***
Buffy woke from a light doze when the other homeless people started moving into the library. Sleeping while crouching -- must be a Slayer skill. She kept her head down when she shuffled past the security guard opening the door. Others did, too. She wasn't *too* conspicuous.
Inside it was warm and dry. Buffy walked around a little to get the layout and uncramp her limbs. She found the restroom and used it, found the drinking fountain and had a drink. There were four "Internet Express" computers right in front of the watchful eyes at the check-out desk. The sign said there was a fifteen-minute limit when people were waiting. Buffy got in line and waited her turn.
It was only ten minutes before she got a chance on the computer. She got her password right on the second try and left an e-mail for Willow. "Like a message in a bottle," Buffy thought. "Please save me. I'm stranded." She decided it would be better not to drag Dawn into this, and the only person she knew in Kansas who wouldn't be dragging Dawn into it was Lex. She didn't want to drag him into it, either. Probably his dad monitored his e-mail, anyway.
People were glaring at her. She wondered how much time she'd lost and signed off the computer.
Buffy wandered over to the maps and looked until she found a good one of Metropolis. She found St. Luke's, and this library, and LuthorCorp Tower, but she couldn't figure out where the building she'd escaped from must be. She knew she was missing it. If she'd been at her best, she would have been able to work it out.
Buffy put the maps back and looked for a place to sit down and rest. She planned to get back on the computer and check back with Willow in a couple of hours, after the witch had had time to find out more, or maybe even to fix everything. Wouldn't that be nice.
There was an empty chair behind the poetry section with no one around. Buffy sat down. Just an hour or so. Then she'd get up and check the computer again. Maybe she could make a cross out of some of the wood and scraps she had. Always good to have a cross.
Buffy closed her eyes.
***
Clark didn't know when it had happened, but he'd discovered that he had a tendency to follow little brunettes, and let them boss him around. It hadn't happened so much with Lana, although there had been that whole ugly Senior Class Prank incident. With Dawn, though, he sometimes found himself just following along on things he *never* would have gotten into on his own.
For instance, watching Dawn's back while she picked the door to Chloe's apartment.
They'd done the respectable thing, the Clark Kent thing, and knocked politely on the door. Clark had called, "Chloe? Are you in there?"
"Go away!" Chloe had yelled back.
"Chloe! We have to talk!" Clark had tried.
There had been no response. Reasonable people would probably have left at that point. Dawn had gotten out her lockpicks.
"Dawn!" Clark had protested, futilely.
"Shut up!" she hissed at him. "You need to talk this out. Watch my back. And don't worry so much."
So he watched her back, and tried not to worry. Was this going to be the pattern for his life? Superman seemed to do okay, fighting crime, snagging bad guys and carrying them to jail. Witnesses voluntarily came in and talked to the police afterwards when Superman told them to. Criminals frequently confessed to the cops as soon as Superman put them down at the station. How come Clark Kent let himself be pushed around, and ended up in these extremely questionable situations?
"We're in!" Dawn exclaimed. "Come on."
Clark followed her into Chloe's studio apartment.
Chloe jumped up from her daybed as they entered. She was wearing sweats, and her hair was messy. "What the hell?" she exclaimed.
"What the hell indeed?" Dawn yelled back. She got the newspaper out of her bag and shook it in Chloe's face. "What the hell!" she repeated.
"You break into my house, and start waving around a newspaper..." Chloe shouted at the taller girl.
Dawn didn't let her finish her sentence. "A newspaper? Your newspaper! You SAID you wouldn't TELL!"
"I said deep background, and I held to that!" Chloe shot back. "I *never* said, 'Clark Kent is Superman' in that story!"
Clark worriedly x-rayed the surrounding apartments to see if anyone seemed to have heard that last. They were clear.
"You said that Superman fought that big bug and rescued those guys. Now those two nimrods know for *sure*, plus probably the cops and ambulance guys!"
"It's *news*!"
"It's *more* important than *news*! It's the fate of the doggone *world*, sometimes! Plus I haven't even *gotten* to the bad part!"
"What the hell are you talking about? And did I mention that you broke into my home?"
"You wrote about the kryptonite, stupid! Now every crook who's read your article knows that there's a green rock called kryptonite that makes Superman weak and sick! What the hell were you thinking?"
That seemed to bring Chloe up short. She was completely silent for a minute. That was weird. No weirder than having girls fight over him, kind of, but still. Weird. Had Chloe been so mad at him, when she was writing her article, that it honestly hadn't occurred to her that she could be getting him killed?
