Lex flew them in his helicopter to a pad outside the small town of Beatrice, Nebraska. At first, Chloe had been surprised when Lex himself climbed into the pilot's seat, but it made sense when she thought about it. After his near-death in a plane crash, he must have learned to handle all the Luthor toys - including the helicopter. Using the helo was slower than the jet, but they didn't have to file a flight plan if they flew low. They agreed it was worth the time if it helped to disguise their destination. Once they hit Beatrice, they found a car rental, and Chloe had the bizarre pleasure of paying to rent a car for Lex Luthor. Lex couldn't risk his name popping up anywhere near the Savage Inc. facility and giving off an alert. However, it was unlikely that the name "Chloe Sullivan" would raise any brows. Especially not when they were still hours away from their final destination. For his part, Lex was doing his best to disguise his unique silhouette with clothes that could have been taken from the Clark Kent school of fashion.

Fiddling with the car keys as they went out to the nondescript sedan, Chloe was suddenly struck by the humor of the situation and let out a small snort of laughter.

Lex looked at her sideways, peeking past the raised hood of the jacket that camouflaged his bald head. "Care to share the humor, Chloe?"

"Oh, I just realized this is my first travel assignment while at The Planet, and it's to Bumble-F**k, Nebraska, I can't write the real story, it's with you, and I'm picking up all the bills."

He smirked. "I thought you'd appreciate a return to Bumble-F**k. Didn't you once spend a summer there?"

She found herself smiling, almost against her will. She had forgotten she referred to the tiny town where the safehouse had been as Bumble-F**k as well. "Yes, but that was Bumble-F**k, Kansas. I think that it is going to look like Metropolis compared to where we are heading."

"Ah yes, you may be right. I can see how this isn't quite the plum assignment your cousin has been getting."

Her smile disappeared as she automatically went on the defensive. "Lois is a good reporter. She -"

The look Lex shot her had her biting off her words. The light in his eyes showed he had purposely provoked her.

"Be careful, Lex. I'm the one with the credit card this time around. Don't make me use it against you."

He snorted. "Oh, please. You know well enough you'll be compensated above and beyond any expenses you incur during this sojourn."

She nodded in agreement. "True, but until then I have every right to purchase nothing but Krispy Kremes and gas station coffee if you push me too far."

This time it was his jaw that clenched shut.

Chloe basked in her victory.

They reached the car, and both reached for the driver's side door.

"Lex, the car is rented under my name."

"I'm aware, but there is no way I'm letting you drive."

"Oh yeah? I drive myself everywhere. Don't you have a driver? I mean when you aren't in one of those penises with wheels you like to call a car?"

He ignored the 'penises with wheels' comment completely, saying instead, "Yes, but I've seen you drive."

"Me? Of the two of us, who has been in more car accidents?"

He paused, thinking. "Actually I think we might be even on that one."

Still both holding the driver's door handle, they glared hard at each other when a sudden thought struck Chloe.

She gave Lex her sweetest smile. His look turned instantly suspicious. Maybe she was still a little affected by that kiss, because she suddenly felt a little reckless. She moved in close to him, until only a few crucial inches separated them. She let her voice go soft and low as she dangled the keys before his eyes. "Fine, Lex, but you owe me."

As he drove the 90 miles out to Bumble-F**k, Nebraska as Chloe called it, Lex found himself sneaking glances at the blonde next to him. The sleeping, drooling, blonde.

Dammit, he should have let her keep the keys, but fu**k-it-all he had to insist on driving. He wasn't even sure why he had done so. She was right, he did often use a driver. Maybe it was some sort of misogynistic impulse that wouldn't let a woman drive him around. Or maybe it was just that he didn't want this woman driving him around.

So instead he got to listen to her ipod music, since the radio stopped getting signals after about 20 miles, and he hadn't thought to load up any playlists.

He wasn't about to admit that Chloe had surprisingly good musical taste though. It was nothing like his usual classical selections, but her found his fingers tapping more than once.

