Just Another Meteor Freak

by jadedbluerose

Clark Kent has seen many strange things in his life; he's an extra terrestrial living in a town of meteor infected humans. But in the aftermath of the second meteor shower he discovers a cousin with his own strange past. What will the Kryptonian do when Danny Fenton arrives, bringing the ghosts of his own mysterious past along with him?

29. Honesty

Chapter 28

Honesty

Disclaimer: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Smallville

Clark opened the door to Lois' apartment at the Talon, stepping aside so that Lois could head in herself. She'd grudgingly been forced to stay in the hospital the night prior, and had called to see if Clark could give her a lift back home. Clark was still in a good mood from that morning, what with seeing Maddie safely to a new home and Danny's safe return. The boy in question was currently with Clark's mom, probably talking about what he'd been up to during his week in the Zone.

"Now remember," Clark jocularly scolded, turning his attention back towards Lois as he guided her over towards the sofa. "The doctors told you to take it easy, so you might have to lay off the arm wrestling."

"My arm doesn't even hurt anymore." Lois replied. "What does hurt is knowing how badly I treated poor girl. I had no doubt she was a cold blooded killer."

Clark smiled as he went to fetch the brunette a glass of water. "Just goes to show you, people aren't always who you think they are." He commented, daring a glance at Lois' reflective eyes.

"I have to give you credit, Smallville." Lois commented. "Who would've known you were such a natural with kids.

Clark smiled happily as he reached for a glass. "Well, Maddie's pretty special." He commented honestly as he filled the glass. Maddie was truly amazing, and Clark was just glad to have been able to help her realise that.

"So, what happens to her now?" Lois asked, thanking him for the water. "Can't be easy to find a family that's willing to live without windows."

"Maddie's going to live with her grandmother who couldn't be happier" Clark replied. "She didn't even know she had a granddaughter until now."

Lois raised her eyebrows. "Wow, she must be pretty brave."

"Or excited." Clark countered. "Kinda like my parents when they adopted me."

"Yeah, but they didn't have to worry about their house getting destroyed." Lois retorted sceptically, and Clark couldn't help the wry smile that crossed his lips.

"Well, he had his moments." A third voice chimed in, and Clark smiled as he turned to face his mom. "Hi Clark." She greeted briefly before turning back to face Lois. "Since you're gonna be bedridden for a few days, I brought you some stuff to read." Clark watched as his mom handed Lois a thick manila file. In fact; it looked like the one she'd been working on just that morning.

"Thank you." Lois said appreciatively as she flipped open the file.

"The chief of staff for a state senator needs to be fully informed on all sides of the issues." His mom informed seriously. And Clark's mind froze. Did he really hear his mom imply that she wanted Lois Lane as her Chief of Staff?

"Wait a minute. You want me to be your Chief of Staff?" Lois asked, apparently echoing Clark's disbelieving sentiments.

"Mom," Clark interjected, freeing himself of the mental disconnect. "Are you sure you don't wanna think this through?" After all Lois had no qualifications, no experience. And her track record with jobs was less than stellar. There had to be a thousand other candidates better suited for the job. Heck, even Danny who wasn't out of school yet would be a safer bet.

"If it weren't for Lois Lane your father wouldn't have ever been elected." His mom answered calmly in a tone that left no room for movement. "And then I wouldn't be in office. Besides, Lois, it's pretty clear your destiny lies far beyond a cappuccino maker. What do you think?"

Lois took a moment to send him an almost smirk before she turned to face his mom full on. "I'd be honoured to." She answered, and the smile that crossed her face somehow managed to brighten the whole room. It was clear that she was thrilled at the opportunity.

Clark repressed the urge to shudder. This meant that he'd wind up seeing a whole lot more of Lois around the farm, he was sure of it. And that meant that he'd be subject to her own unique brand of bossiness. He'd lived with it for a whole year, but he'd thought he was free of it when Danny moved in. Lois was still flicking through the file, inquisitively studying whatever was written in the pages. Her arm looked uncomfortable in the shoulder-brace it was resting in but still she managed to balance the file on her lap so that she could read.

His mom smiled across at Lois, a proud glint in her eyes. "Thank you, Lois." She said and somehow it conveyed so much more than just thanks for agreeing to be Chief of Staff. "I have a meeting this afternoon, but I was hoping to meet up with you tomorrow to review the issues, then perhaps on Monday you can help me with going over a couple of proposals."

Lois nodded, and Clark could see the dedication in her eyes. He didn't want to worry, but Lois was too Lois for him not to be at all concerned. He just hoped that Lois didn't get his mom impeached. But maybe it could work out. After all, if Lois got an idea in her head she tended to never let go, maybe his concern was unwarranted. Maybe.

But he wasn't about to stop worrying about her or his mom. Especially when he knew that Lionel Luthor was closing in. The man knew his secret, and had direct access to both Lois and his mom. So maybe part of his worry was for Lois, and not just about her. Clark just doubted that Lois was up to the task, and probably she'd end up quitting long before she got into Lionel's treacherous sights. At least that's what Clark hoped.

Clark bid farewell to Lois, leaving her alone to do her study as he and his mom headed down the stairs to the coffee shop below where Chloe and Danny were waiting. He looked across at the two of them, tucked into a corner and sighed. It was finally time for them to have their talk. It had been forestalled by two weeks of trial and trauma, but it was finally time to get everything out in the air. The only thing that Clark was unsure of rested upon Danny's decision. It had come to the point where Chloe was no doubt suspicious, and Clark only hoped that Danny could make a clear choice; not only about telling them what had happened with Vlad, but also about his secret.

This time Clark didn't know what to do or how to help. This time the secret was not his own, and once more he had to trust Danny to decide whether or not to allow people into his life. Clark wasn't sure what the best outcome for all of them was. He shook his head briefly to clear it, walking across the room beside his mom. His head was a whirl of doubts and concerns, but he had to believe that this discussion would finally release all the pressure that had been mounting over all of their heads for so long.

Line Break

"You're back." Those two words, so softly uttered, sent a slight tremor down Danny's spine. He shuffled awkwardly, not daring to look at the green eyed blonde who had spoken so plainly to him. He felt terrible for all that had happened. It had been two weeks since he'd promised to sit down and talk with her, and with all that had happened in the meantime he'd almost forgotten about it. Almost. But now Chloe was here now, and she deserved a proper explanation.

"Yeah." Danny answered awkwardly. "I'm back." Danny couldn't resist the urge to rub the back of his neck as he felt Chloe's scrutinising glare. What he wasn't expecting was for her to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She murmured. "God, Danny, I was so worried, with what Clark said I was terrified, and then you were gone for the week and he never explained what had happened properly." Confusedly Danny patted her back before taking the opportunity to sit down next to her on the Talon sofa. Clark was currently upstairs with Aunt Martha and Lois, and Danny was taking the opportunity to try and get things back on track with his blonde friend.

"I'm sorry for worrying you like that." He replied sincerely, finally meeting her in the eyes. "I... I don't even know where to start. I've been safe, with Ember. I guess after everything a few days of escapism were in order." Danny didn't miss the flash in Chloe's eyes when he mentioned Ember's name, but he didn't know what to make of it.

"So where were you?" Chloe pressed, settling back into the sofa.

Danny gave a half smile. "Something of a Renaissance Fair." He answered. It was a half truth, but he didn't want to tell Chloe the whole truth in the middle of the Talon. More than that... Clark was going to come down any minute, and there was no doubt in Danny's mind that he was going to be grilled about what had happened at Vlad's. And then there was both his and Clark's near death experiences to deal with. That was more than enough for Chloe to handle at this point, and while he had made his decision, now wasn't the time.

"How did you convince Ember to go to a renaissance fair?" Chloe asked.

Danny smiled, shaking his head as he recalled the way Ember had looked up in the stands in Dora's kingdom. "I think she thought it'd be funny to see all the knights bashing each other with swords."

"So it was a sadistic pleasure thing?" Chloe asked looking vaguely disgusted.

"No, more of an 'I-want-to-see-how-badly-Danny-goes-when-he-tries-to-show-off' thing." Danny replied with a light shrug.

Chloe pursed her lips, a half amused, and half scolding look in her eye. "And how did you go?"

"As well as could be expected." Danny replied, giving her a disarming smile. "But it was fun anyway, and Ember seemed to enjoy it all the same. Maybe sometime you can come along; it's entertaining to see how things used to be back in the day."

