When he reached home, Clark took in a deep breath. Now snow was actually forming around him, and it was starting to scare him.

He walked past the truck and the windshield frosted over. He shook his head and began to walk up the steps to the house. The first one broke in half. Clark gave a silent curse.

Suddenly he felt a giant sneeze coming on. He didn't really understand it, since he hardly ever sneezed, if at all, but something told him to get away from the house. He zipped down the driveway and stopped. Then he let out a giant sneeze. He looked in front of him, and realized he had stopped in front of one of the trees. It now had a covering of snow, and was frozen solid. He looked at his hands. They were back to their normal color.

“Weird.” He thought, and walked back to the house, stepping over the broken stair and walking inside.

Immediately he smelled cooked dinner and one of the apple pies that his mom was so famous for. Sitting at the table was his father, reading a newspaper. He looked up when Clark walked in.

“So, how was your day, son?” Jonathon asked.

Clark gave him a look as if that wasn't the question to ask.

Martha looked at Clark. “Honey, what's wrong?” she asked.

“Where're Gabe and Lana?” Clark asked.

“Gabe went to Metropolis today for an interview, and Lana went to the Talon to do her shift.” Martha said. “Why?”

Clark looked at his parents.

“Because I've got a really big problem. Actually, I have two really big problems.”

Jonathon looked up with new interest.

Clark decided to just be blunt. “Mom, Dad, Chloe and Pete have my abilities.”

Jonathon almost dropped his mug, and Martha grabbed his hand to steady him.

“For how long?” Jonathon asked.

“I don't know. They don't have all of my abilities, but the ones they do have, we kind of just found out about them today.”

“Kind of?”

“Well during a lab in geology class a couple days ago, Chloe had the same reaction to kryptonite as me, and today Pete woke up floating and Chloe broke everything in sight!”

Jonathon immediately appeared unconcerned about Chloe or Pete. “You did a lab with kryptonite? How did you manage that?”

Clark became uncomfortable. “Well, I dropped the kryptonite, but we had to stay and finish the lab anyway. Chloe fainted before we could start and I ended up having to tell the teacher that I'm allergic to it.”

“Clark, you should have come to us. Who knows what could happen if someone finds out?” Jonathon stated.

Clark began to look a little irritated at his Dad's immediate jump to a lecture.

“Jonathon...” Martha warned, catching Clark's look.

Jonathon looked down at his newspaper. It was crumpled in his hand.

He took a deep breath and looked at Clark again. “So how did you say Chloe and Pete got the same abilities as you?”

“It definitely happened at the caves. Just before Jor-el and Lara came forward the light blasted out and hit them too.” Clark said, conveniently leaving out the part about the scars.

“Clark, when I had your abilities, the aftereffects were severe. I had heart problems, remember? This may seem ideal, but your friends' lives may be in danger.” Jonathon warned.

“Dad, Lara already said that my abilities shouldn't hurt anyone.”

“I still don't know how much I would trust them, Clark. It seems too sudden of a turn around.”

“Are you suggesting that they're lying?”

“No. I'm telling you to be careful. This may just be a last attempt to sway you to their will.”

“Regardless, I'm going to the caves tonight, with Chloe and Pete, and we're going to ask Jor-el some questions.”

Jonathon became protective. “Well we're going too, then.”

“Dad…”

“No buts, Clark. Jor-el and Lara may seem to have good intent now, but I just can't trust him after everything that's happened.”

Clark sighed and gave in. There was just no winning when his dad was like this.

“What's the second problem, sweetie?” Martha asked.

Just then, Chloe walked in, and everyone looked up.

“Hi.” Chloe said, as she laid her purse and book bag down. “So, Clark, did you tell your parents about your temperature dropping trick yet?”

“I was about to.” Clark responded.

“Really.” Chloe quipped. “I could tell by the hesitancy in your voice.”

“What temperature dropping trick?” Jonathon asked.

As if on cue, the temperature in the room dropped and Clark began to turn a pale color again.

“Clark, are you ok?” Martha asked. “I've never seen you so sickly looking.”

“The pale color goes away when this stops.” Clark told her.

“How did you get rid of it last time?” Chloe asked.

“I sneezed.” Clark said. “On a tree.”

Curious, Chloe quickly ran outside, immediately catching sight of the snow covered tree in the driveway.

“How in the hell did I miss that when I pulled into the driveway?” Chloe said to herself.

Clark walked outside too, along with Jonathon, and Chloe began to shiver again.

“Alright frosty, until you learn what the hell this is and how to use it, I'm going into the house so I don't die of hypothermia.” Chloe said.

“Chloe,” Clark protested.

“Alright, we're going to have to figure this out,” Jonathon joked, “Because this could seriously cause the heating bill to go up.”

