Chapter Ten
Now that the two of them were finally alone she figured now was the best time for her to drop the bomb. She would have said something earlier but seeing how the circumstances have changed she wasn't sure how the news was going to be taken.
"Uh, Lois?"
"What's up Clo?"
"I didn't really have a chance to tell you..."
"Tell me what cuz?"
"Lanasbackintown" saying it all in one breath as she quickly headed downstairs to the Talon.
"Whoa there Chloe slow down, for a minute there I thought I heard you say Lana is back in town. Now slower this time, okay?"
"You heard me right the first time Lo. She really is back. I'm sorry I was gonna tell you when I got home but I, uh, well let's just say you seemed a little preoccupied at the moment." Chloe giggled at the recent memory. Lois was never too keen on public displays of affection.
"Very funny" Lois said somewhat annoyed at her cousin, but couldn't help but giggle herself. She could never be upset with Chloe, at least not for very long. "So what made little miss perfect decide to come back anyway, I bet it was Clark wasn't it?"
"Well, why don't you ask her yourself, she's waiting for us in the car" Chloe said with a nervous little laugh as she quickly made her way out the door and into her car before her cousin could unleash a few choice words on her.
Lois stopped dead in her tracks at this last bit of information. "What did you say?" She yelled out after her cousin as she followed her out. Not that she disliked the girl, but knowing Lana she'll most likely try to rekindle her relationship with Clark.
Great just great, now that her and Clark had finally admitted their feelings to one another and had just begun exploring their new relationship Lana had to come back. Did he even know that Lana was back, he would have told her wouldn't he? Would Clark want her back? Considering how all he ever did was talk and brood over her, regardless if they were together or not. She just didn't need this, another failed relationship. So if Clark knew, he better be honest with her, and get this over with before her heart gets broken, again. Stepping into the car taking a seat in the back since Lana was already sitting in the front. Lois slammed the door shut behind her, earning a stern look from Chloe.
"Hi Lois" Lana said in her usual cheerful manner as she turned around in her seat to look at Lois and smile.
"Hi Lana" Lois replied back seeing no reason to be rude to the girl since she hasn't done anything, yet. Not in the mood for small talk just wanting to get to the point of why she was here in the first place after being away for so long, Lois wasted no time. "So, Lana, what brings you back here after so long?" she asked inquisitively, noticing the unpleasant look Chloe was still giving her through the rear view mirror.
Lana felt a little hesitant, not knowing how much to reveal to Lois about the real reasons of why she left and why she came back. Chloe seeing her friend's sudden unease decided to step in. "It's okay Lana, Lois knows Clark secret now, don't you Lois?" smirking at her cousin through the mirror. Chloe's smile quickly faded upon seeing the frosty look Lois was giving her,
"Oh, okay then" Said Lana sensing the sudden change in mood in the small car. She proceeded to tell Lois without giving to many details, the shortened version of how she got the power suit and how Lex later manipulated her into absorbing the kryptonite from the bomb, assuming that since Lois already knew about Clark's secret then she must know about kryptonite too.
"So let me get this straight, you left because you couldn't be around Clark because you absorbed kryptonite from a bomb that Lex planted on the roof of the Daily Planet? At Lana's nod Lois continued. "And this kryptonite is what? Dangerous to Clark? And you came back because you are now cured? Am I getting this right?" Lois asked a bit confused, realizing there was still a lot about Clark she didn't know. But then again she only recently found out he is the Blur.
"Well that pretty much sums it up." Lana blew out her breath that she didn't realize she was holding.
So Lana was back because of Clark, great just great. Oh well she'll just have to tell Lana, that Clark is off limits now, Lois thought to herself as Chloe parked the car in front of Watchtower.
Once inside, Lois slowly took in her surroundings. "Wow this place is amazing" noticing all the computers and electronic gadgets everywhere. It seemed everywhere she looked there was a computer monitor or some type of high tech equipment or another, "This must be techie's paradise."
Chloe, ignoring Lois's comment said, "I just need some time to gather some more information that I got on Dr. Jenkins. I'll be with you guys in just a while. Lois, Lana, why don't you go over to the kitchen area and make us some coffee, it looks like where going to be here for quite a while."
