Standing in front of the small farm house that was miles away from the rest of the town or any other home in Smallville, made it easy to imagine how someone with incredible abilities could hide themselves away from the rest of the world. It also explained why a story about a boy pulling a bus out of a river would go unnoticed in the bigger papers when Smallville was an incredibly forgettable town in the middle of Kansas.

The wooden steps creaked under Irene's weight as she walked up the porch steps. This farm had to have been in the Kent family for generations, nothing left untouched as even the barn a couple of feet away looked in desperate need of some repairs.

Before Irene could even knock on the door she could hear a dog's frantic barking coming from inside and a woman yelling for them to stop. She could only assume that they didn't get many visitors here as when the older woman finally opened the door she seemed genuinely confused.

"Martha Kent?" Irene questioned as she stepped back to allow the woman to open the screen door.

The woman nodded as she dried her hands on her jeans, the smell of a home cooked meal drifted outside making Irene instantly miss home as the last couple of days she had eaten at some questionable restaurants. "How can I help you?"

"My name is Irene Miranda from the Daily Planet, I was wondering if I could talk to you about your son?" She continued and although there was no visible shift in Mrs. Kent, Irene could feel the slight panic that seemed to come from her.

"The Daily Planet?" Mrs. Kent repeated continuing to seem confused, but Irene had done enough interviews in her life to know that this was all an act. "That's a newspaper right?"

Irene smiled, deciding it was better to play along than anger a woman who could clearly be tougher than she looked. The last thing Irene needed was to be turned away when she was so close. "From Metropolis. Yes."

Mrs. Kent looked Irene up and down carefully before meeting her eyes again. Irene wondered if even in jeans and a casual button up shirt she still screamed big city girl. In a small town like this where everyone knew each other there was no doubt she looked like an outsider.

"You know my son?"

It would be easy to lie and say that she knew Clark Kent in order to ease the woman't suspicions. But it was a lie that she knew Mrs. Kent would see through, and ultimately it was best to be as transparent as possible. "You could say that."

"I don't talk to reporters." Martha Kent stated as she began to close the screen door, and an unusual sense of panic went though Irene. A part of her refused to accept that after two weeks of investigating that it would all end here.

Without any answers or any kind of closure.

"It would only take a moment."

"Look you seem like a nice girl but I really need you to go now." Clark's mother insisted, giving Irene a stern look that didn't hold any form of resentment but was firm enough to make clear that this conversation was over.

Years of experience told Irene that this was over and insisting would be pointless and unprofessional.

"Your son, he saved my life." Irene quickly said out of instinct knowing that those words wouldn't be enough for Martha Kent to talk. She had been protecting Clark Kent for years and she wouldn't risk a stranger destroying the secret they had been keeping  no matter what they said. But after this Irene didn't have another lead to go off of and she at least needed to say the words that had been echoing in her mind for days. "If you could thank him for me, I would really appreciate it."

Mrs. Kent looked at Irene for a moment almost like she was actually taking the time to really see her before nodding. "I will."

Irene's frustration was undeniable as she walked away from Kent Farm. It would be difficult to completely accept her failure after having convinced herself that she would succeed in writing this story. She couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't how this was supposed to end.

It was a long walk back into town but Irene needed to clear her mind and she found herself walking across the field taking in the fresh air. If there was one thing that she liked about being in the middle of nowhere was the fresh air that you could never get in a busy city like Metropolis.

A quick gust of wind snapped Irene out of her thoughts as she came to a stop. It could have easily just been a wind, but Irene's instinct told her otherwise. "I had a feeling that if I turned over enough stones you'd eventually find me."

"I think it's actually you who found me." He replied as Irene turned to meet his stunning blue eyes. Clark Kent was a couple of feet away from her wearing an old baseball cap and extremely worn down clothes, looking at her like she was an anomaly and not him.

The last couple of days Irene had imagined what she would say to him once she finally found him, but now that he was in front of her all those words had vanished from her mind. A feeling that was new to her because if there was one thing Irene was proud of was that she always knew what to say. Words always came easy to her, but now they were being difficult. "I'm Irene..."

"Irene Miranda from the Daily Planet. I know." He said quickly though his voice was absent from any contempt for her digging through his life. All the kindness that she had heard off during her investigating was incredibly clear in both his voice and his eyes.

Once she had learned his name Irene had done her research on Clark Kent, though there really wasn't much. The last real record of him was his degree in journalism that she earned before practically disappearing in thin air. There was nothing else on Clark Kent, his record was completely clean.

"Yes, I heard you also studied journalism." She replied though it was more of a mental note that she made to herself than something she expected an answer from. Realizing her mistake and that she wasn't here to have a casual conversation she began to ask the questions that had been burning in her mind for days now. "Where are you from? What are you doing here? Let me tell your story."

