Clark's alarm went off at seven and they both fumbled to slap it off, resulting in Clark practically rolling on top of her. "Off," she grumbled, shoving at him.
"Sorry."
She rubbed her eyes and hid a yawn. "What's your water pressure like?"
"It's decent, why?"
"Dibs on the shower." Chloe grinned and slid out of bed, padding toward the bathroom. Clark protested behind her; she laughed and shut the door. He should have known better.
Despite her best efforts, she was still pulling on her shirt when Clark emerged from the shower, flushed and damp. She told her hormones to settle down and ducked back into the bathroom to put on makeup and attempt to do something with her hair.
"Chlo, come on, we're gonna be late," Clark called.
She sighed and capped her lipstick. "All right, all right."
They didn't have any problems getting through security, which was nice. Chloe wasn't surprised--if Lex said he was going to do something, he did it. And--okay, that was *not* where she needed her mind to go this morning.
Sheesh, what was with her? She hadn't had this much trouble with her hormones in--hmm. Well, her last 'relationship' had been with Matthew, and that had been over a year and a half ago. Maybe the celibacy was getting to her, after all.
And maybe it was time to forget about that for a bit longer and continue working on the story. Her sex life could remain as it was for a while longer.
"Good morning," Lex said when they got off the elevator. He smiled a little and gestured toward a conference room. "Quiet night?"
"Eventually," Chloe said. "And you?"
Lex shrugged. "I managed." He looked like he'd had a full night's sleep--impeccably dressed as always, his eyes clear and sharp, but Chloe was willing to lay odds he hadn't slept at all. Maybe it was the lack of hair; there wasn't any stubble to make him look scruffy.
The conference room was bright with sunshine; a collection of various pastries and fruit had been set out at one end of the long, glass-topped table. Chloe's attention was caught by the coffeemaker; she went right to it and poured herself a mug, inhaling the steam contentedly.
"Help yourselves," Lex murmured dryly.
"Mmm." Chloe took a seat on one side of the table; Clark sat down opposite her. Lex, unsurprisingly, took the chair at the head of the table after pouring himself some coffee.
"You'll probably be pleased to know that no one came near your building last night," he told Chloe.
She set her mug down. "But you don't think it's safe for me to go back there yet."
Lex looked momentarily startled, then his face settled into its customary cool impassiveness. "No," he admitted. "Not until we find whoever's behind this."
"I may be a bit naive, but why aren't we involving the police?" Clark spoke up.
"Because this was an inside job, and frankly I don't want--and, for that matter, I can't afford--the negative publicity that would result from an official police investigation. I'll contact them once there's something to go on."
"And how do you propose we go about finding information for them?" Chloe asked, taking a little muffin.
"Frankly, I hadn't intended on involving you two in the actual investigation," Lex said.
"Uh huh. Try again." Chloe leaned forward. "I'm not staying at my apartment because of this, Lex. I'm already involved. Deal with it."
Clark just shrugged. "I think I have a right to be involved after you knocked on my door," he said mildly.
Lex sipped his coffee. "I didn't think that would work," he said lightly. "But I figured I'd give it a try."
"So. For real now. What's the game plan?" Chloe poked at her muffin absently, turning it into a pile of muffin crumbs.
"There are only a few ways someone could have breached security to get in, and all of those involve both a working knowledge of the security systems here and a security clearance high enough to actually *manipulate* the systems. Needless to say, the first is much easier to get than the second." Lex set his mug down. "Unfortunately," he said wryly, "that still leaves us with about four dozen people as possibilities."
"Sounds like we need to start figuring out who would want to sabotage you," Clark said.
"Who wouldn't?" Lex countered.
"I'm sure the 'yes, I am an evil villain' thing serves you well in ways I don't want to know about, but seriously, Lex--let's try and focus here. This didn't start until recently, with the new vegetable program." Chloe raised an eyebrow at him.
"More specifically, when you started researching it," Clark added.
Chloe nodded. "Yeah, but I think it's safe to assume I'm not the target."
"Normally I'd advise against assuming anything but I think you're probably right." Lex raised an eyebrow at Chloe's muffin demolition. "Do you have some repressed anger I should know about?"
She looked down at the pile of crumbs and grinned. "Believe me, if I were angry you'd know it."
