The sun was high overhead when Chloe walked out into the afternoon, shivering despite the warm air around her. It shouldn't be a warm, sunny day the day that you had your mother committed. A day like that, she felt, should be dark with heavy and ominous skies.

Leaning against the brick building, she hugged herself and closed her eyes. It should look like she felt.

A moment later a chill had her shivering and she looked up to see the sky clouding over.

Perfect. "I wasn't serious!" she protested.

"Forgive me for intruding, Miss Petrelli," a cultured voice interrupted pleasantly, "but you seem quite troubled and you really needn't be. What happened to Mrs. Sullivan was really the best for all concerned."

Chloe lowered her gaze from the heavens and blinked owlishly at the limousine which had apparently appeared out of nowhere. God, she was slipping.

She didn't ask exactly where it had come from, or how; too many answers that had the potential to get too damn weird and she wasn't in the mood. "I'm sorry?" she said. "I think you have the wrong person." And she couldn't be happier for it. The car was practically screaming for her face on milk cartons, and Clark running around looking aggravated.

Not that he really needed something new to do that. Aggravated seemed to be a personal state lately. Lana had that effect on him. "You really can't trust cheerleaders you know," she said, suddenly. "Especially not when they up and quit to 'find themselves'." Finding themselves usually involved white knights (or, in this case, aliens) with a martyr complex and a hot blonde best friend.

"Oh my dear Miss Petrelli, you've no idea just how right you are, or how terrible a liar." The white-haired man smiled affably at her from the gleaming car. "You see I am quite certain that you are the young lady I'm looking for and you know why. Your adoptive mother told you as much before she slipped back into that rather unpleasant existence of hers."

Chloe took a wary step backward. The milk carton image was getting clearer by the second. "Okay, who the hell are you?" she asked, as a cold rain began falling around her.

"I believe you've already begun to suspect the answer to that," he said, and got out of the car and stood beneath the waiting umbrella held by his driver. "To be polite, however, I am Mr. Linderman," he held out his hand, dropping it when she ignored the gesture.

"You see, I'm quite sure that Moira, the earnest guardian that she is, told you all about what your real father did and why he entrusted you to your adoptive parents." Linderman smiled. "You know, your mother will be so relieved to see you. Also, I expect she'll be quite proud of you as well. You've made quite the name for yourself in Metropolis." He reached out to pat her shoulder. "It's the Petrelli in you, my dear; you just can't help but rise to greatness."

Chloe jerked back and away from him, shaking her head firmly as the rain fell harder. "No," she insisted, "that woman isn't my mother and I'm not going to go see her." Angela Petrelli was a name from the society pages, the mother of a new political dynasty if her son Nathan had his way. "Thank you, but you've got the wrong woman. So have a nice trip back to New York. Whatever you and Lurch have in mind for me isn't going to happen."

"No, it's not," someone agreed.

Chloe barely had a chance to register the words spoken by an unfamiliar voice before another hand grabbed her and the world winked out. The sky cleared as Linderman's driver's hands closed around empty air.

*

The warehouse she next found herself in was dank, cold, and clearly abandoned but Chloe barely noticed any of it. Still held tight in her kidnapper's arms, she yelled for help and shoved her elbow back hard. He grunted in pain and stumbled, giving her the chance to twist free and round on him. He was a stranger to her, Japanese, and wielding a soul patch. Who the hell had soul patches anymore?

"What the hell?" she snapped, whacking at him with the only available weapon. "You kidnapped me!" And technically did so through teleportation but she'd get to that later. Right now she was pissed off and hit him again.

Her purse made a satisfying thwack when it connected with her shoulder, it was kind of therapeutic. For his part, her rescuer didn't flinch when the bag struck him just said, "You're welcome." Apparently elbows to the stomach were his Achilles heel and not handbags. Good to know for the next time he showed up and beamed her up.

"Welcome?" Chloe echoed in disbelief, digging through her bag in search of her phone. It was so damn typical. She'd been kidnapped by an escapee from the Matrix and she couldn't find her damn phone. How hell was she supposed to call in the Kryptonian cavalry when she couldn't find her phone?

