Biological Families
Author: duane at duaneaakre dot com
Disclaimer: As always I own nothing. Well I own a house, two cars, a pair of jetskis, and a lot of other junk, but none of these characters.
Story Rating: R [The story may drift into the HBO range rather than stay in the WB range, so to be on the safe side, I am rating this R.]
Chapter 4
Up until this moment the day had been going so well, thought Lex. In the four days since his father had announced he was closing the plant, Lex and his plant managers had hammered out a proposal for the employee buyout which had won the support of the majority of the workers. Chloe had come through with the seventy five percent the employees were short, just as she had promised. Lex had experienced her extravagant lifestyle back in Rome, but somehow that was different. Back here at home, Chloe still seemed to him to be a simple high school girl. So, when she called at lunchtime on Friday for a status report and he told her she was going to have to come up with sixty three million, he still found himself a little surprised when she said she would stop by his office Saturday morning with the appropriate bank account numbers.
The bigger surprise had come when Chloe had shown up at his office. After handing him the paper with the information on the numbered Swiss bank account with the money for the buyout, she handed over a CD-Rom and info on a second bank account.
"Lex, here is the information on the first group of nanotech projects I want you to initiate and some seed money to get things rolling. I have had a number of small start-up companies scattered around the world doing preliminary bits and pieces, but I didn't want to risk bringing it all together until we were safely past the Roman time loop, so as not to risk the timeline. Now that we are finally past all that, I would like to centralize some of these activities here in Smallville so we can better coordinate things. On the disk are key people in each area, the patents I hold through dummy companies and other patents we need to acquire, a list of other companies with critical technologies we need to obtain either via contracting their services or buying out the companies."
Lex stuck the CD into his notebook computer and was astounded by both the detail and complexity of her plans and the grandeur of her goals. This was obviously not something Chloe had just thrown together in the past couple of days.
"Have you known all along my Father was going to close the plant?" asked Lex when he looked up from the computer screen.
Chloe shook her head. "No, it was just a happy coincidence. I was planning to talk to you about this next week after the school year ended and I would have more time to be involved. But this will be very convenient, the initial staffing for the projects will only be a few hundred and they won't be noticed mixed in with the large staff of the plant."
Lex took a deep breath and decided this was as good of time as any to bring this up. "We haven't discussed my compensation, yet."
Chloe cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure we can come up with an agreeable amount."
Lex waved his hand indicated his study and the rest of the Luthor mansion. "A salary is not what I was talking about."
"So, what is it you want? Part ownership? That's acceptable; as I am sure it will help with your motivation."
"That's part of it." Lex hesitated for a moment. "There is one other thing. I would like three hours of your time each week to discuss whatever I want whether it is the current projects, economics, art, history, or whatever."
Chloe remembered sitting under a shade tree on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea with Lex, Clark, and Lana talking about economics and the history of gold. "Two hours."
Lex nodded.
"Great," said Chloe as she rose to her feet. "Now I have a dance to get ready for."
It wasn't until after she left that Lex got around to checking into the separate account with the 'seed' money for her nanotech projects and found 3.6 billion dollars. Serious money, even by Luthor standards. But then some of the long term projects on the list were almost unbelievably grandiose. And exactly what did the final one with the single word 'Heaven' mean?
Lex shook his head. Chloe had lived almost forever and she had accumulated an enormous fortune over time, yet she was capable of doing incredibly stupid things, too. Her little 'Greek God' game had gotten her and Lana killed and had almost killed Lex, too. Now she had started this whole 'let's pretend we're vampires' game with his father. She had once commented on being stuck in a sixteen-year-old's body with a sixteen-year- old's hormones. Was that why she played these childish games? Or was it merely a sign of her boredom after thousands and thousands of years of life? If he had lived for tens of thousands of years, would he too shake things up just for the hell of it, particularly if he knew the odds of survival were almost 100%. Was that the point? Was she intentionally creating situations where there was at least a possibility she might get killed?
Well, playing these games with his father was certainly as dangerous as playing them in ancient Rome. However, it had, a least temporarily, chased his father back to Metropolis. After he had left Lex's study, Lionel had immediately climbed aboard his chopper. Lex didn't discover his mother had gone with him until she called several hours later.
The question was what was his Mother telling his Father about things, like how she had returned from the dead or the truth about the vampire story? If it came to it, what would he tell his father? Revealing Chloe and Lana's nanobot secrets would put them at risk. Revealing Clark's secret would put him at risk. Revealing that a time machine was possible, even if the only one in existence had been destroyed, seemed most dangerous of all. Would it be like nuclear bombs, where every country that tried to build one was successful on the first try? What would his father do with a time machine?
However those questions could all wait for another day. It was time he focused his attention on Lana. He had been so preoccupied with the buyout, he hadn't been able to spend as much time with Lana as he would have liked. Fortunately, by the middle of the afternoon, the last of the papers had been signed and the lawyers, union management, and the plant management had finally departed. As plant manager, Gabe Sullivan had been present for most of the activities and by the end Lex was having a hard time keeping a straight face around him, particularly when he was moaning about putting up the $350,000 which was his share of the buyout money. Although Gabe always said Chloe was his daughter, Chloe had told Lex back in Rome that Gabe thought she was the daughter of his second cousins who had been killed three years earlier in a car crash. Gabe had legally adopted her and in every way treated her as if she really was his daughter. While Gabe was complaining about the money for the buyout, Lex was trying to imagine the expression on Gabe's face if he found out his 'daughter' had just handed Lex over three billion dollars.
Anyway, it was about four thirty; maybe twenty minutes after everyone involved with the buyout had left, when Lana walked into Lex's study. He had been sitting there idly rolling the disk from Clark's ship between his fingers like an oversize silver dollar being worked by a card shark in some old West movie. Most of his attention was still focused on the buyout and trying to identify any other holes in their plan that needed to be filled before the final paperwork was submitted to Lionel and LuthorCorp on Monday. He had been so engrossed with his thoughts; he almost didn't notice Lana's approach. Almost being the keyword, as he couldn't imagine work ever being so important as to completely remove her from his thoughts. That might have been the case before Rome, but certainly not since their return. Oh, the whole buyout thing had consumed more of his attention than he had expected, but then the livelihood of many of Lana, Chloe, and Clark's friends depended on his efforts.
"Hey, Lana, things have finally quieted down with the buyout, how about we drive to Topeka for dinner? I know it's not as nice as Metropolis or as convenient as Smallville, but we are less likely to run into my father or anyone else we know."
Lana shook her head as she leaned back against the corner of his desk, an action which caused the bottom of her tee shirt to ride up exposing a small strip of midriff above the top of her low-slung jeans. Lex's attention focused on the bare skin and he dropped the disk onto the desktop as he reached over to slowly run his hand up under the tee shirt.
"We can't. Well, we can, but we will have to make a late start. Remember? Whitney is leaving for the Marines this evening and I promised to drive him to the bus station. I was just about to leave, but I should be back by seven. Perhaps we can head out to dinner then."
Lex was not too happy with Lana's whole handling of the Whitney situation. Okay, Whitney had been her boyfriend before him; he could accept that. But Lana was with him now and she should have made a nice clean break with Whitney, it was only fair to both Whitney and him. However when she had found out Whitney was leaving in a few days anyway, she just left things awkwardly hanging.
"Lana, you need to tell Whitney the truth about us. It is not fair to him. He is starting a new phase of his life and he shouldn't be under any delusions that you are going to sitting here waiting for his return."
Lana knew in her heart Lex was right, but every time she had been with Whitney this week she couldn't force herself to do it. She tried to convince herself she hadn't said anything to make things easier for Whitney, he had been through so much with the recent loss of his father. But she knew that wasn't the real reason, telling Whitney would bring to an end that chapter of her life. They had been together for three years. Three happy, mostly innocent years. Now her life was so different: Lex and all of his money, she and her enhanced body, the return of her parents. Everything seemed so complicated and there were moments she wished her life could go back to the simple way it was before the past year.
"I know, Lex, but it is hard. Face it, I am not like you. I can't just make a decision and instantly carry it through."
"You need to tell him something."
Lana nodded. "I will, before he gets on the bus."
Lex picked up the disk from the desk. "While you are taking care of Whitney, I guess I will run this over to Clark. I have been meaning to give it to him all week, but with all of the excitement with the buyout, it keeps slipping my mind. Plus, this will give me a chance to go down in his storm cellar and see the ship."
Lana took the disk from Lex and turned it over in her hand, stopping to examine the alien characters inscribed on one surface. "This is really a piece of Clark's spaceship?"
"Yeah, don't you remember me telling you about it before? No, wait, I guess it was Laura who I told."
"My Mom?"
"No, the other Laura, when Chloe's mind was controlling your body."
"Oh," said Lana, still not one hundred percent comfortable with Lex's interactions with Laura.
"Oh," she said again for a different reason. Handing the disk back to Lex, she continued. "You can't go give this to Clark now. Tonight is the big dance. Chloe will kill you, if you distract Clark. And I do mean kill you. Oh, she would probably bring you back and all, but she has been looking forward to this for a long time."
Lex felt a slight shiver run through his body. Setting the disk back down on his desk, he stood, pulling Lana to her feet. "Far be it for me to stand in the way of Clark and Chloe getting to the school dance. I guess I am stuck hanging around here at the mansion, maybe your Dad is up for a rematch at X-box. At least let me walk you to your car."
Lana pulled Lex into a quick kiss and then taking his hand headed to the garage where her little burgundy Jeep Liberty sat looking out of place among all of Lex's exotic cars.
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Roger Nixon had arrived at the Luthor Estate an hour earlier after carefully looping around Smallville on back roads to avoid, as much as possible, accidentally running into Clark Kent. He had even picked up a rental car before leaving Metropolis to further reduce the risks of Kent noticing him.
