I disclaim. I own nothing.
Quick note: Kit Merlot asked how I had the girls related. I had always connected them through Gabe and Lois and Lucy's mom. Making Lois and Lucy Sullivan/Lane. Has the show addressed this? If anyone knows-the way I have it works better for my story-but for future reference it would be nice to know.
Absence and death are the same—only that in death there is no suffering-Walter Savage Landor
Lucy began her investigation by parking herself outside of the Luthorcorp offices. She tried the Internet but the only information she could find on Lucas Luthor was the story on his accident four months ago. She didn't have Chloe's skill for hacking or knowing the angles at which to start a search for information. Nor did she have Lois' arrogance to simply walk into a place and demand information. But she was insistent and determined. So during her breaks at the bank, before and after work, as well as her day off she staked out the building.
She considered finding his home address, but thought that would seem a little too convenient. After a lot of arguing with herself, she decided that 'accidentally' running into him near his office was a lot less suspicious. The only problem was Lucas Luthor, as far as she could tell, hadn't shown up for work in a week. She realized it probably wasn't a big deal that he wasn't there, what with his family owning the place. But it really did screw up her plans.
Just as Chloe and Lois blowing her off screwed her plans as well. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. Chloe emailed her back, said everything was fine but that she missed her, wished she came to visit them more often, but photos didn't really do her son justice. Lois left her a voice message telling her to get her ass to Metropolis if she wanted to know what her nephew looked like. Lucy just barely resisted the urge to call her sister back and clarify for her just how they were related to Declan. Then she realized her cousin and sister were-in their own ways-trying to get her to visit them and she couldn't really be angry at them for that.
It may have been easier to call her dad or her Uncle Gabe, but she never called her Uncle Gabe and lately calling her dad usually resulted in a lecture. So she stuck with her accidental meeting plan, the fact that she had no idea what to do after 'bumping into' Lucas didn't really bother her. Ever since she was a kid her bread and butter had been on her ability to bullshit her way through any situation.
"Hey,"
"Oh, sweet Jesus! God!" Lucy would have sworn her heart stopped. "Don't do that."
"Sorry. Sorry."
Lucy stared at the guy in front of her and was trying not to be charmed by the carefree smile he flashed at her. "Who are you and why are you sneaking up on me?"
"Bart Allen. And just wanted to meet the woman I'm going to marry."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Terrible line." But he was cute, adorably aware of just how cheesy his line was.
"Time change kind of messes up my mojo. You're Lucy Lane, right."
Instantly weary, Lucy took a step back. Was it possible that Lex had seen her lurking and sent someone to kill her? Would an assassin actually introduce himself first? Though if the fact that Chloe was still walking around was any proof, the Luthors sucked at assassination attempts. "Yeah."
"Don't freak out. I'm Bart Allen."
"You keep saying that. Yet I have no idea what I'm suppose to do with that information."
Bart laughed. "You're kidding. You know Oliver Queen, right. Well I work for him. Sorta."
Lucy was sure that if any other guy was standing in front of her, his least attractive trait would be the fact that he was a grown man who 'sorta' had a job. But on him it kind of worked. There was a Matthew McConaughey the world is my home vibe about him, that was kinda appealing. "Okay, you work for my sister's boyfriend. Sorta."
"You need to get home more often. Chloe takes care of me. Has for years. Lois has been trying to get her to toss me, but I think she wouldn't know what to do without me either."
It was the pride in his voice that made Lucy realize what he was actually saying: her family was his family. "Lois and Chloe let you into their inner circle." And she really did try not to sound bitter as she said that.
"Naw, not even Ollie and Clark can breach that barrier. I think Davis came the closest though. Guess it was kind of hard not to when Lois would climb over into bed with them."
Lucy didn't need him to express his thoughts, they were written as clear as day on his face. In that way he reminded her of Chloe. Even as a child her cousin's every thought would register on her face. Though she doubted Chloe ever had a thought as lecherous as the one Bart obviously just had. "How is she?"
