Chapter 3 The Calm

Title: The Change

Author: peepsRfun2eat now

A/N: I know WTF? I've updated and I am committed to finishing this story. Funny story I was on my way to the forum when I went away to school, left school, traveled and my mother got sick. Seriously though I have thought about this story for the past few years quite a bit and have most of it written I however need a fantastic beta.

Chapter 3:

Looking down at the resume Bruce lifted his eyebrow; Gabe had learned over the past month working with him that it meant that he was impressed by something.

"Who is this?"

"It is a Dr. Jason Woodrue."

"He wants to work in South America?"

"Yes, and he would also be bringing his assistant."

"Who would that be?"

Gabe picked up the file and looked through it.

"A Ms.Pamela Isley."

"What are they studying?" asked Bruce.

"How to save the environment in an industrial world," said Gabe.

"That's it?"

"Well that's the gist of their proposal."

"Well they shouldn't really be any problem. Should we give them the grant?"

"It would look like Wayne Enterprises does care about the environment and could be used if something ever arose concerning Wayne Enterprises and the environment."

"Good point, lets just hope we're never in that type of situation."

There was something else he wanted to ask but he couldn't quite remember.

"Wait Gabe who recommended him?" asked Bruce.

"Mr. Lionel Luthor."

"Of Luthor Corp.?"

"Is there any other?"

"Does that seem a little strange to you? Lionel is a slimy bastard who is currently incarcerated."

"I just assume Lionel has a lot of time on his hands now, so he has to do something. However that's not what is strange to me, what is strange to me is how similar Dr. Woodrue and Mr. Luthor look."

"Can I see it dad?" asked Chloe.

Chloe walked in to hear her father and Mr. Wayne discussing some of Wayne Enterprises new employees or charitable opportunities. After the incident with Lex in July an understanding came over Gabe and decided to get Chloe a psychologist. First Moira left, then the move and all that was Smallville happened her first three years in high school and they had not really talked about any of it.

After her appointment on Wednesdays, with a Dr. Quinn, Chloe would check in with him at four o'clock at the Wayne Enterprises building in downtown Gotham. Then they would go out to dinner together.

Gabe looked at his daughter who in the past weeks he had finally started to truly see as a strong woman and regretted never being as part in his daughter's life. Gabe gestured to Bruce asking permission for Chloe to see the file. The billionaire shrugged his shoulders and Gabe nodded to Chloe.

Chloe walked over and looked at the file, the guy sure did look like Lionel Luthor, if he was younger and had glasses.

"Well I shouldn't hold it against the good doctor for looking like a man I despise. Besides it's not like this Dr. Woodrue is a mad scientist or anything."

Bruce chuckled and Gabe smiled weakly, thinking over the more interesting stories that Chloe had been telling him recently. Turns out that being held hostage is small potatoes in Smallville.

'God what a mimbo,' thought Chloe. Having had experiences watching the residents of small town Smallville become freaks that had tried to kill her or someone she knew on a weekly basis, instead just stood there and hoped that would come back to bite him in his ass. Not to be vindictive or anything just so Mr. Wayne would learn his lesson.

Chloe then sat around for the next hour listening as the two men debated over certain employees.

"Chloe?"

Chloe looked up to see Gabe talking to her.

"Huh? Yeah Dad?" she said.

"I said we can get going."

The Sullivan's started gathering their stuff and were about to say good-bye to Bruce and walk out of the office when an older man and Alfred walked into the room.

"Gabe," said the man.

"Mr. Fox, this is my daughter Chloe," said Gabe. "Chloe this is Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises."

"So that means be nice?" asked Chloe looking at her father.

Mr. Fox started laughing.

"Hello Miss Sullivan," said Mr. Fox.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Fox," said Chloe shaking his hand.

Gabe and Mr. Fox started talking about something and Chloe wondered if she was really going to get out of there, but before she started fidgeting, Gabe and Mr. Fox had stopped talking.

"Excuse us," said Mr. Fox.

"Oh wait I'm so sorry, can I just steal Mr. Wayne from you for a second?" she asked Mr. Fox.

