Notes, disclaimer, etc., in chapter 1

"There is a selection of breakfast cereals in the cabinet," Clark said when Xander managed to drag himself downstairs the next morning. "Or I can cook up some eggs if you –"

Xander waved him off. "Do you have Lucky Charms?" he asked.

"I think so," Clark said.

Xander grinned, heading for the indicated cabinet. "Eggs I can get most places. Lucky Charms are a rare delicacy."

He joined Clark at the table with a bowl and some OJ, and they sat quietly for a minute or two.

"So," Clark said. "What are your plans for today?"

Xander shrugged. "I'm not really sure. What are the sights to see?"

"Around here?" Clark asked. "How do you feel about corn?"

"Tasty," Xander said. "But not that interesting."

"Then I'm afraid you might be bored," said Clark. "There's not a lot of here here."

Xander chuckled and glanced behind him as Lucy came down the stairs in a sports bra and running shorts.

"Morning boys," she said, leaning over Xander's shoulder and giving him a kiss. "Back in an hour."

"Enjoy," Xander said through a mouthful of increasingly soggy, artificially colored marshmallows.

Clark laughed. "You know I have to admit, you're not what I thought you'd be like."

"Who, me?" Xander asked, wiping some dripping milk from his chin. He swallowed his cereal. "What did you think I'd be like?"

"Well, it wasn't you specifically," Clark said. "Just that you're dating Lucy."

Xander nodded sagely, downing another bite of cereal before he responded. "I know what you mean. I met one of her earlier um. Let's call him a suitor. Didn't take kindly to the fact that I was now, as he put it, 'plowing his fields. '"

He shook his head. "Lovely guy. Huge guy, actually." Xander faux-flexed his arms. "Like, six feet six, two forty-five, all muscled and tattooed to hell, you know? The kind of guy you don't actually think you'll ever see outside of a bad movie with biker gangs. He was like that."

"That sounds a little closer, although… more extreme," Clark said.

"He was surprisingly smart, too, if Lucy's to be believed," said Xander.

"If?"

Xander shrugged. "She has a knack for embellishment, which I'm willing to bet you're aware of. But apparently they ran some scam dealing with, I don't know… bearer bonds or something like that. It was all over my head. Didn't work out, but he's apparently a math whiz."

"So what happened when you met him?"

"What you'd expect," Xander said. "Fight."

"You get hurt?"

Xander shook his head. "We happened, at the time, to be visiting a friend of mine in Rome. She's um… something of a martial arts expert. She stepped in and took care of the situation."

"You let her fight him for you?" Clark asked.

"Hey, I got nothing to prove," Xander said. "There was a time that having a girl fight my fights would have bruised my manly pride and caused me to do something stupid and probably chauvinistic. I like to think I'm a bit wiser now.

"And anyway, my friend could kick my butt from here to Cleveland and back, not even break a sweat. And I've got no love of being beat on by large men. So she handled it. Put the guy down, maybe broke an arm, maybe a nose. Not a scratch on her, though she did break a heel that I had to pay for."

"She sounds tough," Lois said from behind him, causing Xander to jump just a little.

"You are scary quiet," he said. "And yeah. She is tough. Strongest woman I ever met. Where'd you learn to be so quiet?"

"Army," Lois said. "The General made sure I was well prepared to defend myself, take care of myself and my sister. Sometimes that included not being noticed."

Xander nodded. "Best way to get through a fight is never to let it start."

"Lucy not up yet?" Lois asked.

"Running," said Clark, nodding at the door. "Said she'd be back in an hour."

"Lucy?" Lois asked. "Miss 'I don't get out of bed before noon, nobody who matters is up before then anyway?' Lucy Lane?"

"Well, we're still on London time, really," he said. "So this is kind of like early afternoon for us."

"Ah," said Lois. She helped herself to a cup of coffee and then joined them at the table.

"So, do you have any suggestions on what we should do while we're in town?" Xander asked her.

"Other than the Talon?" Lois asked. "There's nothing. Best shot is to head into the city and check out some museums or something. Though I'm sure Metropolis museums aren't up to the standard of London."

"A few of my friends and I were actually given a behind-the-scenes tour of the British Museum," Xander said. "There's a lot of interesting stuff that goes on there. And a lot of really boring stuff, too. Hearing about the process used to restore ancient documents is pretty interesting. Watching someone do it for a half hour, not so much." He held up a hand with his thumb and forefinger an inch apart. "They get like that much done. Whoopee."

"In any event," Clark said, "the city's probably your best bet."

Xander nodded. "Plus, I should probably figure out where my meetings are. So I'm not late. Either of you feel like joining us?"

Clark shook his head. "No, I think we –"

"Love to," Lois said, staring at Clark for a moment. "I haven't seen my sister in a few years. Sounds like a good time. And you boys can bond."

Clark stared back at her for a moment, then looked at Xander. "Sure," he said. "Sounds like fun."

Clark glanced at two young women who walked into the exhibit room he'd just come from. He'd seen the pair a dozen times so far, always one room behind. Maybe they were just taking the same route through the museum, but something about them felt off to him.

