Part 5
Over the next several days Eric tracked Chloe Sullivan's every move. He followed her back and forth between her home and the Torch office as well as various trips around town. Eric found Chloe's behavior fascinating to observe as he immersed himself more and more in her life. He had never gotten to know Chloe very well as she usually hung out with Clark and Pete, but he had always gotten the impression that she liked Clark as more than just a friend. He wondered what had happened to make her engage in an investigation of him as she apparently was doing now.
Through listening in on the bugs he had planted Eric had learned that Clark was missing and that Chloe was quietly trying to find out as much information as possible about Clark. Under normal circumstances Eric would have written this off as one friend trying to find another, but while Lionel had been close mouthed about a lot of things regarding this assignment he had indicated that Chloe was working for him. Also, Chloe was being real circumspect with her questions. Since Eric knew that she was investigating Clark it was easy to pick up on when she started digging in that direction, but he was sure that it was something that would have been missed if you weren't looking for it.
Following her downtown he expected her to stop at the Talon and go straight inside. He was intrigued when she parked a block away and simply sat in her car appearing to watch the door of the Talon. Eric ran into a side alley where it wouldn't be obvious that he was loitering watching Chloe's car.
He was glad he did because within a minute the Mustang he had first seen a few days before cruised by. He had seen it off and on around town the past couple of days, but didn't recognize the driver. Eric had cursed himself for his stupidity in speaking to the guy ever since that day outside of the Sullivan's house. The only thing it accomplished was to draw attention to himself and all he needed at the moment was some idiot to call the police because he thought he saw some weirdo hanging around town spying on people.
Within about a half-hour Lana Lang came out of the Talon, got in her truck and started down the street. Chloe started her car and began to follow her. Eric left the alley in pursuit wondering at the strangeness of following someone who was in turn following someone else.
Once they were all on the open road Eric found it easier to run ahead about a half mile or so and wait somewhere concealed until they passed and then he would step back out and run ahead of them again. This rapidly became a slow and tedious process and Eric had started to give Chloe more and more leeway in running ahead or waiting to catch up. It was in doing this that he spotted the Mustang again.
Eric instantly started feeling suspicious, but reminded himself that this stretch of interstate was pretty heavily traveled as it was the main artery to Metropolis from this part of the state and the odds were that Metropolis was the final destination of Lana and Chloe.
Sure enough, not long after they entered Metropolis Eric lost sight of the Mustang. When Lana finally stopped and parked her car Eric was a few blocks back watching Chloe swing into a side alley to avoid being seen. A red VW Beetle, Eric decided smiling to himself, was probably not the best choice when tailing someone.
Eric watched as Chloe parked illegally in the alley and headed out on foot to follow Lana. After a few minutes it became obvious that Lana was canvassing the area putting up posters. When Eric got close to one he saw that the poster had a picture of Clark Kent, a statement that he was missing and listed a couple of phone numbers to call should he be seen.
Lana also stopped at the local stores she passed and talked briefly with the employees. Before leaving each one she handed them a small stack of flyers that Eric was sure contained the same information as the posters. After a few hours and a few neighborhoods later Lana headed back toward Smallville with Chloe not far behind.
A couple of days later Eric found himself again sitting in the bushes near the Sullivan household listening in on a conversation between Chloe and Lana. This activity had quickly became a favorite pastime for Eric and helped to dispel feelings of loneliness, which had started to develop due to his enforced isolation. The two girls' conversation, however, quickly became one of disagreement once Chloe turned the topic around to Clark.
*"I always wondered why he got so touchy about me looking into his adoption." Chloe said.*
*"Lot's of adopted children are touchy about the subject." Lana answered. "They have a lot of questions themselves and are often too afraid of what the answers might be. I don't think it was too unusual."*
*"Come on, Lana. We had an assignment due and he was ducking me. He had to know I would look for answers somewhere. I just think it's interesting that he was ducking me when the questions were about his past."*
*"It was a six-page paper, Chloe." Lana replied. "You could have filled up half of it just discussing the day to day farm chores that he has to juggle with his school work. You told me that you actually looked up the history of agency that handled his adoption. Overkill much?"*
*"I was just being thorough." Chloe said sounding defensive. "I didn't think that it was something to blow a gasket about."*
*"You're not from around here Chloe. In small towns people know each other's business way too much. It tends to make us guard what privacy we have just a bit more than usual. The Kents are private people because that's the nature of their upbringing. Like Freud said, 'sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.'"*
Normally Eric would have agreed, but knowing that Lionel was involved tended to make him a bit more suspicious than he perhaps normally would have been. Also, reading what little of Chloe's notebooks as he had been able to suggested that perhaps the craziness that was Smallville had finally attracted itself to Clark. That, or maybe whatever Clark had done that caused Eric to lose his powers had given Clark some of his own.
