Disclaimer: I do not own the Smallville television series. The Smallville series is copyrighted by DC Comics, a subsidiary of Warner Bros Entertainment. The only things that I can claim to own are original characters, original themes, and original plotlines. I wrote this story with entertainment purposes in mind only, and as such I have made no monetary gain off of this work of fiction. Please do not sue me.

The New Super Couple

A Smallville Fanfiction

By

Professor Image

Season 1:

Two of a Kind

Episode 2:

Metamorphosis

DC

Chloe's delighted laughter echoed as she and Clark appeared in his loft, a whoosh of displaced air in their wake. Neither was breathing heavily despite the two hour run from Smallville to the beaches of Los Angeles and back.

She hadn't fully believed that she possessed super speed or some form of invulnerability, even when she had blurred into the wall of that store only a few short blocks from where they had confronted Jeremy Creek; Her disbelief had only lasted up until they had passed into Utah however, her surprise so great that she had stopped immediately and been thrown into a light pole before rolling to a stop about a mile down a street. Clark had helped her up, concerned by her shock and the damage that she had already done.

Though it had been his idea to test her limitations she had been unwilling to turn back once she'd realized just what she was capable of, super speed in particular.

"This is just so awesome!" She jabbered, bouncing around so fast that she caused the boards under her feet to creak loudly. "Out of all the superpowers that we could have gotten we both get super speed and invulnerability to use it!?" Her eyes sparkled with wonder and glee.

Something underneath her snapped, and Chloe gave a shriek as she began to fall through the loft, however Clark's strong arms quickly caught her and easily lifted her out of the hole, setting her down on firmer ground.

"Thanks Clark." Chloe's face was glowing pink in embarrassment, even while Clark offered her a hesitant smile to show that he didn't mind.

"You need to be careful, Chlo," He said quietly, reaching up to push a blond lock behind her ear, making the girl shiver with hyper awareness at their positioning. They were both so close that she could feel the tall boy's breath on her forehead. "It's a lot to take in, but you can't let these new powers overwhelm you. You need to take things slow and stay calm. Trust me, I know."

Chloe's smile lit up the barn, appreciative of Clark's continued support and the calm mind that he'd kept through the whole experience despite how she knew he must secretly be frantic with concern and terror.

"It's okay, Clark," Chloe stepped around the boy and walked with determinedly slow steps further into the loft. "We'll be fine. Super speed and a little invulnerability is hardly anything for us to worry about," She downplayed, turning to wink at the worrying boy. To emphasize the point, she reached down to the coffee table where she picked up the boy's football, awkwardly surprised when it popped in her hands. "Oh! Sorry, Clark,"

Looking up, she was surprised to find her friend hovering worriedly over her. She took a sharp step back and her feet pushed against the couch, hard enough to make it skid back as if it were a hundredth of its true size. Chloe boggled at the show of strength, staring with wide eyes at the piece of furniture. When she glanced to Clark she could see him eying the couch intently, a reflective expression on his face. He caught her eyes, nodded, and then blurred from the loft, and returned less than a second later with a shovel.

"Clark?" Chloe questioned with a note of growing confusion in her voice. That panic that she had been able to ignore thus far was creeping up on her quickly.

Instead of answering, Clark stepped towards her and reached out to take her hand, then softly laid her hand onto the tip of the shovel. "Bend it," he beckoned, and Chloe spared him an incredulous expression.

"It's metal," She pointed out, staring up at him.

Clark frowned, nodding to the shovel. "Bend it," He repeated.

"Clark?" Chloe asked, her confusion growing at both his calm expectancy and the understanding in the boy's expression. "People can't-" She began to say, unable to think along the same lines as he was.

"Just bend it, Chlo. I know you can," He assured. The girl flinched at the certainty in his tone, took a shuddering breath, and pinched the end of the shovel in between her thumb and forefinger, tugging half-heartedly upwards.

A screech made her wince, and the next thing she knew she was slowly backing away from the image of the stretched and mangled shovel in her friend's hands with horror on her face.

"It can't… I can't," She boggled. To her disbelief, Clark reached out to the end of the shovel and casually straightened the bend that she had made. "You, too," She questioned worriedly.

"Yeah," He supplied, his voice wavering in concern. Chloe weakly collapsed in a chair, staring at her hands as if she had never seen them before. She heard the coffee table clunk as Clark gently set down the shovel, and didn't react as she heard him approach until she could see his boots in her peripheral.

Chloe wrapped her fingers of her left hand around her right wrist to try and stop the shaking. She was so scared now, the delayed shock growing so much out of control that she was trembling furiously. Clark knelt in front of her and helped to still her trembling by placing his hands on hers and holding her gently. His expression as she looked up to eye him through watery eyes was one of confused guilt.

"I'm scared, Clark," Chloe admitted, giving an anxious hiccup. She pulled her hands from Clark's and wiped at her leaking eyes, mortified. "How are we going to go back to school, to act around Pete and our parents? Any one of our touches could crush them!" She worried at her lower lip. When she opened her eyes again to look at her friend she flinched, wary of the worry reflected back at her.

"You'll learn to control it," Clark explained, reaching out to hold her hands down as her shaking grew stronger. "It's… difficult at first, yeah, but with practice, patience and restraint you will develop the control needed to interact with normal people…"

Chloe hiccupped, finding that she was smiling condescendingly at the boy's optimism, not really hearing his references to "her" in singular reference, and not "them" in the plural. If she were of a more calm and collected state she would have recognized the oddity, but she was frantic for reassurance and was glad to blot out the irregular at this moment.

"You can't know that, Clark," She denied immediately, shaking her head. "I bent a shovel without even trying: I didn't even put any effort into it, it just happened. We can sprint so fast that it takes only a couple of hours to reach the other side of the continental US and back, and running through cement walls don't even faze us. How can you be so sure that we'll ever gain the control to interact with normal people?"

