Chapter 16

Unstable

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Clark grunted as an ectoblast from his cousin landed heavily on his shoulder. He shouldn't complain, after all he had asked for Danny to help him train up so he could tackle more threats than just meteor freaks. Danny had obliged, and for the last fortnight after school he'd come home to have an hour long training session with Clark. It was now halfway through February, and the weather was starting to turn. It had been raining pretty frequently of an evening, but the winter sun was still out during the day, peeking softly through the clouds.

Danny had come up with a fairly comprehensive training schedule for Clark, focusing on how to integrate all of his gifts and on tightening up his attacks. Clark felt that he was improving, but he sometimes wondered who would win a full on fight between him and his cousin. It was obvious that Danny was pulling some of his punches so to speak. Of course, the new regimen had followed a rather long conversation in the barn loft, which even Clark's mother had eventually been included in.

Flashback – Two weeks ago

Clark and Danny were both in the loft although Clark was not sure Danny realised he was there. Danny was sitting by the window while Clark was standing on the stairs. Clark watched Danny for a while in silence, he had manifested a ball of glowing green light and was absently throwing it around like a ball, and it was interesting to just watch Danny play around with his powers. He seemed to draw a distinction between the house and the barn. He would rarely use his powers in the farmhouse, even if it was only Clark or him mom around. But in the barn he'd happily play around, performing small amusements with his ectoplasm or just floating as he studied.

So Clark was content for a while to watch as Danny played with the glowing green ball. It was just before dinner, and Danny had been home for an hour now. Clark had been the house, but being Thursday, Danny had gone up to the barn to work on his homework pretty soon after arriving home. Although now he looked at ease, a faint sparkle in his eye as he tossed the ball higher into the air before catching it. After five minutes watching Clark was surprised when Danny commented "I know you're there Clark." Clark half smiled, it was actually very difficult to surprise the young halfa.

"Yeah" Clark admitted "I wanted to talk." Danny nodded, taking a seat on the sofa and gesturing for Clark to do the same.

"So what's on your mind?" Danny asked.

"Lately, quite a lot actually; but first things first." Clark said calmly "After you left the other night we had a visit from some government agents, the GIW." The colour in Danny's face vanished and his eyes widened.

"They're here?" he whispered so softly that only Clark could hope to hear it. He took in a deep breath before clicking his tongue and asking "So what did they want?"

"They were looking for an "ectoplasmic being". Apparently they picked up the – ectoplasmic trace – for the Box Ghost. But when they arrived it said there was a trace for another one. He measured 8.7, and they identified him as 7.0046." Clark watched as Danny blinked twice.

"8.7?" Danny physically gulped "And you're sure it was 7.0046?" Fear flickered through his eyes for a moment, making Clark wonder why. The way he had asked made Clark sure Danny knew exactly who entity 7.0046 was, so the question became why was Danny afraid of himself?

"Yeah." Clark affirmed and Danny nodded. "You know who that is?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before nodding slowly. "Yeah. Although I guess I'm 8.0046 now. That's how they work." He looked out the barn window for a long time, the sparkle in his eyes dimmed.

"They told us what they planned to do if they ever caught an ectoplasmic being." Clark pressed. He didn't know why it was so important to you, but he needed to know how much Danny knew. If he knew of the fate that awaited either of them if they were ever found out.

"It's not pleasant." Danny murmured. "Experiments, lots and lots of painful experiments and then..." He broke off, his eyes still fixed on some distant point on the horizon. He no longer seemed to be talking to Clark, he was too lost in his own thoughts "And it's not like they'd care that I'm half human. We're all the same. Not sentient enough, not alive enough... just not enough." Danny's eyes were glassy and Clark couldn't resist laying a comforting hand on the halfa's back.

"Hey, I would never let that happen. Whatever it took I'd keep you safe." Clark promised, meaning it from the depths of his heart. Never mind his own fears, it was more important to make Danny feel safe. Nobody deserved the fate the GIW promised, and Clark would make sure Danny never saw it.

"And I might be able to help with that." A feminine voice announced. Clark looked up to see his mom standing at the top of the stairs. He looked questioningly over at her and she cleared her throat as soon as she saw she had Clark's attention. "The night I went to Metropolis to talk with the Governor's Office, they offered me Jon's senate seat."

Clark was stunned, this was an interesting development. He didn't know what to think; his mom could do a lot of good in the seat, but was it worth the risk? Then again how different could it be if his mom took the seat for his dad? And that opened still recent wounds. He wasn't sure if he was ready to deal with that now. It didn't take long for Clark and his mom to agree to discuss this more on another day. Danny was still lost in a world of his own.

"Danny?" Clark asked quietly, poking the halfa lightly in the side. Danny turned and blinked, shaking the cobwebs out of his head as he realised there was another person in the loft.

"Oh, hi Aunt Martha" He said quickly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Um, is it too late to ask what's up?" Danny's voice was light, but there was a strange undertone to it. Clark's mom just smiled, taking a seat herself. The senate seat was a discussion for another day, but there was obviously something more that Clark's mom wanted to know.

"Danny, is there something wrong with your gifts at the moment?" She asked gently. She was obviously concerned, and to be honest so was Clark. For the past few months Danny had been having really strange glitches with his powers. Sometimes he'd even shift into his ghost half without realising it. Other times his human legs would disappear into a spectral tail. Clark had struggled not to mention that when he saw it. But when they all came together it seemed like they all added up to something bigger, and there was a missing puzzle piece that only Danny could answer for.

"Not exactly." Danny answered carefully "But the thing is... it's a ghost thing, and in a way it's not my secret to tell. The ghosts don't want people this side of the world to know. I'm dealing with it as best I can, and I know it will sort itself out eventually."

"You're sure?" Clark asked and Danny nodded. Clark got the feeling that he'd find out more but gently guiding Danny into an answer on this, rather than pressuring him into one. However there was still a lot to discuss. "While we're on the subject of things sorting themselves out, what's the story with Lex?"

Danny looked up, firmly meeting Clark's eyes. "I'm not gonna apologise for it Clark. Lex extended the hand of friendship, I didn't ask him to, but he did. Before you say anything I know how dangerous he is, but I also know that what Lex doesn't need is someone else he trusts betraying him. He messed things up with you, I get that. But I believe that everyone deserves a second chance, and I'm gonna give it to him."

Danny's serious tone slipped into light hearted humour as he smiled "Besides, it was fun to get to practice fighting without risking having my head blown off."

Clark was not ready to let Danny go along with Lex. But perhaps it would be better to subtly guide him away from Lex's acidic touch than to outright ban it. Clark noticed that his mom didn't seem to press the issue much more than to remind Danny to be careful. However there was something in Danny's words that struck a chord for Clark.

Danny had admitted that he liked practicing without the threat of death hanging over him. "Danny," Clark began cautiously "a couple of weeks ago you suggested setting up a training regimen." By now Clark had Danny and his mom's full attention. "I was wondering if I could take you up on that. More than that, after meeting the Box Ghost, can you teach me how to stop ghosts?" Clark spared a short glance at his mom who was smiling encouragingly at him.

Clark watched as Danny's bright blue eyes lit up in a broad smile. "Sure Clark" Danny replied lightly, almost laughing. He seemed delighted by this development "I'd be happy to." He smiled jovially before a cheeky grin flashed across his face "First lesson: Catch!" Danny blinked out of sight and Clark found a ball of glowing green flying at him. Clark caught the ball, examining it in his hands. It felt strange, something like putty but both more and less solid. He could almost feel the energy radiating off it. Clark lightly tossed it in the air, watching the strange way it fell. Something told him that this would be... interesting.

