"daily planet info line." "obituaries ?" "yeah, sure. let me transfer... oh, dog obituaries." "oh, i'm sorry. we don't actually run those." "yeah, okay, you're welcome." "die !" "die !" "lois, i'm sorry. you were in for a girls' n out, and i got called in to screen news that's not fit to print." "compared to the kent farm, this is a rager." "besides, i wouldn't pass up an opportunity to watch a big-shot reporter in action." "all right, now that i'm swimming in butter, why are you really here obliterating aliens with me at 1:00 a. m. ?" "i'm racking up brownie points." "i need you to help me move out of the kents' next week." "oh, you took the apartment at the talon ?" "how are you ever gonna live without clark ?" "one word... blissfully." "how you ever had a crush on richie cunningham, i will never understand." "come on, you got to come back to smallville. it'll be fun. i'll buy pizza." "lois, you don't need to tom sawyer me." "we're family. just tell me when to be there." "daily planet info line." "i need a reporter to meet me." "who is this ?" "i want to talk to a reporter." "you have to send someone fast before he finds me... 7th and edgemont. please, you've got to hurry." "couldn't you have met her at a coffee shop ?" "i don't think she was looking for a brunch date, lois." "it sounds like she had a story someone didn't want her to tell." "i thought you were supposed to pass on any real leads to someone whose cubicle was actually above ground." "well, unless i want to stay subterranean my whole career, i've got to take a chance." "Please, help me !" "there she is." "help !" "over here !" "she's dead." ""Exposed"" "how much longer do i have you before you hightail it back to metropolis ?" "well, lana's gone for the weekend." "i lost out to a comet her class is tracking at lincoln observatory." "what about chloe or lois ?" "well, chloe's juggling classes and the daily planet, and lois... i'd do anything to get rid of lois." "i don't think that's exactly prereq for best-friend status." "no." "hold that ?" "Dad... that the best you got ?" "got another 6 inches out here." "i wasn't sure how rusty your reflexes had gotten." "senator jennings !" "i know it's been a long time, but what happened to "uncle jack" ?" "doesn't seem fit for someone who's on a first-name basis with the governor." "i don't seem to remember the governor winning a state football championship. congratulations." "thanks." "i don't suppose anybody pushed you to follow in his footsteps." "that's a lot better than spending the football games underneath the bleachers with the sheriff's daughters." "not both of them at once." "since when do you make the trek all the way out here in the middle of a campaign ?" "exactly why i came." "i needed a breather from the rat race." "besides, i can use your help rallying the farmers." "you got a lot of pull with that union." "why ?" "you always win this county by a landslide." "the race is about to get a lot tougher." "rumor has it i'm running against lex luthor." "let me get this straight... no i. d. or make on the vehicle, no i. d. on the driver, and no clue why this girl called." "well, i'd say you're off to a great start as an investigative reporter, miss sullivan." "if you remember anything else, let me know." "i think that's code for "we're gonna file this under the rug."" "this is a big city, and bad things happen." "a pretty, young girl not in college with no traceable job... in that part of town. it's not a mystery what happened down there." "you don't think it's strange that an alleged streetwalker was wearing $500 jimmy choo shoes ?" "look, detective sawyer, this girl died trying to tell me her story." "now, i'm sorry i'm not street-hardened, but she's way more than a statistic to me." "we have to find out who did this." "i applaud your spirit, girls, but you should know that most of those streets turn out to be dead ends." "now, i will do my job." "you do yours." "hopefully you'll have more luck than officer stalin." "yeah, i ran the number that melissa girl called from." "it was from a pay phone right near where we saw her." "but the only addresses within 10 blocks of the place was a bunch of warehouses and a club called the windgate." "i'm guessing she didn't get all glammed up to count inventory." "so your dad outran four cop cars and pissed off half the chicken farmers in chickasaw county." "it's only because you said that you knew a shortcut." "see, these aren't the sides of the story that i hear." "you got any more of these ?" "they'll come in very useful next time i'm in for a lecture." "no, i don't think... don't you say anything else. just a second !" "maggie sawyer..." "metropolis p. d." " hi." " may i come in ?" "uh, yeah, sure. come