"We'll have to try something a little less subtle then, I know he has her." Lex stated, looking at the man who had, just moments ago, been at the Kent residence.
"What do you suggest?" The man stated doubtfully.
"Well, we need to send someone he can respond to." Lex explained simply.
"Who do you suggest?"
"Me." Lex said while getting up and leaving the room.
The next morning, Lex stood outside the Kent house and knocked politely. He appeared to be in a pleasant mood, but looks can always be deceiving.
"Mrs. Kent." Lex said almost sweetly as he handed her a bouquet of flowers.
"Lex." She said in a tone that clearly showed disapproval.
"I was wondering if Clark was around, I need to speak to him about a personal matter." Lex said, getting down to business.
"He should be coming back from doing his chores any second." Martha said, obviously uncomfortable.
"I'll wait outside Mrs. Kent." Lex said with a smile. Martha nodded her head and Lex stepped outside into the cool crisp morning.
"Lex." Clark said while walking back to the house.
"Hello Clark. I trust you got my less subtle attempt to coax Lana out of you last night?"
"Yes I did. I don't know why you bothered coming, she isn't here." Clark stated while looking into the house. Lex followed his gaze and saw a girl walking out onto the porch like she had been caught in headlights.
"Sorry." She muttered.
"It's alright. Come here." Clark said, gesturing for her to stand next to him.
"Lana, I presume." Lex said while extending his hand.
"I'm not Lana." The girl said.
"You sure about that."
"Yep, pretty sure." She stated in an annoyed tone.
"Then whom might you be?"
"I'm Mollie. Not so nice to meet you." She said, giving him a fake smile to match his own.
"Pleasure is all mine."
"This is what you came all the way out here for, you saw my cousin and assumed that it was this... Lana." Clark said, pretending to search for her name.
Lex smirked.
"You really think I'm that stupid? I know she is here, it's only a matter of time before I can bribe the police to get a search warrant, I'll find her, don't you worry." Lex stated smugly.
"We'll see." Clark spat back, watching Lex pull away in his trademark silver Porche.
"Why did you tell him that I was your cousin?" Mollie asked once they were inside.
"I couldn't tell him that you knew Lana at all, or he would be even more suspicious." Clark explained while heading into the kitchen.
"Then how did you know that Lana wouldn't waltz right down the stairs instead of me?" Clark shrugged.
"Just lucky I guess." Clark said while stuffing some toast into his mouth. As he was munching down on the crumbly piece of bread, Lana walked down the stairs to join the two in the kitchen.
"Morning." She muttered, grabbing for the orange juice that was out on the counter.
"What's up?" She said, looking from Clark to Mollie.
"Nothing." They both said at the same time.
"Okay." She said in a Yeah-right tone before she headed for the table and sat down.
"Has anyone seen Pete?" She asked out of the blue.
"He usually sleeps late. Why?" Clark asked curiously.
"No reason, I was going to see if he wanted to do something today." Lana said casually, while sipping her orange juice.
"Oh." Clark said casually. Lana resisted the urge to smile at his obvious jealousy.
"What's the matter Kal?" She asked teasingly.
"A whole lot of nothing." He stated, his hands fidgeting at his sides.
"Okay." Lana said sarcastically as Clark stormed upstairs.
"What's up man?" Pete asked as Clark stormed into his room.
"I'm going to kill you Pete!" Clark said while seizing the defenseless Pete.
"Whoa man! Calm down. First, put me down, then we can talk about this." Pete said calmly, while Clark lowered his friend back to the ground.
"Okay, now what's wrong?" Pete asked, sitting down.
"Lana wants to go out with you today, and..." Clark couldn't finish before Pete interjected.
"She wants to what!" Pete said enthusiastically.
"Not now Pete." Clark said, looking at his friend wearily.
"I knew it. I could almost sense it through the computer that one day we talked. I am a chick magnet." Pete proclaimed pinching the front of his shirt and letting it go while nodding his head smugly.
"Pete!" Clark said while raising his hands.
"Yes my chick challenged friend. What can I do for you on this fine day?" Pete said haughtily.
"Cut the crap Pete." Clark stated while trying to seize his 'friend' again.
"In the words of Will Smith, don't hate the player, hate the game." Pete said before brushing Clark off and heading downstairs.
Clark just sat back on his bed and sighed.
Pete flounced down the stairs and strode purposefully over to Lana.
"Hey." He said confidently. Lana just rolled her eyes and got up.
"Pete, I was just messing with Kal, sorry to burst your bubble." Lana said while laughing at the dejected look on Pete's face.
"Wh...what?" He said hopelessly.
"You'll live." She said before heading up the stairs. Pete just stood where he was, shell shocked at his sudden misfortune. Mollie came up behind him and patted his back before following Lana up the stairs.
"Oh Lana..." Mollie sang as she rushed up to Lana's side.
"Yes?" She answered, not looking back.
"I think someone has a crush." She sang merrily as she looked Lana in the eyes.