End Flashback

Two weeks had passed since that conversation, and Danny had come up with endless ways for Clark to improve his skills. That is what led to the game Danny and he were playing now. They were out in one of the fields, Clark was blindfolded, trying to hear Danny before he had the opportunity to come in and attack. So far he was met with limited success; Danny always managed to sneak up on Clark too quickly. Another blast slammed against Clark's back. It wasn't strong, Clark knew Danny was capable of doing a lot of damage but his current attacks were just enough to sting. Clark focused, recalling the first time that he had learned of his super hearing.

The air around him slowed, every blade of grass echoing as they shifted in the wind. He heard the faint patter of field mice as they scurried around beneath him. Like this he could hear everything and the beating of Danny's heart was thunderous, even if it wasn't as fast as a normal humans. Clark smiled as he threw a rock at Danny, the agreed signal that Danny had been found. Danny laughed happily before asking Clark to repeat it again. This time it was easy. After a few minutes Danny asked Clark to remove the blindfold.

"That was great. Next time we play that game I'm gonna have to give you a harder soundscape to work against." Danny looked up to the sky, gazing at the darkening clouds. "A storm's coming" He commented lightly, just as the first few raindrops started to fall. He waited for the cool relief of water against his skin, but felt nothing. He looked up to see the rain was falling on a barrier ten feet above him. Danny had had a shield up the entire time they were practicing and Clark hadn't even noticed. The two boys headed back to the house as the icy droplets intensified.

By eight at night the storm had rolled in fully, loud thunderclaps resounded over the house and bright flashes of lightning pierced the otherwise black night. Clark was in his room reading through his history textbook. While he may have forgone university for the rest of semester he was still interested in learning. The rain buffeted against the window, pounding loudly. It had been a while since the rain was this heavy, but Clark didn't mind. The house was warm and dry and the storm was separate.

Clark decided to head down to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee but noticed that Danny's room was empty. Danny had said an hour ago that he wanted to go flying to clear his thoughts. Sometimes Clark envied Danny for his ability to just let go of reality and drift up into the clouds, but part of him was scared to try. He had always been scared of heights, but nowadays he thought it was more than that. He was scared to let go of his humanity.

There was a bright flash of lightning and a thunderclap so loud the house physically shook. He saw his mom in the kitchen jump, the papers in her hands falling to the table with a soft thud. "You're really considering the senate seat, aren't you?" Clark asked as he took a seat next to her. He picked up a few of the papers and realised he couldn't really understand what they were on about. He'd never been into politics much farther than protecting justice and the American way. Or at least that was how Clark liked to look at it.

Clark's mom only nodded in response, flicking through the thick stack of budgets and policies. He shook his head and put the kettle on to boil. There was another thunderclap and the lights flickered for a moment. He sat opposite his mom, waiting for the kettle to boil. The phone rang noisily, and Clark picked himself up to go get it. He was startled to see the number, but even more so when he heard the panicked voice of Lois on the other end of the phone.

"Clark, it's Lois. Chloe is in trouble. She's in the hospital."

Line Break

Lois was scared. Not that she'd let anyone else see it but she was truly scared for her cousin. Chloe had come to her apartment for a much needed break; Lois had suggested she have a shower to relax. Then the lights had gone out. Lois had heard a panicked scream from the bathroom, and when she had burst in she found Chloe curled in a ball whimpering under the sink. She had begged for help in the feeblest of voices, but what was truly terrifying were the long red gashes stretching across her wrists.

Lois had rushed Chloe to the hospital and she had been immediately admitted. In Lois' worried state she'd reached out to the first lifeline she could think of and called Clark. It was a heart wrenching twenty minutes as Lois watched her blonde haired cousin dragged off, blood still oozing through the slits as the nurses tended to the injuries. Lois was introduced to the hospital psychiatrist as he raced to do a psych evaluation on her cousin. By the time the doctor, Dr Sydell had finished, Clark had just arrived. He looked really worried, outwardly displaying the concerns that Lois refused to.

"Lois?" Clark asked as he rounded the corner. He was bundled up in a thick blue jacket to fight the cold. "Where's Chloe, is she alright?" Lois wrapped herself up in her own thick purple woollen jacket, but was saved having to answer by Dr Sydell.

"That's what we were trying to determine." The greying man said. He was tall and lean for his profession, no older than about forty but carrying premature worry lines. "And you are?" he demanded of Clark who briefly introduced himself.

"How do you do? I'm Dr Sydell" The psychiatrist replied, however Lois saw that Clark was still confused.

"He's Chloe's psychiatrist." Lois explained. Trying to take command of the situation she explained to Clark "I found her on the bathroom floor. She slit her wrists." Clark's eyes widened and Lois couldn't help the wave of guilt that washed over her.

"I feel so guilty, I should have seen this coming. She hasn't been getting much sleep, between, you know, school and her job at the Planet and..."

"Is there any history of mental illness in the family?" Dr Sydell interjected. Lois replied in the negative.

"I'm her cousin, I would know if there were any bats in the belfry." However Lois did notice the awkward way Clark shifted at this question. The Doctor summoned an orderly to move Chloe to another room, one where Clark and Lois would be able to visit her. The orderly was pale, there was a strange light in his eyes and he looked sickly. Something about him made Lois anxious and she absently wrapped her arms tighter around herself.

"Doctor, I don't understand, why would Chloe do this to herself?" Clark demanded. Lois was silently glad for how deeply concerned Clark was for her cousin. Chloe had always had something of a crush on the gentle farm boy, and even though their relationship was strictly friends only, Lois was happy that Clark always went so far to look out for her little cousin.

"It's any number of factors" The Doctor replied solemnly "Family history, stress, loss of a loved one..." Lois gulped. She knew that Chloe's mom had just vanished several years ago, it was sad to think that that could be hurting Chloe even today. But the Doctor was still talking. "Sometimes a person has a secret they feel they can't share. But whatever it is, I'll uncover it, and I will treat it aggressively."

Lois looked to Clark; he didn't look particularly comforted by the Dr Sydell's words. But they were both worried, and Lois just wanted her cousin to get better. If Sydell was going to be vigorous about it was far better than risking Chloe being so drastic again. Lois shivered. She had seen many scary things in her lifetime, but the image of her cousin's sliced wrists would haunt her in her nightmares for a very long time.

Lois followed the orderly to the room where Chloe was resting. She looked so peaceful; it was hard to believe that her strong confident cousin had gone so far as to slit her wrists. Lois would never have believed it if she hadn't seen it. Chloe may deny memory, but the truth was that seeing Chloe like that had shaken Lois to the core. She pulled her arms tight around her as she peered through the window to Chloe's room. She was going to make sure that Chloe got the help she needed.

Line Break

Chloe sighed as she stared at the roof of the hospital. She knew why she was here; the pain stinging on her wrists was enough to tell her. And the half hour spent with Dr Sydell made sure she knew exactly why she was here. But the problem was that she couldn't recall any of it. She remembered getting out of the shower after the lights went out, and struggling to find a candle in the dark room, but then there was a big blank until she woke up in the hospital. She closed her eyes, trying to relax.

There was a click of a turning knob as the door was opened. Chloe turned to face her friend Clark as he somewhat timidly came into the room.

"Hey," he said, and Chloe saw the underlining worry in his eyes. "How're you going?"

"Out of it" Chloe replied groggily "From the sedatives they gave me." Clark came over and took the visitors seat next to her bed. She found herself meeting a pair of worried blue eyes.

"So, what happened?" Clark asked.

"I don't know." Chloe replied honestly, even though she was very confused about it herself. After all she had been hospitalised for something she couldn't even recall.

