Chapter Four

The Kents and Pete arrived at the funeral home. People were already there. The three of them entered the visitation area. The Kents approached the casket slowly. Martha looked over at her son in the coffin.

Clark's skin was extremely pale and his eyes were dark and sunken. He had on a black suit with a corsage pinned to the jacket, and his hair was combed unnaturally back away from his face. Clark's hands were folded across his chest.

Chloe and Pete watched as the Kents approached Clark slowly. Martha placed her hand over Clark's hands as Jonathan spoke to Clark.

"Clark, I wanted you to know that…we couldn't have asked for a better son than you," said Jonathan. "We love you. We'll always love you, and we have something that belongs to you."

Jonathan pulled the octagonal key out of his pocket and buried it in Clark's hands so that no one could see it. "Goodbye, son."

Martha started crying as Jonathan pulled her away from the casket. Chloe came to the casket next and held Clark's hand.

"Happy trails, Clark," Chloe said. She squeezed his hand and then left the casket.

Lana entered the funeral home, and approached Clark's casket. She looked over at him, noticing how much he didn't look like himself. He looked so empty; so…dead. Lana felt a tear roll down her cheek as she stroked Clark's hair out of his face.

"Clark, I wanted you to know that…I love you," said Lana. "I'll always love you. Wherever you are, you'll always be special to me. And to one other person…Clark, I have to tell you something. I never got to before you…I understand it's a bit of a shock, but I have to tell you."

A crowd stood in a graveyard. Among the crowd were Lana, Chloe, Martha, Lois, Pete, Lex and Jonathan. They all stood, mourning the death of a very dear friend. Jonathan and Martha watched as a dark brown casket sunk into the grave. There were displays of white and red flowers on either side of it. Martha slowly took Jonathan's hand, and she looked down at her son's casket. Martha slowly turned to look at Jonathan. Jonathan stared straight ahead, not looking at Martha.

Chloe and Lois walked away from the group. Chloe looked back one more time at Clark's grave. Chloe lowered her face down in defeat and allowed Lois to lead her away. She looked back again and left the graveyard. Lana looked down at Clark's coffin, unhappy. She slowly turned away and left after Chloe. Lex stood some distance away, looking regretfully at Clark's grave.

Martha looked down sadly at the grave. Jonathan took a hold of Martha's shoulders, trying to comfort her. Pete turned away from Clark's casket, and walked away from Jonathan and Martha. Martha brought a tissue up to her face, and then started to walk away from the grave. Jonathan looked after Martha, then back at the grave as he stood there alone.

Jonathan bent down as the casket sunk lower into the ground and picked up a handful of dirt. Jonathan put his hand over the coffin and slowly sprinkled the dirt into the grave. Jonathan stood up and watched as his son was being laid in the grave. Near Clark's grave was a large gravestone in the shape of an angel which reminded Jonathan of Clark watching over them. Jonathan looked up at Martha, and she looked at him pleadingly. After a moment, Jonathan looked back down at the grave and left.

When the Kents got into the car, they looked over at their son's grave one last time. There were people scooping dirt into the grave. Martha looked sadly down at her lap as Jonathan drove off.

Clark lay in the coffin as the steady thud…thud of the dirt landing on top of the casket could be heard. Clark's face was now grayish as the sound of the dirt falling became thicker as the dirt piled up.

Afterlife

Clark's eyes flashed open. Above his face was a white sheet. He grabbed the sheet, and sat straight up. He looked around, gasping for breath. He was on the hospital bed at the Smallville Medical Center. There were wires strapped to his chest and the heart monitor next to him was flat-lined. Clark looked around at the room, but it was hard to see anything because the lights were off. He reached down and ripped the wires off of his chest. As he did so, he noticed that the bullet wound had completely healed.