"I know it seems impossible now," He spoke gently, caressing his thumb over her palms. He took a deep, steadying breath, as if the next few words took all of his strength to say, and continued, "But it gets easier over time. I have full faith that you can build up the control needed to rejoin the rest of the human race in no time at all."

"You can't know that," Chloe denied once more, refusing to allow his confidence to sway her when these were people's lives that they were talking about. "Clark, we only just got these powers, and it's not like they came with a manual or an insurance policy in case we got into an accident. It's just too dangerous for us to even try to rejoin society until we've gotten full control over these powers." The certainty of her statement had definitely caught her friend by surprise. She could see him mulling over her words quietly.

"I do know," He revealed, earnestly trying to convince the blond, and when she looked up at him with obvious disbelief his expression set into pure determination. "Chloe, where do you think these powers came from? Chlo, I was born this way."

Chloe's mouth fell open, at a loss to reply to his statement. Her mind spun with the idea that her best friend had, this whole time been, well, super.

"You mean like, one of your parents was infected by the meteors and you're a second generation infected? Clark, honestly; you must have been like three or four when the meteors came down!" She denied immediately, catching Clark by surprise by leaping suddenly to her feet and dragging him from his position kneeling on the floor, to stagger into her.

Chloe stumbled against the momentum; Clark's awkward flailing possessing all the concussive force of a head on collision with a freight train. They each took steps to catch their own stances, Chloe wrapping her arms around Clark's neck to hold herself still, and Clark locking his legs and cautiously supporting his body weight on the sturdy supports that blocked anyone from falling from the loft. Chloe was a little startled by the creak that the railing gave off as they rested against it, unintentionally reinforcing the need for control in her mind. Her frightened eyes turned back to Clark's blue, surprised by the unconditional support that the boy silently offered in his gaze.

"Chloe, I grew up with these powers, struggling to fit into this very fragile world. While other boys were out playing with their friends, collecting bruises and scrapes and rough housing I was here on the farm, only capable of doing chores; Farm equipment was the only thing that was really strong enough to live through my frequent and uncontrollable bursts of strength. Our tractor must have been more damaged by my wild powers than any point since my dad's own father bought the thing. Yet, my parents were very accepting and confident that I would gain control of these powers…" He finished softly, his expression one of quiet reflection. The sincere honesty in his voice and face caught her by surprise and kept her from the questions she desperately wanted to ask.

His eyes flickered to hers; His expression was insecure, but there was an undercurrent of need to divulge these truths to her.

"I did get control of my powers sometime after I went through puberty. The best I can reason, my mind had developed enough to be able to constantly adjust my powers so that I could interact with people. Humans," He was looking at her as if he was trying to convey something without words, something that seemed to be plainly obvious to him but wasn't to her. "If maturity is only needed to gain control of these powers, then you should have no issue with that."

Chloe blinked, somewhat soothed by the assurance.

"Clark, did you just call me old?" She teased coyly, easily slipping back into her usual persona. She was comforted, for now, but later she would need to dwell on all these revelations and what they meant for her.

Clark blanched with horror, his face paling. "No! Chlo, I didn't-"

"Relax, Clark," Chloe laughed, shaking against the taller teenager. Clark's discomfort was a good uplift to her mood. Unconsciously, her right index finger curled strands of brown around the lone digit. "I know what you meant. We're around the same age, too. Talk about overreaction much?" She taunted. Clark frowned, a pout that just made her smile widen.

"Very funny," he said coolly, making her laugh harder. Eventually, he dropped his frown to smile foolishly at her joy.

Chloe considered the happiness in the boy's face, his blue eyes shining in such a way that it was breath taking. That thought alone made her aware of their intimate positioning and, blushing, she dropped her arms from around the boy's neck to step back awkwardly. She cocked her head to the side, considering the widely grinning boy. Clark's radiant happiness made her feel pleased, but she couldn't ignore just how unusual his spontaneous acceptance was. He seemed perfectly content to know that someone had essentially copied his powers.

"Clark, are you really okay with this? Considering how anti-weird you are normally I'd have figured that you would be rushing to find a way to remove these powers that I got from you." She queried, peering inquisitively at the other teenager as if she expected a stranger to be wearing her friend's face.

Clark flushed, stepping away from her and towards the opening of the loft where his telescope stood. He placed his hand onto it, a nervous gesture. Chloe knew that Clark liked to seclude himself in this very loft and stargaze when he was troubled.

"It was… lonely, growing up as the only one like me," He freely admittedly. He turned back to her, a guilty frown on his face. "I don't know, Chlo. For some reason, the idea that one of my friends could have my powers kinda lifts that loneliness."

Chloe's lips pursed in thought, considering the serious tone that the boy was using and his open honesty. Stepping up to him, she offered her own comforting smile.

"So you really were born with these powers?" Clark's annoyance at the question just made her laugh. "Clark, that's just so… Wow! I can't even begin to understand how hard that must have been for you, and yet you're one of the kindest, gentlest men that I have ever known."

"Chlo," Clark was uncomfortable with the praise, but not displeased.

"Clark, if more people were like you then this world would be a much better place," Chloe stated confidently. "I am a little curious though. If the meteors didn't give you your powers…then is it like a mutation, or some kind of experiment?"

"An experiment," Clark's voice cracked with his disgust and horror at the very idea. "No, it's nothing like that!"

"Are you sure?" Chloe arched an eyebrow, running sharp eyes over the boy's form. "It would explain a lot. Governments and secret societies have been trying to make a superhuman for centuries. It wouldn't be much of a leap to consider that you might be the product from that research. After all, you've told me already that you don't remember your life from before you were adopted. Maybe you're an escaped test subject…" She spoke carelessly.

