Title: Travels
Author: AFT84
Summary: The death of his father sent Clark on a journey of adventure across the world. After 6 years events in Gotham City bring him home. Xover w/Batman. Clois. Sequel to my story "Aftermath" You'll want to read that story if you want some background as to what happened to send Clark away.
Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville, The WB or DC comics because if I did then I wouldn't have to make up this story for fun!
AN: Hello again to all my adoring fans. I have the writing bug right now and I couldn't wait to start this sequel so here it goes!
Lois was laughing, turning bright red in the face. "Cut it out Lois!" Clark shouted at her. Lois squirted Clark in the face again with her super soaker. "Oh thats it missy, you're dead!" She shrieked with laughter as Clark tackled her and pinned her to the ground. With her free hand she managed to squirt him again...
Thunder rumbled overhead as the sound of a steady downpour slapped the ground outside. Clark's eyes snapped open as he felt the wet sensation on his face. "Not again." he groaned. His tent had another leak in it. 'And it wakes me up in the middle of a good dream!' Clark turned his portable lantern on and rummaged through his very torn and beat up back-pack till he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a faded and torn picture of Lois Lane and ran his fingers across her cheek. Had it really been six years since that day in his loft? He looked at his watch, which had a date on it. Today was the six year anniversary of the day he left home. Clark put the photo away and walked into the humid air outside. 'Six years since I've seen any of them. They must have whole new lives by now.' He looked up as the rain clouds temporarily broke apart to reveal the moon. 'So do you Clark.' He looked up at the moon and smiled.
Lois couldn't sleep again. She climbed out of bed and tip-toed in her pink bunny slippers past her sleeping cousin's room and out onto the balcony of her apartment. The night lights of Metropolis lay out like a blanket of stars on the ground before her. It was a warm summer night and the humid air and sounds of the city enveloped her. She took a deep breath and coughed. 'City air.' She looked up at the sky and saw the moon shining brilliantly in the sky. She had never really appreciated the beauty of the night sky until he had left her. She smiled as she remembered the hunky dark-haired farm boy who'd she had fallen for without realizing she was falling. She remembered what the stars looked like from the farm in Smallville. In the city you couldn't see all but the brightest stars. 'Where are you Clark?' Lois looked up at the moon and wondered if Clark was looking at it right now too.
"Mr. Luthor! Mr. Luthor! May we have a comment please sir? Mr. Luthor over here sir!" Lex walked out of the courthouse and through the sea of media that lay between him and his limo. He smirked as he entered the crowd and their frenzy grew, much like what would happen when some chum was thrown into a group of sharks. His smirk grew. 'I'm not the chum you bastards I'm the shark.'
"Mr. Luthor has no comment at this time. He will release a statement on the subject of the verdict later today." Anthony, Lex's aide was shouting at the mongrels as Lex stalked through them. Lex opened the Limo door and decided to give the bastards one last thrill. He turned around, put a huge smile on and waved before climbing into his limo.
Chloe stormed into Lois' room. "Wake up cuz! We need to get down to the Planet ASAP! Perry just called an emergency meeting. Apparently Lex was acquitted in a surprise move by the jury." Lois opened some bleary eyes.
"Thats not a surprise. Wake me when there's some REAL news." Chloe ripped the covers off her cousin.
"You can tell that to Perry. In person." Lois dragged herself out of bed and had to smile. Only her petite blonde cousin could get away with waking her in such a fashion. Lois ran to the bathroom and quickly got ready for work. Chloe and Lois had been roomates all four years at Met U. To no ones surprise Chloe had majored in Journalism. Lois had picked English on a dare and somehow landed a job with Chloe at the Daily Planet two years ago. Together they quickly gained a reputation as a pair of reporters who could get the story. Though technically they worked alone, more often than not they helped each other land the big stories. Lois knew Chloe agreed that Lex Luthor being found not guilty AGAIN was not big news. Though it wasn't well known to the public Lois and Chloe both knew that the man practically owned Metropolis and was its most beloved son... for the most part anyways. There was the occasion every so often where Lex was implicated in a murder or a disappearance, or an attempt to bribe an official or in the particular case in conspiracy to traffic and sell drugs but he never was found guilty. In fact most of the time whatever evidence led to the trial would vanish, witnesses would change their statements and Lex would walk out of the courtroom even more squeaky clean than when he left it. Chloe had taken how far Lex had fallen pretty badly, every so often commenting on how glad she was Clark wasn't around to see it. Chloe and Lois both knew that Lex was behind all the allegations but he had inherited his father's ability to get away with it. They were also both smart enough to leave that story alone until they were sure they could bring him down and not get killed trying. Instead they had made it their mission to bring in the big stories about different parts of Lexcorps operation that the public didn't know about. Mainly things like drug running and arms dealing, occasionally bringing down a crime boss and often getting death threats. Lois and Chloe also knew they were fighting a losing battle. Lex Luthor had taken over Metropolis and they were sure he had connections to the crime bosses that seemed to be controlling the city. In short the city was falling to the criminals.