Chloe crossed her arms. Clark could practically *see* her decide to brazen it out. "So?"
"So!" Dawn was outraged. She did outraged really well. "He could get killed because of you, and all he's doing is the right thing! The kryptonite secret is *way* worse than the Clark Kent secret! What were you thinking?"
"But it's true!" Chloe maintained, struggling not to sniffle. "It's true, and it's news, and why shouldn't I write it, and why shouldn't they print it when it's news!"
"It's Clark's *life*!" Dawn pressed. "That stuff can *kill* him, and now everybody *knows*!"
Chloe took two deep shuddery breaths; then her face crumpled. "I know!" she wailed. "I'm sorry! But you told *everybody* before *me*! Pete I can understand, and Lex, I guess, and Dawn's your actual girlfriend, so okay, but *Lois Lane*? You told her all about, and you gave her the exclusive, and I'm supposed to be your friend? And it *is* all true, and it *is* news, and I *did* keep your secret just deep background, and... and I was just so *mad*, Clark, I...." Chloe stopped being even remotely coherent, and plopped back down on the daybed.
Dawn turned her back with a swish of her hair and crossed her arms in fury.
Clark went over and sat on the bed with Chloe. "There there," he said, patting her gently on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, too. Secrets make people mad. I understand."
"Clark!" Dawn was scandalized.
"No, really," Clark went on, talking to both the girls. "Pete was mad when he found out. Lex was mad when he found out. Lana -- I never actually told her, but I'm pretty sure the reason she hasn't spoken to me all year, and makes sure we're never alone together is because she found something out. I should probably tell her, too. You're wrong about Ms. Lane, though. She doesn't know anything about Clark Kent. Or kryptonite."
"Clark! I don't believe this! Chloe just betrayed you for a *byline*, and you're all 'I'm sorry and I understand and this is all my fault'? Please! Are you gonna apologize to the next bank-robber who shoots you with kryptonite bullets, too?"
Chloe seemed to be done crying now. Clark patted her on the back reassuringly. "It'll be okay. We'll figure something out. Maybe Lex will... Shoot! What time is it? I was going to call him!"
***
The telephone rang. Lex ignored it, intent on his computer screen.
It rang again. Where was his secretary?
It rang again. Oh. It was Sunday. He hadn't called anyone in. Lex picked up the phone, and only then did he realize how cramped and stiff he was, and how much his eyes ached. "LexCorp," he said, craning his neck to ease the knots.
"Lex! It's me, Clark. How are you today?"
"Clark! There's something I need... Where are you?"
"We're at Chloe's right now. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Well, stiff, and sore, but not bad. Much better than last night." Lex was happy to notice that it was true. Ah, the beneficial side-effects of meteorite-induced mutation. "Look, we need to talk, not over the phone. Where can I meet you?"
Clark seemed to be talking to the girls for a second. "You could come here. Do you know how to get to Chloe's apartment?"
Lex called her address up on his computer. Easy. "Yes. I'll be right there."
"Drive carefully," Clark told him. Then they hung up.
***
"Come on, Miss, we're closing now."
Buffy came to herself with a start. "Huh?" she asked.
The security guard was a young man in uniform, with a weedy beard and a big flashlight. "It's six o'clock. I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave now."
Six o'clock? Crap. "Oh, I'm sorry. Thanks." Buffy got up as docilely as possible. It wasn't hard to look mild-mannered. She'd been so out of it for so long, and it had been so long since she'd eaten, that her head spun a little when she stood. It didn't really stop, just diminished as she walked. Maybe she was coming down with something.
So much for her big plan. She couldn't check back with Willow to see if she was in the clear now. She couldn't even know whether or not the witch had ever received her message.
Damn. Plan C was looking better and better. She could walk to LuthorCorp Tower, find Lionel Luthor, and kick the crap out of him. It would serve him right.
Buffy went outside into the rain. She thought for a moment, picked a direction, and headed towards downtown Metropolis.
***
Dawn couldn't believe that Clark was forgiving Chloe -- he'd even apologized to her! Crazy alien! It also ticked her off that he was patting the weepy ditz on the shoulder. A lot.
Fortunately, Lex arrived in almost no time.
Chloe was still all red-eyed and repentant on the daybed when the knock came at the door, and Clark was still 'there-thereing' her, so Dawn answered it.
