Chapter 4 [Hours Later]

[Luthor Mansion]

Lex sat in his library and poured himself a Scotch. His eyes fought to keep blurring into focus. His arms and legs felt like lead from a night without sleep. What was supposed to be a night of letting go had to be let go of.

Two meetings in Metropolis had already been rescheduled. He'd deal with the Board of Directors in a couple of days. Right now he was fresh off of keeping the cops off of Clark's tail.

The alcohol burned his lips and numbed his parched throat on its way to his emotional sea. For a brief moment, he could feel at ease with things….

…but for only a moment….

The Kents would want an update. Yeah them. He let off a deep breath and forced himself to stand. He could see the sun already floating above the horizon. "Night officially bites the dust." He grabbed his keys and smoothed his coat. Then he headed for the garage.

The rest of the bottle could wait. Somebody needed to be on deck…..

[Kent Farm—about 6:30 AM]

Jonathan spread the hay around the barn stalls while trying to keep his mind off of Clark's latest disappearance. Being Saturday (and having to catch up from the younger man's blindness), he'd hoped for some super powered help around the farm.

Alas Martha finished the dishes and cleaning up after breakfast. She'd be out to help him when she could. He knew that.

But he worried more about Lex's conversation with her. He recalled her telling him that Lex was at a club in Metropolis. Another one? We talked with Clark about this! He tossed the bale in frustration against the wall and put his forehead against it.

Kal had taken over again…as if they needed any other issues.

Last time Edge's men were here. He glanced out toward the workshop area of the barn. He could still see the drama unfolding….

…Clark being hauled away…..

…Lana fighting off the remaining goons only to accidentally impale one of them on the pitchfork's tines.

Son, if we told you once, we told you a million times, actions have consequences! He smacked the wall hard. He knew he'd have to go looking for Clark if the latter didn't come home pretty soon.

A car's tires running over the gravel in the driveway alerted him to a visitor's presence.

Great! Now what? The farmer walked out of the barn to see Lex getting out of his Porsche with a grave expression. No luck. "Morning, Lex."

"Good morning, Mr. Kent," Lex greeted seriously. He knew that Jonathan and Martha weren't responsible for Clark's visit to Atlantis on the previous evening. Still exhaustion wasn't something he wore well. "Wish I had an update. Has Clark come back?"

"No sign of him." Jonathan motioned to the house. "Martha's got coffee on still. I'm sure she could fix you something if you'd like."

Knowing how much it had taken for that invitation to come out, the billionaire smiled and accepted, "I'd love that, Mr. Kent. Thank you. It has been a really long night." He followed the farmer into the house.

"Lex! Anything?" she wondered.

"Sorry, Mrs. Kent. I got back from Metropolis about an hour ago. Still haven't been to sleep," Lex reported. "I'd appreciate some coffee and a place to sit down if that's okay?"

"Of course!" She smiled at the guest while pouring him a cup of coffee. "So where were you last night when you found him?"

"A club in Metropolis called Atlantis. Love to know how he got there," Lex informed them. "Given the size of the bouncer at the door, how he got in is Mystery 2." He fixed his coffee and took a much needed draught from it. "How he got out and past us is Mystery 3." He rubbed his bare scalp. "At least he wasn't drinking the high test."

"What was he drinking?" Jonathan queried.

"According to the bartender, Clark had a Coke. The guy put a booster in it to keep him quiet. Apparently that's when he went nuts." Lex took a small vial from his pocket and held it up to the light. "I had it analyzed."

Martha saw the glowing red liquid inside of it. "It looks like red meteor rock."

"That, Mrs. Kent, is exactly what it is. Apparently Clark used to hang out at the club quite frequently during his last…trip there." Lex eyed the two parents guardedly. "What the Hell is a minor doing in a club like that?"

"He was out of his mind, Lex. You know what stress and trauma can do," Jonathan excused.

"Yeah I do. Apparently though I wasn't aware that stress could enable Clark to heft a 250 pound guy and shake him down before dropping him like a sack of potatoes. He shrugged me off before disappearing again like it was nothing." Lex gulped another draught before setting the cup down. "The bartender told me that Morgan Edge was on the lookout for Clark. Care to elaborate?"

