Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville
Chapter 15
00 Nicodemus 00
When I heard that Dad had gotten in a car accident the spike of adrenaline that came from the terror made my heart skip a beat. I was almost hysterical until Clark managed to calm me down enough to explain. Dad hadn't crashed, the other driver had, and dad had pulled him out of the wrekage before it exploded.
Nevertheless, I was not going to be properly calm again until I saw Dad safe and sound for myself. Thankfully, Clark didn't mind running me home during lunch.
"Mom! Dad!" I called as soon as we made it to the front door, and rushing my way through the house to find them, with Clark following.
"We heard about the accident," Clark began, only to stop when we found them in the kitchen.
Kissing.
On the kitchen counter.
Like horny teenagers.
"We prepare food on that counter," I said dumbly, shocked out of my worry.
Clark turned around, stupefied, but I couldn't turn away, "I did not need to see that."
They finally disengaged, "Hey, kids. Just getting the old hero's welcome, you know what I mean?" Dad asked, sounding downright sultry.
Eww.
Mom got off the counter and Dad slapped her ass, causing her to yelp.
"I don't think I want to," I said numbly, there are some things children did not need to know about their parents.
"What's going on with Dad?" Clark asked Mom.
Mom looked sheepish, "I don't know. He's been acting strange ever since he got home."
Dad went over to the fridge and pulled out a beer, "Your starting early," I said disapprovingly.
"Relax, Clara. Clark, football game on TV. You want to watch it with me?" Dad asked.
Clark looked at me and Mom in confusion, "Don't you have work to do?"
"Ahh," Dad said, shurgging it off, "Chores can wait," that was a phrase I had never heard Dad say before, espicially regarding himself. I watched as Dad opened his beer on the counter, and then licked off the bubbled, "Whoa! Besides, I earned a rest. You can pick up the slack for me, can't you?" Dad asked Clark, before wiping off the bottle on Mom's pretty blue curtains.
"Jonathan," Mom scolded, throwing him a washcloth.
Dad caught it with a cocky flick of his wrist, "It's good to see this whole hero thing didn't go to your head," Clark said sarcastically.
Dad raised the bottle in a toast, missing the sarcasm, and a knock sounded at the door.
"Hope I'm not interuppting," Lex said from behind the screen door and I got a bad feeling.
I eyed Dad warily, trying to decided whether or not to send Lex away when Mom answered, "Hi, Lex, come in."
"What's up Lex?" Clark asked.
Lex walked in, eyes trained on us, not yet noticing Dad who was standing in the corner, "I'm looking for Mr. Kent."
"What do you want?" Dad asked rudely, drawing Lex's attention to his presence, and walking to stand in front of Lex.
"I heard you pulled one of my employees out of a car. I wanted to see if you were alright," Lex said cordially.
"No you didn't. You wanted to see if I was going to sue you or not," Dad accused and I bristled, "Course that would put an end to all my finacial difficulties, wouldn't it?" Dad asked, leaning in to get in Lex's face and taking a chug of his beer.
"Dad!"
"Jonathan, that's enough," Mom scolded.
"No, it's not enough, Martha. You see, I don't like Lex Luthor, I don't like Lionel Luthor, and I don't like your friendship with my kids. In fact, if all of you Luthors were to dry up and die I wouldn't shed a tear," Dad said angrily, and I noted with distress that Lex hadn't moved, just staring at the wall behind dad and taking it.
"Be that as it may," I said, voice shaking with barely concealed rage, marching up and pushing Dad away from Lex so I could get in his face. "Lex has been nothing but curtious and generous to us, and I'd thank you to at least be civil!"
Dad let out a long belch, clearly intended for Lex but hitting me as well, while never breaking his glare at Lex, "I'll think I'll have a nap."
Dad walked toward the stairs, and Mom looked at Lex, completely at a loss, "Lex . . ." Finally she gave up and went to follow Dad, leaving us to try and figure out what had just happened.
"What is wrong with Dad?" I asked agrily.
0000
When Clark told Pete about what had happened he was thrilled, "Wow. Drinking beer, mouthing off, and counter-macking with your mom?" Pete let out a small but pleased laugh, "Congratulations, your Dad's regressed to being a teenager."
I grimaced at the comparison, as well as it's accuracy.
"He's been under a lot of stress, but I wonder if he's beginning to crack," Clark said, as we walked down the hall in school, "Who takes a three hour nap in the middle of the afternoon?"
Pete shrugged, smiling, "I don't know, but I still like the part where he dissed Lex."
You would, I thought mullishly.
"Why? What do you have against Lex?" Clark asked cluelessly.
"Hmm, let's see," Pete said faux-thoughtfully, "He screwed my family out of the creamed corn factory," Pete said bitterly.
"Well, Pete that was twelve years ago. And it wasn't him, it was his father," Clark said reasonably.
"In other words, get over it Pete," I muttered.
"Still, I've never been crazy about him."
"Have you ever even met him?" I asked.
"Why haven't you said something before?"
"I was hoping you'd see he was bad news," Pete answered Clark.
Before I could tell him off, Chloe rushed up from behind us, "What's your deepest desire?" We looked at each other in confusion, "I mean, it nothing was holding you back, what would you do?"
