Part 4
It felt strange to be back in Smallville. Nothing had really changed since he had left, but this time he felt out of place. He essentially had no home as he was not allowed to go to his parents and was cut off from all contact with his old friends.
Luthor had provided him with a cell phone, fake I.D., a few changes of clothes, $1000 in cash, a credit card, and a small supply of equipment that he could use to keep track of Chloe. His appearance had been altered slightly by dying his hair dark brown, changing his hairstyle and adding glasses with a moustache and goatee.
His instructions were to obtain a hotel room in Grandville and run back and forth to Smallville everyday. In Smallville he was supposed to keep a low profile and stay away from anyone he once knew. Otherwise, he was supposed to plant listening devices anywhere Chloe usually frequented or even on or around her person, if needed. The last of course would have to be changed daily, planting it in the mornings and retrieving it in the evenings or whenever she left a particular location. This was where his speed came in. He could run past her as she left the house in the morning, plant a bug in her purse or a loose part of her clothing. Or if he could gain entry to a building or room she was in, he could enter, plant the bug and leave all in less than a second.
He was also told to search her home and office and take note of any written material regarding Clark Kent. The name, like always, caused Eric to tense. He had asked Luthor what the hell Kent had to do with anything, but Luthor had only smiled enigmatically and said that it wasn't important that he know everything, just that in helping in this he would get all the revenge against Clark Kent that he wanted.
**************************
Eric's first order of business was the Sullivan household. Having no experience with breaking and entering and ordered by Lionel to leave no evidence of his visit, Eric had little choice, but to enter when someone was already at home. He had been briefed that the Sullivan household was now home to Lana Lang as well as Chloe and her father so he waited until a time when Gabe was home alone as there was less chance that he would recognize Eric should he see him.
One of the constants about a small town is that people rarely lock their doors during the daylight hours. When Gabe arrived home from work at 5:30 PM it was still very much daylight and Eric waited with nervous anticipation as he walked to the house, collected his mail, unlocked the door and entered. Once Gabe was inside Eric waited thirty seconds and then made a dash for the front door. He opened the door, stepped inside, looked around and after making sure no one was in the front foyer closed the door. The entire action took less than half a second. Continuing through the house he tried to get a fix on Gabe's location first.
This almost proved to be his first mistake as Gabe rounded the corner of the living room humming to himself while Eric stood in plain view in the middle of the room.
Eric's reflexes went into immediate overdrive and time seemed to stand still. Fortunately, Gabe had been looking down at some of his mail so Eric's presence wasn't noted nor his instantaneous disappearance as he shifted into hyper speed and ran upstairs. Once he was sure that Gabe was staying downstairs Eric began to look around for Chloe's room. It was immediately identifiable when he opened the door by the numerous Torch articles decorating a large bulletin board on the wall beside a desk opposite her bed.
He quickly went through the contents of her desk and the bulletin board, but other than some articles with the byline "Clark Kent" he couldn't find a mention of him anywhere. Turning to the computer he noticed that it had been left on, but was in power saver mode. Eric hit a key on the keyboard and after a moment the screen came back up. Unfortunately, the screen that appeared asked for a password before it would allow the user to continue. Eric quickly tried several different guesses that came to mind, but to no avail.
Failing to gain access to the computer he moved to plan "B." Eric quickly turned off the power to the computer at the power strip and using super speed he opened the computer case and removed the hard drive. He pulled a rectangular black machine from his bag that was about 2'' thick and 6'' long. He connected the machine to the hard drive and then flipping a switch on the side observed as a green LED light started flashing signifying the transfer of data.
Luthor had told him that the machine was a new development and should be able to transfer data at the rate of 10 gigabytes per minute. While the machine whirred away, Eric began searching under the bed and in the closets, but found nothing of notice. Finally he settled down to sit and nervously watch the machine as it completed its chore.
After several minutes the green light stopped flashing and a solid red light came on to signify the process was complete. Eric disconnected the hard drive from the machine and quickly reinstalled it into the computer, which he turned back on and allowed to boot up when he was finished. Hopefully, Chloe would just assume that the power had flashed off and on in the house causing the reboot.
As he was placing the black machine back in his bag he heard voices coming up the stairs. Looking outside he saw a red Volkswagon Beetle in the driveway and silently cursed himself because his attention on the machine copying Chloe's hard drive had caused him to totally miss the arrival of whom he assumed was Chloe herself.
Knowing his speed would be useless in hiding him in an enclosed area like a bedroom, Eric did the first thing that came to mind. He hid under the bed. He had just made it under the bed when the bedroom door opened.
"Let me just throw my books on my desk and we'll go downstairs and grab a bite to eat before I drive you to the Talon." Eric heard Chloe say.
She entered the room and shut the door behind her. Eric stayed very still, trying not to breath and ready to bolt if she looked under the bed. He almost jumped up and ran when he suddenly saw her approach the bed and go down on one knee not two feet from his head. He stopped when he saw her put a nail file in the crack between two of the floorboards.
Chloe pulled the loose boards up, dropped a notebook in and then quickly replaced the boards. She then got up, rummaged briefly in her closet and then left the room.
