Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.

Summary: When Clark destroys his ship he is not the only one affected; Now Chloe must handle learning that she was adopted and cope with the history of her family, all the while adapting to abilities beyond her imagining.

Chloe Sullivan was adopted.

The revelation left her numb, staring at her father in shock. The sudden reveal wasn't the man's choice; He would much have preferred to keep it a secret for the rest of the young girl's life.

It hadn't come about suddenly, as though a light bulb had switched on and he had realized that she needed to know the truth, no; Gabe Sullivan had been perfectly content to keep the entire thing hidden 'till his dying day, however he didn't have that choice anymore.

The blonde had gone to the Kent farm with the idea that she would chew out Clark Kent, her best friend, for keeping his relationship with Lana Lang a secret. Upon leaving, however, she had been caught in an electromagnetic wave that had sent her car careening into one of the small ditches by the side of the road. That hadn't been what led Gabe Sullivan to tell her the truth though; That had been made for him with her next revelation.

Chloe wasn't hurt by the impact; Her bright red VW Beetle had slid into one of the wooden posts around the Kent farmhouse, toppled end-over-end through the air and across the muddy grass before finally sliding down a small bank into the ditch. The blonde had been pelted by glass shards from the windscreen after hitting the post, she had been hit by the broken off dashboard and she had hit her head repeatedly on the metal roof, and even with the leather covering she should have at least had a concussion.

She had been injured in the past, so she couldn't understand why she wasn't now. And then she had thrown her door clear of the car by about 30 feet.

Gabe Sullivan hadn't known that at the time, and with the Kent family truck having rammed into a power-line further down the road she had been kept busy calling 911 and helping the two unconscious adults clear the car.

It was only later that she realized just what was different from the other times she had been injured; The bracelet her father had given her was broken.

The bracelet, made of a strange metal that she had always assumed to be platinum by his own admission, was undamaged; However the small gleaming blue jewel inset into it had been knocked out of place. The stone made of blue meteor rock.

With the knowledge that the strange things that happened in the town were usually caused by the meteor rock, she had gone to the man personally and asked him where he had gotten the bracelet.

One thing led to another and before long he confessed the truth; He and his wife had found her with it.

Stunned, the teen had listened as her father spoke of her arrival in the meteor shower; How they had found her during the meteor shower in a crystal and how said crystal had mysteriously started glowing and then melted when they got close.

With her mother's illness the two of them had never been able to have children, and the Catholic woman had taken it as a sign. The girl had had no records anywhere but between her lack of a paper-trail and a four-star general for an uncle the issue had been taken care of quickly enough.

"So what are you saying? That I'm some sort of mutant, or- Or an alien?" She finally spoke after a few moment of silence. "You're joking, right? RIGHT?" She stressed, green eyes wide with disbelief.

"Chlo-bear-" Her adopted father started, reaching out to her.

The blonde quickly backed away from his hand, shaking her head. "Don't 'Chlo-bear' me, you just told me that my entire life has been a lie!" She shouted angrily.

"You're still my daughter, Chloe. Both me and Moira knew what we were getting into when we adopted you."

Chloe shook her head hastily once more. "You knew, but I didn't! I threw a car door thirty feet through the air, dad! The car flipped into a ditch and I came out of it without a scratch!" She yelled, glaring.

"Chloe," Gabe started, reaching out despite her protests and laying a hand on her shoulder. "Listen to me, Chloe. Blood isn't important; You're still my daughter, powers or no powers, alright?" He consoled, looking her in the eye.

Chloe met his gaze and pulled away. "I just- I need to think, okay?"

She sped off before he could reply, utilizing her new-found speed to her advantage.

Staring into the operating room, Chloe watched as the doctor's fretted over the Kent's. No news had been given on their condition and with the sudden pulse that had swept through the small town the hospital staff had been working overtime in an attempt to ensure that no-one had been harmed in the few seconds that the power had been off before the emergency generators had kicked in.

