Calling of the blood

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Calling of the blood

Chloe Sullivan sat at her favourite table in the Talon coffee shop, hidden away from the world as she tried to finish off the latest edition of The Torch on her laptop. The table was cluttered with empty coffee cups as she entered her forth-straight hour of editing the school newspaper.

“I’m telling you Angie, you wouldn’t believe how much I needed this holiday.” A voice came from behind the young reporter, “Time away from work, away from the guys, time to feel myself.”

“I know the feeling Shen.” A second voice agreed, “All work and no play make me a little cranky.”

“True, but I figured you and Jack would want some time alone together.”

“Please: we live and work together. Sometimes we need a little time apart. Anyway, can you imagine Jack in a town like this?”

“Maybe not. I wonder how the others are doing?”

“Jeroen said he was going to Amsterdam, so he’s most likely stoned out of his mind. Jack’s in New York, as usual. And I think the boys have taken Jenny-Q to Disneyland.”

“We never got this sort of freedom when I was with the U.N.”

“Welcome to the wonderful advantages of corporate sponsorship: saving the world 9-to-5 with three weeks holiday a year.”

“Can you imagine Jenny’s face if she’d lived to see this?”

“Wouldn’t fit with her anarchist lifestyle or high ideals, would it? I think she’d like Elijah and the work we do.”

“Yeah, well…”

“You still miss her, don’t you Shen?”

“Yes. I mean: I know the rest of you do, but you weren’t as close to her as I was…”

“It’s never easy to lose someone you love, someone you’ve been with for as long as the two of you were.”

“Hey, I’m the Buddhist, remember? I know I should let her go, but it just…”

“Jenny Sparks was a truly remarkable woman, and she did more to help people than we could ever hope to accomplish.” A mobile phone rang, “Dr Spica. Some small town a few hours drive outside Metropolis. Ok, we’re be there as soon as we can.”

“Trouble?”

“We got a job in Gotham: Something big enough to cut into our holiday time.”

“The fun never stops, dose it?”

“Nope.” There was the sound of coins being dropped on the table, and Chloe watched as two women in their late twenties walked across the coffee shop and out the front door.

Taking her notebook, she turned to a clean page and carefully wrote ‘Jenny Sparks’ before sipping her coffee. Something about the overheard conversation had tweaked her reporter’s senses, and she the strangest feeling that the wall of wired was just not going to be big enough…

*********************************************************************

Chloe could hear the faint but constant drumming sound coming from the Touch’s office before she reached the door. She groaned in dread, fearing that it was another band hoping she’d give them a rave review that would put them on the road to fame and fortune.

She opened the door and was surprised by what she saw.

A short, scruffy looking man with a beard was sitting at her computer, tapping at its top with a pair of drumsticks, smiling to himself with his eyes closed. A tall, olive skinned woman in a black leather cat suit was leaning against the window, arms crossed, eyes looking strait at Chloe. A tall, older looking man was standing with his back to her, apparently examining the Wall or Wired with keen interest.

“I am impressed, Miss Sullivan.” He said without looking round, “You have the makings of a fine reporter.”

“Who are you people?” Chloe blinked, “What are you doing here?”

“My name is Elijah Snow.” The man looked over his shoulder; “The woman doing her best to intimidate you is Miss Jakita Wagner, while the piece of human filth at your computer is The Drummer.” He smiled, “And before you asked, that appears to be his real name.”

“That answers the who.” Chloe crossed her arms, “But not the why?”

“Quite true.” Snow turned to face the young reporter, “I have been an admirer of your work for some time now: the, shall we say ‘unusual’ individuals and events that seems to centre around this town and its inhabitants interest us.”

“Why?”

“We walk the world in search of strangeness and wonder, uncovering things others wish were left covered. You could call us mystery archaeologists: explorers of the planet's secret history. We want to know the things everyone else is willing to ignore so we can understand them, and if needs be, fight them.”

“You see them as a threat?”

“No, not necessarily, but it is better to be safe than sorry.”

“So why the face to face?”

“One moment.” Snow turned to The Drummer, “Are we clear?”

“Sure: there were a few bugs in the walls and some data taps in the computer, but nothing within five meters is still working.” The scruffy looking man smiled, “But she’s got some seriously strange stuff on her computer…”

“Another time, Drums.” Snow turned back to Chloe, “I want to make you an offer…”

“One I can’t refuse?” The young reporter raised an eyebrow.

“You can refuse it if you wish, and you’ll never hear from us again.” Snow crossed his arms, “But accept it, and you’ll have the full support of our agency at your disposal 24/7.”

“Keep talking.”

“Miss Sullivan, it is no secret that your farther recently lost his job with LutherCorp. How would you like 1-million dollars a year, for life, no mater how long you work for us?”

“That’s a lot of money…” Chloe’s eyes went wide.

“We can afford it.” Snow smiled, “You don’t have to do anything illegal: just keep us up to date on all the unusual happenings in this town. I don’t want the stuff you’re willing to risk printing: I want everything.”

“There are some things that are a little, personal.”

“I can understand that.” Snow nodded, “As long as we get anything important or noteworthy, I’m willing to trust your judgement.”

“Just who do you work for?”

“We represent an organisation called Planetary. We have offices and agents all over the world. We record the history no one else knows, and try and make sure tomorrow follows today.”

“Sounds very cloak and dagger.”

“One day, when you’re old enough, I’ll show you what the world is really like.” Snow grinned, a slightly dangerous look in his eye, “Do you accept?”

“I don’t have much to lose, if the pay’s as good as you claim.” Chloe nodded, “Where do a sign?”

“On the back of this.” Snow handed over an American Express gold card with Chloe’s name on the front, “There’s the agreed million dollars in the account, and any expenses resulting from your work for us will be refunded in full, provided you fill out the paperwork.” He also handed over a business card with the word ‘Planetary’ embossed on the front, and a phone number printed below, “We’ll send you an encrypted cellular phone that you can use to contact us as needs be.”

“Thanks…” Chloe nodded, stunned by how quickly her world had changed.

“There is one other thing.” Snow stopped on his way to the door, “We know you’ve been investigating Jenny Sparks. I ask you to stop.”

“Why?” Chloe asked, her reporter’s senses flaring, “Who was she?”

“She was someone who did more to keep the world safe than anyone else. In the end, she gave her life so that we’d be here to talk about her today. You can keep looking if you like, but I doubt you’ll find much, and may not like what you do.”

“I’ll take that under advisement.” Chloe nodded.

“I think we need to talk, Miss Sullivan…” Lionel Luther appeared at the other door and stopped dead in his tracks, “Elijah.”

“Lionel.” Snows eyes narrowed, and Chloe felt the temperature in the room drop as the two men glared at each other. Jakita Wagner tensed viably, ready to fight.

“What are you doing here?” Lionel’s voice was a whisper.

“None of your business.” Snow’s fists where clenched tightly, “I know all about your past dealing with Miss Sullivan, but as of now she works or me: I catch you bugging her home, office or computer again, and I’ll tell Anna Hark where to find you. I believe the two of you have a little unfinished business…”

“Stay out of my affaires Elijah…”

“Don’t even try and threaten me, Luther: you’re out classed.” Snow turned to Chloe, “Good day.” He walked out the door, Jakita snarling at Lionel before following him.

“Something wrong, Mr Luther?” Chloe couldn’t help but smile at the look on her tormentors face.

“You have no idea what’s going on Miss Sullivan.” Lionel straitened his jacket, regaining some of his composure, “But you seem to pick your allies wisely.”

“Scared?”

“Believe me my dear, if you knew the truth, you’d be scared too: you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“Maybe, but it wouldn’t be the first time.” Chloe pointed to the door, “Goodbye, Mr Luther.”

*********************************************************************

The rain pelted Smallville as only a Midwest thunderstorm could, turning the main road through town into a river of water as the residents who needed to go out ran from cover to cover.

Chloe Sullivan looked at the storm from a window seat in the Talon as she did her best to finish of her latest report to send to Planetary. She wasn’t sure how to word what had happened with Adam Knight: the guy went Phyco and tried to kill Lana for no apparent reason.

Still, Mr Snow had said anything unusual, and a phone call from the future counted as unusual.

She closed her laptop and rubbed her eyes: the last few mouths had been rough on everyone, especially her father. Gabe Sullivan was a good man, but it hurt his pride to be first laid off by LutherCorp, and then second to have his teenage daughter come through with the money to pay off the morgue on their house and keep them solvent. He’d been uncomfortable about her newfound wealth until she mention Snow’s name, then he’d gone very quiet.

Something else she needed to look into.

“Hey Chloe!” Clark Kent, her best friend and object of her desirers for longer than she cared to remember, appeared behind her, “What you up to?”

“Hey Clark.” Chloe did her best to hide her surprise, “Just catching up on a little work. You know how it is: deadlines and all…”

“Yeah. Hey, aren’t you supposed to be covering that big trial today for The Torch?”

“Oh no!” Chloe looked at her watch and frowned, “I’m going to be late. Catch you later…” She grabbed her stuff and ran out the door. Her car was parked on the other side of the street, and clutching her bag tightly, she ran out into the rain.

The world went bright white, then dark.

