Chapter 4 Danger To Those Who Know

Friday

'I can't believe dad didn't tell me about this before' Clark said.

'He didn't want anyone to get hurt Clark, and when you said you were loosing you powers, well I guess he assumed he could handle it himself' Chloe sighed.

'And how is he supposed to get 1 million dollars by tomorrow? He has hardly got 1 thousand' Clark said in frustration, just being able to stop himself before he broke something.

'Hey Clark, relax…maybe Lex could help, I mean that guy does have nearly all the money in the world' Chloe suggested.

'Dad won't accept any money from either Luthors, what makes this time different?'

'Well, the lives of his family are in sake Clark'

'But you know as well, meaning you are in just as much danger as we are' Clark said and looked at her worriedly.

'Don't worry about me, I'm a big girl Clark… I know how to take care of myself. You need to find a way to get this money by sunset tomorrow' She said, trying to convince herself just as much as Clark.

'Chloe…'

'No Clark, trust me, I will be fine…besides, your dad needs you more than I do right now' She said firmly and he had no choice but to give in.

'Promise you'll be careful?' He asked her.

'Of course' She smiled at him and turned to leave, but Clark held her arm to stop her.

'Chloe, I mean it… these guys sound serious and after what happened before… I don't want to take any risks, maybe you could stay here until this is cleared up, please?'

'Clark, I have stayed here enough, your parents must be getting sick of me by now' Chloe said jokingly. 'Clark please, I know you are worried and all, but really, I will be fine' She pat his shoulder and turned to leave again, this time he let her go.

Clark decided to go and see Lex; he may be the only way they could get such a high amount of money in 24 hours.

Meanwhile, as Chloe was driving back to the Daily Planet, her cell phone rang.

'Probably Clark checking up on me, how sweet' She smiled and answered it. 'Hey, I told you not to worry-' She said but was cut off by a strange voice on the other end that she did not reconise the slightest.

'It's you who should be worried. We know that you are aware of what we are up to… and I can assure you that you won't make it back to your desk anytime soon' The voice said in a disguised tone.

'Who are you? And what do you want with me?' She said angrily.

'We just want you out of our way…permanently' the voice laughed. 'Oh and you might want to look behind you' He said and hung up.

Chloe looked behind her and saw another car following her, the driver waved to her with a cell phone in his hand.

Chloe quickly hung up and dialled the Kent's number. 'Come on… pick up!' She nearly yelled.

'Hello?' Martha answered.

'Oh thank god! Where's Clark?' She asked quickly as the car was closing in.

'He went to see Lex… is something wrong Chloe?' Martha could tell be her tone that she was scared.

'There's this guy following me, said he was going to get me or something… I need you to get in touch with Clark… fast' She gasped as the car was right behind her.

She got no answer from Martha.

'Mrs Kent? Mrs Kent, can you hear me?' Chloe panicked.

Still no answer and a thud caused by the car ramming into the back of her car made her drop the phone.

She looked behind her again in panic and then back to the road.

'Damnit' She cursed and tried to get away from him, but he was not giving in without a fight.

'Get lost you jerk!' She yelled at him, but her words posed no threat as her car was hit off the road and down a hill fast. The car rolled and the impact tossed Chloe out of the car and knocked her out as she hit the ground at enough distance that she was not injured by her car bursting into flames and exploding. She was out cold and blood leaking from the scrape on her head.

'What can I do for you Clark?' Lex asked when he saw Clark enter his office, looking worried. 'Is something wrong?'

'Can I trust you Lex?' Clark asked, shutting the office doors behind him.

'I thought you already knew that Clark. Sure… what's going on?'

'You can't tell anyone okay? And they might come after you for knowing about this'

'Knowing about what? Clark, I can't help you if you don't tell me everything' Lex said and came over.

'Some guys faked a meeting with my dad in Metropolis and told him to made me deliver 1 million dollars by sunset tomorrow…anyone who he tells about this is bound to be killed' Clark whispered.

'And if you don't?'

'He never mentioned that, but we're not taking any chances…can you help us out Lex?' Clark asked, almost desperately.

'Well, 1 million is a lot of money Clark, but I'll make a few calls… just, where is this drop off to be made exactly?' Lex asked curiously.

'Metropolis, the finance building about 5 minutes from Luthor Corp' Clark said by memory.

'Okay, I'll drop by your house tomorrow with the money, in the meantime, take care' Lex pat his back and went over to his desk phone.

