Clark pulled the truck up in front of the house, then parked. He glanced over at Lois, who was in a full-fledge snit!
"Do you want me to help you out?"
"No!" she snapped.
"So, you're just going to what? Hop up to the house?"
"If I have to." she said, her tone cool now.
But she did not make a move to open the door. Clark continued to look at her until finally Lois said, "I need some time alone."
"Oh, okay. By the way, I'll be taking the keys."
"Fine, Clark, And I'm hurt that you'd think that I'd steal your truck while your back was turned."
"Yes, well I guess you'll have to be hurt, because I don't trust you." he said, getting out of the truck. He slammed his door and walked into the house.
But what Clark found waiting for him, made Lois's company preferable. Jonathan and Martha were sitting in the far corner of the room, giving him a warning look. Clark looked from them, to Chloe and Lana.
Chloe held up Lois's pill bottle.
"She was here? The whole time? Why? Why didn't you tell me?"
"And why did you lie to me, Clark?" Lana asked, her tone sounding distinctly wounded.
"I can explain...Lois can explain. I'll go and bring her in....she hurt her foot.....Dad, a little help?"
Jonathan Kent coughed and shook his head. He stood up.
"I think there's work to do out in the barn." he said gruffly. He never thought lying about Lois was a good idea in the first place. Martha stood up as well.
"We'll be out in the barn." she volunteered. They both left by the back door.
Meanwhile, Lois had managed to get the paneling off of the steering column of Clark's truck, using some of the junk that he kept in this thing. Farmboy sure kept a messy truck! She managed to hotwire the vehicle, keeping a careful eye on the front door. Then, sliding over gingerly into the driver's seat, Lois started the truck!
Clark whipped around and watched as Lois screeched off! Clark began to leave after her, when Lana jumped in front of him!
"Clark! Chloe and I want answers! Were you in that graveyard with Lois?" Lana demanded to know.
"How could you let me worry like that, Clark?" Chloe asked, sounding tired. Clark threw up his hands!
"She's gone again, you both do know that? She's going back over to try and rescue Lex."
"Rescue Lex?" Chloe asked.
"Yes, from Connor and his father." Clark said quietly. Lana frowned and looked from Chloe and Clark.
"Connor is working with his father?"
"His father isn't the same man that tried to kill all of us. He was wearing a ring with one of the meteor rocks in it. It affected him, in a negative way."
"It turned him into a vampire?" Chloe asked, suddenly feeling sick.
"No, Angel...."
"Angel? Now you're calling him 'Angel'? What was angelic about what that man did, Clark?" Lana demanded.
"Lana, that's his name! I'm just telling you what Connor calls him! When I found Connor, he was outside of Lex's house. Angel, Lex, Lois and some other people that worked for Lex, were there."
"Well let's get back to Lois. Why was she there? When did she leave here?" Lana demanded to know.
Chloe suddenly turned, ran upstairs and slammed the bathroom door! The sounds of her wretching could be heard throughout the house.
"Great, Clark, look what you've done!"
"Lana, what is it that I've done? I know I kept some things from you...."
"So what else is new?"
"But it was for your own good."
Lana grabbed his hands. "Clark, you can't make those decisions for me. You have to trust me enough to confide in me. I shouldn't have had to find Lois's medications. I should've have had to find out from your parents, that not only had Lois been here the whole time, but that you took her from Lex's in the first place! Why couldn't I know that?"
Clark gently squeezed her hands.
"I could say the same about you."
Lana gave him a look of confusion.
"I don't understand what you mean? I know you're not about to tell me that I've kept something from you?"
"When I was facing Angelus, that night in the classroom, he told me about how you were feeling about the two of us. About our making love...."
Lana gasped and tore her hands from his grip!
"I never told him anything!"
"Then how did he find out?"
"I don't know! I mean....alright, Chloe and I were kind of talking, but that was out in the hallway! You're telling me he heard us from way out there?"
"Vampires are known for having good hearing. Though, you still told Chloe about your feelings instead of me."
"Don't twist this thing around, okay? You still have a problem being honest with me about the littlest of things. You're still keeping secrets from me."
The sound of another truck pulling up got Clark's attention. He let go of Lana's hands and walked outside. It looked to be a bunch of neighbor farmers. One of them, Mr. Griffin, walked up onto the porch.
"Clark, where's your folks?"
"Out in the barn, Mr. Griffin. Is anything wrong?"
"Everything is wrong! We're having a town meeting about how to kill some of those vampires, especially that one that attacked the college students in class the other night." he said, turning and hurrying down the steps. Everyone got out of the truck and walked to the barn.
Clark felt a suddenly streak of anxiety. Angel would have to leave here right away, before someone staked him to death!
He turned back to Lana. She began to walk past him and out of the door. Clark grabbed her arm.