Still fumbling for it, she felt a perverse sense of satisfaction. At least she was proving Clark wrong. She couldn't need the cell surgically removed, if she couldn't even find it.

"Yes, you're welcome, because if I hadn't saved you, Chloe, Linderman would've taken you." he said, patiently watching her. "As you like to remind me, you're too important to the future to let someone like Linderman have you."

"As I remind you?" Chloe said. "Who are you?"

"Hiro Nakamura," he said. "And yes, you. And from my perspective, Chloe, you and I have been friends for quite some time. We've been trying to save the world together."

"Oh my god," Chloe said. "I'm Trinity."

Hiro looked pained. "You have a destiny, Chloe, and it's a lot bigger than playing Girl Friday to Clark Kent." He looked at her. "No matter how impressive his abilities may be."

She paled. "Clark? You know -- "

He nodded. "Yes, I do." He smiled. "You're going to trust me when you meet me, Chloe. The truth about him is the least of the secrets we've shared."

Chloe blinked. At some point that wasn't now, she was going to meet this guy, who, she hadn't met yet, but who already knew her. She was going to trust him enough to tell him about Clark? Somehow, she found that hard to believe. "You know, compared to everything I've been through lately, this isn't actually all that screwed up. Okay, let's get this straight, I haven't met you yet, but you've met me and we're good friends?"

He nodded.

"How do you keep it straight?"

"The tenses are killer."

"Must make your head swim." God knew that hers felt like it was in a fog. As a matter of fact, there was fog creeping past the loading dock's doors and wasn't that just timing. Sighing, Chloe rubbed her forehead. "Why?" She asked. "Why would my fa--why would Mr. Petrelli do this to me?"

Hiro looked sympathetic. "Your father sent you away because he was trying to save you. It was the only way that he could think of to keep you safe."

"Yes, but safe from what?" Chloe sighed. "Never mind, I don't want to know."

"Yes you do," Hiro said. "You can't help yourself that way." He reached out, grasping her shoulder. "If you want answers, you'll find them in New York with your brothers. They need help and you're the only one who can give it to them."

"You're not going to give me some cheesy speech about saving the world, are you?" She asked with a frown.

"Not unless I want to get hit by lightning," he said. In the time it took Chloe to take a breath, Hiro disappeared

"Uh huh." Left standing in the abandoned warehouse, with absolutely no idea of where she was, Chloe just sighed. "This is supposed to be weird," she told herself. The problem was, in Smallville, weird was graded on a curve and this one fell pretty far down on it.

She shook her head and walked toward the loading dock, digging through her purse again. Where was that damn phone?

*

"So, you're my little sister?" Peter Petrelli looked as skeptical as Chloe felt. "Are you sure?"

"No, not without a DNA test, I'm not." Chloe shrugged. "But some guy with a fetish for black, and sharp pointy objects, shows up and tells me I'm Chloe Petrelli and I have to help my brothers save the world? A healthy dose of skepticism is a good thing."

He flashed a quick grin. "Point taken." Peter looked at Hiro. "You're sure?"

Hiro nodded. "Yes. She knows where we have to go."

Chloe blinked as the pieces fell into place. The arctic. The Fortress. "Oh no," she shook her head firmly. "No, no, no, no, we are not going where I think we're going."

"Chloe," Peter reached out for her, grasping her hands and God he reminded her of Clark. Which was not a good thing; she was not supposed to think that her brother reminded her of the guy she'd been half in love with since she was a kid. That was definitely not kosher. "We need to do this, I've been trying to see where it is but it's like something's blocking it."

"See it?" She frowned. "Like psychically see it?" She knew the Fortress had security systems but she'd walked right in there. "Must be an EM frequency thing or something that's blocking you -- what?" She stopped, mid-sentence, and looked blankly at Peter. He was watching her intently. "Hey, big brother? You in there?" She reached up to tap his forehead. "Oh, emo boy, are you home?"

"I am not emo," Peter insisted. "I'm just surprised."

"By?" Chloe raised a brow.

"By the fact that you're not," he said.

"I'm not what? A natural blonde?" Chloe said. "Only my stylist knows for sure."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised that you're not surprised."

