Clark couldn't help but stare open-mouthed as he peered through the
window at Lex's backseat.
"Is that what you were looking for?" Lex was standing to one side, smiling bemusedly at him. He had gone right back out to the barn and insisted Clark come outside with him without saying why.
Now Clark tried to maintain his composure.
"I think so. They all kind of look a like."
"How many infants can there be in Smallville that appear, disappear, and then reappear?" Lex asked as he opened the door.
Clark very carefully reached in and picked up the baby. She was still wrapped in the blankets from Pete's bushel basket, but her small face was squinched up as she howled angrily. He gingerly tucked her into the crook of one arm as he had seen Pete do. That quieted her a little, but not much.
"And unless she can levitate I'd say whoever took her returned her," Lex added.
Clark shook his head.
"How.?"
"I left the driver's side window open. All they had to do was reach inside and unlock the door."
Clark tried to jiggle the baby a little, but he was so afraid of inadvertently hurting her that the movement did nothing to soothe her. To his immense relief he heard the screen door swing open behind him.
"Clark? Lex?" His mother's voice called out. "Is something wrong?"
"Mom, get Pete off the phone." In the darkness Clark held up the squirming bundle. "She's back!"
Martha Kent hurried down the porch stairs.
"What on earth.?"
"Someone left her in my car, Mrs. Kent," Lex explained. "Don't ask me why."
Clark sighed with relief when his mother took the baby out of his arms. The two young men followed her back into the house.
Inside the snug warmth of the Kent kitchen Pete was able to rock the baby to sleep, while Martha Kent stood watch and Jonathan looked on with a puzzled frown.
"None of this makes any sense. Why would someone take her and then return her?"
"Maybe they realized they did the wrong thing and wanted to make it right," Pete, always the optimist, offered.
The more pessimistic Lex Luthor, however, shook his head.
"More likely they had a sudden chance in their plans and figured it would be easier to return her to you two rather than go to the authorities." Lex pointedly ignored the dirty look this statement earned him from Ross.
"Which means they know both Clark and Pete are involved. Maybe whoever it was has been following you boys." Jonathan rubbed a hand across his chin. "I don't like this at all."
"But who would want to hurt such a tiny little thing?" Martha was holding on to one of the sleeping baby's small fists, and with a pang Clark remembered that she'd recently lost a baby of her own. As always the memory of his own involvement in that loss made a lump rise in his throat, but he quickly forced it down.
"I don't know, Martha, but I don't think we should wait to call Sheriff Adams this time. The sooner we get the police in on this, the safer she'll be," Jonathan told her.
"Guess the sheriff'll have to believe me this time, huh?" Pete grinned. He glanced down at the sleeping baby. "Isn't that right, Rosie?"
While his father went to call the police Clark frowned at his friend.
"That's another thing, Pete-how come you got to name her?"
Pete rolled his eyes. "Geez, Clark, I just wanted to call her something other than 'baby', and 'Rose' was the first name I thought of. It was my grandmother's name."
Martha smiled. "It's a very nice name for a little girl. Why don't I take her upstairs: she can sleep in our bed until the authorities get here."
Clark moved to follow his mother upstairs, but Lex held him back for a moment.
"I want you to call me tomorrow, Clark, and give me an update."
Pete glared at the bald man. "Why?"
Clark made an exasperated sound, but Lex remained unruffled.
"Because I'm involved now, too-she was left in my car, after all. And perhaps I can be of some help locating her family."
Clark shot Pete a sharp glare. "That would be great, Lex, thanks."
He opened the screen door for the Luthor heir, and once Lex was out of sight he rolled his eyes at Pete.
"Look, Pete, I know you don't like the guy, but he just wants to help."
"Luthors never 'just want to help,' Clark."
Clark suddenly felt very tired.
"I'm not going to get into this with you, Pete. But next time try and cut the guy a little slack, OK?"
Pete had opened his mouth to argue when Jonathan reappeared.
"Sheriff Adams is out on a call, but she'll come by as soon as she can."
When neither boy responded he glanced from his son to his friend and back again.
"Somethin' wrong?"
"Everything's fine, Dad. I'm going to see if Mom needs any help with Rose."
Clark stomped up the stairs, annoyed that Pete had once again thrown the Luthors in his face. Clark knew better than anyone that Lex was far from perfect, but that didn't mean the guy didn't try.
Clark didn't appreciate being stuck in the middle of the ongoing feud between the Ross' and the Luthors.
But since he valued both friendships, what else could he do?
Chloe refilled her cup from the coffee pot on the stove and glared at her two male friends.
"If you guys needed help, why didn't you ask the other day?"
Pete glanced at Clark, who only shrugged.
"We weren't sure if it was safe to tell anyone."