Bart's easy mood seemed to dim considerably. "She still misses him. I thought...I guess we all thought that after all this time...But she still misses him so much, you know. The good thing is she has Deckie and the little guy just looks so much like his dad." His attention flickered away, Dinah was in his ear telling him to move his ass. "Gotta dash. Maybe I'll catch you later, Lu-Bella.
"Wait," Lucy reached out and grabbed him when he started to walk away. "Tell me about Declan."
"We don't have the time gorgeous. At least not now." He flashed that easy grin again. "And you might want to be careful. Lo-Baby and 'Licious find out you're lurking outside of Lex's office they're going to blow a gasket."
Lucy frowned. "How do you know I was lurking?"
"You're a Sullivan-Lane, aren't you?" Bart gave her wink. "The only thing you could possibly be doing outside of a Luthorcorp building is lurking."
If Lucas had known Lucy was parking outside of his office waiting for him, he would have told her not to take his absence personally. In the week since they met, he'd refused to leave his home. It all started shortly after he met her in the bookstore. He recognized her, there was something about her...he knew her. He'd gone home, thinking he'd remember just by sheer determination. Obviously, that hadn't worked.
He'd gone on the Internet, hoping to find ways to help. There was an abundance of information, some sound, some outrageous, a lot of it conflicting. Leading him to the conclusion that he needed to talk to a trained professional. But he knew he wouldn't get answers from his psychiatrist, so he called to see if he could get another doctor . And was surprised by what he learned.
It appeared that he had no say in his therapy what so ever. He was informed that all matters in that regard were to be handled by his wife. If, the receptionist had informed him, he wanted to schedule a new doctor then he'd have to talk it over with Tess first then have her call. He'd been so angry by this he ended up crushing his cellphone. A fact that barely registered in his mind. He simply tossed the pieces away and snatched up the cordless receiver resting on it's charger. His mind going so quickly, he wasn't fully aware of the numbers he dialed.
When a small child answered the phone, his heart stopped for reason's he didn't entirely understand.
'Hello?'
'Uh, who...who's this?"
'I'm Snorkel puss.'
Lucas knew he should have hung up. But he couldn't, just could not force himself to put the phone down. 'Snorkel puss?'
'Uh-huh. I'm Mommy's Son. Mommy's son Snorkel puss.'
'Yeah?'
'I kiss daddy. And tell daddy about the shorks. And the tuordles. Because I like wadder. And I swim like a fish.'
It took Lucas a minute to connect the dots on that. The kid had the most adorable speech impediment he'd ever heard. 'Oh, you like sharks and turtles and fish. Sharks are pretty awesome.' What came next was a ten minute run on sentence, in which Lucas found himself thoroughly absorbed. It was probably the best conversation he had since he woke up in that hospital. The kid's voice was comforting, soothing...familiar. Took him back to his the first few nights in the hospital when he thought he heard a woman and child's voice. He'd never told anyone about that, for fear they'd think he was crazy.
Maybe, Lucas had thought, he was crazy. How else could he explain why he was listening to a toddlers excited babble about all the sea animals he'd seen? And not only did he listen, he actually found himself responding, and hanging on the child's every word. He realized that homesickness he'd been feeling was decreasing with every second the child spoke. Thought he felt himself being rebuilt piece by piece. But then the conversation ended. And nothing could describe what he felt next.
'Hello? Hello?'
Lucas thought this would have been a good time to explain that he'd obviously dialed the wrong number. That the kid had done nothing wrong and that he realized it was kind of weird that he hadn't hung up. The speech he'd prepared while listening to the little boy was lost the moment he heard the woman's voice. Her voice.
The voice of the blonde he heard every night in his dreams. That voice that calmed everything inside his soul. The voice, that even in that moment, made him feel whole and safe and loved and worthy. But he couldn't speak. Thought if he did what would come out would be a jumble of crazy that ran along the lines of: I love you. I miss you. I need you. Who are you? And he didn't have to be of the world long to know that would send a woman screaming.