She looked to her right at the person standing next to her, his hand's clenched and shaking as he watched the proceedings. "Are you okay?" She queried gently, shelving her own worries for a moment.

Clark jolted slightly as he was shaken from his thoughts by the innocent question. "I'm just fine. My mom's in the ER and my dad's being fretted over for broken ribs but I'm just great." He spoke sarcastically, pursing his lips as he looked at her.

"Clark, none of this could've been prevented. It was a freak accident." She tried to comfort him.

If anything her words seemed to agitate him further. "'Freak' accident." He murmured bitterly. "If I'd known they were there... If I'd just thought before I acted."

Chloe grabbed his arm, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Clark, nothing could've helped them, okay? It wasn't anybody's fault."

"It's all my fault..." He whispered under his breathe, so quiet that she could barely hear the words despite their proximity.

"Wha- Clark!" She yelled as he dashed off, turning the corner and entering the room. She looked in and saw that Jonathan was now crouched next to Martha's bed despite the doctor's vocal protests, hand clenching the redhead's own.

She watched Clark walk over, exchanging a few words with his father and receiving a look in return that nearly froze her blood in her veins.

There was such loathing conveyed in that one look that she could barely fathom how he could display such hate to his own son. Next to her she heard an intake of air and realized that at some point Pete had come to stand beside her.

She heard him try speaking, but she was already moving, running down the hall after the other plaid-clad youth, features creased in worry.

Unfortunately she was too late, Clark had already left the ER and disappeared somewhere else. Now more than ever she cursed his strange ability to vanish before they could interact.

"Chloe!" She was drawn back to Earth by Pete's voice and belatedly realized that he was speaking to her. "Listen, I get that you're worried about Clark, but I think it's best if we just leave him alone right now." He said warily.

For a moment she was hurt as she became aware that the look was directed at her and not Clark as she had first thought, but she was suddenly able to fathom just why he could look at her like that.

Hadn't she just earlier discussed spying on Clark with Lionel Luthor? Hadn't she completely ignored any friendship they had in favour of the possibility of a column at the Daily Planet?

She felt sick as she came to the sudden understanding that she had been willing to sell out her best friend over a stupid date with another girl. With the sight of the Kent's hospitalized, the realization of her own heritage and the way Clark was feeling right then she remembered all of her subtle prods at his past and adoption, fishing for his secrets, completely ignoring the way he felt about all of it. For a second she stood in his shoes and felt physically nauseous as she thought about all the times that she had hurt him without even thinking about it, and how she would have felt about all of it. How had he forgiven her for it not once, but twice?

Then and there Chloe resolved to be both a better friend and a better person.

"Chloe," Pete seemed to notice the way her thoughts were heading and drew her attention back to him. "I know you think that you can help, but you can't, okay? Just leave it alone, Clark'll be fine."

"...Alright." She agreed, biting her lip as he gave a smile and went back to the Kent's.

For some reason she felt like she was making a mistake, but she quickly shook it off and went back to her place outside the older Kent's room.

When Chloe found her way back to school the next day she was shocked as she took in the upturned office, the strewn about drawers and the thrown about papers. "Pete, what happened here?" She asked her friend.

The dark-skinned youth shook his head in bewilderment, shrugging. She could see that he knew more than he was letting on, but shelved the thought in favour of turning her full attention back to the messed-up office.

"Who could have done this?" She voiced aloud, staring at him as she did so. "And for what reason?"

"I don't know." He lied, badly. "Have you done something to piss someone off?"

She waited until he was looking away before rolling her eyes. He knew damn well that she had 'Pissed someone off', it came with the territory. "Not badly enough for this!" She stressed, looking around the dump that the Torch had become. "In a single day, as well. I know that it wasn't a regular student because I was one of the last people to leave and I locked the door behind me. Only someone with a key could have done this, ergo it was either a member of faculty, or..." She met his gaze with a glare.

