Linda sat cross-legged on the floor of Pete's living room, staring in awe at the television screen, mesmerized by the bright colors and sounds. A large bowl of buttered popcorn sat beside her, and the young girl grabbed a large handful, keeping her eyes on the screen as she stuffed it all into her mouth; she munched quietly.
"Fo, howth ditd herf harth geth fo flong?" she mumbled.
Pete raised and eyebrow as he stared at her from his spot on the sofa. "What?" he asked.
Linda quickly swallowed. "So, how did her hair get so long?" she repeated, pointing at the screen. It was Saturday morning, and Pete had offered to watch Linda at his place while Martha and Jonathan went into town to do some shopping. The young man had been a little nervous about watching Linda, but she was well in control of her abilities. She also behaved like a little child discovering new things, including a fascination with television, so Pete did the most logical thing he could think of: popped some popcorn, grabbed a couple of sodas, and put in Tangled to keep her occupied; so far, it was working.
"I think it just grew," Pete said slowly before taking a sip of his drink.
"But that's impossible," Linda said as grabbed another handful of popcorn. "I mean, I read on the Internet that human hair has an average growth rate of about half an inch every month. That's six inches a year, and if Rapunzel's eighteen years old, then her hair should only be nine feet long, but anyone can see it's closer to seventy feet long, which means her hair is growing at a rate of just under four feet per year—that's a big difference, Pete."
Pete just stared at her, trying to decide how to respond to that. He knew "Tangled" was just a Disney cartoon, but Linda was genuinely perplexed by Rapunzel's hair. Pete didn't want to give her the allusion Disney films were real, but he also didn't want her to feel stupid for asking questions, either. He briefly wondered if he shouldn't have let Linda watch "E.T." instead, but then he remembered the parts where E.T. had been captured shortly after coming to Earth…and then hooked up to machines in a lab…and Pete knew those were the very reasons Linda wasn't watching that movie.
"It's magic," Pete replied finally.
"Magic?" Linda asked, curiously.
"You don't know what magic is?" Pete asked. Linda shook her head, and Pete snorted a little, trying to figure the best way to explain it. "Wow, uh…magic is…well, it's a type of power that some people have that allow them to do certain things."
"Like the abilities Clark and I have?"
Pete shook his head. "Not exactly," he said. "It's more like—"
Linda felt a sudden, excruciating pain in her head, right behind her eyes, and she shouted a little as she grabbed her temples, squinting her eyes tightly. Pete quickly hurried over and knelt beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder. From his experience with Clark, Pete had a pretty good idea what was causing Linda's pain.
Linda slowly opened her eyes and saw a quick flash before her surroundings switched into colors of blue, black, or white; she blinked, hoping the pain would stop, but it didn't. "Pete," she said in a panicky voice as her breath came in short gasps. Her eyes widened in fear when she saw Pete—really, Pete's skeleton; there was another flash, and everything suddenly returned to normal.
Pete saw the fear young girl's face. "You okay, Linda?" he asked quietly.
"That was...it was...," Linda replied softly.
"X-ray vision?"
"I was going to say revealing," Linda replied, "but, yeah." She wasn't surprised by the emergence of her new ability as she was about the pain; she took off her glasses and rubbed the spots right above her eyes; they didn't hurt anymore, but they were a little sore.
"Hello?"
Pete and Linda looked up as the front door opened and Martha and Jonathan came in. They saw Linda rubbing her head, holding her glasses in her free hand, with Pete kneeling beside her. The Kents hurried over, looking concerned.
"What happened?" Jonathan asked as he and Martha knelt beside Linda.
"Linda is now the proud owner and distributor of X-ray vision," Pete replied.
"My head is sore," Linda replied softly, still rubbing her eyes.
"Oh, sweetie," Martha said as put her arms around Linda's shoulders.
"We should probably get her back home," Jonathan said. Martha nodded and helped Linda get to her feet; the two headed for the door while Pete and Jonathan watched.
"Pete, thank you for watching Linda for us," Jonathan said sincerely.
"No problem, Mr. Kent," Pete said.
"Bye, Pete," Linda said, giving a small wave.
"Take care," Pete replied. "And don't be looking into any locker rooms, okay?"
"Huh?" Linda asked, confused.
"Nevermind, Linda," Jonathan said quickly, shooting Pete a quick look before joining Martha and Linda. The trio headed out, and Jonathan closed the door behind them.
"What did I say?" Pete asked, a little confused. He shrugged and started cleaning up the living room.
The clouds boiled and churned in the darkening skies as the red truck pulled up to the scalloped fence. The trio got out and went to the bed, grabbing the bags of groceries, before heading toward the house.
"So, when will I be allowed to go into town?" Linda asked as they walked into the kitchen.