'Hello? And I'm hanging up now.'
And even as his heart began to race, as every fiber of his being told him to say something, to keep her on the line; Lucas remained speechless. He'd made a noise, some ridiculous embarrassing noise after she hung up. Couldn't breathe, couldn't hang up, couldn't move. Just stood there like an idiot holding the phone until one of the maids came in, afraid that he'd had a stroke of some kind.
She took the receiver from him, clicked it off then back on, and began to dial Tess' number. Lucas, finally coming back to himself, snatched the phone from her.
"What the hell are you doing?" He shouted at her. "Who told you to touch anything?" He hit the redial button, roaring in frustration when Tess answered. Clicking the phone off, he turned to the poor unsuspecting woman, fury written all over his face. "Do you realize what you did? Do you?"
"Mr. Luthor, I-"
"Get out! Get out of here! Don't you ever come back in here, do you understand, no one come in here ever again."
When she rushed out, he threw the phone at the door she closed at her back. It broke into pieces, and collapsing into the desk chair, Lucas did as well.
Gloriously and beautifully naked, she rose above him. Her hair sexily tousled from his hands, her lips red and swollen from his kisses, and her eyes full of everything she felt for him. Full of all he wanted in life. There were other signs of what they just experienced, things he was a little ashamed to take pride in: the bite marks on her neck and shoulders, the finger tip shape bruises on her hips. The little things she wouldn't notice until she looked in the mirror in the morning but he saw perfectly in the moonlight.
"Now that we've completed the ravishing portion of our evening, I'm ready for the romancing."
"Who said the ravishing was completed?"
Her smile was slow as she leaned over him again. "The woman who would like to walk in the morning." But her lips were brushing his as she spoke, waking up the part of his body that was still nestled inside of her.
"Walking is over rated." He leaned in to take the kiss deeper, but she moved away.
"Uh-uh. Romance me."
He moved until he could take her in his arms, pressing her chest to his, and adjusting her legs to wrap around his waist. Sliding his fingers into her hair, he took her mouth in a painfully slow kiss. Held her there until breathing became a necessity. "Can I ravish you, now?"
Happy to oblige the lips that danced likely along her jaw, she angled her head to give him better access. "This is nice, but I'm really not feeling romanced." His fingers began to whisper lightly along her neck, causing a shiver to run from the back of her neck straight down to the tips of her toes.
"Oh what, oh what can I do..." His head fell back as if looking to heaven for help. She took this opportunity to bite at the dimple in his chin, then run her lips along the tightly corded muscles in his neck. "To give my baby a little romance?"
"The touching is nice." Her mouth was at his shoulder, wondered if she'd ever get enough of the taste of his skin. "You should definitely keep up the touching. But," She kissed the tip of his nose, before brushing it with her own. "It's not quite what I'm looking for."
"You trust me?"
"Yes." The answer was instantaneous, as was the way she relaxed her weight until he was supporting her entirely.
He eased her back, giving his mouth more room to roam. Finding new places to kiss, bite, and mark. New points of pleasure that even she'd been unaware of. "When I cannot look at your face I look at your feet. Your feet of arched bone, your hard little feet."
"I better like where this is going." Though she couldn't complain about the journey his mouth took over her body, the way the words felt as they whispered along her skin.
"I know that they support you," He continued as if she hadn't spoke. "And that your sweet weight rises upon them." His hands spanned her waist and traveled slowly upwards. "Your waist and your breasts, the double purple of your nipples," Her breath caught as his fingers, followed closely by his lips, danced over the corresponding body parts. "The sockets of your eyes that have just flown away, your wide fruit mouth, your red tresses, my little tower." He brought her back up until he could look into her heavy lidded eyes. "But I love your feet only because they walked upon the earth and upon the wind and upon the waters, until they found me."