"I didn't do it!" He denied, frowning.

"Aha!" She exclaimed triumphantly. "So it was Clark. Why would he trash my office?" She asked him stubbornly.

"I don't know, maybe he was just upset. With his house bein' cordoned off and all maybe he just wanted somewhere to think, maybe he just got angry. I don't know, Chlo'."

"No, no..." She trailed off as she started putting the pieces that she knew together. "Mr and Mrs Kent were in an accident, Mr Kent said something hurtful to Clark and he ran off, the next day I come into the office and it's trashed and you know more about it than you let on. No-one's seen Clark all day."

"Drop it, Chlo," Pete tried urgently, grimacing at her deductions.

"Clark's ran off, but he was here before. He was looking for something, but what?" She squinted at his guilty face. "What was he looking for Pete?"

"I don't know," He urged, frustrated. "Just drop it, Chlo. Please."

She frowned at his evasiveness but shrugged nonetheless. "...Fine, Pete. Just this once I'll drop it. But where has he gone?"

"I-" He slumped as he seemed to finally admit defeat. "He's gone to Metropolis, alright." He answered.

"Metropolis, but why?" She asked rhetorically, realizing that he wouldn't cooperate any further. Pete left for class before she could start asking him any more questions.

A week passed without any sign of Clark, and Chloe grew frustrated. His family was practically falling apart, his home had been blown up and the area was suffering power shortages. Were it not for Lionel's surprising donation of emergency power to the small town they would have gone without for a while, save for the hospital and the Luthor mansion. She briefly entertained the thought that maybe he had done it just to keep the 'Peasants' away from his home, and smirked at the thought of the billionaire in an Oliver Twist scenario.

Despite her brief levity, the fact was that she was worried about both the Kent's, and Lana. The brunette hadn't taken well to Clark's leaving and frequented the Talon more often than not these days, the only break being her time sequestered in her room or at school.

She hadn't contacted the eldest Luthor, and he in turn had left her be. She knew that eventually he would stop grieving his son and attempt to contact her and she dreaded that moment, but for now she was just focused on sorting out the Torch, finishing the school year and finding Clark.

She had come to terms with her origins and forgiven her father, knowing that she hadn't been the best daughter in the world and respecting him all the more for putting up with her despite the lack of blood relations. Though these days she couldn't help wondering if perhaps it was what had driven her mother off. The thought haunted her every night before she went to bed.

The only good thing thus far to come out of this week other than making up with her dad was that she had managed to somewhat get a grip on her powers, able to control both her strength and her speed. She still treated everything like it was made out of brittle glass, however. One wrong touch, one brief application of pressure and she could squash a grown man like a grapefruit.

The Kents were terrified that something had happened to their son and she, in an altruistic move that had surprised even her, had taken to scouring Metropolis for any signs of him. She knew that he had taken to frequenting nightclubs, but she couldn't find out where he lived. Until now.

The only thing missing from her office was the red meteor rock class ring she had bought months ago and written an article on. It wasn't too far a stretch to couple that little fact with his attitude when he wore it near the beginning of the school year and come to the conclusion that it affected him, and as such he had stolen it before fleeing to the big city.

She had wanted to give him a week to come home, but the thought of him in a big city like Metropolis, getting high and doing god-knows what had quickly disillusioned her of that idea. A week was plenty of time for someone to become an addict and ruin their life.

Which was what led to her situation now, standing outside of, supposedly, his apartment. Another great thing about her powers; Total recall.

Last year she had seen a fellow intern, Jimmy Olsen, pick a lock using a paperclip and if anyone had asked her to replicate the trick she would have been lost; Now, however, she could remember in crystal-clear clarity the way that he had done so. A twist here, with a light push and a click, and...

She stepped through the open door and into the lavish apartment, wide green eyes taking in the sparse yet no less expensive decoration. How the hell could he afford something like this?

