"General Lane?"

Sam looked up at the nurse who ducked her head into the room. "Yes?"

"Sir, I'm sorry, but there were some issues with your daughter's insurance paperwork. Could you come with me please?"

Sam looked at his still unconscious daughter and sighed, then stood. "Alright then." Walking behind her he exited the room, glancing to the two men in fatigues by the door. "No one goes in except for hospital personnel. Understood?"

"Yes sir, General Lane."

"Good man. I'll be back soon." Following the nurse down the hallway he rubbed his eyes as he waited for the elevator. Once it arrived they disappeared inside.

The man to the left of the door looked where the General had gone, eyes cutting to the side. As the elevator doors shut he turned to right. "All clear Whit."

Whitney and Clark ducked out from behind the nurse's station. "Thanks a lot Grant. Owe you one."

Grant Fordman, PFC stationed at Fort Ryan, smirked at his older cousin. "No you don't. Anything that would piss off General A-Hole is worth it. Go on, we'll signal. Nurse said you got about ten minutes."

Whitney rushed into the room first, followed by Clark who stopped to shake each man's hand. "Thank you."

Shutting the door quietly, Clark walked over to the bedside. Looking down at Lois he felt his gut clench. "This isn't… I can't believe this is Lois."

"I know it's hard Clark, but we're gonna make it right. Don't worry."

Clark nodded and ran his hand over the side of Lois' face. "Lois… when you wake up you're gonna be either really proud or really pissed off. Your dad punched me, Ian punched your dad, I stole files, we're trespassing, and I told your dad I'm gonna propose to you."

Whitney chuckled from his spot by the door. "This is Lois we're talking about, of course she'll be proud of you bossman."

Clark smiled at that. "Good point." Leaning down he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I love you Lois. You've gotta wake up. Wake up baby."

Clark and Whitney's hearts almost stopped when they heard her make a noise. Clark stared at him with wide eyes before leaning closer. "Lois? Lois are you awake?"

"Ju…"

Hands cupping her face, Clark grinned. "Whitney she's trying to say something. What is it Lois? What are you saying?"

"Jul… Jul…"

Whitney walked over to the bedside. "Jul? Is it a name? A place?"

"Jul… eeee… uhn."

Clark licked at his lips. "Julian? Is that it Lois? Julian?"

A sudden quick knock at the door snapped both of them out of it. Whitney looked at his watch. "Shit, he's back early."

Clark pressed a quick kiss to Lois' forehead. "Julian. I got it Lois. I got it. I'll be back, I swear."

Joining Whitney by the door, Clark held his breath. Whitney cracked the door just barely.

Grant cut his eyes toward the cracked door, whispering. "Hold up." Glancing back toward where the General was walking from, he gestured to the nurse quickly with his hand.

The nurse saw him and nodded quickly, jogging down the hall. "General Lane? General Lane you forgot…"

Sam turned just in time for the nurse to bump into him, spilling a bit of her water on his shirt. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry General Lane."

Grant turned his head toward the door. "Move!" he whispered harshly.

Whitney pushed the door open and stepped out, joined soon by Clark. Whitney nodded once more to his cousin before they noticed the General was already brushing the nurse off. Clark started running, grabbing Whitney by the shirt. Both men dove as hard as they could, barely clearing the counter of the nurse's station and hitting the floor with a thud, biting back the groans from hitting the hard tile floor awkwardly.

General Lane looked up at the noise, his eyes cutting to the nurse's station and then the men guarding the door.

Grant spoke up. "Sorry sir, I opened the door and lost grip on the knob."

General Lane walked to the door and glanced inside. "Any problems?"

"None whatsoever sir."

General Lane nodded before stepping inside the room and shutting the door. Clark and Whitney popped up from behind the desk. "Thanks cuz, see you at Christmas." Both men took off at a run for the stairs before they pressed their luck even more.

The night nurse walked up to Grant with a smirk. "How do I let you talk me into these things?"

Grant let a small grin show. "It's the uniform."

She chuckled and walked over to her station. "Probably."

/

"She was awake?"

Clark shook his head to Kara. "No, not really. She was still completely out of it, but she kept saying something. 'Julian'."

"What does it mean?" Ian asked from behind Clark's desk, looking at a page he had pulled up on the computer.

Clark shrugged. "No clue. So I need you to find out if the name Julian has any relation to anyone at Luthorcorp."

Ian nodded. "Alright, I'll start with the employee listings at the factory out here." With that his fingers blurred, starting his search.

Clark sat on the sofa next to his cousin. "She was coming out of it. I know it… just another couple of minutes and she would have opened her eyes."

Kara smirked. "Or you and Whitney would be in the brig right now when Lane caught you."

Whitney had to smile. "How's that hand doing Ian?"

Ian didn't look away from the screen. "Never felt better."

Clark walked over to the desk and leaned in. "We talked to the nurse about Emily. She's resting. They haven't had to give her anything else to help her sleep. She's doing alright."

