Disclaimer: I don't know Smallville and I am not affiliated with it.

To all my reviewers: Thank you for reading and reviewing my story! Your comments are always welcome and always appreciated.

To Anarra: Hopefully this chapter will answer your question. You will find out how and why Chloe and Pete received Clark's powers in this chapter. As for when they received them, Chloe and Pete were hit by a light at the caves in an earlier chapter while camping. It started then, but never became evident for Chloe until the lab and the Chapter 9. It never became evident to Pete until he woke up floating. Therefore, it took some time for the abilities to actually manifest themselves. Hopefully that'll clear things up for everyone who is reading.

Chapter 11

When he reached home, Clark took in a deep breath. Now snow was actually forming around him, and it was starting to scare him.

He walked past the truck and the windshield frosted over. He shook his head and began to walk up the steps to the house. The first one broke in half. Clark gave a silent curse.

Suddenly he felt a giant sneeze coming on. He didn't really understand it, since he hardly ever sneezed, if at all, but something told him to get away from the house. He zipped down the driveway and stopped. Then he let out a giant sneeze. He looked in front of him, and realized he had stopped in front of one of the trees. It now had a covering of snow, and was frozen solid. He looked at his hands. They were back to their normal color.

"Weird." He thought, and walked back to the house, stepping over the broken stair and walking inside.

Immediately he smelled cooked dinner and one of the apple pies that his mom was so famous for. Sitting at the table was his father, reading a newspaper. He looked up when Clark walked in.

"So, how was your day, son?" Jonathon asked.

Clark gave him a look as if that wasn't the question to ask.

Martha looked at Clark. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Where're Gabe and Lana?" Clark asked.

"Gabe went to Metropolis today for an interview, and Lana went to the Talon to do her shift." Martha said. "Why?"

Clark looked at his parents.

"Because I've got a really big problem. Actually, I have two really big problems."

Jonathon looked up with new interest.

Clark decided to just be blunt. "Mom, Dad, Chloe and Pete have my abilities."

Jonathon almost dropped his mug, and Martha grabbed his hand to steady him.

"For how long?" Jonathon asked.

"I don't know. They don't have all of my abilities, but the ones they do have, we kind of just found out about them today."

"Kind of?"

"Well during a lab in geology class a day or so ago, Chloe had the same reaction to kryptonite as me, and today Pete woke up floating and Chloe broke everything in sight!"

Jonathon immediately appeared unconcerned about Chloe or Pete. "You did a lab with kryptonite? How did you manage that?"

Clark became uncomfortable. "Well, I kind of dropped the kryptonite, but we had to stay and finish the lab anyway. Chloe fainted before we could start and I ended up having to tell the teacher that I am allergic to it."

"Clark, you should have come to us. Who knows what could happen if someone finds out?" Jonathon stated.

Clark began to look a little irritated at his Dad's immediate jump to a lecture.

"Jonathon..." Martha warned, catching Clark's look.

Jonathon looked down at his newspaper. It was crumpled in his hand.

He took a deep breath and looked at Clark again. "So how did you say Chloe and Pete got the same abilities as you?"

"It definitely happened at the caves. Just before Jor-el and Lara came forward the light blasted out and hit them too." Clark said, conveniently leaving out the part about the scars.

"Clark, when I had your abilities, the aftereffects were severe. I had heart problems, remember? This may seem ideal, but your friends' lives may be in danger." Jonathon warned.

"Dad, Lara already said that my abilities shouldn't hurt anyone."

"I still don't know how much I would trust them, Clark. It seems too sudden of a turn around."

"Are you suggesting that they're lying?"

"No. I'm telling you to be careful. This may just be a last attempt to sway you to their will."

"Regardless, I'm going to the caves tonight, with Chloe and Pete, and we're going to ask Jor-el some questions."

Jonathon became protective. "Well we're going too, then."

"Dad…"

"No buts, Clark. Jor-el and Lara may seem to have good intent now, but I just can't trust him after everything that's happened."

Clark nodded. There was no way that he was winning this one.

"What's the second problem, sweetie?" Martha asked.

Just then, Chloe walked in, and everyone looked up.

"Hi." Chloe said, as she laid her purse and book bag down. "So, Clark, did you tell your parents about your temperature dropping trick yet?"

"I was about to." Clark responded.

"Really." Chloe quipped. "I could tell by the hesitancy in your voice."

"What temperature dropping trick?" Jonathon asked.

As if on cue, it started to happen again.

Immediately the temperature in the room dropped, a lot.

Clark began to turn a pale color again.

"Clark, are you ok?" Martha asked. "I've never seen you so sickly looking."

"The pale color goes away when this stops." Clark told her.

"How did you get rid of it last time?" Chloe asked.

"I sneezed." Clark said. "You can still see the frozen tree outside."

