DISCLAIMER: Liz, Max, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Kyle belong to Jason Katmis and UPN. Clark Kent, Green Lantern, and all related characters belong 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’.

“Mr. Pierce?”

Pierce looked up from his chair in the centre of the room. His arms were cuffed behind him, so he couldn’t actually get up an open the door himself.

For something used to being in control, this was a somewhat nervous experience.

“It’s about time!” he growled. “Untie me, already. I’ve got a job to do.”

Agent Jordan walked up to his, followed by a pair of doctors.

“And what kind of job is that exactly?” one of the doctors inquired.

“Catching those filthy aliens!” he replied.

“Ah”

The two doctors nodded, taking notes.

“And how long have you been seeing these ‘aliens’, Mr. Pierce?” one of them asked.

Pierce’s eyes narrowed. It was obvious what was going on.

“Oh, give me a break!” he grumbled. “This isn’t funny anymore, Jordan…let me go! How can you possibly side with them? They killed my brother!”

“Did they, now?” another voice asked.

There, right in front of him, walking out of the shadows…was his brother: Daniel Pierce.

“This…there’s some mistake!” Pierce argued. “You’re dead. You died two years ago!”

His brother placed an arm on his shoulder.

“I’m right here, David!” he reassured him. “They had me on an undercover mission. But that’s over now.”

“Tell them, Daniel!” the older man demanded. “Tell them I’m telling the truth. Tell them about the aliens!”

Daniel raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Aliens?” he asked. “You’re not making any sense!”

Just then, Pierce snarled at his brother angrily.

“You’re not Daniel!” he claimed. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? He’s one of THEM! One of the aliens!”

He started to struggle in the chair, a look of complete madness in his eyes.

“Calm down, Pierce!” Jordan asked him. “It’s for your own good…”

“I’ll kill you!” he yelled. “I’ll kill all of you. Don’t you see, I know the truth. They want to destroy us. THEY WANT TO DESTROY US ALL!!!”

One of the doctors injected a sedative into his arm, which made him fall unconscious. Daniel nodded sadly, and sighed.

“Of course they do, David…” he muttered. “Get some rest.”

*****

As Agent Daniel Pierce exited the psychiatric ward of the hospital, he found Cal Langley there waiting for him.

“How’d it go?” Cal asked him.

“He’s ranting and raving about his brother secretly being a creature from another galaxy,” Pierce chuckled. “What do you think?”

“And they have no idea it’s true at all,” he replied.

Suddenly, Pierce’s features began to melt, reforming and restructuring his face. When the transformation was complete, John Jones stood in his place.

“Well, Jordan does,” Jones corrected his friend. “But something tells me we can trust him.”

“It feels good, you know?” Langley said after a moment. “Trusting people. I didn’t used to. You really scared the crap out of me when K’Var took you down. I didn’t think you’d make it that time.”

“As I told Pierce, shape-shifters are very hard to kill,” he reminded him. “But you already knew that. Didn’t you…Nasedo?”

A bright flash of light enveloped the room, consuming the body of Cal Langley. When it faded, Edward Harding stood in his place.

“Do they know?” Harding asked.

John shook his head.

“You could tell them, you know,” he said in response. “How the second protector was killed in the crash. How you’re still alive. Maybe it would ease their minds?”

“I don’t think I can do that,” he sighed. “It’s better that they think the ‘alien killer’ died. Seeing those humans risk their lives for them…it opened my eyes. I only wish I could have helped Tess, too.”

“She chose her path,” John told him. “As you and I chose ours. And as Clark must now chose his.”

“The Kryptonian?” Ed mentioned. “Look what he did to K’Var. Imagine when he’s fully grown.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that too much, my friend” John said, with a smile. “Something tells me Kal-El is not like you or I. Or even like Max. Who knows what the future will bring?”

“Yeah,” Harding agreed. “Who knows? Come on…I’ll buy you a coffee before you have to fly back to Denver.”

The two of them exited the hospital, walking down the street towards the coffee shop.

