A/N: Thanks to thekiller00, peg, and Juneabee, who reviewed this story. Much appreciated. :D

Disclaimer: Forgot this for a second. Um...I own nothing...?

The Queen Of Fables

Summary:

A sorceress has arrived in Smallville after being spellbound into a book by a legendary beauty. Now, she's out for revenge…and has her eyes set out on Chloe! Can Clark be her Prince Charming and save her from eternal sleep? Or will this fable have a tragic ending?

Category: Romance/Action/Suspense

Pairing: Chlark

Time Line: Beginnings of Season 7

Chapter Two: Down the Rabbit Hole...

A strong gust of wind swept her hair all over the place and she rose her hands, in a pitiful attempt to maintain it in its current style. She huffed.

"Chloe?" the gust abruptly stopped in front of her, revealing the towering man of 6'4" – and she was a bit on the short side to begin with – clad in a now typical red t-shirt and worn jeans.

"Clark," she greeted, sweeping a strand behind her ear.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, running a large hand through his dark brown locks.

"Came by to make you take a look at something," she lied. Okay, so she really wanted to see him. But, she had limited visiting privileges from now on, so she took what she could.

"This isn't about Lex's ..."behavior", is it?"

"Ugh. Don't mention him," she faked to gag and followed him into the Kent house. Despite herself, she took in a discreet inhale of the place. She did always feel at ease here. Midst fighting along side Clark as his "sidekick" and encountering creatures she thought would only stay on her Wall of Weird, amongst all that chaos – not counting Lex – she could always find refuge here. "Whatcha cookin', Martha Stewart?" she started, attempting to make a conversation. Kitchen utensils laid on the large island in the middle of the vast Kent Kitchen. She picked up a large metal spoon with a questionable mass of ...something stuck to its reflective sides.

"Um...food?" he offered, rubbing the back of his neck. She playfully rolled her eyes and placed the spoon back on its place. "..you wanted me to take a look at something...?" Boy. He was in a rush. She tried to swallow her second-nature 20 question follow ups and reached into her current bag.

"This," she placed several printed sheets of paper in front of him. "A few days ago, a family was murdered outside Smallville city limits. Police won't let anyone near the place. It's been deemed hazardous."

"Uh huh..." he mumbled, lifting the sheets. "Any reason why you need my specific expertise?" She rolled her eyes.

"I checked my contact near the area and there's no reason – biochemical or otherwise – for that place to be deemed hazardous." She fixed him with a charming smile.

"So you want to check it out?"

"Of course! I wouldn't be me if I didn't, now would I?" He paused, then smiled at her with that smile that always turned her insides into mush. God did he had to be so damn handsome...?

"...Chloe? Hello? Earth to Chloe?"

"What? Oh...ahem. Yea. So let's take the Kent Expressways and zoom on out there!"

--

They arrived sooner than you could digest Clark's cooking. The house seemed like an average home. One floor. Garage attached to the house. Manicure lawn. Off brown paint covering the planks of the house. Those evil looking gnomes that you swore kept staring at you where ever you walked.

Pretty average.

But right now, it was anything but. Police cars guarded that the stereotypical 'do not cross' line was respected. The tape was a box around the house's perimeter. The door was opened and cops entered and exited now and then. The forensic van was parked a few cars behind the detective's car, the back doors open to allow the investigators easy access to their equipment.

"I feel like I stepped into an episode of CSI," Clark heard Chloe whisper besides them. He smiled. They stood in "camouflage" aside a car and a bit behind the crowd of the onlookers, curious about whatever it was that disturbed their neighborhood. A few spare police officers stood with the crowd, keeping them in line.

"When were you planning on investigating what was really going on?"

"In a minute, I'm forming my evil plan," she insisted, grabbing on a look which he found adorable. He paused then mentally shook his head. This was his best friend he was talking about. He shouldn't think like that of her, right?

Right.

He watched her look around. Search for something. Then she stopped all together and smiled a smile that spoke volumes.

Oh no.

"Hey Clark?"

"Yea?"

"Feel like playing dress up?"

--

He scratched at the plastic feeling jump suit.

"Stop fussing," she scolded. She snapped his hand away and handed them their helmets. They had 'kidnapped' two suits – why did they have spares in a open van anyway? – and were now making their way to the house. Clark gave the police officer standing by the tape a glance and what he thought a friendly smile.

The cop seemed unfazed.

"Come on!" Chloe hurried.

"This is a bad idea, Chlo," he whispered as they were finally indoors. The inside was polluted further from the suburbia stereotypical image by the invasion of the body suited cops and investigators taking pictures and dusting items here and there. She glanced back at him and smiled.

"Hey, you two!" the partners in crime stopped. Clark could probably take him. He could probably take the whole room full of people with one hand tied behind his back. But he'd obviously choose not to. That would be bad. Chloe turned and smiled at the police officer.

"Yes?"

"Why aren't you at your post?" he inquired, fixing them with what was his attempt at an intimidating stare.

"Um –"

"You're needed in the bedroom, stat." Nodding, Clark grabbed Chloe's shoulder, made them turn, and lead her down the hallway.

Both stopped.

The remains of a black ooze were stuck to the top corners of the hall's walls. Sort of like spiderwebs.

