A/N: "What? More fic already? But you just posted Part 24!"
Yeah, I got a little more done than I'd expected, and I want to make up for the slow posting schedule a little bit. I hope you enjoy! 
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Part 25It was the end of the world.
Standing in EPRAD's main observatory, Clark felt a coldness trickle down his spine as Professor Daitch described what would happen to Earth when—not if, but when—the Nightfall asteroid struck the planet. The official countdown on the screen behind them showed only four days until the impact.
During the discussion, a general and a White House secretary arrived and confirmed everything Daitch had said. “The country needs your help, Superman,” Secretary Cosgrove told him. “So does the world.”
Clark nodded. “Of course. But, you're asking me to fly a million miles into space to stop a piece of rock the size of Metropolis that's traveling faster than any spacecraft we've ever made.”
“Can you?” Cosgrove asked.
It was a good question. The largest and heaviest thing Clark had ever lifted was a segment of a space station, but that was nowhere near as massive as this; and while he'd been in a few inhosptiable places before, he'd never really tested his ability to withstand the vacuum of space. “I don't know,” he admitted.
General Zeitlin looked him in the eye. “You're our only hope.”
Saying no was not an option. With stakes this high, it could never be. The question for Clark wasn't whether he'd try, but whether he'd fail; and whether he'd die in the process.
A faint voice whispered across his mind. “Is this what you meant about sensing strong feelings and 'following them'?”
“Superman?” The three men in the room stared at him, waiting for his answer.
“Oh, uh...just...excuse me a moment please,” Clark stammered.
He bolted from the room, leaning back against the door as soon as it was closed behind him. The hallway was mercifully empty, so he closed his eyes and concentrated. 'Michel?' he thought.
No response.
Clark forced his mind to relax. A sense of calmness brushed him. Given his own mental state right now, that had to be Michel. He focused on it, letting it fill his mind until he suddenly imagined sitting cross-legged on a carpeted floor. 'Michel?' he thought again. 'Can you hear me?'
The calmness shifted slightly, and Clark fought to mentally hold onto it. “I...think so...” Michel's voice whispered, so soft that Clark had to remind himself that his super hearing would be of no use. “Where...are...you?”
'EPRAD,' Clark thought back. The smell of burning patchouli seemed to fill his nose. He imagined his foot brushing against a meditation instruction booklet, and it took him a moment to remember that he was actually standing in an empty hallway. 'Where are you?'
“Home.” There was another pause. “Clark, is something wrong?” Michel's voice grew stronger in his mind. “Are you...afraid?”
His first instinct was to deny it, but since their mental link seemed to be based on emotions, he was worried it would break the connection. '...Yeah,' he admitted. 'I need to destroy an asteroid that's headed for Earth.'
“An asteroid?” Now, he could hear Michel as plainly as if the man were right next to him. “Wait, is this about that sudden eclipse some countries have been reporting?”
'It's seventeen miles long and very fast,' Clark continued, aware that his heart was hammering. 'I don't know if I can do it. I mean, I have to; I'm going to. I just don't know if it'll work.' The sense of calm vanished. 'Michel? Are you still there?'
“SEVENTEEN MILES LONG?!” The words blared through his head, giving him a slight headache. “That's...please tell me you have some kind of plan!”
'Well, does smashing it count as a plan?' Clark replied.
“...Clark? Can you hear me?” Michel's voice was still loud and clear, though Clark could no longer smell the patchouli, and the sensation of sitting on carpet was gone.
'Um, yes. Can you hear me?'
“Clark? Clark!” Michel called again.
'I'm here!' Clark sent out. 'Why can't you hear me?!' He searched his mind, trying to find that sense of calmness again...then stopped. Of course Michel wasn't calm anymore! Clark mentally checked himself and, sure enough, his own sense of panic about the situation seemed to have doubled. 'Michel?'
The patchouli scent returned, and he felt like he was pacing. “Oh, there you are!” Michel said. “Clark, you didn't agree to do this yet, did you?!”
'I have to!' Clark thought. 'Don't you understand? Earth could die!'
Michel was quiet. The pacing sensation stopped, though he could still smell the patchouli. “Clark, it's dangerous.”
'I know,' Clark replied.
“I mean really dangerous!” Michel insisted. “This is bigger than anything you've ever done!”
'I know!' thought Clark.
“You may be super, but you're only one man!”
Clark's eyes opened before he could help it. The hallway was still empty, but he could hear the men in the observatory wondering whether he'd left them. 'What if it wasn't just me?' he wondered.
“...Clark?” He could hear the suspicion forming in Michel's mind, so he mentally grabbed a hold of it.
'You have powers too,' Clark reminded him. 'Maybe if we both went up there, it would double the chances of destroying that thing.'
“...That's...I...”
'I know it's a lot to ask,' Clark thought. 'In fact, forget I even brought it up. I shouldn't have tried to put that kind of burden on you.'
“Clark, wait!” Michel pleaded, his voice growing slightly fainter. “Maybe you don't have to do this! Maybe there's some other way!”
'There isn't. Not if Earth is to have any chance of surviving.' He let go of Michel, of the sensations of fear and despair bubbling up in his stomach, and turned to go back into the main viewing room of the observatory. “Sorry to keep you in suspense,” he said to the three men awaiting his return. “Tell the president I'll give it everything I've got. I guess we're about to find out what my limits really are.”
TBC...
