Metropolis, hotel

Night

Paige was in her bed, sleeping after a long day. Suddenly, a loud sound pierced the air, waking Paige up. It took her a moment to remember where she was as she looked around wildly. For a moment, she'd just figured she'd imagined it. Then, she heard it again. It was like a loud, high pitched whistle.

"What the Hell is that?" Paige muttered to herself.

Throwing the covers off her body, she got to her feet and began looking around the room. But, to her confusion, there was nothing there. Then, she heard it again.

"This is gonna be a long night," Paige muttered irritably.

The Talon

Same time

When Clark opened the door to the apartment above The Talon, having Cat aiming a knife at him was not what he had been expecting to see. As Clark paused, Cat lowered the knife.

"Clark, I thought you were one of the so called heroes. Thank God it's only you," Cat said as she placed the knife back in the kitchen.

As he entered the room, Clark noticed that Cat seemed to be packing a bag. She was planning on fleeing.

"You know, you should really get yourself a bulletproof vest like me. We all think we're made of steel but really, we're made of marshmallows," Cat said as she packed her bag.

"Cat, are you alright?" Clark asked in concern. '

"Well, I was just attacked by Green Arrow," Cat said shaken. "This is all part of the vigilante agenda."

"Why would the Green Arrow attack you?" Clark inquired; sure Cat was just convinced Oliver had attacked her.

"The last thing they want is for an honest A reporter like me to be working on the Daily Planet and exposing the truth about them," Cat insisted in paranoia.

"If you're so concerned about the truth, then why did you lie to me?" Clark inquired. "You seem to be hiding a few secrets of your own."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Cat denied, zipping up her bag and walking towards the door.

"Why'd you change your name?" Clark asked and Cat froze.

Slowly, Cat turned around to face him, knowing she had been caught.

Later, the two of them sat on the couch, two cups of tea on the table. Clark was holding a picture of a young boy, no older than two.

"That's Adam, my son," Cat revealed. "He lives with his grandparents until this all blows over. His dad and I went out for two years. I thought I'd found my Prince Charming. Little did I know they don't exist."

"You just have to be patient," Clark said gently as he sat down next to her, handing her the photograph back. "I thought I'd found someone who could make me happy."

"Really? Think you'll get back together?" Cat asked curiously and Clark was silent for a moment.

"I don't know," Clark admitted. "Sometimes…no matter how hard you try, you can't put something back together once it breaks. How about you and this guy?"

"Well Clark, not every guy is as nice as you," Cat said and Clark immediately knew where this was headed. "I had to get Adam away from him."

"I'm sorry. Does he know where you are?" Clark asked and she shook her head.

"I changed my name so he can't find us. I had so much I was fighting for, trying to change the world. And now I have to hide behind a different name so no one knows who's behind the words I'm printing," Cat said emotionally.

"Kind of like the vigilantes," Clark said gently. "It must have been scary, escaping from him."

"All I know is I had to protect my son. You know, the world may never see me as some big hero…but maybe someday, my son will," Cat said.

For a moment, it was silent between them. Then, Clark's phone went off as he received a text. Pulling it out, he saw it was from Tess.

'Meet me at the planet, URGENT!' is read.

"I have to go," Clark said as he pocketed his phone.

"Clark," Cat said as she followed him as he rose to his feet and began making his way to the door. "What about the Green Arrow and those freaks who tried to blow up my car? They know where I am!"

"Just stay here, you'll be safe," Clark assured her before he left, hoping she'd listen.

But, in his experience with strong willed women, they never really listened to him.

Metropolis

Same time

It was only a few hours before sunlight and Paige was ready to snap. No matter what, she couldn't figure out where that noise was coming from. As she held her ears, trying to block it out, a bright light appeared in front of her before Sam materialized.

"Looks like I got here just in time," Sam noted dryly.

"What are you doing here? Do you know what that damn noise is?" Paige asked irritably.

"Yeah. Your Whitelighter powers are coming in," Sam explained and Paige got angrily.

"So first you tell me I need to get away, now you want me to become a Whitelighter?" Paige asked angrily.

"It has nothing to do with what I want Paige. You've always been part Whitelighter, just like you've always been part Witch," Sam pointed out.

"Save me the whole speech, I've had enough Elder talk. Just tell me what I have to do to get this damn noise to stop," Paige snapped.

"You are so much like your mother," Sam said with a fond smile, chuckling when Paige glared at him. "That's actually why I'm here. The Elders knew this might happen when you came here. They've assigned you a charge, a great hero who is about to step off the destined path. Head to the Daily Planet. Once you find him, the noise should stop."

Daily Planet

Not long after

Light was just beginning to shine through the windows of Tess' office as she and Clark walked in.

"I've had Luthor Corp's Logistics people taking apart that slug from Cat's car," Tess explained.

"Thanks," Clark said gratefully.

"I'm not asking for your thanks Clark," Tess said as she turned around to face him. "Just your trust. You need me."

"Trust needs to be earned," Clark said pointedly. "You said this was urgent."

"After the lab techs pulled apart the bullet and reassembled it, they found this," Tess said as she walked over to her desk.