"I wouldn't know why," she lied.

He could see the deceit. "Damn it! Please don't lie to me, Mr. and Mrs. Kent! I just spent my night making calls and being grilled by the Chief of Police in Metro! All right? Clark's got a big time problem. I just gave up my entire day's schedule for this!"

The two parents exchanged looks before she revealed, "Clark does have a problem with red meteor rock, Lex. It makes him go crazy."

"Martha," Jonathan complained.

"Jonathan, it's better that people know. Lex has proven himself. We can trust you?" she affirmed.

"I think you know the answer to that question," Lex answered testily. "Thank you, Mrs. Kent, for being honest about that. That will get Clark off the hot seat. He didn't ask to have it put in his drink. The bartender did that on his own." He sighed heavily.

Then his cell phone rang.

"More good news?" Lex eyed the caller ID. "It's the Talon. Wonder what Miranda wants? Give me a second." He answered, "Lex Luthor."

"Mr. Luthor, it's Miranda. Have you seen Lana? She was supposed to open with me this morning."

His eyebrow arched. "That's not like her. Has she called in?"

"I checked the messages. Nothing from her. I drove by the Sullivans on the way in but the lights were out. The blazer was in the garage. Think she went with Chloe and her Dad at the last minute?" the waitress supposed.

"Lana wouldn't do that without letting one of us know first," Lex disagreed. "Have you tried Chloe or her Dad?"

"I was going to wait until 9 or 10 before doing that. We're okay for now. Marie's on her way in to cover the rest of Lana's shift. I trust that's okay?" Miranda informed him.

"Sure. Thanks for doing that. I appreciate the call. Thank you." With that Lex hung up and held out the cup. "I need a refill badly after that."

"Something wrong with Lana?" Jonathan queried.

"She didn't show up for her shift this morning. There was no call or message with the café or at the mansion. That's really not like her," Lex explained. "And if wasn't Clark we're worried about…."

"Lex! Clark would never try that!" Martha protested.

"Believe me, Mrs. Kent, I wasn't going to suggest that! I know Clark would never hurt Lana. But, as you yourself said, Clark's not in his right mind. Until the day before yesterday, he dealt with being blind and Pete being kidnapped. Lana's announced she wants to be with someone else. It wouldn't take much to suggest that he snapped." Lex got up and walked over to the coffee maker. "I wish he'd just come clomping down the stairs all concerned about her. I'd love nothing more than to have him with me to look with her. If anyone is like the Bloodhound of All Things Lana, it's Clark. But he's not here. Forgive me but there is that possibility."

"I was about to start looking myself. I'd…appreciate a hand, Lex. Any ideas?" Jonathan requested while feeling desperate for any straw of a lead.

Lex fixed his second coffee and nodded. "A few. There are a couple of other places in Metro that I want to check out before I get Sheriff Adams involved." He rolled his eyes at the thought of dealing with Smallville's Less Than Finest. "I was going to go back to the mansion and check on a couple of things. Be back here in an hour or so. I'll bring the mug back."

"It's okay, Lex. Thank you," she expressed.

"No problem, Mrs. Kent. We'll get them back safely. Hang in there." Lex headed toward his vehicle. While he was still out of sorts by the Kents' paranoid need of secrecy for some reason, he felt gladdened that they could trust him at least with the red meteor issue. We'll need to deal with that too. Clark, why didn't you trust us with this? You don't have to hide! He drove off back toward the mansion with that thought fully on his mind.

Jonathan, in the meantime, shook his head. "Martha, why did you tell him about the red meteor rock?"

"Jonathan, you heard him! They've connected Clark's issues last night to it. As I said before, we need to start trusting people more! This is getting too big for us to handle, all right?" she countered. "Lex is trying to help!"

"Martha, he's a Luthor! We can't trust them!" he fired back.

"Would you rather have this farm crawling with police? Jonathan, we were lucky the last time! Poor Lana has to deal with the nightmare of killing that man to protect us! We have to start trusting!" she emphasized. "Now let's get those chores finished. When he comes back, I want to start looking."

Jonathan conceded a nod as they headed for the barn. He still didn't like it. But he had no choice.

Clark, where are you, Son?