Chloe rolled her eyes at him. "I'm sure. And the fact that you were hanging out with a ghost doesn't mean anything to you."

"Not at all." Danny answered. "Besides, Ember's only been around since the eighties, so people running around in armour and mail is as unfamiliar to her as it is to us. She's actually one of the youngest sentient ghosts out there."

"Really?" Chloe asked, her green eyes flashing in curiosity. "So she's twenty years older than us?"

"Age doesn't really matter so much in the Zone." Danny replied with a shrug. "You die when you die, and if you're pretty much gonna be around forever then it doesn't make sense to care about how long you've actually existed. Skulker's been around since the eighteen hundreds I think, and that didn't stop him from dating Ember for a while. Ghosts have a weird philosophy when it comes to relationships of any kind."

Chloe frowned in thought as she pressed her lips to the coffee cup. She probably would have asked something, but it was then that Clark and his aunt came back down the stairs. "So how'd she take it?" Danny asked his aunt, curious about how Lois had reacted to the offer of being Chief of Staff.

"Take what?" Chloe asked, looking between Danny and his aunt in confusion.

"Aunt Martha thought Lois might like to try her hand at being Chief of Staff for a while." Danny answered, smiling at his aunt.

"And Lois looked delighted." Clark added on before turning back to face Danny's aunt. "Mom, are you really sure...?"

"Lighten up Clark." Danny interrupted. "We both know Lois can handle it, Remember how she took care of who was it? Uncle Jon's first campaign manager? Mr Sosnik? Give her half a chance Lois'll run circles around anyone in the capitol."

"That's really good of you, Mrs Kent." Chloe added in, offering her soft smile. "Thank you."

"See, Clark. You're outvoted." Danny tacked on with almost childish delight. It felt good to be back in the Real World, and for the first time in a long time he truly felt buoyant. Clark frowned, collapsing into the sofa next to Chloe exhaustedly. He shook his head almost disappointedly and Danny couldn't help but grin. There had always been a strange dynamic between Lois and Clark, and sometimes it was fun to just watch the way the two worked teasingly around each other.

"I need to be heading off now; there's a few people stirring trouble about the proposal we've been pushing." His aunt said with a tired smile. "I'll see you two later tonight?"

"We'll handle dinner." Clark offered, and Danny nodded in agreement. Although he'd probably end up doing most of the cooking... Danny shook his head in bemusement before turning his attention back to Chloe and Clark. Chloe was eyeing him and Clark significantly, and Danny knew that it was almost time. Before everything that had happened they'd planned on having a long talk, and they finally had a chance. However Danny knew that he needed to talk to Chloe on her own later. He wanted to do things properly and that meant finishing things properly without Clark to colour the conversation.

Danny watched as his aunt left, confidently striding through the Talon to the exit. But once she was gone he sighed. "So where are we gonna do this?" Danny asked, looking quickly between Clark and Chloe before setting his gaze firmly on the floor once more.

"The barn?" Clark offered with a shrug. "It's safe enough there."

Danny nodded absently, not really focusing anymore. He hadn't really thought about it, he hadn't really had the chance to. He wanted... he didn't exactly know what he wanted. He knew where he wanted everything to end up, but he didn't know what he was going to say to Chloe for now. He wanted to tell her the whole truth, he knew now that she could handle it. More than that, he needed someone human who knew. But... he wanted to tell her properly. And he couldn't do that if Clark was around.

The trip back to the farmhouse passed in a distracted blur as Danny mused over all the various half-truths he had told the blonde haired girl. All the half-truths he was going to have to give her until the time was right. And it sat uncomfortably in his stomach to realise exactly how much he'd been keeping everyone away from him. For all that he'd trusted Chloe and his cousin, he'd still kept them at arm's length, and in retrospect it was under the false assumption that everyone would be better for it. He shook his head, realising that the three of them were in the loft, and Danny wondered how they'd managed that without him being consciously aware of it. But they were all sitting; Clark on the desk chair and Chloe next to Danny on the worn sofa. He blinked, trying to clear his head of the gathering cobwebs and focus long enough to get through this.

"So where do you want to start?" Danny mumbled, his eyes darting between Clark and Chloe.

"Alley." Chloe answered unhesitatingly. "How did you save her and why did your eyes turn silver?"

Danny frowned. "Ah," he grunted; that wasn't where he had expected Chloe to start and he had pretty much forgotten about it with all that had happened since then. It sort of made sense though, after all it was where all of this mess had started. But that memory itself was a bit hazy. He loosely knew what he'd done but the event itself was a blur. "Alley was dying, right? I remember her coughing blood but then..."

"Then you put your hand over her heart, and the room went white, and next thing you were rambling about death's shadow and auras." Chloe finished, staring him down. Danny could feel Clark's pointed gaze on him.

"She was dying Clark!" He defended. "You know that I..." He cut himself off, but Clark at least had the decency to acknowledge him. Danny sighed pausing before shaking his head and turning his attention back to Chloe. "There's a lot about my powers that I don't understand." Danny said, his eyes pleading for understanding. "Sometimes it's like I'm making everything up as I go along. I might have been able to heal Alley, but I couldn't say how it worked. If I was talking about auras and death like that, well I think I probably tried to burn the sickness out, something like cauterising it. But... I'll admit my memory of that day is a little fuzzy until I got stabbed by the needle."

Danny shook his head. Memories of that experience, talking to his family from the other side brought tears to his eyes. "What did you see, Clark?" Danny asked, trying to give himself a chance to quell his own broiling emotions.

"I saw my dad." Clark answered with a small smile. "He was so warm and comforting. He said he was proud of me."

"Of course he would be, Clark." Chloe commented with sparkling green eyes. "You've done so much for all of us; I can't imagine your dad being anything but proud."

Clark nodded, smiling. But that dropped, and Danny caught the slight flicker of worry that entered his cousin's eyes. "What else?" Danny pressed, his own eyes creased in concern.

"He sent a warning." Clark admitted. "Lionel Luthor knows my secret."

"What!?" Danny and Chloe both exclaimed. But it was Chloe who pressed on. "How?" She asked, echoing Danny's feelings.

"I don't know." Clark replied, shaking his head. "But some of the things Lionel's said make more sense if he does know."

"You're gonna have to be really careful Clark." Chloe warned. "You don't know what Lionel's gonna do with this."

Danny frowned, considering everything that he knew. "I don't know, has Lionel actually talked to you about it?" Danny asked, meeting Clark square in the eyes.

"No." Clark admitted, confusion swirling into his blue eyes. "That's what I don't get. If he knows my secret why hasn't he done anything about it?"

"That's what I'm thinking." Danny said, shaking his head sceptically. "I would have thought if he was gonna use something like that against you, he'd let you know that he actually could."

"And since he hasn't...?" Chloe pressed, looking at him.

"Since he hasn't done that I think he's not interested in doing anything too public about it. If he wanted to throw you over to..." Danny froze, an image of a silver scalpel flashing into his eyes. But he shook it away quickly before he could finish that sentence. "If he was gonna do anything with your secret he would have done it already. He's patient, but he'd want to lord it over you if that was his plan. I think you're safe enough for now. He's not gonna do anything without at least rubbing it in your face a bit first." Danny finished with a shrug.

"But how could he have found out?" Chloe stressed and Clark shook his head in confusion.

"I don't know." The elder dark haired man replied. "But my dad warned me, and now all I can do is watch Lionel and hope he doesn't hurt my mom."

Danny bit his tongue, instantly reminded of hours of discussions with Tuck and Sam, worrying endlessly over Vlad and his plans. But Vlad wasn't a threat anymore. There wasn't anything he could really do. It wasn't like Vlad had his powers anymore, and with any luck he'd use his second chance as an opportunity to get himself back onto a healthier path. Danny shook his head, hoping to chase those thoughts away. In a month or so he'd try to visit Vlad in Wisconsin and check up on him and that would be that.

Obviously looking for a distraction Clark turned to face Danny. "And what did you see?" he asked.

"The Lab." Danny smiled, but clarified further at Clark's disgusted look. "Not the GIW one; my parents' lab. They were all there; mom, dad, Sam, everyone. And they forgave me, for everything. And then Sam gave me a good kick in the teeth and basically told me that I was being stupid and pushing everyone away and if I didn't stop I was gonna get myself in trouble."

