Chapter 4

Clark heard the gravel crunching as the SUV turned in from the county road. He looked out the window and watched the SUV pull up as he stirred the mashed potatoes. He had decided to give Jack a chance, for Chloe's sake. She had called him earlier and had threatened to stick some green kryptonite down his shorts if he acted overprotective around her when Jack was near. Clark was thankful that Chloe hadn't learned to tell when he used his x-ray vision. Clark had recently learned how to use his x-ray vision to scan somebody and detect if they had kryptonite infected blood. The problem was that he could only do it at extremely close range. Sitting at the table at the Talon had been close enough and he had seen nothing out of the ordinary with Jack. Clark thought of it as necessary precaution to protect those he cared for, but he knew that Chloe would view it as an invasion of Jack's privacy, especially now that she was in charge of the Isis foundation.

"Come on in, Jack. The door is unlocked," Clark yelled out right as Jack's hand was about to knock on the screen door. Jack smirked and walked inside. "You're early, Jack."

"Thought I could swing by and see if I could help out with dinner. I know my way around a kitchen," Jack said. Clark studied the man for a moment and noticed that Jack wasn't laying on the charm like earlier and gave off the impression of actually wanting to help.

Clark tossed him an apron and smiled. His dad, Jonathan, had always taught him that a good way to learn about someone was to share a chore.

Lois and Chloe pulled up to the Kent house in Chloe's VW. "Oh, crap! Jack got here first. I bet Clark is giving him the cold shoulder or even worse, giving him the 5th degree!" Chloe gasped.

"Oh come on, this is Smallville we're talking about," Lois said as she looked over at Chloe. A silent second passed as the cousins stared at each other before they both tore open their car doors and raced inside the farmhouse.

The women slid to a stop just inside the living-room as they were unprepared for what their senses told them. Clark was sitting on a chair in the dining room wearing his normal jeans, red flannel shirt, and oddly enough an apron tied around his waist. Jack had a similar apron tied around his waist. He was wearing khaki slacks, a light purple shirt, and his suspenders. Clark had tears streaming down his cheeks and was laughing uncontrollably. "…and then the baker came out and the dough was in his hair, on his shirt, and all over his glasses," Jack said with a chuckle.

Clark laughed even louder and fell out of his chair. "There is no way that actually happened," he was able to choke out between laughs as he wiped away tears.

Jack held up his right hand, "Honest, I was there. I saw the whole thing." "Of course I left out the part about the dough being a Gurtlian slime alien in disguise and I was the one who blew it up with a sonic-disruptor," Jack thought.

"Did we miss something?" Chloe said as she gave a look of half concern and half happiness that passed from Clark to Jack and back again.

The men looked at each other and both began to laugh.Jack walked over to Chloe, took her hand, raised it to his lips and gently kissed her knuckles. "It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Sullivan."

Chloe gave Jack a demur grin, "A pleasure to see you as well, Captain Harkness."

Lois punched Clark in the arm. "You taking notes farm-boy? When you finally meet the right farm-girl, you need to act that charming."

Clark rolled his eyes. "Lois, if you ever acted that nice to a date, I think he would start looking around for the hidden camera."

Jack leaned over to Chloe and whispered into her ear. "Are they always like this?" Chloe nodded her head. "This is going to be more fun than I thought."

Chloe noticed the thoughtful smirk on Jack's face as he looked at Clark and Lois. "Could it be true? Handsome, smart, sexy, and a possible partner in crime in setting up Clark and Lois. This is too good to be true," thought Chloe.

Jack led Chloe by the hand to a seat at the dinner table. He pulled out her chair for her and waited for her to sit. He made eye contact with Clark and looked over to where Lois was supposed to sit. Clark rolled his eyes, but refusing to be shown up in his own home walked over and pulled out the chair for Lois.

Lois had missed the little by play between the men and was taken by surprise when Clark moved the chair out for her. "You're a fast learner, Smallville."

Chloe watched Clark's face light up at the positive attention from Lois. "Careful Lois, that almost sounded like a compliment. Next you'll be saying thanks to the coffee intern," Clark teased. Even though Clark teased her, he followed through and pushed in her chair. "What can I get you folks to drink?"

The dinner went smoothly and was filled with small talk until Lois asked the question that had been on her and Clark's mind, "So Jack, Chloe said you recently left your last job. What do you for a living?"

"I was wondering when someone was going to ask that. I am at a table with two reporters and one former one. Right now I am living off of some investments that I made quite a long time ago. They did pretty good and I am quite well off. As to what I did before," Jack paused and looked around the table with his trademark smile. "If you're as good of reporters as I think you are, you'll figure it out on your own. If you don't come up with the answer in a week, I'll tell you. I'll be disappointed, but I'll tell you. Oh, one condition though. No help from Chloe. You two have to work together. Tell you what; if you two figure it out, I'll fit the bill for the four of us to have dinner at the restaurant of your choice in Metropolis."

"What about me?" Chloe asked.

"You? I let you interrogate me using whatever means you feel necessary," Jack purred.

"I'm guessing it will take me a lot less than a week to get the information then," Chloe said as she smiled and leaned towards Jack.

Jack took on a mock hurt tone, "Miss Sullivan, are you implying that I'm …easy?"

Lois sprayed out the cola she had just sipped and watched her cousin's cheeks turn a bright red even though Chloe's smile never wavered.