"How much do you know about demons?"

Sam sat beside Clark in the study, Dean and Lex sitting on the couch across from them. It was mid-afternoon now, and although the tensions hadn't exactly gone away, everyone seemed to be in a better place to talk rationally now that they had had a chance to rest. Sam doubted he and Dean would be able to have much conversation after all this was over, and he wasn't sure how Clark would feel about Lex. But for the purposes of the hunt, they had all set their differences aside.

"I've read quite a bit," Lex said, "but the lore isn't always consistent."

"These demons won't work quite the same way as the ones we are used to," Sam said. "Meteor rock infection changes everything."

"Well, the devils traps still work," Dean said. "As long as you don't put meteor rock in the paint, go figure."

"Actually, that makes a lot of sense." Lex picked up a binder he had brought into the meeting. "When a monster is infected with meteor rocks, the meteor pierces through their defenses. But trying to contain them is different."

Dean rolled his eyes. "It's confusing is what it is. But at least we have something we can work with."

"But how is this going to help you?" Sam asked. "We don't know what the demons want, or where they are, or anything about them."

"We know one thing they want."

Sam looked up at Clark. This was the first time he had spoken since they all had gathered back together.

Clark took a deep breath. "Helen manipulated Lex to get information about me, and then those demons in Metropolis attacked me directly."

"You think they want you?" Dean asked.

"Unless you can think of a better explanation."

"That's... not how demons do things," Dean said. "Why would they want a random kid who lives on a farm?"

"Yeah, Clark," Lex said. "Why would they want you?"

Clark glared at Lex, and Sam looked away. He couldn't help thinking Lex had some guts, but then again, Sam couldn't blame Lex for suspecting something was up. Clark had been lying to him for a long time, and he really wasn't a very good liar.

"Does it matter?" Clark slid up to the front edge of the couch. "We know they'll come after me again. I'm not going home to my parents until I know they've been stopped."

"Clark, be rational, "Lex said. "We're not going to use you as bait."

"Does anyone have any better ideas?"

It was silent in the study. Sam didn't love the idea, but Clark was also probably the only one who could hold a fight against a group of demons. Not that the others knew that.

Lex shook his head in deep disbelief. "None of you are seeing any problems with this plan?"

"Lex, we'll protect him," Dean said.

"Like hell we will! But not like this!"

"Is there a way to summon demons?" Clark asked.

"No, Clark, you're not—"

"There is," Dean said. "And we probably have enough left behind by Helen to summon her."

"I don't like this." Lex shook his head.

Clark looked up at Dean. "But it will work."

Dean winced. "I don't know, Clark. Helen really doesn't know anything."

"But if we trap her and let her call for help, we might be able to get some of the others to come."

"Who's to say they will?"

Sam cleared his throat. "You guys didn't see them back in Metropolis. These aren't a bunch of random demons that happen to be infected with meteor rock. There's something more going on, I think they're working together. If we can find out who they're working for—"

"Helen didn't even know."

"But someone will. They're not going to be underestimating us anymore, which we can use to our advantage, because they probably won't just send one."

"Then we'll be ready for them," Clark said.

Lex scoffed. "I can't believe you guys are even considering this. Listen to yourselves. Using Clark as bait?"

Clark's voice rose. "Lex, I'm not nine years old anymore."

"You're not even 18!"

"Are you going to help us or not?"

Lex fumed for a moment, staring at Clark. "There's a storage building adjacent to the mansion. It would be a good place to trap demons, if you know how to do that."

"Devil's traps," Dean said. "I'll teach you all how to draw the sigil, but will have to figure out how to hide them."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I can get people to cover them with flooring. Will they still work if they're covered?"

"Yeah, they should."

"Great." Lex smiled. "I can get the pipes in the building filled with meteor rock infused holy water, so if we turn on the sprinklers..."

"That would be a good defense," Sam said. He didn't love the idea of using Clark as bait, either, but it was better than leaving him to be attacked unprotected, which was what they would be doing if they didn't go on the offensive. "Do regular exorcisms work?"

"No," Dean said. "We'll have to find another way."

"I suspect the speaker has to be infected with meteor rock," Lex said.

"So you could do it."

Sam blinked a couple of times.

Lex took a deep breath. "Aside from all this, if we're going to have demons coming after us all the time, I feel better if we had some devil's traps under the flooring wherever we're staying. Sam, see if you can get some in your dorm room. Clark, I can help you out with your house."

"My parents are going to love that," Clark muttered.

"Do they still not know?" Lex asked.

"I haven't told them about monsters."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Well," Dean said, "I'm going to load us up on holy water. Anyone else need anything?"

Sam glanced around the circle, but everyone else seem to be avoiding eye contact.

"O-kayy," Dean muttered, and he left the room.

