DISCLAIMER: Liz, Max, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Kyle belong to Jason Katmis and UPN. Clark Kent, however, belongs to the WB and DC Comics. Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster. I don’t own them.

CATEGORY: Max/Liz, and Clark/Chloe.

RATING: PG-13

SPOILERS: Takes place immediately after ‘Ch-ch-changes’.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This part may seem a little sappy. But make no mistake…things will start to speed up very shortly. I’m just setting up the story. Also, you’ll notice a few subtle shout-outs to the Roswell pilot and the first book ‘The Outsider’ in this part. Oh, and don’t worry about what happened to Kyle. I’ll be getting to that later on.

Clark started to slow down as he reached the football field. It was a usual pattern for him. Run at super speed all the way from home, enter through the football field, which was usually abandoned this early. Even if someone was there, which was rare, he was moving so fast that they would never even see him.

Ah, the perks of having alien powers.

Alien, Clark thought. I’m still getting used to that.

Indeed. Clark had only found out about him otherworldly origins back in October. Up until then, he just thought he was an ordinary person.

Yeah, right. An ordinary person who’s stronger than an ox and faster than the fastest horse. He’d always known that he was different, but he thought he was some sort of mutant, or something like that.

That is, until that day his father showed him that ship.

I just wish I could understand that writing on the ship, he thought. That’s ironic, isn’t it. The only clue as to where I come from, and I can’t even read it.

It didn’t really bother him that much. He liked living on Earth. As far as he was concerned, it was his home. But sometimes he just…wondered.

Clark sighed as he walked into the school. He didn’t like to dwell on it. His life was complicated enough without worrying about some flying saucer coming to take him ‘home’. If it hadn’t happened by now, it obviously never would.

“Hey Clark,” he heard someone call out to him.

He turned around to see his friend, Pete Ross, walking towards him.

“Hey Pete, what’s up?” he asked.

“Are my ears deceiving me?” Pete inquired. “You’re actually looking for a job? How did you pull that off?”

Clark chuckled.

“A magician never reveals his secrets, Pete” Clark responded. “My dad…just suddenly didn’t need me at the farm as often.”

“Your dad sprung for extra help?” his friend asked. “Pinch me, I must be dreaming.”

Clark shook his head.

“He got this call about someone wanting some ‘honest work’ while in town,” he continued. “In return, dad put in a good word at school, and provides room and board. She’s supposed to meet me after class today.”

A smirk appeared on Pete’s face.

“She, huh?” he asked. “Is she cute?”

“How the heck should I know?” he asked. “I’ve never even seen the girl.”

Liz sat down at a table in the cafeteria. She sat there, alone, for several minutes. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed the people in their own separate groups.

This was a small town, hence the name. Everyone knew everyone here.

“Why do you look like somebody died?” a female voice said to her.

Liz snapped to attention suddenly. She’d been daydreaming so much that she didn’t even notice someone sit down at the table.

A blonde girl was facing her. She looked about 16.

“You a senior or something?” the girl asked her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.”

“Yeah, I just moved here,” Liz answered. “Liz Parker. I’m from Roswell.”

The girl shook her hand.

“Chloe Sullivan,” she introduced herself. “Wow, are you serious? As in ‘Roswell, New Mexico’?”

Liz smiled.

“The very same,” Liz answered.

Chloe chuckled.

“You’ll fit right in here,” she told her. “Don’t mind me. I’m the editor of the Torch. It’s my job to dig up info on people. So, what’re you doing so far from home?”

Liz paused for a moment.

“I just needed a change of scenery, you know?” Liz told her. It wasn’t a complete lie.

At that moment, Clark entered the cafeteria. He made a beeline straight for the girls.

“Hey Chloe!” Clark called for her.

Both Liz and Chloe looked over to them.

“Who’s that?” Liz whispered to her.

“A friend,” Chloe said with a smile. This caused Liz’s eyebrows to raise.

“Boyfriend?” she suggested.

“No!” Chloe said, slightly flustered. Her cheeks turned bright red. “Just a friend.”

Clark and Pete sat down with them. Clark noticed the red color of Chloe’s face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her.