Clark Kent's eyes never strayed from her own, a fact that Irene couldn't fully process how she felt about. But the truth was that Irene couldn't dare look away from his eyes either, whether it was to try to seem like the one who was in control of the situation she couldn't be sure. "What if I don't want my story told?"

"It's going to come out eventually. Somebody's gonna get a photograph or figure out where you live."

A small smile touched his lips as he took a step forward while removing his old baseball cap. A single dark curl fell over his blue eyes and it was in that moment where Irene looked away almost on instinct. She couldn't possibly explain why she felt the need to look away, just that she shouldn't have. "Someone like you?"

It was almost ridiculous how beautiful he was, and maybe it was only his flawlessness that made it seem like he couldn't possibly be human. It was something that she had never really noticed or cared to notice before, but now that he was in front of her was incredibly clear. Quickly recovering she met his eyes again. "Exactly."

"Well, then I'll just disappear again."

"The only way you can disappear for good is to stop helping people all together, and I sense that's not an option for you." Irene found herself saying not so much to convince him that it was impossible for him to ever completely disappear, but to tell him that in some way she knew who he was. "These last couple of days I honestly haven't learned much other than you help people. It's what you do."

"My father believed that if the world found out who I really was, they'd reject me out of fear." Clark suddenly explained before he went on to tell Irene the story of how Jonathan Kent believed so deeply that the world was not ready to learn about his son. That he decided that it was best to sacrifice himself than have Clark save him and expose himself to the world. A story that Irene couldn't believe he was telling her as it was clearly something that was not easy for him to do."I let my father die because I trusted him. Because he was convinced that I had to wait, that the world was not ready. What do you think?"

Irene had to take another moment to fully take in his question and its weight knowing that in many ways he was right. The world wasn't ready for him. People were afraid of what they didn't understand whether it was beings from another planet or humans themselves. It was a terrible human flaw and Irene couldn't help but feel sympathy for Clark Kent because he had simply accepted the fact that he would always be an outsider to the world he grew up in. "I think it's your choice."

Reaching into her bag Irene pulled out the file with all the evidence that she had collected of Clark Kent's existence.

Of what he could do and everything that eventually led her to Smallville.

The idea of letting all this go wasn't easy, but it was the right thing to do. Some part of her had to admit that now she wanted to protect Clark in the same way that Pete Ross had. Protect him from the eventual rejection that would be awaiting him, because he wasn't from this world.

Because he wasn't human. Even if Clark Kent was the most human person that Irene had ever met.

It wasn't easy but Irene stepped forward closing the large gap between them as she held the file out for him to take. He looked at her with an expression that she couldn't exactly place before taking the file.

Clark looked down at the file for a moment, not bothering to look through what was inside before meeting Irene's eyes again this time with a mix of curiosity and confusion. "You're not afraid?"

"No. I'm not afraid of you, and maybe there are a lot of people out there that would fear you. That wouldn't understand you. But I know they will eventually. The truth about you, about what you can do is extraordinary." Irene replied before realizing that she spoke more than she should have. Maybe it was the loneliness that radiated off of him or the idea that he had simply given up on really being part of this world that had her crossing a line she should have never crossed. "It was nice meeting you Mr. Kent."

"Mr. Kent was my father." He quickly corrected before she turned away.

"Then it was nice meeting you Clark." She corrected though using his first name felt oddly intimate and unprofessional as it was something that she had never done before. Again it felt like crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed.

Taking a step back Irene turned around and began to walk away, knowing it was best to end the conversation here. She needed to get back to Metropolis and finally move on. Although she didn't have the story she expected, she found him and it would be enough.

It had to be enough. Another story would come her way eventually. Though that didn't seem all that important anymore.

"Irene?" Clark called out suddenly once she was a couple of feet away. Turning around Irene looked at Clark Kent for what was going to be the last time wondering what else he had to say.  "Thank you."

For a moment Irene was speechless as she looked at him in disbelief. He shouldn't have thanked her for doing the one thing she could do for him after everything he had done for her. "I should be the one to thank you."

Shaking his head Clark looked down at the old baseball cap in his hands before meeting her eyes again. It was then Irene realized that he had probably never been thanked for his acts of kindness before. But that was because he wasn't looking to be thanked. Or to receive recognition. He was kind because that was simply who he was. "There's no need."

It would be impossible to ever find the right words for Irene to express how grateful she was that Clark Kent saved her life. Instead she turned his smile with one of her own. "Thank you Clark."

A wave of emotions washed over Irene that it was impossible to even identify one. The possibility of her ever meeting Clark Kent again was slim, but this one meeting was enough for her to never forget him. She might have been just another life that he saved for him, but to her he would always be the man who gave her a second chance.

A/N: Technically this is the first time they're really meeting and I am already in love with them! I hate to say that Clark is going to be disappearing for the next couple of chapters again. I know he's been in a total of three chapter so far but it must be done.