“Dad, I don't even know what this is. I mean, heat vision was heat vision, speed was speed, but this is what?”

“I don't know, son, I honestly don't know.”

Suddenly Clark felt another sneeze coming on. He quickly zipped down the driveway again, but this time didn't get as far. He sneezed, and the cold gust hit Chloe's truck. It froze, not as much as the tree, but it definitely looked like it had been out in a snowstorm.

“Dad, I think I'm ok for now, so we should just focus on the caves first and then tomorrow, we can tackle this.”

“Clark, you can't put this in the background because of Pete and Chloe.” Jonathon warned.

“I know, Dad. I'll be ok until tomorrow. If anything happens, I'll head home right away.”

Jonathon gave Clark a stern look, but respecting Clark's decision, he nodded, and the two walked inside.

Later that evening...

Chloe, Clark, Pete, Martha and Jonathon stood in the middle of the caves.

“Lana was pulling out of the Talon when I passed, and she started to follow me.” Pete warned. “But I lost her on the way here.”

Clark looked gravely at Chloe and Pete and received a sharp glance from his dad.

“We'll worry about that later. Right now we have something else to do.” With that, Clark held up the octagonal key that fit into the hole in the cave wall. Immediately a light shot out and two holograms appeared. “Hello Jor-el, Lara.” Clark said.

“Hello Kal-el,” both Lara and Jor-el responded.

“This must be Jonathon and Martha.” Lara said. “It's nice to finally meet you. Thank you so much for taking in Kal-el. You will always have a place in our hearts.”

Martha looked at Lara.“How are you even here?” She asked.

“As you know, Kryptonians are an advanced race. Jor-el knew that the Krypton was going to self-destruct, so he designed a form of AI in this cave, which activated when Kal-el opened the ship. That way, although we perished, we would still be able to guide him.”

Then Jor-el spoke. “I glad that we meet under better circumstances,” he said to Martha and Jonathon.

Clark again reminded them why they were here. “I need to ask you something.”

Lara tilted her head as if to acknowledge Clark's request.

“Did you give Chloe and Pete abilities like mine?”

“No, I didn't. Lara and I can't do such things, unless it is temporarily done to help you or protect you.” Jor-el said.

“Then how…” Clark asked.

“The CPU unit. When you damaged it, it unleashed one last powerful surge of energy to try and sway you. Initially this was supposed to be used if you became out of control and power-hungry, but because of the malfunction, it saw fit to use it anyway.”

“So what exactly was it trying to do?” Clark inquired, a little afraid.

“In this case, it had planned to control your friends and use them against you, to make you do what it wanted.”

“So what happens now?” Chloe asked. “We could turn on Clark at any time.”

“How do I know you're telling the truth?” Jonathon asked sharply. “Why should I even trust you?”

“Jonathon, you'll have to learn to trust me. I'm not the same Jor-el you've been witnessing for the past year or so. I tell you now that it was a malfunction, not one that we had time to prepare for, so you'll just have to take my word.”

Jonathon clenched his fists. Martha put her hand on his shoulder.

“And now that the CPU at the alpha station has been damaged, Chloe and Pete should stay healthy.” Lara said. “But since it gave you Kal-el's abilities, we can't take them away until we repair it.”

“What about the scar?” Chloe burst out.

Clark and Pete both glared at her.

“Sadly, we can't get rid of those yet either.” Lara told them. “But since the scar was used once before to control Kal-el and because we need time to re-route the power from the damaged sector you should be careful anyway.”

Chloe and Pete nodded.

"You have the scar again?" Martha exclaimed.

"Clark, why didn't you tell us?" Jonathon asked.

Clark gulped. "I didn't want you to worry. You seemed to have enough on your mind."

"Clark how many times do I have to tell you? You don't have to keep things from us." Jonathon said.

"I know, Dad. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Just remember that we're always here, no matter what."

Clark smiled.

“Okay, so far I know that Clark has abilities, which Chloe and Pete now have. Clark's real name is Kal-el, and his parents are Lara and Jor-el, who come from Krypton, whatever that means.” She thought.

Suddenly, something clicked in her head.

“Krypton is no country I've ever heard of, unless it's a small, war plagued country in Africa or something.” Lana thought. “But it can't be, because we're studying Africa and Asia in Geography now.”

She let that thought process for a minute.

“Wait a minute, what if Krypton is a planet?” she thought. “Oh my god. Clark's big secret is that he's an alien?” she asked herself.

Immediately she ran from the caves, dialing Lex's cell. When he answered, she said, “Lex, this is Lana. I just figured out something really important. Meet me at the caves, I'm…”

Just then, she bumped into someone and lost her cell. Looking up she realized it was Whitney. “Oh, no!” she muttered.

“Oh, yes.” Whitney spat back. Then he grabbed her, stepped on her phone and sped away.