"Stop, Chloe!" Clark wheeled away, complete disgust at the idea written on his face. Chloe weighed his reaction quickly in her mind and easily let the questioning go. There was obviously something there that bothered her friend, something more than just wild conjecture. "Just, no, Chloe, no…I know that I'm not some science experiment, okay? Can we just drop it?"

"Okay, Clark." Chloe stopped, considering it pointless to alienate herself after Clark was just now becoming so open with her. "Are you going to tell me why you have these powers?" Chloe asked quietly. Clark's stormy expression cleared, and they both relaxed.

"I dunno, Chlo. I just found out recently, after all. Like, just the other day. And it's late," He looked at her meaningfully.

Chloe nodded. "Gotcha, but you can't hide the truth from me forever Clark, now that I know that you got some big secret waiting, you know?" she jested. Clark gave a pantomimed bow, the epitome of snobbish derision.

"Please, by all means, don't stop on my account," he returned her jest with his own. Chloe smiled, and leaned into him.

"Goodnight, Clark," She spoke and leaned up to place her lips on his chin. Clark tensed, but Chloe didn't give him the time to reply, instead sprinting from the loft so fast that she was a blur to some of the fastest cameras on the planet, the world around her appearing to stand still.

She stopped right in front of her house's door, her happy thoughts quickly draining as she considered the task ahead. In her mind's eye she could clearly remember the feeling of easily crushing the football or bending the shovel. She reflected at the ease with which she had shown off her newfound strength, and tentatively reached for the knob.

She didn't hear the shrieking of metal being torn apart as her fingers wrapped around the knob, so she cautiously turned the knob, wincing as she heard a crunch. The door popped open, and when she removed her hands from the knob she saw finger shaped grooves pressed into the metal.

"Okay, tomorrow I definitely need to talk to Clark about figuring out this strength business," She grumbled awkwardly.

DC

Chloe woke just as the sun rose over the horizon. She felt no amount of drowsiness as she awoke, starting from a dead sleep to wide wakefulness.

Her green eyes peeked from under her covers, the digital clock on her bedside table reading 5:49AM. She didn't immediately rise from her bed; such was her aggravation at her early rising. When she finally climbed from the warm covers the clock read 6:12AM.

She went about her morning rituals as she usually did, languishing in a warm bath and combing through the messy curls of her blond hair to straighten them and then curling them properly to give her that spunky look that she had grown partial to since coming to Smallville. She chose a simple black shirt with a red cross worn on the front and a pair of beige cargo pants. After she set a pot of coffee on and fixed a cup for herself she curled up on her couch with her laptop resting on her knees.

Chloe felt strangely alert for such an ungodly hour when usually she had to be torn kicking and screaming from her bed if someone wanted to wake her up before noon on a Saturday. Chloe figured that if this became a trend then she could probably chalk up her abundant energy to her new status as a superhuman.

Speaking of which, Chloe very carefully pressed the power on button on her computer, pleased when she didn't immediately dent the surface. Once booted, she just as carefully pulled up her browser and googled possible references to other superhumans outside Smallville as she figured that would give her the best chance of finding others born with powers.

Twenty minutes later and her frustration claimed her and she unintentionally clenched down too hard on her mouse. Sighing at the mess of screws and circuitry in her hand, Chloe just as carefully turned off her laptop and scooped her broken mouse into the trash bin.

"Clark's probably up at this time, if this weird energy thing is a product of his powers." The girl took in the time again. 6:40AM was early, but she knew that farmers liked to rise early to start their chores. Hopefully she wouldn't be intruding too much. "Here goes."

Consciously jumping into super speed was surreal to her; one moment she was standing still, the next she was blurring out her front door and speeding down the road. In town she passed one or two cars that looked frozen in time, and before she knew it she was racing into the fields that surrounded the Kent's property.

Unsurprisingly, she found Clark speeding around the farm, tending to the cattle, the garden, and the orchards of apples. She caught up with him as he returned to the farm with massive crates full of apples on his shoulders. He stopped mid-stride to take her in, then continued to the truck to load up the two crates onto the bed.

"Chloe, what are you doing up so early?" He asked the blonde, turning to regard her. Chloe gave a shrug.

"Why don't you tell me? I just woke up at the crack of dawn. Do you usually wake up at this time of day?" She returned, leaving the unspoken statement for him to fill.

"Yeah, more or less," He smiled easily, leaning towards her conspiratorially. "I'm usually the one that does the morning chores, you know." He winked. Chloe snickered in good humor.

"Oh the inhumanity, to think that your parents would use their super powered son as a mule," Chloe fired right back. They shared a few laughs, before she poked her index finger into his shoulder. "Clark, do you think that waking up bright and early could be a byproduct of our powers?"

"I guess," Clark agreed slowly, peering at her inquisitively. "It sure is strange seeing you up before noon on a Saturday."

"I'm just going to blame your powers and the meteors," Chloe stuck her tongue at the other teenager, blowing him a raspberry. She considered her statement a second, and then added, "I can't believe that the meteors were capable of something like this."

"How did you come in contact with a meteor rock in the first place?" Clark questioned, peering at her shrewdly.

"Lana's necklace was on the ground underneath the post that you were tied up at last night," Chloe decided to illuminate her friend. Clark's flinch made her wonder at the story behind the necklaces involvement from last night. "Clark, why was Lana's necklace there?"

"Whitney tied it to my neck when he kidnapped me," Clark explained tonelessly. Chloe cocked her head in puzzlement.

"Yeah, about that; I was wondering, if you have super strength than how come Whitney was able to overpower you like that?" She asked, the proverbial scratching head moment striking her.