Show off my tree, I thought instantly, and just as quickly dismissed it.
"Hello, Chloe, nice to see you too. What's up?" Clark deadpanned.
"Principal Kwan thinks I need to get in touch with the pulse of the student body," (was it wrong that I just invisioned her measuring the bpm of every student, one by one, in a giant line in front of the school?) "So I've decided to do a poll. Now, if you three would please do your statistical duty," Chloe said grandly, looking at us expactantly.
"I'd go over and make out with that girl right now," Pete said, staring down the hall and I didn't bother to look for whichever poor soul had caught his eye this time.
Chloe sighed, "You know, every answer I've gotten so far has been sex- or violence- related."
"That's human nature, Chloe. Later," he said, running off to chase the girl.
Clark sighed fondly, before turning to Chloe, "Did you know that Pete doesn't like Lex?"
"Yeah, he's totally jealous of your friendship with him. He feels you guys aren't as close as you used to be," Chloe said aplogetically.
I couldn't help feeling a pange of sympathy for Pete, having experienced something similar myself when Clark made friends with him, and to a lesser extent, Chloe.
"Hey," I turned to see Lana.
"Hey," I responded.
"Hi," said Chloe, holding up her clipboard labeled 'deepest desires', "What about you Lana. Got one?"
Lana stared open mouthed at the paper before pulling herself together, "Um. I would climb the windmill out in Chandler's field."
Huh.
"Really? That's your deepest desire," Chloe said, skeptical and highly amused.
Lana shrugged, "Somebody told me you could see the Metropolis skyline from there. I haven't got the guts to climb up and see for myself."
"Okay," Chloe said, writing it down.
"I can always make something up."
"No, it's good, I like it, it's unleasing the inner Lana," Chloe said, thoroughly amused.
There were many meaningful looks exchanged before Lana broke, "Okay," she said, walking off.
"See you at the Talon!" I called after her.
"Okay, Clark, you're up," Chloe said, but Clark was atill watching Lana leave. Chloe closed her eyes, as if praying for patience, "Clark, remember, it's a PG-13 poll."
Clark gave a half grin, not the least bit apologetic, "Since Whitney's dad been in the hospital there's been a no fly zone over Lana."
"You know Clark, there are other girls out there that don't require crossing an emotional minefield," Chloe said meaningfully.
I chewed my lip agitatedly, how did I keep getting caught in these conversations?
Clark looked at Chloe in confusion, "But I can't just turn off my feelings for her."
"You know, the choice is yours. you can either sit in your loft and play with your telescope, or move on. C'mon Clara, we've got class."
I followed Chloe, even though there were other routes to class, curious to see the other responses, and Clark was being kind of a jerk, even if unintentionally.
Besides, Chloe's double entrandre was fantastic.
0000
Later, after school, Clark was walking me to the Talon when we heard the commotion on the street.
I turned to see a blue truck much like ours driving like a maniac down the street, narrowly avoiding other cars and pedestrians.
Upon closer examination I was distressed to see that it was our blue truck, and our father in the driver seat.
"Where did you learn to drive, you jerk?" Dad called out to a car he had nearly hit, opening the door to do so.
"Dad?" I asked.
The truck turned down an alley, I was already running afer it when I felt the breeze of Clark speeding past me.
When I reached the corner, I had arrived just in time to see Dad with his shot gun, Clark grabbing the shotgun to stop him, and the gun going off, and hitting Clark soundly in the chest.
I didn't stop running, I could analyze the scene once I reached them.
Dad looked at Clark in confusion and fear, "Clark." Dad gulped harshly before his legs folded underneath him. I reached him just in time to catch him before his head connected with the pavement.
"Dad," I swallowed, feeling the heat that radiated off him through his clothes, "Clark, call an ambulance." I felt Dad's pulse and was disturbed by the speed at which it was pumping, "and then call Lana, I'm not going to make it to the Talon today."
0000
I hated the hospital, I hated being there for loved ones, I hated not knowing what was wrong with them, and I hated it even more when the doctors didn't know what was wrong either.
"His symptoms indicate a severe anaphlactic shock. But we can't detect any know allergens," I squeezed mom's hand for comfort, both her's and my own.
"What is it then?" Mom asked.
The hesitated almost imperceptially, "The truth is, if he'd come in just yesterdy, I'd say I'd never seen anything like it. But we admitted a car crash victim, this morning, a James Beels?" the doctor asked, looking at us for recognition. "he showed identical symptoms."
"That's the guy Dad saved. How's he doing?"
The doctor looked down, "Not good. He fell into a coma an hour ago."
Mom gasped and Clark wrapped her in his arms, breaking my hold on her hand.
I fisted my hands, letting my nails cut into my palms, the pain giving me clarity. I had no information, no leads, but I did have a place to start looking.
I pulled out my cellphone and called Chloe, "Can you pick me up? I want to have a look at that crash site."
Because what I hated more than anything was being useless.
0000
Lana had chosen to come with us, and I was suprisingly thankful. Ever since we had started the Talon project together I had found her much easier to work with, as long as Clark was in no way involved.
And any help in saving my Dad was invaluable.
"Okay, so what are we doing out here?" Lana asked, shutting the car door.
