Part 3 Spot
He should never have decided to hang out with strange men. This was a lesson that Pamela taught him when he was still a kid. But Lex had always been stubborn so he did not listen. Now he was stuck with two men whose dark clothing made his pastel silk shirt seem out of place, two men who merely glared at each other then brooded while checking out all the young women in the Talon.
It served him right for going against his natural instinct to judge tell them that they were not worth his time. But he tried to be just a little bit more open to others. Yesterday, when he dropped by the Torch, Chloe had mentioned offhand that she would like to know what type of personality he had. The casual comment led him to a copy of Cosmopolitan, answering a quiz aptly titled 'What Kind of Man is Your Man?' After a ten minute hidden test- taking, Lex found out that he was not a good catch. Since the advice was for him to start being more friendly and cheerful, he did so. So after staking out on Chloe and Clark's date, here he was, having coffee with two of the most sinfully boring men on earth.
One more minute in the company of the two would render him mute. Lex excused himself to sit in the bar.
The moment the human left, Cole snarled at the vampire, "Go home to your lair, Angel. This is not your hunt."
"It is nobody's hunt, Cole. Don't you have a wife?" Angel baited. "Oh right. She doesn't want anything to do with you." Cole's fist balled on the table and Angel could see the spark from the ball of fire he was forming. "You're going to throw me a fireball in the middle of a crowded coffee house. You've never been a smart demon, Cole, despite the fact that you passed the Bar."
The demon boiled with anger. He would not allow a mere vampire to vilify him this way. "If you're so intelligent, Angel, then you wouldn't mind the competition that I pose now. After all, being the idiot that I am, I probably did not think to bring a spell that would allow me to see who among the women here is the one spoken of in the prophecy." Cole stood up and left Angel at the table.
Angel followed Cole's departure until the demon went into a secluded portion of the Talon and shimmered out. "Damn," he muttered. "Why didn't Wesley give me some sort of spell too?"
A group of students, possibly from the local high school, trouped into the coffee house bearing props for a theater play. Angel stood to make way for a young girl bearing a bag of Styrofoam balls painted in different colors.
"Hey Tanya! Bring the solar system over here."
The girl did not notice the sign on the floor that read a warning about the slippery spot. The planets and other heavenly bodies went flying all over the store.
A boy in a checkered button-down shirt immediately stood up to help the girl back on her feet. Angel watched as behind him, a blonde girl came up and picked up one of the props. "Are you okay?" the blonde asked. "Here's your prop." She handed the bright yellow sun back to the recovering girl.
Angel shook his head. "How am I going to find the daughter of the sun now?"
~~
Chloe stepped out into the cool night. She gathered her coat over her shoulders and took a deep breath. She may complain about Smallville's utter lameness compared to her Metropolis, but she really did enjoy the town for its silence and relative security. She furrowed her brows and scratched the last thought. Smallville was safer than Metropolis in terms of thieves and rapists. Smallville's danger lay in an entirely different aspect.
Just remembering the various mutants that populated the town made her walk faster. When she turned the corner of the street and bumped into a soft body, Chloe nearly screamed.
"Oh sorry!" The bright and cheery voice abated her fears. "I wasn't looking! I swear I would lose my head if it weren't so beautiful!"
Chloe bit back a giggle at the woman's obvious charm. She smiled genuinely at the curvaceous lady in a red dress, too short for her to be walking the streets at night. "It's all right," she assured the woman. "I was in a hurry too."
"You running away from something, honey?"
"No!" Chloe laughed. "I'm just paranoid. I've felt as though someone's been watching me all day."
"Someone probably was. A girl as pretty as you would have eyes on her every second."
"You've obviously not met Lana. I was in the same room as she was. There should have been no one even knowing I was there."
The woman's smile grew even larger. "Don't sell yourself short, Chloe." Chloe stiffened just a little when the woman cupped her cheek and traced her fingernails over the skin of her temple. "Blondes always have more fun."
"Wait." Chloe stepped back, relieved to have those cool, digging finger off her skin. "How do you know my name? You're not from around here."
