Clark-

My eyes abruptly snapped open and immediately I was met with an ear piercing scream. At first, I thought it was leftover in my imagination from the strange dream I'd had with Zod. But as I listened more closely something about it felt all too familiar. My eyes widened in realization and my heart clenched in my chest. That scream could only belong to one person-

Rose.

As I struggled to breathe, I tried to get up, but I couldn't even lift my arms. I was strapped down to a table, metal cuffs around my wrists. I growled as I tugged at the restraints but it was no use. I had never felt so helpless in my life and all I could think about was how I needed to get to Rose.

The screaming suddenly stopped but that did nothing to calm my nerves. Thoughts of these Kryptonians' hurting and torturing Rose ran rampant through my mind. What could they possibly want with her? Why did they insist on bringing her aboard in the first place? Would they kill her? I tugged and pulled on my restraints with a new resolve. Somehow I needed to get my strength back.

"You're wasting your efforts."

The doors in front of me slid open revealing a much older looking Kryptonian man. I watched him shake his bald head in a snicker as he walked over to me. In his hands he held a rather menacing looking needle.

"The strength you derived from your exposure to the earth's sun has been neutralized on our ship," he explained. "Here, in this environment, you're as weak as a human."

With a malicious looking smile, he stuck the needle into my arm and extracted some of my blood. I grimaced at the surprising pain- something I had never felt before today. If they were doing all this to me, I didn't even want to think about what they could be doing to my sweet innocent Rose.

Suddenly, something inside triggered a blaring alarm along with flashing red lights. As some of Zod's soldiers rushed past, a smile tugged at my lips. I should have known Rose would be the 'something' to cause chaos aboard this ship. But now more than ever, she would be in danger. I needed to get to her.

At first it wasn't much, but as I laid there, I could feel my strength beginning to return. I relished in the feeling and slowly flexed my muscles as they swelled with power.

As my breathing became less ragged, I tore through my restraints. The bald headed scientist backed away in fear and I shot him a look that told him he better run. He scrambled out the door and I sat up, ripping through the cuff on my other arm. As I got off the table, I suddenly felt a presence behind me.

"Is it true what Zod said about the codex?" I asked as I turned to face my father.

"Strike that panel," Jor-El ordered before answering.

I did what I was told, not hesitating to tear through the ship's wall, and immediately revealed the earth and it's sun. As we stood there, I soaked up the rays of radiation and instantly I
felt all of my strength returning.

"We wanted you to learn what it meant to be human first," Jor-El explained, "so that one day, when the time was right, you could be the bridge between two peoples."

He looked out towards the earth.

"Look," he said.

I turned my head and followed his gaze towards an escape pod that was engulfed in flames. My heart skipped a beat as I scanned the contents of the tiny capsule.

"Rose." My voice was laced with concern.

Jor-El nodded his head at me. "You can save her, Kal," he said. "You can save all of them."

I didn't wait for him to say anything more as I floated out through the broken panel. I gave my father one final glance as I contemplated what he said. The salvation of the world weighed heavily on my shoulders, but it didn't mean anything if I didn't first save the woman I loved.

I raced off in the direction of her capsule, my strength and speed fully restored. For a moment, it felt like I would never reach her in time, but her cries for help spurred me forward. As I pushed myself harder, I finally reached her escape pod and quickly peeked inside. I was immediately greeted by her beautiful smile and I breathed a small sigh of relief.

I punched through the capsule, ripping the metal door off it's hinges before pulling Rose out and into my arms. I cradled her fragile body to my chest and turned my back to the explosion in an attempt to shield her the best I could. She burried her face in my shoulder as heat and debris blew past us- soft sobs escaped her lips.

"It's okay now," I whispered over and over. "It's okay- I'm here now. Your safe."

As we landed gently on the ground, she looked up at me and flashed a weak smile.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" I frowned. "Putting you in danger? If you'd never met me, you wouldn't have been in that predicament in the first place!"

An angry look distorted her features as she looked up at me. "That's an awful thing to say, Clark," she scolded.

"Well it's the truth."

"No, the truth is, if I'd never met you, I would've been killed back in that bank heist," she reminded me.

I turned my head away from her and looked down at the ground ashamed.

"You're right," I mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"I just- I love you so much, it kills me that you're always in harms way because of me," I explained.

"Well, you better get used to it, Smallville," she chuckled. "Cause I'm not going to leave you."

I smiled as I tugged her closer, and wrapped my arm around her waist. As she leaned up on to her tip toes, I pressed a needy kiss to her lips. When we pulled away, I gripped her chin forcing her to look up at me.

"I will always save you," I reminded her. "Always."

Suddenly she pulled away from me.

"Clark, your mother," she began, a look of sadness pooling in her eyes. "I didn't want to tell them anything, but they did something to me. They got inside my head. Made me see things-"

"Rose, it's ok," I shushed as I interrupted her. "They did the same thing to me," I said.

We stood in the field, silently facing each other when I took a step forward. She placed her hands on my shoulders and I was about to crush my lips to hers again when my ears picked up on two very familiar voices.

"The craft he arrived in, where is it?" asked Zod.

"Go to Hell."

"Clark?" Rose asked as she looked up at me confused. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's my mother," I replied turning away from her.

"Clark, wait-"

"You'll be safe here," I told her as I geared up to fly away. "Just, please, for once, stay put."