"Dr. Jenkins, w-why do you need information on him?" asked Lana apprehensively.
"Because he's the creep that almost killed me!" Lois answered Lana's question. Not failing to hear her nervousness. Lois asked, "Why do you know something?"
"Uh, I, Uh, no, no I don't. I was just thinking of someone else, never mind" Lana smiled a bit too brightly, trying to hide her unease.
"Lana if you know something you better tell us. The man almost killed Lois" Chloe said as she approached her, looking Lana straight in the eyes.
As much as she wanted to keep her promise to the good doctor who finally cured her, but if there was even a remote chance that he might be responsible to what happened to Lois then she was not about to aid and abet a potential criminal. Lana took a deep breath before confessing what she knew on Dr. Jenkins as the two girls listened on.
"Dr. Jenkins was one of the scientists who worked on one of Lex's projects, the one who had the power suit grafted onto me and the same scientist that tracked me down to help me remove it. But it can't be him, it's not possible." Lana tried to make them understand.
"Why? Cause he cured you? You believe he's a good guy for all the good things he did so in your eyes he could do no wrong?" Lois stood with her arms crossed looking directly at Lana, infuriated that the girl could be so naive at times.
"You don't understand, he couldn't have done it" Lana tried to reason with them.
"Oh really and why not?" Lois asked, as she approached her staring her directly at Lana.
Seeing the fire in Lois eyes, Chloe tried to be the voice of reason. The last thing she needed was to see is her two friends going at it. "Okay let's start from the top. Lana you need to tell us all you know about this scientist, we need to know exactly what we're dealing with here." Seeing that Lana was still being hesitant to say more than she already had, Chloe said, "Lois was nearly killed yesterday and if it's the same man who cured you then we need to know. The last thing we need, what this city needs, is another deranged lunatic roaming our streets.
Knowing that Chloe was right and she wasn't willing to help a potential criminal by not revealing what she already knew either, she took a deep breath and began her story.
"After a years of trying to help me, the scientists that I've hired all told me the same thing, there was no hope for me unless I found the original scientists who helped create the power suit. But since I already knew they were nowhere to be found and most likely dead, I offered to pay them double. I was desperate. I would have done anything. Then one day my luck came through and I don't know how but Dr. Trent Jenkins tracked me down. He's the original creator of the power suit. At first he refused to accept my money, saying something about it being for the greater good. He said he didn't want to have anything to do with Lex or his projects and he definitely did not want to end up dead like the other scientists who originally worked on the project with him. But I insisted on paying him and I paid him very well. That's why I don't believe he could have been the same Dr. Jenkins who tried to kill you Lois." She looked right at Lois feeling really bad to what happened to her and not believing that the man who attacked her was the same man who had cured her just a short couple of weeks ago.
Being the inquisitive person that she was, Chloe asked, "Lana how exactly did Dr. Jenkins remove the suit off you?"
"I'm not really sure, I'm not really good with all the scientific and technical details, but he briefly mentioned something about transferring the power suit onto some nano cells he created and that during the transfer the kryptonite that was already absorbed in the suit would cancel itself out. I'm sorry but that's all I can tell you about him. He agreed to help me as long as it was on his terms. He had me blindfolded before he brought me to his lab. And now that I think about it he did demand more and more money, saying something about the high costs of the technology being used. I never thought anything of it at the time since it was Lex's money that I was spending" confessed Lana.
Lois and Chloe looked at each other before they turned around to look at the other woman in disbelief.
"What? I was desperate! I wasn't about to question him as to where and how. As long as there was the potential of him curing me, I was willing to do almost anything." Lana retorted back defensively.
Getting up from the couch, Chloe said, "Well I have my work cut out for me but at least with this new information I won't be working blind" making her way to the highly sophisticated central processing system to continue her research on Dr. Jenkins, leaving the two women alone.
They both stood there somewhat edgy and silent. Lois wanted to blame Lana, but how was she to know that Dr. Jenkins would become an attempted murderer. That is if of course he hasn't killed anyone already.
"Well I think I'll go and make us that coffee" Lois said, clamping her hands together, feeling somewhat awkward and quickly headed towards the little kitchenette. Now that Chloe was left to her own devices on finding whatever else she could on the scientist, Lois decided now was as good a time as any to tell Lana about her and Clark. In the meantime however she needed some distance from the girl so that she could think of what she was going to say to her.