"God no," Chloe snorted. "See, I had this boyfriend a few years ago. Nice if you ignored the fact he was telekinetic and a little crazy. We had a fight over something not really important, and he knocked me out with a horseshoe, and then came after me with a chainsaw. And I should point out that when he attacked me? It was in the 'look Ma, no hands' sense of attacking. Believe me, Peter, Smallville only gets weirder. Crazy chameleons pretending to be my best friend, guys showing up from the future, people teleporting me across the country to meet brothers I didn't know I had?" She laughed, sitting down in one of the plush chairs that decorated the room. "I see weirder than this at the Friday night football games."

"Peter?"

Chloe looked back at the man in the doorway. Nathan Petrelli. Her brother. God, if her editor could only see her now. Not that she was in any rush to tell anyone at the Planet. This was a little too "Days of Our Lives" and she'd make a lousy Sami Brady. "And the other big brother arrives."

Nathan fixed an intense stare on her; she suspected she was supposed to be intimidated. Unfortunately for Nathan, she had way too many death threats and ominous Luthor looks under her belt.

She gave him a little wave and a too-bright smile. "Yes, hi, I'd be the long lost sibling. I promise I'm not here looking for a share of the family millions. Though, there is this guy I could use a little help with -- don't suppose you know anybody who's good at breaking kneecaps?"

"Yes."

Oops. Chloe bit her lip and looked at Hiro. "Are you sure about this, Hiro?"

He nodded. "Very."

"Still not sure I believe you," she sighed.

Nathan didn't look like he believed Hiro either. He gave Peter a look over her head and Chloe resisted the urge to look and see Peter's response. "Peter?"

"Hiro says it's her, Nathan." Peter said. "Her name's Chloe Sullivan. Hiro said that Dad gave her with people who used to work for him -- Gabe and Moira Sullivan."

"Hiro, apparently, is never wrong," Chloe said.

"He isn't," Nathan said. "I remember the Sullivans."

Chloe sighed. "Damn. I was kind of hoping that this time might be an exception to the rule." She looked at him. "Sorry."

"It is okay," Hiro smiled. "You have been having very bad day."

"God, have I ever," Chloe said, rubbing at her forehead. "Okay, other than this mother that I'm supposed to be hiding from, are there any other relatives I should be meeting? Or am I the family secret nobody talks about at holiday dinners?"

"I have tw--" Nathan hesitated. "I have three children. But -- "

"We'll work up to the kids." Chloe said, nodding. She wasn't exactly eager for that conversation either. "So, why exactly is it that you all need to know where something is in the Arctic? A something, it should be noted, that only I, the long lost little sister, know the location of."

"There's a man named Linderman." Nathan said. "He insists there's some kind of secret facility hidden in the arctic that he says holds some kind of alien technology." His derision slipped into the words and Chloe only wished she could share it. The way he was looking at her now, she suspected her face was good and pasty. "Don't tell me."

"Okay," she said weakly. "I won't." Clark was going to freak.

"So, aliens?" Nathan looked at her and Chloe looked away, watching the New York skyline.

"Alien," she responded. "One. Okay, more than one." She sucked in a breath. "Some of them were responsible for Dark Thursday."

Nathan groaned. "Aliens caused that?"

"Uh, sort of," Chloe agreed. "There might have been a little attempt at world domination."

"And we barely heard anything about it?"

"It's Kansas," Chloe finally looked at him. "Who notices Kansas?"

"I should, apparently," Nathan muttered.

She laughed. "Don't worry about it, we've got it covered. The alien meglomaniac bad guy is long gone, hopefully never to return, and the alien hero type has no interest in ruling us all." She didn't think it would be a good idea to mention that he was too busy chasing down escapees from an alien prison. She suspected that probably fell under the category of 'too much information'.

"But his lair is still there?" Nathan looked irritated and Chloe felt sorry for him. This wasn't exactly the best introduction to Smallville and its special brand of weird. "In the Arctic."