*********************************************************************

Chloe’s mind drifted on the edge of consciousness, and her ears started to pick up bits of conversation.

“Mr Sullivan? Hello, I’m Dr Spica: I was called in from Metropolis to consult on your daughter’s case.”

“How is she?”

“Surprisingly well for someone who got hit buy a bolt of lightning that should have killed her: there is almost no physical damage, just a bad case of shock.”

“Oh god no…”

“Is something wrong Mr Sullivan?”

“It’s not something I feel comfortable talking about, not even with a doctor.”

“I don’t know if it would make any difference, but I was brought in by Chloe’s employer…”

“You work for Elijah Snow?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell that old bastard to get here, right now!”

Time drifted, voices changed.

“It’s good to see you again Gabe.”

“Don’t give me that: we told you to keep away from Chloe!”

“I swear to you, I never intended for anything like this to happen.”

“You haven’t changed one bit, not since you took Jenny away!”

“Jennifer left of her own free will: you know how hard she was finding it to fit in here, how people were starting to talk.”

“We could have worked through it!”

“We don’t always have the luxury of doing what we want…”

*********************************************************************

“Clark!” Pete Ross can running through the doors at the end of the corridor leading to the Intensive Care unit of the Smallville Medical Centre, “How’s Chloe?”

“They won’t let anyone other than her Dad into see her.” Clark looked through the frosted glass window at the two men standing silent guard outside his friend’s room. One of them, a muscular man with close-cropped blond hair, kept looking at him like he was a threat. The other, taller man with pure white hair just stood there with a slight grin on his face. Clark shook his head, “Something’s not right.”

“You want me to run interference?” Pete asked, ready to do anything to help.

“No, it’s ok.” Clark frowned, “We need information.”

“Clark, Pete, I just heard what happened.” Lex Luther appeared, dressed in his regular black shirt/trousers combo, looking more like a catwalk modal than a billionaire business tycoon in the making, “How is she?”

“They’re not saying.” Clark looked at his friend; “They brought in some privet doctor from Metropolis to take over.”

“Who?” Lex looked through the door and his eyes went wide, “Dr Spica?”

“You know her?” Pete asked.

“I know of her: Doctor Angela Spica, head of cybernetics at Princeton. She has some very outlandish ideas about human/machine integration, but she’s said to be one of the ten smartest people on the planet.” Lex rubbed his chin, “Why would she get called in to deal with something like a lightning strike?”

“That’s what we want to know.” Clark looked determined to find answers.

*********************************************************************

“Well?” Mr Sullivan stood with arms crossed, a determined look in his eye.

“I didn’t think a normal person could withstand a lightning strike like Chloe took, but we both know she’s not normal.” Dr Spica looked at the chart she held in her hand, “I must say I was shocked to learn…”

“That’s not the point.”

“Yes, of course. Chloe is going to be fine, but there are probably going to be, side affects.”

“Like?”

“Knowing who her mother was, I think we can safely say…”

*********************************************************************

“Smoothing I can help you guys with?” The blond guard appeared behind Clark, Lex and Pete without making a sound.

“What?” Clark span round, taken by surprise.

“Is. There. Something. I. Can. Help. You. With?” The man repeated slower, as if he was talking to a young child.

“Miss Sullivan is a friend of ours.” Lex stepped forward, “We’re worried about her.”

“Miss Sullivan is receiving the best medical care possible.” The guard starred down the young tycoon, “But she needs rest, doctors orders.”

“Would that be Dr Spica, the cybernetics expert?” Clark asked, “What is someone with her expertise doing looking after someone who got struck by lightning?”

“She’s branching out.” The man smiled, “See you around.” He turned and disappeared down the corridor.

*********************************************************************

“Dad?” Chloe’s eyes felt heavy as she tried to open them.

“I’m here Chloe.” Her father pulled his chair closer to the bed, “Everything’s going to be ok.”

“What happened to me?”

“You were struck by lightning, but the doctor says you’re going to be ok.”

“I could hear you talking. You said something about mom…”

“It’s not something you have to worry about honey, nothing at all.”

“Dad, I need to know what’s going on, how you know Elijah Snow and what he has to do with mom leaving.”

“You heard that then?”

“Dad.”

“Ok, I guess you deserve to know the truth: Jenny, your mother, was a Colonel in British Military Intelligence when I first met her in Metropolis. She’d come over from London to try and get over something that had happened, something she never talked about, but it troubled her” Gabe Sullivan looked into space as he explained what he could, “Neither of us really expected things to go as far as they did: your mother was too much of a free spirit to contemplate something like marriage, but love changes things.” He laughed, “In the end, she was the one who proposed to me: I guess she wanted something approaching a normal life.”

“You never told me that.” Chloe blinked.

“Yeah, I know. When Jenny had to leave we decided it was best if you didn’t know the truth: your mother was a unique woman, in more ways than one, and there were people who would have use you against her. I don’t know the real words to describe what she was like; you’ll probably have to ask Elijah about it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your mother could do things that defied explanation, even by the standards of this town. Yeah, I know about the wired stuff that happens: I learnt a lot from your mother, but I hoped that I could keep you from being effected by it.”

“Excuse me.” Dr Spica appeared at the door, “I need to run a few more tests now Chloe’s awake.”

“Ok.” Mr Sullivan stood, “I’ll go find Elijah: he can explain things better.”

*********************************************************************

“Clark, Pete, Lex.” Gabe Sullivan’s eyes narrowed slightly at the last name, “Chloe’s going to be ok, and the doctor says you can go and see her soon, but only one at a time.”

“I think she’d prefer to see you two.” Lex nodded to Clark and Pete, “Give her my best, and tell her I’ll pop by later.” He turned and walked away, defusing the situation.

“What did the doctor say?” Clark asked, impatient to hear about his friend.

“Chloe was lucky: the lightning did very little damage.” Mr Sullivan smiled slightly, “She’s a tough kid, a lot like her mother.”

*********************************************************************

“You have the information I asked for?” Lionel Luther asked the man standing before him.

“It’s all here.” A heavy folder was dropped on the businessman’s desk, “Everything we could find in Henry Bendix’s office after the fire, and some more you uncovered ourselves.”

“Yes, it was a shame about that: Henry was a good friend.” Luther picked up the folder and looked at the cover, “United Nations Crisis Intervention Team? What has this to do with Chloe Sullivan?”

“Not Miss Sullivan: her mother.”

“Her mother?” Luther opened the folder and looked at the first page, “Colonel Jennifer Sparks, British Space Group?”

“Not some you would have wanted to mess with: she could be most, unpleasant, at times. Although I don’t think Bendix knew about their relationship: he would have used her to control Colonel Sparks if he had.”

“Thank you Mr Santini: your help will not be forgotten, and additional funds your people need will be made available to you.”

*********************************************************************

“How do you feel Miss Sullivan?” Dr Spica asked as she checked the young woman’s chart.

“Surprisingly good, considering what happened.” Chloe sounded surprised, “In fact, I’ve never felt so good.”

“Your father told you about your mother?”

“He said something, but he couldn’t explain it. Did you know her?”

“I worked with Jenny for about a year before she died.”

“She died?”

“I’m afraid so: almost for years ago. If it’s any consolation, she died saving a lot of people. Then again, there was never any doubt that Jenny Sparks would go out with a bang.”

“Jenny Sparks? My mother was Jenny Sparks?”

“Yes. I thought your father explained…”

“No, he never said her name was Sparks, but I’ve heard it before.” Chloe looked at the doctor, “Have we met before?”

“I don’t think so: I’ve only ever been to Smallville once before, and then I was only passing through with a friend.”

“I think I saw you: you mention my mothers name and what you said intrigued me, so I tried to find out what I could about her.”

“I doubt you found much: Jenny was very good at covering her tracks.” Dr Spica glanced out the window to make sure no one was about, “I inherited a few things from her will; mainly her diary’s. But there was one thing that came with a note saying I’d know who to give it to when I met them: I think she meant you.” She pulled a small box form her pocket; “I had it sent here from New York when I found out who you were.”

“What is it?” Chloe opened the box to find a cross shaped medal on a red ribbon.

“It’s your mothers Victoria Cross: she was awarded it a long time ago…”

“A story for another time.” Elijah Snow appeared in the doorway, “If you could go over those test results from early for me please Angie.”

“Of course.” Dr Spica nodded, “I’ll see you later, Chloe.”

“An intelligent and pleasant woman, but as times as subtle as a brick through the window.” Snow sat down, “Your father tells me you want to know about your mother.”

“Yeah: there seems to be a lot about her I don’t know.” Chloe held up the Victoria Cross, “Like how she got this.”

“Jenny was awarded that in 1945 for her work with the Special Operations Exertive, the forerunner of the modern MI6.”

“1945? How is that even possible?”

“Jenny Sparks was born in London on January 1st, 1900, just like several other unusual individuals, myself included. She stopped aging sometime around 1920. She died at the stroke of midnight, December 31st, 1999: exactly 100-years later.”

“But that would mean you’re…”

“103-years old. Yes, I know: there is a very complicated theory to explain it, but I won’t confuse you with it now. Jenny Sparks spent her entire life running hell-for-leather from one end of the last century to the other. She had more of an effect on the world than anyone can truly understand. She was, as one man so eloquently put it, the Spirit of the 20th Century, a hundred years made flesh.”