Clark frowned, and Danny could see the beginnings of self-blame in his eyes. But Danny was quick to reassure him. "She was right. What happened was entirely my fault. I only let you guys in superficially, and I never trusted you the way I should've. You trusted me with your worries about the Luthors and Milton Fine, and I didn't see fit to do the same. That was my fault, and a lesson I needed to be reminded of."

Clark nodded sullenly, but it was clear that he wasn't entirely convinced. Danny turned to Chloe, seeing the strange mix of concern and pride in her eyes. "Seems she was right." Danny commented as lightly as possible.

"Seems so." Clark replied darkly after a minute, and Danny frowned. He didn't want to dwell on it. It had happened, and it was something that he would need to deal with. But there was nothing that either Clark or Chloe could do to change what the GIW had done, and the physical wounds were mostly gone. All that remained were the psychological scars from the fact that the white clad men had done so much to him, and he hadn't even been sedated for any of their experiments.

"What happened in the GIW lab?" Chloe asked quietly, and Danny felt a chill run up his spine.

"I..." he gulped, any semblance of his good mood vanishing in an instant. The fogged imprint of silver weaponry washed in front of his eyes, and his hand absently touched his abdomen where the remnants of the 'Y' shaped incision remained. Clark noticed and visibly flinched, making Danny shudder in remembered fear.

"I'm not really ready to talk about it." He whispered. "It was... it was a nightmare, and for now... if I don't have to repeat it... I can deal with what happened. I'm sorry." He paused, shaking his head to try and clear it of the horrendous memories. "I don't mean to shut you out. I really don't, but I can't..."

"It's okay." Chloe reassured, and Danny felt her arm wrap comfortingly around his shoulder. "It's okay." She repeated in a soft whisper. And Danny looked up at her kind green eyes. He hadn't even noticed the silent sobs that were racking through his body. "It's over." She murmured, and Danny found himself clinging to her, drinking in the comforting affection and the soft ripples of kindness in both her words and her sunlit-water aura. Chloe was safe, in a way that few other people Danny knew were. And he hadn't realised how very much he'd missed safe.

"What did Vlad do?" Clark asked, giving Danny an opportunity both too withdraw from Chloe and to compose himself.

"He... we have a long history. Lots of bad blood, lots of... I don't even know how to describe it." Danny replied slowly, interrupting himself partway through. Chloe's arm had moved to rest on his knee, and he was just grateful for the comforting contact. Danny sighed, his eyes looking out the loft window to the sky beyond. "Vlad knew my parents back in college. They were all in the Paranormal Society together, that's where mom and dad first met each other."

It was strange, always so strange; to imagine that once upon a time all three of them had gotten on so well. But that time was long gone. "There was an accident." Danny said, shaking his head. "The project they were working on backfired, and Vlad got hurt. He was hospitalised with a case of ecto-acne. It's supposed to be both untreatable and fatal, but he survived. He blamed the accident on my dad, blamed him for what happened to him. That was the start of it. And sure, the accident was partially my dad's fault. But all three of them should've known not to be near dangerous lab equipment when it was starting up."

He paused, frowning. "I don't even think that the accident was the real problem. Vlad had fallen in love with my mom, but even when they were working together mom and dad only had eyes for each other. But Vlad never saw it that way. He thought dad had taken his only chance at winning my mom. And he never moved on from that." Chloe and Clark were both silent, and Danny wasn't sure what to make of their continued silence.

Danny paused, meeting Clark's eyes with a significant look as he began the next part. "I never met Vlad until I was fourteen. It was after my parents had the Fenton Portal working properly. Vlad invited us all to his mansion in Wisconsin for their college reunion. And at first he was just creepy. He spent the first day flirting with mom and blatantly ignoring dad. It wasn't until that night that I found out there was anything really wrong."

Danny frowned, recalling in detail every aspect of their first encounter. How the blue skinned ghost had been so powerful, and for the first time Danny had been truly scared of a ghost. He hadn't even known that Vlad was only half-ghost back then. "After his accident Vlad made connections in the Ghost Zone. When mom and dad's portal was first opened he started sending ghosts to Amity Park. He wanted to test dad as a ghost hunter, but in the end they were only ever caught by... Phantom. The night before we left three new ghosts came; they were these ancient vultures and Vlad had sent them to kill my dad."

Danny shook his head ruefully. "It didn't work." He pointed out. "But then they appeared in the castle, chasing after dad again. So I stopped them. But then another ghost came out, and he was so powerful. So evil. He called himself Plasmius, and I didn't stand a chance. The next thing I knew I was waking up in my room, Vlad Masters looking over me to make sure I was alright. At the time I was thankful, I'd never really had an adult look out for me like that, and even if it was creepy it was nice to think that he cared."

He scoffed, closing his eyes in remembered betrayal. "But he didn't. Not in the right way. In trying to fight him, Plasmius, I managed to show him that we had something in common. He still blamed dad, wanted him dead. He wanted to marry my mom, the only thing he'd ever really wanted. But he also wanted to have me as his son, or his apprentice. He caught me. Trapped me in a box that I couldn't escape, and he just left me there."

Danny couldn't help the hurt anger that came into his eyes. "We were alike, and he only saw me as a pawn. There's so much that he could have done, but instead he threw it away because he couldn't accept that his accident was only an accident. In the end I escaped, and was able to convince him not to kill my dad then. But I remember, at the time, he said I was like him, manipulating Plasmius and using an opponent's weakness against them."

Danny sighed deeply, eyes focused on the past. Even now he couldn't believe the cruelties that Vlad had subjected him to over the past two years. It seemed like an eternity stretched between that brief meeting and the events barely over a week ago. "That was the start of it really." Danny emitted, almost sadly. "He'd plot, I'd evade. He'd trap me and I'd escape. Sort of like... like Warrior Angel and Devilicus." Danny finished with a sad sort of smile. He'd never drawn that parallel before, but the analogy fit. Almost. His parents had been friends with his Devilicus, but Vlad had offered exactly the same things that the comic book villain did.

"Warrior Angel, Danny?" Chloe interjected with a raised eyebrow. Danny sent her a half cheeky smile. Even now he was dancing around the truth, and it wasn't a good habit. But by now it was so ingrained that it would take a lot to say the words, to admit to the whole truth. He looked at Clark through the corner of his eyes, felt the kind gaze of his dark-haired cousin. And he was instantly reminded of the parallels between his story and that of Clark's with Lex and Lionel Luthor.

"It feels like that, looking back." Danny mused aloud. "He did a lot of terrible things. I mean, he never managed to actually kill my girlfriend, but he came close. When his ecto-acne came back he infected Sam and Tuck with it too; just so that I'd have motivation to save him. I was able to, in the end. But that took... abusing one of my friends in the Zone and travelling to an alternate timeline where Vlad had married mom."

"Alternate timeline?" Chloe pressed. "That's impossible. I don't think even meteor rocks can do that."

"Or you haven't seen them do that yet." Danny commented. "I have fairly liberal views of what's impossible. There're a lot of ghosts out there, and, well the Zone is about the weirdest place... no, it is the weirdest place that exists. You can go into a portal from there and end up a thousand years ago, or a thousand years in the future. And just a small change to an event, like knocking Vlad out of the way when the portal was starting up, can change everything. Maybe it wasn't a parallel dimension, but that's the best explanation I have."

Danny sighed. He'd let himself become distracted. "When the meteor hit..." He sighed, knowing that now he'd started he had to finish. "When the meteor hit it was like he'd won. Almost. Mom was gone, but dad was dead and I was alone. I couldn't go back to Amity Park and it looked like the options were either Vlad or the street. But then one of the lawyers found granddad. Mom's dad. From there Aunt Martha became an option, and well... now I'm just grateful for Clark and Aunt Martha."

Danny sent Clark a small smile. "You saved me, from more than you know. You both did. And I'm sorry for not trusting you with the truth when you did. I guess, I just got used to having to do things alone. And when I got a chance not to I didn't want to see it."

"Hey," Clark said, suddenly in front of him. Danny's blue eyes met Clark's and they shared a moment of silent understanding. Clark didn't need to say it; it was all in his eyes. Blue eyes that sparkled with kindness, with unassuming acceptance, with forgiveness, and with a brotherly sort of love that Danny desperately needed. And there was a swirl of softly encouraging pride that played against the depths of his sky blue eyes. Clark smiled at him, and nodded once. And Danny smiled; his own heart lighter for having admitted it.

