An hour later, Jimmy and Linda headed out of the Talon and headed down the sidewalk, carrying large Styrofoam cups of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.
"How's your hand?" Linda asked as she looked at Jimmy, concerned.
"Hey, I don't think I got enough whipped cream," Jimmy said, peering at his cup.
"Jimmy," Linda replied, giving him a look, "you're avoiding the question."
"Hey, it's a legitimate concern," Jimmy continued. "After what we paid for these drinks," he took a cautious sip, smacking his lips appreciatively, "which taste really good, by the way, we should get a ton of whipped cream with it."
"Did you check your nose?" Linda asked wryly.
Jimmy furrowed his eyebrows, then he crossed his eyes as he glanced down; he had a big dollop of whipped cream on the tip of his nose. The photographer wiped the whipped cream off with the back of his sleeve, then glanced at Linda, who looked a little amused.
"I think you have enough," Linda replied before taking a sip, expertly avoiding getting her nose in the whipped cream topping her drink. "Now, about your hand…."
"I'm fine," Jimmy said quickly before he held up his hand and slowly flexed his fingers. "See? I'm fine."
"Uh huh," Linda replied, unconvinced. "Jimmy, you could have been killed."
"But I wasn't," Jimmy pointed out, sounding a little annoyed, "and my hand's getting better, so just drop it, okay?"
"Why are you being so stubborn?" Linda asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "I'm just worried about—"
"Jimmy? Linda?" The two teenagers looked over and saw Chloe approaching. She wore a non-traditionally-colored leather jacket, shaped and short, over a sweater and snug dark jeans, with contrasting boots and a scarf, looking a little confused. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine," Jimmy replied quickly; he ignored the brief glare Linda gave him. "So, uh, what are you doing here? I thought you and Lois were going to come out later tonight."
"Yeah, well," Chloe said slowly, shifting unfortunately, "something…came up."
"Like what?" Linda asked.
Chloe looked uncomfortable as she glanced to her side, then she furrowed her eyebrows. She looked around until her eyes landed on a teenage girl standing in front of the large Foreman's display window, staring at the Christmas decorations. She wore a hot pink wool coat that reached to mid thigh, a short skirt, patterned tights, and ankle boots with heels; her long blonde hair hung loosely under a matching wool hat.
"What is she doing here?" Jimmy asked, glaring at the girl.
"Now, Jimmy," Chloe said, carefully putting herself in front of Jimmy, "before you say anything, Lois and I had no idea she was coming."
"You know what she did," Jimmy replied.
"What's going on?" Linda asked, confused, as she stared at the girl. "Who is that?"
"Oh, that's right," Jimmy answered, his tone laced with bitterness, "you haven't been personally introduced. Linda, that girl over there is Lucy."
Linda's eyes widened in shock as she glanced over at the other girl. "That's Lucy?" she asked.
"Yeah, the one and only," Jimmy asked sarcastically.
"Jimmy, I'm sorry," Chloe replied, "but the General dropped her off unexpectedly this morning at my dad's place; Dad called me to let me know, and Lois and I felt it was best I come out first, just in case—"
"Just in case we bumped into each other?" Jimmy interrupted, trying to remain calm; he wasn't mad at Chloe, but he didn't want to stay there any longer. "Come on, Linda, let's go." Chloe and Jimmy glanced to the side, but Linda wasn't there; they looked around and spotted Linda crossing the street—making a beeline right for Lucy.
While part of Jimmy was sorely tempted to stay put and watch Linda unleash her anger on Lucy, he didn't want Linda to get in trouble or feel guilty later on. He also knew that no matter how much Lucy had hurt him, he couldn't fathom her getting injured or humiliated for any reason; he sighed.
"We gotta stop her," he said before making sure it was safe to cross the street.
"Jimmy, you really think Linda would hurt Lucy?" Chloe asked as she walked beside him.
"No, but she has on more than one occasion made it quite clear to me how she feels about your cousin," Jimmy replied, "and it's not exactly sunshine and lollipops." They saw Linda toss her cup in a nearby trashcan before approaching Lucy, who turned around.
