Chapter Ten
"I can't believe you got all this Clark, this is great. We'll have enough to take Lex down once and for all." Chloe said happily as she shifted carefully in her hospital bed.
"You really think it'll be enough Chlo?" Lois asked, sipping her coffee. Clark stood leaning against the far wall with his arms folded, watching Lois.
He knew he should've been paying attention to what Chloe was saying but his mind had drifted back to their conversation at the farm. He had been so happy after telling her everything and surprised even himself by his admission of love. But looking over at Lois right now, he knew that he meant every word he had told her. He was in love with her. He felt stupid for not having seen it till now.
But the icing on the cake had been her returning his declaration of love. He still couldn't believe it; Lois Lane loved him. He felt incredibly lucky and hopeful for his future. Something that had deserted him when his dad had died. Whatever his future held, he was sure of one thing. If Lois was with him, it would be perfect.
He shook his head and tried to tune back into their conversation. He really should be paying attention, he thought.
"…so this guys' name is…" Chloe flipped through the pictures on her laptop that she had downloaded from Clark's camera.
Clark moved to stand next to Lois.
"Wes Keenan." Chloe said. Clark felt Lois freeze. Looking at her face, he saw shock.
"Lois?"
"Chloe tell me you didn't just say Wes Keenan?" Lois said urgently.
"I'm afraid so Lois, why? Do you know him?" Chloe said.
"Know him? I was stationed with him for a while. We became really close." She said and Clark could feel the jealousy building in his gut. He knew he shouldn't feel that way but he couldn't help it.
"How close?" He found himself asking. She turned to face him and he saw that she was worried.
"There weren't many kids our age on the base at that time. Wes and I became friends and got into all sorts of mischief. My father liked him a lot and he didn't like many people. How the hell did Lex manage to get hold of Wes? He's brainwashed him or something." She said adamantly.
Clark felt horrible for having those feelings of jealousy when it was quite obvious that Lois was distraught over the thought of someone she had been raised with, being used as a pawn by Lex Luthor. She turned back to Chloe who was frantically typing away.
"Okay got it." She said proudly. Then her face fell as she looked up at Lois. "Oh no."
"What is it?" Lois moved over to Chloe and the computer and her hand flew to her mouth in shock at what she read.
"No that's not possible." Lois said.
"What is it?" Clark asked.
"Wes Keenan died in combat three months ago. He was shot by a sniper." Chloe said raising a hand and rubbing Lois' shoulder. Lois moved away to the other side of the room, clearly rattled.
"No this can't be possible. Wes was a good man he lived to protect his country. How would Lex be able to get a hold of his body and if he really is dead then what does Lex want with him?" Lois was rambling on now, Clark could barely hear a coherent word from her. He hated seeing Lois like this, he wanted to hold her, but he wasn't sure if it would be welcome at that moment.
"Chloe what else does it say?" Clark asked.
"Nothing it's all been classified I can't get any more information. Clark we have to do something, now." She looked up at Clark who nodded. If Lex was planning to build some sort of weapon with a military soldier in mind, he had to be stopped right away.
He looked back over to Lois who looked like she was ready to tear someone's head off.
"Lois, I promise I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that Lex gets what's coming to him." She stopped pacing and glared at him.
"How exactly are you going to do that Clark?" She snapped then stopped, and walked up to him.
"Sorry this isn't your fault. But Wes? I just can't believe it. Do you really think he's dead?" Clark wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, not caring that Chloe could see them.
"I don't know Lois. I'm really sorry."
"Chloe, get everything together and compiled. I'm going to the cops. Lex can't get away with this and from what I heard earlier he wants this thing off the ground today. We can't let that happen." He looked at Chloe who was smiling a little, he knew why. She was remembering what he had told her yesterday at the Planet.
"I'm coming with you." Lois said defiantly. He opened his mouth to argue but knew that there would be no point. She was adamant and he knew he wouldn't be able to talk her out of it. So he simply nodded.
"Okay Clark you'll have to take my laptop but I have everything backed up in this.." She held up her flash drive. "Just in case. Are you going to the Smallville sheriff? This seems a little big for them don't you think?"
"I'll go to them first but I doubt they're going to believe me so I may have to go higher up." Chloe nodded and handed him her laptop.
"Lex is going to pay for this if I have to do it myself." Lois said suddenly out of nowhere just as the door opened and Lana walked in.
"Lex is going to pay for what?" Lana asked glaring at Lois.
"Your husband is playing with fire and he's about to get burnt." Lois said angrily. She felt Clark move up beside her, taking her hand in his, something that didn't go unnoticed by Lana. He turned and whispered in her ear. "Lois this isn't Lana's fault. She doesn't know anything about it."
"I don't know what you're talking about Lois but leave my husband alone." Lana said.
"Oh I'll leave him alone once he behind bars where he belongs."