“You make it sound like she was some kind of super hero!”

“Jenny would say that she saved the world, too bloody often: she did what she did because on one else could or would. She was, without a doubt, the best human being I have ever met.”

“How did you meet her?”

“Now there IS a story: I was at a party in London, back in 1939…

*********************************************************************

“Fascinating.” Lionel Luther put the file Santini had given him down after reading it for the second time. He sat in contemplation for a moment, then picked up his office phone and dialled a number from memory.

“Leather.” A voice at the over end answered after a few rings.

“Hello William, it’s Lionel: I have some information that Randall may find interesting…”

*********************************************************************

“So what do we know about her friend.” Snow sat behind a desk at the hastily put together Smallville office of Planetary, looking at his two main teams.

“He isn’t human, regardless of how he looks.” Dr Spica looked up from a pile of paper work, “He’s not anything we’ve encountered before. I’d like to bring Dr Brass in to consult on this: he’s got a lot more experience with this sort of thing then I do.”

“Ok, call him, but keep working on it yourself.” Snow nodded, “Do you think we could take him down if we had to?”

“Possibly.” The blond guard from the hospital nodded slowly, “He’s powerfully, I can tell that by just looking at him. It would probably take someone like Jeroen or Apollo.”

“Well, Jeroen is on guard at the hospital, so maybe he’ll be able to find something out.” Snow turned to look out the window, “Why did Jenny keep quiet about all this?”

*********************************************************************

“Hi Chloe!” Clark slipped into his friends hospital room, “How you feeling?”

“Ready to start climbing the walls if I don’t get out of here soon!” Chloe smiled, “No, seriously, I’m good. Dr Spica says I should be out of here by tomorrow.”

“Any idea how you survived that lightning strike without a scratch? Is there any chance you’re a…

“A meteor-freak? No, it’s nothing like that…”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“Things are, complicated. I’m not sure I can talk about it right now, not with someone guarding my room 24/7.”

“You mean that guy?” Clark looked over his shoulder at the man who was sitting in a chair in the hallway, snoring loudly, “What’s with all this?”

“You remember I told you The Torch had a new sponsor?” Chloe looked a little guilty, “Well it doesn’t: I’ve been paying for it all myself, after I paid of all my dads debts.”

“How can you afford that?”

“A man named Elijah Snow offered me a million dollars a year, for life, if I kept him up to date on the weirdness that happens around here. I’m allowed to use my own discretion when it comes to what I send him, so he doesn’t know about you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Come on Clark; I’m not blind. You’re always there to save the day in a way that no one can explain, you’re the centre of most of the wired stuff that happens around here, and I kind of remember some of what happened when Pete and I got infected by those plant spore that removed our inhibitions…”

“How much do you remember?”

“Not everything, its still a bit hazy: I do remember Pete and I trying to jump the gorge in his car and you catching us, and I remember what happened in the Talon…”

*********************************************************************

“Now this is interesting.” Randle Dowling looked at the files Lionel Luther had faxed him; “You’re a clever boy Elijah, keeping her a secret from me all these years.”

“Anything we can use against him?” Leather asked, “He’s been getting more determined in his little quest.”

“Possibly, possibly: it appears that Jenny Sparks has a daughter in small town America who recently survived a lightning strike that should have killed her.” Dowling handed the fax to the other man; “It is almost unheard of for any of the ‘Century Babies’ to reproduces, Miss Wagner being the most prominent of the handful of decedents they have left behind. If Sparks’ child has indeed inherited some of her power, she could be a most dangerous opponent…”

“…Or a useful ally. I like the way you think.” Leather smiled, “You want me to go get her?”

“Yes, but be careful: Snow has both his field teams in the area.” Dowling rubbed his chin, “Take Greene with you: he’d enjoy the outing…”

*********************************************************************

“Clark!” Pete called out after his friend as he made his way across the hospital car park, “You ok man? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”

“Chloe remembers some of what happened that time you got dosed with those plant spores: not everything, but enough to know there’s more to me than I let on.”

“That’s not too bad: if she’s kept it secret all this time it means she’s not told Lionel…”

“She remembers what we did in the Talon.”

“Oh. How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t know: I mean, she’s Chloe, I’ve know her almost as long as I’ve known you…”

“And the other part?”

“The other part knows that I’d wanted to kiss her like that for a long time, but never wanted to risk the friendship.”

“Sounds like you love her.”

“I do, as a friend, but I’m not sure if there’s anything more to it than that.”

“And you don’t want to hurt her, right?”

“Right.”

“Sorry man, but the workings of the human heart are way out of my territory!”

*********************************************************************

“Something wrong, Shen?” Snow leaned against the low wall sounding the roof of the Planetary field office, “Storm coming?”

“In a way.” Shen Li-men looked up at the darkening sky, “I think we’re going to have company real soon.”

“Artemis?”

“I’d put good money on it.”

“One of these days, you’re going to read the currents in the air and give me some good news for a change.” Snow shook his head, “Guess we’d better get everyone together: we’re going to need all the muscle we can get if it is The Four…”

*********************************************************************

The tall, heavily built man watched from the shadows as the guard outside Chloe’s room left when his pager sounded. He smiled to himself: he’d been waiting for days to get an opportunity like this, and his employer was getting impatient for results.

Dressed as an orderly, he pushed the empty wheelchair into Chloe’s room, careful not to wake the sleeping girl. He looked down at her as she slept, pulling a hypodermic needle full of a powerful sedative from his pocket and tapping it to get the air out. Carefully as he could, he pressed it against Chloe’s arm.

Chloe woke with a start when she felt the needle pick her in the arm. She sat bolt upright, sending the hypodermic flying across the room as she reached for the light switch.

“Big mistake you little bitch!” The man snarled, drawing a dart-gun from its hiding place under his coat and bring it round to bear on the startled woman.

“NO!” Chloe shot her arm out to try and spoil his aim.

*********************************************************************

All the lights in Smallville dimmed as the electricity was sucked from the power grid and was redirected to one room in the hospital.

*********************************************************************

The glass wall shattered as the man slammed into it before landing in a heap in the corridor, smoke rising from his charred body.

“Oh god…” Chloe mumbled; eyes fixed in terror on the small sparks of electricity that still jumped between her outstretched fingers.

Deep inside her mind, something stirred.

*********************************************************************

The Sheriff’s office had already cordoned off the hospital ward by the time Pete arrived the next morning. He hung back in the shadows, keeping out of everyone’s way in the hope of hearing what had happened.

“This isn’t good. Chloe’s totally unprepared for what’s happened.” Snow’s voice came around the corner from where Pete was hiding. “I can keep the local authorities from asking too many questions, but if she has another outburst in public…”

“It’ll be too much to hide.” Another man with a New York accent agreed. “The others are out looking for her now and Drums is keeping an eye out for anything that comes across the radio or net.”

“I should never have called Jeroen back from guard duty.”

“You had no way of knowing this was going to happen. I worked with Jenny for four years and she never once said anything about having a family.”

“Yes, but I knew, you see? I knew she had a daughter here, but I did nothing. I should have done something when she died…”

“You still hadn’t gotten all your memories back. You didn’t know Chloe existed and Jenny chose not to tell you for her own reasons, whatever they may have been.”

“That may be, but it doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Yeah, well. You’ve got to go tell Gabe Sullivan that his daughter has manifested meta-human powers and was so freaked out by it that she’s run away.”

“You can be a right bastard at time, Hawksmoor.”

“I try my best…”

The two men walked off, leaving Pete with his thoughts.

*********************************************************************

Chloe ran through the woods, trying to put as much distance between herself and Smallville Medical Center as she could. Her clothes were soaked with the rain that was falling constantly and it mixed with the tears that were falling from her eyes, making it almost impossible for her to see properly.

She tripped on a tree root and fell, banging her head as she landed.

*********************************************************************

“Clark!” Pete ran into the Kent’s barn, looking for his friend, “Where are you man?”

“I’m up here.” Clark called down from his ‘Fortress of Solitude’ up by the window. “What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong with Chloe, man… something big.” Pete took the stairs two at a time. “Something happened at the hospital and she took off. No one knows where she is.”

“Wow, hold on a second! Who told you this?”

“No one. I heard that old guy with the white hair talking to someone named Hawksmoor. He said something about ‘meta-human powers’, whatever the hell that means.”

“Chloe sounded upset about something when I talked to her yesterday. She said it wasn’t something she could talk about openly. There’s something no one is telling us…”

“Yeah, there is.” Gabe Sullivan appeared in the middle of the barn, “I guess its time you two knew the truth about Chloe…”

*********************************************************************

“She’s not at the High School,” Jakita reported in over the radio. “I’m moving towards the Talon.”

“OK.” The Drummer looked up at the electronic map of Smallville on his computer screen. “Jack is checking out the industrial estate, while the others are moving out to check the farmland.”

“Who do we have on standby in case the Four show up before we’re ready?”

“Apollo and Jeroen. Midnighter went to find that Kent kid who was hanging around outside Chloe’s room yesterday. Elijah thinks he may know where she would hide.”

