Clark sighed and led Linda over to the bed; they both sat down on the edge. "Well, they weren't happy when I told them what happened," he replied honestly, "but they were more relieved to hear you were safe."

"So, I won't be grounded?" Linda asked with slight hope.

"No, I have a feeling you're going to be grounded," Clark answered, and he smiled a little when Linda groaned softly; she was definitely on the mend. After a few moments, the reporter sighed, his smile fading. "And we'll talk about that more when we go home, but we need to talk about a few things." He glanced at the bedroom door. "Chloe, can you come here?"

"Chloe's here?" Linda asked.

Chloe appeared in the doorway a moment later. "Yeah, Clark?" She smiled a little at Linda. "Hey, kiddo, how're you feeling?"

Linda shrugged. "I'll survive." She looked at her cousin. "When did she show up?"

"While you were unconscious," Chloe answered. "Tried to get Jimmy to eat something," she glanced at Jimmy, who looked away, embarrassed, "but he wouldn't leave your side."

Clark saw the playful twinkle in his friend's eyes and sighed. "Chloe, when I was at the warehouse," he replied, trying to refocus the reporter's attention, "our favorite S.C.U. duo was already there investigating."

"Ooh, I bet that went well," Chloe said, wincing a little.

"It was informative," Clark replied. "Schott was conscious, too, and he had quite a few things to say."

"Please tell me the Girl of Metropolis isn't going to be finding herself back on the Planet's front page," Chloe said, looking concerned.

"No," Clark replied. "Schott thinks he fought and shot at me with the kryptonite." He smiled proudly at Linda as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "I know Mom and Dad don't really approve of it, but good thinking."

"He mentioned he was working with Lex," Linda replied. "I just panicked."

"Why would Lex be working with Schott after the guy tried to kill him?" Chloe asked.

"Not sure," Clark answered before glancing at Jimmy. "How did you two find Schott in the first place?"

"I…might have hacked into the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite system," the photographer answered slowly, shuffling his feet.

"We'll discuss that later," Clark said, trying to stay calm, "but why would you have the need to do that?"

"I had a hunch Schott stole that shipment of titanium from Lex," Jimmy replied. "We used the satellite to trace it."

Clark sighed and closed his eyes briefly. "Okay," he said simply. "Well, the good news is, Linda appears to have wiped any memory of you being at the scene."

"And the bad news?" Jimmy asked cautiously.

"Sawyer and Turpin don't seem to be buying it," Clark replied, "but they don't seem to be pressing it—for now."

"Does this mean I have to stay out of Metropolis again?" Linda asked worriedly.

"We'll talk about that later," Clark answered. "Right now, we have another concern: you may have wiped any memories of yourself and Jimmy, but any physical evidence of your presence—fingerprints, blood, clothes—disappeared." Linda and Jimmy looked confused, then Linda's eyes widened.

"My jacket was missing?" she said softly, remembering.

"Yeah," Clark replied, "which can only mean one thing: someone else was there."

"Who?" Chloe asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Don't know," Clark answered. "Sawyer said Schott was questioned by a man posing as an officer—which he wasn't—and described him as 'tall, well-built, wearing dark clothes.'"

"Yeah, we'll track him down in no time," Chloe said wryly.

"I screwed up bigtime," Jimmy muttered as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"No," Clark said. "No one screwed up," he saw Linda and Jimmy's expressions, "okay, maybe you did, but not with this guy."

"You think Mom and Dad will believe that?" Linda asked.

"I think until we know more," Clark replied slowly, "it might be best not to say anything; we won't have any answers, and they'll just be worried."

"Wait, are you actually suggesting keeping something from our parents?" Linda asked.

"For the time being," Clark replied, "and in no way does this constitute any endorsement of you," he nodded at Jimmy, "or you keeping secrets about other things."

"Well, in that case," Jimmy replied, crossing his arms, "I have something you might be interested in: Linda's been having more visions."

"What?" Clark asked, looking at his cousin with a worried expression. "Linda, is this true?"

"Visions?" Chloe asked, confused. "What visions?"

"Jimmy, you promised you wouldn't say anything," Linda said, looking betrayed.

"Yeah, well all bets are off when one of them causes you to get hurt," Jimmy retorted.

"What visions?" Chloe repeated, a little confused.

"I'll explain later," Clark replied before looking at Linda with a serious expression. "Linda, is that true?"

Linda shot Jimmy a brief glare, but he simply stared back at her, his jaw and features set. "And what if it is?" she asked her cousin, never taking her eyes from the photographer.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Clark asked, glancing between the teenagers.

"Because it's no big deal," Linda replied, trying to sound convincing. "They're just flashes of things, and they're not even real: I've never been in a tube, I've never been on any beach—much less one with pink water and teal sand—and I never saw anyone get murdered."

"Wait, you saw someone getting killed?" Jimmy asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"It wasn't real," Linda snapped insistently. "Don't you think I'd remember seeing someone getting killed right in front of me?"

Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, but Clark held up a hand, giving him a look. The photographer stopped and sighed, but remained silent; he sighed and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

"Regardless of whether or not it's real is beside the point, Linda," Clark said gently. He knew Linda was freaking out by what was going happening, and lashing out and snapping was her attempt to cover it up—much like all the times he used to do the same thing when he was her age; the reporter knew from experience he had to tread carefully. "This isn't normal, Linda—for anyone—but we will help you figure this out if you let us."

Linda opened her mouth to say something, but as she glanced between her cousin, Chloe, and Jimmy—seeing their concerned expressions—and she sighed, resigned. "Okay," she said softly.

"I take it Mom and Dad don't know," Clark continued; he wasn't surprised when Linda shook her head. "Okay. Is there anything else I should know about?"

Linda glanced at Clark, then looked over at Jimmy; he looked right at her, unwavering; she knew—even without telepathy—that Jimmy would talk if she didn't. "There is something else," she said softly. "It's about the Kawatche caves: Jimmy and I think we found a connection to Dr. Swann's rice paper."

(End of Chapter 17)