A/N: I do not own Smallville, or its characters.

Chapter Two: Arthur Curry

Chloe was eating lunch with Lois. It had been a long time since the two of them had a peaceful afternoon out together, and although Chloe would have preferred spending the afternoon at Watchtower, she had to keep up appearances so that her cousin would not investigate the Watchtower.

"I've been having these weird dreams recently, and I don't understand them", Lois said in between bites

"What are they about?" Chloe asked

"They're just strange." Lois said, blushing

"Look Lo, if they embarrass you, then maybe you should talk to a psychiatrist about it." Chloe said

"A shrink? Why would I need to see a shrink?" Lois wondered aloud.

"They can interpret your dreams- unlock the true meaning of them to give you a sense of understanding." Chloe explained

"Maybe I should go see a psychiatrist to finally end this insanity. Can't guarantee that it'll work though- I've never believed in psycho-babble." Lois reasoned

Suddenly, Chloe's phone rang. She picked up "Hello?"

"Chloe, I found Aquaman." Bart said

"I'm listening." Chloe responded

"Long story short, he's in jail. Can you get here?" Bart asked anxiously

"Give me 20 minutes." she said curtly, hanging up the phone.

"Go, I have to get back to the Planet anyway." Lois said understandingly.

Chloe smiled at her cousin, and headed to the parking lot as quickly as she could. As she drove, her hands became slightly sweaty and her breath became heavy. She prayed that AC's face wasn't in the news, and that he was as far away from the newspapers as possible. If he became irresponsible and used his powers in public, Chloe couldn't save him. What was he in jail for, anyway?

She eventually arrived at Watchtower, and ran up the stairs as quickly as possible.

"What happened?" Chloe asked, breathless.

"I was looking at the tracking signals when I noticed that AC's signal was completely still. I thought that he was dead, so I gave it a closer look, and found him in jail. Then I did a little research." Bart started

"What did he do?" Chloe asked

"Well, he's incredibly passionate about his protests now. He's trying to get the president to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, so he got a group of environmentalists outside of the Whitehouse." Bart explained

"Skip ahead to the illegal part." Chloe told him

"Well, the environmentalists were outside with the signs, while he had a separate group nude bicycling for the cause. They arrested him for being a public disturbance." he clarified

"Great. What's the price for his bail?" she asked.

"20,000" Bart told her.

"Think that Oliver's going to notice that disappear?" she asked him

"I don't think so- but maybe you should tell him what's going on, Chloe."

"I'll explain it to Oliver when he starts spending his nights saving the city, rather than drunk with his next lay" she sighed.

"Well, I know where he is. I'll take you with me, if you want" Bart said.

"I've never…" Chloe trailed off

"Wait, Clark's never taken you along before?" he asked, in disbelief

"Well, no. He saves me, he goes where I send him, and he vanishes out of nowhere. I've never gone with him" Chloe explained.

Bart lifted her off the ground "Hold tight, and close your eyes. I don't need you vomiting on me" he said, with a laugh. She complied and they sped away.

Arthur Curry always liked orange. Green and orange were colors that he wore constantly, especially since they were the colors of his college, the University of Miami. Prison orange however, was not his color. This was his first night in prison, and they clothed him in prison colors instead of letting him go to his hotel room to change first- it was embarrassing.

AC should have been thinking about how to get out of prison, but instead, he was thinking about global warming, and what he was going to do for his next rally. If he was in prison right now, that meant that the nudity worked- the people were in shock. If only they responded the same way about littering. He knew so many dolphin families that were torn apart because people threw their trash in the water during fishing trips.

"Arthur Curry?" He looked up

"Yes?" he asked.

"You made bail" a deep voice replied, opening the door.

Shrugging, AC walked out jail. He didn't have any inmates in the cell with him, but he was thirsty as hell. He decided to go swimming in the hotel's indoor swimming pool the second he got back. He went to a pay phone and was about to call a cab when he saw a flash of red pass him. Suddenly, Chloe Sullivan and Impulse were right in front of them, smiling.

