"So, uh, do we have any idea where we're actually headed?" asked Chloe from the back seat of her car. Although she was fine, thanks to some fancy Kryptonian tech that Brainiac had used to fix her up, Clark had insisted on driving. Chloe was grateful; she might have been healed up, but she was still a wreck, and she wouldn't have felt comfortable behind the wheel. Every few minutes she turned her head to see if anybody was following them. Although she couldn't see anything, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was somebody there. Still, Clark would have picked up on it instantly. Yet even though Clark was here, for once she couldn't take all that much comfort in his presence – not when they were dealing with someone like Lenaria, who could turn Clark against them in a heartbeat.

"Not really," said Clark, sounding distracted. Clark fortunately had superhuman endurance, but Chloe knew he'd barely had a moment's peace since returning from Kandor. He'd been pushed to the edge. "A long way from Smallville, for a start. Metropolis is out as well. We need to go somewhere Lenaria won't think of looking for you."

"Don't forget you have to go to The Fortress as well, Clark," said Chloe, remembering Brainiac's second piece of news. "I wonder what could have happened to it..."

"I have no idea. Maybe Lenaria did something to it, though I doubt she went there herself. Once I've gotten us a little further along I'm going to go check it out. I'm worried something might have happened to Kandor."

"Just what we needed, another problem," said Lana, trying to force a smile. She had been very quiet since they'd left the hospital. Chloe knew Lana disagreed with Clark's plan to send Brainiac to Lex's in his place. It was the most sensible option though; for a moment, she'd thought Clark was going to go himself, and she had been very relieved when he'd announced his plan. It was a good, risk-free way of learning Lex's true intentions. Though if Lex's intentions were less than noble, as she suspected, then there were some very bad implications for Clark. She'd already lost one of her closest friends, and if she had any say in the matter, she wasn't going to lose Clark as well.

Pete's death had hit him hard, she knew. There was little time to mourn, what with disaster upon disaster happening, but Pete and Clark had been friends since they were kids. She wondered if Pete really knew just how important his friendship had been. Apart from his parents, he had been the one constant in Clark life growing up. The past couple of years they had been separated, but as soon as they'd been reunited, it was like they'd never been apart.

On the outskirts of Smallville, Clark pulled over and got out of the car. After surveying the area for some time, he decided it was safe enough that he could leave them alone briefly while he examined The Fortress. All Brainiac had known was that some catastrophe had struck the place – since Clark had ordered him to keep an eye on her, he'd been unable to investigate.

"I only need to go to the caves and back," said Clark. "So I won't be gone long."

"Um, Clark? You can run around the world in what? A second? Even if you were going to The Arctic on foot we wouldn't have time to miss you. Much," she added, managing a trace of a grin. "We won't have time to be worried, either."

Chloe pretended not to be eavesdropping as Clark pulled Lana aside. Noticing Lana's frown, clearly still puzzled by his mistrust of Lex, she decided to reassure him. Lana was a good person, a good friend, but Clark could somewhat… cave-in a little too quickly around her sometimes.

"You did the right thing, Clark," she whispered, knowing that Clark's super-hearing would pick it up while Lana's non-super hearing would not. Clark gave a tiny nod to let her know he'd heard.

"Lana," she overheard Clark saying, "If you're right, then this'll prove it. I know you disagree, but I know Lex can't be trusted. Maybe he does want to stop Lenaria, and maybe he wants my help to do it. But then again, maybe I would have walked in there and he'd have pulled kryptonite out of his pocket and that'd be the end. The point is, I don't know what Lex is going to do. This way I can't find out without risking anything going wrong."

"Alright," said Lana finally. "I'm sorry. I know that Lex is going to prove himself. I believe in Lex… but I believe in you more."

The two kissed while Chloe carefully inspected the side of her car. With a quick wave to her, Clark disappeared in a blur. She realised that she had been wrong - she did have time to worry. Not so much for her and Lana, but for Clark. If something really had attacked The Fortress, Clark was probably heading straight into danger. Again.

"How are you holding up?" asked Lana, moving over beside her and inspecting her face closely. Chloe ran her hand across it, marvelling at how Brainiac had repaired the burn tissue.

"Thanks to Brainiac, I feel fine," she replied. "You know, I could use a Brainiac of my own. Now that I think about it, I wonder if we could convince Clark to mass-produce them and sell them across America. 'One of these in every home!' Think about it, we could make a fortune."

"I'll, uh, keep that in mind," said Lana, smiling. Chloe took a look around the area as they talked. There was a diner farther along the road (at the same moment she saw, her stomach suddenly decided to remind her it was being neglected), but that was the only landmark. Everything else was just fields, be it of the plain variety or, in the distance, corn. There was no sign of any traffic or vehicles, which was good. When Lenaria could control pretty much anybody, it meant anyone and everyone was a potential danger. Chloe had seen The Empireth as a useless, sobbing mess, but knew by now that it was unwise to underestimate her. She was ruthless, devious, and resourceful.

