The years had taught Lex how to tell when someone was lying to him. Unfortunately, they hadn't taught him how to tell what the truth was just by looking at someone.

Uncle Jon was lying about the accident. He absolutely knew more than he was letting on. But Lex wasn't sure what he was lying about, specifically. Maybe it was something about Clark—that seemed most likely. Maybe it was something about the town, or the bridge, or Lex himself—though if that were the case, he couldn't imagine how Uncle Jon would know about it when he himself didn't.

Lex held his suspicions close to the vest, though, as he spent the rest of the afternoon at the Kents' house. He took Clark's excitement about the fact that he was living nearby with joy, and he solemnly accepted Aunt Martha's light head slap for speeding and scaring her, along with her tight, teary embrace. He breathed a sigh of relief when the cookies came out of the oven and the topic of conversation changed as they all excitedly caught up with each other, and Clark excitedly asked whether Lex's new freedom from college meant they might take another trip to the island resort they'd visited a couple of years before, maybe along with Sam and Dean. Lex wasn't sure if he'd be able to get away from the plant for that long, but he assured Clark that the mansion had lots of extra rooms if the Winchesters wanted to come by and visit.

As soon as Lex was back at the mansion, he called the company that had pulled his car out of the water and asked them to ship the car to the mansion. Then he asked a few servants to clear out the biggest room in the mansion. If there was anything strange going on in Smallville, Lex wasn't just going to let it go. The Kents could be in danger.

Unless, of course, he really had hit Clark with his car, and Clark had peeled open his car and pulled him out. Lex had seen ghosts, and monsters, and meteor showers that had mutated those monster, not to mention altering Lex's own appearance for life. An immortal kid wouldn't exactly surprise him, even if it was Clark.

Lex ended up ruling out the immortality theory the next day.

He was driving home from the plant when something in the cornfield caught his eye—a scruffy-looking kid who emerged into the open and ran. He could have sworn the kid looked familiar. Actually, he reminded Lex quite a bit of the boy he'd seen die in the meteor shower, the day he himself lost his hair.

It couldn't have been that kid. But it startled Lex; it was more than enough to get him to grab a flashlight and jump out of the car. That's when he heard the weak cry for help, and he hurried into the field.

It was Clark. Stripped to his boxers, strung up to a post by his arms, a big red S painted on his chest. His skin was pale, almost blue with the cold, and his face strained with clear pain.

No. This kid was definitely mortal.

"Ah, jeez." Lex hurried to stand behind the stake, and he began untying the ropes around Clark's waist. "Who did this to you?"

"Doesn't matter," Clark said. As soon as he was free, he jumped down and grabbed his clothes.

He was more energetic than Lex would have expected from someone who had just been nearly frozen to death on a cross, but shock could do strange things to a person. "Clark, you need to see a doctor."

"I'll be okay." He took off running.

"Well, at least let me give you a ride!"

But Clark was already gone.

Lex almost ran after Clark, but decided to let him go—he wouldn't be able to catch up. He let his breath out and looked down at the dirt. Clark had dropped something—a chain with a bit of meteor rock hanging from it. Lex could have sworn it had been hanging around Clark's neck. He also knew where he'd seen it before. It belonged to Lana, that girl Clark was always talking about. He had no idea how the meteor rock fit into this whole thing, but years of experience had taught him never to ignore it when it turned up. He held onto the necklace.

By the next day, rumors were flying around Smallville about Jeremy Creek. Apparently, that was the name of the boy who had died in the meteor shower all of those years ago—he'd been found, not having aged a day. There were also whispers that Clark had been there when he was found, but Lex couldn't get any details about that.

That Monday, Lex confronted Clark at the farmer's market while Clark packed up crates of apples. "You want to tell me what happened last night?"

"It was just a stupid prank."

"You were tied to a stake in the middle of a field. Even the Romans saved that for special occasions." Lex lowered his voice a little. "You could have died out there."

"I appreciate your help. I just want to forget it ever happened." Clark kept loading in the crates.

Lex could sympathize with that, though he was still having a hard time believing Clark was telling him the full truth about the whole thing just having been a prank. "So, ah, heard about Jeremy Creek?"

Clark shrugged. "What about him?"

"Guy goes missing for nine years and suddenly turns up, and he hasn't aged? You don't think that whole thing is weird?"

"I mean, I guess."

"You guess." Lex frowned. "Rumor has it you met him."

"It's just a rumor, Lex. I'll catch you later." Clark loaded in the last crate and went to climb into the passenger's seat of the car.

That was an obvious lie. Clark was terrible at lying.

There was definitely something going on, and it was a lot bigger than just Lex and his car accident or Clark and some dumb kids playing a prank. Something that involved the strange and impossible, and probably the meteor rocks. Something that might put Clark and his family in danger.

If Clark wasn't going to talk about what had happened, Lex would find someone who would.

The story about Jeremy Creek was followed up a week later with even wilder rumors about a local teenager named Greg Arkin. According to all the evidence, he'd killed his mother, kidnapped Lana, and then ultimately disappeared. The stranger part, aside from a teenager going homicidal, was that the interior of the kid's house was found completely covered with bugs and spiderwebs, even though he and his mother had lived there up until a couple of days before.

Once again, the rumors involved Clark, who had supposedly been good friends with Greg growing up and possibly rescued Lana, though stories were mixed about that. According to separate rumors, in the same week, Clark had also saved Lana's boyfriend's life from a car that was about to burst into flames.

