Leaning in with his elbows on the desk, Clark rubbed his hands over his eyes for the third time in two minutes.

"Bossman, go get some sleep. You're gonna run yourself into the ground at this rate." Whitney spoke up from his perch next to the sofa, leaned back in one of the uncomfortable chairs he brought in so he wouldn't fall asleep.

Shaking his head, Clark crossed to the coffee pot. "No time to sleep. I don't want to lose this lead." Pouring a "fresh" cup, he tossed half of it back in one gulp. "Ian, doesn't your wife miss you when you spend all night in my office?"

Ian leaned up from where his head lay on the edge of the desk. "She says it helps to get away from me now and then. And she's happy I have friends who will put up with me."

"Really?" chimed in Whitney. "When do we get to meet them?"

"Ha ha. You're too funny Whitney."

Whitney just grinned back at him. "I try."

Clark shook his head and sat back down at his desk. "Well, for what it's worth Ian, I appreciate the help."

Ian smiled, pulling his glasses on. "Thanks Clark. Glad I can help. Of course, this time I'm helping with a case about Lois, last time involved you… I guess all we need is for Whitney to get banged up and I'll hit the trifecta."

Whitney's head snapped up so quickly he was thrown off balance. Pin-wheeling his arms did no good, as he fell back to the floor with a bang.

Ian chuckled and even Clark had to hide a grin. "You ok Whit?" he asked, not looking up from the files he was looking through.

Whitney stood up quickly, sitting on the sofa. "Hold on a minute. I've already been shot, then I got stabbed in the gut and had my neck cut. Why do you want something else to happen to me?"

"I didn't say that I wanted it to happen Whitney, I just said that you're the only one left out of you three." Ian shrugged as he went back to work.

Stretching and popping his back, Whitney grunted. "Well what about you Einstein? What if they come after you next time instead? You're little… science… stuff has put a lot of guys in jail, what if one of them comes after you?"

Setting his pen down, Clark looked up between the two men. "Well... that would be worse than Whitney getting abducted."

Whitney's eyes went wide and Ian grinned smugly. "Bossman, how can you say that?"

Clark just shrugged. "Because if Ian's gone then it's just up to you and me to look through the evidence and figure out where he is." Looking over to Ian, Clark shook his head. "Sorry buddy, you'd be screwed." Tossing back the last of the coffee, Clark stood up and walked to the door of the office. "You guys get some shut eye. I'm gonna check on what all's been happening in the town today." Clark shut the door as the two men inside continued their bickering.

/

Clark sat on the hood of the Charger, elbows propped on his knees as he stared at the parking lot. "What the hell am I missing here?" Rubbing his tired eyes he blew out a tired breath. "Five women from Metropolis are hurt… Lois looks into it, leads her towards Luthorcorp and now she's hurt. She was dumped at this station, so it could be someone who frequents the city and here. Truck driver? Employee?" Wringing his hands together Clark growled low in his throat, slamming his fist down onto the hood. "Dammit, what am I missing?"

"I don't think Uncle Jonathan would appreciate that."

Clark looked up to see his cousin standing near the door to the station. "What are you doing out this late Kara?"

She walked over to him, holding out a Tupperware container. "Aunt Martha knows you're not eating. She sent me out here with this."

Clark had to chuckle in spite of his mood. "Oh my god. I'm thirty, the sheriff of a town, I've been on the national news… and my mom still packs my lunch."

Kara sat on the hood with him, elbowing him in the ribs. "Shut up and eat your veggies."

Clark took the container from her and opened it, immediately hit with the warm aroma of fried chicken and potatoes. "Ok, just this once." Picking up a piece of the chicken Clark dove in.

Kara smiled. "Any luck so far?"

Clark shook his head. "Found some files Lois had on similar attacks in the city, but there was very little evidence at those scenes. There was blood and skin found at two, and it matches the DNA we found from Lois' nails, but we can't find a match in the system anywhere."

Kara leaned over, laying her head on Clark's shoulder. "You'll find it Clark. Don't worry." She swatted his arm when he started putting the top back on the container. "You're supposed to eat all of it."

"As good as mom's potatoes are, I'm a little too old to use my hands to scoop…" Clark was cut off when a fork wrapped in a napkin popped up in front of his face. "Thank you."

The cousins sat in silence as Clark finished his meal. Putting the fork in the container he closed it back up and sat it behind them. "Thanks for bringing that. It hit the spot."

"No problem. Doesn't take a genius to know that hungry Clark equals grumpy Clark. I'm sure Whitney and Ian would attest to that." She smiled sweetly up at him.

Clark just chuckled. "Smartass."

Kara hit him once again. "I'm telling, you cussed."

