Emmeline and Hannah were growing closer by the day, but Emmeline still wasn't ready to call her 'Mom'. They were only at the friend stage, not the parent stage. Hannah was more understanding about her friendship with Clark and finally forgave him for getting Emmeline into the car accident. Hannah loved Pete from the first moment she met him, and was glad that it was him her daughter was dating.
Things got a bit interesting in Smallville when a man named Perry White showed his face in town…and immediately started making things difficult for everyone. Especially Lana. He had waltzed into the Talon and demanded an interview with her about the meteor shower, completely insensitive to the fact that she had lost both of her parents that day.
When Emmeline and Chloe walked into the Torch office, they saw a man with Clark who Emmeline quickly assumed was none other than Perry White.
"Boy, I thought our stuff was off-the-wall," Perry said as he looked at the Wall of Weird. "This is incredible."
"It's also all true," Chloe told him.
Clark turned around to face the two girls. "Chloe, Em. Mr. White is interested in the meteor shower. I didn't think it would hurt if he had a look."
"I have nothing to hide."
"Well, good," Perry smiled, walking over to the two girls. "I think we've already borrowed two or three of your ideas for our show. Do you make it all up yourself, or do you pull in other writers?"
Chloe glanced at Clark incredulously. "Excuse me?"
Perry handed Chloe a business card with XStyles written on it. "Oh, just, uh, professional curiosity. It's not every day that I meet another junk journalist with a penchant for the bizarre."
"'XStyles'?"
"Yeah."
"I have a penchant for the truth, something your freaks and shrieks cable show gave up around episode two."
"Ooh."
"That's it. We're done," Clark said firmly as he began ushering Perry out of the room.
Chloe looked down at the business card and moved her thumb so she could see the guy's full name. "Wait, wait, wait, wait." The two of them turned back to look at her. "You're the Perry White?"
Perry's smile disappeared a little as he looked at Clark. "It's okay, Clark. I'm gonna hoof it back to the motel. Uh, you young lovers patch things up, and then later on you can swing by and we'll pick up the tour, hmm?"
Clark shook his head as Perry left.
"Clark, do you have any idea who that was?" Chloe asked.
"Perry White," Emmeline answered. "From what I've heard so far from Lana, he's a jerk who doesn't care about anyone else's feelings."
"Well, uh, okay. He's this huge journalist who I used to aspire to be like. Well, was. As you can see…he kinda…lost himself."
"Let's see if we can use your magic computer skills to find out more about this guy."
Perry White was a drunk. He rambled to Sheriff Adams about how Clark's tractor had fallen from the sky whereas Clark insisted that it had been in the process of being stolen. No one believed Perry's story. Tractors falling from the sky? It was a bit far-fetched even for Smallville.
Emmeline and Chloe were working together in the Torch when Perry walked in.
"Wise decision coming inside," Chloe said dryly. "The weather service expects a light shower of threshing machines followed by a drizzle of combines."
"Guess I deserve that," Perry smirked. He once again walked over to examine the Wall of Weird.
Chloe hopped up from her desk and went over to him. "If you, uh, let me know what you're looking for, I'm sure I could help you find it."
"And why would you want to do that?"
"Because you were once the kind of reporter that I would like to be. Though, I'm—I'm curious how one goes from multiple Pulitzer nominations to walking the Bigfoot beat."
"You know the only thing that's worse than never landing that story of a lifetime?"
"What?"
"Having it and being afraid to write it."
"Perry 'The Pit Bull' White backing off a story? That's hard to believe."
"Well, Lionel Luthor can be remarkably persuasive."
Emmeline's head snapped up to him as Chloe froze for a second. Her mind flashed back to the time a couple weeks ago where Lionel had threatened Chloe. The mere thought of his sadistic tone sent shivers down her spine.
"Are you saying he had something to do with your career slide?" Chloe asked nervously.
"Let's just say that not everyone respects good investigative journalism, especially when it treads on the toes of the rich and vengeful." Perry looked at an article about the time a weird symbol had been burned onto the side of Clark's barn. "Isn't that the Kent farm?"
"Uh, good eye. The police chalked it up to hyperactive frat boys going crop circles on the barn. Why?"
"Call it professional interest. Your friend Clark intrigues me."
When Perry left the room, Emmeline nervously looked over at Chloe. "Okay, we don't need two people running around Smallville trying to get information on Clark. What's the big deal anyway? I mean, I know things seem a little…abnormal with him, but…is it really worth all this?"
"To some people…it is. I can see where they're coming from. They have the journalistic curiosity, and that curiosity is eating them alive. They won't be satisfied until they get an explanation."
The two of them left the Torch and booked it over to Clark's house. When they went up to the loft, they saw him talking with Pete and Jonathon.
"Hey, Clark," Chloe said urgently. "We thought we'd give you a heads-up. Our resident Ghostbuster is still on the job."
"Perry White?" Clark asked. "I thought he went back to Metropolis."
"Evidently he had a change of heart. And he seems to be especially interested in you, Clark."
"I…I can't imagine why."
"Well, just be careful around him, alright?"
"I will."
The two girls began to leave the barn when Pete came after them and gently grabbed Emmeline's arm.
"Hey," she smiled. "Are we still on for tonight?"
