Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.

Chapter eleven:

Chloe walked alongside Clark, raising an eyebrow as he spoke. "So the guy was the brother of some girl Lex had a fling with in Metropolis?" She queried.

"Something like that." Clark nodded, frowning. "It's made me realize that there's a lot about Lex that I don't know."

"Surely you knew that already. I mean, he's the son of a billionaire, who knows just what things were like for him in the past, especially after he lost all his hair in the meteor shower, can't say that that sounds like something that would lead to a particularly good childhood." She pointed out, giving him a look.

"I guess..." Clark paused. "I guess I never thought about it." He admitted, shrugging.

The petite girl "Hm'ed" and moved out of the way of someone walking in the opposite direction, considering her next words. "So, how does that make you feel?" She asked out of curiosity.

Clark sighed, shifting as he came to a halt. "A little let down. I mean, I guessed that he had some dark secrets in his past, most people have something that they're hiding, but... I didn't think they'd be of that magnitude. Pete's having a field day."

"What's Lana think of it all?"

"Lana..." He trailed off, biting his lip. "I don't know. She didn't seem too judgmental, but she has been acting a little wary around him."

That's to be expected though, right? Small town girl, big city rich-boy. She's gotta be feeling pretty out of her league."

Chloe blinked and pulled back slightly, letting herself mull over things. These past few days had been hectic, with Lex being kidnapped, the school project being handed in and some nutjob bothering Lana and tormenting Clark and his family in an attempt to lure out Lex (The same one that kidnapped him.) to the point of leaving body parts in the Talon (Well, a hand. But still...) and killing off the Kent family's livestock.

Lex had shrugged it off pretty well, but Lana had been shaken up over it and Clark's family, Jonathan in particular, had been really upset about the things happening.

She would like to say that she'd been around to help Clark and Lana talk about it but in all actuality she had taken to running around Metropolis in her spare time, trying to help people and stop any muggings and robberies. And of course here was the organised crime...

In all her time researching and looking for a story she had never found the sheer amount of gang activity as she had in this past week. For every purse snatcher and everyday mugging that occurred there was a far more serious attempted murder or bank robbery being financed by the man himself.

She probably wouldn't have found out about any of it if it weren't for a new ability that had recently developed, of a sort; when she focused, her hearing increased to a point that could be considered ridiculous. It was as though she were listening in on a phone call.

As it turned out, multiple times she had listened in on a phone call, each to the same people. The crime magnate's "empire" was getting to be so large that even some of his more major operations were run by separate people under his payroll.

"She's started acting even weirder recently though." Chloe perked up and turned her attention back to her friend. "She's gotten reckless."

"What do you mean?"

"Both she and my dad actually..." Clark hesitated when he caught her look of barely concealed interest but nonetheless soldiered on. "He started acting weird and she did too, not long after. He practically spat in Lex's face."

"Maybe it's just the heat." She suggested. Even though they had only just entered summer the sheer intensity of the weather was making even her sweat. Something to consider with the whole "Barely feel the weather" thing. "And with the whole 'Jude Law' thing your dad IS kinda mad at Lex." She pointed out.

"Yeah..." He reluctantly agreed. "Maybe, but I don't think so."

"I'll look into it." She promised.

Three hours later found her not at her computer looking into what could be causing erratic behaviour or Morgan Edge's activities, but worriedly waiting outside a hospital room. "Mrs. Kent, are you alright?"

"Chloe." The redhead Kent matriarch acknowledged faintly, taking a seat in one of the calming blue plastic seats. "I'm fine, but Jonathan..." She trailed off, voice tinged with worry.

"I need to talk to Clark." She pressed, brow furrowed with sympathy.

"Oh!" Martha jolted slightly and tugged on the younger girl's sleeve. "Chloe, Clark's at the farm. You'll make sure that he's alright, won't you? I'd do it myself, but Jonathan..."

"I understand." She said, smiling reassuringly. "I'll make sure that he's okay." She promised.

She made sure that the older woman was alright and then stepped outside, speeding away when she was sure that she was completely out of sight.

