Chapter 3 Troubles beginning
Wednesday
'Any luck?' Chloe asked Clark as he came over to her desk at the Dailey planet.
He shook his head and sat next to her. 'My speed is gone' He whispered.
'Well I have done some research on that meteor rock and I think I have a solution as to why this is happening' Chloe said, but was interrupted by Lois coming over with the files she had picked up the day before.
'Smallville, what a surprise' She said sarcastically to Clark when she saw him towards the computer screen, standing right next to Chloe.
'Hi Lois' He sighed in response.
'And here are the files I borrowed from you' She said, dropping the folders back on Chloe's desk.
'Thankyou' Chloe smiled and Lois waved goodbye.
'What did she need them for?' Clark asked curiously.
'She is desperately looking for something to throw at Lex's face' Chloe sighed. 'I guess she never heard of a cream pie…but she has been at it all month, not much luck…so anyway, about the rock, it was not just green kryptonite… it contained some other substances mixed within and I can't seem to find out what they are exactly, for some reason I can't get access' She said, frowning at the computer screen like it was all it's fault.
'At least we know what caused it. I went to see Jor-El as he might have had something to do with it… but he didn't seem to. Um… and do you think it's permanent?'
'I doubt it…you should start getting your powers back any moment' She said, not completely certain.
'Okay, thanks Chloe' He smiled and left.
'No problem Clark' She sighed, watching him leave.
'Hey dad, I need to talk to you' Clark said as he came inside.
'What is it?' Jonathan asked as Martha listened from the sink.
'I have been loosing my powers, one by one' He explained and told them all he knew so far.
'And has any of them been coming back yet?' Martha asked in concern, while Jonathan looked very worried, more than he would have usually looked upon hearing this kind of news.
'Not yet, but I haven't lost them all yet… dad, are you okay?'
'I have to go see someone, I'll be back later' He said and grabbed his coat.
'But you just got home a few minutes ago' Martha said.
'I know, sorry' He said and gave her kiss goodbye.
'What has gotten into him?' Martha asked Clark as they heard his trunk leaving.
'He's been acting this way every since he got back early from Metropolis, do you think something happened there?' Clark asked, starting to figure it out.
'But don't you think he would have told us about it by now?'
'Unless he doesn't want us to know… or he can't tell us' Clark said, coming into realisation and made an attempt to speed after Jonathan, but then remembered as he ran straight into the door, that he didn't have his power of speed back yet, if he was ever going to get it back that is, but he has faith in Chloe, so he was sure it would come back eventually.
'He will be back' Martha finally said, rubbing Clark's back. 'Just wait for him'
Jonathan did return later that day, but Clark was visiting Chloe and by the time he came home, with Chloe, Jonathan had gone to bed early.
'Staying for dinner again Chloe?' Martha asked when Chloe and Clark came inside.
'I guess so' Chloe smiled.
'Can she stay over again mum? We're going over her research on the meteor rock and with how much she's got, it could take all night' Clark told her.
'Sure, not a problem' Martha replied and started to get dinner ready.
After dinner, which Jonathan missed, Chloe and Clark went to the barn to go over the research Chloe had.
'Did you have to get so much?' Clark sighed as they had a huge pile of papers and files.
'You said you wanted everything on it, so I got everything' Chloe said firmly and placed the stuff down in front of them. 'Now let's get to work' She told him and he nodded.
They worked for hours, going over all the seemingly endless information.
'Make it end' Clark complained and leaned back on his couch.
'We are only halfway Clark' Chloe sighed, but agreed that hours of reading about a rock was a little too much.
'Come on Chloe' Clark said and looked at his watch. 'It is nearly 3am'
'Wow, time sure does fly' She yawned, feeling tired now what she knew what time it was. 'Okay, but we continue later okay?'
'Thankyou' Clark said cheerfully and instantly got up.
They headed back to the house, careful not to wake Martha or Jonathan as they crept to Clark's room.
'There, this should do' He said and handed her a large shirt for her to sleep in.
'Thanks' She whispered and headed out the room.
'Goodnight Chloe' He said and collapsed onto his bed.
Chloe changed into Clark's shirt, which was long enough to cover her hips. She got into bed and fell asleep to Clark's scent.
Thursday
'Clark, are you daydreaming again?' Chloe asked him as they went over the papers again the following morning.