"Sure," said Mr. Fox.

Chloe and Gabe walked over to Bruce who was talking to Alfred.

"So how can I help you Miss Sullivan?"

Looking at Bruce a thought briefly went through her mind that he was a billionaire but could he pull off a bald head? Only a really hot, charismatic, oh dear god, this is what the Dr. Quinn said might happen, hero worship, now…focus Sullivan.

"So where am I going for the last year of my high school career?" asked Chloe.

"It is a nice high school and I believe Mr. Fox got you a ride home," said Bruce Wayne.

"Now Mr. Wayne you are not that old. You surly remember some of your high school experience. A 'nice' high school, you have to admit that your statement is an oxy-moron," said Chloe.

"Don't worry Miss Sullivan it comes highly recommended," he said a smile playing on his face.

Chloe knew she shouldn't have trusted the man when he said that with a smile almost threatening to split his face in half. But it was a good smile that made her think of an even better smile that belonged to the bald head that she was thinking of earlier and made her quickly forget any questions or qualms.

Those questions and qualms came back with a vengeance on Monday morning in late August.

"Damn you Bruce Wayne I am so going to kill you," muttered Chloe under her breath.

The reason the high school was so nice was because it was St. Mary of Nice, all girls' Catholic high school. Looking down at her uniform Chloe continued damning Bruce Wayne, his ancestors, and the sperm that would produce the Wayne heir.

She wore a plaid skort that was a forest green that had red and white accents. Her shirt was white, with the school's crest embroidered on the upper left breast in the same forest green with the words, 'A Nice High School', going over it like a rainbow. Her shoes were a pair of black Mary Jane's with heels under ½ an inch. It was listed in the school's handbook that if your shoes were over ½ an inch there would be disciplinary action taken until new shoes were worn that met with school standards.

Rounding out her ensemble and the cherry on the sundae was that above said school crest and words 'A Nice High School' a name bar was to be worn. It was basically an ID since it said her name and year that she graduated. It had no picture of her, just 'Chloe Sullivan', what the fuck was the point of this damn thing? Her brain could turn it over for hours and hours but in the end it was just another way of branding a person.

She was currently standing in front of the Principal and President's office which happened to be in the busiest hallway in the school waiting for her tour guide to show up.

Chloe felt the need to scream followed by the need to run like a bat out of hell and find Bruce Wayne then hunt him down and kill him. Then she'd dress him up in this damn uniform, and he would have the damn skort riding up his ass for all eternity as he lay in his coffin! 'Yes! YES! YES!, that would so work, thought Chloe manically.

She was interrupted by her homicidal thoughts as a fellow student pushed past her.

"Hey move it, or lose it newbie!" said the fellow prisoner.

"So sorry your majesty," said Chloe.

The girl continued walking but Chloe could follow her through the crowded hallway since her shaking fist was up in the air directed towards her.

"I see you have already managed to piss off Ms. Smith," said a voice.

"What?"

"Yeah the dean thinks it's funny to dress up like a freshman the first day of school and freak out the new ones."

"What?"

Chloe turned around to see a black girl with brown eyes and her hair pulled back in a simple pony tail.

"So let me guess Chloe Sullivan?"

"Yeah, who was that?"

"Ms. Julie Smith, Dean of Students, she probably didn't have her cup of puppy's blood this morning."

Chloe tried to digest the fact that a member of the administration was that strange then realized she had no clue who this girl was.

"I'm sorry who are you?" asked Chloe.

"Oh yeah sorry, I'm your tour guide Etta Harris. I'll show you around St. Mary of Nice all girls Catholic High School. Let us start the tour, please keep your hands on your person, if you need to make a pit stop please let me know, any and all questions will be answered and we're walking here."

They started walking down the hallway and the dark wood was so polished that Chloe could see her own dark distorted reflection.

"The school is a Gothic style building that was built as a seminary. However they had rebuilt a bigger and better one about a mile to the north. So the old building became a woman's finishing school, then an all girl's high school in the 50's. Considered the top school for girls in the city of Gotham."

