AUTHOR'S NOTE: In case you haven't noticed, I'm focusing on Lex's part of the fic now. Clark and Chloe's relationship is sort of dealt with, but will obviously still be a big part of the fic.

CHAPTER 11

"Anything yet?" Clark asked Chloe as he walked back into the dining room. She was just hanging up the phoneform talking tothe hundredth government official that they had contacted for information. So far none of them had anything good to say; nothing good for them at least.

Clark had gone upstairs to get a sweater for Chloe from his room. It was getting cooler now that it was night and he didn't want her to get a chill. She still only had her black t-shirt and it didn't cover much.

"Thanks" Chloe said with a smile when Clark handed her the sweater. She shook her head as she pulled it over her head. "He said exactly what all the others said: 'Any agreement that the government may or may not have made with Luthercorp will be disclosed to the public when it is the right time'. I'm starting to think that this is futile" she finished in a frustrated sigh.

Clark pushed a hand through his hair and tried to think of what they should do next. "You're right, this isn't working. We're going to have to try something new" he said as he looked down at her.

"What that new thing is, would be good to know" Chloe said with a rueful smile. Clark smiled his agreement and leaned down to kiss her.

Chloe murmured something against his lips and then slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Clark had only meant to give her a little kiss but it was getting out of his control. He pulled her from her seat and up against him as the kiss heated. Chloe's fingers dug into his back as his hands drifted underneath the bulky sweater to touch her skin.

Just then Clark heard his parents pull up in the driveway. He pulled back from the kiss and moved his hands from Chloe's waist. Chloe looked at him in question, her lips swollen and her eyes dreamy. Clark swore and gave her another quick kiss before pushing her away.

"My parents" he whispered loudly at her. Chloe's eyes widened in understanding and she started fixing her clothes frantically. She was still fidgeting with them when Jonathan and Martha walked in.

They were laughing as they walked in. They had gone to the nicest restaurant in Smallville for a 'date'. The fanciest in Smallville wasn't too fancy, but they had had a good time. It wasn't that late so Jonathan thought that Clark and Chloe would be watching TV. That was usually how they ended up at night when Chloe visited.

Jonathan was only a little worried about leaving those two alone together. Neither of them had had one of their 'theories' in months, so they shouldn't be off doing something stupid. He still worried though. Those two were the most suspicious people he had ever known. If there was a conspiracy somewhere, they would find out about it; hence the going off and doing something stupid.

Martha looked up at Clark and Chloe in surprise when she saw that they were in the dining room just standing there. "What are you two doing?" she asked on a laugh, pressing a hand to her chest to show how surprised she was.

Jonathan followed her gaze and took in the situation in a second. Clark's shirt was a little crooked and his hair was messed up; Chloe was smoothing her clothes nervously and biting her lips. Jonathan was pretty certain that he and Martha had just interrupted something.

"Is there something that you two want to tell us?" he asked, sending Clark a look.

He had worried about leaving them alone together, but not because of this.

"Lex is going to get control of all the meteor rock in Smallville" Clark blurted out to his parents, in what Chloe thought was his attempt to take his father's focus off of the state of their clothes. And from the look on Jonathan's face, it worked.

"What?" Jonathan asked incredulously, stepping forward. Chloe could see his expression mirrored on Martha's face. Clark had been a little blunter then Chloe would have been, but there was nothing that she could do about that now; nothing but damage control.

"Lex came by earlier" she started, moving to take a seat and motioning for everyone to do the same. When they had, she continued. "Apparently, the meteor rock is what poisoned Lana" she inserted just enough scepticism in her words to let them know what she thought about that.

Jonathan rubbed at his eyes and spoke to Chloe with frustration clear in his voice. "But you don't think so" It wasn't a question, but Chloe answered it anyway.

"It's too convenient for me not to suspect it. It's announced, and Lex is ready to jump in and take the 'poison' off of the government's hands? With his own security to watch over it?" Chloe shook her head with a rueful smile on her face. "A Luther's generosity is always tempered with their own motives; especially when it is this big"

Clark nodded his agreement to what she had just said, and Chloe smiled over at him. That proved to be a mistake.

"Don't think that were not going to talk about you guys too" Jonathan said when he noticed the look Chloe sent to Clark. Martha gave her husband a questioning look. "Clark and Chloe's friendship has taken a different path" he explained to her. "The kind that makes it unacceptable for Clark to spend the night with her alone"

Martha's eyebrows rose and she looked at them. Clark gave them away by blushing.

"Oh" Martha said with a hint of a smile on her lips. Chloe cleared her throat uncomfortably and changed the subject. "We have been contacting government officials all night, trying to see if there is a crack in Lex's plan. So far there isn't"

"We don't know what to do next" Clark said, taking up where Chloe left off. He seemed grateful for the change of subject too.

"Talk to Lionel" Martha said quietly. They all turned to look at her. Chloe couldn't help but notice that Jonathan didn't seem happy to hear his wife's suggestion. He would be even less happy that Chloe was going to agree with her.

"Martha is right" Chloe said, making Clark want to swear. He had been hoping that Lionel wouldn't have to be brought into this. Ever since he had known that Jor-El possessed the older man's body, he had avoided him. Clark wasn't really sure how any of it worked and didn't want to make any mistakes.

Lionel Luther wasn't someone that he wanted to trust his secret to; possessed or not.