A/N: I do not own Smallville.

Rating is subject to change.

Chapter Two

Returning home was at first a relief for Chloe. There was no lingering smell of bleach and antiseptic, no incessant beeping of machines, no com calls, no nurses and doctors constantly checking up on her, and best of all no steady drum of noise.

There was peace and quiet where she could focus on her own thoughts.

However, she didn't account for exactly where that quiet would lead her thinking. Not thirty minutes after her father had left the house for work did it really hit her what she'd gone through.

It caught her off guard how the tears and hysteria set in like a virus leaving her unable to fight it alone or regain her composure.

She hadn't even reached adulthood and she'd almost died. God, almost dead at only fifteen years old. And what did she have to show for it? What had she accomplished of importance in her fifteen years of life? Jeez, what was she doing?

Yeah, she'd won a substantial amount of awards and trophies for sports and school related activities, volunteered for the community occasionally and at the very least made her father proud of her but that was about it. She hadn't really accomplished anything world changing yet.

Sure, she had the Torch but it wasn't exactly the high school newspaper to end all high school newspapers. Just a couple months ago Kwan had called her out on her lack of journalistic integrity. The horrible thing about it was that he had a point. She hadn't been backing up many of her stories with concrete evidence or fact. Wasn't that the most important thing for a journalist to do? To prove what they're saying is true without a doubt?

Or at least that's what she'd worked out in her mind. After all, that was the only way for people to take you seriously. Otherwise you were in the same league with publications like The Inquisitor or The Globe.

Yet, thinking of the Torch only made her wonder about her decision to become a journalist. Chloe knew why she'd picked it as a profession. There was no question about that. She was someone who wanted to know the truth, a truth-seeker. She wasn't satisfied with something that interested her until she knew the whole truth of the matter.

It went without saying that it was a trait that had gotten her into trouble many a time. Many people thought it was her being nosy, but it wasn't, not really. The people of Smallville would needless to say be shocked if they knew how much information she had on everyone in the town. A lot of it was information she kept to herself. She really only shared what she thought people ought to know.

Maybe it was arrogant of her to assume to know what people needed to know but that was just how she operated. Chloe could explain all these things to the people of Smallville till she was blue in the face and they wouldn't believe her. Unfortunately, that included her friends.

They might think they were being subtle but she'd noticed how they hesitated to share things with her or just plain withheld what she felt were pointless things from her. Afraid that there crazy reporter friend would share it with the world. No, nothing was sacred to Chloe Sullivan in her pursuit of journalism. She wasn't even sure how or when they'd gotten such an impression, or what she'd done to make it seem that way.

Many a time she'd had to swallow the lump in her throat that accompanied the realization that they didn't trust her as a real friend. Other times it made her so angry. She'd never even given them a reason to think she would share their personal business with the entire Smallville population. They were her friends after all; at least she considered them friends though they sometimes proved not to feel the same.

It was those times that always made her miss living in Metropolis where the friends she'd made there had actually understood her and knew she was a good friend.

That still begged the question again: Why did she cling to journalism when it didn't do her any good? Or rather a better question was: Why did she cling to journalism here in Smallville when it did her no good? What had she accomplished here?

The answer she'd come to after finally calming down and drying her tears hadn't comforted her.

It was literally all she had here.

She didn't have Pete and Clark's complete friendship, none of the activities she was interested in were available at Smallville High, she had no female friends and was pretty much an outcast because her personality didn't really fit into any of the school's cliques.

While Chloe wouldn't say she wanted to popular, she did want to be noticed, to be liked. She wanted to have value to people. Hell, she wanted to make an important difference in the world.

Which all the more left her wondering about her choice to be a reporter. Being a reporter wasn't the only way to find the truth or make a difference in the world. It wasn't like her grades were a roadblock, she got straight A's in all her classes.

Sure the Torch was the only thing she could call her own in Smallville but she shouldn't have let it hold her back. Having it taken away had opened her eyes to that fact but she had gotten it back so fast the revelation had been pushed to the back of her mind. No doubt not to purposely dwell on how pathetic she had become.

That a high school newspaper suddenly completely defined her was not a fact she liked. The move to Smallville had not done her good like her father thought it would. Instead, the outgoing girl from Metropolis who had been involved all manner of things and was unafraid to put herself out there, had become the girl who seemed outgoing but actually hid her true self and sometimes tried too hard to appear eccentric.

She was a different person here. While that might have been a good thing in better circumstances, it wasn't in this case. She despised the person she was becoming.

Chloe Sullivan was better than this. She was smarter than this.

Therefore it was high time she started changing back into the person she was before coming to Smallville.

With that thought in mind Chloe hefted herself out of bed and started working on the new and improved Chloe Sullivan.