The woman pouted prettily. "You really are paranoid." She chuckled. "A name is a name is a name is a name," came the woman's distorted reason. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll tell you mine."
Chloe's eyes widened when she saw a man take form right at the corner of her vision. "Glorificus, will you leave the girl alone?" said the exasperated man. "I've told you once and I'll tell you again. You cannot benefit from the prophecy. You're not equipped to impregnate her."
The terror was building in her throat. Chloe was going to scream. She just had to suck in enough breath to do so, and right now, that was the difficulty.
"Shut your trap, Belthazor, before I get pissed and turn you into ash."
Chloe's eyes flew from this woman named Glory to the newcomer Beelzebub. Bellwether just laughed out loud. "You may be a god in your realm, Glory. But I am the most powerful demon in this. Don't test me."
And that was the last straw. She started screaming and turned around, running as fast and as hard as she could. When she thought she was going to collapse from her aching muscles, Chloe bumped into a hard body. She was instantly enfolded in a hard grip. Chloe shut her eyes and screamed. And screamed. And screamed even more.
The arms around her grew tighter. Now she knew what it felt like to die by boa constrictor, when life was just squeezed out of you.
"Chloe! Stop screaming."
She screamed.
"Chloe, it's Lex!"
When the words finally penetrated her brain, she allowed her eyes to flutter open. The haze that was her vision cleared enough to register Lex's concerned gaze. The moment she was certain she was safe, Chloe fainted in his arms.
Lex stood in the sidewalk, with the unconscious girl in his arms. He looked up and down the street, needing to know what scared her so horribly that she would be in this state. Finding the streets empty, he placed her in the passenger seat of his care. Lex was grateful he decided to go out today with the roof down. He climbed into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition.
Before he could get the car running, a man in black leather appeared beside Chloe's door. Lex almost jumped in his seat. He had looked earlier. There was no one. Where did this guy come from?
Angel stood there looking down at the young woman who he was now certain was the daughter of the sun. Cole and Glory would not be hounding her if she were not. Neither Cole nor Glory had her, for which he was glad. He did not know forces much more evil than those two. This new man was unexpected.
"Which demon sent you?" he demanded of the bald guy he was sitting with only an hour ago. Earlier, Angel figured him for a human. Now he was not so sure. Why would he have the unconscious daughter of the sun if he were merely human?
Lex's eyes narrowed. He did not like the way this man was looking at Chloe, like she were some prized treasure. "My father may be the devil himself but I don't work for anyone," came his prized answer. With that, he floored the gas and headed for his house.
Angel stared after the mint convertible. "This is not good," he figured. "Cole, Glory, and now the son of the devil. Talk about a bitch of a mission."
He stood there mulling over his plan of action. You cannot just approach the son of the devil with no foolproof way of success. From the corner of the street, two figures walked towards him. He barely registered the fact that they looked good together. If he mentioned it, Glory would be flattered because anything positive pertaining to her looks never failed to stir her vanity. Cole would probably burn him with a fire ball since the street was already deserted.
"What?" Cole yelled. "We send her running away in your direction yet you fail to take her?"
"Angel, you're looking as gorgeous as ever."
"There's an unexpected new member in the chase," he answered. Angel threw a quick wink to Glory. She was just Angelus' type of woman. "And thank you, Glory. You don't look too shabby yourself."
"Would you please focus? The balance of the world lies on the answer." Then Cole smirked at his own words. "Well the imbalance in my point of view. So what are you talking about?"
"It's not just the three of us after her anymore. The son of the devil has her now."
Cole huffed. "Not possible. I was the last Source. And I do not have a child." And then he stopped. His brain ran through a billion possibilities. "Unless Phoebe did not really lose the child."
"Oh please!" Glory scoffed. "The witch was pregnant a year ago. There is no way your son is running around spoiling our fun already."
Angel caught Cole's eyes and nodded. "Unless your son was sent to a hell dimension then called back to ours as a bald twenty-something year old."
Glory arched her eyebrow and shifted her weight to the ball of one foot. She placed her arms akimbo and waited out the Hallmark moment between the two sinners.
"I'm a father," Cole whispered.