"Chloe what's this all about?" Lana turned to face Chloe, ignoring Clark completely.
"Um Lana this is very delicate and I don't want you to be caught in the crossfire. But trust me when I say that Lex has this coming."
"He's my husband Chloe, I have a right to know." Lana nearly yelled.
She tried to get her emotions under control but seeing Clark take Lois' hand and whisper into her ear was freaking her out. She had never imagined that Clark would move on so fast and especially not with someone like Lois. She didn't deserve Clark.
Lana would never have defended Lex if she hadn't been so upset at the situation in front of her. She felt like she wanted to cause Clark a little pain by reminding him that she married Lex but it didn't seem to be working.
Chloe sighed and then proceeded to tell Lana everything she and Clark had found out.
"So you think that Lex is building some sort of superhuman? Do you realise how crazy you all sound?"
"Lana you've been married to him for six months. You know what he's capable of; do you really find this that hard to believe? He's always been obsessed with aliens and the meteor showers." Chloe tried to reason with her friend.
"I'm going back to Smallville now. I'm not going to sit and listen to this anymore." With that she got up and walked out of the door, turning her back on all of them.
"Why is she so eager to protect him all of a sudden?" Lois said, slipping her hand out from under Clark's and walking to the door. She could see Lana storming down the hall.
"I think it may have something to do with you two." Chloe said looking from Lois to Clark.
"What did we do?" Clark asked innocently.
"You held Lois' hand and whispered in her ear Clark you may as well have kissed her."
"What? Lana thinks there's something going on between us?" Lois asked.
"Well isn't there? It's pretty obvious you guys." Chloe chuckled.
"Look this isn't the best time to talk about this ladies." Clark interjected. "We need to go take care of this problem. Forget about Lana for now, she can't help us anyway." He grabbed his jacket, gave Chloe a kiss on the cheek turned to Lois.
"Sure I can't talk you out of this?" He said.
"What do you think?" She replied. He could still see the anger in her eyes. He would really hate to have that directed at him and made a mental note to never get Lois Lane angry.
"Okay then let's go. See you later Chloe I'll call you as soon as I know anything." Once again he took Lois' hand and led her out of the door, catching Chloe's smile as he closed it behind him.
Lana drove back to Smallville as fast as she could manage without losing control of the car. She was furious.
How could he? How could he start something with that tramp? I thought he loved me. Now those two are teaming up to ruin another part of my life. Well I'm not going to let that happen.
However the more the she thought about it, the more the idea didn't seem so terrible. If they really did have something on Lex that could put him away for a long time, she would finally be free.
She smiled at that thought. There wouldn't be any question of her divorce and a reasonable settlement. If all that could happen then she could maybe think up a plan to get Clark back.
"So where's your truck?" Lois asked once they were outside.
"I didn't bring it." He said. She looked confused for a moment before it clicked.
"Ah I see. So just how long does it take to get to Smallville from here?"
"You're about to find out. Here," He handed her the laptop and then lifted her easily in his arms. She looked nervous.
"It's okay Lois I'll go slow." He promised as he leaned down and kissed her quickly on the lips before speeding off.
Lana arrived back in Smallville about two hours later. She had driven so fast that she was sure she would have a few fines coming for speeding but she didn't care.
She pulled up to the mansion and parked the car. When she walked into their bedroom she was surprised to see Lex there packing frantically.
"Lex." He stopped and turned at her voice. "Where are you going?" She asked, walking slowly towards him.
"Lana I have to go away for a little while. I'm not sure how long it will be."
"You're not going to ask me to come with you?" She asked, a little disappointed that she now meant nothing to the man in front of her but not heartbroken.
"No. I can't risk it and I have to go now. The jet's waiting for me." He turned, zipped up his suitcase, and headed for the door.
"So what have you done this time?" She asked smugly folding her arms in front of her.
"I've done nothing, I've been set up, and I need to get away for a while so that I can have time to clear my name." He didn't slow as he was talking to her; instead she followed after him. She was enjoying seeing him so frazzled, it didn't happen often.
"Set up huh? Boy, that really sucks doesn't it?" She giggled. He whirled around to face her.
"You know something about this don't you? It was Clark wasn't it? He set me up." He yelled. She took a step back and smiled at him.
"I don't know what you're talking about Lex. I haven't seen Clark for days." She said sweetly.
"I don't have time for this." He growled, turning and running down the hall to the back door leading out to the helicopter.
He didn't get very far, once outside Lana watched as the police swarmed in on her husband. He was screaming at them as they handcuffed him and led him to one of the awaiting cars.
Lana couldn't help but laugh. It was a funny sight seeing the great Lex Luthor lose his cool. She closed the door and headed back to his study. She sat down in his chair behind the desk and opened his laptop. Over the last few months Lex had been getting increasingly lax in his attempts to make his passwords original so she had no trouble cracking them.