"Hi, Lex," she greeted him. "You don't expect me to ask you in, right?"
Lex smiled at her (he had a really nice smile, almost as good as Clark's) and pushed past her into the apartment without waiting for an invitation. Before anyone else could even greet him, he said, "My father had Buffy kidnapped."
Dawn wasn't as shocked as she supposed she should have been. It always had struck her as odd that enemies of the Slayer always attacked the little sister instead of going straight to the source. Apparently Lionel Luthor was more direct than your typical demon. Chloe and Clark were suitably surprised and inquisitive, though. Journalists.
"Lex, tell us. What happened?" Clark's voice was calm and deep. It easily overwhelmed Chloe's more querulous tones. He sounded like Superman, actually.
"May I sit?" At Chloe's watery nod, Lex sat down on the room's one chair. He crossed his legs elegantly, and looked more comfortable. "This is all information that I've gleaned from my father's computer. He maintains a private sanatorium about twenty-five miles outside of Metropolis. Mrs. Dunleavy, whom I believe Clark and Chloe will both recall...."
Chloe sniffled again. Dawn wondered what the story was behind that.
Lex went ahead as if he hadn't heard Chloe. "Mrs. Dunleavy and some other people who my father has decided over the years need to be put away for his own good are -- stored there."
Dawn was getting impatient. "What does this have to do with Buffy?"
"My father's minions have many skills. He had somebody falsify commitment papers for Buffy and incarcerated her. You understand, I've pieced this together based on various clues and my knowledge of...."
"Lex. You're the acknowledged expert on your dad. Quit with the disclaimers already and TELL me what happened to my sister!"
Lex looked at her, and Dawn suddenly felt bad about attacking him. He was pale, and his eyes were red. His right arm and shoulder were still all bandaged up. "I'm trying to tell you," he said. "Last night something happened in the discarded-mistresses ward." Lex quirked his mouth at the description of the room -- it had actually been the term used in Lionel's computer records. "Someone or something broke a window, and wrenched the bars apart. The women were all kept drugged, for easier handling. They shouldn't have been able to do anything or go anywhere on their own. The broken window-glass had a little blood on it -- I haven't been able to find out the type. Eight women, including Buffy and Rachel Dunleavy, were reported missing."
"She broke them out?" Clark suggested. Chloe seemed to have pulled herself the rest of the way together, and Dawn guessed she was glad. Especially since it meant Clark could stop petting her.
"This afternoon at around two o'clock, the first body was found. She'd been dead for hours, probably since before daybreak."
"Let me guess," Dawn said disgustedly. "Drained of blood?"
"Drained of blood," Lex agreed.
"Drained of blood?" Chloe asked. "You mean vampires?"
Lex nodded. "When you called me, Lionel's teams had found a total of three bloodless corpses. I only have four wooden bullets left, but I've re-loaded my pistol. We have two questions: where is Buffy, and where are the vampires?"
"Damn," Dawn exclaimed. "What are we going to do? We *have* to find her."
"I can fly a search pattern. She's pretty easy to spot with x-ray vision. Unless Evel Knievel's in town, she'll probably be the only person in Metropolis who's broken every bone she has."
"What?" Lex asked.
"When she died," Dawn answered.
"She died?" Chloe asked.
"She said she drowned," Lex argued.
"That was the first time. Look, we don't have time for this! We need to find Buffy and help her!" Dawn exploded.
"I'll fly around town and look for her," Clark said. He took off his glasses and went into Chloe's tiny bathroom to change. (The delay fighting the Gorevanor Demon had finally convinced him to keep the suit on underneath his street clothes, no matter how hot and sticky it got.)
Lex sighed. "I'll go talk to my dad about it. He must know more than I've been able to weasel out of his system."
Chloe looked concerned. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
"I'll be fine. I have some blackmail material I've been saving for a rainy day." Lex quirked a smile at her as thunder crashed outside.
"We'll stay here and try to find out more on the computer," Dawn volunteered. "Come back and get us if you need back-up."
Superman came out of the bathroom and gave Dawn a kiss. Then he opened Chloe's window and flew out into the rain. Lex and Chloe watched him disappear with almost identical expressions on their faces. Dawn wasn't sure she liked it, but she'd been the one to get a kiss, so she supposed it was fine. The other two shook themselves a tiny bit. Chloe resolutely opened up her computer, and Lex left.
