Merhaba! Sorry this came even later than I said it would, it's cos I got back from Turkey late and I had chicken pox for 2 weeks and I had a load of homework to do that I should have done about a month ago! Sorry!

Mindgames

Part 8

A strangled sob was the first thing Clark heard when he stepped cautiously into The Torch. A few steps to the right revealed a man, presumably Aaron, bending over Chloe. Clark's eyes hardened and a mixture of pure, unfiltered rage, dread and fear swept through him.

"Chloe!" He cried out and lunged forward at top speed, knocking the desk separating them over in the process. Aaron started to look up a split second too late to do anything but watch as Clark bowled into him, making sure the blade stayed well away from Chloe as he did so, and they tumbled into the next desk, a tangle of limbs.

Clark scrambled to his feet quickly as Aaron struggled to his. Clark noticed the tears flowing silently down the man's face and hesitated in surprise. He'd never encountered a meteor freak who'd felt remorse for his or her actions before.

"You have to know I never meant for any of this to happen." Aaron spoke quietly, pleadingly, and Clark held back, sensing there was something more going on than your average meteor freak attacking a student. Aaron shook his head and choked on a small sob. "I'm sorry, whoever you are."

With that Aaron caught Clark's gaze and held it, his irises smoothly changing from a dull grey to a sparkling, iridescent green. Clark felt pain clawing at the edges of his mind, the same pain that came when he was in close contact with meteor rocks, and he flinched and stepped back, staggering under the mental attack. Aaron stepped forward as Clark stepped back, their paces perfectly in time.

"Aaron you need to stop this!" Clark gasped, feeling his head spin and his barriers weakening. He staggered back, his knees shaking from the effort exerted on the muscles needed to hold him up, until they finally buckled and he sunk to the floor.

"You have no idea what it's like, do you?" Aaron's bitter voice broke through the pain. "Living life as a freak. If it weren't for Lionel Luthor none of this would have happened! Don't you understand!" He yelled at Clark as if he'd done something wrong in trying to protect Chloe. "I HAVE NO CHOICE!" Aaron advanced on Clark, shaking with barely suppressed anger and sorrow.

Closing his eyes against the agony, Clark reached out to find something to fight back with, and his hand found Chloe's soft hair.

A new purpose surged through him and he squinted up at Aaron, now towering over him with the knife in his hand. Aaron bent down slowly, the blade glinting in the dim light from a lamp, and Clark felt some of his strength come back on a second wind as he sensed Chloe stir in her sleep behind him.

Waiting for the right moment became agony, but when Aaron drew the knife back to thrust it into Clark's neck he forced himself up and tackled Aaron around the waist. They fell back onto the hard floor with a double grunt and Aaron's eyes dulled to the usual grey, his concentration broken.

For a couple of seconds there was silence as both fighters got their bearings, then Clark breathed a quiet sigh of relief and pushed himself into a kneeling position. He glanced behind him at Chloe, who seemed to be unconscious. He twisted back around to Aaron at the sudden noise.

Aaron had managed to keep hold of the knife, and in a desperate and un-thought out move he drove it into Clark's gut. It shattered upon impact, the shards spraying across the room like some sort of tremendous silver firework. Before the first shard could touch the ground Clark had knocked out Aaron with a swift tap to the head and was already dashing back to Chloe, who was stirring and mumbling, her eyes half open.

"Chloe!" Clark sunk down beside her, touching her shoulder. She groaned and lifted her head slightly, revealing a long cut dripping blood along the side of her neck.

"Are you ok? Talk to me!" Clark said urgently, glancing uneasily at the small pool of blood beside her head.

Her eyes flickered open and closed several times in response, and she muttered groggily, "Clark?"

"Yeah, it's me Chloe." Clark reassured, a relieved grin breaking out on his face as she looked up at him with disbelieving eyes. "You're safe now. I'm taking you to the hospital." He added, but she was already out.

He reached out to scoop her up into his arms, then heard a groan from behind him. Sighing, he sped out to the equipment shed on the football grounds and hastily ran back to tie Aaron up with some rope. Then he quickly yet carefully drew Chloe into his arms, her head cradled gently against his chest, and was gone in the blink of an eye.

---

The door swung open cleanly when Clark pushed against it, courtesy of the recent oiling the hinges had been submitted to. His parents looked up, somehow sensing his entrance though he made no sound.

"Clark? What's wrong?" Martha saw her son's white face and immediately her mothering instincts took over. She came over to him and felt his forehead, lines of worry creasing her forehead.

"I'm fine, Mum, really. It's Chloe." Clark sighed, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Jonathon and Martha sunk into seats opposite him.

"What happened, son?" Jonathon went directly to the point.

"You know the break out at Belle Reve I told you about a few days back?" At their affirmative nods he continued. "The guy, Aaron, held Lex hostage and then attacked Chloe."

"Oh my…" Martha gasped. "Are they ok?"

Clark nodded. "Yeah. Lex was unconsious when I got to the Mansion and Aaron had already left - I caught him at the Torch, but Chloe's in the hospital. I think she'll be ok, though she was a little confused and there was a pretty deep cut on her neck."

Jonathon cleared his throat. "So why exactly was this Aaron kid after Lex and Chloe?"

Clark sighed. "It's a long story." He warned.

"Clark." His father said in a tone that left no room for arguments.

"Alright." Clark gave in, and started the long explanation. His father of course was shocked, or perhaps a better word would be angry that Lionel Luthor was involved, after all he didn't put framing an innocent man and holding his sister hostage past the man. No, the thing that had him on edge was the way the Luthors always seemed to be involved one way or another.

"But all this was only according to this Aaron kid, right?" Jonathon checked after he'd finished explaining to the best of his ability.

"Well, yeah, he wouldn't stop talking about it when I got back from taking Chloe to the hospital - the police turned up not too long later so I couldn't really question him that much. He just said that it was all Lionel's fault that this happened, 'he orchestrated it all.'" Clark caught his father's meaningful stare and interpreted it correctly. "Aaron's not all that bad. I know he cared for Chloe-"

"So that's why he attacked her." Jonathon butted in. "And don't forget he nearly tried to kill you too, son."

"No... he just... tried to make me go insane... and then stabbed me with a knife..." Clark replied uncomfortably, growing quieter with each word and knowing he was fighting a losing battle.

"You have no idea why Aaron went after Chloe?" Martha jumped in and saved them from the awkward silence. Clark could have hugged her.

"Not really. I mean, I know Lionel forced Aaron to go after her, but I don't know why. Aaron didn't want to though, he kept saying 'I'm sorry' over and over. He even tried to stop Lionel from forcing him to kill Chloe by threatening Lex instead, hoping that would make Lionel let him go free with his sister."

"So the real question is: what has Chloe done to make her No.1 on Lionel Luthor's hit-list?" Martha mused thoughtfully.

Clark shook his head. "I don't know, but she'd been acting weird lately."

"Define weird." Jonathon shot back.

Clark looked up. "I don't know, she keeps saying things she wouldn't usually say. Like she knows something more than she's letting on…"

End of Part 8

Please review!