Hello, my lovely readers. So guess who this author got to meet this past weekend? Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum! Yes, I met Superman himself AND his nemesis!

It was literally a ten-second meeting where I took a picture with them, so there was no time for me to even say my name, but I don't even care because I got a PICTURE with them! Superman's hand was around my waist!

*faints*

Anyway...on with the chapter! :D


On another one of Emmeline's visits with Chloe at the Daily Planet, none other than Lionel Luthor showed up at her desk.

"Miss Sullivan," he announced causing the two girls to jump at the unexpected guest. "Miss Brooks."

"Mr. Luthor," Chloe said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"You have made it to the major leagues." He handed her a bouquet of flowers. "Congratulations."

"Thank you."

Lionel looked around the room. "Very, very nice. You've done quite well for yourself. I am certain that, sooner than later, you're gonna be working upstairs under the Tiffany lamps. A big story certainly would accelerate the process. Not that, um…" He held up the latest issue and scanned it. "…obituaries and uh, wedding announcements don't inspire scintillating journalism."

"If you're trying to feed me some sort of self-promoting fluff piece, I'm not interested."

"Uh, how does it go? You can put a tuxedo on the fiddler, but he's still gonna play the same old tune."

"That's good. You should jot that down and add it to your page-a-day calendar. I gotta go."

She and Emmeline headed for the door.

"Miss Sullivan, your creative passion will always be for the bizarre and the inexplicable. That's why I think you're the perfect reporter for this story."

Chloe paused at the door. She turned and stared at him skeptically before saying, "You have one minute. The clock is ticking."

"It, uh, seems there is, uh, someone at Central Kansas University who has the astounding ability to run at virtually the speed of light. Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

"School is located in Smallville, meteor freak capital of the world."

"This person can lift an automobile with one hand, can, uh, create fire with the blink of an eye. It's extraordinary."

"It sounds like a bit of a stretch, even for me. Do you have any proof?"

"Well, if we had proof, there wouldn't be any need for investigative reporting, now would there? The person's name is Milton Fine. He is a professor of world history."

Emmeline's heart leapt in her chest at the mention of the name.

"Why did you come to me?" Chloe asked.

"Frankly…I didn't think Time Magazine would be interested. Good day, Miss Sullivan, Miss Brooks."

With that line, Lionel exited the room.

Chloe looked over at Emmeline. "You okay? You look like someone told you your dog died."

"I hate dogs, and you know that," Emmeline answered. "No, it's…Milton Fine…I've met him."

"You have? What's he like?"

"He seemed nice, but…I don't know, when he looked at me, it felt like he was trying to decide what to do with me. And I don't mean in like, a pervy old man kind of way, I mean…like he had big plans and I might be a part of it."

"Well, that's not creepy. Didn't Clark say anything?"

"Clark trusts him."

"Clark trusts everyone."

"Fair."

"Well, if what you're saying is true, then I have to investigate him, even if it's not for Lionel."


"Found anything?" Emmeline asked as she waltzed over to Chloe's desk.

"Nothing substantial that proves he's superhuman." Chloe looked over at her. "You're pretty freaked, aren't you?"

"I wasn't until Lionel claimed he had special abilities. There's no telling what his grand plan might be and if he really does intend to use me."

"Maybe you read him wrong."

"Maybe. But what if I didn't?"

Their conversation was cut off when Lois hurried inside the room with a bag of food as what was most likely a bribe. "I don't mean to stop the presses, but I have a favor, Chlo."

"What else are cousins for? Shoot."

"Well, you once mentioned that Lex Luthor spent a little time in the cuckoo's nest. Why not write a little exposé on the mental stability of the great bald hope of Kansas?"

"I think that would make a great story…if I could find any shred of evidence or a source that would actually talk."

"Well, there has to be something."

"Oh, there's lots of sex, lies, and videotapes in Lex's vault. Problem is, he sleeps with the key under his pillow. Why the sudden urge to take down Lex?"

"I'm just sick and tired of rich powermongers who think they can win an election with their checkbook. Not to mention the fact that he called me a muffin-peddler."

Chloe smirked. "Oh, so, basically, he hurt your feelings."

"Well, sort of. But that's beside the point. Come on, you have to have something on that little hard drive of yours."