"Red tresses?" She let out a shrieking laugh when he flipped her over onto her back. The hands that were only moments ago seducing her into a puddle of nerve endings began to tickle her mercilessly. "Okay! Sorry. Baby, please, I'm sorry. Stop." It took a few moments for her to get her breath back. "Romance achieved."
"With no help from you." He muttered as he settled over her, hands sliding under her shoulders to cup the back of her head.
"The bright side is you can ravish me, now." Her legs tightened around his waist.
His dark eyes suddenly became serious. "Nope, you ruined the romance." His lips brushed hers again, his hips moving in a slow, languorous rhythm. "I'm going to have to try to romance you again."
She sighed as she began to move along with him. "Well...I guess I'll just have to suffer through."
Kneeling besides Chloe's bed, Lois fought the urge to shake her cousin. To demand she snap out of the misery she was sinking further into. Chloe was on the end of the bed, all but curled into herself as she clutched a worn book to her chest.
The day before when they'd returned to The Planet, Chloe had seemed fine. Even this morning, when Lois had stopped by her cousin's apartment before heading to the gym, Chloe had been in good spirits as she chased a laughing Declan around the apartment. But when she arrived back later in the afternoon, as was her habit during Declan's naps, Lois found her cousin in sobs.
"Chloe," Lois spoke her cousin's name softly, her voice thick with emotion. "Please. Please get up." When the knock sounded at the door, she gave a sigh of relief. "I'll be right back. Okay, cuz." But Chloe didn't answer and Lois had to hurry before the noise woke Declan.
"What the hell took you so long?" Lois demanded the second she opened the door. Any other time she'd have took a moment to appreciate the way her man looked in the slate gray suit. She loved the way he looked in CEO mode, loved peeling away those layers to get to the real man. Her man. But right now she barely saw him. "Where have you been?"
Oliver paused just inside the apartment door. "Hello to you, too, Lois."
"Sorry." Dropping her arms, Lois strode across the room to lock her arms around Oliver's neck. When his arms came around her, she was able to relax completely. "It's just...I hate seeing her like this. I can't stand it."
Oliver dropped a kiss to the top of her head, his hands soothing away the muscles that knotted in her neck. "What-"
"Wait." Lois shifted, until she could slide her arms under his. Burrowing into him; embarrassed, but none the less, mentally thanking whatever stroke of fate brought him back to her. "I need this for a moment. Just this." When he tightened his hold on her, she allowed herself a moment to simply be with him.
"What happened, Lois?"
"That's the thing, I don't know." With a frustrated sigh, Lois pulled back and lead him to the couch. "She was fine this morning. She was fine last night. After the press conference, when she tried to get an interview with Tess she got really sad but..."
"Why did she get sad?"
"Tess was trying to find the name of some poem..." Lois dropped her head in her hands. "Davis was big on poetry, big on reading. Whether or not the one Chloe told her about was the one Tess was looking for...I don't know, doesn't matter. It meant something to Chloe."
"Did you ask her about it?"
"No." And she knew what he would say. Knew he would push her to talk to Chloe about Davis. So she pressed on before he could. "But she was fine last night. When I stopped by before going to the gym she was fine. I came back and found her..." She made a restless movement with her hands. "Like that."
"Did you think," Oliver began slowly. This was a subject they went around and around about often. He knew she was sick of hearing it, but he would continue to press. "That maybe it would help her to talk-Now wait," He hurried on when it looked like she would argue. "Hear me out on this. She needs to talk about him, remember him."
"She talks to Declan." Lois mumbled.
"And she's loves it. We've all seen how happy it makes her to talk to Declan about Davis. Of the rest of us, Bart was the closest to Davis. And I know sometimes she talks to him. But he didn't know Davis, not really. You did, you knew him. You loved him. You miss him just like she does."
"But don't you see, that's just it. I miss him, but it's not like she does. Sometimes...sometimes I want so badly to tell her that I miss him, too. But I can't, because I don't....I don't ever want her to look at me..."