The last thing Clark remembered was being in the hospital that morning. After the doctors had operated on him, they wheeled him into a room and left him there to heal. Clark was resting, but then heard the door open and somebody sat down next to him. He felt the person stroking his hair, and his first thought was that it was his mother, but a different voice spoke to him.

"I don't even know if you can hear me," Lana said, "but I need you to know that from the first moment that I saw you, I knew…no one could make me happier than you. But I also knew that you would never change. You would always be running around, trying to save the day. All those times I pulled away was because I knew this day would come."

Clark stirred and opened his eyes, turning his head to look at Lana. She smiled at him as he smiled back. His eyes slowly began to drift closed, and Clark could feel his life ebbing away. With his last breath, he heard the heart monitor flat-line. He then found himself facing a bright light. There was a person standing in the midst of the light, but Clark couldn't see who it was. From the center of the light was a far away voice:

"Clear!"

Clark's body jolted as he saw a hospital full of doctors and nurses standing over him. Then his field of vision flashed back to the bright light. He wondered what in the world just happened when he heard the voice again.

"Charging 300…and…Clear!"

When his body jolted again, it was more painful than the first time. He saw the doctors holding defibrillator panels above, and then he went back to the bright light. Clark looked around as another surge of energy coursed through him. He flashed to the hospital once more, and caught a glimpse of Lana standing in the doorway. She had the saddest look on her face, and tears were rolling down her face. Slowly, the hospital faded out as it was replaced by bright light again. Then everything went black and he had woken up under that white sheet.

Clark looked down at the bullet wound again and sighed, knowing that he was dead. He got out of the bed and grabbed a hospital shirt nearby. He pulled it on as he entered the hallway.

The hospital was completely abandoned. As Clark made his way down the hall, he noticed that it actually looked a little rundown, too. Clark left the hospital and ran at superspeed to his house. He took a deep breath when he reached the house, and opened the kitchen door. Clark's parents were there, and when they saw him, they smiled.

"Hey, Clark," said Jonathan.

"Would you like some rolls?" asked Martha. "They're fresh."

Clark paused. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

They both looked up at him like he was insane. Martha put her towel down and said, "Now, Clark. What would give you an idea like that?"

"Because I'm—" Clark looked down at the hospital scrubs and found that he was now wearing his normal clothes. "Um…nothing."

"Well, do you have time for a visitor?" asked Lana.

"Hey, Lana," said Clark. They embraced each other for a while.

"So, Clark, are you two going to Metropolis tonight?" asked Martha.

"Uh…sure," said Clark, "if you lend me the truck."

"Oh, you don't need it. Just run," said Jonathan.

Clark glanced sideways at Lana and back at his dad. "What are you talking about?"

"Using your superspeed, of course," said Jonathan.

"Dad!" Clark hissed.

"What's wrong, Clark?" asked Lana, strangely calm. Clark looked at her, shocked.

"You know?" asked Clark.

"Of course I know. You know that everyone knows."

"What?" Clark exclaimed.

"Clark, everybody's known since you came here in the spaceship," said Jonathan.

"They don't hate me for causing the meteor shower?"

There was silence.

"What meteor shower?" asked Martha, confused. Clark paused and realized that everything here was different.

"This is gonna be fun," Clark whispered under his breath.

Real life

Inside the Kent house, there was a crowd gathered in the living room and kitchen. They were at a lunch held by the Kents after the funeral. Clark's friends and parents were gathered around the kitchen island.

"I remember when I first saw Clark," said Lana. "I was at the Talon with Aunt Nell before they closed it. You guys came in with Clark. He was just so…curious. He would look at everything as if he was seeing the world for the first time."

Jonathan and Martha exchanged a knowing glance.

"It's so sad that he went like he did," said Chloe.

"He was so young," said Martha. She felt the stinging in her eyes and knew she wouldn't be able to hold the tears back.

"All I can think about is how great he could've been if his life hadn't been cut short," said Lex.

Martha finally burst into tears. Lex turned to her apologetically.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Kent," he said.

