CHAPTER 3: Found

FRIDAY-OCTOBER 2007

LUTHOR MANSION- SMALLVILLE

The flight from Shanghai was uneventful and they landed in Metropolis on schedule. Unlike others who prefer catching up on some sleep to lessen the effects of jet lag, Lex has never been one to waste time on something as prosaic; transcontinental flights have always provided him with invaluable interruption-free time to work on the best strategy for a new acquisition or project. Only when Lana travelled with him did he take a respite. On this occasion, however, not only was it impossible for him to do anything remotely businesslike during the flight, his mind was too full of her and the emotions which had transpired in that old Shanghai flat to wind down.

He still can't wrap his mind around the fact that she's alive after mourning her death for five months. He'd hoped the phone call which his men had traced would lead him to her and not a dead end. And yet, the shock of seeing her in the flesh again, of touching her warm skin is one he doesn't seem to be able to shake off. He flew all the way to Shanghai looking for answers and came back empty-handed; seeing her as broken as he himself was made his resolve falter because the Lana he came face-to-face with wasn't the same woman who had left him five months ago.

"That's the last time you'll ever touch me."

He touched her again. She let him. And for a moment, one which felt like an eternity, he thought it would be the last time he'd ever feel her soft skin and the quickened beat of her heart. He believed it would the last time he'd be able to look into her chocolate eyes, standing close enough for their breaths to almost mingle. Then he saw something flicker in her eyes, watched them veil with unshed tears and hope returned to him.

Maybe he's been right all this time. Lana still loves him.

It's almost seven in the evening when he walks into his study and, leaving his overcoat and briefcase in one of the leather upholstered armchairs, he loosens his tie and pours himself a snifter of vintage bourbon. He takes a big gulp and lets the alcohol warm him.

He'll give her time. He'll curve his overwhelming need to get answers... He can do it. It won't be easy, but if that's what it takes to have her back in his life in some way, he's willing to try. He'll do anything for a second chance. And in the end, if stepping aside is the only way to secure her happiness, he'll sacrifice his for hers.

All this is going through his mind when he approaches his desk and notices the folded legal document carefully placed on his blotter. It's the third time he's seen one like it in his twenty-seven years, but he's never been served one. He's always been the one to initiate the proceedings and he can't remember ever feeling this devastated.

Divorce. Lana is asking him to grant her her freedom, to let her go. He wonders when he'll learn that hope can only be short-lived when your name's Luthor.

SATURDAY-OCTOBER 2007

MATTEO RICCI ORPHANAGE- XUHUIDISTRICT, SHANGHAI-CHINA

Like every Saturday after Mass Lana walks to the orphanage to help the nuns serve lunch and then entertain the kids for a couple of hours. Every step that takes her closer to her destination makes her heart bleed a little more for everything she's lost and everything she's denied. She doesn't feel like repeating her weekly routine today, not when it reminds her of what she was promised by the cruel voice on the phone; a promise which had kept her going, given her hope and the only justification to twist the knife in Lex a little more.

"Lana, you've come," smiles Sister Dominique.

Immediately sensing the young woman's unrest, the nun tells the boy who's been helping her pick some vegetables in the orchard to go look for his playmate. "Va jouer avec Xiang, cher."

Lana observes the child rush away with a big smile on his face as he shows his friend the delicious red apple Sister Dominique gave him as a reward for helping her with the vegetables. And Nell Potter's niece's suddenly transported to another October morning- six years ago.

She was walking through the Farmer's Market, a green fifteen-year-old girl full of dreams and fairytale endings, when she looked up and her eyes met his blue-grey ones for the first time. He smiled at her while biting into a Kent red apple; a tragic and jaded modern-day Adam to a naive small town Eve. It'd take him another day to come looking for her at the stables.

"You must be Lana. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. "

"We've already met. "

"I seriously doubt I'd forget meeting you. "

"You were a little preoccupied at the time. "

"I get the feeling I didn't make a great first impression. "

" When I was ten, I went to Metropolis for a riding competition,. Your father invited us to stay over. My aunt said you had an indoor pool. When I went to check it out, I found you and a girl skinny dipping. I think you were teaching her the breast stroke. "

Lana wonders if any other woman has ever seen him blush; she wants to believe she's been the only one.

