Kristena Hilda flipped her cell phone shut and for a moment started thinking. Lionel Luthor was not a man to raise false alarms like this. Though they both held a mutual…almost disdain for each other, she had to admit he was one of the smartest, most intellectually challenging men she had ever met. Kristena stared at the man across from her.
"So, Lex found out?" Phillip Rafferty asked.
"I didn't expect him not to." She admitted.
"Why didn't you take more precautions?" He snapped.
"You really don't know Lex Luthor, do you?" She asked, pushing away from her desk. "He's one of the smartest men I have ever met."
"Yes, but not smarter than me."
"I beg to differ," She said, lighting a cigarette. She puffed on it lightly, then blew some smoke in to his face.
He grimaced, then appeared behind her. She stumbled forward, a little scared. "Would you stop doing that?" she asked, coughing because she had choked on the cigar.
"You better not be screwing with me." He said coolly.
"What tha fuck are you talking about?" She snapped.
He appeared behind her and snatched the cigar out of her mouth, dropping it on the floor and stomping on it. "What I just said.
She wisely chose not to value the cigar over her life. "Why would I screw with you, I have as much to lose as you do."
"You were in love with Lex Luthor once." He said.
"No!" she snapped.
"But you dated him."
"That doesn't make me in love with him."
He studied her for a moment. Then he said, "Very well, but you better not let personal feelings get in the way of my plans."
She grunted. "There were no personal feelings."
"I don't believe you," he said.
"Then you can kiss my ass." She said simply.
He smirked, "I admire your charisma, Inspector Hilda."
"At this moment, I really don't give a damn."
He smiled. He grabbed a bottle of water of her desk and sipped out of it. "You know, this partnership could really be improve if you weren't so hostile."
"Make no mistakes," she said coldly, "This is not a partnership. If I didn't need this, I would not even be here."
"But you do need this, don't you?"
"Yes, moron, it's what I just said."
He smiled and gulped down the water, "And the Allen boy?"
"What about him?" She asked suspicious.
"Do you have feelings for him?"
"Are you insane?" She hollered, "He's a goddamn kid."
"No, Kristena- ''
"Inspector Hilda." She reproved.
He smiled, "Very well, Inspector Hilda. I don't mean personal. Just….you know….motherly."
"I don't even know the kid." She grunted.
"You showed him compassion."
"I couldn't just…let him suffer, you sick bastard."
"No, it wasn't empty compassion, I think you felt for him. You let him go."
"I was supposed to let him go."
"Yes, but you proposed it to Lionel."
"Have a heart, Rafferty." She snapped, turning away from him.
"In this business, compassion has no place." He said coolly.
"So, did you just come here to lecture me?" She asked incredulously.
"No," he said calmly, "I simply came here to warn you."
"Of what?" She asked.
"Do not screw this up for me, Inspector Hilda. I have a lot to lose, and if I do, well…..let's just say you'll lose a lot more than finance and public status."
She stood up angrily. "Are you threatening me?"
He considered the question. "Take it as whatever you want."
She pointed a finger at him, "Don't ever threaten me again."
"I don't consider it a threat. A warning, maybe."
"Get out of my goddamned office!" She screamed.
"Very well." He said, standing up.
She pointed a shaky finger at him, "Don't you ever come here again!"
"Surely, you don't mean that." He said softly.
"Yes, I do. Get the hell out of my office!"
"See you soon."
"Go to hell."
He walked slowly out of her office, and turned around at the door, "See you later, Kristena." He closed the door just as the glass bottle hit it and shattered. He smiled. He truly loved to shake this woman up.
IT was dark when Clark arrived back home. He drove the truck in to the compound and got out. As he was walking back to the house, he noticed a lot. Since Martha and Jonathon had gone to the hospital, he hadn't really been doing his chores. There had been so much to do and he barely even had time to do his homework now.
Clark made his way in to the barn. He heard loud barking from inside. Krypto was pawing at the door. Clark shook his head and opened it. Krypto jumped on him and they both fell back. Clark laughed. Luckily, he had fed the dog before he had gone to the Luthor Mansion, but Krypto was obviously famished.
He looked down at the muddy dog's fur and shuddered. Today was the day for a treat, he guessed. He warmed up a few slabs of steak in the microwave and set them down for Krypto to eat. The dog quickly devoured them and appreciatively burped. Clark chuckled. He led the dog out to the barn.
