A/N: I don't own these characters or the shows they come from. I'm just borrowing them for a while.
"Clark doesn't have an uncle, does he?" Chloe asked Pete. They were relaxing over coffee at the Talon, the local Starbucks-like hangout.
"I mean, you've known Clark and his family a long time, since you were little kids right? Did Clark's uncle ever come to visit?"
"Not that I know of." Pete replied. "Actually, I can't remember his family ever visiting at all. Kinda funny now you think about it." Pete mused. "Why the sudden interest, anyway?"
"Well, I called Clark to tell him about the movie, and he said he was leaving with his folks to visit his uncle. Family emergency, he said. He planned to be gone awhile, 'cause he asked us to take notes. When I called back later, I got the machine so I kind of took a drive and nobody was home. It's like they packed up and left in one night. Don't you think that's strange?"
Pete shrugged. "Well, if I had a family emergency with an uncle I hadn't seen in awhile and he wanted me to come I'd probably leave in a hurry, too. Did he say when he'd be back?"
Chloe shook her head. "Nope. He was kind of evasive at the end, though. I wonder where he really went."
Pete frowned. "I guess we have to wait to find out."
Chloe got a familiar thoughtful look on her face. "Maybe. Maybe I'll just do some digging, instead. Wanna come with?" she asked, rising.
"Sure, why not. The Torch?" he asked, referring to Chloe's main hangout in the school, where she worked on the school newspaper and did research on its computers.
"The Torch." Chloe nodded, her mind already set to explore her newest mystery, the whereabouts of her friend, Clark.
Several levels underground, beneath Cheyenne Mountain, Clark was sitting in the front room of the suite on a comfortable chair, facing his parents who were sitting on a sofa with Lex next to him on another large chair. They had unpacked and freshened up, and had just finished a simple meal. Now they were waiting to be taken to the briefing, and Lex could tell Clark was nervous. His friend kept picking at a thread on the sleeve of his flannel shirt, and the silence was uncomfortable. Lex smiled and put out a hand, grasping Clark's arm and stopping the nervous gesture.
"Hey" he said gently. "It's going to be okay. They already know you're different, and they seem to be okay with it. I'm going to read over the confidentiality agreement, and make sure that your rights are protected. Might as well put all that fancy schooling to good use, huh?"
He grinned at Clark and his parents, and they seemed to relax a bit.
"Lex, thank you." Martha smiled at him. "I don't know what we would have done. You've helped so much already." She looked at Jonathan, asking silently if they should share Clark's real secret with Lex. It was clear the young Luthor would stand by his friend, but fear still silenced their tongues.
Clark looked at his friend, torn. Lex had said he would protect him, and seemed to mean it. He wanted to tell him the truth, but didn't know if Lex would still want to be his friend if he knew. He looked at his parents, and then there was a knock at the door.
"Come in." Jonathan called out, and Col. O'Neill poked his head in.
"You folks ready?" he asked. They nodded, and he jerked his head towards the hallway, winking at Clark. Clark smiled, relieved. Maybe things really would be okay. They took an elevator a few more levels down. Martha watched the increasing numbers with apprehension.
"Just how far below the ground are we?" she wondered, and didn't realize it had been aloud until O'Neill replied.
"Quite a ways. Don't worry though; we're nowhere near the earth's core."
At her uncomprehending look, he sighed.
"Joke. Just a joke. Look, everything will be fine, okay? The General is really just a big teddy bear when you get to know him. And we've seen a lot of strange things. Now I can't go into details here" he said, looking around the elevator. "But don't worry. Believe me, Clark here is not the most unusual person we've ever met. That's all I'm gonna say about it till the briefing."
He finished, trying to put his nervous charges at ease. The speech seemed to work, and they exited the elevator trailed by security and headed to the briefing room. O'Neill was already wondering just how much Gen. Hammond planned to tell his guests when an alarm began to blare.
"For crying out loud," O'Neill muttered under his breath. They hadn't even gotten to the briefing room! "Okay," he said to the civilians. "Just follow me quickly here and into this room, and then don't leave it under any circumstances. Unless that is I come and tell you to." He shepherded them into the room and closed the door after the two guards entered. The rest of his team was already present, and General Hammond was on the phone.
"Unscheduled offworld activation" Daniel mouthed to him.
"Peachy." He whispered back.
"What's happening?" Clark asked.
"Well, you might find that out sooner than we thought, but I have a feeling that for now you'll just have to wait here. His suspicions were confirmed when Gen. Hammond got off the phone and addressed him.
"Colonel, I need you and your team at the Gate room, now. Folks, there's just a little matter that needs to be attended to before we can get started; I hope you can be patient just a little longer." Gen. Hammond finished talking to the civilians.
"Of course, is everything all right?" Martha asked.
"Everything is under control, but I'll ask you to stay here for the time being, all right?" Gen. Hammond didn't want to panic these people.
"We'll be back soon." O'Neill told them, as he, Hammond, and his team exited, heading for the Gate room.
"Well, that was different." Lex stated. "They left before the meeting even started. That's a record for me." He looked around with interest, but the room was plain except for desks, chairs, and office supplies for meetings. And, of course, the two guards, who had stayed and were looking quite calm. Maybe this happened a lot. Clark was looking toward the door, and squinting.
"Clark?" he asked.
Clark was looking through the door to the hallway. He followed O'Neill's progress to an elevator, which he couldn't see into but followed it down to another level and then saw O'Neill and his team getting out, stopping along the way to pick up weapons and then running into a room. His view was blocked from the room itself-it must contain lead. Something dangerous must be in that room, he thought. The door to the room had closed, and Clark snapped his sight back to the present.
"Sweetheart? What is it?" Martha asked her son.
"Nothing," Clark replied.
He looked meaningfully at the guards, and then shrugged. Martha nodded, and Lex cocked his head, intrigued. Clark walked until he stood next to Lex, and whispered into his ear.
"I can see through stuff." He revealed.
He'd thought about it, and decided that since Lex already knew he was different and that the military might find out about his other powers during their tests and observations he would tell his friend first and let Lex protect him as he'd claimed he would.
Lex was shocked but managed to cover it. Actually, it explained some things he'd wondered about. Clark could always find missing items, and seemed to know things almost as though he had ESP. Actually, Lex had considered that a possibility. He swallowed, and then nodded silently; accepting what Clark had said and looking into his friend's eyes he reaffirmed his promise to protect him. Clark sighed in relief, and then one of the guards' walkie-talkies crackled to life.
"Sergeant, keep those people in that room!" O'Neill's voice boomed. "We have a breach!"
Instantly weapons appeared in the guards' hands and they looked very alert. The quartet from Smallville looked at each other, confused.
To be continued.
A/N add-on: HarbringerLady, thanks! I'm still learning, and appreciate your comment. Thanks everyone for your comments. I kinda get to find out what happens myself just before you do, my brain is giving me lots of ideas. Have a great day!