Chapter 36: Confession

Chloe got back to the flat and prepared for the dinner and meeting with Anne. She was trying to be her normal, upbeat, perky self, but she was inwardly terrified that Anne would be irreversibly furious. She wasn't ignorant enough to believe that Ann wouldn't be initially angry, but she worried that the friendship would be damaged beyond repair, and she'd come to really like both her and Rygata.

She'd come in and waved hello and ran to her room. As she soaked in the tub trying to de-stress, song suddenly filled her head and Kyn spoke: "You need not worry, Chloe. You have a good heart as does your friend. She will see that in you. Let the song soothe you and whenever you need me, I'll be here."

After what seemed like hours she finally drained the tub with a sigh and dressed for dinner.

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Anne had been delighted at being invited to dinner, and knew from past experience that it would be a late night. Nanny already knew not to wait up for her to come home. She was puzzled though. Lana's tone was very serious, and when Chloe came home she'd greeted her quickly and seemed upbeat, but she could sense underlying tension. She wondered if the reunion of the last two days was positive. She sighed, sipped her espresso, and decided that instead of running scenarios in her head, she would have to trust her friends to tell her what was going on when they met for dinner. She checked the freezer for her daughter's dinner, put her empty cup in the sink and headed to her room to get ready.

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Lana was sitting nervously at her desk, waiting for Inge to produce yet another copy of the file on Rygata and the research Lex had been doing. She tried not to be afraid of the reaction Anne would have at full disclosure of Rygata's true parentage, but couldn't help but fear the rejection that might follow. She sighed and recalled that she'd always been afraid of rejection – probably one of the only true things Lex had ever told her, which was why she ended up with him in the first place. After Clark had rejected her, she had run to the first person she could think of who accepted her for who she was (so she thought) and loved her (well, in his own warped way). She thought wryly that the other plus had been going to the bed of her boyfriend's enemy would really hurt him. Lex certainly didn't reject her, but seemed to be prepared for the time when she would eventually reject HIM. She smiled at the irony of THAT realization.

She looked up at the knock on the door announcing Inge's arrival. "Here are the files you requested," she said as she put them on the desk. She sat down in front of Lana and looked concerned. She was a few years older than Lana and had come to really like her and believed in the work the Foundation was doing. She was also an excellent assistant, and while she didn't know exactly everything that was discussed (the room was secure), last night Lana had told her everything she'd told Chloe. "Are you alright, Lana? Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want me to go back to the States with you?"

Lana looked at her assistant, who over the last year had become a trusted friend. "No, this is something I need to do on my own. I need you here." She pulled a CD from her desk and handed it to Inge. "Here is all of the information you will need to run the Foundation in my absence. I want you to run ISIS for me."

Inge was taken aback. "No, I couldn't possibly take your place."

Lana smiled at her and disagreed. "You are exactly the person to sit at this desk. You know everything that happens around here. You will report only to me, and you'd be the first to detect if someone… not appropriate… was trying to find out information on any of our clients. Choose one of your most trusted assistants to sit at your desk and you'll be all set. I'll work with you through the week as I prepare to head home, but as of now, you are in charge." She stood and went around the desk to offer her new Director a congratulatory handshake.

Inge stood but instead of taking the hand extended to her, pulled Lana into a loving embrace.

Lana, at the gesture, lost her composure, and suddenly relaxed into Inge's arms and sobbed. She'd been holding it together for two days (more like a year) and she'd felt so alone. Suddenly in the past two days, she'd found her best friend, been reunited with a father-in-law she'd been terrified of, everything was about to be in the open, and she was preparing to go home to face a possible prison sentence. She quieted in a few minutes, and stepped back wiping her tears with the handkerchief Inge had put in her hand. "Thank you. Wow. I'd forgotten what a good cry does for you. I think I can face Anne now."

