Disclaimer: I don't own "Smallville"
Chapter 9: Rouge
(A/N: I know I haven't updated. But, my brother is home for a couple of months, and the internet doesn't work yet on my computer, so I'm writing this on the family's, sorry if it took me a long while. Enjoy!)
If you lived in Metropolis, you'd think it would be just a normal night for you. But for people like Clark, Sarah, Brianna, and Allison, well, that's a whole different story. In fact, I believe that's where their next adventure began: In the manhatten-like city. It all started when Lex invited the Kent siblings, and the two interpretive reoprters of the Jr. Torch to come down to the grand opening of Luthor Hall at the Metropolis Meuseum. With their parents permission, they all dressed up nicely for the Gala, hopped into a black stretch limo and rode for three hours to the Mueseum, where other people who dressed nicely was there too. Lights that were used for Christmas were displayed all around the poles and banisters to give the party a glow for the night. Clark was looking at a painting by some Spanish dead guy, when Sarah came running up to him, dodging the welathy people by her.
"'Scuse me! Pardon me! Coming through!" she said before she stopped by Clark, tugging at his black sports jacket. "Clark! Clark! Me and the girls found something really incredible! You've gotta come see it!"
"Not right now Sarah," Clark said
"Please?"
Sarah gave her best puppy dog pout, her eyes widening, and batting her eyes. Finally, Clark gave in.
"All rght," he said smiling. "Show me,"
Sarah smiled, and practically dragged Clark around the museum until they found Brianna and Allison by a display case. Inside was a gold breastplate lined with all kinds of jewlrey, like diamonds and rubies. In the middle was a diamond shaped emblem with diamonds making an "S" in the middle
"Wow," Allison said. "What I would give to touch a real diamond,"
"Don't get your hopes up, Ali," Brianna smiled. "As far as we know, this is as close to a real diamond as you're ever gonna get,"
"Still, it's gorgeous! I gotta take a picture for the newspaper,"
Digging into her backpack, Allison got out a mini digital camera that she got for Christmas. Brianna gaped in surprise.
"Uh!" she scoffed. "You brought your camera? I thought we were taking a break from journalism for tonight,"
Allison shifted her eyes.
"I thought you were lying," she protested softly.
"You know," Les said as he came forward. "It belonged to Alexander the Great. They say the design symbolizes strength and courage,"
"Can't exactly see myself going into battle with that on my chest," Clark admitted.
"Darker times call for darker methods. His opponents thought he was invincible,"
"Gee Lex," Allison said. "I didn't know you were such a history buff,"
"I'm not. I'm just interested in people who ruled the world before the were 30,"
"Don't worry Lex," said a soft voice."You still got a few years to go,"
Everyone turned around, and saw Lana all dressed up and a smile on her face as usual.
"Lana!" the girls chorused.
"Lana," Clark said surprised. "I didn't know you'd be here,"
"Didn't Lex tell you?" asked Lana.
"Must've slipped my mind," Lex said sheepishly
Clark nodded, kind of sarcastically, at that remark, and turned back to Lana.
"Why don't I leave you two alone?" asked Lex leaving.
"And that's our cue to leave isn't it?" Brianna kind of winced."yCome on guys,"
"But I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the breastplate," Allison protested as Sarah dragged her by the arm softly.
"You snooze, you lose," Sarah reamrked. "Let's go,"
For a little bit, the girl's wandered off for a while looking at various painting and sculptures. Soon after that, the found Clark, waving bye at Lana. Brianna scoffed
"Yeesh," she said. "Why didn't he make a move?"
"Because Whitney's here," Allison said casually.
"Where?" asked Sarah as she put a hand over her eyes. "I don't see him,"
"I talked to him earlier this evening. He looked a little uncomfortable,"
"That's because he was talking to you," Brianna smiled, evilly.
"Hey!"
Sarah laughed as she said goodbye to her friends, and caught up with Clark as Lex was talking to him.
"You know," Lex started. "You're never gonna win her if you keep running away from your enemy,"
"Whitnesy's not my enemy," Clark protested.
"Yes he is, Clark. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll find a way to get Lana. Just remember: Keep your friends close, and the quarterback closer,"
"Always the hopless romantice Lex," said a voice with a British accent.
The trio turned arounf to find a woman, probably in her late 20's, with brown hair, and a black dress on. She had a smiled on her face, and she was looking at Lex...seductivly.
"Victoria?" asked Lex in disbelief.
"I'm sorry," Victoria smiled. "Am I interrupting?"
"Clark Kent, Sarah Kent, this is Victoria Hardwick, a very old friend,"
"Hi," Clark shook the young woman's hand.
Sarah gave off her usually friendly-childish wave as Victoria smiled at her, and took a glass of champagne from a caterer. Clark leaned in forward to Lex.
"How close are you gonna keep her?" he asked.
"I'll catch up with you and Sraah later, Clark," Lex said through gritted teeth.
Clark and Sarah looked at each other, shrugged, and walked away from Lex, who clearly wanted to be left alone with the English woman, so they went outside into the cool night, walking down the steps. They could still hear the music and the people chattering inside, but they pushed that out of their minds for a while.
"Welcome to Metropolis," Clark remarked.
Although Sarah had to beg to differ on the statement. She saw a hobo lying on a bus bench, with a white dog sleeping at his feet.