Eric waited a few minutes and then pulled himself out from under the bed. He quickly pried up the floorboards as he had seen Chloe do and found two notebooks tucked in place beneath the floor. He flipped through the pages and read enough to figure that this was at least part of what Lionel had been after. He pulled a small digital camera from his bag and quickly took pictures of each of the pages slowing down only enough to allow the camera to cycle between exposures.
Putting the notebooks back under the floor and placing the floorboards back in place Eric stood and did a quick sweep of the room to find a good hiding place for the bugs. Lionel had said not to waste time with her phones, but that he did need each of the rooms attended to. Eric attached a listening device under the desk and then walked to the door to listen if anyone were in the outside hallway.
Once he was certain he was alone he raced to the other rooms on the second floor and planted listening devices in each one. Creeping to the edge of the stairs he listened closely until he heard three different voices coming from the kitchen. He quickly ran down stairs and planted more devices in every room leaving the kitchen until last.
Here he took the biggest risk of the evening. Pulling out the last bug he gathered his concentration until time seemed to slow around him. He then stepped into the kitchen where he saw Lana and Chloe talking by the counter making sandwiches with their backs to the kitchen table where Gabe sat eating. He ran to the table placed the bug underneath and then ran back out of the room.
Gabe's head jerked up as he thought he caught movement out of the periphery of his vision. Looking around he saw nothing out of place though.
"Did you girls just see anything?" he asked.
"See anything?" Chloe replied. "What do you mean?"
"Uh, nothing. Must have been my imagination." Gabe said shaking his head.
Chloe cocked her eyebrow as she turned to look at Lana who simply answered by shrugging her shoulders.
*******************************
Eric continued out the door and down to the sidewalk before he slowed to a stop. It was a daring move because if anyone was looking they would have seen what appeared to be a teenager materializing seemingly out of no where in front of the Sullivan house.
Eric felt pleased with himself. What's more he felt invigorated and powerful because he had been able to walk almost at will through a house full of people and no one was the wiser. It made him start to realize the power he welded despite not having all of his past abilities. Bolstered by these thoughts, he felt cocky enough to walk down the street at a normal pace in full view of anyone that cared to look. As he passed a guy sitting in a '68 charcoal-gray Ford Mustang he even shot him with a forefinger and said, "Hey, nice car."
The man raised one eyebrow, but nodded his head in acknowledgement as Eric continued on by starting to chuckle to himself.
Eric was in such high spirits that he barely noticed the tingling that was starting to spread through his joints.
End - Part 4
It felt strange to be back in Smallville. Nothing had really changed since he had left, but this time he felt out of place. He essentially had no home as he was not allowed to go to his parents and was cut off from all contact with his old friends.
Luthor had provided him with a cell phone, fake I.D., a few changes of clothes, $1000 in cash, a credit card, and a small supply of equipment that he could use to keep track of Chloe. His appearance had been altered slightly by dying his hair dark brown, changing his hairstyle and adding glasses with a moustache and goatee.
His instructions were to obtain a hotel room in Grandville and run back and forth to Smallville everyday. In Smallville he was supposed to keep a low profile and stay away from anyone he once knew. Otherwise, he was supposed to plant listening devices anywhere Chloe usually frequented or even on or around her person, if needed. The last of course would have to be changed daily, planting it in the mornings and retrieving it in the evenings or whenever she left a particular location. This was where his speed came in. He could run past her as she left the house in the morning, plant a bug in her purse or a loose part of her clothing. Or if he could gain entry to a building or room she was in, he could enter, plant the bug and leave all in less than a second.
He was also told to search her home and office and take note of any written material regarding Clark Kent. The name, like always, caused Eric to tense. He had asked Luthor what the hell Kent had to do with anything, but Luthor had only smiled enigmatically and said that it wasn't important that he know everything, just that in helping in this he would get all the revenge against Clark Kent that he wanted.
**************************
Eric's first order of business was the Sullivan household. Having no experience with breaking and entering and ordered by Lionel to leave no evidence of his visit, Eric had little choice, but to enter when someone was already at home. He had been briefed that the Sullivan household was now home to Lana Lang as well as Chloe and her father so he waited until a time when Gabe was home alone as there was less chance that he would recognize Eric should he see him.
One of the constants about a small town is that people rarely lock their doors during the daylight hours. When Gabe arrived home from work at 5:30 PM it was still very much daylight and Eric waited with nervous anticipation as he walked to the house, collected his mail, unlocked the door and entered. Once Gabe was inside Eric waited thirty seconds and then made a dash for the front door. He opened the door, stepped inside, looked around and after making sure no one was in the front foyer closed the door. The entire action took less than half a second. Continuing through the house he tried to get a fix on Gabe's location first.
This almost proved to be his first mistake as Gabe rounded the corner of the living room humming to himself while Eric stood in plain view in the middle of the room.