When Nixon finally reached the estate, he had found a whole line up of cars in the front drive and pulled his car to the side of the road to wait for things to quiet down. After about thirty minutes, whatever event had been going on broke up and the dozen cars departed. Ten minutes later he started his car and drove up to the front gate. He had been to the estate enough times during the previous six months that the guard on duty recognized him and waved him on in. After he parked, he proceeded to the front door. The head butler didn't happen to be present and rather than ring the bell, Nixon let himself in. 'You never knew when a little harmless snooping might payoff,' he thought to himself.
Quietly, Nixon walked down the hallway leading to Lex's office, hoping Lex would be somewhere else in the mansion and perhaps he could have a crack at Lex's computer files. But as he approached, he found the door partially open and could hear voices from inside. Cautiously peering around the edge of the door jamb, he recognized Lana Lang from the Talon as the other occupant with Lex.
Listening to their conversation, Nixon quickly realized the two were more than just co-owners of a coffee shop. Perhaps this was why Lionel Luthor was suddenly putting out urgent inquiries to all of the news sources in Metropolis, legitimate and otherwise, for any and all information on one Lana Lang of Smallville. If she and Lex were suddenly an item, it would explain dear ole Dad's interest. However, it didn't explain why Lionel Luthor was just as urgently looking for information on Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent's girlfriend. 'If there is anyone in Smallville Lionel Luthor should be frantically trying to get info on, it was Clark Kent, not a couple of ordinary high school girls,' thought Nixon.
But all thoughts of why Lionel was interested in the girls was instantly swept from his mind when the conversation in the room turned to the disk and Kent's ship. Kent had a spaceship in his family's storm cellar? A spaceship? Did that mean Kent was an alien? It would certainly explain the unbelievable things he had been able to do the day Nixon had tried to blow him up in his truck.
He couldn't help but risk another peek into the study and saw Lex set a small disk down on the desk before pulling the Lang girl into a kiss. As they pulled apart and turned towards the door, Nixon jerked back and headed down the hallway to stay out of sight.
He had to see the spaceship for himself. If he could get video of the ship, it would be all the proof he needed. And from what Lana Lang was saying, Kent would be gone from the farm all evening for a dance. Today would be the perfect time to go.
Nixon had ducked into the library leaving the doorway open slightly to be able to hear what was going on in the corridor. After a few seconds Lex and Lana walked passed heading towards the back of the mansion in the direction of the garage. If Lex was walking her to her car, it would be at least a few minutes before he would return to his study. Nixon decided to see if Lex had left the disk from the ship in his study. An actual piece of the ship would certainly help validate any video.
Of course, now the whole issue of who would be the best buyer was altered. When he had tried to get footage of Clark surviving a truck explosion, the obvious buyer had been Lex or his Father. But since Lex already knew about the ship and therefore Clark's secret, if he went to Lex, Lex would just blow him off or, at best, bribe him to keep quiet. However knowing Lex, he would probably just make him disappear. Which left Lionel Luthor, but if he wasn't looking for information on Clark, but rather on the two girls, did that mean he also already knew about Clark and his ship?
No, with the disk and footage of the ship, he wouldn't have to admit to anything illegal like with the ill-conceived truck explosion idea. Therefore he could take this to legitimate buyers like the Daily Planet. Hell, he could even go to one of the television networks, which would be better suited for video anyway.
As Nixon headed back to Lex's study, his mind was a swirl with the possibilities of this story catapulting him to a correspondent's job on one of the weekly TV newsmagazines. Entering the office, he quickly strode over to the desk. No, the disk was not sitting on the desk like he had last seen it. Frantically Nixon started to search the contents of the desk. Finally, after a few minutes of searching the drawers, he found it in a small ornate box sitting in plain sight on top of the desk.
He had just replaced the box in its original position and leaned back in Lex's chair to study the disk when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He barely had time to stuff it into his pocket and casually swing his feet up onto the desk before Lex walked into the room.
"Roger Nixon. I don't recall requesting your presence in Smallville today. What are you doing here?" asked Lex as he walked past his desk and over to the liquor cabinet where he poured a drink for himself, but made no offer to Nixon.
Nixon stood up from the chair. "I had some news you might be interested in and thought it was worth driving out here."
After taking a sip of his drink, Lex asked. "What news would that be?"
Nixon shoved his hands in his pockets, but when his left hand closed on the disk, he quickly pulled them back out. "Your father is putting out urgent inquiries about two girls from Smallville. And not just to all the normal channels in Metropolis. According to some of my sources, information requests are also going out to the FBI, the CIA, and other less official sources. Since the girls involved are your business partner at the Talon, Lana Lang, and Clark Kent's girlfriend, Chloe Sullivan, I thought I should make sure you knew."
Lex knew after the 'vampire' incident his father would be searching for information. And he knew it was the main point of Chloe's plan; let Lionel waste a lot of time searching for something that wasn't there. But he had expected his father to start out a little more subtly.
Then Nixon's comment about Chloe being Clark's girlfriend sank in. Their relationship had only really developed during the trip to Rome. How had Nixon come into possession of that information during the past week?
"Thanks for the head's up. Perhaps you can discretely pass some information back through channels to my Father for me."
"You know me, discretion is my middle name. I will see any info you want will be passed on and in no way will it be connected to you."
Lex gave him a long stare, but concluded it with a short nod. He needed to talk with Chloe to see if she had any information she wanted to suggest to head Lionel's wild goose chase in a specific direction. "I will call you either tomorrow or Monday with the information I would like passed along. Was there anything else?"
The journalist in Nixon wanted to ask about what was going on with the two girls since Lex didn't seem particularly surprised his Father was investigating them, but he had the disk and now knew where Kent's spaceship was. It was better to get out of here before he slipped up and said something to give himself away.
"No, Lex. That's it. But I thought you would want to know about your Father's sudden interest in these girls. I will look forward to your call."
Lex watched as Nixon walked out of the study. Usually, it seemed like he had to almost have security come to drag Nixon out of his office, but today Nixon had walked out at the first hint of any excuse. Lex pondered it for a moment, but decided he had more important things to think about than Roger Nixon.
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With the pickup not yet back from the weld shop where the new fuel tank was being installed, Chloe in the end picked up Clark in her Corvair for the drive to the dance. She usually liked to drive with the top down, but the wind had been picking up all afternoon and it looked like it was going to storm before the dance was over. Therefore she had been forced to leave the top on her car up to try and protect her hair and the custom green silk gown she was wearing.
As they arrived at the school and Clark hurried around to open her door, Chloe couldn't help but take a moment to admire how good Clark looked in a tux. It suited him much better than the toga he had worn the last time she had seen him formally attired for an excursion to the Circus Maximus and then on to Emperor Caligula's imperial palace. But then Clark was definitely more of a twenty first century sort of guy than an ancient Roman.
Rising from the car with Clark's help, she couldn't stop herself from running her hands up and down the lapels of his tuxedo. "Clark, you look so hot in a tux. We need to find events that require this sort of attire more often."
Clark pulled her in close and rested his hands on her lower back, very lower back as most of his long fingers were caressing the upper curves of her ass. "I am not nearly as hot as you look in that gown. Although it does seem slightly muted compared to the one I remember in Rome."
Chloe blushed slightly as she looked up into Clark's face. "It seemed best to add an extra layer of silk here in prudish Smallville. I don't want to get expelled because nipples and other bits show through an ultra-sheer gown. However, I did have an exact copy of the other gown made as well, if we can find the appropriate occasion. Hmmm, the only place I can think to wear it would be some outrageously upscale Hollywood party. I do have financial interests in a couple of movie studios. Would you like to fly out to L.A. some weekend for some serious partying?"
Before Clark could answer, a powerful gust of wind nearly swept Chloe from her feet.
"Let's continue this conversation inside," suggested Clark as he moved to Chloe's left side to use his body to help block the wind.
Joining all of the other formally clad students, they rushed to the entrance trying to outrun the wall of rain already sweeping across the athletic field to the south and heading straight for the school. They had just passed through the front doors when the storm broke over the windows in a deluge. Chloe began an infectious laugh in celebration of their perfect timing, a laugh which quickly spread to Clark.
They had just gotten past the dense throng clustered inside the front door when they came upon Whitney and Lana, both looking decidedly out of place in jeans and tee shirts.
Lana looked the pair over. "Wow, you guys look great." Then giving Chloe a quick wink, she continued. "That gown brings back some interesting memories."
Whitney gave Lana a curious look as he wondered where she would have seen Chloe in a gown like that before.
Just then Pete Ross and his date walked up. Their timing hadn't been quite as good as the others and they looked a little drenched.
"Hi, Erica," said Chloe brightly, wondering once again at the secret to Pete's charm. Erica had been voted 'mostly likely to end up a supermodel' by the class and seemed way out of Pete's league.
"Hi," returned Erica with a smile.
Pete was having a hard time not stammering in all of his excitement. "Chloe, could you . . . ah"
At this point Erica grabbed the camera from Pete's hand and handed it to Chloe. "What Pete is trying to say is, could you please take our picture?"
"Of course," she answered before turning to Clark. "I'll be just a minute." Then she reached up to wipe a couple of raindrops from Clark's face before pulling his head down to whisper in his ear. "I think Pete wants proof this night really happened."
Clark pulled back with a grin as he watched Chloe lead Pete and Erica off in search of an appropriate backdrop for the photo. It seemed like for the last few weeks the events in ancient Rome had drawn Chloe, Lana, Lex, and him into such a tight-knit little circle, it hadn't left much room for his other friends like Pete. Clark promised himself he would find time in the next few days to hang more with Pete; perhaps they could do a baseball game in Metropolis or a day-long fishing trip to Crater Lake.
As Clark watched Chloe walk away with just a hint more sway to the hips than was normal, he remembered Whitney and Lana standing there.
"Well," said Whitney. "I guess this is it."
"Good luck, Whitney," responded Clark and meaning it. Joining the Marines sounded like a very big, scary step. Clark was suddenly glad he was still several years from graduating and having to make the big life-altering decisions.
"Lana, could I have a minute alone with Clark?" asked Whitney.
