Chapter One
A/N: Hey guys. First, I'm really sorry for my lack of updates. I've been super busy with school (University is way harder this year than it was last year) and haven't really been able to find the time. Also, to be completely honest, I'm finding this particular episode really hard to finish; writer's block I guess. I have a general idea for the story line, and I already have the general closer chapter planned out, but I'm having real trouble thinking of "filler" scenes for the chapters (you know, cute couple scenes and bonding scenes to help advance the relationships). So, if anyone has any requests for how they'd like to story to progress, drop me a line (I have a general outcome for the series already, and I'm starting to invest time into the Cooper character, but a little angst and options –namely for Chloe—never hurt anyone). I promise you that I read every review that is submitted.
I think you'll all be surprised with what happens in chapter two, you'll notice that I left the end of this one as kind of a vague/cliffhanger sort of deal. Despite my problems with this Episode, I've already planned out a few cool ideas for future episodes (Spoilers will be included at the bottom of this update for those who want to read them).
Please enjoy, and be kind, review. :0)
Lex fingered the smoothed edge of a silver picture frame and sighed. 'This was obviously Dad's room,' he mused, dropping his bag—that Chloe had packed for him—onto the bed and looking around the master bedroom that he'd claimed. Pretty standard looking, much like an upscale hotel room, but the pine dresser was adorned with a series of framed photographs. Family photographs.
Never in his life had Lex seen a room of his father's adorned with something as simple as a family photograph. No, he'd only seen professional oil paintings; sleek colors and paint lines the only thing that ever captured the image of the Luthor family, besides the routine media pictures. But apparently Lionel Luthor had planned on staying at the villa one day, and judging from the keepsake memorabilia displayed across the dresser, he'd planned an extended (if not permanent) stay.
Chloe had told him that there were four bedrooms—Clark and Pete consented to share—and Lex had to wonder if the other rooms contained any other personal articles. There was a knock on his door. "Come in," he turned away from the frames, not wanting to be caught looking at them, lest they think he was getting nostalgic. He really wasn't.
Chloe pushed his door open and stepped in tentatively, giving him an unusually nervous smile. "Hi," she greeted him, leaving the door slightly ajar behind her.
"Chloe," Lex nodded in return, a little amused by her fidgeting. He noted that she'd already changed into a skirt and a tank top and was now looking around his room curiously.
"Nice...it looks like a hotel actually," she grinned.
"I was just thinking that," Lex laughed out loud but mentally pleaded with whatever higher power that she wouldn't see—
"Oh! Pictures," she hurried over to the dresser to take a look. "I don't have any pictures in my room."
"I'm assuming that this was to be my father's room," Lex sat down on the corner of the bed while she picked up the same frame that he'd just been looking at. The bed was actually pretty comfortable.
"Probably," Chloe nodded absently, her gaze focused heavily on the photo in her hand. "Is this you?"
"Yes."
"Wow...you looked so..." she trailed off, not quite knowing what word she was looking for.
"Different?" Lex supplied sarcastically, remembering the picture of a smiling Lillian Luthor with her arms wrapped around her smiling seven-year-old son's shoulders. He ran a hand over his bald scalp, his only nervous habit, and wished she would just put the picture down.
"Happy," Chloe corrected. "You looked so happy...so did she."
"She was medicated," Lex got up and peered curiously over her shoulder now, resting a hand on her elbow, and trying to see if he could see what she did. "And of course I was happy, I was seven and rich."
"She was still happy," Chloe insisted, handing him the picture. "I can see it...can't you?" Lex stared intently at the picture, taking in the curve of his mother's cheek and the way her eyes sparkled as she looked down at the top of seven-year-old-Lex's vibrant red hair.
He could see it.
Chloe browsed through the rest of the pictures, finally picking up another frame. "Oh my God, is that..."
"Lucas," Lex nodded in conformation, setting down the picture of him and his mother and joining her in inspecting the picture of the young boy with sandy blonde hair.
"Huh," Chloe shrugged. "He was cute...he must dye his hair now." Lex smirked; Lucas's hair was much darker now. He supposed maybe the dark hair looked better with all of the leather that Lucas had taken to wearing in the last few years. "Is that you?" she asked him, pointing now to a picture of Lionel holding a swaddled baby and smirking proudly into the camera.
