Disclaimer: Yes, I own Smallville and its characters... Not! But I still wish. You gotta give me credit for that.... Also, if you recognize other characters, like Jackal from Getbackers, it can only mean that they are not mine. Okay?
A/N: I just introduced a potential nemesis or a potential friend here... I'm not yet sure. Jackal is Akabane, just a note. It came from Getbackers... I'm still thinking if I am going to incorporate Ban and Ginji in the story. Lara, is mine, most definitely... I think. I don't read the comics but if ever Lex' wife was a certain Lara Lane, well, it would be a mere coincidence. I just tried to come up with an LL lady character to be Lex' 'potential' wife... Please note, however, that I still have no idea what will happen with the story so I'm not going to promise the LL and LL marriage thing... Okies?
1: Knives
"Good morning, Clark." Clark grabbed all towels in sight and scrambled for cover behind the shower curtain. He peeked out and saw Lois as he saw her two days before, wearing nothing beneath his flannel shirt.
"I thought you were gone! And that's my blue shirt! Ima wear that today"
"Well, as far as a normal teenager can go, I ran away, again. Since, it's impossible to wake Chloe up in the middle of a midnight storm, I went straight here... Luckily, you've got such absolutely welcoming parents." she stratched her arms as she yawned, hiking her shirt up higher showing Clark more than he wished to see. "Oh, by the way, your parents are out and my cousin's with me..."
"Get out..." Clark demanded.
"I'm brushin!"
The door opened and a black haired girl came in sleepily. "Lois, talkin to yourself agai... OH MY GOD! NAKED MAN IN THE SHOWER! LOIS! CALL THE KENTS!" Clark peering from the shower woke her up.
He tried to explain that he's a Kent and that he lives in the house and that Lois was the intruder but before he can even open his mouth, the shampoo bottles, the toothpaste tubes and brushes were all flying at him.
The girl had been throwing stuff at him at super speed with super strength.
"Lara... stop... wait..." Lois half-heartedly stopped her cousin. Only half-hearted because she can't stop laughing.
Clark, in the struggle to block the flying objects, accidentally let go of the towel hiding his thing.
"Oh my God!" Lara turned around and blushed still trying to throw things over the shoulder.
Lois had to hold her cousin's hands down. "Relax, he's Mr. and Mrs. Kent's son."
"Oh..." the last thing she threw was a bigger towel. "I'm sorry." she squeaked then walked out of the bathroom.
"Sorry... she's a bit, well... conservative." Lois smiled throwing Clark's crotch a last look. "I really don't turn you on?"
Clark walked into the living room, hearing Lara at once saying sorry about a million times a minute. "I'm sorry. I really, really am..."
"It's alright." Clark forced down the memory of her seeing his thing, her big rounded... beautiful eyes, her blushing cheeks...
A flash of Chloe's red beetle passed through the window. Soon enough, the door opened with her tutting at Lara and Lois. "Why didn't you go to my place? Uncle Sam called early this morning and were asking if you guys already arrived. I was outta my wits."
"Why didn't he send the full American force like he did the last time?" Clark asked, confused.
"Coz I... assured him they were in good hands. As soon as I said that they are staying at your place, he kinda mellowed down."
"How did you know that they're here?" Clark asked Chloe. Did she also have a private eye? After seeing her Uncle, he knew he had to consider all possibilities.
"Uncle said that Lara told him that she's going to settle a house deal here at Smallville. When Lois disappeared, well... we... um... all just assumed that they were together. Well, I told them, if I'm not at home... they go straight at your place. It's not as if, they can go anywhere else. They don't know a lot of people here." Chloe said stuttering.
"Oh... House deal?"
"I'm going to buy a house here. It seems as if Lois and Chloe had nothing but good words for this town." Lara said trying to catch Chloe from a failing lie.
Lois and Chloe gave her a glare. "Good words?"
"Okay... They said that this town had the major wiggins... I wanna join in the fun." Lara shrugged.
"Major wiggins? Scooby Doo much?" Chloe and Lois said in unison.
--------
Lara, as it turned out, is the only daughter of a tycoon who owns a string of malls and hotels across the country. She's not exactly like Lex rich. She's more like a Paris Hilton in regular clothes.
