The fact that Chloe lived right above a coffee shop meant that she had no reason to miss the morning coffee rush.
But she had. And what was even more unusual was that there was a trail of muddy footprints leading to her apartment door.
"Chloe?" Clark said as he opened the door. He and Emmeline found her kneeling on the ground and examining a pair of muddy boots and tracks all over the floor. "Hey, we were all supposed to meet for coffee this morning."
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Chloe said slowly, her eyes trailing the prints outside. "I guess I must have slept in."
Clark and Emmeline entered the apartment and closed the door behind them. "After a run in the mud? What, did you forget to wipe your feet?"
"All I remember is I was doing my dishes here at the apartment and then…I'm waking up in bed."
"Maybe you were sleepwalking."
"Last night, possibly, but this isn't the first time this has happened. Two days ago, I was typing on my computer at the Daily Planet, and then, boom, I'm waking up at home the next morning."
"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Emmeline asked. "The last time you'd lost several hours of your life, you had been kidnapped. And aside from that tracking chip, we still don't know what exactly happened that night."
"No, this was different. When I woke up that morning, everything felt normal. With this, I know that something has happened. It's almost like I just kind of black out for a few hours. Do you guys think maybe something's starting to happen to me? Like in a krypto-freak kind of way?"
"Hey, don't reporters usually deal in facts, not jumping to conclusions?" Clark said gently.
Chloe sighed. "Yeah, I know. It's just that ever since I found out that I'm a member of the meteor-infected masses, I've been seriously and secretly freaking out."
"I don't blame you. You don't have to go through this alone, all right? Come on, I'll give you guys a ride to work."
"Okay."
After Chloe had gotten dressed and snagged a coffee downstairs, she hopped into the passenger seat of Clark's truck while Emmeline squeezed into the back.
"Chloe, when you blacked out at the Planet, do you remember what you were working on?" Clark asked as he headed to Metropolis.
"Just a story about tree planting in Circle Park," Chloe answered. "I mean, nothing controversial." Her brow furrowed when she saw several police cars sitting in a muddy field with a few sheriffs looking at an expensive and muddied vehicle. "Is that Lex's car out there? Let's go see what's going on."
"Chloe, no offense, but I think Lex can get his own Triple-A."
"Something doesn't seem right. Let's turn around."
Clark let out a disbelieving sigh.
"Come on."
Finally relenting, he turned the wheel and drove into the field until they were a few feet away from the police cars. The three of them hopped out of the truck directly onto the very muddy ground. Emmeline decided not to complain how the terrain was going to ruin her shoes. They weren't her favorite pair anyway.
An employee from LuthorCorp chatted with one of the officers examining Lex's car.
"Looks like the police got here before Lex's cleanup crew could mop up," Clark remarked.
They watched as the employee pulled out a phone.
"That LuthorCorp security guard just grabbed his cell phone," Chloe noticed. "It's time to perk up those ears."
Clark turned his head to the side and concentrated for several seconds. Then he looked at the employee in surprise.
"What is it?" Chloe asked.
"Lex didn't crash by himself. He had a little help. And whoever it is stole his flash drive."
"Do we know who Racer X is?"
"No, but their vision's only 20/20." He squinted his eyes and looked directly at Lex's car. "What's that?"
"What's what? Did you find Lex's flash drive?"
Emmeline and Chloe looked at Clark's hands and saw that he was now holding an object in his hands that definitely hadn't been there a second ago. Emmeline looked at the car and then back at him several times.
"Did you just…" Chloe started.
"I found something. It's a button."
Chloe's heart sank when Clark held the object out for her. "That's my button." She looked at the sleeve of her coat where two pieces of string revealed a missing black button exactly like the one now in her hand.
"Either this is some bizarre coincidence, or you—"
"I was here last night."
Chloe frantically stormed into her apartment and went for her bag. "Do the math, guys. The muddy boots, the missing button. It's me. I'm the Road Warrior."
"Chloe, before you throw the book at yourself, there's probably another explanation," Clark said calmly.
Chloe slowly pulled a flash drive out of her bag. "Can you explain this?"
Clark and Emmeline's eyes widened in shock.
"Let's face it. I'm guilty as charged."
"Okay, wait, slow down," Emmeline said. "How many times have things not been what they seemed in this town? Maybe you were there and maybe you took the flash drive, but the fact that you don't remember it means there's something else going on here, and we'll figure it out."
"Em's right," Clark added. "Whatever you did, you clearly weren't yourself."