"Hello, Chloe," said a voice from out of nowhere, as if to confirm this. This, however, was not a female voice; instead it was a male, speech sounding almost slurry due to it's thick accent. She placed it at once. "It has been a long time, has it not?"

Mikhail Mxylpidl… Mikhial.

"Where did you come from?" asked Chloe, backing away. There was no way he could have followed them, not without Clark noticing. Besides, he had no way to get out here anyway…

Except, she saw now, there was a van parked right across from them. There was no way she could have missed it, and yet there it was, plain as day. The grey vehicle appeared almost to be mocking her. Lana, eyes wide with surprise, was seeing it too.

"But… that's impossible," Lana choked.

"Well, that was just like you, wasn't it Chloe?" teased Mikhail, eyeing her with more appreciation than she really cared for right now. "No matter how hard I tried to open your eyes, you always somehow remained… oblivious."

"You… used your power so we wouldn't see you," she said, noting his emphasis on the final word. She let him move in closer, knowing she had to stop this now. Just by using the power of speech, he could make her do whatever he wanted. She had thought he'd lost that power for good thanks to her and Clark, but apparently not. "You should have done us a favour and kept it up."

As he drew closer, she swung her arm up, aiming for his throat.

"Miss," said Mikhail instantly, causing her arm to jerk awkwardly. She swung her leg up, hoping to catch him off guard, but he leapt back out of the way, grinning. "Stop."

Leg still in the air, Chloe suddenly found herself frozen, powerless to move. Lana hurried forward to help, but Mikail raised his hand.

"Chloe, hang on…"

"You too. Stop."

Jokes on you, thought Chloe as she tried desperately to move. Clark should be back anytime, and I'm going to make a bet even you can't ruin – I'm going to bet that Clark can move a lot faster than you can speak. Mikhail pushed her hair back, running his hand over his cheek. He was a handsome man, but he couldn't be more repulsive if he tried.

"You are even more beautiful than I remember," he said, inhaling her scent. Three men, none of whom Chloe recognised, emerged from the van.

"Where's the boy?" one of them asked. "He's the one we need."

"We're to take this one as well," said Mikhail, looking right at Chloe. "I understand Lenaria has some business with you."

"What about her?" he asked, meaning Lana.

"She is not to be harmed."

"In that case," said a voice Chloe was incredibly relieved to hear. "She's in a much better position than you."

Clark strode in front of her protectively. As he did, she noticed her was carrying a young girl with rather distinctive purple hair in his arms. Chloe didn't know who she was, but she looked to be in a bad way. There was blood splattered over her clothes, and she appeared to be unconscious. Mikhail opened his mouth. Clark began to move, but immediately she knew something was wrong. He went far too slowly, for one thing. The other being that the veins in his hand were actually writhing. He staggered, and falling, twisted his body to protect the girl as he fell. The girl didn't look like she weighed much, but Clark still seemed to get the wind knocked out of him.

She didn't need to see the rock in Mikhail's hand to know what was happening. Clark's face was locked with a determined grimace as he tried vainly to get back to his feet, managing with difficulty to get the girl off from on top of him. Mikhail looked to enjoy Clark's struggle for a moment, before he put an end to them with a single word.

"Paralyse."

Tossing the rock aside, he signalled for two of the men to take Clark and load him in the van. Clark's eyes moved to the left, apparently the only part of him that could still move. Chloe knew he was looking at Lana; he seemed almost to be pleading with her. Why would Lenaria take them but leave Lana? It was not so long ago that Chloe had captured Lana on the alien's behalf. There could be only one reason: because of Lex. If Chloe could have spoken, she would have warned her friend not to go anywhere near him. She doubted Lana would have listened though.

"What should we do with her?" asked one of Mikhail's accomplices, meaning the sick looking girl Clark had brought along.

"She looks half-dead already," said Mikhail kneeling down to inspect her. "Better to take her along with us, find out who she is."

As they hauled the mystery girl into the back of the van, Mikhail returned his attention to Chloe. She thought he was going to drag her along with him, but instead merely gestured with his hand.

"Follow."

Her legs began moving of their own accord, but the rest of her body remained rigid. She hopped in the back, noticing the fear in Clark's eyes as he stared unblinking at the roof. The girl, lying beside her, gave a small moan but did not awaken. Terror took over her completely as the doors were shut. Two of their kidnappers sat in the back with them.

"I almost forgot," she heard Mikhail shouting out the window from up front. "You may move again, Miss Lang."

From outside, she could hear Lana shouting, running towards them, but the sounds quickly faded as the van sped away.

It was over.