Whitney was forced to watch a quick glance pass between Lana and Clark. A glance he had seen several times before this week between Lana, Clark, and Chloe. A glance that seemed to say they were all in on some big secret they were not sharing with him. Not a 'Clark is trying to steal Lana' glance he had seen earlier in the year, but still a secretive look of some sort.
As quickly as it had started, it was over and Lana returned her attention to Whitney. "Sure, I'll, uh, bring the truck around."
Whitney fished in his pocket for his keys. "Okay, try not to get too wet."
"I'll try." Then Lana headed to the door, pulling her light spring jacket off as she went. When she reached the door, she turned and gave a quick wave before stretching the jacket above her head and running out into the rain.
With a sigh, Whitney began. "You and I have had a weird year. I started out thinking you just wanted to steal Lana." Then Whitney gave a quick apologetic shrug of his shoulders. "I'm not trying to make excuses, but . . . I did some things I'm not proud of. I'm sorry, Clark."
Clark reached out his right hand and grasped Whitney's. "I appreciate that."
Whitney took a deep breath to prepare himself. "Listen, Clark . . . there's something I want to ask you. A favor."
Clark was a little surprised. He hadn't talked to her about it, but assumed Lana had told Whitney about her and Lex. He and Whitney had never been particularly close, so he wasn't sure what sort of a favor Whitney would want from him. Cautiously, he responded with a simple, "Okay."
"Lana's not sure how she feels about our relationship right now. But I am. I need you to look after her until I get back."
Clark was suddenly very surprised. How could they have been back from their time travel adventure for a week without Lana explaining things to Whitney? Okay, maybe not explaining about the return of her long dead parents. Or even about her new nanobot 'gifts'. But surely she would have explained about her relationship with Lex. He knew she had even been spending the nights at the mansion rather than at Nell's place since their return. He wasn't sure how she had managed that without letting Nell in on at least some of their secrets. But he had never dreamed she hadn't come clean with Whitney about her relationship with Lex.
All Clark could hope was Lana knew what she was doing and what she wanted out of her relationships with Whitney and Lex and didn't screw everything up. Suddenly, Clark wished Lana hadn't left him in the middle of things. "I really don't know what to say . . ."
Whitney gave him an earnest stare. "Say yes."
"Okay."
"Clark?"
"I promise." To himself, Clark added, 'I promise to talk to Lana and ask her why the fuck she left me stuck in the middle of her mess.' Leaving him in the middle would have been okay if it had been Clark and Lana who had fallen in love back in Rome. But it had been Lana and Lex. Not Lana and Clark.
The conversation was interrupted by a horn honking. Whitney and Clark looked out at see Lana waiting outside in the parked truck. As she waved to Whitney to join her, Clark was seriously tempted to run out there in speed mode and shake some sense into her. But he quickly decided to focus his attention on Chloe, Lana was capable of digging her way out of her own mess.
Abruptly, Clark felt Whitney clap him on the shoulder and say a quick, "Thanks."
As he watched Whitney walk off in a much better mood, Clark called out. "Good luck."
Clark moved to the doorway and watched as Whitney ran through the rain to the truck. Lana slid from the driver's seat to the passenger seat and while Whitney was opening the door, she mouthed a silent 'Sorry' towards Clark. Clark tried to put a whole 'You need to tell Whitney the truth' message in his return stare. Once Whitney was seated in the cab, Clark raised his hand in a farewell wave.
As the truck was pulling away, Chloe walked up and wrapped an arm around Clark's waist. "What was that all about?" she asked as they watched the tail lights slowly fade into the rain.
Clark let out a sigh. "Did you know Lana hasn't told Whitney about Lex yet?"
Chloe shook her head. "I knew she hadn't as of a couple of days ago when I last really talked to her. I told her she needed to just do it. The longer she waits, the harder it will become. And at some point it may screw everything up between her and Lex."
For a couple more minutes, they just stood there staring out into the rain lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Clark could faintly hear the band starting to warm up and knew it was time to put thoughts of Lana, Lex, and Whitney away. This was a special night for him and Chloe.
Turning to Chloe, he asked, "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"
Clark offered his arm as he turned in the direction of the gym.
As she took his arm, she answered, "Yeah, but frequent reminders are always appreciated."
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The storm front was looking steadily worse and the wind gusts were approaching forty miles an hour as Martha struggled to get the last of the hanging pots down from its hook above the railing of the porch.
"Martha, leave it," Jonathan nearly shouted to be heard over the howling wind. "The radio says funnels have been sighted only two miles south of here. We need to get to the storm cellar. Now."
Juggling the big emergency lantern and the radio in one hand, Jonathan tugged at Martha with his other.
Running across the yard, Martha shouted. "What about Clark?"
"I'm sure he is fine. The school is not going to take any risks and the students are probably already in protected areas. Besides, it's Clark. He will be fine."
As they approached the storm cellar Jonathan spotted one of its doors banging loosely in the wind. That wasn't right. They always keep the doors locked because of the spaceship and he had the key to the padlock in his pocket. Normally, he would have insisted Martha go first into the safety of the cellar, but his time he led the way, turning the battery- powered lantern on and holding it high as he descended the stairs.
Before he had reached the bottom, he could see another light bouncing erratically around off of the shelf-lined walls. Someone else was down there. But with tornadoes rampaging around the immediate area, they had no choice but to proceed on down.
Just as Jonathan reached the bottom of the stairs the noise and buffeting of the wind dropped noticeably as Martha managed to pull both of the heavy doors closed. Looking out across the floor, the first thing he saw was the metallic gleam of the spaceship under the bright light, a metallic gleam he shouldn't be seeing unless someone had pulled back the old tarp he always used to hide the ship from casual notice. Once his eyes had adjusted slightly to the general darkness of the cellar, Jonathan realized the lights he was seeing were coming from floodlights mounted on top of what looked like a professional caliber video camera, one of the big ones meant to be used from on top of the shoulder.
"Who the fuck are you?" bellowed Jonathan in a rage at this man who was invading the family's most carefully guarded secrets.
As Martha reached the bottom of the stairs, Jonathan handed her the lantern before reaching for an old two-by-four lying conveniently at hand and then starting to head towards the other man without a clear idea how he was going to proceed other than he knew he had to prevent a videotape of the ship from ever leaving this cellar.
Jonathan was so focused on the other man, he barely noticed how the wind and noise seemed to pick up for a few seconds as though the storm had momentarily torn loose one of the doors again.
Almost reaching the other man, Jonathan once more yelled out asking who he was.
Roger Nixon lowered the camera at the approach of the large farmer, but had a difficult time drawing his eyes away from the captivating lines of the spaceship. Finally, he looked up at the towering farmer with the raised wooden club.
"I am Roger Nixon with the Metropolis Inquisitor. People have the right to know about your son and about what you have hidden here in your storm cellar."
"You have no right to invade the privacy of my family. You are going to destroy all of our lives," screamed Jonathan in return.
As Jonathan paused, a calm, loud voice called out from the stairway. "Mr. Kent, let me handle this." The two men turned towards this new male voice and watched Lex Luthor stepped down into the beam of light from Martha's lantern.
"Roger, you shouldn't have stolen the disk from my office. You must have known I would notice it was missing before too long. And you were the only person in there since I last saw it. Give the disk and the videotape to Mr. Kent and you may just survive the stupid things you are doing."
Nixon pulled the disk out of his pocket. "Give up this disk? Never. The disk and the video are all I need to make my fortune. Do you know how much the networks will pay for proof aliens are real and living among us?"
Suddenly, as he was speaking, the disk jerked out of Nixon's hand as though some powerful invisible giant had grabbed it. As he watched, the disk stopped in mid-air and just hovered. Very slowly the disk started to rotate as though to properly align with the mating cavity in the surface of the ship.
Before Nixon could see what was going to happen next, Jonathan grabbed the camera and tried to rip it from Nixon's shoulder. As the two men fought for control of the camera, Lex walked passed them, seemingly drawn to the disk on which the inscribed symbols were starting to glow a brilliant incandescent white.
Jonathan and Nixon continued struggling over the camera and their actions were slowly forcing them closer to the stairwell. Martha had to move to the side of the chamber with her back against a row of shelves containing canned tomatoes to keep from being caught up in the battle.
Abruptly, a lucky blow from Nixon caught Jonathan on the chin and knocked him back onto his butt. By the time Jonathan was back on his feet, Nixon with his video camera had disappeared up the stairs and out into the storm.
"Jonathan!" screamed Martha.
Jonathan spared a single moment to look back at his wife of twenty years. "I have to get that tape."
Then he raced up the stairs after the other man and, as he passed out into the night, he slammed the doors back shut returning the cellar to relative quiet.
Martha choked back a sob as she turned her attention towards Lex and the ship. She was just in time to see the disk slowly, majestically descend down into the mating slot in the ship.
When the disk slipped home, an incredibly powerful beam of white light shot straight up out of the surface of the disk. Unfortunately for Lex, he had been leaning over the spaceship watching the whole process and the beam of light struck him directly in the face.
For an instant it felt like he was back in the arena in Rome experiencing all of Chloe's thousand of years of memories trying to jam into his brain at the same time. Only this time it was even worse. The memories and symbols being forced into his mind were mostly alien, never intended for a human brain. Occasionally the visions and memories were from earth, but the vast majority were of truly alien landscapes and cities. And the symbols, they came faster and faster while becoming increasingly complex. In a matter of seconds, it felt like his head was exploding and Lex started to scream in agony.
Martha watched as Lex was lifted completely clear of the ground, the power of the pulsating white beam alone enough to suspend him in mid-air. On and on Lex's screaming went as the light battered against his face. Just something about the way the beam pulsated made Martha think it was being used to transfer untold quantities of information into Lex's head rather than being a simple destructive force. But as Lex continued to scream in agony, it was obvious this massive stream of data was not intended for a human mind or body.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only fifteen seconds, Lex's screams ended as he slipped into unconsciousness. But still the powerful white beam did not abate only continued to pour endlessly into his face. Finally, after at least two minutes, the light cut off as though a light switch had been flipped and Lex's body dropped to the floor. In the position he happened to land, his face was turned towards Martha and she was shocked to see the uniform, unblinking white orbs where his eyes should have been.