"I'm not really sure. I think it had something to do with the necklace. This whole time I've felt sick around Lana and I just chalked it up to nerves, but after she gave the necklace to Whitney I was sick around him and not Lana." Clark's theory made her chuckle incredulously at her friend.

"Considering the choice between the meteor rock and an entire change of lifestyle-" She laughed aloud at his reproachful look. "Okay, okay! So, are you saying that a little rock can bring the mighty Clark Kent to his knees?" Chloe considered the theory seriously though, admitting reluctantly that it did explain her friend's oddities. She stepped up to her bigger friend and reached up to place her hand onto his shoulder. "Well, at least you know about that little weakness now. Do you have any idea why it affects you?"

Clark shook his head, resigned. "No, I don't. I mean, I think that I have an idea, but it could just be something to do with that one rock."

"Yeah, I thought so, too," Chloe thought aloud. "If the meteors give people powers, and that rock allowed me to copy your powers, than it could be your body being infected by whatever power allowed the rock to copy your powers into me in the first place."

"I don't know," Clark sighed. "Truthfully, I'm hoping for the former, but I have a bad feeling about the meteors rocks in general."

"Well, I'm here. If nothing else, now there's one more person who can understand what you are going through," She smiled. Clark brightened at the thought. "There's something else though, Clark."

Clark looked pained as he took in her worried fidgeting. Chloe took a breath and went on.

"I'm having difficulties with my strength. I could really use some pointers right about now." She hesitantly explained. As she expected, Clark's expression was of brooding guilt.

"I'm sorry, Chlo. I didn't really think… Of course I'll help you adjust!" He said immediately. Chloe smiled, glad for the support, but felt a little guilty herself that her own troubles were compiling on her friend's.

"Thanks, Clark; but you don't have to just drop everything immediately," Chloe laid her hand onto the truck bed, wincing as her touch made the fiberglass frame squeal. Almost immediately she dropped her hand from the truck, and just as suddenly Clark's hands were smoothing out the dent. "Uh, oops," She laughed guilty, wincing.

"It's okay, Chlo," Clark said easily, smiling so compellingly that Chloe's fears began to abate without her conscious thought. "Let me finish my chores and we'll get started."

That's how, after thirty minutes, Clark and Chloe found themselves in a nearby field as he explained his experiences with super strength and gave her tips on how to master herself.

DC

Delicate, delicate, Chloe chanted the word as if it were a mantra in her mind. In her hands she carried a crate of tomatoes, each so delicious and fragile that she was hyper aware of the death clamp that was her clutch.

"Over here, Chloe!" Martha Kent requested, smiling as Chloe bent down to set the case of tomatoes down onto the table.

Around them was a bustle of activity; the Farmer's market was in full swing and Chloe had been brought along by the Kents at Clark's request.

Pete was there, too, putting finishing touches on the Kent family's stand and hovering close by Chloe. Even more aware of how she would interact with normal humans, Chloe avoided moving too close to Pete or the Kents, and had to follow Clark through the crowds as he made a way for the both of them.

Martha reached over and rearranged a few fruits and potatoes. Chloe hesitantly reached out, taking slow and even breathes as she tenderly picked up a few potatoes and tomatoes and helped the mother arrange them for viewing purposes.

When they were satisfied with the arrangement, Chloe quickly pulled away and hastened to say, "That looks good, I like that." She grinned across the vegetable stand at the smiling face of the Kent family matriarch.

Clark was nearby and Pete was approaching. Chloe watched, wincing as Clark pushed a nail into the Kent family sign with his index finger to hang it up. A glance around the market showed that no one was paying attention.

"Hey, Chlo," Pete greeted immediately as Chloe danced away from him and towards Clark. "So, did you ever get that scoop on the Scarecrow tradition?"

"Not now, Pete," Chloe said, distracted.

Stepping shoulder to shoulder to Clark with the guise of looking over the sign, Chloe hissed under her breath. "What are you doing?"

Clark blushed; embarrassed to be chided by the girl that he had spent all morning with reviewing why they needed to hide their powers with.

"Sorry, it's a reflex," Clark said out the side of his mouth, turning as if looking over the crowd. "It is how I usually work on the farm so I wasn't really thinking… No-one saw me anyway."

Chloe sighed, understanding. Clark had lectured her plenty that morning that they had to be constantly aware of their surroundings and make conscious decisions on how to act around others. It was easy to overlook your normal actions though and relax that control.

"Next time, use a hammer," She frowned, hurrying back to Pete and the Kents.

For a few minutes she browsed the nearby stands until she caught the glimpse of a red jersey. When she looked up she found Lana and Whitney striding up the stands down the row. A glance to Clark showed that he wasn't really paying attention.

On impulse, Chloe whooped, "All hail the homecoming king and queen!"

Clark noticed, and Lana greeted him. There was a short conversation between them before Jonathan Kent approached Whitney, shaking hands and exchanging glory stories out on the football field. Chloe hissed in sympathy, understanding now why Clark couldn't play football like a normal boy his age. Jonathan had unintentionally rubbed that into his son's nose..

Clark excused himself, and Whitney followed. Chloe didn't really pay attention to their distant forms as she strolled through the market, though she thought that they were having a short and quiet fight before Whitney moved off in a huff.

Chloe stayed around to watch Lex Luthor stroll up to greet her friend, and the two had a quick conversation. By this point Chloe's trek had taken her through all this side of the market, and Pete was bugging her to hear the story about the scarecrow incident. So Chloe finally relented, and beguiled the boy with how she and Clark thwarted Jeremy Creek, minus the meteor transfer of powers.

DC

Monday saw the first printing of the Torch; Chloe's first page article on Jeremy Creek's spree of murders, Clark's save of billionaire Lex Luthor, and a new article on Clark Kent saving local football star Whitney Fordman.

"I can't believe that you printed this," Clark grumbled, more reluctant pride in his voice. Chloe fought her own smile, amused by the boy's attitude.