“Nothing, just playing welcome wagon,” she quickly changed the subject. “Meet Liz Parker”

Clark’s eyes snapped to attention.

“Looks like I get to save some time after class,” he commented. “I’m Clark Kent.”

The two shook hands.

“Oh, I talked to your dad on the phone yesterday,” Liz informed him. “Am I…?”

“Yep,” Clark answered before she could finish. “Dad wants you on the farm as soon as possible.”

“I don’t envy you, believe me,” Chloe mentioned.

“I’d watch it, Chloe,” Clark warned his friend jokingly. “Mom might decide she likes female farm hands.”

Then he smiled at her.

God, that smile. Chloe just couldn’t even come up with a witty comeback when he smiled at her like THAT.

He just lighted up the room when he smiled. Like everyone else suddenly became a little more uplifted and cheery.

It wasn’t just his smile, either. Clark wore baggy clothes, but he had a figure that you’d find on a bodybuilder…even though he never worked out. Must be from living on a farm. Then there was his dark, black hair. He kept it short as often as he could, but it still grew out just below his ears. His bangs hung down, and curled slightly, perfectly framing his forehead. His skin was smooth, almost like a baby’s. As long as Chloe had known his, she had never even seen his get so much as a pimple. And his eyes…the ones she could just stare into for hours…were ice blue, almost crystal-like.

Liz just HAD to go bring up the ‘just a friend’ thing, didn’t she? Yeah, there was nothing romantic between them. At least on Clark’s part. He practically had ‘infatuated with Lana Lang’ tattooed on his forehead. It just made her so angry whenever she saw him…looking at her like he did.

She never said anything about it, though. They were supposed to be ‘just friends’, so she kept her mouth shut. But every once and while, he just started to act so down. Like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Like he had some deep dark secret that he was afraid to share with anyone…even those people who were closest to him. Whenever she saw him like that, she just wanted to swing her arms around him and never let go.

“Chloe?” Liz asked. “You alright?”

Chloe smirked, realizing that she had let her mind wander.

“You two mind if we stopped at my place before heading to Casa De Kent?” she suggested. “I need to pick something up.”

“Actually, you two run ahead, I’m going to talk to Lex,” Clark told them, and stood up.

Liz looked at Chloe, a little confused.

“Who’s Lex?”

“Come on,” she told her. “I’ll explain on the way.”

Max walked into the Crashdown, surveying his surroundings. It just looked different to him. More a business than the life-filled restaurant he remembered. A little darker…a little colder.

Then he realized that was because of one thing. Liz Parker wasn’t there. It still amazed him how she brought the place to life simply by just being there.

It seemed like he had more in common with the Crashdown than simply the ‘alien’ angle.

It had been a week since she had left. Left Roswell…and left him as well. Liz hadn’t even said goodbye to him face to face, only leaving a letter. A letter that never left his jacket pocket. He could still feel her energy on the letter.

He had to call her. Her cell phone…if she had brought it…

Max ran into the back storage room and took out his cell phone. Using speed dial, he phoned Liz.

“The number you have dialed is currently out of range,” the annoying announcer voice said on the other line.

Refusing to give up, Max’s hand that was holding the phone began to glow.

“Calling in a marker, I see?” Lex Luthor asked his friend, as he dropped him off in front of the Sullivan house.

“This isn’t a ‘marker’, Lex” Clark responded. “I’m just asking for a job, but I don’t want you to give me one simply because you feel you ‘owe’ me.”

“Hey, we’re friends,” Lex reminded him. “I’m just joking with you. I’m going to see if I can fit you into management.”

“That’s not necessary, really,” Clark informed him. “I’m just looking for some honest work.”

“Ever the boy scout, huh?” Lex asked with a grin. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Clark got out of the car. However, before he could get far, he turned back towards Lex.

“I’ve got a question,”

“Shoot,” he answered.

“When you say ‘I’ll see what I can do’, does it occur to you that you own the entire company?” Clark said with a smirk.

After a pause, Lex started to chuckle.

“Go on, get out of here,” Lex said jokingly.

