JESUS Christ, Chloe, Where tha hell Have you been?" Chloe looked up in surprise as her cousin ran towards her.

Lois stopped in front of her cousin's car. She flipped her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed a couple of numbers. Chloe's cell phone rang.

"What tha hell! I thought your cell phone wasn't working."

"Ummm, no, Lois. I was just at the Kent's house."

"Smallville's house? You're really screwed up now, cuz. If you didn't want to answer, all you had to do was page me."

"Sorry," Chloe answered, feeling guilty because she was glade Lois had been worried, "Mrs. Kent and I were really busy."
"What were you doing? Milking cows?"

"You girls of the city are so stereotypical. Not all farmer's wives spend their days inviting their friends for cups of tea and milking cows. I'll have you know that the Kent family is very sophisticated."

"Yeah," Lois said sarcastically, "Don't forget I lived with them for like… A month! In Smallville, there's not much else to do, you know? Hell, I had a little rubble with 'Bessie' myself. That thing tore my favorite shirt in to shreds. Clark must be some kind of Superman to do all that stuff himself."

"Yeah," Chloe said, "He must." And thus, they headed towards the house.

PHILLIP walked along the narrow hallway, his hand trembling slightly. He swallowed and looked back at the couple following him. Lex and Kristena were almost huddled together, talking about something. This was a chief part of his plan. If he screwed this up, there would be nothing left.

"Here it is, Mr. Luthor." Phillip managed to croak out.

He was pointing to a small door.

"What are we waiting for then?" Lex asked, entering. Kristena entered behind him. Phillip Rafferty took a deep breath and entered the room that could literally make him or break him apart.

"NICE NIGHT FOR STARS, HUH?" Bart said entering the loft.

Clark turned away from the telescope. He studied the approaching boy for a second then continued to study the stars. His eyes glittered in anticipation. Tonight, a famed comet was passing by Smallville. This was a once in a life time deal. This comet came by every fifty years. He sure wasn't gonna miss that.

Bart swallowed and pulled up a chair beside Clark. "Listen….I…"

"I don't want to hear it, Bart." Clark said coldly.

"Goddamit, give me a break! I don't do this often, you know?"

"Whatever you want to say, I don't care. My mom could have been killed because of you irresponsibility."

Bart stood up. "Listen, man, I'm sorry."

"Sorry!"

"Yes, I'm sorry! It was a mistake!"
"A mistake that could have cost my parents their lives."

"But it didn't!"
"You don't understand, do you?"
"How can I understand!"

Clark stayed quite for a while. He finally sighed, "O.k., Bart, explain to me what happened."

Bart nodded. He dropped in to a sofa a few ft. away from Clark, "Thank you."

Clark turned away from the telescope to pay him full attention.

"The doctor," Bart began, "I told you, his name was Phillip Rafferty. He offered me money…to study me. I couldn't refuse, men. This wasn't the petty stuff. This was big cash. Ten grand for a week, men. I don't even steal that much. I couldn't refuse, know what I'm saying? I just…couldn't.

Clark swallowed, taking this in.

"O.k.?" he said weirdly.

"Anyway," Bart started again, "He took me in for some kind of blood test. He took some of my blood, my DNA, stuff like that. He kept me for a while. Longer than we had agreed on. I tried to escape, but he kept feeding me drugs. Like…….I would fall asleep then wake up bringing him bags of money. I don't know how. Please, men. You've got to believe me! I swear it."

"So, you really did rob those banks."

Bart nodded. "Not exactly something I'm proud of, but….I didn't do it on purpose."

"So….what happened after that."

"Well….he must have kept me….six or seven months. I dunno, men. They tortured me, they beat me, they did all kinds of experiments on me. I couldn't eat, sleep, nothing, man. They completely like…..brainwashed me."

Clark stood up, now pacing. "How am I supposed to believe you?"

Bart stood up, looking up at Clark. "I swear it, man. You don't know how guilty I feel. I couldn't lie about this too. Please believe me."

Clark nodded, for some reason believing him. "Go on."

"Anyway, this Doctor, one day she started coming. They would put me in a lab. Then warp me. They got a serum for the Rafferty guy. He started drinking it. My DNA was in it somehow. They would purge my fluids out of my body and put them in that serum. And that sick bastard drank it too. He drank it all."

