A/N: Apologies for the delay! I hope to have more written soon, but until then here's an update!

Earlier…

Dean jerked awake, sensing something off. He paused for a moment, trying to figure out what had woken him. A crash sounded in the next room and he hurried out of bed, nearly running into Sam when he stood up.

"Chloe," they said in unison, grabbing the nearest weapons and hurrying next door.

Dean heard her scream as he ran through the busted door, Sam right behind him. "Holy…" he muttered, blinking at the large hole in front of him. Something had stormed through and hadn't stopped.

"She's gone," Sam said, pointing to the empty bed. "Whatever it was took her." Or worse, Dean thought, searching the dark, empty horizon for any signs of life.

"Chloe!"

Now…

"This was the Phantom Zone crystal. I know my history, this was supposed to be used to extract Brainiac from whoever he possessed."

"The Persuader didn't come to kill Kal-el, he came to make sure Brainiac survives."

Clark shook his head, staring at the Legion trio in front of him. Rokk, the leader; Imra, the mind-reader; and Garth, the alien equivalent of a fanboy. All three of them claimed to be aliens from planets other than Krypton, but not only that, they all claimed to be from the future—the 31-century. After everything he'd seen and done, time travel wasn't that hard to believe, but he wasn't going to believe them just because they asked him to.

Especially not when they claimed Brainiac was still alive. He had killed Brainiac almost a year earlier, and Jor-el had wiped out the last of the supercomputer's influence after Clark had taken Chloe to the fortress.

Rokk claimed the Phantom Zone crystal was the only way to completely destroy Brainiac and it had been smashed by The Persuader. Clark was used to people showing up in his barn uninvited, but having an ax-wielding psycho (aka The Persuader) show up out of thin air and take a slice out of his side was a little against the norm. Especially when said-psycho was followed by a group of self-proclaimed time travelers/aliens/Legion-members.

Clark really just wanted to find Chloe and prove she was okay. He still didn't completely believe the Legion's worries about Brainiac, but he knew he'd feel better once he saw his best friend.

"This girl you're thinking about, why do you think she has something to do with Brainiac?" Imra asked, reading his mind.

"I don't know," Clark lied.

"You think she is Brainiac's the host," Rokk guessed.

Clark moved past them, heading for the door. He needed them out of his house now so he could fix things his way. "If Brainiac is still out there, then I'll find him and I'll stop him. The three of you can go home to the future," he said, opening the door. "Let me handle this."

The Legion stepped forward. "If Brainiac isn't stopped today, we won't have a future to go home to," Rokk argued. "Kal, the problem is, you were supposed to defeat Brainiac using this shield," he continued, holding up the damaged Phantom Zone crystal. "Now that it's been smashed…"

Clark shook his head. "The crystal can't be the only way to stop Brainiac."

"It's the only way to destroy him without killing the human host in the process," Garth explained.

Kill? Clark frowned. No, they weren't killing Chloe.

"Kal, I'm sorry, but if you know who the host is, you need to take their life. There is no other choice," Rokk stated.

Imra stepped forward, staring up at him. "Who's Chloe Sullivan?" she asked, reading his mind again.

Clark didn't answer, just bolted.

He ran, concentrating on the scenery as he passed it. He wasn't sure exactly where he was going, but he knew the general area. Chloe had mentioned meeting some friends in Missouri, but she wasn't answering her phone so he couldn't be sure where in the state. Before he could get too far, he sensed someone following him and slowed to a stop.

The Legion flew overhead and touched down in front of him. "Where were you running to?" Rokk asked, moving closer.

"To find Chloe and prove that she's fine. She was cured," Clark said, glaring slightly at the lead Legion member. He wasn't killing Chloe. No one was. Not while Clark was around.

"Kal-el, I have to tell you, we've heard of Lois Lane, Lana Lang, even Jimmy Olsen, but we've never heard a thing about any Chloe Sullivan," Rokk said, his meaning evident in his tone. They'd never heard of Chloe, because she hadn't survived long enough to make history.

"I don't care. We aren't killing my best friend. There's got to be another way." He glared at the Legion, daring them to argue before speeding off again. He was going to fix this his own way.

"I want to learn more about this Chloe Sullivan. Imra's following Kal and will let us know when he finds Chloe," Rokk said, as he and Garth moved around Chloe's apartment, searching everywhere for information on Brainiac's host. Kal-el was not willing to kill his friend for the greater good, so they needed to.

Garth sorted through some books and binders, whistling as he read. "Woah, she has a lot of information about superhumans," he said, closing one binder and opening a notebook. "Rokk, look at this," he called, gesturing for his leader to join him. "She's got notebooks full of information on the supernatural: exorcisms, spells, definitions of ghosts and goblins." Garth paused, flipping through the pages some more. "I didn't think people knew this much about the supernatural at this time."

Rokk stood and read over his shoulder, surprised by the amount of information in Chloe's notebook. "The supernatural wasn't as widely known at this time, but there were people who dedicated their lives to stopping it."

Garth nodded. "Maybe that's why we've never heard of her," he suggested, looking excited by the new possibility. "Maybe she's a hunter. There aren't exactly history books filled with hunters."

Rokk grabbed another binder, pointing to the word Isis on the cover. "If she's a hunter, then why is she working for Isis? She's taking on the superhuman and the supernatural? That's a bit much for one person."

"Exactly," Garth agreed. "Maybe she gave up Isis to continue her career as a hunter."

Rokk shook his head. "Or maybe, she died when Brainiac was destroyed."