She had only a moment to stare at Lex before her attention was drawn to the ship. A loud, low frequency, bowel rattling hum was coming from it as the countless symbols on its surface started to glow white-hot matching the original display put forth by the symbols on the disk.
When the sound and the light from the ship seemed to reach an unbearable level, a pulsing wave of energy shot out of the ship in all directions knocking Martha from her feet and shattering most of the glass jars filled with tomatoes. As the red contents of the jars flooded down and across the floor, the ship lifted off of the floor on which it had been resting for the past thirteen years. At a height of three feet, it paused for several seconds as though planning it next action, then it shot straight up at a speed no eye could have followed, except maybe Clark's.
The one foot thick reinforced concrete roof of the storm cellar in no way slowed the ship as it shot up into the storm filled sky. But the shockwave caused by its passage did momentarily stun Martha Kent. After a few seconds, she had regained enough of her wits to crawl over to Lex's body. She found a weak pulse, but the solid white remains of his eyes continued to stare blindly in the direction his head happened to be pointing.
Almost falling into shock herself at the enormity of the events, she finally thought to pull her cell phone out of her pocket and dial Clark's number.
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The rain grew steadily heavier as Whitney drove from Smallville High on the north side of the town to the bus depot located in the extreme southeast corner of town, almost out in the country. The bus depot in the good old days had been located on Main Street only three blocks from the courthouse, but too many well-respected citizens complained it attracted the wrong type of crowd. Eventually, the city council was persuaded to force the bus line owners to move to the current remote, highly inconvenient location.
Lana knew she only had a few minutes left to explain the real situation between them and her new relationship with Lex, but was still managing to procrastinate because Whitney needed to focus on his driving. God, why couldn't she be more like Lex and just come out and say it. Say the simple words. 'I have met someone else. I won't be waiting for your return.' Twelve words, that's all it would take to get things moving forward, as they must.
Lana was jarred from her thoughts by Whitney asking her to turn on the radio and find some local weather. The rain was finally easing up, but the sky ahead was taking on a very scary shade of green. A shade of green he had never quite seen before, but knew was the color associated with tornadoes.
Lana had her head down and was fiddling with the radio when the giant eight by ten piece of sheet metal came careening in out of nowhere to hit the front of the truck. In surprise, Whitney jerked the steering wheel hard to the right and on the rain-slick road, the truck spun out of control. The truck managed two complete three hundred and sixty degree spins before leaving the road and slamming nose first into the ditch with sufficient force to set off both front seat airbags.
The sudden stop and airbag explosion momentarily knocked both Whitney and Lana unconscious. Lana's 'bots brought her back around in exactly four seconds, but by then it was too late. The large 'force four' tornado which had been forming in the clouds directly over their heads had dropped its first funnel down to the ground directly on their position.
As Lana struggled to shake off the effects of the crash, the truck began to shake violently and then the front and back windows exploded outward from the force of the vacuum. Lana had only a moment to glance over at Whitney's body slumped over the steering wheel before she was forced to close her eyes against the grit-filled, three hundred mile per hour wind.
At least they were both wearing their seatbelts which she thought would hold them in the truck until the tornado had moved on, but then the shaking of the truck changed significantly in pitch. She realized the truck had been lifted into the air by the high velocity winds just as the truck began to pitch and tumble in a most nauseating way about all three axes.
She slammed around the cab and knew the seatbelts wouldn't hold long under this kind of abuse. She briefly wished Clark and his incredible strength were here, but he wasn't, and it was up to her to get them out of this alive. She remembered some of the stories Chloe had told and knew even a fall from hundreds of feet wouldn't kill her nanobot enhanced body. But a fall like that would certainly kill Whitney. She also knew, from the data Chloe had downloaded to her, how to introduce her 'bots into someone else's body. If she could do that with Whitney and then keep their bodies in physical contact, she should be able to get him through this alive, too.
The first thing she needed was some way to cut them to transfer the seed 'bots which would multiply until they complete saturated Whitney's body. However, finding something in a madly tumbling truck cab was impossibly difficult, while simultaneously keeping her left hand firmly gripped in Whitney's so they wouldn't get separated, if one of their belts failed. Momentarily she managed to catch the strap of her purse that had been down on the floor of the pickup and which she knew had a nail file that would do the trick. But then the horrific wind caught the bag and ripped it from her grasp with so much force, her right wrist was shattered when it slammed into the door frame.
She gasped in pain before the 'bots blocked her brain's pain receptors and then flashed through her mind the message that her damaged wrist would be repaired in 7.3 seconds. However they might not have 7.3 more seconds as she increased the grip her left hand was maintaining on Whitney's unconscious hand.
Abruptly, the battered remains of the truck was tossed clear of the main body of the tornado and it began to plummet towards the ground. At least the speed at which it was tumbling had slowed and the wind had died down to where Lana could open her eyes, not that seeing they were falling from over three hundred feet was in any way a comforting sight.
Quickly, Lana let go of Whitney and used her good hand to release her seatbelt buckle. At this point the only chance she saw for Whitney was if she could get her body wrapped about his and hope the impact would rip open both of their bodies in such a way she could pass her life saving 'bots to him.
But just as she had her hands occupied with her seatbelt, the last strands of Whitney's belt tore loose and his inert body tumbled through the opening where the driver's door had once been. Lana managed to snag his ankle, but without her belt to restrain her, she too was pulled from the tumbling wreckage of the truck.
What a way to end a lousy day, thought Lana, freefalling without a parachute, in a tornado, while holding on to your ex-boyfriend's ankle. As the ground seemed to race up towards them, she closed her eyes and thought, 'At least it couldn't get any worse.' But she was wrong.
Their bodies slammed into the ground in a slightly sloping field and Whitney's ankle was ripped from her grasp. As they tumbled to a halt their bodies were just over ten feet apart. Lana's brain was barely functioning as a calm voice seemed to be telling her it would be twenty seven seconds until enough of her functions would be restored to allow her to move. However during those twenty seven seconds the wreckage of the truck landed up the hill above them and by the time it had tumble to a halt, the six hundred pound engine block had come to a rest across Lana's legs, pinning her to the spot.
By the time the nanobot countdown had gone from twenty seven to zero, her head had cleared and she could open her eyes to look around. She was lying on her back in the middle of a freshly sprouted cornfield. She could see Whitney's body lying about ten feet away. She tried to move towards him and then realized she couldn't move her legs. Looking down her body she saw the way the engine was crushing her legs and the remainder of the truck was scattered in pieces up the gentle incline of the field. Seeing the wreckage, for an instant all she could think was how glad she was Whitney had wanted to drive his truck one last time or it would have been Libby scattered all over the hillside.
Forcing her attention back to the current situation, Lana managed to rise to a sitting position and tried to push against the engine, but she didn't have the strength or leverage to so much as budge it. Slumping back to the ground, she almost began to cry. She had at most three minutes and forty seven seconds to reach Whitney if she was going to save him and at the moment the ten feet separating them might as well be a million miles.
For a couple of seconds she just lay there trying to imagine what she could have done differently, but finally started to sweep her hands about her and up and down her body looking for anything that could help her or at least spark an idea. As she ran her hands down her body, she finally felt the small cigar-shaped tube tucked in her back pant's pocket, the special custom cell phone Chloe had given each of them that first night after their return through the time machine. Quickly, she pulled it from her pocket and pressed the recessed button to turn it on. After an incredibly long five seconds, the phone chimed to indicate it was up and functioning properly.
As soon as the chime ended, Lana quietly and clearly said, "Call Clark."
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It was the first slow dance and Chloe and Clark were out in the center of the floor with their bodies pressed together as tight as humanly possible. To an outside observer they were just slowly swaying to the music, but Chloe could feel Clark's arousal and her own body's reaction.
"Clark," she whispered knowing he would be able to hear her, even with the band and all of the other noise. "I never thought this day would finally arrive. For me it has been one thousand nine hundred sixty five years, or put another way seven hundred seventeen thousand days that I have had to wait since you first asked me. But right this minute, it all feels worth it. Clark, I love you."
Clark pulled one of his hands from where it had been resting on her back and used it to raise her head for a long, slow kiss. When the kiss ended, Clark responded, "I love you, too."
They had just started a second passionate kiss when abruptly the band stopped playing and one of the dance chaperones stepped up to the microphone.
"May I have your attention please! Several tornadoes have been reported on the south side of town. None are in the immediate area, but as a precaution everyone needs to move to the storm shelters. The weather bureau says this front should be past Smallville in forty five minutes and hopefully we will be able to continue the dance then. Please use the exits on the east side of the gym. Thank you."
When the speaker finished, Clark looked down at Chloe. "I need to go."
"Go where, Clark? I am sure your parents have been watching the weather and are in their storm cellar."
"Lana."
"Lana is a big girl now. She is quite capable of riding out a tornado in safety. If not, well, I have been through worse and survived, she will too."
Clark thought about it for a second and knew Chloe was right, there was nothing immediate he needed to do and he should just remember this night was for Chloe and him.
Clark nodded and then with a grin said, "I seem to remember a couple of dark, hidden corners down in the storm shelter. Let's see if we can find a quiet spot for ourselves."
Chloe returned his grin and grabbing his hand dragged him into crowd heading for the shelter.
The closer they got to the shelter the more cell phones belonging to other students they heard starting to ring. Just as they set foot in the shelter, Clark's phone joined in. Being in a great mood at the thought of finding a secluded corner to make out, Clark pulled out his own special cylindrical cell phone and answered it with a cheery, "Hey, this is Clark."
Chloe glanced up at his face as he answered and watched the emotions roll across it. Happiness. Shock. Then finally, fear.
To be continued.