Ian nodded quickly. "Thanks for that. I feel like I should be there, but…"

"You want to catch this bastard instead of feeling helpless while she sleeps. Trust me, I know. If Emily fusses, tell her I made you work. I'll be the prick in this situation."

Ian chuckled. "She wouldn't believe it. But thanks."

The next couple of hours went by slowly. Clark was checking on any records of a Julian that had come through Smallville in the past ten years. Whitney took some time to bed down with his family in the bunk room. Kara was asleep on the sofa. The sun was coming up When Ian pulled his glasses off. "Damn it."

Clark stood up and walked to the desk. "What's wrong?"

"There is no one, absolutely no one, associated with the Luthorcorp plant or the main office in Metropolis that is named Julian. First, middle, or last name. That's statistically impossible almost considering the number of employees."

Clark leaned back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. "No drivers? Delivery runners? Have you checked consulting companies?"

"Clark I've checked every employee log for the past two years. No one named Julian has come through this factory. There's only one place regarding the Luthors that name pops up and it's a dead end. Literally."

Clark moved, sitting on the edge of the desk and looking to Ian. "What do you mean?"

Ian put his glasses back on, hitting a few keys before an image popped up on screen from some gala event. "Meet Julian Luthor. The good child."

"He was the good child? I didn't know Lex even had a brother."

Ian shook his head. "Lex got himself in some trouble here and there growing up. But Julian was spotless. The only problem I could find was a fender bender when he was sixteen."

Clark sighed. "Just because he had a good record as a kid doesn't mean something might have changed by now. He could have totally changed directions."

Ian looked up. "No. He couldn't. He didn't. He… can't."

Rubbing his eyes Clark grunted. "Stop talking in riddles Ian. Why couldn't he be the guy?"

Ian hit a few more keys and another article popped up. The headline stood out in bold print. "Teen Heir Counted Among 38 Lost in Shipwreck".

Clark leaned forward, reading through the article. "He died when he was 17 when a study at sea vessel went down?"

Ian nodded. "They only found 15 bodies from that wreck."

Clark grunted. "I can't believe this. We've got to be missing something." Smashing the page down key, Clark looked through all the pages they had access to on Julian Luthor when something stopped him. "Enhance this page, bottom right corner."

Ian grabbed the mouse, working his magic. "Better?"

Clark looked at the section he asked for. "Much." He smiled at Ian. "Good work."

Ian looked at him as he walked out of the office, phone in hand. Looking back to the page he realized it was the police write up on the fender bender. Looking where he was told to enhance, it clicked. "Officer on scene, Maggie Sawyer. Small world."

/

Sitting at a bench outside the station, Clark dialed in the number. "Come on Maggie, pick up… pick up pick up pick up pick up pick up…"

"You know that's annoying at 6:09 AM, don't you Kent?"

"Oh, sorry. Maggie, you know I wouldn't call you this early unless it was important."

"I know Kent. I heard about Lois. What do you need?"

Clark sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Maggie, the only lead we've had has led us to a dead guy. And you're the only link I have to him. Julian Luthor."

"Julian? Haven't heard that name in years. It took up a good bit of my time back when I was a detective."

Clark's eyebrow raised. "A fender bender took up a lot of your time?"

"Fender bender? That might be the only thing that kid didn't manage to pull off in the city limits. Julian Luthor was hell on wheels. He was busted for his first DUI when he was 14 Clark. The first time I got to talk to him was when a girl from his school accused him of drugging her. She woke up with no clothes in a hotel room with a fifty dollar bill on the dresser and a note from him thanking her."

"How old was he?"

"That was four months after the DUI."

Clark sighed, boots tapping the concrete as his legs jumped nervously. "Maggie, the only record on this kid is a fender bender write up with your name on it. There is nothing else on Julian Luthor." He could hear shuffling around on the other end of the line. "Maggie?"

"I'm going to the department Kent, I'll call you as soon as I find the physical records. Give me an hour."

"Thanks Maggie. You know where to reach me." Hitting end, Clark grit his teeth. "I am so tired of cover ups." Walking back into the station he went into his office. "Maggie said something's not right. There's a lot about Julian that's missing."

"Missing?" Ian stood up from behind the desk. "What are you talking about, I've searched that name through every database we have, and the internet."

Clark shook his head. "Julian's first official run in with the Metropolis PD was when he got pulled over for DUI."

"What? He died when he was 17, when did he get pulled…?"

"When he was 14 Ian. The kid was a hellspawn."

Ian shook his head. "So someone just erased him?"

Clark nodded. "Looks like it. Look, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure anything."

"I'm sticking around here, you go visit Emily, check in on her. And if you don't mind, can you pick up some stuff for breakfast? Biscuits, hash browns… whatever is easiest. We're going to have some hungry folks here this morning." Clark reached into his wallet and pulled out a few twenties.