"More or less," she winced.
Clark nodded in agreement as they continued down the stairs. Sarah kept that smile on her face as she skipped down. It was her first night in Metropolis and her parents knew it was her dream dream to go to a big city, since all she ever saw in her life was green meadows and cow pens. As they were abou to sit down, she noticed something that came to her ears. Tires were screeching, and she looked to her left. A Metro bus was turning the corner swerving around. Sarah quickly turned to Clark.
"Clark!" she mildly shouted. "Look!"
Clark turned to where Sarah was looking, and saw that it was headed straight toward the hobo and the white dog. He knew exactly what to do. Superspeeding in front of the hobo and the bus, he turned his shoulder to it, and rammed it into the bus. Sparks flew everywhere around the street. Sarah sheilded her eyes from the light of it, so she either wouldn't be blinded or hurt by the tiny shooting flames. It stopped after a little while, and Clark stood up straight looking at his sister. She looked at him concerned, but the she heard another noise. People were on their wy outside. Clark heard it too, and reached out his hand.
"Come on Sarah," he said in a hurried voice.
Running as fast as her fancy shoes could carry her, Sarah ran down the steps and jumped into Clark's arms. They supersped away from the scene before people would come out to see what had happened outside the museum. What the two farm kids didn't know, was that someone was watching. Someone very dangerous would come into their lives very soon, and would do whatever he can to get what he wants. Even if that means committing murder
Early the next morning, before Sarah had to got to school, she went into the barn to help her dad with the generator. He was having trouble lifting it, so she offered to help. But much to her dismay, the generator was so heavy, she could hardly get it a cenimeter off the ground.
"Come on sport," Jonathon urged her as he helped her. "Push,"
"I'm trying," Sarah strained.
"Jonathon," Martha said as she came in with Sarah's metallic blue travel mug. "That generator is twice as heavy as she is,"
"All right sport. You can let go now," Jonathon ordered.
Sarah, letting out a breath of relief, let the generator slowly down so it wouldn't break. But luckily, TA DA! Clark Kent comes to the rescue! He came in with his backpack, and put it down as he came to his father to help.
"Dad," he said. "Let me get that,"
Jonathon let Clark give it a shot. As Sarah sipped her hot chocolate, she watched Clark pull up the generator. With one hand, he easily pulled it up and tried it to a post so it couldn't fall off. Jonathon had seen something like this everyday, whether it was lifting atractor, or fixing a broken pip without any tools of any kind. But still, Clark always found a way to amaze him.
"Don't break a sweat," he reamarked.
"So night owls," Martha smiled at her two children. "How was Metropolis?"
"Fine," the two said in unsion.
Martha looked at her kids like they were crazy.
"Come on," she said. "A reception at the Metropolis Museum and it was just fine?"
"The museum was amazing," Sarah reassured. "It's just that..."
There was a momentary silence.
"It's just what?" asked Jonathon.
"Something happened," Clark said as he took a copr of the Daily Planet out of his backpack.
He gave it to his parents so they could see. On one column it said "METRO BUS CRASHES GALA" along with the story of what might've happened if Clark hadn't stopped the bus with his strength.
"It could've been worse," Sarah said. "Clark stopped the bus before anyone was hurt,"
"Are you kids all right?" asked Martha concerned.
"We're fine," Clark reassured.
"What if somebody had see you do it?" asked Jonathon, forgetting to read the paper thouroghly.
"Dad, everyone was still in the museum,"
"I think it's fine," Martha coaxed Jonathon. "There's no mention of any witnesses in the paper,"
"We better get to school. Come on Sarah,"
Sarah jumped down from the stack of hay she was stitting on, grabbed her backpack, and followed Clark outside of the barn, until Jonathon stopped them
"Clark, Sarah," he started. "Look, I am real proud of what you kids did,"
"We both are," Martha smiled.
That afternoon, Sarah was in the Jr. Torch room during her lunch break. Since she decided to go to the Gala with her brother the other night, she had to finish an article Smallville Jr. High's victorious basketball championship game that was to be published on the front page. She was about to send it to the guys at the printers, when Brianna and Allison came running in out of breath. She looked up to see them gasping for breath, and laughed.
"Whoa," she said. "Where's the fire?"
"You will not believe what just happened," Brianna said. "You can not believe the insanity!"
"The madness!" Allison exclaimed.
"The inhumanity!"
"The madness!"
"The stupidity!"
"The madness!"
"Ali...is that all you're ever gonna say?"
"No, it's just that you took the good ones,"
"Hang on a moment here," Sarah said getting up from her seat. "What's going on? What happened?"
"Chloe just got fired from being Editor in Chief for the Torch," Brianna sighed.
"What? Why?"
"Principal Kwan said that she wasn't doing what she's required to do when it comes to write a school newspaper: Write school related stories,"
"But we're also required to write the truth and express Freedom of Speech,"
"Yeah well," Allison started. "Concerned parents have been calling all morning because of the meteor related stories she's printing,"
"What did Kwan say?"
"What the EPA and other enviormental groups said years ago: The meteor rocks are harmless,"
"And he's been reading the Jr. Torch too," Brianna explained. "Chloe told me he wants us to stop writing meteor related stories,"
"OK," Sarah pointed out. "Ferald has read our stories. He said they were good. He said they were expressing freedom of speech. He said it involved students and the town. He said he's never seen the student's so eager to read a newspaper. Some of them might become journalists themselves. No way he'd let Kwan bring him or this paper down,"
"Too late," Allison said. "Kwan's already spoken to some of the teachers here. And youll never guess who signed up first to help fire us,"
"Who?"