Chloe quickly went over to her computer and inserted the flash drive into the USB port.
"Wait, what if that puts a virus on your computer?" Emmeline said.
"Oh, please, you think there's a virus out there that I can't get rid of?" the blonde answered.
After thinking that over, Emmeline nodded in agreement.
Chloe opened the contents on the flash drive. "There's only one document on here. And it's a krypto-freak's case file."
"Is there a name?" Clark asked.
She scrolled down the document. "No, it just lists an ID number."
Clark's eyes quickly scanned the details of the file. "With a serious ability. They're suspected of being able to control meteor freaks."
"Clark, whoever this is, I think they controlled me."
"Chloe, of all the people in the world, why would they choose you to run Lex off the road?" Clark looked back at the file. "Date of birth: September 20, 1960."
"Born in Granville, Kansas," Chloe read. She hesitantly clicked on a link to a photo of the patient. A picture of a woman with messy black hair in blue scrubs popped up, and Chloe thought her heart might stop. "That's my mom."
The three of them traveled to the mental institution where Chloe's mother had been housed for several years. Emmeline distinctly remembered when she had come here as moral support for Chloe seeing her mother again for the first time in nearly ten years. Chloe had made several visits alone since that day, but the last couple times she'd come to see her, her mother hadn't been responsive.
"Chloe, wasn't your mom catatonic the last time you saw her?" Clark asked.
"Look, I don't often play late-night bumper cars," Chloe answered. "She was obviously controlling me. The question is, why?"
"We don't know anything for sure yet."
"My mom can manipulate krypto-freaks, and whether we want to admit it or not, I'm part of that demographic." Chloe stepped up to the front desk. "Hi. Chloe Sullivan. I'm here to see my mother, Moira Sullivan."
The man standing behind the desk with his arms crossed glared at her. "Did you not understand us the first time? You were asked never to come back here."
Chloe frowned in confusion.
Clark stepped up next to her. "I'm sorry. There must be some sort of mistake. She hasn't been here for months."
"Your friend created a huge scene yesterday, and we don't want a repeat performance," the man told him.
"Well, there's no matinee scheduled," Chloe said softly. "I just want to see my mom."
The man sighed and pushed a button on the desk. "Security's on its way. I suggest you leave before they have to escort you out."
Two male orderlies appeared around the corner and headed for their direction.
"My mother is here," Chloe said firmly.
"You can't prevent her from seeing her own mom," Clark added.
Emmeline looked at the approaching men, and she really didn't want to have them kick her out of the facility. At their size, she was sure the experience wouldn't be pleasant. Her eyes darted around to try to figure out what their next move should be. That was when she noticed a security camera blinking just above the check-in desk. She lightly nudged Clark's arm and nodded her head in the camera's direction.
Clark lightly ushered Chloe and Emmeline away from the desk. "Chloe, come here."
"Clark, what are you doing?" Chloe quietly demanded. "I am not gonna let them tell me—"
"Just wait for me outside. Trust me."
With a heavy sigh, Chloe allowed Emmeline to take her out of the front doors.
Back at the Daily Planet, Chloe pulled up the video feed from yesterday that Clark had managed to swipe from the institution's security office to figure out what had happened that had gotten Chloe banned from the facility.
"I already told him, I'm here to pick up my mother," Chloe said on the video to another female doctor.
"Apparently, per her doctor's orders, Moira Sullivan's been transferred," the doctor told her.
"Without notifying me?"
"You'll have to ask her psychiatrist."
"Fine. Where is he?"
"I'm afraid he's out of town at a conference."
"You're lying," Chloe bit out as she tried to walk past the doctor.
The doctor took her arm. "You can't go in there."
Chloe turned and punched the doctor in the face.
Sitting in her chair, Chloe's eyes widened. "I can't believe I did that."
"That wasn't you," Emmeline told her. "That was your mom controlling you."
"Your mom must have sent you to the sanitarium for help," Clark said. "She didn't know she had already been transferred."
"So she had me steal Lex's flash drive so I could find out where she really was," Chloe put together. "Well, either way, she's sending out an S.O.S."
"And we got it loud and clear. Let's go talk to Lex."
What none of them expected to find upon their arrival was a strange man with obvious meteor abilities attacking Lana.
After the man used his abilities to yank her backwards and render her unconscious, Clark grabbed the man from behind and hoisted him up against the wall. "You shouldn't have done that," he growled. Then he threw him across the room where he crashed into a side table.
Chloe and Emmeline rushed over to Lana's side, and Clark quickly took her into his arms.