"No," Lex replied dully, hating the expression on his father's face. Chloe frowned slightly but when she picked up the picture beside it, Lex holding the same baby, realization visibly dawned on her. "That's..."
"Julian," she finished with a nod. It was strange hearing her, anyone, say his brother's name. Lex never talked about his youngest brother if he could help it. Of course Chloe would know about him though; she was there when he had his breakdown after all, and she had kept a file on him as thick as the Encyclopedia Britannica. He was almost glad that she knew the story, because he wouldn't have to explain what had happened. It was only fair, he supposed, because he knew about her losses in life...why shouldn't she know about his. It wasn't as if she was just a casual acquaintance anymore. "How much older were you?"
"I was eleven when he was born," Lex said quietly, tearing his eyes away from the sight of him and his baby brother together. He was done with this conversation now. "Where are the others?"
Chloe stiffened slightly but put the frame back down, seemingly accepting his change in topic. "They're waiting for us in the living room," she told him, a smile spreading across her face. "I've been sent in here to tell you to hurry up and change so we can all go down to the beach." She looked up at him hopefully and then bit her lip. "If you want to that is...I mean, it is your birthday after all. What do you want to do?"
Lex smiled genuinely now, pushing all thoughts of Julian, Lionel and Lillian aside for a while, choosing instead to focus on what Chloe was saying to him. "The beach sounds fine. I assume you packed me a suit."
Chloe beamed. "I packed three...I didn't know if you'd appreciate my taste in clothes,"
she admitted. "Not when it comes to dressing you anyways."
"You have excellent taste, Chloe," he assured her, holding the door open for her to slip out of the room while he changed.
"Sure I do," she rolled her eyes. "Tell that to the rag-tag group that I assembled for this trip...if they don't kill each other that is."
A sound of protest echoed from the living room and they both smirked, realizing that Pete had heard them. Lex closed the door behind her and quickly searched his bag for a bathing suit. Relaxing on the beach was just what he needed.
Pete sighed dramatically and took a deep breath, the scent of salt water and warm evening air flowing over him. The beach looked just as beautiful at night, and the water seemed to glow in the moonlight. "Where's Chloe?" he turned to Clark and Lucas.
Clark shrugged and Lucas smirked. "She's waiting for Lex to make himself a drink," Lucas rolled his eyes. "I hope she hurries though, I wanna swim."
"No one's stopping you," Clark muttered and Lucas just ignored him.
"Maybe we could stay here for an extra week," Pete suggested hopefully, toeing off his sandals and spreading a towel out on the sand in front of him. Lucas mirrored his actions but Clark frowned.
"My parents would kill me if I missed more than one day of school," Clark said wearily, kicking off his own shoes. Pete nodded in agreement; his mother would kill him too.
Chloe and Lex finally made their way out, a tray holding five drinks balanced precariously in Chloe's hands and Lex carrying two towels. "Hey guys," she greeted them with a grin. "I brought you drinks."
Pete and Lucas reached eagerly for a glass. Clark frowned and took one tentatively. "Chloe is there alcohol in this?" he asked, sounding frighteningly like Jonathan Kent. Chloe just blinked at him and Lex hid a smirk; Lucas didn't even try to hide his snicker.
"Don't worry Clark," she assured him patiently. "The drinking age in the Cayman Islands is seventeen." Pete took a large gulp of his drink, lime margarita, and licked some of the salt off of the rim.
"Not bad Chlo," he praised, finishing off the drink in record time, earning a look of approval from Lucas.
"Are there any girls around here?" Lucas asked, looking around and trying to peer through the trees in the dark. Lex groaned and sat down on his towel, Clark doing the same.
"Chloe's a girl," Clark replied, taking a tentative sip of his drink. Lucas shook his head.
"You noticed that did you?" Chloe snarked. Clark blushed.
"She's not that kind of girl," Lucas muttered.
"What kind of girl would that be?" Chloe demanded.
"Do you want to go skinny dipping?" Lucas smirked. Pete turned his head between them eagerly, like he was watching tennis... except this was interesting. He was hoping for a little Luthor smack down.
"Sure," Chloe shrugged, ignoring the raised eyebrows from Lex and the jaw dropping from Clark. Pete just grinned in anticipation.
"Yeah?" Lucas questioned, a little surprised, and let his eyes rake appreciatively over her body.
"Well, not with you of course," she clarified snarkily, polishing off her drink as well. Lucas huffed in annoyance.