'No' He lied.
'Can you please focus a little more?' She sighed, seeing right through hie lie.
'I just don't see the point to… do you hear that?' He asked as he heard a sound, but he wasn't sure what it was.
'Ah hello? I don't have super hearing remember?' Chloe said, all the reading making her slightly frustrated. 'What does it sound like?'
'A rumble sort of shaking sound, but more like an engine…and-' Clark stopped when he heard a man's voice crying for help. 'A man is stuck under a tractor' He said and sped from the barn.
It was a nearby farm, Clark didn't know the man and his wife well, but they had met on a few occasions. The man was out in the paddock, the tractor lying on top of him, gas leaking all over. He was knocked out now, and the house was at distant. Clark lifted the tractor off him and picked him up, taking him out of harms way. Seconds later, the tractor caught flames and exploded, causing Clark to shield the man from the blast. Once he was sure it was safe, he left as the man was waking up.
He got back to the barn and saw Chloe picking up papers that were scattered everywhere.
'Next time, would you please go outside before you send everything flying?' She almost snapped at him. 'And I see your super-speed is back'
Clark then realised it was, he was in such a hurry that he had forgotten that he had supossingly lost his powers. 'My strength too' He smiled and remembered how he also shielded the man from the blast. 'You were right, they are coming back'
'Well of course I was right' She said like it was obvious. 'Now you can help me pick these up' She said and pointed to the floor that was covered in their research papers.
Clark smiled and super-speedingly picked up every paper and handed the pile to Chloe.
'Okay Mr-Show-Off' She raised her eyebrow. 'What do you suppose we do, it will take forever to put all these in order again'
'Such a shame' Clark smirked sarcastically. 'Well my powers are coming back, so I really don't see the point in going over this anymore'
'You didn't see the point before we even started, but I know what you mean' She sighed and gave in, putting the papers down. 'You smell like gas, from the tractor I'm guessing' She noticed.
'Yeah, I'm going to go and get changed' He said and headed to the house.
'What do I do?' She asked, not sure if she should wait or leave.
'I have to have a shower and wash all this off, will you be here when I come back?' He asked her from the ground.
'Sure, I'll wait' She said, not being able to resist.
'Thanks' Clark smiled and sped to the house.
'No problem Clark' She said once again and watched the spot where he was just standing. She forced herself to let go of what she was feeling. She turned her attention to Clark's telescope. 'It's hard to believe you actually are from another world Clark, but your mind seems to always be in one' She sighed and looked into the telescope.
'Hey Clark…is that gasoline I smell?' Martha asked as Clark came inside.
'Ah yeah, had to rescue a neighbour, I'm going to have a shower' He said quickly.
'Has Chloe gone home?'
'No, she's waiting for me at the loft'
'Well I'd hate for you to keep her waiting for long' Martha said, letting him know he can go have his shower.
He nodded and sped upstairs.
'And you have your powers back' She smiled and returned to washing the dishes.
Chloe moved away from the telescope and heard footsteps on the stairs.
'Hey Clark, that was rather fast, even for you' She said happily and turned around, but no one was there. 'Okay Clark, quite joking around' She laughed, but then a cloth covered her mouth and someone's hand held it firmly in place until she blacked out.
Clark came back downstairs in clean clothes and slightly wet hair. He heard Chloe's car leaving.
'I guess I took too long' He sighed in disappointment.
Martha noticed how upset he seemed. 'Maybe she had someplace to be' He tried to cheer him up.
'She said she didn't, and promised to wait for me'
'I am sure she has a very good reason Clark'
'Yeah' Clark said, not entirely sure. He went back to the loft and watched her car becoming a little red dot in the distance. He turned around as it had gone from view and noticed the pile of papers were still there, along with Chloe's purse.
'That's weird' He said and picked it up. 'Why would Chloe leave this here?' He then saw a cloth lying on the ground near his telescope. He picked it up and noticed the scent. Realisation hit Clark; he dropped the cloth and sped after Chloe's car.
He followed it right to a warehouse and kicked down the steel, locked door.
'Chloe!' He called out but go no reply.
He searched some rooms, used his super hearing, but his x-ray vision was still blanked out.
'Hey kiddo' A man said and pointed a gun at Clark. 'I want my disk'
'Where is Chloe?' He demanded, not having much concern for the gun.
