Hi! This is my first Smallville fanfic ever so please go easy on me. Umm… I warn that any updates may not happen quickly. My computer isn't working and I won't get it back for a couple more weeks (Never get a Fujitsu!!) So right now I'm using my roommates comp while she's away. Please enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own them sadly, but what I wouldn't give for my own Lex.

A new life, new people, and who knows, maybe even a new family.

"Smallville!" the driver hollered from his seat. A few people moved off the bus, many returning home from trips to Metropolis. One person however, was here for a whole other reason. She was here to start anew and to forget her past. She pulled her bag up on her shoulder, ignoring the pain in her arms. "Damn burns," she muttered under her breath.

The bus pulled away kicking up dirt and dust. Many headed for their cars or were greeted by awaiting family. She didn't have either. "First things first," she thought, "I need coffee!"

She wandered down the small streets, thinking how different Smallville was from Metropolis. She had lived so close to this town her whole life and never once had she bothered to come here. She looked up reading a sign, "Best cappuccino's in town!" and above that the building name, "The Talon."

"Coffee!"

The building was quaint, beautifully decorated but not very busy given the time. Eight in the morning on a Saturday, "Not a time I prefer to be awake." She sat down and saw a girl her age approach her. "Hi, what can I get for you?" she asked. "Coffee, light and sweet please," she responded. The girl nodded and returned to the counter. A few moments later she returned, "Here you are, anything else?"

"Actually, may I ask you something?" the girl asked. "Of course."

Reaching in her pocket she pulled out a picture. "Do you by any chance recognize this man, he'd be about twenty years older now, but I'm afraid it's the only picture I have."

The waitress studied the picture, "Sorry, I don't recognize him. Are you sure he lives here?" She shook her head, "I really don't know. He's family I haven't seen in a really long time, I'm just trying to find him. I know this is where he and his..wife..were originally from, I don't know if they stayed here or not."

"Let me give you the address of a friend of mine. His family has lived here a long time and they pretty much know everyone," she said.

"Thanks…uhh.."

"Lana, Lana Lang," she said extending her hand. "Thank you Lana, I'm Abby," she said accepting the girls hand. "Here you are," she said handing over the address. "Thanks."

After paying for her coffee she left and headed for the address on the paper. There was nothing but farm land for miles, "This is so nice, it's beautiful, it's quiet, everything Metropolis isn't." She finally saw the sign she was looking for, "The Kent Farm."

"This must be the place," she noted and headed towards the yellow house. Looking about she didn't see anybody.

"Maybe they're still asleep, then again it's farm country, they could've been up for hours." She stood outside the house debating whether to go in or not. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts she barely noticed the car that pulled up. "Can I help you?" asked a young man as he stepped out of a pricey red Ferrari. "Do you…" she trailed off when she noticed who it was.

"Lex?" she asked uncertain. " Miss Mullins, this is a surprise," he said getting a cocky grin on his face. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I should be asking you the same question. These people are friends of mine, I was dropping by to talk to Clark. Yourself?"

"A girl at the coffee shop in town gave me this address, said they might be able to help me find someone," she explained.

"Oh really and who might that be?"

"Just some family," she said getting annoyed with his questions.

"That's right, I heard. I'm sorry. They also said you were hurt, you seem to be in pretty good condition though," he said with actual sympathy. She dropped her bag and rolled up her sleeves. From her wrists to her elbows was completely wrapped up in gauze. "The burns were minor, barely hurts," she told him. "I also heard what happened to your father," she continued. Lex nodded, "He's getting better, I explained how he was using his blindness as a weakness and that he'd better get over it. That's half the reason I'm here. My father can take up a good deal of space, I've gotten accustomed to having to step out from time to time."

"Lex!" came a voice from the porch. "Clark, how are you?" he asked. "Fine, what brings you here. Are you throwing someone out?" he asked looking at the girl and her luggage. "Clark this is a business acquaintance of mine. I discovered her standing outside your house," he explained. "Hi, I'm Abby. A girl, Lana, gave me your address, I'm trying to find someone and she said that your family knows pretty much everyone and might be able to help me." Clark nodded, "Well, come in and I'll get my mom, she would know."

Abby picked up her bag and followed him into the house. Mrs. Kent came downstairs to greet her guests. "Hi Lex."

"Hello Mrs. Kent."

"Well dear, lets see what I can do to help you," she said moving over to Abby.

Lex and Clark went out into the barn to leave the two alone.

"Lex, you seemed bothered by something, care to share?" Clark asked.

"Abby, I'm just wondering who she's trying to find. She said family but as far as I know her parents were her only family, I thought she was adopted," he said thinking mainly to himself. "What do you mean were?" Clark asked.

"Her parents died about a month ago, horrible fire, destroyed the house. Her parents died in the fire, having become trapped in their room. Abby managed to escape, with just some burns on her arms," Lex explained. "That's horrible," was all Clark could come up with. "Yes, but now she's probably almost half as rich as me. Her parents owned Mullins Software, they made a lot of money, my dad owns a great deal of their shares. She inherited everything."

"And it only cost me everything," came a voice from behind.

"Thanks Lex, I think everyone needs to know what goes on in my life," she told him. "It's just basic information, nothing that wasn't published in the news papers," he replied.