"Then I go back to my original question: are there any girls around here?"
"No Lucas," she said slowly, as if he were, well, slow. "This is a private villa. There are twenty acres of fenced off land surrounding us. Do you really think that that kind of girl would be smart enough to sneak in here?"
"You'd be surprised what that kind of girl can get into if she's looking to—"
"Lucas?" Lex interrupted. "Why don't you go for a swim? I'm sure the water's great."
Lucas polished off his drink with one huge sip. "Whatever you say...bro," he smiled phonily and stalked off towards the water, leaving his glass beside Pete's.
Once he was gone Clark shifted uncomfortably. "So Chloe..."
"No Clark," she rolled her eyes, and removed her tank top, revealing the white bikini top underneath. "Not with you either." Clark blushed violently.
"I wasn't—I didn't mean—"he stammered, jumping quickly to his feet. "I think I'll join Lucas, you know...make sure he doesn't get lost." Clark took off in a flash, well not a literal flash, because Lex and Chloe were watching, but he took off quickly anyways.
Pete jumped to his feet too. "Does anyone else feel like a swim?" he asked eagerly, really wanting to go. The water was insanely tempting but he didn't want to disappear like Lucas and Clark, since it was Lex's party and all. Not that the guy really required people to hang around him or anything, but still.
Lex shrugged and Chloe let out a happy squeal. She quickly shimmied out of her shorts and reached down to pull Lex up off of the ground. Once he'd regained his footing she took both him and Pete by the hand and forcefully led them towards the water. "You know Chlo," Pete laughed at her eagerness and eyed her white suit. "We don't have to join Clark and Lucas. I'm willing to suffer through seeing Luthor naked if you do it too."
Chloe rolled her eyes and Lex snorted. "Maybe tomorrow Pete."
Chloe woke up the next day to the sound of annoying tropical birds singing, and incredibly bright sun shining in her eyes. "So this is morning in the Caribbean," she muttered, getting tangled in her sheets and rolling out of bed, landing roughly on the ground. "Ouch," she stood up and got a beam of sun straight into her eyes. "Double ouch. I need coffee."
Feet dragging, she made her way to the bedroom door, bumping into every piece of furniture along the way, and trudged down the blissfully dark hallway to the sun-filled kitchen area. Lex and Clark were already awake, both sitting at the counter sipping coffees. "Morning Chloe," Clark greeted her with a toothy grin, wide-awake and bushy tailed. Lex nodded at her, knowing better than to speak to her before she had at least two cups.
She grunted out something that slightly resembled hello and quickly poured herself a cup of coffee. Clark watched in surprise when she gulped the first mug full down in two sips, completely ignoring the scalding temperature. She poured a second glass and then took the seat across from Lex, sipping her coffee slower this time. The caffeine was beginning to work it's magic.
"What time is it?" she asked them, moving her lips away from the rim of her mug just long enough to ask.
"Eight o'clock Smallville time," Lex replied. "Nine o'clock here."
"Urgh," she muttered, finishing off her second mug and pouring herself a third. She actually felt half awake now.
"So," Clark eyed her coffee cup wearily as she began to gulp yet another cup down. "What are we doing today?"
"Nothing," Chloe told him. "That's the whole point of this trip. We're just supposed to lie around, go swimming, snorkeling...anything, as long as it keeps Lex away from his briefcase it's all good."
Lex rolled his eyes but Clark nodded that he understood. "You're supposed to get more pleasant after your second cup," Lex pointed out with a smirk. "What happened?"
"Jet lag," Chloe added flippantly and polished off her third cup, this time hopping up and putting the mug in the sink instead of refilling it. "I'm going to go shower." She trudged her way back to her room, ignoring the chuckling from the kitchen. She met Lucas in the hallway. He looked about as awake as she had, and his hair was rumpled, sticking up in various directions and making him look a bit more adorable than she would have normally admitted. He caught her gaze and rubbed at his eyes. "Clark and Lex are up," she warned him. "And they're wide awake."
Lucas groaned and continued on his way to the kitchen. Just as she was closing her bedroom door she heard him mutter: "I hate morning people."
She totally agreed.
Lucas checked out his reflection in the mirror and smirked. His hair looked good...clothes good...teeth good. If there were no other girls on that part of the island he would just have to spend his day hitting on Chloe. She was hot, and he loved the annoyed looks that Clark, Pete and even Lex, donned when he did so. Of course, when Chloe got mad, she got feisty...he liked that a lot too.