"It's not his," she admitted. "Remember the other alien I mentioned? It's his. I can't really explain more than that, it's kind of a long and complicated story. A story that I really can't tell without his permission. I can say that I trust him and, all things considered, it's safest in his hands." She leaned against the balcony, feeling the grit of the stone bite her hands as she gripped it tightly. "Besides, it's all he has left of his home and I'll be damned before I let anyone take it away."

Nathan smiled, surprising her. "You haven't changed a bit, have you? Just as stubborn as you always were."

Chloe looked at him. "You remember?"

"Of course I do," he said. "You were almost two when Dad sent you away; he made me promise to keep it to myself. In case Mom tried to find you. I didn't even tell Peter." He reached out awkwardly, briefly resting a hand on her back. "You used to cry if I didn't pretend to fly you around the room." He looked faintly amused. "These days, I could do it literally -- "

"You can fly?" She squeaked. Clark was going to be so jealous.

"Why does everyone keep reacting like that?" Nathan asked.

"Dork," she said, the tease slipping out before she could stop it. She shook her head, smiling. "I can't believe this. I have brothers and they've got superpowers."

"Just wait until yours kick in," Nathan said, his tone wry. "That's when it really gets fun." His expression changed and he looked up at the sky, watching the clouds rolling away. "Well that's odd, I thought they said we were in for a bad storm."

Chloe looked up and frowned as something began to make sense. "Oh no way."

Nathan watched her with a frown of his own. "What? What is it?"

"I think I know what it is," she told him. "Hang on." She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. "All those years hanging out around meteor freaks, I better have learned something," she muttered. Mercifully, Nathan didn't ask what meteor freaks were, she'd tell him later anyway. Telling her newfound big brother that she'd grown up in a town where people with superpowers were meteor rock influenced (and usually insane)? That was a conversation best had with a lot of alcohol. A lot of alcohol.

Pushing the thought away, she tried to concentrate. "Nathan? Is anything happening?"

"You tell me," Nathan said.

She opened her eyes to see snow falling past them. "Am I doing that?"

"I don't know," Nathan looked at her. "Are you?"

Chloe took a breath and tried again. The snow cut off abruptly and the clouds began to clear away as fog rolled in off the harbor. "Holy shit."

"You're telling me," her brother said and she turned to see fog creeping out onto the balcony. "Are you doing that?"

"No," she shook her head.

"NATHAN!" Peter appeared in the door way. "I just -- "

"Had a bonding moment with your little sister?" Chloe finished. "Yeah," she waved a hand at the streets behind them. "We noticed."

Peter walked over to look. "Holy shit."

"That would be the general assessment, yes," Nathan agreed. "Now, kids, can we go inside before someone thinks we're reenacting 'The Day After Tomorrow'?"

*

"You know, if both of you can fly, did we really need the plane?" Chloe grinned. Not that she was complaining, if she was going to fly to the Arctic then a private jet was definitely the way to go.

Peter and Nathan shared a look and Peter grinned. "I voted for flying. Without the plane."

"I was the killjoy," Nathan agreed. "I am not flying to the Arctic."

She made a face. "Damn." Not one to be deterred, Chloe tapped her chin with her pencil. "I wonder if I can use air currents to fly. I mean, if I can control the weather, then I should be able to manipulate updrafts. It would just take some practice, right?"

"And probably cause another Hurricane Katrina in the process," Nathan shook his head. "Not a chance."

"God, you are such a Dad," she complained. "Was he always like this?" She looked at Peter. "King of all Stick in the Mud's, I mean? Or is this just the result of the American political machine eating him alive?"

"Pretty much a little of both," Peter said, grinning.

"Pete," Nathan groaned.

"Oh, no way, Nathan, you are not allowed to complain," Peter's protest was good-natured but Chloe thought she could see a little hurt underneath. "You hide the fact I've got a younger sister who I can gang up on you with? There's serious payback to be had."

Nathan cleared his throat. "Okay, short sheet my bed later or something." He looked at Chloe. "We're usually less dysfunctional than this," he said.

Chloe grinned. "No you're not, but thank you for lying. But, like I was saying before my `big brother'," she batted her eyelashes at Nathan, "so rudely rained on my parade. I could in theory be able to manipulate air currents and fly."

