Jonathan drove Lana into the driveway of her house. He knew Lana's dad did well. There were talks about it around the town and Jonathan wanted to know things like this when she became Clark's friend. Martha called it paranoia, but Jonathan believed differently. He got out of the truck and closed the door. Lana got out right after.

"Well, here we are." Jonathan declared. Lana sighed, approaching the door. Lana felt conflicted. On one hand, it was probably best to keep her space from Lex, but at the same time, leaving the movie at Hank's strict curfew was annoying just because of last week's incident in the tunnels. She knocked and Hank answered after peeking through to see who was at the door. He was in his more casual wear early in the night.

"Jonathan, Lana. Thanks for getting here close to the time I asked. Really means a lot Kent." Hank said gratefully. Jonathan looked wide eyed at the door. Trying to hide it by rubbing his eyes in order to cover up what he did see. He recognized Hank. Long ago, he was the man who nearly stole their child. A government suit who originally had no name, but Jonathan had finally put a name to the face.

"You alright?" Hank asked. Jonathan stopped rubbing his eyes. He didn't want to overplay this cover act. Though not all of it was fake. He was feeling a bit of a crash after the food at the drive-in.

"Yeah, i'm fine. Was just looking after two kids for a drive and a movie. Would make anyone tired." Jonathan reassured. He was about to leave before looking back.

"Lana, remember our talk in the car. Second chances." Jonathan said in a hopeful spirit. Lana followed that with a bit of nervous snark on her face with a bit of pessimism. "Got it Mr. Kent." Lana had said before entering the house.

Jonathan got back into the car after Hank and Lana said their goodbyes. Hank had told Lana what he was ordering in, but then stopped before making the call.

"So you've known this Clark kid for a while, right?" Hank asked. Lana was weirded out by this question. His dad was hardly ever interested in who she hung out with. Except for Kenny, but he was a bit of a creep so she got the reaction when she got older.

"Why are you now interested?" Lana questioned.

"I mean, you said one of your friends nearly died last week. Just want to make sure to be in your life more now to help you with things like that Lana." Hank clarified. Lana saw the point. He might never be her dad, but as Jonathan said, he is making an effort to at least be there.

"Well he's a good friend. We've just sorta supported what both were going through. He didn't have his parents from the beginning. Me having that but still ending up not having them anymore just had us… click." Lana explained. Hank was curious. He remembered fifteen years ago when he encountered the Kents. They were near the crash site he was sent to in order to extract the foreign object from it. It was all way too close to be a coincidence. Then Clark Kent was adopted by the same family near the time they left the area of the crash site. It left him perplexed.

"Yeah, i'm fine. Was just looking after two kids for a drive and a movie. Would make anyone tired." Jonathan reassured. He was about to leave before looking back.

"Lana, remember our talk in the car. Second chances." Jonathan said in a hopeful spirit. Lana followed that with a bit of nervous snark on her face with a bit of pessimism. "Got it Mr. Kent." Lana had said before entering the house.

Jonathan got back into the car after Hank and Lana said their goodbyes. Hank had told Lana what he was ordering in, but then stopped before making the call.

"So you've known this Clark kid for a while, right?" Hank asked. Lana was weirded out by this question. His dad was hardly ever interested in who she hung out with. Except for Kenny, but he was a bit of a creep so she got the reaction when she got older.

"Why are you now interested?" Lana questioned.

"I mean, you said one of your friends nearly died last week. Just want to make sure to be in your life more now to help you with things like that Lana." Hank clarified. Lana saw the point. He might never be her dad, but as Jonathan said, he is making an effort to at least be there.

"Well he's a good friend. We've just sorta supported what both were going through. He didn't have his parents from the beginning. Me having that but still ending up not having them anymore just had us… click." Lana explained. Hank was curious. He remembered fifteen years ago when he encountered the Kents. They were near the crash site he was sent to in order to extract the foreign object from it. It was all way too close to be a coincidence. Then Clark Kent was adopted by the same family near the time they left the area of the crash site. It left him perplexed.

"So you going to order now? I'm thinking chinese takeout." Lana requested. Hank snapped back to reality. "Right, right. I'll get to it. Though i'm getting wings first." Hank cleared up. He's got to repair his relationship with Lana. He owes Thomas that at least. Carol too. The Kents would come later. At least when he finished collecting the intel he needed.

After Hank left with what he needed to get the food, Lana's phone started vibrating in her jacket. She looked and the number was unknown. She curiously answered, but played it cautiously.

"Hello? Who is this?" Lana asked nervously.

"Hey Lana, this is Lex. Just wanted to ask a favor of you. A quid pro quo situation." Lex greeted on the other end. Lana had gone from nervous to questioning from the person on the other end.

