Jeremy leaned heavily against the brick wall, his chest heaving. The "echo" of Greg's frantic, skittering energy was still vibrating in his bone marrow—a phantom buzzing that made his vision twitch with a predatory sharpness.
Clark didn't pull his hand away this time, but Jeremy could feel the heat radiating from the farm boy. Clark was like a sun, and after what Jeremy had just done to Greg, that proximity felt intoxicating.
"Jeremy, talk to me," Clark said, his voice dropping into that low, urgent tone he used when he thought no one was looking. "Your shirt is scorched. And the air... it smells like a lightning strike."
Jeremy looked at the dark treeline where Greg had vanished. He didn't want to play the victim anymore. He wanted to see what Clark Kent was made of.
"It wasn't the wiring, Clark," Jeremy whispered, his voice still raspy from the surge. "It was Greg Arkin. But he wasn't... he wasn't Greg. His skin, his eyes... he looked like something out of a nightmare. He was fast. Faster than anything I've ever seen."
Clark's expression shifted instantly. The "clumsy farm boy" mask slipped, replaced by a focused, grim intensity. "Which way did he go?"
"Into the woods. Toward the old Chandler pipe factory, I think," Jeremy lied slightly, testing Clark's reaction. "He was talking about Lana. He sounded obsessed, Clark. Like he was... hunting."
He saw it then—the way Clark's jaw tightened, the way his hands curled into fists that looked like they could crush granite. Clark didn't look sick; he looked ready.
"Stay here," Clark commanded. It wasn't a suggestion; it was an order. "Go back inside to Chloe. Tell her I had to help my dad with something at the farm."
"Clark, wait!" Jeremy reached out, grabbing Clark's sleeve. "You can't go after him alone. He's not human. I felt it when I... when he grabbed me. He's strong. Too strong."
Clark looked down at Jeremy's hand. For a second, Jeremy wondered if Clark could feel the residual "theft" still humming in his palms—the tiny, stolen fraction of Greg's insectoid speed that was already starting to evaporate from his cells.
"I can handle it," Clark said, his voice unusually hard. "Just stay with Chloe. Please."
Before Jeremy could blink, Clark was gone. He didn't just walk away; he moved with a blur of motion that Jeremy's newly sensitive eyes could barely track.
…
Jeremy stood alone in the parking lot, his heart hammering. The "Static" in his blood was cooling down, returning to its usual jagged hum. He looked at his hand—the one that had touched Greg. The blisters from the junkyard were gone, replaced by a strange, tingling vitality.
I took it, Jeremy thought. The realization hit him like a physical blow. I didn't just conduct the energy. I reached inside him and pulled a piece of him out.
He went back into the gym, the music feeling duller and the lights less blinding. He found Chloe near the punch bowl, her face lighting up with relief when she saw him.
"There you are! I was about to send out a search party," she said, but her smile faltered as she saw his disheveled hair and the singe mark on his collar. "Jeremy? What happened? And where's Clark? I saw him head out after you."
"Clark went home," Jeremy said, guiding her away from the crowded dance floor. He needed to be close to her, to feel her normal, human "grounding" presence. "He said his dad needed him. And I... I just tripped near the equipment shed. Old school, old wiring. I think I got a bit of a shock."
Chloe narrowed her eyes, her reporter's brain clicking into gear. "A shock? Jeremy, you look like you just went ten rounds with a live wire. And Clark just left? During Homecoming?"
"He seemed worried," Jeremy said, playing the part of the confused friend. "He's a good guy, Chloe. Maybe too good."
As the slow music started again, Jeremy took her hand and pulled her toward the floor. He needed to act normal, but his mind was miles away. He was thinking about the "theft." He was thinking about how much more Clark had than Greg.
If I can take from a bug, Jeremy wondered, the dark thought taking root, what could I take from a god?