"Two people are sick and the crash site is their only connection. We're here looking for clues Daphne," I said in good-natured snark.
"If Lana's Daphne, then what am I?" asked Chloe.
"Velma," I answered promptly, and at her grimace I elaborated, "She's the pretty one, but your the one who solves the mystery."
"If I'm Daphne, and Chloe's Velma, then who are you?" asked Lana laughingly.
I sniffed self-importantly, "Well, I'm either Shaggy or Scooby, take your pick, but I refuse to be Fred," I smiled, thankful for the distracting banter.
Lana hummed thoughtfully, "I think you'd make a good Fred, your already a walking encyplopedia, all you'd need is an ascot. Anyway, what exactly are we looking for?"
"Anything," Chloe asnwered. "Wow, the debris start from way over there and ends over in that ditch. That's some serious road rage."
"Let's fan out, we'll cover more ground," I suggested.
Chloe pulled out her camera and took the far right, Lana took the far left, and I took the middle.
I was just getting frustrated when I heard Lana call out, "I think I found something."
I ran toward her, not minding the uneven terrain, still I shouldn't have been as suprised as I was when I tripped and face planted next to Lana.
"Ow..." I groaned, and was only slightly annoyed by Lana's chuckle.
Lana pulled free the 'something' while I tried to sit up. I heard the crinkle of vegitation and when I turned my head toward it I was suprised to see a yellow and red flower next to me, shaped like a daisy, but about the size of a saucer.
The presence of the flower wasn't what had me suprised, but the fact that I didn't recognize the species.
The mysterious flower crinckled in on itself, and then released, blowing a puff of pollen into my face.
I sneezed.
"You okay?" Lana asked, and I shrugged off her question and the flower in favor of looking at what she had.
"What did you find?" I asked, just as Chloe showed up.
Lana turned around a hula girl doll with it's face burned off, "Sorry."
"That's all right. let's get out of here. This place is a dead end."
I disagreeded, but I didn't bother to argue.
Why would I want to spend my time digging around in the forest when I could be tending my tree?
0000
I didn't go to sleep that night. Why would I? I had better things to do. Besides Mom and Clark weren't there to scold me, having chosen to stay at the hospital.
I didn't go to school either, it was stupid and boring, and I had better things to do.
Like upgrade the Talon refrigeration unit.
After all, what was the point of it if it couldn't go to absolute zero?
0000
Clark was school and he was starting to get worried, Clara had been absent.
Absent, Clara.
There was no excuse, she hadn't called, and whenever Clark tried to call her it went to voice mail.
'It was perfectly understandable,' Clark told himself, 'She's probably just worried about dad and needed a personal day.'
It was unlikely, but possible, even if it left the gaping hole of why hadn't she called?. Clark tried to distract himself by getting Chloe to go over what she had found at the crash site.
"You must have missed something at the accident site. That's the only connection between my Dad and Beels," said Clark.
"No, I didn't. Becasue I was there, and I'm fine, so it Lana."
"But Clara still isn't answering my calls," Clara hoped, "It just doesn't make any sence."
Chloe clicked through the photos on the computer, "Wait. Looks like we weren't the only ones out there."
"Who's that?" Clark asked, pointing to a figure one of Chloe's photos had captured in the woods.
"I think it's Doctor Hamilton."
"The meteor freak?" Clark asked.
"Yeah."
"What's he doing skulking around the woods?"
"I don't know, but I have a feeling it's not just a coincidence. I'm going to talk to him."
Clark sighed, "I'm going to go visit my Dad."
0000
Once I had finished optimising the freezer I stepped out of the back room to see Lex sitting at one of the tables. As soon as I saw him I was struck with an idea.
I walked over to him, estatic at his presence.
"I want something better than progress," Lex said into his phone, "I was just at the hospital, they're getting worse."
My heart filled with joy, of course Lex was trying to help my Dad. That was just the sort of person Lex was. I don't know why I had such trouble trusting him before, this was a great idea.
"Lex!" I cried happily.
Lex looked at me, "Clara, what are you doing here? You can take a day off from the Talon when your father's sick."
"I know, Lana will handle the Talon. I have something to show you."
Lex looked at me curiously, "Does it have something to do with your father's illness."
Honestly, why did he keep bringing that up, its like he wanted to kill my good mood. Instead of answering I grabbed his keys off the table, "I'll drive."
0000
We reached the house quickly, mostly due to the fact that I had blatantly ignored both the speed limit and Lex's urges to slow down.
"What is it you wanted to show me?" Lex asked.
"It's a secret." I dragged him by the hand to my workshop before answering. "The important thing to remember is to remain calm, Lex, can you remain calm?"
"What is it?" Lex asked warily, ignoring my question.
"Nothing bad," I said as I punched in the code and let the scanner get my handprint, "You just have to remain calm."
Lex looked warily around the room, taking in the half finished projects and the abundance of loose papers with scribbles and drawing on them. "What is it you wanted to show me?"
I smiled slyly at him, "It's downstairs."
"There's a downstairs?"
I nodded happily, this was such a good idea. I went over to the trapdoor and pushed off the rug concealing it. I tapped out the code and watched peacefully as the door released, "Come on, Lex, you'll love it."