AC ignored them. He stuck a couple of quarters in the phone and tapped his feet impatiently. He told the cab company where he was, and hung up. He contemplated waiting in the telephone booth, since he really didn't want to revisit his past. To him, the Justice League was dead. He realized that he couldn't hide away from them, so he opened the door.

"What?"

"Are you even going to thank us for bailing you out of jail?" Bart asked

"I didn't ask you to." AC replied

"You're not even remotely curious as to why we're here?" Chloe asked him

"What, do you guys need me to break in somewhere underwater or something?" he asked, annoyed.

"We need you back" Bart told him

"Well, I don't need you guys. I've been doing fine on my own. I wouldn't have stayed in jail for very long anyway- my record is practically clean."

"You've been in jail before, AC" she reminded him.

"For releasing dolphins back into the ocean. I didn't kill anyone, Chloe" he said irritated.

"So that's what this is about- Oliver murdering Lex" Bart said.

"I don't take orders from a murderer." AC said plainly. His throat was incredibly dry now- if he didn't get water soon, he would pass out.

"You never took orders from anyone!" Chloe exclaimed

"Yes I did, and now I have my own life- separate from constantly risking my neck. I can do some good here" AC told her.

"You have a degree in marine biology." Chloe said bluntly

"So?" AC glared

"You're trying to get the president to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. In order to make a real difference in that respect, you need a law degree under your belt, and experience in international relations." She explained

"Says the fired journalist", AC muttered under his breath.

"That's right, AC. I was fired from the Daily Planet because Lex wanted to know Clark's secret and I couldn't let that happen. But at least I know what's important." she said, shaking.

AC opened his mouth to say something apologetic when the taxi pulled up. He looked at Chloe and Bart sadly, muttered "I have work to do", and got in the car. The cab drove away.

There was a long silence between Bart and Chloe. Her position was rigid, and Bart was traumatized at the sight in front of him. Chloe was always all smiles and laughter, and now she was silent and in shock. Bart didn't know what to do, so he just lifted her up, and took her back to the Watchtower, putting her on her bed. He went upstairs to the Watchtower computers and pressed a couple of buttons.

Bart never did any background checks on his teammates- he thought that it was an invasion of privacy, and he personally did not like to be judged by his past. He was curious now, and felt that a familiarity with AC's past would help in convincing him to come back.

He was up all night researching Arthur Curry. He had a legal pad handy for quick notes, and printed out several articles about his fish-loving friend. He started with AC's childhood, and stopped to go to the bathroom when Oliver recruited him.

When he came back, he focused on Aquaman's recent activities, focusing on his work. There wasn't a lot of newspaper coverage on him, but he found the blog of one of AC's environmentalist friends that detailed the work they did together. He read entry upon entry, viewed every single picture closely, and skimmed through the preaching paragraphs.

Chloe woke up in the morning, and did not find Bart. What she did find however, were the pages of white and yellow coloring the second floor of the Watchtower. She fumbled around for her earpiece, and said "Watchtower is online."

"Well, good morning Watchtower." a cheerful voice replied

"Bart, where are you?" she asked

"I'm in D.C. Nation's capital and all that. I'm going to bring AC home, don't worry." he said reassuringly

"Impulse, I don't know about this. What if we get everyone together and Oliver still doesn't come back?" she asked

"It's going to work, I promise. I'll be back with AC- I understand him now. Impulse is temporarily offline."

All was silent. Chloe started reading Bart's research. She wanted to know what gave Bart such incredible clarity.

AC was checking out of his hotel, as Bart suspected. AC hadn't stayed in the same place for longer than 1 week for quite some time now. He also knew that he would have to be incredibly aggressive in order to turn AC around.

AC walked out of the hotel, a look of relief in his face as he straightened the strap on his backpack. All color was drained from his face however, when he saw Bart leaning against a wall, signature red hoodie visible, hair slightly tossled.