on in." "thank you." "senator." "campaign headquarters said i could find you here." "what can i do for you ?" "a young woman was killed last night... hit-and-run." "we went through her apartment, and we found this." "now, i i don't have enough evidence to bring you in for questioning, but i would certainly appreciate an explanation." "so would i." "i've never seen her before." "well, that must have been tricky while she was cuddled up on your lap." "with all due respect, senator, pictures don't lie." "hang on just a minute. this day and age, they most certainly do." "uh... this picture's a fake." "it doesn't matter. the minute it hits the press, the damage is done." "this could ruin me." "so it looks like the mudslinging's already started." "dad, do you really think lex would go this far ?" "you know lex luthor better than anybody." "he's not gonna enter a race unless he's sure he's gonna win it." "is it true, lex ?" "you know, after you've been m. i. a. for weeks, i don't think a hello is too much to ask for." "how long you been planning to run for state senate ?" "several months now, and if you're implying i should have told you, you might want to rethink the barrier you've drawn on this friendship." "i can't believe you'd destroy someone just to win a race." "there's a reason they call it a race, not a political potluck." "but if you think i had something to do with this... lex, your competition was linked to the murder of a young girl just before you announced your candidacy." "that's a bit of a coincidence, isn't it ?" "you honestly don't recognize that picture ?" "the only thing i recognize is the booth." "it's the windgate gentlemen's club in metropolis... not a smart stop-off for an incumbent on the campaign trail." "look, i know this guy, and if you're not trying to set him up, somebody is." "maybe it's somebody at this club." "clark, there's a reason that club's so underground." "all right, the city doesn't exactly give licenses for some of the things that go on there." "are you sure you want to get involved in this ?" "jack's like an uncle to me." "and in case you've forgotten, that's what friends do for each other." "look, if you're serious about getting through that front door... you're gonna need a little more than your driver's license." "do me a favor." "stay out of trouble." "i guess even mapquest has its limitations." "how do you get in this place, through a manhole cover ?" "or a big neon door." "i'd say the armani suit's a dead giveaway." " hi !" " hello !" "sorry, girls." "oh, come on, our friend's already in there." "yeah, it's her only night in town, and i'd promised i'd take her to the hottest address." "Please... it's a private club, so i'm afraid this is as much of the place as you're going to see." "you have a run." "this makes my halloween heidi dirndl costume look tame." "so, you think that melissa girl was a dancer here ?" "i don't know." "jimmy choos are a long way from angel wings and fishnets." "excuse me." "hi." "uh, do you guys know anything about a woman named melissa page ?" "people won't talk, but records definitely will." "if she worked here, she'll be on file." "man: joe, david !" "in my office." "are you ladies lost ?" "um, we were just looking for, uh... don't be shy." "she's here to dance." "are you the replacement rocco sent over ?" "yeah, uh, he really hated to see her go." "take your clothes off." "let's see what you got." "i knocked. i guess you didn't hear." "no, i heard you." "i'm here to see senator jennings." "lex, if you want to sling some mud, i strongly recommend you do it in somebody else's house." "don't worry. i'm not holding my breath for your vote." "i've never liked you all that much, lex, but even i'm surprised by the depths you're willing to sink to." "and i'm sure you have such a good view of it all from your pulpit." "holier-than-thou is an easy fallback, mr. kent. it keeps you from really looking at the people around you." "i've known jack for over 25 years. i never had a more trustworthy or loyal friend." "this state needs somebody like him, somebody who's willing to stand by their word, somebody who's willing to do what's right for everybody, not just for himself... somebody who's willing to go up against people like you." "well, if you know him so well, maybe you should ask your good ol' boy to explain this to you." "after clark's visit, i decided to look into the senator's unfortunate snapshot myself." "it's his cellphone record." "he seems to be calling his dead stripper friend a little more than frequently." "when are you releasing this ?" "i'm not." "but if i found it, you know the press won't be far behind." "i thought he'd like a heads up." "lois, are you almost