Lex followed me after a little prodding, only to stare nonplussed at the tree.
I admit; it wasn't very impressive to look at. It was little more than a twig right now, it was gray with veins of pulsing white going up and down it. It was beautiful.
I hummed happily, pulling Lex by his sleeve over to sit down by it.
"What is it?" Lex asked hesitantly.
"Its a tree," I said, but at his confused expression I elaborated, "It's a tree made out of living metal."
"Living metal?" Lex said skeptically, "That's not possible."
"Well, not on Earth, but the tree is alien," I said happily, "It came to Earth during the meteor shower, but I haven't been able to properly grow it until I got the supplies from you."
"It's alien?" Lex asked, his voice calm, but there was a tightness in his shoulders that revealed his tension, and a nervous undercurrent in the room that I didn't like.
I sighed, fondly exasperated, and reached out to take Lex's face in my hands, looking him directly in the eyes I spoke, "I told you to remain calm, Lex, breathe."
I coached Lex through his breathing until the room was happy again.
"Your hands are really warm, are you feeling alright?"
I dismissed the question, this was so much more important.
At my silence he asked, "Why do I have to remain calm?"
I smiled fondly at him, sometimes he was so slow, but he was much better than most humans, "It's metal, but it is alive. It has a weak psychic field, making it empathetic. It feels our emotions, and it's so young right now we have to be careful what we expose it to."
"Is it dangerous?" I looked at him reprochfully, dangerous, honestly. Seeing my disapproval he switched to a new topic, "Who else have you told about this?"
"Who else?" I asked blankly. "No one else. This could revolutionize modern science, in the wrong hands it could start a war. I couldn't risk anyone finding out about this."
Lex paused, "Why did you decide to tell me?"
"Well, I realized that I trust you, Lex. I could trust you to know about it and not try to hurt it or use it. Besides, I needed help."
"With what?"
I frowned, "Well, it'll probably be easier to show you," I grasped his hand and pulled it down to lightly touch the twig. "Can you feel that? It's worried, which is weird, I made really sure to not expose it to too much worry. But lately, that's all it's been feeling."
"When did it start?"
I thought back, it was hard, my thoughts were so muddled. "Well it started when I got back from the crash site, and it's been getting worse as time goes on."
I felt the room go sour as Lex began to panic, "No, no, no! You have to be calm in here!" I cried, grabbing him and shoving him out room and into the workshop, sealing the door behind me.
"You were at the crash site?"
I looked at Lex, it was hard with the room spinning, but I managed, "Of course Lex, that was the only link between the victims. Didn't help, all we found was a hula girl for Beel's dashbord. I tripped, got covered in muck, and got sprayed in pollen for nothing."
"Pollen?" Lex said, the panic going into his voice, that was a bad sign, but I couldn't pinpoint why.
"Yeah, from this ugly flower. I kept sneezing afterward, but I'm fine now."
Lex swallowed, "Clara you're not fine, you're infected."
I felt my brow scruch in confusion, "Infected? With wha-"
Black.
0000
Lex caught Clara before she hit the ground. Her skin was hot to the touch and he could feel her heartbeat buzzing underneath her skin.
She needed to go to the hospital.
He placed her in the passenger seat and started driving, trying to process what just happened.
Clara was sick. Clara had an alien tree, which she hadn't told anyone about. Clara was also empathetic, or was that just the tree? Was she meteor infected? Did he care?
The questions could wait until she was cured.
Then he could ask her himself.
0000
When Chloe stormed into Dr. Hamilton's barn, she was on a war path. There was a story here, she knows it.
"Dr. Hamilton, hello. Chloe Sullivan, Smallville Torch. We spoke a few times on the internet about the meteors?" She told him, standing in front of the African-American man's desk.
"Chloe," he said in recognition, not bothering to stand up or put down the small book he was studying.
Chloe reaching in her bag for the picture, "Can you tell me what you were doing in the woods last night?" She asked accusingly, all but throwing the picture of him on the desk.
The doctor set down his pen to pick up the picture, whooly unconcerned, "What I do most nights. Search for meteor samples. I find it easier to spot them with flashlights," he said dismissively.
Chloe looked around, noting the hastily cleared tables and empty tanks that had held multiple 'somethings' probably quite recently. "So you didn't see me and my friend," she said, dragging out the conversation to get more time.
"I heard voices, I saw flashlights, I know kids like to party and as you know, I don't like company," he finished accusingly. It was a good story, with just enough verified truth that the cops wouldn't question it.
Chloe wasn't the cops.
Chloe looking him in the eye, "So you weren't there looking at the accident scene?"
"What accident?" Hamilton asked cluelessly, throwing down his book at last. She wasn't going to get any more here today, but maybe she didn't have to.
She eyed the book, 'The Nicodemus Diary'.
Could be worth looking into.
"I must be mistaken. Sorry to have bothered you," she said sweetly.
"And what were you doing in the woods last night?" he asked, standing up.
"Partying with my friends."
0000
Clark and Mrs. Kent were holding a slient vigil over the unconcious Mr. Kent when the doors to the ICU opened and Clara was rushed inside on a gurney, with Lex close on the doctors' heels.
"Coming through!"