***
Buffy woke from a light doze when the other homeless people started moving into the library. Sleeping while crouching -- must be a Slayer skill. She kept her head down when she shuffled past the security guard opening the door. Others did, too. She wasn't *too* conspicuous.
Inside it was warm and dry. Buffy walked around a little to get the layout and uncramp her limbs. She found the restroom and used it, found the drinking fountain and had a drink. There were four "Internet Express" computers right in front of the watchful eyes at the check-out desk. The sign said there was a fifteen-minute limit when people were waiting. Buffy got in line and waited her turn.
It was only ten minutes before she got a chance on the computer. She got her password right on the second try and left an e-mail for Willow. "Like a message in a bottle," Buffy thought. "Please save me. I'm stranded." She decided it would be better not to drag Dawn into this, and the only person she knew in Kansas who wouldn't be dragging Dawn into it was Lex. She didn't want to drag him into it, either. Probably his dad monitored his e-mail, anyway.
People were glaring at her. She wondered how much time she'd lost and signed off the computer.
Buffy wandered over to the maps and looked until she found a good one of Metropolis. She found St. Luke's, and this library, and LuthorCorp Tower, but she couldn't figure out where the building she'd escaped from must be. She knew she was missing it. If she'd been at her best, she would have been able to work it out.
Buffy put the maps back and looked for a place to sit down and rest. She planned to get back on the computer and check back with Willow in a couple of hours, after the witch had had time to find out more, or maybe even to fix everything. Wouldn't that be nice.
There was an empty chair behind the poetry section with no one around. Buffy sat down. Just an hour or so. Then she'd get up and check the computer again. Maybe she could make a cross out of some of the wood and scraps she had. Always good to have a cross.
Buffy closed her eyes.
***
Clark didn't know when it had happened, but he'd discovered that he had a tendency to follow little brunettes, and let them boss him around. It hadn't happened so much with Lana, although there had been that whole ugly Senior Class Prank incident. With Dawn, though, he sometimes found himself just following along on things he *never* would have gotten into on his own.
For instance, watching Dawn's back while she picked the door to Chloe's apartment.
They'd done the respectable thing, the Clark Kent thing, and knocked politely on the door. Clark had called, "Chloe? Are you in there?"
"Go away!" Chloe had yelled back.
"Chloe! We have to talk!" Clark had tried.
There had been no response. Reasonable people would probably have left at that point. Dawn had gotten out her lockpicks.
"Dawn!" Clark had protested, futilely.
"Shut up!" she hissed at him. "You need to talk this out. Watch my back. And don't worry so much."
So he watched her back, and tried not to worry. Was this going to be the pattern for his life? Superman seemed to do okay, fighting crime, snagging bad guys and carrying them to jail. Witnesses voluntarily came in and talked to the police afterwards when Superman told them to. Criminals frequently confessed to the cops as soon as Superman put them down at the station. How come Clark Kent let himself be pushed around, and ended up in these extremely questionable situations?
"We're in!" Dawn exclaimed. "Come on."
Clark followed her into Chloe's studio apartment.
Chloe jumped up from her daybed as they entered. She was wearing sweats, and her hair was messy. "What the hell?" she exclaimed.
"What the hell indeed?" Dawn yelled back. She got the newspaper out of her bag and shook it in Chloe's face. "What the hell!" she repeated.
"You break into my house, and start waving around a newspaper..." Chloe shouted at the taller girl.
Dawn didn't let her finish her sentence. "A newspaper? Your newspaper! You SAID you wouldn't TELL!"
"I said deep background, and I held to that!" Chloe shot back. "I *never* said, 'Clark Kent is Superman' in that story!"
Clark worriedly x-rayed the surrounding apartments to see if anyone seemed to have heard that last. They were clear.
"You said that Superman fought that big bug and rescued those guys. Now those two nimrods know for *sure*, plus probably the cops and ambulance guys!"
"It's *news*!"
"It's *more* important than *news*! It's the fate of the doggone *world*, sometimes! Plus I haven't even *gotten* to the bad part!"
"What the hell are you talking about? And did I mention that you broke into my home?"
"You wrote about the kryptonite, stupid! Now every crook who's read your article knows that there's a green rock called kryptonite that makes Superman weak and sick! What the hell were you thinking?"
That seemed to bring Chloe up short. She was completely silent for a minute. That was weird. No weirder than having girls fight over him, kind of, but still. Weird. Had Chloe been so mad at him, when she was writing her article, that it honestly hadn't occurred to her that she could be getting him killed?