done ?" "you didn't have that much to put on." "you know, remind me when all this is over to never ever ask a favor of you again." "this isn't about me. this is about getting to the truth." "yeah, well, the last girl that knew the truth ended up as a hood ornament on someone's car." "howdy." "you know, my friend's really excited about working here, but i think it's kind of dangerous, especially after that girl was killed and everything." "how can i explain this to you ?" "don't talk to me." "don't talk to any of us." "well ?" "what do you think ?" "all i can say is... god bless america." "good evening." "first time at the windgate." "uh, lex luthor referred me." "will mr. luthor be joining you this evening ?" "no, i'll, uh... i'm meeting jack jennings." "the senator ?" "let me show you his usual table." "uh, on second thought... no, no, no, no, no. thinking ... bad. dancing... good." "just ask mr. shoot first, think later over there." "now, i need you to dig deep down and find your inner demi moore." " okay ?" " yeah." "you better at least use this distraction to find something about melissa." "here you go. thank you." "you're welcome. have a good evening." "hey, handsome. what can i get for you ?" "i'll have a coke  s-straight up on the rocks." "man: gentlemen, let's give carolyn a nice au revoir." "and now in her first windgate appearance, welcome to the stage, all-american girl amber waves !" "bravo !" "bravo !" "i'd salute to that any time." "let's give it up for our own red-blooded recruit." "now let's give a good homegrown welcome... to dixie !" " what are you doing here ?" " what are you doing here ?" "it's chloe's fault. we're following a murder story." "yes, well, that makes two of us, but i think i'll stick to my method." "No." "you're gonna get me fired if you keep looking at me like i'm..." "Jabba The Hut." "what do you want me to do ?" "oh, uh... i don't know." "give me a 20 and look me over." "Hu..." "Hu... bravo !" "that new girl... who is she ?" "i want her." "i don't know. she's new. for 500k, you know i don't ask any questions of my girls." "and for that much, you better not answer any, either." "everybody freeze !" "metropolis p. d. !" "everybody take it easy !" "we have a report of minors working and being served in this establishment." "we will be interviewing you individually. please have your i. d. s ready." "what ?" "you want to stick around and get arrested ?" "come." "the really wrong time and the really wrong place, kid." "you're under arrest." "What this is about ?" "we have an anonymous tip that a car involved in a hit-and-run last night was seen leaving your establishment." "you can't just arrest everybody." "the city's looked the other way because your clientele can pull a lot of strings. now i've got a dead 19-year-old on my hands." "i got to go by the book." "okay, people. listen up !" "I know this is 5:00 to the morning... your cooperation would be greatly appreciated." "thank you." " clark ?" " chloe." "where's lois ?" "i don't know. clark, what are you doing here ?" "clark !" "Just what you want to know, maybe i can help you." "you're the bouncer. you know everything that goes on in this place." " cut me a deal." " tell me about jennings." "he was drunk. i took him home. he had nothing to do with the girl. he's innocent." "wow, these are, um... they're heavier than they look." "they're way better than the heels. trust me." "so, you guys must have been pretty close with melissa." "uh, sorry. okay. premature segue." "but, come on. we're obviously on the same side here. i just want to know what happened to her." "it's a tragedy is what it is." "she finally gets her shot at prince charming, and wham bye-bye, ivory tower." "are you talking about the senator ?" "no way. the only thing he did wrong was fall for her." "there's this suave guy, kind of euro-looking." "now, what did he want with melissa ?" "every few months he picks some lucky girl and takes her out of this dump." "probably to some tropical island somewhere." "you know why they invented fairy tales ?" "it's because no one wants to face reality." "all we know is that the girls disappear, and then no one ever sees them again." "somebody should have warned your friend about that." "lois ?" "yeah, i saw her leave with him during the raid." "sullivan... let's go." "let's go. you can thank lex luthor for some very generous phone calls." "detective sawyer, i think the guy that killed melissa page has my cousin." "the guy made some deal with the club owner before she vanished." "you know this guy's name ?" "okay, so let me see if i'm understanding you." "your cousin, who i'm assuming is underage, was stripping and making deals with wealthy patrons, managed to escape