"The Worm," Brianna and Allison said in unison.
"Wormwood? Aw man!"
Sarah plopped down on her seat, and banged her head on the desk.
"This can't be happening," she groaned.
"Sorry," Allison winced. "But it is,"
"Fortunetly, a certain friend has offered to help stop the teachers evil plot to brinf us down," Brianna folded her arms triumphantly.
It took Sarah a moment to think about it, but as soon as lightning struck her brian, she found out who was helping them.
"Lana?" she asked in disbelief. "No way,"
"Yes way, my dear farm friend," Brianna smiled. "Our dear Lana has offered to help,"
"Let's hope it works," Allison hoped.
After school, Sarah hitched a ride with Allison and her mom to the farm. After waving goodbye as the van pulled out, she started walking to the house, whe suddenly, WAM! She tripped over something, and landed flat on her face. Getting up, she saw that it was Clark's basketball was the one who committed the crime. Dusting herself off, she picked it, grumbling to herself, and walked to the barn to put it away.
"Clark," she mummbled. "How many times has mom told you not to leave your stupid basketball around?"
Walking into the barn she threw it onto the pile of hay. She was about to go back when she heard a clatter, that came fotm the loft. Curious, she turned back slowly.
"Clark?" she called out. "Are you up there?"
No answer came for her. So she shrugged it off and went into the house. When she threw he backpack on the floor, Clark came up to her.
"Hey," he said. 'Have you seen mom and dad?"
"No," Sarah shook her head. "I just got here. They're probably out in the barn. You wanna go look?"
Clark agreed to that and he and his sister turned on the investigation modes they had in them, as they walked in the barn.
"Hello!" Clar called. "...Hello?"
"Anybody home?" Sarah called.
As Clark began to search some more, Sarah looked around the barn for a while, until she stepped on something. Looking down at her feet, she removed her foor to reveal the object she stepped on. It was a gold badge that was lying in the hay needled covered ground. She bent down and examined, right under the generator from that morning.
"Metropolis Police?" she asked herself as she looked at the badge.
Suddenly, there was a creak, and a squeak, and a SNAP! The generator broke loose and started to fall. Just as Sarah was about to scream, Clark supersepf and pushed her down on the ground, and the generator landed on top of him. Pushing it off, it crashed into a post breaking it into pieces. He looked back and saw Sarah getting up slowly off the ground. Suddenly, they heard clapping, and they looked up. There was a man in a long black overcoat, and short brown hair who looked to be in his late 30's. From the looks of it, he looked like he came from Metropolis.
"Kid, I don't know what they've been feeding you," he said coming downstairs to greet them. "But that was very impressive. Not quite as exciting as last night, but I wanted to be sure,"
"Who are you?" asked Clark as he pulled Sarah up.
"I am your new best friend, Clark,"
"How do you know my name?"
"Oh, I asked around. That's just the beauty of a small town. Everyone's just so eager to help,"
The man bent down and picked up the badge that Sarah saw earlier, and showed it to the two.
"Far cry from Metropolis," he said.
Clark narrowed his eyes as the man, as he sat Sarah down on a stack of hay, so she could take it easy. This man was not a good guy, and he could tell right away, that he was not the kind of person people wanted to deal with.
"What do you want with me?" he asked.
"Your help," the man said. "You see Clark, I'm in a battle, that I can't afford to lose. 'Cause if I do, the bad guys win. And you have this gift that I need,"
The man tried to put a hand on Clark's shoulder, but Clark grabbed his wrist in anger.
"I'll never help you," he said.
He let go of the man's wrist, and the man whistled, amazed at Clark's strength.
"You have a secret," the man said softly. "That you don't want to tell the world about. I'm guessing that's why you didn't stick around for the TV camera's last night. You wanna keep things that way...You'll do like I say,"
The man turned to leave, until he stopped again.
"Drop by that overpriced coffee shop tomorrow afternoon," he said turning to look at Clark. "And we'll discuss your future,"
Before he left, the man looked at the generator, and the sister, who was clearly trying to get over a headache that's longer than the Nile.
"Nice catch," he commented.
As soon as the man left, Clark turned back to his sister, and sat with her.
"You okay?" he asked softly.
"I'm fine," Sarah whispered. "Clark, that man knows your secret,"
Later that afternoon, Clark and Sarah met with their parents, as soon as they got home, in the kitchen. They told them about what happened, and it became a very dangerous discussion between the Kents.
"So he just dropped the generator right on top of you?" Jonathon asked in disbelief.
"How did he know it wouldn't kill you?" asked Martha.
"...He saw me stop the bus last night," Clark sighed.
"Maybe we should call the polive,"
"He is the police," Sarah protested. "I saw his badge. Metropolis P.D,"
Martha and JOnathon looked at each other in disbelief. Clark however, was very disappointed in himself.
"Dad," he saidsoftly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this..."
"Clark," Jonathon stopped his son. "You didn't do anything wrong, OK?"
There was another silence among the family for a while, until Clark spoke again,
"He told me to meet him at the Beanery tomorrow," he said.