Not that she could see.

She had fallen asleep within minutes of them getting in the car.

It wasn't like him to miss such a glaring disadvantage in pressing his case to be the driver. She got to sleep while he got to drive almost two hours through dark and completely forgettable terrain.

Listening to her music too.

And on top of all that?

He 'owed her'.

F**k-it-all.

He pulled into the parking lot of the White Deer Motel just as dawn was breaking. They would have time for a few hours of sleep, then go out for some live surveillance of the Savage Inc. facility, before they broke in tonight and deployed the counter-measures. As the car came to a stop, Chloe jerked awake. He didn't try to hide his smirk at her appearance. Her hair, always so obedient to her style wishes, was stuck up weirdly on one side. He felt the smirk falter slightly as he realized her dishabille and sleepy half-lidded eyes made her look...

No. Not that. That unexpectedly hot kiss in the records room did not make her look f**k-able.

Chloe Sullivan was merely a means to an end.

No matter what his c**k thought.

It wasn't long before Chloe had secured them rooms, food from the breakfast spread, and they had unloaded their "wildlife photography equipment" into the two rooms at the end of the small motel.

"So Doris, the desk clerk, was very helpful about the best places to see the ridge," Chloe said before biting into a 'cherry' danish that Lex doubted had anything close to real fruit in its ingredients.

He looked at his own equally uninspiring 'strawberry' pastry, asking, "Oh, yeah? What did she say?"

She smiled triumphantly, looking annoyingly well rested after her snooze in the car. "That you can see it perfectly from a scenic outlook off Highway-14 about ten miles down."

He found himself smiling too. That was excellent news. He had to admit that her choice of cover for them - wildlife photographers - had really been quite inspired. Because really, who else would be out here otherwise? The motel itself clearly catered to that crowd. He didn't know if it was an attempt to get in good with "Doris" or if she thought it some sort of joke, but Chloe had even purchased a pair of t-shirts from the motel for them.

Her forest green shirt had a picture of a camera and bold white type declaring 'PHOTOGRAPHERS DO IT WHILE EXPOSING.'

She had smilingly presented him with a 'White Deer Motel' shirt that had a picture of a smiling cartoon deer on it. He had raised an eyebrow at it, but hadn't said anything more. It was bad enough he was wearing flannel and a jacket. Made him feel like he had raided Clark's closet.

But there wasn't a chance in hell he'd let her see him annoyed by something as changeable as clothes.

Checking the time, Chloe said, "Well, as 'Wildlife Photographers' we need to get going. Animals are most active early in the morning and evening." She caught Lex's dark look. He hadn't gotten any sleep, and she seemed positively cheerful. Smirking, she snapped up the keys. "I can drive."

It took them about 20 minutes to reach the ridge described by Doris. The motel clerk had been right. As they stretched out on the ridge, it gave them a perfect overlook at the Savage Inc. site. Pulling out a camera she had borrowed from The Daily Planet, Chloe started snapping pictures through the telephoto lens of the site. She focused on the elements they hadn't been able to discern from reports or satellite imagery, especially the security measures and protocols. Lex was next to her with a pad of paper and a stopwatch, recording notes as she pointed out details or asked him to time the different protocols used at the site. They wanted to build the most complete picture of the workings of the site as possible before coming up with a strategy to get in and somehow stop the release of the tainted earth.

It took upwards of two hours as they switched roles and shifted up and down the ridge a few times. Chloe had clearly done this before, but he pointed out a few security details she missed, including the use of keycards to access the buildings. Finally, it looked like they had done all the surveillance they could reasonably do from their perch. Slowly lowering the binoculars he had been using for a last perusal of the site, Lex caught her attention, and motioned with his head that they should retreat back to the car.

Now was the time to plan.