Eric's reflexes went into immediate overdrive and time seemed to stand still. Fortunately, Gabe had been looking down at some of his mail so Eric's presence wasn't noted nor his instantaneous disappearance as he shifted into hyper speed and ran upstairs. Once he was sure that Gabe was staying downstairs Eric began to look around for Chloe's room. It was immediately identifiable when he opened the door by the numerous Torch articles decorating a large bulletin board on the wall beside a desk opposite her bed.
He quickly went through the contents of her desk and the bulletin board, but other than some articles with the byline "Clark Kent" he couldn't find a mention of him anywhere. Turning to the computer he noticed that it had been left on, but was in power saver mode. Eric hit a key on the keyboard and after a moment the screen came back up. Unfortunately, the screen that appeared asked for a password before it would allow the user to continue. Eric quickly tried several different guesses that came to mind, but to no avail.
Failing to gain access to the computer he moved to plan "B." Eric quickly turned off the power to the computer at the power strip and using super speed he opened the computer case and removed the hard drive. He pulled a rectangular black machine from his bag that was about 2'' thick and 6'' long. He connected the machine to the hard drive and then flipping a switch on the side observed as a green LED light started flashing signifying the transfer of data.
Luthor had told him that the machine was a new development and should be able to transfer data at the rate of 10 gigabytes per minute. While the machine whirred away, Eric began searching under the bed and in the closets, but found nothing of notice. Finally he settled down to sit and nervously watch the machine as it completed its chore.
After several minutes the green light stopped flashing and a solid red light came on to signify the process was complete. Eric disconnected the hard drive from the machine and quickly reinstalled it into the computer, which he turned back on and allowed to boot up when he was finished. Hopefully, Chloe would just assume that the power had flashed off and on in the house causing the reboot.
As he was placing the black machine back in his bag he heard voices coming up the stairs. Looking outside he saw a red Volkswagon Beetle in the driveway and silently cursed himself because his attention on the machine copying Chloe's hard drive had caused him to totally miss the arrival of whom he assumed was Chloe herself.
Knowing his speed would be useless in hiding him in an enclosed area like a bedroom, Eric did the first thing that came to mind. He hid under the bed. He had just made it under the bed when the bedroom door opened.
"Let me just throw my books on my desk and we'll go downstairs and grab a bite to eat before I drive you to the Talon." Eric heard Chloe say.
She entered the room and shut the door behind her. Eric stayed very still, trying not to breath and ready to bolt if she looked under the bed. He almost jumped up and ran when he suddenly saw her approach the bed and go down on one knee not two feet from his head. He stopped when he saw her put a nail file in the crack between two of the floorboards.
Chloe pulled the loose boards up, dropped a notebook in and then quickly replaced the boards. She then got up, rummaged briefly in her closet and then left the room.
Eric waited a few minutes and then pulled himself out from under the bed. He quickly pried up the floorboards as he had seen Chloe do and found two notebooks tucked in place beneath the floor. He flipped through the pages and read enough to figure that this was at least part of what Lionel had been after. He pulled a small digital camera from his bag and quickly took pictures of each of the pages slowing down only enough to allow the camera to cycle between exposures.
Putting the notebooks back under the floor and placing the floorboards back in place Eric stood and did a quick sweep of the room to find a good hiding place for the bugs. Lionel had said not to waste time with her phones, but that he did need each of the rooms attended to. Eric attached a listening device under the desk and then walked to the door to listen if anyone were in the outside hallway.
Once he was certain he was alone he raced to the other rooms on the second floor and planted listening devices in each one. Creeping to the edge of the stairs he listened closely until he heard three different voices coming from the kitchen. He quickly ran down stairs and planted more devices in every room leaving the kitchen until last.
Here he took the biggest risk of the evening. Pulling out the last bug he gathered his concentration until time seemed to slow around him. He then stepped into the kitchen where he saw Lana and Chloe talking by the counter making sandwiches with their backs to the kitchen table where Gabe sat eating. He ran to the table placed the bug underneath and then ran back out of the room.
Gabe's head jerked up as he thought he caught movement out of the periphery of his vision. Looking around he saw nothing out of place though.
"Did you girls just see anything?" he asked.
"See anything?" Chloe replied. "What do you mean?"
"Uh, nothing. Must have been my imagination." Gabe said shaking his head.
Chloe cocked her eyebrow as she turned to look at Lana who simply answered by shrugging her shoulders.
*******************************
Eric continued out the door and down to the sidewalk before he slowed to a stop. It was a daring move because if anyone was looking they would have seen what appeared to be a teenager materializing seemingly out of no where in front of the Sullivan house.
Eric felt pleased with himself. What's more he felt invigorated and powerful because he had been able to walk almost at will through a house full of people and no one was the wiser. It made him start to realize the power he welded despite not having all of his past abilities. Bolstered by these thoughts, he felt cocky enough to walk down the street at a normal pace in full view of anyone that cared to look. As he passed a guy sitting in a '68 charcoal-gray Ford Mustang he even shot him with a forefinger and said, "Hey, nice car."
The man raised one eyebrow, but nodded his head in acknowledgement as Eric continued on by starting to chuckle to himself.
Eric was in such high spirits that he barely noticed the tingling that was starting to spread through his joints.
End - Part 4