Krypto knew a bath when he saw one and had it been someone else bathing him, he would have easily escaped, but with Clark, he just growled and tried to slow himself down but to no avail. Clark got a change of clothes from the loft and dressed in a blue Smallville High T-Shirt with the S logo in the middle and red shorts. He also wore red, leather wet shoes and put a red towel around his neck for after the bath.
He soaped Krypto down and watched the dirt run down in to the grass. The dog whimpered and tried to kick away. Clark shook his head at the antics. He used a sponge to clean out Krypto's ear and even used an old brush for his teeth. By the time he was done, Krypto was the exact opposite of the mud confected creature he had been an hour earlier.
"Looking good, Krypto." Clark said.
The dog whimpered. Clark threw the water away and got a mope from inside. He thoroughly moped out the place that had been used for the dog's bath. Then he made his way back to the house, followed hesitantly by Krypto.
Clark locked all the doors and yawned. Krypto had a little shack in a corner of the den that made for a dog house, but he mostly slept in Clark's room. Clark turned on the TV, that was not surprisingly booming with news of the SMALLVILLE MEDICAL CENTER shoot out. Apparently, no one apart from the gun men had been injured. Most had escaped but a few had been captured, not surprisingly all human.
The nurse was on TV talking about one of the gunmen that had save her life. Clark beamed, atleast some good had come out of his little undercover mission. He considered calling Chloe but he knew her cell phone had already been discarded.
Clark microwaved a quick meal of macaroni and cheese and fed Krypto a few bites, then went upstairs. He quickly showered and brushed his teeth. Krypto followed him to his room. Clark closed the door, squinting, and fell on his bed.
"Get off me, farm boy!" A voice shouted from under the covers.
Clark instantly rolled of Lois and fell to the floor, on a heap. He quickly stood up and snapped on the light switch. "Lois!" He shouted incredulously.
"Lower down, would you!" she snapped, holding her head, "I have a headache."
"What are you doing in my room?" He asked.
"What does it look like. I was sleeping before you interrupted the bliss."
"You scared the hell out of me."
"Well, no one asked you to get on top of me!" She clutched her side, "Hot damn! My ribs, what have you been eating, Kent? If anything's broken I'll knock you out."
"Shouldn't you be at Chloe's house?"
"Now is not the best time. Mr. Sullivan is kind of depressed, you know?"
"Yeah, I guess, but you could have atleast called."
"Not my style. You get the most dirt when you drop in out of nowhere."
"Dirt?" he asked incredulously.
"You know, a scoop, skeletons in the closet, Jesus, Smallville. You are plain out clueless."
"I know what dirt means, Lois, but why are you trying to get it from my house?"
"Who knows what, or who, I might have found you doing. A way to prove Mr. 'Jimmy Crack Corn' isn't as innocent as he acts all the time."
Clark shook his head, "Whatever."
She sat up. Clark was embarrassed to see she was wearing only a T-Shirt and underwear. She noticed his reaction and smirked, "Enjoying the view?"
"Go away," he said, blushing. Then, he noticed something, "Hey, that's my T-shirt!"
She shrugged and yawned, "You'll get over it."
He ground his teeth. This girl was so damn frustrating.
"Where've you been?" She asked.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I was with Lex."
"What would the richest man in Smallville want with a designated farm hand?" Lois asked, taking a cigarette pack out from under his bed.
"You brought cigarettes in to my room!" He shouted.
She shrugged again. "So I brought in a few smokes."
"You can't smoke in my room."
"Watch me." She lit one and puffed lightly on it.
He shook his head disgusted, "I thought you were on the patch."
She rolled her eyes, "Well, evidently I'm not."
"How about the gum Chloe gave you?"
"Oh, please, I'd rather die of smoking than choking on that crap."
He watched her smoke for a few moments.
"Anyway," she said, "What were you doing with Lex so long?"
"Ummm, nothing." He said lightly.
"Whatever." She took a long, slow drag and blew a ring of smoke at him. He coughed and waved it away.
"Don't do that," he said, "I hate that stuff."
She smirked and blew an even bigger ring at him, "Even more of a reason to do it."
He made a face. They all turned as Krypto began to bark. He ran in and jumped on the bed on to Lois. He licked her face. Trying not to smile, she snapped, "Get off me, you pesky mutt." She almost instantly began to sneeze and the cigarette flew right out of her mouth. Clark picked it up and threw it in his trash can before he could do anymore damage.
Krypto panted and jumped off Lois, triumphantly trotting back to his master. Clark bent down and ruffled his hair. "Good dog!" He said, smiling.
"That is one strong pesky little feline you got there." She said.