There was a long way left to go, still a lot that needed to be said. But Chloe wrapped her arm around his shoulders, and Clark came to sit next to him, wrapping his arm around the both of them. And Danny couldn't help but feel, for the first time since his family and friends had died, that he had truly found somewhere that he belonged. The sun dipped behind the horizon, and in the last glowing remnants of the daylight Danny smiled, Chloe's head resting gently on his shoulder. And the three of them just sat, watching the sunset in each other's quiet company.

Line Break

Lana laughed as she pulled open the door to her dorm. She'd been having a great day, despite the heavy cognitive load of the actual work. She turned, smiling as she faced her taller companion, grinning as she watched him attempt to straighten his business suit after their half-run through the dorm halls. Half laughing she met his eyes, her voice light and airy as it hadn't been since before she broke up with Clark. "As long as we had to wade through a sea of government paperwork, at least we got to do it over spiced tuna rolls."

Lex Luthor smiled back at her, a fond glitter in his eyes. "Yeah, well I'm not too fond of working in the stacks." Lana couldn't help but laugh as she put her bag down on her desk.

"Well, I have to admit, I was pretty impressed when you ordered the entire meal in fluent Japanese." She sent him a wry look. "You could have warned me about the squid brains though."

"どういたしまして." Lex replied slightly smugly. "Come on, you can't fool me. You loved it."

Lana smiled, but it dropped when she turned her attention back to the files that he had handed over to her to study. "Lex," She commented. "I was thinking, I don't really feel comfortable hanging onto these. Some of these papers are marked 'Classified' and you could get into a lot of trouble even showing them to me." That was her biggest concern. Lex had told her about everything; how Milton Fine had involved Lex in his research into an extra-terrestrial threat. And it really worried her because she was just a civilian and she was learning a whole load of confidential government secrets.

She tried to hand them back to him, knowing that everything was far safer if he kept that file in his hands. What they were looking into was deep government secrets. Fine had given them information on the latest meteor shower; about what the extra-terrestrials were doing and the path of the ship that they'd been able to trace since it got to Earth. The government was developing a weapon to attempt to eradicate the threat and Lana got the feeling that it was delving deep into biological warfare. She didn't just want to leave the files lying around where anyone could find out about them. But Lex wouldn't hear of it.

"Lana," Lex reassured. "If Milton Fine is right about an extraterrestrial threat, the last thing the government's gonna be worried about is Lana Lang." Besides, you're the only one who knows of my transgression. I think I'm safe with my fate in your hands."

Lana smiled, but wasn't completely reassured. "You must really trust me." She commented, looking up to meet his eyes.

"Hundred percent." He answered firmly. And Lana's heart leapt. After so many months of worrying with Clark, of knowing than the man she loved... had loved... didn't trust her; it felt nice to be trusted so implicitly. "I hope you feel the same way about me." He continued expectantly.

"I do." Lana answered. And it was true. Over the years Lex had always been there to support her, always helped her when she needed it. More than that he genuinely cared for her, and had helped her find herself her own inner strength. He'd given her the confidence and the skills to defend herself mentally by training her in martial arts a few years ago, and given her the strength to think when he'd challenged her to earn the chance to turn the Talon into a coffee shop. She couldn't help but trust the young billionaire. She knew that no matter what he would always look out her. And she felt safe with him, safer than she ever had with all her doubts in Clark.

Suddenly the door flew open, and Chloe barged in. "Sorry," The blonde said, biting her lip as she looked dazedly between Lana and Lex. "I... um... I forgot my pencil in the library." She said, turning around abruptly and leaving the two blinking.

It was only then that Lana realised how close Lex and her were standing. Lana coughed taking an awkward step backwards. She bit her own lip anxiously as she looked at Lex."I should probably..." He said, but trailed off almost immediately.

"Yeah, and I..." Lana continued just as awkwardly. Chloe's interruption had thrown them both off kilter, and Lana wasn't sure what that actually meant. Lana looked down to the thick file that was still clutched tightly between her fingers. "Um, I'll look over this, try to see if I can find any patterns. Maybe figure out where the ship will show up next."

Lex nodded in agreement. "And I'll keep you posted about Fine. I'm trailing him to see if I can get anything more than what he's telling us."

"Okay..." Lana agreed.

"I should probably..." Lex repeated, glancing at the door.

"Yeah. Chloe will probably be back soon." Lana agreed. "See you soon?"

"Yeah." Lex agreed and then he was gone, the dorm door clicking closed behind him. Lana sat down heavily on her bed, completely confused. There was nothing going on between her and Lex. They were just working on a project together. So why did Chloe's interruption manage to make everything so awkward?

Line Break

Clark smiled as he watched the car pull up in the driveway. He'd invited Maddie over, partially because he already missed the little blonde haired girl, and also because he wanted her to meet Danny. The car door opened and the little blonde girl raced out, a bright smile on her lips as she unabashedly threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Hey Maddie." Clark commented with a smile, ruffling her hair slightly.

"Hi Clark." She replied with a bright smile as she took a step back. Clark briefly turned his attention to Maria as she stepped out of the car. The elder woman was going to have afternoon tea with his mom before heading back into Smallville herself. Clark would be dropping Maddie back at her new home later. He waved at Maria, and was heartened when Maddie sent her grandmother a smile and a bright wave as well.

"You're settling in then?" Clark asked as Maria stepped into the house with his mom.

Maddie smiled and nodded. "You were right Clark. I only had to give her a chance."

Clark smiled at the young girl. He was glad that she had found somewhere stable to call home. She beamed happily up at him, her art book resting loosely at her side. Clark decided to take her up to the loft where Danny was working. He had a bit of holiday work that he hadn't been able to catch up on, and with school going back on Tuesday he wanted to try to get it out of the way.

He pulled the barn door open, and immediately Shelby ran out to say hello to Maddie. The blonde girl crouched down to pet the dog, grinning as he snuffled against her hand. Clark couldn't help the light laugh that escaped his lips at the sight of the young girl and the dog. Maddie was the one who ran up the loft stairs, Shelby quickly racing after her feet. Clark shook his head fondly as he followed them up.

As his head crested the staircase he noted that Danny was sitting at the desk distinctly not studying his textbooks. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" He scolded lightly, but didn't get much of a rise out of Danny who was avidly sketching in his own sketchpad.

"Probably, but to be honest I couldn't get my head around the cause of Vietnam." Danny explained, not appearing to notice the second visitor to the loft. "Well, I get that, it's just I can't help but think of Iraq, how it's pretty much the same story and that got me onto the non-progress of the human race which made me think of Dora."

"Who's Dora?" Maddie asked curiously. She had taken a seat on the loft sofa with Shelby right beside her.

Danny smiled and stood up, handing the sketchbook over to Maddie. "The blonde one is Dora." He said, gesturing to the page. "I'm guessing you're Maddie?"

Maddie nodded, apparently not shy around Danny. It was a huge step for her, but knowing Danny the dark haired boy was doing all he could to make her feel comfortable. Her eyes hungrily surveyed the page, and Clark wondered what exactly Danny had drawn.

The boy had taken a seat on the trunk, choosing to sit cross-legged on the top as he faced Maddie. "I'm Danny, but knowing Clark you'd already guessed that." Maddie looked up briefly before facing the page again.

"This is really good." She commented, her fingers lightly brushing across the page. "But why the dragon?"

Danny laughed lightly, a quirky smile playing on his lips. Clark took a seat next to Maddie, subtly looking over her shoulder at the picture. It looked like a medieval tournament ground, high wooden stands stretching up with a royal box stationed in the middle. Most of the people in the crowd were dressed in medieval clothing, except for Ember who was sitting smiling in the royal box beside a blonde haired princess. In the background was the shadowed form of a blue dragon, looking over all of them. But Clark noted that the same pendant seemed to be wrapped around the Princesses neck and around the wide neck of the blue dragon.

"It's a running joke between Dora and me." Danny commented lightly. "When I first met her she was a bit of a dragon and it started from there. I think she commissioned a picture of me wearing full armour and chainmail, but I've only been told about that."

"Chainmail?" Maddie asked at the same time as Clark asked "Armour?"

