Chloe suddenly found Bruce's arms around her, he whispered, "You better hold on to me tight."
Turning around she put her arms around his neck and held onto him tightly. Then a familiar misty fog surrounded them and the next thing Chloe knew was they were floating in mid air, Bruce then pulled on string and a black Para shoot fluttered out from his back and then they landed in the midst of an abandoned alley right next to the building. They had landed right on top of a sewer, Bruce quickly opened it. Taking Chloe's hand they both jumped in the sewer causing a large splash of water. Everything happened so quickly she did not have time to object. As soon as she has found herself in this raw sewage that was covering her ankles she pushed Bruce away from her.
"What the hell was that?"
"I was saving you."
"Funny, it kind of looked like kidnapping."
"That guy tried to blast you!"
"Actually, he tried to blast you, if you want to get all technical about it."
"And you went in front of me." He said like it was just sinking in.
Chloe shrugged her shoulders, "It's no big deal, and I'm fine."
"I can see that, it was this Clark he saved you. He's one of them isn't he? Is that why you were protecting this criminal?"
"Look Bruce I don't know what made you think of taking me down here in this stink hole but I need to find…"
"Chloe, we're safe here for now. He thrives on electricity I don't think he'll be coming down where there's water."
Chloe looked at her soaked black tennis shoes, "Clever." Then she went into her cotton black purse and took out her cell phone.
"Well, I better at least call Clark to let him know I'm ok."
Bruce stopped her putting his hand over hers, "I'm sorry Chloe but chances are he's with them."
Chloe scoffed at Bruce, "Nick tried to blast me. I doubt Clark is still working with him."
"He might be. We can't take that chance."
"You might not be but I am."
His hands were still on hers he stared at her with deep sincerity.
"Look Chloe why don't we wait down here until the coast is clear?"
"Because that electro dude attacked me and then I just disappeared with you, you a guy Clark has warned me about since he first met you."
"Chloe, he's the dangerous one. He has so much power doesn't that scare you?"
"Of course not." Chloe answered immediately.
"Look the only people I have ran into with that kind of power usually turn into criminals."
"Well, obviously you haven't gotten to know Clark very well, he's no criminal."
"Are you sure about that? How well do you think you know him?"
"You know that is none of your business." Chloe shout out angrily. She looked livid. Bruce examined the details of Chloe's face he had obviously found a soft spot.
"Chloe, I'm sorry I can tell he's a close friend. I won't ask any more questions about him if that's what you want."
"That's what I want."
"Ok, what about Nick? What do you know about him?" Bruce asked as he led her trudging through the sewer water.
"Not much, just that he has those electro powers and that he's been experimented before at lab 33.1."
"You mean he's been experimented on before you rescued him last night?"
"Yeah, how did you get on his trail?"
"He caused this blackout in Gotham and stole a weapon from Wayne Enterprise."
Chloe didn't say anything right away. She was starting to think Nick was no good. His little fire works attack was a big clue. But he was trying to attack Bruce. He could have been attacking him if Nick thought Bruce was no good. These vigilante types sometimes had problems deciphering how to evoke justice on people. Bruce could be lying and he could be the bad guy in this scenario but something told her that he was telling her the truth.
"So you went after him to recover your stolen weapon? The president of Wayne Enterprise doesn't have his own security team to do this kind of thing."
"There are some things I have to take care of by myself."
Chloe did not reply she merely gazed at her wet feet. She knew from recent events that what ever Bruce was up to, it wasn't ordinary. She had suspected he was similar to Lex Luthor in that he was obsessed with people with extraordinary abilities. Bruce seemed to be different from Lex at least he would go out and do his own dirty work instead of hiring other people. It was a morbid thought. She really hoped with all of her heart that Bruce wasn't anything like Lex but how could she really know for sure?
"So Bruce let me see if I got this right. You came to Metropolis following Nick who had stolen a weapon from you?"
"Not exactly." Bruce said while he was holding her hand.
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked getting nervous.
"Nick had left some evidence that it was him. I discovered where he was staying and found Luthor was footing the bill."
"Lex or Lionel?"
"Lex."
"That does sound like Lex."
"It does?" Bruce asked as he stopped walking and examined Chloe's face. She looked away from him slightly and very quickly returned.
"Yeah, it does."
"Earlier tonight, it seemed like you had a history."
"It's not what you think."
"And what am I supposed to be thinking?"
Chloe shrugged her shoulders and then said, "There's nothing really to tell. Lana used to be one of my best friends and she used to be Clark's girl friend."
"And now Lex is with Lana expunging both of your relationships."