"Wha... what do you mean. I don't have a crush on Kal." She fumbled. Mollie gave her a curious look.
"I meant Pete has a crush on you, but I'll hold that thought. What!" Mollie said calmly. Lana looked half embarrassed half shocked.
"Well, I..." She couldn't finish her sentence.
"Wow, we are SO talking about this... but not before I write it down." Mollie mumbled excitedly while racing to the guest room.
Lana sighed and went into Clark's room to lie down. She didn't bother turning the light on and slumped down on the bed to be met by another body moving on the bed.
"Whoa!" Lana yelped as she stood up, she rushed for the lights. She saw that Clark was sitting there staring into space.
"Kal? What are you doing up here?" She wondered aloud.
"Sorry." He mumbled, sitting up and adjusting to the light.
"No problem, I just, came in here to get... a pen." Lana finished lamely, grabbing the small writing instrument in her hand and leaving the room. Clark watched her leave and then followed her out of the room. He looked down the hall at Mollie's closing door, and he decided he should talk to Lana. He walked down the hall and was about to knock when he heard something that peaked his interests.
"Alright, spill... how long have you had a crush on Kal?"
Clark stopped short of knocking and listened. He knew he shouldn't but this was something he had to hear.
"Well I... I think your imagination is getting the best of you." Lana stated defensively.
"Is that so? Well, shall we just go back to last night?" Mollie quipped.
"No." Lana said softly.
"Then just admit it. I won't tell." Mollie coaxed.
"Fine. I might have a thing for him. I just feel like I'm cheating on Clark though. I mean, I know we never really decided that we were going to go out, but I mean, I just thought there was something there." Lana explained weakly.
"No offense, but Kal is way better." Mollie stated as-a-matter-of-factly.
"How can you say that? Clark is so sweet and caring."
"Yeah well, so is Kal." Mollie finished, standing up and going over to her dresser.
"I know. They are so much alike that it's surreal. Maybe that is why I like Kal, because he reminds me of what I think Clark would be like in person." Lana thought aloud.
"Maybe. If you decide that Clark isn't for you and Kal is, I will totally jump on that opportunity, so don't think he will be left alone." Mollie admitted shamelessly.
"I just don't know. I mean, I have known Clark a lot longer; I just get this feeling around Kal. I think I should wait until I meet Clark and decide after we have talked in person." Lana concluded, watching as Mollie scribbled furiously in her diary.
Clark's face split into a huge grin. He couldn't believe she liked him and... well... him.
"Hey Kal! Get down here man!" Pete shouted from downstairs.
Clark whirled around and sped for the stairs. Once he was safely out of range of the girls' room, he slowed his pace to a steady walk and went down the stairs and into the kitchen where Pete was still standing.
"What's wrong?" Clark asked, startling his friend in the process.
"Oh, not much. I just thought you should know that there is a sheriff and a certain bald billionaire standing outside the door." Pete said as if stating that the laundry was done.
"What! Where!" Clark asked frantically.
"Sheriff and Lex Luthor, over by the door." Pete repeated, this time pointing to the door. Clark ran to the door just as the sheriff started knocking.
"Can I help you?" Clark said almost calmly.
"We got a call that you were experimenting with illegal drugs on the premises and have a warrant to search for any contraband." She said while holding up the paper.
"Drugs? That was the best you could come up with Lex?" Clark said hotly as Lex shrugged and smirked.
"I'm going to have to check the upstairs, you can follow me if you want to." The sheriff said before going up the stairs.
"This is ridiculous, I don't do drugs!" Clark screamed while they went up the stairs.
"You have no right to search my house!" He yelled louder, trying to provide the girls with some sort of warning that they were going to need to hide.
Lana and Mollie's heads shot up as they heard Clark arguing with a woman, heading steadily down the hallway.
"Don't you think you should check my room first, since you are accusing me of doing drugs?" Clark asked as the sheriff passed his room.
She turned around, nodded, and went into his room. She looked around for a few minutes, finding no signs of anything amiss, then continued on with her search.
By the time she reached the guest room, there was no one in sight. The window was slightly ajar, but nothing too obvious to suggest that the girls had escaped, or that they had been there. None of Mollie's things were lying out and the bed was made neatly. The room looked like it hadn't been used in years.
After a thorough search of the house, the sheriff apologized to Clark and then made her leave of the premises.
"Well, I guess that was pretty useless." Clark stated arrogantly.
"On the contrary, I got just what I was looking for." Lex said with a smirk.
A van pulled up and sped off of the farm with two girls screaming desperately inside. All the blood in Clark's body gathered in his face and he went stark red.
"If you hurt them, I swear I will not hesitate to kill you." Clark said through clenched teeth.
"Now Clark, if you will come with me quietly, without making a big deal about it, we can arrange a way for us all to get out of this happy." Lex said calmly, pointing towards his car. Clark reluctantly followed and sat in the passenger side. The car pulled out and sped down the road towards the infamous Luthor mansion.