Part 11

The Price of Freedom

"The basement of Luthorcorp?" Chloe asked as she paced around the living room. The news that Lana had found out where Clark was had been enough to make her rush over to Lex's apartment building and sneak in with the laundry service to avoid the bodyguards. "Are you sure about this?"

"Pretty sure," she nodded a little hesitantly.

"And this was all it took for you to remember?" she held up the drawing she had meticulously put back together from the pieces Lana had torn it apart in. "I don't get it," she stated after looking intently at it for a few moments.

"Me either," she shrugged. "But every time I look at it…," she stared at the drawing and she got another flash of Clark in the tank.

"Well, we could find him, but there is one tiny little problem," Chloe said and Lana looked at her expectantly when she didn't continue: "Luthorcorp has over fifty factories in the United States alone. Think you can pinpoint one?"

"I don't know," she took the patched up drawing from her hands and held it up. "Isn't there one that's more important than the others?"

"The biggest one is on the West Coast, but…," she started saying, but Lana interrupted her:

"Which one's the most important in Metropolis?" For some reason, she was sure Lex wouldn't allow Clark to be taken too far away from his supervision. The distinct feeling he would never trust anyone to look after him as closely as he needed to be watched seemed to prevail.

"The mother-factory I suppose. It's the first the Luthors ever bought. It has a few decades on its track sheet," she explained. "Think he's there?"

"He might be…" Lana asked. "Which factories does Lex have offices in?"

"All of them," she answered instantly. "Every factory has at least one office reserved for him. Boss's right and all that."

"It has to be the mother factory then," she insisted. "We'll go there first," she added after contemplating the drawing one last time before going to get her jacket. Chloe didn't move.

"And how exactly do you plan on getting in?" the reporter asked raising her eyebrows.

"I'm his wife. I assume I have clearance. Once inside, I'm sure there's some way we can sneak into the underground. Though there might not be any need for sneaking," she said as she put her jacket on. "Isobel was there before. And obviously she wanted me to find Clark so maybe she's made it easy for me…"

"And somewhere in that scary perspective, you lost Lex. He knows Isobel was planning something before she disappeared. Isobel wanted you to find Clark. Lex probably knew that's what she wanted so he blew up a Lang Pharmaceuticals factory just to make sure you wouldn't find out. By now, he probably made sure that if anyone sees you in a 10 mile radius of Luthorcorp, he's going to find out about it and stop you. Somehow," Chloe pointed out.

"He wouldn't hurt me," she said on a firm tone.

"I never said he would. But there's no way in hell he's going to simply let you find Clark," she explained.

"You have a better plan then?" Lana asked hesitantly, stepping uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"Now that you ask…," Chloe smiled mischievously.

Across town, in Lex Luthor's downtown office, John Sutton, former employee of the destroyed Lang Pharmaceuticals factory, was being sat down in a chair opposite Lex by two intimidating bodyguards. He had been escorted there after security cameras showed Mrs. Luthor entering the elevator empty handed and coming out holding an envelope she could have only received from him. John hadn't realized the envelope had been so important. He had simply been doing what his employer had paid him a fine sum of money – no doubt to compensate for the strangeness of the request – to accomplish.

"What was in the envelope?" Lex asked straight out. He didn't have patience to deal with some crummy little man Isobel had talked into running her errands while she was 'out of town'.

"I-I don't know," John said fidgeting in his seat uncomfortably. "It was sealed when I received it."

"Received it from who?" he leaned in his chair and rubbed his face tiredly. He feared he would wind up doing something he'd later regret out of pure impatience.

"I…uhm, I'm not at liberty to say," he muttered nervously. Mrs. Luthor's orders had been clear. He was not to reveal to anyone but her the origin of the envelope. Especially not to her husband. But seeing the glimmer in Mr.Luthor's eyes, he realized the big trouble he was in. And if he did reveal the fact Mrs. Luthor had addressed the envelope to herself? Then he'd get in trouble with her…but she didn't seem to remember him. Didn't that mean she didn't remember her orders either?

"Not at liberty?" Lex asked standing up, trying to hold back his anger. He turned toward the massive windows and marveled at Isobel's plans for the millionth time. The way even though she was absent from the picture, she kept being one step ahead of him. She had forseen the possibility of him destroying the Lang Pharmaceuticals factory where she had left clues for Lana. But what could she had left in an envelope for her? A detailed letter of all the things Lana didn't remember? No, she would never be that obvious. It must've been something more discreet. "Devon, Matt," he said without looking back at the bodyguards. The two men grabbed Sutton and opening a window, hung him out by the legs. He started screaming, but the people down in the streets didn't seem to care. Or simply didn't want to notice what was happening. "Who sent the envelope?" Lex asked calmly, coming up to him. When John hesitated, he added: "They will drop you if I tell them to, Mr. Sutton. I suggest you make a wise decision."

"It was her!" he yelled when he realized he was being serious. "Mrs. Luthor! She sent it to herself! She told me she might not recognize me because of some sort of bizarre amnesiac condition she was fighting. I swear I don't know what was in it!"