Lex turned to Clark. "You don't have to do this, you know. "

"You're the only one who has a problem with it."

Sam raised his eyebrows, and he almost said something, but he decided it wasn't his business.

"Damn right I do."

"But you're helping us."

"So you don't get yourself killed."

Clark's jaw pulsed.

Lex leaned forward in his seat. "Do one thing for me."

"What?"

"Tell me the truth."

Sam clenched his teeth. He'd been all for Clark being honest, but it seemed low for Lex to take advantage of this moment. "Lex…"

"You do know, don't you?" Lex didn't take his eyes off Clark. "Why are those demons interested in you? I know there's something different about you. All the research I've been doing—"

"See, this is exactly why I cut off our friendship."

"Because your lies are more important to you than anything else!"

"Guys, stop." Sam put his hands out. "You guys can have this out later. Clark, let's go pick up some paint for those sigils, OK?"

"Good idea," Lex said. "I'll scope out the storage room and figure out how to switch out the water in the sprinkler pipes."

Clark got in one last glare before he followed Sam out of the room.

"Can you believe him?" Clark whispered, even though they were out of ear shot.

"I know, but he's got a point about the secrets. That kind of thing gets people killed on hunts."

Clark went quiet, and Sam knew he shouldn't push this anymore. He sighed and focused on the matter at hand.

Something occurred to him. "How are you going to be in that room with all the kryptonite sprinklers going off?"

"There's one way we could handle that. But I'd need your help."

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"About a year and a half ago, this guy, Eric Summers, stole my powers."

Sam blinked. "Stole them?"

"It wasn't on purpose. We were both holding onto a piece of kryptonite, and we got struck by lightning, and he ended up with my powers."

Clark seemed entirely too calm about this for Sam's taste. The fact that Clark's powers could be transferred from one person to another accidentally should have been more terrifying.

"It takes a lot of electricity, it was a one-in-a-million chance."

"But it happened again, to get the powers back to you."

"That took some planning." Clark shifted his weight. "I know it's a lot to ask. But if I passed my powers onto you, just temporarily, that would pass the kryptonite allergy, too."

"It would leave you defenseless against the demons."

"With all the kryptonite in the pipes, I would be anyway."

Sam was starting to like this plan about as much as Lex did. But he didn't have any better suggestions. "Fine," he said finally. "How do we do this?"

It had sounded like a much better idea before . . .

No.

It had always sounded like a crazy idea. But now that they were standing out at the power plant, having disconnected some of the cables, ready to hook himself up to them, Clark wincing and breathing hard from being too close to the meteor rock they'd found . . . Sam couldn't believe he'd ever even thought about agreeing to this ridiculous plan. "You sure we can't figure out a better plan than using you as bait?"

"They're going to come after me one way or another. This way, we'll have the upper hand when they do." Clark reached out a hand. "Can we get this over with?"

Sam nodded, and he held out the piece of kryptonite. With some effort and gasping, Clark put his hand on it as well. Sam picked up one side of the cable and Clark picked up the other, and after taking a deep breath, Sam used his elbow to flip the switch.

The pain was unimaginable. Sam wanted to scream, but his whole body, all of his muscles, were locked; he couldn't even open his mouth. He could hear Clark screaming beside him, but his shouts tapered off as Sam regained control of his own faculties. The pain from the electricity dampened, but a new pain arose. It took him a moment to figure out where it was coming from.

It was the kryptonite. Sam felt white hot needles piercing through his skin, fire coursing through his veins, and the worst nausea of his life all at once.

He dropped the cable, and Clark dropped to his knees, gasping.

Sam stumbled away. "The kryptonite…"

"Oh, sorry." Clark tossed it away, and the pain in Sam's whole body died instantly.

All of it.

Pain he had never known he had ever felt was gone. Weakness, fatigue, no more. He felt strong and healthy and energetic in every way. Was this how Clark felt all the time? Sam could seriously get used to this.

"Be careful," Clark said.

"Careful?" Sam stood easily, and he held out a hand to help Clark up.

"Yeah. Eric when a little crazy when he had my powers. They take some practice to control." Clark excepted Sam's hand.

Sam pulled him up, and Clark yelled in pain. Sam dropped his hand instantly, and Clark rubbed it out. Sam grimaced. "Oh. Sorry about that."

"It's okay."

"Wow. That's . . . this is how you always feel?"

"Yeah. It's useful in a fight."

"I bet it is." Sam hoped he wouldn't have to do any fighting; this wasn't about that. It was just about protecting Clark from the kryptonite. Their traps should be enough to take out the demons.

"So what now?"

"We still have to pick up that paint. We told Lex we would."

"Right." Clark looked away.

Sam frowned. "You know, when all this is over, you two should really try to work through your differences."

Clark didn't even respond to that. "You driving?"

"Yeah." Sam sighed. "Sure."