With that, Clark turned and headed towards the door.

Lex, still laughing, drove off.

Little did he know, a child was watching him. A sinister smile on his face.

“I think I’ve decided on someone,” he said.

And when Nicholas decided on something, he didn’t stop until he succeeded.

“You can’t be serious?” Liz asked. “What kind of ‘weird things’?”

“Two words: super powered mutants,” Chloe said, more excited than she should have been. “I’ve actually seen the results up close. Closer than I’ve wanted to.”

“This is some sort of small town initiation, right?” Liz asked her. “You’re forgetting that I’m from Roswell, remember? I’ve actually been behind some of those ‘alien photo’ pranks.”

“Believe what you want, Liz, but I almost had the body heat sucked out of me,” she informed her. “Ever since the meteor shower, strange things have been happening in Smallville. Anyone who gets too close to those rocks has had something bad to them.”

“As in what?” Liz asked, the inquisitive scientist in her taking over.

“They just get…changed,” she told her. “It’s hard to explain.”

Changed? Liz thought. There’s irony for you. I spend all this energy to ‘get away’, and I end up in the exact same place I started. Just replace desert with cornfields.

There was one difference, though. A certain someone was nowhere in sight.

Just then, a loud ringing came from nowhere. Liz’s eyes went wide as she tried to find out where it was coming from.

“Do you have a cell phone in there?” Chloe asked, pointing to Liz’s bag.

Her phone, of course. She must have packed it by accident. Liz was confused, though. Who would possibly know her number all the way out here.

She pulled the phone out of her bag and answered it.

“Hello?”

There was no answer for a moment, but she could swear she heard someone breathing.

“Liz?” someone finally answered, causing her eyes to go wide. She knew that voice.

“Max…?” she responded, almost a whisper.

Chloe saw the look on her face. This probably qualified as a ‘personal call’. Quickly, she went to her room. Liz, meanwhile, stood up and started pacing around the room, still on the phone.

“How did your phone signal reach all the way here?” Liz asked. “It shouldn’t be strong enough.”

“I, uh, got an upgrade,” Max replied.

Liz, of course, knew what that meant. He must have used his powers to enhance the range of the radio signal.

“I’m sorry, I just…” he continued. “I just needed to hear your voice, that’s all. There was no way of knowing if something had…happened to you.”

Liz leaned against the wall, sadly. It was a lot easier to be away when she couldn’t hear his voice.

“Max, please, don’t do this,” Liz asked him. “I’m just really scared right now. I just need to be by myself for awhile.”

“If it’s any consolation, I’m scared too,” he responded.

Liz could hear the pain in Max’s. She knew it was as hard for him as it was for her, being so far away. That’s why she had to go so quickly. If she had to see his face one last time, pleading with her to stay, she probably would have.

The memory of him outside her window, tears in his eyes, mouthing those three words…it was still etched in her brain. Just the thought of it made her want to cry as well.

As a result, she noticed her opposite hand start to crackle with green energy again.

“I’ve got to go,”

She was so caught up in her emotions that she didn’t notice Clark walk in the house. Clark didn’t say anything, just stood at a distance.

“If you really feel that way, just let me be,” she said into the phone. “This is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, but I just know that I have to.”

“I just miss you so much,” he whispered, his voice almost cracking.

Liz’s heart broke upon hearing him like that. He sounded so small, as if the slightest tap would shatter him into a thousand pieces.

Then she saw Clark.

“I’ve gotta go,” she said quickly.

“Liz, please don’t shut…” he began, but was cut off by the phone being hung up. She placed it on the table

Clark, pretending he didn’t hear the conversation, just looked at her.

“Who was that?” he asked innocently.

“No one,” she lied in a monotone voice. “Ready to go?”

Chloe came out of her room with an overnight bag.

“Let’s make tracks,” she announced.

Max hung up phone, sighing to himself.

Wait to go, Evans. Now you’re starting to feel like a stalker, he thought, sitting down on a box.

He couldn’t help it though. He loved Liz more than anything in the world, and it frustrated him so much that he couldn’t do anything to help her.

