Author's Notes: Lucky I got this out of the way today, I was almost going to put it aside to post tomorrow but my conference call ended 15 minutes early, giving me some time to add the finishing touches to this update. Hope you like. I'm having a lot of fun tying everything all together now. Enjoy and when you get the time, please review, it' always greatly appreciated.

Abandoned Warehouse

"Hey you!" Chloe called out from her cell as a goon passed by. She woke up hours earlier with something similar to a bad hangover. Her forehead had a bump courtesy of her lunatic cab driver whom she concluded wasn't a driver at all. "Come on," she complained. "Somebody answer me!" she yelled.

Another moment passed and nothing happened. She exhaled an exasperated sigh kicking the steel bars while she was at it.

"Ouch!" she rubbed her foot. "Chloe. Note to self. Cell bars fight back," she speaks to herself since there's no one around to keep her company. She regretted hours ago about refusing her cousin's offer to stay with her.

"Ugh! What the hell is going on?" she screamed just to annoy whoever it is that held her hostage. After going against so many meteor freaks back in Smallville, real-life villains tend to fail in comparison.

District Attorney's Office

Lois rushed into the office after receiving a call from Rachel about a possible lead. Before that, she got a call from Clark about another lead he was checking up on. They're going to share their findings later this evening, which would be near twenty four hours since her cousin's disappearance.

"Rachel. Tell me you've got something"

Rachel looked over her oncoming friend with sad eyes. "I'm sorry Lois; nothing substantial"

Lois sighed. "Nothing against you but then why am I here?"

"The Desmond Brothers," she answered. "I told you about them during brunch yesterday, remember?"

Lois nodded and crossed her arms. "What about them?"

"I think there's a connection between the case I had you work on and – "

"The Desmond Brothers," Lois finished her thought. "Now we're talking." Lois removed her jacket and hung it on a nearby hook. She moved towards Rachel's desk and picked up her files. "What's you're theory?"

"That The Desmond Brother's are working for Rupert Thorne. A man as methodic and calculating as Carmine Falcone and Ras Al Ghul put together. He's head of Gotham City's top smuggling gang, and naturally, no one wants to go against him," Bruce explains to Clark as they go over the evidence Bruce has gathered in the Batcave.

It wasn't long for Clark to spot the secret passage way, and even though Bruce questioned his motives, they were all on the same side. There was nothing else to hide after that.

"You think he's funding the brothers?"

"I can't imagine them eluding the police and myself for this long if it were otherwise, especially in their state of minds. Thorne is watching their back so the question now is – why?"

"I don't understand how any of this is connected to Chloe," Clark expresses in concern. It's all too much to take in. Bruce looks at him oddly.

"Lois hasn't told you yet"

"Told me what?"

"A few days ago, Rachel had her take a look at a case file that the department has been pursuing off-record. She found several connections linking Thorne with the Russian mob. They've been smuggling weapons into the country for the last year."

"How do you know all this – besides all the cool toys you got down here?" Clark questioned, impressed by his detective skills. Everything he thought about Bruce Wayne at first glance is nothing compared to who he really is.

"I have a contact in the police department. Rachel helps me out when she could even though I don't want her involved most of the time"

"I know the feeling," Clark sympathizes.

Clark remembers all the times Lois and Chloe have gotten into trouble whenever Chloe was on a meteor-freak hunt or he's running away or fighting from his destiny leaving his friends and family in the crossfire. Yes, he can definitely relate.

"Somewhere in between, Thorne got wind of Lois's involvement and took the initiative to take care of the problem. I can imagine that living with you and Lucius changed their plans – at least until – "

"Chloe," Lois completed, slamming the papers on Rachel's desk. "I can't believe I was that reckless"

"Don't beat yourself up with this, Lois. I'm the one who asked for the favor, remember?"

Lois sighed, still disappointed with herself. "No, Rach, it's not that. I usually know when something is out of the ordinary. God! The General put me through survival training since I was seven for God's sake. If someone's been tailing me all this time – " Lois ended up not saying anything further. She's too upset to think straight.

Rachel breathed out her own stress and concern. Everything seems to be falling into place. She only hoped that it wouldn't be at Chloe's expense.

"We'll figure something out," Rachel assured, making a mental note to call Bruce immediately after this meeting. "Remember a few years ago when we hitch hiked across two countries to get to Greece?"

"I think I'm still grounded for that," Lois comments weakly but still trying to make light of the situation.

Rachel smiled weakly as well.

"If it weren't for you, I would've been completely lost. You made things right – sure we got into some trouble on the way, but you always had a way of fixing things"

"Is this your non-subtle way of telling me that I'm responsible?"

"No!" Rachel replied quickly. "It's not over till it's over"

"You're a lot better as a lawyer than a cheerleader, Rach," Lois quipped, getting them both to smile.

Lois looks at her watch. "I gotta go; I'm meeting with Clark tonight"

"Lois, you're living with him," Rachel spouts blankly.

Lois throws her a mischievous look. "It's the principle of the thing"

"Hmm-mm," Rachel dutifully ignored.

They hug.

"I'll call you as soon as anything comes up"

"Thanks," Lois says appreciatively. "And I'll do the same"

Wayne Manner

Bruce led Clark back up through the elevator he and Alfred had installed after Ras Al Ghul burned down his house. As intended, they made all the necessary construction from the old wing.

Exiting, Bruce takes another glance at Clark's way.

"Are you going to tell Lois about this?"

Clark breathed deeply, it'll be yet another secret that he'll be keeping from her, and frankly, he was growing tired of it.

"That's up to you"

"Do you trust her?" Bruce asks.

"With my life," Clark replies wholeheartedly.

"It's weird – I barely even know her and I feel I trust her with my life too," Bruce surprisingly admits. Clark wasn't at all surprised at the revelation.

"She has that effect on people"

Bruce agrees. "If anything comes up, you'll be the first to know"

"Thanks." Clark shakes his hand and this time, there was no hesitancy. "Same here." As he was about to leave, Clark turns around and asks one more question.

"Bruce"

"Yes"

"Why a bat?"

"Growing up, bat's frightened me," he recalled from an earlier statement he gave to Alfred when he asked the question.

"And you figured to share the same dread with your enemies," Clark surmised.

Bruce is officially impressed, smiled and closed the door.

To be continued…