Elixir

by Lener

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville.

Chapter Four

                   "Clark? Pete… Lex Luthor?" both Chloe and Gabe Sullivan exclaimed in unison. The policemen all gaped at Lex, and Clark smiled inwardly. The 21-year-old businessman radiated so much power that it looked as though everyone in the room was capable of dropping to their knees and bowing to him.

                "Ms. Chloe Sullivan is not the murderer, Officer," Lex said smoothly, reaching out to take a plastic chair. He settled himself down on it like he was a king, and everyone just stared.

                "B… b… but… her prints… they were…" Officer Ken Bard stuttered.

                "I was told by inspectors that Ms. Sullivan's prints were not found on the corpse itself. Interesting how Mr. Martin Spout died too, don't you think, Officer? He was never touched- not poisoned, shot, stabbed, strangled or hurt in any way. Mr. Spout's health record showed that he had a clear medical history. In fact, apart from the fact that he was dead, he was actually in perfect health. In other words, you have no proof that Ms. Sullivan here actually murdered Mr. Spout, even though you did find her prints there in the scene of the crime. I'm afraid you cannot hold her against her will and, as they always say, innocent until proven guilty," Lex stopped after his lengthy speech, and smiled at the officer like this was all a game.

                Clark watched Chloe's wide-eyed expression as she stared in shock and admiration at Lex Luthor. He felt a twinge deep inside his heart, and Clark realized with horror that he'd actually felt jealous. Jealous? Of what? Clark thought to himself. Of the fact that his best friend had hardly acknowledged his presence in the room. He was, after all, her best friend too. Yes, that was it.

                Clark turned to look at the Officer. 'Ken Bard', his shiny golden name tag read. Right now Ken Bard looked so stupefied that he looked as though he were about to faint any second.

                There was silence, finally broken by the officer.

                "Well, err… yes, you have a point, Mr. Luthor. B… But… you see, my Head will need to see me bring in some… erm… proof that we found… uh…" he tucked a finger into his collar and pulled nervously. The words stumbled out from his lips, and they could hardly make out what he was trying to say.

                "You will tell your Superior exactly what I said in this room a few seconds ago, and you will also tell him that Lex Luthor stopped by, courtesy of this whole mess you made," Lex got up from his chair and placed it back at the wooden table. Then he turned to Chloe, "Come on now, Ms. Sullivan. I'm sure you don't want to stay in here all day."

                Grinning, Chloe got out of her seat, and her father walked to her side. Then, smiling formally to the policemen, Lex opened the door and let all of them file out, followed by himself.

                "I'll just settle… err… a few things," Gabe said as they reached the glass doors of the Smallville Police Station.

                "If you insist, Mr. Sullivan. But I assure you, everything's been taken care of. I am a man of my word," Lex said. Gabe nodded, shook Lex's hand and turned back as the four of them trooped out of the Smallville Police Station.

*

                "That was fabulous!" Chloe gushed as she threw her arms around Pete first, engulfing him in a great hug. She'd never thought she would see her best friend again. After she pulled away from the hug, she stepped towards Clark, but was uncertain whether she should hug him. Before she could think, however, he drew his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Sigh… I could stay in this embrace forever… Chloe thought dreamily, but broke apart when Lex's voice rang out.

                "Don't I get a hug too?" he teased, looking a little awkward in his formal grey business suit and maroon tie.

                "I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor, but it's strictly handshakes for people whom I've never met but have heard so much about. Although I'd bend the rules a little and give you a really warm handshake because you actually saved my life," Chloe grinned, and Lex extended a pale hand. She took it and shook it.

                "So, was everything you said in there true?" Chloe decided to ask, her reporter instincts taking over. The case of this Mr. Spout person seemed interesting and definitely weird- did it possibly have something to do with the meteor rocks?

                "Of course it was all fact, Ms. Sullivan. Lex Luthor never tells lies. My father might have a knack for that, but I prefer to stick to the unadulterated truth," Lex said, the slightest hint of contempt for his father in his voice.

                "Please, call me Chloe. So, do you have any idea how my fingerprints ended up in his living room?" Chloe probed further.

                "Completely no clue, but if I get any information that might help enlighten you, I'll definitely pass it on to you. Well, I'd like to stay and chat but I've got a whole plant to run so I guess I'll be seeing you. Later, Clark, Pete, Chloe," Lex gave them all nods, then turned around and slipped into his golden car.

                Chloe's father came up just as Lex reversed out of the parking lot and zoomed off.