"I don't want you and your sister going anywhere near this guy," Jonathon informed. "I'll talk to him. I'll find out what he wants,"
"Until then..." Sarah started
"Until then, you live your life, you see your friends. And we're not gonna let this thing change us,"
Clark and Sarah understood. Sadly, the walked out of the house to go to the barn-loft to talk alone with each other.
"Clark, I'm scared," Sarah admitted as they walked upstairs. "You know this guy isn't exactly what he seems to be,"
"Don't worry about it, Sarah," Clark reassured. "Dad said he'd talk to him. You know he has a talent to get people to stop bothering us,"
"I don't know Clark," Sarah sat down on the couch with her brother. "This guy scares me. I mean, he practically dropped the generator on me. Plus, he's got everything cut out for him. Police, confidential file, investigations. Nothing can stop him,"
"Just don't think about it. We've been through worse,"
Sarah sighed.
"Yeah. You're right," she admitted.
"You two look like you're carrying the weight of the world," said a voice.
Sarah jumped, but quickly calmed down. It was only Lex, visiting them
"Sorry if I surprised you," he apologized. "But there's really nowhere to knock,"
"It's okay," Sarah smiled. 'Thanks again for last night,"
Lex smiled, and he looked through Clark's telescope. In case you didn't know, Clark used that telescope a lot. Whether it's looking at the stars, or spying on Lana Lang...mostly spying on Lana, actually.
"Your first visit to Metropolis, and you're involved in a police investigation?" he asked them. "That has to be some kind of record,"
"How'd you know about that?" asked Clark.
"The detective in charge came to see me first,"
"What'd he tell you?"
"Not much. Maybe that's what's bothering me,"
"What d'you mean?" asked Sarah.
"Metropolis Police don't usually send detectives to investigate traffice accidents. So I made a call. Turns out the official investigation is already closed...Clark, you and Sarah really don't want Sam Phelan in your life,"
"You know him," Clark stated.
"Unfortunetly. I had my share of legal problems while I was in Metropolis,"
"Serious?" Sarah winced.
"Expensive. Phelan was the kind of cop my father felt we could turn to for help.
"You're saying he's a dirty cop,"
"I'm saying he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. Plant evidence. Falsify reports. Anything is fair game, and if he's got something on you and your sister Clark, he'll use it,"
"He just wanted to talk," Clark said softly.
"Then you've got nothing to worry about,"
Lex smiled at the two. Sarah did the same thing. She was lucky her and her brother had someone like Lex to keep them from danger...or maybe not away enough.
The next afternoon, Brianna and Allison were at the Beanery for hot chocolate. They had already finished their stories, unlike Sarah, who was still working on the report for the Science Club's competition to state that weekend. So they decided to get some, although it costed them a little extra money than usual.
"I don't get it!" Brianna said. "Yesterday it was 2.45 to get at least one cup of hot chocolate. And today it's like a dollar more. What's the deal?"
"Well, it's the 21st century," Allison said as she paid the waiter. "Things get expensive nowadays,"
"I swear. If somebody doesn't open another coffee shop with low prices very soon, I'm gonna have to start drinking my dad's hot chocolate,"
"Why? What's wrong with it,"
"It tastes like I'm kissing a dead guy,"
"Ewww,"
As the girls drank their hot chocolate, they didn't realize Mr. Kent come in to be greeted by a Metropolitian.
"Mr Kent?" a man stood up to shake his hand. "Sam Phelan. Metropolis P.D,"
As soon as the girls heard the words "Mr. Kent" and "Metropolis", they did their old eavesdropping technique as they sipped quietly.
"I figured you'd be the one to show," Sam reamrked.
"What do you want with my son?" asked Mr. Kent, not shaking Phelan's hand.
"Well, we're both rational adults. Let's sit down, talk--"
"I don't think a rational adult drops a generator on top of a teenage boy. Nether his twelve year old sister, do you?"
"We both know it wouldn't hurt them,"
"Did you know about this?" asked Brianna whispering.
"No," Allison shook her head. "Sarah didn't say anything about it,"
They watched Mr. Kent and Phelan sit down so they could discuss the matter. Luckily, the girls could still hear them, so they could continue their eavesdropping game.
"What do you want?" asked Mr. Kent.
"I just want Clark's help," Phelan said.
"With what?"
"Look around you Mr. Kent. You know what you see? The veneer of safety. Now people like me are sworn to protect that. I'm the guy standing between the criminals and respectable citizens like yourself. Now Clark has a gift, and I would like to use his talents to further my cause,"
"I will not let you exploit my son,"
"...I've spent the morning going through the local police files. Clark and Sarah's name, and two other girls, uh Brianna Arkin, and Allison Harper..."
Allison and Brianna let out silent gasps.
"...They come up quite a bit,"
"Clark and Sarah have never been in trouble a day in their lives, Phelan. Neither have their friends,"
"No arrests. But they've been around a lot of crime scenes. Now maybe that's coincidence, or maybe it's just their natural instinct to get involved,"
"...OK I will give you whatever you want. You just stay away from my family, and their friends,"
Allison and Brianna blew sighs of relief. Thank you Mr. Kent they thought to themselves.
"I want your son," Phelan persuaded.
"No," Mr. Kent said defiantly.
"...I'll be in touch,"
Phelan started to get up to leave. Well, at least that's what everyone thought at first. But he turned back, put a hand on M. Kents shoulder, and whispered in his ear.
