Slumber – Twenty-Ninth Chapter
Forest near Crater Lake
Rory continued to walk forward, feeling a little strange. She knew she was awake, and yet her surroundings felt vaguely dreamlike, surreal.

But she knew this forest, knew it well. She came out to Crater Lake all the time with her brother and her friends.

She came to the edge of the forest and paused, surveying the lake. She saw Clark talking to Lana on the jetty, when suddenly Lana turned and pulled her shirt over her head.

Rory gasped and turned immediately, walking away. She started to smile as she walked – maybe this meant they were getting back together!

Then her happy mood vanished.

Suddenly, something in her head dissolved and she realised she'd been wrong. She didn't know this forest at all, because it wasn't the Crater Lake forest any more, it was different and confusing-

and night.

Rory stumbled through the forest, frightened and confused.

She was caught by surprise when she almost fell through a screen of trees into a clearing and strong arms caught her. She reacted instantly, clawing free and whirling to face the stranger.

Rory's eyes widened. The stranger was a man, holding his arms out towards her peacefully, an urgent look on his face. He had messy brown hair with a reddish tint, hazel eyes and a well-balanced face. He was tall and fairly muscular, and extremely handsome.

"It's all right," he was saying in a calming voice. "It's all right, you're gonna be just fine-"

Rory held out her hand and surrounded him in a field. "Who are you?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"What the-?" he grunted, shoving against it. He stared at her for a moment, then said reluctantly, "Sam Winchester."

Rory narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I didn't ask for your name."

Sam raised his eyebrows, then said, "What else would you wanna know?"

"What you're doing here, for one," Rory said angrily. "And where here is, actually. And what the hell is going on. And where's-"

Her breath caught in her throat as she reached out for Clark, and couldn't find him anywhere. She shut her eyes and tried to reach him – and weirdly, she couldn't hear this guy's thoughts either. Sam, whatever his name was.

Sam struggled pointlessly against her field once again and growled, "Well, I don't know what the hell you're doing, but I was sleeping. Dreaming, actually."

Rory's slightly calm facade faltered as she stared at him. "Dreaming?" she whispered.

"Come to think of it, who are you?" Sam asked angrily. "And can you let me go?"

"That depends," Rory said shakily. "On whether or not you wanna hurt me."

"If you don't wanna hurt me, then I don't wanna hurt you," Sam said cautiously.

Rory freed him and said, "My name's Aurora Kent, Rory for short."

Sam looked at her and saw her properly for the first time.

What he saw was a young, pretty teenager of about 17. She had short blonde hair that was growing out and bright blue eyes. Her skin was fair and clear, her nose straight, her lips perfectly proportioned and hiding straight white teeth.

Her clothes – jeans and a red top – were dishevelled, her hair full of leaves. There were scratches marring her arms and she seemed afraid of something.

In short, she looked like she didn't belong on this planet. She also looked a little like Jess – the blonde hair, the lovely face, the curvy body...

"And where are you from, Rory?" he asked her.

Rory stiffened a little and said, "A town that's no doubt far away from where you are."

"So you claim to be a real person, then?" he asked.

"I am a real person, Sam Winchester," Rory said angrily. "As a matter of fact, Sam is a perfectly generic name, and Winchester is just a brand of gun, so if anyone's a figment of the imagination, it's you!"

"I'm not a figment of anything!" Sam exclaimed. "Look, I'll prove it. I have a brother, named Dean. We're currently," he hesitated, "on a road trip after my girlfriend's death."

Rory sobered a little at that. "Well," she muttered, "You might just be a product of my overactive imagination, but that doesn't mean I can't be sorry."

"Thanks," Sam muttered back.

Rory looked around. "So, do you recognise this place?"

Sam looked at her blankly and she elaborated, "Well, if it's your dream, sometimes people dream about things, places, people that they know."

Sam looked around a little more, glanced at the ground and said, "Nope. No idea where we are."

"Huh."

"What about you?" Sam asked. "Isn't it possible that it's your dream too?"

"Too?" Rory asked. "So you don't think I'm imaginary anymore?"

"No," Sam replied. He hesitated suddenly.

Rory noticed of course and asked, "What is it?"

"This is going to sound very, very strange," Sam said dryly. "As in, stick me in an asylum strange."

Rory laughed humourlessly and said, "Believe me, Sam Winchester, I am the queen of that kind of strange."

"Remind me to ask you about that later," Sam said, curious. "But see, the thing is... recently I started having these dreams."