Clark slid off the hood and turned to her. "It's late. Go home, get some sleep."

Grabbing the Tupperware, Kara hopped off the hood. "Alright, but you let us know as soon as you hear any…"

Clark twisted away from her suddenly, looking across the lot.

"Clark, what are you…?"

He held up one hand to silence her, the other pulling his pistol. "Get inside."

"Clark?"

"Kara, get inside… now!" Taking off at a full run, Clark ran across the street. Rushing down the alley toward downtown, he heard it again. A shriek then a gruff voice. Looking around, he cursed himself for forgetting his flashlight, using the low light from windows and the far away street lamps to look around.

Hearing a small clatter he pressed himself against the wall next to the mouth of a side alley. Peering around the corner he could barely make out the shape of a dumpster. After several long moments he started to move down the alley again when he heard a woman cry out, followed by a slap.

Raising his gun Clark started moving. "Sheriff's Department, come out with your hands up!"

Something moved and gunshots rang out, the alley lighting up with the muzzle flash.

Clark dove behind the dumpster. "Son of a bitch… I am tired of people shooting at me!"

The gunshots stopped. Listening closely, Clark heard metal scrap on metal. The sound of a clip dropping out of a pistol. Jumping, he pulled himself up onto the dumpster and ran across the top. Diving off of it he aimed for the figure he could see standing.

Both hit the ground hard. Clark reached for the gun arm, slamming it back into the ground until he dropped the gun. "Stop resisting!"

The dark figure responded with a knee to Clark's groin. His grip loosened at the sudden burst of pain and the figure pulled his hand free. Clark felt something hit him in the side of the head and his vision went white. Rolling to the side he grabbed at his head and felt warm blood flow over his fingers. He heard the click of a trigger being pulled several times but nothing happened.

"Heh. Next time."

Clark heard footsteps running off as he pushed himself to sit up, trying to blink the stars out of his vision. Getting to his feet slowly he limped over to the other wall. "Ma'am, are you ok?" He didn't get an answer but he heard whimpering. "Ma'am?"

"Clark? We heard gunshots, you ok?"

Looking in the direction he had come from, Clark saw Whitney and a couple of deputies running towards him, followed by Ian and Kara. "I'm fine. He ran that way, get after him… go!"

Whitney and the deputies took off. Ian ran up to Clark with a flashlight. "Clark that looks bad. We need to get you to…"

"Her first." Clark took the flashlight from Ian and shone it against the wall to get enough light to see the woman… and his heart stopped. "Shit."

Ian moved around the dumpster to look. "Is it bad?" Looking at the woman Ian hit his knees. "Emily? Emily? Oh god, Emily talk to me." Ian put his arms around the whimpering woman, pulling her against his chest. "Emily… it's gonna be ok."

Whitney and the deputies made it back, breathing hard. "No sign of him. No trail either… is the girl ok?"

Clark pulled Whitney to the side and whispered something to him. Whitney's eyes opened wide and he looked to Clark once more before breaking into a run back toward the station without a word.

Kara moved over to Clark. "What's going on? Where's Whitney going?"

Clark glanced back over to Ian. "That's Emily. Ian's wife."

Kara's eyes widened. "Oh god."

Clark nodded. "Whitney's getting Lana and Kyle just in case."

"Do you think someone's targeting your families?"

Clark shook his head. "I don't know. But it's too big a coincidence not to think about. I'm sending someone out to mom's right now. You can go with them or stay here."

"I'll… I'll stay."

Clark nodded and walked over to talk to the deputies. The lights of the ambulance lit up the alley as everyone started working again.

Kara stayed back out of the way, wondering to herself what happened to the postcard town she remembered from when she was a kid.

/

Clark held the new report in his hands, eyes scanning it for the tenth time since it was brought to him.

"Think you can see if there's room in the budget to just build us an apartment in the back of the station?"

He looked up to see Lana walk by his open door. "Not funny tonight."

Stepping inside she nodded. "I know. But since this is the fourth time we've been brought here for our protection, I'm having to keep my sense of humor up so I don't go insane."

Clark didn't respond. He just kept glancing over the page.

"Why did he snatch Emily?"

Clark slammed the file down. "I don't know, I didn't have time to ask him in between having my balls jacked up into my lungs and getting my head busted open with a Beretta."

Lana stood quietly, not backing down from his outburst. "Did he take her from their house? Did he go after her intentionally?"

Clark looked down at the file folder. "She was here in the lot. She was bringing Ian some food since we were working late, and he grabbed her from behind, dragged her off." The sound of a glass shattering snapped him out of his haze and he looked up, seeing Kara in the doorway. "Damn. Kara… maybe you should sit down."