"Manipulating air currents would be more like controlled gliding," Nathan corrected. "You're not suggesting that you try it now are you?"

"God no," Chloe said. "I was thinking more about finding a nice private island or field somewhere and testing it out. Can you imagine the mess I'd cause if I lost control? Try explaining a natural disaster to FEMA with "I was just trying to fly like my big brothers", I'm sure they'd just love that one."

"Well, we've got a long flight back," Peter pointed out. "We can give it a shot then."

She laughed. "You can already fly, Peter, you don't need to practice."

"We all need to practice," he argued. "We need to get a handle on these things if we're going to use them regularly."

"I don't plan on using them regularly," Nathan said, retreating to the paperwork he'd brought with him. "I'm only here because someone has to keep you two from running off half-cocked."

"Sure you are," Chloe said as she and Peter shared a grin.

"You two are going to kill me," Nathan muttered.

"Maybe just a little," Peter said.

"Maybe just a lot."

"Oh fuck," Chloe looked up at the gun barrel pointing their way. "Nathan, did you forget to pay the pilot?"

The pilot smiled faintly. "Mr. Petrelli can't afford me -- hey!" The gun snapped toward Peter. "You? You don't move." He shifted slightly, keeping an eye on Peter as the gun snapped back toward Chloe. "You move, Petey, and your family reunion gets cut a little short."

"This kind of thing happen to you often?" Chloe asked, glancing at Nathan.

"Not actually, you?"

"All the time," she sighed.

"Smallville's more exciting than I thought," Peter said.

"Well, you know, there's all those meteor rocks lying around," Chloe shrugged. "You'd be surprised just how much that can liven up a one-horse town like ours. I did mention the bug people right? Because there was moulting."

"Actual moulting?" Nathan looked disgusted.

"Actual moulting. There might have actually been an attempt at mating but you really don't want me to get into that." Chloe assured. "There was a cheerleader involved."

"Just as long as it wasn't another long-lost Petrelli," Peter said. "We're Jerry Springer candidates as is."

"Excuse me, I hate to interrupt" the pilot interjected, "but can we get back to me threatening your lives?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Chloe said. "It's just, well, do you realize how many times in the last six years alone my life has been threatened?" She shrugged. "There are only so many times a girl can go `oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die' before it loses its impact, you know?" She smiled as the cabin began to fill with fog. "Besides, Peter's not the only one around here with powers."

"Chloe," Nathan said, grabbing for her as the pilot stumbled about the cabin. "Are you crazy?"

"He can't shoot what he can't see!" she argued quietly but let him push her to the floor. "What's he going to do? If he starts shooting blindly, he could miss. If he misses, he could depressurize the cabin and the plane will crash.

"Granted, that would be very bad for him, but only a minor inconvenience for us. You two can fly remember? Worst that can happen is we get a little wind burn on the way down."

"She's got a point," Peter agreed and Chloe felt a hand grab hers seconds before he crawled up by her shoulder.

"Don't encourage her," Nathan said as the pilot started shoot blindly. One bullet whistled over their heads to puncture a window. Alarms began to blare as the window was sucked out and cabin lost pressure, lifting them off their feet.

Chloe felt Nathan and Peter crowding close, their bodies pushing her forward and keeping them all from being sucked toward the hole. She closed her eyes and pressed into the nearest shoulder.

If she had more experience, maybe she could do something about the pressure in the cabin. But she wasn't crazy enough to try it.

The pilot's body thudded back against the wall, held tight by the pressure and Chloe opened her eyes, looking over Nathan's shoulder to meet his eyes.

He looked back, terrified, and she looked away.

"We need to get out of here, I'll get our gear!" Peter yelled, letting go of them. "Take her!"

Chloe grabbed for her brother but Nathan didn't give her a chance. Before she could protest, the bracing cold of the arctic air was pressing her into her brother's arms and stealing her breath.

Clutching tight, she let him fly her away from the plane and didn't look back.

*

"I should -- " Chloe bit off the comment and glared at her oldest brother. He stared back with a look of long-suffering. She had a feeling he was used to these kinds of fights. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I was trying to save your neck." Nathan said. "I'm actually growing attached to it."

