The amount of Clark/Emmeline shippers is amazing. I can't say I blame you. The chemistry between them IS rather overwhelming ;)


Clark had been acting really on edge recently, and Emmeline wasn't exactly sure why. She knew that his dad was in Metropolis for some more tests after his surgery, but regardless of how that probably affected him, it wasn't enough to warrant how…nervous he had been acting.

Although at the moment, that was the least of her concerns.

Hannah had called her wanting to meet.

Emmeline went to the Talon and saw her biological mother sitting at one of the tables. The place was pretty empty, so there wasn't much chance of anyone listening in on their conversation. That was good. She didn't really know how this was going to go.

"Hi," Emmeline said quietly as she sat across from Hannah.

"Hi," Hannah answered.

"So, um, what did you want to talk about?"

Hannah nervously wrung her hands together, and Emmeline thought for a moment that she was going to cry. "I dropped the case."

Emmeline did not expect that. "What?"

"I'm so sorry. I…had no right to put this on your shoulders."

"Why the change of heart?"

"Actually, um…your friend, Clark, came to see me."

"He did?"

"Yeah. And uh, he helped me realize how ridiculous this whole thing was."

"What did he possibly say to you in one meeting that I couldn't say to you in all of ours?"

"I guess…I was able to see how much he cared for you, and in turn, that showed me how much all of your other friends care for you as well. It's one thing to hear it, but it's another thing to see it."

Emmeline couldn't help but smile a little. Clark really could do everything.

"I'm going back to New York."

At those words, the girl snapped her head up to look at the woman across from her. "What?"

"I…came back into your life at a bad time, and I just made things difficult. Right now, I think that me going back is best for everyone."

"Hannah…"

"I should never have tried to force you to move with me. Not after seventeen years of not being in your life. I didn't even give you enough time to get used to the idea of your biological mother attempting to connect with you."

"I know, but that doesn't mean you have to leave the state."

"For now, I do."

"No, Hannah…Mom…"

Hannah smiled sadly. "I haven't earned that title yet. I want to. Someday. But not now. Now, I want you to focus on what you have here in Smallville. You have a great boyfriend, amazing friends…wonderful parents. That's more than I could give you in New York. I think I always knew that, but I lied to myself because I just wanted you back."

Emmeline could feel tears pooling in her eyes.

"I'm not disappearing again, Emmeline. I promise. I'm just…backing out for the time being. But if you ever want to talk or anything, you know where I live and you have my number. I'll be there when you're ready." Tears formed in her eyes as well. "I love you, Emmeline. Don't ever question that. You are my daughter, and I will always love you."

Hannah got up from the table and left the Talon.

Emmeline put her hands to her face, tears slipping down her cheeks and running onto her long sleeves. She may not have approved of Hannah's decision to fight for custody, but that didn't mean she wanted her out of her life completely. There were still so many questions she had. So much she still wanted to know, especially about her father.

But now Hannah was gone. Sure she said that Emmeline could call, but it just wasn't the same to have the woman who had given birth to her on the other side of the country.

It was too final.


"Emmeline?" Lex said in surprise when the girl was led into his study. "What brings you here?"

"I…I was wondering if you knew where Clark was. I haven't been able to get in contact with him, and no one else has seen him today."

"So you came here?"

"You're his best friend. And I'm out of options."

Lex looked at the girl in front of him. She looked tired and weary and overall pretty upset. "You all right?"

"I'm fine."

She clearly wasn't fine, but he decided not to press it. Even if he did, he was pretty sure she still wouldn't tell him. After all, he knew it took a lot to get her to open up and even if he had taught her and Lana self-defense together, it wasn't enough for her to suddenly pour her heart out to him.

Lex smirked a little. "I think I have an idea of where he might be."

Emmeline got into his car with him and allowed him to drive her to wherever he believed Clark to be. She wasn't totally comfortable with the man, but Clark trusted him and that was good enough for her. She at least knew he wasn't driving her to some weird place to murder her or something.

They pulled up to Summerholt Neurological Institute. Her heart hardened as she remembered what they had done to Ryan not that long ago. It was hard to believe that it was over a year since his death.

"Why would he be here?" Emmeline asked.

"He might not be. I'm hoping he isn't. But Clark has a tendency to meddle in things that aren't his business."

"He has the best intentions."

Lex let out a small laugh. "I can't deny that. Don't worry, Emmeline, we'll find him."

They both got out of the car and approached the Institute. If Emmeline had her way, Dr. Garner would be in jail for the rest of his life, and then he would be brought back to life so that he could be in jail longer.

Lex approached the receptionist desk with firm resolve. "I'm here to see Dr. Garner."

The receptionist quickly stood up. "Mr. Luthor, Dr. Garner left word with your assistant. Your session's been cancelled."

"I got the message. I want to speak with him personally."

"Well, I'm afraid he's off-site at a seminar."

Lex gave her a thin smile. "Thank you." He walked a few feet away from the desk and pulled out his cell phone. "At Summerholt?" he said angrily to someone on the other end. "Is that why Dr. Garner cancelled my session?" A pause. "Then you better make time. Because my treatment worked. I remember everything…You know where I am, Dad." Lex quickly shut the phone and looked over at Emmeline. "If Clark's here, my dad will know."