No, it was more than that. What was happening to her was his fault. His powers were what caused her to start changing. He was the one she was mad at, which caused those powers to go out of control.

The thought of that made him so angry with himself. He just wanted to…wanted to…

Without warning, the only light source in the entire room burst into glass shards and fell to the floor, casting Max into total darkness.

“And people tell me to have some self control?” a voice called out. A second later, the room lit up.

Standing in front of him was his best friend, Michael Guerin. Like Max, Michael was also an alien. And though his power was mostly used as destructive force, he still had pretty much the same abilities as Max did. Michael was using his power to cause his hand to glow with such intensity that it lit up the room again.

“Sorry,” Max apologized, and kneeled next to the shards that used to be a light bulb.

“You ok?” Michael asked him, concerned.

Max held his hands over the broken light bulb, and began to concentrate. After a moment, he moved his hands away, and picked up the now-repaired light bulb.

“I’m fine,” he said, screwing it back into place. “I just wish I could fix what’s wrong with Liz as easily as I can fix this.”

Michael made a mock sigh.

“Women, who can understand ‘em?” he joked. Max, suffice to say, was not amused. “You didn’t try to call her, did you?”

A guilty look on Max’s part gave him his answer.

“Maxwell, you are an idiot,” he said. “Just give her some time to sort things out.”

“I can’t,” Max answered. “Michael, what’s happening to her is my fault, don’t you understand. My power is what’s changing her.”

“If you hadn’t healed her, she would have died!” he reminded him. “You didn’t know this would happen.”

“But I should have, the signs were all there,” Max replied. “The flashes, that vision I saw of her in New York…everything. I should have found a way to reverse it before it got this far.”

“Max…”

“What if it’s not reversible now?” he suggested to Michael. “What if she’s stuck with those powers permanently? Stuck in our life? We’ve spent our entire lives hiding the truth about who and what we are, Michael. Did I condemn Liz to that kind of life too?”

“Just stop it right there,” Michael warned, trying to calm him down. “You’re supposed to be our leader, right? When you let your emotions get out of control, you use your focus. I’m supposed to be the ‘out of control’ one, remember?”

“What if it was Maria?” Max asked suddenly.

Michael winched inside. Ever since Maria had dumped him, even the mention of her name gave him a knot in the stomach. Especially after the…incident…with her getting that demo deal.

“What about her?” Michael replied, trying to hide how much it got to him.

“If Maria was the one who was changing, and it was hurting her, what would you do?” he asked.

“Easy,” Michael answered. “I’d bring her out to the desert, and tell her to start blowing things up.”

Max looked at him, a little confused.

“That’s a little…extreme, don’t you think?” he asked.

“Not really,” Michael informed him. “You see, Maxwell, our powers are tied into our emotions. That’s why yours have always been so under control, and mine were always so unpredictable. You have more self control than I do, so you’ve got more control of your power.”

“And Liz?” he asked.

“From what Kyle told me, she’s sort of mad at you,” Michael started to explain. “She’s mad, so her power is out of control. That means that, if she holds her anger in, the power attacks herself.”

“That leaves the question, doesn’t it?” Max asked. “When she’s around me, she hurt. When she’s not around me, I hurt.”

Max hung his head, as Michael slowly exited the room.

Liz thought about what happened that day, as she walked across the dirt road. She dragged her hand across the rock wall on the side. Chloe had ran ahead of the two of them, so it was just Clark and Liz

“Hey Liz?” she heard Clark’s voice call out for her.

Clark walked up to her.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked.

“Just thought you’d like some company,” he told her. “Plus, we are going to the same place.”

They continue walking.

“So, how long are you planning on staying in Smallville?” he asked. “Just curious”

Liz turned to him and smirk.

“I sort of already have a boyfriend,” she informed him. “Well…sort of.”

Clark’s eyes went wide in surprise.

“I—I wasn’t trying to come on to you,” he told her. “Trust me, when I’m interested in someone, it’s usually not noticeable at all.”

They both laugh.

“You sound like Alex,” she replied.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Clark asked.