"The way she looked at Clark." Oliver finished softly. It happened a few weeks after Davis' memorial. Lois had called everyone together, hoping a little company would lift Chloe's spirits. Clark was trying to do the right thing, everyone understood that. Maybe a small part of Chloe did as well. But it was Clark and being Clark he managed to make Davis' death about himself. Compared her losing Davis to him losing Lana. Considering Lana had been in town for Davis' memorial, it had been the wrong comparison to make. "It wouldn't be like that. It wouldn't be like that at all."
Before Lois could respond, Declan stumbled from his room. Tiny fist rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When his hands dropped he looked to the living room, a smile blooming across his face. "Uncle Ollie." Declan shot across the room, launching himself into Oliver's arms.
"Deco." Oliver stood up so he could lift Declan up into his arms. "I heard you went and spent some time with your Uncle AC."
"Saw a shork."
"It was a dolphin." Lois corrected. "AC cleared that up yesterday."
Oliver nodded. "You still love your Uncle Ollie best, though, right?"
Nodding, Declan kissed Oliver on the cheek before wrapping his arms around his neck tightly.
"Alright. But I think it's only fair that since, you hung with Uncle AC yesterday; you have to hang out with me today. What do you say, Deco? Want to hang out with your Uncle Ollie?"
"Ollie-"
"Hey," Oliver interrupted LOis' protest. "I've got to maintain my status as number one uncle. The fish stick has been encroaching a lot lately. Which is why me and the Snorkel puss are going to..."
"Fish stowa!"
"You got it." Oliver pulled Lois to his side, the arm not holding Declan wrapping around her waist. "And you can talk to your cousin."
"You're right. Wonder of wonders." She leaned in to place a light kiss on his lips. "Don't leave I have to let Chloe know what's going on."
A few moments later the cousin's emerged from the bedroom. Chloe had obviously just washed away her tears, but her eyes were still red and puffy. But there was an easy and sincere smile on her face when she looked at her son.
"Oliver." All Chloe had to do was hold out her arms to have Declan abandoning Oliver. "Trying to kidnap my baby."
"Just securing my standing."
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Right." She set Declan back on his feet. "Go get your backpack and hat." She waited until he disappeared into his bedroom. "Let's try to keep the crazy spending to a minimum this time."
Oliver looked honestly affronted. "Hey, I've never gotten him anything extravagant."
"You built him a daycare."
"I built The Planet a daycare, Declan just happens to benefit from it."
"You hired Bart to care for him personally."
"I gave Bart a legit job, which you told me he needed, at The Planet's daycare facility."
"You bought him a motorcycle."
"One of those little toy ones that kids across America have."
"It was a custom made Ducati."
For that Oliver had nothing, so was glad when Declan appeared holding a backpack that was nearly as big as he was.
Chloe knelt until she was eye level with him. "Be good." She adjusted the straps on his backpack. Leaned in to brush the tip of his nose with her own. "I love you, son."
"Love you, too, Mommy. Love you much." His arms went around her neck to squeeze before he ran to Oliver's side. "Bye Auntie."
"Bye, Dimples." Lois waited until the door closed at his back. "We'll be lucky if he doesn't come back here with a Porsche." Even as she stood there, Chloe's entire countenance changed. The smile was gone, her body seemed to be weighed down, as she turned to head back to bed. "He's still carrying Davis' backpack?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. He keeps all his shells and toy fish in there."
"He's with his fish the way Davis was with his books, isn't he?"
Chloe's brow creased a moment as she studied her cousin. Lois felt her heart quicken a bit, thought about back tracking, of telling Chloe to forget she said anything. But then a bit of a smile began to curl the corner's of Chloe's lips. "Yeah he is. I'm beginning to think it's a Kryptonian thing; that kind of dedicated obsession. And the photographic memory. Your Feet by Pablo Neruda," Her breath caught as she seemed determined to hold back her tears. "Davis...he...recited it to me the night I moved in with him."
"Do...do you want to talk about it?"
Chloe nodded, but said nothing else as she continued to wipe away the tears she could not control.