Clark and Chloe swiftly realized in their haste to watch the truck and Chloe's car, they'd missed the mysterious Dodge van pull up behind them. "What if we don't?" Clark dared.
The second man from the Turner building revealed the van's tire iron from behind his back. It was made from heavy duty metal for an arduous task, and as he brought it down hard on Clark's shoulder the teen was forced forward straight into the Dodge's open rear door. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth were he had involuntarily bitten into his own lip with the impact. Strangely, the pain from the blow seared through him too, as if he was still affected by the mystery ailment.
"No!" Chloe yelled out as Clark fell to his knees, but as she kneeled he was already picking himself shakily up. "You're going to kill us, aren't you?" Chloe couldn't restrain the loathing in her voice.
"Just get in the back or we'll finish you right here and now!" Mr. Blonde was getting angry at the holdup, and as police sirens began to scream their approach it became abruptly obvious why.
He let off a shot dangerously close to Chloe's temple and then gestured again. This time as the slug ricocheted off a nearby wall, neither teen dare risk disobeying.
Clark all-but crawled inside; taking a much needed steadying hand from Chloe. The second goon joined them, while Mr. Blonde climbed up front to drive.
"Do you think Red dumped the truck already? I mean, Garner isn't going to be happy his little 'babysitter' failed like this…"
Clark's ears pricked up at the name Garner and 'babysitter', and he waited to hear 'Blonde's' reply. Chloe was intently listening too, but was also concerned with her friend. She wrapped an arm around him, hoping he wouldn't try any more heroics. First he got sick, then he got blown up, and now he gets bashed with a tire iron! Sheesh, not to mention we're in the back of a van being taken to our deaths. What a whacked out wall of weird kinda day!
Blonde interrupted her rambling thoughts. "It doesn't matter about the truck. We did what we had to do back there. If Garner's angry, he's angry. We couldn't let it go on any longer. It was out of control." He looked in the rearview, and saw Chloe eyeing him.
Finally the plucky reporter couldn't resist a question. "Why kill us now?" Her eyes narrowed, "I feel like we've been manipulated and made to look nuts for a reason, but then to just murder us doesn't make any sense!"
The man in the back with the two teens glanced up, still wielding the iron in his hand like a bludgeon. "You were simply tools to Garner; the control elements in an experiment of untold proportions that he could try out his new theory on." He smiled, "The problem was he didn't expect his 'project' to play out quite the way it did."
"We didn't react well to his trial test?" Clark leaned forward with his arms folded. The early disorientation and weakness seemed to be wearing off again, but he didn't want anyone to notice just yet. For now he had to appear perfectly human, and in pain from the whack he's received. What if I keep feeling sick because Garner exposed us to some kind of Kryptonite virus or bug? I know he used the solution in those tanks he dunked me and Lex in…
Blonde laughed, and both Chloe and Clark noticed his sarcastic smirk as he glanced back at them. "Like I said, you were the control elements. And from what I saw the 'trial' reacted to you, not the other way around. In fact, it reacted far too well…that's why we had to act quickly. Something like that couldn't be let loose on an unsuspecting public. Garner will simply have to revaluate his research. He lost control right from the beginning."
Chloe scowled at the cryptic responses they were getting. If they're going to kill us, they could at least give us some answers first. They always do in the movies!
"You didn't squash Chloe's car to kill us, did you?" Clark raised a brow as he thought the pieces were coming together. "Whoever has been toying with us was Garner's little mind experiment gone awry. Garner wanted them to destroy our credibility as witnesses for Lionel, but instead they decided to play cupid, and eventually help us! What's the matter, is what they're infected with contagious? Is that why you have to kill us now too?"
Blonde huffed and shook his head. "Something like that, Kid…"
Clark gulped. But the car was empty. Does that mean there's someone running around Smallville with some engineered Kryptonite mental bug? The puzzle was getting more unfathomable by the minute, and minutes were something they were running perilously short of.