"So would the rest of the office," Clark added.
Chloe rolled her eyes at him. "Sounds like we need to do some research," she said briskly. "Find out who among those four dozen people has a motive and then go from there."
Lex nodded. "I had Marie compile the files on them. If you like, we can get started now."
The sheer amount of paperwork was staggering, Chloe thought about an hour later. They'd divided the files, which meant each of them had somewhere between fifteen and twenty people. It was incredibly slow going, as well; they had to continually cross-check people's histories with Lex's business dealings. And of course there were things not in the files that they might be missing.
Around noon, someone brought in food; Chloe had no idea who it had been. She just took a sandwich and a bottle of water and kept making notes.
"All right," Lex said around two. "I think we've done as much as we can for the day--and we all have other work to do." He leaned back in his chair. "What's the tally?"
"I've got three possibles," Chloe said, tossing her pen down on top of the files. "You?"
"Three possibles, two maybes."
Clark shrugged. "Two possibles--but it's a little hard to say someone's a possibility when we don't even know what we're looking for."
"It might be worth it if we traded files to double-check each other," Chloe suggested. "Maybe later today?"
"Sounds good." Lex stood, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Chloe, are you going to remain at Clark's for the time being?"
"Until it's safe for me to go back to my place--which hopefully will be by tomorrow--yeah, I am." Chloe glanced at Clark. "That okay with you?"
He grinned. "I'll manage somehow."
"If you don't mind, then, we can continue this at your apartment later?" Lex asked Clark. "I'm afraid I have other work to do."
"Me too," Chloe admitted. "I have to talk to Marie about setting up interviews."
"Just be careful," Lex told her. "Some of the people you'll want to talk to--"
"Are in here." Chloe nodded at the files. "Yeah, I know. I'll be fine." She smiled. "Be careful, Lex, or I'll start to think you care."
Lex just raised an eyebrow.
After making plans for the evening, the three of them went their separate ways. Clark had to go back to the Planet, Lex had things to take care of, and Chloe set about finding Marie and setting up interviews over the next few days. Strange as it was, she did have actual work to do that didn't involve finding a saboteur.
Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't multi-task. Several of the people she wanted to talk to were on the list they'd compiled, and she had enough faith in her interviewing skills that she was confident she'd be able to sneak a few questions in. But that would all have to wait; it was nearing the end of the day by the time she finished with Marie. All in all, she was satisfied with the day's work.
Now--time to head to her place to pick up a few things, then back to Clark's to do some more research, and a little investigating of her own, while she was at it. It was impossible to miss the strain between Clark and Lex, and she was determined to find out what had gone wrong. Back in high school, they'd been best friends, and now they barely looked at each other.
Clark had changed into an old T-shirt and jeans by the time she knocked on his door. "Come on in," he said, grinning.
"Thanks." She set her laptop bag down and tossed her jacket over it, stretching. "Lex'll be here at eight?"
"Yeah." Clark's grin disappeared when he answered her. "You want something to drink?"
"Water would be fantastic." Chloe dropped on the couch. "Clark--what happened between you and Lex?" Diplomacy was lost on Clark; he knew her too well.
"Nothing happened." Clark handed her a bottle of water. "People change, you know?"
"Yeah, so who changed here?"
"I guess we both did." Clark shrugged and sat down next to her. "I don't hate him, or anything."
"No, but you guys were so close in high school, and now you're like strangers."
"It happens."
Chloe wondered if Lex would provide any more answers. Somehow, she doubted it--but she wasn't going to let that stop her from finding out what had happened.
A little before eight, Lex arrived with bags of Chinese food and a briefcase full of files. "I come bearing food," he said wryly as Chloe and Clark both tore into the bags. "I figured you hadn't eaten yet."
"Clark's cooking skills are worse than mine," Chloe told him, opening a container of moo goo gai pan.
"I haven't had time to go food shopping lately," Clark protested. He tossed Chloe a pair of chopsticks and opened the kung pao shrimp. "So where are we?"
"Wading through paperwork." Chloe stole a shrimp from him. "And I think--yeah." She flipped through the file briefly, nodding. "Of the ten people we've got here, I have interviews with four of them. Leslie Garrett, Simon Young, Paul Kowalski, and Rich Manning."