"Ready to go yet!" Chloe shouted.
"Ready!" Lois grabbed her keys off the counter and was half way out the door when Chloe shouted.
"Are you wearing a shirt today or just that nice bra?" Lois sprinted back into her room, leaving Chloe in stiches.
"Yes Barrett the situation has been resolved. Yes you will be paid for the services that you provided for me. In the same way as always. Barrett. I need you to watch over the city while I'm away. I have an upcoming business trip to Gotham." Lex chuckled. "Yes. Business of both kinds actually. Well I hope Wayne will not prove to be as tough a cookie as he is made out to be." Lex hung up the phone.
"Everything ok boss."
"Yes Anthony. Make sure Mr. Barrett gets his money. Driver take me to the airport please. Anthony call and make sure my luggage is already on the plane when I arrive."
"Yes sir Mr. Luthor." Lex smiled and looked out the window at his city. 'Father never DREAMED of power like this.'
"Where the HELL have you two been!" Perry White shouted. The big man was perspiring, never a good sign.
"We came as fast as we could boss. It IS our vacation right now. You know you should be happy we even agreed to stay in the city for it!" Lois talked back. Chloe shot her a look saying 'not now.' Perry stopped and stared at Lois for a second and then went back to his tirade.
"Well this is the deal we're issuing a special edition. Lois I need you to get crackin' on an overview of the trial. Its gonna be the main headline on the front page." Lois gave him a salute.
"Yes sir DRILL SERGEANT!" She walked off to her desk to get started.
"Sullivan! I know its not your job but I need you to revise this article I just received from a freelance working in Columbia. Its great news. I swear if this kid ever comes here I beg to give him a job. Revise it and bring it down to the printing room and then help you cousin out. Then you two can go home and I promise I won't bother you for the rest of your vacation!"
"Ok Chief, but you'd better make good on that promise or I'll slip a mention of aliens in my next front page article." Perry just looked perturbed, he threw the article she needed to revise at her and took off.
"Smith what the HELL are you doing!" Chloe just sighed and smiled. She looked down at the article and her smile grew. 'Ahh another Clark Kent article. What is Clark doing in Columbia? He was in the Balkans a month ago!' Chloe walked off to get her work done. She did NOT want to spend the whole day here.
Bullets flew past Clark's head as the three masked men shouted obscenities at him in Spanish. Clark picked up a rock and threw at one's head, knocking him out cold. He sprinted at the other two and was on top of them before they knew what had happened. In one swift move he punched both of them hard in the head and they dropped to the ground. Clark took a quick look at the lavish mansion that seeming grew out of the Columbian jungle before sprinting to a door and ripping it off.
In another part of the mansion Raul Salvatore, better known as the last of the three kings of coke, slid a book shelf in front of his office door. From all over the mansion he could hear shouts and gunshots and then more shouts of pain before he heard silence. He hid behind his desk. Suddenly the door exploded open and a tall man walked in. Raul couldn't see his face because he was wearing a black mask. He stood and opened fire on the man but the bullets just fell away as though they were hitting a steel plate. "Usted es el Diablo!" he shouted.
Clark raised his finger and waved it back and forth, telling the man. "No no." Clark almost felt pity for the man as he emptied the clip into him and then promptly wet himself before falling to the floor in front of him begging. Clark just smiled and picked the drug lord up over his shoulder. "You be a good boy now." Clark said to him after he had hung him upside down from a giant statue of himself. Clark reached in his back pocket and pulled out a small notebook. He put a check next to the entry "Clean up the drug problem in Columbia." He waved goodbye to the terrified drug lord as he walked quietly and quickly back into the jungle. He smiled, the CIA troops he tipped off would be arriving on the mansion very soon to clean up his mess. Clark made his way back to his camp, which was in a small jungle clearing on the side of a mountain. He had already sent off his article on the men known as the "three kings of coke" to the Daily Planet this morning. Clark pulled a digital camera out of his back pack and took a picture of the jungle and the mountain top, rising from nowhere out of the clouds. 'Mom will never believe where I've been the past few years.' Clark packed him camp up. For the first time since he could remember he didn't have another destination planned. He had spent the past years cleaning up various hot spots around the world and Columbia had been the last major one. He pulled out a world map and looked at it. 'Where would you go if you could go anywhere?' Clark smiled. He decided to head for Paraguay, a city only a short flight away, and figure out his next move.