The police car sat silently, brooding as the car pulled out of the parking lot. Within the confines of its dark interior, Rachel sat, numb. She’d never really expected Clark Kent to return to Smallville, and yet somehow, she’d known she’d see him again.
She’d gotten over him, made peace with the situation. That’s what she’d been telling her family for years. Having him return to Smallville shouldn’t make a difference. The public humiliation she’d endured was a thing of the past; people had forgotten, or so she’d been telling herself.
They’d elected her sheriff at an age when most women were just entering the field. She’d had to work harder, be more professional just to overcome the stigma of her past with Clark Kent. She wasn’t the same person she’d been ten years before.
The truth was, in small towns, people never forgot. Every humiliation, every scandal was like a brush fire. It might die down at times, but al it took was the slightest breath of air to start it smoldering again.
Grimly, Rachel started her engine. Clark Kent was bad news. She’d known it before she’d ever started dating him. He’d made the right decision in leaving all those years ago. Now she had to convince him to make the right decision again and leave, before it was too late.
There were some in Smallville who wouldn’t be nearly as polite in asking him to leave. There hadn’t been a violent crime committed in Smallville in almost ten years, and Rachel wanted to keep it that way. The thought of what some in the community might do was enough to make her grit her teeth.
That there were federal authorities in town made it even worse. Rachel had her suspicions about what was happening on the old Irig farm. Wayne hadn’t been seen in days; the last time he’d been seen, he’d deposited large amounts of money in multiple bank accounts. The checks had been from the federal government.
In a small town, secrecy was almost impossible. Neighbors watched neighbors, bank tellers talked, and Rachel kept her ear to the ground. It helped, knowing that several boys from the plant had stayed home drinking. It helped Rachel head off possible fights.
It wouldn’t be long before the news of Clark’s return reached the wrong ears. Rachel would have to get him out of town before that happened.
She was the law, and this was what she had to do, even if deep inside she really wanted to shoot him dead.
The bastard really should have stayed away.
******************
And Now....
“If the original team that had scouted the Smallville crash back in 1969 had done its job, I’d be sitting on that side of the desk.” Simon Hunt scowled at the woman sitting across from him.
“This is not a conversation we should be having. I’m head of operations here now, and you...” The African-American woman shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“I’m persona non-grata with the agency. I know.” Simon sighed. He scowled. “It’s not as though I didn’t lay my life on the line for you on numerous occasions.”
“That’s ancient history. You’ve been a civilian for years now, and any security clearance you might once have had has been long expunged. My speaking to you now is a violation of a dozen...”
“So you admit this is a military operation?” Simon said quickly, leaning forward. “I knew the moment I saw your name as the head of the task force that we were onto something big.”
“There is no we, and I don’t admit to anything.” The woman stared at him for a moment. “Whatever was between us in the past is over.”
“You were my partner. Don’t you think you owe me a little more than this?”
“Jason...”
“It’s Simon now.”
Looking uncomfortable, the woman said, “It wouldn’t matter whether you were completely vindicated in your views tomorrow. It wouldn’t get you back into the agency.”
“I was thrown out for believing in aliens!” Simon grimaced. “You don’t think that the fact that I was right might not have some bearing on that?”
“You were court marshaled for disobeying orders. It wouldn’t matter if ET dropped onto the front lawn of the White House. None of it would change a thing.”
Stiffening, Simon said, “I’d thought we were closer than this, Helen.”
“I’m still your friend.” Looking down at the desk, Helen said, “And as your friend, I can only urge you to give this up. The FBI has a file on you, and they keep it in the same place they keep the files on all the other crackpots and dangerous lunatics.”
“You believe I’m a lunatic?” Simon stared at her for a moment, with a dangerous gleam in his eye.”
Helen sighed. “No. But you’ve made a good life for yourself. You’ve found success in your field.”
“I’m working for a tabloid.”
“You had success, and if you’d just give up on this, you could find it again.”
Rising slowly to his feet, Simon Hunt said, “If you won’t help me, I’ll have to find other avenues.”
Hesitating, Helen said “Don’t do anything illegal.”
Simon ignored her as he stepped out of the room.
******************************************
Glancing in the mirror, Lois saw no signs of the stress she’d been under. A hot shower had made worlds of difference, though a cold one might have been better. She’d managed to ignore her frustration by focusing on work, though it had left tense knots in the back of her neck.
It wouldn’t be as easy to ignore Clark Kent as she’d told herself it would be. He wasn’t the same man she’d met on the first night, and that should have been a relief. Seeing him as less than perfect should have cooled her desire for him, should have made it easier to not regret the termination of a relationship which had never had a chance to grow.
If she didn’t know better, she’d almost believe that Clark was actively trying to stall the investigation. It was hard to believe that he’d had the successes he’d had without having an open mind. Perhaps it was his open anxiety about being in Smallville. Since he’d arrived he’d been less confident and more negative about everything, especially those things involving the investigation.