"Here let me help you with that" Lana said softly. She felt bad about what happened to Lois if only she had known before about who that scientist really was. She might not have been very close to Lois but considered her a friend regardless.
They worked silently in the kitchen preparing coffee until Lois couldn't take it anymore. She hated uncomfortable silences and the slight tension between them was what causing it. Lois had to somehow tell Lana that Clark and her were, what, dating? Oh hell she wasn't even sure what they were. Sure they both professed their love to each other and had a heavy make out session while floating in the middle of her living room. The memory of it giving her tingles right through here core causing her to slightly smile. Figuring she would go with the direct approach since subtlety was not exactly her strong suit, when her thoughts were abruptly interrupted.
"Lois, can I ask you something?"
"Uh, sure, okay?" Lois replied back not sure what to make of Lana's elusive tone.
"Do you believe in destiny?"
"Destiny?" Lois quirked her eyebrow a bit puzzled by Lana's odd question. "Well if you're asking me do I believe if my life has already been mapped out for me, then no I don't. In that case, I believe in making my own destiny. Why are you asking me all this, Lana?"
Instead of answering her, slightly shrugging her shoulders Lana continued, "Do you believe in soul mates?"
"No I don't. Is there a point to this?" Lois was getting annoyed by all this new age metaphysical nonsense that Lana was blabbing about.
"Well, it's actually about Clark and me. I went to visit him yesterday."
So he did know, so this changes everything. She wanted to hear what Lana had to say first before making her decision on whether or not she would tell her about their relationship or whatever it was at this point. Turning around to face Lana, Lois crossed her arms and legs as she leaned against the counter making herself comfortable while waiting for the coffee to brew. "Really? I bet he was really happy to see you?" Lois said trying not to sound too sarcastic. She didn't want to give Lana any indication that Clark and her are more than friends, at least not until she heard what Lana had to say.
"That's the thing Lois that I can't understand. I thought he would be ecstatic to see me considering how we parted but he seemed a little distant." Lana said as she slumped on the chair next to the counter, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to spill. Remembering how he had kissed her despite of all the kryptonite she had absorbed which was visibly flowing into his veins. She was kneading her fingers, trying her best to regain her composure as she tried to figure out what had happened in the barn yesterday. She hasn't said anything to Chloe yet but considering Lois and Clark always bickered and teased each other to no end but still remained friends maybe talking to Lois about it would help with her dilemma, at least from a third party's perspective.
"Oh really?" Liking where this was going so far, biting the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from smiling. Lois was pleased that Clark had finally come to his senses. But why couldn't Lana just let it go was beyond her.
"I told him how much I missed him and I want us to be together again because I still love him. But I think that he's scared Lois, I think he thinks it's not going to work out again. I know the two of you work together and seem to be friends. Maybe he'll listen to you? You need to make him understand that the bond we share cannot be broken." Lana looked at Lois half pleadingly, giving her a small unsure smile, hoping she would understand and be supportive in helping her win Clark back.
Lois eyebrows shot up at Lana's request. Was Lana asking her to play cupid for her? Okay that does it she had to put that girl in her place! Even if Clark and her had not admitted their feelings to each other this morning and were nothing more than friends, she still would not have helped Lana. That girl always had him wrapped around her little finger. She was tired of the whole Lana and Clark thing anyways. Lois was just about to tell Lana that Clark and her have grown closer, much closer and were now more than just friends but was interrupted by the sound of Chloe's voice from her work station.
"Guys get over here, you'll never believe what I just found out" Chloe called out gravely.
"Coming," said Lois as she walked over to her holding two cups of coffee with Lana right behind her, wondering what got her cousin in such a sombre mood.
Chloe turned around accepting the cup of brew offered by Lois, she took a quick sip before placing it down on the desk next to her. Looking at both girls solemnly from the information she just found. "Lana, Dr. Jenkins is the one who grafted the power suit on you, and who had you cured right?" not waiting for a reply she continued, "Well it turns out that we were right, he is the same Dr. Jenkins that attacked Lois."