Author: duane at duaneaakre dot com
Disclaimer: As always I own nothing. Well I own a house, two cars, a pair of jetskis, and a lot of other junk, but none of these characters.
Story Rating: R [The story may drift into the HBO range rather than stay in the WB range, so to be on the safe side, I am rating this R.]
Chapter 4
Up until this moment the day had been going so well, thought Lex. In the four days since his father had announced he was closing the plant, Lex and his plant managers had hammered out a proposal for the employee buyout which had won the support of the majority of the workers. Chloe had come through with the seventy five percent the employees were short, just as she had promised. Lex had experienced her extravagant lifestyle back in Rome, but somehow that was different. Back here at home, Chloe still seemed to him to be a simple high school girl. So, when she called at lunchtime on Friday for a status report and he told her she was going to have to come up with sixty three million, he still found himself a little surprised when she said she would stop by his office Saturday morning with the appropriate bank account numbers.
The bigger surprise had come when Chloe had shown up at his office. After handing him the paper with the information on the numbered Swiss bank account with the money for the buyout, she handed over a CD-Rom and info on a second bank account.
"Lex, here is the information on the first group of nanotech projects I want you to initiate and some seed money to get things rolling. I have had a number of small start-up companies scattered around the world doing preliminary bits and pieces, but I didn't want to risk bringing it all together until we were safely past the Roman time loop, so as not to risk the timeline. Now that we are finally past all that, I would like to centralize some of these activities here in Smallville so we can better coordinate things. On the disk are key people in each area, the patents I hold through dummy companies and other patents we need to acquire, a list of other companies with critical technologies we need to obtain either via contracting their services or buying out the companies."
Lex stuck the CD into his notebook computer and was astounded by both the detail and complexity of her plans and the grandeur of her goals. This was obviously not something Chloe had just thrown together in the past couple of days.
"Have you known all along my Father was going to close the plant?" asked Lex when he looked up from the computer screen.
Chloe shook her head. "No, it was just a happy coincidence. I was planning to talk to you about this next week after the school year ended and I would have more time to be involved. But this will be very convenient, the initial staffing for the projects will only be a few hundred and they won't be noticed mixed in with the large staff of the plant."
Lex took a deep breath and decided this was as good of time as any to bring this up. "We haven't discussed my compensation, yet."
Chloe cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure we can come up with an agreeable amount."
Lex waved his hand indicated his study and the rest of the Luthor mansion. "A salary is not what I was talking about."
"So, what is it you want? Part ownership? That's acceptable; as I am sure it will help with your motivation."
"That's part of it." Lex hesitated for a moment. "There is one other thing. I would like three hours of your time each week to discuss whatever I want whether it is the current projects, economics, art, history, or whatever."
Chloe remembered sitting under a shade tree on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea with Lex, Clark, and Lana talking about economics and the history of gold. "Two hours."
Lex nodded.
"Great," said Chloe as she rose to her feet. "Now I have a dance to get ready for."
It wasn't until after she left that Lex got around to checking into the separate account with the 'seed' money for her nanotech projects and found 3.6 billion dollars. Serious money, even by Luthor standards. But then some of the long term projects on the list were almost unbelievably grandiose. And exactly what did the final one with the single word 'Heaven' mean?
Lex shook his head. Chloe had lived almost forever and she had accumulated an enormous fortune over time, yet she was capable of doing incredibly stupid things, too. Her little 'Greek God' game had gotten her and Lana killed and had almost killed Lex, too. Now she had started this whole 'let's pretend we're vampires' game with his father. She had once commented on being stuck in a sixteen-year-old's body with a sixteen-year- old's hormones. Was that why she played these childish games? Or was it merely a sign of her boredom after thousands and thousands of years of life? If he had lived for tens of thousands of years, would he too shake things up just for the hell of it, particularly if he knew the odds of survival were almost 100%. Was that the point? Was she intentionally creating situations where there was at least a possibility she might get killed?
Well, playing these games with his father was certainly as dangerous as playing them in ancient Rome. However, it had, a least temporarily, chased his father back to Metropolis. After he had left Lex's study, Lionel had immediately climbed aboard his chopper. Lex didn't discover his mother had gone with him until she called several hours later.
The question was what was his Mother telling his Father about things, like how she had returned from the dead or the truth about the vampire story? If it came to it, what would he tell his father? Revealing Chloe and Lana's nanobot secrets would put them at risk. Revealing Clark's secret would put him at risk. Revealing that a time machine was possible, even if the only one in existence had been destroyed, seemed most dangerous of all. Would it be like nuclear bombs, where every country that tried to build one was successful on the first try? What would his father do with a time machine?
However those questions could all wait for another day. It was time he focused his attention on Lana. He had been so preoccupied with the buyout, he hadn't been able to spend as much time with Lana as he would have liked. Fortunately, by the middle of the afternoon, the last of the papers had been signed and the lawyers, union management, and the plant management had finally departed. As plant manager, Gabe Sullivan had been present for most of the activities and by the end Lex was having a hard time keeping a straight face around him, particularly when he was moaning about putting up the $350,000 which was his share of the buyout money. Although Gabe always said Chloe was his daughter, Chloe had told Lex back in Rome that Gabe thought she was the daughter of his second cousins who had been killed three years earlier in a car crash. Gabe had legally adopted her and in every way treated her as if she really was his daughter. While Gabe was complaining about the money for the buyout, Lex was trying to imagine the expression on Gabe's face if he found out his 'daughter' had just handed Lex over three billion dollars.
Anyway, it was about four thirty; maybe twenty minutes after everyone involved with the buyout had left, when Lana walked into Lex's study. He had been sitting there idly rolling the disk from Clark's ship between his fingers like an oversize silver dollar being worked by a card shark in some old West movie. Most of his attention was still focused on the buyout and trying to identify any other holes in their plan that needed to be filled before the final paperwork was submitted to Lionel and LuthorCorp on Monday. He had been so engrossed with his thoughts; he almost didn't notice Lana's approach. Almost being the keyword, as he couldn't imagine work ever being so important as to completely remove her from his thoughts. That might have been the case before Rome, but certainly not since their return. Oh, the whole buyout thing had consumed more of his attention than he had expected, but then the livelihood of many of Lana, Chloe, and Clark's friends depended on his efforts.
"Hey, Lana, things have finally quieted down with the buyout, how about we drive to Topeka for dinner? I know it's not as nice as Metropolis or as convenient as Smallville, but we are less likely to run into my father or anyone else we know."
Lana shook her head as she leaned back against the corner of his desk, an action which caused the bottom of her tee shirt to ride up exposing a small strip of midriff above the top of her low-slung jeans. Lex's attention focused on the bare skin and he dropped the disk onto the desktop as he reached over to slowly run his hand up under the tee shirt.
"We can't. Well, we can, but we will have to make a late start. Remember? Whitney is leaving for the Marines this evening and I promised to drive him to the bus station. I was just about to leave, but I should be back by seven. Perhaps we can head out to dinner then."
Lex was not too happy with Lana's whole handling of the Whitney situation. Okay, Whitney had been her boyfriend before him; he could accept that. But Lana was with him now and she should have made a nice clean break with Whitney, it was only fair to both Whitney and him. However when she had found out Whitney was leaving in a few days anyway, she just left things awkwardly hanging.
"Lana, you need to tell Whitney the truth about us. It is not fair to him. He is starting a new phase of his life and he shouldn't be under any delusions that you are going to sitting here waiting for his return."
Lana knew in her heart Lex was right, but every time she had been with Whitney this week she couldn't force herself to do it. She tried to convince herself she hadn't said anything to make things easier for Whitney, he had been through so much with the recent loss of his father. But she knew that wasn't the real reason, telling Whitney would bring to an end that chapter of her life. They had been together for three years. Three happy, mostly innocent years. Now her life was so different: Lex and all of his money, she and her enhanced body, the return of her parents. Everything seemed so complicated and there were moments she wished her life could go back to the simple way it was before the past year.
"I know, Lex, but it is hard. Face it, I am not like you. I can't just make a decision and instantly carry it through."
"You need to tell him something."
Lana nodded. "I will, before he gets on the bus."
Lex picked up the disk from the desk. "While you are taking care of Whitney, I guess I will run this over to Clark. I have been meaning to give it to him all week, but with all of the excitement with the buyout, it keeps slipping my mind. Plus, this will give me a chance to go down in his storm cellar and see the ship."
Lana took the disk from Lex and turned it over in her hand, stopping to examine the alien characters inscribed on one surface. "This is really a piece of Clark's spaceship?"
"Yeah, don't you remember me telling you about it before? No, wait, I guess it was Laura who I told."
"My Mom?"
"No, the other Laura, when Chloe's mind was controlling your body."
"Oh," said Lana, still not one hundred percent comfortable with Lex's interactions with Laura.
"Oh," she said again for a different reason. Handing the disk back to Lex, she continued. "You can't go give this to Clark now. Tonight is the big dance. Chloe will kill you, if you distract Clark. And I do mean kill you. Oh, she would probably bring you back and all, but she has been looking forward to this for a long time."
Lex felt a slight shiver run through his body. Setting the disk back down on his desk, he stood, pulling Lana to her feet. "Far be it for me to stand in the way of Clark and Chloe getting to the school dance. I guess I am stuck hanging around here at the mansion, maybe your Dad is up for a rematch at X-box. At least let me walk you to your car."
Lana pulled Lex into a quick kiss and then taking his hand headed to the garage where her little burgundy Jeep Liberty sat looking out of place among all of Lex's exotic cars.
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Roger Nixon had arrived at the Luthor Estate an hour earlier after carefully looping around Smallville on back roads to avoid, as much as possible, accidentally running into Clark Kent. He had even picked up a rental car before leaving Metropolis to further reduce the risks of Kent noticing him.