                "Nice man, Mr. Luthor," he said, then turned to Chloe, "now, I've got to get back to the plant. Can you promise me you'll be okay and not get into any more trouble?"

                "Dad!" Chloe protested, but Pete interrupted her. "Mr. Sullivan, Clark and I could stay with her in case she does," he said seriously, and Chloe's father nodded. "Great. I'm glad that I can trust you both. Now, I don't think it'll be wise for you to head back to the school until I've cleared up everything with the principal so I guess for now you three should head back to the house or something. I have to rush for work now."

                Chloe gave her cheek to her father to kiss, then he climbed into his car and drove off.

                Chloe watched as her father's car disappeared into the distance, then turned to Clark, who had not spoken much at all.

                "Clark, is everything okay or did someone permanently chopped off your tongue?" she asked curiously.

                "I can still speak, Chloe. It's just that Lex had been doing enough of the talking for now," was the answer. Is it my imagination or was that jealousy in Clark's voice?

*

                Is it my imagination or was that jealousy in my voice?

                Clark cleared his throat as he felt his face burn up. "Um… I mean…" he tried to rephrase what he had just said, but Chloe shook her head and smiled. Pete was laughing too hard to even say anything.

                "So, what should we do now?" Pete finally asked when he had finished making Clark feel like an idiot.

                "Well, we could sneak back to school and go to the Torch office. There might be some information on what happened on the news website, do you think?" Chloe asked, tapping her finger on her temple. It was the usual gesture she made whenever she was deep in thought.

                "Chloe, your father said not to go back to school," Clark warned her.

                "First time you've heard a parent say that, huh?" Pete grinned.

                 "Or, we could head down to the scene of the crime. No doubt there'll be some police there we can question. I'd like to know why…" Chloe continued, but not before Pete cut her off.

                "I've got a better idea. Why don't we hang out at Clark's place?" he said, winking at Clark. At once Clark knew what Pete was driving at. It would be crazy for Chloe to get into more trouble than she'd already been in. Besides, if she'd waltzed into the place where her prints had been found asking questions about the murder, the police would probably have a fit.

                "Yes, my place it is. We'll walk, it's only 5 minutes from here," Clark nodded, and with that they pulled an indignant Chloe Sullivan off with them to the Kent Farm Estate.

                Finally after about 10 minutes (5 to walk and 5 to explain to his parents what they were doing back so soon from school), Clark, Chloe and Pete were settled in Clark's Fortress of Solitude, deep in conversation about the murder.

                "I still don't get it. What were my prints doing there?" Chloe asked. She was stretched out on the soft old couch, Pete was settled comfortably on a straw bale and Clark was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall of the loft.

                "Maybe someone was trying to frame you, Chloe. You never know," Pete suggested.

                "But how could they have gotten my prints?" Chloe insisted.

                "These days with such modern technology it's easy to do almost the impossible, Chloe. By touching a cup or a bottle, you'd already have transferred your prints to the surface. All somebody had to do was to retrieve that cup and extract the prints from there," Clark said cleverly.

                "Like in those spy movies?" Chloe asked dubiously. She fingered her light hair and frowned hard. "Sounds kinda… James Bond to me," she added.

                "Well, it's easy enough for someone to do. And I do believe that some people actually have a reason to be angry with you, Chloe," Pete added.

                "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Chloe was indignant.

                "It wasn't meant in a bad way. I mean, take the Torch for example, or your research in the meteors, Chlo. Who knows, you might be just a step away from exposing someone's plans to take over the world with the meteors or another meteor freak, just like those you wrote about in your previous Torch articles," Clark quickly said. He could see the light dawning in his friend's dark green eyes.

                "You're right…" she nodded slowly, her eyes staring hard into the distance, out the loft. Suddenly, she sprang up from the couch and rushed to the window, pointing into the green fields. "Look! Did you see that?" she exclaimed, excited.

                "What?" Pete asked, getting up from his bale of straw and walking to Chloe's side.

                "There! In the forest… a green glow!" Chloe said.

                Clark looked out the wall, summoning his X-ray vision, and his heart skipped a beat.

                Chloe was right.

                Something at the edge of the forest was glowing a bright green. A bright, meteor green.

Author's Note: Oh no! More meteor freaks coming? Does this have anything to do with the murder of a certain Mr. Martin Spout? Well, we will only find out of Clark, Chloe and Pete decided to investigate this strange phenomenon. In the meantime, please review this chapter!