Part 9
It was so cold. Chloe looked around her and all she could see was darkness. And then she closed her eyes, finding the stillness no different from an awareness of nothing. She took a deep breath and forced herself into the surface.
When she finally blinked and focused on her surroundings, Chloe noted that there was a woman sleeping on the couch. She recognized the room, of course. This was the penthouse. She moved here when they decided to live together. But hadn't they decided to live in a bigger place? They've been living in a real house since they got married. They needed the extra room for the baby.
Lex's words earlier returned to her. He had been disturbed. That was all she could think of. But why was she so weak? And where had Alec gone? She prayed fervently that Lex had just dropped him off at her father's. There was nothing but terror in her heart at the thought that Lex had left the baby somewhere in his distress.
She saw a folded newspaper on the floor beside the couch. The nurse had probably been reading it before she fell asleep. Biting back a groan, Chloe forced her body to cooperate. She held on to the edge of the bed, and then the bedside table, until finally, she was able to bed enough to pick it up. The Daily Planet. It was amazing to her how much she had changed. Before she married Lex, working for this paper had been her primary goal. After finding out about the baby, her career hadn't seemed so important anymore.
Bring on the hatchet, suffragettes. Chloe Sullivan had turned into Mrs. Luthor so easily it scared her. Had she just been using the empowered woman bit to fill the space in her life that Lex and Alec so easily occupied?
Her eyes fell on the byline at the front page and she caught her breath. It was ages since she last talked to him. Eagerly, she reached for the phone and dialed the number listed in the editorial box.
In the newsroom, Clark quietly encoded the article he had earlier written by hand. He kept running into spelling errors simply because his fingers were too large for the keyboard. This publication simply had to invest on computers with keys so small that he kept hitting two letters at once. His partner was carefully plotting a line of questions that she expected to fire at Lex Luthor soon. He couldn't bear to tell Lois that Lex would probably not agree to meet her anymore. As private a person that Lex was, he would probably decline and send her a press release next time she called.
The phone beside him shrilled, and he jumped back in his chair. The brunette close to him smirked. "Too much coffee?"
Man, he knew a girl who could drink all the coffee in the world and have room for more.
Clark picked up the receiver and said automatically. "Daily Planet. Kent here."
The voice was so soft that without his heightened senses, he would not have been able to catch it. "Clark."
His brows furrowed in confusion. As he strained to listen, his expression morphed to anger and disgust. "Who the hell is this?" he demanded. His partner, who only knew a mild-mannered farmboy from Smallville, whipped her head in his direction. Clark was incensed though. It was a prank call. It couldn't be. But how would a prank caller be able to have her voice? And how could she say his name exactly like she did? If it was a prank call, why did his heart jump into his throat and a rush of emotions fill him? He calmed down as rationale and feelings warred inside him. Clark took a deep breath and met Lois Lane's concerned eyes. "Chloe?" he whispered into the phone.
"What's going on, Clark?" Lois asked. Her partner shook his head to shush her. She narrowed her eyes and typed into her computer. 'Clark Kent.' And then she cross searched it with 'Chloe.' Everything can be found when you know where to look. Links to Smallville High filled the page.
She glanced at Clark again. His face was white. Even his lips turned into the palest shade of pink there was. She saw his hands tremble as he clutched the phone to his ear. She clicked on one of the links. They were in the same batch in high school. Why would Clark have such a reaction to an old classmate?
And then suddenly, Clark's bewildered murmuring of the single name turned into furious whispered conversation. It was clear to her that whoever it was he was tenderly whispering to earlier, was no longer in the line. She strained to hear Clark's side of the call, but all she could really catch were a phrase here or there that never fit with what she earlier heard. But that name cropped up so often she vowed to remember it. "Chloe." He said it again. And again. Again. And then Clark looked at her and saw how interested she was in the call. Reluctantly, he spat words of warning to the person on the opposite end of the line and put down the phone.
Lois pretended to be reviewing her screen again. And then her eyes caught on a personal site link. She clicked and various prom pictures littered the screen. Near the bottom, as she scrolled, the picture formed itself. Her partner as a gorgeous young man smiling down at a lovely girl in pink he held carefully in his arms. "Eureka," she gasped. The caption: 'Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan on the dance floor.' She now had a last name. And from experience, it will be domino effect from there. Clark may not be forthcoming with the truth. He never is. Lois Lane will seek for the answers by herself. This was her job after all.