"So what are the people like?"

"This being this school, you get a mix of daughters whose parents are the most prominent, some whose parents have the money but not really the respect, some are on scholarship, and then there are those whose parents have everyone in their pockets."

"Really?"

Chloe figured this was one of the stranger introductions to a new institution.

"As long as you have money or know someone you can go here, that can mean ladies who lunch, a man who supplies all the drugs on the Southside or you're extremely lucky," continued Etta.

"Wow so can I ask which one you are?"

"I'm on scholarship which is why I give the tours around here."

"Ahhh…which ones should I avoid?"

"There are no real groups to avoid just certain girls. Wait let me explain that better. There are some bitchy rich socialite wannabes, they usually hang out together but then I have a friend who is very nice but happens to come from a family with money."

"I'll take to remembering that. Do you like it?"

"I like my friends, I like some of my teachers, I like some of my classes but I think the administration is idiotic. There are some days where it is fine but then other days I feel like it is the one circle of hell Dante forgot about."

Chloe laughed as they continued walking down the hall.

Fifth period, journalism the one just before lunch, which sucked because her stomach was already growling.

After getting lost several times even though Etta's tour brought her to her current classrooms, Chloe still explored several different hallways, the gothic style Etta described making it creepier than any corn field in Kansas and finally managed to find the room. The majority of her classes she was usually a few minutes late for this one was no exception. When she entered the room there was chatter coming from every direction. It seemed that the advisor a middle aged woman was trying to quiet it down, gave up and came up to Chloe.

"Chloe Sullivan?"

"Yes."

"I'm Ms. Davis, hold on."

The woman disappeared off for a moment then a shout went up.

"HEY EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!"

The din of voices quieted down.

It was a shorter girl probably shorter than herself. The supervisor looked relieved and finally spoke.

"We have a new student, Chloe Sullivan, she's going to be a reporter. She is from Smallville, Kansas and I am sure will be happy to answer any questions you may have about her."

A loud crash from the hallway had Ms. Dent running to check it out, and the classroom went back to its loud chaos.

There seemed to be no assigned seats just students spread out in different areas talking. Chloe managed to spot Etta talking to the one who had shouted. They were sitting at the end of a table and looking over some photos.

"Hey, Etta."

Etta looked up and gestured to the seat across from her.

"Hiya Chloe and welcome to journalism," she said.

"Hello," said the other girl. "Excuse us."

The two went back to discussing what looked like the layout of a page. Chloe watched as this chaos happened around her.

She had to wonder how the advisor managed to handle all the stress.

"Hey how does Ms. Dent handle all of this?"
Instead of a response or even looking up to acknowledge her, the short one stuck her hand up blocking Chloe's vision of her. Etta just shot her a look of sympathy and shrugged her shoulders.

'WTF?' thought Chloe. 'Is she telling me to talk to the hand? Does anyone even do that anymore?'

The short girl then looked up and said, "Gin, lots and lots of gin."

Ms. Dent wandered over told something to the two of them but Chloe couldn't hear over the noise of the classroom. She saw both Etta and the girl nod their heads and then Etta got up and left the room with Ms. Dent.

"Hey who is Vicki?"

Every person looked up from what they were doing and watched as a thin girl stood up to claim a heavily marked up story that looked like the red from the pen completely overtook the black ink.

The poor girl looked like she was a calf being led to the slaughter.

The girl nodded solemnly as the rest of the room waited to see if she would break down in tears in front of everyone. Chloe could only look around the room and wonder if this was to be daily event. It seemed to be. The room went back to its chaotic noise level.

Chloe however overheard the conversation.

"Vicki right? Can I give you a hint?" she said.

The girl who was probably a freshman nodded.

"Try a camera. From what Etta has been telling me you have a great eye. She'll set you up with everything you need ok?"

The girl nodded, she was by then shaking in fear.

"Hey Sullivan what did you do back in Smallville?"

"I was editor of my school newspaper."

"What was it called?"

"The Torch."