"I have weird friends." Danny commented with a shrug. "Not to mention this guy." Danny said, jerking his head towards Clark. "See, he seems to think that plaid is a good choice of uniform, even when he goes into the Metropolis. At night."

"Says the guy with the long sleeved t-shirts in summer." Clark bit back, nudging Danny's knee and toppling the boy from his perch on top of the trunk.

Danny mock scowled as he stood up from behind the trunk. "I happen to like them." He replied haughtily. "But if you really want I could switch to button up tops. Try the whole indie look for a while."

"You two act like brothers." Maddie commented, looking between the two, her eyes sparkling with silent laughter.

"Yep." Danny replied with a firm nod. "And since Clark has diligently served his duty as elder brother in trying to remind me to do my schoolwork, I'm gonna repay in kind and do the little brother thing and say, 'Maddie let's skip the work and go outside to do something else.'" He grinned cheekily at Clark before swinging Maddie up into his arms. She didn't seem distressed at all, and was happily laughing as Danny carried her down the staircase. But Clark didn't miss the quiet request for him to pick up a box from beneath the downstairs workbench.

By the time he'd caught up to Danny and Maddie they were sitting on one of the fences, looking back towards the farmhouse. Maddie waved as he approached and jumped down so that she could peek into the box. Clark put it down in the grass, surveying the young girl as she looked inside. Danny had filled the box with a number of glass jars, a couple of bits of broken glass and two glass animals. A little bluebird and a larger crystal butterfly.

"Now, I know you'll probably be mad at me." Danny commented, "But I thought you might like to have a bit of practice with your power. See if we can have some fun with it."

Maddie's face fell slightly, and she shot Clark an almost pleading look. Clark half glared at Danny; it was a good idea, but the execution was a little tasteless.

"Hey," Danny said, smiling at her as he came to crouch beside the young girl, he looked at her and spoke softly in a conspirational whisper. "I'll tell you a secret. Even people like Phantom have to practice sometimes. And do you know what? When they're still learning they have just as much trouble. I know for a fact that when Phantom was trying to get the hang of being intangible he lost his pants more than once."

Maddie cocked her head curiously at him, and Clark couldn't help but laugh at the admission. "Really?" Maddie asked.

"Really." Danny confirmed with a huge smile. "So, what do you say? Do you want to take a shot at it?"

There was a pregnant pause, and Maddie sent a fleeting look in Clark's direction. Clark sent her an encouraging smile and her face instantly brightened. She turned to Danny smiling and gave a quick eager nod.

"Okay," Danny said, clapping his hands together. "Well the first thing we need to do is figure out the exact trigger."

Maddie frowned. "Usually, if I get upset, I break glass. I can control it if I really focus. But it's hard."

"That's fine." Danny said easily with a smile. He pulled a small jar out of the box and set it on the fence post. "If it were easy then it wouldn't be worth it. You had to practice your drawing before you could do anything with it, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Maddie answered. "But things don't explode when I draw."

"And we'll help you so that you don't break glass without meaning to." Clark assured, finally realising what Danny was trying to do. He was trying to change the way Maddie saw her powers, so that she saw them as a skill rather than a curse. "I know you can do it. I've seen you."

Maddie nodded slowly before looking uncertainly at the jar on the fencepost. "So what do you want me to do?" She asked.

"I want you to break that." Danny said. "I need to see how you use your power before we figure out where to go from there." Maddie nodded and focused on the jar. Her gaze became an intense scowl before there was a sharp cracking sound and the glass broke.

"Okay." Danny nodded, smiling at her. He reached into the box again, but Clark noticed the way his eyes flared a brighter blue as he pulled out the next jar. "That's a good start." He continued, putting the new jar on the post. "Now let's try one more time."

Maddie nodded, and quickly that same sharp scowl came onto her little face. But it deepened as she became frustrated, the jar refusing to break. The glass in the box began to tremble threateningly, but still the jar on the post refused to budge. Danny laid a hand on her shoulder, giving a silent signal to stop.

"Thanks for that." He said as the glass in the box stopped still. "I needed to see exactly what your form of hyalokinesis – um, glass telekinesis – entails. You can control glass, and only glass." He explained. "The 'jar' there is made entirely of ice, but I needed to see how much control you had over something you believed was glass. It gives us all a starting point; something to work from." He encouraged, giving Maddie a gentle smile.

"So the next thing we need to do is to practice control." Danny said. "Clark told me that the other night in the barn you got the glass to float in the air. I'd like to see if you can do that here without breaking it. Sound fair?"

"I think so." Maddie murmured. "But I don't know how I did it. I was angry, and I just wanted to protect Clark."

"I know." Danny smiled, holding a real jar up in his hands. "But it'll be worth it to try. What I'm gonna do is drop this jar. I want to see if you can catch it. Think you can do that?" Maddie nodded with determination and Danny smiled. "Ready?" he asked. "Okay, go!" The glass fell, but instead of stopping midair it shattered, first into sharp shards but then into a harmless ball of dust.

Maddie froze, looking fearfully between the two of them. But Danny just smiled. "Good." He encouraged gently. "That's perfect Maddie."

"How?" She croaked sadly. "I still broke it."

"Yes," Danny said. "But you controlled how you broke it. I saw you. At first it was uncontrolled, dangerous. But you saw your mistake and quickly turned it into something harmless. That's a big step, and you did it intuitively. I'm proud of you."

Clark smiled, settling back to watch the two of them. It was different to the way that Danny trained with Clark, but the gentle encouragement and subtle prodding that he gave Maddie gave Clark a whole new respect for the young boy. He was giving her confidence in her powers, teaching her how not only to control them but to turn them into an art form. Clark was amazed at Danny's imagination. After seeing the glass dust Danny had encouraged Maddie to work with that, and soon there was a sparkling stream of glass particles washing across the fence-post. It became a cascading waterfall and then fell into the shape of a growing flower at Danny's supportive suggestions.

Soon Maddie was laughing, taking delight in her powers as Danny helped her see the beauty in them. Her bright smile was a far cry from the scared little girl she'd been when Clark first met her. And Clark was heartened in not only her turn around, but the way that Danny was able to help her. The dark haired boy had a brave soul, and despite all that had happened to him he was still kind at heart. He seemed to be having almost fun as Maddie as he walked her through her powers.

It was many hours later when the three of them walked back towards the house, but Maddie was laughing happily as she made the glass bluebird which Danny had brought out with them fly around the three of them. Maddie ran into the house, eager to help Clark's mom in the kitchen with dinner, but Clark held Danny back outside.

"Thank you." He said quietly, meeting Danny's ice blue eyes. "I could never have helped her like this. My powers don't work like Maddie's do. I could have helped her control them, but you've shown her how to really use them."

Danny smiled at him, shaking his head. "I may have helped a bit." He commented just as quietly. "But Clark, you're the one who gave her the courage to try." And with that he was gone, the kitchen door closing behind his back as he stepped into the house. Clark stood for a moment, musing over what Danny was suggesting before he followed his dark haired cousin into the house.

Line Break

Lex Luthor frowned, leaning heavily onto his elbows as he surveyed his computer screen. He'd sent trails after Fine for nearly a month, but Fine always managed to elude him. It had gotten to the point where instead of trying to follow him, Lex had sent out scouts the world over to find him and report back. Milton Fine was very mobile, moving across the globe with astounding ease and speed. However it was the two latest reports that had him truly concerned. They'd both been taken on the same day, and the inferences he could make from them were unsettling.

The first was from a Somalian man, a helicopter pilot who had worked in one of the African subsidiaries for five years. As requested it was a video report with the time stamp embedded into the video. The report in itself was nothing special, saying that Milton Fine was spotted at 0200 Greenwich Mean Time near the Somalian border. That was unexceptional news. Fine would probably report that there had been an outbreak of some rare disease there within the next few days so that Lex could add the samples to their weapon.

What made the report exceptional was the second one. This too was a video report, with exactly the same time stamp. The problem was that the Asian man was in Myanmar, and the image of Fine was directly on screen. The report was exactly the same; 0200 GMT and both men were clearly observing Milton Fine. There was no mistake in their observations. The problem was how did a man like Fine, a secret operative of the State Department, wind up being able to be in two places at once. Lex rested his head against his knuckles, musing over his rapidly mounting suspicions.