"It's not your fault, Lex," said Jonathan, holding his wife. Chloe turned towards the Kents.

"You know, I've always wondered…where do people go when they die?" asked Chloe sympathetically. "Some people say they're stuck in torture forever…some say you just float around for eternity…others say you are in an eternal paradise. Going through this, it makes you wonder just where Clark is right now."

Afterlife

Clark walked down Main Street in town, headed toward the Talon. He passed a couple walking hand in hand and stopped dead in his tracks. He turned back to the couple and stopped them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Lang?" he asked.

"Hey, Clark," said Laura Lang. "Still treating Lana nicely?"

"Uh, yeah," answered Clark. He looked from Lana's mom to her father. Then he realized: since the meteor shower hadn't come, Lana's parents were still alive…which means that there weren't any meteor freaks running around. It also meant that there weren't any meteors around to make him sick. Another little bonus for Clark Kent.

"How've you guys been?" asked Clark.

"Great," said Lewis Lang. "We'll see you later."

Clark watched them go, and turned towards the Talon. He looked over across the street and saw two kids chasing a ball into the street. There was a truck barreling down the road, but it couldn't stop in time. The two kids couldn't see it; they were too distracted. Clark ran over to them and gathered them in one of his arms. With the other arm, he put it out in front of him and caught the truck's grill. The truck slowed down, and Clark slid several inches. The truck came to a stop and Clark set the kids down.

"Thanks, Mister!" said the boy. They both ran away towards their mom.

"Thanks, sir!" said the woman. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," said Clark. He entered the Talon to find Lana, Pete, Chloe, Whitney, and—Whitney? Clark did a double take as he looked over at the group. Whitney was still alive. Clark's heart sank as he realized that Lana and Whitney would still be together.

"Hey, Clark," said Whitney as Clark came over. "How've you been?"

"Uh, fine," said Clark, defeated. Lana stood up and wrapped her arms around Clark's neck. She planted a kiss on Clark's lips as Clark stared in shock.

"Hey, handsome," said Lana. Clark looked from Lana to Whitney. Whitney didn't look the least bit fazed. Clark took that to be a good sign.

"Hey, Lana," said Clark. He gave Lana a kiss, and then sat down. Lana sat on his legs with her arms around his neck.

"You two make such a good couple," said Chloe, without the slightest hint of remorse for not having gotten Clark to herself.

This just keeps getting better and better, thought Clark as he put his arm around Lana's waist. They heard someone come into the Talon, and Clark turned to see who it was. A woman and a boy came into the lobby. The woman had red hair, and the boy looked about nine years old. After them came—

"Lex?" Clark asked. Lex had come in, but he wasn't bald like he usually was; on his head was thick red hair. It shocked Clark to see him this way, but then he remembered that the meteors had made Lex bald. "Hey, Lex."

"Clark," said Lex, then he turned to the woman. "Mom, why don't you go grab a table with Julian? I'll just be a second."

"Okay, Lex," said the red-haired woman.

"That's your mom?" asked Clark. "And that's Julian?"

"Are you feeling alright, Clark?" asked Lex. "You're acting like you've just met me and my family."

"Of course I've already met you guys," said Clark, acting as though he did know it. "Where's Lucas?"

There was a pause. "Who?" asked Lex.

"No one," said Clark.

Real life

"Hey, Chloe," said Lana as Chloe came into the Talon. They had arranged a girls' day out…just the two of them. It was the day after the funeral, and Lana needed to get away from it all.

"Hey, Lana," said Chloe. "How are you?"

"I've been better," replied Lana.

"Oh, you said you had something to tell me today."

"Oh, that," Lana said, then paused. "It's something that I really didn't expect."

"Whatever it is, I'll understand."

Lana looked down at her lap and took a deep breath. "Chloe…" She paused again. She looked up into Chloe's eyes, and then plowed on through: "I'm pregnant."