She rolled her eyes. "If you weren't my brother -- "

"You'd zap me with a lightning bolt from the sky?" He smirked.

"Don't give me ideas," she said. "I'm still mad at you."

"For saving you life like you suggested."

"Peter is -- " Chloe frowned, watching Peter settle to the snow before them with their gear in his hands. "Right here."

"Yes, with our coats." Nathan said. "Without which, we would have frozen to death."

"Do you have to gloat?" she complained.

"I'm being the practical one." Nathan pushed her coat at her. "With you two superheroes on the loose, someone around here has to be. You're not invulnerable you know."

"Nathan," Peter grinned.

"Not one word." Nathan zipped up his own jacket and stood there as Chloe and Peter struggled into theirs. Pulling at the zipper of her coat, Chloe resisted the urge to knock him into the snow. Did he have to stand there and look like he was posing for the cover of a news magazine?

"You'll get used to it," Peter said, nudging her.

"Not if I kill him first," Chloe said. "Now I know how Lucy feels."

"Lucy?"

"Cousin." She pulled gloves out of her pockets. "Let's just say, at her worst, Lois makes Nathan look Zen in comparison."

Peter blinked. "I can't imagine anyone making Nathan look Zen."

"You haven't met Lois," Chloe smirked. She was going to enjoy introducing them if she could convince Lois not to write it up for the Inquisitor. "You'll see what I mean."

"I'm not sure I want to," Peter said.

"Okay, Chloe, you've been here before. Where do we go next?" Nathan picked up his pack and shouldered it.

"I'm not sure, exactly," she turned in a slow circle, stopping to watch the fireball that had been the plane rise up into the sky. "And I'm not sure we should go the right way anyway. If Linderman got to the pilot then they've got the general direction where we're going."

"They know where it is, Chloe," Nathan said. "Linderman has satellite shots. He's been planning this expedition for a while."

"They're ready to move," Peter added. "That's why Hiro went looking for you now. And why Linderman did. They wanted to stop me from finding you."

Chloe sighed. She needed to warn Clark but Nathan had the satellite phone. "Okay, next time can you two find me sooner? I appreciate the need for dramatic last second saves as much as the next long-lost sibling, but it does severely limits my options with saving your asses."

Nathan and Peter shared a look and she huffed a breath. "Remember that whole lightning never striking twice rule? Easily forgotten. Very easily forgotten."

"Hey Nathan, you remember how I used to ask Santa for a baby sister?" Peter grinned at their brother. "I take that back."

"Too late now," Nathan said and Chloe grinned at the hint of affection in his voice. "We're stuck with her."

"Damn straight you are. Consider yourselves warned, though, the first one who goes overprotective big brother on me?" She pointed at them both. "Suffers terribly. I've got twenty years of missed torture to catch up on and I'm very inventive."

"See, she's even admitting it." Peter said. "Are you sure we're stuck with her?"

"Well, Mom probably knows somebody," Nathan decided. "But God knows what she'd want in repayment."

"Worry about that later," Chloe said. "I think we've got company." She pointed at the black dot on the horizon. "Is that a helicopter? Do you think someone might have seen the crash?"

I doubt it," Nathan said. "We're too far out."

"And if the pilot was one of Linderman's men," Peter added, "the last thing he'd want is attention. Not with everything going on right now."

"Okay, so not likely to be a rescue party." Chloe frowned. "Then I'm guessing it would be a good time to run?"

Peter looked at her. "Run?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know, you're Xerox Man and the kind of scary powerful that makes the boys in Washington soil their tightie whities but trust me, Peter, we need to run."

"She's right," Nathan said. "I don't like our odds." He looked at Chloe. "You think you can scare up a distraction?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I think I can try but if I bury us in a blizzard, I'm blaming it on you in advance."

"Noted," Nathan said. "Just do it."

Chloe sucked in a quick, steadying breath and closed her eyes. Around her, she felt the wind picking up and the sting of snow brushing her cheeks.

"Cool," she heard Peter say.

"That's good enough." Nathan said after a minute. "Come on."

