TITLE: Double, Double, Love & Trouble? – Chapter 7
WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)
RATING: PG-13 (NC-17 where applicable will be separate)
SUMMARY: Rewrite from the end of the episode 'Unsafe.'
SPOILERS: Everything!
DISCLAIMER: All Smallville character belong to their respective whatever, the WB, etc. etc.
FEEDBACK: Always makes me smile:)
DEDICATION: To all the fellow Nuns, writers, reviewers, and readers at NWP, and of course Jensen!
RANT: Sorry the chapters are so short. But hey… I'm writing! Also, thank you to my faithful reviewers. hugs You guys are great, and I'm so glad you like my version. I do promise to fix the season and what they are doing on the show.

So how did it go?

Jason closed his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. He propped his feet up on the foot rest as he spoke into the phone. "Interesting to say the least."

Define interesting.

"He offered me a job."

What? came the shocked voice. Then after a small pause, Well, that's a good thing right? You need a job.

"It's not that easy Lana." He sighed trying to figure out what he exactly wanted to tell her. There were many things to think about, and consider. He wanted to be truthful with her, but he also wanted to protect her. Until he had things figured out, he would just have to be evasive. He wouldn't lie, but he didn't have to tell her everything. "I need to think about it."

Is there something wrong with it?

"I'm not sure how I feel about working for a man that got me fired. This is Lex Luthor we are talking about."

Well you have to do what feels right. There was a slight pause, Listen, I've got to get to class. Let me know what you decide.

"I will."

Love you.

He gave a soft smile, "Love you too. Bye." He turned off the phone and sat it on the side table. He sat up and put his hands over his face. "What to do? What to do?"

The double wooden doors opened, and Lex looked up to the intruder, "I take it you contemplated my job offer."

Jason walked over to the desk, "It wasn't a hard decision to make."

Lex leaned back in his chair, "I forgot to mention, a company car is included as well as a generous expense account." He tired to sweeten the deal.

He shook his head, "I'm not gonna work for somebody whose mission it is to break me and my girlfriend up." It was just that simple.

The other man stood up and walked towards him, "Jason, my only concern is Lana's welfare." Jason looked at him doubtful, but he continued. "But you're not the threat I'm worried about. It's your mother. Did you ever find it strange that every summer as a child, she took you on treks to the far reaches of the globe? Destinations where there wasn't even running water."

"My mother likes to travel. She always has."

Lex shook his head at him, "Those weren't vacations, Jason. They were research trips, investigating a woman who was burned at the sake 400 years ago."

Slightly shocked at the discovery, he swallowed and guessed, "Marguerite Isobel Theroux?"

He nodded in response, "The countess whose spirit possessed your girlfriend. And the fact that is happened soon after you and your mother came into Lana's life? Well, that bothers me. That bothers me a lot."

Jason swallowed again. It bothered him too. Much more than it probably bothered the other man. His jaw twitched as he responded back defensively, "I had nothing to do with that. I would never put Lana in jeopardy."

"And I believe you, or I wouldn't offer you this job."

Lex had intrigued him enough. Gave him enough new information to peek his curiosity. He wondered what else the man knew. "What exactly is it you want me to do?"

"I have deep pockets, Jason, vast resources. But the one thing I don't have is access. Two women in your life are somehow intimately connected to Marguerite Isobel Theroux. I want you to find out everything they know."

"So what, you want me to spy on them?" he asked in disbelief.

"How you get the information is up to you. Now, I need an answer."

Jason contemplated Lex's offer. Thought about everything he had learned in the last few minutes. He eyed the other man. Tried to quickly size up the situation. He swallowed again, and then put out his hand. "It's a deal." The two shook heavy hands.

He stood at the door, his hand raised to knock. But he didn't. Like he hadn't for the last few minutes he had been standing there. She was expecting him, but he wasn't ready to face her yet. He still wasn't sure what to tell her. He looked over his shoulder at the busy coffee shop below, and realized he couldn't stay out there much longer. Finally he let his knuckles hit the door, and he was quickly greeted with the door opening and her pulling him inside into a hug.

"There you are. I missed you. How did it go?" She said and ended it with a quick kiss before she bounded off into the kitchen area.

He smiled at her enthusiasm. He sat his coat on the back of the couch and walked towards the bar ledge and leaned on it, looking back at her. She looked up from the pan and cocked her head to the side, "That good huh?" She could tell he wasn't in a really good mood. "What happened?" she asked as she stirred the pasta.

He didn't want to talk about it. Looking at the contents on the stove he ignored the question and asked one of his own. "Pasta?"

"Yeah…" she looked up at him, "You eat pasta."

He reached over the counter and grabbed her hand, "I guess I was looking forward more to dessert." Her eyes grew wider, "Get back to where we were before this whole Lex thing." He winked at her.

"Well Mr. Teague, you'll have to wait for that dessert until after the pasta. I'm starving!" She said as she took the pot to the sink to drain it. "That, and you're avoiding my question." He sighed. She continued, "I know you too well."

She did. He knew he couldn't keep it from her. "I took the job."

She nodded and walked back over to the stove. "Okay. Good. What is it?"

"Lana… you might not say that when I tell you what it is."

Taking out two plates from the cupboard she returned and starting putting the pasta in the bowls. "Why?"

"He wants me to find out all the information I can about Isobel. Any way I can, even from you."

The sauce pan nearly fell out of her hand at his last words. She looked back at him, "He wants what?"

"You heard me."

She sat the half empty pan back on the stove. "And… and you… you took it?" He nodded. She picked up her dinner plate and headed to the table sitting down. "I can't believe that you would even consider working for him." The anger in her voice was now apparent. She might have been okay with him working for Lex in one of his 'regular' jobs, but not this, not something like this.

Jason paced by the couch, "It's not that black and white."

"I think it is. Investigating the Countess Theroux? It's all a ruse."

"Lana, the more Lex uses me, the more I get to use him and find out what he really knows." He tried to explain to her his true motivation for saying yes.

Lana shook her head and stood and moved towards him, "Okay, but that's just more secrets and more lies and at some point, it's all gonna blow up in our faces." She was now worried where this could go. She did on some level trust Lex, but no more than she could throw him, and that wasn't that far.

He sighed, "Well, unfortunately when dealing with people like Lex and my mother, honesty isn't necessarily the way to go."

"It doesn't matter. I am done lying. I can't go along with this."

"We've hit a brick wall. Our research with the countess is going nowhere. This might be our way of breaking through." He wanted to get through to her.

"Or their way of breaking us up."

And there it was, her true concern. He reached for her arms, and held them lightly trying to make his point. "I'm not gonna let that happen. Trust me."

She looked up at him, "How can I trust someone who's willing to lie for a living?" She moved out of his grasp, and headed back for the table. "As far as I'm concerned if you think that Lex knows something, then there's only one way to find out."

He watched her sit down and start to eat. "Lana…"

She shook her head, "Get your plate. Let's have the dinner we planned."

He did as instructed and sat down, looked at Lana, then back at his plate. He twirled his fork, playing with his food slightly. Pasta. He really wasn't in the mood for pasta.

To Be Continued...

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