Clark hesitated in front of an old motel, located on the edge of a city. Police cars were stationed around the parking lot, and a small crowd of people stood in the middle of the cars, looking startled. He almost continued on, deciding it wasn't his business, but then he noticed Chloe's car parked in the middle of the chaos.

Chloe! He jogged forward, looking for any sign of his friend. If he knew Chloe, she was in the middle of everything, trying to get information from every source available. When he rounded the corner of the motel, walking up to the group, he froze. The room in front of him looked like a boulder had plowed through the front door and continued on through the back of the room.

Police tape, covered the massive holes, but it did little to stop the onlookers from getting close enough to peek inside the room.

"What happened here?" Clark asked the first person he found.

The older woman looked up at him in slight annoyance and shrugged. "How should I know? I've never seen anything like this before? Apparently the occupant didn't like their room."

"Who was staying there?" Clark asked, praying it wasn't who he thought it was.

The woman sighed, looking ready to brush him off, but something in his gaze stopped her. "Like I told the police, I never got the girl's name. She came in with two men and they paid with a credit card. The name on the card was Lyle Herndon."

"Can you describe the girl?" Clark pressed, already guessing the response. A girl with two guys. Chloe with Sam and Dean, the friends she'd mentioned meeting.

"I didn't get much of a look, but she was a short blonde, and the two guys she was with were much taller. Brothers maybe? But judging from the way Mr. Herndon was looking at Blondie, I don't think she was related."

Clark nodded. "Thanks," he mumbled, stepping back from the crowd. He gave Chloe's room another scan, looking for anything the police might have missed. Aside from her car still parked in the lot, there was no sign of her in the room. If she'd had any personal belongings in the room they were all gone.

Making sure no one was looking, he blurred away, continuing down the street. Chloe was gone, but where were her friends? Had they been taken too? He continued into town, moving at a regular pace once he hit downtown, and looking through the crowds for any sign of Chloe's friends.

"Clark?"

He spun and found himself staring at two men Chloe had only recently introduced him to. "Where's Chloe?" he asked.

Dean stepped forward, his eyes a mix of worry and anger, and Clark felt his hope die. If Chloe was with them Dean wouldn't have looked so worried. "What are you doing here?" Dean demanded.

"Looking for my friend," Clark responded, his tone sharp. Rokk's warning playing through his head.

Sam stepped up to his brother and placed a warning hand on his shoulder. "Dean," he started, but the older brother just brushed him off. Sam sighed. "Something took her," he explained.

"Something?" Clark repeated, looking between the two older men. He'd known something like this was going to happen. Chloe was barely safe with Smallville and its problems. She didn't need to add cross-country trips into the mix.

"We don't know what it was," Sam admitted. "It came in the middle of the night and we never got a good look at it."

"Why weren't you protecting her?" Clark snapped, stepping closer and glaring down at Dean.

"I always protect her," Dean argued, glaring back at him. "Whatever nabbed her is not in our jurisdiction."

"And what exactly is your jurisdiction?" Clark asked, wanting to know more about the men Chloe continuously put her trust in.

Sam stepped between the two of them, using his height advantage to glare down at both of them. "This isn't helping Chloe," he said. "We need to figure out what grabbed her so we can figure out how to stop it."

Clark looked between the two brothers and nodded. "Fine. We'll split up," he bargained.

"Tell us if you find anything," Dean ordered, almost sounding relieved to be rid of him.

Clark moved past them around the building they were stationed in front of, waiting until he was out of sight to speed off. "I will," he called back. He rounded the corner and jumped, nearly running into Imra.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, keeping his voice soft.

Imra looked around him as if she could still see the brothers, despite the corner. "They're telling the truth. They don't know what took Chloe away."

"Do you know what took her?"

Imra shook her head. "No, but whatever it was I'm sure it has something to do with Brainiac."

"Fine, then I know where I need to go."

"Where?"

"The Fortress. Jor-el will have answers."

"Clark," Imra started, "please reconsider."

Clark glared. "Never." Without another word, he ran off, leaving the Legion member in his wake.

Dean looked at Sam and frowned. "What the hell is a Brainiac?"

Clark watched Chloe move around her apartment, packing as she went. It was great to see her back to normal. No more Brainiac, no more superbrain. Just Chloe. Despite their earlier intentions, he really owed the Legion one for helping to save his friend. "Heading out already?" he asked.

Chloe nodded, shoving something else into her bag. "I already called Sam and Dean to let them know I was safe, but they want me to visit. I don't think they trust a phone call."

Clark stepped closer, resting a hand on her shoulder to still her for a moment. "Chloe…" he started, trying to think of a way to voice his worry without her getting defensive. He knew brothers were important to her, but he still didn't feel safe having her with them all the time.

"Clark, it's okay," Chloe said, reading his thoughts. "I'm safe with them, I promise. Whatever that creature was that nabbed me I think was more alien than anything else. Sam and Dean couldn't have stopped it if they'd tried." She frowned. "They'd probably be dead if they had tried."

Clark swallowed as he watched her imagine her friends' deaths. He didn't want to think of himself as jealous, but when he saw how much the brothers meant to her he couldn't help it. He was jealous of what they meant to her. "I guess I'm just jealous they get to monopolize so much of your time," he admitted with a sheepish smile.

Chloe smiled back. "Oh come on," she teased. "You still have Lois."

"I still miss my best friend."

She nodded. "I miss you too, but there's just some stuff I've got to work on right now."

Clark studied her, trying to read her thoughts. "What are you doing with those guys? You know you can tell me anything."

"Not everything," Chloe answered. "Some things aren't mine to tell."

"Just keep yourself safe."

To Be Continued…