The door to his office suddenly slammed open, and Lex was confronted with the view of a clearly irate Chloe Sullivan. Lex frowned, shutting his computer quickly to make sure that the blonde saw nothing of his investigations. "Chloe" he greeted with false calm, watching the way her green eyes flared in anger.

"I know your moral compass has a tendency to veer off course," The blonde spat. "But taking advantage of Lana at her most vulnerable is despicable."

Lex raised a condescending eyebrow. "I think your reporter's eye is getting a little cloudy." He commented superciliously, stepping away from his desk and across to the billiards table. Casually he picked up a cue before eyeing Chloe loftily. "You're starting to see things that aren't there." He confidently struck the cue, watching as the pool balls clacked across the table. It was all a game, his life, and at the moment all he needed to do was shift Chloe's attention away from him and onto something less fruitful.

"I don't have to work for the DWP to know that there was enough electricity in that room to light up the entire state of Kansas." Chloe cut back, and he could feel the heated anger in her gaze.

Lex looked up and scoffed. "It's interesting how perceptive you are about affairs of the heart considering you've never actually been in a serious relationship." He commented. And his antagonistic dig ruffled her exactly as he had intended it to, sending the blonde immediately onto the defensive. So many of the people in Smallville were easy to manipulate like this; easily swayed with subtle manoeuvres and careful misdirections.

"Do you really think that Lana would be even remotely interested in you if she wasn't swept up in her own emotional tornado?" Chloe bit back scathingly. "I mean, honestly." If that was the best defence she could come up with then Lex saw no need to rise to her bait.

He smirked at her, using his full height to stand intimidatingly over the shorter blonde. "I appreciate you looking out for your friend. I'd do the same. But your concern is unwarranted. We're friends, nothing more."

Chloe's eyes flared in anger once more, and unfazed she stood straighter, meeting his eyes daringly. "Lex, I know you're used to getting whatever you want without even thinking about the consequences, but I promise you, if you hurt my friend, there will be a consequence. And you're looking at her." Chloe threatened, her voice cold and much more intimidating than Lex had imagined from the young woman.

The blonde turned curtly to leave, clearly attempting to display her dominance in the situation. But Lex saw through it. "Chloe." He called after her, knowing that having the last word in this would give him the upper hand. "I think I'm getting an inkling why you've never had a boyfriend." And just as predicted she stormed off, the door slamming behind her with a glass rattling bang.

Lex smiled, watching as the billiard balls rolled across the table. All the little pieces were playing their parts. Chloe now would be distracted, focusing on a relationship between himself and Lana rather than a possible conspiracy about Milton Fine. Such a distraction was useful; it would no doubt keep Clark out of the way as well as the young man was distracted by Chloe's extrapolations. Lex watched as the red ball hit the blue ball, sending it skidding across the table. That was the only variable Lex was uncertain of; what would young Mr Fenton do.

Lex had been mildly concerned about the boy over recent weeks; he had apparently disappeared into the aether for a fortnight. The boy was one of the few people that Lex couldn't easily manipulate. In fact, sometimes it felt like they were playing games around each other. He would try to make Danny see his utilitarian view of the world and then Danny would use that to show Lex exactly how that could be exploited. Danny was clearly loyal to Clark as they had a familial bond, but at the same time the dark haired boy was keen to be friends with Lex.

The blue ball rolled across the table, colliding firmly with the black one and sinking it. Lex frowned, unsure of what Danny's role in everything would be. He didn't want to tell the boy about his work with Lana, but he got the inkling that if he did the puzzle pieces might slot together better. Fine was ever more becoming an unpredictable variable, and having two of those in the game was never a good thing. Lex picked the blue ball up, staring ponderingly at it. Danny may be clever and witty, but incorporating him into this game with Fine and Lana was not something that Lex was yet willing to do.

Lex walked back over to his desk, setting the blue billiard ball next to him. He once more opened the computer and set to work, musing over Lana, the problem of Milton Fine, and what to do about the unpredictable variable that was Danny Fenton.

Line Break

Chloe sighed, staring blankly at her computer screen. The article she was due to hand in was barely started, and she already had a pile of work a mile high to finish after it. But she couldn't concentrate. Instead her mind was oscillating between her confusion about Lana and Lex, and Danny. Lana had confronted her at work, attempting to reassure her that Lex and Lana weren't a couple in any way. But Chloe didn't entirely believe that. She wanted Lana to be safe, and running into the hands of a power hungry maniac like Lex was not safe. But there was nothing she could do except watch as Lex and Lana got closer.

Trying to warn Lex off hadn't helped anything. In fact all that it had achieved was getting her friend mad at Chloe. Lana's confrontation at work had done little to convince her otherwise. Lana was entirely too defensive, too cold. There was something going on and Lana wasn't even aware of it. Chloe didn't want Lana to fall into some cruel power game of Lex's. She didn't want Lana to be turned into some pawn that Lex would just take in his perceived battle with Clark. But she worried that that was exactly what had happened. And she hated that there was nothing she could do but watch as Lex played his deplorable power games with her friends.

And with Danny; the more she thought about the dark haired boy the more his story didn't add up. It was like there was one massive piece she was missing, but she just couldn't figure out what it was. She'd done this before with him, the constant doubt about whether or not he had powers and what it was. Danny was a meteor freak albeit a powerful one. And that should have been enough of an answer. But the things he'd said made it sound like he'd had his powers since even before the meteor had hit his home. And he'd compared himself to a comic book hero. Sure, she could see Clark filling that role, but just having meteor powers didn't quite explain it.

There was just something about Danny. Something more than met the eye. And even her investigating when she was trying to figure out his powers didn't cover it. The problem was ghosts, or rather one ghost; Phantom. Chloe couldn't help but think that there was some connection between the two boys. Danny had been with Phantom when the ghost was abducted by the GIW after all. And she still didn't understand that part of it fit in. Clark had made it sound like he'd rescued Phantom from Star City, not Danny. But Danny had been caught too, and it was all too confusing.

And how could there be a connection between Danny and Phantom? It didn't make sense. Danny was human, and for all that the meteor had given him a number of powers it shouldn't give a connection to Phantom. Phantom was a ghost, and really it seemed that his main aim in the human world was to keep humans safe from other ghosts. Danny was friendly with the ghosts, Ember was a good example, but that didn't account for everything.

That's what it came down to, really. How did a human boy, the son of two ghost hunters wind up being friends with any number of ghosts? Danny may be exceptional in his own way, but he was shy and mostly clumsy unless he was forced into action. How was it then that he attracted the attention of ghosts? More than that, given his family history, how could a human like Danny end up willingly spending enough time with ghosts to learn to get on? It didn't make sense, and every time she came close to an answer it eluded her. Danny was alive and ghosts were dead. There was no middle ground and yet he'd managed to cut a path of friendship between the two.

Chloe sighed, staring at the flicking cursor on her computer screen. She just couldn't figure the young boy out. Some of the things he said showed wisdom and experience far beyond his years, and then he'd ruin it with a clumsy movement or a sarcastic comment. But there had to be something more to him. It was a riddle that Chloe couldn't fathom. Danny had an explanation for everything, and it actually fit in with the truth a lot more than some of Clark's inconsistent explanations used to. But somehow it still felt like he was hiding something, something massive. And she was tired of not knowing what it was.

"Hey." The subdued voice interrupted her musings, making Chloe jerk backwards in her chair. She looked up, and was met with a set of determined ice blue eyes. She hadn't even heard Danny enter, and it was strange the way he had appeared just as she was thinking of him. "I was wondering... I was wondering if we could talk." He asked quietly. There was something nervous about him, and Chloe got the distinct feeling that he was about to jump of a high precipice despite his feet being firmly on the ground.

"Sure." She replied carefully. "Just let me pack up." Chloe saw him nod, almost absently out of the corner of her eye. But she quickly packed up, noting the late hour as she shut the computer down. Somehow it had passed six in the evening and she hadn't even noticed. Hers was the only station still occupied, and she made quick work of gathering a few loose files into a neat pile for the morning.

"So..." She trailed, shrugging on her jacket. Danny was quiet, his blue eyes studying her carefully. "What did you want to talk about?"

Danny sighed heavily, closing his eyes. For a moment he looked completely dejected, and Chloe only just subdued the urge to reach out and comfort him. "I think." Danny said slowly, as though each of the words carried its own immense weight. "That it's time I told you the truth."