"When did she give you the envelope?" Lex asked as he gestured for Devon and Matt to pull him up.

"A few weeks ago. Two-three maybe," he said trying to regain his composure once he was back inside.

"How thick was the envelope?" he asked realizing the man probably really didn't know what was in it and had been way too frightened by the possible consequences to actually open it. Isobel knew how to choose her errand boys.

"Thin," John admitted. "At one point I even thought there was nothing in it."

"And you dismissed this idea because…," he started for him.

"I put it in front of a light. There was a piece of paper in it," he assured him.

"Good. Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Sutton," he told him with a forced smile and gestured that he was free to leave. John headed for the door and when he was about to open it, Lex added: "And this discussion's going to remain between us I hope. Just like Mrs. Luthor's orders. If I find out you spoke to anyone about either of the two, Matt and Devon might pay you a midnight visit."

"Y-yes, Mr. Luthor," he said on a trembling voice before leaving the office.

Across town, in the industrial area, Chloe and Lana were nearing the Luthorcorp mother-factory. It was late afternoon. They had passed by Chloe's apartment to pick up her so-called 'investigation kit'. Which included a pair of pliers, an oddly shaped hair pin and duck tape among other things. Lana had liked her little apartment. Chloe had admitted that journalism didn't quite pay the bills. Why she had been tempted a couple of times to accept some of Isobel's generous pay-offs, but then she had put the money in a balance with her face when she'd turn down her offer and always decided for the later. There was nothing she liked more than pissing Mrs. Luthor off.

"Shouldn't we have waited for sundown?" Lana asked hesitantly as the factory appeared on the horizon.

"And what? Wear black and jump down into the building suspended by wires?" she asked chuckling. "This isn't Mission Impossible, Lana. Besides in daytime, the security's lower and you know, they wouldn't think about killing us in broad daylight."

"What?" Lana asked incredulous.

"They'd risk getting caught carrying the bodies. There's a bigger chance of someone seeing them dumping us in the river," Chloe explained as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Unless of course they decided to off us in the basement, but hey, at least we'd get to see what's down there, right?"

"They won't kill us," she said on a serious tone.

"Correction, they probably wouldn't kill you," she pointed out. "I've got enough stitches and scars to prove Lex isn't really concerned with my well being," she was silent for a few moments overlooking the factory then added: "Of course you have to understand you're putting Lex in a position to make a choice."

"What choice?" Lana asked frowning. "I just want to see with my own eyes if he's capable of doing that to Clark."

"Yeah, but think about it. If you do find Clark in a tank, you'll want to free him, right?" she asked and she nodded. "And Lex won't want you to do that. So he's going to have to choose between his love for you and this obsession of his for Clark. Given past choices, I really don't know what he's going to do."

Later, Lex was sitting in his office with a mountain of papers spread on his desk. Half of them were pictures of artifacts Isobel had – unknowingly to him - purchased during her travels. He also had a spreadsheet of every one of her bank accounts, half of which he didn't know about the existence of. She had been a very busy woman. And he had really believed she had simply let herself be swept away by the extravagant lifestyles of the rich and famous. His father was probably turning in his grave because of his incompetence. Thank god he was dead and not there to taunt him. His thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door. He didn't say anything. He had asked not to be disturbed and all his calls to be held. Maybe whoever was at the door would simply go away. Instead the knocking continued until an exasperated Lex, yelled:

"Come in!"

The secretary appeared in the doorway, holding tightly on to the doorknob as if to make sure her escape would be guaranteed if Mr. Luthor was in one of his moods.

"I thought I said I don't want to be disturbed. By anyone," he reminded her on an icy tone.

"I know, but I really think you would want to take this call…," she said hesitantly. "It's about your wife."

"What? Put them through," he said suddenly very attentive. The secretary nodded, smiling very satisfied with herself that she had been right in her assumption and quickly made her way out of the office to put the telephone call through. As soon as the light blinked red on his phone, Lex picked it up and clearing his throat, said: "This is Lex Luthor."

"Mr. Luthor, this is Dr. Alexander Regis from the Luthorcorp A527 factory," the man introduced himself. "I thought you might want to know your wife has breached security here. Of course, we haven't done anything to stop her…"

"Is she alone?" he asked trying to keep his calm.

"No, she's with that woman from the Daily Planet…you know, the one we've had trouble with before?" he tried to remember her name.

"Chloe Sullivan," he filled in the blank.

"Yes, her," the doctor said. "What do you want us to do about the situation?"

"Don't let them know you've caught on. I'll be right there," Lex told him.

"But…Mr. Luthor, what if they get to the basement?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'll be right there," Lex only repeated and hung up. He immediately stood up and headed out of the office like a storm.

