Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville, nor am I affiliated with it.
Thanks to all the reviewers! I've read some new reviews and it's nice to know that others have begun to read this story. I know three months is a little long, but I've been concentrating on one of my other stories. Another thing is that one of my faithful reviewers kindly pointed out some major mistakes, OOC moments, and loopholes I failed to acknowledge. I've read through and decided there is a lot that I could improve on in this story. Therefore, I will be revamping the entire story. However, the plot will remain intact, but one or two slight scenes or occurrences will be changed, along with some of the reasons for these occurrences. All in all, once it is done, I believe it will flow better. However, this may take a while, so I'll continue to update and as I change chapters I will re-upload them. However, I thought I'd post Chapter 18 as is since I've waited so long to update, but I'm now writing Chapter 19 along with it, so I'll update within a week. On an end note, thanks for being so patient with me, and please, enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 18
Clark sat in his room desolately, thinking about his punishment (he had pushed the other events out of his head for the time being). It was times like this he hated his dad; cursed him; wished he'd never been found. It was his decision to tell whomever he liked about his secret, and it wasn't even his fault anyway. If only his dad didn't have it in for Luthors, he wouldn't be sitting endlessly on his bed, grounded. Grounded – he'd never been grounded before. The word was bitter to his tongue, and the bitterness spread as he complained silently about being punished for something unnecessarily. A small tap on the window broke his circle of thoughts. Reluctantly he looked out. Chloe was standing under the window, along with everyone else.
"Jump out!" Chloe mouthed. "Sneak out."
Clark shook his head no. He would've run outside, but his parents knew when he was moving in super speed due to the breeze he caused, and he didn't want to jump out of the window because he was, well, rather afraid of heights. Well, saying he was afraid was being mild; he was petrified of heights. For someone who couldn't get hurt, he was pretty lame.
Chloe ran away and came back holding a sheet of some sort. Everyone grabbed the ends and held it out for Clark.
"Jump!" Chloe again mouthed.
Not wanting to look any more like a pansy than he already did, he wrenched open the window and jumped out, landing softly on the sheet. He started to feel pain and Whitney jumped back, apologizing rapidly.
Chloe yanked him up and they all piled into the jeep, heading for the Talon.
After being situated and getting their individual coffees, Chloe began to discuss the matter at hand. Her voice lowered to a whisper.
"Clark, we've decided on a few things in your absence. First of all, we're going to hit Lionel's office at midnight two days from now. Second, yours and Whitney's jobs have to occur away from the other. Thus, we have Whitney monitoring security. He is going to head straight for the main security control room, knock out the guy working there and take over. He'll alert us to anything we need to know. I'm going to sneak into Lionel's office. There's a good chance that he has red kryptonite there in case Whitney comes back, and I'm immune. Plus I have the best hacking skills. Pete will do a roundabout check so we won't have any surprise problems with security guards, etc. Lana is going to drive the getaway vehicle, since we don't want her to get hurt. You, Clark, are going to head directly to the file room and sift through the files. Get any files on you, the day of the meteor shower, and any other interesting incriminating evidence. I mean, we may as well make the best of it, right? And Lex is going to give us the key to get in. So what do you think?"
"It's a great plan. When were you talking to Lex?"
"While you were sitting up in your room feeling sorry for yourself." Chloe joked.
Clark shot her a hard stare. "Now that I think of it, there is one little wrinkle in your plan. Whitney may be watching the cameras, but what happens after? We'll still be on the security tapes."
"Okay…so maybe Clark has a point. Well, we can have Whitney take the tapes when we leave." Chloe added.
"What if we miss one, or what if the tapes can't be taken? Lionel has incredibly good security. We'd be wrong to be naïve when dealing with him." Clark said.
Chloe and Lana blinked, almost unbelievably, at the fact that Clark Kent, the once naïve farm boy was proving to be less naïve than everyone else. They realized that although the secret was out, Clark proved to have many more surprises in store for them.
Chloe regained her composure and began to answer, but Pete chimed in first.
"We burn out the cameras." Pete suggested.
"First I can look to see if there are any obvious threats in any of the rooms, then I'll signal for Pete and Clark to enter and burn the cameras. How does that sound?" Whitney suggested.
"Pete doesn't have heat vision." Chloe pointed out.
"Well then, Clark could burn the cameras." Whitney said. "What do you think?"
"Not too bad, but what would the signal be?" Lana asked.
"I have two CB's at home." Pete said. "They work within a mile or so radius. Whitney can tell Lana when the coast is clear, and she can tell us to enter."
"Sounds good…" agreed a voice from behind.
Everyone turned to find Lex standing next to their booth. "…except for one thing. You might need a blueprint. That's one of my father's bigger buildings, and the blueprint tells where each camera is. Unless, Clark has a power I don't know about," he joked.