She searched through file after file to find whatever it was that Chloe was talking about. She knew there had to be something. Then she found it. Everything she would need to help Clark bring Lex down. She was sure that Lex would manage to work his way out of whatever evidence Clark thought he had but if they had proof direct from the source it would certainly change things.
She smiled to herself. She was going to be free at last. And she would have the chance to make things right with Clark. Whatever was going on with Lois, it was nothing compared to what she and Clark had. And she was going to get it back.
Clark stood with Lois outside the dam as they watched the coroners bring out body after body after body. Clark hugged her to him tightly as she shivered. He felt Lois go rigid as she saw something. He looked over and saw that they were bringing out a man who must be Wes.
She broke from his arms and ran over to them. She said something that made them stop and she looked down. Clark never saw Lois so vulnerable and upset before. He didn't go over to her; she needed to do this alone. Today she had lost a friend and Clark felt so bad for her.
Seeing him like that must've been heartbreaking. He was a big military soldier reduced to being used by Lex Luthor. Clark was angry that Lex had been able to even start something like this let alone get away with it for so long.
He was initially confused but ultimately pleased when the police took him seriously. But with the evidence to back up what he was saying, the police launched a full scale raid of both the mansion and the dam. So far they had found close to ninety bodies and were still counting.
He looked up to see Lois walking back towards him, tears in her eyes. She didn't say anything; she just wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. He rocked her gently and kissed her forehead.
"It's going to be okay Lois. Come on, we can't do anymore here and we should go tell Chloe what's happened."
He led her away taking a last look at the scene. He didn't feel satisfied though. Something in his gut was telling him that this had been way too easy and that it wasn't over yet. He hoped he was wrong. But he had expected more of a fight from Lex. But he would worry about that later.
Right now his only priority was the woman he now held in his arms as he super sped back to Metropolis.
"So? What happened?" Chloe said urgently as Clark sat down. Lois was standing at the end of her bed. She hadn't said a word since leaving Smallville.
"Well we got to the sheriff's office and told him everything we knew. He of course laughed at us. Said he wasn't going to go after someone like Lex Luthor based on the word of a couple of kids."
"Which we knew would happen." Chloe said waving her hand for him to continue.
"However when I took out your laptop and showed him everything that backed up my story, he immediately changed his mind and called in the troops so to speak. He sent teams out to the mansion and the dam."
"Wow, so what happened to Lex?"
"I overheard one of them on the radio saying that Mr Luthor was now in police custody."
"Oh my God….so we did it? We really did it?" Chloe was ecstatic.
"We haven't done anything yet Chloe. He's only been arrested but he hasn't been charged with anything yet. I don't think they even know what to charge him with."
Clark said looking over at Lois who still wasn't saying anything. He frowned, this was hitting her harder then he thought.
"Well if they want some ideas, they can always charge him with my attempted murder." Chloe said sarcastically.
"I told them about that too. They said they would send someone to get a statement from you but I would bet my life that Lex has covered his tracks too well on that one. They wouldn't be able to find anything to connect him with the guys who hurt you."
"Maybe now those guys know Lex got arrested, they'd be willing to sing if it meant they could get off a little easier." Chloe said.
"Don't you get it?" Lois shouted, making them both jump. "Lex will find a way to get out of this. No Luthor goes down without a fight and he will have an army of lawyers at his defence. They will obliterate the evidence we had against him and he will be free within a week!" She stopped, breathing heavily. Clark got up and walked over to her but she pulled away from his grasp.
"Lois you can't think that way. He was arrested, that's a great start, and there can't be that many people who can cover up what he's done. He's gone too far this time." Chloe said soothingly.
"I just think all this was a little too easy." Lois said a little more calmly this time. Clark held back from reaching out to her again because it had hurt when she pulled away from him. He pushed it aside and focused on what she was saying.
"Well we'll all probably be called upon to testify so we will have our chance at getting our side across too. Don't worry Lois. It'll work out I promise." He saw her expression turn from one of pure anger and pain, to one of disbelief but she didn't say anything.
"What about your source Chloe? Would he be willing to testify against Lex?" Clark asked.
"I don't know Clark, he was scared enough just talking to me. But we might get lucky. Don't worry Lo, we'll do this."
After a few minutes Lois looked at Clark and smiled. "I'm sorry Clark. I'm just not handling Wes' death very well. I didn't mean to snap at you two." She smiled at Chloe who grinned back and then she let herself be wrapped in the warmth and comfort of Clark's strong arms.
I'm so sorry Wes. I promise you Lex will pay for what he's done. He'll never be able to hurt anyone ever again.
She sighed deeply and breathed in Clark's scent. Being in his arms was soothing her shattered nerves. She just hoped that this hadn't all been for nothing.