Clark turned and looked at a beautiful painting by a famous artist he thought he was supposed to know, and did his best not to invade Xander's privacy. The man was about twenty feet away, talking on his cell phone about something that was obviously work related.

But he was with Lucy. Clark might feel bad, but if Xander was up to something, he needed to know before that something happened. He listened.

"No," Xander said. "If it isn't on my desk, I don't know where it is. That was the last place I had it."

"Well, I looked there, Xander, and it isn't there" said a female voice.

"Well, ask Andrew, if you haven't already, he's always going through my stuff."

"Okay, I'll talk to him. How's Smallville?"

"Appropriately named," Xander said. "But the people are nice, and I think it's going okay with her family."

"What about the other stuff?"

"Nothing yet, Will, but we've only been here a day. Anyway, I'm holding everyone up, I need to go."

"Okay, sweetie, well stay safe."

"Always. And give my love to Dawn and Buffy."

"Will do. Bye."

Clark turned his attention back to the painting, wondering what other stuff Xander and Lucy wanted to get into here that would have one of his friends tell him to stay safe.

"Sorry about that," Xander said. "Work never ends, no matter how much you try to leave it behind."

"It's no problem," Clark said. They began strolling toward the next room.

"I wanted to thank you for coming with us today," Xander said.

"Oh, I was happy to," Clark said.

"Well, I know it wasn't your first choice," Xander said. "But Lois is concerned about Lucy, and I think you… add a level of familiarity that might be keeping her from…"

"Freaking out?" Clark asked.

"I can't imagine this is easy for her," said Xander. "I mean, I don't know much about her, but if Lucy were my little sister, I'd have been institutionalized years ago. Lois just seems to have buckled down and dealt with her."

"It wasn't easy, I know that much," said Clark. "But I'm pretty sure it was the General's influence, at least partly. Some of it is just that Lois is about the most bullheaded person I know. Once she gets an idea in her head, there's no stopping her."

"I know what you mean. One of my friends is like that."

"You seem to be doing okay, though, dealing with Lucy."

Xander smiled. "It's not always the simplest thing, that's for sure. I do always seem to have been attracted to headstrong women, though. Women who have their own standards and don't care if other people approve."

Clark chuckled as they stepped into the next room. "Lucy certainly is that." He glanced behind them and saw the two girls keeping pace, one of them looking directly at Xander.

"And her standards are not quite what others may consider normal," Xander added.

"Not quite," Clark said. "Can I ask you an odd question?"

"Sure."

"There are two girls behind us, and one of them keeps looking at you. Do you know them?"

Xander turned around and looked. "I don't see… oh, the two brunette girls? One with the acid washed jeans?"

"That's them," Clark said.

"No idea. Why?"

Clark shook his head. "I just get this funny feeling about them. Like they're following us, almost."

Xander laughed. "I think you're paranoid."

Clark glanced back at the girls, who appeared to be deep in discussion over the finer points of one of the paintings. He shook his head.

"You two boys playing nicely?" Lois asked. She and Lucy had decided to join them again.

"We're fine," Clark said.

"And we're bored," Lucy said. "I hate fancy art."

"There are some pretty esoteric pieces here," Lois said, pointing to a piece on the wall that appeared to be a yellow canvas with brown splotches, two of which had halos.

"It just looks like poo," said Lucy.

"So," Xander said. "What's next, then?"

Lucy surveyed the sight before her and shook her head. After what she had to admit was a full day walking around Metropolis and seeing the sights – even a trip into Suicide Slum, for a diner Lois was familiar with – they had all come back to Clark's house after dinner, and Xander, Clark and Lois had promptly crashed out in front of the television.

They were sleeping soundly. Xander, passed out in the recliner and Lois and Clark sleeping – to what Lucy was sure would be Lois's unending horror – together on the couch, with Lois's head resting softly on Clark's shoulder.

Which meant that this was Lucy's opportunity.

She ran up stairs and grabbed an envelope from her bag, then slipped on her jacket, grabbed her phone and the keys to the Lexus, and headed outside.

Lucy slipped into the driver's seat, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned the key and started the car, threw it into drive, then looked up and hit the gas, before immediately slamming the brakes.

Standing in the headlights, arms crossed over his chest and looking for all the world like there wasn't a force in the universe that could make him move, was Clark Kent.

"Damn it," Lucy muttered.

Clark approached the car and she rolled down the window.

"Hey, Lucy," he said, kneeling down to look in the window.

"Clark."

"Where are you headed in the middle of the night without telling anybody?"

"I have something I have to do," she said. "It's kind of… my own business."

"You know the last time you were here, your own business cost Lex 50,000 and three stitches. And got your sister into real hot water with your dad. And I seem to recall that I was played for the fool as well."

"I can't deny any of that," she said. "The last time I was here, I caused chaos, and brought nothing but difficulty for any of you. I admit it, and I take full responsibility for that."

"Saying you take responsibility doesn't really do anything," Clark said.

