Although Sam picked up most of Clark's power when it was transferred, there were a few things that manifested gradually over the next few hours.

The most shocking one was the sensory input. Clark had never mentioned super hearing or smell being one of his powers. In fairness, it wasn't too overwhelming. But it was distracting. He could hear things from a long distance, see detail he had never noticed, and the smells were foul. Sam suspected Clark could control himself; it took Sam the better part of the day to get used to it.

The other one was the x-ray vision. It turned on and off at random until Sam could figure out exactly what to do to control it, both in terms of whether he was using it and to what depth. Until then, he might've been seeing detail he had never seen, but he was frequently uncertain about what he was looking at

Even having a handle on himself, Sam couldn't help with the fight. He couldn't be near the kryptonite. It seemed like such a waste of such incredible strength; the most powerful member of their team couldn't join the fight, and Lex and Dean didn't even know why.

He knew Dean was never going to forgive him for that, and Sam would never be able to explain why he made the choice he did. That was OK with him. He didn't expect to ever have much of a relationship with Dean again, anyway.

There was nowhere for Sam to be, so he went to visit the Kents. Maybe he could even tell them that Clark was OK and would be coming back to visit them soon, but he wasn't sure. He knew Dean and Lex would do everything they could to keep Clark safe, but on the off chance something happened with the demons, he didn't want to give Clark's parents false hope.

When he arrived at the house, he raised his hand to knock on the door, but realized the door knob was broken, the door itself hanging open.

He ran into the house.

"Ah, ah. Not a step closer."

Two men Sam had never met stood in the kitchen. Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon stood behind them, gagged, hands tied, and feet bound.

"Don't move," one of them said. "The boss wants them for leverage."

Adrenaline flooded through Sam's veins. Clark had been right. They were looking for him; they must have known his secret, or at least suspected something.

Aunt Martha stared intently at Dean, like she was trying to tell him something.

His heart sank. He didn't see Ellie; he hadn't heard her, either.

One of the demons took a couple of steps toward Sam, but a second one held him back. "We have our orders," the second one said.

The first demon scowled at Sam, and went back to grab Martha.

Martha screamed through the gag, and that was all Sam needed. He rushed forward and socked the demon in the face. "Don't touch her!" he shouted, but his fist really hurt. He suspected the concentration of kryptonite in the demons skin wasn't high enough to hurt him at a distance, but it was enough to weaken him with a touch.

The other one lunged for him, and the whole world slowed down.

Slowed to a stop.

Sam hadn't experienced the speed or reflexes yet. He hadn't had to. But now, faced with it, Sam knew the fight wasn't a fight at all.

He ran over to untie Aunt Martha and Uncle Jon, or rather, he walked over. He knew he must be traveling several times faster than sound, but it didn't feel that way. Then, he went to kick each of the demons away from the Kents—without the skin to skin contact, the kryptonite didn't bother him.

Even that took no time at all. He had time to search through the house for a marker to draw a devils trap on the ceiling above each demon—he was just tall enough to reach. Then he slowed to a stop.

He was thankful that Lex had insisted he take the time to memorize an exorcism. He knew that only a kryptonite mutant could exorcise an infected demon, but he suspected the powers might count for something. He focused on the demons as he did, the convulsions, the way they were thrown around the edges of the trap, until both of them spit up thick clouds of dark green fog that poured into the floor and disappeared, leaving two unconscious hosts on the floor of the Kent house, which was also covered in broken dishes and other items.

Finally, Sam turned two the people he had come to see. Both of them were staring at him in shock.

Right. Now he had to try to explain this.

Lex couldn't move his arms or legs. He couldn't even lift his back from the wall where it was pressed.

But he found his voice still worked. He thought about resuming the exorcism, but he suspected he would be silenced if he did. As it was, he still had his most powerful weapon. "Who are you?"

"Name's Crowley. And let me save you the time. Lex Luthor, billionaire's son. Dean Winchester, hunter. Clark Kent, nobody."

Lex didn't let his surprise show on his face. "Did you order these attacks?"

"On the Kent boy here? Not exactly. My people were supposed to bring him in."

"Why?"

Crowley began to pace. "Been looking into this town. There's more strange coming out of this place than most of the rest of the country combined, and I don't mean supernatural."

"Why is that?"

He stopped and shoved his hands in his pockets "Some people say aliens. Bollocks, if you ask me."

"And if we do ask you?"

