TITLE: Double, Double, Love & Trouble? – Chapter 16

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: If you couldn't tell… a lot of stuff is now changing. I kinda like 'bad' Lana/Isobel. She's much more interesting to write.

She tried to ignore the sound coming from her door. "Go away," she said softly and leaned her head back against the plastic pillow. Then she heard him and groaned.

"Lana? Are you alright?" Another knock. "I know you're in there. My mother saw you come in this morning. Are you feeling okay?"

She stood up and let the soapy bubbles run down her skin, as she reached for her robe. She stepped out of the tub and into a pair of slippers. She reached for a towel for her hair on the way out of the bathroom.

"Lana? If you don't answer…"

She opened the door, "If I don't answer you'll what?"

Clark swallowed, as his eyes took in her appearance in the small terry cloth robe and wet hair. "I was worried. Thought something might be wrong. You weren't at school today."

Isobel's mind raced. Right. School. Damn. "Uhhh. Yeah. I wasn't feeling too good." She moved aside and let him walk into the apartment, closing the door behind him.

"Do you need to go to the doctor?" he asked concerned, moving into the living room.

"No, no." She thought quickly, and then gave a small smile. "Jason took me this morning. That's where your mother must have seen me coming back from."

He nodded, "Good. Nothing serious I hope. You missed the test today."

"The doctor just wants me to take it a little easy. It's just…" she looked down, and then back up with sadder eyes, "It's just all the stress. I think it's wearing me down. The constant worrying." She could see guilt wash through his eyes. She sat down on the couch, and curled her legs under her, making her look small and vulnerable. "I can't concentrate. I can't sleep. Can't eat." Yeah, there you go. Lay it on.

He sat down next to her. "You can't do this to yourself. Everything… everything will be fine."

She shook her head. A small tear trickled down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, but not too quickly. "You say that. Jason tries to tell me that. But how can you be so sure? Do you have an ancient ancestor possessing you? Do you have a mysterious tattoo that you have no memory of getting? Do you have someone important in your life that has a curse on their family that basically says you'll be the one responsible for their downfall?"

"What?"

Oh, I guess Lana didn't tell Clark about that one. Hmmm how to use this twist? "Jason is a descendent of the family that burned Isobel at the stake." His eyes grew wider. "She vowed to exterminate the whole family." She put her face in her hands, and she felt his hand rub her shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"I just feel like fate is ruling my life. I've tried so hard to fight it. But maybe I shouldn't." She looked up at him with a tear stained face. "Maybe it's a sign that Jason and I don't belong together. Maybe fate is trying to tell me I should be with someone else." Isobel saw the look in his eyes. She knew she was on the right track. "Maybe that tattoo, that symbol means something."

"Lana… what are you saying?"

She stood up. "Maybe I should break up with Jason. Keep him safe." She turned back to Clark, "Maybe the symbol can lead me to whom I should be with. Maybe it can answer what fate has in store for me."

Bingo. She had hit the nail on the head. The look on his face was absolutely priceless. The only thing she really needed to get more information on, was why was he so sure that it was him she was talking about? What all did he know?

But she had one more problem. Would he be so willing to help her like Jason was? She barely succeeded in keeping the smile off her face from the 'help' she had received from him last night. There were major benefits to being with him. She turned back to Clark. While he definitely wasn't bad to look at, the boy was… well, just that… a boy. But little boys could easily be manipulated. Decisions, decisions.

She was so distracted with her own thoughts, she almost didn't hear him. "I've found that fate, or destiny does have a way of happening if you want it to or not."

He was actually encouraging her. "So you think I should pursue this? Look, and follow fate?" He gave a small nod. "I just don't know if I could do it alone. You've had some experience with those symbols. Do you think that maybe… maybe you could help me?" She asked with her best little girl voice she could muster.

"Of course Lana," he said as he stood up and reached for her hand. "I'll always try and help you."

She gave him a smile and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, letting her barely covered body press up against him. "Oh thank you Clark," she said into his chest. She then pulled away and faked a yawn.

"I should let you get some rest so you can feel better," he said awkwardly as he moved towards the door.

"Yeah," she agreed and opened the door for him. "I need to try and get some sleep. Maybe we can talk about this soon. Figure some things out. And I need to figure out how to tell Jason…" she let it hang. She had no plans on telling Jason anything. She only had to try and figure out how to keep the two men apart.

"Just remember. It's probably for his own good."

Isobel wanted to laugh at how hard he was trying to convince himself of that. "I know. And the sooner I do, the sooner we can both move on and be with the one we are supposed to be with. Fate. Destiny." She wanted to puke.

"Feel better," he said as he walked out of the door. "Just give me a call when you want to talk."

"I'll do that. And thanks for checking up on me. I feel better, safe, when you're around."

"I'm glad." He gave her a smile, and then said "Bye." As he walked down the steps.

She shut the door, and leaned back against it. "Men." They really were just too easy. Then she groaned. She had a feeling her bath was cold.