He should never have decided to hang out with strange men. This was a lesson that Pamela taught him when he was still a kid. But Lex had always been stubborn so he did not listen. Now he was stuck with two men whose dark clothing made his pastel silk shirt seem out of place, two men who merely glared at each other then brooded while checking out all the young women in the Talon.
It served him right for going against his natural instinct to judge tell them that they were not worth his time. But he tried to be just a little bit more open to others. Yesterday, when he dropped by the Torch, Chloe had mentioned offhand that she would like to know what type of personality he had. The casual comment led him to a copy of Cosmopolitan, answering a quiz aptly titled 'What Kind of Man is Your Man?' After a ten minute hidden test- taking, Lex found out that he was not a good catch. Since the advice was for him to start being more friendly and cheerful, he did so. So after staking out on Chloe and Clark's date, here he was, having coffee with two of the most sinfully boring men on earth.
One more minute in the company of the two would render him mute. Lex excused himself to sit in the bar.
The moment the human left, Cole snarled at the vampire, "Go home to your lair, Angel. This is not your hunt."
"It is nobody's hunt, Cole. Don't you have a wife?" Angel baited. "Oh right. She doesn't want anything to do with you." Cole's fist balled on the table and Angel could see the spark from the ball of fire he was forming. "You're going to throw me a fireball in the middle of a crowded coffee house. You've never been a smart demon, Cole, despite the fact that you passed the Bar."
The demon boiled with anger. He would not allow a mere vampire to vilify him this way. "If you're so intelligent, Angel, then you wouldn't mind the competition that I pose now. After all, being the idiot that I am, I probably did not think to bring a spell that would allow me to see who among the women here is the one spoken of in the prophecy." Cole stood up and left Angel at the table.
Angel followed Cole's departure until the demon went into a secluded portion of the Talon and shimmered out. "Damn," he muttered. "Why didn't Wesley give me some sort of spell too?"
A group of students, possibly from the local high school, trouped into the coffee house bearing props for a theater play. Angel stood to make way for a young girl bearing a bag of Styrofoam balls painted in different colors.
"Hey Tanya! Bring the solar system over here."
The girl did not notice the sign on the floor that read a warning about the slippery spot. The planets and other heavenly bodies went flying all over the store.
A boy in a checkered button-down shirt immediately stood up to help the girl back on her feet. Angel watched as behind him, a blonde girl came up and picked up one of the props. "Are you okay?" the blonde asked. "Here's your prop." She handed the bright yellow sun back to the recovering girl.
Angel shook his head. "How am I going to find the daughter of the sun now?"
~~
Chloe stepped out into the cool night. She gathered her coat over her shoulders and took a deep breath. She may complain about Smallville's utter lameness compared to her Metropolis, but she really did enjoy the town for its silence and relative security. She furrowed her brows and scratched the last thought. Smallville was safer than Metropolis in terms of thieves and rapists. Smallville's danger lay in an entirely different aspect.
Just remembering the various mutants that populated the town made her walk faster. When she turned the corner of the street and bumped into a soft body, Chloe nearly screamed.
"Oh sorry!" The bright and cheery voice abated her fears. "I wasn't looking! I swear I would lose my head if it weren't so beautiful!"
Chloe bit back a giggle at the woman's obvious charm. She smiled genuinely at the curvaceous lady in a red dress, too short for her to be walking the streets at night. "It's all right," she assured the woman. "I was in a hurry too."
"You running away from something, honey?"
"No!" Chloe laughed. "I'm just paranoid. I've felt as though someone's been watching me all day."
"Someone probably was. A girl as pretty as you would have eyes on her every second."
"You've obviously not met Lana. I was in the same room as she was. There should have been no one even knowing I was there."
The woman's smile grew even larger. "Don't sell yourself short, Chloe." Chloe stiffened just a little when the woman cupped her cheek and traced her fingernails over the skin of her temple. "Blondes always have more fun."
"Wait." Chloe stepped back, relieved to have those cool, digging finger off her skin. "How do you know my name? You're not from around here."