"Clark, she needs a doctor," Chloe told him. "We got to get her to the hospital right away."
"What about him?" Clark asked.
"I can handle him. Clark, she's pregnant. Go. Now."
Clark hefted Lana up and then zipped out of the room.
"I'm going to go meet him at the hospital," Emmeline said. "Are sure you're okay here?"
"I'll be just fine."
Emmeline walked into the hospital and headed into Lana's room. "Hey, are you okay?"
Lana looked up at her, and Emmeline was taken aback at the darkness inside her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
"Emmeline…"
"Physically, you are, but mentally, you definitely aren't. Do you need to talk?"
Lana looked like she might shatter into a thousand pieces at any moment.
Emmeline pulled up a chair next to the bed. "You figured out Clark's secret, didn't you?"
Lana looked at her in surprise. "Uh…a part of it, I think."
"Is that why you almost called off the wedding?"
"It's complicated."
"Okay. But…I don't think that's it. Is there something else going on?"
The young woman swallowed thickly. "I had a miscarriage. A few days after the wedding."
Emmeline quickly took her hand. "I'm so sorry, Lana. I can't even imagine how you're feeling."
"Aside from Lex and Clark, you're the only one who knows. Can you…not tell anyone? I'm not ready for everyone to know yet."
"Of course. If you ever need to talk or just get some space, I'm here for you."
"I appreciate that. But I, uh…I'd like to be alone right now."
"Okay. Please call me if you need me. Or…you could always come to the clinic and talk with a therapist about all this. We have some amazing counselors who are there to listen to people who have been through traumatic events like this."
"I don't really want to talk about it, Em."
"Okay. But I'm still for here for you. I promise."
"Thanks."
Emmeline left the hospital room and took a deep breath. She felt like there were a thousand different things she could've said and all of them would've been wrong. What could she possibly say to her friend who was grieving so deeply? Even with all her studies, she was as powerless as ever.
Choosing to focus on the other problem at hand, Emmeline made her way to the Kent farm.
"Clark?" she called as she came in the front door. "Any word from Chloe?"
The house was eerily quiet.
"Clark?"
Emmeline gasped when she stepped towards the kitchen and saw Clark passed out on the floor with a piece of glowing green kryptonite sitting on his chest. She quickly snatched the tiny lead box off the counter and tucked the piece of kryptonite away inside it.
"Clark?" she said urgently, putting her hand to his face. "Clark! Come on! Wake up!"
Clark's eyes fluttered open. "Em?"
"Oh, thank goodness. What happened? Who did this to you?"
With shallow breaths, he mustered out, "Chloe."
Trying to protect her daughter, Moira had commanded Chloe to get out of Smallville by any means necessary, so when Clark had tried to stop her, she'd pulled out the kryptonite to get away from him.
Unfortunately, Lex's men snatched her anyway and took her to the facility where her mother was being held.
Clark arrived just in time to get Chloe and Moira out before anyone got hurt or killed, and Oliver allowed him to bring Moira to his old apartment.
In the afternoon, Chloe came up the elevator with lunch in her hand. "Hey! I brought sandwiches. And I realized I don't know which ones you like, Mom, so I just bought one of each."
"Chloe, I don't think your mom's hungry," Clark said gently.
"Hey, Clark, have you talked to Oliver? He said that he would set up a safe place for her to stay in Star City."
"Chloe, we have a problem."
Chloe looked at her mother sitting serenely on the couch in front of the window, and her breath caught. She slowly walked over to the couch. "Mom?"
Her mother didn't respond.
"Mom?"
Moira blinked and smiled at her daughter. "I…I wanted to see a blue sky…one last time."
"Well, there will be plenty of blue skies where you're going, Mom. You're not gonna be locked inside anymore."
Moira took one of Chloe's hands. "Sweetheart…I'm slipping back."
"The drug that Lex used on your mom, it only lasts 24 hours, or else she won't stay lucid," Clark explained. "Chloe, she doesn't have much time left."
"Well, I'll go talk to Lex," Chloe said quickly. "I'll make a deal with him—"
"No," Moira said. "No deals with that man. I can't allow it."
"Mom, I already lost you once. I'm not gonna do it again. If this drug is out there, I can get it, trust me. I have some pretty amazing resources at my disposal."
She looked up at Clark, knowing that if they really tried, they could do anything they wanted. Clark just looked down at the floor.
"Being with you again…it's the greatest gift I could have ever been given," Moira said tearfully as Chloe knelt down in front of her. "But I'm dangerous, Chloe."