“No—no, his name is Max,” he corrected him. “Alex was a friend. He…passed away last year.”

Clark’s heart sank.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “How’d he die?”

“Car accident,” she recalled, sadly.

Clark bit his lip. He decided to change the subject.

“So, what’s Max like?” he asked, out of the blue.

“Can we not talk about Max?” she asked, slightly agitated.

“Okay…I know a sore spot when I see one,” he admitted. “I won’t pry.”

“Thank you,” he said, and started to walk faster. “It’s getting dark, we’d better…”

Clark didn’t hear Liz finish her sentence. Instead, his ears perked up. He heard the sound of crumbling rock.

Then he looked up, and saw large chunks of rock falling straight towards Liz.

“LIZ, LOOK OUT!!!” he hollered.

Using super speed, Clark ran towards her. Pushing her out of the way seconds before the rocks hit her, and fell on him instead.

Picking herself off the ground, Liz looked at the scene, mortified.

“Oh god…” she whispered. “No! I…I should have.”

“Ugh,” a small groan escaped from Clark’s mouth. Then, he raised himself off the ground. At least a quarter-ton worth of rock sliding off of him.

There wasn’t a scratch on him.

This is impossible, Liz thought. That should have killed him. It would have killed me. And he moved so fast…

Afraid now, Liz started to back away as Clark raised to his feet.

“No, wait,” he told her. “Please, don’t be scared.”

Liz slowly walked up to him.

“Why aren’t you dead?” she asked in a quite voice. “Who are you?”

He must be a shape shifter. Or something else? A skin maybe? Were there any left alive?

“I’m Clark,” he answered with a small laugh.

“I’m serious, no normal person could survive that,” he continued.

Clark sighed. Oh well, he tried.

“I’m don’t exactly come from around here,” he admitted. “Long story.”

“Where do you come from, then?” she asked.

This seemed so familiar. He couldn’t be…but Liz just need to be sure.

He just couldn’t be a…

Clark simply looked up at the stars blanketing the night sky.

“There,” he said suddenly.

Liz couldn’t help but get a feeling of déjà vu.

“This isn’t happening,” she said, panicking. “This is not happening!”

“I think that’s supposed to be my line,” Clark responded, innocently.

His inappropriate sense of humor was the only thing that kept Liz from loosing control of her powers again.

After a long pause, she finally spoke up.

“So…you’re an alien?” she asked.

“Well, I prefer to think of myself…”

“Yeah, I know… ‘not of this earth’” she interrupted him.

“Actually, I was going to say ‘a strange visitor from another planet’” he corrected her with a smirk. “But whatever works…”

“This isn’t happening” she said again.

“Take my word for it,” Clark responded. “No matter how many times you say it, it won’t make it true. I just need you to promise me you won’t tell anyone. I’m…my parents want me to keep it a secret.”

His parents knew?

“Your parents?” she asked. “I—ok, I promise.”

Clark sighed in relief.

“Come on,” he said. “I want to show you something.”

After they had talked to Clark’s parents, and Chloe decided to retire early, Liz followed Clark to the barn.

Liz walked into the barn. A million questions circled through her mind. Did he have any other powers? What did he think of normal humans? Were there any others in Smallville like him? Did he come from the same place as Max?

Was he related to Max? Like a brother, or a cousin.

These questions suddenly escaped her when she saw Clark, standing up by the window looking down at her.

“Like it?” he asked.

“It’s very nice,” Liz answered, assuming he meant the barn.

“This is where I go when I need to think and be by myself,” he told her. “Though, you’re probably freaking out right now, right?”

Liz didn’t answer.

“Come on, ask me anything,” he suggested. “Look at the position you’re in. An honest to god man from outer space is letting you quiz him. For a scientist, that’s probably the opportunity of a lifetime. One that you might never get again.”

If you only knew, Liz thought.

“Ok, what’s your name?” she asked. She thought she’d start with something easy.

“Just Clark,” he informed her. “If I have any other name, I don’t remember it. I was three years old when my ship crashed.”

Liz thought about it for a moment.

“That’s twelve years ago,” she mentioned. “The same time of the meteor shower that Chloe mentioned?”