Pete groaned. "No, I'm so sorry. Something's come up with Clark, and I need to help him out tonight. I'm really sorry. I was looking forward to spending time with you."
"No, it's okay. Really. I can spend some more time with Hannah. She really wants to talk with me. Maybe I can find out a little bit more about…where I come from."
"I'm sorry I have to bail."
"It's really okay. Another time?"
"Of course."
Pete gently kissed her before Emmeline left the barn.
The next day, Emmeline was driving to do some work at the Torch when her phone rang.
"Hey, Lana, can I call you back? I'm driving."
"Em, it's Perry White!"
"What are you talking about?"
"He might jump off a ledge into Saunders Gorge. I called Clark, but I'm afraid he won't make it in time."
"Alright, I'm less than five minutes away, okay? I'll be right there."
Emmeline drove to Saunders Gorge as fast as she could and bolted out of the car. She looked over to see Perry standing on top of the railing overlooking the gorge.
"Mr. White!" she called urgently.
"Don't come any closer!" Perry yelled to her.
"Mr. White, you don't want to do this!"
"Relax, hon. I'm just trying to prove a point."
"Prove a point to who?"
"To everyone who ever stopped believing me."
Emmeline and Lana turned around at the sound of a car approaching. Clark and Pete quickly got out of the car.
"Lana, you okay?" Clark asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But…" She motioned over to where Perry was. "I was driving him to the bus stop, and he pretended to be sick. I pulled over, and he ran out to the viewpoint and got out on the ledge and said he would kill himself unless I called you." Clark started to walk forward. "Look, Clark, be careful. He's really drunk."
Perry turned and smiled at them. "Not unless iced tea packs a punch." Clark walked over to him. "I knew you'd never show for me, so I had to trick Lana into making the call."
"Mr. White, don't do this," Clark said calmly.
"See, the way I figure it, you're strong, you're shockproof, you're incredibly fast. Plus you're cursed with this hero complex."
"Yeah, why don't you come back down on the deck and we'll talk about that?"
"No. Not till I have my story."
"Wait, Mr. White? Look, you're wrong about me."
"I'm betting you'll save me, Clark."
"No, I can't save you!"
"Well, I guess we'll find out, huh?"
With that, Perry jumped from the ledge. Clark grabbed onto him, but ended up tumbling over the edge with him.
"Clark!" Emmeline and Lana screamed.
She, Lana, and Pete ran over to the ledge. They looked down and saw that Perry had tied a rope to his ankle while Clark clung onto his hands several feet down into the gorge.
"Okay, fun's over," Perry said nervously. "Time to unleash those incredible powers there, Clark."
"I don't have any powers!" Clark yelled. "Pete! The camping gear, there should be a rope!"
"Okay!" Pete called to him.
He ran back to his car and grabbed a rope out of his trunk. Lana and Emmeline noticed the rope around Perry's ankle starting to break.
"Pete, it's not gonna hold!" Lana cried. "Come on!"
The two girls met Pete halfway and grabbed the rope from him. Pete took the other end and attached it to the front end of his car. Lana tossed the other end over the railing.
"Grab the rope!" she yelled down to them.
Clark grabbed onto the rope and clung onto it for dear life. The rope around Perry's ankle snapped completely and he quickly grabbed onto Clark as he fell.
The two girls looked at Pete and motioned for him to start backing up. Pete slowly began backing his car up and Clark and Perry were slowly pulled back up to the railing.
"Just hang on, Clark!" Emmeline called. "You're almost there!"
"Good! Keep going!" Lana yelled to Pete. "Come on!"
Clark lost his grip on the rope and slipped down a few inches. "Clark!"
"I can't hang on much longer!" Clark yelled.
"Pete, get moving!" Lana called.
Emmeline turned to him. "Floor it!"
Pete pushed the gas harder, and Clark and Perry finally reached the railing. Lana helped Perry over while Emmeline helped Clark. Clark crashed onto the ground weakly, the sheer exertion of having to hold onto the rope so tightly taking its toll on him.
When everyone looked at his hands, they saw that they were ripped and bleeding as a result of severe rope burn.
Emmeline slowly walked up to the loft the next day. "Hey," she greeted Clark with a small smile.
"Hey, Em."
"How are your hands?"
"Uh, little sore, but they'll heal."
"It's weird. I've never seen you hurt like that before. I guess as much as it may seem like it, you're not invincible."
"How are things with your mom?"
"Hannah. She's not my mom. Not yet. Maybe one day, but for right now, she's just Hannah."
"Okay. How are things going with Hannah?"
"Not bad. It's just strange. She never talks about my biological father. I think it's still painful for her to think about him. I mean he left her after I was born. I just hoped that she could tell me a little something."
"I'm sure that with time, you'll get to know more about him."
"I hope so. Uh, I should get going. I'm meeting with Pete."
"Yeah, sorry I had to be the reason he canceled your date."
"It's okay. I got to spend some time with Hannah, and it was nice. I'm just still trying to get used to my biological mother being in my life."
"I'm glad you're getting along with her. And that she likes me now."
"You just didn't make a very good first impression. But she understands now why we're friends. I'm glad to see you're okay. You may not be invincible, but it's nice to know you're always there."
