Elixir

by Lener

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

Chapter Six

"What should we do now?" Chloe wondered.

"First we should find out what exactly happened and how we are going to get out of the past," Clark spoke up. Pete just nodded mutely, so Chloe jerked her head in the direction of the Kent field. "Let's investigate, then," she said.

The field looked no different from the 'future' field, except for a few minor changes that Jonathan Kent would make in the future.

"Okay everyone saw a girl with a glowing dagger, made out of the meteor rocks, right? She said something, left, and a few seconds later this strange portal which she'd just walked out from closes. So it's obvious that this girl sort of 'controls' the doorway, right?" Chloe said, pacing around the grassy area.

"Yea… sounds correct to me," Pete nodded.

"And I think that the girl is somehow connected to the murder of Mr. Martin Spout. She could be the one who tried to frame me," Chloe continued.

"Chloe, it's not like you to jump to conclusions and accuse people without substantial evidence," Clark said, plucking a leaf from a twig and tearing it into pieces. Chloe felt surprised that Clark had used a reporter slash detective term. He usually did not throw himself into Wall of Weird cases such as this. There was one thing that surprised her, though.

"Clark… don't you recognize the girl and the weirdness of this situation?" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands in exasperation. Clark shrugged. She turned to Pete. "Pete?" she tried, but he shook his head.

"Come on! Don't tell me you don't know her! She's Sara Parkins!"

"Sara Parkins? From junior high?" Clark and Pete both exclaimed, shocked.

"But she hasn't changed a bit!" Clark added.

"That's the weird part, and I'm going to find out more about this," Chloe said grimly.

"We've been sitting here for 4 hours! Won't anyone from our time realize we're gone? You're mom will probably have a fit, Clark," Pete chuckled. The three of them were lying on the field, waiting for Sara Parkins to open the portal- that is, if she was ever going to. "At this rate we'll never make it back," Clark groaned.

"Oooh… the lack of keys beneath my fingers is killing me…" Chloe said through gritted teeth.

"You can use the computer in my room," Clark offered, then smacked his head, "oh, no. Bad idea."

"No, wait!" Chloe jumped up, "if they can't see us, we'll be safe- and free to use the computer! It's a great idea!"

"But Clark- young Clark, I mean, will be in his room, and he'll see the computer turn on by itself! Pretty freaky, if you ask me," Pete pointed out, and Chloe sank back down in the grass, dejected.

"You're right. Darn, this stinks."

*

Clark reached out a hand to reassure Chloe, then stopped when he saw the veins under his skin turn green and shift uncomfortably. That could only mean one thing- the portal was going to open!

"Step back. Sara Parkins is trying to get to 1988," he said, and Chloe and Pete scrambled up from the ground. A second later the air before them shimmered, and suddenly the doorway of green was etched out plainly in the evening sky.

"We should stand back. We don't want her to know we've found out her little secret," Chloe said. Nodding, they quickly rushed behind a bush just as the green doorway suddenly exploded silently in the air. A tall girl stepped through, her light blond hair flying all about her face. She lifted the meteorite dagger and said a few words, then sped off into the night.

Chloe charged forwards at once, followed by Pete. Clark reassured himself that the pain of being in the doorway would only last a second, then he would tumble out into 2001.

He leapt in after Pete, just as the doorway closed.

*

The moment Clark stepped into the Torch office; he caught sight of the top of Chloe's bent head from behind the computer screen. She was typing furiously on the keyboard, oblivious to the fact that he had entered the room. As Clark neared his best friend, he saw a look of total concentration on her face and had to smile. Chloe looked so cute when she did that.

"Clark!" her voice suddenly echoed throughout the office. Clark was immediately snapped out of his thoughts. He walked over to where Chloe was sitting and dumped his red backpack on the floor next to the computer table.

"Hey Chlo… any new leads?" he asked, pulling a chair over to him and settling down next to her at the computer. The screen was filled with words, words and more words. Clark could see that Chloe had highlighted some of the text on the document. "What's this?" Clark asked.

"Well, it's very strange…" she said, being typically Chloe-like and launching straight into the information, "there's nothing- no information about this Mr. Martin Spout when he was a kid. I mean, I went to the Smallville Torch Archives where they have a list of the entire pupil enrolment of the school for the past years and his name is not there."

Clark frowned, "Well Chloe I hate to say this but maybe you're overreacting. Perhaps Mr. Spout moved to Smallville a few years ago and didn't attend Smallville High." He glanced at his friend, who looked deep in thought.