Inge looked at her friend. "I remember when you were looking for a mother for Rygata. I didn't know her origins as I do now, but I remember you were fiercely protective of her, and looked long and hard for the right person to raise and protect her at all costs: the psychological profiles, endless questions, meetings, all of that. Anne went through it all and showed you clearly that she would go to the ends of the earth to protect the child. I think you may be worried about her reaction for nothing."

"I knew I hired you for all the right reasons. You really do know people. You're right. I'm worried over something I have no control over – I can only be honest and forthright with her and accept what reaction she gives me. Thanks." Lana looked at her watch. "Well I have to go prepare for the meeting. Go home. I'll see you tomorrow." She gathered her belongings and the files and headed to the car and home to prepare.

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The car came for Anne and Chloe promptly at the appointed time, and they were taken to Lana's flat, where she was putting the finishing touches on the table settings. She greeted them warmly and said that dinner would be ready shortly. She led them to a comfortable sitting room and they sat and enjoyed some wine and cheese.

Anne noticed that Chloe was a bit more her usual self, and that Lana was quiet and doing her best to appear relaxed, but the tension was evident under the surface. She could no longer wait. "Lana, I just have to know. What is wrong? You are always so happy and cheerful and yet since you were reunited with our Chloe, you are sad."

Lana sighed and smiled. Anne's ability to perceive what was going on around her was one of the things that told Lana she would be right for Rygata. "You are right. Everything is not all right. I have not been totally honest with you, and brought you here to tell you everything."

Anne was taken aback. She looked over at Chloe, who nodded. "The story is a long one, and we're not sure where to begin. All we ask is that you listen with an open mind and heart. Ask all the questions you want, rant all you want, we're prepared to take whatever you want to say." She looked back at Lana, who continued.

"First, and most important, I want you to remember this: No matter what happens, my attorney says Rygata is yours, and nobody can legally take her from you. I know this is confusing, but I want you to know from the start that the adoption is legal and binding. I'd better start from the beginning." She took a sip of her wine. "I think you are acquainted with a man named Lex Luthor?"

Anne nodded. "I'd met him on several occasions in New York about 6 years ago. We went out a couple of times, but nothing came of the relationship."

"Well, my married name is Lana Lang Luthor. I married Lex about a year ago after a whirlwind romance. I thought I was expecting our child, but miscarried shortly after the wedding. I had been told many times by my friends that Lex was involved in illegal and unsavory activities, but he repeatedly told me he was an honest businessman, and because I so desperately wanted to believe in someone, I believed him. I learned soon after the miscarriage that I was oh so wrong."

"I had gone into the doctor for a full work-up after I recovered to make sure that nothing was wrong with me, and that I could have more children. The doctor told me that I had never been pregnant. It had been faked with hormones without my knowledge. As you can imagine, I was devastated. I really had loved him and was horrified that he would go to such lengths to hurt a former friend of his."

Chloe interrupted at this point. "Clark and Lana were an item for a long time, and he and I got together after Lana was married to Lex."

Lana snorted. "More like finally realized you'd been in love with each other since, like, 8th grade." Chloe was surprised, and Lana reached over put her hand over Chloe's. "I told you. I'm happy for you and know I have no hold over him. I never really did. It's okay."

Anne brought them back to the discussion at hand. "Let me see if I have it right so far: Lana dated Clark in high school…they broke up and Chloe is with him now. Lana married Lex Luthor and was tricked by a faked pregnancy."

"That's about it so far," said Chloe.

Lana continued. "After I found out about the deception and recalling some other strange behavior of Lex's, I decided that if he could keep me under surveillance, I could do the same. As. Mrs. Luthor, I had the ability to do so much more easily than I first thought. I was stunned to discover so many things Lex had been lying about. Among his activities, was funding research to create a super-soldier, with amazing abilities. The soldiers he was using to conduct his research had been stolen - either listed as killed in battle or MIA. He quickly realized that method would eventually attract too much attention, especially when the missing soldiers suddenly reappeared one day in the future, so he took that research a step further. He started doing cloning research. Creating people out of nothing would be easier to provide a cover story for than stealing bodies. His goal was to create an army of super-soldiers. The person in charge of that army would have great power."

