Chapter One

A/N: Okay everyone, thanks for the awesome reviews. I logged onto my mail (after a few days of ignoring it) and there were 10 reviews waiting for me there! That's the most I've ever got at once, so you all rock! Anyways, I have a double update today, Chapters 1 AND 2!!! I know, I still suck for waiting so long...forget that. Just a little explination about this episode: when I originally planned it the plot for this one was only going to be Episode Eight, but now I think I may have to make it a two parter (like I did with Escape and Return). Also, you may have already noticed that I put in dates (like the Tuesday, October 5th below); I normally don't like to see this in a fan fic, let along WRITE it in a fanfic. The original version of this episode didn't have dates in it, but when I read through I realized that, even though the timeline didn't jump back and forth, it did skip a few days. Basically I just thought that putting in dates would prevent any questions that people were sure to ask about timelines...and if that didn't confuse you than this stupid a#! explanation will! :0) Be assured, the date explinations and stupid explinations of date explinations will be gone after this two parter. Right...so, chapters 1 and 2 are very low on action, contains a lot of planning and some plotting, and some of the scenes may seem pointless but I assure you that they all are there for a reason, as a tie in to either something later in Ep 8, 9 or later in the series. Expect some angst ahead. I also just realized that I've been writing this series for about three months now; doesn't it feel longer? Maybe that's just because I'm only on Episode 8...sorry, I know I suck! Be kind, review. :0)

Tuesday, October 5th

"A party?" Clark asked with a frown, closing his locker and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Beside him Chloe nodded eagerly. "I don't know Chloe."

"Why not?" she demanded. They were walking in the general direction of her locker, finished for the day, and once again free of bodyguards. "Lex has done a lot for me this year. The least I can do is show him a good time on his birthday. Do you realize that he's going to be twenty four?"

"Chloe you may not have noticed but Lex and I don't get along as well as we used to," Clark told her awkwardly, waiting while she opened her locker.

"I noticed," she rolled her eyes and pulled out a book. "And I really don't care Clark. You and Lex used to be super close and now you act like the only reason you even tolerate him is because I live at his house."

Clark shrugged sheepishly. "Well, I'm not a very good actor Chloe..."

"Very funny," she sighed. "Look Clark, I want to do this for him, and I want you to be there. Please tell me you'll be there."

Clark groaned and she gave him her best puppy dog face—one she'd stolen from him. "I'll be there," he nodded.

"Promise?" she prompted. Clark broke into a mega watt grin.

"I promise," he nodded. Chloe returned his grin and threw her arms around him tightly, pulling him into a quick hug before going back to her books.

"Good," she closed her locker and they continued down the hall towards the exit doors. "You can help me plan it."

"What?" his smile faded. "No, I agreed to show up Chloe. The issue of planning a party was never agreed on—"

"But Clark you know him the best," she tried to reason. "You'll know what he wants in a party..."

"I don't know Lex very well," Clark shook his head. "I used to think I did, but now..."

"One day you're going to have to tell me what happened between you two," she sighed. Clark got his familiar shifty look and she decided not to bother. "Okay, first thing...should we have a big party, lots of guests and business associates, or just something small?"

Clark shrugged uselessly and she shot him a terrifying look that actually made his eyes widen in fear. He sighed in defeat. "I think maybe Lex has enough big parties and business associates around him as it is," he suggested. "He told Lana once that he usually spends those big parties hiding out in the coat room."

Chloe frowned. "How do you know that?" she asked.

Clark shrugged again, his favorite motion. "She told me."

"Oh," Chloe sighed, deciding not to waste her time trying to decipher Lana Lang's amazing ability to spill secrets...not that she should talk. She nodded encouragingly at him. "Okay then. Good suggestion Clark, we'll have a small party. Too bad though, watching him dominate an entire room of people is really...we need to think of where, what we'll do, who will be there."

"His family used to have a ranch," Clark suggested. "He used to go there with his mom a lot, but when she died Lionel sold it. Maybe we could do something like that."

She frowned again. "How do you know that?"

"He told me," Clark sighed. "Chloe if you want my suggestions you're going to have to stop questioning everything I say."

"I'm sorry," she pouted. "I really am trying to work on that." She ignored Clark's frown and waved her hands excitedly as she talked. "That's like horses and other animals right?" she asked him and then frowned at the memory of killer horses. "Well I guess we could have it in your barn..."

Clark frowned now too and they both tried to picture it; the whole idea screamed hoe down.

"Maybe we should make that Plan B?"