"Chloe this is hardly news, don't tell me that you spent all this time just to tell us what we already know?" Lois said, agitated by her cousin's seemingly lack in progress.
"Lois is right, as much as I didn't want to believe it at first, it seems to be a bit more than just coincidence." Lana held on to her own cup letting its warmth penetrate her hands. "I hope that you found more than just that?"
Ignoring both their remarks, Chloe turned to address Lana, "You mentioned that Dr. Jenkins was in hiding." At Lana's nod she continued. "Did he ever tell you why he was in hiding?" Chloe asked, she wanted to see how much Lana really knew and if she was hiding anything else before revealing what she had just discovered.
Feeling like Chloe's line of questioning seemed more of an interrogation, Lana set her cup on the desk next to Chloe's and glowered at her friend before replying."If you're assuming that I'm hiding something, I'm not! He told me he was in hiding because he was afraid he would have the same fate as his former colleagues who I don't need to remind you, have all disappeared." she said somewhat defensively before continuing. " I don't know what lead him to do what he did to you Lois, and I am truly sorry for that and I honestly believe he should be locked away and the key thrown out. But back then he was terrified of being found by whoever got rid of all the other scientists. As scared as he was, he really did want to help me. Figuring it was his only chance to exact revenge on Lex." Lana cast her eyes on both women, making it clear to them that she was telling the truth.
"Why would he want revenge if Lex was supposed to be dead?" Lois asked, incredulous, it just didn't make any sense.
Often wondering of the same thing since she was cured but never questioned the scientist since all she cared about was getting that suit off of her and finally being able to return to Smallville to be with Clark. Before she had a chance to reply, Chloe answered the lingering question.
"That's because he never wanted revenge at least not on Lex." Chloe stated matter of factly as she typed away on the keyboard. "Dr Jenkins was never in hiding and certainly not because he was scared he'd end up like his colleagues."
Furrowing her eyebrows by Chloe's words Lana stood up from her seat and said questioningly, "What do you mean he wasn't in hiding, what are you talking about?" Trying to understand what her friend was saying.
"Yeah cuz, what are you talking about?" Lois was trying to make sense of what Chloe was telling them, agitated by her vague answer.
Continuing to type at the keyboard, pulling out all the information she gathered so far, ignoring the harshness in Lois' tone. "It seems that he was in hiding, but not for the reason you thought Lana"
"I don't understand?" Lana said as she tried to comprehend what Chloe was telling her.
Chloe averted her eyes from the screen to face her friend once more. "You were desperate and willing to do anything to get rid of it and after many failed attempts, Dr. Jenkins found you, right?"
"Well yes he did but like I said before it was to help me if only to get back at Lex, regardless of whether he was alive or not."
"I don't think so," Chloe shook her head as she took a sip of her coffee before setting the mug back down on top of her desk and returning to her attention back to the computer screen as she continue typing away. Lana and Lois looked at each other questioningly before staring at Chloe dumfounded.
"What is that supposed to mean, that you don't think so? Chloe tell us what you found, I mean the man almost killed me" said a very frustrated Lois Lane, she wanted her cousin to get to the point already and by the looks of it so did Lana.
"Dr. Jenkins was actually Lex's top scientist and had worked with him on a multitude of questionable projects. Once he found out of Lex's demise he went on a rampage, killing everyone off who was involved with the last project. That's why they all disappeared without a trace. He wanted the power suit for himself, so when he found out that you were trying to rid yourself of it, he conveniently found you, Lana."
"How do you know that he actually killed anyone, don't you think he would be rotting in some stinkin' jail by now?" Lois just couldn't understand how he could not have been caught.
"Actually he was caught but was acquitted on all charges since there wasn't enough evidence against him. But here comes the interesting part" Chloe finely took her eyes of the console and looked directly at the two women and continued, "The day of his trial, the key witness who was to testify against him had suddenly died of a heart attack." Seeing that they were still waiting for her to continue as if that alone was not enough, Chloe said. "And don't you think it seems to be a bit to convenient that the key witness was a 25 year old who didn't smoke or drink, and had taken exceptional care of himself. It seems like our scientist wanted to have the power suit because... Oh no."
"What is it Chloe?" Lois and Lana asked at the same time.