Unfortunately, the new and improved Chloe Sullivan was significantly delayed when she started school again. In more ways than one.

During those few days before she had gone back to school Chloe had staunchly reevaluated her life and the things most important to her.

She would still run the Torch. No one cared about it as much as she did and she had put too much time and effort into the paper to just give it up. However, she hadn't yet completely decided on what other things she would be doing instead of completely focusing on the Torch.

She had some ideas like picking up old interests again like karting, fencing, debate, martial arts, or chess maybe? Or possibly kicking up her research of the meteor rocks a notch, or….something. She was still undecided on exactly what.

However, her recent indecision on what to do with her life wasn't her biggest problem right now. No, that problem came in the form of her inquisitive nature and Clark Kent's secretive one.

Chloe knew the assigned paper wasn't meant to be an expose or to find out all of a person's secrets, but she saw it as a chance to really get to know Clark Kent. Yes, she was sure they were friends but they weren't close friends by any means. That honor seemed to go to Pete, at least it felt that way.

It was hard to describe, but with her other friends after so many years or less of knowing them she felt she actually knew who they were at their core. She was a pretty good judge of character and lie detector.

She had Clark's character down, he was a great person. But as far as really knowing him, Chloe couldn't claim to. Also, his lies never failed to annoy her even though she couldn't prove some of them. However, she trusted her instincts which had never failed her.

With the goal of uncovering who her friend was Chloe had begun her assignment, and was immediately thwarted at every turn not only by Clark but his parents no less.

Maybe talking to them in the standard interview format had freaked them out. Fine. However, that didn't account for their skittishness and the way they treated her like she was trying to uncover their deepest darkest secrets. All she'd asked was how the adoption process for Clark went, and what he was like during their first few years together.

After getting what little she could from them Chloe had only been even more puzzled. Exactly what the hell was going on with the Kent's? And why did it seem to center around Clark?

Chloe's increased curiosity however was soon brought to a screeching halt after Clark found out she looked into his adoption.

It pained her but she could admit that she probably had crossed the line by doing that. She could also admit part of her desire to truly get to know him also stemmed from the small crush she'd recently acquired.

On the other hand, how was she supposed to know he didn't know? Not to mention the Kent's wouldn't give her a name either, claiming they couldn't remember. How do you not remember the agency where you adopted your only son? How do you not remember if he had any parents listed on his birth certificate or not? It was all so frustrating.

Clark began avoiding her like the plague for the next few days which only enhanced her annoyance and anger. It wasn't long before she decided to do something about it.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Chloe watched as Clark seemed to ignore her, getting up to walk upstairs. Taking a deep breath and following after him, she decided to try one more time.

"How are you feeling?"

"That depends if it's on the record or not," said Clark snidely.

Chloe felt a flash of annoyance, barely restraining herself from saying what she really wanted to that comment. Instead she decided for the more diplomatic approach, "Okay, maybe I deserve that. Look, I didn't mean to ambush you with the whole adoption thing."

Clark continued to walk away with Chloe still following. She wished he would turn around and face her. She didn't like speaking to anyone's back.

"Hey you saw a story and you went right for it. That's what journalist do."

Chloe paused at that statement. No, she was not going to let that one go.

"Is that what you think? Is that all I am to you? Please Clark, tell me what you really think of me?" Chloe felt anger start to boil within her.

Clark finally turned around to face her. Chloe stared him down waiting for his response.

"Yes, that's what I think journalist do. Chloe, you're my friend, my friend who just so happens to be a journalist. Look, there are just some things that should stay private. I know that when you get a hold of a story you chase after it with tenacity, and that's amazing but sometimes you go too far.

I'm not some story for you to chase after. I value my privacy and don't want my personal business out there for all the whole world to see. Can you understand that?" Clark's jaw tensely was set in a grimace with his eyes boring into Chloe's trying to make her understand.

Oh, she understood. Things were just as she feared they were. She had to consciously swallow down the mix of emotions churning within her. She felt frustration and resignation at the truth in some of Clark's words, along with anger and indignation at the rest of it.

It took her several moments before she could properly respond to him. "I can understand that." Clark's stern face started to morph into a happy one. "But," emphasized Chloe, causing Clark's expression to falter, "Your assumptions couldn't be farther from the truth. Yes, I crossed the line at looking into your adoption without your permission. I just assumed you knew those things and also assumed you would want to know about your real parents. That was me unfortunately projecting."

Clark opened his mouth to speak but Chloe held up a hand forestalling him. "No, you had your chance to speak, this is my time now. Okay, I'll admit to being a zealous journalist, it's who I am at heart. I'm a truth-seeker; someone who wants to know all the facts to the things that interest or are important to me." She gave Clark a sharp look when he tried to speak again. "You're in the latter category believe it or not."