Clark took a deep breath, looking slightly to her left so he didn't have to meet her eyes. "Chloe, if you gotta talk about something..." He began, but Chloe cut him off.

"Clark, really. I don't know. I mean, I was showering and then the lights went out and... it's just all jumbled." Chloe explained frankly. "I just woke up on the floor bleeding." Clark looked away, almost guiltily. Chloe mustered all the confidence she could into her voice "Clark, I'm a writer. If I was gonna kill myself I would leave one hell of a suicide note." That aroused a slight smile from her bumbling best friend.

"I think there was someone else in the room with me, though." Chloe tacked on, dimly recalling the face of the pale girl she had seen from the corner of her eye. She wasn't sure she had seen her, but at the same time...

"Lois didn't see anyone." Clark replied, his smile dropping into genuine concern. There was a pause and Chloe looked away. Suddenly Chloe felt Clark's comforting hand on her wrist. "You know, Chloe, the Doctor asked if you had any history of mental illness in your family. Should we tell him about your mom?" Chloe's mind reeled. Her mom had left her when she was eight; she had checked herself into a mental institution when she Chloe was in middle school. No-one had ever figured out what was wrong with her, but she wasn't there mentally. Chloe hadn't even gone to see her, she was too scared to. Chloe feared that something like that would ever happen to her. It wasn't... this was nothing like that and there was no need for anyone else to find out.

"No." She replied sternly to Clark and when he tried to protest she explained "I don't know what's happening to me. But I don't want anyone thinking that I'm like my mom. So just don't say anything, alright?" Clark didn't look happy with it, but Chloe was relieved when he agreed. He only stayed for a little longer as visiting hours were long since over. She settled herself in for a long night. The doctors said that they wanted to keep her in for observation at least overnight, and she surmised that she was a high risk patient at the moment. As she settled in for sleep Chloe just wished that she even remembered what had happened.

When she woke up Chloe was immediately taken for a brain scan and spent another hour talking with the psychiatrist. She answered his questions as best as she could, but the sedatives were still in her system and her responses weren't quite as lucid as they usually would be. She found herself craving caffeine, but the hospital would only allow her tea. The day was a long one, mostly dull. That was hardly unexpected since everyone she knew either had work or was in school. For entertainment she flicked on the news, but there wasn't much happening. Chloe found herself drifting in and out of sleep throughout the day with little to entertain her.

"Help me" Chloe heard a girl's voice on the edge of her consciousness. She was somewhere halfway between awake and dreaming and wasn't sure if the voice was just a by-product of her tired mind.

"Please, Help me" The voice came again, while still soft it was more demanding this time. Chloe's eyes snapped open, the room was dark. Night had fallen, but the rain that had persisted all day had yet to let up. Her room was still dark, but Chloe could have sworn she saw a flicker of light in the bathroom.

Cautiously she slid herself out from between the sheets and started towards the bathroom.

"Please" the voice implored "I have to find him." If Chloe had never met Phantom she would have sworn she was going mad, but she knew it was possible for voices to come from nowhere. She knew she was fine. Mentally at least. She slowly made her way towards the bathroom, throwing the door fully open...

To find nothing. "Hello?" She questioned the air, seeing nobody in the darkened bathroom. She was about to flick the light out when there was a bright lightning flash. Chloe jumped as the room was suddenly illuminated. There was a girl there, dressed in white. Her hair was dark, falling in scraggly rat-tails over her shoulders, and black shadows encircled her eyes. Her skin was deathly pale but for the long trails of blood trickling down her wrists. She looked so sad and so scared, and Chloe jumped in shock.

Chloe took a fearful step backwards, starting as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around to face the person who had done so. "Lana" she gasped as she recognised the face. Chloe was still frantically looking for the girl, she was bleeding and she needed help, but she was no longer in the bathroom.

"I got here as fast as I could, are you okay?" Lana asked calmly, but Chloe barely recognised her as speaking.

"Where is she?" Chloe questioned, searching the room for answers.

"Who?" Lana asked

"The girl, she was just here." Chloe looked to the floor. There was a long trail of bloody footsteps leading all the way out of the room. Chloe gulped, the girl needed help. "My God, there's so much blood." Chloe whispered, slowly following the bloody trail out towards the hallway.

"Chloe, I think we should get you back to bed, alright?" Chloe heard Lana say. What was wrong with her? There was so much blood on the floor. That girl needed help; serious help.

She shrugged Lana's hand off her shoulder "No, I have to find her. I just saw her." She ran out of the room, hoping to find that poor girl. "I have to help her."

Suddenly firm hands grasped her and she saw the tired face of Dr Sydell. She was relieved; if she could get him on the case he could help that girl. "Doctor" she breathed "Oh my God. There was a woman in my room; she really needs your help."

"Relax," The doctor said, although something told her he was going to do nothing about the girl. "Orderly." Chloe became frantic, he wasn't listening to her. He wasn't seeing, he wasn't even looking.

"Listen. There's blood all over the floor." She explained in a jumbled rush. She was being tugged back into the room by the same man that had brought her in there last night, but they weren't looking. "Don't you see?" Chloe exclaimed becoming frantic. "It's going all the way down the hall."

"There is no blood" Dr Sydell said.

Chloe was scared, what about that poor girl? If no one found her she could die. "She was in my bathroom. You're not listening to me, there is blood!"

"I'm listening" the doctor stated, but he wasn't. Why couldn't he see it? It was right there, the trail of crimson leading all the way out of her room and away down the hall.

"There's a woman in my room and she needs my help!" Chloe exclaimed, barely hearing as a nurse was summoned. All she knew was that she was being forced back to her bed when the person who really needed help was getting farther away from them. She tried to struggle, but they wouldn't let her go. They wouldn't listen. Suddenly a syringe entered her vision and she screamed in protest. "No! Please. You don't understand!" she looked to the fearful face of her friend, beseeching her for help "No, Lana!" she screamed "Make them listen! Lana! Please, Lana!" But it was too late, Chloe felt a sharp sting pierce her arm and before she knew it she was fading into the blackness of oblivion.

Line Break

Lana slowly walked through the Luthor Mansion. Part of her hated herself for thinking of this as an option. Chloe was always so hesitant around anything Luthor. But if there was any chance that he could help her get better than she had to take it. She guiltily dug her hands in her pockets. Why was it that doing the right thing for someone had to feel so bad?

The doors to Lex's office were open, and she heard the tail end of a rather heated phone conversation "How hard can it be to find one college professor from a dirt state?" Lex's voice sounded angry. "I want Fine located, or somebody's gonna be wondering where you disappeared to." Lana frowned, but she had more pressing issues to consider than aggressive threats to some faceless person. Especially with Chloe's mental stability on the line.

Lex put the phone down as soon as she entered the room. "Lana." He said quietly, moving away from his desk "What's wrong?"

Lana shrugged half-heartedly. So much was wrong at the moment, but her biggest concern was her friend. "Chloe" She explained "She's in the hospital. She... she tried to kill herself."

"Is she alright?" Lex demanded.

"I don't know." Lana replied "I tried talking to her, but she wasn't making any sense." Lana tried not to blanch at the memory of her old friend hysterical in the hands of the orderly and her doctor. Chloe had seen bloody footprints when there were none there, and she was so panicked it had been terrifying. "They sedated her." Lana finished sadly.

"Who's her doctor?" Lex queried calmly. And Lana was glad. Lex was always able to think clearly, even when everything became really tough. He always seemed to be able to predict what she was going to ask next and he was really easy to talk to. Lana knew Lex was always there for her and that's what she needed now.