It was so cold. Chloe looked around her and all she could see was darkness. And then she closed her eyes, finding the stillness no different from an awareness of nothing. She took a deep breath and forced herself into the surface.
When she finally blinked and focused on her surroundings, Chloe noted that there was a woman sleeping on the couch. She recognized the room, of course. This was the penthouse. She moved here when they decided to live together. But hadn't they decided to live in a bigger place? They've been living in a real house since they got married. They needed the extra room for the baby.
Lex's words earlier returned to her. He had been disturbed. That was all she could think of. But why was she so weak? And where had Alec gone? She prayed fervently that Lex had just dropped him off at her father's. There was nothing but terror in her heart at the thought that Lex had left the baby somewhere in his distress.
She saw a folded newspaper on the floor beside the couch. The nurse had probably been reading it before she fell asleep. Biting back a groan, Chloe forced her body to cooperate. She held on to the edge of the bed, and then the bedside table, until finally, she was able to bed enough to pick it up. The Daily Planet. It was amazing to her how much she had changed. Before she married Lex, working for this paper had been her primary goal. After finding out about the baby, her career hadn't seemed so important anymore.
Bring on the hatchet, suffragettes. Chloe Sullivan had turned into Mrs. Luthor so easily it scared her. Had she just been using the empowered woman bit to fill the space in her life that Lex and Alec so easily occupied?
Her eyes fell on the byline at the front page and she caught her breath. It was ages since she last talked to him. Eagerly, she reached for the phone and dialed the number listed in the editorial box.
In the newsroom, Clark quietly encoded the article he had earlier written by hand. He kept running into spelling errors simply because his fingers were too large for the keyboard. This publication simply had to invest on computers with keys so small that he kept hitting two letters at once. His partner was carefully plotting a line of questions that she expected to fire at Lex Luthor soon. He couldn't bear to tell Lois that Lex would probably not agree to meet her anymore. As private a person that Lex was, he would probably decline and send her a press release next time she called.
The phone beside him shrilled, and he jumped back in his chair. The brunette close to him smirked. "Too much coffee?"
Man, he knew a girl who could drink all the coffee in the world and have room for more.
Clark picked up the receiver and said automatically. "Daily Planet. Kent here."
The voice was so soft that without his heightened senses, he would not have been able to catch it. "Clark."
His brows furrowed in confusion. As he strained to listen, his expression morphed to anger and disgust. "Who the hell is this?" he demanded. His partner, who only knew a mild-mannered farmboy from Smallville, whipped her head in his direction. Clark was incensed though. It was a prank call. It couldn't be. But how would a prank caller be able to have her voice? And how could she say his name exactly like she did? If it was a prank call, why did his heart jump into his throat and a rush of emotions fill him? He calmed down as rationale and feelings warred inside him. Clark took a deep breath and met Lois Lane's concerned eyes. "Chloe?" he whispered into the phone.
"What's going on, Clark?" Lois asked. Her partner shook his head to shush her. She narrowed her eyes and typed into her computer. 'Clark Kent.' And then she cross searched it with 'Chloe.' Everything can be found when you know where to look. Links to Smallville High filled the page.
She glanced at Clark again. His face was white. Even his lips turned into the palest shade of pink there was. She saw his hands tremble as he clutched the phone to his ear. She clicked on one of the links. They were in the same batch in high school. Why would Clark have such a reaction to an old classmate?
And then suddenly, Clark's bewildered murmuring of the single name turned into furious whispered conversation. It was clear to her that whoever it was he was tenderly whispering to earlier, was no longer in the line. She strained to hear Clark's side of the call, but all she could really catch were a phrase here or there that never fit with what she earlier heard. But that name cropped up so often she vowed to remember it. "Chloe." He said it again. And again. Again. And then Clark looked at her and saw how interested she was in the call. Reluctantly, he spat words of warning to the person on the opposite end of the line and put down the phone.
Lois pretended to be reviewing her screen again. And then her eyes caught on a personal site link. She clicked and various prom pictures littered the screen. Near the bottom, as she scrolled, the picture formed itself. Her partner as a gorgeous young man smiling down at a lovely girl in pink he held carefully in his arms. "Eureka," she gasped. The caption: 'Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan on the dance floor.' She now had a last name. And from experience, it will be domino effect from there. Clark may not be forthcoming with the truth. He never is. Lois Lane will seek for the answers by herself. This was her job after all.