"Clark?" She called, stepping into the barn. Whenever he was upset or hurt Clark sought out refuge in his "Fortress of Solitude", doing unnecessary chores or brooding as he stared through his telescope. Wonder of wonders, as she stepped up the stairs into said space she found the plaid-clad farmboy with his sleek black telescope aimed into space, staring up at the stars. "Hey."

"Hi." He said shortly, still looking through the scope.

"I'm sorry to hear about your day, but I've got some info." She pursed her lips at his startled glance in his direction, hope shining on his face. "It's unverified, but apparently settlers used to live where Smallville is now. They died out and according to the reports they showed erratic behaviour before they died, acting reckless and doing crazy things. I couldn't find much, but there was mention of what caused it; a flower called the 'Nicodemus'."

Abruptly Clark's gaze hardened and he straightened up as he always did whenever someone mentioned something that he knew about.

"There weren't any hints at a cure, but... You already know about it, don't you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion.

"Yeah." He confirmed, eyes still solid and angry. "From Lex."

She nodded. "Why does he always seem to be involved?" She pondered rhetorically. "So how'd that come up?"

"He was reading a book called 'Nicodemus', and the guy that my dad helped earlier was an employee of Luthorcorp." 'The guy' in question was a man that Jonathan had pulled from his vehicle after having seen it crash; apparently after trying to drive him off the road. With the psychopath bothering Lex and the Kent's livestock dying and the Talon opening that little piece of info had fallen to the wayside in the wake of the mayhem that the week had become.

"I should probably mention that there's someone studying the Nicodemus plant in Smallville as well. A Dr. Steven Hamilton's posted it up on his blog. He works with meteor rock."

"Why don't you and Pete go and look at some of his work; try and talk to him about a cure while I talk to Lex." The statement was phrased like a question but Chloe couldn't help being reminded of standing in front of her uncle Sam when she was a child and being ordered to stop pestering the staff on base.

"I'll look into a cure, but maybe we should keep Pete out of this, he's not exactly objective when it comes to the Luthor family. Lex included." She hinted.

"If that's what you think is best, just hurry." He half-ordered half-pleaded.

"Right." She said firmly, hurrying down toward her car.

The main reason that Chloe hadn't wanted Pete along was only partially because of his Lex-hate, but mostly because she didn't want him seeing her using her powers.

As soon as she stepped through the door into his shed/lab she immediately felt that something was wrong.

It wasn't overly noticeable, just an irritating itching sensation under her skin, like her bones were being tickled by a feather; slightly painful, but mostly just uncomfortable. She did notice, however, that the meteor rocks surrounding her were glowing unnaturally.

She stared at the stones for a moment, wondering just why they would hurt her when she had received her powers in part because of them when she finally noticed something that she had become accustomed to was gone.

When she had first gained her powers she had not immediately noticed it, but over time everything had become easy; when she took a step she didn't feel the strain that came with muscle movement, when she typed she didn't feel the pressure applied to her finger; small, innocuous things that added up over time.

Right now, however, she felt... Human. Slower, weaker, things being processed so much slower. It was a relief when she stepped back and the stones stopped glowing, because she could feel her abilities become active once more. Much as she would have loved to explore this phenomena, she knew that she had to focus on helping Clark's dad.

She moved around the lab, frowning at the faint, niggling itch that seemed to echo through her body, and then she spotted it.

A unique plant, the stem was much the same as a rose, however the actual flower seemed to fade from brilliant petals of bright yellow to a deep, dark magenta. She leaned forward to inspect the plant further, raising an eyebrow as the flower almost seemed to shy away from her. She leaned even closer once more, and...

*Pst*

She jerked back, wide green eyes focused on the suddenly wilting plant. For a brief moment she simply stared, and then she shook her head in bemusement. "Huh."

As she stepped away from the suddenly wilted plant she didn't notice her eyes burnish a light red in her reflection, nor did she pay any attention to the shining rock beneath the earth in the roots.

The fragments of rock sparkled a brilliant crimson hue.