"However, as someone who seeks the truth that doesn't mean I always share what I learn with everyone. And that's what's bothering me about this whole thing between us. I know I don't, but you assume that I do. You assume whatever I learn about you that you don't want me to or whatever, that I'll share it with everyone in the Torch."

"Don't deny it! You pretty much admitted as such not a minute ago. Not to mention since I've gotten control of the Torch I've noticed how you and Pete hold things back from me. The two of you are barely open and honest with me. Avoidance, it's what the two of you seem to practice a lot around me.

And you know what? That hurts, that hurts a lot. To know that my friends don't fully trust me. It hurts even more to know you don't…. never mind. Anyway, the point is, whatever I learn about my friends is something that stays between us.

You know the whole reason I took this whole thing more seriously than was necessary was because I saw it as a chance to spend more time with you, to really get to know you."

"What are you talking about?" interjected Clark confused. "You know me."

"No Clark, no I really don't know you. Yes, we hang out, talk about our day, the things we did, or are going to do, but not much more than that. You've never shared your dreams with me, your future plans, and you have especially not shared your past with me. I know I'm probably not explaining myself well but ultimately it feels like to me that I don't really know the real you. It always feels like there's part of you that you're holding back."

Chloe's eyes pleaded with Clark trying to get him to understand her. In some ways she didn't understand herself the feelings she had where he was involved. All she knew for certain was that their friendship felt hollow even on the best of days.

Clark shook his head turning away from her to look out the window of the loft. Chloe stared at his back waiting for him to say something. Finally after some time he turned back towards her.

"Chloe, I don't know what it is you think you know but I'm not hiding any secrets. What you see is what you get with me. I'm just Clark Kent, an adopted Kansas farm boy. There's nothing I'm hiding from you. I'll admit that you being a reporter makes me reluctant to share things with you. I mean I don't want my personal business as some Torch article.

It's just you never seem to be able to separate between what's public and what should stay private. Like I said your tenacity often seems to get in the way of what's right. I'm sorry but that's just how I feel."

Chloe could only feel disappointment well up inside her at Clark's words. Inwardly she sighed. Why couldn't things go back to the way they were before her accident? It was so much simpler when she didn't completely examine herself or her relationships.

She shook her head giving Clark a sad smile. "I'm sorry you feel that way too."

"Chloe?" asked Clark in a questioning tone.

"I think maybe we shouldn't hang out for a bit. I need to work some things out, like our friendship. And…so do you." With that Chloe turned to leave trying to fight the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

"Chloe! Wait! I don't want us to stop being friends!" said Clark a little desperately.

Chloe stopped turned at the top of the stairs. "I don't want that either. But it'd just be best if we have some time apart, to see where we really stand with each other. I'll see you around Clark."

Chloe left ignoring the tears rolling down her face and refusing to look back.

Despite her intentions to mend things with Clark, it just didn't turn out that way. In some ways the rift between them had only grown.

In the end she had decided that they needed some space to figure their relationship out. If this had happened a few weeks ago she would have been rushing to make amends with Clark, even taking all the blame. As it was she just didn't feel like doing that anymore. Not to mention she had her own personal problems to worry about.

One in particular was starting to freak her out just a bit.

She would be doing some task or other that usually frustrated her, like homework, or research for a story, or even trying to ferret out the solution to some problem she was having.

Don't get her wrong. She usually figured out what the problem was and solved it if it was in her power to do so. However now, just before her frustration could well and truly sink in she'd get what she would call a gut feeling.

Like her instincts, her mind would poke at her to follow where the feeling led. Chloe had always been an instinctual creature. It's what had made her such a great reporter. Her instincts had never lead her wrong as far as doing digging for dirt on a story was concerned. Social graces were another matter however.

Still, that feeling would bubble up in her, almost irresistible sometimes and she would obediently follow it to its conclusion.

The first few times she noticed it happening she didn't dwell too much on it. Like how she could process information at a much faster rate than she ever had in her life, or how the rate of procession was only getting shorter. She could read books or information that would have, should have, taken her hours or days to complete and comprehend. Now it could be observed and comprehended in just a few hours or even minutes.

Research had started becoming less of a hassle filled thrill and more of an easy one. The hours upon hours it would usually take her to get information or the number of people she would have to ask to get it had significantly decreased. The only thing stopping her these days was information filed at a physical location and wasn't readily available online. With her computer at her fingertips she just suddenly knew where to get the information from, how to get it, how to cover her tracks and even more importantly, how best to use the information.

Yet, the latter hadn't been implemented as much as the former, but that was mostly due to Clark Kent's self-righteousness.

This was part of the reason why things had become so rocky with Clark. It was like her eyes had been closed for the past two and a half years and now they were wide open. Why did it feel like she had been asleep for a long time?