Chloe slapped the metal floor of the van angrily. "I should have known Luthor would be behind this somehow!" She scowled and then looked to Clark, noticing his pallor had improved somewhat. So, he's feeling better- well at least till we die. The van slowed, Ugh oh, and that might be real soon!
"Neither Lionel or Garner know you're doing this, do they?" Clark stalled for time as he scanned straight through the van's side panel to see where they were pulling up. It was a disused picnic area high school kids sometimes hung out at, but tonight it was abandoned save for the wildlife. A short distance from the clearing was a small pond that had once been used for fishing…at least till the meteor shower came. They're going to dump our bodies in the water!
Mr. Blonde turned off the ignition and spun around in his seat to face them. "Luthor and Garner won't complain. They wouldn't dare, we know too much about their facility. What's more, you were always expendable," He paused and looked at Chloe specifically. "Well at least the girl was…but that doesn't matter now. You've both seen too much."
"So the whole e-mail thing was to entice me to Turner's to be set up as this control subject thing? And then you guys followed me to see how I'd react?" Chloe gawked, "But what about the building? I saw it explode!"
The man with the tire iron laughed like some rabid coyote's bark. "You saw what Garner wanted you to see. A nice little display of advanced pyrotechnics coupled with a nasty green anesthetic mist. While you slept he…"
Mr. Blonde abruptly became annoyed with his mouthy partner and cut into his explanation. "That's enough!" The Glock pistol reappeared, "We don't have time to pamper them before they go swimming." He waved the weapon, indicating it was time to exit.
The man with the iron hopped out first, swinging the back double doors open with a metallic grunt. He gestured for both teens to follow his lead outside, and Clark pushed forward before Chloe had a chance to argue.
As Clark hopped out he seemed to go down on all fours, stumbling to his knees with a yelp of surprise. He rolled over and groaned, his eyes rolling back like they had in the Turner building. Mr. 'Tire iron' prodded the teen with the metal rod harshly in the stomach, but he simply moaned and rolled into a fetal position.
"Kid, you ain't fooling anyone with that trick." The man jabbed harder with his makeshift weapon.
"Clark!" Chloe fell onto her knees and began to panic. It's just like in the Turner building all over again! "You don't understand! He was sick before. It must be something you've done to him!"
The irate reporter forgot all about the bad guys intentions to kill her and began scolding them like they were wayward puppies. While she chided 'Tire iron', she put a hand on Clark's shoulder reassuringly, and for the first time realized something was different. He doesn't look the same as last time…
Before she could ponder the situation further, all hell broke loose. Abruptly, and without warning, Clark regained his composure and rolled swiftly to his left. The reeling motion caught the man hovering over him off guard, and Clark knocked the bad guy off his feet.
The two grappled on the floor, but Mr. Blonde had quickly realized something was wrong, and had jumped from the cab as an armed reinforcement. "Don't you kids know when to quit!" He appeared angry that anyone should try to put up a fight to save their own life, and let off a shot to prove it, even though he hadn't yet got a clear view of what was going on from his position.
"Chloe run!" Clark deliberately brought his knee up with only a little more strength than a normal man, winding his opponent, but not causing any lasting physical damage. "Go, Chloe!"
Chloe bit her lip and was torn. In the split second she took to consider her options, Mr. Blonde's bullet whizzed past her head and slammed into a nearby tree. An inch long splinter of wood exploded from the bark and embedded itself in the reporter's arm, eliciting enough pain to force her into action. She dived behind the bur oak and into the thicket, just in time to avoid a second bullet from the incensed gunman.
While Mr. Blonde chased Chloe, Clark was finishing his own battle. Once the second man had gone after the girl, it was simple to win the fight. He could use his powers unhindered and no one would be any the wiser. He'd hated faking being sick again, but it was the only plan he could come up with on short notice that wouldn't involve blatantly using his gifts in public. Some good it did me. Now that goon has followed Chloe with the gun!
With the reporter's life as an incentive to spur him on, Clark brought his boot up into the bad guy's stomach, and launched his foe into the air with a decisive kick. 'Tire iron' found out the hard way what flying really felt like, and was only lucky that Clark had already picked his landing spot before he'd made his move.