"No, Mom, that's not true."
"My ability to control people with powers…it's like I'm a human weapon. And I can't…I can't allow it."
"But, Mom, it doesn't have to be like this."
Moira gently rubbed her hand over her daughter's cheek. "My little cub reporter. This…this belongs…to you." She handed Chloe her charm bracelet that she'd kept with her all the years she'd been in the institution.
"No, Mom, please. Please don't go, Mom. Not yet. Not again."
"I…love you…Chlo-Chloe."
"I love you, too, Mom."
Moira's eyes glazed over and her face slackened as the drug that kept her lucid completely left her system.
Tears rolled down Chloe's cheeks as she pressed her forehead onto her mother's hands.
Emmeline knelt down next to her and gently wrapped her arms around her, tears of sympathy coming to her eyes as well.
Once again, there were no words she could offer.
Chloe and Emmeline walked through the back door to the Kent farm.
"Hey," Chloe said quietly.
"Hey," Clark answered, looking at her in concern. "You okay? How you doing?"
"Um…it's just so unfair. I mean, she's never gonna be able to read any of the articles I've written, you know, or meet Jimmy." Her eyes watered again. "She's never gonna get to know the person that I've become."
"It's a good thing Em and I told her."
"You did?"
"After I brought your mom to Oliver's apartment, we gave her the complete Chloe Sullivan bio. She was so proud. That's something no one can ever take away."
Chloe nodded. "Lex came to talk to me, Clark. Basically, he said it's either kill or be killed. The story or me."
"He threatened you?"
"I'm in his cross hairs."
"Yeah, well, now he's in mine."
"Think about Lana. We can't do anything to him until we know she's safe."
"You're right. He'd feed her to the lions just to spite me. But it's inevitable. The war's about to begin."
Emmeline fired another arrow, but it missed the target completely, just like the last twenty she'd shot. She sighed as she rubbed her hand over her eyes.
"I know this is only our third time meeting, but you're usually more focused than this," Oliver said.
"I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'll get my head straight."
"Relax, I'm not going to stop the lessons. What's going on?"
"…It's a long story."
"Well, I might be able to train you better if I know more about you."
Emmeline sighed heavily, wondering where to begin. "I'm adopted," she finally said. "My adoptive mother died the day of my high school graduation as a result of the second meteor shower, but it was mostly the cancer that took her. I don't know anything about my real dad, but my biological mother showed up out of nowhere almost four years ago. She said she wasn't going to interfere and that she just wanted to get to know me, but then she sued my parents for custody of me. She only backed off when Clark stood up for me, and since then, we've only spoken a handful of times." Her eyes misted with tears, and she felt really embarrassed that she kept crying in front of the Green Arrow. She hoped that this didn't think make him think that she was weak and couldn't handle his tough lessons. "I know you're aware of what happened to Chloe's mom. And I realized that Chloe is never going to get the chance to talk to her mother again. Meanwhile, I still have a mom…and I have chosen to not talk to her."
Oliver turned and retrieved another burner phone from his bag then held it out for her. "Call her."
"But we're—"
"This is more important."
Surprised at his insistence, Emmeline slowly took the phone from him and dialed her mother's number which she had since memorized as a result of always punching in the numbers but never pushing the 'Call' button.
This time she did.
While the phone rang, Oliver quietly left the room to give her some privacy.
"Hello?"
The sound of her mother's voice made Emmeline's heart ache. "Hannah?" she said softly.
"Hi, Emmeline."
"I, um…I-I wanted…"
"Are you all right?"
Emmeline tried to speak but that one question, so simple but spoken so gently, rendered her speechless and she could only let out a sob.
"Sweetie, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. Just take a deep breath."
Emmeline sighed and tried again. "I…I know I haven't reached out very much."
"That's okay. I want you to open up to me in your own time."
"I appreciate that. But…I just watched my best friend lose her mother. And I don't want to spend any more time wasting any opportunities with the mother I still have. I can't promise that anything is going to happen, but…I want to try to have a relationship with you."
Hannah gave a small laugh, and she could hear tears in her voice. "That's great to hear. I could come visit Smallville for a few days if that's okay with you."
"Yeah, I…I'd like that."
"Great. I love you, Emmeline. It's okay that you don't feel the same way right now, I just want you to know that."
"Thanks. I'll see you soon then."
Emmeline hung up the phone and wiped the tears from her eyes.
Oliver slowly came back into the room. "Feel better?"
"Yeah. Let's get back to work."