"Good since you were an editor, edit this for me. You could become an editor if you prove that you can catch the majority of mistakes and give proper criticism."

"I'm sorry but what is your name?"

"Oh excuse me, hectic first day. I'm Nina. So please edit this, thanks."

Chloe took the outstretched paper and started looking over the document.

Nina was looking some other things.

"Excuse me Chloe?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Can you tell me what exactly this thing is?"

Nina held up a picture of a green mass that could possibly be the Loch Ness monster or a booger magnified.

"Uhhhhhh…UFO?"

"Crap well it's not a full day until I get into a fight. Well this ought to be fun," said Nina. "ASHLEY!"

A girl who looked like she could be Victoria Hardwick's sister but with bleach blonde hair stood up from one of the corner and walked over to the table.

Chloe couldn't hear the conversation this time but she could tell that both girls were inches from starting a very nasty fight.

Chloe got up to throw away some strange piece of lint that was in her pocket. She was walking back when it happened.

Ashley got loud.

"Oh fuck you Nina!"

"I'm just being honest about just how much your pictures suck," Nina said.

Nina shoved a folder full of pictures into the girl's hand. Chloe watched one spill out of the folder and it did indeed suck. It was Loch Ness booger, evidently she was the photographer.

Chloe would find out later that it was a story on a new biology teacher and that out of focus green thing was the teacher or at least the plant the teacher owned.

The tall blonde turned to walk back to her group and instead ran right into Chloe. Ashley looked down her long perfect nose.

"So Smallville?" said the girl with disdain dripping from her voice.

Chloe refused to look up at the Hardwick reject.

"I'm talking to you Smallville. What's your name Smallville?" she said with what seemed to be an even more condescending tone.

A girl who looked like she wanted this bleach blonde bimbo to desperately notice her yelled out 'Chloe Sullivan'.

"So your name's Chloe Sullivan?"

"I think your fan club member mentioned that," said Chloe.

"I'm Ashley Wey. I'm the only thing that matters in this school Sullivan, so don't get in my way. It's just a warning that you should take care to note."

"Really? Is this where you punch me and say, 'Welcome to Gotham, bitch!', I've already had enough of the Gotham welcome wagon."

The girl scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"So I guess everything is small in Smallville," said the girl looking at Chloe's diminutive height and the fact that she had a smaller chest than her. Chloe looked up to see that her breasts looked as if they could pop if a needle came near them. Chloe was about to retort when Nina spoke up.

"Ashley I know your brain can only handle one thing at a time but your pictures are making bad photographers spin in their graves. Try and get some different angles. I know you like working on your knees so use that to your advantage when taking the pictures."

Ashley's fair skin that looked like she tried to cover with several layers of a spray on tan still became red.

"Stop trying to act all above me, I know you."

Nina did not look up and continued working on the page in front of her.

"So does everyone who reads Gossip Gerty's column in the Gotham Times," said Nina not looking up.

Ashley walked back then leaned down and hissed something in Nina's ear. Nina was still looking down but her grip tightened slightly on her pen.

"I think you're mistaken, that's you," said Nina in a tone that said screw you.

Ashley scoffed and started to walk away when Nina finally looked up at the girl. "Ashley," said Nina in a tone that managed to be both saccharine and baiting the girl to look at her.

Ashley turned to look at her, "By the way your tits look fantastic, gift from daddy or mommy? As a journalist I need to ask as a follow up was it to make up for walking in on your "nanny" being a backwards cowgirl for your father?"

The tall girl looked like she was going to kill her much shorter editor when a nun walked in and dropped off something giving it to one of the girls near the door.

The girl gave it to Nina who put it in her pocket.

Ashley meanwhile retreated back to her corner.

"Ouch," said Chloe.

"What?"

"That was a little harsh."

"She's an idiot who has done far worse things to others. Just be grateful you were not here sophomore year besides I needed to establish that she should not completely disregard me just because were the same age but I'm the one who's in charge. Plus she was pissed at me and well she should not take it out on you."

"Oh."

"Of course I also dislike her with the passion of a thousand suns. So are you done editing?"

