A/N: This chapter features a Chlark-Lex face-off. And a familiar character joins the cast…. :)

Chapter Four

Three floors below street level, a guard wearing a "Cadmus Labs" security badge pressed an intercom button.

"Lois Lane and Clark Kent to see you, Mr. Luthor."

There was a loud buzz, and the thick steel door in front of them clicked open. "You can go through," the guard said, "Straight down the hall to the end. Move slowly, please, and no quick motions; the scanners on this level are set to sound an alarm at any suspect movement, and they're pretty sensitive."

Clark and Chloe, each wearing matching visitor ID passes on their jacket lapels, looked at each other, and Chloe whistled softly. "He's built quite an impressive web, hasn't he?" She cast a nervous eye on the small security camera set in the hall ceiling, and moved forward cautiously. "Ready to say hello to the spider?" Clark, his mouth set in a grim line, nodded and followed close behind.

A door at the other end of the carpeted corridor slid open at their approach, revealing a small, plainly furnished, windowless room that, apart from Clark and Chloe, appeared to be deserted. Chloe scanned the polished wooden table in the center of the space for any papers or other information of interest, but it was bare except for a notepad, a computer monitor, a keyboard, and a large glass dome covering a metallic stand. The stand was empty.

"This must be where the crystal was kept," she observed, touching the dome. Almost by instinct, she reached into her purse for her digital camera.

"Hello, Ms. Lane." Soft as it was, the voice made Chloe jump. Lex had appeared in the doorway wearing a dark-gray business suit, hands folded in front of him. His eyes flicked toward the little silver camera. "I thought I specified, no photos?"

Clark edged forward, slightly in front of Chloe, and Lex's lips quirked upwards in a cold, amused smile. "No need for heroics, Clark. I promise you, I'm not armed. Not," he added, gray eyes glittering, "that it would matter if I was."

Chloe stiffened. Clark had told her about his super-powered fight with Lex in the Kent barn, two months ago. Obviously, Lex remembered it. She searched his face, wondering what else he might know, and noticed the deep lines etched across his forehead, and the dark circles under his eyes. His possession by Zod seemed to have taken years from him. Whatever secrets Lex had discovered, she decided, had come at a high price.

Echoing her thoughts, Clark asked, "How much do you remember, Lex? Please. It could be important. You could be in danger."

His former friend's chuckle had a bitter edge. "I'll make a deal with you, Clark. You tell me how you acquired powers so similar to the ones I was given by that ship, and I'll tell you what you want to know. No, wait—I'll settle for less. Just explain to me how you knew what was going to happen to me. Or why I don't have those powers anymore." He tilted his head inquisitively. "Well?"

The room was perfectly silent for a full minute as the two men locked eyes wordlessly. Lex's lips curled into a smirk. "Stalemate, Clark. You want the truth? Join the club."

Clark continued to gaze steadily into Lex's impassive face. "I didn't take the crystal," he said at last, gently.

The billionaire's brows rose in mock amazement. "Really? Well, that's that, I suppose. Because you've been so honest with me up to now."

Ignoring the sarcasm, Clark asked, "Why did you want to see me?"

"To tell you this." Lex rested his hands on the table and leaned across it, facing Clark. "I want that crystal returned, now. If I'm right, it could be a source of unlimited power for this city."

"Not to mention unlimited power for yourself." Chloe interjected.

Lex glared at her briefly, then continued. "Whatever private game you're playing, I won't let it stand in my way. Do you understand?"

Clark shook his head. "Lex. You're playing with fire. Even if I had the crystal—and I don't—we don't know what it could do. It might be dangerous."

Lex's smooth tone was edged with daggers. "I want it returned. By tomorrow. Otherwise," his smile twisted unpleasantly, "I'll have to find something else for Cadmus' R&D staff to do, won't I? Meteorite ore is a fascinating material, well worth further study."

Clark regarded him calmly. "That's not much of a threat," he commented. "You've been studying that ore for years."

"But I never had quite the same amount of motivation before, did I? Amazing, what a dagger to the throat can do to inspire scientific curiosity."

He watched narrowly as Clark lowered his gaze. "Or are you going to deny that too?" he whispered, his voice hoarse with bottled rage. Clark's face flushed, and when he raised his head, his green eyes flashed angrily.