"Haven't the faintest idea. Don't really care. But those meteorites, they have some interesting properties, now don't they?"

Lex swallowed hard.

Crowley smirked. "Call me an opportunist. An entrepreneur, if you will. He who controls the meteorites holds the cards."

"Controls them?"

"I seem to be the first person who's thought to mine them. Those meteor strikes 14 years ago sure packed a wallop."

"What, you've been infecting monsters with meteor rocks?"

"Now there's an idea." He exchanged a glance with one of his minions. "No. Not monsters. But demons, yes."

"And once they're infected, they're under your control?" Dean asked.

"No. But they do enjoy the benefits. And if they join my ranks…" He shrugged with his hands. "Unlimited supply."

It all still didn't add up. "What does this have to do with Clark?"

Crowley wandered over to Clark, who was still being held in place by one demon. He hadn't really been struggling for a little while; he seemed to know it was futile. "Well, you tell me. All the stories revolve around this nobody farm boy." He looked Clark right in the eyes. "What makes you special?"

"Me? I-I'm not special."

"See, that's what you want people to believe. And that's what makes it unbelievable. What teenager wants his friends, even his crush, to believe he's not special?"

Clark held his gaze, but Lex could see him breaking. He was such a bad liar. If they have a repaired their friendship, Lex might have to give him some pointers.

Crowley frowned. "But it's true," he said. "No, you're just as weak as the rest. No power radiating off of you, like my demons had me believe. Well. That is a disappointment."

Lex saw the shift in Clarks eyes as the demon gripping onto him dropped his guard; he only hoped Crowley wouldn't notice it.

All at once, Clark bolted for the warehouse. "Run!" Lex yelled, and he felt his arms and legs released as Crowley stalked after the demons, stopping just short of the warehouse.

Lex took the remote out of his pocket and flipped the switch. With or without the sprinklers, the demons would be trapped inside, forced to listen to the exorcism. Lex could just hear the rumbling of the speakers; the words weren't clear enough to affect Crowley.

Lex grinned, and a second later, he felt his back slammed against the wall again.

"Well played," Crowley said. "Can't say they didn't deserve it." He took a step closer.

Lex braced himself, but nothing happened.

"You gonna kill us?" Dana asked.

"Oh, no."

"Why not?" Lex asked.

"Because I, unlike my unfortunate lackeys in there, am not a complete and utter idiot."

That was the last thing Lex was expecting to hear.

"Believe me, boys, I would love to kill you. But I know what happens. I kill you, Dean, and your whole family and all those hunters you're friends with come beating down my door to avenge your death. Same with you, Lex, as well connected as you are, I suspect I'll have people trying to make deals. And I suspect if I kill the Kent kid, you two will come after me, and I'm right back in the same predicament."

"Damn straight," Dean said.

"I'd have to track down every last one of your family and friends. Now believe me, I could do that, but it would be a drain on time and resources, and frankly, I have better things to do."

"Are you proposing a truce?" Lex asked.

"For the time being."

"So what, this is over?" Dean asked.

"Is it ever?"

Lex hadn't entirely figured out what he meant when his arms and really legs were released, and Crowley disappeared.

As soon as he was free, he ran for the warehouse. Clark was helping one of the possession victims to his feet, asking him some questions.

Lex pulled out his phone and dialed 911, while Sam and Dean ran over to help the other victims.

At least for the time being, Clark was going to be OK.

It took a few hours to get everything squared away with the possession victims. For the most part, Clark kept his mouth shut and let Lex and Dean do the talking with the paramedics and, ultimately, emergency room doctors. Clark couldn't spin cover stories out of thin air like they could, despite having so much practice. He should take some advice from them.

Clark was sore all over. His wrists hurt from being tied, wrenched behind his back; his face hurt from the punches, and his neck twinged every time he turned his head, which was pounding; his legs and back ached from struggling. His arm stung a little, too, from the injection the doctor had given him—painkillers, she said. They didn't seem to be working.

Clark let Lex drive him home, but he didn't say much on the drive. He still wasn't sure how to feel about Lex. On the one hand, Lex's research had ended up being really necessary for their hunt. But Clark still felt a little sick to his stomach whenever he looked over at the man had once considered a brother. He had still betrayed him. And he had tried to take advantage of the situation with the demons to demand Clark's secret. Clark couldn't just let that go.

But for better or for worse, this wasn't really the time to be thinking about what to do about Lex.

He had to face his family.