"Almost."

"Ok let me know when you are done."

Five minutes later Chloe was handing back the marked up story to Nina. Putting down her pen she looked over the work.

"Good job."

"Thanks."

"So would you like to be co-editor in chief?"

"Excuse me?"

"Normally there are two editors-in-chief but this year I got the job alone. I have to help the ones who can write ok stories; write better stories. I have to deal with 16 different staff writers who took this class so they could sleep. I have some who took it to improve their already atrocious writing skills. So do you feel like being co-captain on this sinking ship of a newspaper?"

"Hell yeah."

Maybe she would not put Bruce Wayne in a sack with a wolverine and beat him with a billy club. Maybe a squirrel and a wiffle bat instead.

About thirty minutes later, Chloe left the class. Putting her books back in the locker Chloe wished they'd let them bring book bags to class. Stupid fire regulations, she thought.

"Chloe!"

Chloe turned around to see Etta.

"Hey Etta, what's going on? What happened to you during journalism? You just disappeared."

"I had to go take pictures of some damn architectural thing. It was pure sucking up to wealthy alumna. Just going to lunch, I'm starving. You have it with me right?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go."

The two girls walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria.

After being carefully warned of what not to eat, which turned out to be everything, Chloe and Etta were sitting down at a table near the south side of the cafeteria. She could see Nina and about five others sitting at the table.

It was a round table and there was only one seat left.

Etta gestured for her to take the seat.

"No I couldn't."

"Don't worry."

"Oh let me," said a tall girl who walked to the center of the cafeteria and stole a seat from the table where Ashley Wey and several other orange people sat.

"Hey!" said one of the girls.

"Is not on the menu today but if you went to a stable you could probably get it with that face."

"That's Martha," said Etta.

"That was little mean," said Chloe.

"Yeah Martha can be a bit abrasive but she's good people."

The girl sat down somehow managing to turn even more orange.

"Ooooo…she's almost Oompa Lompa colored today. I should just steal a paint swatch from work and use it to figure out what color she is exactly," said a dark haired girl.

"I thought you knew Kali, she already has one, she uses it to color coordinate her skin with her clothes," said Nina.

"The big question is what does one wear with carrot?" said a thin black girl.

"I think a nice big green hat with ribbons sticking out the top," said an Asian girl.

"Here you go…"said Martha.

Chloe wondered for a second if she wanted to sit with these girls, they were sort of bitches.

"I'm sorry what's your name?"

"Chloe Sullivan. I'm from Smallville, Kansas."

"It's her first day take it easy on her, you slaggy bitches," said Etta.

Well at least they are aware of it realized Chloe as she took the seat.

Everyone was seated and she was introduced around the table. Lan a tall blondish-red head sat next to her, then Nina, Kali, Martha, Patricia the thin black girl, Sue the Asian girl and Etta next to her.

Everyone asked her questions, the usual, why was she here, "Father's job."

Did she have a boyfriend, "There was guy but he wanted to just be friends."

What was Smallville like? "It had its moments of non-small town moments."

What did she think of Gotham? "Got mugged my first night here, luckily I was with this guy who sort of helped me."

That got every interested, she talked about Smallville, Lex and how he lived there.

Then that brought on question of, did she ever hook-up with Lex? "No we argue more than anything."

Nina and Etta started having a debate across her and Lan on how all great romantic comedies start that way. It seemed like they were agreeing but… disagreeing on a Hepburn?

Chloe notice the other four sitting across from them had delved into a conversation about turtles, well that's what she heard, she thought. She tried following Nina and Etta's debate.

She felt a nudge on her elbow and noticed Lan's fries being pushed on her.

"Psss…just have a French fry, nod and smile," said Lan.

Chloe took the fry and smiled.

It was nearing the end of the day and Chloe was actually sad in a very, very disturbing way to be leaving this place. She packed her books away and nodded to a few people she had seen or met in other classes. People were suspiciously nice to her even on her first day. She did not want to know why, just hoped that when they turned her into a pod person, she would somehow remember it, Clark would probably save her, she'd write about it and win an award.

