Oliver sat on the love seat across from Chloe. He twiddled his thumbs as he watched her type away on the laptop. Her face was so concentrated, her forehead wrinkled as she stared at the screen. He had received her rather vague call earlier today and had come over as soon as he could get away but when he had arrived, she just ordered him to sit, which he had been doing...for the past hour. The smell of fresh brewed coffee wafted up from downstairs and Oliver's mouth watered as he imagined a nice mug of coffee.

Maybe a shot of espresso...or whiskey...or both.

"If you're going to go get one, get me one too." Chloe asked. She looked up to Oliver's questioning look. "Coffee." She clarified.

"How did you...?"

She gave a big sigh, closing the laptop and placing it on the table in front of her. She leaned back onto the sofa. Chloe was know questioning whether it was a good idea to call Oliver over but she needed to tell someone.

"Oliver, did you know that the girl downstairs is pregnant?"

He shook his head in confusion.

She smiled, "Of course not. How could you? I know that she's pregnant because for that half hour I've felt her nervousness, her anxiety, even her nauseousness."

"I'm a little confused. What do you mean, "I've felt"?

"Oliver, did I ever tell you that I had a meteor power?"


"ARG!" Lois threw the book aside in frustration, blowing her bangs from off her forehead. She had been in the Metropolis library for the past two hours going through every book they had on signs and symbols. She had skimmed through books and pictures till her eyes hurt and she had a migraine from lack of caffeine.

"Miss?" A small voice asked.

Lois lifted her head to see a stack of books seeming to float in midair.

"I have more books for you." A pair of glasses peered around from behind the books and Lois recognized the one of the student librarians that had helped her. She gave her a forced smile as she looked at the new pile of books with disgust.

"You seem really interested in Native American symbols, huh?" He asked, placing the books down on the table with a grunt.

"No, I just haven't looked there yet." Lois answered as she grabbed the first book off the pile.

"You know, if you didn't want to go through all these, I know a professor at Central Kansas who teaches this."

"You'd think he could help me?" She glanced down at the picture with hope.

"He's really good. I had him last semester. Smart man."

"Well, if it'll get me out of here and to some coffee, why not?" She flipped open her notepad and grabbed a pen.

"What's his name?"

"Joseph Willowbrook."


He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't speak the answer that had caught in his throat.

Chloe inwardly winced. She could feel his confusion. His nervousness. And to make things even more awkward for her, he was starting to glow a slight black aura, and she felt it was fear. He was afraid...of her?

"Oliver, please don't be afraid." She pleaded.

He flinched. How did she even know that he was feeling any fear? Was it the same way she felt that wanted something to drink?

"I'm sorry." She lifted herself up.

"Chloe..." He started but then shut his mouth. He didn't know what to say. Oliver had heard all the horror stories of what the meteor rocks did to people. The abilities they got and how 99% of the time they ended up killing people. He also knew that some people actually did good with the abilities but it still sent shivers down his spine at all the things that Kryptonite seemed to destroy.

"Can I just explain?" She asked, "I know that I would be the last person to get any meteor abilities since I made it a personal vendetta of mine to expose them to the world but I should have known that no one is safe in Smallville from them. My mom wasn't. Heck, even Peter even if it was short term." She took a breath.

" I didn't know I had this ability till I used it to save Lois."

Oliver straightened at the mention of Lois and Chloe held up her hand.

"She got hurt. Badly. And I healed her." Tears started forming in her eyes and her voice cracked as she recounted how cold Lois had felt when she held her. How her heart ripped in half as she realized that she was going to lose her cousin.

"I healed her. That was my ability, to heal but it came at a cost. I took their pain and for a time, I...died.

Oliver felt overwhelmed and decided that sitting down wasn't an option for him, so he interrupted Chloe by standing up. She jumped at his outburst and followed his pacing form.

"Chloe! What am I supposed to say to all of this?" He stammered out, running his hand over his mouth in frustration.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I wasn't actually finished."

His eyes grew wide, "There's more?"

"A lot...more." She answered hesitantly, "But I wouldn't be telling you all of this if I didn't think you could handle it. Please, Oliver. I need you to handle it."

He stared at her green eyes, wide with expectation.

"You know, I didn't expect any of this when I moved here." He sat back down.

"What else you got for me?"


Clark settled the tractor back down on the ground, wiping the grease off his hands on a rag.

"Think it'll work this time, Shelbs?" He asked the golden rug that laid panting at his side. The dog raised it's head at the his name, glancing at Clark then to the tractor in question, titling his head to the side. Clark mirrored the motion and smiled down at the dog.

"Yeah, I didn't think so either."

Grabbing his tool box, Clark started back to his house, Shelby following obiedntly behind him. Right as he entered the door, the phone started to ring. Grabbing the phone and an apple of the table, Clark answered with his mouth full.

"Chello?"

"Clark?" Lois' voice rang out from the other end.

"Ois?" Clark answered, swallowing. "Lois? Are you still at The Planet?"

"I actually never went. I opted for the library instead."

"You know you can't talk loudly in there, Lois?" Clark teased, taking another bite of the apple and perching himself on a stool.

He could hear the smile in Lois' voice.

"So I learned from the many shushes I got from all the librarians. They have that down to an art form."

"So, where you off to now?"

"Well, the reason I called was because somebody gave me a lead that might help with my investigations. I thought you might want to tag along since I'll be going to you're neck of the woods."

"And that would be?"

"Central Kansas."

Clark glanced up, "Why are you going there?"

"To see a..." He heard some rummaging in the background and figured she was looking for something.

"To see a...Jospeh Willowbrook. Supposedly he knows a lot about symbols. I dunno. So did you want to come? Clark? Clark?"

Clark didn't answer her. The apple fell to the floor and rolled to Shelby who gladly started to gnaw on it.

Oh no.