Yet somehow, Lois was only finding herself more attracted to him as the day went on. She could see a certain vulnerability in him, flashes of pain when he thought she wasn’t looking. Whatever had happened, Clark hadn’t had a happy past in Smallville.
Lois stiffened as she heard voices. The walls here were paper thin, and the décor was hideous, looking as though it hadn’t been changed since the 1950’s. If it had been a different wall, Lois would have ignored it, but Clark had the room next to hers.
This wasn’t the sort of place to have room service or a concierge, so whoever was there had no reason to be in Clark’s room.
The sound was being carried through an ill-placed vent high on the wall. Lois frowned, then carefully stepped onto the toilet and then clambered onto the countertop, where she stood on her knees with her ear near the grill. She’d been excluded from enough conversations as a child to have no compunctions about eavesdropping. She’d made a career out of it. That this was her partner, and a man she’d had the barest beginnings of romantic feelings for didn’t matter. Lois hated closed doors.
Straining to hear at least part of the conversation, Lois grimaced. Everything was muffled, though Lois could tell that one of the speakers was a female. Clark hadn’t mentioned anyone from his past in Smallville, and this early into the investigation, she could only presume that it was someone from his past.
The counter was more slippery than Lois had realized, and as she shifted position, she found herself slipping backward. With nothing to grab for, Lois slid off the counter with one bare foot splashing squarely into the toilet.
Suppressing a desire to scream, Lois gingerly removed her foot, and toweled off quickly. She’d have time to wash her foot a few hundred times later. She slipped quickly out of her robe and into a pair of dress slacks and a blouse. Her hair was still wet, but she didn’t have time to dry it.
She’d simply have to brazen her way in to the conversation. She had enough experience that it shouldn’t be any problem to wrangle an introduction from Clark. His lady friend might have valuable information about the story. At the very least, she’d have valuable information about Clark.
Opening her door, Lois realized that the door to Clark’s room was ajar. She could hear low-pitched voices from within the room.
“Coming back here was a mistake,” the woman’s voice was flat and dead. “You should have known better.”
“It wasn’t my first choice.” Clark’s voice was equally grim. “I hate the thought of causing you or anyone else any additional pain."
“Maybe you should have thought of that ten years ago.” The woman’s voice changed, sounded pained. “How many lives did you ruin, Clark? How much pain did you cause the entire town?”
“You seem to have done well for yourself.” Clark’s voice was quiet, serious.
“I loved you Clark...I’m twenty eight years old, and I haven’t been able to trust myself with a man since you left.”
Lois could barely keep herself from gasping. What had Clark done all those years ago?
“We never had that sort of relationship, “ Clark said slowly.
“You never did.... You humiliated me, Clark, in front of the entire town. My father lost the job he loved more than anything in the world...and the Coach and his wife...every member of the team...this is a small town, Clark. When you affect one person, it affects everyone else.”
“I was wrong,” Clark said. “But I wasn’t responsible for what happened afterwards.” Clark’s voice was strained, uncertain.
“If that’s true, why have you spent the last ten years running? You don’t believe that any more than I do.” The woman was relentless. “You were just as responsible as if you’d held the knife yourself.”
“What do you want from me?” Lois heard the first hints of anger in Clark’s voice. “I can’t change what happened. You don’t know how many time’s I’ve wished I could.”
Lois strained to hear, but the silence from inside the room was deafening. It seemed to be an endless moment, one that was broken only after an interminable time.
“You don’t know how many times I wished I’d never met you.”
Clark didn’t reply. and the woman continued to speak after only a short pause.
“I want you out of town by tonight.”
Clark’s voice was equally cold. “I can’t do that, and you know it. I’ve got a job to do, and until it’s over, I’m here to stay.”
“How long do you think it’ll be before Jess's old crew find out you're here?”
“Jess is dead, and I've never been afraid of his people. I never was.”
“You always led a charmed life, didn’t you? Nobody ever saw you with as much as a scratch, no matter how many of them came after you. It’s a pity that the same couldn’t be said of your friends...of the people who loved you.”
“You’ve got a partner, though.” The woman’s voice was biting. “How long until history repeats itself? It may not matter to you; you never cared about the lives of other people...but it’s my job to keep order in this town.”
Lois peered carefully around the corner, pushing the door slightly open. She could see a red haired woman in a police uniform standing two steps too close to Clark.
Clark saw Lois just as the woman spoke again.
“I guess you aren’t anything more than people said you were...white trash from the wrong side of the tracks. The minute that I catch you so much as jaywalking, I’ll have your butt in jail.”
The woman turned and caught sight of Lois.
“You’d be smart to be more careful about who you work with. Get out of town.”
The woman didn’t wait for Lois to respond as she pushed her was past Lois, and began striding down the hall.
Lois turned to look at Clark. “Who was that woman?”
Grimacing, Clark slowly lowered himself to the bed. “That was Rachel Harris. She’s the town sheriff.”
“She doesn’t seem to like you much.” Lois kept her expression carefully neutral.
Clark sighed. “There was a time that she thought we might get married.”