"Soon enough," Jonathan replied as they put their bags on the island and started unpacking the groceries. "How do you feel?"
"Fine," Linda answered. "My head isn't sore anymore."
"That's good," Martha said. "After we put everything, you should call Clark; he'll help you learn how to control it."
Linda smiled briefly before looking at Jonathan. "Are you still mad at me because of what happened in Metropolis?" she asked quietly.
Jonathan sighed and put his arm around the young girl's shoulders. "Linda, we've been over this several times," he said gently. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"Then why can't I go into town?" Linda asked, half angry, half confused.
"Because if something were to happen," Jonathan replied, "someone could see you; Smallville isn't as big as Metropolis."
Linda's expression didn't change as she wordlessly headed out the kitchen door. Martha and Jonathan watched her; after a few moments Martha gave her husband a look, and Jonathan nodded. He walked outside and saw Linda leaning against the porch rail near the steps, staring off into the distance. The farmer could easily smell the rain on the wind as he approached Linda, standing beside her.
"I just want to see what's out there," Linda said quietly without looking over at him.
"I know, sweetie," Jonathan replied, "but we've got to be careful."
"I know," Linda said. A bright streak of lighting suddenly snaked across the sky, followed by a loud crashing sound that shook everything. Linda's eyes went wide, and she flung herself at Jonathan, burying her head in his chest. Jonathan wrapped his arms around her, smiling a little.
"It's okay," he said reassuringly. "It's just thunder."
"It's loud," Linda muttered.
"Yah, it's loud," Jonathan agreed, "but look."
Linda heard a strange sound, almost like the sound of when Clark would take off flying—only constant and muffled, with lots of little plinking sounds. She looked over and saw rain falling from the dark sky so heavily she could barely make out the edge of the property in the distance. Linda stared in fascination; she had heard about rain and thunderstorms from her research on the Internet, but this was the first time she had actually seen it. Forgetting about her earlier fright, she tentatively put one hand out, letting the drops fall on her hand. The water tickled a little, and Linda slowly smiled as her senses took in everything around her: the cool wetness of the rain, the smell of the wind as it whipped around, the flashes of lightning, and even the loud rumbles of thunder that no longer frightened her.
"We should go back inside," Jonathan said after another rumble of thunder filled the air. Linda wanted to stay out longer, but she followed Jonathan back into the house.
"Everything okay?" Martha asked as she put away the last of the groceries in the refrigerator and started the kettle heating on the stove.
"Yeah, we're fine," Jonathan answered as he and Linda sat at the stools.
"Well, Clark called while you two were out," Martha said as she pulled out three mugs. "He said Dr. Swann contacted him a couple days ago."
"Who's Dr. Swann?" Linda asked.
"A friend of Clark's," Jonathan replied.
"Clark was about your age when Swann contacted him," Martha added. "He helped him learn more about where Clark came from."
"So, what did Swann want?" Jonathan asked warily.
"Well, Clark said one of Swann's stations picked up a signal a week ago," Martha answered as the kettle whistled its readiness; she grabbed it and poured water into the mugs, "Swann had heard about what happened in Smallville, so Dr. Swann called to find out what had happened."
"What did Clark tell him?" Linda asked, curiously.
"Well, Clark went and visited him yesterday," Martha replied, "and told him about you Linda. Clark said Dr. Swann would like to meet you."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Jonathan said as started preparing his tea.
"Why not?" Linda asked as she prepared her own tea. "If he's Clark's friend, don't you trust him?" Her expression turned a little sour. "Or is it just me you don't trust?"
"It's not that, Linda," Jonathan replied, choosing to ignore her tone for the moment; he sighed when she didn't appear convinced. "Look, I just want to know why Dr. Swann wants to meet you, that's all."
"Well, Clark's joining us for dinner tonight," Martha said. "We can discuss things then, okay?" Jonathan and Linda both nodded, knowing by her expression that it was best not to argue.
"May I be excused?" Linda asked suddenly.
"Of course," Martha asked. "Are you okay?"
Linda nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. I'll be in my room." She left the kitchen and went up the stairs. Jonathan and Martha watched her.
"I hate seeing her upset like that," Jonathan said, "but I'm not going to risk our safety without knowing what's going on."
"You don't have to explain anything to me," Martha replied. "I agree with you." She kissed Jonathan's cheek. "I'm going to get started on a pie for tonight." She left her husband's side and started gathering things to make one of her famous apple pies. Jonathan smiled as he glanced out the window above the kitchen. The thunderstorm that had been raging earlier had lessened into a quiet and steady sprinkle; the farmer headed out of the house to do some work in the barn until the weather cleared.
(End of Chapter 1)