Lex nodded. "I'll be interested in seeing your perceptions of them."
"I've got interviews with Leslie and Paul tomorrow, Simon the day after, and Rich the day after that."
"Sounds like fun," Clark muttered around a bite of chicken.
"If I ever manage to understand the science, it will be."
"If you manage to understand the science, I'll hire you," Lex countered.
Chloe grinned. "I don't think so."
He shrugged and ate a piece of beef. "I can always find a use for talent," he said after swallowing.
And there he went again with the double entendres. Chloe stabbed at her chicken a little more violently than she needed to. Damn, but he was relentless. Clark glanced from one of them to the other, but didn't say anything.
"This is pointless," Clark finally said around nine-thirty. "We don't even know what we're looking for. Going over these files will only work once we have something to *go* on."
"Unfortunately, I'd prefer to catch the saboteur *before* that happens," Lex pointed out. "I've already been hit over the head once, as has Chloe--"
"Not to mention the break-in last night," she added.
"Well, fine, but I still don't know what else we're going to accomplish here tonight."
"If you'd like me to leave, Clark, all you have to do is say so," Lex said mildly.
"I didn't say that," Clark snapped.
"Guys. Chill for a bit. It's getting late, we're all tired, let's call it a night." And when the hell had she become the peacemaker?
After one long moment, both the guys nodded. "All right," Lex said. "I'll see you at the office tomorrow, Chloe?"
"I'll be there."
Lex nodded and stood, picking up his briefcase. "Goodnight, Chloe." He nodded briefly. "Clark."
"Lex." Clark nodded back coolly.
When he was gone, Chloe threw a pillow at Clark. "What was that for?" he asked, catching it.
"You're sleeping on the couch tonight," she grumbled. "And if I have to play peacemaker again, you--"
"We weren't fighting!"
"Only because I stepped in first." Chloe glared at him and stalked off to the bedroom.
Of course, it didn't last. She'd never been able to stay mad at Clark. And she was just tired and edgy enough that Clark's big body next to hers was the only thing that let her sleep soundly.
Then again, she always slept better when she was with Clark. He was the only person who knew about her nightmares. Sometimes she thought that if he hadn't been there in college, she never would have graduated.
But that was another story.
"Sorry."
She rubbed her eyes and hid a yawn. "What's your water pressure like?"
"It's decent, why?"
"Dibs on the shower." Chloe grinned and slid out of bed, padding toward the bathroom. Clark protested behind her; she laughed and shut the door. He should have known better.
Despite her best efforts, she was still pulling on her shirt when Clark emerged from the shower, flushed and damp. She told her hormones to settle down and ducked back into the bathroom to put on makeup and attempt to do something with her hair.
"Chlo, come on, we're gonna be late," Clark called.
She sighed and capped her lipstick. "All right, all right."
They didn't have any problems getting through security, which was nice. Chloe wasn't surprised--if Lex said he was going to do something, he did it. And--okay, that was *not* where she needed her mind to go this morning.
Sheesh, what was with her? She hadn't had this much trouble with her hormones in--hmm. Well, her last 'relationship' had been with Matthew, and that had been over a year and a half ago. Maybe the celibacy was getting to her, after all.
And maybe it was time to forget about that for a bit longer and continue working on the story. Her sex life could remain as it was for a while longer.
"Good morning," Lex said when they got off the elevator. He smiled a little and gestured toward a conference room. "Quiet night?"
"Eventually," Chloe said. "And you?"
Lex shrugged. "I managed." He looked like he'd had a full night's sleep--impeccably dressed as always, his eyes clear and sharp, but Chloe was willing to lay odds he hadn't slept at all. Maybe it was the lack of hair; there wasn't any stubble to make him look scruffy.
The conference room was bright with sunshine; a collection of various pastries and fruit had been set out at one end of the long, glass-topped table. Chloe's attention was caught by the coffeemaker; she went right to it and poured herself a mug, inhaling the steam contentedly.
"Help yourselves," Lex murmured dryly.
"Mmm." Chloe took a seat on one side of the table; Clark sat down opposite her. Lex, unsurprisingly, took the chair at the head of the table after pouring himself some coffee.
"You'll probably be pleased to know that no one came near your building last night," he told Chloe.