The two concious Kents got up at the commotion and instantly recognized Clara.
"What happened?" Mrs. Kent asked Lex.
"She has the same syptoms as your husband and Mr. Beels. She mentioned going to the accident site, I'm guessing that's where she got infected," Lex answered. "How's Mr. Kent?"
Clark sighed, looking to the direction the Doctors had taken Clara, "He slipped into a coma, the doctors don't know how long he'll last."
Clark walked over to peer into his father's room, face lined with worry, and Lex aproched Mrs. Kent.
"Mrs. Kent, I've got doctor flying in from Metropolis. I'm going to do everything I can for Mr. Kent and your daughter."
She nodded shakily, and went to chase down the doctors who had her daughter, and Lex walked over to where Clark was standing at the window to Mr. Kent's room.
"Clark, I'm sorry," Lex said sincerly.
"It's not your fault, Lex."
If only that were true.
0000
Chloe had called a meeting in the Lunch room, she had found a lead.
"Dr. Hamilton had a copy of this in his barn," she said triumphantly, holding up the book.
"Nicodemus Diary," Clark read.
"It's a first hand account of Smallville's first mystery. In 1871, the whole settlement went postal before they even had a post office," Chloe explained.
"Nice to know Smallville was whacked before the meteors got here," said Pete dryly.
"Yeah. In the dairy, they talk about a flower. The settlers called it Nicodemus. They said it liberated repressed feelings, sent them into rages, then fever and finally-" Chloe hesitated, looking at Clark, "Well..."
Chloe didn't say it outright but the implication was clear, and the group took a moment to digest that possibility.
"All right, so where can we find one?" asked Clark, trying not to be discouraged.
"Well, you see that's the glich. After the massacre, the calvary torched the whole settlement. They wanted to make sure that whatever caused it wasn't going to spread. The flower's been extinct for over and hundred years."
"What does Hamilton have to do with it? He's a geologist," asked Clark.
"With a meteor fixation."
Pete pulled a booklet from his backpack, "We tracked down this paper he wrote six years ago," he said, opening the booklet and presenting the publication page.
"Metropolis University Press," Clark read.
"I think this is the last straw," Chloe said flipping through it, "in it, he postulates that meteor rocks can be used to irradiate dormant plant cells."
"So you think Hamilton pulled a Jarassic Park and brought back the Nicodemus," Clark inferred.
"And now he's trying to cover it up," finished Pete.
"Let's go talk to him," Clark said, getting up.
Chloe put up a hand to stop him, "Wait, there's more. Dr. Himliton didn't check out The Nicodemus Diary. Lex did."
"You think he's involved?"
"I told you all along he was bad news," Pete cried.
"Pete we don't know anything yet," Clark placated.
There was a tense silence as they all stared at each other, each with their own opinion on Lex's involvement.
0000
Clark found Lex talking on the phone that evening outside the Talon.
"Okay, good," he said into the phone before spotting Clark who had come to stand next to him, "I'll call back," he said, ending the call. "I just got off the phone with the doctors. They think they've isolated the problem."
"Does it have to do with the Nicodemus flower?" Clark asked, "I know that you chacked the diary out of the library."
"Yes, I did, Clark."
"Why?" Clark asked accusingly.
"Because my property was built on the site of the original settlement. I always thought it was an intresting story. When I heard about your dad's symptoms I tracked it down to see if it could help."
"Why did you tell me about it?"
Lex sighed, "Clark, it's a crackpot story. I was grasping at straws."
"Do you know Dr. Steven Hamilton?"
"Who's that?"
"Don't lie to me!" Clark said, grabbing Lex roughly by his coat.
Lex looked at Clark and then at the hand grabbing him, "Clark, calm down," Clark swallowed and released him. "I know you're worried about your Dad and your sister but I checked the book out of the library, that's it." Clark's stared remain acussing, "I'm not responsible for what happened, and I'm doing everything in my power to fix it," Lex said sincerly, "That's the truth, Clark."
0000
A distance away, in Dr. Hamilton's barn, Chloe and Pete had finally managed to gain entry inside.
"Okay, keep your flashlight low," Chloe instructed.
"You're an expert on breaing and entering now?" Pete asked jokingly, not taking her advice.
There was a crash and Chloe turned around to see that Pete had knocked something off one of the shelves, "Be careful!" she whispered, setting it back.
Chloe walked over to the doctor's desk while Pete checked out a dark corner of the barn where a blue tarp covered somthing on a table. As he tried to pull it off the whole thing fell over, shattering.
Chloe jumped, "Pete, what happened?" When she heard no responce she approched cautiously, "Pete? You okay?" She went around the other end of the table and noticed something on the ground, it was a Nicodemus flower on it's side, "Pete?"
Choe heard a sneeze behind her and turned around to see Pete lurking next to her with a smile on his face, "You looking for me?"
"Oh no."
"Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?" Pete asked, moving his hand and tucking a lack of hair behind her ear.
Chloe grabbed his hand, "Okay, Pete, youve been infected. We've gotta get you to the hospital," she said, desperation leaking into her tone.
Chloe tried to run, but Pete grabbed her from behind and yanked her until he was between her and the exit, "That's right. Ignore Pete, he's just the funny guy," Pete said, his tone dangerous. "You don't have to sweat his feelings, because you've got eyes for Clark."