But this time, Lex didn't even bother questioning Clark. It was clear that whatever was happening, Clark didn't want to talk about it. Instead, he went to Lana.

He dropped by the stables where Lana kept her horse, waiting a few minutes for her to return. He'd accidentally gotten on her bad side a few days before by trying to play wingman for Clark—it was only fair, since he'd finally put two and two together that Lana's boyfriend had been the one to string up Clark in that field—so she glared at him when she saw him in the stables as she rode in. "You again."

Lex was used to people in Smallville treating him rudely. They were suspicious of strangers, Luthors, and rich people. "Just dropping by to make sure you're okay," Lex said. "I heard about what happened with Greg Arkin."

She dismounted, still frowning at Lex. "I'm fine," she said. "You didn't have to come check in on me, we don't really know each other."

"No. But you mean a lot to Clark, and he's like a brother to me."

She gave him a look. "Aren't you new in town?"

"In high school, I spent two summers on the Kent farm. It was some of the best time of my life."

"Oh." She led her horse into his stall. "Well, I think you're mistaken about Clark. We don't know each other very well, either."

"Really? Even though he saved your life the other day?"

She gave him a confused look. "My boyfriend saved my life. I don't know why people are saying Clark did."

Lex nodded slowly. Lana turned to head out of the stall, and Lex called after her, "What happened with Greg?"

She slowed to a stop, and she turned around to face him. "Honestly? I don't know. I have . . . vague memories, but they're . . ."

"Impossible?"

Lana's brow furrowed. "The doctors told me . . . the shock, you know?"

That was exactly what Uncle Jon had told Lex about the accident. "But you don't believe that."

She looked away. "This town is small, but it has its share of weird things."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Well, a lot of people say it's because of the LuthorCorp plant. The . . . pollution, you know?"

He'd heard that before. "And you?"

She didn't say anything.

This wasn't going anywhere. He needed to let her go. "If you ever want to talk about what you saw . . ."

"I think I'll be okay," Lana said, and she left the stables.

Lex let his breath out. What was with the people in this town?

He had another opportunity the next week when there was yet another impossible incident. This time, though, he was able to trace the rumors back to their source.

Smallville High had a weekly student-run school newspaper, The Torch. They'd run an article about Jeremy Creek, one about Greg Arkin, and, this week, an even crazier one—something about the football coach being able to spontaneously combust objects around campus. And the author of all of those articles was one Chloe Sullivan. Lex was pretty sure he'd heard Clark mention her in passing a few times. Her father also worked for the plant; he was a good man.

Lex decided to pay the school a visit. If anyone was willing to talk, it would be Chloe.

When he arrived at the Torch office, the first thing he noticed was a wall covered in newspaper clippings. He supposed it made sense as a sort of visual portfolio, but as he stepped closer, he realized most of the clips weren't from the Torch at all. A few from the Daily Planet, most from the Inquisitor, a handful from a scattering of others. They were all stories about weird, unexplained incidents in Smallville.

"Ah—Mr. Luthor?"

Lex looked over to see a wide-eyed blond girl standing beside her, gripping her book bag a little too tightly. He smiled as gently as he could—he was used to people feeling intimidated around him, but he didn't want her to be. "Call me Lex. You must be Chloe?"

"Uh, yes."

"Is this your work?"

"Yeah." She took a hesitant step closer. "I, um, I call it my Wall of Weird."

"I can see that." He went on skimming headlines.

She shifted uncomfortably beside him. "No offense, Lex, but why are you here? Shouldn't you be at the plant?"

"Call me curious. I'm a fan of your work."

"You read the high school newspaper?"

"A lot of interesting rumors trace their way back to you."

"That wall proves it's not just me, and I'm not making it up. So if you're here to laugh at me—"

"I'm here to ask why you think it happens."

Her breath caught. "Wait. You believe me?"

"You're not the only one who's encountered the unexplained. And the only theory I've heard to explain it is that it's because of the pollution my plant produces."

"Part of my dad's job is making sure that's not true."

Lex felt himself starting to smile again. "So what's your theory?"

"The meteor rocks."

He raised his eyebrows.

Chloe began pacing beside the wall. "Everything started in 1989, the year of the meteor shower. And everyone who's ever . . ."

"Made it onto this wall," Lex suggested.

She nodded. "It's always traced back to some kind of exposure to the meteor rocks. Take Coach Walters, for instance. His private sauna was full of them. And then . . . the fires started."

"You think the meteor rocks give people special abilities?"

She shrugged, looking at the wall. "The data speaks for itself."

"You don't think scientists have run tests on the meteor rocks to make sure they're safe?"

"I don't think scientists have tests to determine what the meteor rocks really do. They're from space, right?"

Lex nodded slowly. "It's an interesting theory. I like it."

"You agree?"

"Yeah, Chloe." He kept staring at the Wall of Weird. "I think I do."

So the meteor rocks didn't just mutate monsters. They could have effects on regular people, too. That made enough sense, and maybe it explained why Lex had lost his hair the day of the meteor shower, but Lex still wasn't sure what any of it had to do with the car accident, or Clark's mysterious survival. Unless Clark had been infected and had some sort of powers—but then, how had some high school bullies managed to tie him to a stake?

Lex didn't have any more time to contemplate the issue that day. His new position came with a lot of responsibility, and he had to head down to Metropolis to host a reception for several hundred fertilizer distributors. He couldn't have imagined a more dull way to spend an evening. He told himself he'd pick up research when he returned home.

Then, upon arriving home, he was arrested for bank robbery.