Chapter 4 [Twenty minutes later]

[Kent Farm]

Lana set her bundle gently on the dirt driveway. During the flight back from New York, the excitement and euphoria wore off. Admittedly the unease had started to eat at her insides. "Who are those guys anyhow?"

"Hey!" Keller demanded. He growled while letting his eyes glow yellow. His inner beast emerged. With his feet firmly planted on the dirt, his claws shredded the net before a superhuman tug freed him from its snarling ties. He snarled while considering the masked woman.

While seeming human, she was clearly anything but. Her heart beat at a different pace. Her scent stung his nostrils. She exuded power from every pore. The flight between Long Island and there proved she had more than met the eye clearly.

For her part, she could feel his anger and change. Much as with Byron Moore's and Dr. Dubois' respective alter egos, she clearly perceived the clear threat. She put her hands up to show him she meant no harm. "It's okay. Sorry I hauled you over here. I meant no harm. We had to get you and your friend out of there." She pulled her mask off revealing her face. "I'm a real friend. See?"

The beast hesitated; his mind clearly confused at the virtual twin of his beloved detective. His eyes glowed brighter. He roared loudly. He stomped toward Lana with his claws extended and swiped at her.

Granted the claws gouged her clothes but not her skin.

"Hey! Stop it!" she protested. ["Clark, where are you? I need help here!"]

["We're almost there."]

Great. He's dawdling over the Great Lakes with that girl. Meantime I get to deal with the Byron Wannabe. Tremendous! She dodged the Beast's second assault at super speed while considering how to get the situation calmed down quickly. She understood the former captive had plenty of reason to be angry. But at her?

Besides she didn't want certain other things stirred up….

Meantime the Beast swiped at her yet again. He thought that Lana was a Muirfield plant of some kind to confuse him—an agent with a great plastic surgery job and a similar scent to hers…In some ways, she seemed to be the same person. He leapt at her again.

She evaded him again….

That beastly assault meant his crashing against the barn. He howled in defiance of her abilities. Then he jerked to a halt and stared at the open Loft door above.

Therein two crimson spots hovered in the darkness. A sinister snarling could clearly be heard.

Great. As if we need this? She grimaced at the Child's Apparition form knowing the potential mayhem that could go down at that point.

The Image Screamed in challenge before appearing between her and the Beast. Its eyes glowed bright crimson.

The attacker floated about ten feet off of the ground. He tried to resist the restraint clawing and swinging at the air about himself.

"Zip it, Buttwipe. Ah got yer pug ugly butt. Ah ain't lettin' ya go!" the Image hissed. It turned to her. "Ya 'kay?"

"I'm okay. Thanks. Wish we could calm him down," she declared in frustration. "We shouldn't have to hurt him."

"He needs a whuppin'!" the Dark One groused.

At that moment, Clark alighted to the ground with Catherine in his arms. "What the?"

"Vincent! What's going on? What are you doing to him? And…" Her eyes went wide at the sight in front of herself. She pulled her revolver. "Put him down now!"

There she saw what seemed to be a dark spirit of some kind. Beside that she saw her virtual twin. Much as the Beast had earlier, she stopped dead cold and tried to figure out what kind of trick was going on there. "Who are you, People? You fly? You imitate people? And that thing what the Hell is it?"

"We're special, Miss," Clark pointed out. "The spirit you see is a friend. He's very protective of us. If your friend will play nice, he'd let him down."

"So you're not with Muirfield then?" Catherine pressed.

"Who's that?" Lana wondered. "As I was saying to your friend, we didn't mean to startle you. We were trying to help. I'm Lana. He's Clark. The Image is also a friend. You're in Smallville, Kansas."

Catherine considered her twin's assessment carefully. Then she slowly holstered her pistol. "Detective Catherine Chandler, NYPD. He's Vincent." She turned to the Image. "Mind letting him down?"

"Please?" Lana requested of her dark friend.

The Image frowned—or would have if it had a mouth to do it with. "Stoopids!" It waved a "hand" while dropping the Beast to the ground. "Ah'll be watchin'!" With that it vanished.

The Beast sniffed the air in confusion. It didn't understand the auras and scents of the beings around himself and Catherine. Besides the two unknown beings in front of them, he struggled to understand the galloping ghost who'd just appeared, attacked him and then vanished without warning. He didn't get how Catherine somehow had a super powered twin who'd dropped out of thin air and wasn't a plant.