The goon splashed down heavily in the nearby abandoned pond, and although he was gasping, sustained no lasting damage- at least not physically. Just what did Garner do in that experiment? Did he lie to us too? He shook himself as he waded to the waters edge. High School kids just don't kick like that…
Clark checked briefly that his foe wasn't in any difficulty, and then whirled about at superspeed to chase after Chloe and her pursuer. The velocity he could travel at, it shouldn't take long to catch them up and overcome Mr. Blonde.
Whipping through woodland like a wraith in the darkness, the teen followed the trail of broken twigs and down-trodden undergrowth until he had almost reached his target. And then it came. A crack resounded through the night that even Clark didn't need super-hearing to evaluate. It was a gunshot, sharp and clear, followed by a second more muffled volley. Chloe! He thought of the words he had already said so many times, for Ryan, for his father after his heart attack, and now for his best friend. All my powers and I couldn't save them…
Clark skidded to a halt, stirring up fallen leaves as he dug his heels in the ground to slow his momentum. No matter what was occurring there was always a chance. He scanned ahead, searching for the epicenter of the gunfire, and the first thing he saw surprised him.
A man's skeletal form carrying a rifle ambled into his field of vision, and Clark swiftly let his eyes zoom back to 'normal mode' as he realized who it was, and what had happened.
"Son, didn't your mother and I ask you to ring home when you reached the Torch?" Jonathan slung the Winchester over one arm, and Chloe appeared from behind his tall form and smiled apologetically at Clark.
"I guess I was wrong about your parents never making it on time, huh?" She shrugged, and then relief washed over her in one momentous tsunami. Arms outstretched, she ran straight to Clark and hugged him until his eyes almost popped out. "When I saw you go down again, and I ran and left you…I thought…" She looked up, finally releasing her grip, "Well I thought we were both as good as dead." Chloe pulled away, a thought swiftly crossing her overactive mind. "Say, just what was wrong with you back there?" Suspicion laced her voice.
Clark glanced at his now smiling dad and grimaced. "I was faking, Chloe. I knew it might be our only chance!"
His words were rewarded with a quick thump from the reporter, "Why you…I thought you were sick again!" Chloe grinned and then turned back to Jonathan in a more serious tone. "If it hadn't been for your dad, though…" she couldn't finish the sentence as more relief simply flooded out.
Jonathan sighed. Life would never be simple with Clark for a son. "I followed the van from the school," He explained, "Don't ask me how she knew, but your mother was insistent something was wrong, and then when you were late calling…"
Clark nodded with a thankful and yet apologetic look that said it all. Then a thought hit him. "The bad guy?" He queried, wondering about the two shots he'd heard.
Jonathan glanced back into the darkness and motioned with the tip of his rifle. "He's back there with a headache. The shots you heard were from his gun as he went down."
"Your dad wields that thing like a baseball pro!" Chloe's wittiness was returning now the pressure was off, "what about the guy you were struggling with?"
Clark stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged, then smiled. "I think he decided to be the one to go swimming after all…"
"When you two are done swapping jokes, would someone mind telling me what I missed? I mean, did you discover what all this is about?"
Jonathan guided the two teens back to where he'd parked the truck, and as Chloe explained what little they had found out, he grabbed some rope from the back and bound the still unconscious kidnapper he'd whacked with his rifle.
"I thought Garner was supposed to be comatose after the Sommerholt incident?" The farmer raised a brow and shot Clark a questioning glance. "Do you really think he's let some mind altering bug out?" The worry was evident in the strain showing on Jonathan's face.
Garner was known to meddle with Kryptonite, and if he'd created a virus or drug, then who knew what the side affects might be- even to Clark.
"From the way those guys were talking, I don't think Garner is comatose anymore, and I think Lionel might have played a part in this too." Clark shook his head in disdain, "so, now what do we do?" We can call the police, but how do we mention a bug without sounding crazy, or worse getting examined by some doctor?