"That's not possible, Clark. I asked around with the people at the plant and some older folks who went to Smallville High and they all said that Mr. Spout was a true blue Smallville resident. He stayed in Smallville his whole life!" she argued.

"Well then maybe… maybe he changed his name?" Clark tried, but even as he said that, he knew that his friend would shoot his suggestion down like a dead duck.

"Hello? Clark, if he changed his name they wouldn't be calling him Martin Spout when he was born up till now! It's like his whole childhood was erased…" Chloe's eyes got a faraway look, and Clark knew that she was trying to link this to some of her Wall of Weird theories. He gave an involuntary shiver. Mr. Martin Spout a meteor freak? Or killed by one?

Just then the door to the Torch office opened and Pete came in carrying his backpack slung on his shoulder. "Hey guys… I had to see a teacher," he explained, "Did I miss anything?"

"We all did…" Chloe muttered, squinting at the screen.

"Huh?" Pete looked at Clark for help. Clark shrugged.

"The entire childhood of Mr. Martin Spout cannot be found on any website to do with Smallville or LuthorCorp Plant. It's as if his childhood never existed. But his matured years can be found online… or at least, bits of information about them…" Chloe said, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Well that sounds weird," Pete nodded.

"Definitely weird," Chloe agreed.

"So what are we going to do about it?" Clark asked, looking from Chloe to Pete and then back to Chloe again.

"Something, definitely. I just don't know what…" Chloe trailed off.

*

The next day when the lunch bell rang Pete rushed off to one of the empty classrooms for a Chess club meeting while Chloe headed straight for her English teacher to discuss marks. Clark made it to the cafeteria and wolfed down a sandwich before he exited the crowded place.

Already Smallville High students were swarming in for lunch, and he caught sight of Whitney and Lana sitting at a table at the far end of the cafeteria. Both of them had eyes only for each other, and Clark sighed. One day he hoped that Lana would actually see him.

Pete was still at his Chess club meeting, so Clark went off to look for Chloe, and he found her at the Torch office, no doubt investigating all about the mysterious disappearance of Mr. Martin Spout's youth. "Hey Chloe… aren't you hungry? You didn't go for lunch did you?" he asked, plopping down on the chair next to her.

"I have back-up…" she said, tapping a chocolate bar and pointing to a coffee mug without taking her eyes off the screen.

"So, how's the investigation?" Clark asked, leaning closer to read what was on the screen. As he did so he smelt the faint scent of mint lingering on her shiny blonde hair.

I never knew Chloe's shampoo smelt so nice.

"Ugh… it's all just so strange. I can't seem to make head or tail out of anything!" Chloe suddenly burst out, slamming her hands on the keyboard. She picked up the chocolate bar and ripped off the wrapper in frustration, then took a bite to soothe her nerves.

"Hey, relax, Chlo! It's just a Wall of Weird mystery… don't get so worked up!" Clark placed a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

"Someone died, Clark! You can't blame me if I happen to think that death is something very serious!" she argued.

"What's done is done, Chlo. There's was nothing you can do to stop him from getting killed," Clark pointed out.

"But I can find out what or who did it…" she replied in a small voice.

"Not while you're angry…" Clark smiled and reached out a hand to tickle her gently. Chloe bit her lip to keep from laughing, and playfully shoved his hand away. Clark grinned and used both hands to tickle her, and, squealing, Chloe began to laugh.

They were so engrossed in their tickle fest that they did not hear the door open.

"Umm… am I interrupting something?" Clark jumped away from Chloe guiltily, finding himself face to face with Lana Lang. The guilt grew from the size of a mustard seed to a mountain.

"Oh, no. What are you doing in the Torch office, Lana?" Chloe quickly said, and Clark was grateful that she was the one to speak. He did not trust himself to say anything.

"I… err… left my English paper here while I was typing an article," she explained hastily, grabbed a sheaf of papers from a nearby table and practically dashed out of the office.

"I guess it's back to investigation then," Chloe sighed and began clicking away at the computer.

Clark stared after Lana.

Yep, it's time for investigation. But not about Mr. Spout… this time it's about how I feel about Lana. And how I think I feel about Chloe.

Author's Note: All right! Clark knows that he's feeling something for dear Chloe! And Chloe can't seem to solve this mystery about Mr. Martin Spout! A missing childhood? What's the deal here? Find out in later chapters! My replies are below!