"Clark" Lana calls out, stepping through the door, into the kitchen. No answer. 'I know he's here' she thought to herself, reaching out to him with her mind, something she had got very good at doing in the past few days. As far as she was concern Clark could run, but he couldn't hide. "Cl-" she started to call out to him again as she entered the den, but immediately stopped in her tracks. She felt it. Rage and guilt. Well she had felt both those emotions a lot recently but at that moment they seemed to be forcefully crashing against her. She had to narrow they're link before coming to sit next to him on the crouch. Clark didn't really acknowledge her, his frown just deepened bit.
"Clark you can't keep beating yourself up about this" she assumed. "You couldn't-"
"I should've taken the damn watch. Now it's probably gone forever, pawned off to some hole-in-the-wall pawnshop"
"Watch?"
"My mom got mugged tonight, Lana" he said, finally allowing Lana to see his stress-red eyes. "They hit her and took my father's watch." Clark stood up, deciding it was time to take action. Those theives don't know who the hell their dealing with! "I'm going to the Planet, maybe Chloe help me find out who did this"
"We might have another problem" she bit her bottom lip nervously "Lex has been calling and texting me pretty frequently. I guess he's trying to apologize"
"Well just tell him to fuck off" he snapped, making her jump a bit, but she pushed on, hoping he'd listen to reason.
"Maybe I should hear him out"
"For what!"
"Listen" she said and stood up as well "I don't want to draw any attention to you. Brushing Lex off might send off a flag in his head and we don't need Luthor trouble if we can avoid it. Besides if I can keep Lex in my radar, I can give you a heads up on what his agenda is, like any new news he might have on Fine's ship."
"It's too dangerous, Lana" he said, his eyes softening a bit, bringing a hand up to caress her cheek "I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you"
The touch lingered for a while as Lana pressed her cheek into the security of his hand. "I can take care of myself pretty well, I'll have you know" she smirked "besides, remember, our link has long distance, so you'll know if I'm in over my head." She looked up into his eyes "Please let me do this. It's for the best"
He sighed and reluctantly nodded after a few moments of contemplation. "Just be careful"
Lana reached up on her tip-toes and gave him a peck on his lips "I will"
"I love you" Clark said, wrapping his arms around her petite frame. His eyes never leaving hers.
"I love you too" she relied with a longer version of the earlier kiss, but sensing something else is still bothering her, Clark broke the kiss. He says nothing, just continues to look into her eyes with concern.
She opened her eyes, confused as to why he had stopped kissing her, but when she saw his face she knew almost automatically. "It's nothing to worry about right now, Clark. I'll tell you later, I promise"
At the Daily Planet
"So your mom saw Metropolis' resident cape crusader?" Chloe asked incredulously. The Kents seemed to be a magnet for everything weird, not that it was much of a surprise. "No one has been able to get a clear shot of the vigilante, since she showed up a few weeks ago. Luckily Mrs. Kent could give the police sketch artist something to work with." Chloe smiled, showing Clark the final draft of tomorrow newspaper with a sketch of this 'hero' on the front page.
"Why thanks Chloe" he said sarcastically, snatching the print from her hand "I let my mom walk the streets alone, she gets mugged and your cashing in on it!" he barked.
"I'm just trying to help; you don't have to bite my head off about it"
"My dad would've wanted me to accept the watch and I couldn't even look at it. Now I'd do anything to get it back-" Clark frustratingly said, turning around and smoothly walking through a secretarial clerk, knocking her papers to the floor.
"S-sorry" she stammered, trying to recover her papers quickly.
"It's my fault, don't worry about it" he said mostly to himself. She hurried off after giving Chloe a few files and glancing at the picture of the 'hero' on her desk.
"Maybe we should call her the Angel of Vengeance!"
At LutherCorp's Metropolis Office
"Mister Luthor will be with you short" security told Lana as she waited for him in his office. Though he wasn't even in the same building as her, Lana couldn't seem to get her mind off of Clark. More importantly, the unresolved issues between them. Mrs. Kent still didn't know about her new abilities, which Clark promised they would inform her about together two days ago. Hopefully they could get to that after this ordeal was done with.