"Of course, if you don't agree," he threatened. "I will tell the world what I know. Best case, Clark's under a microscope. Worst case..." Phelan laughed a bit. "He's a freak in a jar. Either way, his normal life is over,"
That had hit Mr. Kent's last nerve. Swiftly, he got up from his chari, grabbed Phelan by the collar, and slammed him down on the table.
"Do not push me!" he said through gritted teeth.
"Whoa!" Phelan said loudly, to get everyone's attention. "Easy there, Mr. kent,"
And sure enough, it did get everyone's attention. When Mr. Kent looked up, everyone was watching them with curious eyes. He let Phelan get up, and straightened himself out.
"We wer just talking," he said. "You know if I were you, I'd learn to keep that temper in check," He pointed a finger at Mr. Kent. "It coul get you in a lot of trouble,"
After that little episode they watched at the Beanery, Brianna and Allison got on their bikes, and raced back to Smallville Jr. High where they found Sarah talking to Clark on the phone.
"What?...Oh my gosh, that's terrible..."she said
Brianna and Allison ran inside the JT Room, talking very loudly.
"Sarah! You'll never believe what happened at the Beanery!" Allison exclaimed
"Hang on Clark..." Sarah put a hand on the phone so she could talk to them, "Can you guys shut up for two minutes? I'm talking on the phone...Sorry Clark. So what's gonna happen now?...Really? Well I hope Chloe feels all right about that...Hey, at least you guys go tthe paper back...All right. I'll see you later...Love you too. Bye,"
Sarah hung up the phone, and turned to her friends. Clearly, they forgot about the Beanery, and wanted to know about the Torch crisis.
"What happened?" asked Brianna.
"Well the good news is, the Torch is back on line, and the war against us is now over," Sarah said. "The bad news is, Chloe's not Editor in Chief anymore,"
"Who is then?"
"Lana,"
"Lana?"
"Yeah. Clark told me, that Lana told them, that Kwan told her that if she had that much passion when she made her case, she should be in charge. She tried to tell Chloe that the paper would still be hers, and she could ghostwrite until she got reinstated, but Chloe was too upset,"
"Dang. What about Kwan's battle with us?"
"I think it's over, but I don't think Kwan and the Worm are gonna give up to try and throw us down. Ferald told me he'd keep the paper rolling...So what happened at the Beanery,"
"Your dad went to see some guy named Phelan," Allison explained. "It looked like a heated conversation,"
"...Sam Phelan? Metropolis P.D?"
"You know him?"
"Not exactly,"
"Well, he wanted Clark for something. It looked like he knew abou this secret. What's going on Sarah?"
"...I don't know. But I can tell you that it's over,"
Sarah started to go out, when Brianna stopped her.
"Hey," she called. "Where're you going?"
"Pizzaria. Clark said he'd meet me there. He's taking me out to dinner,"
Allison shook her head with a smug grin.
"I swear," she said turning on her computer. "Everytime I see you farm kids togethor, you get closer everyday. What happened to the sibling rivalries I used to know?"
"They jumped into a river," Sarah smiled.
Later that day, Sarah sat in the Pizzaria waiting for Clark. But he never showed up. Multiple times, she tried to call him, but all she ever got was "Hi. You're reached Clark Kent. I'm not avaliable at the moment so please leave a message." and all she'd ever say after that was "Clark where are you?" she never got an answer back. Even when her pizza got cold and when it was time to close. So she called her mom to pick her up, sonce she wasn't allowed to walk home after dark. Her mom asked where Clark was, but she said she didn't know. The next day was Saturday, and Sarah got to sleep in an hour late. She would've slept in more, but she had chores to do. After getting dressed in a baby blue plaid blouse, dark blue jeans, brown work boots, and her hair up in a ponytail, she came downstairs to the kitchen, where she found her parents and Clark eating breakfast.
"Morning sport," Jonathon greeted.
"Morning," Sarah said as she opened the fridge. "Clark, where were you last night?"
Clark stopped eating his eggs in mid-bite and looked at his sister.
"Last night?" he asked.
"Pizzaria. 6:30?" she asked back as she poured orange juice in a small glass
"...Oh Sarah, I'm sorry. I was at the Torch helping Lana,"
"And you didn't even call to tell me? I spent all night waiting for you. I left messages on your phone. I stayed until they closed,"
"Sarah..."
"I gotta go do my chores,"
Sarah went outside, clearly not wanting to get in an argument. After a while, she came back out of the cow pen from milking the cows. She was about to go to the barn to put in in for storage, when a couple of Smallville Police Cars pulled up on the gravel-paved driveway. Putting the milk down, she greeted them.
"Hey Sheriff Ethan," she said.
"Morning Sarah," Ethan nodded. "You seen your dad?"
"Yeah. He's inside. What's going on?"
Ethan looked like he was going to regret the next part.
"Um..."he started. "We got a, um...a warrent to search your home,"
"A warrent?" asked Sarah in disbelief. "Well...who suggested it?"
"An anonymous tip, Sarah. Sorry, can't tell. But will you come inside as soon as your done?"