Chloe breathed shakily, "Calm down, Pete. I'm going to call Clark," she said, walking out of arm's length frm Pete.
Pete followed her and threw off some books off of the desk and began to circle it, "He's probably hanging out with his new best friend," he said kicking the desk, and Chloe was getting scared.
Pete looked down on the desk and pulled something up, it was a revolver, and he pointed it at Chloe, "Give me your keys."
"Why, where are you going?" Chloe asked, her voice calm, but her body as poised for action.
Pete walked around the desk and stopped when he was directly in front of Chloe, he raised the gun, clicking off the safety, "I'm serious, Chloe. Give me your damn keys!"
Chloe held out the keys, but she coudln't stop her hand from shaking as she did so. Pete grabbed them roughly and was gone.
0000
Martha Kent was in the terrible position of beng caught between two hospital rooms, the one holding her husband and the one holding her daughter. At the moment she was with her husband, but had the blinds open so she could check on her daughter across the hall.
Clark opened the door to the room and shut it softly behind him, "How is he?"
"Not good, and Clara isn't much better," Martha breathed shakily, "Clark, Mr. Beels died half and hour ago."
Clark looked at his father, with electrodes on his head to monitor brain function, and out the window to see Clara who looked as if she had just fallen asleep. Clark grimaced, "With all my abilities, there's nothing I can do. What do we do if they-?"
"I don't know," Martha whispered brokenly, holding Johnathan's hand in both of hers. "Did I ever tell you about the first time I ever saw him?"
Clark looked at her at the abrupt change of subject, but chose to go along with it, "No."
Martha sighed with tears in her eyes, "He came to Metropolis U to take a finace course, and he was sitting by a fountain all denim and flannel, eating an apple. And I asked to borrow his notes. He didn't know that I was the note-taker for the class. He still doesn't," she told him like she was whispering a secret.
Clark smiled, "You're sly, Mom."
Martha nodded, looking back at her husband's face. "He was so cute. So I asked him for his notes, and he just handed over his notebook without even asking my name, and I said: "How can you be so sure I'll bring it back?" And he said: "I prefer to believe in people."
Clark smiled, "It sounds like Dad."
"And I remember looking at him, completely embarrased because I was thinking the dumbest thing. I was thinking: "God, I hope he marries me." I still think that. Everyday there's a part of me that says, "God, I hope he marries me," she sobbed and Clark wrapped his arms around his mother in a hug and she held on like her life depended on it.
There was a knock on the door and Martha look up to see Chloe standing there, Martha waved her in sat back in her seat.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Kent. Can I talk to you for a second, Clark?"
Clark turned to his mother and she kissed his cheek, "Go."
After one last hug Clark got up and left the room with Chloe.
"I'm so sorry," said Chloe, "Dr. Hamilton was lying. I found the Nicodemus flower in the barn. One got Pete, and he took areally quick turn to scary."
"Where'd he go?"
"He grabbed a gun and said he was going after Lex," at that Clark made a beeline for the exit.
He hoped he made it there in time.
0000
Dr. Hamilton presented the book he had found to Lex, flipping to an old recipie in the yellowed pages.
"This flower has exsisted for- for hundreds of years. Now, the native Americans must have developed some sort of herbal antidite and these are the instructions," Hamilton said, gesturing to the page.
"Where'd you find it?"
"Collecting dust in some old museum. Now, it's one of a kind, so they're gonna want it back."
"I'll get it to my team in Metropolis immediatly," Lex said, flipping it closed.
"Nobody's going anywhere," declared Pete from the doorway.
Lex set down the book and stood up and when he spoke his tone was casual, "Pete. What are you doing here?"
Pete raised the gun and pulled the trigger with a bang, Lex ducked but the glass vase behind where his head had been shattered.
"You know, I knew you were behind this! You pretended to be Clark's friend, but you're not!" Pete shouted, stalking fowrd, "And now his dad and his sister are going to die. Because of you," he said, rasing the gun and pointing it at Lex.
"What's this about?" asked Hamilton.
"Do not pretend you don't know!" Pete shouted, "I went to your barn!"
"He's infected," said Lex cautiously, being very careful to remain very still. "Pete, we have the cure. We're going to make everyone better," Lex said, walking toward Pete.
"You're nothing but a liar. Clark can't see it, but I can. And now you're gonna pay."
"No!" Lex said, and Hamilton made a run for it, but Pete shot him in the arm, making him drop the book in the fireplace.
Lex had ducked when Pete pulled the trigger and when pete turned his attention back on him he spoke very calmly, "Pete, if that book is destroyed, you and Clara and Mr. Kent will all die."
"You're lying!"
"Pete, I want to help you," Lex said, moving to stand back up.
"You don't want to help anybody but yourself!" Pete screeched, and Lex swallowed nerviously, "You come in town and suddenly you're Clark's new best friend!"
Hamilton reached down and picked up a fire spit, "Lex?"
"I thought he was a good judge of character," Pete ranted, ignoring the doctor.
"Lex, the book?" Lex looked over to see the flames getting closer to the book, brushing the spine.