On the other end of the line, Lex said, “Hello? Lana? Anyone? Is anyone there?” and then static was heard.

“We don't really understand why Chloe is not susceptible to the red parts of our planet.” Lara explained. “However, I would keep a look out for other abilities surfacing in both of your friends, Kal-el, because they can be very damaging should your friends not understand how to control them.”

Suddenly the holograms began to fade and blink.

“Jor-el? What's going on?” Lara asked, frantically.

“I don't know! There must be some power left in the unit.” Jor-el said, unsure.

“Get out of here!” Lara yelled to the group. “When that light explodes you'll be hurt.”

Chloe and Pete had already begun to run, and Clark began to speed toward his parents to get them out. Lara and Jor-el faded completely and the symbols on the wall began to turn and change position. The walls opened and the offending light shot out again.

“The AI in the alpha station is smarter than Lara and Jor-el give it credit.” Clark thought.

Clark couldn't get his parents out in time, so he stood in front of them to protect them. However, the light grabbed Martha, and flung her on the ground, where her head hit a rock and she fainted.

Chloe and Pete, realizing that Clark hadn't followed them out, ran back inside to try and help. Everything was so bright that neither could see anything. Chloe walked into it anyway, desperate to save Clark.

“Chloe, are you nuts?” Pete cried out, but followed her in.

“Chloe? Pete?” Clark yelled. “Don't come back in! Run!”

Chloe tripped over a body on the floor and fell. Turning around she realized it was Martha. Chloe began to check Martha's pulse when the light knocked her into a wall, leaving a huge Chloe imprint. Her scar began to burn.

Now the beam was slamming Clark repeatedly into the wall.

Jonathon was awake, but weakened a great deal. “I knew that Jor-el and Lara set Clark up.” He thought, helplessly watching Clark be tortured, and trying not to faint.

“Mr. Kent!” Pete exclaimed, when he ran into Jonathon and realized who it was. “Are you alright?”

“Pete? We have to help Clark and get Martha out of here.” Jonathon said.

A worm like light suddenly came at Pete from behind and pulled him inside the wall.

Jonathon's eyes opened wide as he was faced with the one thing that had plagued Clark ever since he put the heart in the spaceship.

It shot through Jonathon, creating a familiar pain. It continued to do so, for how long, Jonathon didn't know, until he heard the noise of someone entering the cave.

“Lana?” Lex yelled. Then he noticed the white glow coming from the cave wall.

By this time Jonathon was passed out on the floor.

Lex noticed the light hovering over Jonathon's body and it began to come toward him. Lex followed his immediate instinct, which was to run, but the plasma was too fast. It snaked around him and began to engulf him. Lex continued to fight against it. However, before it had a chance to do anything, it stopped and receded into the wall.

Lex sat up and noticed that the Kents, Chloe and Pete, lay in the dirt, unconscious. “Clark?” he yelled.

“Lex? Run...” Clark whispered.

Lex looked up to see Clark held on the wall, a snake of white beam shooting into him. The shock on Lex's face was apparent.

With some of the madness left over from his time on the island, Lex ran and jumped in front of Clark, and Clark collapsed on the floor, still awake.

However, Lex wasn't the intended target, and all of the snakes of light disappeared, this time leaving the cave wall open.

Clark was still a bit groggy, but managed to stand up.

“Thanks,” he breathed.

“Clark, what the hell just happened?”

Clark just looked at Lex innocently. Lex knew that there was an excuse in the making.

“Clark, you do realize that you can tell me the truth, right?” Lex said.

Clark didn't respond, only to look around, wondering which unconscious person to run to first.

Most of Clark's buttons had broken off in the process, revealing a lot of the scar.

“Clark, what's that?” Lex asked, noticing it. “Did that light burn you?”

“No, it's nothing.” Clark said. He quickly tried to button up his shirt, but realized that the buttons were gone.

He gave Lex a look that said, “Now is not the time.”

Lex took the hint. “Clark, I'm going to call an ambulance.”

Panic appeared in Clark's face. “No.”

“Clark, they need medical attention.”

Suddenly Pete woke up, and through his blurred sight he saw Lex. He stood up, and stumbled out. At the same time, everyone else began to wake up.

Lex made sure everyone was ok before he turned his attention to the open wall.

“So how did you do it?” Lex asked.

“Do what?”

“Open the cave. I've had people down here for months trying to open it, with no success, and suddenly you walk in and it decides to open and try to kill you.”

Lex began to walk inside, but before he could, the wall closed and the symbols turned back to their original positions.

“That's rather interesting.” Lex noted.

Clark walked over to the wall. Just as Lex began to look around at the other symbols, the key formed and fell out of the wall. Clark caught it quickly and tried to hide it.

His attempt was futile. Lex had seen it, and he glanced over at Clark inquisitively.

