Thanatos

Chapter Four

The next afternoon…

After doing the morning chores on their farm like usual, Clark took his father's truck into town to pick a few things up, but his main reason for doing so was to see if he could find out where their guest from the night before had gone to, interested to know if he was actually going to visit with Lex or not. He knew he couldn't just go to his friend and ask him straight out if a complete stranger had come to see him about a job, even though he was tempted to. So Clark settled for just looking around for himself.

When he walked into the Talon, he found that his mom was sitting across from Lois at one of the tables, both having coffee and talking, but as soon as they noticed him, Martha quickly called out, "Clark? Hi! What are you doing here?"

Clark took a seat with them and looked at Lois a little uncomfortably, as he still wasn't really sure what to think about the woman who had just arrived in Smallville to investigate her cousin's and his best friend's death, then turned to his mom as he responded, "Hi, Mom. I uh… just wanted to see if there was anything I could pick up for you while I was here in town, before I headed back home."

"Hey Smallville, you mean, you're not here to find out about where your strange visitor might have gone?" Lois asked as Clark looked at her quizzically, obviously wanting to know how she knew about that. "Reporter, hello? I can't help that I'm nosey. I was born this way. Your mom mentioned he left early this morning and took a cab here into town. I heard that there was some kind of accident last night from one of the deputies down at the police station and they mentioned something about the owner of the car having been picked up last night by Mr. Kent just after his accident happened. Apparently they're investigating the accident like it might be something more."

"What do you mean that it might be something more?" Clark asked nervously, taking another quick glance at his mother who looked at him as well, seeing that she was feeling the same way.

Lois quickly replied, "I mean, they found something suspicious at the crash site. I wasn't exactly told any of this, seeing as I was kind of eavesdropping like any good reporter does, so I don't know anything more. It's a pity that that stupid deputy didn't actually mention what that suspicious thing this was to whoever that woman was he was speaking to, the sheriff I think. There was also another woman sitting there waiting to speak with the sheriff. She seemed pretty interested in their conversation too, but before they finished, she disappeared. Something was definitely a little off with her. I think I'm going to go order another coffee. Can I get either of you anything; Mrs. Kent, Smallville?"

Martha quickly shook her head and answered, "No, thank you, Lois."

"Yeah, no thanks," Clark added as the reporter shrugged, then got up and walked away, leaving Clark and Martha alone. "Did you talk with Dad this morning about what I found last night?"

"Yes, and it makes me even more nervous that we might have had a killer staying with us for the night; that we sat down with him for dinner," she responded quietly so that only her son could hear her, to avoid anyone else overhearing their conversation.

Clark took her hands as he replied, "Try not to worry so much, Mom. He's left now. I actually came here to try to find him, but I don't want to just go and ask Lex if Tom's come to meet with him. I'd only make Lex curious as to why I would even care."

Martha nodded, looked toward Lois who was chatting with one of the Talon's other employees, then Clark asked, "So, what do you really think of her? I mean, she's nice, in a snarky sort of way, but… Do you really think she's good for this town? She's really curious and she'll probably get herself into a whole lot of trouble, especially if she gets into all of the weird things that happen here. You know… with all those infected by the meteor rocks?"

"You know what I think, I think that she truly loves Chloe and cares about the truth of how she died, as Chloe would want," Martha answered kindly. "I like Lois. I've got a good feeling about her coming here."

"Well then, she must be okay," Clark responded as he smiled at her and then stood again as he was about to go off to continue his search until his mom quickly grabbed his hand to stop him as she suddenly looked worried. "Mom, what's wrong?"

After he took a seat again and took her hands in his, she finally replied, "I'm not really sure, it's just that… I'm starting to get really worried about your father. I mean, he claims he's fine and the doctors all say he's doing alright for now, but early this morning, I woke up and I found him asleep in the rocking chair in our room, but he looked troubled, like he was in between having some kind of bad dream that's never ending. I've seen the look on him before, but never so…"

Clark looked away momentarily, feeling the guilt again over all the pain he's put his parents both through, especially his father, over the last year, then turned back to her and continued for her, "Never so bad? I'm sure everything's going to be all right, Mom. Don't worry so much. I'm sure that he'll talk to you, to us, when he's ready. Is it okay if I go? I really feel like I should see if I can't find out anything about Tom and whoever this mystery woman really are. It's possible that if she's still alive, then she could have actually been infected by the kryptonite, rather than simply had just been alive, if Tom actually did bury her."

"This could mean a lot of trouble," Martha quickly answered. "Go, go! We can talk about your dad later."

"Okay," he stated as he smiled at her, then sped off again just before Lois came back over and sat down with Martha once again.

She asked in confusion, "Where'd your son go? He was just here two seconds ago."

Martha responded, "Uh… he ran out of here because he realized he forgot to pick up something for his dad that he promised him he would get before a friend of ours leaves to go camping this weekend. Clark's always been a fast runner."

"Of course he is," Lois replied, then stood again to leave herself. "I think I'm going to head out as well. I have a few things I need to do."

"Good luck!" Martha called out as the younger woman walked away and left the coffee shop.

Meanwhile…

Tom got out of a cab that stopped in front of the Luthor Mansion, then waited a few steps away from the vehicle as it drove off for several minutes before finally walking up to the door and ringing the bell. Some guy in a suit answered and let him in, then told the stranger to wait in the foyer for his boss to come out to greet him. It took more time than he would have liked, but finally Lex came out and shook his hand, then motioned for his old friend to follow him inside.

As he did so, Lex spoke up saying, "It's good to see you again, Tom, but I have to say I'm surprised you came to see me, rather than my old man. After all, you were the best man and his and my mother's wedding."

Tom smiled and answered, "Yes, well… seeing as Lionel lives and works in Metropolis and I'm looking to get out of there, I figured that you'd be the man I need to see. I was hoping that you might have a…"

"If you were going to ask me for a job, you can save it," Lex interrupted coolly. "I can see that you're nervous and it's not because a man like you, who is almost as rich as me and my father, is looking for a job for the first time in his life. What is this really about? You know you can talk to me, Tom, and that I won't go running off to speak with my dad or the reporters, or whoever it is that you might be afraid of."

"I think I'm in a bit of trouble, Lex," the man finally responded worryingly. "Although it isn't for the reasons that you might suspect. I mean, I don't need any money or anything like that and you're right, I don't need a job. I just need to get out of the city and I was hoping that you can help me to find a place where I can lay low and… out from under anyone's radar."

Lex looked at him questioningly, then replied, "I take it that Theresa is no longer in the picture then? Last I heard, you were going through some marital issues, possibly getting ready to file for divorce. Did that get resolved already, or does this disappearance of yours have something to do with the possibility that this is something much worse than you losing everything you have?"

Tom looked at him directly and answered calmly, "You always were smarter than I gave you credit for. Can we talk?"