Confident in his ability to sway her, Lucas left his bedroom with the usual swagger in his walk. He arrived in the main room to see that Chloe and Pete had joined the others when he was in the shower. Pete still looked half asleep, but Chloe was clearly well on her way to becoming caffeinated, bouncing slightly on her stool as they laughed at something Clark was saying. Before Lucas could call out a planned, and obnoxious, greeting, the doorbell rang.
He was the closest to the door, by far, but made a point of sighing loud enough so that they all heard him before he answered it. Lucas didn't bother hiding his skeptical look when he opened the door to a dreadlock sporting, surfer wannabe. "Yeah?"
The guy nodded at him, his greasy dreads bobbing as he did, and rubbing against the shoulders of his open Hawaiian print t-shirt. "Hey man," the guy greeted in a definitely American accent, sounding more than a little stoned. "I'm lookin' for, uh..." he checked a clipboard in his hand. "Chloe. Is she here man?"
Lucas blinked at him once and then stepped out of the way, letting the guy come in. "Gidget!" he called towards the kitchen area, ignoring the delivery guy and sitting in the empty chair beside Lex. "It's for you."
Chloe shot him a dirty look before hurrying over to the door, greeting the guy eagerly with a flirty grin. They discussed something quietly while Lucas poured himself another cup of coffee.
"Clark?" Chloe called from the doorway a few minutes later. They all turned to her curiously, and Clark gave her a goofy looking smile. "Can you give me a hand...please?" She cocked her head to the side and returned his smile.
Lucas had never seen Clark move so fast, and that was really saying something. Once Chloe and Clark had followed the guy out of the villa, Lucas turned to Lex and Pete with a smirk. "Boy I had that all wrong," he sipped his coffee nonchalantly. "Here I thought that it was Lex and Chloe who were fuc—"
"Shut up man," Pete cut him off, punching him in the arm. Hard...Lucas struggled not to flinch, and hit Pete back.
"Oh, hit a nerve," Lucas taunted, ignoring the glare from his brother. "I'm just saying that Clark seems pretty eager to please these days. At least his taste has improved, last time I saw him he was all over that Lana chick...talk about a housewife in training. She—"
"Lucas," Lex rolled his eyes, polishing off his coffee. "How about we quit with the Lana bashing...at least until she's here to defend herself."
"She's coming?" Pete asked eagerly...and Lucas scowled.
"No," Lex shook his head, to Pete's disappointment and Lucas's relief. "But it's not fair to badmouth her just because she's not around."
"To be fair, I would badmouth her even if she was around," Lucas shrugged.
"Man, shut up!" Pete sighed, apparently fed up at the conversation. "Just...lay off of Chloe and Lana, would you?"
Lucas shrugged and let it go, deciding that it was just as fun to curse Lana Lang mentally as it was to do so verbally. He noticed a pile of disposable cameras sitting in front of Chloe's stool. "What are these for?" Lucas asked, picking up one of the five cameras and fingering the thick, clear plastic covers.
"Chloe brought one for each of us," Pete explained, picking up a camera as well. "In case we want to take pictures. They're supposed to be waterproof." Lucas nodded and set his camera down in front of him, not really wanting to admit that he wouldn't mind taking a few pictures of the beach.
Chloe and Clark were coming back now; they could be heard just outside the doorway, talking to the delivery guy. "Just put them out back, on the beach," Chloe's voice was just loud enough to make out. "Thanks."
Lex, Lucas and Pete looked up curiously when Chloe came back into the villa, a pink and white surfboard in her hands. Clark followed behind her, four boards piled in his arms, and trying not to knock anything over on his trip to join the others. "We've got surfboards!" Pete grinned and hopped off of his stool, grabbing one of the boards off of Clark's pile and almost upsetting the rest of them. "Sorry Clark." Clark managed to steady the boards and Pete slung an arm around Chloe's shoulders. "Good idea."
"Surfing?" Lucas frowned at the idea. "Honestly guys, I'm not just trying to piss you off, but I'm not sure if surfing is really my thing."
"That's okay," Chloe assured him, a lot more friendly than he'd expected. "That's why I got the Jet Ski's too."
"Jet Ski's?" Pete echoed, looking even more excited than he had about the surfboards.