'When I get my disk, you can have your little girlfriend back' He said angrily.
'I don't have it' Clark told him honestly as he had destroyed the disk already.
'Don't lie to me farmy… give me my disk' He yelled and Clark didn't reply, unsure of what to tell him.
'Get the girl' He told another and the guy nodded. The darker guy dragged unconscious and tied up Chloe into the room. Clark saw her eyebrow was bleeding, most likely from being hit. He grew angrier at the sight of her like that.
'Let her go!' He yelled, but the man just smiled.
'When I get my disk' he smirked and nodded to the darker guy, whom held a gun to Chloe's head. 'Or she dies'
'It's gone, and there is no way to get it back, so kill me if you have to… but please leave her out of this'
'Don't talk like that kiddo, I know you have it!' He yelled, but the truth was clear in Clark's eyes. 'Alright farmy, you think you're so good, you are going to regret your decision' He said and fired the gun three times, aiming for Clark's chest.
He super-sped past them and grabbed the gun from the man's hand, throwing it far from sight. He then did the same to the other gun, but before he could grab Chloe, he collapsed to the floor and weakly looked up at the guy holding Chloe, he was wearing a thousand-dollar watch made from green kryptonite. Clark gasped and tried to get up, but he couldn't.
'What the…? How did you move so fast?' The guy snapped and saw Clark on the ground. 'Come on, get up farmy… you think we are that stupid? You weak trick won't work on us' He said and kicked Clark, rolling him over slightly and making him gasp out in pain. 'So you are not faking it after all…but how did this happen?'
The dark guy shrugged and looked at Chloe, whom was waking up.
'Tie them both up somewhere, separately and keep a close eye on him' the guy said, pointing to Clark.
The dark guy nodded and tied Chloe to a chair and grabbed Clark. The guy tied him to a pole a little bit away from Chloe and stood next to him to make sure he didn't go anywhere.
'I'm going to Metropolis, I have to get the place ready for the deal I made with Kent' the guy said and left the dark guy there to guard Clark until he got back.
'Clark?' Chloe asked as she opened her eyes and saw Clark all tied up and weak looking.
He didn't reply, but she noticed the dark guy's watch and it didn't take long for her to figure it out.
'What have you done to him?' She said angrily to the guy.
'I ain't done nothing, he got himself in his own mess lady' the guy replied and grabbed Clark's hair to pull his head back so he could smirk at him.
'Leave him alone!' Chloe said.
'Or else what?' the guy smiled and walked over to her. Chloe hoped he would be at enough distance from Clark that the kryptonite wouldn't have an effect on him, but it wasn't enough, maybe another metre, but the guy would have to walk past her and she didn't know how to get him to do that as he had no reason to go past her at all.
'Or else you'll be sorry' Chloe said, bluffing it, but she didn't know what other option she had.
'Chloe…don't' Clark gasped and tried to get the strength to break free, but the kryptonite was still too close.
'You two are so protective of each other, but really…there is not a single thing wither of you two can do' the guy laughed and his cell phone rang. He grunted and walked away to answer it.
Chloe looked at Clark and smiled as he broke from the ropes and sped to knock the guy out with a punch, but the kryptonite was still on the guy's arm, so Clark collapsed again.
'Clark!' Chloe yelled and fought against the ropes until the chair fell sideways, almost knocking her out, but the side of the chair broke and the ropes became loose. She freed her hands and untied her legs.
'It's okay, I'm here' she whispered and helped him to his feet. Once out of range, Clark used heat vision to destroy the watch.
'Thanks Chloe' He gasped and looked towards the door. 'We have to help my dad'
'I agree, but don't forget I can't run at the speed of a bullet' She said and grabbed him arm as he was about to leave.
'Oh, right' He said and picked her up.
'There you are' Martha said, seeing Clark come back inside, this time with Chloe. 'Where were you?'
'Where's dad?' Clark asked quickly.
'Upstairs sleeping…why?'
'We ran into these guys who were saying they had an agreement with him, and the same guys held us hostage'
'How did they hold you-' Martha asked, but Chloe answer before she got to finish.
'Kryptonite watch' She replied and Clark ran upstairs to wake Jonathan up.
The girls followed him quickly afterwards; they had to get some answers this time…