This caused the Martha, Jonathon and Chloe to run outside, immediately seeing the snow covered tree in the driveway.

"How in the hell did I miss that when I pulled into the driveway?" Chloe said to herself.

Clark walked outside too, and Chloe began to shiver again.

"Alright frosty, until you learn what the hell this is and how to use it, I'm going into the house so I don't die of hypothermia." Chloe said.

"Chloe," Clark protested.

Martha walked inside again because she had to mind dinner in the oven.

"Alright, we're going to have to figure this out," Jonathon joked, "Because this could seriously cause the heating bill to go up."

"Seriously, Dad, I don't even know what this is. At least with everything else it was straightforward. Heat vision was heat vision, speed was speed, but this is what?"

"I don't know, son, I honestly don't know."

Suddenly Clark felt another sneeze coming on. He quickly zipped down the driveway again, but this time didn't get as far. He sneezed, and the cold gust hit Chloe's truck. It froze, not as much as the tree, but it had quite a bit of frost and snow. It looked like it had been out in a snowstorm.

"Dad, I think I'm ok for now, so we should just focus on the caves first and then tomorrow, we can tackle this."

"Clark, you can't put this in the background because of Pete and Chloe." Jonathon warned.

"I know, Dad. I'll be ok until tomorrow. If anything happens, I'll head home right away."

Jonathon, against his better judgement, nodded, and the two walked inside.

Later that evening...

Chloe, Clark, Pete, and Clark's parents were standing in the middle of the caves.

"Lana was pulling out of the Talon when I passed, and she started to follow me." Pete warned. "But I lost her on the way here."

Clark looked gravely at Chloe and Pete and received a sharp glance from his dad.

"We'll worry about that later. Right now we have something else to do." With that, Clark held up the octagonal key that fit into the hole in the cave wall. Immediately a light shot out and two holograms appeared. "Hello Jor-el, Lara." Clark said.

"Hello Kal-el," both Lara and Jor-el responded.

"This must be Jonathon and Martha." Lara said. "It's nice to finally meet you. Thank you so much for taking in Kal-el. You will always have a place in our hearts."

Martha looked at Lara, who looked upset, but grateful. "How are you even here?" Martha asked.

"As you know, Kryptonians are an advanced race. Jor-el knew that the Krypton was going to self-destruct, so we found a way to preserve our spirits in this cave. That way, when we perished, we would still be able to guide our son, if he indeed made it."

Then Jor-el spoke. "I glad that we meet under better circumstances," he said to Martha and Jonathon.

Clark again reminded them why they were here. "Jor-el, Lara, I need to ask you something."

Lara tilted her head as if to acknowledge Clark's request.

"Did you give Chloe and Pete abilities like mine?"

Jor-el looked directly at Clark, and sighed. He had known that this question was coming. "No, I didn't. Lara and I can't do such things, unless it is temporarily done to help you or protect you."

"Then what…" Clark asked.

"It was the chip I was telling you about. When you damaged it, the unit unleashed one last powerful surge of energy to try and sway you. Initially this was supposed to be used if you became out of control and power-hungry, but because of the malfunction, it saw fit to use it anyway."

"So what exactly was it trying to do?" Clark inquired, a little afraid.

"In this case, it had planned to control your friends and use them against you, to make you do what it wanted."

"So what happens now?" Chloe asked. "We could turn on Clark at any time."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Jonathon asked sharply. "Why should I even trust you?"

"Jonathon, you'll have to learn to trust me. I'm not the same Jor-el you've been witnessing for the past year or so. I tell you now that it was a malfunction, not one that we had time to prepare for, so you'll just have to take my word."

Jonathon clenched his fists. Martha put her hand on his shoulder.

"And now that the chip is damaged, Chloe and Pete should stay healthy." Lara said. "But since the chip gave you Kal-el's abilities, we can't take them away until we repair it first."

"What about the scar?" Chloe burst out.

Clark and Pete both glared at her.

"Oh, crap!" she remembered. "Clark's parents didn't know."

"Sadly, we can't get rid of those yet either." Lara told them. "But since the scar was used once before to control Kal-el and because we aren't sure if there is any power left in the damaged unit, you should be careful anyway."

Chloe and Pete nodded.

Lana stood just outside the place everyone was, listening in. As a quick recap she went over the information she had learned.

"Okay, so far I know that Clark has abilities, which Chloe and Pete now have. Clark's real name is Kal-el, and his parents are Lara and Jor-el, who come from Krypton, whatever that means." She thought.

Suddenly, something clicked in her head.

"Krypton is no country I've ever heard of, unless it's a small, war plagued country in Africa or something." Lana thought. "But it can't be, because we're studying Africa and Asia in Geography now."

She let that thought process for a minute.

"Wait a minute, what if Krypton is a planet?" she thought. "Oh my god. Clark's big secret is that he's an alien?" she asked herself.

