They made their way back to the street, before the problem of inconspicuous transportation to Smallville dawned on them.
While they knew that keeping Clark's truck had been risky, the decision to ditch it at the airport now seemed premature. They turned and began walking aimlessly, simply trying to come up with a solution. Lex had limited funds, and a stolen vehicle was not likely to help their cause, should the situation ever get around to involving the police.
They had come no further to a solution, when the sun began to set, lighting the buildings of Metropolis with fiery light, before sinking low. The air turned chilly as darkness crept up, and the gloomy look of the city dampened Chloe's spirits.
As her resolve dropped, Chloe began to feel the pain in her arm more. While she had had something to think about, it had been easier to ignore, but now the cold was seeping in and chilling her muscles, and the situation was definitely made for breeding self-pity.
Lex had his arm around Chloe's shoulders, when she shivered hard enough for him to feel it. He moved his arm to her waist, and pulled her closer.
"We need to find somewhere to crash for the night." He said. "You're getting cold, and that won't help your arm at all!"
"I know." Chloe hugged close to Lex, savoring his body heat. Unbidden, she suddenly remembered the last time she'd been cold, and had needed Lex for warmth. It put perspective on how cold she was, now that she wasn't dying of hypothermia.
They were standing on a street corner that Chloe didn't recognize, when Lex pulled his arm away, and seemed to stand up straighter.
"What is it?" Chloe asked, looking around for Lex's cause for alarm.
He pointed to an office building, looming in the darkening street. "This is one of my father's subsidiaries." He said, then taking Chloe's hand they walked past the street that the building was on.
He led Chloe to the alley that would cut behind the building, and they moved down it. The night was darker in the alley, where the street's light couldn't reach.
Lex stopped at the rear of the building. There were two large metal garage doors, and a small access door to the right.
"My father 'stationed' me here, before I was exiled to Smallville." He said. "It was one of his many attempts to turn me into him." He moved over to the door, and Chloe noticed the small keypad of numbers, imbedded in the wall, by the door.
Lex stood staring at the keypad, before punching in a code. The light beeped red, and then went dark again. Lex tried two more codes to the same effect. On his fifth try, he turned back to Chloe and smiled widely when the access light beeped green.
"I thought that might be the case." He began to explain, as he opened the door, and pulled Chloe into the building with him. "The normal access codes have been changed. But the override that my father has wired into all his systems, so that he always has complete control, is the same. Thank goodness."
Chloe clung to Lex's hand, as they moved further into the room. It was pitch black, and it took so long for her eyes to adjust, that Chloe finally realized that they weren't going to adjust. There is nothing to adjust to when there is complete blackness all around you.
Suddenly, a blinding flash came on and Chloe gasped in fear of discovery... before she saw Lex's hand on the switches. She looked around the large garage that she found herself in. There were several large trucks, and two or three pickups, each emblazoned with company logo.
Lex left Chloe standing by the light panel. He keyed the override code in the button panel that locked the office door. It beeped Lex through, and he moved inside. All the ignition keys to the company vehicles were hanging in a little case on the wall. He grabbed the set that corresponded to a pickup truck, then left the office, making sure that it was locked behind him.
He moved over to the pickup, and unlocked the doors. He plugged the ignition is, and when the truck started, motioned for Chloe to turn the lights off, and get in the truck.
The darkness wasn't so complete, because Lex turned the headlights on, as soon as she turned the garage lights off.
Chloe buckled up, as Lex opened the massive metal doors, with the automatic opener on the visor of the truck. They drove through, and the door rolled shut behind them. Lex turned out of the alley onto the main street, and pointed the truck towards Smallville.
Chloe glanced around the truck. It was a lot nicer then Clarks. It was so new that it still smelled of new car.
"Lex, are you sure this won't get us into as much trouble as stealing a car?" she asked. "I mean, this is an awfully nice truck." She pointed out.
Lex shook his head. "At the very least, no one will notice it missing for a day and a half. It's Saturday night Chloe, in case you hadn't noticed. No one will be in to work on Sunday. So Monday morning is the earliest that anyone will miss the truck, and they won't assume it was stolen, because whoever took the truck knew the access codes. The System Log will show that."
"Oh." She said quietly. After a few minutes she unbuckled, lying her head down on the seat and curling her bad arm to her side, she fell asleep.
TBC...
A/N: Holy Cow. I'm impressed that people are still reading this since everyone probably thinks I'm dead and am never going to finish this. So here's the truth. I don't know how this ends…
I may have when I started writing it, but I've since forgotten. SO… if anyone has any ideas about a logical end… something relatively consistent with the plot line, I'd love to hear it. If I use your idea, I'll credit it to you, but unless something fires up the old muse this story ain't never getting' done… sorry. My email's in my Pen name profile.
