Chapter 6: The darkest day of Smallville

A/N: Now just ahead of everything, I apologize for the ending...you'll know why

Conner opened the door of the men's room. A middle-aged man with thinning red hair was washing his hands at one of the white basins. He smiled politely at Conner before going out the door behind him. Conner was now by himself in the room. He quickly walked over to the marble-like bench holding up the basins. He placed the bag on top, before opening it up with excitement. He first took out the new shirt that Lois and Chloe had bought.

The black T-shirt had thick red lines going down the side of the torso and sleeves. The red and white text on the shirt read Motley Crew Rules. Conner had no idea who or what Motley Crew was, but apparently they ruled and that was good enough for him. He put the shirt back into the bag and took out the new jeans. They were a darker shade of blue and a little skinner than the one's he was wearing then and there. Folding them he placed the jeans on the top of the shirt. Finally he took out the shoebox that was on the bottom of the bag. Lifting off the lid Conner admired the new black Converse that Chloe had picked out. The shoelaces were a blood red colour, the same red as what was on his shirt. The cousins had picked all the right things, the outfit meshed together perfectly.

Conner placed the box back into the bag. Smiling in satisfaction, he walked into the nearest cubicle and locked the door.

The two agents stood watching Lois and Chloe. The cousins were leaning on the wall opposite the Men's and Ladies restrooms. They watched them like panthers waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. Both of their blonde hair were slicked back, there was no emotion on their strong faces. The agent who had contacted Lex spoke with a powerful voice.

"We take out Project 001CK first, then the ladies."
The other agent nodded to his partner. Then without warning they moved with purpose straight to where Conner was changing. Passing by Lois and Chloe, one of them looked at Lois out of the corner of his eye before they both disappeared behind the men's room door.

Lois' gaze followed the two men. She got an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Hey Cuz, did those guys look a bit creepy to you?"
Chloe turned to face Lois "Yeah, they kind of remind of agents from movies, ya know?"
"Yeah…" Lois' eyes now glued to the men's room door.

"My son."

Clark tore his eyes away from examining his fingers. "Yes Jor-el?"
"I have searched through all the files in the fortress' archives."
Clark got up from the floor, brushing himself off. "And?"
"Your DNA is much more complicated than a human's. It would be almost impossible for you to be cloned."

Clark rubbed his eyes. "So Conner isn't a clone?"
"I have not finished, the one you call Conner Kent is indeed a clone of yours Kal-el. It is possible for you to be cloned if your DNA is multiplied rapidly then mixed with a human's. Both DNA strands will complete each other; the Kryptonian DNA is more advanced in development, thus the stronger of the two. Strong and weak. The two shall over lap one another. 99% of the time your DNA will over power the humans. Though there is a possibility that a humans could over power yours.

Clark nodded his head in understanding. "So I guess Conner is a part of that 99%."
"That is correct Kal-el."
"Jor-el I need to know…Is that the same situation for me…I mean, can a child with a human?"
"Yes"

Clark held his breath, and then he laughed in relief and pure joy. He leaned up against the crystal control centre of the fortress. The palms of his hands spread out before him.
"I can be a dad." He whispered.

Do you know how different someone could feel when he or she wears different clothes? I had no idea until I studied myself in the mirror. Actually I'm kind of surprised at how well I look in a tight black T-shirt with all the red added around it. I might keep that information stored in the back of my mind for later use. On my left the door opens, two tall blonde men walk through. Their suits and glasses remind me of something…But I can't place it.

"Hi" I say politely.
I grab my bag that was at my feet, lifting it up I accidentally spill some of the old clothes onto the floor. "Damn it."

Crouching down to pick it up I notice one of the men has stepped up closely next to me. Maybe a little to close for comfort. I move my face up so I can catch his eye with my own.
"Excuse me sir." I stand up to my full 5"10' height. But I'm still dwarfed by the man. He's even taller than Clark is.

I sling the bag over my shoulder and move towards the door. Only to find it being blocked by the other guy. I start to feel a little uncomfortable about this set up.
"Um, can I get around please?" I asked the one in front of the door.

The man put his right hand into his pocket. "I don't think so number 13."
I feel my arms being pined to my sides.
"Hey! Get off me!"
I swing myself 180 degrees and the guy who held me from behind goes crashing into the cubicles. I whip my head around to face the other guy. He has a small smile on his face, to me that's a little unsettling.