"Lana...."
"You know what, Clark? I'm going with the neighbors. I think I'll learn more at that town meeting than you ever plan on telling me."
"Lana, that's not true! If we could just sit down and I will tell you everything, I swear it!"
"The time to have told me, Clark, was when we were commiserating about how awful Lois's disappearance had to be on Chloe." she said firmly, turning again and walking out of the door. Clark watched as she headed towards the barn as well.
Clark rubbed his temples and sat down. He didn't want to deal with any of it right now. Not Lana, Lois, Chloe, Connor, Angel, Lex, any of it. How as this all of a sudden, his fault? How?
He suddenly felt tired. He would rest for a bit, before he checked on Chloe, tried to reason with Lana and went to Lex's house to retrieve his truck, and Lois.
Lois limped back around to the cellar door on the Luthor property, and found the door wide open still. Good!
She couldn't come through the front, hence she would alert Connor and his father. She limped over to the crowbar, that Clark had taken from her earlier. Picking it up, she slowly hopped up the stairs, emitting silent screams, at the pressure on her ankle. When she finally reached the top, she eased through the house, listening for some sign of Lex's being tortured.
She was rewarded with the sound of angry voices, some ways away. Lois hopped a little faster, before finally reaching a sitting room. She stood outside of the door, hiding in the shadows.
Lex was tied to a chair. His expression was one of pure fright. Lois clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from squeaking,
Connor's father had his vampire face on. Connor was picking up the little trinkets Lex kept around the room, as Angel spoke.
"Okay, Luthor! Let's try this again: first, I didn't kill your nanny."
"You did! In Los Angeles...."
"Hey, dumbass! I remember every face, of every victim! That picture I made you show me of her, isn't anyone I remember!" Angel almost snarled.
Connor set down a statue and walked back over.
"So why tell Lois that crap? Huh? What's up with that?"
Lex said nothing. Lois found herself more interested in hearing the answer to that, than saving him.
Angel reached out and grabbed Lex's collar.
"Tell us!" he hissed. But Lex smiled.
"If either of you were going to kill me, you would've done it already."
Angel backhanded him! Lex fell back into the chair. Connor sighed.
"Look, Lex, we can do this all day."
"Yeah, I can even bite you a little, then stop, then bite you again...." Angel offered.
"Okay, okay!" Lex yelled, pulling himself up off of the floor.
"What's going on Lex? Why were you keeping my father in that cage? You weren't going to turn him in, were you?"
"No." Lex said hoarsely. "At least, not to the police."
"Then to who?"
"The military....specifically to General Sam Lane....tomorrow morning."
"The military?" Angel repeated. "Now that's a new one. Somehow I still don't think we're getting the truth."
"No, Sam Lane is Lois's father." Connor confirmed. "He's also Chloe's uncle."
Angel looked at him.
"We're going to have to have a talk about this Chloe."
"If it's a birds and the bees talk, it's too late."
Both Angel and Lex looked uncomfortable at his words. Lex would've rather been bitten, than listen to the details of Connor and Chloe Sullivan's sex life! Angel was just uncomfortable period.
"The General wants both of you for a special project or something." Lex said.
"And what do you get out of this?" Angel asked.
"Just some formula."
"One that will make Luthorcorp very rich, I'm sure." Connor added wryly. Lex did not answer him.
"Okay," Angel said, shaking his head. "There's a part of the puzzle that's missing. That girl, the one that looks like....well the one who..."
"Who's aunt you murdered?" Lex said coolly. Angel gave him a savage look!
"Her name is Lois?" Angel asked, looking to Connor for confirmation. He nodded, then began to look around. Lois was here. She was nearby. He could smell her. He wondered if Angel could too.
Angel could. But if this Lois had wanted to reveal herself, she would have. She was listening in for whatever reason.
"What's Lois's part in this? You get this formula and her father gets us. Why drag her into this? And don't tell me it's because I killed her aunt."
Lex licked his lips.
"The General was given government money to start up a commando group that had been dismantled, some years ago called, 'The Initiative'. Ring a bell?"
Connor looked at Angel questioningly. Angel looked away. Spike told him a little about the group, having been a guest prisoner of theirs. He looked at Lex again.
"And a vampire, along with his human son, with abilities, would make a great asset, correct?"
Lex shrugged.
"I guess. Look, he wanted the both of you. I wanted the formula...."
"Which is what?" Angel asked.
"None of your business, and doesn't have anything to do with this particular situation. Before the General would even think of selling me what I wanted, he asked for my help in containing the both of you. He knew Connor was already here. He needed to get you here. He also wanted Angel, to be seen as a menace to the town, in case you couldn't be taken quietly. In case anyone found out and thought an innocent man and his son were being kidnapped."