Continuing to listen to the conversation Eric heard Chloe plow ahead trying to get information out of Lana only to run into a brick wall.
"Listen, I know you're upset about Clark leaving and I know you've been spending a lot of time trying to find him on your own in Metropolis. It's stressing you out and I'd like to help."
Eric heard a distinct pause before Lana spoke.
*"Have you been following me, Chloe?"*
*"I was just worried, Lana. You haven't been yourself and I just wanted to make sure you were Ok."*
*"Thank you for your concern, Chloe, but like I said, people are private for a reason. Maybe you need to respect that more."*
The conversation ended completely after that and Eric figured that both would be turning in for the night so he would be able to return to his hotel room for a good nights sleep as well. Rising to his feet he became aware again of the recurring tingling sensation in his joints that he had been experiencing off and on again for the past several days. This time, however, it felt a little more intense than usual.
He was deciding whether or not to call Luthor about the problem when he caught a glimpse of someone moving across the street near some trees. Looking closely he swore it was the guy who drove the Mustang.
He briefly wondered who the hell the guy was until the obvious answer hit him.
"Who the hell else involved in this thing follows people around. He's got to be working for Luthor." Eric said to himself.
Eric quickly forgot his pain, becoming angry that Luthor had sent a watchdog to follow him around. He didn't trust Chloe so he had sent Eric to watch her. Did this mean that now he didn't trust Eric?
Without stopping to think things through Eric ran across the street and grabbed the man's shoulder from behind.
"Alright, I don't need a watch-"
Before he could finish his sentence and even before his super-fast reflexes could react the man grabbed his hand, twisted and slammed Eric into a tree. The man immediately followed up by striking a knee into the small of Eric's back and then slamming his head into the tree trunk after it snapped back. All of this took place in less than two seconds and the man then stepped back to allow Eric to fall to the ground.
Eric was slightly dazed from the incident, but strangely didn't feel a lot of pain. When he began to get up from the ground he saw a momentary flicker of surprise on the man's face, but the man quickly narrowed his eyes and delivered a straight armed punch to Eric's face that knocked him back to the ground. Again Eric felt little pain and in fact realized that the burning sensation he had been experiencing was starting to fade and he was actually feeling better than he had in a long time. Eric heard the man let out a grunt of pain and looking up saw the man rubbing the hand that he had used to knock Eric down.
Suddenly Eric realized what was happening. He was regaining his invulnerability. "And if that's the case," Eric thought to himself, "then my strength shouldn't be far behind."
Regaining his feet, Eric felt a mean grin split his face and he reached for the man intent on testing his new found theory and providing some payback to his attacker's person. He suddenly found the hand he had extended trapped against the man's body and he was again propelled through the air and guided to land heavily on the ground hitting hard enough to knock the breath out of his body. The air was further forced from his lungs as the man dropped to one knee onto Eric's chest and quickly delivered two blows to Eric's face with the hills of his hands before back flipping to his feet where he crouched in readiness.
This was becoming annoying and not just a little embarrassing. Deciding that enough was enough Eric engaged his super speed and regaining his feet slammed full tilt into his attacker's body. This time Eric was greeted with the sound of his attacker having the breath knocked from his body, but before he could enjoy the experience his feet were swept out from under him.
The man wrapped an arm around Eric's neck and used his own momentum to once again slam Eric into the tree even harder than before. Eric was convinced that had he not been regaining his invulnerability the impact would have broken several ribs. Falling to his knees Eric was immediately assaulted by a knee to the face driving his head back into the tree which was quickly followed by a roundhouse kick to his head that knocked him back to the ground.
Eric knew his invulnerability was coming back full force, because the last couple of hits hadn't even fazed him except to knock him off balance. He rolled to his feet and spun around ready this time to tear this smartass limb from limb. The only trouble was that he found himself totally alone. Turning full circle he tried to locate his opponent, but no one was within view.
"What the hell?" Eric muttered aloud.
Eric knew he hadn't imagined the incident. He had felt just enough from the man's blows that he knew he was real. If the man truly did work for Luthor then he was definitely worth whatever he was being paid. A normal person would have been crippled by any one of the attacks that had been perpetrated upon Eric. "And with this disappearing act?" Eric said aloud, "Apparently I'm not the only super powered person on the LuthorCorp payroll."