"Some psychiatrist down at the med centre. That's actually why I came to see you." Lana admitted. She hesitated a moment before continuing, hoping she didn't offend Lex "When you were in Belle Reve, the doctors helped you when you were having problems, right?"

"I'll make the call." Lex replied and Lana couldn't help but feel relieved. "She'll have the best doctors this side of Vienna helping within the hour." One of the good things about being friends with Lex was that he always made sure to look out for you.

"Lex, thank you. I didn't know who else to go to." Lana said, allowing herself her first true smile since she'd seen Chloe. It was all going to be alright. With Lex's help Chloe was sure to come to a full recovery. This whole thing was so out of character for her, and Lana was sure that whatever it was Chloe could pull through it if she only had the right help. Lana gave Lex a tight hug of appreciation before guiding herself out of the mansion. With Chloe taken care of she needed to return to Metropolis. With all the rain it was going to add an extra half hour to the trip so she really needed to get going if she wanted to make it back to her dorm in time.

Line Break

Danny frowned as he gazed over Chloe's unconscious form. Clark and he had gone to the hospital to visit her, only for Clark to find out that she had been moved into the psych ward. The room Chloe now slept in looked cold, and they weren't letting visitors in at all. They could only look through the small window on the door at their blonde friend. Part of Danny just wanted to phase in there and keep her company, but the tiny surveillance camera in the corner of the room prevented him from doing that. Going in invisible was also not an option, as he didn't want anyone to think Chloe was talking to herself.

The strange thing was that there was a weird energy source in the room, and from the corner of his eyes Danny could have sworn he saw an extra shadow lying beside Chloe. But he didn't know what the energy was. It wasn't ghostly, or his ghost sense would have gone off, and it wasn't electrical either. Lately he had been much more sensitive to electricity, and his ghostly stinger had been far easier to use than ever before. But that didn't tell Danny what was wrong with Chloe.

Clark and Danny stood in silent vigil, watching Chloe as she slept under the bright blue light in her shoebox of a room. Her sleep looked pained, and it took all of Danny's strength not to burst in and wake her up from her nightmares. He could feel that Clark beside him was facing the same struggles. There was the tapping of footsteps echoing down the hall behind them. Even without looking Danny recognised the man as Lex, which was confusing as Lex had never shown any real interest in Chloe.

"Lex, what are you doing here?" Clark demanded as he turned to face the young billionaire. Danny however stayed looking at Chloe, his hand brushing lightly against the all too solid locked door that prevented him from going in and finding out what was wrong. Just by feeling her aura he could instantly tell if Chloe was mentally unwell, he was much better that any psychiatrist in that way. Danny frowned, only half listening to the conversation between the two ex-friends.

"Lana came to see me." Lex explained; his voice both sad and heavy. He sighed. "She told me what happened."

"Thanks for coming by, but we have it under control." Clark replied slightly aggressively. Danny turned to face the young billionaire. There were too many things in the balance here. Clark was obviously worried about his secret, but also about keeping Chloe safe from Lex. Unfortunately, Chloe's mental state was an unknown to Danny, and he knew that, while he hated to think of using it, Lex could be a valuable resource in making sure Chloe was well again. The problem was that he was too much like Vlad and would probably use that help against them in the future. While Danny was happy to establish a friendship with Lex, he would never let himself become indebted to the young man. He couldn't afford it.

"Clark" Lex replied dryly "This is a local med centre. If Chloe sprained her knee, I'm sure she'd be in good hands. But something like this requires a more delicate touch. I'll make sure she gets the best care possible."

"You're gonna transfer her?" Clark demanded, taking an intimidating step towards Lex. Danny took the opportunity to lay a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him.

"The helicopter's en route. She'll be in Belle Reve before she even wakes up." Lex calmly replied, taking a step towards Chloe's door.

"That's a kind offer, Lex." Danny said, speaking up for the first time since Lex had arrived "But could it wait a little while? Chloe would probably be more comfortable in Smallville, and taking her away from her home and her friends would probably harm her recovery for the moment."

Lex turned to face Danny, looking questioningly at him, almost as if he was an unknown variable. "She won't be that far away. Belle Reve is only half an hour from here, so she won't be away from her friends."

"Chloe doesn't belong in Belle Reve." Clark interjected angrily.

Lex didn't look at either of them as he murmured "Lana thinks so" just barely loud enough for them to hear. So Lex had arranged this at Lana's behest? Danny hadn't been there personally, but from the description Clark had given him it didn't sound like a nice place to visit, let alone stay. If there was one thing Danny knew about Chloe it was that waking up there would send her into a mental shut down. He didn't know why, but Chloe always flinched at the mention of mental illnesses. To put her in that sort of environment was about the worst thing that could happen to her.

"I don't think Lana understands." Danny said, shaking his head sadly. "Seeing a psychiatrist may help, but locking her away, that won't. At least if she's here she can pretend that this is just for some physical ailment. If you put her in Belle Reve, you may just convince her she has a worse problem than she really does."

Lex looked sadly between Danny and Clark. "I understand how you feel." He began "A close friend, someone you trust more than anyone else in the world. It's hard to see them like this. I promise, I'll take good care of her." Lex walked away slowly, dismissing himself from the conversation. Danny did not feel consoled, and it was clear that Clark felt the same.

"She can't go to Belle Reve." Clark said bluntly and Danny nodded, although he felt that Clark's reasoning was slightly different than his own. But ultimately Chloe had to be protected from Lex's care for now, and that was Danny's prime concern.

"So what's the plan?" Danny whispered, careful not to move his lips since he knew they were still under surveillance. Clark suggested phasing in and grabbing her, but Danny knew that with all the security in the psych ward that would lead to bigger problems. Instead he laid his hand on the wall, mentally feeling the electrical currents that raced through the building. His mind ghosted along the wires to the central fuse box and he shorted the arbitrary power systems. The lights went out, as did the video feed, but the life support systems and other essential lines stayed functional.

Soon enough Danny was knocking on Lois's door at the Talon while Clark held Chloe's still sleeping form in his arms. Lois stood disbelievingly in the door for a minute before directing Clark to lay Chloe on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Lois demanded as soon as Chloe looked remotely comfortable. "She should be in the hospital." Danny took a seat on the bed next to Chloe as Clark and Lois bustled around the room. He stroked a loose strand of hair away from her face, but was mentally trying to figure out her aura. It was flickering, it was almost as if she'd picked up another layer to it, and that layer was unbalanced.

Danny shivered; the layer was deeply unstable, and dark. But it wasn't Chloe's. As they'd been moving her to the Talon Danny had felt that strange energy source come with them, following Chloe like a shadow. And occasionally from the corner of his eye Danny could almost see a pale figure of a girl, but she was gone as soon as Danny blinked his eyes. It was strange; it was almost ghostly but not. When they'd come into the apartment Danny had felt a strange tingle, almost akin to his ghost sense, but a lot more painful. But he couldn't find the source.

"Lex wanted to transfer her to Belle Reve" Clark quickly explained, making clear to all his utter disdain for that mental institution.

"Well, Clark, maybe that's what she needs right now." Lois softly answered.

"It's not." Danny softly replied. Looking up to the two young adults before him, but Clark was much louder in expressing his own opinions.

"Lois, you don't know what goes on in there. And do you really want those doctors getting inside Chloe's head?" Clark almost shouted. So Clark was acting from a position of fear. Reading between the lines it was obvious that Clark was scared for his own secret.

"If it makes her feel better, I don't care if Daffy Duck whacks her with a mallet." Lois shot back equally loudly.

