(The Torch, Smallville)
Pete fiddled with a few Photoshop features on his PC. The Crows' photos had turned out well. He saved them in a file folder; they could be useful in the event the team survived the quarterfinal round next week. He yawned and checked the wall clock. It was ten minutes past nine at night.
"I still have class tomorrow," he said to himself. Chloe had left half an hour earlier; it was one of the rare occasions when she managed to pull herself away from the Torch office before he did. She was excited about attending this NAFTA hearing. It could be a boring event, though he could understand why this particular meeting was of interest to her.
Oliver Queen could announce that he was joining LuthorCorp., and assume a senior executive position in their Asian division. Based in Hong Kong, Oliver would have the entire Far East to explore. But why would Lionel send him to Asia, far away from Queen's Star City roots?
Lionel doesn't do anybody any favours, Pete grunted to himself. He only looks out for himself. The squeak of a computer chair pulled him away from his thoughts.
"Hey Pete," Clark replied, tossing his backpack onto a chair. "Burning the midnight oil, I see."
Pete covered his mouth as he yawned again. "Not much longer, I hope." He noticed that Clark was eyeing Chloe's desk. "You just missed her. She downloaded a massive document from the NAFTA website. Bedtime reading, she said. If you ask me, that's gotta be a surefire way to fall asleep! Whatever floats her boat, I guess."
"Chloe's going to that NAFTA hearing," Clark stated. "She's doing a profile of that Smallville alumnus who's working at Capitol Hill."
"Yeah, I heard," Pete replied. He typed in a caption for one photo and saved it. "I would have gone with her, but I'll be at the Crows' training camp. Man, we're going up against the Topeka Valley Huskies. It's going to be tough. I hear you're going to be Chloe's photographer. Are you sure you know how to use that camera?"
Clark pulled out the shiny silver digital camera. "I think so. I just need to press that silver button and –"The flash snapped accidentally. Both Pete and Clark blinked their eyes at the bright flash.
"I think you need more practice, Kent," Pete joked. They heard a shuffling of feet near the door, and spun their chairs around.
Lionel Luthor stood in the Torch doorway, wrapped in a woolen overcoat and blood-red scarf.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" Pete growled. For a moment, Lionel didn't know what to do. He planned to confront Chloe – to ensure that she would stay out of his way tomorrow. Queen Enterprises was within his grasp. Oliver Queen's Asian exile would confirm that fate. He didn't expect to see the Rosses' son and Clark Kent there.
"I'm actually here to see you, Mr. Kent," Lionel stated calmly. "Only you." He gave no indication that he had any interest in seeing Chloe. He turned towards Pete, and waited. It was a private conversation, which meant he didn't want Pete around to hear any of it.
Pete abruptly shut down his computer and put on his jacket. "I get the message, Lionel. Whatever he says, Clark, don't listen to him! Watch yourself." He glared angrily at Lionel as he left the office.
Clark was about to put on his jacket, when Lionel closed the office door. "Now, now, Kent. There might be some friction between me and the Rosses, but there's no need for you and I to resort to scowls and grudges."
"You have nothing to say to me that I'd be interested in hearing," Clark snapped. "You want Queen's fortune for yourself. That's why you're shoving Oliver off to Hong Kong. And, you want to break apart Wayne Enterprises."
Lionel laughed as he sat on the edge of a desk. "That's quite a fanciful tale you've just spun. I only have Oliver Queen's interests in mind. Don't you see – Lex and Bruce are only serving their own interests! They want Queen to serve as a corporate buffer zone between their firms and the scary demons of globalization. It's not my fault if they're ill-equipped to compete in a free trade market."
Clark ignored him and studied a news article about tomorrow's NAFTA hearing. "I'm busy, Lionel. Say what you have to say, then get out."
Lionel pretended to be shocked. "My, my – we've become blunt. In many respects, I admire that trait. That directness." He studied the posters and notices on the office wall. "You're more like your father than you realize."
"Just spit it out, Lionel," Clark snarled. "I'm not playing word games with you."
"Believe me, Clark," Lionel remarked. "This is no game." He paced towards the exit and looked over his shoulder. "Stay out of this. If not for your sake, then for the sake of your friends."
Clark's eyes widened. Did Lionel just threaten me? "Bruce, Lex and Oliver are my friends. I don't need your permission to help them! And for the record, Oliver hasn't made up his mind yet about your offer."
That revelation caught Lionel's attention. A momentary setback, he mused. I'll make a late-night call to his hotel suite and 'plead' with him to stick to his principles. "What Oliver Queen chooses to do with his life, quite frankly, is totally up to him. You might have dazzled my son with your small-town Boy Scout routine, but Oliver seems to possess what Lex lacks. And that's perspective. You should try it once in awhile."
He strolled up to Clark, until he was within an inch of his face. "I'll deal with Lex and Bruce on my own time. Stick to your homework, Mr. Kent, and stay out of affairs that don't concern you."
"I'll be covering the hearing for the Torch," Clark revealed. "So, I'll see you there tomorrow." He stepped away from Lionel and opened the office door. "Now ... get out. I have work to do."
"Temper, temper, Clark," Lionel chided. "Belligerence doesn't become you." He snickered as he left the office. He got under Clark's skin, and that was a small victory. He knew Clark Kent was hiding something. Perhaps he's ashamed of a secret.
I will find out about it – one day, he decided.
Clark locked the office door. He didn't understand why Lionel came out here to see him. Surely, he thought, Lionel can't think I have any real influence on Oliver's future plans. He thought about telling his parents about Lionel's veiled threat, but his father would likely order him to stay away from the hearing tomorrow.