"Danny's bringing them around to the beach right now," Chloe grinned.
"Who?"
"The delivery guy," Clark clarified, carefully leaning the surfboards against the breakfast island.
"Well," Lucas finished off his coffee and stood up, setting his mug in the sink. "What are we waiting for?"
Clark Kent was not meant to surf. It didn't take them long to figure that out. After what felt like his one-hundredth wipeout, Clark decided to retire the surfboard and joined Lucas, taking the second Jet Ski. He zoomed around the curves of the beach, able to peer through the clear water and see the colorful fish and the reefs.
After spinning a few circles in the water, Clark shut off the engine and watched as the waves made their way over to where Lex, Chloe and Pete were trying to pick up surfing. They were doing much better than he was...well okay, Chloe wasn't, but she was still trying. Lucas pulled up beside him, shut off his own engine, and the two of them watched silently as Lex and Pete tried to explain to Chloe that she wasn't jumping up fast enough.
"Do you think she'll get it?" Lucas asked, wincing as Chloe's board slipped out from under her and she hit the water; Clark took a picture with his camera. He smirked when she resurfaced and splashed a wave of water at Pete, who was laughing openly.
"Yes," Clark replied loyally. Lucas raised his eyebrows at that and Clark sighed. "No," he admitted. They both chuckled softly and continued to watch as Pete managed to catch a particularly large wave and ride it until he was almost at the shore. They cheered loudly for him, and Clark snapped another picture.
"Let's go," Lucas called over his engine as it roared back to life. Clark restarted his Jet Ski too and they rode over to where Lex and Chloe were still floating, several feet out into the water. "Need a ride back?" Lucas called out to them, coming to stop beside Chloe.
She nodded and accepted his hand gratefully, allowing him to pull her up and onto the seat behind him, and wrapping her arms around his torso. Clark fished her board out of the water and secured it to the back of his machine. "What about you?" he asked Lex while Lucas and Chloe drove away, headed for shore.
"No thanks," Lex eyed a large wave coming up behind him. "I've got it." Clark grinned and Lex set off paddling, jumping up and catching the wave, and riding it almost to the shore as Pete had done. Clark took yet another picture and then zoomed after him.
"I don't like surfing very much," Chloe muttered pitifully, unwinding her arms from around Lucas and climbing off of the Jet Ski. Lucas smirked at her and Pete waded his way through the shallow water, slinging an arm sympathetically around her shoulders.
"Don't worry Chloe," he tried to reassure her. "You did fine." To annoy her farther, Lex chose that moment to glide gracefully up to them on his surfboard. He hopped off and picked the board up under his arm, noticing her scowl.
"What?" he asked. Chloe let out another pitiful moan. Why did he have to be good at everything? It wasn't fair.
Clark zoomed up beside them now on his own Jet Ski and parked it securely on the sand. "Now what?" he asked with a toothy grin. He noticed the sulky look on Chloe's face. "What's wrong?"
"Chloe's upset because she's a horrible surfer," Lucas tattled, parking his Jet Ski beside Clark's.
"Shut up," Chloe cried defensively. "I wasn't horrible...not really."
"You weren't good," Lucas pointed out.
"At least she tried," Clark cut in, just as defensive. "Don't worry Chlo, I wasn't any good at it either."
"That makes me feel better," Chloe deadpanned, flopping down onto a towel and slipping her sunglasses on, a clear sign that the conversation was over. Pete sat down on the towel beside her.
"So, what should we do now?" Pete asked, looking up at the others and holding his hand in front of his eyes, blocking out some of the sun. Lucas shrugged and took a seat as well, on the towel on Chloe's other side. Lex moved to his own towel and Clark sighed.
"Well, it looks like we're going to lay around in the sun," he remarked, sounding bored at the idea.
"I'm kind of hungry," Chloe looked up at him with her sweetest smile. "You could go and make us lunch."
"You want me to make you lunch?" Clark repeated, unbelieving.
"Sure...since you're bored," Chloe shrugged, sure to flash her very best puppy eyes at him.
"Well...what do you want?" Clark asked her finally. Chloe was a little surprised that he'd offered, but found that she liked being able to boss Clark Kent around. The idea made her a little giddy and gave her a weird sense of pride.
"Are there any pomegranates?" she asked hopefully. Clark shrugged.