Danny was much more quiet when he responded, sensing that Chloe was starting to wake up. "Lois, I'm not gonna say that Chloe shouldn't see anyone, but taking her to Belle Reve is the worst thing they could do to Chloe. She'll be much better off waking up here with you than she could be there with a dozen doctors around her."

"Thanks Danny" Chloe said groggily, struggling to sit up. "You guys, I'm drugged, not deaf." Instantly Clark and Lois dropped their argument, watching Chloe as she rubbed her head.

"Hey," Danny said, gently rubbing the back of her hand and projecting his calming aura to try and get her back on her feet faster. "How're you doing?" Chloe managed a small half-smile at Danny before replying that she was thirsty.

It was clear that the sedatives were still working their way through her system. Her usually bright eyes were dim, and the strange flickering in her aura was giving even Danny a headache. He was tempted to close himself off completely to them, with Chloe and Clark both being in the room, but he needed to try to get Chloe better, and the easiest way to do that was for him to leak some of his own positive energy to her. Lois and Clark would probably feel it too, but it was far more important to make sure Chloe was okay.

"I'll get you some water." Danny offered, making towards the kitchen, but Chloe's hand fastened around his wrist.

"Actually, can I just get a cappuccino? I think it might help clear the cobwebs." Chloe requested.

Lois smiled down at her cousin "I'll go downstairs and whip you up a double." Lois turned on her heels and to leave the room, leaving Clark, Chloe and Danny in relative privacy. Although Danny did overhear Lois's whispered threat "Can you not do anything ridiculous for five minutes?" to Clark on her way out.

"Not too happy about the breakout, huh?" Chloe mumbled, gathering herself up into a ball, although she kept her right hand firmly fastened around Danny's wrist.

"Yeah" Danny and Clark replied in synch. Clark took a seat by Chloe's feet, and Danny shifted to allow Chloe a clear view of her friend.

"She's just worried about you." Clark comforted, clasping his hands together in his lap. "We all are."

"Clark, I know what I saw." Chloe said firmly, the most lucidly she'd said anything so far. "I didn't imagine anything. And I didn't hurt myself, I wouldn't do that." She looked Clark firmly in the eyes before saying "I'm not my mother." Danny was thrown for a loop, but instinctively knew that now wasn't the time to press the issue. The most important thing was getting Chloe better.

"I know." Clark replied quietly with a soft smile.

"I have to find him." Danny jerked to attention as he heard a voice.

"Did you hear that?" Chloe asked, pulling her hand away from Danny.

"Hear what?" Clark asked, and Danny raised an eyebrow. How could Clark have missed that? Both he and Chloe had heard it, and it was not ghostly. It didn't echo right, and it didn't give Danny the same feeling as when there was a ghost around.

The weird energy in the room intensified, and Danny jumped as he saw a girl standing next to Clark. Her energy was bizarre, but it was like that additional layer that Chloe's aura had been encased by. She was deathly pale, looking at Chloe with pleading eyes as she demanded "Help me" before she vanished from sight.

"I have to find him" The girl's voice reverberated around the apartment, and Danny looked for the source.

"She's here." Chloe choked fearfully, pressing herself against the wall. Clark looked down on her sceptically, but Danny followed Chloe's fearful gaze. The girl was in the bathroom, slowly walking backwards with blood trickling from her wrists. She looked bedraggled and fearful, her darkened eyes pleading for help as she stepped back into the wall. She phased through the sink and behind the mirror, but far different from any ghost Danny had ever seen. It was more like a flash of green light as she merged into the wall.

Chloe leapt up from the bed, and hung with eyes wide as she clung to the door frame. Danny was soon behind her, gazing at the mirror while probing it mentally. The energy was coming from there, just behind the wall. Chloe raced over to the mirror, frantically pressing her fingers against the mirror and sink as if it would release the girl. Clark stood up and slowly came into the bathroom behind them.

"Chloe, you okay?" He asked softly, and Chloe quickly spun around to face Clark.

"She's in the wall." Chloe rushed, looking between Danny, the sink and Clark.

"Who?" Clark queried, almost patronisingly.

"The girl I keep seeing, we have to help her." Chloe babbled.

Clark looked over to Danny, and in that look Danny knew that Clark wasn't seeing what they were seeing. This was like Youngblood all over again. "Look, Chloe" Clark said calmly as he walked over to her. "Just calm down, all right? We'll get her out of the wall." Clark sounded sceptical, he moved to take her away, but Chloe became frantic.

"No. Clark. No, Clark! Clark, I'm not crazy. She's in the wall, please, just look." Chloe implored.

"She's not lying." Danny said, looking at his cousin, and Chloe stepped over to him.

"You see her too?" Chloe demanded, frantically searching his eyes. Danny nodded, laying a calming hand on her shoulder.

"You're not crazy." Danny stated, meeting her firmly in the eyes before looking over to his cousin. "There's something weird about the wall. I don't know what's going on, but it would help if you'd look." Danny beseeched with confident authority, leaving no room for Clark to object, and even if he did, Danny could always turn the wall invisible. Clark gazed at the wall, and Danny watched with intrigue the shift from normal to x-ray vision. It was a different type of energy in Clark's eyes, but it still came from the sun. Danny made a mental note to explore it some other time, preferably when Chloe was not about to get herself permanently thrown into the psych ward.

Clark's eyes widened and he uttered a fearful "Oh my God" before clamouring over to the wall. He punched his fist right through the mirror, sending shards of glass clattering across the floor as he ripped out the face of the dry wall. As the dust settled they all gasped as a skeleton was revealed. Clark staggered back, and Danny sensed the powerful radiation from a meteor rock pervade the room. The skeleton was old, the barest of rags hanging off old dusty bones. Dust covered long dark hair, and instantly Danny knew this was the girl who had cried out for their help.

Chloe and Danny guided Clark out of the room and away from the kryptonite. Chloe stayed curiously in the bathroom while Clark went to call the Sheriff's office. Danny was intrigued; this was obviously the restless spirit of that young girl, the weird energy had seemed to radiate out from the kryptonite encrusted bracelet on her wrist. But it wasn't ghostly. It was almost as if the kryptonite had somehow allowed her spirit to walk again, not that that made any sense to Danny.

"You may want to stop with the silver eyes Danny." Clark commented, poking Danny's shoulder. Danny picked up one of the silver spoons from the kitchen counter, and sure enough his eyes were silver, littered with flecks of green and blue. Danny blinked, his eyes becoming blue once more, although there were small flecks of silver when he looked closely. Danny stalked into the bathroom just as Clark got onto the office. He struggled to articulate what he had found, but was eventually able to convey that they had found a skeleton in the bathroom wall.

Chloe was in the bathroom, curiously looking at the skeleton. Even from here Danny was conscious of the weird energy; that girl's spirit as it bombarded him. It seemed to be coming from the heavy metallic bracelet that clung to the skeleton's wrist. The green kryptonite didn't glow when he was around, but he was aware of it. Chloe reached out and before Danny could shout a warning her fingers brushed the green stone.

There was a flash, and Danny could only watch as the second aura that clung to Chloe's penetrated and took over. It was not an overshadowing; he had seen that happen and this was nothing alike. It was far more violent and in a flash of green and a swirl of white "Chloe" blinked her eyes open. Except it wasn't Chloe. The spirit didn't carry herself the same way, nor did she feel the same. And the aura held the distasteful twang of meteor infected mental illness. This was more like... possession. Like a typical horror movie possession.

Usually when a ghost overshadows someone, they have the sense to at least pretend to be that person. There's access to memories, habits, aspects of that persons personality that become a part of you while you're in their body. The ghost knows everything about that person, and sort of melds their consciousness to their host body. Of course you can make them act out of their habits, force them to do things that they normally would never do, but it worked differently to this.