Wednesday, October 6th

"Good morning Mr. Luthor," the perky redheaded secretary chirped as Lex walked out of the elevator and onto the top floor of Luthor Corp Plaza. She jumped to her feet and quickly joined him, a clipboard and day planner in one hand, and a Starbucks cup in the other.

"Good morning Miss Sharp," he returned, sounding far less exhausted than he actually felt. He accepted the offered cup and took a grateful sip. "Thank-you. What do I have today?"

She checked the day planner and followed behind him as he strode quickly into his office, her heels clicking on the marbled tiles. "You have a shareholder's meeting in boardroom one at ten o'clock—Miss Sullivan requested that I remind you that your brother will be attending—"

Lex rolled his eyes.

"—Then lunch with the mayor at noon at Giorgio's—"

"The mayor?" he asked, hating that he needed to be reminded.

"Yes sir," she double-checked the planner. "Apparently Bruce Wayne is in town—"

"Right," he remembered, and struggled not to groan. "And after lunch?"

"There's a school tour coming through at one thirty; you're supposed to greet them. A press conference is scheduled for two o'clock, and you agreed to a private interview with the Daily Planet at four."

"That everything?" he asked, sitting down behind his massive desk, opening his briefcase and trying not to sound too hopeful.

"Yes sir," she nodded again and smiled hugely. "Busy day today."

Lex managed a weak grin and a nod. "Must be Wednesday. Thank you Miss Sharp," he turned to his papers. "That will be all."

She smiled again and left the room, heels clicking rhythmically while she went. Once the door had closed behind her Lex allowed his calm exterior to drop. He sighed and ran a hand over his head. Chloe was right this was exhausting him. But he couldn't take a break; Luthor Corp was his responsibility now and he had to prove himself. So far he'd been doing okay; stock was up lately, despite the scandal of Lionel's trial and the succession of attempted murders on Chloe.

It was funny; he'd wanted to be in control of Luthor Corp for as long as he could remember. But now the company didn't hold him in the same thrall that it once did. His new office didn't feel like a luxury, it felt like an overgrown playground. His team of yes-men was even more irritating than usual, and he found himself actually longing for his days at the Smallville Plant.

But he was a Luthor, and if Lionel Luthor had taught his eldest son anything, it was that Luthor's always prevailed.

'Only the strong survive Lex; you can't get anywhere with your eyes closed.'

"Don't worry dad," he muttered bitterly as he went over the list of items for the ten o-clock board meeting. "My eyes are wide open."

"Chloe this is a bad idea," Clark gnawed on his lip in concern, shooting her a paranoid look from his position in the passenger seat. She rolled her eyes and flicked on the turn signal, maneuvering the car onto the off ramp marked "Metropolis City Center". "We should be in school!"

"You didn't have to come with me Clark," she sighed and came to a stop at the first set of lights.

"What, and let you skip school by yourself to come into Metropolis and lurk around the Luthor Corp offices" he guffawed. "Yeah right. Lex would kill me."

"He might kill us anyways," she grinned at him and then eased her way into the moving traffic again. "If I were you I'd be more scared of what your dad's going to say when he finds out that you skipped an entire day of school."

Clark winced briefly and then shook his head. "No, I'll just tell him that I was worried about you meeting Lucas Luthor by yourself," he sighed again. "Chloe you do realize that the guy's a sociopath, don't you?"

"That's what Lex keeps saying," she said with a thoughtful sigh. Clark stared back at her, shocked that she was being so flippant about the youngest Luthor's frankly scary personality. "Clark we live in Smallville. Compared to some of the meteor freaks from that town, Lucas is well balanced."

"I guess," he muttered bitterly, still remembering the time Lucas had tried to knock him around playing basketball. Moron..."I wonder why Lex doesn't have anything to do with him?" Clark continued. "Last time he was in town Lex seemed so happy to have him there."

"I guess he had to stay away while Lionel was still around," Chloe sighed. "But that still doesn't explain why Lex doesn't want him around now...I guess it could be the sociopath thing..."

"I think that Lex considers family more important than sanity," Clark shook his head. "Cased on his past experiences with family anyways. There must be another reason."

"We'll find out what it is," she promised him. "And then we'll fix it."

"Fix it?" he groaned. "Chloe I don't think that Lex will appreciate being the subject of your next obsessive cause."

"Why not? I just want to help him, Clark," she pulled the car over into one of the above ground lots for the subway.

"We're not there yet Chloe," he told her, looking around at the hundred or so cars parked in the massive lot. He couldn't even see Luthor Corp Plaza or the Daily Planet yet.

"We're taking the subway Clark," she told him, turning off the ignition and hopping out of the car. "Lex would recognize the car and know that we're there."