Turning around her computer screen, Tess showed Clark a computer simulator of the bullet as it was when Clark found it. As the screen made the bullet a digital company of what it looked like before fired, Clark paled as he saw his name on the bullet. It had never been about Cat. This guy was after him.

"The target is me," Clark breathed.

"Guess our assassin never was after Hello Kitty," Tess said dryly.

"This guy doesn't know car explosions and bullets don't hurt me," Clark realized, his mind beginning to race.

"It's possible he was just testing you, to see what you're made of," Tess pointed out.

"Then why hasn't he come after me yet?"

"Maybe he didn't realize how difficult of a target you are," Tess suggested.

"This guy never gives up, he gets every detail right. There must be more to his plan," Clark realized.

"If he knows you're faster than his bullet, the only place to aim is at someone he knows you'll save. That maybe you'll be there to-"

"Act as a shield," Clark finished a pit of dread forming in his stomach. "It's Cat. I have to get back to Smallville."

"Too late," Tess said, freezing Clark mid-way to the door. "Our Kitty's already on the move."

Clark followed her gave to her computer screen. On a digital map of the city, at the train depot, a red dot that said 'Cat Grant' was moving towards a train.

Paige was standing in an elevator. She'd already been up and down at least twice that she knew of, the whistle hadn't stopped. She was getting even more irritable than she had been with Sam when a hand stopped the doors from closing and pushed the door open. A man stepped inside and pushed the button for the ground floor before pushing the button to close the doors. As he did, Paige got a good look at him and froze.

"Kal," she breathed and Clark looked over at her, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Paige," Clark greeted.

"You remember me," Paige said surprised.

"Our meeting was particularly memorable," Clark pointed out and she nodded.

"Guess it was," Paige mused. "How you been?"

"Busy. Speaking of which, I need to go," Clark said as the doors opened, the elevator having reached the ground floor. "It was good seeing you again!"

As Clark rushed out, Paige realized with a start that the whistle had finally stopped. Kal was her charge.

Metropolis Train depot

Seconds later

Cat was running, trying to escape Deadshot. Running up some stairs, she tried to open a door but found it locked. Running back down, she turned but paused, freezing in horror. It was a dead end. And worse, a biohazard symbol with a skull in it was painted in black along the wall. She turned away, knowing this was the end.

As Deadshot set up the timer, Clark sped in, punched Deadshot and he slammed into a fence, falling to the ground unconscious. But Clark was too late, as once the timer reached zero, the gun Deadshot had already set up fired. Acting quickly, Clark raced after the bullet. Easily outrunning it, Clark allowed it to impact on his back, his iron skin flattening it. As it deflected off his back, Clark grabbed it before tackling Cat to the ground, placing the bullet on her bullet proof vest. Now, she'd think it had saved her instead of him, he thought.

"Clark?" Cat asked as she opened her eyes. "That was so brave."

"You alright?" Clark inquired concerned as he helped her to her feet.

"I'm fine," Cat said out of breath as she took the flattened bullet off her vest. "Thanks to my bullet proof vest. Never leave home without it Clark Kent. You can never be too safe."

"I'll be sure to pick one up," Clark said hiding his smile.

"See? I don't need a masked hero to rescue me. I have a real flesh and blood one right here," Cat said as she turned around to face Clark with a smile. "People need to see someone's heart to believe in them. We need to be inspired by people who stand out in the light, not shrink into the shadows. We need a good old American hero in red, white and blue…or at least red and blue."

As he and Cat exchanged a smile, Clark began to think maybe Cat had a point. As he watched Cat walk away, he was unaware of the marker Deadshot had placed on him.

Metropolis

Next morning

"Something's come up, I'm gonna be staying after the wedding," Paige said as she talked on the phone with Piper.

"For how long?"

"I'm not sure," Paige admitted. "I'll call you when I know more. Just…please trust me on this."

"I will always trust you. Just…do you know what you're doing?" Piper asked uncertainly.

'Honestly, I have no idea," Paige admitted. "I love you."

"Love you to," Piper said before Paige hung up.

For a moment, the room was silent. Then, Paige spoke up.

"Sam? We need to talk," Paige called out to the empty room.

Barely a moment later, Sam materialized in balls of light.

"Did you know? Who my charge was?" Paige demanded.

"Should I?" Sam asked evenly. "You know him?"

"Not exactly. It's…complicated. But he saved my life once," Paige said evasively, not comfortable explaining the whole story to Sam.

"Well, maybe this is fate," Sam said and Paige looked at him incredulously. "He saved you once. Now, maybe you can save him."

With Cat's words in mind and his conversation with Oliver the night before, Clark walked out onto a rooftop on a building overlooking the city. Except now, he was dressed in a red leather jacket, the house of El symbol on it. It was unzipped slightly, revealing a blue T-shirt underneath. He was also wearing black jeans.

In his hand, he held a plane ticket to Egypt. After a moment, he let it go, the ticket falling to the ground below. His relationship with Lois had imploded, just like his relationship with Lana. He needed to move on from both. He had spent too many years pinning over relationships that hadn't worked out. It was time to look to the future, not the past.

So Paige is going to be coming into her Whitelighter powers and Clark is her charge, which creates an excuse for them to be around each other.

I know the Smallville scenes haven't been that different so far, but starting next chapter, we'll get some major differences.