Chapter 4: Doing Time

*****Metropolis*****

Lex was at a meeting in Metropolis when his phone rang. He looked down and saw that it was Clark. Clark never called him, so he excused himself, ignoring his father's glare.

"Clark, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Buffy just got arrested at the school," Clark said.

"What?" Lex asked in dismay.

"The detective guy who's been harassing me planted drugs in her trunk, Lex. It's pretty awful. They arrested her in front of the entire school!" he shared.

"I will send my lawyer. Let's hope she doesn't say anything until he gets there," Lex said.

"Thanks, Lex. Dawn is calling Willow. She thinks she can help," Clark said.

"I'm not sure how, but we'll fix this," Lex said. He hung up, his mind racing. Even if they got the charges dismissed, Buffy's time at Smallville High might be at and end. Just an accusation could end her future in public schools. Disgust for Phelan filled him. He was going to make that cop regret hurting his girl.

*****Smallville*****

Buffy was so pissed she had to clench her fists to keep from breaking the cuffs and hitting the smug detective. He was sitting in the passenger side of the cop car, smirking at her in the rearview mirror. Due to the presence of the deputy, he knew not to say anything. He didn't need to, though because his face said everything he needed to say.

As they drove to the sheriff's department, her mind raced. This was a nightmare. She'd been arrested in front of the students. How would she ever bounce back from this? No matter if the charges dropped, the charges would still linger. She fought tears as the realization hit her; she'd never be allowed back in school.

The humiliation of sitting in handcuffs until she was processed burned through her. They patted her down, looking for weapons or drugs. For some strange reason, they took her shoes before they threw her into a cell. After an hour, she was allowed a phone call.

Who should she call? She wanted to call Lex, but she knew that Clark would. Due to the detective's knowledge of Clark's power, she had to tread carefully. Making a decision, she dialed Willow.

Willow's reaction was predictable. She was beyond pissed. "Will, calm down. You getting too work up won't do me any good," she said.

Willow knew that and took a deep breath, working to calm down. She gestured to Xander, who was standing nearby. "Talk to Buffy. She's in jail," she said, handing to phone to him.

"What?" Xander asked as he took the phone.

"Xander, I don't have much time. I need you and Willow to come down here. This detective who found something out about Clark he wants to exploit, planted drugs in my car and had me arrested at school in front of the students," she shared.

"Oh no! That's just wrong, Buff! We'll be there as soon as we can," he said before hanging up.

He turned to Willow. "What's the plan?" Xander asked. "She said that Clark is involved somehow."

"I will call Dawn. I wonder why she didn't call me?" Willow asked as she went to her phone. She winced when she looked at it. "She called me six times."

Giles came into the room. "Willow, Dawn just called me. She said Buffy was arrested an hour ago. Why are you and Xander not answering your phone?" he asked.

Xander put his hands on his pants' pockets. "I guess mine's in the truck," he said.

"We need to get there as soon as we can. Some detective set her up," Willow said.

"Dawn said that Clark has a secret—a very dangerous secret that the cop discovered," Giles said. "When Buffy came to his defense, the cop must've decided to get her out of the way his way."

"It's kind of a good plan," Xander said with a wince.

"We have to get to Dawn," Willow said. "I can teleport us."

"Are you sure?" Giles asked. "You have not ever moved another person—only yourself."

"I can do it, Giles," Willow assured him.

Giles frowned, not convinced. "Is this something you want to risk Xander's life over?" he asked.

"I wouldn't say I could do it if I thought he could get hurt," Willow said coolly, a bit offended at the implication.

"All right," Giles said. "Don't be angry that I asked. It's my job to ask those kinds of questions, Willow."

"I got our emergency bags in the closet. I'll grab them, and we can go," Xander said.

"I'll get the cell chargers and my laptop," Willow said.

"I will arrange a flight and be there as soon as possible," Giles said. "Do be careful."

"We will," Willow said.

It didn't take long for Xander to have a backpack on and holding another as Willow took his hand, her computer on her other side.

"Where are we going?" Xander asked. "I mean exactly?"

"To Dawn. I sent her a text," she said.

Giles watched them wink out, anxious. However, he knew he had to let them go and make his own plans. They'll be okay.

Back in Smallville, Dawn was at Clark's, telling his parents what had happened.

"We'll go to the station," Jonathan said.

A car was pulling up. "That's Lex," Clark said. "I called him, so he sent his lawyer to help. I bet he wants to find out what happened."

"Well, you can't tell him," his dad said pointedly.