"They grow so fast, don't they?" says Sister Dominique, her voice just a distant echo in Lana's ears.

"That was you? Wow. You're all grown up now."

" We're having a party to celebrate his third birthday in a week. Will you help us with the arrangements?"

"Sorry, I zoned out for a moment. What were you saying?"

"Chang is turning three next week and I was wondering if we could count on you to help organise his party."

"I... I'm afraid I can't. I won't be here."

"Oh... Then he has agreed to..."

There's no need to make names; they both know who the 'he' is that Sister Dominique's just referred to.

"No," Lana shakes her head, biting her trembling lower lip. "I should have known better than to trust him. I've been deceiving myself all these months, thinking that I could have at least that. The minute I woke up that first morning I knew it'd come to this. It's all his ever wanted- a second chance to rectify everything that went wrong the first time. He tried it once but God was merciful. It caused immeasurable pain, but at least an innocent soul was spared..."

"You'll let him do this?"

"What other choice do I have?"

"What he's done is a crime. You're a strong young woman, Lana. In the months I've known you you have gone through very difficult times and always managed to find the way to raise your head again. You can't give up now."

"I won't. I'm not, but I can't do anything from here. I need information I don't have. I've been talking to a disembodied voice for months. We've only met face-to-face twice since last February; the rest of the time he's just sent emissaries or called me from an unlisted, untraceable number."

"What happened yesterday?"

"What do you mean?"

"Something happened after we saw each other for the Festival. You wouldn't be thinking of going back home if that weren't the case."

"I have no home."

"But you yourself said..."

"Lex came to see me yesterday evening."

"Did you talk?"

"He asked for my forgiveness. Isn't it ironical? "

"Did you tell him the truth?"

"No."

"Lana, he's got the right to know. Your husband's a powerful man. Based on the talks you and I've had, he seems to be very protective of those he loves. If he knew..."

"Don't you think I don't know that? I did try to tell him twice. The first time he almost died and the second time... he was framed with my murder. You don't know who we're dealing with, Dominique."

"Where are you planning to go?"

"I have an aunt in Metropolis; but I don't want to drag her and her husband into this mess."

"You won't be able to pull this off without someone's aid... Have you ever been to New Orleans?"

MONDAY-OCTOBER 2007

THE DAILY PLANET

The bullpen of Metropolis' leading newspaper is buzzing with activity when Clark climbs down the stairs looking for his loyal sidekick, Chloe Sullivan.

It has been another busy week for the wannabe superhero. Even though he is used to juggling several balls at a time without breaking a sweat, the search and chase of the most dangerous zoners around the globe is taking its toll.

The past months have been particularly hard. Seeing his former best friend marry Lana had been a difficult pill to swallow, but having to deal with the young woman's death... murder... was devastating. And now, when he is in the middle of a crisis of epic proportions that is threatening the safety of his adoptive planet, Clark sees his world turn upside down at breakfast.

"Did you know about this?" he spits at the blonde reporter's back, making her jump and drop a file whose contents end up scattered all over the place.

"Geez, Clark! Good morning to you too. You almost gave me a coronary," pants Chloe, picking up some of the stray documents.

"Did you know she was alive?" he insists.

"No, I didn't. Look, I know I might have covered up for her if she'd asked me... to protect her in some way, but it wasn't the case. "

"So she didn't talk to you."

"What is it with you, guys? First Lex and now you."

"Lex?"

"Yes, he came to see me a few days ago, demanded I told him the truth about Lana's whereabouts. I told him he needed some serious psychiatry. "

"He did?"

"He appeared to believe I had aided her to disappear. I thought he was delusional, that it was another trick or that guilt was making him come up with conspiracy theories because he couldn't accept he'd killed her. It seems he wasn't lying."

"If he didn't kill her then..."

"Lana faked her own death," she completes his thought.

"And framed him?"

