "At around three o'clock yesterday afternoon, Smallville, Kansas experienced the worst meteor shower our nation has seen in sixteen years."
An amateur video pops up on the screen of someone running as they try to point the video camera to the sky with meteors raining down all around them.
"It was not near as bad as the 1989 meteor shower which claimed the lives of over fifty people. Yesterday's meteor shower had only fourteen reported deaths."
Another video shows the destruction the meteors left.
"Just as the previous meteor shower, these meteors arrived completely undetected and there is no explanation to where they came from."
Clark turns away from the TV and looks to his dad, who has an un-readable expression on his face. "I know of an explanation."
Jonathon sighs. "Clark, do not think for a minute that this is your fault."
Clark gets up from the table quickly, causing his chair to launch into the wall behind him. "How can you say that! It is my fault!" He shouts. "It's purpose was to teach me a lesson. A lesson I can't seem to learn." Clark says and leaves the room, walking out onto the porch. He takes a seat in one of the chairs and looks out over the field.
Jonathon walks out a few minutes later with Martha behind him and he takes a seat next to Clark. "This is not your fault and I don't want you to blame yourself. This is Jor-El's fault. He is the one that is trying to force you to do what he wants. He is the one that can't seem to learn the lesson that your not going to give in to his threats."
Clark lets this sink in and then turns to his father. "What am I supposed to do, dad? Just sit back and watch him take away everyone that I love?"
"Your supposed to live your life they way you want to, and not the way someone else wants you to." Jonathon answers.
:o