"Lex, the only person you got the number of this whole week was Clark. How did you get this one?" Lana asked. She knew Clark got the number from him last week. At first, he was sort of fine with it until he realized him and Lex had a lot in common. She was fine with it because they both related over their separate extra-curriculars in between Lex's phone chats.

"I'd hardly consider the Kent house a personal number. As for you, who do you think got half the parts in your phone built?" Lex said, very disinterested in the how. Lana was though.

"So what do you want?" Lana asked, wishing to get this arrangement over with.

"Lana, Lana. What you can give me is not as important as what I can give to you. I want to fix things from last week." Lex declared. He wanted to set things up to know people in Smallville and to do that, he had to fix his own mistakes. "I have access to some of my dad's technology and as you know, my trust fund has provided me a lot. Anything you want to find out or anything you want in your hands is yours." Lex added. He had the deal be smooth. He had watched both his father and his mother do this before. Only not for people he'd consider friends.

Lana was considering dismissing his deal entirely. Not wanting to be bribed like so many of her neighbors. But then she looked out the door. Considering what Hank has been keeping from her for so long. She knew it was military, but given all of the strange things going on about him and even how Jonathan looked at him, it was about time she took action.

"Okay, I may have something. Though if you can get anything I want, why do you need my help?" Lana asked. Still clutching the phone while heading upstairs to her room. She assumed whatever he'd need, she'd either have to sneak out or grab something from her room to help with it.

"You count yourself out too quickly Lana." Lex reassured. "I just need your assistance in the research area. I have my dad's tech, but zero allies. As you saw down in those tunnels, he's up to something in Smallville, and I need to find out what it is. You know the lay of the land. You are the best person to help. It's a small town, and finding out where he could potentially store something here would be a big help." Lex asked. Lana got onto her laptop. Looking over a map of the city she rose up with the swirl of a touchpad. She searched for buildings people could use as there were less in Smallville. She found one that was unavailable to view. The entire space was blurred compared to the others as she narrowed her eyes on the screen.

"There's one I have here, but it's blurred out. It might help if you could clear some of this up on the map." Lana pointed out. Lex thought about it. Though considered a different idea.

"No, Lionel would track any descrambling I'd do. I need you to do it." Lex asked. Lana was really getting nervous now. Whatever is in there is probably heavily classified if no eyes have even seen it from the outside.

"You want me to descramble one of your father's buildings and believe he'll notice, but you still want me to do it?" Lana questioned. She knew she could get in trouble for this, and possibly be killed. Lex knew this was what she was worrying about on the other end. He needed to encourage her forward.

"He won't suspect it coming from you. To Lionel, I haven't even made friends in Smallville. Besides, i'm pretty sure you still need something." Lex responded. Lana thought about it. It was worth the risk to travel down the trail of secrets kept by Hank.

"Okay, i'll do it. Send it over. I'll get something soon." Lana said. Lex felt glad he finally got a deal through. "Excellent. I'll do my end of the bargain as soon as the film is over." Lex assured.

"Wait, you are still watching it?" Lana questioned. More in surprise than shock.

"Of course, I was multitasking." Lex retorted. He ended the call and got back to his film. He then got a notification from the device in his ear, telling him that the recording of the data he requested had ended. He looked over the audio. Hearing all about Vell's work from Keystone. The old city was familiar to him. He had to warn Clark and Martha about them being in over their heads.

Martha was in the middle of setting up. While preparing lemonade with some ice cubes was nothing she wasn't used to, inviting someone over who knew Clark's secret really was. She had to wonder, was she as ready to tell Eliza and Jeremiah as she let on? Jonathan certainly thought that she was, but she was wondering whether she believed herself. Though at the moment, she had to get through this moment. Clark was outside. He said he needed some air, but Martha knew that Clark was affected by what happened with Braverman. She still couldn't believe what he had become. He was a bully to kids before, but a dangerous criminal with abilities that could hurt Clark wasn't what she expected. Vell Willis seemed nice, but she was very reserved, and the rescue seemed to have scared her. Martha didn't know which showed more. She had finished the lemonade in the meantime though. Vell took a little of it down as it was placed on the table.

"This is good. Thank you Mrs. Kent. You and your son, for everything." Vell greeted her in gratitude. Martha sat down across from her.

"Glad you enjoyed Ms. Willis. I hope it isn't too sweet." Martha asked. "Been making this for a teenager for years in the summer." Martha added. Vell chuckled slightly.

"Yeah, I know how it is." Vell acknowledged. Martha was surprised. She had assumed Vell was very reclusive, not someone she'd see being a mother.

"So you are a mother too?" Martha asked, now engaged into this conversation a little more.