"So you got a little credit, which I must say you badly deserve," She chirped, walking backwards so that she could eye the tall boy as they maneuvered the halls. Clark's hand whipped forwards and held her back from bowling over a jock as he walked around her. Chloe sheepishly smiled at her friend. "Thanks." She didn't want to imagine what her feet could do to a normal person's feet and legs if she wasn't paying attention.

"You need to be more careful," Clark chided worriedly, moving her over to her locker and shielding her from the eyes of the student body with his massive frame. "Walking backwards is too dangerous now, you need to be-"

"-More careful; yes, I know, Clark. I've had fifteen years to build up my habits and I just can't remodel my whole lifestyle in a single weekend, okay? I'm adapting, but I'm just not that good at changing who I am," she drawled. Clark's worry didn't wane with her expression and, sensing his next lecture, Chloe poked his shoulder and smiled. "Relax, Clark. I'm getting better. I can hold glass now, you know."

"Until someone surprises you," Clark's frown was growing. Chloe was both aggravated by his worry and happy with his concern, a dichotomy of emotions that she reluctantly confessed would inevitably lead to forgiveness. "I'm just worried, Chlo."

"I know. And that's why you're here, to help me adjust," She relented teasingly. Clark's lips twitched in amusement.

"Ouch. Downgraded from best friend to study buddy," He returned in good humor. Chloe shook her head in amusement, enjoying their banter more than she probably should.

"Maybe; but doesn't mentor have a good ring to it?" She winked. Clark chuckled, the first easy smile that she could clearly remember on his face; it was a relaxed, unburdened smile.

"I don't know; 'Teacher' feels better on my tongue, and you'd have to call me Mr. Kent," He joked. Chloe returned his smile, feeling surprisingly good about helping ease her friend's guilt and responsibilities just a little. She'd noticed that he always seemed restrained and hesitant, something that surprised her; she didn't understand how she hadn't noticed his odd personality quirks when she was unaware of his powers.

Feeling a little devious, Chloe stepped up into the shadow that the taller teenager's body cast, purposely invading the boy's personal space.

"That's pretty kinky Clark. What's next, spanking?" She taunted, laying on the pur in her voice a little too thick if she were honest with herself. The meaning behind the jest was clear to both of them, and Clark was so shocked by her bold flirtation that his face flushed with embarrassment and his mouth issued a variety of stuttered denials.

A ringing silenced their jousting quickly; the jingle of her cell's ringtone acting like a pail of cold water on their inflamed social fumbling. Chloe stepped away immediately, her own face now scarlet as she chastised herself on her foolhardy staggering through the minefield that was teenage romantics. Her fingers fumbled in her pocket, and she had to concentrate as she heard the seams at the corners of her pocket tear. When she had her phone in her hand she pressed it to her ear with a sharp, "Who is it?"

"Ms. Sullivan? This is the Sheriff Ethan from the Smallville police department," The voice on the other end said immediately. "This is the number we had on record for your contact information; I'm calling to inform you that your property was recovered from the crime scene after you gave your statement on Friday night. Please retrieve it whenever it's convenient for you."

Chloe looked up, catching Clark's eye. "I'll be there," She told the informer.

"Thank you." Click.

"We might have a problem."

DC

"Relax, Clark, relax," Chloe muttered out the side of her mouth. Clark's body was tensed with the need to flee, dreading what awaited the both of them. Chloe decided to give him up as a lost cause, instead bounding up to the check-in station. "Hi, I'm Chloe Sullivan! I'm here to see about an item that I may have lost?" she blinked brightly at the receptionist.

Leaning over the desk, the woman waiting slowly slid a clipboard underneath the protective glass. "Sign here, please. We'll need proof of your identity as well, miss."

"Will you need my friend's signature and ID, too?" Chloe asked as she took the clipboard and slashed her name onto the paper so quick that Clark winced on pure reflex. She shot him a bashful apologetic glance.

The receptionist ran appreciative eyes over Clark's frame, something that just amused Chloe as it only seemed to be making the built teen uncomfortable. Chloe decided to take pity on her friend, and gave a cough to bring the other woman's attention back around to their original purpose.

"Yes, of course," the receptionist's voice sounded suspiciously dazed. Chloe couldn't help grinning and winking over her shoulder at her dark haired friend. Both Clark and the woman were blushing. "No, I mean – you'll have to wait here for your lady friend."

"That's fine," Clark said agreeably, and gave Chloe a look. "See you."

Chloe watched Clark step awkwardly towards one of the chairs in the waiting area. As he was sitting down she turned her attention back to the receptionist with an, "Oh!" on her lips as she reached for her purse. With ID in hand the receptionist "hmm'ed" and called for an officer.

Striding up to the check-in station was a short, stout policemen with a pale complexion. Though Chloe tried to smile, the man merely looked over her with a stoic glance.

"Chloe Sullivan," the receptionist introduced. "Please bring her to Room 12. I'll see to it that someone fetches her item."

"Can do," the policemen agreed, and lead Chloe down a long hall until they reached Room 12 where he left her to sit idly at a table until another policeman strolled into the room with a small metal box and set it down.

"Chloe Sullivan," The much bigger (around the waistline) policemen said immediately. Before she could answer he continued, as if he were in a hurry to leave. "Friday you gave a statement on the identity of a possible murderer. Afterward, we retrieved a necklace from the scene; we'd like you to either claim it or identify who it belongs to if it doesn't belong to you. Would you like to continue with the identification of the necklace?"

Not really, Chloe would freely admit. She remembered Clark's warning about how meteor rocks affected him, and if she was somehow able to copy his powers like this then she put money onto the possibility that the meteors affected her just like Clark, and that wasn't something that she wanted to experience.

