It's only the beginning.
Smallville. It was a small town. Only one strip of town that contained everything the town could barely exist with. A coffee shop, which was nothing, compared to what her blood was used to. A movie theatre attached to the back of the coffee shop, as if they couldn't find room in the fields of corn to make two buildings. Only two clothing stores, one fancy restaurant, which wouldn't compare to a McDonald's in Metropolis. And a small hole in the wall that was their newspaper headquarters.
She walked briskly across the street, completely unafraid of being run over by a cow or whatever they used as transportation in this dead end part of the world. She stopped in front of the door. His picture, smiling at her, mocked her. She could hear his voice clearly "Why did you let me walk away? Look what happened to me without you."
She cursed under her breath and hoped that her bloodshot eyes, wrinkled dress shirt, and sh*tty attitude wouldn't get another door closed in her face. She'd come to this hole as a last resort. The Daily Planet had fired her because she was obsessed with a missing kid story that wasn't selling even toilet paper. And if the Daily Planet didn't want her then any other newspaper business didn't want her either.
She opened the door and tried not to look into the picture's eyes. She would no doubt cry once again. She walked into the small office space which consisted of only three desks, a handful of filing cabinets and very little else.
"Excuse me, can I help you?" A teenage boy walked up to her and she huffed.
"My name is Lois Lane and I'm here to talk to your boss," Lois said, holding her hips and wearing a small smug smile.
*******
Lex stared out his window, his shirt was wrinkled and he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten more than thirty minutes of sleep. He was doing everything he could but money could only do so much. He had every private investigator he could hire out searching. And it was useless so far.
Humanite Industries had closed down. The building was deserted. No one other than the Luthors had the money to buy the property and that property wasn't worth the billions. The lower levels of the building had been hollowed out with some explosions. The building was going to run them twice as much to repair it and put it to some good use. His father didn't find it as a good waste of money.
He rubbed his forehead in frustration. Oliver wasn't having much luck either. The fact that Clark was taken right from his home and everything that followed. They felt helpless when they'd always been able to help Clark. Clark had the abilities and he had the money.
Five months and still no word on Clark.
*******
Oliver stood on top of Humanite Industries. His leather wrapped around him like a second skin, the only skin he'd come to feel comfortable in. Lex had his money and so did Oliver but he was putting his to use instead of hiring detectives who were as useless as the rest of Clark's search team. But Oliver had his own approach and unfortunately he was having luck as the rest of them.
He looked around, hoping for one of the teens that was seen around as 'interns'. Tex had many interns and none of them were told as being nice. And then he'd found out about Dinah. She'd been seen with Tex a few times and it made his blood boil. She had been apart of it all. She had gotten to him so he could pave the way to Clark.
He hated himself.
His hand clenched on his bow.
They had known someone was after him.
He pulled the string back.
Oliver had brought her into their fold. Given her access to all the information she sought and he'd been clueless and a fool.
He notched the arrow.
He'd fallen in love with a lie. He was the reason Clark was missing and at the hands of some lunatic.
His finger twitched and the arrow launched across the city.
He stood to his full height and attached the titanium cord to a stable surface. He strapped his bow to the cord and without fear, he leapt from the rooftop. His bow sparked against the cord as he flew atop the city unto the next rooftop. As his feet slammed into the top of the next building, he was even more determined to find Clark and right the mistakes he'd walked into.
"Don't worry Clark, I'll find you," Oliver promised the sky once more. His heart screamed for it to not be another empty one.
*******
"Lana?" Chloe called out.
The apartment was dark and silent. In the past five months, Lana had moved into the apartment above the Talon. It was easier for her to be closer to the newspaper office, which acted as the headquarters for Clark's search group. Lana had been there every day since he was announced missing.
Chloe had been running back and forth with Lana and Lex. Pete hadn't left her side in either obligation. But lately, she'd been torn. Both Lana and Lex were turning for the worse with every detail they didn't get with Clark. Lex was barely sleeping, or eating. And Lana was…heartbroken.
Chloe felt for her best friend. She had opened herself up to Clark and then suddenly he's kidnapped. She finally had found a decent guy after all the jerks she dated. Now it was five months later and Lana wasn't giving up. And because Lana wouldn't, neither could she. She was all Lana had right now.
Nell had to go away for business and that was the only way Lana had been allowed to move above the Talon. Lana had been upset when her aunt had to leave but then she had dived into Clark's search. She had to admire her friend. When she fell for someone, truly fell…she was all in.
But with her admiration for Lana, she also felt sorry. It was five months and nothing. No hair, no boot print, nothing. She felt sorry because Lana was going to get her heart broken and the two of them had only been on one date. And if Lana's heart was broken one more time, she didn't know if her best friend could survive that.
*******
It was cold and damp. Bart didn't understand why a billionaire like Bruce Wayne would like hanging out in a cave.
"I don't like it when you try and sneak up on me," Bruce said.
Bart watched as Bruce typed away at his computer, "Well it's safe to know that no one is going to catch you off guard. Least all that money isn't going to waste."
"You talk too much," Bruce said, never turning his eyes away from the screen.
Bart noticed what Bruce was so focused on. He rarely saw anything else that Bruce was ever so focused on, unless it was something going on in Gotham that required a man dressed in tight leather, a cape, and pointy ears. Bart thought the outfit was over the top. But then again he ran around in red and yellow.
"Any change on boy wonder?" Bart asked, looking to the figure floating in the crystal tube. A long scar ran down his chest, and was painfully striking against his chest and abs. Those rather horrid mad scientists had done a great job hacking and stabbing on the boy.
"None. I can't figure out how to remove the device without stopping his heart. And with his healing ability, I can't keep him sliced open long enough to get to it," Bruce said with frustration.
"Is that why he's still out?" Bart asked.
"I don't know. Make a slice and he heals right up. Use a sonic pulse, he stays injured and I can get to the device, but can't remove it without killing him. He won't heal fast enough and I can't find a way to save him," Bruce was on another tangent.
Bart sighed. They saved Clark five months ago. The boy was still in a coma with a sonic pacemaker attached to his heart. They knew that everyone was looking for him but Clark hadn't woken up and if they pointed out that 'hey, we have this god-like being in this healing tube, he's in a coma, and yeah, here, have him.'
Bart knew from first hand experience. They would take him and cut him apart, trying to figure out what made him special. And if that didn't kill him, they would turn him into a weapon. They would steal away his soul, if boy wonder hadn't already lost it.
He and Bruce were the only hope Clark Kent had. It was the only hope that Clark wouldn't be used for evil intentions and Bart was worried. That lifeless body floating in that tank had the ability to skin both him and Bruce alive without even blinking. He just hoped that they wouldn't have to turn that pacemaker against him.
Bart walked up to the glass and stared at him. He couldn't imagine how he would be if he were in that position. Would he be aware? Would he know what had happened? Would he be in a rage? He knew that Bruce would be one to lash out. And he knew that Clark would be deadly if he lashed out in rage.
Two brilliant blue eyes suddenly were staring at him and he jumped. Clark Kent just opened his eyes and that blue turned a violent red.