Clark nodded his head.

“The exact same day, at the exact same time,” he recounted. “Everyone was so busy running for their lives that they didn’t notice a metal spaceship crash into the cornfield along with those rocks. Well, everyone except my parents.”

“You said before that your parents know, but they knew since the beginning?” Liz asked him. It sounded so weird, since Max and Isabel had never told their parents the truth about them.

“Of course they did,” Clark replied, a bit confused. “I mean, they’re the ones that found me. I didn’t even know I wasn’t human until a few months back when my dad told me. I just thought I was…I don’t know…some sort of mutant.”

“So, you have powers?” she asked, trying not to sound so obvious and act surprised. If she acted like she knew too much, it might give her own secret away. “Like what?”

Clark smirked.

“Well, for starters…” he answered. “I can move pretty fast?”

“How fast?”

Clark took a penny out of his pocket and dropped it over the side of the balcony.

The second it left his hand, Clark was running. A blur, followed by a gust of wind accompanied him as he ran at super speed. He stopped right in front of Liz, catching the penny before it hit the ground.

Clark smiled smugly.

“That fast,” he said. “And I’m strong too. I can actually lift cars over the top of my head as easy as you would lift a grocery bag.”

“You don’t have to demonstrate that one,” she asked him. “And rocks apparently can’t hurt you either.”

“Nothing can hurt me,” he corrected her. Liz’s eyes went wide.

“What do you mean ‘nothing’?” she asked, surprised.

“I mean, nothing,” he repeated. “Not fists, or rocks, or knives, or even bullets. Well, ok, bullets hurt me, but they can’t pierce my skin. I just get bruises from them.”

Liz’s mouth was hanging open slightly.

“You’re BULLET PROOF?!” she asked in shock. “And you know this how? Someone shot at you?”

“It’s a long story, and he sort of doesn’t even remember now,” he informed her.

Liz let out a breath. She was convinced that he must not be from the same planet as Max at least. Max’s powers were amazing, but even he couldn’t shrug off someone shooting at him. Well, not without that shield of his, anyway.

“Is that it?” she asked.

“Not exactly,” he finished. “My senses are a little sensitive than a normal person’s. I can hear things normal people can’t, and I can see things that are far away as if they were up close. Plus, if I concentrate hard enough, I can see through things. Sort of like an x-ray.”

Then Liz noticed that he started looking at her hand. His eyes started to squint.

Clark had found out how to shut this ‘x-ray vision’ on and off. He could focus it now, so he only saw through what he wanted to.

First, his eyes peeled away the layers of Liz’s jacket sleeve, then her shirtsleeve. Finally, he saw past the skin on her arm, and then past the veins and blood. Until, finally, he could see the bone.

“You have some sort of healed fracture in your wrist,” he told her. “It probably doesn’t hurt, but the bone was broken. I’d say about five years ago, right?”

“In gym class,” she told him. “I misjudged…you saw through my skin?”

“Yeah, I’m glad I can control this now, though,” he said, turning slightly red. “When I first found out I could do that, I had zero control over it. It kicked in and I was facing the girl’s locker room”

Liz covered her mouth with her hand, trying hard not to laugh.

“Most people would probably not have minded,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but I’m not most people,” he said. “In every sense of the word.”

He walked back up to the window, with Liz close behind him.

“I don’t remember where I come from,” he said, looking into a telescope positioned there. “I don’t really care, to tell you the truth. As far as I’m concerned, I’m just a normal human being like anyone else.”

“But you’re not,” she reminded him. “Don’t you ever wonder where you’re from?”

Clark smiled.

“Occasionally,” he admitted. “I just wish I knew why my real parents, whoever they were, sent me here. Sometimes I just look at the stars, thinking that maybe I came from somewhere out there. Hey, look at that!”

He motioned for Liz to look into his telescope. She complied.

“Neat, huh?” he asked.

Through the telescope, Liz saw five stars close to each other. They seemed to be shaped into a v-formation. Somehow, it looked familiar to her.