"What kind of dreams?" Rory inquired.

Sam watched her face closely as he said quietly, "Dreams that come true."

Rory stared at him calculatingly for a moment. "Have you ever been to a town called Smallville? Three hours drive away from Metropolis, in Kansas?"

Sam tilted his head to the side and said questioningly, "Yeah, I was born in a town called Lawrence that's not too far from there."

Rory nodded. "When was the last time you were there?"

"Lawrence or Smallville?" Sam asked.

"Smallville."

"At least twenty years ago, except for maybe a drive through every now and again," Sam answered her. "Why?"

Rory's mind worked furiously. "So you're not infected," she muttered. "But then..."

"What do you mean, infected?" Sam asked hotly.

Rory looked at him, trying to see how he would react – it was harder when she couldn't get a look inside his head."Well... it's a lot worse than seeing things before they happen."

"Try me," Sam said staunchly. "I've seen things you wouldn't believe."

"I'm sorry," Rory said caustically, "You must have mistaken me for normal."

Sam shrugged casually. "You seem normal enough to me."

"I'm sorry," Rory repeated, this time angry. "I'm in your freakin' dream. I'm in it, not just a figment of your subconsciousness. I am a real person, with a mother and a father and a twin brother and friends! How is that normal?!"

There was a pause.

"Good point," Sam acknowledged. "So, you're not normal and I'm not normal."

"Oh, believe me, I am about as far from normal as it gets," Rory muttered, still upset.

"You were saying something?" Sam asked, trying to get back on track.

"Right. Well, in the place where I live..." Rory hesitated.

Sam noticed and guessing why, said, "You think I'm gonna track you down to see if you're real when I wake up, don't you?"

Rory's mouth twisted into a resigned smile as she said, "Well, I can hardly track you down if you're on a road trip."

Sam laughed and said, "Yeah, I guess. What if I promise that I won't come and find you?"

Rory said, "I see a loophole, Sammy."

"It's Sam," he said quickly. "And can I help it if I want to know if you're real?"

Rory thought for a moment. "Compromise, then. You can't contact me once you're awake, but you can check records to see if I'm real. But you can only check once, and not take any of my details or anything into account. Sound good?"

Sam nodded.

"Okay," Rory said, deliberating for a moment. "I'm not exactly sure where to start..."

"How about the beginning?" Sam said wryly.

"I'm not exactly sure where that is though," Rory replied in the same tone. "Um, okay. Well, did you ever hear about that big meteor shower that happened in '89? The one that hit Smallville?"

Sam frowned and shook his head slowly, saying, "No, I don't remember that..."

"Well," Rory said, almost apprehensively, "the meteors that fell... they weren't ordinary meteors."

Sam stared at her in confusion.

"Don't ask how I know this, Sam, but..." Rory paused, trying to decide if she should do this the roundabout way.

"The meteors came from another planet."

"What kind of other planet?" Sam asked.

"One with life on it?" Rory said, making it sound like a question even though it wasn't.

Sam stared at her. Yes, he'd seen a lot of creepy things – wendigos, werewolves, spirits, even a demon or two, but aliens? Aliens weren't real. Aliens just didn't exist.

Rory kept going. "These meteor rocks... they tend to affect people in certain ways, depending on what they were doing during the meteor shower, or sometimes, if a person is around a large deposit of them during certain points of their lives... it gives them abilities."

"What kind of abilities?" Sam asked numbly.

"Once, there was a guy who could move things with his mind," Rory told him quietly. "There was a girl who could control bees. A group of jocks that inhaled refined meteor rock and got superstrength. My brother and I have never met anyone who could see the future though."

"You think I'm one of these... freaks?" Sam asked, almost laughing when he used the word. He already knew he was a freak.

"You can't be," Rory said, shaking her head. "You said it yourself, you weren't in Smallville during the meteor shower and you haven't been there since. And the meteor rocks, they only appear around Smallville."

Sam remembered something suddenly. Stopping at a small gas station not far from Smallville, seeing a little green rock embedded in a necklace of the assistant, seeing his father recoil from it...

"These rocks, are they green?" Sam asked suddenly.

Rory frowned a little. "Yeah. Well, the most common variety is. There's also a rarer," she flinched, "red variety."

"And what does it do?"

"Nothing," Rory said quickly. "It doesn't affect humans."

Rory's use of the word 'humans' didn't escape Sam's notice. He asked casually, "So you're one of these meteor..."