What Danny saw from this... not-ghost, this spirit, this... dæmon? It grated against him in a way that he couldn't describe. While his core demanded that he protect Chloe, his instincts screamed at him to eliminate this not-ghost. This thing was wrong, and every fibre of his being was screeching at him to tear the vile excuse for a ghost apart. The possession of a human done this way was wrong, conflicting against even a ghost's warped sense of morals. Danny froze, trying to calm himself. If he didn't he'd probably tear Chloe apart with the dæmon. And he was calling it a dæmon, not a demon because he'd met demons and this wasn't like that either.

Danny could not help the primal growl that slipped through his throat, nor the way his eyes glowed green in his disgust. This possession was so very wrong. The girl had completely suppressed Chloe's aura, using her body but completely blocking everything that made Chloe, Chloe. With an overshadowing the person was still there in some form, that's why it was so hard to tell when someone was overshadowed if it was successful. As morally objectionable as overshadowing was, it was far better that this invasion and domination of Chloe's body and soul.

The girl in Chloe's body jumped back; almost frightened. On some level Danny wanted to help the girl, his core demanded that he protect anyone who looked so scared. However another part of him demanded that he rip apart the threat to Chloe. He took a deep breath, suppressing all of his ghostly instincts to the point where he could at least talk to the girl.

"Your eyes changed colour." The girl said, looking at him fearfully. She backed up, bumping against the free standing mirror behind her. In the reflection Danny saw that his eyes had settled into the strange shade of silver again. But the reflection of Chloe's back was the tattered remains of a white dress and long dark ratty hair. "You're not like him are you?" The girl asked fearfully. That's what clenched it for Danny. He had to help Chloe, and the only to save her was to help out the dæmon that had possessed her.

"Who's 'him'?" Danny asked gently, forcing himself to be civil.

"Him, the man that did this to her." She said, gesturing to the girl in the wall. Danny nodded in acknowledgement.

"And who are you?" Danny asked and the girl's eyes widened. She looked stunned, but Danny got no further before Lois barged in, demanding to know what Clark had done. When she saw the massive hole in the wall she froze, breathlessly demanding to know what was going on. It took the barest of moments for her to compose herself.

"Are you alright?" Lois asked Chloe, but she moved for a closer inspection. The girl winked at Danny before replying to Lois's question.

"Yeah, I feel much better now." Lois then insisted on getting 'Chloe' into some proper clothes, and the four of them quickly made their way to the Kent farm away from the skeleton in the bathroom while the Sheriff's department tried to ID the girl. Danny hadn't had the opportunity to tell Clark that Chloe had been possessed, and couldn't say so in front of Lois.

'Chloe' was sat down in Clark's bedroom, and Danny was just watching her. He had been assigned guard duty, but mostly he was just watching her twitch nervously.

"You can stop staring at me you know." The girl whispered with another look at Danny.

"Please, who are you?" Danny asked quietly.

"Gretchen Winters." She replied shortly. She sat quietly for a minute, anxiously biting at her fingernails. She almost seemed to forget Danny was there. Then she looked up at him "You're like me, aren't you?" She asked. "You died, and you can't move on. You need to stay and make sure the people who hurt you can't do it again. Help me. Help me stop him. Help me make sure that this never happens again."

"Who is 'he'?" Danny asked.

"Mikey. Michael. He never told me his last name. He killed me. That's all you need to know. But I'm not the first. He hurt us, all of us. And when we weren't any use anymore he buried us behind the wall." She blinked fearfully at him. "I don't want that anymore. I didn't want it. Help me, please?" She was almost crying, and Danny felt that he had little choice but to comply.

"How?" Danny asked, and Gretchen just smiled, although there was a sinister edge to it. That was when Clark came in with a steaming cup of coffee and handed it to the girl.

"Maybe this girl's ghost was trying to contact you." Clark suggested.

"She's not a ghost." Danny rejected. The girl sent him a look and continued biting at Chloe's nails.

"Yeah, when that lightning hit the Talon it must have jump-started her body." The girl suggested nervously. She didn't even talk like Chloe, how could Clark be missing this?

"Not to mention the Kryptonite in her bracelet." Clark commented, pacing around his room. Danny shifted further into the corner. He had found out in the car trip that physical contact with her was out of the question. Apparently kryptonite charged dæmons could electrocute him like the rock itself. It was less intense, but definitely uncomfortable.

"Yeah, the krypto-thing" 'Chloe' agreed. She looked over to Danny once before looking away "That poor girl. Sealed up in that wall all this time, all alone."

"I just hope she didn't suffer." Clark murmured.

"Well I think she did. I think she suffered a lot." She took a sip of the coffee, looking skittishly around the room. Clark suggested that she get some rest, but 'Chloe' said she'd slept enough. Nearly ten years in a wall could do that to her, Danny guessed. "We need to find him" she whispered quickly, taking a sidelong glance at Danny.

"Find who?" Clark asked

"The man that did this. He needs to suffer, like she did." 'Chloe' replied, twitching nervously. Clark suggested she try to get some sleep, and left the room, motioning for Danny to follow. With one last glance back at the stranger in Chloe's body he followed his cousin down the stairs. But he did have some information to go off of. He now had two names to work with, hopefully he could find something.

Line Break

Clark frowned, he'd looked everywhere for Chloe, but they hadn't been able to find her. After he and Danny had left her to go to sleep they'd found out from Lois that the girl who had been trapped behind the wall was a girl called Gretchen Winters. What was more that she wasn't the first girl to be found buried behind a wall. They'd gone up to tell Chloe, but by the time they were back in the room she'd vanished. Clark had gone to Chloe's school as a last resort.

He rounded the corner to Chloe's dormitory and his eyes widened. Lana was crouched down next to Lex Luthor on the floor, Lex groaned, his eyes crinkled in pain as he struggled to come to his feet. Lana looked up at Clark, a hint of fear flickering in her eyes, but that was nothing to the accusatory glare Lex sent him. "What happened?" Clark demanded.

"You tell me" Lex replied aggressively. "How did Chloe get out of her restraints at the hospital?"

Clark Blinked. "Chloe was here? Where'd she go?"

"I don't know." Lana answered with her brown eyes wide in fear "But she was acting like an entirely different person."

"Now she's out there with a Taser when she should be getting the help she needs. Nice work." Lex added sarcastically. Clark flinched at the accusation, but he had been wrong in that regard. Now he really needed to find Chloe. Lana was right; Chloe hadn't been acting like herself ever since she found the girl in the wall. There were too many variables in this. Clark walked off into the night, considering where he needed to look next. He called Lois, hopeful that Chloe had gone back to the Talon, but that got him no further than another accusation.

With two accusations he was starting to wonder if he'd made the right choice in taking Chloe out of the hospital. All he'd gone off of was his own fear of hospitals, doctors and anything that could reveal his secret, and the advice of Danny, saying that Chloe needed to be around her family. Now Chloe was missing, and she had gone so far as to attack Lex. There was something desperately wrong with her and Clark was still no closer to finding Chloe than he had been an hour ago.

Clark sighed; realising there was another resource he could use. Clark called Danny who said he was already working on it. "Michael Westmore. He's an orderly at the hospital." Danny mumbled after a moment.

"You think it's him?" Clark demanded

"He's the only Michael with any connection to Gretchen, and there are all these really creepy photos of him at vigils for the missing girls." Danny asserted.

It was all they really had to go on. "Have you got an address?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, 7530 Laurel Avenue. Meet you there?" Danny asked, but Clark didn't bother to answer, he was already running.