“Is that such a good idea?”

“Probably not.”

*********************************************************************

“You going to sleep all day?”

Chloe opened her eyes to find herself laying on a grassy meadow under a clear blue sky. It was unlike anywhere she had ever seen, but she felt somehow at home.

“Good. I was beginning to get a little worried.”

“What?” Chloe looked round, then saw the woman sitting on a nearby boulder. “Momma?”

“Yeah, it’s me.” Jenny Sparks smiled. “It’s good to see you again, Chloe.”

“Momma!” Chloe ran over to the other woman and wrapped her arms around her. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Jenny hugged her daughter. “I’m sorry I had to go away.”

********************************************************************

Clark stood outside the barn, trying to stop his head from spinning. If even half of what Gabe Sullivan was true, then Chloe could be in a lot of danger. He could hardly recall Jennifer Sullivan, as she had left when he was still young. The revelation that she was some secret-agent turned superhero was enough to turn his world upside down, but he was comforted by the idea that he wasn’t the only person with powers.

“Hey, kid.” The blond security guard from the hospital pulled up on a motorcycle. “You know where Chloe is?”

“Sorry, I don’t.” Clark shook his head. “I was just about to go looking for her.”

“Mind if I tag along?”

“Thanks, but no thanks. I know the area and I’ll cover more ground alone.”

“Look, kid.” The man grabbed Clarks arm as he went to pass, his grip surprisingly strong. “This is way out of your league.”

“Let go of me.” Clark’s eyes narrowed.

“What you going to do?” the man asked. “Run to your mommy?”

“No, this!” Clark flipped the man over, but to his surprise the guard landed on his feet, un-phased.

“So you want to play it like that, huh?” The guard flexed his muscles, “Been a while since I got a decent workout…”

********************************************************************

“Hope you don’t mind if I smoke?” Jenny lit a cigarette as she sat next to her daughter. “Being dead doesn’t seem to affect the nicotine craving at all.”

“Dead?” Chloe looked round. “Is this…”

“Heaven?” Jenny laughed as she blew a smoke ring. “No, this is what a friend of mine calls the Garden of Ancestral Memory: the accumulated knowledge of the entire human race can be found here.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m the part of me that lives on in you. When I died, doing something I still believe was immensely stupid, most of me was passed on to the Spirit of the 21st Century, but one small part was passed on to you. You probably remember feeling a little funny New Years Eve 1999.”

“Yeah… I thought that was just the Champagne Dad gave me!”

“That sounds like the Gabriel Sullivan I fell in love with.”

********************************************************************

Clark felt his jaw snap back as the stranger landed another blow. Whoever the guy was, he wasn’t a regular human. His strength and speed were staggering and he was able to shrug off some of Clark’s blows with no apparent effect.

“I haven’t got time for this!” Clark hit the man as hard as he dared in the middle of his chest, sending his opponent flying across the farmyard and into a tree. The man landed with a thud and lay on the ground, dazed but still awake. “We’ll finish this later…” Clark promised as he took off at hyper speed.

“Now that’s something you don’t see everyday.” Shen landed softly, folding her wings up behind her back. “I think Apollo’s going to want a crack at him for that.”

“No need.” Midnighter stood, stretching his arms and legs. “Nothing that a good night’s sleep won’t cure.”

“Yes, but did you plant the homing beacon Angie gave you?”

“The day I can’t slip a pin-head sized transmitter into the pocket of some flannel-loving Kansas farm-boy without him noticing is the day I hang up my knuckledusters for good.”

********************************************************************

The large black van pulled into the warehouse just before dusk, the old metal door clanging down behind it. Leather stepped out the driver’s door, his dusty brown overcoat swaying as he walked round the back and opened the door.

“It’s about time too!” a deep, rumbling voice came from inside. “Why couldn’t we have flown? It would have been quicker.”

“Dowling insisted that we do everything we can to keep this low-key. Snow has both of his field teams here, and I for one do not want to have to deal with that right now.”

“Wimp.” The dark shape hidden in the shadows stepped forward. “I’ve not had a chance to kill anyone for ages…”

*********************************************************************

Clark made his way through the forest, looking for Chloe in the growing gloom of twilight. He tried to use his x-ray vision, but it proved useless in the dense undergrowth.

“CHLOE!” He yelled out at the top of his lungs, “WHERE ARE YOU?”

*********************************************************************

“Oh this is so not good…” The Drummer looked at his computer screens. Reaching for his phone with one hand, he hit the speed dial.

“Snow.” The voice on the other end answered.

“I just intercepted a highly encrypted burst communication from somewhere in Smallville.”

“Anyone we know?”

“It was on an old Artemus frequency.”

“The Four. What are they here for?”

“I can’t confirm anything until I’ve decrypted it fully, but I can tell you that the word ‘Sullivan’ was used at least twice.”

“Oh my god; Chloe!”

“Yeah, best guess is that it’s a snatch squad sent to grab her. If she’s as powerful as Jenny was…”

“Dowling would have a powerful ally to call on. We cannot let that happen!”

“I’ll tell the others to be on the look out.”

*********************************************************************

“Excuse me, Mr Sullivan?” A soft voice disturbed Gabe Sullivan, as he was about to open his front door. “I was wondering if I may have a word with you.”

“This isn’t a good time.” Gabe Sullivan looked round.

“It is about your daughter,” the young man standing at the end of his garden path said, “and the company she keeps.”

“Who are you?” Gabe asked, walking down his porch steps.

“My name is William Leather. I work for the government. We’re investigating Elijah Snow and his ‘Planetary’ organization.”

“Who are you? IRS?”

“National Intelligence Agency.” Leather pulled out an ID card and flashed it. “We think he may be responsible for several terrorist acts around the globe… the most public being the destruction of the Hark Corporation building in Seattle four years ago.”

“You think that Elijah may have been involved in that?”

“His ‘team’ was seen at the bombsite just hours after it happened. He had his people secure the area under the guise of local government officials. Is this the sort of man you want your daughter spending time with?”

“I’ve known Elijah for almost 20 years. He gave my wife away at our wedding!”

“How well do you truly know him?”

*********************************************************************

“You need to go now.” Jenny looked down at Chloe, who was sitting curled up at her mother’s side. “Your father is in grave danger, and the others will need your help.”

“Dad!” Chloe’s eyes opened wide, then she looked up at her mother. “But I don’t want to go! It’s safe here! Can’t Daddy come here?”

“I wish he could sweetie… I wish he could. But this is something only you and I can share.”

“Will I ever see you again?”

“I’ll be here when you need me.” Jenny kissed Chloe on the forehead as a bright light enveloped them. “I am so proud of you…”

*********************************************************************

Clark looked around the clearing. He’d looked everywhere he could think of, but Chloe was nowhere to be seen. It was starting to get dark, the storm reaching new heights as it threatened to unleash a new deluge on Smallville.

*********************************************************************

“GABE!” Snow called out as he got out of his car near the Sullivan home. “GET IN THE HOUSE, NOW!”

“Elijah?” Gabe Sullivan looked round. “Just what the hell is going on around here?”

“Now this is interesting.” Leather smiled as a bright white flame enveloped his body. “Jacob, care to come out and play?”

“About time!” A deep, rumbling voice came from the back of the same truck that Leather had arrived in. The rollup door on its back was ripped away be some unimaginable force from inside.

*********************************************************************

“Oh hell…” The Drummer looked at the feed coming from the camera attached to Snow’s car and dropped his drumsticks. He grabbed his radio and hit the emergency frequency. “CODE RED! EVERYONE TO THE SULLIVAN RESIDENCE, NOW! CODE RED!”

“Are you high again?” The Midnighter asked over the open link.

“I wish I was. Leather and Greene have Elijah cornered.”

“I’m two blocks away!” Jakita reported. “I’ll be there in under a minute. Where is everyone else?”

“Apollo and Jack are about the same distance, but in the other direction.” The Drummer looked at the electronic map of Smallville on the wall. “Angie is at the hospital, Shen is keeping watch on that Kent kid, and god only knows where Jeroen is!”

“God dammed brain-fired slacker!” The Midnighter spat. “I’ll wring his neck for this!”

*********************************************************************

“I take it your little reunion was constructive?” Jeroen asked as he walked up to Jenny.

“Constructive was not what I was going for.” Jenny smiled. “It was good to see her again. Leaving her was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Thank you for helping arrange this.”

“It was the least I could do after all you did for me. I must admit though, I was a little surprised to find that part of you was missing when I read Jenny Quantum’s aura…”

“We all have our little secrets.” Jenny smiled, sitting back on her rock and lighting a fresh cigarette. “Consider this one of mine…”

*********************************************************************

Clark heard the sound of something swooping down through the air and was grabbed by the shoulders and lifted into the air before he could look round.

“Relax and stop struggling!” Shen yelled out, trying to be heard above the storm as she carried the startled youngster towards Smallville. “We have a little problem and could use your help.”

“Um, ok…” Clark nodded, too shocked at the appearance of a winged woman who seemed able to carry him through the air at high speed with little or no effort.