Then there's the fact of getting Chloe up to speed, which she hoped Clark would do like he had so quickly volunteered to a week ago. There were a few other things that had to be iron out as well, but the one that bothered her most was marriage proposal.
In the other timeline he had asked for her hand on election day, but in this scenario he had yet to do so. What worst, is she wasn't sure if tying the knot would be the best idea. Love wasn't the issue, but the time just didn't feel right. Too much was going on and she just didn't want to complicate the issue at this point, but maybe it wouldn't complicate anything. She really didn't know what to do, but she hoped he'd understand, or atleast they be able to talk about it together.
"I could've just met you at the Talon instead of having you take a trip all the way up here" a voice came from behind her, snapping her out of her little daydream. For the first time she realized his hand was on her shoulder.
He pulled it away rather quickly and she was glad. "Sorry" his apologized for touching her "but you just seemed to be in your own world for awhile"
"I'm running a very important errand for someone, it's very important" she said, talking about the many pawn shops she had already visited in search of the watch.
"Lana, I'll just cut straight to it. I'm sorry about what happened that night. I was out of line and I had no right to do what I did. Believe it or not, but I don't remember much of what happened that night. I know dousing my sorrows in alcohol isn't an excuse for volatile ambitions, I just hope you can forgive me and we can move on from this" he said, sounding sincerely sorry.
"I understand the stress you must have been in, but your right that's no excuse. Hopefully, with time, things will work themselves out. Hopefully this friendship isn't too damaged. I'd hate to think of you as anything less than a friend, Lex" she stated, crossing her arms over her chest.
"That means a lot to me. I have two gifts for you if you choose to accept them" he smiled hopefully.
"You didn't have to do that, Lex"
"But I insist. First, the Talon Metropolis franchise deal is still on the table. It's already opened and staffed. You're majority owner, so don't be afraid to change anything around to better suit your taste. As for the other gift" he said, pulling and a keycard and disc from the breast pocket of his white button down shirt and handed them to her "I'm giving you full access to the files concerning the ship and Milton Fine"
"Why are you doing this?" she asked genuinely surprised at the value of his gifts.
"You have been the one good constant in my life, Lana. The least I can do is show you how much I appreciate that."
"Thanks, Lex. For everything" she said, putting her new disc and card in her purse.
"If you don't mind me asking, how is Clark?"
She frowned, knowing this would be coming sometime during this conversation. She had known for awhile that Lex had a thing for her, but she never thought he'd act on it. On election day he proved her wrong, and that scared her a bit. She didn't want him to find out that she was using him, but leading him on wasn't an option she wanted to explore either. She had to find some middle ground for this to work.
"We both know how it feels to lose a parent. He's taking it pretty hard. All we can do is be there for him"
"Clark is lucky to have you. Just know that if you ever need a shoulder to lean on, I here for you" Lex whispered, staring into her eyes.
She didn't meet his, and took a step back "So, I guess we're partners again" she grinned, extending her hand.
"Partners" he restated, out doing her knowing grinning, with one of his own.
Back at the Daily Planet (After Hours)
"If you don't mind me asking, how are you and Lana doing since her discovery?" Chloe asked, frankly tired of being quiet. Like Lois, she just couldn't stand uncomfortable silences.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you"
"Please Clark" she said sarcastically "Look at who you're talking to. Look at who you are. I think I'm the only one that would believe it"
Clark chuckled at his best friend "Actually I was suppose to tell you anyway"
"I was wondering why Lana was so tight-lipped. All she'd ever say is that you two are 'closer than anyone could ever hope to be.' Kinda cryptic if you ask me"
"Yeah well, anyway, as you know, that night I was supposed to tell Lana everything, so I decided the Fortress would be the best place for it. But when we got there something strange happened. Next thing I know, my biological dad's voice is talking to us, and then Lana is uploaded with my memories, which at the time-"
"Hold up" Chloe interrupted "Lana has you memories! How did that happen?"