"So….they removed cells of your DNA and made the serum."

"Very believable, I know."

Clark swallowed, listening.

"Then the female doctor, the one I told you about, she started doing things for me. Slipping me extra food, extra water, magazines, comic books. You know….the usual."

"So….she was helping you….after she tortured you for six months!"

"Well…she never really physically assaulted me. I was more like a lab rat than a prisoner. You know what I'm saying?"

Clark nodded, remembering the little fiasco with Morgan Edge.

"So….I got my strenght back you know."

"So she fed you."

"Yeah. Of course, Rafferty knew nothing about it. If he had known, he'd have killed both of us. She risked her life for me, Clark. I can never forget that."

"Did you ever get her name."

"Yeah. Chrissy. Chrissy Hilda."

"ARE you absolutely sure about this?" Lex asked for the 6th straight time.

"Mr. Luthor," started Phillip, now a little frustrated, "You have the evidence in your hands, sir."

Lex studied the pictures again. They were flat out proof. Photos of Clark and Bart exiting the Kent farm together. He looked up, "So…..this kid is still staying with the Kents?"
"Yes, sir." Phillip answered.

"Then what are you waiting for? Dispatch the team immediately." Lex stood up, contemplating this decision.

"So…..how did you escape?" Clark asked. They stood in the loft, drinking mugs of Martha Kent's hot cocoa and slices of chocolate cake. Bart stood thoughtfully for a moment, sipping his cup of delicious hot cocoa. He wiped a milk mustache of his upper lip and some chocolate frosting off his lower lip.

"Kristina helped me." He said simply.

"Kristena? How?"

"She distracted the guard."

"How cliché."

"Yeah. It is, isn't it."

"How'd they find you?"

"I was stupid enough not to cover my wounds. They simply followed the trail of blood."
"How'd you get to Smallville?"

"The small apple?" joked Bart. "They drugged me and I woke up in the Medical Center. I stayed their a few days, falling in and out of consciousness. Then, they brought me out. That's where you came in."

Clark put his hands on his waist, thinking deeply.

"There's something else, Clark."

Clark looked up, dreading the tone. "What is it?"

"No," said Bart, "It's nothing bad. It's just that….today, I saved Chloe's life."

"You what? How? She saved yours."

"No…they guy fired a shot at her. I pushed her out of the way."

"And I'm proud of you for that but……?"

"I super sped."

"You what?" Clark almost dropped his mug of hot cocoa. The burning hot liquid landed on his skin, though ineffectually. He felt nothing. "What? How?"

"Well. I was thinking real hard about how she saved my life and stuff, and how I had to do something in return and I couldn't just let her die. And I……super sped."

"Are you serious?" Clark asked incredulously.

"Yeah. I don't know how I did it. It just happened and everything froze up."
"C'mon then." Clark grabbed Bart's arm. They walked out of the loft and out in to the vast compound. Cows were grazing about, eating grass and looking up at the beautiful night sky. They walked up to a free open spot where there were no cows about. Clark pointed out, "Go on….do it."

Bart shook his head. "I can't just, like……..do it, man."

"How'd you do it when you saved Chloe's life?"

"I was like………thinking how I owed her and stuff and how…." Bart smirked, "How hot she was."

Clark blushed a little and swallowed. "O.k.," He croaked out, "Think about that."

"It's not that easy, man."

"You want to be able to run again, Bart?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then we've got to do this."

Bart nodded reluctantly.

"Alright, Bart." Clark said. He came put his hands on Bart's shoulders. "Think about, Chloe. With all you can. Now, go!"

Bart accelerated, jogging. He slowed down a couple of yards away from where Clark was. Clark sighed. "This is going to be a long night."

THEY practiced deep in to the night, to no effect. Bart didn't speed up though he had healed considerably from when Clark had rescued him. Again and again they tried, with Clark proposing different subjects. Atlast, A glance at his watch told Clark it was 3:20 a.m. He turned to Bart.

"Let's go." He said.

Bart grunted, disappointed in himself. "Sorry, Clark. I wasted your time."

"You didn't waste my time. I'm sure you would have done the same thing for me." Clark joked.

"Yeah, right."

They started towards the house.

Clark's Super Hearing was activated and he stopped in his tracks. The frequency stretched further out of the area, a few miles away, where it had never been able to go. But he heard things from afar. He turned his head towards the sounds. It sounded like rotors. He groaned. The sound was hurting his ears. Tears almost came to his eyes. He managed to get it under focus.

