Chapter 8
Part 1

"I still can't believe Lucy's... I mean I know there was no way I could have been there, but I should have been there, Lana, I just should've been there, I mean, maybe I could have-" The faint hint of a sob was getting a little thick in Clark throat, fortunately, Lana seemed to have sensed it in advance.

"Stop doing this to yourself. Honey, there's nothing you could have done. You can't be everywhere, no matter how fast you are." Lana reached out and touched her boyfriend's cheek. She didn't want to distract anymore than he already was while he was driving, but he needed something to ease his pain, so her touch would have to do for now.

Lana didn't really know Lucy, but she and Clark must have been close on some level. It had really hit Clark hard about two days before the imminent funeral date. Lucy Lane was dead and it hit Clark like a ton of bricks. During the last couple of days Clark had gotten darker, not speaking much too anyone, though he did make appearances for dinner. 'Dinner...' Lana was frustrated too, but in an entirely different way. She didn't want to sound self-centered but she hadn't gotten desert since the whole watch incident, which was a WEEK ago! It was hard to think of a week as a long time, but after that breathtaking event (the sex, not finding the watch of course) it was hard not to turn Clark into the human form of an addiction. If not for peeping-Lois it would have been perfect.

Lana hadn't seen much of Lois since that night, but Lana attributed that more to the coming funeral, but if that wasn't the reason for Miss Lane's scarcity, then Lois had some explaining to do. Like why did she just stand there, even after being noticed, and why did it look like Lois had tears in her eyes? It was kind of dark, but her face did look a bit wet and it hadn't look like sweat.

Lana looked up from her thoughts in time to see a tear streak down his face. At that moment nothing else really mattered to her. She had to be the strong one. For Clark. Lana reached up and wiped his tear away with her thumb, and then took his free hand in hers. When Clark looked down she made sure he was met with the warmest smile she could muster. "Everything's going to be okay.

Later At Metropolis Memorial Graveyard

"What do you mean you can't find her?" Lois screamed.

Lois may talk back and disobey 85 percent of the orders given to her, but she never, ever, yelled at General Lane. Well unless she's uncontrollably livid that is, but that didn't matter to the General "Watch your tone, Lo!"

"I will not watch my tone! You lost my sister, your daughter's body!" Lois roared, getting right up in her father's face.

"Lois, what's going on?" Clark asked, running up to the Lanes, Lana close behind. "What's with all the camos?" Seeing as how there must have been around fifteen soldiers littered throughout the graveyard, looking for evidence. Of what? He wasn't sure.

"Well 'General Losing His Hair' somehow managed to lose my sister's body."

"What?" Lana said more than asked, a bit shocked by it all.

Lois rolled eyes, and then looked at Clark, pleadingly. "Clark, you've gotta help me. Where's... my sister?"

Tears began to roll down Lois' face and stab into Clark's heart a bit. He hated to see anyone cry, especially a friend. Clark pulled her into a hug whispering reassurances in her ear. "It'll be okay. I'll help anyway I-"

Lana proudly looked on, but didn't worry. For one, Clark was just being Clark helping someone in need, she'd do the same thing in his place, if need be. Two, she already knew how Clark felt about Lois. She could feel it now, so there was no need to interrupt.

"General, we found this in the casket," the soldier said, holding out what appeared to be a silvery-black chunk of rock.

Clark and Lois pulled from their embrace, to get a better look at what the soldier was talking about. It was only then that things really got weird.

"What is this, Private?" General Lane barked.

Lana and Clark knew exactly what it was, "Silver meteor rock," they both whispered.

Not quietly enough. "Meteor rock?" Lois asked, pretty confused now, "I thought meteor rock only came in green."

"Lo!" Daddy defiantly knew how to grab someone's attention. "I know what you're thinking. Something's not right here. Let me handle it-" he put up his hand to stop his daughter from interrupting, "no buts! I'll keep you informed if anything new comes to light. I promise I'll find out what's going on here. Now go with your friends. That's an order!"

Luthor Mansion

"Lex Luthor"

Lex's head audibly snapped up from his lab top, where he watching very interesting, to see a beautiful, blonde short-hair woman strut into his study. "Simone," he said, somewhat taken aback by her appearance, "My secretary didn't inform of your presence."

"Oh yeah, that, well she just sort of let me through. It's so hard to find good help these days, right?" Simone said sarcastically, taking an apple from his fruit-dish and making a snack of it. "I got your message, Lex. Change of heart?"

Lex turns his Mac notebook toward her, showing a clip of Lois and Clark's embrace at the graveyard, "On the contrary, it's just a change of plans." he replied, grinning devilishly.

Later at the Talon

"I can't believe this is happening!" Lois groaned, running her hand harshly through her hair in aggravation. Even the glorious smell of Columbian Coffee Beans hadn't soothed her savage beast. It was understandable, of course. "How do you lose my sister body?"

"I know what you mean," Lana replied, pondering for a bit. Then it struck her, "How about we hook up with Chloe and see what the autopsy report said about your sister. Maybe we can find a clue or something."

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea. Hopefully my cuz can into Metropolis Medicals files," Lois said, sounding a bit more hopeful at the suggestion.

"It's settled then. I'll call Chloe and see if we can meet her at the dorm in a few," Lana smiled brightly.

"On that note, I'll clean up our mess so we can go," Clark said, gathering the trash from their caffeine break, when suddenly, someone threw open the front door of the Talon, weaving between customers, and exiting out of the side exit door. Not far behind, two men in Syntechnics tactical suits chased after the salient.

"What was that all about?" Lana gasped.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Clark said, while getting out of his chair and following in pursuit.

"Clark!" Lois called out, then looked back at Lana, staring expectantly. "Come on, let's go after him."

"Lois, I love him to death but I'm trying to learn to except the fact that this is what he does. Besides we'd just be in the way." Lana explained, hoping it was a logical enough answer. 'I hope it didn't sound like I don't care.'

"Girl, you've got nerves of steel," Lois grinned.

Mental Sigh! "We'll check on him in a second."

Meanwhile

Outside, the Syntechnics drones had the escapee pinned against a dumpster, when Clark got into the alleyway. Clark was about to make a move to help when both men were suddenly launched in his direction. Thanks to his super speed, Clark manage to dodge the in coming projectiles, which had now smashed into the Talon's brick outer wall and were now sliding down it. Clark, somehow, hadn't paid much attention just how strong this guy was. Catching up behind him, Clark grabs his shoulder, "Hey wait a minute, are you alright?"

It doesn't take long for Clark to realize what he's dealing with though, "Get off me!" he yells, roughly swinging his shoulder away from Clark, in the process sending him through a couple of trashcans... a good fifty feet away! The fugitive paused, disgusted at his unintentional handy work. "Sorry. You shouldn't have got in my way," he spoke, and then turned to run away, only to have Clark appear in front of him. "Wha-tha? I just threw- who are you?"

"Clark Kent"

"Kent... Kent... Oh yeah, from Smallville High. Quarterback right?"

"Yeah-hey, your Victor Stone, the star Wide receiver."

"Yeah that's amazing me. I never thought I was that good."

"Well what's really amazing is I heard you died."

"It's good you know that, but I don't have time for small talk right now. Listen, it's pretty obvious that your special just like me, so you can understand why I'm asking you this," It was Victor's turn to get shoulder-grabby now, hopefully Clark would do him this one favor, even if they weren't friends. "Please, you've gotta help me get out of here."

Without hesitation, Clark, with a genuine smile, pulled his cell phone from his pocket, "Let me just tell Lana and Lois to meet us back at the Loft."

End of Chapter 8, Part 1