Wrote this up while waiting for the login server to reset itself so I could post it before going to bed. Unfortunately for me that ended up taking four hours for them to do so, so if there's some continuity oddities or tense errors that I missed due to being freakin tired...well, I'm sorry in advance. /smiles/ On a off note, it's been kind of exciting to see the hits counter rolling towards the 300 mark as I wrote this, especially when a lot of the hits show that the folks reading this story liked the first chapter enough to continue to the next. With that, it is with great anticipation that I see how well this new addition does. Enjoy.
The slightly horrified and disconcerted expression on Lex's face as he stared at his cell phone could only be accurately described as having one's cell phone lasciviously molest your ear while you talked upon it. A slow blink brought his attention back to reality, aware that he was stressing the small piece of plastic within his tightening grip. Did Martha Kent just foist her son off on him for the evening so …/choke/…he shook his head savagely to derail that train of thought.
He drew himself away from his desk and moved in a semi-daze to the garage as he mentally reviewed the odd conversation he had had with Mrs. Call-me-Martha Kent. Clark wasn't home, check. Clark had places he liked to hide when he was upset, check. He could be found at the lake, though why Mrs. Kent suggested that right off…he jerked to a stop when he realized that he had arrived at the garage. With a steadying breath to settle his thoughts he pulled the keys to his favorite Aston and slipped into the sleek gray interior.
The purr of the engine helped anchor him to the here and now, to the task of locating Clark and ensuring that all was well in the world of Kent. The car slid smoothly through the gears as he flew out the gates and skidded around the corner of his drive onto the highway road that lead into Smallville proper. Lex could feel his calm soaring upwards with the climbing numbers on his dashboard, confidence taking solid root in his manner.
Clark would probably be found at the Talon, mooning over the lovely Ms. Lang as he brooded over today's events in his hot coffee. Flipping open his cell he quickly dialed the Talon and waited for his call to be answered.
"Talon, this is Lana speaking. How can I help you today?"
"Hello Lana," his voice a study in polite curiosity as he sped down the road. "Have you seen Clark come in today? His mother said I might find him there."
"Sorry Lex, I haven't seen him in today," she replied cheerfully. "Want me to have him call you if he does show up?"
"I'd appreciate that Lana," he hung up the phone after she wished him a happy day. With a snort he thought, Yeah, happy if my dad hadn't shown up and ruined what could have been a good day with Clark. He turned his car towards the high school deciding to take on Chloe, hoping to find him with her.
"I'm telling you Pete, there's something weird about these cookies," Chloe waved her bag of Farm Fresh Oatmeal Cookies towards Pete.
Pete swiveled away from the wildly swinging bag, which barely missed his head. Once Chloe plopped down in her chair he gave her a skeptical look before asking, "Okay, Chloe, I'll bite. What's wrong with the cookies?"
She gave a long-suffering sigh, as if its flaw was perfectly obvious, a hand waving absently at the unopened bag. "They're oatmeal cookies," as if that were answer enough for their inadequate nature.
Pete blinked at her in confusion, feeling a bit like Clark at that moment, "What's wrong with that?"
Apparently Chloe thought so as well, the half-smile that flitted across her mouth something that usually was reserved for Clarkisms. "Look, Pete," she opened some files on her computer as Pete grabbed the bag of cookies, not one to let a free snack go uneaten in the pursuit of research.
She jabbed her finger towards her monitor, Pete imagined the offending information shrieking in terror at Chloe's attack. "See? Fordman's shows that these oatmeal cookies were lowest sellers in their selection of cookie types until a few weeks ago, then bam! They're in the top three!"
Seeing the sales inventory Pete groans, "Chloe, what are you doing with that, it's private information!" Pete made a face as he bit into the cookie, "Oh man this is vile! There's no sugar in these things." He spit the mouthful of cookie into the garbage can, hurriedly putting the bag back on the desk.
A triumphant grin flashed in his peripheral vision, "Exactly! They're disgusting yet they're being sold like there's no tomorrow. Why? Are they pumped full of addictive elements or do the meteor rocks have something to do with the ingredients?"
"Perhaps I can answer that for you Miss Sullivan," the amused tone drawled from the doorway of the Torch office.