"It was almost me. It could be me in the hospital." Kara stared straight ahead as she mumbled to herself, shaking.

Lana led her to the couch slowly. "But it's not you Kara, it's ok."

Kara shook her head. "Maybe it should be me."

Clark crouched in front of her. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean… I'm not…"

Lana took her hands and squeezed gently. "Kara, don't think that. It's not your fault that he grabbed Emily and not you. This isn't because of you, it's because of some sick bastard. He's responsible, not Lois, not Emily, and not you. Alright?"

Kara nodded quickly, looking at her cousin. "I just… I didn't realize how close I was to being…"

Clark nodded. "I understand. It's fine. Just try and calm down, I'll get you some fresh coffee."

Stepping over the busted mug in his doorway Clark walked toward the break room. Pouring a cup he sat it down on the counter and sighed, leaning over the sink and splashing water on his face.

"This is how you protect your town? Your people?"

Clark didn't turn around to greet the speaker. "I don't have time for this, Sam."

General Lane stepped into the room. "Why wasn't I notified there had been another attack?"

"Because the last time I checked, I don't answer to you."

Stepping closer, Lane tilted his chin up at Clark. "I told you my people were going to be looking into this. You should have called me right away."

Clark turned to face the man finally. "I'm going to tell you this one time, since you don't seem to be getting the message from subtle hints." He got nose to nose with the General. "Stay out of my way so I can do my damn job."

"How do I know you're even trying? You don't have anything to show for it Kent."

"I've been on this less than 24 hours. And I don't see your 'people' bringing anyone in for this, so get off my back." Clark turned back to the counter to grab the coffee for Kara.

"Interesting that no one else saw this man, don't you think?"

His hand almost crushing the mug at the accusatory tone, Clark glared back over his shoulder. "What?"

"I mean that no one has seen this man. Even the poor girl assaulted tonight wasn't able to see who grabbed her. We only have your word you actually had contact with someone else in that alley."

Clark's body shook as he turned around. "You're saying that I did this."

General Lane shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just pointing out what no one else has."

"Do you honestly think I could have done this to Lois? I love her, I'm going to ask her to marry me, I would never hurt her! Besides, I was with you that day!"

"You said it yourself, it's not that far from Fort Ryan to Smallville. And no one is sure how long my daughter was in that alley." General Lane fixed his cuff. "As far as I know, you already asked Lois and she turned you down. Big hotshot like you probably wouldn't appreciate that would he? I bet it wouldn't sit well with you. Is that why my daughter had to get hurt Kent?"

Clark was moving toward the man quickly, rage driving his actions.

Someone beat him to it.

General Lane stumbled back suddenly, falling over a chair as he was rocked by a punch from the side. Clark looked over to see who had thrown the punch. "Ian?"

Ian glared down at the General. "Clark wouldn't hurt Lois. And he wouldn't hurt my wife. Clark's the only reason that all of us are alive at this point after all we've been through. And Clark's the reason we're going to find who hurt these women. He's going to help me find the guy who hurt my wife. If you're going to come in here and try to start something no one is stupid enough to believe, then just get the hell out of here."

General Lane made it back to his feet, his nose dripping blood. "You're not going to arrest this man for assault?"

Clark shook his head. "You press charges against him, I press charges against you for assaulting me in Lois' apartment."

General Lane glared at Clark, then at Ian. "Watch yourself. All of you." Turning to leave the break room he was stopped by the sight of Lana, Kara and Whitney crowding the door. "Out of my way." Pushing past them, General Lane made his way out of the building quickly.

Whitney glanced back inside. "You guy's ok?"

Clark nodded, patting Ian on the shoulder. "Thanks to Ian. Not sure I'd smart mouth him too much Whitney, he's got a nasty right." Walking out of the break room he nodded to them as he headed to his office.

Ian stared down at the floor until he heard his name. "Wha…?"

Whitney stood in front of him. "I said how's Emily?"

Ian licked at his lips. "She uh… she's stable. Nothing too… major. Bruising, some cuts. He didn't… touch her."

Whitney nodded. Putting his arm around Ian's shoulders he walked toward the door. "Then let's get to work and find this asshole before he gets twitchy again, alright?"

Ian nodded as they walked toward the office.

"And I gotta tell you… that was a damn good punch. And you punched a three star general! You got balls the size of grapefruits, brain boy. Next time though, make sure you follow through and they'll stay on their ass a while longer. And keep the wrist straight, you don't want to get a sprain. Oww! Yea, just like that, good one. Oww! Ok, you made your point… Oww! ALRIGHT MAN! NO MORE BRAIN BOY CRACKS!"