Noise drew her sight to one of the side doors, and out came Clark Kent, dressed in full black attire and drying his damp hair with a similarly black towel. He froze when he caught sight of the petite reporter-in-training. "Chloe?" He queried, frowning at her.

"Clark, I-" She started, cut off when he suddenly stepped towards her, looming over her like some brute.

He growled at the blonde, leading her to take a step back in alarm. "Chloe, what the hell are you doing here?"

She was shaken by the hostility in his voice, as well as his language. Never before had she imagined Clark Kent, Kansas-grown farmboy, even capable of cussing. "Clark, I came to bring you home." She blurted, swallowing her anxiety.

"Home?" He chuckled, a callous sound that clearly displayed exactly what he thought of that idea. "Why the hell would I want to do that?" He asked her, genuine curiosity in his voice, as though he couldn't even fathom the idea.

"I miss you, so does Lana. And Pete. And your parents are worried sick about you." She pleaded beseechingly.

Clark huffed, throwing the towel onto the floor and stepping over to one of the few pieces of furniture in the room; A small set of drawers. "I doubt it, Chloe. They didn't seem to broken up when I left." He snarked.

The blonde stared at him in shock, blinking. "How can you say that? Clark, you need to come home. I don't know what happened, but they don't blame you for it. They're in danger of losing the farm." She tried to appeal to his conscience.

He faltered mid-step, but quickly regained his composure and kept walking. "Yeah, right. I'm sure they would want their star worker back." He said bitterly.

She stared at him, taking in his defeated posture. If it weren't for the hollow tone of his voice as he said it she might have hit him. As is she could tell that even as he was he didn't believe that.

"Maybe I don't want to go home. I'm quite happy here, actually." He continued cruelly, derailing that train of thought. "Why don't you take a hike, Chlo."

"Damn it, Clark!" She yelled, glaring at him and clenching her fists. "How can you say that? You can't just throw around words like that when you don't mean it. I know it's the ring." She finished.

Abruptly he was in her face so fast that he nearly gave her whiplash. "You know about the ring? Who told you, Pete? Should've known that I couldn't trust him." He snarled, locking his fiery gaze onto her face and then reaching out to push her towards the door. "Get out! And don't tell anyone where I am, or I'll leave and you'll never find me again!"

She stepped backwards in alarm, allowing him a better grip, but pushed back, refusing to be kicked out like that. "Why don't you get your head out of your ass for one minute, Clark? Take that fucking ring off and come home!" She denied him his victory with a violent shove, actively restraining her powers.

"Get lost, Chloe!" He yelled, pushing her harder and grimacing as he did so. "I don't need you here."

She stood her ground, but confusion took hold as she realized that his hold on her was faltering. "Clark?"

"Go... Away." He growled menacingly, but her eyes were drawn away from his contorted expression of fury to his chest, where a deep red hue could be seen through the collar.

"Clark!" She yelped, ushering him back towards the bed as he nearly fell, fear replacing her anger. "Sit down, come on."

By now all resistance had been surrendered by the large youth in favour of feeble groaning, not even a token effort made as she removed his shirt.

Terror overtook her features as she took in the massive scar adorning his chest, a deep red "S" cutting it's way through his entire upper torso in jagged curves of scar tissue. "What the hell?" A gleam caught her eye and she realized that the ring had to have something to do with it.

She grabbed the ring and for just a moment all her worries left her, even her best friend's pain seeming inconsequential. But a groan from said friend quickly drew her back to reality and, with a sharp tug and a grunt, she threw the ruby-gold ring clear out the window, a shatter the only sign of it's departure.

Clark finally stopped his moans of pain, the scar on his chest fading to look as it had before the episode. "Chloe..." He groaned, trying to bat her hands aside as she pushed him down.

"Shh, shh." She gently ran her hands across the tissue, staring at him with a worried smile. "Just- Just rest, Clark. We'll talk later."