Jonathan gulped as he climbed behind the pickup's wheel. "For tonight all we can do is report this as an attempted kidnapping. Maybe tomorrow you two can uncover more of the details once the Sheriff has those two safely behind bars."
Chloe huddled in the truck between the two men and shivered as the cool night-time temperature finally got to her. "And what if Garner or Lionel send someone else to finish the job in the meantime? And just where is the person who sent the flowers and took my car? They can't just have vanished!"
The questions were ones Jonathan didn't really have an answer to. If Luthor sent more goons then perhaps Clark could deal with them, but Garner might be a whole different matter. After the 'tank incident' at Sommerholt, who knew just how much knowledge of Clark he really had?
Sheriff Nancy Adams had been skeptical to say the least when yet again the Kents called her to some crazy incident. She didn't know why, but every time something came up involving that particular family, she was sure she didn't get all the facts.
It had been a long night, and she was glad now that she was pulling from their driveway and heading back to town. A radio call had come through only moments after she'd left the farmhouse, and it hadn't been good news. Someone had bailed the two 'kidnappers' already. Why oh why do I get the feeling this is going to be yet another Smallville unsolved mystery? Even though the words were in her mind, her soft southern lilt was still evident.
A deputy had checked out several of the scenes the kids had mentioned, but there was nothing left to see. Even the remains of Chloe's car had vanished before anyone could scrutinize its charred remains too closely. That puzzle in itself proved both teens weren't entirely lying, but then again, it didn't prove some wild abduction theory either. Probably trashed the car themselves and now need an excuse for the insurance company! The Sheriff didn't really believe that, but it was better that accepting the alternative that Lionel Luthor may once again be manipulating the town she was supposed to be in control of.
Adams keyed her mike and called into dispatch. "Did you get the APB out on the Sullivan vehicle?" Or should I say wreck, if the reports from the school campus are to be believed? She waited at an intersection, and then continued, "I want that car found."
It was an order no one would ever be able to fulfill.
Clark stood in the kitchen window and watched Adams cruiser kick up dust as it exited the farm entrance. The sheriff had never been one of his biggest fans, but now she appeared to think he was just plain loopy.
Jonathan joined his son and put a hand on his shoulder. "Her barks worse than her bite, I'm sure she'll do everything she can."
Clark frowned and turned to look both his parents in the eye. "That's not much when she doesn't know the full story though, is it? I mean where is the person who started all this with the flowers? And why did I get sick last night?"
Martha handed her son a clean shirt. "Sweetheart, sometimes we have to accept that we're not going to get all the answers, no matter how hard we try." The worried mother didn't mention her own concerns. It was better not to upset Clark even further. "What did Pete want?" She asked, changing the subject slightly.
Clark shrugged and buttoned the blue plaid shirt he'd just tugged on. Pete had called earlier right in the middle of Adams interview. Apparently he'd found something out important, but wouldn't say more until Clark and Chloe could join him at the Torch.
"He didn't really say why he called. He wants me to call Chloe and for us to both meet him over at the Torch."
Martha ran a hand over her son's chest affectionately. "Honey, do you think it's safe? We still don't know…" She stifled the urge to carry on. They couldn't suddenly live like hermits because of this thing. Instead she smiled, "Maybe he wants to say a few more farewells before leaving with his mom."
Clark nodded. "Maybe…" Somehow though, he knew this had more to do with Sommerholt, and much less to do with Wichita.
Clark supersped over to the Torch in record time, whipping through local cornfields like some miniature tornado had passed by. As he jogged at a regular pace down the corridor he could see Pete Ross sitting in Chloe's seat waiting for him. Chloe's pc was already booted up and Clark guessed it had been for some time. Pete looked exhausted.
"Hey, have you pulled an all-nighter on your last night in Smallville? Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to Wichita?" Clark scooted around the desk as he noted the bags under his friend's eyes.