"I'm not really sure, my dad asked if he could help, so I guess that was his idea of helping the situation"
"I'm not sure what to say to that. I guess, at least now Lana knows about your night-light"
"She's actually made fun of me about that"
"Can't really blame her" Smile.
"There's more, Chloe"
"Just keeps getting better, eh?"
"We can feel what the other feels"
"Kinda like empathy?"
"Yep"
Just then the fax beeped to life.
"Hold that thought, I've got lots more questions" Chloe said and hurried to the fax. 'Pay dirt' Chloe shuffled through the papers hoping to find a lead of some sort.
Chloe's file organizing was cut short as someone attacked her from behind, effectively using one hand to lock her arm behind her back, while the hand wrapped around her neck.
"Something tells me seeing my picture on the front page of the paper might become hazardous to my health. Let it go... Comprenda?" the Angel of Vengeance whispered.
"CHLOE!" Clark yelled out running into office they were in. He was met by the sight of someone he cared about getting strangled by a masked woman. "What do you want?"
"Tell your girl here to kill the story or I might have to put her in harm's way" she hissed back, then picked up the blonde and threw her at Clark. They fell through a nearby desk in a heap.
"You alright, Chloe?" Clark asked picking her and himself up from the wreckage almost instantly. His lack of need for time to recover surprised the invader slightly. After a short nod from Chloe, Clark turned toward her attacker.
"You're kinda tough. This might be fun" she smirked, but glanced back when she heard someone coming down stairs.
"Clark!... Chloe!... You guys found out anything on-" she stop at the bottom of the stairs, when she saw what was taking place. She scanned the scene in front her and gasped at the sight of her best friend struggling to get to her feet. "Chloe!"
Even though it was only for a second, the Angel of Vengeance looked away from Clark. Big mistake. That second was all he needed to super speed right up to her and pat her on the head, knocking her out cold. "Is everybody okay?"
"Save a couple of scratches, everything's just peachy" Chloe groaned.
Lana smiled and helped her to her feet. "What was she doing here anyway?"
"I'm not all together sure, but I wanna see who this is" she said, rushing over to the unconscious crusader on the floor. "Mind if I do the honors?"
"Be our guest" and with that off the mask went.
"That's the girl I bumped into earlier today" Clark said, somewhat bewildered. The timid personality this woman showed earlier clashed almost violently with the one she had been showing moments ago.
"Trouble just follows this group, doesn't it?"
Everyone turned to the staircase to see Lois standing there, with hand on hip and smirk on face.
At LuthorCorp
"I guess you think your doing me a favor, by buying out LuthorCorp from me, huh Dad?" Lex frowned. His day never went the way it was suppose to go. If it wasn't a personal problem, then it was a business problem, and if it wasn't that then it was both.
"Your campaign finances put LuthorCorp in a weakened state. You were compromising the company, Lex. I had no choice" Lionel replied, taking Lex's keycard from him and opening the door to his new office. "Just be glad it was me"
"Oh, thanks for keeping it in the family" Lex said sarcastically.
"Your welcome" his father retorted with equal sarcasm.
"Just watch yourself dad, when power grows, things come to the surface" Lex smiled.
"Okay Lex, what smoking gun do you think you have against me now?" Lionel sighed, kicked his feet up on the desk, idly playing with the keycard between his fingers.
"Oh it's not a smoking gun yet. How do you think Martha Kent would feel if she knew you were the last person to see Jonathon before his untimely death?" his smile widened when he saw the worried look etched on his father's face "That would test even the most forgiving woman's mantle, don't you think?"
"What do you want, Lex?" he asked flatly, standing up now.
Lex plucked his keycard back out of Lionel's fingers. "Get out of my office"
Ring, Ring... Ring, Ring
Lex looked at his cell. The caller ID read 'Eyes and Ears'. Important. He waited for his father to exit before answering. "What new news do you have on the subject?"
End of Chapter 7, Part 2 (Feed back)