"I know I can't tell him exactly what happened, but we have to tell him something," Clark said, looking at Dawn.

She started to answer but her phone binged. She pulled it out and saw the text message from Willow. "Willow and Xander are on their way. Willow will fix this."

"How can see fix this?" Clark asked in confusion. Lex was walking up to the porch, and he still didn't know what he was going to say.

Suddenly, it occurred to Dawn, though, that Willow's text, I'm bringing Xander there NOW. Be ready, meant that she was teleporting. "Oh no!" Dawn exclaimed as Lex reached the front of the porch.

"Hey," he said to her. "Are you okay?"

"No, no, no! I have to go!" Dawn said in a panic. Willow was going to appear in the middle of this group if she didn't leave. Where to go? She jumped off the porch and was about to head to the barn. However, it was too late. Willow and Xander appeared right in front of her.

"What the hell?" Lex asked, startled at the appearance of his girlfriend's two best friends.

Jonathan and Martha both took a step back while Clark immediately stepped in front of his parents to protect them from the sudden appearance of…. "Willow? Xander?" he asked, confused.

"Oops!" Willow exclaimed. She glanced at Xander, who bent over to throw up.

"Teleporting blows," Xander groaned.

"You can teleport?" Clark asked in surprise.

"That's what I'd like to know," Lex said, stepping forward.

Willow winced. Buffy was going to kill her. She looked at Xander, who had straightened. "Guess we should've called Dawn to make sure she was alone," he muttered.

Clark looked at Dawn. "You knew they could do that?" he asked.

"No, them, just Willow," Dawn said with a sigh. "I guess we need to explain."

"Dawn, can I speak to you a moment?" Willow asked, gesturing.

While Dawn walked off with Willow, Lex went up to his friend. "What's going on, Xander?" he asked. "How can she do that?"

"Are you sure you want to know?" Xander asked him.

"Of course, I do. I always want to know," Lex said firmly.

"It's magic. Willow's a witch," Xander said.

Lex stared at him to see if he'd start laughing or crack a smile. He was deadly serious. Lex, like his father, was open-minded. "Wait, a minute. Buffy told me that she was a real witch," Lex said. "I thought she meant that she had a temper to match her red hair."

Now Xander grinned. "She totally does. Don't make her angry. But it's not just a temper. She's the strongest witch on the planet," he shared. Unlike Buffy and everyone else, Xander didn't have any misgivings about Lex. He knew a kindred-spirit when he met one, and Lex was his friend. Even though it'd been a long time since he'd made a male friend, Xander trusted Lex. Buffy should, too.

"Xander!" Willow scolded as she walked back to them. "How about we not exaggerate?" She gave him the look—the one said he'd better shut up if he knew what was good for him.

"But how is it possible? Can other people do this? Can people learn how to do it?" Lex asked, fascinated.

"Look, Lex, I know we've freaked you out, but if you're going to be dating Buffy, this is the least freaky thing you'll probably see," Xander said.

"Xander!" Willow yelled, glaring. "What Xander means is, Buffy has a lot of friends with different gifts—some are odd and some aren't. As for teleporting, it's not something I do often because it's a waste of a lot of magic. Only really strong witches can do it."

"So witchcraft is real," Lex said, trying to wrap his mind around it.

"There's a lot of crazies and phonies, but there are also very real practitioners out there," Willow said. "However, we'll talk about this later. Right now, I have to focus on Buffy. I got my laptop. I need to find out everything I can on this detective."

Lex's phone rang. He stepped away to talk on it.

"We have to be careful what we say to Lex. He's a Luthor," Jonathan said, giving Xander and Willow the look Clark was all too familiar with.

"He's Buffy's boyfriend. We can deal with him," Willow said. "If he and Buffy go the distance, he will have to know what she is."

"That doesn't mean he has to know what my son is," Jonathan said. "I will never trust a Luthor."

"Dad, Lex has become a good friend to me," Clark said. "One of my closest. I think we can trust him."

"No, Clark," Jonathan said, not budging.

"Listen to your dad, Clark," Martha admonished.

Lex stepped back to them. "That was my lawyer. He said that because of the time, she won't see a judge until tomorrow. Arraignments are at 9 a. m. and 1:30pm. She missed the two windows," he explained.

"That means she has to spend the night in jail?" Dawn asked, upset.

"She's tough," Xander said, pulling Dawn into a hug. "She'll be okay. Nothing gets the Buffster down for long."

"Can we see her?" Willow asked.