a police raid..." " it's not like that." " she was just helping me to investigate." "investigate ?" "okay.." "uthor may have pulled a- get-out-of-jail-free card for you this time, but it will not happen again." "if you want to play nancy drew and hardy boy, do it in someone else's precinct." "look, if i don't change my stance just because some poll tells me to, i am certainly not going to because some journalist hears a rumor, okay, jordan ?" "goodbye." "you just could not resist, could you ?" "you still have a nasty habit of leaving your keys in the ignition." "get in." "with you at the wheel ?" "i guess it wouldn't be the first time i put my life in your hands." "what ?" "damn thing's been stuck ever since i bought it." "try that with a 4-cylinder." "so what's the real reason for the joyride ?" "when were you gonna tell me about the girl, jack ?" "what, you think i had something to do with what happened ?" "i have no idea, but i do think it's time you gave me some straight answers, don't you ?" "look, i didn't want you to be involved." "there's only so much you should ask of a friend." "oh, so, instead, you lie to my face... well, what do you want me to say ?" "that my marriage is more of a business arrangement, and the only person who makes me happy is some dancer half my age ?" "how much of that would you have really understood ?" "i might not understand any of it, jack." "but, come on, all of our lives have taken turns that we didn't expect." "you've never had a lie get out of hand... or you've never been caught at it." "i've never been in a position where people look up to me." "you are clark's hero." "so i'm not supposed to have any faults, huh ?" "who can live up to that ?" "you know why there's no heroes today... it's because at the end of the day, people don't respect them ... they envy them. and they're just waiting for them to screw up." "what are you gonna do, jack ?" "what do you want me to do ?" "i'm a good senator." "you want to give that kind of power to somebody like lex luthor ?" "i might not agree with lex luthor's politics, jack, but at least i know who he is." "nice place you got." "thank you." "well, thanks for helping me out back there." "my pleasure." "i think i have something a little more your size." "i won't peek... i promise." "melissa." "man: you want me to help you tie it ?" "oh, oh, no. that's fine, um... almost got it." "wow." "what you doing there ?" "it looks so much better on you than any of the others." "you are going to make them very jealous." "you know, i think i'm just gonna call a cab." "think of your taxi days as a thing of the past." "you have a whole new life ahead of you now." "i don't know what kind of kink you're into, but.." "...you are seriously behind on your gloria steinem !" "so the owner of the windgate is selling his strippers to the highest bidder ?" "it's kansas. it's definitely not smallville." "500 grand for a massage with benefits seems like a lot." "do you know anything else ?" "just the bouncer told detective sawyer that the guy was the son of some foreign diplomat." "then he'd have diplomatic plates." "see, while you were inside checking out the entertainment, i was in the parking lot taking shots of the license plates of all the cars." " here we go." " okay, check that one." "that's the u. n. tower." "lois ?" "!" "chloe sullivan." "he's got lois." "any psychic guesses on this guy's computer password ?" "god, don't even try... he's probably got like a zillion layers of security on it." "yeah, but it's still warm." "they must've just left." "the printer's still on." "try pressing "print" again." "chloe, it's a fake passport for lois." "you think they're gonna try to smuggle her out of the country ?" "even if he does, i doubt he'll take her through an airport." "clark, there's a helipad on the roof." "we're stuck on something !" "hey, 007... nice of you to show up." "i'll start assuming that means thank you ?" "looks like it got caught on the cable." "this scumbag was about to air-cargo me to the honeymoon suite at the "gropacabana."" "i'm glad you're all right." "now, if you will release him, i'm afraid mr. lyon is free to go." "what ?" "you can't just let him walk away." "diplomatic immunity." "as a consulate guest in our country, mr. lyon can't be arrested or tried for any crime he commits on our soil... even murder." "i'm sorry. i can't touch him." "well, i can." "some people live above the rules. guess what ?" "that's life in metropolis." "you want justice, i suggest you stay a little closer to home." ""Looking to the future."" "we'll finish this later." "i just wanant to say thank you." "you know, when i asked you to stay out of trouble, i kind of thought that might include, uh, being