Isobel crawled back to the car and took a brief moment so she could recuperate. What was happening to her? She didn't feel well at all. Nothing had ever affected her as those green stones had. Unless... But that was impossible. She drove off back to the talon. She had to figure things out. Everything was just so complicated right now.

Clark could hear a car coming down the road, it was Lana's car. He sped off to a local chinese restaurant. He bought her some food and walked his way back. He wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Isobel went upstairs and threw her keys on the counter. She plopped herself down on the couch and sat there with her thoughts to keep her company.

Clark walked up the stairs to Lana's apartment. He realized, with the help of Chloe, that if he was going to find out more about Isobel then he had to keep her very close. He carefully pushed the door back. He saw Isobel laying on the couch. She didn't look too good either and this worried him. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Clark." she smiled instantly and walked/ ran to him. She jumped on him and almost made him drop the food that he'd brought for her. She kissed his cheek and hugged him. Since when did she become so dependant on him? Since when had the great Isobel Throeaux become so mushy?

He kissed her back slightly. "I brought your favorite." he said as he held up the bag with chinese food in it. "Are you hungry?" he set the food on the counter and opened it. Isobel began to look nauseous. She ran to the bathroom and Clark could hear retching noises. Chinese food wasn't such a good idea afterall. He walked into the bathroom and saw her hovering above the toilet. "Are you ok?" he said as he kneeled down beside her.

She shook her head yes. "I'm fine, I've just been a little bit nauseous lately. Mostly strong smelling things." Clark handed her a paper towel and she gladly took it. She wiped off her mouth and stood up. She wobbled a bit but Clark stood up and steadied her. "I guess that I'm just a bit dizzy too. Maybe its the flu or something." she knew what was happening but she couldn't exactly tell him yet.

"Yeah maybe, so when's the last time that you ate?" Clark asked.

"Not today. I can't keep anything down. Just water." she walked into the living room and he followed her. "But I'm fine lets not even think about that. I missed you." she stood up and started kissing him ferociously. He was enjoying it but he couldn't do it. He felt as though he was taking advantage of the situation. He slightly nudged her off.

"It was only a couple of hours." he couldn't help but sound a bit cold towards her. He didn't mean to be, but he was bad at pretending. He couldn't begin to fathom how he had gotten away with it for most of his life. When he said that she pulled away and practically threw herself down onto the couch. "What is it Is- Lana?" she darted her eyes at him. For a moment it sounded as though he'd called her Isobel, but maybe he was just stuttering. She wasn't sure. Clark had noticed what he'd done and he immediately sat down next to her. He had to take her mind off of it. He started to kiss her. He needed a distraction and apparently this one was working.

Isobel kissed him back but something was wrong. He seemed so, disconnected. She couldn't feel the love that she had once felt from him. Maybe it was because of her though. Maybe it was just because of her current state. Isobel didn't believe what was right in front of her for she was in denial. She felt something vibrate on her leg and she jumped, smacking Clark in the head. "What is that?" she yelled impatiently.

"My phone." Clark was trying to calm her down. Why was she so moody? She sighed, annoyance was obvious on her soft features. "It will only be a second. It's my parents from Metropolis." Clark said lying. She walked into the bathroom and slammed the door.

"Hello." Clark said softly.

"Clark, I found out some new things and they are pretty important. I just thought that you'd like to know."

"Oh hey mom, how's dad?"

"Mom? Oh she must be right there then. So are you going to come and get the information or do you want me to fax it to you?"

"Well I kind of want to stay her to keep and eye on her but there are some things that I need to tell you too. So I will be out there tomorrow ok? Yeah I will have to come and see how dads doing." Clark said the last bit kind of loud so that Isobel would hear him.

"Whatever you say Clark. But I'll see you tomorrow. In the morning ok? How about 9?"

"That's perfect." Clark said as he hung up the phone.

"So how's your dad?" Isobel asked as she walked out of the bathroom.

"He's not doing so well. I'm going to fly into metropolis first thing tomorrow morning to see how things are. I'll be up there for two days."

"Why do you have to leave? Can't I go with you? I'm worried about him too." Isobel pleaded.

"No Lana, it will only be for two days. We can make today special ok?" he was trying to haggle with her and he thought that this might just work. This was odd. Why did she want to be with him so badly?

"Fine, what are we going to do?" she walked up to him and hugged him again. She couldn't keep her hands off of him today. He leaned down and kissed her. She pulled away and smirked. "Clark Kent I think you need a shower." she smiled and pushed him into the bathroom. He scrunched his face up at this. What was she talking about?

"Why? Do I smell?" he said as pulled away from her kiss.

"No, you just need one." she laughed and pulled off his shirt. He knew what she was thinking about and he didn't want to do it. However, he wouldn't have turned down Lana and she knew that, so he had to do it. He fakely smiled back at her and let her do what she wanted. As she was removing his socks something caught his eye. A locket? He had never seen Lana wearing that before. He just figured that it was Isobels, but what was inside of it? He cupped her chin and softly lifted up her face. He kissed her as he pulled off her locket. She didn't even notice this and pulled off her own shirt. Then she paid her attention to the water. She had decided that a bath would be better than a shower. She turned it on and let the bubbles flow. Clark tried to use his x-ray vision to see through the locket but it was to no avail. It was made of lead. He was about to open it when Isobel snatched it away.

"What are you doing Clark?" she asked as stuck put her locket back on.

"I was curious, what's in it?"

"Just pictures of my parents." she said as she looked at her feet. Isobel was an excellent actress. She knew, that Clark knew about Lana's parents so she played on these emotions. Clark really wondered what was in it now because Lana never used to wear it and Isobel could care less about Lana's parents.

Soon the water in the bath tub was high. "Water's ready." she said as she began to take off all of her clothes down to her underwear. Clark couldn't help but watch her, then he decided that he shouldn't and looked away. Isobel removed the last of her clothing. "Why are you embarrassed Clark? I'm not." she said as she sat in the bath tub. Clark came up behind her and pulled the clip from her hair. He had to do something to keep her occupied, and he wasn't exactly ready to join her. "Come on Clark. Join me."

"Wouldn't you rather have a massage?" he said as he began going to work on her shoulders and back. He trailed tender kisses down the back of her neck. This only made her want him more.

"No." she said as she stood up. Clark kept his eyes on her face, directly on her face. "Come on Clark, today is supposed to be special." she leaned up to kiss him again. He gave into her because there wasn't much else that he could do. He reluctantly joined her. She faced her back to him and handed him a loofah. He took it and began to wash her back. After about fifteen minutes she faced him and urged him to turn around. He did and she went to work on his back. Suddenly Clark heard a large gasp from Isobel and a splash. He immediately turned around. She was under the water. He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her awake. But the impact that he was shaking her at shook her locket loose and it opened, dropping out the small green stone. Clark fell over the side of the tub and Isobel fell back into the water, still unconscious.

Panic struck Clark. What was he going to do? He couldn't let Isobel die because then Lana would die. But he couldn't move either. Clark was about to lose consciousness. He felt so helpless. There was nothing else that he could do. Clark felt his eyes close and accepted his fate and Lana's fate. This was the end.