Immediately she ran from the caves, dialing Lex's cell. When he answered, she said, "Lex, this is Lana. I just figured out something really important. Meet me at the caves, I'm…"

Just then, she bumped into someone and lost her cell. Looking up she realized it was Whitney. "Oh, no!" she muttered.

"Oh, yes." Whitney spat back. Then he grabbed her, stepped on her phone and sped away.

On the other end of the line, Lex said, "Hello? Lana? Anyone? Is anyone there?" and then static was heard.

Back in the caves…

"We don't really understand why Chloe is not susceptible to the red parts of our planet." Lara explained. "However, I would keep a look out for other abilities surfacing in both of your friends, Kal-el, because they can be very damaging should your friends not understand how to control them."

Suddenly the holograms began to fade and blink.

"Jor-el? What's going on?" Lara asked, frantically.

"I don't know! There must be some power left in the unit." Jor-el said, unsure.

"Get out of here!" Lara yelled to the group. "When that light explodes you'll be hurt."

Chloe and Pete had already begun to run, and Clark began to speed toward his parents to get them out. Lara and Jor-el faded completely and the symbols on the wall began to turn and change position. The walls opened and the offending light shot out again.

"It couldn't have been damaged greatly." Clark thought. "The AI in that chip is smarter than Lara and Jor-el give it credit."

Clark couldn't get his parents out in time, so he stood in front of them to protect them. However, the light grabbed Martha, and flung her on the ground, where her head hit a rock and she fainted.

Chloe and Pete, realizing that Clark hadn't followed them out, ran back inside to try and help. Everything was so bright that neither could see anything. Chloe walked into it anyway, desperate to save Clark.

"Chloe, are you nuts?" Pete cried out, but followed her in.

"Chloe? Pete?" Clark yelled. "Don't come back in! Run!"

Chloe tripped over a body on the floor and fell. Turning around she realized it was Martha. Chloe began to check Martha's pulse when the light knocked her into a wall, leaving a huge Chloe imprint. Her scar began to burn.

Now the beam was slamming Clark repeatedly into the wall.

Jonathon was awake, but weakened a great deal. "I knew that Jor-el and Lara set Clark up." He thought, helplessly watching Clark be tortured, and trying not to faint.

"Mr. Kent!" Pete exclaimed, when he ran into Jonathon and realized who it was. "Are you alright?"

"Pete? We have to help Clark and get Martha out of here." Jonathon said.

A worm like light suddenly came at Pete from behind and tossed him inside the wall.

Jonathon's eyes opened wide as he was faced with the one thing that had plagued Clark ever since he put the heart in the spaceship.

It shot through Jonathon, creating pain that Jonathon was sure felt somewhat familiar. It continued to do so, for how long, Jonathon didn't know, until he heard the noise of someone entering the cave.

"Lana?" Lex yelled. Then he noticed the white glow coming from the cave wall.

By this time Jonathon was passed out on the floor.

Lex noticed the light hovering over Jonathon's body and it began to come toward him. Lex followed his immediate instinct, which was to run, but he tripped over someone on the floor and fell.

The light snaked around him and began to engulf him. Lex continued to fight against it. However, before it had a chance to do anything, it stopped and receded into the wall.

Lex sat up and noticed that the Kents, Chloe and Pete, lay in the dirt, unconscious. "Clark?" he yelled.

"Lex? Run!" Clark yelled as much as he could.

Lex looked up to see Clark held on the wall, a snake of white beam shooting into him. The shock on Lex's face was apparent.

With some of the madness left over from his time on the island, Lex ran and jumped in front of Clark, and Clark collapsed on the floor, still awake.

However, Lex wasn't the intended target, and all of the snakes of light disappeared, this time leaving the cave wall open.

Clark was still a bit groggy, but managed to stand up.

"Thanks," he breathed.

"Clark, what the hell just happened?"

Clark just looked at Lex innocently. Lex knew that there was an excuse in the making.

"Clark, you do realize that you can tell me the truth, right?" Lex said.

Clark didn't respond, only to look around, wondering which unconscious person to run to first.

Most of Clark's buttons had broken off in the process, revealing a lot of the scar.

"Clark, what's that?" Lex asked, noticing it. "Did that light burn you?"

"No, it's nothing." Clark said, quickly trying to button up his shirt, but realizing that the buttons were gone.

He gave Lex a look that said, "Now is not the time."

Lex took the hint. "Clark, I'm going to call an ambulance."

Panic appeared in Clark's face. "No."

"Clark, they need medical attention."

Suddenly Pete woke up, and through his blurred sight he saw Lex. He stood up, and stumbled out. At the same time, everyone else began to wake up.

Lex, after making sure everyone was ok, and not in immediate need of medical help, turned his attention to the open wall.

"So how did you do it?" Lex asked.