"Infected is the word we use," Rory informed him, "and no, I'm not."

"Then how'd you do the blue... field thing?" Sam asked, staring her down.

Rory lifted her chin and said stubbornly, "Need to know. You need to know, I'll tell. You don't, I don't."

Sam glared at her and she glared back. "God, you're so tall," Rory commented sourly.

Sam shook his head and said, "Maybe instead of discussing our life stories we should try and find out where we are, seeing as neither of us recognise it."

Rory nodded and said, "Yeah, alright."

Neither of them moved.

"How do you propose we do that, Sammy?" Rory asked, tilting her head to the side.

Sam grinned evilly at her. "Start walking, Aurora."

He turned and struck out purposefully towards the forest. Rory caught him quickly, using her superspeed when he wasn't looking.

"It's Rory," she muttered angrily.

"It's Sam," he mimicked.

They walked in silence through the forest for about thirty seconds before they reached a road.

"Hey, I think I know this road!" Rory said in surprise. Sam looked at her.

"Where is it then?"

"If I'm right, ten minutes drive out of Smallville. If we follow this road that way, then turn into a road that goes that way, we'll find-" she stopped.

"You can trust me with some things, you know," Sam said irritably.

"We'll find the farm I live on," Rory sighed.

"Is this the Metropolis road out?" Sam asked.

"No, this road comes straight from (insert names of state near Kansas here)," Rory answered.

"Any way you'll be able to tell for sure?" Sam inquired – this mystery was really starting to suck him in.

"Um, yeah," Rory said thoughtfully, "there's this rock that should be up that way, I always notice it every time we go past it – which isn't often."

"Alright, let's go," Sam said.

They started walking in the direction Rory had indicated.

"Hey, Rory, would you mind if I asked you some questions?" Sam asked hesitantly.

"It depends on what they are," Rory replied, slightly suspicious.

"I was just wondering..." Sam paused for a moment. "What it's like to live in a real family."

Rory deliberated for a second. "Well... it's great, really. I mean, it's just so nice to know that no matter what you do, no matter how badly you screw up, there will always be someone who forgives you unconditionally. Someone who you can depend on for anything."

Sam didn't say anything for a long time.

"Aren't you going to ask about the question?" he finally asked.

Rory shrugged and said, "I have my secrets, you have yours."

"Well said," he grinned. Then something struck him and he said, "I have an idea."

"What kind of an idea?" Rory asked.

"Well, what if we traded secrets?"

Rory just looked at him and he shrugged. "I like secrets. I'd like to know more of yours. You tell me one of your secrets, I'll tell you one of mine."

Rory considered this. On the one hand, telling him her biggest secret was a really bad idea. On the other hand, knowing his secrets would stop the curiosity that was currently driving her mad. On the other other hand, Clark and her parents would be very mad if she told him anything incriminating.

She didn't have three hands and was pushing her luck as is, so she decided. "Agreed."

"All right," Sam said happily. "Do you want me to go first?"

"Yes, I do," Rory smiled.

"My brother and I aren't really on a road trip. Well, technically we are, but we're not doing the usual road trip stuff," Sam explained.

"That's it?"

"One secret," Sam shrugged.

"Okay," Rory said, weighing up her options. "My twin brother and I are biologically related, but adopted by our parents."

Sam nodded in appreciation. "I get the feeling this is going to turn into a game of 'Who-can-reveal-the-least-while-still-telling-a-secret'."

"I get the feeling you're right," Rory grinned at him.

"Okay. Secret number two... My mother died in a fire when I was exactly six months old," Sam said, a little sad at the memories.

"I'm so sorry," Rory said honestly.

Sam shrugged. "Happened a long time ago, and I never really knew her anyway."

"Yeah, but I bet you'd've liked to," Rory offered. "My turn. My brother and I are kind of famous around our town."

"Really?" Sam asked. "Why?"

"Secret for a secret, Sammy," Rory said, smiling. "One secret only."

"Alright," Sam considered a few options, before deciding on one that would no doubt scare her a little. "Remember what I said about," he swallowed, "about my girlfriend?"

"Yeah," Rory said quietly, leaving it at that.

"Well, she died in exactly the same way as my mom, exactly twenty two years later, to the day."

Rory's eyes went wide. "Wow. I've seen a lot of weird stuff, but that-"

Sam laughed grimly. "Yeah, that's not even the worst of it."

"Really?" Rory asked, liking the challenge. "Do you remember what I told you about the meteor infected?"