"Cats are felines," he corrected, "And-''
"Whatever."
Krypto barked.
"Ouch," Lois said, prodding the little purple wound on her arm, right next to the pink one that Clark had hit her on. Lois looked up at them, "I guess every Superman deserves a Super dog, huh?"
Clark raised an eyebrow.
"Well, it was better than the Man of Steel and Dog of Steel, right? So, anything on Chloe yet?" She asked, not expecting any information.
Clark had earlier asked Lex whether he could reveal it to Chloe's older cousin, and Lex hadn't really minded, as long as he kept Lois out of trouble. "Ummm, yes."
Lois looked up, surprised, and jumped out of bed. "Yeah? Well, what is it! Come on, tell me."
"Why don't we go downstairs?" Clark asked. He had made sure that there weren't any bugs downstairs but he hadn't checked the upstairs, and it would be kind of hard to get out of an exploding house with Lois and not reveal his secret.
"O.k." She said. She put on her slippers and they walked down the stairs.
"Aren't you going to wear shorts or something?" Clark asked.
"I tried on some of yours but they fit like trousers," she said, and to the look on his face replied, "I'm just kidding. Besides, I like to make you squirm."
Lois led the way to the kitchen.
"You want some coffee?" She asked.
"Yeah." He said, a little taken a back by her hospitality.
"Good," she said sitting herself on a stool, "Make one for me, extra cream and two packets of sugar."
Clark rolled his eyes and made his way in to the kitchen. The kettle had some hot water in it so he didn't have to use the microwave. He made to cups of Cappuccino and just in spite of her, only used one packet for hers.
He handed Lois her cup and she sipped it and licked her lips, "At least you have one talent," she said, again sipping the creamy, hot liquid.
"Thanks….I think." Clark sipped his coffee, and though it didn't feel hot at all, tried to seem as if it was.
"So," Lois said, "What'd you find about Chloe?"
"Well, it wasn't exactly about Chloe. It was more about Bart, but since she's with him it involves Chloe."
"Go on."
"Well, there's this guy. His name is Phillip-''
"Rafferty?" She asked.
Clark looked at her, shocked. "How'd you know?"
"Oh, I met him at the café."
"Oh, yeah, how come you don't work there anymore?"
"I quit. So anyway, go on. What does this guy have to do with my cousin?"
"He's had some dealings with Lionel Luthor. We don't know, but we think it has to do with Bart and like I mentioned earlier, Bart is with Chloe."
"Lionel Luthor?" She said, puzzled. "Are you sure it's not Lex Luthor?"
"Why would say that?" He asked.
"Well, just the other day, at the café, he had lunch with Lex."
"He what?" Clark was astounded.
"Yeah, he had lunch with him. And that's not the half of it, I saw him, in the back of the café, and he just like….dissapeared."
They'd checked everything. The insides of the cars, their room, their clothes, everything. Chloe was partly guilty because it might just be paranoia on her part, but Bart had assured her they couldn't take chances.
Bart was out now, gone to buy lunch, but he had his cell phone, just in case she needed to call him.
It was in the afternoon when her new phone rang. Only Lois knew about it so she instantly picked it up and asked, "Lois?"
"Yeah, it's me, little cuz."
"What's up?" Chloe had asked that her older cousin only call in times of emergency and always use payphones, even though they both desperately missed each other.
"Chloe, Smallville and I-''
"Clark, Lois."
"Yeah, whatever. Kent discovered some kind of connection between the Phillip Rafferty-''
"Wait," said Chloe, surprised, "How'd you know about Phillip Rafferty."
"Just….never mind. Anyway, somehow Phillip Rafferty and Lionel Luthor are connected. Something's going on between them and it's not legal."
Chloe sat up straighter, "How'd Clark get this information?"
"I don't know, said he's got his own connections."
Chloe nodded her head, "Thanks, Lois."
"No problem, love you, baby cuz."
"I love you too, grown up cuz." Chloe said.
"Bye." The phone clicked off. Chloe sighed. She looked out on the street. Bart wasn't coming back. Suddenly, her phone rang again.
She flipped it open, "Listen, Lois-''
"Hello, Chloe." A deep voice said.
"Who is this?" Chloe asked frightened.
"Don't worry about that?"
"Do you have my cousin?" She asked.
"Oh, no, but we know where you are."
"How'd you find us?"
"I have my connections.
"Who are you?"
"We both know who I am." He said.
"Phillip Rafferty?" She asked.
"Yes." He said, before the door burst open and the man with the machete ran towards her.