"Do what?"

"Open the cave. I've had people down here for months trying to open it, with no success, and suddenly you walk in and it decides to open and try to kill you."

Lex began to walk inside, but before he could, the wall closed and the symbols turned back to their original positions.

"That's rather interesting." Lex noted.

Clark walked over to the wall. Just as Lex began to look around at the other symbols, the key formed and fell out of the wall. Clark caught it quickly, so Lex couldn't see.

But Clark was wrong, Lex had seen it, and he glanced over at Clark inquisitively. Clark noticed Lex's glance and tried to hide the key.

"Clark, where did you get that?" Lex asked.

"Get what?" Clark said innocently.

"Oh don't give me that crap Clark. I saw the key in your hand."

"I think you've pried quite enough." Jonathon said.

"Well, considering that the key was mine before the huge twister, I think I have a rightful claim to it."

"It doesn't belong to you." Pete said, with venom.

Lex glared at Pete. "As much as I'd like to stay and argue with you we'll have to fight it out later. I found this outside." Lex held up a cell phone. "It's Lana's. It has her name and address on it. Note how it's smashed. We were discussing business about the Talon when it dropped and went dead, so I tracked it to here."

"Any idea which way she went?" Clark asked.

"Actually, no. I was hoping to find a clue here." Lex told him.

Suddenly Clark heard Lana. "Whitney, put me down right now!" she demanded.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Lex asked, confused.

"Lex, I've got to get something before we look for Lana." Clark said. He then turned around to leave with a bruised Chloe, Pete and his parents.

Lex responded with a nod, but his thoughts were a whole different story.

"After we find Lana, Clark, I will find out what you're hiding." Lex thought.

In Metropolis, in the office of Lionel Luthor…

Lionel looked at his computer screen. It was filled with a live video feed. Little had Lex or Clark known, but he had recently equipped the caves with well concealed cameras. The video currently running on the screen had been quite enlightening to him.

"I knew there was something odd about that boy." Lionel said aloud.

Lionel brought up a draft of his research on the side. It had formulas for the chemical that Whitney had been immersed in, and plans for the project. He minimized and saved the cave video to a USB key, which he put into his safe, and made a mental note to check the earlier video feed as well.

Sitting down again and flicking through the research, Lionel thought about the project. The original idea had been to create a physically superior individual. However, no one in the project knew the real reason for Lionel's interest in it. It had nothing to do with making the ultimate race, as many assumed. Lionel had a rare disease, one that he would eventually die from: a death sentence, if you would. He had tried everything, but the best doctors in the world couldn't help him. They had simply told him to make himself comfortable in the following years. But the one detail that everyone forgot was that he was Lionel Luthor. He would find his cure, even if it was obtained through the most unconventional means, and if Clark was one of those means, then so be it. The only problem with the project was that in order for Lionel to be able to recover from his disease he would need an injection of the superior white blood cells, from someone with the same blood type. Clark's blood type couldn't really be defined and thus, Whitney came into play. Using Whitney to create a copy of Clark had been ideal. But the best part was that Whitney easily was considered MIA, leaving Lionel to do as he pleased with him. Yet, the scientists had run into another problem recently. The serum of refined meteor rock had reacted to Clark's blood almost violently, and therefore they couldn't be sure if Whitney's antibodies would react the same way. One of the scientists, Dr. Vera, had experimented with an alternate solution: a direct injection of the potent liquid into the body instead. However, before today Lionel hadn't known exactly what Clark was. That fact alone could be the key to the project, but the only way to use it was if he caught Clark, and did tests on him.

The other problem was that he had to get Whitney back. The plan was for Whitney to leave, to observe him, see what his mental state would be, and then bring him back to the lab. Lionel had to make sure of Whitney's behavior before engaged in the full treatment himself. Whitney had a tracking device on him which Lionel brought up on the map and used to locate his whereabouts. Normally Lionel would let his men fetch Whitney, but this time he was going to do it himself. He wanted to perform a small test first.

Lionel looked around cautiously. All of his staff were busy or finished their shift. He wouldn't be bothered. Closing the curtains to his office, he took a vial of green liquid out of his pocket. His impatience had gotten to him earlier that day. Vera said that she still had to run some tests, but what did he have to lose? He was dying anyway. Rolling up his sleeve he took the cap off the vial and injected it into himself. He could feel himself getting stronger. He walked over to the mirror. His irises now had a green tint, but weren't fully green. "Excellent," he thought. "It's working." He knew this because Vera had told him the confirmatory check to make sure the serum was functioning. He quickly replaced the vial in his pocket and opened the curtains. He was going to test the refined serum against Whitney's strength, and then he was going to bring him back, with backup if needed.

He closed the research on his computer and logged out, and then called the pilot of his helicopter. "Prepare to leave in half an hour," he said.