End Part 5
Over the next several days Eric tracked Chloe Sullivan's every move. He followed her back and forth between her home and the Torch office as well as various trips around town. Eric found Chloe's behavior fascinating to observe as he immersed himself more and more in her life. He had never gotten to know Chloe very well as she usually hung out with Clark and Pete, but he had always gotten the impression that she liked Clark as more than just a friend. He wondered what had happened to make her engage in an investigation of him as she apparently was doing now.
Through listening in on the bugs he had planted Eric had learned that Clark was missing and that Chloe was quietly trying to find out as much information as possible about Clark. Under normal circumstances Eric would have written this off as one friend trying to find another, but while Lionel had been close mouthed about a lot of things regarding this assignment he had indicated that Chloe was working for him. Also, Chloe was being real circumspect with her questions. Since Eric knew that she was investigating Clark it was easy to pick up on when she started digging in that direction, but he was sure that it was something that would have been missed if you weren't looking for it.
Following her downtown he expected her to stop at the Talon and go straight inside. He was intrigued when she parked a block away and simply sat in her car appearing to watch the door of the Talon. Eric ran into a side alley where it wouldn't be obvious that he was loitering watching Chloe's car.
He was glad he did because within a minute the Mustang he had first seen a few days before cruised by. He had seen it off and on around town the past couple of days, but didn't recognize the driver. Eric had cursed himself for his stupidity in speaking to the guy ever since that day outside of the Sullivan's house. The only thing it accomplished was to draw attention to himself and all he needed at the moment was some idiot to call the police because he thought he saw some weirdo hanging around town spying on people.
Within about a half-hour Lana Lang came out of the Talon, got in her truck and started down the street. Chloe started her car and began to follow her. Eric left the alley in pursuit wondering at the strangeness of following someone who was in turn following someone else.
Once they were all on the open road Eric found it easier to run ahead about a half mile or so and wait somewhere concealed until they passed and then he would step back out and run ahead of them again. This rapidly became a slow and tedious process and Eric had started to give Chloe more and more leeway in running ahead or waiting to catch up. It was in doing this that he spotted the Mustang again.
Eric instantly started feeling suspicious, but reminded himself that this stretch of interstate was pretty heavily traveled as it was the main artery to Metropolis from this part of the state and the odds were that Metropolis was the final destination of Lana and Chloe.
Sure enough, not long after they entered Metropolis Eric lost sight of the Mustang. When Lana finally stopped and parked her car Eric was a few blocks back watching Chloe swing into a side alley to avoid being seen. A red VW Beetle, Eric decided smiling to himself, was probably not the best choice when tailing someone.
Eric watched as Chloe parked illegally in the alley and headed out on foot to follow Lana. After a few minutes it became obvious that Lana was canvassing the area putting up posters. When Eric got close to one he saw that the poster had a picture of Clark Kent, a statement that he was missing and listed a couple of phone numbers to call should he be seen.
Lana also stopped at the local stores she passed and talked briefly with the employees. Before leaving each one she handed them a small stack of flyers that Eric was sure contained the same information as the posters. After a few hours and a few neighborhoods later Lana headed back toward Smallville with Chloe not far behind.
A couple of days later Eric found himself again sitting in the bushes near the Sullivan household listening in on a conversation between Chloe and Lana. This activity had quickly became a favorite pastime for Eric and helped to dispel feelings of loneliness, which had started to develop due to his enforced isolation. The two girls' conversation, however, quickly became one of disagreement once Chloe turned the topic around to Clark.
*"I always wondered why he got so touchy about me looking into his adoption." Chloe said.*
*"Lot's of adopted children are touchy about the subject." Lana answered. "They have a lot of questions themselves and are often too afraid of what the answers might be. I don't think it was too unusual."*
*"Come on, Lana. We had an assignment due and he was ducking me. He had to know I would look for answers somewhere. I just think it's interesting that he was ducking me when the questions were about his past."*
*"It was a six-page paper, Chloe." Lana replied. "You could have filled up half of it just discussing the day to day farm chores that he has to juggle with his school work. You told me that you actually looked up the history of agency that handled his adoption. Overkill much?"*
*"I was just being thorough." Chloe said sounding defensive. "I didn't think that it was something to blow a gasket about."*
*"You're not from around here Chloe. In small towns people know each other's business way too much. It tends to make us guard what privacy we have just a bit more than usual. The Kents are private people because that's the nature of their upbringing. Like Freud said, 'sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.'"*
Normally Eric would have agreed, but knowing that Lionel was involved tended to make him a bit more suspicious than he perhaps normally would have been. Also, reading what little of Chloe's notebooks as he had been able to suggested that perhaps the craziness that was Smallville had finally attracted itself to Clark. That, or maybe whatever Clark had done that caused Eric to lose his powers had given Clark some of his own.