Lana held out a file and opened it. She pulled a picture out of it and put it into Anne's hands. "Do you know what this is?"

Anne studied the picture. "You."

"No. It looks like me, but here." She handed her another picture showing Lana standing next to the table where the other Lana lay.

Anne was stunned. "Surely not…"

"Yes. That is a clone. My clone. It was not alive – had no heartbeat or brain wave activity. I destroyed it." She picked up another picture and handed it to Anne with trembling hands. "However, there was a living clone."

Anne took the picture and stared at it. She looked over at Lana and back at the picture. "But that's…that's…"

"Yes," said Lana gently. "Rygata is a clone. Part of Lex's research. He had created her with the plan of bringing her into our home and having us raise her as our child. She was scheduled for a memory modification procedure the next day. Clone or not, she was alive there was no way I was going to let that man raise this child. I had to protect her and decided to steal her."

"Are there any more like her?" Anne's protective instinct immediately surfaced.

"No. There were other children clones, but like mine, they were not alive. I destroyed them as well. Rygata was the only living being. I may not have been able to destroy the data but at least Lex would have to start over and I could have time to figure out a way to stop him."

"So her parents weren't wealthy socialites who ignored her…"

Chloe laughed at that. "Well, not counting Lana, who'd have been her mother, yeah. Lex was obscenely wealthy, and traveled all the time and was only interested in her for what she could do for him, results-wise. So yes, Lana told the truth about that."

"Shortly after I stole the child, I realized I would have to get away from Lex. He was getting more and more unpredictable, and after the clones were destroyed, he was furious. Our relationship fell apart even more and he became unpredictable and violent. Fearing for my life, I faked my death and disappeared with the child. I gave the child a name, back-story and cared for her. I had already created ISIS to help place orphans in homes with loving parents and so I found you for Rygata."

Anne was reeling. She sat back, digesting the information. "Suddenly it all makes sense… the endless tests, and questions, and your insisting on staying close by. You have been protecting us all along?"

"Yes. I feared that one day Lex would find me, or something would happen, but I hoped I had hidden Rygata deeply enough that she would be safe with you, and I knew that you would go to the ends of the earth to protect her."

Anne nodded. "So are you really a reporter?" she asked Chloe.

"Yes. I do work for the Daily Planet, and my stories on modeling are all completely real and published, as you know. That's where it ends though. I did call the agency and ask to do the story on you, but not because of the story. That was my cover. I was looking for Lana and you were the clue." She sighed. "I hate to interrupt but is dinner ready? I'm starving and can think better with a coffee and some food."

"Yes. Let's adjourn to the dining room and Chloe will pick up the story." Lana led them all to the dining room where dinner was served.

As soon as the staff had returned to the kitchen, Anne looked at Chloe, trying not to appear too wary. "So you only pretended to want to learn about modeling, and used that as a way to get close to me?"

"It isn't like that," said Chloe. "After Lana died, everyone thought Lex had done it, but there was no evidence connecting him to her death – we couldn't even prove that she'd died, except that she was in the car and the car exploded (quite fabulously from what I have heard) so the chance of finding DNA evidence at the scene was slim. There was not enough evidence to indict Lex for her murder, but he was convicted of having planned it and paid someone to do the deed. My investigative reporting team was given the task of following the story and digging up evidence to help the D.A. We decided that since we weren't coming up with anything to show murder, why not look for Lana to be alive somewhere?"

"Okay….Can you please explain that logic to me?" asked Anne.

"My cousin came up with it, actually. She had the silly idea that by looking for what we're not looking for, we'd find what we were looking for." Chloe laughed. "It sounds stupid when I say it out loud, but it worked. One day we found a huge account that didn't make sense and investigated it. It turned out to be Rygata's trust account, and after some investigating found out that you and Lex had been associated within enough time for her to be his child. It almost ended there except that I was able to find out that she wasn't his child."

"You found out? How did you do that? I never met you until a short time ago."