Clark raced at full speed back to Smallville, battling for vision as the rain turned to a solid wall of water in front of him. By the time he got there he was soaked to the skin, and his cousin was there in his white haired, glowing ghost half. Clark took a moment to appraise the house. There was a cast iron gate, swinging heavily over the cracked footpath. Tiny rivulets of water flowed over the cracked cement path to an old run down house. A flash of lightning jumped across the sky and the silhouette of the house took on a dark, almost haunted look.

Clark looked subtly at the ghost next to him, Phantom looked uncomfortable, and Clark bit down the irony of a ghost being unhappy in a 'haunted' house. However it was Phantom who led them up towards the front door, completely ignoring the cast iron lion that stood as a doorknock. Phantom turned the door intangible so that Clark didn't have to break it down and led the way into the cold and creepy house.

The front hallway was dark and eerily quiet. Clark took a tentative step forward, but started as he saw a small pool of blood on the floor. A dark cast iron vase had rolled off into the corner, but there was a dark stain of crimson running across the rim. Someone had caused a lot of damage with it and Clark just hoped Chloe was okay. He turned to get the halfa's opinion, but found he was already gone. Clark jumped into action when he heard a pained scream echoing up from the floor beneath him.

Line Break

Lois's eyes slowly flickered open. Her thoughts were foggy, and she had the distinct metallic taste of chloroform in her mouth. She shook her head trying to clear the cobwebs. The last thing she remembered was closing the door of the apartment on that man Michael from the hospital. He had come over, saying he was trying to help Chloe, but he had given Lois all the wrong vibes. He'd been creepy, almost obsessive about finding Lois's cousin. So she'd escorted him out, but... she couldn't remember anything much more than a thick cloth being fastened over her mouth as she struggled to free herself from restraining arms when she tried to call in the police.

Her head was still foggy, but she dimly recognised the tightness around her wrists that suggested she had been tied up. She felt a cloth fastened around her mouth, gagging her and successfully preventing her from shouting out for help. Struggling to remove the gag, Lois took stock of her surroundings. She was in an underground basement, darkened in the storm. However the uncovered light-bulb hanging in the middle of the room sent dim shadows spiralling out away from her. She was tied to an old chair, the hard back digging against her spine.

The basement was cluttered with dust covered relics and broken panelling. There was a wooden wall freestanding in the middle of the room, but half of the wooden panels had broken away. This was the sort of place where things went to be forgotten about. Lois's struggles intensified as she tried to remove the gag, to do anything to free herself before she joined the dusty objects in their stagnated doom.

Lois heard a muffled voice coming from above her. She dimly recognised it as the voice of that guy, Michael. "I know things probably seem pretty bad right now, but it's gonna be alright. I'll help you."

"Like you helped Gretchen Winters?" That sounded like Chloe's voice. Chloe was here. Lois wanted to scream for her help, she bit against the gag, still trying to remove it as she listened to the conversation from upstairs.

"You remember her, don't you?" Chloe said, her voice cracking halfway. It was definitely her voice, but something about that tone just wasn't Chloe. "You were so nice to her at first. You gave her a pretty green bracelet, and you held her when she cried and you listened to all her problems. All the things that were tearing her up inside." Chloe paused for a moment, and Lois hoped something hadn't gone wrong.

"And then you told her your problems" Chloe spat, her voice becoming aggressive and dark. "And it made her sick! And then she tried to leave and you wouldn't let her go. And you grabbed a knife...!" Chloe's voice had escalated into pure hysteria now, and Lois seriously worried for her cousin's sanity. First thing she needed to do was get out of here, preferably taking down that sick bastard of a man, then she needed to make sure Chloe got proper care.

"She didn't deserve to die like that you bastard!" There was a loud thud, it sounded like the slam of a body against a wall. The ceiling above Lois shuddered. But the gag was finally moving. There were loud thuds from upstairs, it sounded like a vicious struggle. Lois could have sworn she heard the buzz of electricity, but there was a loud masculine scream and a thud. A shower of dust fell from the ceiling above Lois as she finally manipulated the gag out of her mouth.

"Help!" She called out, hoping that Chloe could come and help her and that that man wouldn't be the one to answer her plea "Help me. Is somebody up there?"

Lois heard a door open upstairs and eventually Chloe came into her part of the basement. She looked confused and scared, but immediately came to unfasten her. "We have to get out of here." Lois said, meeting her cousin in the eyes as Chloe struggled to untie the tight ropes binding Lois to the chair. "The orderly from the hospital, he killed that girl."

"I know." Chloe commented darkly "He isn't gonna hurt anyone again." Lois looked up, trying to understand what Chloe had just said, but instead shouted a warning as Chloe was struck from behind by that man, Michael. Lois watched helplessly as Chloe was tied to a chair herself. What sort of monster was that man? Chloe needed psychological help, not to be traumatised by some sicko who spent his life burying people behind walls.

Lois shivered as the man turned to face her. There was a large bleeding gash on his forehead, still oozing crimson. A sinister gleam shone in his eyes as he darkly commented "Time for your treatment ladies."

Lois struggled against the ropes. She needed to get them out of here, needed to keep her cousin safe. But it was helpless. She couldn't break free, and it was all that she could do to watch as Chloe slowly blinked to awareness, struggling herself as she found herself tied to another chair on the other side of the room. Lois tried to meet her eyes, to show her that it was somehow all gonna be alright, but Chloe only looked at Michael.

"Does it hurt?" Michael demanded, making Lois jump from the sudden break in the silence. "Does it make you feel like you wanna do something wrong to yourself even though you deserve it?"

Chloe was silent for a minute. Lois seethed internally at what this monster was doing to her cousin. "Let them go" Chloe said quietly.

"'Them'?" Michael questioned. "Disassociated. Removed from what's happening. You really are sick." He said, slowly walking up to Chloe. Lois couldn't help the bile that rose up in her throat.

"Look who's talking" Lois spat, but she was completely ignored.

"There are things that squirm just beneath the skin. But I can make them stop." Michael said, squatting down now so he was on Chloe's eye level. Lois squirmed, still struggling to escape. She couldn't let him keep saying those things to Chloe.

"Hey!" Lois yelled, hoping to distract him. "Get the hell away from her!" She froze when he turned his psychopathic gaze onto her, an involuntary shiver running down her spine.

"I'm just trying to help before she ends up in an asylum. Like her mother." Michael replied coldly. Lois stilled, she hadn't known that. All she knew was that her aunt Moira had gone missing, not that she'd ended up in an asylum.

"It was one of her squirmy things. She didn't even tell her doctor." Michael said, drifting over to a shelf behind Lois. She strained her neck, trying to keep her eyes on the madman. "But I get inside my girls. I find out things.

"My father used to make these. He was very good with his hands." Michael moved over to Chloe, but Lois saw the thick bracelet in his hand. It looked vaguely Celtic in design, with a big green stone in the setting. Something told Lois that it was meteor rock, rather than anything nice.

"I'd just sit for hours and watch him. And as he made them, he'd tell me secrets. Secrets about my mother. She wasn't very nice. But he loved her. He helped her be at peace." Lois's eyes widened at the insinuation. It almost sounded like this man's dad had killed his mom.

The man moved over to Chloe, brushing his fingers against her chin. "I help my girls. I take their secrets." Lois shuddered as the man put the bracelet on Chloe's trembling wrist. She whimpered, Lois watched as Chloe shrunk back in the chair, straining against her bonds. "And they take my secrets. Forever." Lois silently cheered as Chloe spat on him, but it did nothing to stop him.

