It was late at night. Inside her Torch Office, Chloe was reading a new message in her computer screen. She had been working for a while. Since she discovered about Clark's secret, she was worried about what else she could find on that meteors rocks. It amazed her that the same meteor shower had these quite different effects on each person, and now her new source was telling her about some kind of science project going on a secret lab in LuthorCorp, and she wanted to investigate it. Her gut was telling her it had something to do with these rocks as well.
Taking her camera and her tape recorder, she decided to try her father's identification card again. "It always works", she thought. It was really funny how Lex never told the security to block this card. "It makes you wonder", she said to herself. Turning off her computer, she took her purse, put everything she needed inside, and walked into the night.
At Luthorcorp, the doctor was just finishing the last reports about what he found on those rocks. They had already found an unusual kind of radiation and they weren't entirely sure about his effects on human beings. The tests they performed on rats had shown that when exposed to a large quantity of this radiation, their social behavior became slightly different, but nothing that would justify further exploitation, so the doctor finished his notes: "Thus far, the experiment remained inconclusive".
Shutting down his notebook, the doctor turned off the lights, and went out of the lab, never noticing the figure hidden in the darkness.
"Password protected, of course", Chloe whispered to herself. "Let's take a look around the Lab". Taking one of the red rocks in her hands, Chloe thought: "I've seen one of those. Where it was? They are quite different from the green ones." Suddenly, she heard the alarm. "Damnit! I forgot about the security cameras." She quickly took a picture of the rock, and tried to put it back in its place, never noticing the plug near her foot. "Ouch", as the Electricity wave shook her, her eyes turned red for least than a second. Shaking her head, she just ran out of the building, thanking God she wasn't found again.
Sitting on his favorite armchair, Lex Luthor smirked watching the film his security team brought him: "This is very interesting."
Next Day, on Smallville High:
"Hey, Clark!"
"Hey, Chloe!"
"So how are you and my favorite cousin getting along?"
"Me and Lois? Ow, just fine as long as she stays mute and, you know, out of my sight, which, of course, never happens."
"Staying mute or out of your sight?"
"Both! Anyway, I'm getting used to her and I might actually miss her when she leaves."
"Really?", doubted Chloe.
"No.", smirked Clark. "So what are you going to do after class, today? Mom said to ask you to go to the Talon. She is planning to do some advertising, and she wanted to ask for your help."
"That's sound great! Sure I will help her. I heard Lois will start work there soon."
"Yeah. I hope she will get so tired she would let me alone for a change."
"Poor Clark. I feel your pain", teased Chloe as they both went to Biology Class together.
"You could just try to be honest with me for a change, Jason", said Lana, "I'm so sick of all those lies and secrets. What are you and Lex planning together? Gosh, sometimes I think I'm cursed: first Clark, now you!"
"I'm nothing like Clark Kent, Lana! I love you, I respect you and if I'm not telling you everything, it's just because I want to protect you! It's very dangerous to be around me now. At least not until I figured out how my mom is involved in all this", replied Jason.
"Funny, you say you are nothing like him, but you talk exactly the same way he did. 'It's too dangerous to be around me, Lana. I just want to protect you.'", mocked Lana. "You know what, you are right. I really should get as far away from you as possible!" With that last phrase hanging in the air, Lana rushed off the apartment, leaving Jason alone.
"I just hoped you could understand, Lana. I love you so much!...", Jason said quietly to himself.
Lana was almost running to Smallville High. She wanted to meet Chloe as soon as possible. She didn't trusted Lex Luthor, and the fact that he and Jason were working together crept her out. She knew that if anyone could discover anything about Jason and his mother, that person was Chloe. Chloe was sometimes secretive as almost everyone was in Smallville, but Lana still trusted her. After what happened last year with Adan, when she would be killed if it weren't for Clark, she wasn't willing to take any chances.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice she almost collided with the same person she was looking forward to meet.
"Chloe! I was hoping to find you."
"Hey, Lana! How are you", replied Chloe somewhat stern.
"You, ok?", asked Lana concerned.
"Yeah", said Chloe rubbing her head, "Just a little headache. I'm going over to help Clark's mother at the Talon. So, what you wanted to talk about?"
"I need you help, Chloe. I'm worried about Jason. I feel like he is hiding something from me, and I don't like it. I wanted you to look after anything you could find about him or his mother."
"Ok, Lana. But if he is scaring you that much, maybe you should just leave him."
"It's just that… I like him so much, Chloe. I thought I would never feel about anyone like that since Clark, and I guess I'm scared that if I leave him, maybe I'll never feel that way again. I don't wanna be alone, Chloe!"
"Ok. Still, I guess you're some kind of mysterious guys magnetic. Next time, you'll probably get involved with Lex Luthor himself", mocked Chloe. At that moment, her eyes flashed red for least than a second and she immediately rubbed her forehead,"Ow, this headache is going to kill me. Bye, Lana", and she leaved in a hurry, never noticing Lana's eyes flashing red too, and she whispering, "Get involved with Lex Luthor."