"How could I forget?" Sam said, a little darkly.

"My brother and I-"

"How many more sentences are you gonna start with that?!" Sam demanded. "Who is this brother of yours?!"

"His name's Clark," Rory replied acidly, "and he's more than my best friend. You could say," she half-smiled, "we're connected at the brain."

Sam rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, Clark and I, we're..." Treading very carefully around her next words, Rory explained, "we're special. We have these... abilities. And we use them to stop the meteor infected hurting people."

"Before we go on," Sam said quickly, "Why do 'people' need protecting from the meteor infected?"

"Most of the time, the meteor infected go a little crazy. Sometimes they obsess over certain people, sometimes they just go nuts. But they almost always go bad in some way or another," Rory told him. "Most of them have killed people, or at least hurt them."

Sam nodded. "Okay, me again. Uh... this 'road trip' Dean and I are on, well, we're actually looking for our dad."

Rory grinned and said, "Your next secret's gonna be why you're looking for him. Clark and I are best friends with a billionaire."

"What?" Sam exclaimed. "Your next secret's gonna be who he is."

"Nuh-uh," Rory shook her head. "That'll make it easier for you to find us."

Sam glared at her through the darkness for a second. "Fine. Dad's off on a hunting trip, and he could be in danger."

Rory raised her eyebrows. "You're gonna have to explain why he's in danger next."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"I'm more open-minded than most," Rory told him.

"Even if you did believe," Sam looked her straight in the eye, "it'd scare you out of your wits."

Rory felt uncomfortable under his stare. "Lex Luthor," she announced.

"What?"

"Lex Luthor's our billionaire buddy."

"Wow," Sam exaggerated the word into three syllables. "That's pretty cool..."

"Yep," Rory agreed."

"... if it's true," Sam finished.

"Would I lie to you?" Rory opened her eyes wide in what would be a puppy-dog look on a brown-eyed person.

"Okay," Sam commented, "that's a little creepy."

"Shut up."

"My turn again. Uh, you wanted to know why he's in danger?" Sam smirked a little. "Well, he's not exactly hunting... the usual game."

"That's your new secret?" Rory asked. "God, you're as vague as they come. You might as well have said, 'Oh, I have a secret'."

Sam shrugged and said, "Dean'd kill me when I woke up if he found out that I'd told a civilian what we really hunt."

Rory grinned, victorious. "We?"

"Yeah, we. That can be your new secret – that Dean and I are hunting too."

"Alright. Well, thing is, what you said about Dean, that goes for me too," Rory said. "Clark and my parents would be extremely unhappy if they knew I'd told you our big secret."

Sam stared at her for a minute, but Rory looked straight ahead.

"Hey, look! There it is!" she called, breaking into a run.

Startled, Sam didn't realise what she'd said until he saw what she was running towards – a gigantic rock. He also didn't realise the special feature of the rock until he'd started running after her.

The rock sparkled, even in the moonlight.

"Why's it sparkling?" he asked.

"It's got quartz or something in it. Totally worthless, but pretty," Rory explained.

Sam nodded and said, "So you were right. We're on a highway, not far out of Smallville. How long do you reckon it'll take us to walk to your farm?"

"Maybe an hour?" Rory estimated, before sighing heavily.

"What?" Sam asked.

"It's just – I'm not used to having to take so long," Rory said mournfully. They started walking again.

Sam grinned and said, "Well, now you can explain that remark. After all, you owe me a secret now."

Rory said slowly, "See, the thing is, that secret's related to the big secret... and I can't tell you that secret, my family would be so upset."

Sam stared into space calculatingly. "What if..."

"What if what?"

"What if we didn't tell them?" Sam said quickly.

Rory didn't think she'd heard right. "I'm sorry?"

"What if we rewrote our compromise from before. You assume that I'm just a figment of your imagination, I'll assume you're just a figment of mine, we both go our separate ways, neither of us try to contact the other ever again," Sam said eagerly.

"My family doesn't have to know, yours doesn't have to know..." Rory was tempted. Despite having only just met Sam, she felt weirdly connected to him.

"Exactly," Sam agreed. "They don't need to know, we can pretend this whole thing was just a crazy dream... which it is, in a way."

Rory thought of something and said suddenly, "If this is just a dream, doesn't that mean we'll forget it?"

"All the more reason to tell each other, right?" Sam said. He didn't know why, but he just had to know what was up with Rory.

"Okay," Rory gave in. "I'll tell you, but you can't ever mention this to anyone if I do. My parents have good reason to be worried – if someone found out, they'd take me and my brother away."