Chloe expelled a heavy breath as she brought up her newly-sorted information on the Savage Inc. site on her laptop screen. She had spent the last few hours sorting and compiling all their information while Lex got some much-delayed sleep. Now they were both up, dressed, and ready to get into the nitty-gritty of the planning. "So based on what we saw on the ridge, the plant security is pretty much what we had expected. They obviously aren't expecting any interference, but they aren't leaving any huge loopholes either."

Lex settled himself in one of the motel room chairs. He looked much refreshed after some sleep and a hot shower. The goofy cartoon deer t-shirt she had purchased for him as a joke somehow looked...appealing on him. Maybe because it was so unlike the Lex she knew. Maybe it was because the thin white tee fit his trim body snugly showing off surprisingly firm and lean muscle.

But the smirk in his voice was the same, and it snapped her attention back. "Well, Chloe, pretend for just a moment this is a Luthorcorp facility. How would you break in then?"

Chloe reminded herself he was still an asshole no matter what he wore.

She made a rude face at him before turning back to the pictures on her laptop. "Well, the guards seem to circle on a loop. Major mistake. I used the timing we did to set when they won't be there, but the cameras could still be a problem. As will be the facility doors. Those will need a slightly more invasive methods for us to get around them."

"Like what?" Lex asked.

"Well, I think I have a closeup pics of one of the cameras in here somewhere..." Chloe clicked lightning-fast through the pictures, looking for one that focused on the cameras. "Ah, here we go..." She leaned in so close to the screen her nose almost touched as she looked over the image of the security camera. "I think it is a XLR deluxe camera." She sat back and smiled in triumph at Lex. "That is good news."

"Why? Can you set up some sort of fake footage loop and patch it into the system?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone suggest that? Is it because it is a movie thing?"

Lex couldn't help but wonder who the "everyone" Chloe was referring to could be. Though he had a flannel-clad guess...

"Alright, then, Chloe. I'll bite. Why does that help us then?" he asked instead.

"Because..." she replied, drawing the word out as her fingers clacked away on the keyboard. "The XLR uses a remote connection between cameras. I can tap into it using the remote administration tool I got when I..." She abruptly stopped speaking and her eyes shot over to Lex, before going back to her laptop. "Nevermind."

"It would appear that this exercise has produced a number of other side benefits," he drawled.

Chloe shot him a sharp look, and her fingers immediately pulled away from the computer as she turned to face him, her cheeks flushing red. "Lex, if you think for one moment that what happened in the records room - "

He cut her off quickly. "Not what I had in mind, but it you wish to see it as a side benefit, Chloe, I'm not going to argue it with you."

His smirk was so wicked Chloe had to physically restrain herself from clawing it off his face. Instead she felt her nails digging into the flesh of her palms.

"No, what I meant was that you are uncovering all sorts of vulnerabilities in the Luthorcorp security systems." His eyes almost twinkled with evil glee. "Maybe I should hire you as a consultant to shore up our systems."

She let her own expression melt into one of wicked delight. "Absolutely, Lex. I'd love to look over the Luthorcorp security systems."

Chloe didn't know what sort of reaction she had expected from Lex to her comment, but it wasn't...laughter.

Genuine, full-bodied laughter.

She also hadn't expected that she would enjoy hearing it. She couldn't remember the last time she had heard him laugh. But that shouldn't be surprising, she hadn't really spent much time with him that didn't involve battle on one or more fronts since the safehouse. He used to laugh then, even as sick as he was from Lionel's poison. The laugh she heard now was so much like then, without the bitter edge that seemed to always haunt his words now.

She didn't realize she was smiling until Lex's laughter tapered off and he smiled back at her.

She cleared her throat and turned back to the computer. "Anyway, I can get us around the cameras by setting off a system reboot. Most people are used to technology hiccups, so won't think it resetting will seem suspicious." She released a sigh as she stared at the screen. "So that just leaves the doors. As you pointed out, they use keycards. So we need to get our hands on one of them." She tapped a finger against her jaw thinking. "We have to think of a way to steal one without anyone being suspicious. I suppose we could knock out a guard, but they travel in pairs with dogs, so that would be difficult."