"Sure. I just have to get some paint from the storm cellar and put the milk away. I'll meet you there in a flash,"
Ethan smiled, gave off a nod, and as soon as he and his deputy went inside to tell Jonathon, Sarah ran to the storm cellar to make sure it was covered. It was. She had only seen it a couple of times, but never really got a good look at it. It was the spaceship that got Clark here, through the meteor shower. After making sure every part was hidden, she got out, and locked it. Grabbing the two milk buckets she walked quickly to the barn to put it away. When suddenly, she tripped, spilling the milk all over the ground. Thinking it was Clark's basketball again, she grumbled and turned around. But it wasn't Clark's basketball. Instead, there was a dead body, with a very pale face and blood all over his clothes. She let out an ear-splitting scream, and kept screaming until the police and her family came in. Clark ran toward her, helped her to her feet, and held her as the police examined the body.
"Looks like he was shot in the heart," Ethan stated,
The Kent family was surprised. They had never seen this man before, and it was just plain scary to see an unfamiliar man in their barn.
"You wanna tell me what a dead body's doing in your barn, Jonathon?"
"I have no idea," Jonathon said. "I've never seen that man before,"
"Ethan," a deputy came in carrying an evidence bag. "We found this hidden under the seat, in the truck,"
The deputy showed it to everyone. Inside was a gun.
"That is not my gun, and I have no idea how it got in my truck," Jonathon protested.
"I'm sorry Jonathon," Ethan aplogized. "But we're gonna have to place you under arrest,"
"Dad..." Clark was about to protest.
"It's all right," Jonathon reassured his son. "Call Bill Ross and have him meet me at the jail,"
Willingly, without cuffs binding his wrists, Jonathon allowed the police to escort him to the cars. Clark, however, knew his father was innocent, and jumped in the way.
"You're not taking him!" he shouted.
"Clark," Jonathon put his hands on his sons shoulder. "I need you to stay here...And I need you to be strong,"
Clark hesitated before he lt the police take his father to prison. He regretted it, but he knew he had to follow orders.
"I'll follow in the car," Martha told him, following them. "You watch your sister,"
Sarah followed Clark back into the house, asking him questions.
"Clark, what's going on?" she asked. "Who was that man?"
Clark didn't answer. Instead, he punched a fist right on a post, breaking it. How could this happen to them? He should've done something.
"That's what you get for trying to be a hero Clark," said Phelan, who was in the house the whole time. "You're a pretty smart boy, but you forget...I've been doing this a long time,"
"How did you get in here?" asked Sarah, angry.
"Who's that man?" asked Clark.
"Did you really think that you could double-cross me?" asked Phelan.
"Clark, what's he talking about?" asked Sarah, confused.
"Clark, my job is about scenarios. You never enter a crack house with one plan. You go with ten. That's how you survive...The thruth is kid, YOU DIDN'T LEAVE ME WITH A LOT OF OPTIONS!"
"I want my dad out of jail," Clark ordered
"You complicate my life? I'm gonna complicate yours!"
Suddenly, Clark grabbed Phelan by the collar, and slammed him to a post, leaving Sarah to watch in shock.
"CALL THEM NOW AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU DID!" he threatened.
"What is it Clark?" asked Phelan whispering dangerously. "You wanna kill me? You think that's the answer to your problems?"
"Clark don't do it," Sarah said at the reamrk.
"Yeah. Listen to your sister. Unless you wanna join your father on a murder trial,"
"I want him OUT!" Clark shook Phelan.
"Well then we both want something...only you have a lot more to lose,"
Clark knew that what he wanted to do was wrong, so he regrettably let Phelan go roughly. After he striaghtened himself out, yet again, Phelan said dangerously through gritted teeth.
"I don't want anymore surprises," he said angirly. "I'm gonna let you think about last night,"
He turned to leave when he said: "Stay close. I'll be in touch,"
As soon as Phelan left, Sarah looked at Clark who was looking very sad.
"You didn't spend the night at the Torch with Lana, didn't you?" she asked him, who looked at her. "You went to Metropolis with Phelan,"
Clark sighed as Sarah said that. She was a pretty smart kid, and can find out things easily. Even finding the truth to a lie.
"There's a lot of things I regretted last night, Sarah," he said. "I thought it would be over, cause when I left the police came to arrest Phelan/. I was on my way to meet you when he got me,"
"Got you?" asked Sraah. "Or persuaded you to come?...Clark, what's happening? You've never done this before...You gotta tell dad,"
Clark nodded, and started to go, when he turned back.
"Aren't you coming?" he asked.
"To help you tell the truth?" asked Sarah. "No. This is something you've gotta do on your own Clark,"
While Clark was talking to Jonathon at the jail, Sarah went to the Beanery to cool down a whil. She ordered some hot chocolate, but she didn't drink it. She was just so sad. Brianna and Allison called to tell them they were sorry, and reassured her that things'll work out. Allison came up with the idea of writing a petition to get him out with the carges dropped, but Sarah said she didn't think it would happen, not with Phelan around. So there she sat, arms folded, with her hot chocolate in front of her.
"Is this seat taken?" asked a familiar voice.
Sarah looked up to find Lex, with a coffee in his hand, and pointing to the seat across from her.
"Be my guest," Sarah waved a hand, letting him sit with her.
"Where's Clark?" he asked.
"At the jail,"
"I heard about your dad. Is he all right?"
"He's fine,"
"This is crazy.Your father didn't kill anyone. Give me five minutes and I'll get your family the ten best lawyers in the state,"
"Sorry Lex. I don't think lawyers are gonna help,"
"...It's Phelan, isn't it?"