Chloe can read doubt in Clark's words; it is no real surprise considering who they are discussing, Lana can do no wrong in his eyes. She thinks differently, isn't blinded by love; Lana is as human as they all are. Well... Clark isn't, but not even he is perfect. And still, this is one of those occasions on which she is inclined to support his reservations. She doesn't know what it is; it's simply a feeling in her gut that tells her things aren't what they seem. It's a riddle and she lives for unravelling them.

LEX'S OFFICE- LUTHORCORP PLAZA

"When I was with Clark, I would have said yes without hesitating."

Lex leans back on his swivel chair, a snifter of bourbon in one hand as he fingers the divorce documents he's been carrying on him for a couple of days now. Irreconcilable differences.

It must be eating at you that she's hesitating - wondering why she hasn't given you an answer.

I guess it would... if I didn't know what the answer was going to be. You see, I highly doubt she'll say no, Clark... now that she's carrying my child.

He drinks what remains in his snifter in one big gulp; doubts about the real reason behind her acceptance of his marriage proposal plaguing him once again. Would she have said yes if she hadn't been carrying his baby? He can't help but remember the day she miscarried; everything changed between them.

He got so scared when she told him she was expecting. Clark thinks he impregnated her to tie her to him, to force her hand and have her put an end to her never-ending soap opera with the farm boy. He didn't; a shrink might have a field day with Lex and his subconscious motivations but having a family, creating life with the woman he loves would never be a cold and calculated decision. He wants his children to be wanted, to know they've been brought to this cruel world because their parents love each other not because their father is some sick monster obsessed with games of power even outside LuthorCorp's board room. He isn't Lionel. His children will never be unfortunate mistakes; they'll never feel unworthy of being loved.

Clark might believe Lex married her because he saw her as a pawn in their bitter battle against each other, that he finally became the soulless bastard Lionel had tried to raise, and yet Jonathan Kent's adoptive son couldn't be more mistaken about his enemy's feelings for Lana. Yes, he is desperate to be loved and accepted, but if he hadn't been so carried away by the passionate young woman in his arms the night of the costume ball, he would have never sheathed himself in her welcoming warmth without wearing protection. She repeated the very same words she'd uttered the evening she accepted to become his wife and his broken and abused soul was reshaped in an instant; overwhelming emotion blinding him for a blissful moment.

I'm done looking back. I have someone right in front of me who I know trusts me... and who lets me see sides of him no one else does.

It only happened once because as much as he'd dreamt of raising a family with her, the thought of her dying at childbirth was too unbearable to risk losing her. The time would have come, his scientists were already working on the research started by Dr Dinsmore; a couple of breakthrough advances and his happiness and Lana's would have been complete.

I will always love you.

And yet, Fate is always out to mock Lex and ruin his best-laid plans. Once was enough.

He fidgets with the documents in his hands again. Lana's never been that good an actress.

I was thinking, what if we announced it tonight at the party?

I-I don't know if that's a great idea. I think that tonight should be about our engagement.

It sort of feels like you're in denial, like if no one finds out about the baby, it doesn't exist.

Lex, do you know how many people are looking over my shoulder, second-guessing why I'm marrying you?

Am I that hard a sell?

I don't want people assuming that we're getting married because of this baby. I want them to know that I'm with you because I love you.

No matter what happened after they lost Alexander and how many times he's been duped by the opposite sex, he knows deep inside that the Lana who talked to him in that nursery room loved him.

His Montblanc lies uncapped on the blotter.

He stares into space as the words that she said to Chloe in his study when Bronson had abducted him resonate in his ears.

I've had so many doubts about this relationship, so many suspicions. But now that he's gone, none of it matters anymore. I just want to see his face again.

He promised her in Shanghai that if she wanted to come back, she'd be safe; that she would be able to live her life however she wanted, and he intends to keep his word.

All the doubts, all the suspicions don't matter any longer. He just wants to see her face again.

He grabs his fountain pen and, taking a deep breath, signs his name on the dotted line.

A/N: The flashbacks in italics have been taken verbatim from "Metamorphosis", "Hydro", "Crimson", "Phantom" and "Fracture".