Chapter 7

Tess woke with a strangled cry. Heart pounding, she sat up looking wildly around as she slowly remembered where she was. "He's not here." She told her self. "He's dead." You made sure of that. She lay back against the pile of pillows, wide awake. She wouldn't be sleeping any more tonight or this morning, she mused checking the luminescent digits on the I-pod dock. 2 o'clock is far too early to be awake.

Tess glanced at the door, half expecting Clark to charge in to check on her as he'd taken to doing the past few weeks. She was glad the door remained shut. As sweet as the farm boy turned super hero could be, the constant attention was beginning to smother her. She wasn't used to it. She was Tess Mercer. She wasn't fragile; she wasn't about to fall to pieces because of a few nightmares. She'd lived through them all already. Their legacies wouldn't kill her anymore than the event did. Except maybe today.

Sighing Tess rolled onto her side, facing the window. She watched the shadows dance on the window pane, trying not to allow her annoying vivid imagination make shapes out of them. A tiny knock on her door made her jump. "Clark?"

"Essa." Came the quiet reply. Jonathan was obviously trying to not wake his father.

Tess smiled, walking over to open the door to her charge. Clark had been smart enough to put the doorknob out of Jonathan's reach and the boy had been repeatedly told not to use his head as a door opener. Jonathan stood outside her door, a dilapidated teddy in one hand and peering up at her with the puppy dog eyes she couldn't resist. He walked into her room and climbed up onto her bed. "Sometimes I think you think this is your room." She told him with a slight smile. This was what she needed. A distraction from the pain.

He looked up at her, not understanding. "Essa room."

She laughed quietly. "So you do know." Tess slipped back under the covers. "Are you going to sleep or do you want to talk?"

"alk!" Jonathan crowed loudly.

Tess put a finger to her lips. "Shh. You'll wake Daddy."

"Sowie."

"It's ok. He'll just want to know how you escaped your room, again." Tess found it rather amusing how the almost two year old had evaded every measure Clark had employed to keep Jonathan in his room. Short of blue kryptonite, he'd tried everything to no avail. "You're a little Houdini in the making."

"Houdini?" Jonathan repeated the funny sounding word. "Houdini."

Tess smiled at his antics. Maybe the day wouldn't be so bad after all.

Clark felt like banging his head on the table. He'd been with Cat for 12 hours straight and was fighting the desire to strangle her. Her foolproof undercover operation had backfired severely and now they were back to square one.

"What about trying to find the bank accounts?" Cat suggested suddenly. They sat at the kitchen table at the farm, two laptops and hundreds of pages between them. "It can't be that hard, right?"

"It's probably an offshore account. They're almost untraceable." Clark replied, thinking she should've known that. "But you might be on the right track.

"Really?"

"What if we looked for the people behind the cover up? We know that Congressman Phillips covered up the fraud he committed but he must have had help."

"Who are you thinking of?" Cat could see he already had a suspect in mind.

"Lex Luthor."

Cat shook her head. "No way. He's a good man. He wouldn't do something like that. He's going to the President. The President can't be corrupt"

Clark fought the urge to gag. Why do people always see the good Lex? "Trust me. I know him. It's exactly the kind of thing he'd do."

"Oh I forgot about your and Lois' vendetta against him." Cat said, leaning forward. "Isn't it time you let that grudge go? Let bygones be bygones. My Granddaddy said holding a grudge makes you unhappy, not the other person."

Clark bit back what he wanted to say. "Did he now? Well he obviously never met Lex."

"No he didn't." Cat admitted. "But he would have loved to. Granddaddy loved patriotic people like Lex Luthor."

"Did I just walk into an alternate reality?" Tess asked, walking into the room. "I could have sworn someone just called Lex patriotic."

"I did." Cat frowned at her former boss. "Cos he is. Lex Luthor saved this country form destitution and self destruction. And you should have more respect for your brother. He's going to be the President, you know."

Tess took a menacing step towards the blonde reporter. "Listen here Kitty Cat. You may think you know Lex, but you don't. So don't talk about what you don't know."

"Tess…" Clark trailed off warningly.