She walked out the entrance to the school then heard the honking of a horn. She looked up to see Nina.

"Hop in."

"What?"

"We're going to the same place."

"Really?"

"Yeah Lucius is my Pops."

"Excuse me?"

"Lucius Fox, I'll tell you the whole story, later."

Chloe got in the car. Lan and Angela tagged along. They went to Wayne Enterprises and after a game of spy vs. spy vs. spy vs. spy which essentially involved the four of them playing with Nerf guns and humming the Mission Impossible theme, while wandering the halls. They nearly got themselves banned from the building but Chloe had never had so much fun that did not in the end have any connection to meteor rocks.

The leaves had fallen off the trees, Nina had celebrated her 18th birthday, the first snow had already arrived, gifts were exchanged for Christmas. Chloe had found that she met some nice people but formed a close circle with Nina, Lan and Etta. They had even set-up a code in order to pass notes. It was seemed a bit third grade but when a teacher picked up one of their notes and a look crossed her face of confusion it was deemed worth it. Now nearly a week after a particularly memorable New Year's Eve in which they stole Chloe from the monotony of a Wayne Enterprises party and celebrated the coming year at a gay club in her neighborhood where Lan's older sister Elliot was an owner and bartender with her wife Stacie. She had met Nina's hot friend Danny and his gorgeous boyfriend Derrick. They had both kissed her at mid-night but it still did not change the fact that less than five minutes later they were basically giving one another mouth to mouth.

Chloe also found that something had shifted having lost her meteor freaks she did not have some big mystery encompassing her time, she actually had a life. She did not have to do some research for Clark, hide his secret from the whole town, fix Lana and Clark's relationship. She was Chloe Sullivan co-editor-in-chief who would use her column to rally against the corruption in Gotham.

So here they were, January 5 it was Lan's birthday party. She had wanted a quiet party. Her mother was a lady who lunches and her father a man who is always at the club with his irons, they wanted a party that cost more than Chloe's home in Smallville. They instead agreed on dinner at the most expensive restaurant with her boyfriend Kyle. So they were having a mini friend party. The four sat in the house's solarium. Each person had smile on her face and the conversation was light and fun.

That's how the party was going, then it got to that light night moment past the hysterical laughter and suddenly it felt like the inside of a priest's confessional and each spilled their guts.

"So we are pretty much all damaged?" asked Lan.

"Everyone is damaged," said Chloe.

"Is that a Quinn-ism?

"Yup. Dr. Quinn can be a bit cynical."

"True. It just depends on how you deal with it."

"I think that's it. Also chocolate and alcohol help you deal with it."

"So rum balls are essentially the solution to every problem?"

"Basically. Why do you think I ordered this cake?"

"Well, I'll toast to that," said Nina.

"Eat to it," said Chloe.

"That sounds wrong."

"Grab a piece of cake."

"Why it's a piece of cake."

"OK no more stupid jokes tonight."

"Knock, knock…"

Three pillows simultaneously hit Lan in the face and each grabbed another piece of cake and woke up the next morning still full.

The last few months of Chloe's senior year of high school was when she looked back a very good year. There were no freaks the only time she heard of those was when she talked to Clark or Lana. And those phone calls were decreasing rapidly.

She would call them and they were not home or they would call her and she was not home.

She did not even notice when they stopped.

Her graduation was surprisingly underwhelming. Some person whose fashion choices were debated heavily at many graduation parties to follow spoke for what felt like hours but was only twenty minutes. She received her diploma heard her father's camera and saw the flash.

Two weeks after graduation there was an e-mail from Lana, she was not that surprised. She was surprised by the tone of it, the message felt like she was saying that she had abandoned her. Then she seemed to dismiss her new life and friends with her last sentence of, "Well you're probably bored with your Gotham people, who from what you have told me, sound mean, and you're probably missing the excitement of Smallville." Lana was never that good at grasping the concept of sarcasm so she knew that she was being honest.

Chloe's first response was a long response addressing why that was not true but she instead settled on the simple and most succinct answer, "No."