"Well, that's understandable," Chloe said, "but she wouldn't act on those feelings any more than Clark would."
"Yeah, and Linda never thought she'd go ballistic on her biological father, either," Jimmy replied, "yet he ended up with a broken nose and two fractured jaws."
"Had to bring that up," Chloe muttered as she watched the teenagers exchange words, the expressions on both girls' faces clearly indicating the conversation was less than pleasant; it wasn't until Chloe and Jimmy reached the sidewalk—and Jimmy dropped his cup into the nearby trashcan—that they could finally hear what was being said.
"…deserves better than you," Linda said as she glared at Lucy.
"Well, it's clear that he decided to downgrade instead," Lucy replied, glaring right back. Linda narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists, but before she could say anything Chloe and Jimmy stepped between the girls, separating them.
"How about we go to our separate corners?" Chloe suggested gently as she kept her hand on Lucy's shoulder.
"How about you get this little bitch out of my face?" Lucy retorted as she narrowed her eyes at Linda.
"Luce, I love you," Chloe said as she looked at her cousin, her expression and tone deadly serious, "but if I ever hear you call anyone that name again, you and I are going to have a long talk."
"Yeah, and maybe I can rearrange your face beforehand?" Linda suggested as she stepped toward Lucy.
"Hey, hey," Jimmy said as he put his hands on her shoulders, stopping Linda from advancing. "It's not worth it, Linda." Linda met his gaze, and Jimmy said a small thank you to himself as he felt her relax a little.
"Same old Jimmy," Lucy replied snootily. "Never had the stomach for confrontations."
Jimmy turned around, glaring at his ex girlfriend. "Let's make one thing clear," he said. "I chose not to get in your face that day and spout off every insult in my vocabulary because you obviously didn't give a damn about me, and I didn't want to waste my breath." He grabbed Linda's hand. "Chloe, sorry about this, but I hope you and Lois and your dad have a good Thanksgiving. Linda, let's go." Wordlessly, he pulled Linda away, and the two walked quickly down the sidewalk away from Chloe and Lucy.
It was a little after midnight, and Jimmy lay on the couch, dressed in gray sweatpants and a navy blue t-shirt. He knew he should be asleep instead of staring up at the ceiling, and he shifted to readjust his pillow and blanket before laying back down and closing his eyes. After what seemed like an hour, with no hint of relaxing, the teenager knew he wasn't going to be sleeping any time soon; sighing, he carefully stood and padded softly into the kitchen, looking for something to drink. Midway to the refrigerator, he stopped short when he heard a soft sob coming from outside. Tilting his head, he quietly heading over to the door and carefully opened it, peering through the screen door.
Linda stood on the porch, leaning against the porch rail as she stared out into the darkness. She wore a pair of purple pajama pants with white polar bears all over it and a matching purple tank top; her hair hung loose, and Jimmy could tell she wasn't wearing her glasses. He caught the tear streaks on her cheeks—and he furrowed his eyebrows with concern as he opened the door.
"Linda, you okay?" he asked as he stepped out onto the porch, ignoring the biting cold.
Linda looked a little startled as she quickly turned away, wiping her cheeks. "I'm fine," she said, her voice wavering a little as she tried to sound calm.
"Yeah, why don't I believe that?" Jimmy asked soft and nonthreatening. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Linda replied casually, not facing him. She didn't hear anything, so she slowly glanced over and saw Jimmy giving her an 'I don't buy it' expression, and she sighed. "Why don't you believe me? I said I'm fine."
"And I said I don't believe that," Jimmy repeated. "Now, what's going on?"
Linda stared at him for a few moments. "I almost hurt Lucy," she finally said.
"But you didn't," Jimmy replied.
"But I wanted to," Linda said. "When I saw her standing there, I just kept thinking about how much she hurt you, and how easily I could hurt her in return."
"Yeah, and people have been wanting to hurt other people long before you came to Earth," Jimmy replied, "including me; it's natural."