When Nixon finally reached the estate, he had found a whole line up of cars in the front drive and pulled his car to the side of the road to wait for things to quiet down. After about thirty minutes, whatever event had been going on broke up and the dozen cars departed. Ten minutes later he started his car and drove up to the front gate. He had been to the estate enough times during the previous six months that the guard on duty recognized him and waved him on in. After he parked, he proceeded to the front door. The head butler didn't happen to be present and rather than ring the bell, Nixon let himself in. 'You never knew when a little harmless snooping might payoff,' he thought to himself.
Quietly, Nixon walked down the hallway leading to Lex's office, hoping Lex would be somewhere else in the mansion and perhaps he could have a crack at Lex's computer files. But as he approached, he found the door partially open and could hear voices from inside. Cautiously peering around the edge of the door jamb, he recognized Lana Lang from the Talon as the other occupant with Lex.
Listening to their conversation, Nixon quickly realized the two were more than just co-owners of a coffee shop. Perhaps this was why Lionel Luthor was suddenly putting out urgent inquiries to all of the news sources in Metropolis, legitimate and otherwise, for any and all information on one Lana Lang of Smallville. If she and Lex were suddenly an item, it would explain dear ole Dad's interest. However, it didn't explain why Lionel Luthor was just as urgently looking for information on Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent's girlfriend. 'If there is anyone in Smallville Lionel Luthor should be frantically trying to get info on, it was Clark Kent, not a couple of ordinary high school girls,' thought Nixon.
But all thoughts of why Lionel was interested in the girls was instantly swept from his mind when the conversation in the room turned to the disk and Kent's ship. Kent had a spaceship in his family's storm cellar? A spaceship? Did that mean Kent was an alien? It would certainly explain the unbelievable things he had been able to do the day Nixon had tried to blow him up in his truck.
He couldn't help but risk another peek into the study and saw Lex set a small disk down on the desk before pulling the Lang girl into a kiss. As they pulled apart and turned towards the door, Nixon jerked back and headed down the hallway to stay out of sight.
He had to see the spaceship for himself. If he could get video of the ship, it would be all the proof he needed. And from what Lana Lang was saying, Kent would be gone from the farm all evening for a dance. Today would be the perfect time to go.
Nixon had ducked into the library leaving the doorway open slightly to be able to hear what was going on in the corridor. After a few seconds Lex and Lana walked passed heading towards the back of the mansion in the direction of the garage. If Lex was walking her to her car, it would be at least a few minutes before he would return to his study. Nixon decided to see if Lex had left the disk from the ship in his study. An actual piece of the ship would certainly help validate any video.
Of course, now the whole issue of who would be the best buyer was altered. When he had tried to get footage of Clark surviving a truck explosion, the obvious buyer had been Lex or his Father. But since Lex already knew about the ship and therefore Clark's secret, if he went to Lex, Lex would just blow him off or, at best, bribe him to keep quiet. However knowing Lex, he would probably just make him disappear. Which left Lionel Luthor, but if he wasn't looking for information on Clark, but rather on the two girls, did that mean he also already knew about Clark and his ship?
No, with the disk and footage of the ship, he wouldn't have to admit to anything illegal like with the ill-conceived truck explosion idea. Therefore he could take this to legitimate buyers like the Daily Planet. Hell, he could even go to one of the television networks, which would be better suited for video anyway.
As Nixon headed back to Lex's study, his mind was a swirl with the possibilities of this story catapulting him to a correspondent's job on one of the weekly TV newsmagazines. Entering the office, he quickly strode over to the desk. No, the disk was not sitting on the desk like he had last seen it. Frantically Nixon started to search the contents of the desk. Finally, after a few minutes of searching the drawers, he found it in a small ornate box sitting in plain sight on top of the desk.
He had just replaced the box in its original position and leaned back in Lex's chair to study the disk when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He barely had time to stuff it into his pocket and casually swing his feet up onto the desk before Lex walked into the room.
"Roger Nixon. I don't recall requesting your presence in Smallville today. What are you doing here?" asked Lex as he walked past his desk and over to the liquor cabinet where he poured a drink for himself, but made no offer to Nixon.
Nixon stood up from the chair. "I had some news you might be interested in and thought it was worth driving out here."
After taking a sip of his drink, Lex asked. "What news would that be?"
Nixon shoved his hands in his pockets, but when his left hand closed on the disk, he quickly pulled them back out. "Your father is putting out urgent inquiries about two girls from Smallville. And not just to all the normal channels in Metropolis. According to some of my sources, information requests are also going out to the FBI, the CIA, and other less official sources. Since the girls involved are your business partner at the Talon, Lana Lang, and Clark Kent's girlfriend, Chloe Sullivan, I thought I should make sure you knew."
Lex knew after the 'vampire' incident his father would be searching for information. And he knew it was the main point of Chloe's plan; let Lionel waste a lot of time searching for something that wasn't there. But he had expected his father to start out a little more subtly.
Then Nixon's comment about Chloe being Clark's girlfriend sank in. Their relationship had only really developed during the trip to Rome. How had Nixon come into possession of that information during the past week?
"Thanks for the head's up. Perhaps you can discretely pass some information back through channels to my Father for me."
"You know me, discretion is my middle name. I will see any info you want will be passed on and in no way will it be connected to you."
Lex gave him a long stare, but concluded it with a short nod. He needed to talk with Chloe to see if she had any information she wanted to suggest to head Lionel's wild goose chase in a specific direction. "I will call you either tomorrow or Monday with the information I would like passed along. Was there anything else?"
The journalist in Nixon wanted to ask about what was going on with the two girls since Lex didn't seem particularly surprised his Father was investigating them, but he had the disk and now knew where Kent's spaceship was. It was better to get out of here before he slipped up and said something to give himself away.
"No, Lex. That's it. But I thought you would want to know about your Father's sudden interest in these girls. I will look forward to your call."
Lex watched as Nixon walked out of the study. Usually, it seemed like he had to almost have security come to drag Nixon out of his office, but today Nixon had walked out at the first hint of any excuse. Lex pondered it for a moment, but decided he had more important things to think about than Roger Nixon.
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With the pickup not yet back from the weld shop where the new fuel tank was being installed, Chloe in the end picked up Clark in her Corvair for the drive to the dance. She usually liked to drive with the top down, but the wind had been picking up all afternoon and it looked like it was going to storm before the dance was over. Therefore she had been forced to leave the top on her car up to try and protect her hair and the custom green silk gown she was wearing.
As they arrived at the school and Clark hurried around to open her door, Chloe couldn't help but take a moment to admire how good Clark looked in a tux. It suited him much better than the toga he had worn the last time she had seen him formally attired for an excursion to the Circus Maximus and then on to Emperor Caligula's imperial palace. But then Clark was definitely more of a twenty first century sort of guy than an ancient Roman.
Rising from the car with Clark's help, she couldn't stop herself from running her hands up and down the lapels of his tuxedo. "Clark, you look so hot in a tux. We need to find events that require this sort of attire more often."
Clark pulled her in close and rested his hands on her lower back, very lower back as most of his long fingers were caressing the upper curves of her ass. "I am not nearly as hot as you look in that gown. Although it does seem slightly muted compared to the one I remember in Rome."
Chloe blushed slightly as she looked up into Clark's face. "It seemed best to add an extra layer of silk here in prudish Smallville. I don't want to get expelled because nipples and other bits show through an ultra-sheer gown. However, I did have an exact copy of the other gown made as well, if we can find the appropriate occasion. Hmmm, the only place I can think to wear it would be some outrageously upscale Hollywood party. I do have financial interests in a couple of movie studios. Would you like to fly out to L.A. some weekend for some serious partying?"
Before Clark could answer, a powerful gust of wind nearly swept Chloe from her feet.
"Let's continue this conversation inside," suggested Clark as he moved to Chloe's left side to use his body to help block the wind.
Joining all of the other formally clad students, they rushed to the entrance trying to outrun the wall of rain already sweeping across the athletic field to the south and heading straight for the school. They had just passed through the front doors when the storm broke over the windows in a deluge. Chloe began an infectious laugh in celebration of their perfect timing, a laugh which quickly spread to Clark.
They had just gotten past the dense throng clustered inside the front door when they came upon Whitney and Lana, both looking decidedly out of place in jeans and tee shirts.
Lana looked the pair over. "Wow, you guys look great." Then giving Chloe a quick wink, she continued. "That gown brings back some interesting memories."
Whitney gave Lana a curious look as he wondered where she would have seen Chloe in a gown like that before.
Just then Pete Ross and his date walked up. Their timing hadn't been quite as good as the others and they looked a little drenched.
"Hi, Erica," said Chloe brightly, wondering once again at the secret to Pete's charm. Erica had been voted 'mostly likely to end up a supermodel' by the class and seemed way out of Pete's league.
"Hi," returned Erica with a smile.
Pete was having a hard time not stammering in all of his excitement. "Chloe, could you . . . ah"
At this point Erica grabbed the camera from Pete's hand and handed it to Chloe. "What Pete is trying to say is, could you please take our picture?"
"Of course," she answered before turning to Clark. "I'll be just a minute." Then she reached up to wipe a couple of raindrops from Clark's face before pulling his head down to whisper in his ear. "I think Pete wants proof this night really happened."
Clark pulled back with a grin as he watched Chloe lead Pete and Erica off in search of an appropriate backdrop for the photo. It seemed like for the last few weeks the events in ancient Rome had drawn Chloe, Lana, Lex, and him into such a tight-knit little circle, it hadn't left much room for his other friends like Pete. Clark promised himself he would find time in the next few days to hang more with Pete; perhaps they could do a baseball game in Metropolis or a day-long fishing trip to Crater Lake.
As Clark watched Chloe walk away with just a hint more sway to the hips than was normal, he remembered Whitney and Lana standing there.
"Well," said Whitney. "I guess this is it."
"Good luck, Whitney," responded Clark and meaning it. Joining the Marines sounded like a very big, scary step. Clark was suddenly glad he was still several years from graduating and having to make the big life-altering decisions.
"Lana, could I have a minute alone with Clark?" asked Whitney.
