Jarod walked into the barn to see a pair of legs sticking out from underneath a tractor. As Jarod rounded the tractor he saw the toolbox laying on the ground with all the tools still in it. "Wouldn't that be easier if you just lifted it up in the air?"

Clark quickly slid out from underneath the tractor to see who it was. He smiled immediately when he saw it was Jarod. "Couldn't let just anyone see that. What if someone just walked up without me noticing?" Clark said as he was getting up, before giving shaking Jarod's hand.

"Well, in that case you might want to actually use some tools." Jarod pointed down to the full toolbox.

"Hey, who is going to notice that except you?" Clark teased back. "So, what's going on with you? It's been a while. You just passing through or staying for a few days?"

"I'm still keeping Ms. Parker and the Centre on their toes." Clark nodded. "How long I'm here depends on you."

"How's that?" Clark asked curious.

"Have you heard from the Luthors lately?"

Clark crossed his arms over his chest. "Why?"

Jarod pulled the photo that Angelo had sent him from his pocket. "The picture was taken recently. The man that Lex is meeting with is Mr. Parker; he's head of The Centre as well as Ms. Parker's father."

Clark handed back the photo, absently rubbing his hand down his jeans, momentarily lost in his own thoughts. His voice was low, he seemed to say more to himself than to Jarod, "This is definitely not good."

Jarod saw the look in Clark's eyes and knew all to well what it meant, "I need to know if you know anything about what Lex has been up to lately. We cannot have the Centre joining forces with a Luthor again. I know you remember what happened last time. "

Clark nodded in agreement. Clark became lost in thought momentarily again as he had a flashback. Somehow Lionel had found out about him and used it to his advantage. Jarod has risked his own life to come and rescue him. He didn't think that Lex knew. He couldn't be completely sure. Even if it wasn't about him he wouldn't let them exploit someone else they way he knew they had done Jarod and attempted to with him. "I don't, but I know someone who can help. Let's go."

Jarod saw a determined look in his friend's eyes. He knew he would not let this one go.

********

Chloe hurriedly opened the door to her apartment. "Clark, what's wrong? Your message said it was urgent and that you couldn't meet me in at the Planet."

Clark stepped inside. "I need your help and I didn't it was a good idea to walk into The Planet with…" Clark motioned toward the door as Chloe followed his line of sight.

"Jarod!" Chloe rushed over and hugged him before ushering him inside the apartment.

"How are you? How's your mom? There's nothing wrong with her, is there?"

Jarod smiled down at the inquisitive young reporter as he noted to himself that some things never changed. "I'm fine at the moment and my mom's fine. Thank you for asking."

Chloe turned her attention back to Clark. "So, what's going on?"

"Lex is doing something with the Centre."

"Oh, no." Chloe glanced over at Jarod. "The last thing we need is for him to get involved with them."

Jarod produced the picture again. "That man there is Mr. Parker. Ms. Parker's father.

"Megalomania seems to run in the family doesn't it?" Chloe quipped.

"Have you heard anything lately about what Lex could be up to?"

"No, I haven't. But, if I had to guess I would say that Lex and the Centre have similar goals about exploiting people with abilities. I would say that Lex is trying to find someone to help him out with 33.1. Since Oliver has been targeting and taking down some of his locations, he may be trying to find a more secure facility."

"When was the last time you heard from Oliver?"

"It's been a while. He's probably out doing his superhero thing. Do you guys have some kind of special signal or something to keep up with each other?"

"Funny Chloe." Clark smiled. "You have been hanging around Lois too much lately."

"I'll see if I can get up with him." Chloe said.

"Who's Oliver and what's 33.1?" Jarod looked between the two friends confused.

"Every since Lex has been in Smallville he has been obsessed with people with abilities. In the beginning I dubbed these people meteor freaks due to the fact that once some people were exposed to the meteor rocks they developed different abilities. Lionel started out the meteor fascination with his secret Level 3 at the fertilizer plant that no one knew about.

Lex, however, has taken things to a whole new level. Lex has started collecting people with abilities and exploiting them for his own purposes. 33.1 is the name of the secret labs where he is keeping them. Anytime I try to get some real evidence to proof of his existence my computer conveniently gets a virus that destroys everything."

"Oliver is a friend of ours that is trying to stop him." Clark said before continuing. "There are some more people you are going to need to meet."

**************

The tall blond man that answered the door of the luxury apartment wore a white tee shirt, sweat pants and an irritated expression. He skipped over the customary greeting pleasantries. "So, Clark, what was so important that you had to see me immediately? I'm a bit busy now."

Chloe emerged from behind Clark. "Hi, Oliver. We know you're busy, but we think you'll want to hear this."

