“Sorry Mr. Kent, you just missed her. Lex Luthor came by a few hours ago and signed the discharge papers.” the nurse explained.
Clark prided himself on staying calm in most situations, but with the thought of Lana with another monster after he’d saved her from one had him on the brink of losing his mind. Think, where would he have taken her? Clark raked his mind and started compiling a list of places to inspect as Chloe walked in.
“Clark, how’s Lana? Can I go in and see her?” Chloe asked, hopeful to hear about her friend’s recovery, before she quickly caught the uncharacteristically panicked look on Clark’s face. “What is it?”
“Lex has her. Chloe, she was here one minute and now, -” Clark started to ramble.
“Hey. Hey. We will find her. Do you have any idea of where he would have taken her?” Chloe asked.
Clark shook his head - Lex had property from Kansas to Shanghai. Finding Lana would be like finding a needle in a haystack. “Let’s start with the mansion” Clark declared a moment before he superspeeded to the mansion. Clark quickly scanned all the floors and was frustrated to find that there was no sign of Lana.
Clark spent the next few hours scouring every inch of Smallville, and eventually returned to the hospital to find Chloe speaking with some police officers. At the sight of a disheveled Clark, Chloe bid farewell to the officers and headed to Clark.
“Anything?” Chloe asked. Clark shook his head and grasped onto whatever calm he had left, trying to think logically. “Chloe, any idea on how we can get leads on where they are?” Clark asked.
“The officers shared that Lex left in a rare car model - one that should be registered to very few people. We can try tracking the license plates.” Chloe suggested. Clark nodded and met her at the Daily Planet.
Lois was typing away when the two stumbled in. “What’s wrong with him?” Lois asked Chloe at the sight of a less-than-put together Clark Kent. Not something you see every day. “It’s Lana.” Of course it is.
“She’s missing-” “Taken” Clark snapped to interrupt Chloe before catching himself and shooting an apologetic look to Chloe. Chloe sighed and nodded - she was used to Clark being overly emotional about practically all things Lana, probably more than Lana herself, who Clark tried to always keep his cool in front of.
Chloe started to pull up the car registration records when Clark’s phone started ringing. Clark answered the phone, and heard Kara on the other line “Clark, when are you coming home? Lana’s here and it seems like Braniac’s hold on her is gone, but she seems a little out of it.” Before Kara finished her sentence, she felt a blur move past her to the direction of the stairs.
Kara headed up to Clark’s room to find Clark’s arms wrapped around Lana as they sat on the floor, leaning against the foot of their bed. Lana looked more at ease than she had been minutes before. Kara smiled in relief and left the two to themselves. They’ll get through it, they always do, Kara thought confidently and she happily made herself a much-deserved peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