"No. Only her lawyer can see her," Lex said grimly. "So why does Detective Phelan have it in with Buffy? What does he want with you, Clark?"

The group had various reactions to the questioning, and Lex noticed it all. Willow and Xander frowned, but they didn't look particularly anxious. The Kents, however, did. Dawn look like she wanted to tell Lex but a look at Jonathan Kent silenced her.

"Lana told me the detective was flashing pictures of Clark the day after the fundraiser in Metropolis," Lex said. "I'm assuming that's where he met you, Clark. What happened?"

"I didn't meet him, Lex, but he showed up at school the other day saying he knew a secret about me," Clark said, trying to come up with something plausible. "I-I think he investigated my birth parents."

"You didn't tell me that," Martha said in surprise.

"That's 'cause I didn't want to upset you," Clark said. He didn't realize his mother could lie so convincingly. Clark, though, felt guilty for feeding Lex a story. However, it wasn't a complete lie.

"Then he showed up when Buffy and I were having dinner here last night. He cornered me and Clark in the barn," Dawn explained. "He knows something bad about Clark's family and said he needed an errand boy that was big and strong like Clark. Clark has that wholesome good guy look that no one would suspect. I know he's obviously a dirty cop and wants Clark to do something bad."

Clark gave her a grateful look, appreciating that she was obviously really good at making up stories. "Buffy came into the barn and overheard his threats. He got really rude with her, so she punched him in the stomach," Clark said. He started to mention the broken camera but had no good explanation for why that was important.

Lex shook his head. "I wish she hadn't done that. This guy doesn't like people who get in his way. He must've seen Buffy as an obstacle," he said.

"One he found a way to remove," Xander said, pissed.

"So can you use your magic to make this go away?" Lex asked Willow.

"Possibly," Willow said. "There's things I can do. But first I need some information about him."

"I have a file on him at my house. I'll bring it to you," Lex said. "Buffy's hearing for bail is tomorrow at nine in the morning."

"How much is bail?" Dawn asked.

"Don't worry about that," Lex assured. "I'll take care of her." He didn't say it, but he'd take care of this detective if he had to, too. However, knowing his girl had a friend like Willow made him pause. He thought about it as he walked to his car. To have such power. . .

After Lex left, Martha said, "Come on inside. You can use your computer to do your research."

Dawn dragged her feet, wanting to talk to Clark. "Clark, Willow won't believe that story we fed them. What do I tell her?" she asked. "Can we tell her the truth?"

Clark shook his head. "No. I know she's good at keeping secrets and has power of her own. That is incredible what she can do," he said. "But I'm from another planet, Dawn. That's not something that I can just tell people. Besides, your friends share all their secrets, right? Tell one, tell all?"

Dawn winced and nodded. "Yea, for the most part," she admitted.

"I am trusting you and Buffy, but I can't give the same trust to your entire group. It's too big," he said. "My parents would freak."

Dawn's mind raced as she looked for an explanation. Then it dawned on her. "Oh, I got it!" she exclaimed. "I know what we can say. We'll build on what we already said! Come on."

She grabbed Clark's hand and dragged him inside his own house. Clark found her more and more impressive. Nothing seemed to phase her. Not him getting hit by a bus. Not finding out he was from another planet. Not being blackmailed and nearly killed by the dirty cop. Even now with her sister in jail, she was thinking about how best to protect him. More and more, Clark was finding Dawn Summers occupying his thoughts.

"So what are we missing?" Xander asked them as soon as they reached the others.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

"What you told Lex isn't everything, is it?" he asked.

"No, not exactly," Dawn admitted, looking at Clark.

"You said 'what Clark is' earlier. What is he?" Willow asked.

Jonathan tensed and reached for his wife's hand, bracing themselves for what Dawn might reveal.

"Well, you know how Clark is adopted?" Dawn said.

When Clark's dad opened his mouth to silence her, Clark held up his hand. "It's okay, Dad. Dawn says they can be trusted," he said.

Jonathan looked grim but said nothing further.

"Yes," Willow nodded.

"Well, the cop found out that Clark is super strong. He saw him save a guy's life by stopping a car with his body," Dawn said, telling a version of the truth. She left out the word bus. "He traced Clark somehow and figured out that Clark has a parent that's a demon. One that can obviously mate with humans. It makes him stronger than a normal guy. It takes a lot to hurt him. Like a Fyarl."

"He's half Fyarl?" Xander asked, his eyes widening.