"Please do, oh wise one," snark belied by the playful twinkle in her eye as Chloe swiveled towards the voice.
Pete straightened from his crouch over the can and leaned a hip against the desk as he watched Lex smoothly enter the small office. He picked up the bag of cookies that Pete dropped back onto the desk giving the offensive dessert a cursory glance before setting it back down. He narrowed his eyes slightly; watching to see what Lex would do next.
"As you've found out, Mr. Ross, they're a disgusting treat, completely lacking the superb culinary delight of Mrs. Kent's efforts. I've been buying them and stocking them at the castle for my father to indulge in," his smile turned roguish at that admission. "I find that they cut the duration of his visits down considerably if I offer him the foul things. It'd be rude of me not to offer something and rude of him not to accept my hospitality. Not to mention a sign of weakness should he express discomfort over eating them as he thinks I'm eating the same cookie as he."
"You're not?" Chloe asked.
"I asked Mrs. Kent to bake a cookie similar in appearance to those things. I keep my cookies in a separate container though I have the cook slip an occasional Kent cookie into his pile to keep him guessing. He wouldn't keep testing them if they were always horrid. My father wouldn't spit out something he's bitten into, he'd wait for me to do so and then chide me for being so weak as to not being able to stomach my food," silky sly grin as he crushed Chloe's theory.
Pete couldn't help but laugh at that, "Man, that's just plain evil."
Lex smirked as Chloe's mouth turned into a moue of disappointment, "Well that explains that mystery."
"Sorry Chloe, no Wall of Weird for this stuff," Pete playfully slapped the bag of cookies.
"So what brings you here today Mr. Luthor?" Chloe asked, sharp eyes looked on with interest, reporter instincts telling her that this was the better story.
"Lex, please. I was hoping to find Clark with you or Mr. Ross, instead I find that you are both together saving me an extra trip around town."
Pete scowled as his hackles rose when Lex mentioned looking for his friend, "What do you want with Clark, Luthor?"
Inwardly Lex grimaced, would he ever get beyond this point with the young man? Or was he forever doomed to pay for his father's deeds? "His mother suggested that I'd be able to find him with either one of you. As that is not the case, I'll just have to look elsewhere," Lex swiftly moved to leave the office to the two teens and was halted by Chloe's concerned words.
"You may want to check out the Talon, he may have gone there. If he's not there you could check around old man Tucker's field near the fishing hole, Clark sometimes goes there to do some thinking or hiding from me," she then looks down at his shoes. "Though you may want to bring a change of shoes, those will end up ruined ten steps out."
Lex turned a gentle quirk of his lips at her admission that Clark sometimes felt the need to hide from her. "I'll do that. Think pizza would be an adequate lure for the elusive Kent?" The playful tease managing to pull a quick quirk to the corner of Pete's mouth.
"Yeah, food helps a lot of the time. Sometimes that's the deciding factor to whether or not he pokes his head out of whatever hole he's found," Pete waved him out the door, a bit unnerved by this display of the kinder side of Luthor to begrudge him the insight gleaned from years of experience tracking down Clark when he got into one of his moods. "Good luck."
Lex gave an acknowledging nod before he disappeared from view. He shook his head at Chloe's insatiable need to find a mystery in everything around her as she delved into another one of her theories after he left. If she ever decided that journalism just wasn't for her she could find writing fiction more fulfilling to her quick wit and word savvy.
It wasn't until Lex had pulled out of the McDonald's drive through window with a large bag of greasy fast food for Clark and zooming down the road that he didn't quite know where this elusive fishing hole was in Smallville. With a sigh and a promise to somehow figure out a way to get Clark to accept and carry a cell phone so he could more effectively get a hold of him Lex settled into his seat for the drive towards Crater Lake. The elder Kents wouldn't have a problem with him giving Clark a cell phone if they could contact him with greater ease, would they? Especially when he's off doing his impersonation of a comic book hero and saving another denizen of the town, much to the consternation of the sheriff. Of course they would, he thought derisively at himself, Kents don't accept gifts from Luthors. He turned up the volume of the radio, only caring that it would be sufficient to drown out his thoughts till he arrived at the lake.