"I know. I don't understand her either. She can afford Chanel and D&G and all that jazz but she prefers to wear... well... tank top, shorts and sneakers adding up to less than 50 bucks." Lois tutted watching Lara trying to feed Tyson, Whitney's old horse, at the palm of her hand. He didn't believe that there was a person who can handle horses gentler than Lana but the unbelievable is right before his eyes that he doesn't have any choice but to believe in it. Lara had bought Lana's old house. She said she didn't like anything fancy. Clark didn't even bring up the fact that he had spied on that house for the last 10 years of his life. "Oh well, I always told her that it's her life, her money... But if you ask me... if I had that money, you won't catch me inside a mall coz I'd be flying around... stall after stall.. mall after mall... country after country."
When Clark still did not move, Lois just shrugged. "Well, she has that effect... You won't be moving until tomorrow."
Lois saw a van pull up in front of their new house. For two days, they had to sleep on the floor because there were no couches, no beds... no fridge, no nothing. "The cavalry has arrived. Chloe, Lara and Lois bounded across the fields towards Lana's old house just as the men were unloading the packages. Clark came to help. What he saw were pretty expensive stuff, and homey. for Clark, their furnitures were basically handmade by either Jonathan Kent or Clark Kent. But from the product tags on the couches, they were handmade in paris by some well known artists.
"Lois! Come see! Sephyr brought Iris with her!!!" Clark came around the truck to see.
"Clark, come meet Sephyr and Iris." Sephyr held out his paw to Clark. "Sephyr's a firstborn golden retriever. And Iris, I picked her up from the park in Metropolis. She's one of those tie dyed chicks that sells for 10 cents. She, probably, got left behind." Clark watched Sephyr help Iris up the porch swing, an unbelievable act even for a dog. "They're like siblings. Sephyr practically was my nanny. The only thing she couldn't do was to change me and make my botttle of milk when I was a baby. But she supervised my human nannies scolding them if my milk was too warm or too cold..."
Clark and Lara shared the load of carrying a three seater couch inside the house. Lara was pretty strong for her built. Sure Clark could've carried the couch all by himself but he could not pass up the chance of having some alone time with her... away from Lois. Clark watched Lois try to scare the dog off the swing. "Are you sure Lois is your cousin?" Clark suddenly asked.
"Why? You fancy her? You've been looking at her since yesterday." He was filled with the horror he had encountered when Lana suspected Clark for liking Lois. Oh the horror!
"Me? Are you kidding? She's noisy and obnoxious and really really irritating."
"Okay... good relationships start that way." she noted with a knowing smile.
"No they don't..." he said defensively.
"Want to have a little wager? I'm not normally into gambling but I can bet that the two of you are going to fall for each other. If I lose, I'll give you a thousand bucks."
"That's easy for you coz you are rich. Be ready to lose as much."
"I'm not rich... I got only..." she pulled out her wallet and revealed the contents. "I have only 50 bucks and a picture." she laughed. "How much are you going to bet?"
"What do you call?"
"Let's see. If you as much as fall for her, you are going to build me my own fortress of solitude free of charge. Plus, you'd give me a lifetime supply of your mom's jarred peaches and pastries. I swear they're like the best."
"Add a whole month's worth of math home work and a foot massage and it's a deal." There was no way he was going to lose.
"Let's shake on it bro."
----------
"Rena, cancel the meeting at 3:00pm. I have more pressing matters to attend to."
His old man's activities behind bars had alarmed Lex. He thought, it was far more pressing than any multi billion deal in the world. His father had warned him the last time they saw each other. They were far beyond the wounding stage. His father had gone so far as to poison his own son's brandy, enough poison to kill an elephant. If his father, or even just his essence, be freed from prison, Lex, and everyone in Smallville will suffer his 'wrath'. It's would not be too much of Lionel to gas the whole town.
Lex sat in a booth were his father was waiting. Lex picked up the reciever and looked at his father. Without his long locks and with the eerie flourescent lights in the booth, Lex saw him for who he really is, not a tycoon in suit but a common criminal.
"Why dad, you are looking so great." they were both swimming in sarcasm, filled up their lungs, throat and heart.
"Why thank you Lex, I have my head cleanly shaven this morning when I heard you were coming to visit."
"Why haven't you written me dad? What can a regular highschool boy do for you that I can't possibly do?"
