"Now here's something I never thought I'd see: Lois Lane cracking open a book," the familiar voice said, cutting through her reading.

"I thought you lived in Smallville, Smallville," she said, looking up to see the plaid-clothed teen.

"I'm meeting Lori at the library. We're studying together."

She could have sent some kind of barb his way about his still being a high schooler and this being a school night, but she was distracted, mulling over what she'd just read.

Clark noticed her title. "Greek mythology? That doesn't sound like something you'd read. Is it for a class?"

"Yeah, ancient history is usually ancient history as far as I'm concerned, but it's not half bad reading." She wasn't about to tell him she was looking for clues to Lori's origin.

She'd gotten the idea in theatre history as they were studying Greek plays which were surprisingly wild and would make an HBO executive blush. It's not that she thought Lori was a daughter of Posiedon or a lost Atlantean, but then again, she never would have thought rocks could give people powers until last year. She considered herself an open-minded person.

"Clark!" Lori called, spotting him.

"Your siren beckens," she said teasingly.

He grimaced at her and then followed the call.

Inspiration struck as she flipped to the chapter on sirens. That could explain his obsession. Wasn't a lot of information about them though other than their sweet song lured sailors to their death. Lori was no singer, and Clark was certainly no sailor, but she felt she was getting closer to the answer.

She shut the dusty tome. It was time to find out what happened to Eric. No officer was going to talk to her about a missing person's case, but if she snuck into the registrar's office and looked up his records, maybe his family would.

It was rather thrilling actually as she slipped into the closing office building, unnoticed. Her adrenaline was pumping, knowing she could be caught any minute and yet the lure of getting closer to the truth fuelled her onward. She could see why Chloe was so into the Nancy Drew thing though she probably would have just hacked into their computer system, a little safer but her way was much more exciting.

Using the light from her phone, she searched the S's for Smith. Not the only Smith and not the only Eric Smith. She entered all three home phones into her cell.

Her heart went into her throat as she heard someone just out in the hall. They cast a shadow across the frosted glass pane in the door. A security guard? Was she about to get expelled? She didn't know if breaking and entering and reading other student's records had been covered in the student handbook, but she was pretty sure it was frowned upon as an expulsatory offense.

She hid behind the desk and her brain scrambled for some kind of plausible explanation. Trying to book an appointment, and she'd been locked in? Did they have cameras in this place? The door opened.

The breath she didn't know she'd been holding was released with a whoosh. It was just AC. Then she frowned and a whole other barrage of questions entered her mind, the principle of which was, "What are you doing here?"

He smiled. "Following you? Is that as creepy as it sounds?"

She laughed. At least, he was being honest. "Uh, yeah. Did we have some kind of date I forgot about or do you just stalk your crushes?"

"No and no. I met with a friend of my dad's in Metropolis, and I couldn't stop thinking about you or what you said. You really think Lori is some kind of sea person?"

"I know it. And there's something weirder than usual about this sorority. One of the boyfriends of my fellow sisters disappeared."

"And you think she or the sorority had something to do with it?" This is why she liked him. He took her so seriously. Chloe hadn't taken her seriously, and she was sure Clark wouldn't, but AC did.

"It's just a hunch, but one I'm about to explore. I'm worried about Clark."

"You think he's next on the hit list?"

"I don't know what to think, but I'm going to find out what happened to the boyfriend and maybe then I'll start to get some more answers."

"Can I help?"

"I guess I could use a partner in crime. I'm just going back to my dorm and making phone calls though."

"Sounds good. You seem pretty interested in this. Ever thought about criminal justice as a major?"

"Something tells me my disregard for the rules probably wouldn't make me a great candidate."

He smiled again. "No, probably not, but you seem to have a knack for this investigation stuff, I wouldn't have known where to start."

"And why is all this getting your attention?" she asked, suddenly suspicious.

He threw his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm just interested in the investigator."

She wasn't sure she bought that entirely. She could read people, and there had been a flicker of nervousness at her question, but he was cute and the company was nice, so she accepted the answer. For now.