"This is the only motel near the facility, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I might have an idea." Then without another word, he slipped out the room's door.

He came back about ten minutes later, brandishing an ID badge.

"What?" Chloe jumped up from her seat and snatched the badge. Looking back at him, she stuttered..."What? How?"

Lex smiled, and for once it wasn't a smirk. "The lovely Doris again. I figured if this was the only motel around, that at least some of the employees would come out here. Especially for a...personal break with a lady friend." Now he smirked. "So I just asked if anyone had left an ID badge by accident." His expression changed and he became someone open and innocent. His voice lost its cultured tones, sounding a bit young and maybe sickly. "You see, the friend that told us to come out here to photograph lost his badge and he'll be in so much trouble if they have to replace it. Did any show up in the lost and found?"

A brilliant smile overtook Chloe's face. Lex found himself momentarily speechless as she directed that 1-million-megawatt smile at him. "So this it it, then. We're in." Her smile faded. "But what do we do once we're in? We still need a way to stop the distribution of the tainted soil. There is too much to take away, now that they mixed it across eight truckloads. How do we secure it?"

"I believe I have something that could help us there too, now that we know what we are facing." Lex went over to his baggage, and pulled out a black hard-side case. "A very exciting innovation from one of my labs." He paused and shot her a teasing look. "One you haven't found." Chloe moved to stand beside him as he lifted the case onto the bed and popped the locks on it. Inside were eight silver contraptions of some kind. They were about the size of her palm and had vials of some sort of liquid in them.

"What are those?"

"Lead diffusion bombs."

"BOMBS?!" She backed away with her palms up. "No, Lex. I didn't come here to commit arson."

"Relax, Chloe. They don't work like that. They release a fine mist of lead. I'm sure you already know that lead can shield against meteor rock." He gestured at the devices. "These use the same principle. They coat the meteor rock, rendering it inert."

"But lead is still poison!"

He smiled. "Yes, but it is a known poison. The government regulators will catch it on the first quality inspection. That soil will never make it to market." His smile turned nasty. "And the Luthorcorp fertilizer plants have never had any lead contamination. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find anything lead in our facilities. Unlike Savage Inc., which has had multiple lead citations. So even if they do try to push it back to my company, that will be an instant red flag to anyone looking into it. Those barrels they worked so hard to secure will damn them instead of exonerating them."

Chloe thought it through, but didn't see any gaping holes in the plan so far. "Alright then, how do they work?"

Lex picked up one of the devices. "We just need to plant one of these in each truckload of contaminated soil. When we are clear, I use a radio trigger to set them off. They will begin emitting a lead gas that will be attracted to the meteor rock particles. The gas will seek out and encapsulate the meteor rock pieces throughout each truckload, right down to the smallest shard."

Chloe frowned. "But what about the explosion? And the people working there? We don't want to injure or give anyone lead poisoning any more than we want to cause meteor-rock poisoning."

Lex shook his head. "They don't explode. They release. More like a smoke bomb than a true explosion. And as for the gas, it has been highly engineered to be attracted to the meteor rock. You would have to try really, really hard to inhale enough to hurt you. But just in case, I do have masks." He indicated the two small breathing masks inside the case. "The masks come as part of the kit because the devices can be triggered both by the remote and manually with this switch on the side." He turned the device over, indicating a small red switch. "I had hoped we could test them further before putting them into use, but it is what it is."

Chloe couldn't help but smile a little. This may actually work. "So it looks like our next step is just to wait for dark."

Lex reclined back on the bed, smiling as well. "Or rather, dusk. We'll want to get some photos of those Western Meadowlarks Doris was talking about."

Chloe smiled in response. Apparently Lex had gotten the same talk that she had from the friendly motel clerk. "Well, it is the state bird of Nebraska. What kind of wildlife photographers would we be if we missed it?"

Lex's lips twitched up slightly as if he were fighting another smile. "I don't know, but I'm sure I'd never hire them."