And, as with Catherine, he struggled to understand how they were halfway across the country in just under ten minutes.

"So we're really in Kansas?" the detective wondered while assessing the farm around herself.

"We're here all right," Clark affirmed while unmasking. "You're going to be okay."

The Beast snarled and hissed in response to that comment.

"Uh, Detective Chandler, can you tell him it's okay?" Lana requested. "We really don't need a fight right now."

As much as Catherine wanted to keep her boyfriend at full alert, she also knew he needed to be in control. "They seem to be okay, Vincent. Calm down. It's okay." She glanced deeply into his eyes. "Please?"

The Beast glared at the Kryptonian duo but did as his love requested. Slowly his claws retracted. His eyes dimmed in hue. He relinquished control to his alter ego reluctantly.

"Catherine?" Vincent asked hesitantly. He saw Lana off to their left now with Clark. Yet he could also see his beloved in front of himself.

Catherine grinned. "It's me, Vincent! We got away. They helped us get away from Muirfield for now." She embraced him closely and locked lips with him desperately.

Vincent, for his part, returned the gesture hungrily. Minutes earlier, he'd thought that they'd lost everything. Even before saving her from Lowen, he'd interceded for her on many occasions. From that first encounter outside of that small dive of a greasy spoon on the edge of the Midwestern woods, he'd been her guardian angel. He'd saved her life on many occasions and watched her to a vouyeristic extent. He'd risked his cover and his life on several occasions for her/without question.

Until the previous year, however, he'd never allowed love to enter the equation….

…that is until she pushed it into their personal equation….

…a variable, he admitted, he surrendered gladly to….

Accordingly he allowed his emotions to flood through his lips into hers heavily.

Clark and Lana simply hung back and admired the scene. Maybe their own date had been crashed. However, after making two new friends and helping them to evade trouble of that nature, that seemed minor.

"Guess we did good tonight?" Clark supposed.

"We did," his girlfriend agreed with a big smile. "Maybe though we might let them get their feet back on the ground?"

"Yeah seems they're doing that on their own," Clark supposed half-seriously.

"Clark, give them their moment. I think we can let them sleep here tonight," she proposed.

"I'll start the coffee going," Clark told them before heading for the house.

Lana rolled her eyes at him before turning back to her counterpart and the latter's companion. Maybe someday everything will be okay. "Hey, Guys. We've got some coffee and a place for you to get yourselves together. At least those guys won't find you here."

Vincent shook his head. "Yeah. They will eventually though." He pulled out his cell and tossed it on the ground. Then he crushed it under his boot's sole. "Give me your phone." He motioned to Catherine.

"What? Vincent, you're not…." Catherine started to protest.

"Muirfield can trace us through your cell phone too," Vincent argued. "Sorry but it's necessary."

Catherine shrugged. "Gabe took it from me back at the estate. So they can trace it all they want. They won't find us that way. Wish I could let Tess know where we are."

"Sorry we can't do that. I can't even let J. T. know yet," Vincent insisted. "We will when it's safe."

"I know. I just wish they'd go away," she groused.

Vincent sniffed the air and shrugged. "Yeah me too." He turned to Lana. "Your boyfriend works fast. That coffee smells great."

"Big pot, lots for each of us," Lana informed them with a warm smile. She opened the door. "Go on in. Just let Clark know I'll be right back. I'm going for sandwiches." She rushed off toward town at super speed.

"Going for sandwiches she says. What's next?" Catherine wondered while shaking her head.

"Coffee. Other than our new friend, Clark, it seems clean. Course their ghost buddy could show up again…whatever that is." His eyes glowed yellow. "It's not here although its vibes are all over this place."

"Great. So we're around a haunted farmhouse," Catherine lamented. She led him guardedly into the house. "Clark?" She glanced around the dining room and then toward the kitchen area.

"Come on in. I'll have this coffee ready in a minute. Where's Lana?" Clark wondered as he got the mugs down from the cupboard.

"She went to get sandwiches apparently. Kind of redefines rapid delivery," she explained.

"Probably went to the Talon," Clark supposed. Seeing the reactions from his guests, he clarified, "It's a café in town she manages. Just relax. It'll be okay."

Catherine and Vincent looked at each other. She took an anxious gulp from her coffee. Granted they had evaded their enemies for the moment. But sooner or later, Muirfield would find them. In addition, while grateful for Clark and Lana's assistance, their new friends had questions surrounding them as well.

Life kept getting more interesting…that was for sure….