"So you got Wolfram & Hart to help you with my transformation? That green ring?" Angel asked, now pretty much able to figure out the rest.
With the exception of one thing, of course. Lois.
Connor picked up one of Lex's prized statues and dropped it to the floor, shattering it. Lex turned red from anger!
"Hey!"
"Hey, yourself, Luthor! For the last damned time, what does Lois have to do with any of this? I doubt very much her father wanted her dragged into this!"
Angel stared at Lex. Something came to him.
"She's part of the deal too, isn't she?" he said. Connor looked over at Angel.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
But Angel was still staring at Lex.
"You want Lois, right?"
"No....not exactly. But she is part of the deal, yes. Her father wants her married, and to who better than me."
"Actually, I could think of a lot better!" Connor snapped, shaking his head. He knew Lois had to be dying, from her hiding place!
"So you're using her?"
"I was just trying to get to know her, so I could make the courtship a little easier."
"You used her feelings of grief towards her aunt, to try and romance her?" Angel asked, his tone dripping with contempt. "Smooth, Luthor! Real smooth!"
Suddenly Lois came out of her hiding place and hopped at a rapid speed, towards the surprised Lex! Connor and Angel moved aside, as she brought up her good foot and kicked him the privates!
Lex coughed, and fell over, tied to his chair, onto the ground. Lois waved the crowbar!
"I ought to beat you senseless! All those lustful looks you were giving me!"
"Lustful looks?!" Lex almost choked. "Lois, I do like you..."
"Careful, Luthor," Angel said wryly, "before you get kicked again!"
"I'm just trying to say that you have your moments when you're very desireable....not in a Lana way, but...."
Lois moved closer to him.
"Not in a LANA WAY?!"
Connor's eyes widened! Whoa! Lex had a thing for Kent's girlfriend?
"I ought to brain you for that comment alone! And I'm going to tell Clark and Lana that you're after her!"
"I'm not after Lana! I was just comparing your beauty to hers!"
Lois began to swing the crowbar, but then stopped and flung it down. She then turned and hopped out. Angel started go after her, but Connor stopped him.
"She's a lot like Chloe when she's been hurt. She just needs to be by herself. She must've cared about you some, Lex, for her to be that upset."
Lex said nothing, as he struggled to right himself in the chair. Connor faced Angel.
"I think we need to get out of this town."
"Yeah, I agree. I'll see if the Senior Partners at Wolfram & Hart will be willing to send Lilah back to her hell dimension." Angel said.
"Maybe it's better if I don't say goodbye to Chloe."
Angel blinked.
"Connor, you're not like me. You have a chance at real happiness. Chloe's uncle's plan is ruined here. I doubt very much he'll try anything, now that people know what he's up to. Especially if you explain it all to her. He wouldn't want his niece to be unhappy here."
Connor looked down.
"That's the real hurdle isn't it? Will she still feel the same way about me when I tell her? Or will I be forced to leave her anyway?"
Chloe laid on her bed at the Kent farmhouse. She heard nothing below, making her wonder if Clark and Lana had went out someplace?
Connor wasn't human. He couldn't be. Not with a father for a vampire.
Chloe sat up. No one knew, except for her, that she had been sick a lot like this lately. Only usually, it happened in the morning.
If she was pregnant, was her baby human? Or was it part vampire? She needed to find Connor. No, maybe she should find out if she was really pregnant, first.
Clark would never know what it was that woke him up. But his eyes opened to a black, hooded figure, hovering over him!
Clark jumped up, but the figure held out a chunk of green Kryptonite towards him. He automatically felt sick and weak. Lilah stepped into view just then. She held up a ring with red Kryptonite in it, then walked towards Clark, shoving it onto his hand. The hooded figure then disappeared, with the green Kryptonite, in a cloud of black dust. Lilah coughed, annoyed at the sudden, but brief bit of pollution, then watched as Clark suddenly smiled and stood up, his expression mischievous and full of contempt.
Lilah backed away, turned and walked out of the back of the farmhouse. It hadn't been hard to find out what she needed to about young Mr. Kent. All it had taken was torturing Bridgette Cosby, emissary to Dr. Virgil Swan, to death. The woman had told her all Lilah needed to know, thinking that her life would be spared.
Ms. Cosby was wrong. But she had explained the qualities of the green rock, and it's effects on humans....and other creatures...specifically vampires. Thus, helping her fulfill Lex's request, albeit temporarily, in containing Angel.
Lilah got back into her car, then took out her cellphone. It was time she dealt with General Lane, personally. Clark Kent in lieu of Angel and Connor. That should make everyone happy.
Meanwhile, Clark looked at the ring and smiled. He then began to move towards the stairs. He was in 'frisky' mood. Clark decided to see if his old pal, Chloe, was feeling just as playful.