But she at least needed to play the good Samaritan this once and help identify if the necklace was Lana's. Who knows; it could be someone else's necklace that they picked up on the scene, though she knew it was unlikely as she hadn't been able to find the thing after Clark's powers had transferred to her.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Chloe nodded. "Let's see."

"Good," the policeman agreed, and flipped the lid on the metal box.

Immediately, every single cell in Chloe's body began screaming in agony. Her vision swam, nausea making her stomach flip. Her heart thundered in her ears, her breath coming in labored gasps. Sweat began beading on her brow.

"T–that's not m–mine!" Chloe said immediately, hardly having to take a look at the glowing green stone as she reeled away on instinct. The lid clicked shut and immediately sweet relief flooded throughout Chloe's small frame.

"Are you all right?" the policeman peered worriedly down at her. Chloe nodded rapidly, trying to muster control on her frantic body.

"Y–yeah...I'm... fine," Chloe said softly, eyeing the gray box in the man's hand. Somehow, it seemed almost incongruous that something that could cause her so much pain could be locked safely away behind a thin metal shield. "That's not mine. It belongs to Lana Lang," Chloe told the policeman, wanting to flee from the room immediately.

"Lang," the man said slowly, obviously trying to remember. "Thank you for your cooperation." He began to stand.

Chloe stood, too, hesitating as the policeman held the door open for her. She nodded down at the box in his hands, saying, "That's a cool box. Where can I get one of them?"

The policeman eyed the box in his hands with distaste. "Don't bother," he told her as if the matter was closed. "It's made from lead. The boys in inventory are a little superstitious, and one of the Kawatche legends states that a box made of lead can contain evil." He drawled the last part as if by showcasing his own disbelief that he could somehow sway her belief. "They think it's irradiated or some such."

"Really," Chloe blinked, trying to lie on a bit of fascination to keep the man talking. "Why do they believe that?"

"Well, apparently," the man said snidely, "Only a lead box can contain the one weapon that can kill their god, a weapon that fell from the sky with him."

"Oh." Chloe gasped. Inwardly, her brain was running a mile a minute. Millions of thoughts circled in her mind's eye, vying for her to review them. She withheld, though, hesitant to tread down such paths. Most of her thoughts circled around Clark and the meteors, but now the Kawatche and lead boxes were filed somewhere in the archive that was her mind.

DC

At school the next day Clark caught up with her in the hall outside their English class. From the anxiousness worn freely on his face, Chloe detected something big in the works.

"Uh-oh, I don't like that look. What happened?" She asked at once. Clark hesitated at her words, apparently caught by surprise at the way she just jumped straight onto the weird. He still wasn't used to people knowing his secret, apparently.

Finally, seemingly coming to terms with the oddness between them, Clark spoke. "Chloe, is Greg Arkin still the science reporter for the Torch?"

Chloe blinked in surprise at the question, leading Clark down the hall as she slowly phrased her response.

"Well, if your definition of a reporter is someone who actually turns in articles?" Chloe shook her head. "Then no. Greg hasn't shown his face in the office for like a week."

Distracted, Clark murmured, "I have to find him."

Quirking an eyebrow, Chloe couldn't resist asking. "What's the sudden interest in Greg? You coming out of the entomology closet?" Clark blinked, stunned by the taunt. When he did find his voice, it was only after he'd dragged Chloe to a secluded corner and backed her up against a locker so that he blocked their conversation from view with his taller frame.

"Chloe... Greg attacked me and my dad in our barn last night." At Clark's soft explanation, Chloe felt her heart leap to her throat.

"Clark, is your dad alright? Are you hurt?" Chloe demanded immediately, but stopped and grimaced as she started shaking her head in denial. "No, never mind. Of course you're not hurt. But your dad isn't either, right?" She begged him to deny the possibility.

"Relax, Chlo," Clark advised, moving his hands to her shoulders to lightly press the frantic girl against the locker. They both winced as they literally heard the metal dent, muffled by her back. "Sorry."

"It's fine, Clark. It wasn't my locker," She said immediately, surprised with how carefree she felt in lieu of learning that her friend's father was damaged in some way. "More to the point: scoop!" She emphasized by throwing her arms around Clark's shoulders and laughing.

Clark flushed, and quickly put the happy girl onto the floor, swinging his head from side to side as if he expected anyone to eavesdrop.

"Torch," He agreed easily, and rushed her out of the halls.

Thirty minutes later, half their lunch over with and one explanation about mutant powered boyhood friends later, Chloe was stepping away from her printer with a newly inked copy of an internet article.

"I found an article about Amazonian Tribesmen who took on the traits of the insects that they've been bitten by, but nothing as extreme as what you're talking about," She claimed, stepping around Clark who was leaning back in his chair looking over Greg's paper trail. "Did you find anything?"

"Only that Greg didn't move to Smallville until after the meteor shower, so he couldn't have been exposed to the blast," Clark explained. Chloe considered the problem quickly, and began laying forth a new theory.

"Yeah, but his bugs could have been. Think about it, Clark; pieces of that meteor are still buried all over Smallville, the whole habitat is infected, so when boy catches bugs and bugs bite boy... You end up with bugboy." Chloe felt some amount of triumph as she recognized the reluctant acceptance in Clark's eyes as he leaned forward and picked up Greg's papers.

"Chloe, you can't even walk out in the summertime without being bitten by a mosquito, so why don't we have a whole town of bug people?" He denied immediately, but Chloe could tell that he was on the verge of acceptance.

Standing, she followed as Clark went around the Torch to put away Greg's files for return. As Clark was turned away she fired off her return theory.

"Because... You need a certain level of toxins to cause a mutation! Those Amazonian tribesmen were all attacked by swarms!" She stated, smiling as she sat herself back down on the desk. Chloe turned her attention to flipping through the articles that she had printed off, and felt the desk shift slightly as Clark sat down beside her.