"What?" he undid his seatbelt and scrambled out after her. "He doesn't know that we're coming?"

"No."

"But once we're there we're going to tell him, right?" Clark pressed and hurried after her as she headed straight to the ticket stations.

"Of course not," she rolled her eyes and purchased two return tickets. "That would ruin the surprise. We didn't spend all of last night planning this party only to have him catch on to it a week and a half before his birthday." Clark just nodded and took the ticket she held out to him. She didn't require a response anyways.

The subway was as packed as ever, but Chloe liked it that way. The seats were all full and they had to stand in the aisles, holding the overhead metal bars for support. Or at least she was holding the bar; Clark seemed to be hanging on for dear life. While she swayed easily with the starts and stops of the train, Clark was fighting desperately to maintain his balance and not topple over onto the little old lady beside him. Bodies bumped into them, a nearby pair of freshman-looking boys brushing up against her a couple more times than necessary. She shot them a warning look and rolled her eyes at Clark, who didn't see because he was busy looking around the train car at the other passengers.

Clark bent over and whispered in her ear. "Why are people staring at me?" he asked, shooting a paranoid glance around the car once more. Chloe frowned and followed his gaze to several passengers that were shooting him sideways looks.

"Maybe they think you're cute," she suggested. Clark blushed and it clashed horribly with his shirt...his blue, flannel, farm shirt... "Or maybe they're wondering where you left your pickup truck."

Clark rolled his eyes and pretended to ignore her. She was used to his flannel-fashion, but he did kind of stand out on the train amidst the business clad, Puma track suits, designer pumps, and abundance of name brand sports clothing that would make even Pete salivate in envy.

The train reached the next stop and several people filed out, including the old lady beside Clark. The shuffle of people bumped into them and Clark got pushed a few feet down the car. The two freshman boys took the only empty seats nearby and Chloe suppressed a groan; she'd been standing for a while now. One of them looked up at her with what he probably hoped was a come-hither-type smirk. "You can sit here," he moved his backpack off of his knees and gestured to his empty lap.

"Or I could grab you and your friend by your scrawny necks, toss you across the train and take your seats," she suggested with a sarcastic smile. The kid's smirk widened.

"Now why'd ya gotta go an' be like that?" he asked her, his friend chuckling along with him. "There's enough room for the three of us. We can share."

"Or we could pretend like you never asked me that," she snarked. "And I won't ask my friend to make you apologize."

"Your friend?" the kid frowned. "I don't see—"

Clark chose that moment to push his way through the crowd, making his way back over to her. "I thought I lost you for a minute there," he flashed a mega grin, evidently getting over the jab about the flannel. Clark looked back and forth between her and the two boys on the bench, who were staring up at him with wide eyes. "What's going on?"

"Clark you're just in time," she smiled sweetly at the boys on the bench. "These guys were just about to give us their seats."

"Uh, yeah," the one that had hit on her nodded quickly and grinned shakily up at Clark. Him and his friend climbed to their feet, their full height only a couple of inches taller than her and several shorter than Clark. "The next stop is ours anyways." They hurried off, pushing their way through the crowd to wait closer to the doors.

Chloe smiled at Clark and took a seat. He was looking around them for a moment (probably looking for old people to offer the seat to) and then finally joined her. "That was nice of them," he remarked. Chloe struggled not to roll her eyes.

"Yeah."

They came out of the subway tunnels just down the street from Luthor Corp Plaza. Clark immediately headed towards the familiar building but Chloe grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a McDonalds.

"Chloe!" he yelped, regaining his balance and pulling his arm away from her surprisingly firm grip. "Jeez. If you're hungry just say so!"

"No Clark," she grabbed his wrist again, more gently this time, and led him past the tables and down a hallway that led to the bathrooms. "We can eat after we talk to Lucas."

"Then you could have just said that you had to go to the bathroom—"

"I don't have to...shhh Clark," she rolled her eyes again and released his arm. He waited silently as she unzipped her backpack and pulled out several articles of clothing.

"What do I do with this?" he asked her skeptically, holding up the black shirt that she handed him. She shot him an "oh come on" look and he shook his head. "No, I mean why are you giving me this."

"Because you're going to change into that," she told him.

"What? Why?"

"Because Clark, there is only one person who ever goes into the Luthor Corp building wearing a flannel shirt like that," she told him. "Lex will notice you right away, or one of the secretaries will recognize you. If you wear something like that you'll never blend into the crowd. If it makes you feel better I'm changing too." She held up another black shirt and some pants.

"Fine," he groaned and headed in the direction of the men's room. "Chloe?"