“I’ve seen it a few times, it only comes out every few days,” he told her. “Our sun is actually a giant star. Who knows, every single star out there could be home to an entire world and we don’t even know it.”

Liz moved her eye away and sat down.

“So, it’s your turn,” he told her.

“My turn?” Liz repeated.

“Yeah,” Clark answered. “I probably just told you the biggest secret I have, so now it’s your turn. Tell me about Max.”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t pry?” she reminded him.

“That was before I let you in on the super powers thing,” he justified.

Liz couldn’t help but smile. The guy was an alien, just like Max. But from the way he looked…like some innocent child who didn’t know how dangerous the world actually was.

“Max is great,” she said with a dreamy smile. “He’s quiet, though. Keeps to himself a lot. He’s caring, and selfless, and noble. And that smile of his…I just melt whenever I see it. He's the most important person in my life. I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him. “

“Ouch,” Clark replied.

“Yeah, that probably sounds bad, but it’s not,” she informed him. “Sometimes it feels like Max is my whole world.”

“Then why come here?” Clark asked her. Liz paused.

“Because sometimes it feels like he’s my whole world,” she repeated with a smile. “For the past three years, it’s like…my entire life revolved upon where I stood with Max Evans. Even when we weren’t together, my number one concern was finding out why. It’s just…it got to be too much. I just need some time to be just ‘Liz Parker’ I guess.”

“But you miss him, don’t you?” he replied.

A small shade of red crossed Liz’s cheeks.

“More than he’ll ever know,” she whispered.

“Then why don’t you tell him that?” he suggested. “I overheard your phone call earlier, and it sounded pretty intense. Maybe all that could be resolved just by telling him you miss him.”

“No…no…” Liz sighed. “It’s too complicated.”

“In my experience, things are only complicated when people make them complicated,” he told her. “Those ‘shades of gray’ people keep talking about…I think they’re really just excuses people make up. Because they’re afraid or nervous of what will happen if they make a choice on something. But at the end of the day, it’s just a choice between ‘yes’ and ‘no’.”

“I envy you, Clark,” she admitted. “I wish I could do that, I really do. But I’ve been through too much to believe it’s that simple.”

She stood up and walked down the stairs.

“I guess I really am too scared to say ‘yes’,” she admitted at the door. “But I love him too much to say ‘no’.”

She left, leaving Clark alone in the barn.

Max climbed the balcony at the roof of the Crashdown. He opened the window and climbed inside, surveying the empty room

He looked on the dresser, picking up a framed picture of him and Liz. It was from two years ago. Back when things seemed more confusing, but so much simpler.

He couldn’t stand it. He had to get out of there.

Without another word, he climbed back out the window and left.

Clark ran through the wheat field, and into the woods. Moving a super speed. It was so…freeing…for him to do this.

It felt was almost like he was flying.

Clark walked over to a gap in the ground, a stream of water running 20 feet below him. He looked up at the stars, the wind blowing through his hair.

Somewhere out there was where he came from. What was it like? Did they miss him?

He sighed, and walked at normal speed back towards town.

Back in Roswell, Max walked through the streets. What had happened to him?

What had happened to them?

He arrived at the docks. The same place him and Liz had tried to go ‘swimming’ last summer. He sat down and looked out at the water.

Clark walked into Chloe’s house. He saw what he was looking for.

Liz’s phone. She had left it right there…on the table.

He picked it up and hit the ‘redial’ key.

Max stood up, and had to grab the railing to keep from falling everything hit him at once. Liz…she meant everything to him. She was his life…his soul…his heart.

He closed his eyes tight and started to cry.

At that exact moment, Max’s cell phone rang. He opened it and answered.

“Is Max there?” the voice asked on the other line.

“This is he,” Max responded, trying to hide the sobs in his voice.

On the other side, Clark smiles.

“She misses you,” he told Max. “She told me so herself. She said she missed you more than you would ever know.”

Max became puzzled.

“Who is this?” he asked. “Why are you doing this?”

“A friend,” Clark answered. “As to why, well…if someone ever feels about me the way Liz Parker feels about you, I’d want someone to tell me.”