Clark looked at him funny.
"What? Don't tell me you can see through walls too?"
Everyone looked at him strangely.
"You can't…can you?" Lex asked.
"Actually…" Clark began.
"Oh right, I remember now. So much has been going on, I'd forgotten. I guess that solves that problem then, but for those of us without x-ray vision, I still have an outline."
"Well, actually…" Chloe began, remembering that Clark still needed to show her how to use it.
"I think I'll take it. We need it for the non-super powered people here." Lana said, a little bitterly.
"Alright, can we stop discussing my, I mean your, I mean…our powers and continue with the plan?" Clark asked.
"Clark, my man, what's wrong?" Pete asked.
"Just thinking about how I am going to be grounded for longer than eternity when Dad finds out that I snuck out." Clark said. "I wish I had a power to duplicate myself."
"Like that freak you put in Belle Reve?" Lana said, suddenly realizing everyone was glaring at her. "What?"
"Freak is not the choice word." Chloe said.
"Let's not fight among ourselves. We need to get along for this plan to work." Whitney stated.
"So when is this going ahead?" Lex asked.
"Two days from now, at midnight." Pete offered.
"Okay, so what do you guys need a getaway car for?" Lana asked. "You guys can obviously run faster than I can drive, and have less of a chance of an accident too."
"We don't want anyone to find out, more than already know anyway." Clark said. "I mean this has been the worst week when it comes to secrets coming out."
Lex heaved a sigh. He hoped that this worked out.
"So do you mind if I have a seat?" Lex asked.
"Oh! Sure, sorry." Chloe said, blushing madly. She couldn't believe she hadn't even offered him a seat.
"So what's the plan for the rest of the night?" Whitney asked.
"How about some football?" Pete asked.
Clark's face scrunched as he pictured Lana being tackled by all four powered-up teens. "Or not. Think of something that wouldn't involve Lana as a pancake."
"That's ok. I was going to go on home for a while anyway." Lana said. "How about I just see you all later and we can catch a movie or something?"
"Sounds good." All but Lex agreed.
Lana stood up and left to go to her jeep.
"I think I could take you in football." Lex said, with a glint in his eye.
"Is that a challenge?" Chloe asked.
"You don't know what you're dealing with." Pete said smirking.
"I believe you'll find me quite capable." Lex challenged.
"Trust me, Lex. You'll get hurt." Clark said, but Pete accepted the challenge.
"Meet us at the fields behind the Kent's farmland." Pete said.
"It's a deal."
Lana, meanwhile, was driving back to the Kent's in the jeep. She wondered when everyone was going to be home. In all fact she knew that Clark, Chloe, Pete, and Whitney had wanted to just hang out and not have to worry about using their abilities. That was why she had left. It was difficult being the only non-super powered person, well, with the exception of Lex, who usually didn't participate in their activities anyway. It was times like these she felt a tinge of jealousy that she hadn't been there on the day that Clark's abilities were passed on, although she was glad she had done without the scar. Even so, she still felt left out.
She suddenly noticed a vehicle in her rearview mirror.
"Why would someone be out on these roads?" Lana thought to herself. "Someone who doesn't know the Kents, anyway."
She passed the Smallville sign and took a right. The car followed. Even when she turned into the gravel road where the Kent Farm was, the car followed her. It definitely wasn't Lex, as it was an older, wore away model, something Lex wouldn't want.
She shut off the jeep and began to run towards the house. With each step it seemed as though she had further to go. She heard the door of the car shut and someone step out. She didn't even hear footsteps before someone strong grabbed her from behind.
"Help!" she screamed, but by the time the Kents ran outside, she had disappeared.
On the next farm over, Wayne Irig glanced at the Kent farm. Two vehicles had been parked outside, and now the car had left. He had an ominous feeling that something was wrong. A couple of minutes ago, he ran outside because he thought he had heard a faint scream. He could've sworn it came from the Kent Farm.
After checking around enough to satisfy him, Wayne walked back into the house. He could've called over to see if everything was okay, but he and his family had just moved into the previous Lang Farm and the phone company hadn't gotten around to hooking his phone up yet.
"Unpacking will have to wait." He thought. "I'm taking the truck over to see if anything's wrong."
P.S. And yes, it does matter that Dale and Melissa, as well as Mr. Grant, are suspicious.
Something does come out of it, you'll just have to wait and see.
Please keep in mind when reading, too, that I'm trying to bring in different characters from other shows such as Lois & Clark, to kind of connect the two. So to let you know, Wayne Irig was the Kents' neighbor in Lois & Clark. If you're really curious, see the episode "The Green Green Glow of Home"