*****

It had been at least a week since Kyle had left, and things had gone roughly back to normal in Roswell. Jonathan and Martha Kent had flown back to Smallville, while letting Clark and Chloe stay for a little while. It was Chloe’s idea. She felt that, after ‘saving the world’, as she put it, they had earned a little vacation.

Roswell itself was none the worse for wear. Whoever that gang of bikers had been, they were now gone. Strangely enough, there had been hardly any damage at all. Even the UFO museum, which had caught fire early on, seemed to be in perfect condition. Of course, there were rumours…some people claimed that a ‘strange man with a magic ring’ saved them all. Of course, most people just considered it another one of Roswell’s many urban legends.

Of course, a handful of people, sitting at a table in the Crashdown Café, knew better.

“You realize we saved the entire world, and no one will ever know?” Chloe pointed out.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Isabel said. “There was this one time…”

“Please…” Maria groaned. “Don’t tell them the jellyfish story!”

Max and Michael started to laugh, while Liz brought their orders.

Just then, a familiar face came in that made almost everyone jump. Lex Luthor.

“Hey Clark!” he greeted his friend, as he walked over to the table. “I didn’t expect to see you still here.”

“Oh, my folks told me I could stay another week or so,” he replied.

“How about you, miss Sullivan?” he inquired, turning to Chloe. “Not here chasing aliens, I hope.”

Chloe smiled. If only he knew…

“Come on, Lex…I could do that in Smallville”

“Ha!” Lex laughed. “True.”

Then he turned to Isabel, biting his lip nervously.

“I don’t think I’ve had the chance to apologize yet,” he sighed. “I’ve heard that my…behaviour wasn’t exactly gentlemanlike. Your husband more or less called me smile, and I really don’t blame him.”

“It’s ok, Lex!” Isabel reassured him. “You weren’t in your right mind.”

Lex stayed for a few moments, introducing himself to the others. All the while, Chloe couldn’t help but wonder…K’Var had said that he didn’t so much possess Lex as ‘bond’ with him. Somehow, in the deepest, darkest corner of his mind, Lex Luthor had the potential to do those horrible things. Chloe knew he was a good man, but it scared her to think of what he might be capable of.

She just hoped that neither she, nor Clark, ever had to find that out.

Finally, Lex said his goodbyes, and left the restaurant. Once he was gone, Valenti came inside and took his spot.

“How you holding up?” Max asked.

“Eh,” he shrugged. “I always knew Kyle would have to leave someday. I just assumed it would be somewhere I could call him from.”

“He saved the world, Mr. Valenti,” Liz told him. “You would have been proud of him.”

“I am,” he said, smiling. “I just hope that, wherever he is…he’s happy.”

“Stop it!” a voice called out from behind them. “You’re going to make me get all mushy.”

All at once, everyone at the table spun around. There, standing in the doorway of the Crashdown, was Kyle.

“KYLE!” Maria squealed, and ran up to him. “Oh my god…oh my god, you’re back!”

At first, several patrons of the restaurant gave the two of them strange looks. He’d only been out of town for about a week. After a moment, most of them just assumed it was Maria being Maria, and went back to their meals.

Kyle walked over to the table, and sat down.

“So, you miss me?” he asked.

“I don’t get it!” Michael asked. “I thought you said you had to go into space or something.”

“I did…I did,” Kyle replied. “I went, and then they sent me back here. Wow! I saw some things you guys wouldn’t believe. I even got to see where you’re from.”

Upon hearing that, Max, Liz, Michael, and Isabel’s eyes went wide.

“Antar?” Isabel asked. “You were on Antar?”

“Yeah, I had to kinda return K’Var to his home planet,” he informed her. “It’s ok. The water is a little weird, but otherwise it’s a pretty cool place. And let me just say, Max, that you look a LOT better now than you did then. They got this big statue up of you…well, words don’t do it justice.”

Max didn’t say anything. He was too mesmerized.

“So, what happened?” Liz asked. “Why did you come back?”

Kyle grinned.

“You ready for this?” he asked. “I’m what you call a Green Lantern. These little blue guys, the Guardians, pick one person from each planet that has intelligent life on it, and give them one of these rings…”

Kyle shows them all the ring, which is still on his finger.