Whitney was forced to watch a quick glance pass between Lana and Clark. A glance he had seen several times before this week between Lana, Clark, and Chloe. A glance that seemed to say they were all in on some big secret they were not sharing with him. Not a 'Clark is trying to steal Lana' glance he had seen earlier in the year, but still a secretive look of some sort.
As quickly as it had started, it was over and Lana returned her attention to Whitney. "Sure, I'll, uh, bring the truck around."
Whitney fished in his pocket for his keys. "Okay, try not to get too wet."
"I'll try." Then Lana headed to the door, pulling her light spring jacket off as she went. When she reached the door, she turned and gave a quick wave before stretching the jacket above her head and running out into the rain.
With a sigh, Whitney began. "You and I have had a weird year. I started out thinking you just wanted to steal Lana." Then Whitney gave a quick apologetic shrug of his shoulders. "I'm not trying to make excuses, but . . . I did some things I'm not proud of. I'm sorry, Clark."
Clark reached out his right hand and grasped Whitney's. "I appreciate that."
Whitney took a deep breath to prepare himself. "Listen, Clark . . . there's something I want to ask you. A favor."
Clark was a little surprised. He hadn't talked to her about it, but assumed Lana had told Whitney about her and Lex. He and Whitney had never been particularly close, so he wasn't sure what sort of a favor Whitney would want from him. Cautiously, he responded with a simple, "Okay."
"Lana's not sure how she feels about our relationship right now. But I am. I need you to look after her until I get back."
Clark was suddenly very surprised. How could they have been back from their time travel adventure for a week without Lana explaining things to Whitney? Okay, maybe not explaining about the return of her long dead parents. Or even about her new nanobot 'gifts'. But surely she would have explained about her relationship with Lex. He knew she had even been spending the nights at the mansion rather than at Nell's place since their return. He wasn't sure how she had managed that without letting Nell in on at least some of their secrets. But he had never dreamed she hadn't come clean with Whitney about her relationship with Lex.
All Clark could hope was Lana knew what she was doing and what she wanted out of her relationships with Whitney and Lex and didn't screw everything up. Suddenly, Clark wished Lana hadn't left him in the middle of things. "I really don't know what to say . . ."
Whitney gave him an earnest stare. "Say yes."
"Okay."
"Clark?"
"I promise." To himself, Clark added, 'I promise to talk to Lana and ask her why the fuck she left me stuck in the middle of her mess.' Leaving him in the middle would have been okay if it had been Clark and Lana who had fallen in love back in Rome. But it had been Lana and Lex. Not Lana and Clark.
The conversation was interrupted by a horn honking. Whitney and Clark looked out at see Lana waiting outside in the parked truck. As she waved to Whitney to join her, Clark was seriously tempted to run out there in speed mode and shake some sense into her. But he quickly decided to focus his attention on Chloe, Lana was capable of digging her way out of her own mess.
Abruptly, Clark felt Whitney clap him on the shoulder and say a quick, "Thanks."
As he watched Whitney walk off in a much better mood, Clark called out. "Good luck."
Clark moved to the doorway and watched as Whitney ran through the rain to the truck. Lana slid from the driver's seat to the passenger seat and while Whitney was opening the door, she mouthed a silent 'Sorry' towards Clark. Clark tried to put a whole 'You need to tell Whitney the truth' message in his return stare. Once Whitney was seated in the cab, Clark raised his hand in a farewell wave.
As the truck was pulling away, Chloe walked up and wrapped an arm around Clark's waist. "What was that all about?" she asked as they watched the tail lights slowly fade into the rain.
Clark let out a sigh. "Did you know Lana hasn't told Whitney about Lex yet?"
Chloe shook her head. "I knew she hadn't as of a couple of days ago when I last really talked to her. I told her she needed to just do it. The longer she waits, the harder it will become. And at some point it may screw everything up between her and Lex."
For a couple more minutes, they just stood there staring out into the rain lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Clark could faintly hear the band starting to warm up and knew it was time to put thoughts of Lana, Lex, and Whitney away. This was a special night for him and Chloe.
Turning to Chloe, he asked, "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"
Clark offered his arm as he turned in the direction of the gym.
As she took his arm, she answered, "Yeah, but frequent reminders are always appreciated."
-------------------------------
The storm front was looking steadily worse and the wind gusts were approaching forty miles an hour as Martha struggled to get the last of the hanging pots down from its hook above the railing of the porch.
"Martha, leave it," Jonathan nearly shouted to be heard over the howling wind. "The radio says funnels have been sighted only two miles south of here. We need to get to the storm cellar. Now."
Juggling the big emergency lantern and the radio in one hand, Jonathan tugged at Martha with his other.
Running across the yard, Martha shouted. "What about Clark?"
"I'm sure he is fine. The school is not going to take any risks and the students are probably already in protected areas. Besides, it's Clark. He will be fine."
As they approached the storm cellar Jonathan spotted one of its doors banging loosely in the wind. That wasn't right. They always keep the doors locked because of the spaceship and he had the key to the padlock in his pocket. Normally, he would have insisted Martha go first into the safety of the cellar, but his time he led the way, turning the battery- powered lantern on and holding it high as he descended the stairs.
Before he had reached the bottom, he could see another light bouncing erratically around off of the shelf-lined walls. Someone else was down there. But with tornadoes rampaging around the immediate area, they had no choice but to proceed on down.
Just as Jonathan reached the bottom of the stairs the noise and buffeting of the wind dropped noticeably as Martha managed to pull both of the heavy doors closed. Looking out across the floor, the first thing he saw was the metallic gleam of the spaceship under the bright light, a metallic gleam he shouldn't be seeing unless someone had pulled back the old tarp he always used to hide the ship from casual notice. Once his eyes had adjusted slightly to the general darkness of the cellar, Jonathan realized the lights he was seeing were coming from floodlights mounted on top of what looked like a professional caliber video camera, one of the big ones meant to be used from on top of the shoulder.
"Who the fuck are you?" bellowed Jonathan in a rage at this man who was invading the family's most carefully guarded secrets.
As Martha reached the bottom of the stairs, Jonathan handed her the lantern before reaching for an old two-by-four lying conveniently at hand and then starting to head towards the other man without a clear idea how he was going to proceed other than he knew he had to prevent a videotape of the ship from ever leaving this cellar.
Jonathan was so focused on the other man, he barely noticed how the wind and noise seemed to pick up for a few seconds as though the storm had momentarily torn loose one of the doors again.
Almost reaching the other man, Jonathan once more yelled out asking who he was.
Roger Nixon lowered the camera at the approach of the large farmer, but had a difficult time drawing his eyes away from the captivating lines of the spaceship. Finally, he looked up at the towering farmer with the raised wooden club.
"I am Roger Nixon with the Metropolis Inquisitor. People have the right to know about your son and about what you have hidden here in your storm cellar."
"You have no right to invade the privacy of my family. You are going to destroy all of our lives," screamed Jonathan in return.
As Jonathan paused, a calm, loud voice called out from the stairway. "Mr. Kent, let me handle this." The two men turned towards this new male voice and watched Lex Luthor stepped down into the beam of light from Martha's lantern.
"Roger, you shouldn't have stolen the disk from my office. You must have known I would notice it was missing before too long. And you were the only person in there since I last saw it. Give the disk and the videotape to Mr. Kent and you may just survive the stupid things you are doing."
Nixon pulled the disk out of his pocket. "Give up this disk? Never. The disk and the video are all I need to make my fortune. Do you know how much the networks will pay for proof aliens are real and living among us?"
Suddenly, as he was speaking, the disk jerked out of Nixon's hand as though some powerful invisible giant had grabbed it. As he watched, the disk stopped in mid-air and just hovered. Very slowly the disk started to rotate as though to properly align with the mating cavity in the surface of the ship.
Before Nixon could see what was going to happen next, Jonathan grabbed the camera and tried to rip it from Nixon's shoulder. As the two men fought for control of the camera, Lex walked passed them, seemingly drawn to the disk on which the inscribed symbols were starting to glow a brilliant incandescent white.
Jonathan and Nixon continued struggling over the camera and their actions were slowly forcing them closer to the stairwell. Martha had to move to the side of the chamber with her back against a row of shelves containing canned tomatoes to keep from being caught up in the battle.
Abruptly, a lucky blow from Nixon caught Jonathan on the chin and knocked him back onto his butt. By the time Jonathan was back on his feet, Nixon with his video camera had disappeared up the stairs and out into the storm.
"Jonathan!" screamed Martha.
Jonathan spared a single moment to look back at his wife of twenty years. "I have to get that tape."
Then he raced up the stairs after the other man and, as he passed out into the night, he slammed the doors back shut returning the cellar to relative quiet.
Martha choked back a sob as she turned her attention towards Lex and the ship. She was just in time to see the disk slowly, majestically descend down into the mating slot in the ship.
When the disk slipped home, an incredibly powerful beam of white light shot straight up out of the surface of the disk. Unfortunately for Lex, he had been leaning over the spaceship watching the whole process and the beam of light struck him directly in the face.
For an instant it felt like he was back in the arena in Rome experiencing all of Chloe's thousand of years of memories trying to jam into his brain at the same time. Only this time it was even worse. The memories and symbols being forced into his mind were mostly alien, never intended for a human brain. Occasionally the visions and memories were from earth, but the vast majority were of truly alien landscapes and cities. And the symbols, they came faster and faster while becoming increasingly complex. In a matter of seconds, it felt like his head was exploding and Lex started to scream in agony.
Martha watched as Lex was lifted completely clear of the ground, the power of the pulsating white beam alone enough to suspend him in mid-air. On and on Lex's screaming went as the light battered against his face. Just something about the way the beam pulsated made Martha think it was being used to transfer untold quantities of information into Lex's head rather than being a simple destructive force. But as Lex continued to scream in agony, it was obvious this massive stream of data was not intended for a human mind or body.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably only fifteen seconds, Lex's screams ended as he slipped into unconsciousness. But still the powerful white beam did not abate only continued to pour endlessly into his face. Finally, after at least two minutes, the light cut off as though a light switch had been flipped and Lex's body dropped to the floor. In the position he happened to land, his face was turned towards Martha and she was shocked to see the uniform, unblinking white orbs where his eyes should have been.
