I realize that I said this was taking place during Spell but what I meant to say was that it's just a normal birthday party for Chloe that has a lot of drama going on with it, I wanted to do Spell but when I was writing it went in another direction.

Chapter Eight Part Three- Tug of War:

Lana was getting ready to head out to Chloe's birthday party when Jason appeared in the apartment looking unfocused and dazed while he made his way into the bedroom completely oblivious to her presences.

"Jason?" she calls out of concern as she made her way into the bedroom and was surprised to see Jason packing his things into a small suitcase, "Are you leaving?"

He bowed his head in defeat and took in a shaky breathe before finally speaking, "There's something that I need to tell you…"

Hours Later…

The itchy wool of the black hood was soon ripped from her head causing her eyes to squint at the bright lights, her vision was blurry at first until the image of Lois standing in front of her caused confusion, "Lo?"

"Remember when Lucy turned 13 and we sort of abducted her to bring her to the party we were throwing for her?" Lois says walking around Chloe and began pushing her into the dark barnyard, "Since you only turn 18 once, I thought it was time to restart that old tradition…" suddenly the lights switched on followed by a loud "SURPRISE" being called out simultaneously by everyone in the barn.

Chloe's smile widened and she turned to Lois, "I cant believe you planned all of this."

"Actually, I had help." she points towards Clark who was busy chatting with some of his teammates, "Who knew that underneath all that plaid was an interior decorator." she joked as the cousins made there way into the barn.

While Lois and Chloe celebrated, Clark made sure to shut all the barn doors before walking towards the farmhouse just as a nice slick car pulled to a stop and a well dressed man approached him with a small smile, "Mr. Kent?"

The two shake hands before making their way into the house, "We've been looking through your school records and it appears that you've been in some trouble with the principle several times."

He put on a smile, "My extracurricular activity is working for the school paper and sometimes my investigations have landed him in trouble."

"So your interested in journalism?" the man from Princeton inquires while jotting down some notes on a small pad, "That's a very competitive career but I'm sure a young man such as yourself can handle the pressure that being a journalist entails."

Clark plasters on a smile as the two continue to talk about his future with Princeton, that is if he decided to go to such a school on a sports scholarship.

Jason stood in the terminal of Metropolis International Airport awaiting his flight back to Paris, the memory of his break up with Lana still repeated in his mind…

Hours Ago

"What's wrong?" Lana sits by his side confused as to what he had to tell her that was so important that they'd miss Chloe's birthday.

Jason gulped nervously, "I haven't been completely honest with why I left Paris…" he runs his hands through his hair trying to find the right words, "Before I left Paris, a very important business opportunity presented itself and I had to take it." his eyes lock with her almost begging for her forgiveness.

Lana grabbed his hand and slipped it into hers, "There's nothing that you could say that would change how I feel about you."

"I was hired to spy on Clark by Bruce Wayne, but not in the way you think." he was quick to defend his actions but that didn't stop Lana eyes from changing to hurt and anger.

"What am I suppose to think when you tell me that!"

Jason walks over towards the small desk to pull out a small manila envelope, "Bruce hired me not out of concern or jealous for Lois, but to find an artifact that he suspected Clark of having…an artifact that was stolen from Lex."

Lana shakes her head in disbelief and grabs her coat, "I don't want to hear anymore of this, if you're only here because of business then I want no part in it. I'm no longer getting involved with affairs about Clark Kent…" she slips on her coat and prepares to walk out the door when she turns to face him one final time, "I expect to find you gone when I get back…" with those final words, she departs.

"Flight 813 to Paris, France is now boarding at gate B-7" the voice knocks Jason out of his flashback and diverts his attention back onto boarding the next plane and forgetting all about Smallville, Kansas.

People danced and drank the punch that had a small kick to it…a very strong kick, Lois was busy talking to several partygoers never noticing Chloe head up to the loft with her head bowed and a solemn look in her eyes.

When minutes ticked by without so much as a glimpse of her little cousin's blonde head, she went off in search of the birthday girl unaware to the chaos that would soon unfold thanks to the spiked punch.

While Lois searched for her cousin, Clark sat across from the representative nervously watching the man jot down notes during their interview, "So, Mr. Kent. Why do you want to go to Princeton?"

He looked down at his hands nervously before replying, "Football has opened some new doors for me and its not that I'm grateful for the opportunity to don your school's colors…" he pauses trying to find the right words, "The truth is that I don't really know what I want to do with my life, all I've ever really wanted was to have a normal life."

"You can have that along with a promising sports career at our school." the representative reaches into his briefcase to pull out an orange and black folder with the school's crest embroiled on it, "Take a look at our brochure and then when your ready, we can fly you out to see the campus for yourself."

Clark looked at the folder in his hands and was about to respond when a loud noise reaches his supersonic ears followed by the sound of Lois's voice yelling at someone, "W-Would you excuse me…" he gets up before the representative says anything and rushes out of the yellow farmhouse headed towards the closed off barn.

Minutes Before…

Chloe stared into the night sky hoping to get lost in the vast emptiness that had appeared in the pit of her stomach after reading Jimmy's e-mail, "Chlo?" a soft voice causes her to wipe her eyes and turn to face her cousin who stared at her with great concern.

"What's wrong?" Lois walks towards her cousin, "Is the party not what you expected? I tried to get a reservation in Metropolis but sadly, I lack the connections that Bruce or Lex ever had." she jokes causing a small smirk to appear on Chloe's face.

"The party's great, I'm just going through some relationship issues…" Chloe pauses looking down at her hands, "I-" she was cut off at the beginning when a loud crash caused the cousins attention to be directed down towards the party.

They rushed down the woodened steps and were surprised to find the refreshment table in shambles with every content laying on the floor along with a very inebriated partygoer laying in the filth, "What the hell is going on here!" Lois exclaims looking from the man to the young boy who had pushed him into the table.

The smell of alcohol reached their nostrils and Lois's expression grew even more angry, "Who the hell spiked the punch!"

Silence was her only response until the barn doors slid open and Clark appeared confused towards the sudden mess, "I heard a loud crash and shouting, is everyone okay?"

The cousins looked at each other but Lois stopped Chloe from spilling the beans, "Were fine, they just got a little overzealous with the music."

He looks at her suspiciously, "I can tell when your not telling the truth, Lo. So, why don't you just tell me the truth and maybe I can help out."

She shakes her head negatively and begins to push him out of the barn, "You go deal with your future and I'll deal with the party." she shuts the barn doors on him before he could even get a word out.

When the doors slid closed, Clark just stared aimlessly at wooden door before turning back to face the unknown.

TBC…

The end of this part was kind of not my best work with this story but I do promise something great to tie off this chapter in part 4...then its onto Lois investigating a murder case connected to Lex Luthor AKA Bound