Chloe crossed her arms. Clark could practically *see* her decide to brazen it out. "So?"
"So!" Dawn was outraged. She did outraged really well. "He could get killed because of you, and all he's doing is the right thing! The kryptonite secret is *way* worse than the Clark Kent secret! What were you thinking?"
"But it's true!" Chloe maintained, struggling not to sniffle. "It's true, and it's news, and why shouldn't I write it, and why shouldn't they print it when it's news!"
"It's Clark's *life*!" Dawn pressed. "That stuff can *kill* him, and now everybody *knows*!"
Chloe took two deep shuddery breaths; then her face crumpled. "I know!" she wailed. "I'm sorry! But you told *everybody* before *me*! Pete I can understand, and Lex, I guess, and Dawn's your actual girlfriend, so okay, but *Lois Lane*? You told her all about, and you gave her the exclusive, and I'm supposed to be your friend? And it *is* all true, and it *is* news, and I *did* keep your secret just deep background, and... and I was just so *mad*, Clark, I...." Chloe stopped being even remotely coherent, and plopped back down on the daybed.
Dawn turned her back with a swish of her hair and crossed her arms in fury.
Clark went over and sat on the bed with Chloe. "There there," he said, patting her gently on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, too. Secrets make people mad. I understand."
"Clark!" Dawn was scandalized.
"No, really," Clark went on, talking to both the girls. "Pete was mad when he found out. Lex was mad when he found out. Lana -- I never actually told her, but I'm pretty sure the reason she hasn't spoken to me all year, and makes sure we're never alone together is because she found something out. I should probably tell her, too. You're wrong about Ms. Lane, though. She doesn't know anything about Clark Kent. Or kryptonite."
"Clark! I don't believe this! Chloe just betrayed you for a *byline*, and you're all 'I'm sorry and I understand and this is all my fault'? Please! Are you gonna apologize to the next bank-robber who shoots you with kryptonite bullets, too?"
Chloe seemed to be done crying now. Clark patted her on the back reassuringly. "It'll be okay. We'll figure something out. Maybe Lex will... Shoot! What time is it? I was going to call him!"
***
The telephone rang. Lex ignored it, intent on his computer screen.
It rang again. Where was his secretary?
It rang again. Oh. It was Sunday. He hadn't called anyone in. Lex picked up the phone, and only then did he realize how cramped and stiff he was, and how much his eyes ached. "LexCorp," he said, craning his neck to ease the knots.
"Lex! It's me, Clark. How are you today?"
"Clark! There's something I need... Where are you?"
"We're at Chloe's right now. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Well, stiff, and sore, but not bad. Much better than last night." Lex was happy to notice that it was true. Ah, the beneficial side-effects of meteorite-induced mutation. "Look, we need to talk, not over the phone. Where can I meet you?"
Clark seemed to be talking to the girls for a second. "You could come here. Do you know how to get to Chloe's apartment?"
Lex called her address up on his computer. Easy. "Yes. I'll be right there."
"Drive carefully," Clark told him. Then they hung up.
***
"Come on, Miss, we're closing now."
Buffy came to herself with a start. "Huh?" she asked.
The security guard was a young man in uniform, with a weedy beard and a big flashlight. "It's six o'clock. I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave now."
Six o'clock? Crap. "Oh, I'm sorry. Thanks." Buffy got up as docilely as possible. It wasn't hard to look mild-mannered. She'd been so out of it for so long, and it had been so long since she'd eaten, that her head spun a little when she stood. It didn't really stop, just diminished as she walked. Maybe she was coming down with something.
So much for her big plan. She couldn't check back with Willow to see if she was in the clear now. She couldn't even know whether or not the witch had ever received her message.
Damn. Plan C was looking better and better. She could walk to LuthorCorp Tower, find Lionel Luthor, and kick the crap out of him. It would serve him right.
Buffy went outside into the rain. She thought for a moment, picked a direction, and headed towards downtown Metropolis.
***
Dawn couldn't believe that Clark was forgiving Chloe -- he'd even apologized to her! Crazy alien! It also ticked her off that he was patting the weepy ditz on the shoulder. A lot.
Fortunately, Lex arrived in almost no time.
Chloe was still all red-eyed and repentant on the daybed when the knock came at the door, and Clark was still 'there-thereing' her, so Dawn answered it.