"Man, after you called last night telling me what had happened, I decided I wasn't leaving this town with my final Wall of Weird case left unsolved!" Pete grinned playfully and swatted his chum. "Truth is, I didn't want to spend anymore time in the house. The atmosphere was um…"
Clark nodded as he guessed how difficult things must be for Pete. He also couldn't hide his curiosity about what Pete might have discovered. He leaned over, resting an arm on the table. "So, Sherlock, what did you find? If you care to spill before Chloe gets here, that is…"
Pete shook his head. "I need to spill before she gets here. Some of this is about your abilities, or should I say your lack of them last night." As he talked, Pete tapped away at the keyboard almost as lithely as Chloe could. "Man, you're so not gonna believe what I have to tell you though…"
"Oh?" Clark was getting more fascinated by the minute. "Just tell me you've found the mystery flower buyer, Garner has been put away for life with Lionel, and Chloe and I really don't have some horrid bug…" he considered it a moment, "I think I might be asking for too much, huh?"
Pete grinned and pointed at the file he'd compiled over the last few hours. "This all took a whole lot of my time, but here's the gist of it. Turner's were shut down once for supposedly meddling with some kind of alien technology, right?"
"That's what Chloe discovered." Clark winced at the word alien. He still couldn't get used to the idea that he was one.
"Well don't ask how I got this, but this technology involved circuitry so complex it mimicked human cells and thought processes. Highly risky if you ask me…" Pete clicked again and a strange rotating symbol appeared.
To Clark it looked like what Chloe had described on the Turner pc. "You got access to Garner's project!" Clark's mouth dropped open. "How?"
Pete grinned again and tapped the side of his skull. "Let's just say Chloe's not the only one who knows people with hacking skills. You are now looking upon at least some of project 'babysitter'." He crossed his arms triumphantly, and Clark was reminded of the occasion Pete had gone street racing with disastrous results. Sometimes he didn't know when to quit, just like Chloe.
Clark rolled his eyes. "So are you going to tell me, or do I have to super speed read my way through it all before Chloe gets here?"
"To cut a long project short, Garner created something that could manipulate people. Something that even had a mind of its own. I'm guessing the name babysitter was apt because it was meant to keep certain people under its control."
Clark nodded and his eyes widened. "Garner created some kind of synthetic programmable bug! He's been controlling us all along! It must be Kryptonite based…"
Pete couldn't stand the torture he was submitting his friend to any longer and burst out laughing. It wasn't really funny, but then again, it was. Clark and Chloe had been at risk, yes, but not from what they thought. "Man, this thing was never a virus, but I was right in the first place. It was a love bug, just not the kind you were ever thinking of…" More chuckles came and then Pete cleared his throat and tried to be serious as he saw his friend's expression.
"Pete! This isn't funny! Last night I was sick more than once. If it isn't a virus then what is it?" Clark thought about it, and how he seemed to have grown progressively weaker through the night, but hadn't had a bout since the bad guys had caught up with him. "I kept going dizzy and losing my powers right up until Chloe's car got trashed…and it's not as if she had Kryptonite strapped under her passenger sea…" Clark's voice trailed as Pete's idea was suddenly hitting home. He grimaced. "Please tell me you aren't saying what I think you are?"
Pete smirked and then swiveled the monitor so Clark could see the details. Of course it wasn't the actual lab reports, and the wording was cryptic, but babysitter was swiftly making sense. "Chloe's car was your love bug!"
"My car was what?" Chloe breezed in and dropped her purse on the table. Getting to school had required some fast talking to borrow Gabe's car after the loss of her own, and he hadn't been too happy about it. She leaned over, scrutinizing what Pete had been working on and then huffed. "You're really not asking me to believe this?"
Pete wasn't put off. "Think about it, Chloe. Garner knew the potential of the human mind was vast and untapped. He also knew this thing could be even bigger because it combined both biological and technological elements. The file speaks for itself!" he swiveled impatiently in his seat, hoping the reporter saw things his way. She wasn't usually put off by amazing discoveries, after all. "He used it to try and discredit you two for Lionel, while checking out how it reacted in public…trouble was I think he got angry when it decided to match-make instead of following his orders. I doubt where he put the 'babysitter' would have been his first choice, but I guess he was in a hurry."