'Thankyou' Clark said and left the mansion.

He arrived home and heard his dad sleeping upstairs, so his mum would be in the kitchen, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

'Maybe she had some things to do' He sighed, but noticed the phone was hanging off the hook, which was weird… even for them.

He picked it up and heard that it was still in contact with someone.

'Hello?' He asked, but there was just a feint sound of cars driving past at distance to whoever Martha was talking to, as he assumed it was her that had been using the phone because she was the only other person here and his dad was snoring. He also heard the sounds of what could have been a fire.

'Hello?' He asked again, but still no reply from the other end. If only he knew where the caller was.

The snoring stopped and a few minutes later Jonathan came down the stairs looking confused; he saw Clark hanging up the phone and went over to him.

'Something wrong son?' He asked.

'Where's mum?' He asked.

'Well, she should be right here, why?'

'I can't find her and the phone was hanging off the hook' Clark told him, making him just as concerned as Clark was.

'You think someone took her?' Jonathan asked worriedly, remembering his deal with Gary.

'Maybe' Clark replied. 'Oh and you don't have to worry, Lex is bring the money tomorrow and my powers seem to be all back, we can do this'

'Lex Luthor? Clark, why did you turn to him for help without asking me first?' Jonathan asked, getting angrily about needing help from Lex and the absence of Martha was also getting on his nerves more than he would have liked as Gary did say he would kill all that knew of their deal.

'Because I knew you would say no. Dad please, lives are in sake here… don't you think you should throw your pride aside for one moment?' Clark said and grabbed his coat.

'Where are you going?'

'To see Chloe, she can trace the last call made here, it might tell us where mum is' He said and rushed off to the Daily Planet.

Upon arriving, he noticed her desk was empty and looked untouched, meaning she never made it back here.

He used her computer to trace the call from his house and discovered it was from Chloe's cell phone. He tried to find the location of the phone, but only got a 10-metre radius.

He left the Daily Planet to search the area.

Clark noticed that some of the bushes on the side of the road up ahead looked very run-down, and smoke was coming from down the hill. Remembering the sound of flames he assumed he had heard on the other end of the phone, and the sounds of cars driving past at distance, Clark raced down the hill and found Chloe's car still slightly on fire.

'Chloe!' He yelled and then saw her nearby, half hidden by a bush. He ran over and checked for a pulse. She did not have one, but it could be from his reaction to seeing her like that. He attempted to calm down and tried again.

He gave a sigh of relief and picked her up, taking her to the nearest hospital as fast as he could as she had a lot of blood on her and was unconscious.

'Hang in there Chloe' He told her as he rushed to find a doctor.

Saturday

'How is Chloe?' Jonathan asked when Clark came home around lunchtime.

'She's got mild injuries and a bad scrap on her head, but she should be okay. Has Lex came yet?'

'No, but I'm sure he-' Jonathan saw Lex approaching the door with a briefcase.

'Perfect timing Lex' Clark said as he turned to see what Jonathan was looking at.

'What can I say?' Lex asked and handed Clark the briefcase. 'It's all in there' He told him. 'When are you doing to the drop off?'

'An hour before sunset' Clark told him, although he could tell that Jonathan had no intention of the idea of letting Lex in on everything that was going on, but Clark had already told him, so none of that mattered now.

'I would suggest a little earlier, I doubt they will make it as easy as you think, just because you have the money…doesn't mean they'll be nice' Lex told him.

'Thanks Lex' Clark said, gripping the briefcase closely.

'Only trying to help' Lex smiled and left before Jonathan could say anything.

And so, the day when past with no sign of Martha and Chloe was still sleeping. Clark made his way to the finance building in Metropolis at just over an hour before sunset.

'So you could make it after all' Gary smiled with a gun pointed at Clark.

'If I give you the money, will you promise to leave my family and friends alone?'

'I have no real interest in them Clark… it is you who caught my fascination'

'Why me?' Clark asked. 'And what have you done with my mum!'

'She is fine' Gary said and pointed to a chair where she sat bound to and her mouth taped. 'Once we get what we want, you can have her back safe and sound'

'And what do you want from me?' Clark demanded, having a feeling that the 1 million was not all this guy was after.

'Proof…of how different you are'

'What do you mean?' Clark asked, afraid he was talking about what Clark assumed he was.

'I know all about you boy, and you are going to give me proof or else your mum will take the fall, oh and I have one of my men at the hospital for if you give me any trouble' Gary smiled.