"Clark… look. I know you have no reason to trust me, and every reason not to. But I'm asking you, please, just have some faith in me. I promise that what I'm doing, it won't have any effect on you at all. Or on Lois, or anyone you care about. It's just something I have to do. For me."

"Your sister loves you," Clark said. "But she's been through some really rough times recently. She's had some hard breaks. Been let down by some people who shouldn't have."

"I'm not going to let her down again, Clark. I swear to you," she said, pleadingly. "Please. Just trust me this one time, and I will prove that you have nothing to worry about, and neither does Lois. I just need to do this one thing."

He stood up. "One chance, Lucy," he said. "You've tested her so much. I don't know if she can ever trust you if you mess up again."

"I won't," she said. "I promise."

Clark stepped back from the car. Lucy looked up at him and smiled, then looked slightly to his left, winked, and sped off into the night.

Clark turned and looked behind him and saw Xander standing on the porch and looking confused.

"How much did Lucy tell you about the last time she was here?" Lois asked, nursing a cup of coffee.

Xander shook his head. "Not a lot. She said she caused some trouble, did some things she wasn't proud of, but she never went into specifics."

"Specifically," Lois said, "she was on the run from a Swiss loan shark. She tricked Clark into getting some help from a friend, then played that friend for 50,000. Got him a big cut on the head, too."

"Close friend?" Xander asked, looking up at Clark.

"He was at the time," said Clark. "We've had a falling out since."

"So you understand, though, why we're worried," Lois said.

"Oh, I understood why you were worried before you even told me that," Xander said. "I'm well aware that Lucy has a colorful history. But she's left a lot of that behind."

"And I just don't know how I can trust that," Lois said. "And, I love my sister, don't get me wrong, but I'm worried she's playing you, too."

Xander smiled. "Lois, I can guarantee you that Lucy is not playing me. And she's not playing you guys this time, either."

"How can you be sure?"

He just nodded his head slowly up and down. "I'm just… I am."

"But even you have to admit that running out the way she did is a little suspicious," Clark said.

"Sure," said Xander. "But I believe that whatever Lucy is doing right now is something she honestly feels she has to do, and that it's not something that will disappoint you."

"Do you know what she's doing?" Lois asked.

"I trust her," Xander said, glancing up at the clock. "That's enough for me. Anyway, I hope you guys won't mind if I head up to bed now."

"You don't want to stay up to see she gets back all right?" Lois asked.

"Two things I've learned in the time I've known your sister, Lois, are that she can take care of herself, and that when she runs off in the middle of the night and doesn't tell anybody where she's going, you're probably not going to see her again until at least two AM. And I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired."

They said their goodnights, and Xander went to sleep.

"Does he seem a little off to you?" Lois asked.

Clark shrugged. "A little less concerned than he could be, but not uncaring."

"No, I mean, I get the feeling that he knows something we don't know, and it amuses him. And like it's something pretty big, too."

Clark shrugged. "He seems all right to me."

"Did Chloe ever get back to you about looking him up?" Lois asked.

Clark shook his head. "I think after meeting him, she liked the guy."

"I'm gonna call her," Lois said. "Something here doesn't sit well with me."

"Well, call her in the morning," Clark said. "Ask her to look."

Lois nodded, still staring out the window.

"Hey," Clark said, placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked up into his eyes. "She'll be fine."

A moment later, Lois shook herself. "Yeah," she said, standing and walking over to the sink. She poured out her cold coffee. She turned around and smiled at Clark. "Honestly, I'm almost more worried for Smallville."

Clark laughed. "It survived her last time."

"Sure," Lois said. "But last time, we knew where she was."

"Xander says he trusts her."

"And you trust him?"

Clark shrugged. "At the moment, what other choice do we have? Why don't you go on to bed. I'll hit the couch and make sure she gets in okay."

"You'll fall asleep," Lois protested.

"I'm a light sleeper."

Lois sighed, and suddenly looked very tired. "Fine," she said. "And you'll talk to Chloe tomorrow?"

"I promise."

Lois nodded and headed upstairs. "Goodnight, Clark."

"Night, Lois."

"Hey," Xander whispered, when Lucy crawled into bed sometime around three.

"Did I wake you?" she asked.

"Yeah, but that's okay. Everything go okay?"

"Didn't get arrested."

"That's always for the best. How was he?"

"Lex?" she asked. "Surprised as hell. I think I'm about the last person he expected to see ever again."

"And the uh…"

"Bugs?" she asked. "All planted. The ones Willow gave me blended right into the decor. That chick has scary mojo."

"I told you," he said, smiling. "And you're sure you're safe. I mean, he didn't see you placing them or anything?"

"Worried about me, Xander?"

"Hey, it's not every day I send my girlfriend on a covert ops mission to Luthor freaking Mansion. With any luck, though, those bugs will give us some serious insight into what he's doing."

"Well, don't worry. I'm fine and he suspects nothing. Now get some sleep."

Xander leaned over and kissed her. "Love you, Lu."

She turned and smiled up at him. "I love you too, baby."

End Chapter 2