Continuing to listen to the conversation Eric heard Chloe plow ahead trying to get information out of Lana only to run into a brick wall.
"Listen, I know you're upset about Clark leaving and I know you've been spending a lot of time trying to find him on your own in Metropolis. It's stressing you out and I'd like to help."
Eric heard a distinct pause before Lana spoke.
*"Have you been following me, Chloe?"*
*"I was just worried, Lana. You haven't been yourself and I just wanted to make sure you were Ok."*
*"Thank you for your concern, Chloe, but like I said, people are private for a reason. Maybe you need to respect that more."*
The conversation ended completely after that and Eric figured that both would be turning in for the night so he would be able to return to his hotel room for a good nights sleep as well. Rising to his feet he became aware again of the recurring tingling sensation in his joints that he had been experiencing off and on again for the past several days. This time, however, it felt a little more intense than usual.
He was deciding whether or not to call Luthor about the problem when he caught a glimpse of someone moving across the street near some trees. Looking closely he swore it was the guy who drove the Mustang.
He briefly wondered who the hell the guy was until the obvious answer hit him.
"Who the hell else involved in this thing follows people around. He's got to be working for Luthor." Eric said to himself.
Eric quickly forgot his pain, becoming angry that Luthor had sent a watchdog to follow him around. He didn't trust Chloe so he had sent Eric to watch her. Did this mean that now he didn't trust Eric?
Without stopping to think things through Eric ran across the street and grabbed the man's shoulder from behind.
"Alright, I don't need a watch-"
Before he could finish his sentence and even before his super-fast reflexes could react the man grabbed his hand, twisted and slammed Eric into a tree. The man immediately followed up by striking a knee into the small of Eric's back and then slamming his head into the tree trunk after it snapped back. All of this took place in less than two seconds and the man then stepped back to allow Eric to fall to the ground.
Eric was slightly dazed from the incident, but strangely didn't feel a lot of pain. When he began to get up from the ground he saw a momentary flicker of surprise on the man's face, but the man quickly narrowed his eyes and delivered a straight armed punch to Eric's face that knocked him back to the ground. Again Eric felt little pain and in fact realized that the burning sensation he had been experiencing was starting to fade and he was actually feeling better than he had in a long time. Eric heard the man let out a grunt of pain and looking up saw the man rubbing the hand that he had used to knock Eric down.
Suddenly Eric realized what was happening. He was regaining his invulnerability. "And if that's the case," Eric thought to himself, "then my strength shouldn't be far behind."
Regaining his feet, Eric felt a mean grin split his face and he reached for the man intent on testing his new found theory and providing some payback to his attacker's person. He suddenly found the hand he had extended trapped against the man's body and he was again propelled through the air and guided to land heavily on the ground hitting hard enough to knock the breath out of his body. The air was further forced from his lungs as the man dropped to one knee onto Eric's chest and quickly delivered two blows to Eric's face with the hills of his hands before back flipping to his feet where he crouched in readiness.
This was becoming annoying and not just a little embarrassing. Deciding that enough was enough Eric engaged his super speed and regaining his feet slammed full tilt into his attacker's body. This time Eric was greeted with the sound of his attacker having the breath knocked from his body, but before he could enjoy the experience his feet were swept out from under him.
The man wrapped an arm around Eric's neck and used his own momentum to once again slam Eric into the tree even harder than before. Eric was convinced that had he not been regaining his invulnerability the impact would have broken several ribs. Falling to his knees Eric was immediately assaulted by a knee to the face driving his head back into the tree which was quickly followed by a roundhouse kick to his head that knocked him back to the ground.
Eric knew his invulnerability was coming back full force, because the last couple of hits hadn't even fazed him except to knock him off balance. He rolled to his feet and spun around ready this time to tear this smartass limb from limb. The only trouble was that he found himself totally alone. Turning full circle he tried to locate his opponent, but no one was within view.
"What the hell?" Eric muttered aloud.
Eric knew he hadn't imagined the incident. He had felt just enough from the man's blows that he knew he was real. If the man truly did work for Luthor then he was definitely worth whatever he was being paid. A normal person would have been crippled by any one of the attacks that had been perpetrated upon Eric. "And with this disappearing act?" Eric said aloud, "Apparently I'm not the only super powered person on the LuthorCorp payroll."
End Part 5