Chapter 9

The elevator to the Daily Planet slid open as Clark and Kara walked out. He had spent the last week helping Kara learn how to control her abilities as well as how to fit in. "So, what do you think?" He asked while she looked around.

"Is this really necessary Kal? I don't understand why we just don't get Fine to tell us where the ship is and go end this now?"

"Kara, I told you. In private I don't mind if you call me Kal but when we are in public."

"Call you Clark," she interrupted him.

"And we have to be smart with how we deal with Brainiac." He told her. "If we confront Fine now he would know that we are onto him. And then he could just disappear along with the ship. We need to be as discreet as possible until we can find the ship and inject that virus."

"Fine," Kara said, sighing. "So you really think this friend of yours can help?"

"I know that having allies can pay off." They walked through the bullpen until they ended up at Chloe's desk. She was absorbed in researching a story. "Hey, Chloe."

"Well, look who decided…" She stopped as she looked up and saw Kara. "Who are you? Wait Clark, is this your new girlfriend?" She asked and his eyes went wide. Both he and Kara looked at each other.

"I heard you broke up with Lana, but I didn't expect you to move on so soon."

"What? No! Chloe, I'd like you to meet my cousin; from Krypton."

Chloe stood up from her chair. "Your cousin?"

"This is Kara. Kara, this is Chloe. She is one of my oldest friends."

"I am...feeling a little embarrassed now." Chloe shook Kara's hand.

"Who is Lana?" Kara asked. "I thought you said that you and Lois were together?" She turned to Clark and asked.

"Wha...what?" Chloe turned to Clark with a disbelieving look on her face. "Clark? Is that true?"

Clark shut his eyes and took a breath. The cat was out of the bag now. "Chloe I...I was going to tell you."

"What that you are dating my cousin? And when would that have been Clark?" She was clearly upset.

"Kal…" Kara began but stopped and corrected herself. "Clark, said that you could help us find Brainiac."

"Have you had any luck tracking down the ship?" Clark asked.

"Well after the meteors hit some trucks belonging to LexCorp were seen in the area where the Lana said the ship landed." Chloe informed them, still looking at Clark upset.

"Lex," Clark nodded. "It figures that he would have it."

"Who is Lex?" Kara asked, looking between them.

"Someone who is dangerous,." Chloe told her. "A word of advice Kara. Stay away from him. Anyway Lex doesn't have the ship anymore. A source inside the company told me that it disappeared into thin air. It's in the wind."

"I'll check with Lois and see if anyone has reported any spaceships," Clark said.

"Before or after you two lock lips?" Chloe said as she went to sit back down in her chair.

"I'm sorry that you had to find out this way."

"Just go Clark. We'll talk about this later. You, me and Lois." she looked up at him. He nodded before heading to the elevator with Kara following.

"I'm sorry," Kara said. "I thought she would have known."

Clark sighed and looked at Kara as they got in the elevator. "It's not your fault Kara. I never told you that Lois and I have been keeping our relationship private. I knew that it was bound to come out sometime."

"I don't understand," she said looking confused. "Why keep your relationship hidden?"

"It's complicated Kara." He pushed the button for the ground floor as the doors closed.

Later, they made it to the Inquisitor. Lois was on her way back to getting a coffee when they entered. "Oh hey," she greeted them. "What did you think about the Daily Planet Kara?"

"I don't see why you two like that place so much." She said looking back and forth between the two.

"You could say that we have some good memories of the Planet," Lois told her.

"Lois," Clark began. "Chloe knows...about us. That we are together...romantically."

"What? How?" She was shocked as she turned to them.

"Kara let the cat out of the bag. But, it's not really her fault. We never told her that we were keeping our relationship secret." Clark took a breath before continuing. "It was bound to come out sooner or later; we knew that."

"How did she take it?" Lois asked, worried about what the answer might be.

"Well, she wasn't happy. I think it was more about the fact that we didn't tell her. She said she would talk to us about it later."

Lois sat down at her desk and took a deep breath. "Donut?" She looked up at him. Using his super speed he got her a donut in the blink of an eye. She took a bite of it before taking another deep breath. "This sucks."

"Alright well, we can deal with that later. Did she say anything about the ship?"

"Well Lex had it but he doesn't anymore." Clark told her. "The ship disappeared. I thought we would check and see if you had anything."

"Maybe. We got a call from a guy in Canada. He said he knows someone that saw what sounded like the ship Lana saw. I'm waiting to get a name."

"Why don't we just go there and look for ourselves?" Kara asked.

"Too risky," Clark said as he crossed his arms. "Two Kyrptonians show up and Brainiac is definitely going to know. We can't afford to give up the element of surprise, not with Brainiac."

"Maybe we can use Fine to lead us to the ship. I'm going to talk to him; as Clark."

The next day after class, Clark approached Fine as they were leaving class. "Professor Fine," he called out.

"Mr. Kent. What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could ask you about something?" He said as he caught up with Fine in the hallway.

"And what would that be?" Fine asked as he turned to Clark.

"Well, you know I come from Smallville. I'm sure you are aware by now but there was a meteor shower recently. The second one to hit Smallville in fact. Well, these two really powerful people attacked the town right after. I think they might have been aliens; and came down with the meteors." Clark explained.

"You are saying that aliens attacked your town?"

"Smallville is no stranger to people with unusual abilities. Over the years the meteor rocks have given certain people powers. But nothing on the level of what those two showed that day. You have to admit that it's certainly a possibility. Have you ever heard of anything like that before?"

"Aliens?," Fina asked as they stopped walking, turning to face each other. "Mankind has long been seeking to answer the question of whether we are alone in the universe. It would be something if there were aliens walking among us."

"If those two were from another planet then they would have come in some sort of spaceship wouldn't they? Given Lex's obsession with extraterrestrials I thought maybe he might have found something."

"He could have. If such a thing existed," Fine said after looking at him for a moment.

"Do you believe in aliens, Professor Fine?"

"I believe...that anything is possible"

"I was interested in writing a paper on this ship and the attack on Smallville. I'm just not sure where to start. "Clark said. "I thought maybe you could help me with that."

"Sure thing, Mr. Kent." Fine cracked a smile. "Later though, I have a meeting I need to attend shortly."

"Of course," Clark said before Fine turned to leave.

As Clark was flying home, dressed as Superman, he stopped midair as Fine showed himself in front of him. "Greetings, Mr. Kent. Or is it Superman? Kal-El? So many names. I think it is time we drop this charade. Don't you?"