Sam nodded and promised, "No one will ever discover your secret from me, I swear."

Rory took a deep breath and said, "Now, you should feel rather special. The only person outside our family who knows this secret is Clark's best friend... and he only got to know because he found the spaceship." She whispered the last word, but the night was so quiet that Sam heard loud and clear.

Rory went on, "See, the meteor shower wasn't really random – we think. The meteor rocks are actually fragments of our home planet – it's gone. It blew up, or the sun exploded, or something like that. Our biological family is dead."

Sam listened, saying nothing, sensing that if he interrupted he'd never get the whole story.

"We think that just before it happened, our father somehow managed to put us in this little spaceship and send us to Earth, hidden in the fragments of our planet. Kryptonite, we call it. Cause our planet was called Krypton.

We had names there, too – I was Kara Jor-El, and Clark was Kal-El. Names work differently there – girls get their father's name for a last name until they marry, and then their husband's name becomes their last name. Clark and I didn't know all this until we found these caves. The Kawatche Caves.

They're really close to Smallville, and they're filled with all this weird writing – Clark and I are the only ones who can read it. It's Kryptonian. The Kawatches were apparently visited by ancient Kryptonians. We also met this guy, named Swann. Dr. Virgil Swann. He received messages from our planet about us.

That's how we know our names – he got them in the message from our mother and father. Lara and Jor-El."

"When did you first realise?" Sam asked quietly.

Rory laughed bleakly. "Well, our parents found us, naked, wandering around in a field just after they crashed because of a meteor. They found the spaceship nearby and realised what we were – apparently, we also ripped the doors off the truck to get them out."

Sam chuckled. Rory grinned too.

"So, that's how you did the field thing, right?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah. Clark and I both have... superpowers." Rory smiled and said, "It's actually pretty cool. My powers are different to his though, and that's kinda scary."

"What are yours?" Sam asked. He couldn't help but be interested.

"When we were little, the only powers we had were superstrength – Clark's stronger than me though – superspeed, and I'm faster than Clark, and then Clark had invulnerability and I had telekinesis.

Then, two years ago, Clark got x-ray vision and I got mind-reading. So now I can read minds and he can see through people."

"You can read minds?" Sam said, alarmed. He didn't want anyone seeing inside his head!

Rory nodded. "But don't worry, you're safe for some reason. I don't know why though... it's confusing. Nobody's ever stopped me before."

Sam sighed in relief. "Do you have any other powers?" he asked.

"Yeah," Rory said. "Last year, Clark got heat vision and I got healing."

"Hang on..." Sam realise something. "You haven't mentioned the blue field thing."

Rory shrugged. "From what we can tell, that's just an extension of the telekinesis. See, I can move things with my mind, but sometimes the blue field shows up. So I can use the telekinesis to stop things moving – like I did with you."

"I wonder if you'll get any other powers," Sam said thoughtfully.

"Probably," Rory said.

"So that's why you were upset about having to walk..." Sam understood now. "But if you've got superstrength, couldn't you just carry me?"

Rory shrugged again and said, "I like talking to you. Besides, you haven't told me your story."

"It's not for the fainthearted," Sam warned.

Rory laughed. "I just told you that I'm an alien from outer space – way, way outer space from what we can tell – and you're worried that I'm fainthearted?" She laughed again.

"Alright," Sam agreed. "But don't blame me if you never sleep again."


A/N That is a very long chapter – over 4 000 words. I hope that clears up her powers a little. Also, if it takes me a while to update, that's because our internet is down and I (obviously) can't use the internet til it's back up. Don't you just love Sammy? There is a reason they're 'sharing' their dream, and there is a reason that Clark and Rory have different powers – just reminding you.

Also, a quick note. I've decided that Clark and Rory are actually 18, and were four when Jonathan and Martha found them, but they assumed the twins were two, so officially they're only sixteen.

Another quick note: when Rory vanished from Crater Lake and reappeared in the forest, there was also a time jump – day to night. It's a dream. Stuff like that happens all the time. :o)

Question number 8:
Which colour best represents Lana? Again, not in terms of what looks best on her, but what sums up who she is as a person.

One more thing: this chapter, and the one or two that follow, are for those of you that don't watch Supernatural: you need to know some stuff, so this is me giving it to you. Also, it's long because it's just so easy to write their conversation! They just fit together, really.

Love you all! You're wonderful, really. :o)