“Now, the person who has to use it to protect whatever ‘space sector’ their planet is it,” he continued to explain. “Like, let’s say…alien invasions like K’Var. Meteorites. Flash floods…that sort of thing. Kind of like a space-sheriff.”

Jim smiled proudly.

“I guess you’re going into the family business after all, huh?” he joked.

“Yeah, dad,” Kyle replied. “But my ‘beat’ is kinda bigger.”

They all laugh.

“Hey, where’s the green guy, anyway?” Kyle asked. “I wanted to thank him.”

“He left just as soon as you did,” Michael told him.

“Too bad,” Kyle sighed, then he turned to Clark. “That was pretty impressive what you did to K’Var back there.”

“No less impressive that holding back a nuke,” Clark told him. “We make a pretty good team.”

“Yeah, we do,” he agreed. “Not that I’d want to make it a monthly event.”

*****

Later that day, in the middle of the desert.

Clark stood there, gazing up at the sky. He could see further than anyone else. Even without his telescope, the majestic view of the stars was awe-inspiring.

Somewhere out there, in the depths of space, was what was left of Krypton. A world that was ended, tragically. A world that would have been forever erased from the memories of the universe, if not for the will of one man. Jor-El.

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
I’m just out to find
The better part of me

Billions of people had to die, so that he could come there. To Earth. To his destiny…whatever that was.

I’m more than a bird..
.I’m more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
And it’s not easy to be me

“Hey!” Chloe greeted him, as she walked up to him. “How you feeling?”

“Better than I have in a long time,” he replied with a smile. “You know something Chloe…when the Eradicator was connected to my mind, it did something to me.”

Chloe looked at him, scared.

“What?” she asked.

“It put something in my mind,” he explained. “Memories. Of Krypton. Of my real parents. A virtual library of knowledge is inside my head now.”

Clark began to walk, with Chloe directly beside him.

“I remember its red sun, named Rao, after the Kryptonian sun god,” he told her. “I remember how the air feels, and the name they have for every animal that lived there. I can speak their planet’s language, read their words, tell their stories. Every scientific discovery they made is implanted in my mind. Their music, their works of art…their legends. Their gods, all of it is mine. It’s Jor-El’s last gift to his only son…”

Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home I’ll never see

He then turned to look Chloe in the eyes.

“…and it’s all completely meaningless!” he finished.

Chloe didn’t understand what he was saying.

“I don’t get it?” she asked. “How is that meaningless?”

It may sound absurd...
but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed

“Because…” he said with a smile. “I may have been conceived on an alien planet, but as far as I’m concerned, I was born when that ship opened up in Smallville. My DNA may come from Jor-El and Lara, but my mind…my heart, my morals…my sense of right and wrong…that comes from the Kents. From my friends. From you. I am a human being. In all the ways that matter.”

Suddenly, their faces moved close together. They began to kiss, a lifetime of emotions finally breaking through to the surface.

I may be disturbed...
but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream

Finally, they broke apart, looking into each other’s eyes.

And it’s not easy to be me

“Thank you,” Chloe whispered.

At that moment, Max and Liz arrived on the scene. The two couples walked up to each other.

“You could stay, if you want?” Max told him. “We’d be happy to have you here.”

Up, up and away, away from me
It’s all right...
you can all sleep sound tonight
I’m not crazy..
or anything...

Clark smiled, nodding.

“My place is out there,” he told him. “Whatever destiny holds for me, I’ll need to find it myself.”

Liz walked up to Clark, hugging him.

“Thanks, Clark…” she whispered. “For everything.”

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
Men weren’t meant to ride
With clouds between their knees

“You two take care of yourselves, ok?” he asked. “If you ever need me, all you have to do is ask.”

With that, he picked Chloe up in his arms. Turning back towards Max and Liz one last time, he winked at them.

I’m only a man
in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite
on this one way street

Only a man
in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things
inside of me

Then he was off. A blur of red and blue, racing across the desert.

Max and Liz watched them leave, window blowing through their hair, and in each other’s arms…facing the future together.

I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
I’m only a man
Looking for a dream

I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
And it’s not easy

It’s not easy to be me

THE END