Back at Luthorcorp, Dr. Alexander Regis was following the two women on the screens worriedly. Ms. Sullivan hadn't known about the new cameras from LWM they had installed just a week ago. He had hoped Mr. Luthor would have allowed them to take appropriate actions to stop the intruders from further exploring their factory. Of course, the fact one of the intruders was Mrs. Luthor herself was problematic. He didn't understand why she hadn't come in through the front doors like she usually did. She had access to every part of the factory. There were no industrial secrets between the two Luthors as far as he knew. Then again, the strange happenings of the last few days did make him wonder. The disappearance of Mrs. Luthor, her resurfacing, her attempt to terminate Lang Pharmaceuticals, the destruction of one of the Lang Pharmaceuticals factories by Mr. Luthor's orders... He knew all about them. News traveled fast among Luthorcorp employees. Obviously, it never traveled outside their ranks, but they themselves knew pretty much everything important that went down.

Seeing the two nearing the staircase that lead to the basement he started fidgeting nervously in his seat. He knew how Mr. Luthor felt about people finding out about his 'little green man'. He looked at the cameras in the parking lot to see if Mr. Luthor's car hadn't pulled up. Not yet. After a few more moments of consideration, he picked up one of the interior phones and called security.

"There are two intruders entering the basement area. Detain them without harming them," he ordered the men.

In the basement, Chloe and Lana were heading down a dark corridor only occasional illuminated by a stray ray of light coming from the neons in the ceiling. When they reached the end of it, they came across a steel door. It was closed shut. It had a complicated panel of buttons next to it with which – Chloe assumed – one could open the door. She pulled out a small jar from her investigation kit and prepared to blow dust onto the keys in hope of finding out which buttons she was supposed to press. Just as she unscrewed the lid, three men marched down the corridor toward them. Lana drew her attention toward them.

"Uh, I guess the cat's out of the bag," Chloe said sighing. Lana looked around desperately trying to find another way out of the basement. "Okay, now you're gonna have to use the acting skills Isobel's picked up over the years. Be bossy and bitchy," she encouraged her and Lana took in a deep breath as the security men neared them.

"What do you want?" Lana asked on a firm tone turning toward them.

"Mrs. Luthor?" one of the men recognized her. "I'm sorry, we were told there were intruders trying to break into the facility in the basement. The doctor must have not recognized you."

"Yeah, it's the clothes," she nodded with a shaky smile gesturing toward her sporty attire that Isobel wouldn't have been caught dead in.

"Doctor Regis," he picked up his walkie-talkie. "This is Murphy, it's just Mrs. Luthor and a friend of hers. Nothing to worry about."

"You twit, I know it's Mrs. Luthor," the doctor's voice echoed in the corridor and the security people looked at Lana suspiciously. "You are not to harm her, but make sure she doesn't enter the underground facility."

"Will do, doctor," he turned off the walkie-talkie and turned back toward Lana. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Luthor, but I'm afraid you'll have to come with us." Just as the man lunged for her, the basement facility's door opened and a man walked out. He stopped when he saw all the people gathered there and asked confused:

"What's going on here?"

Seizing the opportunity, Lana shoved him out of the way and ran inside. Chloe tried to follow her, but was grabbed harshly by one of security men. Inside, Lana found the laboratory from her flashes. Dark, full of ugly machines and tables with samples and needles. And there, in the center of the room, a great big tank, full of glowing green liquid in which the blurry shape of a man floated.

"So it's true," she muttered nearing the tank and a sigh escaped her. She had known all along that it was true. She had sensed it, but for some reason she had refused to believe it until she would have the evidence right in front of her. Now, she supposed, she could no longer lie to herself. She touched the surface of the tank inside which she could now recognize the form of Clark Kent. "Oh, Clark. You saved me so many times…I guess it's finally time I return the favor."

Returning to one of the tables she picked up a heavy object and nearing the tank, smashed the glass with it. She had to hit a few good times before she managed to make a crack in it. Then it was easier. The liquid started pouring out and with each blow the glass fell to pieces at her feet. The flow of kryptonite liquid reached one of the tables full of samples and the reactions with those substances ignited a fire, but Lana ignored it. Instead, she stepped into the now almost empty tank and up to her ankles in green liquid, she dragged Clark's body out of the tank. The fire was quickly catching up with her and she looked around desperately for an exit. She found it in Lex's private entrance that – unknowingly to her – lead straight up to the parking places. But the body was too heavy for her to carry alone and she collapsed on the floor with Clark right next to her just as the metal door of the lab opened a second time and Lex rushed inside, breathing heavily. He had come the other way in because he had been told by doctor Regis that Lana and Chloe had been stopped before they had a chance to enter the lab by the security people.

"Lana...let me explain this…," he muttered out of breath. He was separated from her by a wall of flames. Chloe appeared behind him, having freed herself from the security people's grasp and scanning the room, quickly assessed the situation and with a deep breath ran through the flames to the other side to help Lana carry Clark out. Before disappearing out the door, Lana looked back at Lex one last time and there was something awful in her eyes. Flames hotter than the ones spreading in front of him. A look of absolute hate. "Lana!" he yelled one last time after the door closed shut behind them.

End Part 11