"Yeah, but if you lose your temper," Linda replied, "you don't have to worry about punching through someone's body." She shrugged slightly, wiping a fresh tear from her cheek as she hung her head. "Maybe I'm more like my father than I let on."
"No, you're not," Jimmy said emphatically as he gently took her shoulders and turned her to him. "Linda, look at me." Linda slowly looked up at him. "You are nothing like your father. Everyone—everyone—has wanted to hurt someone in their life, even Clark; I've seen him wanting to wail on several people, but he chose not to."
"Clark has never snapped before," Linda replied sadly. "I never told this to anyone, but when I fought my father and I could feel his bones breaking as I hit him," she looked ashamed, "I didn't want to stop until he was dead." She looked at Jimmy with a sad confusion in her eyes. "What does that make me?"
"Normal," Jimmy simply replied. Linda shook her head, unconvinced, and Jimmy sighed. "Linda, you wanna know how I know you're not like your father?"
"How?" Linda asked.
"Because you stopped," Jimmy replied. "When you stepped toward Lucy, and I told you it wasn't worth it, you could have just continued and there would have been nothing Chloe or I could have done to stop you—but you stopped. Your father wouldn't have done that." He saw the look of relief wash over Linda's eyes, even as she appeared ready to break down, and he took a deep breath before pulling her toward him and wrapping his arms around her; he was thankful she returned the gesture as she leaned against him.
"Thank you," Linda said softly, her head resting against his shoulder.
"No problem," Jimmy replied. The two just stayed there for some time before they pulled away. The photographer was relieved to see Linda looked a little more relaxed; he decided to change the subject. "Hey, uh, remember when you were asking about Winslow Schott?"
"Yeah," Linda said slowly, "but Cutter and Wally already told me about him," she smiled, "and I saw your picture of the giant spider robot; it was really good, by the way."
Jimmy felt his cheeks grow hot. "It wasn't anything special," he replied as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Why are you asking about Schott?" Linda asked.
"Well, he hasn't killed anyone since Sunday," Jimmy replied.
"That's a good thing, right?" Linda said, furrowing her eyebrows.
"Well, yeah," Jimmy answered, "but that means he's been off the radar—and no one's saying it, but they're worried Schott might be planning something big. No one's been able to find him—the police, the S.C.U., or Clark." He shrugged slightly. "Maybe you and I would have better luck—after Thanksgiving, of course."
"So, you're suggesting that you and I go around Metropolis looking for a psycho who uses toys as deadly weapons when no one else has been able to locate him?" Linda asked.
"Yeah," Jimmy replied. "It'll be a nice distraction from all the crazy stuff from the past few days—after Thanksgiving, of course."
"Well, I could definitely use a break from Smallville right now," Linda admitted, "but I seriously doubt I'd be allowed to go to Metropolis to look for Schott; Clark and my parents weren't exactly thrilled when I simply asked who he was, remember?"
"Yeah, well, maybe I could kinda suggest giving you a tour around Metropolis," Jimmy said. "If we happen to stumble upon Schott in the process…well, we certainly can't be blamed for that, right?"
"You think they're really going to fall for that?" Linda asked, amused.
Jimmy shrugged. "I don't see why they'd suspect anything," he answered. "Things have been a little crazy, and it's been months since you threw that guy through the store window."
Linda blushed a little. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?" she asked.
Jimmy smiled. "Probably not," he replied.
Linda smiled as she shook her head. "Look," she said, "if you can convince them to let me go to Metropolis, I will definitely come."
"Great," Jimmy replied as he shifted on his feet, rubbing his arms with his hands.
Linda's eyes widened as she realized why Jimmy was doing that. "Oh, my gosh, Jimmy," she said, "why didn't you say anything?"
"Because we were having such a nice conversation," Jimmy replied, his teeth chattering. "Didn't want to ruin it."
"You're an idiot," Linda replied before she firmly grabbed his elbow and all but pulled him inside the house, shutting the doors behind them.
(End of Chapter 12)