Sarah nodded.
"What's he got on you Sarah?" asked Lex.
"Nothing apparently. He's hardly even spoke two words to me," Sarah admitted. "It's Clark he has something on. I just don't know what,"
Lex was thinking about somethings for a while, until Sarah spoke again.
"He came back afterdad was arrested," she said. "He said he's gonna come back again. Truth is, I don't know when,"
"What do you think he's gonna do?" asked Lex.
"I don't know. Probably get Clark to steal something big and valuable,"
"Then if he wanted something like that, he'd do it tonight when he has the chance. Sarah I'm gonna do whatever it takes to stop Phelan from threatening your family. In the meantime, I want you to stay home if Clark goes with Phelan,"
"You're not gonna have Clark arrested if he does help Phelan, are you?"
"Obviously, Phelan has something on CLark that he can't get over. So no. I'm not gonna have Clark arrested,"
"...I'm coming with you,"
"It'll be too dangerous,"
"You know I've been through worse,"
"Phelan's much worse,"
"Worse than meteor freaks?"
Lex thought about it a moment.
"Point taken," he admitted. "You have been through much worse...You make a very convincing case Sarah Kent. Have you ever considered practicing Law in the career field?"
Sarah smiled.
"No," she laughed a bit. "But I do enjoy acting like a lawyer in front of people."
That night, Sarah was watching TV, when she thought she saw a car pull up to the driveway out the window. Turning off the TV, she walked slowly to the window to spy a little. There was Phelan, heading for the barn. Clark was in there. Most likely, Phelan would persuade Clark one more time to steal something for him. Going to the kitchen, she took the phone and started dialing Lex's cell number. There was no way Phelan was gonna get away with this.
"Lex Luthor," Lex's voice came on.
"He's here," Sarah said.
"Good. Get your jacket and get out of the house. My car is just outside the fence. I'll meet you there,"
Sarah hung up the phone, and did what she was told. She got her vlack feece trench coat for the cold night, and ran silently outside. Hopefully no one would know she snuck out. True to his word, Lex was there by the car, waiting for her.
"Hey," she said. "Thanks for letting me come,"
"I'm sure Clark would've done the same thing if you were in his position," Lex said opening the passenger door.
Sarah got into the fancy car, and when Lex got in his side, he leaned in towards her.
"OK Sarah, you realize this is dangerous and this could get me in a lot of trouble if I bring someone who's not old enough to drive on a dangerous mission," he whispered. "But I know you're worried about Clark. Here's what I want you to do. You stay in the car, unless I say otherwise. If there's security gaurds outside the building, you can come out. And I'll give them orders to protect you in case Phelan tries anything. Understood?"
"Understood," Sarah said, settling in the seat.
During the middle of the three hour drive, while they were following Phelan (Who had Clark with him), Sarah's cell phone rang. She sighed. She forgot she had it on her. Whipping it out, she saw the screen and sighed again.
"Brianna and Allison," she said answering it. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" asked Brianna. "It's movie night at your place and the doors are locked,"
"Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you leave the house? I'm with Lex,"
"Lex?" asked Allison from the background. "Gimmie the phone Bri!...Why? Are we having movie night at Lex's,"
"No. We're following Phelan. Apparently, he's persuaded Clark to do something. I don't know what thought,"
"Cool. Clark Kent: Metropolis Fugitive. I can see it in the papers now,"
"There is no way you are printing a story about this! This is very dangerous and don't make me tell your parents about your plans to sneak into an overaged club on your sweet 16th,"
"Have you been reading my diary?"
"No...Now listen. Call your parents. Tell them I canceled because I'm spending the night at the jail with my family, or else I'll tell the whole school you had a crush on Whitney Fordman since third grade,"
"YOU HAVE BEEN READING MY DIARY!"
"Uh, bye!"
Sarah hung up the phone, and gave out a breath of relief. Lex laughed.
"Allison has a crush on the quarterback?" he asked.
"Sad isn't it?" asked Sarah
Soon, Lex pulled up the car in front of the most fantastic mueseum this side of Metropolis. As Sarah unbuckled her seatbelt, she started to wonder.
"Lex," she started. "What's the most valuable piece of art that's in Luthor Hall?"
Lex thought a moment.
"Alexander the Great's breastplate," he answered.
Sarah nodded, thinking a bit more.
"OK, I know this is gonna sound a bit rash, Lex," she said. "But I think Phelan's gonna try and make Clark steal the breastplate. Think about it. Your father first turned to him for help, and you hated him. You show that by asking him to leave us alone, and leave Smallville. He doesn't, and he uses Clark to help him get revenge on you by stealing what is more valuable in that meuseum than diamonds themselves,"
Lex thought it over for a bit.
"OK, I was wrong," he said. "You'd make a better detective than a lawyer,"
Lex and Sarah got out of the car and walked slowly toward the museum. Suddenly, Sarah got a bit scared. What if they catch Phelan, and he decides to tell everybody what he knew about Clark? What if they took him away and the Kents never see him again? But she reamind calm as Lex touched Phelan's car.
"It's still warm," he announced to her as policemen came out.
"Lex, look," Sarah pointed behind him
Lex turned around, and confronted one of the security gaurds, with Sarah tailing behind him.