"What?" she asked, the door to the women's bathroom already half way open.

He pointed to a sign on the door. "Men's room is out of order," he tried the doorknob. "It's locked."

Chloe blinked at him once and poked her head into the women's bathroom. "Is anyone in here?" she called out. When no one answered her she turned back to Clark. "Quick, come in here before anyone sees you."

Clark felt his jaw drop open in shock. "Chloe! I can't go into the women's bathroom!" he hissed as quietly as he could, not wanting any of the other customers or employees to hear him.

"Would you rather change out here in the hallway?" she asked smartly, holding the door wide open, knowing what his answer would be. Clark sighed and walked into the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind him. "Now quickly okay? We have to get there before Lucas leaves."

They each walked into a stall and closed the doors behind them. He unbuttoned the flannel one and slipped it off, hanging it over the door. "What time is this meeting at?" he asked, pulling off his white t-shirt next.

"Lex's secretary said that the board meeting started at ten," Chloe called back. "So they'll be in there until at least eleven. It's ten fifty now, and we'd better be there for just after eleven, in case it doesn't take too long. If we miss him we have to go all the way to Edge City."

"Or we could use the phone like normal people," Clark muttered. He hung the white shirt on the door too and began to pull the black one over his head.

"Luthor's do best with face to face confrontations," she replied seriously. A hand appeared over the wall of his stall. "Give me your shirt, I'll put it in my backpack."

"Yeah sure," Clark held them over the wall for her and waited until she grabbed them.

"Can you see over the stall?" she asked suddenly, worried. Clark laughed silently to himself.

"If I stand on my tip toes."

"What?!"

"Are you done yet?" he pushed his door open and waited for her by the sink. He checked his reflection in the mirror and frowned. "Is this Lex's shirt?"

"Yeah. Why?" she asked. In the mirror Clark could see her push the door open and come out to join him. He turned around and swallowed uncomfortably, taking in the tight black pants and shirt that she was wearing.

"It's kind of tight," he tugged a little at the collar. Chloe looked up from where she was fiddling with her backpack; her eyes widened slightly. The shirt was tight; skintight in fact...but then, so was hers.

"It looks...good," she stammered slightly but quickly regained her composure. She ignored the blush that spread over both of their cheeks and continued. "All of Lex's clothes are tailored...that was the only thing I could find that would fit you."

"It doesn't really fit," he groaned. "Maybe I should put my t-shirt back on?"

"Fine, but hurry up," she unzipped her backpack again and began to rummage around inside, looking for the t-shirt. Clark nodded and grabbed the hem of the shirt, pulling it up and over his head...

"Excuse me?"

Chloe and Clark both froze and turned towards the doorway. A girl in a McDonalds uniform was standing there, cleaning supplies in hand, and staring at them in disbelief.

"H-hi," Clark felt his cheeks turn red again.

"We were just..." Chloe tried to cover but seemed to be at a loss for words. The girl looked accusingly from Chloe's flushed cheeks to shirt in Clark's hands. He felt suddenly naked under the strangers gaze and quickly put the shirt back on.

"Look I don't know for sure here, but I'm pretty sure that the company has rules about people using the public bathrooms to—"

"Oh! We weren't—" Clark shook his head quickly.

"No," Chloe nodded quickly in agreement. "We were just—"

"I know what you were doing," the girl stopped her hastily. "And it's...I'm pretty sure that it's, like, a health code violation or something..."

"We're leaving," Chloe assured her and grabbed Clark's hand, pulling him out of the bathroom as fast as she could. They hurried down the hall and just as they we rounding the corner the girl's voice called out to them from her position in the doorway.

"Hey, nice abs!"

They increased their speed and barreled out of the restaurant, stunned diners watching them go. Chloe pulled him all the way down the street, until they were almost at the Luthor Corp building, before she let go of his hand. Clark's face was still burning even as he stood there on the busy street, staring down at Chloe and trying to think of something to say.

She opened her mouth a couple of times, no sound coming out, before closing it with a snap. They both burst out laughing at the exact same time. Around them people began to shoot curious glances as they hurried by. Chloe leaned against the wall of a building for support and wiped at the tears in her eyes, and Clark buried his face in his hands in embarrassment.

"Why do I listen to you?" he asked her with a sigh once they'd finished laughing. "Stuff like this always happens to us."

"Without me you'd have no fun at all Kent," she rolled her eyes and thrust the backpack into his hands for him to carry. "I guess you're stuck wearing that shirt now. Don't worry, it shows off your nice abs." Clark glared at her and she averted her eyes, putting a rather lot of effort into straightening her outfit. "Are you ready?"