caught underage at a strip club using my membership while i'm gearing up for a political campaign." "i didn't mean to drag you into this." "come on, clark. who are you kidding ?" "you had me masterminding this whole jennings plot before you walked through those doors." "i didn't think he was lying to me." "but you assumed i would." "i can't believe that i looked up to jack." "tell me what you remember about king david." "humor me." "king david... slew goliath, saved his people." "and afterward, he saw a beautiful woman bathing and fell madly in love." "the problem was, she turned out to be his best friend's wife." "so you know what our great hero did ?" "he sent his best friend off to die in battle so he could have her to himself." "kind of leave that part out, don't they ?" "we all need to believe in heroes, clark, and even the best ones are far from perfect." "surprised to see your car out front." "i thought you'd be gone now that you're clear of murder." "i've been mulling over some pretty tough decisions." "this seemed like a good place to get my bearings again." "have you talked to my dad yet ?" "i'd say he did most of the talking." "after 20 years, the man's still got a hell of a knack for the guilt trip, doesn't he ?" "usually works 'cause he's right." "your father's always had some pretty high expectations of the people around him." "he's the one man i never wanted to disappoint." "you should try being his son." "the thing i always try to remember is, no matter how much he lays on... he never expects more than he expects of himself." "you think your dad will ever forgive me ?" "yeah. i've given him a lot of trial runs in the forgiveness arena." "i know my dad's friendship means a lot to you." "but there's a lot of other people out there who look up to you." "i guess you can only pull off the disguise of being superhuman for so long, huh ?" "what are you gonna do ?" "i've called a press conference." "i'm pulling out of the race." "going back to the city, facing all those reporters takes a lot of guts." "after facing you, live feeds and blood-thirsty journalists are a walk in the park." "look, if a couple of rough days destroys over 25 years of friendship, then i guess we weren't as good of friends as i thought we were." "jack, if you're pulling out of this race because your old buddy can't seem to climb off of his pulpit, that's not what i want. all i... really ask is that you be honest." "i'm pulling out of the race because i'm no longer the best man for the job." "are you sure ?" "if you want to hang in there and fight, i'll be right behind you 100%." "i know." "but all those things you said about me being loyal and trustworthy and willing to take on the luthors of the world... i might have been that man once, but i have to step aside when i see somebody who still embodies all those qualities." "jack, you can't seriously be talking about lex luthor." "i'm talking about you, jon." "kansas could use a senator like you." "you should think about it." "hey, smallville." "your personal space is about to be reinstated." "what are you doing ?" "you just moved back in." "well, now that lana's living with chloe, i'm taking the place." "you don't have a key to the apartment, do you ?" "you know, now that you two have been doing the sideways rumba." "no, we, uh... good, because i wouldn't want any surprise midnight visits." "is there anything i can do to make this move faster... maybe pack your three closets of clothing, burn your luffa sponge, take your whitesnake collection to goodwill ?" "you can take this." "Come on Smallville, move it." "you know, this is weird. i spent so much time up here with lana." "clark, it's not like i'm taking her place, just her subletting." "okay, before i start any of the real heavy lifting, you have to indulge me for just a moment in my first daily planet by-line." "it's not exactly the torch, clark... page 73." "at the bottom." ""Diplomat's son arrested by Interpol in Europe."" " congratulations." " congratulations." "thanks. well, you deserve half the credit." "i'd still be playing point guard at the pet-obituary hotline if it weren't for you two." "oh, it says here interpol was able to arrest him due to an anonymous tip." "about that heavy lifting... uh-huh." "clark ?" "look, i'm not great at this, so just keep your mouth shut and listen up." "even though i was kicking butt on the helicopter, it was really nice to have backup." "and you didn't have to come after me, but you always do." "so i wanted to say thank you." "you're a really good friend." "oh, and, uh, about the lap dance... if you decide to tell anybody about it, your elmer fudd night-light will make a very public appearance." "aye-aye... sailor."