“Clark, where did you get that?” Lex asked.

“Get what?” Clark said innocently.

“Oh don't give me that crap Clark. I saw the key in your hand.”

“I think you've pried quite enough.” Jonathon said.

“Well, considering that the key was mine before the huge twister, I think I have a rightful claim to it.”

“It doesn't belong to you.” Pete said, with venom.

Lex glared at Pete. “As much as I'd like to stay and argue with you, there's a matter of higher importance. I found this outside.” Lex held up a cell phone. “It's Lana's. We were discussing business about the Talon when it dropped and went dead, so I tracked it to here. As you can see, it's smashed.”

“Any idea which way she went?” Clark asked.

“Actually, no. I was hoping to find a clue here.” Lex told him.

Suddenly Clark heard Lana. “Whitney, put me down right now!” she demanded.

“Lex, I've got to get something before we look for Lana.” Clark said. He then turned around to leave with a bruised Chloe, Pete and his parents.

Lex responded with a nod, but inwardly he seethed at Clark's obvious mistrust of him.

Metropolis, in the office of Lionel Luthor…

Lionel looked at his computer screen. It was filled with a live video feed. Little had Lex or Clark known, but he had recently equipped the caves with well concealed cameras. The video currently running on the screen had been quite enlightening to him.

“I knew there was something odd about that boy.” Lionel said aloud.

Lionel brought up a draft of his research on the side. It had formulas for the chemical that Whitney had been immersed in, and plans for the project. He minimized and saved the cave video to two USB keys, one which he put into his safe, and another copy in his pocket, and made a mental note to check the earlier video feed as well.

Sitting down again and flicking through the research, Lionel thought about the project.

C-II was an attempt to find a cure for his progressing liver disease. It was based on the extraordinary blood he'd found during his brief dealings with Morgan Edge, only to later learn the blood was Clark's. So far the tests showed promise. The blood sample used on specimens caused increased effectiveness and stimulation of the immune system, not only to viruses but anything foreign and potentially harmful. Specimens with the blood introduced also exhibited a very high healing factor greater than fifty times that of a normal human being. It seemed as though he had found his miracle cure - except for one thing. Only one problem stood in the way of his success. In order for Lionel to be able to recover from his disease he would need an injection of the superior white blood cells, from someone with the same blood type. Clark's blood type hadn't been defined yet and he couldn't very well be injected with white blood cells of animals. Thus, Whitney came into play. Whitney was already accepted to be MIA, leaving Lionel to do as he pleased with him. But as with research, there were many more obstacles to come. For one, the serum of refined meteor rock had reacted to Clark's blood almost violently, and they couldn't be sure if Whitney's antibodies would react the same way. Second, not so much a 'problem' as an unexpected event, was Whitney's development of superhuman strength, speed, and slight invulnerability. Lionel could only surmise that since this blood came from Clark, Clark must exhibit all of those abilities. Third, Whitney's mental state hadn't been examined yet. If he was termed mentally unfit, the 'miracle cure' couldn't be given to Lionel. Of course, that was why they had released Whitney, with a tracking device, to monitor his actions once freed and recapture him once the study was done.

Even though this was a fairly quick pace for research, Lionel still wasn't satisfied. He worried that death would claim him before the cure ever became safe enough to use. So he took drastic measures. He commissioned Dr. Vera, the head scientist of C-II to work on an alternate solution in addition to her normal duties. It worked. Two weeks later she had found a quick but painful solution: direct injection of a solution of the potent meteor liquid and blood into the body instead. Today the first results of that study lay in his desk.

However, between those long days of research and now, something had changed. He knew why Clark Kent was special. He knew why the DNA was so unique. That fact alone could be the key to the project, but the only way to use it was if he caught Clark, and did tests on him.

Before he dealt with Clark, however, Lionel needed to contain Whitney. The teen had caused enough damage and Lionel needed him back for more tests. Normally Lionel would let his men fetch Whitney, but this time he wanted to do it himself. Vera had warned him there might be adverse effects from the liquid injection, maybe even abilities like those exhibited by Whitney. He wanted to test those abilities against Whitney's and bring Whitney back to the lab.

Lionel looked around cautiously. Closing the curtains to his office, he unlocked the top drawer of his test and took out a syringe. Rolling up his sleeve he took the cap off the vial and injected it into himself, clenching his teeth until the full dose was administered. The effects were immediate. He could feel himself getting stronger, more powerful. Glancing in a small mirror to his side he noticed his irises now had a green tint. “Excellent,” he thought. This was the confirmatory check to make sure the serum was functioning. He quickly replaced the vial in the desk and opened the curtains.

He closed the research on his computer and logged out, and then called the pilot of his helicopter. “Prepare to leave in half an hour,” he said.