"I'll check," with that he was off. Chloe smirked openly and then noticed the disgusted look on Lucas's face, and the bemused one on Pete's. Lex just slipped his glasses on and crossed his arms behind his head, lying back on his towel.
"What?" she asked Lucas defensively, lying back down. "He said that he was bored." Lucas just rolled his eyes.
Clark had indeed found her some pomegranates...and some mangos, and some grapes, and some kiwi. He brought her back a plate filled with the different types of fruit, and a cold bottle of water. Chloe had smiled at him again and taken the plate, happily munching on the fruit.
He didn't know why he was letting her boss him around...and for some reason he didn't care. Chloe had always been a little pushy, but she had never flat out made him do things before. He was embarrassed to admit that he kind of liked it; he enjoyed her take-charge attitude, and the way she managed to smile, eyes twinkling, in a way that made his heart flutter slightly. In a way that even Lana never caused.
"Thanks Clark," she patted the towel beside her and he sat down quickly. Around him, the others were wearing barely concealed expressions of ridicule, but again he didn't care. "Do you want some?"
"Huh?" Clark asked, sputtering ridiculously. Did he want some what?
"Do you want some?" she asked again, gesturing to the plate of fruit and raising her eyebrows at him.
"Uh, no...no thanks," Clark blushed, hating himself a little bit for even thinking—
"Hey Chloe," Lucas leaned over. "I'll have some." Clark was pretty sure that the littlest Luthor wasn't talking about fruit...at least not mangos and pomegranates. Chloe shrugged and held the plate out for him. Lucas shot Clark a very pointed look and then picked up a cluster of grapes.
"Lex? Pete?" Chloe offered to the others, who shook their heads. "More for me," she grinned and picked up some of the pomegranate seeds. Clark ignored Lucas now and found himself concentrating on the way the pomegranate seemed to stain her fingertips red, and the way she methodically sucked the remaining juices off of her red fingers.
He was transfixed, watching the way her tongue darted out...the beads of sun catching water dripping from her hair, down her back...the white sand clinging to her skin...the dusting of freckles down the curve of her shoulders...
A familiar burning sensation hit suddenly and Clark managed to snap his eyes shut just in time. The feeling didn't go away immediately, as it usually did, and he kept his eyes squeezed together, too afraid to open them. "Clark?" Lex asked sounding concerned when Clark began rubbing his fingers over his closed eyes, hoping to make it go away.
"Hey man, are you okay?" Pete's voice sounded just as worried...though he was probably worried because he knew what had happened the last time that Clark had behaved like that.
"Yeah...I just..." the burning feeling was beginning to fade...and then he felt a hand on his arm. Soft and small, stroking his forearm gently, making his skin tingle all over...it had to be Chloe. The sensation in his eyes burned harder again and he climbed shakily to his feet, having difficulty with his eyes closed. "I think I got sand in them or something," he lied.
He could hear someone else climb to his or her feet and then felt a sturdy hand on his back. "I'll give you a hand," Pete said from directly beside him. "Maybe you can wash them out in the bathroom."
"Do you want me to—"
"No!" Pete cut Chloe off quickly, and Clark was sure that he was flashing her an apologetic grin to make up for it. "I've got it. We'll be right back."
Clark nodded in agreement and gratefully allowed Pete to lead him into the villa and down the hallway towards the bathroom. He stood leaning against the door until the burning feeling left and tentatively opened his eyes. When no fire shot out, Clark turned to Pete, who was sitting on the edge of the bathtub watching him in concern. "It's okay," Clark told him, turning the cold-water tap on and splashing his face with it.
"What happened out there?" Pete demanded, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's been almost two years since you lost control of your heat vision."
"I don't know," Clark admitted, turning the tap off and leaning against the wall again. "It was really strange...I knew it was coming but I couldn't stop it. Just when I thought it would go away..."
"It was Chloe wasn't it?" Pete realized with a laugh. Clark felt his cheeks blush and he averted his gaze. "Oh man! You're in trouble now if you start setting things on fire every time Chloe wears a bathing suit."
Clark didn't answer but he knew that Pete was right. He couldn't start to avoid Chloe, but he had to make sure that she, or anyone else, was never hurt by his abilities. What was he supposed to do now?
