Chapter 2 Out of Ordinary

'Greetings Jonathan, so glad you could make it' the man said and shook his hand.

'Me too' Jonathan smiled. 'And you are…?'

'Gary, but names are not important. Let's get straight down to business okay?'

'Sure' Jonathan said and followed him into the huge building. They went up a few floors in an elevator, then Gary lead him into a room with a large table surrounded by chairs. Three other men came over and one of them pointed a gun at Jonathan.

'What is going on here? I thought we were to have a meeting' Jonathan said loudly as Gary got out a gun as well and held it to Jonathan's head.

'Oh we're having a meeting alright here farmy, but not about what you had assumed' Gary smiled.

'What do you want from me?' Jonathan demanded.

'Oh, nothing much… just one million dollars and your son Clark can be the delivery boy'

'What do you want with Clark?'

'That is for us to know. So, do we have an agreement?'

'No, I would never agree to something like that!' Jonathan nearly yelled.

'Oh? Well that's such a shame, considering that we know where you and your wife Martha live, and where your son Clark tends to hang out…it would be just tragic if something was to happen to them' Gary smiled.

'You keep them out of this'

'Then get Clark to give us our money by sunset…Saturday'

'Saturday? That's 5 days away'

'Well since this day is already done, it's more like 4 days… good evening to you Mr Kent'

Jonathan went to leave, but Gary spoke up.

'Oh, and one more thing…if you tell anyone about this, even Clark… then will kill whoever knows'

'What if they find out? And how and I supposed to get Clark to deliver the money if he doesn't know?'

'Whoever knows other than you dies, we do not care how they know. As for Clark, he should be a good boy and do as he is told…no questions asked' Gary smiled and waved. 'Bye'

Jonathan left quickly and decided to go straight home and not spend the night at a hotel. The last thing he needed at a time like this was to waste money on hotel expenses.

'Are you sure?' Martha asked Chloe. 'It is late and we have a spare bed if you want to stay here until morning'

'I don't know' Chloe said, but knew Martha was right, it was getting late and she was tired, not the best mood to be driving home in. 'Yeah I guess so, if that is okay with Clark' She said and looked at him.

'What? Oh yeah, sure' He said sleepishly.

'Okay, that's that settled then' Martha said and lead Chloe upstairs. 'I have pyjamas you can borrow if you like' She said.

Clark sighed and followed them up the stairs. He went to his room and collapsed onto his bed. It felt weird to be as tired as he was, but it must be from the Kryptonite, he sure has had a large share of it today, but at least everyone was okay now.

'What else could go wrong?' He asked himself.

'I hope you are not referring to me' Chloe said from the doorway, afraid that he was.

'No, just thinking about all that has happened today, I am glad it is all over' He yawned.

'Yeah…me too. Well, goodnight'

'Goodnight Chloe' He said and she headed to the spare room.

Clark closed his eyes and sleep consumed him.

He had only got a few hours sleep when his hearing awoke him. Sometimes he wished he did not have the ability to hear everything. He listened closely to find out what it was that had awoken him. He heard the wind outside, a mouse eating crumbs in the kitchen and the sound of someone tossing around in their bed.

'Chloe' He whispered and got up. He pushed the door to the spare room opened slightly and he saw he was right. Chloe was on her side, then back, then other side.

'No, leave me alone' She was muttering panickly in her sleep.

Clark went over to see if she was alright. 'Chloe?' He whispered and sat on the side of the bed.

'No…Clark, don't go' She was muttering and then she suddenly sat up, hitting her head against Clark's, which to his surprise…hurt, a lot.

'Ouch!' They both gasped and Chloe looked at him in surprise.

'Clark? What…what are you doing here?' She whispered.

'You were having a bad dream' He said and rubbed his head.

'Are you okay?' She asked, noticing this.

'You have asked me that a lot recently' He replied, not answering her question though. 'Well I'm going back to sleep' He said and got up.

'Okay' She said and lay back down.

'Goodnight Chloe' He said again and left the room.

Why did that hurt? He asked himself as he got back into bed. He remembered feeling tired after the ordeal with the disk.

As he was just about asleep again, he heard a car outside and a few minutes later the front door opened. Clark got up again and went to see who it was.

'Dad?' He asked in surprise as he saw Jonathan hanging his coat up.

'Go to bed son' Jonathan told him and headed up the stairs, only to have Clark follow him.

'But why are you home? Mum said you won't be back until morning'

Jonathan did not reply, but went to the bathroom and slam the door behind him, waking Martha and Chloe up.

'What is going on?' Martha asked as she and Chloe came over to Clark.

'Dad is home early, but he doesn't seem to be in a good mood' Clark told them.

'Maybe it was a tough meeting or something' Chloe said, trying to think of something reasonably okay.

'Maybe' Clark said, unconvinced.

'Well we can sort this out later, go back to bed' Martha told them and they did.