"Greg did keep tanks of bugs in his room... Maybe they got sick of the view and staged a revolt?" He jested, turning to the girl. Chloe gulped as she turned from reading the article.

"Well according to this... Bugs have a very short life cycle, so if he really has gone Kafka let's hope he isn't in the mating phase..."

DC

Chloe leaned down to peer through the grimy window.

"Doesn't look like anyone's home," She commented dryly. From beside her, both Pete and Clark leaned over her shoulder to take a look.

Pete pressed his face into the glass, grimacing. "The place is a mess." He stood up and she could hear him commentating to Clark. "You remember what a neat freak Greg's mom was?"

Chloe stood up just in time to see Clark turn to pace away. "Yeah, she used to make us take off our shoes. One time I forgot and she yelled at me." Chloe wanted to smile at the tragic expression on the big boys face, but restrained the impulse. She stepped around Pete and up to Clark.

"Is that what broke up the friendship?" She queried. Pete and Clark rarely talked about life before she arrived in the sleepy town.

"After seventh grade Greg's parents got divorced and he just stopped calling after that," Clark explained. There was a note of melancholy and remembrance on his face and in his tone.

"-Which sucked, 'cause he had a killer tree fort that his dad built in the woods," Pete added, emphasized by raising his hands and expressing how big the fort was by spreading his hands apart.

Clark stood, grumbling. "It was okay."

"Clark never liked it," Pete teased good-naturedly. "He used to get dizzy just walking over there."

Chloe smiled, nearly buoyant at the thought that she was getting to hear more of her shy friend's awkward childhood than just what they usually spared for her.

"How come," She asked eagerly.

"He was afraid of heights," Pete iterated, shrugging.

Clark turned around with the obvious desire to contest the explanation. "I didn't believe that it was structurally sound." At that explanation, Chloe arched an eyebrow, as if saying, Oh, really? Clark ducked his head, cheeks warmed red, suitably embarrassed. Chloe nodded pompously, and turned to eye the window. On a thought, Chloe reached out and easily pried the window open.

"You guys, come here," She exclaimed, turning back to them as she slowly worked the window open.

Five minutes later, and Pete and Clark were looking over the rest of the house while Chloe retreated to Greg's bedroom, instinctively knowing that that was where she would find all the juicy clues. Seeing what she found on a video tape that was already in the VCR, Chloe felt it prudent to call in the big guns.

"You guys better come in here!" She exclaimed into the hallway. Thirty seconds later, back in the room, she called, "Guys!"

Clark and Pete waltz into the room, Pete staggering as he took a glimpse at the room and then at the TV, gasping, "Ah, man."

"Looks like you're not the only one in Smallville with the hots for Lana," She heard Pete warn, and as she turned to look she found Clark looking at the Television with horror.

Wide eyed, Chloe blankly stated her thoughts. "I think Greg has found his mate." She turned back to the TV and, naturally, the television was playing one of the recorded tapes that Greg had made while stalking Lana Lang.

She felt something brush behind her, and when she turned to the far wall she found Clark reaching up to grasp at the webs. As he pulled them apart, the dried up husk of a human fell out, surprising Chloe and Pete enough that they jumped quite literally.

"Lana!" she heard Clark exclaim as he rushed out of the room. Chloe knew immediately what he was planning.

"Clark, no," Chloe shouted after him, rushing away from Pete. Clark was already far ahead of her by the time that she kicked it into super speed. The problem was, Clark knew where he was going, and she didn't, so when she lost sight of him it took her about a minute of searching to find him, explaining to Whitney where to find Lana.

This time she kept pace with Clark, and they both stopped at the base of a tree fort close to the now abandoned Creekside Foundry.

"Chloe," Clark blinked. Chloe juggled with the urge to stop her friend and the knowledge that she didn't have to. Clark was capable of taking care of himself, despite what her learned experiences said otherwise. The girl wrestled with the matter a second, before sighing and shrugging her shoulders.

"You handle bug-boy, Clark. I'll take care of Lana," Chloe offered. Clark grimaced, and she knew that he was probably thinking up some reason to dissuade her, but Chloe thought otherwise. "There's no time, Clark! You're more comfortable with your powers, so you'll put up a better fight! At least I'll be able to protect Lana!"

"Chlo, I –" Clark began to say. Chloe shook her head and pointed to the fort.

"On three," she warned. Clark agreed with a slow nod, as if he was grappling with the idea of letting someone help him. "One, two...and three!"

Two teenagers super speeding up a ladder was an interesting experience. The force of their climb was such that they tore the steps from the ladder and burst through the trapdoor with a shower of splinters and broken wood planks. Clark immediately focused on Lana, lumbering towards her, when Greg Arkin leapt from the ceiling at the other boy.

"Don't touch her!" an explosion of more splinters and pieces of wood showered the fort, shaking the tree and nearly toppling the structure. Chloe chose to ignore the shouting that she could hear from below and the rickety feeling of the destabilized fort, and instead gingerly stepped across the new hole in the fort and retrieved the comatose girl that she had come for. Getting down from the tree was the easiest part, as she just allowed herself to fall to the ground. She could hear more explosions from the direction of the Creekside Foundry, which made her anxious.

"Now what," Chloe huffed, blowing strands of her blond hair out of her eyes and glaring at the fence that was currently barring her from the Foundry and Clark. She knew that she needed to trust in her friend's abilities, but something about the Foundry made her nervous.

Chloe's ears perked up as she detected the distant rumble of an engine. A glance in the other direction showed the distant speck of a blue van. Chloe smiled, thankful in the least for Whitney's timely arrival, and set Lana down far enough away from the tree fort not to be threatened by its collapse.