"No," he sighed. "But does that matter?"

"Nope," she shook her head and grinned at him. "We have to go." Her outfit was already tight enough to make him blush, but when she deftly unbuttoned the top two buttons on her shirt, Clark felt his jaw drop at the expanse of creamy skin that was revealed. Luckily Chloe took his response as a protest, because she sighed and nodded. "I know, I know...it's a little more revealing than I'd like. But considering who we're about to talk to, I don't think it could hurt."

"I guess," he agreed reluctantly. He didn't really care for Lucas in the first place, but the thought of him ogling Chloe caused Clark to feel a little sick, and a lot more jealous than he would have liked.

"Okay," she said confidently once they reached the entrance doors to Luthor Corp Plaza. "Let's go meet Lucas."

"Thank-you all for coming today," Lex stood up, the rest of the board members doing the same...all except one. "I'll see you all next month. Please feel free to call me if you have any concerns in the interim."

The various board members took turns shaking hands with Lex and each other, before filing out of the room and leaving the two youngest members alone together. From where he was sprawled lazily in his seat, Lucas smirked up at his half-brother. "No hug?" he asked.

Lex ignored the comment and began to pack his papers away into his briefcase. "I'm sorry I can't stay and chat Lucas," Lex told him, not sounding at all sorry. "But I have a lunch appointment that I have to keep."

"Going so soon?" Lucas made no move to stand. "Don't you wanna hang out? We could play checkers."

"Maybe some other time," Lex smirked. "Some of us have work to do."

"Ah yes," Lucas nodded. "The Chairman and Owner of Luthor Corp is always busy, isn't that what dad taught us? Too busy for friends, too busy to have any fun, too busy for even family."

Lex paused briefly, staring down at the papers in his hands, before dropping them into the briefcase and pretending that it had never happened. "If that's what it takes," he nodded vaguely to his younger brother.

Lucas smirked back at him, still making no move to stand. "Well I for one think that you're doing an excellent job of it," Lucas continued. "And I'm sure that I'm not the only one. Why, I bet that if I called Chloe Sullivan she'd say the same thing."

Lex paused again, but this time he returned Lucas's stare, his eyes flashing with something that made even Lucas Luthor hesitate about pushing the issue. "I suggest that you leave Chloe Sullivan alone, Lucas," Lex told him coolly, and closed the briefcase with an audible snap.

"Why? She's cute, and with you working all the time she could probably use someone around to...take care of her," Lucas smirked again, actually anticipating the blow out that was sure to arise out of that comment. Lucas may not have been talking to Lex much lately, but they did have constant access to each other, and he'd been carefully following his brother's appearances in the press. It didn't take a genius to realize that for some reason, Chloe Sullivan was a soft spot for the usually unbreakable Luthor heir. Lucas just assumed that they were—

"Lucas," Lex snapped tersely. "Though I'm thrilled to see you, what are you doing here? I know you better than to believe that you're only here to keep updated on Luthor Corps financial situation. What do you want?"

Lucas smirked again. "Maybe I just wanted to see my big brother," he said innocently.

"Really?" Lex clearly didn't believe him.

Lucas shrugged. "Sure," he grinned again. Lex shook his head and picked the briefcase up.

"I have to go," he strode purposefully to the doors. "I trust that you can find the way out."

As soon as the doors snapped shut behind Lex, Lucas let the smirk on his face fall. He stared stonily at the large oak table in front of him, running a finger distractedly over the sharp edges. He hadn't come to check on Luthor Corp; Lucas had no doubt that Lex was running it efficiently. He wasn't really sure why he came, but he had the strangest feeling that he was looking for something.

He sighed and pushed himself up and out of the comfy Italian leather chair, picked up the file folder in front of him, and made his way to the door. Lex's secretary smiled at him as he left.

"Good day Mr. Luthor," she chirped. Lucas nodded back and pressed the button for the elevators. He tapped his foot while he waited, flipping through his copy of the shareholder's report that Lex had prepared. The lift finally reached the top floor and the doors opened.

He walked into the large marble lined elevator car, still reading through his papers. The doors closed behind him. "Mr. Luthor," a warm voice greeted. Lucas's head shot up from the papers and turned to his right. Clark Kent was leaning against the elevator wall, looking bored. But it wasn't Clark who had greeted him; it was the girl beside him. Lucas let his eyes rake over her figure hugging pants and tightly fitted top, resting momentarily on the ample view of cleavage. Chloe Sullivan smirked slightly at his surprise and pressed the button for the lobby. "Going down?"

TBC...