"Get out of the way beefy or you might end up like your buddy over there."
"I don't think so."
He pulls his hand from out of his pocket and suddenly I feel weak. I see on the ring he has, is some of that green rock Clark was telling me about. Kryptonite. I swallow hard as I try to stay up right. I feel as though I'm going to throw up. Then I'm hit hard on the chin; I slide across the floor on my back. The man roughly moves my head to the side, so my neck is exposed. Out of the corner of my eye I see him take a device from a pocket that was on the inside of his jacket.

"Stop wriggling freak."
"Eat shit Conan. AH!" He sticks the device into a vein on my neck. I feel something being pumped into my body. "Gah! No!"
"There 001CK, was that so bad?"
"Wh-What did y-you…" I whisper
"Shhh. It's nothing." He smiles. It's really creepy to look at.

Then he looks over at his 'friend'. "Agent 96, get the hell up." He went over to his unconscious partner.
This was my chance, I had to get up and get Lois and Chloe out of here. I try to roll over but the ring that held the rock was on my chest, making the attempt very hard. Suddenly my vision blurs and it gets difficult to breathe. It felt like my throat was closing round itself. Before the darkness takes me I hear the door open and I know no more.

"Hey did you hear that?" Chloe asked
"Yeah I did. It came from in there." Lois pointed to the men's room. "I'm worried about Conner, those two guys looked real shifty."
Chloe had a worried look on her face as they heard a muffled gasp coming from the room.

"That's it! Let's go!" Lois stormed right for the door.
"Wait Lo' we don't want any unwanted attention here." Chloe ran after her.
Lois eased her pace. "Hey he could be in trouble."
"Yeah, could."
Lois sighed. "Fine." She walked up and kicked in the door.
"Lois!"
"Well I could've done-"

Her words drowned in her throat from the sight before her. There in the middle of the floor was Conner unconscious and hardly breathing. Behind him one of the men was helping the other to his feet.
Chloe spotted the Kryptonite on Conner's chest, glancing over at Lois she saw that her cousin had no expression on her face. Chloe smiled, Lois was very pissed off right now with those two.

"Lois distract them while I get Conner out of here." She whispered
"Don't need to tell me twice." Lois advanced on the men.
At once Chloe took hold of the ring and threw it out an open window. When the ring was gone Conner stirred awake, but was still very weak.
"We need to get you out of here. Can you walk on your own?"
Conner shook his head. "I-I don't think so."
"Put some of your wieght on me, Ok?"

When he was securely leaning on her with his arm around her shoulders, they moved for the door. Once there Chloe looked back to Lois, who was currently sliding on the floor towards them. Quickly Lois got up.
"Go!"
The three of them went out the door. "Chloe get both of you and the kid to the car."
"What about you?"
"I'm right behind you."
Chloe was unwilling to move.
"Now Chloe!" Lois said with much authority.
Chloe turned and left for the car.

Lois, who was still holding open the door, faced the two agents. They were picking themselves up from Lois' last onslaught. Once up right they sprang forward for her.
Lois smiled, when they got to where she was, with all her strength she pushed the door into their faces. Happy with her handy work she ran after Chloe and a very weak Conner.

In the car park Chloe carefully placed Conner in the backseat of Lois' car.
"Chloe" Conner croaked out
"Yeah?"
"Thank…Thankyou."
"Hey no prob." She smiled

Conner shifted weakly in the seat.
"You ok?" Chloe asked
"Can you call Clark? I've got this bad feeling something's going to happen and I'm too weak right now to protect you and Lois."
Chloe gave him a look.
"Please Chloe…Please." He said with urgency.
"Ok." She took out her phone and punched in Clark's phone number.

Clark felt his pocket vibrating. Taking out his phone he saw that the caller was Chloe.
"Hey how's it going?"
"Clark you have to get to Metro Mall now, something hap-"
Chloe stopped talking.
"What? Chloe what's going on? Hey-"

On Chloe's end he heard Conner yelling something and then Chloe screaming.
Then a bang.
Clark didn't think twice, he ran full speed out of the fortress in the direction of Metropolis.

The wind whipped at his face, he past by things in a blur. Then he stopped, there in the parking lot; Conner had blood on his hands going down his arms. Clark's eye shifted to the crumpled man at his feet. Clark ran at normal speed up to Conner.

"Conner! Are you all right? What happened?"

But he didn't respond, Conner was staring at something a little away from them. Clark looked at what had Conner's undivided attention. What he saw, made his skin run cold, a blood trail ran a little bit in front of him. At the beginning of the trail sat Chloe crying and holding desperately to a limp and bleeding Lois.