William strode back to Lex Luthor's room, thinking about Clark Kent. No lie, he did miss Martha Kent's homemade cookies. But that wasn't the only thing. It was just that there was something, well, a little off, about Clark.

William Johnson had been a NYPD cop for several years. He never thought he would ever end up in a place like Smallville, but a confluence of events had brought him there. His mother, who took care of his daughter Rayna while he worked, had died. He'd gotten a new lieutenant, who was a total asshole. He didn't mind putting his life on the line doing undercover narcotics work; he objected to his work being wasted by administrative screwups.

Rayna's school stank; the teachers tried hard but didn't get backup from the administration. They spent all their time babysitting and no time teaching. The final straw was when there had been a rape of a ten-year-old girl in Rayna's school; on a cop's salary, he didn't have enough money to send her to a private school.

And then he had heard from a friend of a friend that Lex Luthor was hiring private security.

"Hiring?"

"Yeah. Something about how he was in the loony bin, and came out, and fired all his security. Now he needs new people."

Do I want to work for a crazy guy? Hell, it can't be worse than New York right now. He sent in his application; the quick response was gratifying. He was flown to Smallville on a private jet, and offered the job, effective immediately, at a salary three times what he made in the NYPD. Apparently Lex Luthor had had security problems for some years, and, impressed by William's resume, offered him the chance to re-organize the department.

The clincher had been the last part of the deal; they would hire a housekeeper for him, for a house in Smallville; and Rayna could stay at the mansion when he was on duty and the housekeeper was off.

William hadn't regretted his bargain. He'd seen and heard a lot of things since he hired on, and his knowledge of billionaire dealings had increased several-fold. If he was in the room when Lex Luthor talked, he listened. He made the same stock moves that Lex made (in miniature, of course, compared to Lex), and his portfolio had appreciated tremendously. He'd also traveled around the world, seeing places he never thought he'd have been able to see, a New York slum kid like him. Staying in five-star hotels was a nice change too.

He'd certainly been kept busy as a bodyguard. Lex seemed to be an unpopular guy, and people had tried to kill him several times. William hadn't always been present. Gossip about Lex, his father, friends, and lovers, by the security team was constant; they considered it another method of learning trends and patterns to enhance their effectiveness. It had taken William several months to realize it, but when he reviewed the logs one night, he realized how many times Clark Kent had been there when Lex was in danger. Lex always walked away.

Of course, Clark Kent was there plenty of times when Lex wasn't in danger, either. Based on scuttlebutt from the kitchen staff, Clark had been friends with Lex for five years. William thought it was a little odd, a farm boy on such close terms with a billionaire, but the staff explained that Clark had saved Lex's life when Lex drove off a bridge. William had gotten to know Clark, and liked him. He appreciated the way Clark treated Rayna while they were both waiting; Clark seemed to be a natural gentleman who always extended respect and courtesy. And Mrs. Kent's cookies didn't hurt, either.

William had done a little research, and found out that things were, well, weird in Smallville. More crazy stuff seemed to go down in a week than had happened in a month on the New York streets. On a per capita basis, it was amazing. What was more amazing was that everyone seemed to just accept it. Oh, that's Smallville!, people would say, resignedly. One time William had been in the 24-hour diner when the sheriffs and state police were having their coffee at shift change time (it had become an impromptu briefing session for those who were beginning their shifts); he was invited into the group by dint of his previous police experience. The meetings had become a regular event; he described it in his reports as Liaison with local law enforcement.

Later he'd talked one-on-one with the sheriff; she had some tales that made his toes curl. She told him some stuff she couldn't put in the official reports. She was highly complimentary of Clark Kent, but also admitted that he seemed to be at all the crime scenes.

"He's always there! I don't know how he does it, but he's always there." The sheriff took a large gulp of coffee. "And he has hunches…"

"Hunches?"

"Yeah, I don't know how he does it, but he's right most of the time." She finished her coffee. "Sometimes I wonder if he's psychic or something."

"Psychic?" William said dubiously. He thought psychics were a load of crap, just attention-seekers who distracted the police from the basic GOYAKOD work – Get Off Your Ass And Knock On Doors.

"Anywhere else, I'd agree with you", the sheriff said . "But this is Smallville…" She got up to go. "I've found out – if Clark Kent has a hunch, go with it – it'll pan out." She looked William in the eye. "If you find out how he does it, let me know."

William's interest was piqued, and after that, he began observing Clark more closely when Clark visited Lex. Unfortunately, Clark's visits soon dried up; one time William had heard a loud argument, and after Clark left, William noticed that both Clark and Lex had all the signs of being in a fistfight. William said nothing, but assumed that the friendship was over.

But William's cop instincts were aroused. Clark didn't appear dangerous; William just got a feeling around him. Maybe it was just a collection of subliminal cues adding up; maybe Clark had a drug problem or was a blackmailer (although William felt these were very unlikely); but William just felt there was something hinky about Clark.

He wondered if Lana Lang had had anything to do with the breach between Lex and Clark. Of course, the security staff knew most everything; they knew she had been going out with Clark, had broken up with him, and now was Lex's latest girl. Lex seemed more smitten with her than he'd been with any of his honeys for a long time. William idly wondered if it would come to marriage; he just couldn't see Lex Luthor getting married. His own marriage had been good till Shawanda had gotten into drugs, and a disaster afterwards. Despite having almost a fatherly feeling towards Lex, he certainly wasn't going to give any relationship advice to his boss.

The job first, he thought. But he also thought, Keep an eye on Clark Kent.