"I may not know Mr Luthor personally but I know what he does." Cat stood up and faced Tess. "He built up charities, foundations and rebuilt the economy. Does that sound like the plan of a corrupt man to you?"

"You should have been on the campaign trail, Grant. You would've done wonders for the PR boost." Tess replied coolly. She turned to Clark. "I just came in to tell you that Jonathan's asleep so goodnight." She started walking out of the room; she'd had enough of Cat Grant for today.

"Maybe you're just ashamed you're not more like him."

Both Tess and Clark froze at Cat's words. "What," Tess spat. "Did you say?"

Cat continued, a little uneasy. "You wish you could be more like him. When you were in charge of LuthorCorp everyone hated you and now that you're practically forgotten by everyone important, you're jealous."

"Cat, that's a little harsh don't you think?" Clark asked, trying to be the peacemaker. Not to mention, entirely incorrect, he added silently.

Tess was seething. "If I were more like Lex, you wouldn't be saying that."

"And why not?" Cat demanded hotly.

"You would be-"

"Tess, that's enough." Clark cut her off. You can't say stuff like that." He warned her.

She gave him a pointed glare and left the room. "Stupid damn gag order." He heard her mumble.

"Wow, I'm sure glad I'm not her sister. Imagine the Christmases." Cat sat back down.

"Cat, that was cruel." Clark admonished her. "You didn't need to say that."

"I was just expressing my political opinion. If she takes it the wrong way, that's her problem." Cat replied. "Now where were we?"

Clark was grateful for the change in topic. "Trying to find solid evidence of the cover up."

"Right, so if we look for the offshore accounts we should be able to find the evidence." Cat continued on with her previous idea.

"It's not going to work. You can't access those kinds of details." Clark told her, feeling as though he was trying to explain something to Jonathan.

"Sure we can. I've got a contact at the Caribbean bank. He'll help us." Cat said cheerfully.

"And what about the other banks?" Clark pointed out.

She waved a hand dismissively. "Don't be a worrywart Clark, be positive. It will all work out." Clark rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking. Cat continued on before looking at the clock. "Oh my gosh, is that the time? I'm sorry Clark I've got to go. I promise my son I'd help him choose a Halloween costume."

Clark frowned. "Is it Halloween soon?" Tess was the one who went crazy for the holidays, trying to give Jonathan the happy memories she never had. It was strange she hadn't mentioned Halloween.

"On Friday." Cat nodded. "Do you have a costume for Jonathan yet?"

Clark shook his head. "No. Tess normally organises that sort of thing."

Cat's eyes lit up with an idea. "I know, you could dress Jonathan up as a pirate. He'd look adorable."

"Maybe. I'll have to talk with Tess."

Cat pointed behind him. "Here she is, ask her now."

"Ask me what?" Tess asked walking down the hall.

"About Jonathan's costume for Halloween. Cat suggested he go as a pirate."

"No pirates." Tess said vehemently. "Absolutely no pirates."

"What do you have against pirates, Tess?" Cat asked. "Don't like Johnny Depp?"

Tess looked at Clark, ignoring the blonde. "I don't care what you organise. Just no pirates." For the second time, she left the room, going upstairs this time.

"Wow. Someone doesn't like pirates." Cat commented. "Lucky you don't have to listen to her."

"What do you mean?"

"Well she's just the nanny isn't she?" Cat asked. "So shouldn't it just be your opinion that matters?"

Clark didn't know what to say. He'd assumed they were almost equals raising Jonathan. "I never thought about that."

"Well you should. She's acting like she's the lady of the house. And Jonathan's practically calling her 'Mommy'. She shouldn't take Lois' place. You might want to think about setting some boundaries before something happens. You never can be too careful with someone like that." Cat suggested.

"I'll think about it." Clark told her, trying to get rid of her. "You have a safe drive home." He opened the front door for her."

"Thanks Clark. Good night." Cat smiled and left.

Clark closed the door and heard the back door open and slam shut. Jonathan cried out at the sudden loud noise. "Tess?" Clark called worriedly. There was no answer. He heard her car start up and drive away. Clark ran out the front door in time to see a blaze of red hair in the driver's seat as Tess drove away. "Tess!" He yelled after her. "Stop!" The car kept on moving, leaving a cloud of dust behind.