She knew that Anne was getting upset and touched Kyn for support. The song sang in her head, soothing her. "I want you to know that I have at all times had the privacy of you and Rygata at the top of my list. I have a friend who told me some things about blood types, and admit I may have broken a few laws gaining the information, but was able to use hospital records to show that Lex is not related to Rygata and hence not her father. Sorry about the hospital records thing, but I didn't want to be one of those scummy reporters who run up to you with a microphone asking if you are the mother of Lex's love child."

Anne wasn't sure what to say. She was upset. She didn't know what to think about Lana yet, and was feeling hurt by Chloe's motives. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, starting to say something and remembered her mother's house rule: When someone is trying to explain a hurt, let them finish. Jumping to conclusions will only hurt everyone more. She decided to listen to that advice and waited for Chloe to continue.

"If she'd been Lex's, we'd have stopped…" She stopped as her brain kicked into overdrive. "But in thinking about it, you'd have been in real danger. It was lucky that we kept digging. We didn't know why, but we just felt very strongly that Rygata was the key to finding Lana. After running in circles for a long time, we figured out that Rygata's name was an anagram for Lana's. Well, Clark did, actually." She pulled out the worksheet and showed Anne Clark's scribbling. "It was then that I decided I needed to meet you to see if I could figure things out without disturbing you. I still had your privacy foremost in my thoughts, and the stories, as you see are real. You don't know how exciting it was to model clothes for Cameron, and learn about your world."

Anne could see that Chloe truly was earnest and started to relax a little.

"I came here, not to use you, but to find Lana on my own. I am here working on the modeling story and had plans to do my research on my free time. I was going to find Lana, contact her, and keep you out of it completely. None of it was supposed to affect your family.

Anne was puzzled. "Wait. Go back. How would we have been in danger if Rygata had been perceived as Lex's?"

"Lana's Father-in-Law, Lionel Luthor, is in charge of all of Luthorcorp's assets now. He wanted to find Lana as much as we did, and was financing the search. If I'd found a grandchild, I'd have informed as much, for he'd have an heir. The danger, however wouldn't be from him," said Chloe

"It would be from Lex," finished Anne. As soon as it became public that Lionel had a grandchild, and when he saw pictures of her, he'd figure out who she is, right?"

"Exactly," said Chloe. "When I met with Lana the other day, she explained everything to me and I called Lionel, who met with her this morning."

"I'm still not sure I trust him entirely, based on how he's treated me in the past, but he appears very earnest in his 180° change in attitude. I do trust Chloe, and if she trusts him, I have no other choice. He's not giving me much reason to distrust him, at any rate.

"There's a lot that Lana doesn't know, because she's been gone," said Chloe (and never know, thinking about Lionel's role as Oracle) "but he's trustworthy in this situation. He has even declared he doesn't want to know what we decide as to protecting you."

"Protecting me? I still don't get it. You've mentioned that more than once." Anne was frustrated but was trying to keep up. "So Rygata is a clone, Lana stole her and took her to Europe to protect her, and gave her a name, background and I adopted her."

Lana took a turn again. "I came to Europe because I knew that I would be safer here than at home. I'd be more anonymous here, for the Luthor name is well known in the states. My face would be less recognizable here. Now that Chloe has found me, I've been doing some serious thinking. I broke the law when I faked my death. I can't live with that any more and need to go home and take responsibility for that. I may be a Luthor, but I don't need to behave the way they are reputed to. I met with an attorney today who said that the Foundation is safe and therefore Rygata should be, but I still worry."

"Clark was able to figure out the secret in minutes. My attorney has said she can talk to the D.A. to seal the proceedings and not release Rygata's existence or identity, if Chloe was able to find Rygata, Lex will."

Anne sat back. "So. Rygata is mine no matter what, and you are going back to the States to turn yourself in. I believe you that Lex could prove a problem at some point. How will Rygata be safe if you can't protect her?"

Chloe was about to answer when the doorbell rang.