Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville or any of its characters. Some ideas and quotes/dialogue came from seasons 8 and 9

A/N: I have a lot of favorite types of stories; stories I'll read (or watch) no matter what t.v. show, book, or movie it comes from. There's the classic egg, or baby doll school project; you know, the one when the teacher pairs up students so they can see what parenting is all about. I think I might have watched that one a thousand times on a thousand different shows. There's also the marriage of convenience plot. Love that one. Amnesia getting, body switching, oh and the one where 'platonic' friends have to pretend to be dating for some reason or other.

But my favorite is when friends, who are more like foes meet their future child. It's probably why I loved Sailor Moon so much as a child. I loved the Rini, Darien, Serena thing. I looked for some Smallville ones, but there aren't very many; or I suck at finding them; so I came up with a scary idea. 'Why not just make up my own?' Well let me tell you; it's a lot easier said than done.

I'm rambling a bit, but I just want to say that, I've fashioned the child after my goddaughter, Alexis. They're the same age, so if you think I've made the little girl too smart or too much of a smart alec, This is the way Alexis thinks, and talks.

~~{(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)}~~

Her family tells her she's special. That's why she has to be careful around other kids; around other people. That's why she can run fast; faster than them, faster than their cars, even faster than the choo-choo train. That's why when she sneaks into her daddy's loft and opens up the metal box in his old desk, the little green rock inside hurts her.

She falls down.

She's never been hurt before; has never felt any type of pain in her whole entire life.

Tears spring to her eyes, and she clutches at her stomach.

"I'm sorry," she sobs, logic suggesting to her that this is punishment for running away from her grandmother; and for sneaking up here.

She's been told numerous times not to touch her daddy's stuff. But she can't help it. She's never met her father before; she's never even seen his face.

Well, that's not entirely true. She's seen plenty of pictures. Her mommy even let her have a few to herself; but it's not enough. It's not nearly enough.

All her life there've been people to tell her about her father, about what kind of man he was... is. She just wants to see for herself. She figured if she could touch some of her daddy's old belongings, he'd be much more real to her. She never thought there'd be anything in his loft that could hurt her.

A bead of sweat lazily rolls down her forehead and drops into her eye. Although the sting irritates more than hurts her, she cries even harder. Sweating is another thing she's never done before, and the fact that she's too hurt to even wipe it from her eyes makes her feel even more helpless.

"Grandma," she gasps.

She's not sure why. Her grandma's at The Talon. And her grandma doesn't hear as good as she does.

What would Mommy do? she thinks to herself.

It's hard for her to concentrate while in so much pain, but she's absolutely determined to come up with something.

She lets out one of her mommy's favorite 'grown up words' and instantly regrets it. Being 'bad' is the reason she's in this mess to begin with. She begins promising no one in particular that if she finds a way to make the pain stop, she'll say no more bad words, she'll do everything her grandma says, she'll be good in school...

At the thought of school, an idea comes to her. They just had a fire safety drill and the "stop, drop, and roll" exercise is what she remembers most. It was the most fun out of the whole lesson. All the other stuff bored her. She can't get burned, and suffering from smoke inhalation is unlikely.

Using all of her might, she manages to roll herself away from the glowing rock. Just a little, but it helps some. She can breathe better at least.

Bracing her palm against the floor, she rolls over again.

Her mouth forms a complete "O" of surprise when there's suddenly nothing beneath her.

She's falling.

She'd rolled over too far.

The fall lasts no more than three seconds, but if asked, she'd swear on her life that it was more like three minutes.

She lands on her back, hitting her head hard on the ground. She shuts her eyes real tight and cries. She wants her grandma; she wants her mommy; she even wants her father. The man she's never, but is dying to meet.

She sniffles a little, bringing the crying to an abrupt stop.

Lanes don't cry.

She forces her eyes open, blinking away the rest of her tears, and then she frowns. Everything looks...funny. It's almost as if...she slowly realizes she's looking through things; that it is x-ray vision like she thought.

She shuts her eyes and opens them again, wanting her vision to go back to normal.

It doesn't work.

She sits up and draws her knees up against her chest. Folding her arms across her knees, she lays her forehead on top.

What should I do now? she wonders.

Just then, something catches her eye.

It's a ring, and it's hidden beneath the floor boards, right underneath her feet. Curiosity quickly replaces anything she'd been feeling just seconds ago.

She lifts the floor board and just as she does, her vision abruptly changes back to normal.

She blinks a couple times, trying to get used to seeing the regular way again; and then she focuses her attention on the no longer hidden ring.

She'd just promised 'whoever' that she'd be good; that she'd listen to her grandmother; and her grandma's always telling her not to touch her daddy's things, but still…It looks like a really neat ring; especially because it was in such a good hiding spot.

She can't help herself.

She reaches in and grabs the ring, the need to be closer to her father making her forget all about her recent encounter with the green rock and the promises she just made.

When she puts the ring on, she has to close her eyes as an uncomfortable sensation lurks in her tummy.

It's over within seconds; but the feeling lingers for a good little while after her eyes have opened again.

She puts the ring back where she found it, not really paying attention to the fact that she has to lift the floor board again. She doesn't even notice the other ring hidden there. All she knows is that she is never going to touch her daddy's things again.

They aren't fun toys.