Jarod sidestepped so that he came into Oliver's view.

Oliver closed his eyes momentarily. "Do I need to break out the chips 'n' dip, or what?"

His eyes flicked a glance over Jarod and came back to Clark. "Sorry. You know I only give public tours of the apartment every second Thursday."

"He's a friend and you are going to thank me for this." Clark said.

"We'll see about that."

"Are you going to let us in?" Clark asked.

Oliver moved out of the way, giving everyone room to enter.

Chloe looked around the apartment. "So, are Bart and the other guys here?"

Jarod walked as a trio of young men walked from the back of the apartment. The first one was the smallest of the three. His tosseled light brown hair gave him quite a youthful appearance. He had a mischievous glint in his eye and his smile that made you wonder what he was about to do next.

The next one of the group was taller blonde with a lean but muscular appearance. If had to guess was a swimmer. The last member of the group was about the same size as the first. His white teeth shined against his dark skin as he laughed with the group.

"Did you hear that guys? She asked about him first?" Bart asked.

"She just wanted to know if she needed to invent an excuse to leave." Victor teased.

"Very funny" Bart shot back as Victor and A.C. snickered.

"Hi, guys." Chloe greeted. "Been staying out of trouble?"

"That's the problem." Oliver said testily.

"What do you mean?" Clark asked, slightly confused.

"Why don't you introduce your friend first, Clark?" Oliver retorted. "Then we'll tell you about our problem."

"My name is Jarod and from what Clark has been telling me this is the reason who having been getting into trouble lately."

Oliver ignored Jarod immediately turned toward Clark "Just what has Clark been telling you?" He asked sarcastically as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Don't worry about me." Jarod said trying to ease the building tension in the room. "I know what it is like to live in a cage and I would never do anything to put anyone there."

"It's okay, Oliver." Clark could tell his friend's irritation level was growing. "He knows."

"About what in particular, Clark ?" Oliver shot back. "What makes it okay?"

"He knows about me, and I trust him." Clark started. "I helped him out a while back and he returned the favor by risking his life to save mine."

"I should've known you'd get yourself into trouble and need rescuing."

Clark looked over at Oliver smugly at the comment.

Bart spoke up ignoring the verbal sparring between the two friends. "So, who's the other guy in the picture with Lex?"

"Mr. Parker, he's the head of The Centre."

Victor spoke up. "Never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have. They take secrecy and anonymity to a whole new level. Few people outside of the Centre know about and those that stumble on to it rarely live to tell about it."

"How do you know so much about this place?" Oliver asked.

"I used to be one of their subjects. I escaped a few years ago. I've been on the run ever since."

All eyes focused on Jarod.

"What do you mean by 'subjects'?"

"Why did they take you?"

"How is Lex involved with them?"

"Clark was explaining to me what 33.1 is and it sounds very similar to the Centre's objectives. It seems that Lex had decided to join forces with them." Jarod looked over at Oliver. "Possibly due to outside pressure."

"Well, if were pressuring Lex then we are doing our job." Oliver stated.

"To answer your question about why they are interested in me. They manipulated me and my abilities for 30 years after they kidnapped me from my family. They want me because I am a Pretender. I was trained by a man named Sydney to hone my ability. Sydney would always say 'You can be anything you want to be. That's not just any stale cliché either, in my case, it is literal. You need a brain surgeon, park ranger, exterminator, or fighter pilot, here I am."

A hush fell over the room as Jarod finished talking and everyone tried to absorb what he had just said.

Bart finally spoke up. "If you don't mind me asking this, how exactly does that work? Do you just read a book or something and then you can do it?"

Jarod nodded. "Just like that."

"What did the Centre do to you?" Victor asked the question tentatively. He could tell this conversation was really affecting Jarod.

Flashes of memory went through Jarod's brain as he talked. Him sitting in a capsule flames licking at the bottom of it while he tried to see if there was a way out. Electrodes hook up to him as he performed another task. Holding a rifle in his hand imaging being a sniper. It was difficult for him to talk about himself and what happened. It was rare for him to share his horror with anyone. "I had to run simulations all the time to try and find out the outcome of certain scenarios." Jarod said. "I found out shortly before I escaped that they were not using my simulations for good, but were twisting them and selling them to the highest bidder. Having innocent blood on my hands was something that I could not tolerate, so I escaped."

"We have got to take this place down, too," Bart looked up at Oliver while he spoke. He thought about the small amount of time he had been captured by Lex. He couldn't imagine being kept in a place like that or worse for thirty years.

Oliver weighed the issue the newcomer has said before speaking. He seemed to be genuine and honest.

"Alright" Oliver nodded. "If Lex has decided to move all his stuff to this place we will just have to take it down too."