It was simple leaping over the fence and racing into the Foundry, and following Clark and Greg's path of destruction she came to the center most area of the Foundry and found Clark being thrown about like a rag doll by the other teenager.

"Clark!" Chloe shouted, appearing in the midst of their destruction. Immediately she understood why Clark was being beaten so badly. There had to be meteor rocks nearby.

"Chloe," Clark exclaimed, slowly climbing to his feet. Greg lurched over him and grabbed the taller boy's arms before tossing Clark through an overturned machine and collapsing it upon his body. Chloe tried to blur over to Clark, but the pain of the meteors made her stagger into one of the broken tanks and toppled the metal slab on top of her.

Chloe heard Clark and Greg continue to thrash the Foundry, but was filled with too much relief to care for a single moment. It wasn't until something, or someone hit the tank on top of her hard enough to dent the metal did she realize just what it was she was feeling, or, not feeling to be exact.

Lead, she realized, reaching out to push on the walls of the tank. The metal groaned as she threw her strength up into the blow, and sent the slab ricocheting deeper into the Foundry and forcing Clark and Greg to scatter. Chloe stumbled to her feet, wincing as she felt the now familiar pain of the meteors.

Chloe looked up, saw that Clark was standing pressed to one of the lead lined tanks and that Greg was laying against one of the structure supports. Greg reached out and helped himself to a sitting position with a hand grasping a length of chain, and another hand grasping a lever. One pull of the lever later and the teeth of a bulldozer crashed down onto him, smashing him into the floor.

"Greg!" Clark shouted. Clark surprised her with his concern for the homicidal boy, blurring to his side and then speeding him to Smallville Medical Center. Five minutes later, Chloe sat in the waiting room as Clark gave his statement to the police.

"Chloe," Clark's troubled voice fell upon her ears. Chloe jumped to her feet, and met Clark at the elevator.

"Clark is he-?" she didn't much care for the boy, but his injuries clearly troubled her friend. Clark nodded, the relief obviously flooding his system. "Oh."

"I'm glad," Clark stated, punching the ground floor's number into the elevator controls. "Pete's call to the police to report the murder of Greg's mother got through just in time before he could wake up, so now the doctors have him sedated. The police say he's probably going to be institutionalized at Belle Reeve." From the sour tone in the boy's voice, Chloe got the impression that her friend wasn't pleased.

"And yet you don't sound happy," Chloe prompted. Clark nodded, opening his mouth to reply, when the elevators dinged open and they were forced to step out onto the floor.

Cocking his head, Clark fired, "The barn?" Chloe grinned at the challenge, and as soon as they had found a nice, secluded corner, they blurred out from the hospital and back to the Kent's farm.

Chloe appeared a mere nanosecond before Clark, grinning up at the frustrated boy. "I win."

"You cheated," Clark argued immediately. Chloe rolled her eyes and pantomimed flipping her hair.

"No, Clark, I'm just faster." She stuck out her tongue and blew him a raspberry. Clark just chuckled.

They two stepped the stairs to the loft, and reclined in opposite chairs. Chloe leaned forward in her chair, eager in a way that would make anyone seeing her expression think of a vulture anticipating fresh meat.

"Well... Are you going to explain your distaste for the incarceration of a wanted murderer?" Chloe motioned the boy on. Clark sighed heavily, leaning on the caps of his knees.

"It's just that Greg, Pete and I used to be so close, and we pulled apart. Coupled with other... Things, I can't help but feel as if his descent into madness was my fault..." Clark frowned. Chloe hesitated on her reply, weighing her words carefully.

"Clark, don't," Chloe commanded, determined to stop his angst that she could feel brewing somewhere deep inside his stony blue gaze. "Whether or not having a friend would have changed Greg's future isn't certain, and at this point we'll never know. What we do know is that Greg has killed, at least once, and you stopped him. You might have been friends at one point in your lives, but people grow apart, and Greg chose his path."

"Chloe, you don't-" Clark started to say, but Chloe cut across him with vehemence.

"Clark, we saved Lana and put a psychopath behind bars and away from innocents. No, I don't understand why you have to try and poke holes into our efforts," She denied immediately. Clark wore an expression as if he was considering her words seriously, before shaking his head with a long sigh.

"I just can't help but feel as if there is more to saving people than just a quick snatch from danger and the imprisonment of a criminal," Clark reasoned imperiously.

Chloe thought on this ideology, ponderously weighing the boy's logic. Admittedly, she at first thought that he must meant the end result of the imprisonment; when the Judge would declare the punishment of the criminal. Ultimately, she knew that this thought was not the direction he was leading her. She peered questioningly at the other teenager, trying to understand.

"Clark, you aren't talking about execution, are you?" she inquired, shocking the boy.

"What? No, Chloe!" Clark denied readily. Grimacing, Clark continued, hedging, "I just think that maybe we should try a little harder to save people... I don't think imprisoning criminals is enough. I think, maybe, even the criminals need to be saved."

Episode 2: End.

Author's Note:

Sorry about the wait. I've been busy. I'm currently trying to get better internet at my house, and I just recently formatted my laptop's hard drive and reinstalled my OS. That's why you might notice differences between the earlier half of the chapter and the second half. After I reinstalled my OS, I lost access to Microsoft Office, and had to resort to Libreoffice. It's not really a big deal since I'm used to using it, it's just going to make writing more difficult for me.

So...yeah, now, here am I, signing off.

Please leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter. I love hearing what my reader's think of my work.

Ta.

– Professor Image.

Darkfirelight: So I've had this sitting in my inbox for a month now, but between S_C, starting a new job and generally being busy I didn't quite get around to fixing it up. Sorry people! :/

Thankfully it's done now, and I have to say that I like the way it's been written: Really peers into the ins and outs of the whole thing. Hope you all enjoyed it!