"You hear something, man?" Bart asked, a little puzzled.

"Yeah." Clark listened for a moment. "It sounds like…….a helicopter."

Clark heard voices then. A man was saying, "This Bart kid better be here, man. I better not be wasting my time. You heard Rafferty's orders. If anyone gets in our way, we kill them."
"Oh, no!" Clark said. He turned to Bart.

"Bart," He said, "Somebody's coming for you."

"What?"

"I can hear them in a helicopter, man. They're coming!"

Clark heard the cock of a weapon. He turned to Bart. "And they've got guns!"

He turned back to the house. "I've got to get my parents before it's too late!"

In an instant, Clark was already at the bedroom door. He pounded the door and it opened to reveal a very tired Jonathon Kent. "What's up, Clark?" He managed, exhausted.

"Dad, Mom, You've got to get out of here!" Clark yelled. "Someone's coming after Bart. Please, just go!"

Martha came to the door. "What's going on out here?" She yawned.

"Please, just go!"

"Clark, what's going on!"

"I don't have time to explain. Just get dressed and go!"

"Alright, son." Jonathon said. He and Martha hastily dressed and were out of the house door in less than a minute.

Martha turned to Clark. "How exactly do we go? After your little accident with the brakes, we can't go anywhere."

Clark looked around, thinking. He listened. The helicopter was getting closer, maybe a mile away. It would be here in a few minutes. He turned to Jonathon. "Dad," He said, "Do you still have your motorcycle."

Jonathon nodded. "Yeah, it's in the barn."

Clark disappeared and was instantly back, carrying the motorcycle over his head. He put it on the ground.

"The keys?" Jonathon asked.

Clark dropped the keys in to Jonathon's hands. Clark looked around. "Bart!" He called out. Bart arrived running. "Go with them." Clark said, pointing to the motorcycle. Bart nodded. He and Martha hopped on the motorcycle behind Jonathon. Jonathon tried started the ignition and looked back at Clark. It wasn't working. Clark was staring, towards the sound, and focusing. His sight was instantly magnified. He saw the helicopter coming from miles and miles away. He was shocked to see another helicopter coming from behind it. He saw the insides of the helicopters through the windshields. One had two people in it, the other had seven. One he recognized, but from where? There were no logos on the helicopters.

"Hurry, Dad!" Clark yelled, turn it on.

"I'm trying!" Jonathon snapped.

Clark knew the helicopter would be here any minute. For the next few minutes, they tried desperately to work the motorcycle. Atlast, Jonathon kicked it in to ignition. Clark backed away.

"Be careful, son." He said.

"We love you." Martha said as the motorcycle zoomed off.

Clark watched them go for a minute. Then he turned to the skies. The helicopters were just arriving. One came after him but the other zoomed after the motorcycle.

"No!" Clark yelled. He was about to go after it, but a hand grabbed him around the waist and threw him a few yards away. He landed with a thump on the ground and looked up at the grinning Phillip Rafferty. The helicopter landed and six men carrying rifles got out. They were all big.

Clark looked at Phillip questioningly.

Phillip nodded, confirming Clark's worst fears. "Yes, I'm alive."

Clark swallowed.

Phillip pointed back to the men. "And this are my spawns of hell."

And with that, the seven men rushed at Clark, ready to kill him at any cost.

JONATHON was pushing the motorcycle to it's maximum speed. He looked back at the helicopter. It was getting closer. It was getting ready to shoot. With that, Bart made a desperate decision. He couldn't let these people die because of him! He pushed off and flipped back off the motorcycle, landing with a thump on the ground as the motorcycle zoomed off.

"Bart!" Martha cried out. She turned back.

"We can't stop!" Jonathon yelled.

Martha nodded helplessly, looking back at the fallen boy. Bart smiled reassuringly at her, showing more confidence than he felt. The motorcycle zoomed out of sight. The helicopter stopped beside Bart.

The pilot turned to the sniper. "That's the target," He shouted pointing at Bart.

"I know dumb ass!" And with that, the sniper unleashed a hail of machine gun bullets at Bart. Bart looked around at the explosions around him and sighed. With one last thought which was Chloe, he rushed at his fiery fate.