Chloe froze a moment, unsure she had heard those words. There was a strange weight to them, as though she was the first person he'd ever said them to. All she could do was nod, searching his eyes for explanation. "Do you trust me?" He asked, but Chloe couldn't figure out if it was uncertainty or determination that coloured his tone. All she really saw was the strong hand, reaching out towards her. She looked in his eyes, those kind blue eyes that sparkled so brightly when he smiled, and she knew. Whatever it was that Danny was hiding, whatever the truth was; he was Danny. And that was all that mattered.

She took his hand, feeling his strong grip wrap tenderly around her hand. There was the promise of protection in his hand, a feeling that with Danny there she would be alright no matter what. She blinked, and instantly they were standing on the clock-tower that overlooked all of Metropolis. Chloe gasped, awestruck by the view. The city at night looked amazing, thousands of glittering lights leaping up in the sky as the people bustled around below on busy streets. The sounds of the traffic were muted, distant. It was as though the life of the city was simultaneously all encompassing and completely separated from the two of them as they stood hand in hand overlooking the city.

Chloe felt Danny's hand leave hers, and she watched him as he looked speculatively over the city. "You've probably guessed." Danny finally emitted after a long minute. "That there's more to the story than what I told you yesterday."

Chloe nodded, and when Danny turned to face him she admitted that it didn't make sense to her. There was just too much that didn't mesh together. Danny only smiled ruefully. "I figured." He sighed. "My story is a lot more complicated than what I told you and Clark yesterday in the loft. It's a lot longer than just since last summer's meteor shower, and parts of it are a lot stranger than anything you've seen; with or without meteor rocks."

Chloe stared at him, taking in the tension in every muscle as he stared over the city. In the moonlight his blue eyes sparkled, and there was a strange rolling depth to them that Chloe couldn't fathom, couldn't begin to understand. But in the tension there was strength. It seemed paradoxical, but even in his distress Danny seemed both strong and safe. Chloe bit her lip, trying to figure out what was the right thing to say. It seemed like his words had just passed over her, like she was just observing the strange paradoxical boy that had come into their lives just over nine months ago.

"So where do you want to start?" Danny asked, and Chloe noted the sad echo of his exact words from the day before. She frowned, pondering over the thousands of questions she had about him. Sometimes he seemed a bigger puzzle than Clark ever had; his actions a constant paradoxical dichotomy that both managed to contrast and complement his personality perfectly. There was something about Danny, and for the first time she truly felt like she was going to find out exactly what it was.

"How about in the beginning?" Chloe suggested helpfully, sending him a softly encouraging smile. But she frowned at the self-derisive scoff that passed through the boy's lips.

"In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth." Danny replied slowly, scarcely daring to meet her eyes. Chloe creased her eyes in confusion, wondering what Danny was trying to get at by quoting the bible. "He created all that is known to Man and all that is known to the Angels. However this was never enough. As Man grew so too did his fear, and above all was the fear of the unknown. As a small mercy God created a third realm, for those who had passed on but weren't ready or able to give up their ties to the living world. For me, that's where everything starts; with the world of Ghosts."

She felt a chill hand on her shoulder, and suddenly the world blurred around them. When Chloe opened her eyes she found herself looking at an unfamiliar street. The buildings around her were tall and narrow. Long strings of tightly packed town houses lined either side of the asphalt road. But it was completely foreign to any street she knew. Beside her Danny sighed, drawing her attention to the charred remnants of a house at the end of the street. Chloe gasped at the destruction, there was almost nothing left, only a blackened crater half visible in the moonlight.

Danny took a step towards the crater, and Chloe kept pace with him. It was only when the moonlight shifted and she saw the watery sheen of his eyes that everything clicked. "This is Amity Park? Isn't it?" she asked in a hushed whisper. Danny nodded slowly, stopping almost dejectedly at the edge of the crater.

"This is Amity Park." He murmured; his voice as gentle and sad as a midnight zephyr. "One of few places in the United States where the barrier between this world and the Ghost Zone is narrow enough to break through easily. Amity Park has always been a ghost town of sorts, but it only really became renowned for it two years ago." He paused slightly, his gaze staring down into the bottom of the crater.

Chloe followed his gaze, noting a strange hexagonal doorway that was half buried in the rubble. The framework was blackened, and stray wires frayed out, rusting in the wind. Chloe looked back to Danny, his eyes watery as he stared down into the crater. He licked his lips in obvious agitation, sighing deeply before he could start again. "For me, this is where it all started. This is all that is left of Fentonworks. My mom and dad's home business. When I was in my freshman year they finished their biggest project; the Fenton Ghost Portal. It was supposed to be a stable link between the two worlds, available solely for research and exploratory purposes."

Danny shook his head, and Chloe just watched the boy as he continued staring down into the crater. "They finished in August." He continued after a minute's silence. "Four years of constant work and calculations. And they were so proud of themselves. But when they plugged it in it didn't work. There was a spark, and then nothing. Coming back here, seeing the portal like it is now... it's almost possible to believe that I'm back then. That none of it ever happened."

Chloe heard Danny sigh, and felt more than saw as he swung his legs over the edge of the crater. Somehow he managed to trace his way down to the flat base, picking his way through the rocks until he was standing just on the outside of the gateway. With morbid curiosity Chloe followed, realising that for all that this was the place where Danny had grown up, it was also all that remained of where he had lost his whole family. Chloe picked her way through the crater's bottom, puzzled to find that the bottom was perfectly flat. Looking down she saw rubble scattered across a tiled floor, somehow the tiles had survived the onslaught of the meteor rock.

"You asked, ages ago about my powers." Danny whispered, brushing the edge of the portal with his fingers. "About how exactly my meteor exposure affected me." Danny turned to face her. "But I wasn't. I am not, nor could I ever be a meteor freak. I can be affected be the same properties of kryptonite that Clark can, but I can't be infected by them."

Chloe frowned, creasing her eyes in confusion. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Danny sighed, and his eyes became cold, distant. "My birth name is Danny Fenton. I was born on the twentieth of July of 1989 in Amity Park General hospital. But there's more to it than that. On the seventeenth of September of 2003 Danny Fenton stepped into this portal. And this is where Danny Fenton, the human fourteen year old died."

Chloe gasped and shivered involuntarily, taking a step backwards. She couldn't help it; she was horrified by what Danny was saying. She stared at the dark haired boy, studying every part of him, trying to solve the riddle that was Danny Fenton, while still battling down a primal urge to back away. But at the look in his eye, the abject pain and misery that swirled through those clouded blue eyes, she felt her fear crumble. She took a tentative step forward, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. Danny's lips curved upwards in a half smile as he turned back to face her.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. "I wanted to do this properly, but I feel like I'm making a mess of it." Chloe couldn't find the right words to say, but sent him an encouraging smile, eliciting a faint twinkling of silvery happiness in those deep azure pools of his eyes.

"I remember once," Danny continued, with a twinkling of bygone laugher in his eyes. "Ages ago, you said 'you're not the weirdest person out there' but... I think I have to disagree with that. I'm actually a lot weirder than even Clark, if you're going on a scale of what is more impossible. See, Clark is the last free member of the Kryptonian race. He is the last son of Krypton, and is the only Kryptonian on Earth. But he's not the first of his kind, or technically the last. There are still members of Krypton out there, imprisoned where they're unable to be freed. But we do know they're out there."

"But for all the good they do..." Chloe interrupted, keen to defend her friend.

"I'm not saying that they're good people." Danny denied adamantly. "I'm simply saying that they exist. Clark's presence on Earth is not impossible, merely an improbable outcome caused by a horrific event on Krypton." Chloe frowned, realising once more that Danny sometimes to be more of an expert on Krypton than even Clark was, but that wasn't the point of this discussion.

"So you think that Clark..." Chloe began, but was quickly cut off by Danny.

"Clark fits within the parameters of plausible and even conventional science." The dark haired boy stated bluntly.

"And you think that you don't?" Chloe pressed, a sceptical eyebrow raised.

"I know that I don't." Danny assured with confidant ruefulness. "See, nearly three years ago I walked into that portal, and I turned it on from the inside. I was electrocuted, and I died. Those are the prerequisite conditions for the creation of a ghost. However, here's the kicker. The fact that I was in a highly ectoplasm rich environment prevented me from passing on. I never actually died."

"But that doesn't make sense." Chloe replied, shaking her head. She was seriously starting to doubt the sanity of the young boy. "You can't both die and not die. That's impossible. You're either one or the other."