"You always hurt the ones you love." He whispered, standing up and pacing across to the shelf behind Lois once more. She heard the scrape of metal against metal and knew that whatever was coming would not be pleasant. But Michael was still talking. "It's not a secret. It's just something you have to learn." He walked over towards Chloe, a twelve inch dagger protruding from beneath his sweaty jacket. He snapped around to face Lois, and she shrunk back at the demented look in his eye. Blood rushed through her head and she barely heard him demand that she slit her own wrist.

Michael cut her right hand free, handing her the dagger. Stepping towards a bench as he demanded "Open your wrist and release all your secrets; you can be at peace, just like the rest of them... Or" He reached behind his back, withdrawing a gun and aiming it at Chloe's head. "You'll watch your cousin die."

Lois made a split second decision. She wouldn't give in to his demands. For a moment she held the dagger just hovering above her wrist before flinging it towards him, watching as it landed straight in his heart. There was a moment of stillness as he realised what had happened before letting out an agonising scream. An insane gleam flew through his eye and he stalked over to her, forcefully kicking her chest.

Lois felt a moment of weightlessness before a roaring pain raced through her skull. It was with little relief that she faded into the oblivion of unconsciousness as the injury from a hard fall onto the cement floor consumed her.

Line Break

Danny gasped as he invisibly phased into the basement, subconsciously dropping out of his ghost form as he went and took stock of the scene. Lois was unconscious on the floor, and Michael Westmore who he recognised from the photos was staggering back, attempting to pull a dagger out of his heart. Gretchen was shivering in fear, gazing at her assailant. There was too much demand on his core, he was frozen, unable to determine who he needed to protect first.

"Are all the women in your family crazy?" Michael demanded, pulling the blade out of his chest. The strange thing was that he didn't fall unconscious from blood loss. Danny had forcibly repressed his aura sensing abilities earlier that night, and he needed to be fully aware at the moment, so he didn't lower his defences just for curiosity.

Danny felt a surge of heat fly past him as Clark's heat vision burned the blade, scoring the man's flesh and forcing him to drop it. Unfortunately he came into the range of the kryptonite on Chloe's bracelet, falling unconscious after just one punch. Everything was happening too fast, and Danny couldn't do anything without harming a human in the process. Michael took several threatening steps towards Gretchen, and she panicked.

"No! Mikey! Mikey!" She screamed and the murderous man paused, demanding to know where she found out that name. "Mikey, that's what your dad used to call you: 'Little Mikey'. Remember that. You hated it."

"How do you know so much?" Michael demanded, taking a step towards Gretchen.

"I know all your secrets Mikey. It's me. It's Gretchen. I need you Mikey. I need you to take away all my secrets. Make it stop hurting, just like you did before. Please?" She begged. Danny saw the man smile almost lovingly at her.

"Anything for my girl" he whispered, crouching down with the reclaimed dagger in his hand. The tension in the air mounted to an almost tangible level, and Danny was finally able to make a move, but it was too late.

Gretchen reached her hand out to Mikey, the kryptonite stone slamming into his cheek. The dæmonic spirit left Chloe, swirling in a cloud of green and white into Michael. Danny was sickened as he watched the same cruel possession happen again, but worse. He felt the dæmon killing her host from within, suffocating him while simultaneously shutting down the heart and brain. Michael was dead even before he touched the floor.

The dæmon stepped out of Michael's body, having the audacity to smile peaceably at Chloe. She did look a lot healthier now, and she even had something like a ghostly aura now, but her existence still grated against Danny's ghostly nerves. He was glad as she faded out of existence, knowing instinctively that she had moved on, or at least her dæmonic spirit was no longer on any plane that he knew of. He felt sorry for the girl, but what Gretchen had done was deplorable, the way she did things went against both his human and ghostly morals. It was good that she had found peace, but he was glad that she was gone from the world.

Danny dropped his invisibility, racing over to a dazed Chloe to check that she was okay. He quickly untied the bonds around her wrists, drawing her into a tight hug. He needed to reassure himself that she was okay, that the dæmon hadn't done anything lasting to her.

"What happened?" Danny heard Clark ask, having himself come back to consciousness. Lois was not far after him, demanding to know what was going on. Chloe shrugged Danny off, taking a hesitant step out of the chair. Chloe looked down at the fallen form of Michael, before looking up at the three of them with tear filled green eyes.

"I guess Gretchen got what she came back for." Chloe slowly answered, barely meeting each of their eyes. She still looked worried. Gretchen was gone, but Danny knew that Chloe still felt haunted by her. He just hoped that Chloe wouldn't remember what had happened; he didn't know how different possession was to overshadowing on the host. Danny took an opportunity to excuse himself, saying he'd go get the truck. He needed time to think. Once he was outside though Danny froze, and stared up into the dark rainclouds in the thunderous sky.

Gretchen may have gotten what she came back for, but Danny had never in all his life – existence – as a half ghost seen any ghost kill. They may be violent and cruel, but the only one who had the real appetite for bloodshed was Pariah Dark, and Danny had managed to confine him back in the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep before he could actually kill anyone. And what was more, this had happened in his presence. He'd just stood there, completely paralysed by the kryptonite fuelled dæmon. He felt sick.

Danny teleported back to the farmhouse to grab the truck, knowing they would have a lot of explaining to do if Lois found out that Clark and Danny had popped out of nowhere. He teleported the truck outside the house just as Lois, Clark and Chloe came out the front. The three of them looked worn; Chloe had drawn her arms tightly around her chest, still looking afraid and disoriented. Clark sent Danny a look which Danny immediately understood; while Chloe may not have been mentally unstable, Gretchen had hurt her. Danny promised himself that he would look out for her, he needed to make sure she was okay and that the dæmon hadn't done anything lasting to Chloe.

The four of them climbed into the truck, Lois and Clark taking the front seat and Danny and Chloe in the back. Danny wrapped a blanket around the blonde's shoulders, which she tugged gratefully around herself. They pulled away from the creepy house, heading towards the Kent Farm and safety. Fortunately the thunderstorm had let up a bit, turning into a misty drizzle as the four of them drove towards the farm.

The drive was silent; Clark had put the heat on so at least the humans were comfortable. Danny stared out the window, looking at the cloudy sky. He had never just watched a human die in front of him. Pariah Dark would have killed, but Danny had stopped him before he had the chance. Dark Dan, his evil alternate future self, he had slaughtered his family in front of him, but even that hadn't been permanent. He didn't know what was worse, seeing a man die even if he was a disgusting excuse of a man, or failing to protect him.

They pulled up to the house and Danny was glad that the downstairs light was on. It made the place feel warm and inviting. Clark insisted that Chloe and Lois stay there for the night. They all needed the safe haven that the Kent Farm provided. As Clark set up a spare blow-up bed in Danny's room Danny made the four of them a hot drink. Eventually the four of them retired, Danny staying on the downstairs sofa so that Chloe and Lois could enjoy the safety of each other's company.

Danny leaned back against the cushions as he gazed into the embers of the fire, pondering the events of the day. There were still a lot of questions that needed answering, and he wasn't sure how this would resolve itself. Danny settled down into the sofa, pulling the red blanket from the Far Frozen over him. Eventually he needed to return it, but for now he just wanted to sleep and not deal with what he had witnessed earlier that night.

AN: I didn't want it to happen, I really didn't, but Danny and Chloe are getting closer. I had wanted to keep it more of a brotherly relationship, but they aren't entirely cooperating.

Anyway, Gretchen was a 'ghost' in the actual season, but I don't think Danny would get on with her because not only is she malicious, but she is kryptonite fuelled and ghosts don't mix well with kryptonite.

Didn't originally plan on using the episode, but couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Oh well, hope it's acceptable if not fully resolved.

'Till next time

Bluerose.