The stare down continued until Clark decided to intervene, "So were you able to figure out anything?" he asked. "No, your parents didn't recognize him. I don't know where else to look," she said sadly. "Come by the high school on Monday. My friend Chloe has a knack for these things, I'm sure she could help you. Say three o'clock," he suggested. "Great, I'll be there. Now, one last thing. Does this town even have a motel?" she asked.

"Not that I'm familiar with, Clark?" Lex asked. "No, I can't say we do, no one usually comes here to visit. And if they do they know people."

"Great I'll be sleeping in the bus station tonight," she thought.

"Just come stay with me," Lex suggested. "You know I have the room."

"Just what I want, to spend the night at the Luthor household. But I guess I don't have much of a choice now do I?" she retorted. "Well then, let's get you back to my place. I'll see you later Clark."

"Bye Lex, nice meeting you Abby."

"Same."

The drive was quiet, neither one exactly wished to speak to the other. They pulled up and Lex opened the trunk. Being gentlemanly he took her bag, "This is all you have?" he asked. "Well it's not like much survived the fire Lex. And for your information, I came here to get away from what happened. I don't need you telling everybody about my sorry life," she berated.

"I don't believe I put it that way."

He moved upstairs and opened a door, "You can use this room, I'll send someone to make up the bed."

"I'm capable of making my own bed, just tell me where the linens are," she told him.

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?" he said grabbing her wrist. She flinched at the slight contact. "Exactly."

He let go and moved away.

"There's a bathroom through that door, kitchen is on the first floor, so is my study and the library. Feel free to explore, lunch should be fairly soon," he explained. She nodded, "I'm going to freshen up, I'll see you at lunch," then headed into the bathroom. Lex shook his head and went into the hallway opening up a closet. He pulled out a towel and washcloth and headed back into her room, "Here, you might want these." He almost dropped the towels, Abby had unwound the bandages revealing her burns. "Don't you knock?" she asked. "Not when I live here," he explained.

While he hadn't said anything or had made any reaction, Abby could feel his eyes on her, looking at her arms. She was feeling rather, uncomfortable. "Lex, you can just leave them, thank you." Lex realized what he had done, "I didn't mean to stare."

"It's alright, I know how it looks."

"How it looks is painful, shouldn't you still be in the hospital, or at least being treated?" he asked.

"Careful Lex, you're actually beginning to sound like you care." He gave a small smirk, "You didn't answer my question, let me guess, they don't know you've even left."

"Why does it matter?"

"Well, it would explain why you really didn't want me saying anything about who you were. And also now I'm hiding an escaped patient."

"Lex, you make me sound like I'm an escaped mental patient. And I'm not hiding, but what I told you earlier is the real truth. I'm not here to hide, I'm here to forget. Now, please, may I take my bath in peace?" she asked.

"What you don't want me here?" he asked slyly.

"Good-bye Lex" she said hiding a blush that managed to crawl up her face.

"I'll see you at lunch," with that he left.

Monday came without much excitement. Abby and Lex got along as much as possible, but he had his work to keep him fairly busy and Abby chose to be alone and make some phone calls regarding her new position. As heiress to her families business it was now her job to run it. While there were many against the idea, many of the shareholders and CEO's approved of her decision. While she would be in charge of the company, she had left it up to certain people to keep it in running order while she would attend the meetings and sign the documents, approve new ideas as every major decision was to be run by her first.

Lex dropped her off at the school shortly before three on his way to the Talon to retrieve some paperwork. Abby wandered into the school as the bell rung. Students filed out of rooms as fast as possible, making Abby more lost than she really wanted to be. "Abby!" came a female voice. "Lana, hi!" she said happy to see a familiar face. "What brings you here?" she asked. "Clark told me to come meet him at the school today. He said that a friend of his, Chloe, I think, might be able to help me."

"Come on, Chloe will be at work, I'll show you where," Lana offered. "Great, thanks."

They reached a door marked "The Torch" and Lana walked in to see the young reporter already at her desk working feverishly away on her newest story. Clark stood behind her, watching what she was writing. "Hey Lana, Abby, glad you made it."

"Well, trust me it wasn't your directions that got me here. You neglected to tell me where exactly to meet you," she told him.

"Sorry, Chloe this is Abby," Clark said grabbing the blondes attention. "Hi, Clark told me you were coming let's see this picture," she said walking over to Abby. Abby gave her the picture and she headed over to a stack of books. "If he lived in Smallville he must have gone to school here, everyone does," she said dryly. "I snatched a bunch of the old yearbooks from twenty to thirty years ago. So between the few of us we should be able to get through the twelve of them relatively fast," she explained.

"This is great, I would never have thought to do such a thing. Thank you guys so much," she said.
"No problem, let's start looking."

After about half an hour of searching Chloe came across a picture that seemed to match. "This looks like him, the picture you have his hair is a little thinner but it still looks pretty much the same," she explained handing the book over to Abby. She took her picture and held it up to the yearbook picture, "I think so too, can you find me anything else about him?" she asked. Chloe looked at the name again and searched her computer.

While she was doing that Clark looked over the picture, "The hair, the eyes, they look so similar, she said they were family but that's a pretty strong resemblance," he thought.

"Here you go!" Chloe announced when she came up with something. Abby moved to the computer and looked over the screen.

"Michael Wilkens, head captain of the football team his senior year, attended Metropolis University, currently a Neurological Surgeon at Metropolis Medical," she read off.
"Wow, that's amazing," remarked Lana. Abby thought so too, if Chloe could find all that then maybe…

"So Chloe, can you, like, look up anything on here?"