The Kent's were a lot of things, but apparently weren't all they seemed to be on the surface. They were hiding something, and if that wasn't apparent to her before it certainly was now. What it was she didn't know, but was sure she would eventually find out.

And honestly she wouldn't even really have to snoop to do it. After getting her suspicions of them confirmed from their reactions to just her light probing, she wondered how it wasn't until now she realized that the Kent's were terrible liars. How they could keep a secret at all when they made it so obvious they were hiding something baffled her. She assumed their genuine kindness stopped people from looking too far into things.

Really the thing that annoyed her the most was Clark's constant denial that he was hiding anything. The way he always dodged her questions about his unexplained behavior. It was two things that really pissed her off: he wouldn't admit there was a secret he simply couldn't tell her about, and he didn't trust her enough to share it with her or even acknowledge that there was a part of himself he hid.

Despite her frustrations, the situation with Clark had gotten her thinking about a lot of things. Namely her own budding secret and what she planned to do about it.

Chloe knew telling Clark was definitely out of the question. She wouldn't put herself out there hoping he would reciprocate only to get burned. She'd done that quite enough with him, thank you very much. Telling Pete was also unlikely since he could often times be very judgmental, not to mention his general disdain for meteor freaks.

Chloe had barely managed to hold in the mixture of sobs and laughter that bubbled up within her when the realization finally struck.

She was a meteor freak.

She was now the very thing she displayed on the Wall of Weird and wrote about without a care for others feelings in the Torch.

She couldn't help but feel ashamed of her actions. It was amazing how your whole, once orderly, world could change so quickly. Chloe Sullivan, resident weird girl and editor of the Torch was now a meteor freak.

It took her a couple of days to come to terms with the fact. She would've been surprised by her own rapid acceptance if she hadn't known herself better. Being a truth seeker had, contrary to popular belief, made it easier for her to realize her own personal truths. She wasn't in the habit of lying to herself or shying away from the negative aspects of her personality. You could say she was just as critical of herself as she was of others.

Yet, with her acceptance out of the way there came the question of what she should do next? Her immediate answer? Test out the limits of her ability.

Chloe had decided first to see how well she could absorb and process the information she learned by spending an entire day at the library reading as many big and difficult books as she could find. After that she would try and recall what she read and whether she understood the information she'd absorbed.

To her utter amazement she was able to not only recall verbatim what she had read, but she could also understand and explain it without any trouble. Even math, her least favorite subject, was now extremely easy to comprehend. She no longer had to even study hard to ace her tests!

However, her ability extended beyond just the mental aspects. It was like the knowledge and ability to perform anything in the world was open to her!

Chloe could literally feel when something was broken, and get what felt like a mental instruction manual on just how to fix it; though she had yet to follow that particular feeling through to its conclusion for fear she was wrong and would mess things up.

When Chloe saw someone doing something she wished she could, she could feel her body compelling her to try it. Whispering that she would succeed despite never having tried it before. There was a frightening assurance in her mind of success that hadn't been there before. At least not that strongly.

She'd tested it out once when she saw a group of kids skateboarding. It was something she had always wanted to try but was unsure about. Chloe had watched them skateboard almost an hour before feeling confident enough to approach them.

When she did, she had simply asked if she could try out one of their skateboards since she was interested in the sport and wanted to see if she would enjoy it. She had seen their hidden smirks as one of the boys volunteered his. They were anticipating her swift failure the moment she set her foot on the board. Chloe had been inwardly agreeing with them until she actually attempted to ride the skateboard.

It was exhilarating! With little effort on her part, she was able to quickly find her balance and ride around on the board all on her first try. She even attempted and succeeded in pulling off the few tricks she'd seen them perform while watching them. All of it done for the first time with little to no effort. She'd never felt so accomplished or powerful.

Yet, it was the social aspects of the ability that truly unnerved her. It was like she knew exactly what to do to get the right responses from people. She could tell when others were lying, withholding the truth or being completely truth. She had already had a bit of a radar before but the one she had now was ten times better. Reading people and their intentions had become effortless.

She knew exactly what to say and what not to say to get someone to do what she wanted or have them respond to her questions in the correct way. It was like she had been downloaded with a manual on the human psyche. It was all so clear!

Though Chloe couldn't help but feel uneasy at how simple it was suddenly becoming to manipulate people. She'd started making it somewhat of a habit to studiously ignore the social cues her mind gave her. She really didn't want to turn into a manipulative person, especially not with her friends, that wasn't her.

Plus, she felt sick at the thought of becoming like many of the meteor infected she had run into that used their abilities for their own personal gain.

Still, though she had discovered the boundaries of her ability she was ultimately left with one question. What was she going to do with it? Should she do anything with it?

A/N: Here's the second chapter! Hoped you enjoyed it. Please remember to review, like and fav if you want more.