"Pete, I'm going to reach in there and grab that book," Lex said evenly, inchining over to the fire, "If you want to shoot me, go ahead."
"No problem," Pete said, and Lex reached for the book the same time Hamilton grabbed the spit and brought it down over Pete's arm, hard enough to make him drop the gun.
Lex grabbed the book from the fire and flung it over to Hamilton, "Get out!" Hamilton grabbed the book and ran, and when Pete shot after him he only managed to hit the door, and Hamliton was off.
Pete didn't appear too discouraged by the loss of one of his hostages, choosing to face Lex, the arm with the gun being braced by the other because of the recoil. "Say goodbye, Lex," Pete said, advancing on him.
"Pete! Don't do it!" Clark shouted, coming in from the side door.
"We used to be best friends," said Pete, not turning around. "his Dad screwed over my Dad, and now he's tryng to screw up things between us. The world's a better place without him."
Clark walked up to Pete cautiously, "Pete put the gun down."
"He's behind all this. I saw Hamilton here." Clark turned his attention from Pete to Lex. "They're working on this together!"
"Is that true?"
Lex shook his head, "Clark. He's delusion," Lex said desperately.
"I don't believe you. You're right, Pete, he's been lying to everyone. I know who my true friends are."
"I knew you'd see the light," Pete said gleefully.
Clark strode foward and Lex put his hands up, shaking his head, "Clark, what are you doing?"
"Can't talk your way out of this on, Lex," Clark said, grabbing Lex by the front of his shirt, "I see how you really are. This friendship is over," he declared, shoving Lex into the wall, knocking him down.
Pete whooped, "Nice one! I'll finish him," he said, raising the gun. Clark swiped the gun out of Pete's hand with his super speed, "How'd you do that?"
"Don't worry, Pete, we'll get you to the hospital," Clark said, tapping Pete on his head with the palm of his hand, kncoking him unconcious.
Lex groaned and Clark went over to his side. "Clark what the hell?"
"I'm sorry, Lex," Clark said, holding out his hands but nervous to touch him.
Lex looked over to where Pete had fallen in a chair, "So that was an act?" Lex asked.
"I didn't know what else to do. He was going to shoot you," Clark hastily explained.
Lex lifted up his hand for Clark to help him to his feet, "You had me for a moment. I thought you were serious. What do they feed you on that farm?" Lex groaned.
"Was Hamilton really here?"
Lex looked at Clark, "What do you think, Clark?"
0000
When Clara woke up Clark was alseep on the chair next to her hospital bed and I could see the beginings of dawn peeking out from my window.
Why am I in the hospital?
I thought back, Dad had been sick, so I went with Chloe and Lana to check out the accident scene, Lana had called out, I had gone toward her, tripped, and gotten sprayed with tha-
Crap.
I had been infected.
I reached over and poked Clark in the arm until he woke up.
"Clara! You're aw-"
"Yeah, I am. I got infected right? What did I do?" there was no time for plesentries, I could have done anything.
"You don't remember?" Clark asked.
I shook my head, sitting up in the bed, "Not a thing after I got sprayed with that ugly ass flower. What was it by the way?"
"It's called a Nicodemus-"
"From the Nicodemus diary? I thought they were extinct."
"They were, but Dr. Hamilton irradiated the seeds with meteor rocks to bring them back."
I hummed, curious at the implication that meteor rock could bring back extinxt plants, could they do the same for animals? That would be benifical considering how many species die out each year from lack of habitat. But Dr. Hamilton allowing a known lethal plant to infect members of the public was stupid.
Anyway, not inportant.
"Very intresting, what did I do?"
Clark sighed happily at my one track mind, "Nothing too bad, you skipped school, 'improved' the Talon fridge, and showed Lex one of your projects. After that you collapsed and Lex brought you here."
I was pretty calm until Clark got to the 'showing Lex one of my projects' bit.
"What project?"
Clark looked at me in confusion, "I don't know, Lex didn't really elaborate. I'm going to go tell your doctor you woke up," I watched silently as Clark left the room in search of my doctor.
If I had shown Lex my tree then things could turn very ugly, very quickly.
I needed to know what happened.
0000
Chloe knocked on the door of Dr. Hamilton's barn.
"Dr. Hamilton, hello?"
She opened the door with little trouble only to find that the entire barn had been cleared out. The tables, the desk, everything.
Like it had never been there at all.
0000
"What did you do with my lab?" Hamilton asked Lex.
"I destroyed it," Lex responded, unconcered with Hamilton's anger.
"How dare you!"
"You're lucky you found a cure and nobody infected can remember anything," Lex said turning to face the doctor, "But people are talking. I'm sure Beels worked for my father, and then there's Chloe Sullivan."
Hamilton laughed humorlessly, "I'm sensing this relationship is over."
"No, doctor, I think you're very talented. You just need closer supervision. I recently aquired a small research facility outside Metropolis. Cadmus Labs? I'm going to hide you out there."
Hamilton nodded, fidgeting, "Remember, Lex, you're the one opening Pandora's box."
"I'm just the key, Dr. Hamilton," Lex said, holding out his hand for Hamilton to shake.
Hamilton took it.