She set her mug down. "But you don't think it's safe for me to go back there yet."
Lex looked momentarily startled, then his face settled into its customary cool impassiveness. "No," he admitted. "Not until we find whoever's behind this."
"I may be a bit naive, but why aren't we involving the police?" Clark spoke up.
"Because this was an inside job, and frankly I don't want--and, for that matter, I can't afford--the negative publicity that would result from an official police investigation. I'll contact them once there's something to go on."
"And how do you propose we go about finding information for them?" Chloe asked, taking a little muffin.
"Frankly, I hadn't intended on involving you two in the actual investigation," Lex said.
"Uh huh. Try again." Chloe leaned forward. "I'm not staying at my apartment because of this, Lex. I'm already involved. Deal with it."
Clark just shrugged. "I think I have a right to be involved after you knocked on my door," he said mildly.
Lex sipped his coffee. "I didn't think that would work," he said lightly. "But I figured I'd give it a try."
"So. For real now. What's the game plan?" Chloe poked at her muffin absently, turning it into a pile of muffin crumbs.
"There are only a few ways someone could have breached security to get in, and all of those involve both a working knowledge of the security systems here and a security clearance high enough to actually *manipulate* the systems. Needless to say, the first is much easier to get than the second." Lex set his mug down. "Unfortunately," he said wryly, "that still leaves us with about four dozen people as possibilities."
"Sounds like we need to start figuring out who would want to sabotage you," Clark said.
"Who wouldn't?" Lex countered.
"I'm sure the 'yes, I am an evil villain' thing serves you well in ways I don't want to know about, but seriously, Lex--let's try and focus here. This didn't start until recently, with the new vegetable program." Chloe raised an eyebrow at him.
"More specifically, when you started researching it," Clark added.
Chloe nodded. "Yeah, but I think it's safe to assume I'm not the target."
"Normally I'd advise against assuming anything but I think you're probably right." Lex raised an eyebrow at Chloe's muffin demolition. "Do you have some repressed anger I should know about?"
She looked down at the pile of crumbs and grinned. "Believe me, if I were angry you'd know it."
"So would the rest of the office," Clark added.
Chloe rolled her eyes at him. "Sounds like we need to do some research," she said briskly. "Find out who among those four dozen people has a motive and then go from there."
Lex nodded. "I had Marie compile the files on them. If you like, we can get started now."
The sheer amount of paperwork was staggering, Chloe thought about an hour later. They'd divided the files, which meant each of them had somewhere between fifteen and twenty people. It was incredibly slow going, as well; they had to continually cross-check people's histories with Lex's business dealings. And of course there were things not in the files that they might be missing.
Around noon, someone brought in food; Chloe had no idea who it had been. She just took a sandwich and a bottle of water and kept making notes.
"All right," Lex said around two. "I think we've done as much as we can for the day--and we all have other work to do." He leaned back in his chair. "What's the tally?"
"I've got three possibles," Chloe said, tossing her pen down on top of the files. "You?"
"Three possibles, two maybes."
Clark shrugged. "Two possibles--but it's a little hard to say someone's a possibility when we don't even know what we're looking for."
"It might be worth it if we traded files to double-check each other," Chloe suggested. "Maybe later today?"
"Sounds good." Lex stood, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Chloe, are you going to remain at Clark's for the time being?"
"Until it's safe for me to go back to my place--which hopefully will be by tomorrow--yeah, I am." Chloe glanced at Clark. "That okay with you?"
He grinned. "I'll manage somehow."
"If you don't mind, then, we can continue this at your apartment later?" Lex asked Clark. "I'm afraid I have other work to do."
"Me too," Chloe admitted. "I have to talk to Marie about setting up interviews."
"Just be careful," Lex told her. "Some of the people you'll want to talk to--"
"Are in here." Chloe nodded at the files. "Yeah, I know. I'll be fine." She smiled. "Be careful, Lex, or I'll start to think you care."
Lex just raised an eyebrow.
After making plans for the evening, the three of them went their separate ways. Clark had to go back to the Planet, Lex had things to take care of, and Chloe set about finding Marie and setting up interviews over the next few days. Strange as it was, she did have actual work to do that didn't involve finding a saboteur.
Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't multi-task. Several of the people she wanted to talk to were on the list they'd compiled, and she had enough faith in her interviewing skills that she was confident she'd be able to sneak a few questions in. But that would all have to wait; it was nearing the end of the day by the time she finished with Marie. All in all, she was satisfied with the day's work.
Now--time to head to her place to pick up a few things, then back to Clark's to do some more research, and a little investigating of her own, while she was at it. It was impossible to miss the strain between Clark and Lex, and she was determined to find out what had gone wrong. Back in high school, they'd been best friends, and now they barely looked at each other.
Clark had changed into an old T-shirt and jeans by the time she knocked on his door. "Come on in," he said, grinning.
"Thanks." She set her laptop bag down and tossed her jacket over it, stretching. "Lex'll be here at eight?"
"Yeah." Clark's grin disappeared when he answered her. "You want something to drink?"
"Water would be fantastic." Chloe dropped on the couch. "Clark--what happened between you and Lex?" Diplomacy was lost on Clark; he knew her too well.
"Nothing happened." Clark handed her a bottle of water. "People change, you know?"
"Yeah, so who changed here?"
"I guess we both did." Clark shrugged and sat down next to her. "I don't hate him, or anything."
"No, but you guys were so close in high school, and now you're like strangers."
"It happens."
Chloe wondered if Lex would provide any more answers. Somehow, she doubted it--but she wasn't going to let that stop her from finding out what had happened.
A little before eight, Lex arrived with bags of Chinese food and a briefcase full of files. "I come bearing food," he said wryly as Chloe and Clark both tore into the bags. "I figured you hadn't eaten yet."
"Clark's cooking skills are worse than mine," Chloe told him, opening a container of moo goo gai pan.
"I haven't had time to go food shopping lately," Clark protested. He tossed Chloe a pair of chopsticks and opened the kung pao shrimp. "So where are we?"
"Wading through paperwork." Chloe stole a shrimp from him. "And I think--yeah." She flipped through the file briefly, nodding. "Of the ten people we've got here, I have interviews with four of them. Leslie Garrett, Simon Young, Paul Kowalski, and Rich Manning."
Lex nodded. "I'll be interested in seeing your perceptions of them."
"I've got interviews with Leslie and Paul tomorrow, Simon the day after, and Rich the day after that."
"Sounds like fun," Clark muttered around a bite of chicken.
"If I ever manage to understand the science, it will be."
"If you manage to understand the science, I'll hire you," Lex countered.
Chloe grinned. "I don't think so."
He shrugged and ate a piece of beef. "I can always find a use for talent," he said after swallowing.
And there he went again with the double entendres. Chloe stabbed at her chicken a little more violently than she needed to. Damn, but he was relentless. Clark glanced from one of them to the other, but didn't say anything.
"This is pointless," Clark finally said around nine-thirty. "We don't even know what we're looking for. Going over these files will only work once we have something to *go* on."
"Unfortunately, I'd prefer to catch the saboteur *before* that happens," Lex pointed out. "I've already been hit over the head once, as has Chloe--"
"Not to mention the break-in last night," she added.
"Well, fine, but I still don't know what else we're going to accomplish here tonight."
"If you'd like me to leave, Clark, all you have to do is say so," Lex said mildly.
"I didn't say that," Clark snapped.
"Guys. Chill for a bit. It's getting late, we're all tired, let's call it a night." And when the hell had she become the peacemaker?
After one long moment, both the guys nodded. "All right," Lex said. "I'll see you at the office tomorrow, Chloe?"
"I'll be there."
Lex nodded and stood, picking up his briefcase. "Goodnight, Chloe." He nodded briefly. "Clark."
"Lex." Clark nodded back coolly.
When he was gone, Chloe threw a pillow at Clark. "What was that for?" he asked, catching it.
"You're sleeping on the couch tonight," she grumbled. "And if I have to play peacemaker again, you--"
"We weren't fighting!"
"Only because I stepped in first." Chloe glared at him and stalked off to the bedroom.
Of course, it didn't last. She'd never been able to stay mad at Clark. And she was just tired and edgy enough that Clark's big body next to hers was the only thing that let her sleep soundly.
Then again, she always slept better when she was with Clark. He was the only person who knew about her nightmares. Sometimes she thought that if he hadn't been there in college, she never would have graduated.
But that was another story.