*********************************************************************

Chloe woke to find herself laying on the forest floor. The clothes she had worn when she ran from the hospital were gone, replaced by a white linen suit and Union Jack T-shit. She blinked as she recognised it from an old family photograph as one of her mother favourite outfits.

Lightning struck the ground all around her, and Chloe felt invigorated like never before. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, immersing herself in the raw energy of the storm, letting it wash over her.

Chloe opened her eyes, sparks of electricity playing across her irises. A single giant lightning bolt seemed to erupt out of the ground, and Chloe was gone.

*********************************************************************

Jakita’s car skidded to a halt just behind Snow’s and she leapt from the driver’s seat, covering the distance between the two of them in an instant. She stopped dead when she saw what she was up against.

Jacob Greene stood in the middle of the road like an artist’s first attempt at sculpture. His body looked like it had been carved out of granite and was distorted. Every time he moved, even just to breath, there was the grinding sound of stone scraping against stone.

William Leather stood at the end of the Sullivan’s path, enveloped in white flame. He stood with his fists clenched, a disturbing smile on his lips.

Gabe Sullivan stood in the middle of his front yard with a rather resigned look on his face. Ten years of living with Jenny Sparks, followed by the unusual events that seemed to center on Smallville, made it easy to accept what he was seeing.

“Gabe,” Snow said in a loud but calm voice, “go inside, now!”

“Where is Chloe?” the other man asked, remaining where he was.

“We have people looking for her.” Snow kept his eyes on Leather and Greene. “Inside, now!”

Resigned to the fact that something was about to happen that was outside his control, Gabe turned round and walked up the steps into his house.

There was a low thud as Apollo dropped Jack Hawksmoor to the pavement before landing himself. The air rippled slightly and Jeroen appeared, followed closely by Dr. Spica. The scientist’s body shimmered as a layer of liquid mercury covered her from head to toe. A motorcycle roared loudly as The Midnighter made his entrance, aiming straight for Greene, a determined look on his face.

“I think maybe we should continue this someplace else.” Jeroen snapped his fingers and everyone disappeared.

*********************************************************************

“Hold tight, kid!” Shen called out above the storm. “Slight change of plan!”

“What is going on?” Clark asked, “Who are you?”

“The name’s Shen, but people call me Swift. I was a friend of Chloe’s mother.”

“You knew Jennifer Sullivan?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how well!” Shen laughed as she dipped one wing, turning sharply to the right, headed away from town.

*********************************************************************

Gabe Sullivan was sitting in silence at his dining room table, his mind in turmoil. For the last fourteen years, he’d tried to protect Chloe from her mother’s legacy, but he had failed. He pulled out his wallet and looked at the one photo of his wife he’d allowed himself to keep. The story they’d agreed on to explain her sudden disappearance had been hard to bear, but it was needed to protect Chloe.

Having the entire town laugh at him behind his back was nothing compared to the knowledge that he would probably never see Jenny again and could never try and contact her. The separation had to be total to protect everyone involved.

The lights flickered, and Gabe felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck that he had not felt in over ten years.

There was a flash of light, and Chloe was standing in the middle of the kitchen, dressed like her mother. Her hair was tied behind her back in a single ponytail, and she had wild look in her eye.

“Chloe…” Gabe slowly stood.

“Daddy!” His daughter ran into his arms, hugging him tight. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“There were people who would have used you to hurt your mother, dangerous people. Jenny didn’t want to leave, but it was the only way.”

“I saw her. She said you were in danger!”

“Some men turned up looking for you. One of them said he was NSA, but I somehow don’t believe him. Elijah and his people are going to try and stop them…”

“I need to help them!” Chloe turned to leave.

“Why?” Gabe asked, grabbing his daughter by the arm. “I lost your mother to this. I don’t want to lose you too!”

“Because it’s my responsibility that they’re here… Besides,” Chloe looked more grown up at that moment than ever before, “there has to be someone left to save the world...”

*********************************************************************

“Bombs away!” Shen bellowed as she released Clark over a meadow that looked like it was being used to film a war movie… Craters covered the landscape… and several small fires were burning where trees had caught blasts by accident.

Clark hit the ground running, skidding to a stop next to Snow. “Just what the hell is going on?” he asked.

“Some very bad men want to hurt Chloe!” Snow dodged a boulder the size of a small car that Greene tossed at him. “Are you going to let them do that? And don’t try playing innocent with me kid. I know for a fact you’re not human!”

“What do you need me to do?” Clark asked.

“See that big grey guy over there?” Snow pointed at Greene as the former astronaut picked up a tree like a baseball bat and used it to send Apollo flying. “Take the bastard down!”

Clark took off as fast as he could, aiming straight at Greene.

Hitting him was like hitting the proverbial brick wall. Both of them were sent flying in opposite directions; Clark sliding to a halt at Leather’s feet.

“Nice try, kid!” The human ball of flame smiled, “But I kill freaks like you for breakfast!” he aimed a stream of super-hot plasma at Clark, incinerating the young man’s clothes. Clark hit back with his own heat-vision. It distracted Leather long enough for Jakita to grab him and pull him to safety.

“Welcome to the wonderful world of super-heroics!” The woman smiled. “You may want to find something to wear that can take a bit of damage…”

Clark looked down and blushed as he realised that all his clothes had been incinerated by Leather’s attack.

Jack Hawksmoor tried to grab Greene by the back of the neck, only to be thrown headfirst into The Midnighter, sending both of them crashing to the ground. Shen and Dr. Spica tried to provide cover while Apollo got himself back in the game, but Leather kept them at bay with streams of plasma that singed Shen’s wings.

“Split them up!” Snow ordered. “Take them down one at a time!”

“Yeahsureyoubetcha!” The Midnighter quipped as he flipped over backwards to avoid one of Greene’s massive fists. “Any other bright ideas?”

The storm around them seemed to grow in intensity, lightning bolts crisscrossing the sky, converging directly above the meadow. For a split second, the clouds looked like a face as a titanic roll of thunder shook the ground.

“Right now I’d recommend ducking!” Snow advised, tackling Jeroen and throwing him into a low crater.

A single bolt leapt from the storm clouds and struck the ground between Greene and Leather, sending both of them flying with a concussive wave of displaced air that struck them like a fright train. The lightning seemed to stand there for an instant, linking heaven and earth with a tower of pure energy.

The light faded, leaving a single figure standing in the middle of the field, arms stretched wide apart. Electricity covered them in a bright aura.

“Right, you little tosses!” Chloe snarled, electricity balling in her fists. “Nobody messes with MY town!”

Silence rolled across the battlefield like a wave, seeming to drown out even the ever-present sound of thunder from the storm.

Clark blinked, utterly taken by surprise at Chloe’s entrance. Electricity seemed to flow across her body like a living entity, while the clothes she wore showed off more of her body than ever before. He suddenly became very aware of that fact that he was standing in the middle of a field with no clothes on. He was thankful when The Midnighter handed him a long leather jacket.

“So…” Chloe stood with her back to the others, eyes fixed on Leather and Greene as they pulled themselves to their feet. “We can do this the easy way, which means the two of you walk away and don’t come back… Or we can do it the hard way, which means I get to vent all my pent-up anger on you.”

“Is that so?” Leather’s voice dripped sarcasm, “What makes you think you’ll be able to hurt…” He stopped as his head jerked back, his eyes going wide with pain.

“Electricity is mine to do with as I please,” Chloe smiled coyly. “There is enough electricity in this storm to light the entire state several times over, and if I wanted, I could direct it into your body in such a way that there would be nothing left. But I don’t need to do that… the human brain runs on electricity, even one as twisted as yours. If I wanted to kill you, all I’d have to do is either remove it entirely or redirect it to the right part.”

Greene got to his feet and tried to charge Chloe, only to be knocked off his feet by a right hook from Clark, who had used his hyper-speed to close the gap between them in the blink of an eye.

“Thank you,” Chloe nodded with a smile. “But don’t think you’re getting out of it that easy, Farm Boy. We still have a lot to talk about.”

“If she’s anything like her mother, I’d be very, very worried,” Snow smiled. “So, boys, what’s it going to be?”

“We’ll go,” Leather nodded wearily. “But this isn’t over, not by a long shot!”

“It’s over when I say it’s over!” Chloe’s eyes glowed as she watched the two men walk away.

A flash of light enveloped them, and they were gone.

“Excellent.” Snow smiled, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “Drums, I need a trace on a teleport signal from my location. I want to know where Greene and Leather went.”

“Clark, go home and get dressed. I’ll be there in an hour.” Chloe turned round, anger glowing in her eyes. “Mr Snow and I have something to discuss first…”

*********************************************************************

Clark was looking out of the barn window when he heard Chloe’s car pull up outside. He looked down and saw that she’d changed back into her normal clothes and had pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail. She looked up at him and nodded, her face showing no emotion that Clark could read.

Clark started to pace back and forth anxiously as Chloe made her way into the barn and up the steps to the loft.

“Elijah is going to take care of everything at the hospital.” Chloe stood at the top of the stair, leaning back against the railing. “I think he’s a little bit scared of me at the moment. He said he was going to go to Metropolis and take care of a few details before we talk about what I’m going to do now.”

“I don’t understand.” Clark looked at her blankly, “What is going on?”