The air between the two former friends seemed to crackle with electricity. Alarmed, Chloe hastily spoke, cutting off Clark's reply. "We want to find the crystal too, Lex. Do you have any information that might help us?"

After a long moment, the billionaire straightened, sighed, and rubbed his forehead, as if in pain. "Very well. We'll play it your way. I believe in keeping up appearances, after all."

They watched as Lex opened the room's only file cabinet, and began riffling through a drawer. Finally he extracted a thin manila folder and tossed it on the table. "Here's what we discovered so far about the crystal. Try to act surprised."

Chloe opened the folder and spread out the sparse pages. "It's mostly pictures. Didn't you do any tests on the crystal? You had it here for at least two or three weeks."

Lex's glance held grudging approval. "Still trying to get a story here, I see. Well, you're welcome to one—provided the crystal is returned. Until then, all this is confidential. Understood?"

Reluctantly, Chloe nodded, and Lex continued, "Good. Now then—yes, we did do several series of tests. Unfortunately, as you'll see when you read the lab results, the crystal has been dormant since we purchased it from the farmer. We haven't been able to find out much through MRI or spectroscopy, either. And, as I'm sure you know, it's impossible to slice off any part of it to examine….."

Chloe lost track of what he was saying as she examined photos of the clear crystal, shot from several angles. Oddly, she felt as though she'd seen it before.

In her mind's eye, the crystal seemed to grow until it filled her field of vision, and within it she glimpsed images of a large room, a skyscraper, cows grazing in a grassy pasture, a small ship crashing into a cornfield—and, finally, a vast city of ice rising from a shining white plain under a red sun. The visions flashed through her mind, too fast and bright to make out clearly, ending in a blinding burst.

She gasped, and the room fell silent. When she looked up, both Lex and Clark were staring at her. Clark put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

She blinked a few times. "Nothing."

Lex eyed her skeptically.

Chloe forced herself to straighten and smile back. Clark kept a protective arm around her shoulders and levelled his gaze on Lex.

"We'll do what we can, Lex."

………………

The young billionaire stood ramrod straight and watched with grim attention as the door slid shut behind his guests. But as soon as their footsteps faded, his shoulders sagged, and he sank into a chair, resting his head in his hands with a heavy sigh.

Across the table, unseen by Lex, the desktop computer system began to shimmer. Within seconds, it blurred into a vaguely human shape, finally resolving into what appeared to be a lean, sharp-featured man in a dark, tailored business suit.

"Well done, Vessel," the construct remarked, smiling coldly. Lex jumped from his seat and faced the figure.

"Professor Fine," he breathed, wide-eyed. "I thought you disappeared with—that other. What are you doing here now?"

The manlike being actually bowed. "Doing homage to the once and future vessel of General Zod."

"That's not me," Lex replied, edging away towards the door. Fine's smile grew wider.

"Oh, but I disagree." He grinned as Lex pushed the door's controls. The door stayed shut. "You are the perfect host for the General. As you are, now, the perfect host for me."

"That's not possible!" Wide-eyed terror showed from Lex's eyes.

Fine regarded his quarry almost fondly. "Of course it is. You admitted me a long time ago, when Kal-El threw the dagger at me in the barn. When this crystal awakened, for reasons I still do not understand, it was able to force the General from your body—but I remain. I can control you whenever I wish."

He watched Lex strain to force open the door. "Please don't trouble yourself," he said helpfully. "It's quite useless."

Fine's smile disappeared and his tone became brisk. "I see you removed the crystal before the reporter arrived, as I ordered. Where have you taken it?" Lex closed his lips and shook his head resolutely.

The construct frowned. "I will ask only one more time. Where have you hidden the crystal, Vessel?"

"In the most secure location," came out of Lex's mouth, his eyes widening in surprise. "In Level 33.1."

Fine smiled again. "Good. It would not do for either Kal-El or his companion to find it, before the proper time." He stared musingly at the pictures, which were still spread out on the table where Chloe had left them. "I find his companion's reaction to these pictures rather interesting. Clearly she merits attention. She may have some connection to this piece of Jor-El's handiwork."

His cool gaze returned to Lex, who stood motionless, as if frozen. "In the meantime, you will forget all you have heard, and await orders." The construct watched Lex grit his teeth and struggle to speak, without success. Slowly, Lex's features settled into blankness.

Fine's grin displayed too many teeth. "Truth is overrated, human. This is truth. How do you like it?"