"And therein lies the reason I say I'm weirder than our Kryptonian friend. For two and a half years I have literally been both alive and dead; in that accident my genetic structure was rewritten." He paused, frowning slightly. "It... hurt." He said simply, shaking his head. "Half of my DNA was replaced by ectoplasm and when I woke up I was a ghost."

"So you're dead." Chloe concluded, cocking her head in curiosity. "Wait, that's why you get on with the other ghosts, isn't it? That's how you know Phantom. You're a ghost too and..." But Danny was shaking his head with a half affectionate smile. He held out his hand, wrist facing up.

"Ghosts may be capable of many things, but ectoplasm is unable to replicate a heartbeat, or a pulse." Danny said, with a quick nod towards his wrist. Chloe nodded once, recalling that fact from among the research on ghosts she'd done after Undergrowth had attacked Smallville. Curious, Chloe took the boy's wrist, carefully studying his eyes. She gasped, withdrawing her hand when she felt the first thrum of blood pushing through his veins.

"I'm not a ghost capable of maintaining a fully humanoid form. They do exist, but I am not among them." Danny explained. "I'm half-human, half-ghost. The coined term is halfa. I'm alive and fully human, but at the same time I'm dead and fully ghost. I'm a scientific impossibility, a product of an un-replicable accident involving ectoplasm and electricity. I know it is possible to create other half-ghosts. But it would be impossible to recreate the exact circumstances that rendered the fourteen year old Danny Fenton a halfa."

Chloe's head whirled. She'd thought; when she discovered the extent of Clark's secret, that that was it in the impossible category. But the proof of something even more seemed to be in front of her. Danny was a living ghost, and that thought blew her mind away. And Danny was smiling at her, a soft smile that seemed paradoxical with the weight of what he was saying.

"How...?" Chloe began, but she didn't know what to say. Her eyes caught on the metallic structure of the portal, the loose wires and the darkened crevasse behind the scorched metallic archway. Noticing her gaze Danny sighed pensively.

"How is it possible?" Danny asked with one eyebrow raised. "It's not. But I know that it is because I exist. I told you that I have pretty liberal views of what's impossible and now you know why." Danny shook his head, a strange sort of smile playing on his lips. Chloe didn't know what to say to that. What he was saying, it was impossible; completely outside the realms of epistemic science or even pseudoscience. Hell, it was outside the realms of even the most extremist paranormal science. Chloe's mind swam with explanations, but everything reduced down to the mind boggling impossibility of what Danny was saying.

"Being here now;" Danny continued, apparently unaware of Chloe's inner mental anguish. "I actually think it's the portal that saved me when the meteor hit. So the invention that should've killed me nearly three years ago ended up saving me twice." Danny commented absently. He sighed, turning to face her with those unfathomable blue eyes. "See, in the Ghost Zone there's hearsay of one element that is so destructive to ectoplasm that no ghost can safely touch it. The two are polar opposites. The funny thing is, ectoranium is a radioactive green rock, completely alien to the planet Earth."

"Kryptonite." Chloe whispered, her eyes widening in realisation. This was something she could work with, something she could focus on because she understood.

"Exactly." Danny replied, smiling. "I think I know what happened that day. Why I survived when none of the others did." The younger boy paused, cocking his head curiously back towards her. "Did Clark ever tell you about his old spaceship, what happened if kryptonite got too close?"

Chloe nodded. "He didn't know how, but the ship managed to neutralise the kryptonite. The ship was able to produce a field which nullified the solar charge of green kryptonite permanently."

"Right." Danny nodded smiling. "And I think something similar happened here. Ectoplasm and kryptonite are pretty much polar opposites, and with a kryptonite charged meteor heading straight towards the gateway to the Zone... well I think the ectoplasm in the portal emitted a similar field to Clark's ship."

"To me," Danny continued with reflective blue eyes. "It sort of makes sense. See, no matter what I do, what I try, I can't remember the actual meteor strike. I remember a loud roar, and I remember a vague fog before I woke up in the hospital two weeks later. But the meteor strike itself... I think it's possible that, at that point of the meteor strike I literally became a part of the field. I didn't exist at that moment in time, not as a corporeal or even true ectoplasmic form. It's the only way I can explain it. I mean, the paramedics who came said I wasn't hurt, not as bad as I should have been."

"That's..." Chloe began, unsure of what exactly that theory was.

"Impossible, I know." Danny admitted almost callously. "A true ghost would have been reduced to ectoplasmic remnants, ended completely. But I survived, because I am human and I do have a physical body to return to. I'm used to the impossible, I have to be. Ghosts aren't alive, and living people aren't ghosts. But I'm both. And somehow, despite it all I know I exist."

Danny smiled a strange smile that Chloe couldn't quite place. It was somewhere between self-derision and genuine happiness. "I think, therefore I am?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow at the near Descartes reference.

"Something like that." Danny replied with a half smile. "Believe me; I've done the existential crisis bit more than once. It's sort of hard to get used to the idea that one morning everything's normal, and the next you wake up halfway through the kitchen ceiling."

"Is that how you met Phantom?" Chloe asked, her mind spinning off on a tangent at the strange anecdote. "He helped you when you first found out what had happened?"

"Yes and no." Danny replied slowly. "In a way, Phantom did help me get used to my powers, but not because he was helping me with them. See, when Danny Fenton walked into this portal all that time ago, it wasn't a human who walked out. When I came out of the portal I was a ghost, in my fully spectral form. When I came out I didn't have blue eyes or black hair. Ectoplasm changes things like that. When I came out of the portal I had glowing green eyes, and my hair was pure white."

Chloe watched the boy in front of her closely, thousands of pieces suddenly aligning perfectly. All the tiny little paradoxes that had kept her wondering; how a clumsy boy could move with such agility, how someone so behind at school could conceal a bright mind, how a goofy child could morph instantly into a wizened warrior. Why Danny always walked around in long-sleeved clothes as though the weather was superfluous to him, the strange necklace that hung around his neck, immovable even when he had been wounded nearly to the point of death, how he could walk away from a mortal wound and still play games the same night. How sweet, innocent, human Danny Fenton was impossibly, undeniably a ghost.

And somehow Chloe was unsurprised when two majestic halos of white-blue light erupted around Danny's waist. And she watched in fascination as they travelled across his body, his outfit morphing beneath the bright light. She watched, almost unsurprised, as a soft white cloak fluttered down around his shoulders, somehow swaying in a nonexistent breeze. And perhaps she was beyond the point of surprise when soft snow hair settled around his exotically paled face. It was somehow natural to observe that the young farm boy had morphed into an ethereal knight, standing with the regal poise of a prince. And as those eyes, those wondrously amazing bright green eyes opened, all she could do was smile as everything fell into place.

Kind green eyes beamed at her, possessing soft gentle warmth and a shining light that outstripped the stars in youthful wonderment. "Chloe," he said, his voice echoing softly against the night. Somehow it was still the same; it had that gentle enchanting strength that was undeniably his, whatever form he took. His feet hovered perhaps an inch above the ground, and he had taken on an air of unearthly mystery. But at the same time Chloe could see the young blue-eyed boy in those bright green eyes. And she saw the powerful man with silver eyes there too, both dancing just beneath the surface of those brightly glowing neon green orbs.

He smiled at her, a kind welcoming smile that warmed Chloe's heart and made her feel safe and protected all at the same time. "My name is Danny Phantom."

---

AN; Yep, the Chloe Reveal is finally here. I hope you liked it, I wanted it to be special and I sort of think Danny inviting Chloe to find out in the place where Phantom was 'born' counts as special.

I wasn't sure how to play it when I started writing, but I'm happy with how it ended up. I was going for warm and fuzzy with a hint of dark uncertainty so I sort of think it worked. In the end. Maybe.

Anyhow, thank you all for reading. I'll admit I'm delighted with the feedback you've all been giving me, and I'm glad that I haven't yet earned anyone's ire.

Translation; どういたしまして means 'You're welcome' In Japanese according to Google Translate.

Oh, and for anyone who's annoyed at the Genesis quote, it's more of a loose explanation of how the three worlds fit together than an actual creationist account. I figure it's along the lines of how Clockwork would try to explain things to Danny, given that it would have been among the first 'lessons' they had together.

Thankyou kindly,

Bluerose