"Hi, Lex," she greeted him. "You don't expect me to ask you in, right?"
Lex smiled at her (he had a really nice smile, almost as good as Clark's) and pushed past her into the apartment without waiting for an invitation. Before anyone else could even greet him, he said, "My father had Buffy kidnapped."
Dawn wasn't as shocked as she supposed she should have been. It always had struck her as odd that enemies of the Slayer always attacked the little sister instead of going straight to the source. Apparently Lionel Luthor was more direct than your typical demon. Chloe and Clark were suitably surprised and inquisitive, though. Journalists.
"Lex, tell us. What happened?" Clark's voice was calm and deep. It easily overwhelmed Chloe's more querulous tones. He sounded like Superman, actually.
"May I sit?" At Chloe's watery nod, Lex sat down on the room's one chair. He crossed his legs elegantly, and looked more comfortable. "This is all information that I've gleaned from my father's computer. He maintains a private sanatorium about twenty-five miles outside of Metropolis. Mrs. Dunleavy, whom I believe Clark and Chloe will both recall...."
Chloe sniffled again. Dawn wondered what the story was behind that.
Lex went ahead as if he hadn't heard Chloe. "Mrs. Dunleavy and some other people who my father has decided over the years need to be put away for his own good are -- stored there."
Dawn was getting impatient. "What does this have to do with Buffy?"
"My father's minions have many skills. He had somebody falsify commitment papers for Buffy and incarcerated her. You understand, I've pieced this together based on various clues and my knowledge of...."
"Lex. You're the acknowledged expert on your dad. Quit with the disclaimers already and TELL me what happened to my sister!"
Lex looked at her, and Dawn suddenly felt bad about attacking him. He was pale, and his eyes were red. His right arm and shoulder were still all bandaged up. "I'm trying to tell you," he said. "Last night something happened in the discarded-mistresses ward." Lex quirked his mouth at the description of the room -- it had actually been the term used in Lionel's computer records. "Someone or something broke a window, and wrenched the bars apart. The women were all kept drugged, for easier handling. They shouldn't have been able to do anything or go anywhere on their own. The broken window-glass had a little blood on it -- I haven't been able to find out the type. Eight women, including Buffy and Rachel Dunleavy, were reported missing."
"She broke them out?" Clark suggested. Chloe seemed to have pulled herself the rest of the way together, and Dawn guessed she was glad. Especially since it meant Clark could stop petting her.
"This afternoon at around two o'clock, the first body was found. She'd been dead for hours, probably since before daybreak."
"Let me guess," Dawn said disgustedly. "Drained of blood?"
"Drained of blood," Lex agreed.
"Drained of blood?" Chloe asked. "You mean vampires?"
Lex nodded. "When you called me, Lionel's teams had found a total of three bloodless corpses. I only have four wooden bullets left, but I've re-loaded my pistol. We have two questions: where is Buffy, and where are the vampires?"
"Damn," Dawn exclaimed. "What are we going to do? We *have* to find her."
"I can fly a search pattern. She's pretty easy to spot with x-ray vision. Unless Evel Knievel's in town, she'll probably be the only person in Metropolis who's broken every bone she has."
"What?" Lex asked.
"When she died," Dawn answered.
"She died?" Chloe asked.
"She said she drowned," Lex argued.
"That was the first time. Look, we don't have time for this! We need to find Buffy and help her!" Dawn exploded.
"I'll fly around town and look for her," Clark said. He took off his glasses and went into Chloe's tiny bathroom to change. (The delay fighting the Gorevanor Demon had finally convinced him to keep the suit on underneath his street clothes, no matter how hot and sticky it got.)
Lex sighed. "I'll go talk to my dad about it. He must know more than I've been able to weasel out of his system."
Chloe looked concerned. "Are you sure you want to do that?"
"I'll be fine. I have some blackmail material I've been saving for a rainy day." Lex quirked a smile at her as thunder crashed outside.
"We'll stay here and try to find out more on the computer," Dawn volunteered. "Come back and get us if you need back-up."
Superman came out of the bathroom and gave Dawn a kiss. Then he opened Chloe's window and flew out into the rain. Lex and Chloe watched him disappear with almost identical expressions on their faces. Dawn wasn't sure she liked it, but she'd been the one to get a kiss, so she supposed it was fine. The other two shook themselves a tiny bit. Chloe resolutely opened up her computer, and Lex left.
***