Bruce shook his head. "I was hoping you'd come to your senses by the time we had this meeting."

"I'm in full possession of my senses, Bruce. I'm done."

"Do you know the people who will question your leaving the business?"

"Not if I do it openly, and with a solid plan in place. I'm not just leaving, I'm handing my business over."

"To me?"

"You're the best in this business who still has some kind of conscience."

"And the clients you stole from me to begin with?"

"You can agree to take them back, no hard feelings, or I'll put them in touch with Curry."

"You know, Curry is still into street drugs."

"I know. But no people. And he's only an option if you decide to be a little bitch about taking back the clients who left."

Clark smiled, and Bruce shook his head with a grin.

"Fine. I'll take them back, if they want to come back. No retaliation. Fair pricing."

"My pricing."

"What?"

"My prices… for at least a year. It'll ease the transition."

"You're killing me, Kent." He leaned forward. "Does Perry know what you're doing?"

"He does."

"Is he part of the deal?"

"No. Perry stays with me. All the others will be given a choice. They can go legit within my company, or I'll put in a good word with whoever they want."

"Sounds like a solid plan."

"I think it is."

"But someone will still make a power grab."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll try. That's why it's important we're seen united in this."

Bruce nodded. "Ok, Kent. You've got a deal. Hate to see you leave, though. You kept me on my toes."

"There's still the legitimate side of your business for that." Clark grinned.

"By the way," Bruce leaned back on his chair, "while you were away, Luthor was nearly arrested."

"I heard."

"Seems someone tipped off one of his shipments to the cops."

Clark just stared at him.

"He had to do some tall conniving to get out of that one. I think they've got an eye on him now. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

Clark continued to stare.

"That's what I thought. He suspects you, you know. And after how he was at the ball?"

"Oh, he's definitely up to something. But I'll be out soon."

"Personal vendettas don't require you to be in the business, Clark. Just remember that. Be careful."

—

A month later, Clark sat down to get some work done. The bulk of his clients had willingly gone over to Bruce when presented with the deal. A few others decided on Curry, and that side of his business was almost completely gone. Perry was handling the final details. Clark wanted it done quickly so he could go into a new life with Gwen with no complications.

All of Clark's focus would be going into the legitimate side of Krypton now. Not that it was lacking in any way. He'd always made sure to keep Krypton more successful than his other ventures.

Going through mail was always an annoyance, but he liked to do it himself. He didn't want anyone else determining what was important for him to see and what wasn't. Jorel allowed that, and it almost cost him a few times.

The large brown envelope looked important, but there was nothing on it. No addresses and no stamp. Someone slipped this in.

He dumped the contents onto his desk, and his blood ran cold. Pictures of Gwen from the ball, but not press photos. These were from inside. He flipped through. Gwen at the hospital, getting into a car, shopping with her sister. The weeks since their trip had been a blur. They were both so busy. She'd spent a lot of time without him. Someone was following her.

The last picture was a close up of her face. Red marker formed a target over her, like the crosshairs of a rifle. This was definitely a threat.

"Luthor."

He had been right not to write Luthor off. Ambitious and scum. He'd called it.

Clark called Perry and had him put a tail on Gwen for protection. She couldn't know. It would only scare her.

—

"We can't find her, sir."

"What do you mean you can't find her?"

Clark stood slowly from his chair and stared at Perry.

"We've checked your home, the hospital, a few of her favorite places… she's not there."

"Her sister?"

"Amber is fine, but Gwen isn't with her. Security also found footage of who slipped you the envelope. They sent you an email with the video attached."

"Did you see it?"

"I did."

"Who was it?"

"It was Gwen, sir."

Clark flopped back down into his chair. "What?"

"She walked right into this office and put the envelope in with the mail."

Clark leaned on his desk, face in his hands.

"Luthor already has her. These photos aren't a warning, they're the ransom note."

"Do you think he knows we tipped off the cops?"

"He knows. No doubt in my mind." Clark pulled up the email with the security footage. "Let me think a while."

Perry nodded. "Let me know what you need, sir. I like Gwen.

"Thank you."

Clark drummed his fingers on the table after Perry left. He watched the video of Gwen leaving the envelope on his desk. She was stiff. Her posture screamed fear.

She laid the envelope down, scribbled something on his notepad, then ripped the page off. She went to the bookcase in the corner, pulled a book from the shelf, and slipped a paper inside, then put it back. She held the book in such a way that the cover was clear on the footage.

Clark grabbed the book and shook it. The paper floated to the ground, and he snatched it up.

"Luthor threatened Amber. Made me help. Sorry. I love you."

Clark crumpled the note and threw it across the room.

"He's dead."

—

Gwen cried under the blindfold as the car drove off. Luthor made sure she wouldn't fight. Two gunmen were placed near Amber's dorm. When she found out she was going into Clark's office, Gwen knew she had to find a way to let Clark know to protect her sister. She wrote the note as quickly as she could.

"You did well." Luthor's voice grated through her. "Now, how long do you think until Kent panics, hmm?"

"Clark doesn't panic."

"Yes, he's a tough nut to crack, but with the right pressure…" He brushed his thumb over her jaw, and she flinched away. "All nuts crack, eventually."

"You would know."

Luthor laughed. "That's very good. You're funny. You know what's not funny? Turning over information to the police. No, that's not funny at all."

"Neither is trafficking people."

"So… Kent discusses his business with you?"

Gwen mentally screamed. Stupid!

"He was upset that a girl died," she said. "That's all he's ever told me."

"And what about Zod? Did he tell you about him?"

She stayed quiet. Didn't move a muscle.

"Hmm. Poker face. Almost as good as Kent's." He leaned next to her ear. "I don't like that."

—

Clark had an old contact at the FBI, Agent Hardy. He called him up and asked to see him as soon as possible. Hardy was there the next day.

"So, you went legit?"

"I did. And I want this handled as legitimately as possible. I want everyone to know I'm out of the old life. Kidnapping falls under your jurisdiction?

"It can. Honestly, Clark, I'm glad you're going straight. We'll do everything we can to get her back."

"I want to help. I still have some connections. I haven't been legit that long."

"Get ears to the ground. Anything you hear about Luthor, get it to me."

"Count on it."

"And I'll keep you posted."

Clark slid a folder to him. "This is everything I have on Luthor. Including the girl who died in my shipment that I didn't know about. Just make that clear."

"Yeah, I know. You never went for human trafficking. You always had a definite line of right and wrong in that world. That's why I worked with you."

"Then you'll also understand that I want to go in with you to rescue her."

"Clark, I can't—"

"I go in, or I go after him myself. I'm not negotiating on this."

The agent stood. "Fine. I'll be in touch."

"Thank you, Nathan."

—

"Clark, Clark, Clark…. I was expecting you to call after you got my package."

Clark gripped the phone, desperately trying to keep his cool. "Yeah, well, hard to be sure who it was from. No name. No address. Kind of rude, if you ask me."

"Rude? No. No ruder than you calling the cops on my shipment."

"How'd you get out of that, anyway?"

"Blamed someone else, of course."

Clark rubbed his eyes. "I want to talk to Gwen."

"Sorry. She's rather tied up at the moment."

"Luthor, if you hurt her…"

"Hurt her? Why would I do that?"

"What do you want?"

"I want you. I want to make an example of you. Like you did with Zod."

"Zod left the company."

Luthor scoffed. "Is that what we're calling it now? Well, then, give yourself up, and I'll let Gwen go. If not… she'll be leaving the company."