"Which, considering someone tried to kidnap the baby, was probably true," Lana Lang said thoughtfully.
The four teenagers were gathered around the Kent's kitchen table. It was early morning, but Clark's parents were already out in the fields. Pete had agreed to stay with the baby in the house so the Kents wouldn't loose any more time on the harvest.
Lana shook her head. "You two are lucky Sheriff Adams didn't throw the book at you."
"I think she was just annoyed to be proved wrong. But," Clark took another sip of his coffee, "she really seemed more distracted than anything else. I mean, she didn't show up here until, what, three AM? And then she only took a few notes and asked my parents if they'll hang on to Rose until she can get to the bottom of things."
"Yeah, well, she was probably more than a little distracted. There was a homicide last night," Chloe supplied as she sat down. As a reporter, she made it her business to always know everything first.
"Here in town? What happened?"
"Old Mr. Butoni over at the Gas N' Shop was shot. They think he interrupted a break in. His night manager got clubbed over the head. He's in the hospital with a concussion."
"Man, that's rough-Butoni was a nice old guy." Pete frowned. "What is going on with this town?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Chloe asked. "Because it looks like a garden-variety robbery, no meteor freaks involved."
"And there was that hold-up over in Lowell the other day, and in Grandville before that," Lana said. "They're all probably connected."
"Looks like Lowell County's got its own little crime spree," Chloe agreed. "Of course, that still leaves us with where that fits in."
She pointed to the living room, where Pete had laid the baby on a blanket. Rose was too little to play with anything, but she was awake and waving her hands as if that amused her enough for the time being. Clark had been a little surprised when, after some initial cuddling, neither Chloe nor Lana had expressed much interest in the baby. OK, to be honest it didn't surprise him in Chloe, but he'd kind of wanted to see Lana with Rose. Apparently girls weren't as crazy about babies as he'd been led to believe. Another of his illusions about the opposite sex shot down.
Meanwhile, Chloe's attitude was clearly rubbing Pete the wrong way.
"Rose isn't an 'it,' she's a 'she,'" Pete corrected coldly.
Chloe made a face. "Sorry. Geez."
"Pete takes his responsibility really seriously," Clark explained.
"Of course you do-you found her," Lana nodded at Pete. "I think it's sweet."
"I found her, too," Clark said.
"And what makes you think Rose is connected to those robberies?" Pete asked Chloe.
"You think it's a coincidence that she turns up right in the middle of it?" The blond girl laughed shortly. "C'mon, Pete, don't be naive."
Clark felt he should change the subject before Chloe and Pete came to blows.
"When I spoke to Lex this morning he said he'd put up reward money for whoever locates her family. You should put that in your article."
"Hey, I don't even know if I'm going to write this article," Chloe retorted. "I don't usually do human interest stories."
Lana smiled at her roommate. "Chloe, get real-you said on the way here that it would be a front page byline. Of course you'll do it."
Chloe looked irritated. "Lana, that was a private conversation."
Rose made a squeaking sound, and Pete went to check on her.
"She's right, though-it would look better on your resume than the Wall of Weird," Clark hedged.
Pete came back into the kitchen with Rose in his arms. As always the baby improved his mood: he smiled apologetically at his friend.
"You'd be doing us a big favor, Clo. Me most of all."
Chloe looked from one friend to the other, and sighed.
"OK, fine, I'll do it. The Ledger editor owes me a favor, anyway." She held up a hand. "But it's not going to be a fluff piece. I'm not gonna gloss over anything."
"And maybe it'll generate some leads," Lana reflected. "Maybe someone who knows something, saw something, will come forward."
Clark smiled at her.
"You've been hanging around Chloe too long."
Lana smiled back. "What can I say-she makes life more interesting."
Jonathan was in the hay field struggling to get the reaper running when a rush of air behind him announced his son's arrival.
"Let me give you a hand."
With on quick movement Clark freed up the jammed gear and the enormous machine roared back to life.
Jonathan wiped a gloved hand across his forehead. "Thanks. I would have been here all day."
Clark looked a little guilty. "We're falling behind, huh?"
"We'll catch up. Don't worry."
But Clark kept frowning.
"Dad, I wanted to ask you something.are you and Mom OK with having Rose here until Adams' decides what to do with her?"
"It's a bit more work, son, but with Pete staying with us we'll manage."
"No, that's not what I mean. I.I'm worried. That it will hurt Mom. Remind her.I dunno."
"Clark, your mother is just fine. She's a strong lady." Jonathan clasped his son's shoulder. "That baby came to you and Pete for a reason, just like you came to us for a reason. She obviously needs protecting, and we Kents have a lot of experience in that line. It will all work out, you'll see."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. Now let's see how much of this hay we can get down and stacked before lunch."