She had only a moment to stare at Lex before her attention was drawn to the ship. A loud, low frequency, bowel rattling hum was coming from it as the countless symbols on its surface started to glow white-hot matching the original display put forth by the symbols on the disk.
When the sound and the light from the ship seemed to reach an unbearable level, a pulsing wave of energy shot out of the ship in all directions knocking Martha from her feet and shattering most of the glass jars filled with tomatoes. As the red contents of the jars flooded down and across the floor, the ship lifted off of the floor on which it had been resting for the past thirteen years. At a height of three feet, it paused for several seconds as though planning it next action, then it shot straight up at a speed no eye could have followed, except maybe Clark's.
The one foot thick reinforced concrete roof of the storm cellar in no way slowed the ship as it shot up into the storm filled sky. But the shockwave caused by its passage did momentarily stun Martha Kent. After a few seconds, she had regained enough of her wits to crawl over to Lex's body. She found a weak pulse, but the solid white remains of his eyes continued to stare blindly in the direction his head happened to be pointing.
Almost falling into shock herself at the enormity of the events, she finally thought to pull her cell phone out of her pocket and dial Clark's number.
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The rain grew steadily heavier as Whitney drove from Smallville High on the north side of the town to the bus depot located in the extreme southeast corner of town, almost out in the country. The bus depot in the good old days had been located on Main Street only three blocks from the courthouse, but too many well-respected citizens complained it attracted the wrong type of crowd. Eventually, the city council was persuaded to force the bus line owners to move to the current remote, highly inconvenient location.
Lana knew she only had a few minutes left to explain the real situation between them and her new relationship with Lex, but was still managing to procrastinate because Whitney needed to focus on his driving. God, why couldn't she be more like Lex and just come out and say it. Say the simple words. 'I have met someone else. I won't be waiting for your return.' Twelve words, that's all it would take to get things moving forward, as they must.
Lana was jarred from her thoughts by Whitney asking her to turn on the radio and find some local weather. The rain was finally easing up, but the sky ahead was taking on a very scary shade of green. A shade of green he had never quite seen before, but knew was the color associated with tornadoes.
Lana had her head down and was fiddling with the radio when the giant eight by ten piece of sheet metal came careening in out of nowhere to hit the front of the truck. In surprise, Whitney jerked the steering wheel hard to the right and on the rain-slick road, the truck spun out of control. The truck managed two complete three hundred and sixty degree spins before leaving the road and slamming nose first into the ditch with sufficient force to set off both front seat airbags.
The sudden stop and airbag explosion momentarily knocked both Whitney and Lana unconscious. Lana's 'bots brought her back around in exactly four seconds, but by then it was too late. The large 'force four' tornado which had been forming in the clouds directly over their heads had dropped its first funnel down to the ground directly on their position.
As Lana struggled to shake off the effects of the crash, the truck began to shake violently and then the front and back windows exploded outward from the force of the vacuum. Lana had only a moment to glance over at Whitney's body slumped over the steering wheel before she was forced to close her eyes against the grit-filled, three hundred mile per hour wind.
At least they were both wearing their seatbelts which she thought would hold them in the truck until the tornado had moved on, but then the shaking of the truck changed significantly in pitch. She realized the truck had been lifted into the air by the high velocity winds just as the truck began to pitch and tumble in a most nauseating way about all three axes.
She slammed around the cab and knew the seatbelts wouldn't hold long under this kind of abuse. She briefly wished Clark and his incredible strength were here, but he wasn't, and it was up to her to get them out of this alive. She remembered some of the stories Chloe had told and knew even a fall from hundreds of feet wouldn't kill her nanobot enhanced body. But a fall like that would certainly kill Whitney. She also knew, from the data Chloe had downloaded to her, how to introduce her 'bots into someone else's body. If she could do that with Whitney and then keep their bodies in physical contact, she should be able to get him through this alive, too.
The first thing she needed was some way to cut them to transfer the seed 'bots which would multiply until they complete saturated Whitney's body. However, finding something in a madly tumbling truck cab was impossibly difficult, while simultaneously keeping her left hand firmly gripped in Whitney's so they wouldn't get separated, if one of their belts failed. Momentarily she managed to catch the strap of her purse that had been down on the floor of the pickup and which she knew had a nail file that would do the trick. But then the horrific wind caught the bag and ripped it from her grasp with so much force, her right wrist was shattered when it slammed into the door frame.
She gasped in pain before the 'bots blocked her brain's pain receptors and then flashed through her mind the message that her damaged wrist would be repaired in 7.3 seconds. However they might not have 7.3 more seconds as she increased the grip her left hand was maintaining on Whitney's unconscious hand.
Abruptly, the battered remains of the truck was tossed clear of the main body of the tornado and it began to plummet towards the ground. At least the speed at which it was tumbling had slowed and the wind had died down to where Lana could open her eyes, not that seeing they were falling from over three hundred feet was in any way a comforting sight.
Quickly, Lana let go of Whitney and used her good hand to release her seatbelt buckle. At this point the only chance she saw for Whitney was if she could get her body wrapped about his and hope the impact would rip open both of their bodies in such a way she could pass her life saving 'bots to him.
But just as she had her hands occupied with her seatbelt, the last strands of Whitney's belt tore loose and his inert body tumbled through the opening where the driver's door had once been. Lana managed to snag his ankle, but without her belt to restrain her, she too was pulled from the tumbling wreckage of the truck.
What a way to end a lousy day, thought Lana, freefalling without a parachute, in a tornado, while holding on to your ex-boyfriend's ankle. As the ground seemed to race up towards them, she closed her eyes and thought, 'At least it couldn't get any worse.' But she was wrong.
Their bodies slammed into the ground in a slightly sloping field and Whitney's ankle was ripped from her grasp. As they tumbled to a halt their bodies were just over ten feet apart. Lana's brain was barely functioning as a calm voice seemed to be telling her it would be twenty seven seconds until enough of her functions would be restored to allow her to move. However during those twenty seven seconds the wreckage of the truck landed up the hill above them and by the time it had tumble to a halt, the six hundred pound engine block had come to a rest across Lana's legs, pinning her to the spot.
By the time the nanobot countdown had gone from twenty seven to zero, her head had cleared and she could open her eyes to look around. She was lying on her back in the middle of a freshly sprouted cornfield. She could see Whitney's body lying about ten feet away. She tried to move towards him and then realized she couldn't move her legs. Looking down her body she saw the way the engine was crushing her legs and the remainder of the truck was scattered in pieces up the gentle incline of the field. Seeing the wreckage, for an instant all she could think was how glad she was Whitney had wanted to drive his truck one last time or it would have been Libby scattered all over the hillside.
Forcing her attention back to the current situation, Lana managed to rise to a sitting position and tried to push against the engine, but she didn't have the strength or leverage to so much as budge it. Slumping back to the ground, she almost began to cry. She had at most three minutes and forty seven seconds to reach Whitney if she was going to save him and at the moment the ten feet separating them might as well be a million miles.
For a couple of seconds she just lay there trying to imagine what she could have done differently, but finally started to sweep her hands about her and up and down her body looking for anything that could help her or at least spark an idea. As she ran her hands down her body, she finally felt the small cigar-shaped tube tucked in her back pant's pocket, the special custom cell phone Chloe had given each of them that first night after their return through the time machine. Quickly, she pulled it from her pocket and pressed the recessed button to turn it on. After an incredibly long five seconds, the phone chimed to indicate it was up and functioning properly.
As soon as the chime ended, Lana quietly and clearly said, "Call Clark."
----------------------------------------------------------------
It was the first slow dance and Chloe and Clark were out in the center of the floor with their bodies pressed together as tight as humanly possible. To an outside observer they were just slowly swaying to the music, but Chloe could feel Clark's arousal and her own body's reaction.
"Clark," she whispered knowing he would be able to hear her, even with the band and all of the other noise. "I never thought this day would finally arrive. For me it has been one thousand nine hundred sixty five years, or put another way seven hundred seventeen thousand days that I have had to wait since you first asked me. But right this minute, it all feels worth it. Clark, I love you."
Clark pulled one of his hands from where it had been resting on her back and used it to raise her head for a long, slow kiss. When the kiss ended, Clark responded, "I love you, too."
They had just started a second passionate kiss when abruptly the band stopped playing and one of the dance chaperones stepped up to the microphone.
"May I have your attention please! Several tornadoes have been reported on the south side of town. None are in the immediate area, but as a precaution everyone needs to move to the storm shelters. The weather bureau says this front should be past Smallville in forty five minutes and hopefully we will be able to continue the dance then. Please use the exits on the east side of the gym. Thank you."
When the speaker finished, Clark looked down at Chloe. "I need to go."
"Go where, Clark? I am sure your parents have been watching the weather and are in their storm cellar."
"Lana."
"Lana is a big girl now. She is quite capable of riding out a tornado in safety. If not, well, I have been through worse and survived, she will too."
Clark thought about it for a second and knew Chloe was right, there was nothing immediate he needed to do and he should just remember this night was for Chloe and him.
Clark nodded and then with a grin said, "I seem to remember a couple of dark, hidden corners down in the storm shelter. Let's see if we can find a quiet spot for ourselves."
Chloe returned his grin and grabbing his hand dragged him into crowd heading for the shelter.
The closer they got to the shelter the more cell phones belonging to other students they heard starting to ring. Just as they set foot in the shelter, Clark's phone joined in. Being in a great mood at the thought of finding a secluded corner to make out, Clark pulled out his own special cylindrical cell phone and answered it with a cheery, "Hey, this is Clark."
Chloe glanced up at his face as he answered and watched the emotions roll across it. Happiness. Shock. Then finally, fear.
To be continued.