“Meteor Freaks are the least of our worries, Clark. The world is a lot stranger than we ever thought. I’m not sure I want to be a part of it, but I’ve got this huge responsibility as the long-lost daughter of Jenny Sparks. I’m just not sure I’m up to it.”

“You didn’t do too bad last night…”

“That was pure adrenaline, plain and simple. But that’s not why I came here… I need to know where we stand.”

“I don’t know.” Clark sat on the old sofa in the middle of the loft. “I have… feelings for you… I always have… but I don’t know what they are. I love you as a friend, but…”

“What happened in the Talon happened.”

“Yes. I don’t deny that I enjoyed it, but I was under the effect of the meteorite rock at the time…”

“Elijah told me what you are. He said to tell you he may know some people who might be able to shed some light on your past.”

“You know what I am?”

“Yeah, and I must say it answered a few questions.”

“You’re not mad that I didn’t tell you.”

“I’m more disappointed that you didn’t trust me, but I understand why. I haven’t always been the best friend you could ask for. Does Pete know?”

“Yeah, he found out by accident, so I had to tell him everything.”

“I guess that explains why you two are always going quiet when I enter the room…”

“I wanted to tell you Chloe, but I’ve always been scared of what might happen if anyone found out. Can you imagine what Lionel Luther would do if he knew the truth?”

“I have my suspicions, but I think he’s going to have his hands full for the foreseeable future. Elijah’s going to hand over some files to the FBI that implicate Lionel in the fire that killed his parents. They should be enough to put him away for a long time.”

“You’ve got some powerful friends these days.”

“They’re not the friends I’m worried about.” Chloe knelt down on the floor in front of Clark, “Ok, cards on the table: I love you. I’ve loved you from before I even knew what love was. Every time I’m about to do something I can’t help but think ‘what would Clark Kent think if he saw me?’. I don’t care if you don’t feel the same, but I’m not going to hide how I feel any longer. I just want to know one thing.” She looked Clark straight in the eye, “How do you feel for me?”

Clark sat there for what felt like an eternity, unable to do anything but look into Chloe’s sparkling green eyes.

“I…” He stopped, unable to find the words. He reached out with both hands and pulled Chloe close so he could kiss her.
Chloe lay with her chin resting on her arms, looking Clark in the face as he slept, and smiled. They had stopped short of crossing ‘that’ line, but it was clear to Chloe that Clark felt the same for her as she did for him.

“What are you looking at?” Clark asked, his eyes open only a few millimeters.

“I’m watching you sleep. That fight must have taken a lot out of you.”

“It was pretty intense there. You seem to be handling it OK.”

“Didn’t need to do that much. Just redirected electricity where I wanted it and watched the results.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Clark stretched before wrapping his arms around his new girlfriend. “What time is it?”

“A little after 6 pm… What time are your folks due home?”

“About seven, depending on how things went at the Farmer’s Market.”

“Are you going to tell them what happened? About us?”

“I don’t see how I can’t. They already know about me and the meteor freaks, so they should be able to handle the rest.”

“Ok, you tell them and I’ll tell Lana about us.”

“Maybe I should…”

“We live together Clark. I think it would be best if I told her. I’ll leave out things like ‘aliens’ and ‘superheroes’, but she deserves to know that we’re together.”

“What about your dad?”

“He’s known how strange the world is for a long time, so he can handle the truth about you. The idea of you dating his only daughter on the other hand…”

“That’ll be fun.”

“Hey, he was married to my mother. He’ll handle it.” Chloe rolled off the old sofa and stood up. “I feel different… better.”

“So do I,” Clark smiled, playing with Chloe’s hair. “I’ll phone you later. My parents will want to give you ‘The Talk’ about how much of a responsibility it is to keep my secret.”

“Yeah?” Chloe laughed, electricity dancing between her outstretched fingertips. “Maybe I’ll give them an example of what I can do.”

*********************************************************************

Clark was sitting at the dinner table when his parents came in.

“Any news on Chloe?” Martha Kent asked.

“Yeah. She’s fine,” Clark nodded. “She knows about me.”

“What happened?” Jonathan looked worried.

“It’s very complicated.” Clark looked up at his parents. “You’d better sit down…”

***************************************************************************

Chloe sat on her bed with her head resting on her knees. Lana had taken the news very badly, locking herself in the bathroom and refusing to come out.

Gabe Sullivan had taken things a little easier but was still a little shaken about how much danger Chloe had been willing to put herself in. He had sat her down for over an hour and told her the few stories he knew of her mother’s past, including how she won her VC. Chloe could tell it was painful for her father to relive the past he’d been forced to give up, but it had helped the two of them grow closer.

The bathroom door creaked open, and Lana slowly stepped through.

“Lana…” Chloe jumped to her feet.

“No.” Her friend shook her head, “It’s ok Chloe, I understand. Things have never worked out between Clark and me, and I guess I know why. The two of you have been friends for as long as I can remember, and that is the sort of connection I could never get in the way of.”

“We never set out to hurt you. Clark wanted to be the one to tell you, but I said it would be fairer on you if I did.”

“Thank you, and I know that you didn’t do this to hurt me. I’ve decided to take the scholarship in Paris…”

“Lana, you don’t have to go to France, not because of this…”

“No, it’s the best thing, for everyone. I’ve wanted to go ever since they offered me the place, but the only things holding me back was fear and Clark Kent. Lex helped me get over the fear, and I can safely say that Clark Kent is out of the equation.”

“It still feels like I’m pushing you away.”

“You’re not, really. I can’t stay in Smallville my entire life. It’s like a safety blanket, a link to what I lost. I can’t live my entire life in the shadow of my parents’ death.”

“You’ll always have a home here…” Chloe was interrupted by her cell-phone going off. She looked at the screen, and was surprised to see the name Snow. “It’s work. I’d better take it.” She flipped the phone open as she walked out onto the landing. “Yes?”

“Chloe, I’ve sorted everything out with the hospital and Sheriff’s office.” Elijah sounded pleased with himself. “All it took was paying for an entire new wing for Smallville Medical Centre.”

“You can afford it.” Chloe looked out a window. “That reminds me. You were executer of my mother’s will. I believe that most of her estate was to be held in charge until it could be handed over to the ‘appropriate person’?”

“You’ve been talking to Angie.”

“No, my mother told me. You can ask Jeroen for the details. I think we can agree that I qualify as the appropriate person?”

“I’ll have the papers drawn up immediately. Jenny was a very wealthy individual…”

“The money goes to my father. He needs it more than I do. I’m more interested in her personal effects: diaries, photos, keepsakes, anything that might help me understand her better.”

“Most of those are still in her house in London. I can arrange a jet to take you over there if you like.”

“As soon as possible. And I want to see her grave.”

“That can be arranged.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Now if you don’t mind, I’m expecting another call.”

***************************************************************************

For some reason, the prospect of having to face Martha and Jonathan Kent filled Chloe with more dread than facing off against Leather and Greene the day before. She slowly drove along the road leading to the farmhouse, wishing there was some other way.

Clark was waiting for her at the end of the garden path, a concerned look on his face.

“Hey,” Chloe hugged him, enveloping herself in the warm feeling of his body.

“Hey you.” Clark returned the hug, placing a kiss on Chloe’s head. “You ready for this?”

“What part? The ‘you must keep Clark’s secret’ talk, or the ‘now you’re going out you have to remember to be careful’ talk I got from my dad last night?”

“Your dad gave you that talk?”

“He remembers what my mother was like. I think I might have been channelling her a bit that time with the plant spoors.”

“So you’re not normally that, forward?”

“In your dreams, farm boy! I’ve waited too long for this to risk it by going too fast.”

“I can live with that. You ready for this?”

“No, but I’ve got to face them sometime.” Chloe started to walk towards the house. “One more thing… do you have a passport?”

***************************************************************************

The sun was setting as Chloe and Clark made their way out across the fields towards the caves, arm in arm.

“That went better than I expected,” Chloe said after a while. “Although I can’t help but feel that your dad still isn’t happy that I know.”

“He’s just unhappy that so many people know now. You trust Elijah to keep quiet?”

“You just leave Elijah Snow and his friends to me. I know enough of their own little secrets to keep them quiet.”

“Still channelling your mother?”

“I’m not sure. Sometimes, if I concentrate, I can pick up fragments of memory from her life.”

“Anything about you?”

“Love, only love.”

“I’m happy for you.” Clark stopped at the entrance to the caves. “You ready for this?”

“No, but it’s something we’re going to have to deal with at some time.” Chloe switched on the torch she was carrying. “He is your father, after all.”

***************************************************************************

“Who is this?” Jor-El asked from within the wall, “Why have you brought her here?”

“Her name is Chloe Sullivan,” Clark explained, “and I love her.”

“Unacceptable!” Jor-El bellowed, the entire cave shaking. “This is not the destiny I have set out for you…”

“Still the same old stuck-up tosser you always were.” Chloe stepped forward, her voice changing to a thick London accent. Her eyes were glowing, and her hair was standing out, streams of electricity flowing between the strands. “Hello sunshine, remember me?”

“Impossible!” Jor-El sounded shocked and scared. “Jenny Sparks is dead!”