The woman pouted prettily. "You really are paranoid." She chuckled. "A name is a name is a name is a name," came the woman's distorted reason. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll tell you mine."
Chloe's eyes widened when she saw a man take form right at the corner of her vision. "Glorificus, will you leave the girl alone?" said the exasperated man. "I've told you once and I'll tell you again. You cannot benefit from the prophecy. You're not equipped to impregnate her."
The terror was building in her throat. Chloe was going to scream. She just had to suck in enough breath to do so, and right now, that was the difficulty.
"Shut your trap, Belthazor, before I get pissed and turn you into ash."
Chloe's eyes flew from this woman named Glory to the newcomer Beelzebub. Bellwether just laughed out loud. "You may be a god in your realm, Glory. But I am the most powerful demon in this. Don't test me."
And that was the last straw. She started screaming and turned around, running as fast and as hard as she could. When she thought she was going to collapse from her aching muscles, Chloe bumped into a hard body. She was instantly enfolded in a hard grip. Chloe shut her eyes and screamed. And screamed. And screamed even more.
The arms around her grew tighter. Now she knew what it felt like to die by boa constrictor, when life was just squeezed out of you.
"Chloe! Stop screaming."
She screamed.
"Chloe, it's Lex!"
When the words finally penetrated her brain, she allowed her eyes to flutter open. The haze that was her vision cleared enough to register Lex's concerned gaze. The moment she was certain she was safe, Chloe fainted in his arms.
Lex stood in the sidewalk, with the unconscious girl in his arms. He looked up and down the street, needing to know what scared her so horribly that she would be in this state. Finding the streets empty, he placed her in the passenger seat of his care. Lex was grateful he decided to go out today with the roof down. He climbed into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition.
Before he could get the car running, a man in black leather appeared beside Chloe's door. Lex almost jumped in his seat. He had looked earlier. There was no one. Where did this guy come from?
Angel stood there looking down at the young woman who he was now certain was the daughter of the sun. Cole and Glory would not be hounding her if she were not. Neither Cole nor Glory had her, for which he was glad. He did not know forces much more evil than those two. This new man was unexpected.
"Which demon sent you?" he demanded of the bald guy he was sitting with only an hour ago. Earlier, Angel figured him for a human. Now he was not so sure. Why would he have the unconscious daughter of the sun if he were merely human?
Lex's eyes narrowed. He did not like the way this man was looking at Chloe, like she were some prized treasure. "My father may be the devil himself but I don't work for anyone," came his prized answer. With that, he floored the gas and headed for his house.
Angel stared after the mint convertible. "This is not good," he figured. "Cole, Glory, and now the son of the devil. Talk about a bitch of a mission."
He stood there mulling over his plan of action. You cannot just approach the son of the devil with no foolproof way of success. From the corner of the street, two figures walked towards him. He barely registered the fact that they looked good together. If he mentioned it, Glory would be flattered because anything positive pertaining to her looks never failed to stir her vanity. Cole would probably burn him with a fire ball since the street was already deserted.
"What?" Cole yelled. "We send her running away in your direction yet you fail to take her?"
"Angel, you're looking as gorgeous as ever."
"There's an unexpected new member in the chase," he answered. Angel threw a quick wink to Glory. She was just Angelus' type of woman. "And thank you, Glory. You don't look too shabby yourself."
"Would you please focus? The balance of the world lies on the answer." Then Cole smirked at his own words. "Well the imbalance in my point of view. So what are you talking about?"
"It's not just the three of us after her anymore. The son of the devil has her now."
Cole huffed. "Not possible. I was the last Source. And I do not have a child." And then he stopped. His brain ran through a billion possibilities. "Unless Phoebe did not really lose the child."
"Oh please!" Glory scoffed. "The witch was pregnant a year ago. There is no way your son is running around spoiling our fun already."
Angel caught Cole's eyes and nodded. "Unless your son was sent to a hell dimension then called back to ours as a bald twenty-something year old."
Glory arched her eyebrow and shifted her weight to the ball of one foot. She placed her arms akimbo and waited out the Hallmark moment between the two sinners.
"I'm a father," Cole whispered.