AN: Thank you once again. (

Part 5

The dress was a bit snug around her chest. Chloe adjusted the back to breathe freely. She looked at herself in the mirror and examined the lines of her face carefully. There were some laugh lines, unavoidable unless she wanted to be stoic all her life. It was not to hard a concept now.

She picked up the brush from the dresser and hurriedly ran it through her hair. Hurriedly, she reddened her lips with the raspberry from her bag and took a deep breath. There were too many things to think about. Thankfully, her brain had stopped working hours yesterday when she heard the news, twenty minutes after she landed in Metropolis after a two-month long coverage in the wartorn East.

The knock on the door did not startle her, not because she expected it but because she simply had no reaction to the outside world anymore. She made her way to the door and mechanically smiled at Lana.

The brunette smiled back at her and acknowledged, "You look very nice, Chloe."

"Thanks. My sleep was relatively peaceful. Are we leaving?"

Lana shook her head. "Not yet. Lex is here to see you though. He's waiting in the living room."

Chloe's brows furrowed in confusion. She had not seen Lex since she went off to college. Gabe had been an employee of LexCorp until his death, serving as a production and systems consultant even as his health waned.

Chloe asked her hostess, "Did he tell you why?"

Lana shook her head. "He did ask me and Pete to go ahead of you to the reception. He'll take you instead."

Chloe nodded. This must concern her father. She and Lex hardly had a common ground to speak at length about anything. "All right, Lana. Thanks again."

Chloe made her way down the stairs and saw Lex Luthor stand up. He nodded once in greeting. Chloe hugged Pete and Lana and walked with them to the door.

"We'll be right behind you," were Lex's first words since her descent.

When the Rosses have departed, Chloe turned to Lex. "Thank you for coming, Mr Luthor. It is an honor to my dad that you would include him in your doubtless hectic schedule."

"Nonsense," Lex interjected. "Gabe ws a valuable colleague."

Chloe settled in one of cozy armchairs. "That's good to hear, Mr Luthor."

"Lex, Chloe. Please. We're not so different, you and I. We're both orphans struggling through life now." Lex took a shiny titanium box from his jachet pocket. It was a small container,no bigger than a watch case. "Gabe wanted you to have this."

Chloe accepted the box and lovingly traced the metal. "What is it?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I have no idea? Curiosity has seized me since he pushed that into my hands but I have too high a regard for Gabe to open it without his permission."

Chloe looked at the lock of the box. "Or did you just not know how to?"

"It would have been nothing if I had wanted to destroy it."

Chloe tried the series of numbers that was her birthday. "It's not the date of my birth." She tried other combinations of her father's birhday, her graduation, her mother's birthday, their addresses in Metropolis and Smallville. Lex watcged as she screwed her lips in concentration.

"Still no luck then."

She gave him a lopsided grin. "What gave me away?" Chloe looked out the window and aw the stretch limousine parked out front. "Can we leave now? I'll battle this lock in your car."

Lex nodded and led her to the vehicle. He opened the door for her and ushered her in before climbing in at the other side. The second he settled beside her, the lid popped open. Lex looked at her in surprise.

"You found the code," he said needlessly.

Chloe nodded. "It was the date my mom left us."

She opened the box and looked down at the two dully sparkling jewels laying on the black velvet. "Wow," she exclaimed.

Lex noted that the contents were gems. He had suspected as much. The make of the container and security told him as much. Chloe picked up the gems and revealed that they had been set as a double stone pendant.

"The necklace is beautiful," Lex murmured. "Do you want me to help put it on?"

Chloe gave him the necklace and exposed the nape of her neck. "Thank you." She closed her hand around the stones.

On the other side of town, an Elf came to waking at the sight of a gun trained on him. Legolas slowly sat up, his eyes unwavering on the weapon. Very carefully he stood. Only then did his gaze appraise the older man armed against him and the flame-haired woman whose scent was fear and confusion.

"Who are you?" demanded the armed farmer.

"I am Legolas," the Elf answered simply.

"What are you doing here, son?" the man asked gruffly, when Legolas did not seem threatening.

"I came to use your quarters. I have not rested for nigh on a moon or longer."

"Legolas," the woman said, testing the name. "Poor boy. You must be hungry."

He had none of the weakness of the Followers. Legolas would never die of starvation. Yet for the ages he had tried to adapt to the tradition of those whom he lived with, Legolas had begun to enjoy every ritual. To be called boy by these youth was ludicrous.

"Come, son, don't be scared," the woman said. "I'm Martha and this is my husband Jonathan."

Jonathan lowered his rifle. "We thought there was a wild animal here."

"It is only I."

Martha nodded and approached him, then regarded the crumpled and dusty clothes that Legolas had worn to bed. "That won't do," she judged. "Clark has some of his old clothes here."

A sharp pain that was an impossibility to his race shot through his head. Legolas closed his eyes and listened to his surroundings. The sounds dropped away as he heard the faint echoes of the Silmarils. They have woken from a seemingly interminable sleep with one implication, for only Chiara's hands could so revive the light of the jewels.

He stood up swiftly, so quick that the couple in front of him moved out of the way as he staggered. Martha's eyes were wide as she watched Legolas grasp his head with both hands and tightly close his eyes.

"Son, are you all right?"

As it was not the time or place to be lost in his yesteryears, the Elf forced away the visiting memories and eyed his hosts. "I must have your leave to search."

"What are you looking for, Legolas?" Martha inquired. When she his gray- green eyes, Martha asked, "Who is it? Tell us. We've lived here for a long time; Jonathan all his life. We can help you."

Legolas' heart was filled with great joy at the acquaintance of such Men who were so generous of their help. It seemed to him akin to the days of strife, when Elves and Men were as one People in their fight against Sauron. "I know not the name she takes today."

Jonathan frowned, suspicious at the answer. Martha merely nodded though she did not completely comprehend why the young man would not give the name.

"All right. Well, I will give you some of my son's clothes even if they may be a little big for you. We cannot leave you alone. Come with us. We have somewhere to be this morning. Maybe you will find her in the funeral."

Legolas thought of a burning city and lords and captains piled high and lit. And then his mind painted a cairn in the stillness of Mirkwood his home, adorned by the stillness of a dirge that came from his heart.

"I shall come with you but with one plea, Martha," he replied.

"What is it?"

"Call me not son or young or boy," Legolas said, "for you can be my offspring countless times over." He climbed down the stairs ahead of the two.