"Do I sense jealousy, Lex?"
"No, father, I just found it quite odd since the last time you did that, you sent a mutant boy after Chloe, 'almost' killing her. I'm just trying to look out for people most important to me. I came here to inform you that that boy will not be writting you any time soon." Lex stood up from the booth and hung up the phone. Lex saw his father mouth a few words through the glass: "What did you do Lex?"
Lex smirked. His father should know by his silence. Lionel did raise him, didn't he?
----------
Lex took a drive out towards the Kent farm, though Clark is not the object of this visit. He stopped the car before he even reached the Kent farm. He saw Lara and Clark trying to carry a couch into the house. He caught a glimpse of Lois and Chloe over at the porch. That was enough to assure him of their safety.
Lex took out his phone and dialed a number. "Mr. Lane? I just called to inform you that your daughter's fine."
"Mr. Luthor, I thank you for looking out for my daughter and her cousins. Have you heard from that boy your father hired to..."
"Yes, Mr. Lane. The matter has already been taken care of."
----------
Clark sat on the couch looking at the various artworks on display. Most of them had Lara's signature although from afar, he thought they were the works of the masters. Lana's house had a more different touch to it now that Lara was occupying it. It was obvious that she was trying to dress down everything. Her living room was of classic black and white, seen only from the catalogues like that on her magazine rack. Her father had sent interior designers to handle the house. But amidst the classic and the sophisticated sat koala and teddy bear stuff toys in different colors. Also, she placed colorful throws around the floor. It didn't look messy at all. Even though she meant the throws to look random, it still had a certain pattern.
Clark walked around the house not really waiting for something. Chloe and Lois had moved in with Lara and they caught him coming up the front door early in the morning. The two of them charged him the care of their youngest cousin who was sleeping upstairs so that they can get their morning fix. "She swore off coffee... We are barely surviving." Chloe said drowsily as she dragged a half-sleeping Lois to the newly opened Talon. "What am I to do without Lex?" Clark thought he heard Chloe say. Maybe because Lex opened the Talon again, even without Lana as his partner.
"Clark. Hey... Come to visit Lois?" she broke his thoughts.
"Uhm... no... Actually, I was 'hired' to look out for you while they get their morning fix. They're a bit protective of you, don't you think?"
"Well, it's because something happened."
"What happened?" Clark shifted in his seat when she saw how grim Lara's eyes were.
"I watched Chloe's tape before she supposedly died. I know how much she trusts you, that's why I trust you too. Clark, Lionel's trying to kill the three of us. At first, it was only Chloe. Then, Lois came in the picture when she saved Chloe. Then he discovered that I was Chloe's correspondent in Metropolis when she was trying to research about the supposed accident that took the life of Lionel's mother and father."
"Nothing good ever comes from the Luthors."
Lara looked over at Clark, sensing something more than a sympathetic grudge. "I understand you having something against Lionel but why generalize?"
"I thought Lex was my friend. He proved that he wasn't when he tried to meddle with my life. I won't be asked to expound on that am I?" he winced.
"No... But it's what Lex do. He, probably, only wanted to help."
Clark thought of the research Lex had been doing about him. His FBI files, Kryptonian codes from the caves: he already had come close, maybe closer than Clark believes. He thought that Lex had considered him as a friend. He realized later on that to Lex, Clark was only a science project, a very elaborate one to be exact.
"Clark?"
"I... never mind. Maybe you're right. I mean, I have to give the guy the benefit of a doubt, right?"
"Lex is not that bad as I think you think he is. If he didn't meddle with mine, I might be dead now."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there was this guy back in Metropolis who was trying to court me. I really liked him. Then Lex tried to butt in. At first I though he was just being a jackass. Then Kirk tried to kill me. good thing Lex was there. He said that it had something to do with us putting his father in jail."
"What i have learned from dealing with Lex is that nothing comes for free."
"On the contrary, Lex would give his life for you for free."
"I just find you to be very trusting, you know that?"
"Thank you."
"Are you sure those two aren't adopted... or probably you're adopted. They're like paranoids. And they hate Lex. And you trust him... completely."
"Well, they don't know Lex as well as I do. And... well... I think that they only have displaced anger. Everyone hates Lionel. Lex just happened to be in the front line while his father was throwing insults."
