Clark hadn't heard Chloe scream. He'd heard a thump, as someone who had entered the room through the window knocked her out. He had to remember to restrain himself from rushing in there and beating the person up for hurting Chloe. That had to come later.

Right now he had to follow them and stay out of sight to find out where Chloe was being taken. He'd gotten so wrapped up in talking to Lois, as he often did; he'd almost missed it and stopped listening. He'd tuned back in just in time.

He x-rayed the room. A man was climbing out the window with her. Clark hoped no one out in the hall noticed him, as he wasn't supposed to be here. He'd panicked for a second and had come out without thinking. He had to find a window near by.

However before he could find one, he was face-to-face with the last Belle Reve meteor freak he needed to see, Eric Summers. Eric had given him trouble, not once but twice. Correction, about to be 3 as he grabbed him with a meteor rock in his hand and a jolt of electricity from a stun gun in the other. He leeched Clark's powers for the 3rd time.

"See, if you can stop me this time," he said as he sped out of the hospital, leaving a powerless Clark behind.

He had to wonder how he'd gotten the kryptonite and stun gun when he was a mental patient, but the fact that he was in here right now was proof that security was not as tight as it could or should be. A patient had been kidnapped and another patient had escaped with stolen powers and the staff of Belle Reve was nowhere around. They were none the wiser or at least pretending that was the case.

It couldn't have happened at a worse time. He needed to follow and see where Chloe was taken to, and he had no way of doing it. If she were able to somehow communicate, she most likely wouldn't know where she was at. Eric was probably halfway to China by now, maybe closer. His mind was swirling with fear and confusion. He went back into Lois' room.

"Well?" Lois asked. "Is something wrong? I thought you were supposed to follow her."

"I was, but there's sort of a problem."

"Sort of a problem?" Lois had gotten off the bed and was looking angry. "Go after her if they've taken her. Put those powers to good use!" She punctuated her exclamation point with a hit in the arm.

"Ow," he cried genuinely, rubbing his now sore arm. He wondered if Lois had always hit him this hard or just since she found out about his powers.

Her anger changed to concern. "You're not faking, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I lost all my powers."

"What do you mean you lost them? How can you suddenly lose them?"

"It's complicated, but a meteor freak took them, and it's going to be impossible to catch him."

"Meteor freak explains it all, doesn't it? I still wouldn't think your powers were transferable if it's based on your biology and not some kind of magic waiting to be taken. Wait a minute, Lana had your super powers when she pushed me through the glass at the Daily Planet, didn't she?

"Yes, but I still had my powers that time."

Lois looked confused and mad, "So then Lana wasn't under some weird influence?"

"She had my powers."

"Exactly and they don't make you crazy, do they?"

"But not everyone can handle it. I'm used to being different. You know what they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"Thank you for that overused cliché, but I still say Lana's really evil or at least schizophrenic."

"Don't you think—"

"What the heck are we doing? Chloe is out there somewhere and needs our help!"

"You're right. I usually go to Chloe when things like this happen and she—Kara! My cousin is from Krypton too. She has powers. Why didn't I think of it sooner?"

"Don't just stand there. Go call her!"

sss

Chloe woke up slowly and didn't know what was going on for a second. One minute, she'd been in her room and the next only God knew where and Lex, of course. She reminded herself that Clark had to be around somewhere. He had told her he would be, and she felt more confident. There was nothing to worry about.

Lex Luthor walked into the dark, little room she was in. "The girl with the golden tears," he remarked.

"Excuse me?" Chloe said.

"Do you know how much those tears of yours are worth? Normally, I'd experiment on you, but you can make me wealthier than I already am, so I have a different plan for you."

Chloe was frustrated. This thing was fast becoming pointless. She'd been hoping to be taken with the other meteor freaks. That was the point of Lois' exposé, but this could very well end up bringing Lex Luthor down too.

"You know I'm reminded of a fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin. It seems the king locked her up as well and wanted her to turn the straw into gold; the only difference is you can really produce the product without any outside help. If you need me to, however, I can give you plenty to cry about."

"I can think of a fairy tale too. A big, stupid oaf had a chicken that had to lay golden eggs for him, only it didn't belong to him. You know what happened? Good triumphed and the chicken was rescued, whereas the stupid oaf met a tragic and fatal end."

"Careful, Chloe. I'm not afraid to dispose of you. Your tears are nice, but I'm already a billionaire. So with that in mind, you'd better make yourself useful." He handed her a tiny bottle. "I expect it filled by morning or like the miller's daughter, you shall die," and with that warning, he left.