Chloe looked at her computer screen where she had pulled up CKU's profile on Milton Fine. "Actually, Clark's professor at CKU was doing some investigating on LuthorCorp."

"Clark's professor?"

"Yeah, he's, um…writing a book. I actually followed him to a LuthorCorp warehouse downtown."

"And what did you see?"

"Nothing. Thanks to a little thing called security, I couldn't get anywhere near it."

"Well, now you have your trusty sidekick along for the ride."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go." Chloe excitedly stood up and grabbed her jacket. "Em, you coming?"

"After the last little adventure you put me through, I'll sit this one out. Besides I gotta get back home. You can let me know how it goes though."

Chloe laughed. "Suit yourself. I'll call you tonight. Be careful getting home, okay?"

"I will."


Inside the Fortress of Solitude, Clark watched as everything he wanted went completely wrong.

He had been betrayed by the one person he felt he could trust above anyone else, the one person he believed could tell him the real truth about where he had come from.

The kryptonite resting on his chest caused searing pain to shoot through his entire body, and he could feel himself weakening further and further.

Then suddenly, the pain was gone. He looked over and saw Chloe holding the rock in her hand. She turned and tossed it as far as she could.

He decided now was not the time to question how exactly she had gotten here.

Clark quickly got up and sped over to the poisoned crystal he had inserted into the Fortress. He yanked it out and the blinding light and wind ceased.

Fine spun around and stared at Clark in anger. He sped towards him, but Clark tossed him to the other end of the Fortress. He walked over to Chloe to ensure she was okay.

Fine sped back over to him, and Chloe looked behind Clark in fear.

"You might want to think about what you're doing," Fine sneered. "If you stay here and try to defeat me, what will happen to that precious friend of yours?"

Clark's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"Leave now and save her, and your mother will die. Stay and fight me…and Emmeline will." He smirked at Clark. "Did you really think I wouldn't plan for this? I told you I'm a whole lot smarter."

Chloe's heart skipped a beat. Emmeline had been right. Fine had been out for her.

Fine's eyes heated up, and he blasted Clark several feet where he crashed into several of the crystals. Fine snatched the poisoned crystal and attempted to stab Clark in the heart with it.

"Not even you can save everyone," Fine smirked darkly.

Thinking about Emmeline being in danger the longer he stayed here, Clark felt a surge of energy and summoned all the strength he had to push Fine off him.

Fine flew back and landed right on several outstretched crystals. The crystals pierced his body and then two more grew, as if the Fortress itself was ensuring Fine was dead.

Clark sped over to him.

Fine turned his head and smirked again as black liquid dripped from his mouth and eyes. "She's dead…"

Fine suddenly vanished and the additional crystals sank back into the Fortress.

Clark didn't even have time to think about the betrayal any longer.

Chloe ran up to him. "Clark, you need to find Em! Now!"


Emmeline was far past the point of panicking. When a strange man snatched her on the way to her car, she knew automatically it was Fine. She didn't know how she knew, but she did.

For one thing, the man took her to the roof of the nearest building, all the way up all ten floors, instead of just robbing her like most men off the streets of Metropolis would do.

In addition, the man was cold and emotionless as if he was a robot completing a mission. A mission Fine had sent him on.

Once on the roof, the man tossed her onto the ground.

"What do you want?" she asked.

The man grabbed the front of her shirt and lifted her up. His hand wrapped around her throat and started to squeeze. "With your death, Kal-El will fall."

Kal-El. Why did that sound familiar? Where had she heard that before?

Emmeline attempted to somehow find air amongst the man's superhuman grip.

Still grasping her neck, he backed her up to the ledge of the roof. "And Zod will reign."

"Don't do this," she mustered out.

His grip on her tightened, and Emmeline's oxygen supply was nearly entirely cut off.

Suddenly, his grip disappeared, and Emmeline sank to her knees coughing and gasping for breath.

When she looked up, she was stunned to find Clark fighting the mysterious man in a flurry of kicks and punches.

"You are a fool to come after her," the man said coldly.

Using superhuman strength, the man hit Clark in the chest and sent him flying all the way across the roof. Then he walked over to Emmeline with emotionless yet terrifying eyes. To her horror, he once again grabbed her shirt and lifted her over the ledge, letting her dangle hundreds of feet above the street below.