"What was your affiliations with the Luthors before this, I wonder?"
"Well, Lex and I, we had been friends eversince we were kids."
"No way!"
"Yes way... We came from the same school. As a kid, he was a loner. He would not play with the other kids his age. As for me, I was feisty and bossy and all the kids my age wanted to be in my posse. But I saw them as immature. I didn't wat to play with them. That's why we ended up with each other."
"I was there in his trying times when his brother and his mother died. I was also there, unfortunately, when he lost his virginity to the class bitch when he was 13."
"He lost his virginity at thirteen?"
"You didn't know? Uh-oh. Don't tell him I told you. He'll want to kill me."
"Don't worry."
But even with the light talk, Clark was still shaken about the fact that she was in a life threatening situation... but it was not like his friends were exactly danger free all the time.
----------
"I love him Lois. I mean, I had loved him the first day I met him. But he was always like Lana Lana Lana. Imagine having to live life with him as his bestfriend..."
"Yeah, I can imagine. That's your classic fried friend dillemma. But honey, he mentioned this one itsy bitsy thing. You dumped him. He didn't dump you."
"It's because I am second rate compared to Lana."
"Did he actually say that? Or did you deduce that on your own?" Lois realized her Supremo was gone... done... nada... She tried turning it upside down, licking what's left then eyed Chloe's.
"Don't even think about it..." Chloe said quickly shifting to the second gear so she can leave it at that as she guards the coffe with one hand while steering on the other. "Well, it was just that he ran to save Lana at the other end of the town while we were at the spring formal. Everytime Lana was in trouble, he was always successful in saving her, even if they're a hundred miles apart. First time I was, I fell down Lex' mansion, he couldn't save me. And to think we were less than five feet apart."
"Well, he saved you, didn't he. First time I met him, he was somewhat disoriented in a singleminded-robotic manner, and naked, yes, but he was this person in power. Suddenly, when he realized that you were still alive, even though we weren't sure if you were in trouble, the moment he got your address, he didn't even wait for me. I was like, 'wait I'll get my things' and he was just gone."
"But past is past."
"But with Lana gone..."
"Hello, but didn't you see the way he looks at Lara? R replacing N, brunnette with expressive eyes... basically, to him, she's Lana."
"Are you kidding? Are you absolutely kidding?" Lois said disbelievingly.
"What?"
"Even if you pray and beg Lara to take Clark in, she would not. You know that right?"
Chloe couldn't help but give a laugh. Of course, the only people who ever set Lara's heart on fire were Lex, Raidon and Kirk. She shuddered at the thought: Lex in their family.
----------
The mess hall inside the State Penitentiary was full as usual, but there was always a room for Lionel Luthor. It had become a code among the inmates. If there was a godfather among them, it would be Lionel Luthor. His money and his ability earned him a place of respect among his fellow prisoners. He could not get out of jail himself merely because he was powerful and he never quite blended in. If he got out, people would start questioning, the media would start hounding. But there was still hope for the people who can bland with the masses. Imagine having Lionel at your side. He could arrange for a murderer to be freed, make it look like he was wrongly accused... for a price, a price, however high, they are willing to pay.
Lionel walked casually inside, carrying his food tray like he was walking among servants, not killers and thieves, people who can tear his throat without conscience.
Across the hall, he could choose to sit anywhere. But that particular day, he chose to sit on a specific seat.
Jackal looked up to see who it was that was blocking his light. He was one of the people who didn't look up to Lionel. There were plenty more like him inside the State Penitentiary but they just let him play God. They were the practical ones. Why mess whan they weren't being messed with.
"Dr. Jackal... I have heard a lot of good things about you."
Dr. Jackal, or Akabane, had no good things about him. He was a cold-blooded murderer. He never killed for personal reasons. He was only interested in the challenge. He would never guarantee the success of a mission. He reasons that he does thing merely out of enjoyment. He claims that he will stop the mission as soon as he loses interest. But the people who hire him have a hundred percent trust in him for his idea of fun is death, blood and destruction.
"I can arrange for your release, only if you do me a favor." Lionel waved his fork nonchalantly as if having an early morning talk with an absolute stranger.
"I can arrange a release for myself. Although I can use a little fun." he politely said with a cheerful smile and no real sentiments beneath.