“That may be, but part of me lives on in my daughter’s body, and I will not have you talk to her like that. You know what I could do, so you know what my daughter is now capable of.”

“NEVER!” A beam of energy shot out of the wall, aimed straight at Chloe. It struck her in the chest, but rather than hurting her, it flowed over her body.

“Nice try,” Jenny laughed. “Let’s see how much you like it!”

A blinding white light filled the room as electricity flowed out of Chloe’s body. It played across every surface like snakes, sending sparks everywhere. More energy flowed out of the wall, only to be met with another surge from Chloe.

“Stop it!” Clark yelled as loud as he could.

The maelstrom of energy died down.

“That’s better!” Clark shook his head. “This isn’t what Chloe or I want. You can’t run our lives for us, either of you. If we do have a destiny, then we’ll find out what it is on our own.”

“You do not understand how important you will be,” Jor-El protested.

“Maybe I don’t, and maybe I’m beginning to.” Clark looked at the changing images on the wall. “My eyes are open to how strange this world is, and for the first time, I’m beginning to understand my part in it all. This isn’t your world, and you can’t rule it from beyond the grave.” He turned to look at Jenny. “And you above all people should know how important it is for Chloe to find her own way.”

“He’s right you know,” Jenny admitted. “This isn’t our world, not anymore.”

“You may be right, but only time will tell,” Jor-El admitted. “I will think on this.” The carvings on the wall returned to normal.

“We have to let them make their own mistakes,” Jenny pointed out, before turning back to Clark. “You look after my daughter. I did a lot of things in my life that I’m not proud of. Chloe is one of the few things I can look back on with pride.

“I love Chloe and would never do anything to hurt her,” Clark nodded.

“You’d better not.” Jenny smiled as she relinquished control of her daughter’s body. Chloe fell like a puppet with the strings cut.

“Chloe!” Clark managed to grab her before she hit the floor. “Are you ok?”

“My head hurts…” Chloe moaned. “What happened? What I miss?”

“Nothing much. Your mom just made a little appearance. I have the feeling that she and my father knew each other.” Clark kissed her. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Yeah,” Chloe grinned, “but it’s not something I’m ever going to grow tired of…”

*********************************************************************


“We. Need. To. Talk.” Chloe had a dark expression on her face as she stalked across the Garden of Ancestral Memory. “Where do you get off taking over my body?”

“I guess that was a little rude of me,” Jenny shrugged as she blew a smoke ring into the air and watched as it turned into a butterfly. “But I had a little unfinished business with Jor-El.”

“How do you know him?”

“He visited Earth back in the 50’s, something about it being a learning experience.”

“And you just happened to meet him…”

“I was the Spirit of the 20th Century, a 100-years made flesh. I met almost everyone of any importance during my lifetime.”

“Ok, whatever,” Chloe shook her head. “Look, you can’t just go all Exorcist on me like that. I’m having enough trouble coping with everything without the prospect of turning into an alcoholic, chain-smoking English woman at any moment.”

“Ok, I get the point,” Jenny nodded. “But I reserve the right to take over if you ever get yourself into a situation you can’t handle.”

*********************************************************************

Chloe woke slowly, feeling more than a little disorientated. She looked round, finally remembering where she was when she looked out the window.

The Planetary Organisation jet was somewhere over the mid-Atlantic, headed for a small airstrip outside London. Snow had promised to meet them there, but was busy trying to cover up what happened in Smallville.

“Hey, you ok?” Clark asked from the next seat, taking his girlfriend’s hand in his own.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Chloe nodded, stretching out a little. “Just had a little word with my mom… She promised to keep out unless really needed.”

“That just sounds too weird,” Pete shook his head. “Then again, considering everything that’s happened, I’m going to have to redefine the word ‘weird’.”

“You think you’re having trouble coping?” Chloe raised an eyebrow. “You at least knew about Clark before all this. Somehow the Wall of Weird doesn’t seem big enough anymore.”

*********************************************************************

The rain beat down in unrelenting torrents, rivalling even the summer storms of distant Kansas for sheer ferocity. The jet taxied to a small hanger, allowing the three occupants to exit without being drenched.

“I guess all the old clichés about the English weather were true,” Chloe observed as she headed for the waiting customs official. “Strange thought… Part of me feels like I belong here.”

“Part of you does,” Clark mused, then saw the way his girlfriend was looking at him. “You are half English, after all.”

“All I know is it’s cold.” Pete shivered as he handed over his passport for inspection.

“Is it really?” Snow stepped out of the shadows. “The cold never bothers me.”

“It wouldn’t, you creepy old goat,” Chloe half smiled. “Is the weather always like this?”

“No, this is just a passing shower. The Met office says the rest of the week should be rather sunny.” Snow led the way to the waiting car. “Not that the heat ever bothers me either…”

*********************************************************************

“Nice place.” Pete looked up at the house near the center of London. “Your mom had good taste, Chloe.”

“She could, at times.” Snow smiled. “But her taste in music left a little to be desired.”

“She’s told me about your tastes, rag-time man.” Chloe winked. “Ok, let’s go.”

“We had to remove a lot of Jenny’s stuff after she died.” Snow led the way up the steps to the front door and, pulling a key from his pocket, let everyone in. “We couldn’t risk anyone finding certain items or papers that she’d collected over the years.”

“And her diaries?” Chloe asked.

“They are all inside: I had them recovered from the archives and returned when you said you wanted to see them.”

“Good.”

The inside of the house was filled with memorabilia from across the 20th century. Photos of famous celebrities hung on the walls, surrounded by framed newspapers announcing everything from the sinking of the Titanic, World Wars 1 and 2, the Apolo 11 moon landing and the fall of the Berlin wall.

“Jenny certainly got around.” Snow sounded almost jealous. “You wouldn’t believe some of the things she did and saw… the people she met. She had more of an effect on the 20th Century than anyone else you could mention.”

“She can’t have been that big an influence…” Clark laughed.

“Take Einstein and Picasso, then add them to Hitler and JFK, and you don’t even come close.” Snow suddenly looked very serious. “Jenny Sparks was one of the most powerful people on the planet, in more ways than one. Her heir, Jenny Quantum, the Spirit of the 21st Century, is even more powerful.”

“And this Jenny Quantum is where?” Chloe asked.

“She’s being looked after, by perhaps the only two people on the planet who could possibly cope with her.” Snow chuckled. “Although they say she’s even more of a handful than your mother.”

*********************************************************************

“You ok?” Clark asked when he found Chloe sitting in the small office at the top of the house. “You look a little spaced out.”

“I’m fine.” Chloe wiped away the tears from her eyes. “Just going through some of my mother’s personal papers, letters she started but never finished, half-written diary entries…”

“Chloe…” Clark walked over to his girlfriend and, kneeling on the floor, put his arms round her.

“I found this, hidden in a secret compartment of her desk.” Chloe held up an old photograph.

Clark looked at the image. It showed a young woman in a flowing sundress holding a small child in her arms. The woman’s eyes looked weary, but there was a contented look on her face that showed that maybe she’d finally found peace.

“I don’t remember much about my mother, but I remember the day that photo was taken. My parents were so happy… so in love.” Chloe was looking out the window, her eyes unfocused. “Why couldn’t she stay with us? Why did she have to leave like she did?”

“Your mother understood how dangerous the world really is. She knew that the only way to protect you was to leave, to make the world a better place.”

“Promise me you’ll never leave me like that.”

“Chloe, I would rather die than do anything to hurt you, but I can’t promise you something like that. If I were faced with the same predicament as your mother, I would do the same if it meant saving you.” Clark put his arms round Chloe hand held her tight. “This is the life we have chosen. To stand up for and protect those who can’t protect themselves. We have these gifts, and it would be wrong to use them just to help ourselves.”

“Like you did in Metropolis?”

“That was not something I’m proud off. It proved what I could be like if I ever let go, became what my father wants me to be. My powers don’t give me the right to do anything I like, headless of the consequences.”

“I understand,” Chloe nodded, “but I’m going to need your support for what I have to do next.”

*********************************************************************

The sun was shining brightly, almost mooching Chloe’s mood as she followed Snow across the seemingly endless graveyard. Pete and Clark hung back a little… There if she needed them but understanding that this was something personal.

“Jenny was buried with full military honours, as befitting someone who spent so long helping others.” Snow explained as they approached a sheltered part of the graveyard. “It was mainly thanks to her connections to certain parts of the British military that Jenny was able to spend almost her entire life in the shadows. There are, as you are no doubt aware from your own research, very few references to her in any history text.”

“Her name was mentioned in passing from time to time,” Chloe nodded, “and there are a few blurred photographs, but nothing concrete.”

“Jenny was very good at covering her tracts, even better than me. That was how she was able to keep you a secret for so long. It wasn’t until you started looking into her that we were able to find you…” Snow stopped. “I had the gravestone replaced when I found out about you. I hope you don’t mind.”

Chloe stepped forward and looked down at the marble slab that stood in the shadow of an ancient oak tree.

Colonel Jennifer Sparks-Sullivan, VC.
Beloved wife, mother, friend and companion.
Officer of the British Space Group.
Born January 1st 1900
Died January 1st 2000
“Bugger this, I want a better world!”

