A/N: It's almost done. The chapter after this will be the last. Thank you to everyone who has accompanied me in this journey. I'm glad you enjoyed my first full-length SV fanfic. Especially those who had given me feedback, you've been a driving force for myself and my muse. And speaking of the little sucker, I want to thank her, too, for sticking this out with me.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
 Disclaimers in Chapter One

Ian smirked as he walked into the room and placed himself comfortably across the Luthor patriarch.  "Oh, I have good news alright."

"Do tell."

"Actually," Ian interjected.  "If you could humor me for a second, Lionel."

Luthor raised an eyebrow in suspicion.  "I've always had a question I wanted to ask," his minion continued.  Lionel nodded for him to continue.

"Whatever happened to Helen Bryce?"

The Luthor patriarch smirked evilly.  "As I have told you before, Ian, paid help can be expendable."

When the young clone had nothing to say, he continued.  "I had her eliminated when she got to the rendezvous point.  Let's just say that I felt so much sympathy for my son that I gave him back his bride."

"May both of them fare well as fish food together."

Ian's expression immediately darkened, wiping any trace of his smirk off into a frown.  "Poor Dr. Bryce," he gritted.  "A shark eaten by sharks.  Ironic, isn't it, dad?"

Lionel's eyes grew wide.  "Dad?" he stammered as he froze upon realization of who his conversation partner was.

"Lex," he uttered as he slowly walked behind the desk to retrieve his hidden revolver.

"Uh uh uh," a voice sing-songed as he heard a gun cocked.  He turned his sight to the source of the sound and found Chloe, Clark and two other men standing at his door. 

A tall and enormous bearded man was aiming a shotgun at him.

"How..what." Still shocked, Lionel was unable to formulate words in his head, so Lex decided to humor him as he retrieved a black box from his pocket.

"The transmitter that Derek," he nodded towards the fourth man.  "Gave me as a safety precaution.  The signal was weak, which was why he couldn't find me until he intercepted coordinates of the area where your minions had been."

"He figured out the holes that weren't covered and sent his friend Rupert," Lex addressed the bearded man.  "To come and find me."

"When Chloe and Derek found out about your plans to blackmail Clark into working for you, they informed him of Ian."

"Miss Sullivan," Lionel sneered.  "To think that I trusted you."

Chloe snickered.  "Lionel, you, of all people, should know that trust could sometimes be faked.  You taught Lex your tricks," she said as she walked over to Lex's side.  "And he taught them to me.  Surprising that you didn't even recognize that you were a victim of your own folly."

The older Luthor glared at the lot, focused on Kent.  "He should have been dead by now," he pointed out angrily.  "Ian came prepared."

"Really, dad," Lex sighed.  "You yourself once said that life is a game of chess.  You always know your moves twenty steps ahead, so you can dictate who wins before the game even started."

"Did you really think," he continued his inquiry.  "That Clark would face Ian without knowing that your clone was aware of his weakness?"

There was no response.  "Tsk, tsk, tsk.  Dad, I'm very disappointed."

"No matter," the Luthor scion continued.  "You're going to pay for this, and you will pay dearly.  As of today, you will sign all of your shares over to me and turn yourself in.  If you refuse, there is always this taped confession from Ian.  Naming you as the main mastermind of this chaos."

Lionel stepped back as the others failed to realize that he was drawing closer to the hidden gun compartment.  "Never," he barked as he grabbed the revolver, aimed it instantly at his son, and made a grab for the trigger. 

A shot rang out in the room.