0000
A little while later, after Dad had woken up and my bill of health cleared, I had finally made my escape from the hospital and from my mother who had nearly refused to let me out of her sight.
I borrowed my brother's truck, thankful I had finally gotten my licence, and made my way to the Luthor mansion.
I was buzzed in with no trouble and was told to wait in the library until Lex finished his meeting.
I might have been upset but they brought me a chocolate smoothie and some Reeses Pieces to snack on.
I chose to use the time to activate my scrambler, I was going to be bringing up sensitive topics and I didn't need the security cameras to record it all.
"Clara, glad to see you're out of the hospital," Lex said as he walked into the room, taking the chair opposite mine.
"Thanks to you," I said, taking a few more pieces and crunching on them, "Nice going with that Native Amerian remedy."
Lex smiled, "Happy to help, why are you here? Not that I'm not delighted to see you."
"Two things actually. Number one, there were some questions about whether or not you were involved with the revival of the Nicodemus...?" I finished questionly, looking for him to agree or refute.
Lex sighed, "How could you think I was involved? I remembered the story so I checked out the book. I didn't even know who Dr. Hamilton was before your brother mentioned him."
Oh, Lex. "You mean Chloe."
"What?" Lex asked, confused.
"The first time you heard of Dr. Hamilton was when Chloe mentioned him, remember? That first time you visited the Torch? I think you were donating computers or something. Anyway, we were talking about the wall of weird and we migrated to the topic of others intrested in the metoer rocks, at which point Chloe mentioned Dr. Hamilton. You seemed intrested, I doubt you never followed up, and I doubt even more that you'd forget his existence entirely. Now, were you behind the Nicodemus?" I looked at him imploringly, pleased to see that I had him rattled.
Lex looked at me imploringly, "No, Clara. I wasn't behind it, and I did everything in my power to fix it."
"I believe you," and I did, "You would never knowingly put people's lives in danger like that. Unfortunatly, you already told Clark you had nothing to do with Dr. Hamilton, if you change your story know he'll never believe you," I hummed, "So I guess we'll just have to keep it between us." I watched as Lex visibly relaxed, and wished I could do the same. But I had to know, "Onto topic two, when I was under the influence of the Nicodemus, I apparently showed you a project of mine?" I looked at him hesitantly, and noting with some distress that he had wiped his face of all emotion.
"You did."
"And what project would that be?" I asked, and I couldn't keep the nervous tremble out of my voice.
"I believed you desribed it as a tree?"
I groaned, slumping in my chair before sitting at attention. "What exactly did I tell you about it?"
"That it's alien," not good, "that its a lving metal," very not good, "and that your empethatic," hold on.
"Before we adress the first two, lets hit the last one. I am not particularity good at sensing emotions, its the tree."
"But you are empathetic," qualified Lex.
"No more than anyone else," at his confusion I elaborated, "Sensing emotions is human thing, more common in babies than adults, but certainly not ouside the relm of normal."
"Babies can sense emotions?"
"Yes, through touch. And some to a greater extent than others, an- Wait! Not the point, what I need to know is that you won't tell anyone about this!"
"Would it really be so bad if they knew?" Lex asked.
I sighed, letting my exahtion show, "Yeah, it really would, and not only for the ramification it would have on the world, but also what would happen to the tree. It currently has all the mentalily of a human baby, only not as adaptable. If people found out about it they would dissect it, study it, and that would be horrible, its the last of its kind. So I have to know that you won't tell anyone about this. Please, it's really important to me."
Lex nodded, "I won't tell anyone about your twig."
That made me pause, "Its a tree."
"It's a twig," Lex teased.
"I'm not having this conversation, Lex," I said, my mood lightening. "Now I just have to figure out who else I told."
"Oh, you didn't tell anyone else."
That made me pause, but instead of making me calm I felt a twing of dread in my chest, "I didn't? How can you be sure?"
"You told me."
I forced a smile on my face, "That's wonderful. I'm glad we got that cleared up. I should really go home, Mom has really been clingy lately. I'm suprised she allowed me to leave her sight long enough for me to visit you," I babbled, "Well, I gotta go. Bye!"
I was out the door before I heard his respoce.
0000
Once I was back in the safety of my car I allowed myself to think. Out of everyone in the world I had chosen Lex to divulge information in. Not Clark, not Mom, not Chloe. I had a hiearchy of feelings, a heiarchy that I thought Lex was at the bottom of, or at least below Clark.
So why had I chosen Lex before anyone else?
I bit my lip in thought, the Nicodemus unleashed repressed emotions, so I must have been acting on them at the time, but what were they? I took a deep breath and unleashed all those little restraints I had put on myself over the years, on my hormones, on my subconcious urges, everything, and let them pour through my mind.
Lex. Lex sitting at the beanery pouring over files trying to make a decision he didn't want to make. Lex standing over me as I was about to be loaded into an ambulance. Lex walking into the factory when Earl was holding us hostage. Lex picking me up from jail. Lex giving me the information to find the theifs. Lex still in a strightjacket, soaking wet but alive. Lex smiling. Lex.
Oh fiddlesticks, I had a crush on Lex.
It took me forever to write this chapter, but I hope you guys like it, lots of plot developments and some character devolopments as well.
Leave a review on the way out.