Then he let go.

Emmeline somehow managed to grab onto the ledge before she could fall all the way.

"Clark!" she screamed, hoping he could hear her and could do something for her. Anything.

The man staring at her disappeared from her view and she could hear more sounds of a fight.

Emmeline's fingers cramped up and she felt her grip on the ledge slipping. She attempted to pull herself up to no avail.

On the roof, Clark had had enough. He needed to save Emmeline, and he needed to save her now.

"What are you?!" he demanded.

"I am an extension of the Kryptonian creation," the man answered. "A tool used to complete his goals."

Clark didn't know if this would work, but it was worth a try.

He heated his eyes and sent a blast of heat vision in the man's (or machine's) direction, and he didn't let up until the man exploded in a blast of black liquid, proving that he was indeed created from Fine.

Clark hurried over to the ledge.

Just in time for Emmeline's grasp to finally slip.

Time seemed to slow down. As Emmeline watched Clark's panicked face become smaller and smaller, her thoughts went to all the people she cared about.

Would Chloe be okay without her by her side? Who would help Lana see things from another point of view? Would Clark be okay with only Lana and Chloe for friendship when she wasn't around anymore?

What about all the people she was supposed to help with her psychology internship? Would they ever find the help they needed?

And her father…

Would he be okay losing her so soon after losing his wife? Who would be there to comfort him and make sure he ate enough and didn't lose himself to depression?

The ground came nearer and nearer.

And suddenly, time resumed.

It took Emmeline several moments for her to realize that she, in fact, was not dead.

Clark had caught her.

Emmeline frantically looked up at the top of the building she had just plummeted from and then back at Clark in disbelief.

"I, um…I think I'm going to pass out now."

And true to her word, Emmeline slumped into unconsciousness in Clark's arms.


Emmeline's eyes fluttered open.

She sat up and looked around her and soon realized that she was in the Kent home on the couch in the living room.

"Hello?" she called out.

There was no answer, not even from Martha or Jonathon.

She got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen. From the window, she could see lights on in the loft outside.

Emmeline slowly exited the house and made her way to the barn.

Clark turned when he heard footsteps ascending the staircase.

For all that Emmeline had just been through, she seemed pretty calm.

She gave him a small smile. "You can't just explain your way out of this one this time."

Clark sighed. "No. I guess I can't."

"For the record…I'm sorry I found out like this."

Clark looked at her in disbelief. "I've been lying to you about who I really am since the day we met…and you're apologizing to me?"

"Well, clearly this is something you wanted to keep a secret. I should've found out when you were ready to tell me. Not before."

"You and Chloe are more alike than you guys realize."

"Wait a minute, Chloe knows about all this?"

Clark nodded.

"That explains so much."

"She really didn't tell you?"

"Of course not. Chloe would never betray you like that, even with her best friend. Besides, it wasn't her secret to tell me. And I wanted to hear it all from you anyway. That's why I never asked either of you to tell me what you were hiding from me. I trusted the both of you, and I believed that if you didn't tell me whatever the secret was, you had a good reason for it."

"Sometimes, I don't understand what I did to deserve a friend like you."

"I really am sorry I had to find out this way."

"Em, your life was in danger. There was no decision for me to make. I…I couldn't bear to lose you."

Emmeline smiled again. "So, tell me, Clark Kent…who are you?"

Clark motioned to the couch in the loft. "You might wanna sit down. This is going to take a while."


Wow...

Well, it took four and a half seasons, but it's finally happened.

Emmeline knows!

I have gotten a multitude of reviews from people anxiously awaiting when she would find out, so I hope I did not disappoint.

Back when I was writing Season 1 and trying to figure out which episode Emmeline should figure out Clark's secret, I originally had it in the previous episode with the silver kryptonite. As you saw, I sort of revealed it, but then I had Chloe play damage control to still keep it under wraps. Someone reviewed a really long time ago suggesting that Emmeline find out Clark's secret when he is forced to save her, and I liked that idea a lot more than her discovering it when he was dealing with severe paranoia.

See? Sometimes I do take my reviewers suggestions! ;)

The great news is that now Emmeline can be much more involved in Clark's life, and there will be much fewer, if any, episodes that have to be filler! :)