"This is definitely not normal." Chloe sneaked a small pen-sized and formed camera and took a snapshot of the ooze. Bio spill or not, she was going to get to the bottom of this. And drag Clark with her. He sighed. Shouldn't he be used to this?

They continued forward. The ooze stuck here and there and there were pieces of it left on the floor. To their left, they reached a bedroom door, and Clark pushed it open. There was a plastic shield at the door, placed there to keep the 'hazard' inside the bedroom. They let a standing investigator notice their presence and he unzipped the plastic enough so as to allow them to squeeze in.

"What happened?" Clark asked. Chloe took a tentative step forward and peer closer to the black ooze. This quantity of whatever it was seemed to be surrounding something rather large on the floor. Clark's heart skipped a beat when he noticed the unmade small children bed.

He hoped no kids were harmed.

"Not sure yet. Still waiting for lab results," the man besides him offered, "But I'll tell you one thing...I've never seen anything like it." He gave a curt nod and made his way out of the room. Clark and Chloe, along with five other investigators looked around. He knelt by a squirt near the wall. It looked liked the crew had cleaned up most of it. Through a gloved hand, he poked the ooze.

Nothing happened.

Still...he received an eerie feeling about this unknown substance. He picked a napkin from the pocket of the suit and cleaned off the ooze. He pocketed the napkin without alerting suspicion.

He heard Chloe talking.

"What is it?"

"We think it's a body?"

"A...child's"? he heard her dread the answer. And he wasn't blaming her.

"No. Too big," they both shared a sigh of relief, "But it's an adult, female. Could be the mother."

"What could have done something like that?" Chloe inquired. The man looked up and studied her face. Oh oh. After a moment's pause, he continued, "We're not sure. But something chewed on this poor woman before this fungus" is that what they were calling it? "Covered her up."

"Interesting..."

"What did you guys find in the living room?" Chloe gave Clark a glance.

"Inconclusive answers," Clark picked up. The man nodded and pulled back a piece of the dried ooze. The woman – or what was left of her – was frozen in mid scream. Large chunks of flesh were missing from her and some still looked fresh. Using his inhuman enhanced eyesight, he noticed the teeth marks on the flesh. Sharp toothed. Not consistant with the arc of the human teeth. More animal than anything. He looked around himself and carefully lifted his helmet – more of a large box like mask – and inhaled. His super nose was met with the intolerable sting of chlorine and chemicals from the CSIs kits. But he detected no smells of animals.

"Well, we'll continue on our way. I think one of the police officers wanted to talk to us," Chloe rose and signaled him to follow her. He complied and opened the plastic doorway for them both. After zipping it up, he turned to her.

"Chloe?"

"I wanna take a look at the couple's bedroom," she walked around him and headed further down the hall. He huffed. He mildly wondered if she'd ever outgrow her reporter phase. He chuckled. Of course she wouldn't. He followed her steps.

Another plastic doorway lead into the bedroom. Both residents of Smallville stood gaping at the mess. Ooze was everywhere. On the walls, floor, bathroom. And it still looked fresh.

"Hey Clark?"

"Yea?"

"This giving you the weelies?"

"I think so."

"Think this is from outer space?"

"Hard to say," he made room for the other investigators to move into the room. They came in with a kit. Keeping an ear on their conversations – they were bound to find something out with those chemicals – he followed Chloe vigilantly around the room. She gasped and gained his attention. The ooze did the same thing as it had in the kid's bedroom, created a sort of cocoon around its victims. This was seemed larger and older. Probably the first victim.

"The father?" Chloe deduced.

"We figure," replied a novice investigator with red hair. She closed the capsule containing scraps off of the dried ooze and placed it inside her kit.

"Identification?"

"Steve and Sandra Pattinson. Daughter Lauren Pattinson."

"Do you guys know the cause of death?"

"We're going with inhalation of this bad case of overgrown mold," Chloe and Clark shared a look before nodding to the investigator.

"Chloe," he whispered, as she turned to face him, "I think it's time we left before someone notices were not really investigators." She glared up at him and huffed. Too damn cute for her own good.

"Fine. But I need a sample-"

"Already got one." She smiled up at him and patted him on the shoulder – for she very well couldn't tap his head.

"Amazing job, dear sidekick!" He laughed, making her smile. They maneuvered out of the house unnoticed and moved behind the van. They shared a sigh of relief as they disrobed from the plastic saunas and made their way back into the crowd.

"Got any more pictures?" he asked. And instantly regretted it. She fixed him a Chloe look of 'are-you-kidding-me?'

"Clark, you're practically insulting me here."

"Sorry."

--

She looked around herself. How long has she been asleep?! Nothing was similar to her times. People traveled in death trap metal boxes and homes no longer were restricted to huts! And the people, their wardrobe! She hissed.

She was now in what the crystal ball had revealed to be Metropolis. And was instantly overwhelmed by the multitude of people walking around. She was almost tempted to place a curse upon them all but she had to preserve her energy for Snow White and Snow White only. She scoffed. Who was she trying to fool with that head of blond? No one!

Now all she had to do was be patient and she'd eventually find her.

And get her well deserved revenge.

A/N: Two pages longer. Whoopee. Overdue update. Me knows. Me is sorry. Bonus points to those who review knowing the reason why I chose the last name "Pattinson". 8D