"What's going on here?" he asked.
"Stand back, Mr. Luthor," the secruity gaurd said. "We just got word that a bomb is outside,"
"That's a lie!" Sarah exclaimed. "I know it is!"
"Calm down Sarah," Lex put a hand on the young girl's shoulders. "We have reason to believe that a man named Sam Phelan is trying to steal something from Luthor Hall. He may have a hostage with him. And he might have brought up the bomb as a ruse. You've been warned,"
A bit later, another policeman came rushing up.
"Sir," he said. "We've found something,"
Everyone rushed after the policeman and came to a stop at a newspaper dispenser for the Daily Planet. Inside was a brown-papered box with triple-twist twine tied around it. Lex pushed Sarah back gently toward the gaurds telling them to protect her, and put it in a few coins, in order to open the dispenser. Slowly he took out the brown box, and opened it, as a few of the gaurds talked on walkie-talkies to talk to Metropolis P.D. to stand by if there was a real bomb. Turns out, it was just your average bedside clock when Lex took it out. Kind of like the ones you see in cartoons or movies, where they have that little hammer in the center of two small bells. Lex smiled and tossed it toward one of the gaurds as it set off. It didn't blow up, much to their surprise. Lex turned to the young farm girl who was being protected by city-police and smiled. She smiled back. Soon, Phelan would be behind bars, and she and Clark would be home free. Suddenly, she jumped as glass shattered, and a huge duffel bag dropped in front of them. A big clank sounded as it hit the concrete ground. Curious, Sarah and Lex bent down and opened it. Inside, it revealed Alexander the Great's breastplate.
"Looks like Clark is taking care of buisness," Lex smiled.
Sarah laughed a bit, but gasped as gunshots sounded from inside. Immedietly, the police and Lex started running inside to see the commotion as more gunshots fired. Sarah started to get worried. Clark may have been stronger than anyone else in the world, but was he bulletproof? When they entered Luthor Hall, Phelan saw them and begin to shoot at them. A gaurd pushed Lex and the little one down behind a display case, and began to shoot to kill. One bullet hit Phelan, and he fell to the ground. As police began swarming around, Lex went over to Phelan, and spoke some words to him. Sarah barely even noticed as she slumped down against the display case, closing her eyes to finally rest.
Hours later, Clark sat in the living room in his home, thinking about the previous events that happened that night. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and found it to be Lex.
"Lex," he said surprised. "What are you doing here? It's 2 in the morning,"
"I just had to drop off a certain little sister," Lex said.
Clark widened his eyes.
"Where did Sarah go with you?" he asked suspiciously.
"I'll leave that to her. She's in the car,"
Clark followed Lex to his car outside the farmhouse, and opened the passenger door to find Sarah sleeping against the back of the chair, with her seatbelt safely on. Clark carried her back into the house and laid her on the couch as Lex spoke to him.
"Clark did your parents ever tell you and Sarah the story of Hansel and Gretal?" he asked, putting his hands in his pockets
"I wasn't into fairy tales much," Clark shrugged as he draped a blanket over his sister.
"Hansel and Gretal were a brother and sister, both lost in the woods, until they came across and old gingerbread house. It was actually inhabited by a witch who imprisoned Hansel in a small cage and ordered Gretal to do the chores. But she knew that if she ever escaped, she wouldn't leave without her brother...Sarah came along, because she didn't want to see you go through Phelan's plans, and think to give up. You should thank her Clark. You've got a great sister,"
(A/N: I wanted to try and make Lex seem more real in the story. You know how he always told stories from Europe or Greece that's supposed to give meaning? Well, I tried, and Hansel and Gretal was the only thing I could get close to for this. Bear with me on the fairy tales thing)
The next morning, Sarah sat in the Jr. Torch room typing an article, when she thought she heard the faint sound of singing through the halls of Smallville Jr. High. She smirked, as Brianna and Allison came in.
"Chloe got her job back!" they sang. "Chloe got her job back! Mr.Kent got out of jail! Mr.Kent got out of jail!"
"Everything's back to normal?" asked Sarah lenaing back and folding her arms.
"Yep," Brianna agreed.
"The writing, the newspaper..."Allison started.
"The off-key singing?" Sarah asked
Brianna and Allison glared daggers at their friend.
"So, you went to Metropolis, twice in one week," Brianna stated. "That's gotta be a record, even by Smallville's standards,"
"Trust me," Allison said. "We're gonna have a lot of oppurtunities to go to the big city,"
"Yeah right," Brianna said sarcastically. "10 years from now, I'll be running around the streets reporting wedding announcements and interviewing crooks,"
"10 years from now, I'll be the world's best detective," Sarah teased
"I'll be the best CEO in America," Allison said.
Sarah and Brianna giggled. Allison looked at them.
"No, I'm serious you guys," she said.
Soon, the bell rang, for everybody to go to class, until Brianna remembered something. She grabbed Sarah's arm gently.
"Sarah," she asked. "Are you dure nobody saw Clark use his abilities, besides Phelan?"
"I'm positive," Sarah reassured.
(A/N: Thanks for waiting patiently guys! I'll try to update more often. But I gotta go now. I have a volleyball game tomorrow, and after that I have rehearsal. We're doing Beauty and the Beast...heheh. I'm an enchanted fork for "Be our guest" Wish me luck! Review please!)