"I don't know. He doesn't know really," Dawn said. She knew this was an explanation that would make perfect sense to her friends. Although she hated lying to them, she got why Clark and his parents wanted the secret to remain that.

"Wow!" Willow said, eying him critically. "You know I could run some tests and figure it out if you want to know."

"I don't," Clark said quickly. "It's bad enough knowing that I'm not exactly human."

"Well, you're half-human, so that has to count for something!" Willow assured him.

"Demons aren't all evil," Xander said. "I dated a former vengeance demon. Then another girl I dated in high school became part demon."

"Clem's not evil," Willow said. "He's all demon."

Jonathan looked at his wife. Both were relieved. Who would've thought such a crazy tale would be believed? He gave Dawn a grateful look, and she winked at him.

"Is that everything?" Xander asked, feeling like there was something more.

"Not entirely," Dawn admitted. "When the detective came here, he set something up in the barn to show how strong Clark was. It almost killed me."

"What?" Willow asked on a gasp.

"Clark knocked me out of the way just in time," Dawn shared.

"So that's why Buffy hit the guy," Xander said with a smirk.

"Yep," Dawn said, feeling giddy that it was coming together.

Willow opened up her laptop. "Now that we know how far this guy will go, let's see what I can find out about him," she said.

"Told you I had it," Dawn whispered to Clark. She flashed him a smug smile.

Clark grinned, glad her story appeased her friends. In their world, Dawn's explanation made perfect sense. How crazy his life had become!

Lex was thinking the same thing as he walked into his house. He had met an amazing woman. Now her world was falling apart, and he had to help her. Detective Phelan was going to regret hurting the woman he loved.

And he did love Buffy Summers. She was still the most fascinating woman he'd ever met. That she'd punch a cop amused him. Her instincts about people were impeccable. Both Phelan and his dad weren't to be trusted, and she knew that. She had a best friend that was a witch and could teleport. Her life was incredible—she was incredible.

Lex remembered clearly the conversation they'd had when she'd told Lex that Willow was a witch. As her viewed his memories, he realized that she'd been testing him. She threw out the crazy truth to see how he'd respond.

****Flashback****

It was the first day of the New Year. His party had been more successful than he'd imagined. This beautiful woman kissed him at midnight and was now naked in his bed. His hand stroked her back.

"That was so nice," Buffy said, her voice muffled against his chest.

"Only nice?" he asked.

Buffy looked up and met his gaze. "How about stunning? Amazing? Earth-shattering?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth!" he said, grinning down at her. He bent down and gave her a soft kiss. "It was perfect—just like you are."

Buffy snorted. "I'm so not perfect, and I hope you won't dump me when you realize that," she said.

"You seem pretty perfect. My dad was very rude to you and your friend Willow. You took it in stride," he said. His dad had ran off more than one potential love.

"Well, Willow's a real witch. He better not push too hard and piss her off. He'll regret it," Buffy said, watching him carefully for his reaction.

Lex chuckled. "I'm not sure my dad takes enough time to regret much," he said.

"I know one thing I won't regret," Buffy said, changing the subject.

"What's that?" Lex wondered.

"Being here with you," she admitted.

Lex stared at her and saw only honesty and sincerity in her eyes. She meant it. A warm glow took root inside of him, and he kissed her once more.

*****End of Flashback*****

Lex realized now that Buffy had paused, seeing if he'd question her comment. When he didn't, she didn't say anything further. He sat at his desk, thinking. There was something else—something else that she'd told him.

When he was at the factory and Clark had saved him with an amazing feat of strength, he mentioned it to her in the car before they left. What was it Buffy had said?

Lex's eyes widened at he remembered.

"Clark's part demon!" he said aloud.

Buffy had speculated that and then casually mentioned that she'd lived on a hellmouth. Was she serious when she said her principal had been eaten by a giant snake? It seemed preposterous, but then so was teleporting. However, he had witnessed the reality of that less than a half hour ago. Who knew what else was true? He pulled out his cell phone to call his assistant.

"Get me everything you can on Sunnydale, California. Then research the term hellmouth," he told his assistant. "Yes, that's one word—I guess."

He hung up, feeling a twinge of guilt. Would researching this upset Buffy? Would she think he was crossing a line? He considered it a moment. Then he decided she wouldn't. She had tried to tell him the truth. It wasn't her fault that Lex dismissed her. Now he was taking her seriously.

Clark Kent was part demon. Who would've guessed that? He grinned and sat back in his chair, his hands behind his head.

The world was truly a wondrous place.

*****Chapter End*****

I hope you enjoyed this update.