"It's getting late. Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home yet?" He asked into her ear, as her lips worked over the flesh at his neck. Her body was laying over his on the couch, her one hand in his hair, the other under his shirt, between their bodies. She was doing her best to distract him from his question.

"Jason, I don't need to leave just yet."

"You do have school tomorrow," he tried to remind her. That and for some reason, he wanted her to stop. He wasn't sure were the feeling was coming from, and it was starting to bother him. He loved her. He knew that. Her nails lightly scratched against the skin of his abs, making him draw in a breath. But… for some reason, he didn't want her to touch him. It just… didn't feel right. His hands went to each of her wrists and had them rest between them on his chest. "Lana. Tomorrow is Friday. I'll pick you up after school, and we can have the weekend together. I don't want you to get into trouble, and then not be able to get into the university with me this fall." That, and he really needed some time to figure out what the heck was wrong with himself.

She sighed, "Okay. You win," she sat up straddling his hips, moving her own for emphasis, "If you insist." She grinned from the groan that she received, and then stood up.

"Evil," he said as he sat up. Isobel grinned as she went to get her things. If he only knew, she thought. He grabbed his keys and followed her out of his apartment and to his car.

It was dark, as she used the key to open up the long deserted coffee shop. She had planned the timing perfectly. There was no way she was going to let Martha see her come home late with Jason. The door opened and she walked inside, Jason behind her. "You sure you have to go back home?" she asked him as they walked up the stairs to her door.

"Yeah," he sighed. She fiddled with the next key in the lock. They walked inside and she flipped the switch. They both looked stunned at what they saw around them.

"Oh, my God," she cried out.

He looked at the ransacked apartment. Chairs were tipped over. The couch cushions thrown about. Everything on the shelves had been pushed to the floor. "Hold on." He told her, as his hand indicated for her to stay in the doorway. He quickly moved to the bathroom, looking inside, and then back to her bedroom. The place was empty. He walked back to her, and shut the door, locking it. "Is anything missing?"

She looked around the room, "I don't know." She quickly ran to her dresser, looking in the jewelry box. "My jewelry is still here."

He walked over to her, "Okay, well, if nothing valuable is missing, then…" Worry washed over his entire face.

"The stone," she said in mocked dread. They both quickly ran to the fireplace.

He removed a loose brick from the base and pulled out a small box. He opened the lid, finding it empty. He looked up at her, as she stood up and walked away.

"Who else could've known it was here?"

"I don't know," she replied and began to pace.

He stood up, "Well, no one saw me take it in China."

She had to think of something, "Maybe, uh, maybe Lex or Lionel figured it out."

"Or Clark," he offered. "I mean, you always said there was a side of him that you never really knew."

Interesting. They really don't like each other. "Maybe, but… I doubt it. Clark wouldn't steal something from me. Especially like this." That was actually the truth with that little boy. She shook her head, "Lex or Lionel must have done this." She moved over to him, and into his arms. "Make this bad dream just go away." She pleaded into his chest.

"I wish I knew how," he said holding her in his arms, his eyes looked at her disheveled apartment.

"It won't go away until we find all 3 of those stones." She looked up into his eyes, "We have to get it back. Maybe they have the other ones. Maybe that's why they wanted this one so bad." He seemed to nod in agreement, his eyes looking out into the room as if he was thinking. She leaned back against his chest. "And when that's done, we can just concentrate on us."

His arms pulled her tighter to him. He hated her being afraid. He hated that someone had went through all her things. He was outraged, and he was worried. What would have happened to her if she had actually been home when they came in? He didn't want to think about it. He looked down at her, "Are you going to be okay staying here?"

She nodded, "Yeah. They took what they wanted. So I should be fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked, rubbing her shoulders.

She nodded firmly, "Why?"

"I just have a feeling I need to go and do some more 'research' at Lex's." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll let you know what I find." He walked over to the door. He still felt uneasy about leaving her alone, as he looked around the room. "You sure?" he asked again.

She nodded once again, "I'm sure. I have your cell number." He smiled and left quickly. She shut the door, and locked it. A large smile on her face. She groaned looking at the mess. "What a pain to clean up." Then she waved her hand in one direction, a jolt of purple energy sprang from her fingertips and Lana's belongings were back on the shelves. She moved her other hand, and another purple volt righted the cushions and chairs.

Isobel made quick work of the bedroom, and then looked at her nails. "Not too bad. Didn't even break a nail." She laughed and moved over to her window. She opened the glass, and moved out onto the fire escape. She unscrewed the cover to the pipe attached to the brick wall, and then reached inside. She pulled out a piece of fabric. Her hand slowly unfolded it. She smiled as she looked at the stone that was there. "Like I would let you out of my site."

It's not that she didn't trust Jason. She knew he would do whatever he could to keep Lana safe. But he just needed a little encouragement to try and find the other stones, and to go looking in the right places. The use of fear and the feeling of male protectiveness were always great ways of encouragement.

To be continued.