Notes: Thanks to Chaney and Frankie for the feedback!
Ruby Truth - Valentine Michel Smith
Toby packed his medical supplies, zipped the bag, adjusted his coat and headed out into the night.
Lex sat, pensive. So many questions and not an answer to be had.
Normally, a vibrating cell phone would not have startled him. But this evening, Lex found his focus violently disrupted by no more than a gentle purr. Even given the hour, a call would not be considered unusual. Post-business day interruptions were to be expected when one ran a corporation. But this - the number seemed vaguely familiar. "Chloe?" Lex spoke in hushed tones, not that anyone was listening.
"Lex?" The teen's voice bubbled from the other end. Curiouser and curiouser. Was that Laurence Fishburne in the background? "After this, there is no turning back…"
"I wasn't sure this was the right number," she continued.
"Understandable." Lex's voice rose to compensate as extremely loud machine tones filtered through the cell. "It's not exactly available. You realize I can barely hear you."
"Home theatre." The noise on Chloe's end diminished. "Sorry. The Matrix beckoned and I felt obligated to answer the call of Keanu."
"Um," said Lex.
"There is a reason we interrupted our scheduled programming though." There was a long pause. "We were wondering -"
"- 'We'?"
"Lana and I."
Lana and Chloe – together? And Chloe sounding happy about it? Ok, if Clark's behavior represented the first sign of the apocalypse, this surely had to be the second. The world was clearly coming to an end sans the Horsemen. "To what do I owe the pleasure of the call?
"Mondo mega apologies for the extreme hour."
"Not to mention – how did you get this number?"
"Creativity knows no impediments."
"Clearly." Gabe's Rolodex maybe? With a daughter like Chloe, he wouldn't feel the need to be discrete. If she wanted to find out something badly enough, she generally did. Regardless of the mystery's depths.
"We were wondering." Another long pause, immediately followed by a rustling. Enough time for Lex to switch the phone to his other ear.
"Have you seen Clark?" asked Lana.
Hmmm. Direct – and trickly to negotiate, but not impossible. "Recently? No." Actually, Clark went missing right after the balcony incident. More rustling. No doubt another hand-off.
"If you see him, could you let us know?"
"Sure Chloe. You sound…concerned."
"No. Not – just… Haven't seen him lately."
"That's peculiar."
"That's Clark," said Chloe, feigning a light tone.
Lex chose his words carefully. "Chloe, if Clark's in some kind of trouble, as a friend, I will do everything in my power to help him."
"Thanks Lex."
"That means a lot," said Lana.
Lex disconnected the call and contemplated reinitiating the lever quest.