"Glad to know that you are up for it, Dr. Jackal. I would give an initial 5 millions for the job and an additional 2 million for each person you take down."
"Money is not really needed, Mr. Luthor."
"I insist."
"I do not guarantee the success of this mission. I just hope that you are giving me a job that is highly exciting... or else... your neck will be under my knives." the cheerful smile was still not off his face.
"Oh I can assure you that it will be worth your time."
----------
Jackal was standing far from the state penitentiary before the guards realized that his maximum security prison cell was empty. There was no sign of busting out, no sounds, nothing to give him away. His hands, with his surgical knives, were skillful enough to open the locks cleanly as their original keys would. He closed them behind him just to keep every maniac at bay. He was not intent on sharing his fun. Jackal took the knife he used to bust out and embedded in on his palm. The skin of his palm seemed to have absorbed the metal into his body. "Smallville sounds like fun."
----------
The news of Jackal's escape never reached the front page of the Daily Planet or even of the measly Inquisitor. The only articles on it were on the 7th or 8th page, small 100 word articles that did not seem alarming at all.
Chloe, however, did not accept this at all. Every morning, she scans the newspaper from front to back looking for possible clues as to where a next story will spring up. It had already become her habit and it seems as if it will never be broken in her.
She had mellowed down a little but the school paper had another champion in line. Lois sat down side by side with Chloe as they tried to outline the next week's paper. Up front was the picture of Jackal and a full page story of his escape and his background. Both Lois and Chloe found it queer that he was not front page when they uncovered his past. He was a known assassin in Japan, stretching his reputation across Europe and, finally, to the US when he decided to take a job across the seas from his own country.
"He strikes, mostly in big cities, like Tokyo, Amsterdam, Manhattan and Gotham City." Lois pointed out from the map she took from the CIA files.
"Gotham, it's close." Clark mentioned.
"It's a small town. Why would a big baddie be interested in us?" Chloe insisted.
"Not like we harbor a lot of weirdness here."
"But Jackal's an international hitman. We only harbor homegrown psychopaths."
"I constantly wonder why the small town of Smallville doesn't run out of baddies. You have a small population, you know." Lara muttered.
"Yeah, next you think you know you got Aliems." Chloe laughed as Lois made her best impression of Lilo.
Clark cringed at the remark... Hello? Alien here...
"I want to have a Stitch of my own." Lara pouted.
Hello? Alien here... VOLUNTEERING!!!... Clark thought.
Chloe noticed how Clark's eyes would light up everytime Lara talks. It was like Lana all over again though it doesn't feel quite right for her to feel jealous. "Lara's my cousin."
The phone rang in the Torch office. Lara stood up and answered it before anyone else bothered to. Clark could here her hushed voice in the corner, even the voice of a man on the other line.
"Hello?" Lara said.
"Hello? Is Lara home?" Lara had diverted the phone calls from her house to the office.
"Speaking. Who is this?"
"Raidon."
Clark saw how Lara tensed up at the name.
"Who is it?" Chloe shouted.
"Raidon." Lara responded shakily.
"Ooooooh..." Lois and Chloe giggled girlishly.
"What is it?" Clark asked almost silently.
"She's dead scared of him." Lois tried to stiffle her laughter. Both Chloe and Lois knew how dead serious the 'situation' was but the can't help it if they found it still funny. They don't know if Lara was stuck at that stage before adolescent age when girls hate boys or if she was already at
"Why?"
"He's one of the bestfriends who decided to step up a notch. She's scared of having that notch get filled up."
"He's a suitor?"
"Close..." Chloe giggled.
"Is she a man hater or a lesbian?"
Chloe covered her lips with the classic good heavens no! remark. "She got the longest crush list I have ever seen. But when it comes to boyfriends, she'd rather curl up in a cyanide filled room and die. Only three guys made it close to boyfriend position... one of them tried to kill her... added trauma."
"Talk about boyfriend-phobia."
----------
"Rai, how are you?" Clark still listened in to their conversation while trying to pay attention to two giggling, caffeine-active teenage girls.
"I'm fine. Well, you got me worried there for a minute. You just disappeared after Kirk turned up in the news."
"Kirk, what?"
"He's dead. Haven't you heard?"
Lara couldn't say a word.
"Lara? Are you still there?"
"Yeah... I'm fine..."