Ian nodded, taking the money. "No problem. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Time ticked by slowly as Clark waited for word from anyone.

He almost fell out of his chair when his phone buzzed. Grabbing for it, he flipped it open, almost snapping it in half. "Maggie?"

"Something's very wrong here Kent."

He sat up. "What do you mean?"

"I know of at least 7 cases that I worked that involved Julian Luthor. And they are all gone. The only one in the official records is the fender bender you mentioned. And that one is bull shit, I never signed that form. I never worked that accident."

Clark groaned. "Someone very high up wants Julian remembered in a fond light."

"Apparently. I'm going to see if I can find any of my old notes and I'm on my way to Smallville."

"Maggie, I appreciate it, but you don't have to go this far out of the way…"

"Someone is screwing with reality, and dragging my name through it. I want in Kent."

Clark had to grin. "We'll be waiting. See you soon Maggie."

"Detective Sawyer find anything?"

Clark looked up to see Ian carrying several bags of take out. "Uh yea. She said someone's been messing with the official records. She's on her way down now."

Ian nodded and put the food down. "That's good, because I'm confused as hell now."

They were cut off when Kara suddenly sat straight up on the sofa, hair sticking up where she had been laying on it, sleepy eyes barely open as she looked around. "Hash brown?"

Ian stared at her wide eyed. Clark chuckled and reached into one of the bags, pulling out a small container of hash browns and handing it to her. "Here you go Kara. All yours."

Kara smiled sleepily and ate one of the little rounds straight from the pouch before laying back down.

Ian looked from her to Clark. "Is… is she… cuddling with the hash browns?"

Clark sighed. "Long story. She loves them. And trust me, you never want to try and sneak one from her. If you do, make sure you're wearing a cup."

Ian looked at the sleeping blonde again. She shifted suddenly and Ian jumped back, covering himself with his hands.

Clark just laughed as he grabbed a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit.

/

After taking the rest of the food down to Whitney and his family, Clark was in his office finishing breakfast and going through the notes Lois had on the first victims when the door burst open. "You know, I never had problems like this before some small town sheriff decided to pull a 'Dukes of Hazzard' and jump his truck off a bridge in my town."

Clark smirked. "See? I make things exciting." He gestured to Ian across the room. "Have you met Ian?"

Maggie nodded. "We met when you were MIA. I got to watch him work some of his magic with Fordman when they made a fool of the warden and got Billy turned over to this station. And I believe we were both at the barbecue when your dirty little secret got outed." She nodded in his direction. "Good to see you again."

"You too Captain Sawyer." Ian stood and held his hand out.

Maggie shook it. "I was very sorry to hear about your wife. I hope I can help you out some."

Ian nodded. "Thanks. We could use it."

Maggie pulled a chair up to the desk. "I only have a few notes from some of the cases, but I can tell you that someone has been messing with the records. Did you say that there were previous cases Lane was looking into?"

Clark nodded and handed her the folder. "This is what I managed to get."

Maggie opened it up and started reading through the pages… she didn't get far. "Oh my god."

Clark put down his coffee cup. "What?"

Folding the page back and dropping it on Clark's desk, Maggie slapped the top page, her finger pointing to the name. "The first victim? That's the girl."

Clark looked confused. "The girl? Which girl are you talking…?" It suddenly clicked in his head. "The girl? From the hotel, that girl?"

Maggie nodded. "That's the girl who filed charges against Julian Luthor for drugging and raping her."

Clark reached for his phone. "This is too… this isn't a coincidence. No way."

"Who are you calling Clark?"

Looking over at Ian, he pulled up a page on his browser. "The Luthorcorp factory. I want to talk to Luthor."

Ian looked over to Captain Sawyer. "You don't think he'd actually give anything up do you?"

Clark shook his head. "I just want to hear what he has to say. Get a feel for him." Dialing the number Clark leaned forward against his desk. "Yea, this is Sheriff Clark Kent, Smallville. I need to speak to Mr. Luthor please." Tapping his fingers against the desk, he sighed.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Luthor, this is Sheriff Kent from Smallville. We met when you first came to town."

"Oh. I'm sorry Sheriff there must be a mistake. This isn't Lex. I'm Lucas Luthor, Vice President of research and development for the factory."

Clark sighed. "Is Lex there by any chance?"

"No, he's in Metropolis for a board meeting. I can tell him you contacted us, or perhaps I can help you with something Sheriff?"

Slapping his hand on the desk, Clark grunted. "No, that's alright. I'll try him again. Thanks."

"Not a problem Sheriff. Next time."

The blood drained from Clark's face. "What did you say?" But the line was dead. Slamming the phone down, Clark replayed that last part in his head repeatedly.

Maggie shifted in the chair. "Kent, what's wrong?"

Clark stood up suddenly, grabbing Ian by the collar and pulling him around the desk, pushing him into the chair. "I want to know everything there is on Lucas Luthor, and I want to know it right now!"