The small photo set in the middle of the gravestone showed Jenny with a smile on her face, a half-smoked cigarette hanging from one corner of her mouth. There was an unmistakable glint in her eye, like she knew something everyone else didn’t.

“Thank you for this.” Chloe turned and walked away.

*********************************************************************

“You sure she’s ok?” Pete asked as he sat in the lounge of the hotel Snow had put the three of them up in. “She’s hardly spoken in hours.”

“I guess it’s the shock of everything.” Clark rubbed his eyes. “She’s had a lot to get used to the past few days. It’s only understandable that she needs some time out.” He looked at his friend. “What are you drawing?”

“To tell the truth, I don’t have a clue.” Pete looked at the notebook he was holding. “I’ve been having these strange dreams the past few night. They’re like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

“Let me see.” Clark took the notebook and looked at the sketch. It was the most unusual thing he’d ever seen. Whatever it was, it looked alive, but seemed to have an unmistakable sense of shear scale. “It looks like a dog’s nose,” Clark commented. “What is it?”

“Like I said, I don’t know,” Pete shrugged, “but something tells me it’s real important…”

*********************************************************************

University of Metropolis
2008

“You took your time.” Chloe smiled as Clark walked across the quad towards her. “How was New York?”

“Busy, and rather useless: they still claim that they have no information on Krypton.” Clark shrugged as he put his arm around his fiancé. “It’s almost impossibly to get a Kherubim to tell you anything at the best of times, but since Snow told them what we found…”

“You can’t hold that against Elijah forever. He’s provided us with all the equipment and support staff we needed to get this thing off the ground. If not for the support of the Planetary Foundation or the Hark Corporation, you’d have never gotten this off the ground. Even with what happened to Pete after he found the travel stone, I don’t think anyone took you that seriously.”

“What about you? Did you take me seriously?”

“Clark, you’re talking about seriously changing the established world order. This goes beyond anything anyone has ever attempted before. You bet I took you seriously!”

“Have I told you I love you today?”

“No, and you’re not getting off the hook that easily. That Lane woman’s been asking after you again.”

“You’re not still holding that against me, are you?”

“You’re the one who kissed her…”

“I did not kiss her. She kissed me! I was the kissed, not the kisser!”

“You’re still sleeping on the sofa tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“God, you are easy some times! You’ve been away for over a week… Do you really think I’d kick you out of bed?”

“You can be very evil when you want to be, Chloe Sullivan.”

“Yes, and you love me for it.”

***************************************************************************

Planetary Field office, living quarters
2 days later

The phone started to ring. A hand reached out from under the bedclothes and groped around until it was found and pulled under the covers.

“Hello?”

“Chloe, it’s Elijah. Is Clark with you?”

“Yes, but you’ll have to fight me for him. He’s under house arrest ‘til the meeting Wednesday.”

“Chloe, it is Wednesday. Everyone’s here, waiting for the two of you.”

“Are you sure it’s Wednesday already? If this is some kind of joke, and you drag us all the way up there, I’m going to ring your neck…”

“Chloe, it’s Bruce. The meeting was supposed to start twenty minutes ago.”

“Well I know you’re not lying. You don’t have a sense of humor. Ok, give us half an hour to get changed and dressed and we’ll be right up. Tell Pete to circle the block or something.” Chloe dropped the phone back into the receiver.

“What was that about?” Clark asked from the other side of the bed.

“Snow. We’re late for the meeting.” Chloe pulled herself out of bed. “Be a good boy and put the coffee on while I have a shower.”

***************************************************************************

The Carrier

“You so need to stop letting your mom dress you.” Chloe snickered as they made their way along a seemingly endless corridor. “I’m almost embarrassed to be seen out in public with you.”

“If it’s that bad, why did you ask me to wear it in bed the other night?” Clark asked as they reached an elevator. “It distracts from the face. People see the outfit, not the person in it.”

“I still think a mask would have been a good idea.”

“This from someone who’s taken great pains never to be photographed?”

“It works.” Chloe chimed as the elevator came to a stop, the doors opening onto a very busy room. Technicians in Planetary uniforms were working at consoles set up in a barn-sized room that was dominated by a huge holographic globe.

Pete was leaning against the far wall, talking to a young woman. He said something that made her laugh and blush slightly, evidently the effect Pete wanted.

“Why is it that you men seem intent on using superpowers to pick up women?” Chloe asked, arms crossed with indignation.

“It worked with you, didn’t it?” Clark winked.

“Don’t push your luck farm-boy.” Chloe warned as she started to cross the room. “You could still end up sleeping on the sofa.”

***************************************************************************

“About time you got here.” Bruce Wayne was sitting on one side of the circular conference table.

Chloe glared at him as she sat down next to Show, Clark sitting next to her with Pete taking the next seat along. Jack Hawksmoor and Shen Li-men occupied two additional seats, but there were still several empty, giving the room an uncompleted feel.

“Right, now that we’re all here, we can begin.” Snow stood and started to walk around the table. “We are all here because we recognise that there are problems in this world that can not be handled by existing agencies. People are, for the most part, completely unaware of the daily threats to the very existence of our planet. It will not be long before we can no longer hide the true nature of the world we live in.”

“Elijah, you’re starting to monologue.” Chloe leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the table. “Our cosy little secret world is about to be blown wide open, and we have to decide just how we’re going to react when it happens.”

“I presume you have a plan?” Wayne asked, growing impatient.

“I do.” Clark nodded. “We can continue to fight the little fights… you in Gotham, Chloe and I in Metropolis… or we can join forces. Go after those who profit from the crime, from the secret deals and hidden agendas. We can make a difference. We can make a better world.”

“Planetary cannot get involved directly. We’re still to busy cleaning up after the Four.” Snow sat back down. “But we have contacts, people we’ve come across, things we’ve heard. There is talk of a warrior-priestess leaving the hidden city of Opak-Re to bring civilization to the rest of the world. The files we took from the Four suggest that there is an interplanetary organization dedicated to creating finer worlds. We are trying our best to contact the civilization hidden on an island somewhere in the Atlantic…”

“And what of this ship, this ‘Carrier’ as you call it?” Wayne asked, looking around the room. “I’ve yet to get a straight answer from you as to just what it is.”

“She’s alive.” Pete spoke up for the first time. “We don’t know her full story, apart from the fact that her original crew abandoned her after some sort of accident. We know she was built to travel between parallel dimensions by accessing what we call ‘The Bleed’, the wall between realities. From what she’s told me, she was originally a trading ship of some sort. When her crew abandoned her in The Bleed, she ejected what she calls ‘Travel Stones’ into the nearest reality. Our reality.”

“Mr. Ross encountered one such Stone while investigating a case in Smallville,” Snow explained. “He was the first living being to walk her decks for an unknown length of time.”

“She asked me for help, for guidance. I said yes,” Pete chuckled. “Guess I should have read the small print.”

“What small print?” Wayne looked slightly concerned. “What are you not telling me?”

“It would be easier to show you.” Pete stood and backed away from the table slightly. A strange blue light enveloped his body from head to toe.

When the light faded, a strange looking gold and grey suit had replaced Pete’s clothing. A strange looking cowl covered his head, while his skin and hair had turned the same shade of grey as his clothing. A golden cloak hung down from his shoulders, matching the sash wrapped round his waist.

“This is what I am now.” Pete held his arms apart. “The Carrier made me a superhuman so I can control her systems. Not all of them. It takes seven superhumans to operate a shift-ship, but most of them.”

“So what can you do?” Wayne asked; his previous concern lost to curiosity.

“I can control where in The Bleed the Carrier goes,” Pete sat back down. “She doesn’t seem willing to leave Earth, but I could take her out of The Bleed and into our reality with very little effort. You won’t be able to ascertain her full capabilities until we have recruited the other six people we need.”

“You think that you’ll be able to convince six other people to have a sentient ship with a serious fear of loneliness stick god only knows what into them?” Wayne laughed. “Why on earth would you want to do that?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” Chloe eyed the billionaire coolly. “Jack and Shen are leaving Planetary to help, but they’ve spent all their time in the shadows. Only you, Clark and I have operated overtly to any extent. ‘Superman’ is gaining quite the reputation. I have managed to remain a little more secret, but people are stating to talk about ‘Miss Electric’. And I doubt that anyone in Gotham truly believes that Batman is just an urban legend anymore.”

“In exchange for joining us and helping when we need you, you will be able to call on any of us, at any time,” Snow smiled, “as well as the considerable recourses of Planetary. Anna Hark is also willing to discuss a pact to stop Lex Luthor taking over where his father left off.”

“We need a public face that people will trust if we’re going to pull this off.” Clark stood. “So the question is this… Will you stand in league with us?”

Wayne sat in silence for sometime, his emotions unreadable behind the best poker face any of the others had ever seen. His eyes moved from time to time, examining the others one by one, trying to gage their reliability as an ally. Ever since his parents’ death, he had taught himself never to rely on anyone else, but there was something in their voices that made him believe that they truly wanted to change the world for the better.

“I can see the merit in your plan.” Wayne stood, offering his hand. “I think we can work together.”

“So do I.” Clark smiled as he shook the older mans hand. “Welcome to the Justice League…”

The End