It's for your own good, son, his father would say.
Clark set aside those fears and focused on reading about the NAFTA hearings. Tomorrow, Oliver Queen would choose a partnership with Lex and Bruce (and probably swallow his pride in the process). Or, he would forge an alliance with Lionel Luthor out of some warped need for independence. If so, he would alienate Lex and turn Bruce into an enemy. The only winner in that scenario would be LuthorCorp.
I hope Oliver makes the right choice, Clark thought. He has to.
(The Sullivan house, Smallville)
Chloe turned off the car headlights. She thought about staying another hour at the Torch, but she was confident that Pete could handle the layout for the Torch's sports section. When she entered the house, her father was lounging in the living room in his old Metropolis U. sweatshirt.
"Hi, hon," Gabe announced, "How's the Torch going?"
"Pretty good, Dad," Chloe beamed. "We've got a front page cover of the Crows' upset victory over Fawcett City, so 'Yay, Smallville'!"
Gabe Sullivan began to say something, but he stopped himself. Unfortunately, Chloe noticed it.
"You were going to say something, Dad?" she inquired.
"We got a memo from LuthorCorp. head office," he mumbled. "Mr. Luthor says there might be some layoffs ..."
"Oh no," Chloe groaned.
"Look, it's up in the air," Gabe replied. "A lot of my buddies at work are concerned, but Mr. Luthor assured me this afternoon that I've got a good chance of making it past the payroll cuts."
"L-Lionel ... he talked to you ... personally?" Chloe stammered. Her stomach began to churn nervously.
"He called me," Gabe said. "He said that once he gets back from that big trade hearing at the Congress Centre, he'll sit down with his HR people and make a final decision. He says I shouldn't worry."
"That's good to hear," Chloe offered. She sensed that her father was nervous. She would be entering college in a few years, and he was struggling to put aside money for her tuition.
If Lionel fired her dad because of her, Chloe frowned, I don't know what we're going to do. My father deserves better than this.
"Don't worry, Chloe," Gabe hugged his daughter. "I will move heaven and earth to make your dreams come true. You are going to Metropolis U., no matter what. I'll get a second mortgage, whatever it takes."
Later that night, Chloe quietly knocked on Lana's door. Lana was already in her pajamas.
"Back from the Torch, I see," Lana beamed. "You're quite the busy bee these past few days."
"Well, now that I have my press pass for the hearing," Chloe added, "I'll be up to my ears in senators and ministers of state. Pete's got to cover the Crows' training camp, so I've dragooned Clark to be my shutterbug and –"
Lana's nose wrinkled, which led Chloe to believe that Lana felt uncomfortable that she was spending yet another day with Clark Kent. Lana still has strong feelings for Clark, Chloe mused, and nothing I do is going to change that anytime soon.
"Does he know how to use that digital camera?" Lana wondered. "He's not exactly the most technical fellow around."
Chloe, surprised that Lana didn't seem concerned about Clark spending more time with her, giggled at the remark. "I know! I told Clark to practice loading and unloading the film when he gets home. If next week's pictures are out of focus, it'll be the Kent kid's doing."
"How are you doing?" Lana asked. Chloe seemed distracted this entire week. She skipped homeroom the other day, and appeared to be standoffish with Pete lately.
"I'm – I'm doing fine," Chloe replied with a smile. "It's just that I have so much to do: biology, the Torch, trying to get Alfred to tell me about his 007 adventures behind the Iron Curtain ..."
"Alfred's sweet," Lana grinned. "And, yeah, I tried to ask him if he had any girlfriend spies in Berlin. He didn't take the bait and promptly ordered an Earl Grey tea. Anyhow, I think his days in Her Majesty's service are behind him."
"Uhh – yeah, they are," Chloe nodded. She knew better. Alfred had taken a tremendous risk with his investigations. At any time, their work against Lionel could be exposed. There were risks. And now, Lionel had threatened to fire her father. He didn't spell it out that way, but why would he warn her father about the proposed layoffs? Lionel didn't care if Gabe Sullivan was caught in his corporate slugfests with Queen and – eventually – Wayne Enterprises.
That angered her. Her father had nothing to do with Lionel's feud with Lex, or his ego-driven conflicts with Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne. Lex, Oliver and Bruce could survive whatever disaster might befall their companies – but Gabe Sullivan wasn't part of Metropolis' elite set. He was a hard worker, and it wasn't fair that his head was on the payroll chopping block because of her.
Enough, Chloe grumbled to herself as she locked the bathroom door. She turned on the shower. I know Lionel's blackmailing me, she thought, but I'm not about to cave in to his demands.
Not now, not ever.
The pitter-patter of the water droned continuously. Mercilessly. It forced her to reflect on the danger that was now too apparent. In the unforgiving privacy of the shower stall, she thought about all the risks she had taken. Risks she had freely chosen, because they had to be taken ...
To find the truth.
Alfred seemed tormented by the work he was compelled to do for queen and country. It was a sacrifice he was prepared to make – even now, as he fought to preserve the empire of the late Thomas Wayne and defend Bruce's legacy.
Chloe wondered if she had that courage, that defiance against all odds. She thought about the chance that her father might lose his job. Not because of anything he did, but because of what his daughter failed to do. Lionel wanted to make her into his lackey, and she wouldn't do it.
Am I too proud, she wondered. Sticking to my principles while my father could get a pink slip that he never deserved? It's just my father and me against the world. Against Lionel Luthor and his limitless resources. I love my dad, perhaps more than he realizes.
The pitter-patter of the shower continued. She rubbed her eyes. I'm not upset, she convinced herself.
I am not crying.
It was the shampoo -- it got into my eyes.