Chloe opened her eyes as Nathan and Peter both wrapped an arm around her waist and pushed away from the snow. They stayed low, skimming just above the glacier to hopefully remain out of sight.

She couldn't help laughing a couple of times and didn't miss the grin plastered across Peter's face. Nathan stayed as stoic as ever but Chloe wasn't fooled. There was no way he wasn't enjoying the hell out of this.

Mentally, she apologized to Clark as she shouted the directions over the wind that would take them to the Fortress. It wasn't like they were actually going to go inside or anything. Just keep someone else from doing it.

She wasn't sure yet exactly how they were going to do that but they would. It wasn't like they had a choice.

*

"Woah," Peter looked up at the crystal formation. "What is it?"

"Answers," Chloe answered. "The only answers in the world a friend of mine will ever have." She looked at her brothers. "This is where you find out that your sister is a closet romantic. Either of you tell anyone about it and I'll have to kill you."

Nathan grinned. "We won't breathe a word."

"I'm guessing we probably can't go inside, huh?" Peter asked, tilting his head back to get a look at the whole thing.

"We can't. It wouldn't be right and, plus, I think it has a security system. Don't quote me on that though," she warned. "I was only here the one time and I didn't really stay conscious all that long."

Nathan looked at her. "Long story?"

"Exceptionally," she nodded. "They usually are."

"Tell me sometime?"

"Maybe."

"Exactly, what have you been doing in Smallville?" he asked.

"Well, that is an even longer story." She looked up. "And I don't think I'm going to have time to tell it." A blast of energy rippled their way from the top of a snowdrift, and Chloe yelped as Peter tackled his siblings, knocking them into the snow. "The hell?"

Peter turned her head and she saw two leather-clad people making their way down the glacier. "Company."

She blinked as one of them broke through the snow, getting stuck. "Is it just me or is that look totally not working for them?"

"Hard to look cool when you're freezing your ass off," Peter said.

"Slogging through the snow doesn't help either." Nathan agreed. "So, do you two want to handle this while I lie here and manfully shout orders?"

"Not especially," Chloe grinned as Peter telekinetically made the biggest snowball she'd ever seen and tossed it at them. "You can at least stand up."

"And make myself a bigger target?" He looked at her. "How is that smart?"

"It isn't, but the point stands. You hide in the snow? You're a total wuss."

"Ouch," Peter said. "So, are we going to do this for real or just lie here and mock them?"

"I'm good with the mocking them," Nathan said.

"Ordinarily, I would be too, but I'm freezing my ass off and I've always been kind of attached to my ass." Chloe said, standing up. "Besides, we have to figure out a way to keep them from coming back."

"I've got an idea or two." Nathan assured. "You'll have to talk to your friend for us later."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Chloe said, as the sky clouded over above them.

"You shouldn't," Peter said. "He's got that megalomaniac glint in his eye." He narrowed his eyes and a gust of wind slammed their attackers onto their backs. "It's a thing with him. Politicians, y'know?"

"Believe me, I know," she grimaced. "Smallville, remember?"

"The way you talk about that place, I'm starting to think it's Sunnydale in disguise."

"You wouldn't be wrong," Chloe said, weighing her options. She didn't want to risk trying anything with lightning here. Less than a day after finding out you have superpowers wasn't the time to be playing with lightning. But, she did have an idea... "Peter? You think you can use telekinesis to hold us still?"

He tilted his head. "You're gonna -- "

"I'm going to try," she said, repeating her earlier words. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing."

"Do any of us?" Nathan asked.

"Since you're probably going to have to fly us back to civilization, you'd better!" Chloe yelped, ducking as another blast of energy sizzled through the air where she'd been. "Can we get rid of these guys now?"

"For someone who's got no idea what she's doing, you're pretty cocky," Nathan said.

"I've got lots of practice faking it." Chloe looked at Peter. "So, can you?"

"Like you said," he grinned. "I can try."

They both looked at Nathan, as if asking permission. Nathan looked back with a shrug. "I'm just the ride out of here."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Fine, but if we die, it is so not my fault."