Chloe put a hand on her hip and frowned. "Wait a minute! So, you're saying Turner's, Lionel or Garner, or whoever paid for this put some alien circuitry in my car while I was knocked out? Pete, it's outrageous!"
Clark winced, "Chloe, you were unconscious a long time for no other good reason…" The teen thought it was a crazy theory, but then what wasn't crazy about Smallville? "When the 'babysitter' decided to go AWOL, you think Garner or Lionel sent those goons in?" He crossed his arms and glanced at Pete who for once seemed to be the one with all the answers to the case.
"That's my bet." A sudden look of concern flashed across his normally affable features, "The only thing is, now that the project is gone, what will those two resort too to keep you guys quiet…"
It was a sobering thought, but then both Chloe and Clark had known the risks before they agreed to testify. I can look after myself, but what about Chloe? Clark thought worriedly, those guys in the van said she was expendable…
Chloe didn't appear uneasy, despite both her chums' abrupt looks of horror. "Don't worry about me," she said offhandedly as she scowled once again at the 'babysitter' report on the screen. "I still can't get my head around all this." She tapped the monitor case, "Although…remember when those guys were chasing us? My car wouldn't turn down that lane you told me to take… and if I had we'd have driven right into that flood water…"
Clark nodded. Thinking about it there had been several occasions the car had saved the day, and they just hadn't considered it as being possible. It must have sent the e-mails, including the one to get out of the Torch through Chloe's PDA. The machine played decoy to try and save us!
"I still don't buy an intelligent car. I prefer the love bug theory any day!" Chloe thought about it. On the other hand, I really don't like the idea of being infected with something meteor related. Not after that time I got sprayed at Luthorcorp…
Pete beamed again. "Your car was a VW Beetle, right? So there ya go, a real live love BUG!" He winked, "and since it's gone there have been no more e-mails, and Clark here hasn't sent you any flowers?" he shrugged as if to say case closed.
Chloe bit her lip but still couldn't resist a sarcastic response. "You're likening my car to a Disney movie? Pete, this whole thing was anything but Herbie goes Smallville! I mean those guys meant business. And even if you're right, what do we do now? We can't exactly tell Adams all this, she already thinks we've gone gah gah after last night…"
The petite blonde reporter moved closer to Clark and entwined her arm around his with a huge grin. "By the way, Pete, there is just one slight error in your flawless case…"
"Oh?"
"Clark already bought me flowers again, and this time he delivered them in person!" She winked, "he brought them over last night after his dad had dropped me off…" A frown crossed Chloe's face and she turned to look up into the towering farmboy's already reddening face, "Say, how did you get the roses and get back to my house so fast? And come to think of it, if Pete's right about my car, that means it stopped me making that call for an ambulance somehow…I mean it's the only explanation, but why?" her head cocked to one side and Clark suddenly wished he was somewhere else.
"Um, shouldn't we really be worrying about what Garner of Lionel might do next?" Clark backed up until he reached the Wall of Weird and there was nowhere else to escape to. Then he looked at Pete for much needed help, "Pete, shouldn't you be going to catch up with your mom?"
Pete let his friend struggle for a few seconds, and then stood from the small office chair to 'rescue' Clark. "He's right, Chloe. I really do need to be heading back home. Are you guys coming to see me off properly this time? I kinda left in a rush before. I mean there's very little we can do here, even if what I found out is for real."
Chloe guessed that Pete was side-tracking her, but let it slide. If Clark didn't want to come clean he wouldn't. She knew that from experience. "So, we just let Garner get away to pull this whole deal again? Even if Lionel is eventually convicted, Garner hasn't officially done anything." She pursed her lips in concentration, but nothing came to mind to help.
"Maybe Lex was right…" Clark seemed to suddenly stare into thin air. His pupils appeared to fix on some invisible think outside the window, and he became almost trance-like until Chloe waved a hand in front of his face.
"Lex said what?" She queried.