"Is that what you were looking for?" Lex was standing to one side, smiling bemusedly at him. He had gone right back out to the barn and insisted Clark come outside with him without saying why.
Now Clark tried to maintain his composure.
"I think so. They all kind of look a like."
"How many infants can there be in Smallville that appear, disappear, and then reappear?" Lex asked as he opened the door.
Clark very carefully reached in and picked up the baby. She was still wrapped in the blankets from Pete's bushel basket, but her small face was squinched up as she howled angrily. He gingerly tucked her into the crook of one arm as he had seen Pete do. That quieted her a little, but not much.
"And unless she can levitate I'd say whoever took her returned her," Lex added.
Clark shook his head.
"How.?"
"I left the driver's side window open. All they had to do was reach inside and unlock the door."
Clark tried to jiggle the baby a little, but he was so afraid of inadvertently hurting her that the movement did nothing to soothe her. To his immense relief he heard the screen door swing open behind him.
"Clark? Lex?" His mother's voice called out. "Is something wrong?"
"Mom, get Pete off the phone." In the darkness Clark held up the squirming bundle. "She's back!"
Martha Kent hurried down the porch stairs.
"What on earth.?"
"Someone left her in my car, Mrs. Kent," Lex explained. "Don't ask me why."
Clark sighed with relief when his mother took the baby out of his arms. The two young men followed her back into the house.
Inside the snug warmth of the Kent kitchen Pete was able to rock the baby to sleep, while Martha Kent stood watch and Jonathan looked on with a puzzled frown.
"None of this makes any sense. Why would someone take her and then return her?"
"Maybe they realized they did the wrong thing and wanted to make it right," Pete, always the optimist, offered.
The more pessimistic Lex Luthor, however, shook his head.
"More likely they had a sudden chance in their plans and figured it would be easier to return her to you two rather than go to the authorities." Lex pointedly ignored the dirty look this statement earned him from Ross.
"Which means they know both Clark and Pete are involved. Maybe whoever it was has been following you boys." Jonathan rubbed a hand across his chin. "I don't like this at all."
"But who would want to hurt such a tiny little thing?" Martha was holding on to one of the sleeping baby's small fists, and with a pang Clark remembered that she'd recently lost a baby of her own. As always the memory of his own involvement in that loss made a lump rise in his throat, but he quickly forced it down.
"I don't know, Martha, but I don't think we should wait to call Sheriff Adams this time. The sooner we get the police in on this, the safer she'll be," Jonathan told her.
"Guess the sheriff'll have to believe me this time, huh?" Pete grinned. He glanced down at the sleeping baby. "Isn't that right, Rosie?"
While his father went to call the police Clark frowned at his friend.
"That's another thing, Pete-how come you got to name her?"
Pete rolled his eyes. "Geez, Clark, I just wanted to call her something other than 'baby', and 'Rose' was the first name I thought of. It was my grandmother's name."
Martha smiled. "It's a very nice name for a little girl. Why don't I take her upstairs: she can sleep in our bed until the authorities get here."
Clark moved to follow his mother upstairs, but Lex held him back for a moment.
"I want you to call me tomorrow, Clark, and give me an update."
Pete glared at the bald man. "Why?"
Clark made an exasperated sound, but Lex remained unruffled.
"Because I'm involved now, too-she was left in my car, after all. And perhaps I can be of some help locating her family."
Clark shot Pete a sharp glare. "That would be great, Lex, thanks."
He opened the screen door for the Luthor heir, and once Lex was out of sight he rolled his eyes at Pete.
"Look, Pete, I know you don't like the guy, but he just wants to help."
"Luthors never 'just want to help,' Clark."
Clark suddenly felt very tired.
"I'm not going to get into this with you, Pete. But next time try and cut the guy a little slack, OK?"
Pete had opened his mouth to argue when Jonathan reappeared.
"Sheriff Adams is out on a call, but she'll come by as soon as she can."
When neither boy responded he glanced from his son to his friend and back again.
"Somethin' wrong?"
"Everything's fine, Dad. I'm going to see if Mom needs any help with Rose."
Clark stomped up the stairs, annoyed that Pete had once again thrown the Luthors in his face. Clark knew better than anyone that Lex was far from perfect, but that didn't mean the guy didn't try.
Clark didn't appreciate being stuck in the middle of the ongoing feud between the Ross' and the Luthors.
But since he valued both friendships, what else could he do?
Chloe refilled her cup from the coffee pot on the stove and glared at her two male friends.
"If you guys needed help, why didn't you ask the other day?"
Pete glanced at Clark, who only shrugged.
"We weren't sure if it was safe to tell anyone."
"Which, considering someone tried to kidnap the baby, was probably true," Lana Lang said thoughtfully.