"Yeah, something like that. We have both saw this darkness within Lex. Clark believed in him for a long time but eventually he listened to me and saw Lex for what he really is."
"And that is?"
"An enemy. I mean we all have a dark side but we all have a light side too and there comes a point when we have to make the choice to embrace the dark or the light."
Bruce stood there silent. He seemed to be looking at something. Chloe followed his gaze and saw nothing but darkness. Then Bruce grabbed her and pressed her against the damp brick wall. Chloe gasped. She was about to scream, push him off her, and run away but she saw the frightened expression on his face. She felt the thud of his quickened heartbeat as his chest pressed against hers. Then suddenly a swarm of bats flew passed them through the tunnel. Bruce had shielded her from them and whispered, "Bats. I hate bats."
Chloe smiled sympathetically and put her hand against his cheek, "I can see that Bruce."
She looked over his shoulder and saw that the bats were gone.
"The coast looks clear to me."
Bruce turned around scooting away from Chloe. He recomposed himself.
Bruce and Chloe started walking again holding hands. They walked for a while in silence. Every now and then Chloe would steel a glance at Bruce and found him looking in her direction.
Then Bruce broke the silence, "So from your experience with Lex do you think he could hire this Nick to steal a weapon?"
"Like I said it sounds like Lex. He does like to use people."
"It gives him power. Men like Lex love power and they use who ever and what ever it takes to get it."
"Yeah, that is Lex these days. So Bruce what can this weapon do? What kind of power are we talking about here?"
"It was still in production. I really didn't know about it until the breach. It's a big company and I just started running things."
"Really?"
"I've been doing some traveling."
"Traveling, huh? Ok, so you didn't answer my question what can the weapon do Bruce?"
"It's a generator."
"So why call it a weapon?"
"It can destabilize any kind of energy. When I say any kind of energy I mean it from a microwave to a nuclear device. It was originally invented to be a generator but it has been tampered with. Gotham isn't the friendliest place on earth."
Chloe stopped walking and leaned against the wet dark brick wall. "This is bad Bruce."
"I know but don't worry I'll find him and remedy the situation."
"I don't get it. Why did you waste your time with me? This is serious if you don't find the weapon it…in the hands of Nick the guy that can control electricity …and if he's working for Lex…this is bad Bruce. Why did you waste your time with me?"
Bruce stood right in front of her. "I wasn't planning on wasting any time. For the record I don't think I did. When I saw you that night I didn't know what to think. I was intrigued by you and your skill. At first I thought you might be involved with Nick and Lex. Then I saw you at the Planet and I figured you have gotten way over your head and all I wanted to do was protect you from this danger. I needed to know just what information you had on Nick."
Chloe blinked and swallowed hard, "You know I had suspected your only interest in me was to get information."
"You know that wasn't my only interest in you Chloe…but I…I was just trying to protect you and everyone."
"I know." Chloe said in a soft voice, "I think that is great, Bruce."
"You do?"
"Yeah, I do. You needed the info I had on Nick it could save the whole city. Now we're on the same page we have to put our heads together and find him and find out where the weapon is." Chloe said and then she dug into her purse for her cell phone.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm calling Clark he can really help us on this."
"No Chloe, I told you before you can't call him."
Chloe shook her head, baffled.
"Look if anyone can stop electro dude and Lex's evil ploys for power, it's Clark."
"But Chloe…"
"At very worst Nick is with him and he finds out where we are and we confront him and ask him where the weapon is."
"Chloe it's too dangerous for you. They all are too dangerous for you. They have so much power that we can't control."
"They?" Chloe asked taken a back.
"Your buddies Clark and Andrea. What makes you think they can't hurt you?"
Chloe grew furious at the implication, "They are my friends and I know they would never hurt me."
"That doesn't dismiss the fact that they are dangerous."
"Everyone has that potential."
"Chloe, how well do you know them? How do you know they won't cross the line?"
Chloe breathed out deeply in frustration. "And you haven't crossed any boundaries Bruce? That's all I've seen from you. I'm not judging; I've crossed plenty of boundaries as you've seen."
"You have, haven't you? You do this kind of thing all of the time don't you? I guess I'm not going to convince you to run to safety and leave well enough alone. Am I?"
"Not really. Not without me calling Clark."
"What is with you and this guy?"
"He's my best friend." Chloe answered immediate and confidently.
Bruce nodded, "Ok, Chloe if you must call Clark then call him but…"
Chloe smiled and giddily said, "Don't worry Bruce. Clark will be the best ally you'll ever have."