Max sighed in relief, and managed a small smile.

“Thank you,” he said.

Max hung up the phone, then headed back home. Taking one glance back at the pier before walking off into the night. He touched the parking meters as he walked past them, causing them to send off slight sparks.

Back in Smallville, Clark put the phone down. Then, with a burst of super speed, ran back towards his home.

He only made it five feet before he stopped, dead in his tracks.

“No…” he whispered, as he saw smoke directly over where his farm was.

“NO…!” he yelled, and ran faster than he ever ran in his life.

Chloe scrambled out of the farmhouse, falling to the ground. She had made it.

Above, unknown to Chloe, the window blew out with intense force as Liz escaped the burning farmhouse.

She landed on the ground with a ‘thump’. No bones were broken, so it wasn’t that high up. However, the stress levels weren’t exactly ideal for her. Especially in her condition.

Liz grimaced in pain as streaks of green electricity appeared on her face and hands. Using sheer willpower, she forced herself to calm down, until the energy built up inside her went back to a manageable state.

Then she picked herself off the ground just in time to see the nearby wheat field part suddenly, as something sounding like a sonic boom mixed with a gale-force wind signaled the arrival of Clark Kent.

“Liz?” he asked. “What happened? My parents…?”

“Still inside,” she gasped, out of breath. “Some sort of bomb came through the window. I tried to shield everyone, but…”

“Shield everyone?” Clark asked. “With what?”

Before she could answer, a grenade landed near them. Liz, panicking, put her hands up in defense.

Suddenly, a crystal blue wall made out of energy appeared out of nowhere, protecting the three of them.

“Wha-wh-what was that?” Chloe said, flabbergasted. “What the heck was…”

“Did you do that?” Clark asked. “How did you do that?”

Liz turned to face the two of them.

“You’re not the only one with secrets,” she whispered.

A sound of clapping came from the farmhouse, causing their attention to be diverted.

“Bravo, bravo,” a voice said. “Blue, not green? I’m impressed. Is that a natural thing, or did you personalize it yourself Liz?”

The voice belonged to a man standing at the door to the farmhouse. He was wearing a full-face mask, so they couldn’t see his face. However, they did see him have Jonathan in a headlock, and a gun pointed to his head.

“Dad!” Clark screamed, and began to run towards him at super speed. He completely forgot about Chloe being there.

“I wouldn’t!” the man warned him. “Unless you want your ‘dad’ to have his brains splattered over the ground?”

Clark stopped, a few feet away.

“Clark?” Chloe asked, shocked. “How on earth did you move that fast?”

“Not on earth,” the man said with a chuckle.

“Drop that gun and let’s see how funny you are?” Jonathan asked, through gritted teeth.

“Hurt him, and so help me, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth” Clark promised him.

“He’s human, like me,” he armed man said. “He doesn’t have to die, as long as you do what I say.”

Slowly, at least a dozen other people walked out of the burning building. Each one of them were dressed exactly like the first one. One of them had Martha.

Clark just got angrier.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!” Clark screamed, demanding an answer.

“We didn’t come here for you, we came for the girl” he corrected him. “You’re just the extra bonus, freak.”

Liz ran up, placing herself between the two of them.

“Liz, don’t--“ Clark tried to warn her, but it was too late.

“I’ll do whatever you say, just don’t hurt these people” Liz told him.

“Don’t you dare,” Jonathan said, causing the man to apply more pressure to his head.

The leader, who was holding Jonathan, turned to one of his men.

“We can’t have any witnesses,” he told them. “Bring the foster parents, and the blonde. If either Parker or the kid tries something, kill them.”

“You sure about that Pierce?” one of them asked.

Pierce? Liz thought. PIERCE?!

That was impossible. Pierce was…he was dead. Michael killed him.

It couldn’t be.

“Do we have a choice?” Pierce asked his men.

They circled around the three teenagers, and forced them into the back of a van.

“Where are you taking us?” Liz asked.

She could almost swear that she saw Pierce smile beneath his mask.

“Did your boyfriend ever tell you about the White Room, Liz?” he asked.

TO BE CONTINUED...