"The discussion is obviously offending you. I'm sorry."
"It's alright, Rai."
"So, how are you? I heard you were like thrown into some far flung barbaric planet."
"Not really. It's really a quaint town."
"How are you surviving the barless town so far?"
"I'm not that bar crazy, you know."
"I know... So you won't be coming back soon... will you?" Raidon's voice was almost down to a murmur now.
"It's still indefinite."
"I heard you're with Lex." Raidon's voice turned sharper and lower at this statement. Could it be that Lex is the other bestfriend?
"No, not really."
"Why Smallville, Lara?"
You just have no idea... Lara thought. "It's because of Chloe. You heard of her incident, right? Well, I just can't bear to lose sight of her."
"Alright." Raidon said trying to believe her.
"Rai, can you tell me exactly what happened?" Why wasn't it in the papers?
"Are you sure you are ready for this?"
"Yeah, Rai. I think I can handle this one."
"Okay... It turned out he got busted for drugs. Being your escort last party, he was all over the TV. Queer enough, the incident never reached the newpapers. There was a showdown between the police and his friends who tried to bust him out on the way to prison, according to the police. He got caught in the crossfire. I'm sorry."
Clark got up and pretended to get something from his drawer a few steps away from Lara. He tried to peer at her her face. He only saw her cheek and a silver teardrop that almost escaped him.
"Lara, are you alright?"
Lara quickly wiped her tears before she turned to face Clark. "Yeah, Clark I'm fine. Rai, I have to go now. I'll call you soon okay? Bye." she said not even waiting for an answer. Clark only watched helplessly as she moved out to the school halls.
----------
Lex saw Lara's car pull up on his driveway from his study's window. She seemed knd of weary as she walked through the halls of his study and collapsed on his couch.
"Lara... How nice of you to come visit."
"Lex, you have to tell me the truth." were her first words. She was staring into his fire, like she was too lost in her thoughts.
"I'd try."
"I just learned that Kirk died. Were you the one who took care of him?"
Lex lowered his glass of scotch unto his varnished wooden table without a coaster.
"Lex, please tell me the truth even if it was you."
Lex looked into Lara's eyes, lifeless orbs staring into a bright nothingness. He squatted in front of her so that they were at the same eye level.
"I am sorry." he rested his head on her lap as he did before after he had lost his mother. She was her constant conscience, the reminder when he forgets that he is human.
He felt her hands on his head. She always showed this sisterly affection to him. But he wanted it to be more than sisterly. But she had made it clear that it was all it can lead to. "I can't love the two of you that way." she had told Raidon and him when they started a fist fight for her, like two children in a playground. She had started crying telling them that she could not bear to be the reason for their first fight... Raidon had come later in their friendship but the three of them had been as close as siblings can get.
"It's alright."
"You have to understand. He tried to kill you. I didn't know what to do. I do not trust the authorities and i figured once he gets out, he'd come back for you. I am sorry." Lex had lost his authoritative, cool, calm and collected facade. He was sobbing in her arms like a child.
"It's alright," her soothing voice came forth and caressed Lex' heart, willing it to stop beating so fast.
In the darkness, a black trenchcoat billowed against the sharp edge of a blade.
----------
"How quaint." Jackal's voice was enough to chill Lex' blood after he was exposed to the soothing warmth of an angel.
"Who are you? How did you get past my security."
Lara knew immediately who it was. He was the man who walked out of prison unnoticed. "Dr. Jackal." she whispered.
"Right you are, Ms. Lane." he smiled courteously. "I have to admit it's pretty queer for an old man to put his son on the hit list. I thought I'd kill you first. I never thought, however, that I can hit two people with one blade.
Clark could hear Lara's scream from inside the Torch. He did not know how. His super hearing never functioned without his will before. His heartbeat went at an unbelievable rate. He hurried out of the school grounds towards her voice... towards, Lex' mansion.
"Where is he going?" Lois frowned.
Lara screamed as soon as Jackal moved. He seemed to be the kind of man without conscience, without anything to lose. Lex pulled her away from Jackal , covering her with his own body. Jackal was standing near the door covering their chance of a dash.
"So, my father sent you? I can offer a greater price." he said cautiously.