The large white van pulled slowly into a large, abandoned building on the outskirts of town, parking amongst the myriad of half assembled cars and various motorcycle parts. The driver jumped out and walked down the side of the van, reaching up and pulling the magnetic "Joni's Surf Rentals" sign off, and then walking around to the passenger side and repeating the action.
"Danny," his boss came up behind him and accepted the signs in Danny's outstretched hands.
"Hey boss," Danny flipped one of the longer dreadlocks out of his face and returned his boss's (Jace) inquisitive look.
"Well?" Jace demanded impatiently after they'd stared at each other for a moment. "Did you go to the Luthor villa or not?"
"I did," Danny shrugged, his long legs leading the way to where a coffee pot was sitting on a desk in the corner. He poured himself a cup.
"What did you find out?" Jace asked slowly, as if he were in some way mentally deficient.
"He's there," Danny nodded in confirmation. The pleased smirk that spread onto his boss's face was a little frightening.
"What else did you get?" Jace demanded.
"The girl said that they're here 'til Monday," Danny continued, sprawling back on the old, worn, brown couch in the makeshift office.
"How many people?"
"Him, the girl, and three others," Danny confirmed the information that they'd been fed from the airport. "No guards, but there is a locked main gate. Wrought iron."
"How did you get in?"
"The girl knew I was coming," Danny explained. "She left it open."
"Wrought iron, huh?" Jace slumped down beside him. From the pensive look on his face he was thinking up a plan. "Security cameras?"
"Nope," Danny shook his head, dreadlocks flying.
"Good," Jace hopped up again and this time made his way over to a small, rickety table where a large blueprint was spread out, it's corners held down by spools of electrical tape and a large bolt. Danny followed.
"So," Danny finished off the last of his coffee, peering down at the blueprints. The top of the sheet had the words "Luthor (Private/Secured)" scrawled on it in a white china pencil and in Jace's messy scrawl. "Are we gonna do it Monday then?"
"No," Jace shook his head and grabbed the afore-mentioned china pencil. He began marking large X's on the blueprint, on the weakest security areas surrounding the villa. "We're going tonight."
"What?" Danny scoffed. "But that doesn't give us much time. The guys won't be ready."
"They'll be ready," Jace assured him.
"But they're expecting us on Monday anyways," Danny insisted. "I'm supposed to pick up the boards then...the gate's will be open."
"You know Dan, for a hired goon you don't know much about stealth," Jace rolled his eyes.
"Stealth isn't really necessary when you have a bunch of guns, boss," Danny muttered, insulted.
"Yeah well, guns or no guns, we can't wait 'til Monday," Jace continued making X's on the blueprint, positioning his crew for the evening. "Benny called when you were gone. It's been moved to Monday morning...we have to do it tonight. It could take a while to get the info we need. He's been known to clam up when people are looking for something."
"Whatever you say," Danny shrugged again and wandered off to find a donut or something to eat.
"Call the guys Dan," Jace called over his shoulder. "Tell them that we go tonight at midnight."
TBC...
AS PROMISED...SPOILERS FOR UPCOMING EPISODES...
4.10: Halloween episode...a little Lex-messing...a will be back...well, you know how weddings in Smallville tend to turn out...
4.11: Probably a little Lucas time here, I like to use him to contrast the family that Lex had always desired, and the progress that they make to become closer...how Chloe fits in...probably a Thanksgiving episode (someone from the US please let me know WHEN you guys celebrate Thanksgiving because we don't do it at the same time)...
4.12: A Christmas one (as you can see I'm big into the holidays right now)...we're going to find out more about (the shadier aspects of) the Torch's new editor...Chloe's going to get a SUPER gift from Clark...
4.Unknown: This one is still tentative, because it would have some really controversial themes in it, so I'm a little hesitant about writing it. I've done the teaser chapter already, just to get the idea down on paper before I loose it. Basically it starts off in the teaser with Lex and Chloe waking up together in his bed...with absolutely no memory of how it happened...and the rest of the episode will be sort of a backtrack to find out what happened, and who was behind it. I think this one will be near the end of the series, because I wanted them to have a very strong bond at this point, and then give them a lot of angst in trying to overcome the situation, and building up the trust again. I'm totally willing to take suggestions here, so please let me know what you think. As a general rule, I'm totally opposed to rape fics, and I won't write them (though there are fine lines which I am willing to teeter near). Also, I don't want to totally destroy my characters or the storyline that I've spent so long building. So, mail away. :0)