"How can you be sure?"

"I know him."

"Lex?"

The both of them turned to find Lionel walking towards them. Emmeline's heartbeat quickened. With the new knowledge that this man had sent his parents to their deaths for money, she was even more wary to be around him than before.

"Lex, what's so urgent that you needed to call me out of a meeting?" Lionel asked sharply. "What's the problem, son?" He looked over at Emmeline. "And why did you bring her here?"

"Concerned friend, not that you'd know anything about that. More to the point, I don't know what the problem is, Dad. The fact that you co-opted Dr. Garner tells me that you really are scared of the memories I could recover. What'd you give him?"

Lionel didn't have the chance to answer because all of a sudden, a loud crash rang out that caused the floor to shake beneath them and the emergency alarm to go off.

Lionel turned to look at the receptionist. "What was that?"

"The alarm in the memory well's been triggered," the receptionist answered.

Lex glared at Lionel. "Looks like I'm not the only one playing with fire."

He lightly pressed his hand to Emmeline's back and pushed her in the direction of where Lionel had come from, ignoring Lionel's protests behind them.

They arrived at the memory well to find the whole place in shambles. Emmeline wondered what could possibly have caused such destruction.

"Be careful," Lex warned her as he avoided a shower of sparks.

They walked past an unconscious lab technician. Lex quickly felt for a pulse, and it seemed that he found one as he removed his hand rather quickly.

Lex and Emmeline headed over to the memory well which was filled with green liquid. Lex peered inside and panicked.

"Emmeline, hand me that pipe," he ordered.

Emmeline quickly grabbed a pipe that had come loose in all the chaos and handed it to him. He rammed it into the side of the tank, shattering the glass. Green liquid spilled all across the floor.

Lex looked inside the tank. "Clark."

Emmeline's eyes widened, and she ran to Lex's side to look inside the tank as well. Sure enough, there was Clark stripped down to his boxers looking extremely weak and sick.

"Lex, help me," he mustered out.

"I'm gonna get you out of here."

Emmeline looked at her friend inside the tank. She didn't know how he'd gotten here or the full reason he was even at Summerholt in the first place, but she knew full well that Lionel Luthor and Dr. Garner had a hand in this. As if she didn't hate those two men enough.


Emmeline read in the news that Dr. Garner was in a coma after the events of what happened at Summerholt. A coma was too good for him. There was still debate about whether coma patients dreamed or not, but if they did, she hoped that he was stuck in a nightmare.

She wondered if wishing for such a thing made her a bad person. When it came down to it, she just wanted justice for Ryan and the other patients he had hurt.

That evening, she slowly walked up the stairs to Clark's loft.

"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.

Clark jumped a little and looked over at her. "I'm fine."

"What were you even doing at Summerholt?"

"Trying to stop Lex from making a mistake. It didn't exactly go as planned. Which you know."

"Yeah. How did that happen? I mean, I know Lionel had something to do with it. Which begs the question why would he do such a thing? I know he's intrigued with you for whatever reason because of everything he made Chloe do, but just…why?"

Clark looked at her again with an expression she couldn't quite place. "I don't know." After a small pause, he asked, "What were you doing there?"

"I had been trying to reach you, but no one had seen you all day. I got worried and contacted Lex. He's the one who brought me there."

"Why Lex?"

"I didn't know who else to go to."

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Um…it doesn't matter. I'm glad you're feeling better."

She turned to go, but before she could head down the stairs, Clark grabbed her arm. "Em, what did you want to tell me?"

Emmeline sighed as she turned to him. "Hannah…is leaving."

"What are you talking about? What about the custody case?"

"She dropped it. Apparently, a certain friend of mine went to visit her."

A guilty look crossed Clark's face. "Look, Em, I only went to talk to her because I saw how much this whole custody battle was taking out of you. I didn't mean—"

"Relax, Clark, I'm not mad at you. In fact, I'm glad you talked to her. Because I think she was about to win the case, and I couldn't handle that. And because of you, the whole custody nightmare is over. I'm really thankful for that."

"Yeah, but…I didn't mean to make her leave."

"You didn't. That was her own choice. And you know…a part of me agrees with her. Maybe dealing with my biological mom coming back into my life is too much for me to handle right now, and this is all for the best. But at the same time…I don't want her to go. She's the only real family I have. I love my parents to death, but it's just…different now that I've met my real mom."

"Believe it or not, I know how you feel."

"How?"

"It's kind of complicated."

"Everything with you is complicated."

Clark gave a sheepish smile. "You can still call her though, right?"

"Yeah, but with her so far away…it's just not the same."

"I understand."

"I'm really not upset with you, Clark, I promise. I know that my body language is kind of saying the opposite, but I'm not. I'm just…upset with the situation."

"Yeah, I know. Fate really seems to have been stabbing us in the back lately. But you've still got us. And maybe someday, you'll see Hannah again and really connect with her when you do. You'll be older and will have wrapped your head around things a lot more. Things will work out in the end."

Emmeline nodded a little, a couple tears slipping down her cheeks. Despite everything Hannah had put her through, she was still her mother at the end of the day, and she already missed her.

Clark gently hugged her, silently letting her know that everything would be okay.