'Leave them out of this!' Clark yelled.

'Give me my money and proof that you are an alien…and they will go unharmed' Gary said and pointed his gun at Martha.

Clark did not see any other option, so he handed Gary the briefcase. 'What do you want me to do?'

Gary got out a video recorder and set it up on a stand. 'I'm going to shoot you and you are to just stand there while this camera catches it all… then we can try a few other tricks to show the world what you have been hiding from them'

'Why are you doing this?' Clark asked, trying to think of a plan fast.

'The world has the right to know and I have the right to be rich and famous' Gary smiled and turned the camera on. 'Ready?' Gary asked in excitement and fired five rounds at him.

Clark did as he was told as stood there while they hit him, leaving holes in his shirt, but he was of course fine. Then he tried his heat vision to destroy the camera, but he did not have it back yet.

'Well done!' Gary said, over-excited about his arising fame that was sure to happen if Clark didn't do something fast.

'Now let's try you falling off this building and being left unharmed' Gary said and turned his back to write on a piece of paper.

Clark tried heat vision again, but still no luck. There was no way Clark was going to jump of this building in public eye and on camera. 'Gary please'

Gary ignored him for a minute, and then picked up his cell phone. 'You don't want anything to happen to your injured friend now do you?'

'I can't do this for you' Clark told him, really not liking to be taking such a huge risk with Chloe's life.

'What about your friend? Why don't we see what she has to say on the matter' Gary said and called one of his men at the hospital. 'I'm having slight difficulty, maybe the girl can beg for him to go through with this if she wants to live' Gary told him.

'She is not here' He replied.

'What do you mean? How could she have escaped?' Gary yelled as Clark tried heat vision again with no success.

'She was here a minute ago, but when I came to check up on here… she had vanished'

'Well find her!' Gary yelled and hung up. 'You had something to do with this…I know it' Gary screamed angrily at Clark and pointed his gun at Martha, whom had woken up and was now struggling against the ropes that held her to the chair.

'How could I?' Clark asked, glad Chloe was out of harms way.

'I don't know, but you did! And now your mummy is going to have to pay for it' Gary fired at Martha and Clark sped to knock the bullets out of her way. He fell to the floor after his dive, but got up quickly. Clark took the tape off Martha' mouth and undid the ropes.

Gary did not like how this was going, so he grabbed the suitcase and made a dash for his camera.

Clark saw this and made one last attempt at heat vision, making the camera burst into flames at last.

'No!' Gary yelled and then headed to the exit, only to be blocked off by Clark.

'Get lost!' Gary yelled at him. 'Help!' He called out and one of his other men came running, but unlucky for Clark, the man was the same one he had run into during the time of being help hostage, meaning he was wearing a replacement green kryptonite watch.

Clark cried out and fell to the floor in pain.

'What the?' Gary asked, but did not like to take his chances… he rushed out the door as Martha ran over to Clark.

'Are you okay?' She asked him as he sat up.

'I have to stop him' Clark gasped.

'He is gone Clark, but you destroyed the evidence, so he has nothing on you' Martha tried to convince him.

'But he still knows and he is not going to leave everyone I care about alone until he gets what he wants'

The door opened and Lex came in. 'Is everyone okay?'

'Lex? What are you doing here?' Martha asked.

'Please tell me you had noting to do with this' Clark said angrily.

'Not on the contrary Clark, how could you think like that? I would however, like to let you know that the metropolis police have got the two men and they are currently on their way to where they belong…prison, along with several from the hospital in Smallville, they won't bother you again; I made sure of that' Lex said and held up the briefcase. 'Also that you do not owe me anything as I got my money back' He smiled, letting them know that Jonathan will not have to stress himself to death over paying him back.

'Thankyou' Clark sighed in relief and helped his mother out the door, following Lex to a helicopter.

'How did you get here, I don't see your truck anywhere' Lex noticed.

'Long story' Clark replied.

Lex helped them into his helicopter and got in beside them. 'Okay' He told the pilot. 'So Clark, what exactly did this guy want with you? I heard him yelling something about an alien with superpowers, but I doubt he would be talking about you'

Clark and Martha gave a fake laugh.

'Of course not, I would be green' Clark joked, hoping to throw Lex of the trail. 'He wanted money, but I'm just as curious as you are about some alien he claimed to have met' Clark added and then pretended to be too tired to talk by closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat. Hopefully Lex will let this one go to rest…