"I don't know how, but apparently Lex figured out Clark's secret and his weakness along with that. So after Lex's apparent death, Dr. Jenkins got hold of Lex's files." Chloe turned around to look at Lana again. "That's why he was so keen on helping you. He knew the power the suit would give him and with the kryptonite absorbed in it he could easily defeat Clark, knowing that Clark was Lex's arch nemesis."
"Wait a minute something doesn't add up" said Lana. "If Trent had the power suit why didn't he just come after Clark right away? If he wanted to get rid of him he could've easily done so."
Continuing to type away at the keyboard Chloe replied without taking her eyes of the screen, "well it seems that something went wrong and he wasn't able to do the transfer or maybe he did but something went wrong, I'm not sure. It would explain however, why he left Clark for dead with the piece of kryptonite he left behind when Clark went to find him after rescuing you, Lois."
"Lois couldn't believe what she was hearing. First that psychotic scientist almost killed her and then tried to do the same to Clark. "Chloe, when Trent had me tied up in that shack, I tried escaping by kicking him in the head. I did and it should've knocked him out cold but he got up almost immediately and the gash across his head healed almost instantly. He said something about being around when the meteor shower hit Smallville. He also said that thanks to the green meteor rock that he had around his neck that he had those abilities."
"Why didn't you say anything before Lois?" asked Chloe.
"I just didn't think it was relevant at the time, I mean how could I?"
"Well that's fine. What matters is that the more info we have on Dr. Trent Jenkins the better" replied Chloe.
This was more than she could take, she wished that there had to be some kind of a mistake. Shocked by Chloe's and Lois's reveal, wanting nothing more than to disprove their theories, but given Chloe's resources Lana knew that her friend had been right. Suddenly feeling sick to her stomach for being deceived in such a way, she wrapped one hand around her stomach while the other clutched her forehead she slowly lowered herself back onto the chair next to Chloe's work station and turned her attention to Lois. "Lois I'm so sorry, if only I had known."
"Well you didn't, so don't beat yourself up over it okay." Lois tried to reassure her. Then she suddenly remembered what Chloe and Lana told her about the green meteorite's affects on Clark and that the scientist was also affected by them during the meteor shower.
Looking at Lois, Lana said, "Why would he just admit that to you about being a meteor freak?"
"I guess he felt like he had nothing to hide and confessed that he was from Smallville and got infected during the meteor shower. How the hell am I supposed to know how the minds of the criminally insane works like?"
"Well that explains it" Chloe muttered mostly to herself as she went back to her previous task at hand and started pulling out more files that might deem useful on Dr. Jenkins.
"That explains what?" Lois couldn't believe that Chloe would just leave them hanging like that without further explanation.
"huh? Oh I'm sorry." Preoccupied by her further assessments on the scientist, that only now she realized she had said it out loud. Not taking her eyes of the screen as she continued typing then moving onto another console she replied, "Earlier Clark had mentioned to me after rescuing you that Dr. Jenkins had kryptonite on him and apparently knew what it could do to him."
"And only now you decide to share this little tidbit?" Lois followed Chloe as she walked over to yet another computer. "You know you have way too many computers here." As Lois kept following her cousin around who still had not answered her. Feeling herself lose whatever sense of cool she had just moments ago, her impatience and irritation getting the better of her she yelled out, "Chloe answer the damn question already!"
Chloe's usual calm and collective sense quickly waning as well, briefly taking her busy fingers that were just expertly flying across the keyboard and momentarily turned her gaze away from the computer screen, her own nerves on edge she yelled back "Lois I'm trying to work here so why don't you just be quiet for a minute and let me concentrate!"
"Stop the both of you. Yelling and screaming about it won't help the matter. Let's just figure this thing out calmly and rationally" Lana said as she got off her chair and walked over to where Chloe and Lois stood.
Knowing there was no point in fighting and all this tension was a result from all the stress they were dealing with. Chloe was just about to respond her agreement when Lois decided to speak for both of them. "Well I'm sorry we can't all be little Miss Perfect like you Lana." Lois said sarcastically and quickly realized it was uncalled for as she received a wide eyed look from Chloe and a cold stare from Lana. Not feeling ready to apologize yet for her gaff she simply said, "Let's see what else you found Chloe" as she turned her attention to the computer screen instead.