She looked back at the bathroom door, hoping Jonathan was okay. She sighed and went back to bed, as there was not much she could do for Jonathan right now.

Chloe awoke to a dimly lit room, the sun was going to rise very soon She had had a busy night before and was glad it was finally morning. She got up and changed into what she was wearing the day before, as she did not have any spare clothing with her. She then need to make the bed, so she did. Chloe decided to go outside and watch the sunrise, it was not something she saw much of, especially in the city.

She walked down the hallway and as she came to Clark's room he noticed his door was open. She smiled at the sight of him sleeping so peacefully.

Who would think that someone who spend nearly everyday saving the world and had all these cool powers would look so innocent when he was asleep.

Clark frowned a little, whispering 'Lana'

Chloe's smile disappeared and she turned to walk away when she noticed that he was waking up.

'Hey' He yawned when he saw her. He looked confused as to why she was standing there.

'Hey…I was just…ah' She tried to think of an excuse, but Clark was to sleepy to be bothered.

'What time is it?' He asked as he noticed that the clock on his bedside table was smashed, he had broken it last week when it woke him up.

'I don't know' She said, glad for a change of topic. 'But the sun is about to rise' She told him.

Clark nodded and got up. 'Let's go watch it' He said and headed outside.

'It's beautiful' Chloe said in amazement as the sky lit up with all sorts of different colours.

'Yeah' He said, looking at her, but turning back to the sky as she turned to face him.

'I never new it looked this nice out here in the country' She said. 'Well, I actually haven't seen the sunrise for awhile now' Chloe added and turned back to the sky.

Clark nodded, not sure of what to say. He then heard his parent's door opening and the bathroom door slam again.

'What is it?' Chloe asked him, noticing the disturbed expression on his face.

'I hope my dad is okay'

'I am sure he is Clark, he is a tough guy, there is not much he cannot handle' Chloe said convincingly.

'Yeah, you are right, I am just being paranoid' Clark sighed.

'It is not paranoid to be worried Clark' Chloe almost laughed, but turned back to the sky. 'And it is over, I think it is such a shame how some things in life can be so wonderful, yet only last a short period of time, it kind of reminds us that not everything lasts forever and we should make the most of this while we can' Chloe said absentminded.

'Yeah' Clark agreed and looked at her again. 'Some things are more special then we may ever realise'

'Until it is gone' She added but Jonathan coming outside interrupted them.

'Hey dad' Clark said.

Jonathan noticed Chloe. 'What are you doing here?'

Chloe was a little taken-aback. 'It was late, so I stayed the night'

Jonathan looked at Clark and then back to her. 'Where did you sleep?'

'In the spare room' Clark answered for her.

Jonathan nodded and continued heading to his trunk.

'Dad, are you alright? You don't seem like yourself'

'I'm fine' Jonathan said. 'Just have some things to sort out, noting to worry about' He added and got into his trunk.

'What was that all about?' Chloe asked as he drove off fast.

Clark shrugged and turned back to the house. 'Let's go have something to eat, I'll worry about dad later' He said and they went back inside to find Martha making breakfast.

'I am so glad I am not needed at the Daily Planet today or I would be in trouble' Chloe said as she got into her car, noticing it was wet.

'Looks like it rained last night' Clark said as she started the engine and tried to get her car out of the mud, but no luck.

'Well instead of admiring the mud getting all over my car, you could give me a little help' Chloe said to him.

'Oh, right' Clark smiled and went to the back of her car. He put his hands under the rear and lifted… but nothing happened.

'Come on, as much as I love spending time with you Clark, I do not have all day'

'It won't move' He told her as he tried again with no luck.

'Don't lie to me' She said and got out. 'Oh, you were serious' She said as she watched him have a third attempt. 'What happened to you powers?'

'I don't know' He said worriedly. 'Get in, I'll push it'

'You sure?' She asked, but got back into the car and restarted the engine.

'It can't be that hard' He said and pushed with all his might, making the car move just enough to get it out of the mud, but as he stood upright, he was almost completely covered in mud.

Chloe almost laughed at the sight of him, but remembered how serious the situation was.

'Did you touch anything or something that would cause this to happen? And what about you other powers?'

'The only thing that happened was the kryptonite, but it has never done this to me before and I have had some pretty close contacts with it before' He said and tried x-ray vision…nothing, so he tried heat vision, but that did not work either. He sped around the house and back.

'So you still have your speed, but is that all?' Chloe asked worriedly.

'My super hearing seems to be working, but everything else is gone'

'Your heat vision and strength was working when we destroyed the disk, did anything happen after that?' Chloe asked, thinking back.

'Nothing significant …what would make my powers just start to vanish like that?'

'I honestly do not know Clark…I may know your secret but that does not mean I have all the answers, but do you think your speed and hearing will go too and what about your ability to heal quickly?'

'I'm not sure, but I am going to find out what is going on' He said and sped off.

'Okay, thankyou for telling me what exactly you are going to do about it' Chloe sighed, getting into her car and driving off.