"I am not here for the money." he said throwing three warning blades beside Lex. "Oh please... I am losing interest in this... Please tell me you are going to fight." throwing a fourth blade into Lex' shoulder, sending him to the floor.
Lara pulled two pokers from the fireplace. "Feisty." Jackal licked his lips.
Lara was quite unsure of herself. She was skillfull with sticks and blades but pitted against a cold-blooded murderer can be unnerving. She stepped in front of Lex, meaning to protect him. "You will not hurt him." the commandeering tone of her voice surprised even her.
"I am not a fan of tears, Ms. Lane. I am merely a fan of blood. I think I shall kill you first and spare you the emotional pain of losing someone."
"Try me." she brandished the pokers at Jackal, keeping a keen eye on both Jackal's hands. She alost froze at what she saw, the blad did not come from under the sleeve. It was embedded on his pointer finger.
Keen eye... she reminded herself.
Her heart was pounding furiously in her head. It was not just her life on the line... but Lex' too.
I need to be strong. she thought. She saw his hand's first twitch as he prepared to throw one blade. But at the corner of her eye, his other hand moved. A bluff.
Kashi had three blades in the air within her sight, two of them towards Lex, one towards her. She did a triple flip in the air, dodging the one directed to her, reaching out one poker to hit the other two off course.
The blades embedded themselves into the poker. It was sharper than a surgical knife.
"Of course, I made them, didn't I?" he said almost as if reading her mind.
"You are currently fighting with me. Do not do a bluff again."
"You ARE interesting." Jackal whispered.
"Stay away from her." Lex managed to say.
"He is bleeding. You have to kill me as soon as you can... you know." Jackal smiled.
"And I will." Lara positioned herself across Jackal, clean shot to the window, holding two of Jackal's blades in her hands.
Clark came in just in time to see Lara deliver a deadly throw towards the Jackal.
He flew out of the window, with the force Lara delivered. Before he can even react, Lara was rushing to Lex' side.
"Clark! Call 911!" she kept screaming... Her hands were covered in blood... Lex' blood.
----------
The first thing he saw was the top of Lara's head and a bunch of supremo coffee cups on the table and in the trash bin.
"Hey." he heard her say. Her eyes were swollen with tears.
"You were amazing." he smiled.
"And you were bleeding." she said placing her hand on his head.
"What happened to the Jackal?" Lex inquired. Lara suddenly tensed up, sighing.
"There was blood on the ground, which meant I got him. But there was no body." she wrapped her hand protectively around his arm. A thing she got used to doing it everytime she was absolutely afraid.
Don't be scared... he thought. He was not quite sure hoe he was going to take care of her. The night before, he could not even stand up for her. Then, the thought of his father came into his thoughts. He would have to take care of him.
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Clark heard his footsteps before he even came into sight. The sharp tap of the Armani shoes were unique against the usual workboots that his parents wore around the farm.
"What are you doing here?" his tone were as sharp as the tap of the other man's shoes.
"Clark, I know you are still mad. But, I need to ask you a favor. Clark, it is for me as much as it is for her."
Clark stayed silent.
"Clark, you saw the man who attacked us last night. He seems invincible and he is still out there. I know I have not yet unraveled the real Clark but I can't pretend I don't know some of your capabilities. Clark, she lives next door from your house. Even if I hire the whole army, I know he'll still get past them. He walked out of prison unnoticed. Clark, you're the only one I can trust with this. I beg you."
"I will look out for her, Lex... Now, get out."
Lex turned around and walked away. The tension just rose one notch higher between them.
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Akabane looked at his list... one of them was encircled: Clark Kent. "I wonder what this kid holds?"
He tapped his pen over the names on his list one by one; Lex Luthor, Clark Kent, Chloe Sullivan, Lara Lane, and Lois Lane. His pointer went back to Lara's name. "But this one is definitely fun to play with." He encircled her name twice. A seemingly genuine smile crossed his face as she walked into her room. He watched from the shadows as she prepared to go to sleep "Not tonight, however."
A/N 2: I have brought up Jackal, I have no idea how to kill him or eliminate him or make him friendly. Elucidate me, Getbackers fans... To those who doesn't know Jackal. He's a coldblooded murderer who can smile bacause he has no super-ego, whatsoever... He is aso the type of person who can side with the good or the bad anytime because he only wants fun. Watch Getbackers...