The four teenagers were gathered around the Kent's kitchen table. It was early morning, but Clark's parents were already out in the fields. Pete had agreed to stay with the baby in the house so the Kents wouldn't loose any more time on the harvest.
Lana shook her head. "You two are lucky Sheriff Adams didn't throw the book at you."
"I think she was just annoyed to be proved wrong. But," Clark took another sip of his coffee, "she really seemed more distracted than anything else. I mean, she didn't show up here until, what, three AM? And then she only took a few notes and asked my parents if they'll hang on to Rose until she can get to the bottom of things."
"Yeah, well, she was probably more than a little distracted. There was a homicide last night," Chloe supplied as she sat down. As a reporter, she made it her business to always know everything first.
"Here in town? What happened?"
"Old Mr. Butoni over at the Gas N' Shop was shot. They think he interrupted a break in. His night manager got clubbed over the head. He's in the hospital with a concussion."
"Man, that's rough-Butoni was a nice old guy." Pete frowned. "What is going on with this town?"
"Is that a rhetorical question?" Chloe asked. "Because it looks like a garden-variety robbery, no meteor freaks involved."
"And there was that hold-up over in Lowell the other day, and in Grandville before that," Lana said. "They're all probably connected."
"Looks like Lowell County's got its own little crime spree," Chloe agreed. "Of course, that still leaves us with where that fits in."
She pointed to the living room, where Pete had laid the baby on a blanket. Rose was too little to play with anything, but she was awake and waving her hands as if that amused her enough for the time being. Clark had been a little surprised when, after some initial cuddling, neither Chloe nor Lana had expressed much interest in the baby. OK, to be honest it didn't surprise him in Chloe, but he'd kind of wanted to see Lana with Rose. Apparently girls weren't as crazy about babies as he'd been led to believe. Another of his illusions about the opposite sex shot down.
Meanwhile, Chloe's attitude was clearly rubbing Pete the wrong way.
"Rose isn't an 'it,' she's a 'she,'" Pete corrected coldly.
Chloe made a face. "Sorry. Geez."
"Pete takes his responsibility really seriously," Clark explained.
"Of course you do-you found her," Lana nodded at Pete. "I think it's sweet."
"I found her, too," Clark said.
"And what makes you think Rose is connected to those robberies?" Pete asked Chloe.
"You think it's a coincidence that she turns up right in the middle of it?" The blond girl laughed shortly. "C'mon, Pete, don't be naive."
Clark felt he should change the subject before Chloe and Pete came to blows.
"When I spoke to Lex this morning he said he'd put up reward money for whoever locates her family. You should put that in your article."
"Hey, I don't even know if I'm going to write this article," Chloe retorted. "I don't usually do human interest stories."
Lana smiled at her roommate. "Chloe, get real-you said on the way here that it would be a front page byline. Of course you'll do it."
Chloe looked irritated. "Lana, that was a private conversation."
Rose made a squeaking sound, and Pete went to check on her.
"She's right, though-it would look better on your resume than the Wall of Weird," Clark hedged.
Pete came back into the kitchen with Rose in his arms. As always the baby improved his mood: he smiled apologetically at his friend.
"You'd be doing us a big favor, Clo. Me most of all."
Chloe looked from one friend to the other, and sighed.
"OK, fine, I'll do it. The Ledger editor owes me a favor, anyway." She held up a hand. "But it's not going to be a fluff piece. I'm not gonna gloss over anything."
"And maybe it'll generate some leads," Lana reflected. "Maybe someone who knows something, saw something, will come forward."
Clark smiled at her.
"You've been hanging around Chloe too long."
Lana smiled back. "What can I say-she makes life more interesting."
Jonathan was in the hay field struggling to get the reaper running when a rush of air behind him announced his son's arrival.
"Let me give you a hand."
With on quick movement Clark freed up the jammed gear and the enormous machine roared back to life.
Jonathan wiped a gloved hand across his forehead. "Thanks. I would have been here all day."
Clark looked a little guilty. "We're falling behind, huh?"
"We'll catch up. Don't worry."
But Clark kept frowning.
"Dad, I wanted to ask you something.are you and Mom OK with having Rose here until Adams' decides what to do with her?"
"It's a bit more work, son, but with Pete staying with us we'll manage."
"No, that's not what I mean. I.I'm worried. That it will hurt Mom. Remind her.I dunno."
"Clark, your mother is just fine. She's a strong lady." Jonathan clasped his son's shoulder. "That baby came to you and Pete for a reason, just like you came to us for a reason. She obviously needs protecting, and we Kents have a lot of experience in that line. It will all work out, you'll see."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. Now let's see how much of this hay we can get down and stacked before lunch."