Chapter Three:

Amazing. The rush was amazing. He felt it rip through his entire central nervous system and he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. His eyes opened and he wrapped the necklace twice around one wrist, the sleeve of his shirt hiding it from view. His conscience was quieter now; the voices of recrimination that had bounced around the inside of his skull had faded to an ignorable level. He decided there and then that red kryptonite was the best kind of anaesthesia.

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Chloe Sullivan had known since the night before Alicia Baker's murder that Clark Kent was special. She'd seen with her own two eyes just what he could do, that what he'd done had defied the laws of physics, of gravity and just about any other natural law she could think of. What she wasn't sure about was whether Clark's abilities were because of the meteor shower, because if not, then the implications of what she'd witnessed that night were huge.

She stood in the centre of the Kawatche caves and guided the torch's beam across the ancient illustrations. Clark was deeply fascinated with this place. He'd told her in the past that he liked to come here and visit, look at the paintings and just chill out, he'd said that the place gave him some kind of peace. Maybe it was more than that, perhaps the answers were here.

The sound of a footstep had her swinging around in fright. The light sliced through the semi-darkness and picked out a figure stood up against one rough-hewn wall. It took her a second to recognise Clark. His hand came up to shield the light beam from his eyes.

"Clark!" she exclaimed, clutching at her chest. He straightened.

"Didn't mean to scare you. What are you doing here?" he took a step towards her and she lowered the torch.

"I could ask you the same question" he looked at her, eyeing her up and down, the expression on his face something she wasn't entirely comfortable with.

"We're not talking about me," he answered. Chloe watched him turn and walk back to where he'd been standing. He'd changed his clothes. Instead of the usual plaid shirt and jeans, he now wore a plain coloured shirt of deepest navy blue, almost black. The jeans were the same but the combination suited him.

"I've never spent much time here and I was curious" she replied. Clark swung around.

"You were curious? Come on Chloe, why don't you admit it? You were looking for me. And now you've found me" she frowned.

"What's with the attitude Clark?" she watched him push his hands into the pockets of his jeans and rock back on his heels for a second.

"Maybe I don't like you intruding on my quiet time" his voice was low but Chloe heard every single word of it and read the nuance of it loud and clear.

"I wanted to take a look around Clark, is that a problem? I didn't realise that you actually owned this place, I thought it was open for anyone to see?" she retorted acerbically. She turned around and shone the torch light back over the paintings on the wall. Apparently they were over five hundred years old.

"You're really interested in these?" Chloe turned her head slightly when she heard his voice close to her ear. She'd been so immersed in them that she hadn't heard him approach.

"Yeah, I really am. Can't you just imagine them being inscribed into these walls five centuries ago? I mean that's before the Founding Fathers, the Revolutionary War. What kind of people did this? Who were the Kawatche tribe, did they think that their work would be discovered here half a millennia later and more importantly why did they do this?" she turned around to look at him more fully. He saw the sparkle in her eyes. When she was on a roll he had to admit, she really came alive.

"They left them here to tell a story. Didn't you know that already Chloe?" his voice was almost a drawl and the animation faded from her face.

"Are you on drugs?" Soft laughter greeted her question.

"I wish I was, it would make everything that much easier," he murmured. Chloe sighed.

"Clark…" she went towards him and halted when he took a step backwards.

"Forget that I said anything" he replied darkly. She took another step towards him and he retreated again.

"You're really starting to freak me out!" she exclaimed. He just looked down at her.

"I'm freaking you out Chlo'? Can you just imagine what I'm doing to myself?" he retorted. He had the satisfaction of seeing her look at him as if he'd completely lost his mind. He spun around and walked away. For a mini second Chloe watched him leave before chasing after him.

She caught up with him at the mouth of the caves. She reached out and grabbed his wrist, felt something beneath the cuff of his shirt. He stopped and looked at her. He tried to pull his hand away but she pushed the sleeve up and her eyes widened at the makeshift bracelet that he wore. It wasn't the fact that he wore it, just that the red stones in it glowed. Clark yanked his arm free and continued to walk away.

"Clark!" he didn't stop and she watched him leave.