"Yeah, a daughter. She's not 15 yet, thank god." Vell stated happily. Vell and Martha both shared a laugh over that. "She's my whole world too. I'm not going to subject someone else with that love to untold pain. You don't have to worry about Clark's secret." Vell added. Martha was relieved of that in a lot of ways. Still, she had to make some things clear to her.

"Vell, you have to understand that this is my biggest secret. Anyone who knows it is a danger to my family and the secret is a danger to them. If anyone knew what Clark could do..." Martha said, trailing off. She couldn't imagine what could happen. Her son, a constant target. To be imprisoned, dissected, and studied. Not like the man he is, but as an object or an alien.

"I know. Clark saved my life. He doesn't deserve all that would come to him if someone like Lionel Luthor knew about him." Vell assured. "You know I tried to create what he has. What he can do. The impossible stuff only dreams are made of. Powers that would be the first step to the next stage of human progress." Vell added.

"It's why I didn't trust you. Not at first. Because there are those out there who would ruin Clark's life to achieve that." Martha explained. "I know, but before I played with forces I didn't understand. Kenny was the result of me playing God." Vell admitted. She looked like she did feel real guilt for such an action. Martha needed to know more. If this truly was Vell's actions, she needed to make sure to find a way to protect Clark from them. "Was there anything wrong with what you injected into him?" Martha asked.

"No, not that I know of. These were supplements of artificial nucleic acids. Basically we managed to combine a form of nano-tech with a kind of bonding agent capable of stabilizing the difference between a human's DNA and these extra advantages we added. In this case, we added to the subject the ability to conduct electricity using inverted modified nerves we have grown in the human body similar to an electric eel." Vell explained. "Dr. Hamilton was one of the ones who designed the initial specs for these artificial nucleic acids, and the modified nerves we would grow from that." She added.

"Dr. Hamilton? That scientist from S.T.A.R Labs? He worked with you?" Martha questioned. She wondered how far this went now. "This was before his work with S.T.A.R Labs. Now, I know your son is in danger from what I am involved with, but I can't tell you more. They'll kill me if I do." Vell said tensely. Martha gave a reassuring look before Jonathan came in through the front door of the house. "So I just dropped off Lana. Now there's something we should probably talk about around the-" Jonathan was about to ask about Hank before seeing their guest. "Oh, was not expecting guests." Jonathan said, very confused about the whole situation. They did have guests before then, but it wasn't always at this random a time.

"I think we need to talk about this in private Jonathan." Martha suggested. Jonathan nodded to this, still noticeably bewildered. Vell read the room before leaving. "I'll let you both talk things out. I'll be right outside." Vell suggested. They were both alone once more.

"So who is she? We had no guests that we talked about before." Jonathan asked. Martha felt she had to tell him everything. For the sake of the danger Vell posed. Whether intentional or not.

"She knows Jonathan. About Clark." Martha revealed. Jonathan was startled by this revelation. He was gone for a few minutes and it was like his whole world shook.

"What do you mean she knows? Did she come search the farm? Did someone else see the rocket back then?" Jonathan asked, frustrated. He was going through all the answers in his head that he could find.

"She… saw Clark save her." Martha admitted. She knew that Jonathan wanted to outright dismiss that Clark was at fault. He always felt relieved that he was careful, but that was going to catch up to them both. Jonathan was still startled, but he was starting to calm down.

"We'll fix this. We just need to keep her in our sights until we can figure something out." Jonathan proposed this idea with a modicum of confidence. "I'm just not ready for it all Martha." Jonathan added.

"I know, but we've gone through the last 15 years. We can get through this too." Martha encouraged. "The best option is to hide her until she can leave." Martha added.

"Right. Right, well we'll need a plan." Jonathan surmised best he could at the moment. "Maybe I stay outside with him, and you watch here for anyone coming in from the front?" Jonathan asked.

"Who could come after us? The Sheriff would still be at the scene investigating the explosion" Martha guessed. Jonathan was wide eyed then. "There was an explosion?" He questioned, dumbfounded at it all. "Yes. It's why Clark had to save her. Things were getting dire and somehow Clark's bully Kenny Braverman got involved..." Martha trailed off. "Braverman's kid? Didn't that whole family move years ago?" Jonathan asked. He knew that his dad took him to some reform school somewhere outside of town, and apologized on behalf of Kenny for everything that happened with Clark. Jonathan believed that was that originally. "From what Vell told me, she was working on something that could give normal people abilities like Clark. Seems Kenny wanted the same. Brought her here to Smallville too to get it." Martha guessed. Jonathan nodded. It seemed like the best possibility. "Alright, I'll try to make sure I can get what I can and make sure she keeps all this private. Let's just stay connected" Jonathan went outside, and Martha looked out of the blinds. Making sure nobody could catch them all by surprise. They didn't want to assume the worst, but they had to consider it.