"Hello, Arthur." he said in a formal voice

"Arthur? It's never been Arthur.", AC said, confused

"Oh, so we're still friends? And I'm allowed to call you AC?" Bart replied

"We're still friends, bro. But I can't talk. I have a flight in 2 hours." he rushed.

"I know. To Seattle." Bart told him

"How do you know that?" AC asked

"Let me ask you a question, AC, since we're friends and all. What the hell was your problem yesterday?" Bart demanded

"I told you- the League's dead. I have work to do." he said, walking away and brushing Bart's shoulder.

Bart grabbed his arm, and super-sped him to a nearby park.

"I'm not finished." Bart explained

"Well, I'm finished with the League." AC responded

"If you take your nose out of the air for 5 minutes, you would see that there are things going on in the world that are bigger than your current little tiff with the League. In case you're wondering why Clark didn't call on you for help when Chloe ran off, it's because we didn't need any underwater assistance." Bart told him.

"I have skills out of water." AC protested

"Yeah? Would that have helped the cause? Would they save Jimmy Olsen's life?" Bart demanded

"Not really." AC said weakly

"That's why Clark didn't need you. Trust me, if Davis and Chloe were underwater in a submarine of some sort, you would have been our main man. But that wasn't the case." Bart told him

"Then, why would you guys need me now?" AC asked

"Believe it or not, Oliver's more messed up than you are right now. We need to help him- to save him. Chloe also thinks that there's something bigger out there that we have to prepare for. Chances are we're going to need you for that." Bart said

"What bigger things?" AC wondered aloud

"If you're in, then cancel your flight. We'll go back to Watchtower, and you can ask Chloe yourself." Bart said

"If I'm not interested after I hear what she has to say, then what?" AC asked him

"When we go to Watchtower, and you apologize to Chloe, and then hear what she has to say, you mean. She was too good for that newspaper and you know it. If you're not the least bit interested after that, then I will personally take you to Seattle, and you can continue your work there. Sound good?" he asked

"Fine" AC said. He took out his cell phone and although he was charged, he cancelled his flight.

Chloe was still reading when a flash of red passed her. She was still having a bit of difficulty in distinguishing Bart's flash of red and Clark's blur. She smiled when she saw Bart accompanied with AC.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry about yesterday" AC told her genuinely.

"I'm sorry too." Chloe said.

"Bart tells me that there's something big coming?" AC questioned

"Lois disappeared for three weeks, and she came back with Clark's Legion ring" she said

"What does that mean?" AC asked

"The ring took her to the future" Bart explained.

"Right, and when she came back, a Kandorian assassin came back with her. The assassin told Clark that he would cause the end of the world. She told me this morning that she's been having strange dreams, but refuses to tell me what they are about. I think that she's having dreams about her visit to the future, since she couldn't remember anything that she saw there." she explained

"What did you tell her?" AC asked her

"I told her to see a psychiatrist about the dreams. I told her that a psychiatrist can interpret her dreams and tell her what they mean." Chloe told AC

"Well, if she found out Clark's secret in the future, then we can't let that happen now" AC said

"That's what I thought. So I'm thinking about finding her a psychiatrist, and putting them on our bill. Pay the psychiatrist to botch up the interpretation of the dream so that Lois doesn't discover the truth about Clark, and at the same time find a real representation of the dream so that we know what's going to happen." she explained

"After we find out what happens, what do we do?" Bart asked

"We try to prevent it, and prepare in case we're too late." she said.

"Do we need AC to help Oliver?" Impulse asked

"Not as of right now. But I do think that Tess Mercer has some involvement in whatever is going to happen in the future. And to do so, marine life might be at risk, just like when we first met. We could use your brain on things too, AC. What do you say?" she asked

"I'm in." AC told her. "For good this time."

A/N: I'm sorry that it took so long to update! I hope that you are enjoying the story so far.