Achilles Heel
Part 2: Not in Kansas anymore...

Chloe felt as if the universe had been turned upside down, inside out and sideways on every level. Her legs gave way, and she found herself kneeling on a warm metal floor in the middle of a high, vaulted room. The glowing portal behind her flickered then died.

"You rely shouldn't have done that." Jon gasped in pain, "Ship; find Jenny..."

A strange humming noise filled the air, as Chloe stood, looking around. She walked over to the wall and pressed the palm of her hand against it: it glowed softly for a moment, and then started to part before her, revealing a panoramic view of the Earth from high orbit.

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto..." Chloe gasped as she watched Africa slowly glide by.

The sound of running feet grew louder as another section of wall parted to admit a tall, oriental looking woman in a white cat suit. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Chloe, her jaw dropping as her eyes went wide.

"Chloe..." She gasped, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I don't know were here is." Chloe looked round, equally shocked, "Jon was hurt. He tried to get through some kind of portal, but he couldn't make it on his own..."

"Oh my god!" The woman ran over to the crumpled form on the floor, "We have to get him to the medical bay."

"No; can't let the others know." Jon shook his head, "Try and stop me again..."

"On your head be it." The strange woman looked up, "Ship, seal the room: don't let anyone in or out. I'm going to need a medical scanner and a full trauma kit." She turned to Chloe, "What the hell happened to him?"

"I'm not sure; some man named Santini tried to arrest me and Jon stopped him. But he was shot by something he called a 'mystically enhanced bullet'."

"I was afraid of that: magic is just about the only thing that can hurt him." The woman ripped Jon's coat off to get a closer look at the wound, "What the hell id you think you were playing at? You knew full well that King was going to sort it all out when Santini handed her over to the UN. Why did you get involved?"

"You know me; always trying to do the right thing." Jon laughed through gritted teeth.

"You are too much like your father." The strange woman grabbed Chloe's wrists and forced her hands down against the wound, "Press there: we need to stop him bleeding to death before I can get the bullet out."

"Who are you?" Chloe asked, "I feel like I know you."

"Tell...tell her." Jon gasped as he passed out.

"Shit!" The woman swore again, "You really don't recognise me, do you?" She asked Chloe.

"No." The young reporter shook her head.

"It's me, Jenny, Jenny Quantum." The woman smiled, "Or at least, I will be in about fifty years or so. Welcome to the later half of the 21st Century."

"What?" Chloe almost collapsed to the floor.

"Keep applying pressure!" Jenny grabbed her hands and placed them back on to Jon's wound, "Sorry to throw you off the deep end like that, but time is not something we have a lot off."

"Where are we? What's going on?"

"Can't tell you; don't want to risk a temporal paradox. Well, any more than we already are."

"What do you mean?"

"Jon went back in time to change the past." Jenny explained as part of the wall morphed into a medical scanner. It turned on, showing the bullet lodged between Jon's ribs, "Good; it's within reach." She reached round behind Jon and pulled a knife from his belt, "Now try and hold him still; this is going to hurt like a son-of-a-bitch!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Chloe asked as Jenny stuck the dagger into the wound, "You're making it even worse!"

"Well 1) I'm trying to remove the bullet so Jon's body can heal itself. And 2), this knife is made of thirty-thousand-year-old Kheran steel, one of the few things that can actually cut him."

"That's a Kheran blade? I've heard of them, but I've never met one. How did Jon get it?"

"It was a 21st Birthday gift from a friend." Jenny squinted, "Almost got it..."

There was a loud bang, and the huge metal door vibrated visibly.

"What was that?" Chloe asked, looking round.

"Oh bugger!" Jenny hissed, "I was hoping we'd have a little longer before they found us."

"Who? What are you not telling me?"

"Sorry; got to protect the time-line." Jenny flicked the knife back, the bullet flying into the air, spinning end over end until she caught it, "Nasty little bugger!"

"Oh my god..." Chloe sat looking at the wound in Jon's side as it closed in a mater of moments, "Who, what is he?"

"His story, not mine." Jenny stood, the banging on the door growing louder "You've got to before they get through: the less contamination the better."

"What I miss?" Jon opened his eyes, his hand automatically pressing against were the bullet had been longed, "Have they found us yet?"

"Afraid so." Jenny helped him to his feet, "you'd better take...Chloe and head back."

"Ok." Jon swayed slight, feeling light-headed, "Ship, I'm going to need a Door back to Smallville, as close to the time we left as you can get us." The lights dimmed as another glowing yellow portal appeared in the middle of the room, casting strange shadows. "Come on." Jon grabbed Chloe's hand as he looked over his shoulder at Jenny, "What ever you do, don't let them follow us."

"I got your back." Jenny smiled, "Good luck, Kid."

Jon moved towards the glowing portal just as the chamber door finally gave out under the relentless impacts. It fell inwards, almost hitting Jenny, but she was able to dive out of the way just in time.

Chloe looked round, and her eyes went wide as she saw the face of the man on the other side, "Cl..."

"...ark?" She finished her question back on the street outside the Planetary office in downtown Smallville, the portal closing behind them. The ground was still littered with broken glass from the sonic blast that had knocked her through the nearby window. A police siren could be heard in the distance, getting closer.

"We don't have much time." Jon walked over to where his spilt blood lay on the ground. He looked at it intently for a moment, and it started to evaporate as if it was under a blowtorch.

"Practical invulnerability, super speed and heat vision?" Chloe asked, arms folded, "Something you want to tell me?"

"I'd rather not." Jon cocked his head towards the approaching sirens, "And I doubt either of us would like to stay and explain what happened to the Sheriff."

"Agreed." Chloe headed towards a nearby alleyway, "But I still want to know just what the hell's going on. And it had better be the truth."

"Fine." Resigned, Jon followed, waiting until they were several blocks away and the sound of sirens had died before taking a deep breath, "My full name is Jonathan Gabriel Kent, and I'm your son."

To Be Continued...