*

They didn't die, not even close. Chloe didn't even get up to hurricane force winds before Peter stretched out a hand and plucked their attackers out of the air, pinning them against the Fortress. It was almost disappointing when she thought about it. Finding out she had superpowers and she didn't even get a good fight to try them out?

She hid a grin. Somehow she didn't think Nathan or Peter would agree with that last part, but it wasn't like she was going to tell them, now was she?

"Okay, so this is where we have the enlightening little chat." Chloe said, walking up to look down at their prisoners. "It would be a good idea if you answered everything honestly, it'll increase your chances of getting out of this alive. I'm new at this, but I think that if I get mad enough, I can make some pretty bad things happen."

"All of which," Peter said helpfully, "will be happening to you. She's right, she is new at this, but my sister's a quick study."

Chloe smiled wide at the casual reference. She wasn't sure she was supposed to be happy about it, or comfortable with it, but she kind of liked the idea of having big brothers. She even kind of liked the idea of having the Petrellis as big brothers.

"Say, Nathan," she looked over her shoulder. "You wouldn't happen to know Lex Luthor would you?"

He frowned. "I thought I did."

"Hmm, you and me both," she said. "We'll talk." She turned around. "After we're done pointing out to you that whoever you work for might want to stay the hell away from this place."

"We both know who you work for," Nathan said. "You've put me in a hell of a position with him, you know. I'm not seeing a whole lot of options for me to get out of this. He already knows I'm involved, I'm pretty sure he tried to kill me." He smiled. "So, what you're going to do is tell him a very interesting story."

"One where Nathan was never on that plane," Peter agreed. "Just me and Chloe."

"And Nathan was trying to get us not to come along," Chloe agreed. "He was just happy to have his sister home and didn't want her rushing off and getting herself killed -- got it?"

"If we don't?" One asked with a glare.

Chloe smiled. "I don't think that's a question that you really want to be asking us after the day we've had. Thanks to your boss, we almost got shot, our plane crashed, and then two you two halfwits showed up and tried to vaporize us. You can imagine how cranky that would make a person."

"Very cranky," Nathan said.

"So, do we have a deal?" Peter asked. "Personally, I'm hoping you two say no. There's a few things I've wanted to try out and Chloe hasn't even had the chance to really cut loose yet."

"I haven't," she agreed. "It's frankly anticlimactic. I thought I was going to get to cause a hurricane, maybe a couple tornadoes."

Nathan slanted a look at her. "Chloe."

She feigned a pout. "No to the tornadoes?"

He nodded. "No tornadoes."

"No lightning, no tornadoes," she folded her arms. "What am I supposed to do then?"

Nathan's smile was cold as he looked down at their 'guests'. "Be creative."

She grinned. "Got it."

"So," Peter said, "Yes or no?"

*

Chloe folded her arms and stared out at the New York night. "How long before we know whether or not they kept to the deal."

"We won't," Nathan said from where he was sitting at his desk. "Linderman'll keep it to himself until it suits his purposes to use it. In the meantime, I get to keep going and hope to God he doesn't know."

"Sounds familiar," she said, thinking of all the near-misses with Lionel.

When she turned around, he was watching her. "Don't do it, Chloe," he warned. "Don't start poking around Linderman. After what happened with the Luthors, you should know better."

She frowned. "You've been checking up on me."

He tapped the file in front of him. "There's plenty to check up on. You've been a busy girl."

"I'm not done yet," she said.

"Stay away from Linderman." Nathan insisted. "Leave him, and Mom, to me. Dad risked a lot to keep you safe and I'm not going to let you ruin it now. There's no point in throwing away everything he did on a useless vendetta."

He got up to rest his hands on her shoulders. "Promise me, Chloe, that you'll stay out of this. We've already lost twenty years with you, don't risk taking the rest of it from us."

She squinted at him. "Nathan, lay off the guilt trip."

He smiled quickly. "Can't blame a brother for trying."

Chloe looked away, laughing. "Okay, okay, I'll lay off Linderman for now." She held up a finger. "For now." After all, what kind of Petrelli would she be if she let the bastard win? "Now, about my Luthor problem..."

What was the point of starring in your own personal soap opera if you couldn't enjoy it?

fin

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