"He's more than once said I have a messiah complex," Clark stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets. "I try too hard to save everyone, and solve everything. Maybe we can't always solve things. Maybe we should just let this alone and deal with Lionel. Garner has no reason to bother us if we let it alone. He was just using us for Lionel to see his projects reactions." I can't let Chloe delve more, she's already in danger.
Chloe looked at Pete and then back to Clark. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "So tell me, what planet are you from?"
Clark almost stumbled to the floor with surprise. "Wh..what?"
"Well, first you brought me flowers, now you expect me to not finish this thing to the end? You're not the Clark Kent I know…" Chloe grinned and wondered why he'd gone almost scarlet in the face at her some of her last comments.
"I …I just meant we should finish one thing at a time." Clark winced, "Lionel is our biggest problem. After we testify, then maybe you could do more…"
Chloe grinned. "I'll let it drop for now, if those guys do, and if you promise to buy me flowers every single week! And um…seeing as my 'Herbie' really did go bananas; I might need a ride or two. Dad really won't buy me another car, and he sure won't let me keep using his."
Clark finally let out a sigh of immense relief. "It's a deal, but you have to take up Lex's offer of protection until after the trial, or at least go to the FBI safe house they suggested?"
There was a huff, and for a moment Chloe turned away. In the end though, she could never go against the Kent charm. "I'll go to the safe house until after Lionel's trial, but only if you visit me with those flowers!"
Clark nodded with a smile, and Pete intentionally cleared his throat before things got mushy. "Guys? I really do have to leave now!" There was a tone of sadness in his voice and of worry for his friends, but as he left the Torch office he could have no clue as to what terrible things the next few weeks might have in store for Smallville, Clark, Jonathan, Chloe and Lex.
Epilogue
Garner really hadn't wanted to work for Lionel again after he'd come out of the coma, but the man had an edge. He had proof that Garner and Turner Enterprises really had stolen 'technologies of unknown origin' from the US government.
The project had been going well until Luthor had interfered, demanding that it be used for his own gains.
The Sullivan girl had been easy enough to lure, and even easier to trap and drug, but the 'babysitter' technology had never really been meant for installation into something as primitive as a vehicle's electronic control systems. Nor had it been meant for use as a tool to manipulate witnesses for the prosecution. It was far too advanced for such lowly tasks.
Garner twirled a pen between his fingers and looked at the screens around him filled with wasted hours of work. The 'babysitter' had cost millions to develop and had been a one of a kind creation- at least that's what some people believed. It was the product of a vastly superior intellect that had once been here on earth, many, many years before man had even thought of an electric light, let alone a self aware A.I.
The basis for the project had been found over twenty years ago, in caves that were not too far from the recently discovered Kawatche caverns. It had taken time to understand, and Garner had not been the original project leader. He had succumbed to insanity long ago. No one had realized why, but Garner knew. What they were tampering with could unleash an untold fury on them, should they tap into its real origins.
He smiled to himself. If Lionel Luthor became too much of a burden, or if the kids in Smallville didn't let things drop, well then he might just pay the Kawatche caves a visit and make a deal with the original and still operating A.I. that dwelled there.
Garner's computer screen blinked with a strange and cryptic message that few people understood. The doctor suspected Clark Kent knew the meaning, but that didn't matter. The message repeated, over and over. I'm Waiting…I'm waiting…
The doctor didn't know what the alien thing was waiting for, but he was sure that it must be getting impatient after months of repeating its demand. He tapped the pen on his desktop, letting it slide up and down in his fingers. Finally, he made a decision. After all, if he, a neurologist and psychology expert couldn't make a deal with the thing he had accidentally uncovered, then who could?
Garner stood and tugged off his white lab coat and threw it quickly over his chair. Grabbing a jacket from a nearby coat stand he was in his Jeep in less than two minutes. Even from his new, secret location Smallville wasn't that far away. Why should I try and recreate 'babysitter' when I can have access to a working example of the same technology? Today he would make history. Today, he would make a covert deal with a machine with a far greater intellect and power than any man on earth. Today, Garner would speak with the creation a select few already knew and feared as the entity…Jor-El…
For some, life would never be the same again.
The End