A/N Ok sooooo freakken sorry haven't been updating like I usually do but I've lost the net during thoes last few weeks and haven't been able to update...
Thanks Guys so much for pressuring for an update and keeping this story alive! You guys don't know how much it means to me Special Thanks First to all you guys and to my beta loweltan...Thanks so much guys!
Without further adue'...
Chapter 27: Cruise (Day 4) The Beast Within
The door to Lois' bedroom slowly creaks open, Lana's head peaks in, her eyes scan the room, making sure it was clear. Her hand tightly holds onto the door, as she look's back behind her, to check that she is alone before she slowly makes her way into Lois' room and over to the night stand.
"Where is it...Where is it?" Lana panicly says to herself as she rips open the drawers, frantically looking for the disk Lois stole.
Her hands dig through Lois' clothes and the items stuffed into the small night stand. She pushes the items back in when disappointedly she finds nothing. She quickly stands to her feet and goes over to the long dresser, doing the same in these drawers as she did to the night stand, but comes up empty handed again.
"Damn it!" Lana cries and hits her hand down on the dresser. "Where the Hell is it?"
Lana's eyes come to the bed, a usual hiding spot for things, she quickly heads to it. Bending on her knees as she comes to the bed, she reaches her hand in between the mattress and the box-spring, feeling around as she reaches her arm all the way in but feels nothing, only air.
"Damn!" Lana cries, as she leans her head against the edge of the bed, while her arm is still between the bed, she feels panic inside.
"What are you doing here?" a female's voice sounds, startling Lana as her head quickly pops up to see Chrissy standing by the door glaring back at her.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Lana sneers as she stands up. "I'm going to find that disk and turn it over to Clark!"
"You !" Chrissy smirks, slowly shaking her head. "You're supposed to be Lex's girlfriend, but yet you're still in love with your Ex."
"It has nothing to do with love...this is about doing the right thing. I loved Lex but what he's doing is wrong. He lied to me, he promised no one would get hurt but he's planning on kissing her, isn't he!" Lana shouts angrily, tears filling up in her eyes.
"He lied to me...he's been lying to me this whole time...just lies...and secrets!"
Chrissy lets out a high pitched laugh at Lana. "Your pathetic!...How could you be with a guy like Lex and not know his agenda?." she smirks, and smiles evilly.
"...just face it girl, he played your ass like a fiddle and here you thought he was in love with you."
Lana stands there, her eyes burn red with tears. "He'll never love you...you know?"
Chrissy stops laughing and looks coldly at Lana. "What are you talking about? I don't want Lex...you were stupid for wanting him."
"Clark...he would never love you...believe me, he was in love with me since he was seven, and when we did get the chance to be together...it didn't eve come close to what he has with Lois...they're inseparable."
"Well, we'll see how inseparable they are once she's out of the picture." Chrissy smirks, cocking her brow up high.
"So...he really is going to kills her." Lana says painfully, her heart droops at the news...Lex really is the monster everyone claims him to be.
"Yep..." Chrissy says cheerfully. "Once the gives up where the disk is...Lex is going to see to it that she's sleeping with the fishes...literally."
"I'm not going to let that happen...I might have been in on this from the beginning, but I'm going to make things right." Lana says, moving quickly forward to walk past her but freezes as Chrissy pulls out a pistol from her back and points it at her.
"This says you aren't, and if you think I'm kidding...try me."
x
Clark taps his fingers on the table, becoming more antsy as the time passes. It's going on 10 minutes and Lois still hasn't returned yet. He sits there and looks around, his eyes check, every few seconds, over to the spot he seen Lois go. He fidgets around in his chair, he couldn't shake the wrenching feeling in his gut...Lois was in trouble.
"I can't wait anymore...I'm going to find her." Clark says, grabbing the arms of his chair about to get up when Chloe grabs his arm, to stop him.
"Clark will you calm down...it's only been 10 minutes. There's probably just a line." Chloe says, as she looks at him confused about his nervous behavior.
"Can't you even be without my cousin for a moment? All those times you guys couldn't stand being around each other." Chloe teases, trying to lighten the mood, not understanding what was wrong.
Clark knows Chloe is only trying to help but the fear he's feeling won't allow him to even crack a smile to her teasing. Chloe sees this and becomes concerned, something is up and Lois being gone like this isn't making things any better...damn, where the hell is she?
"Yeah man, there's a lot of people around...she's probably just held up in line." Bart comforts, looking over to Clark.
"...but I know how you feel...I get the same way when ever I'm away from Chloe too long." he says as he pulls Chloe's hand to his mouth and places a soft kiss on it.
Clark slowly nods his head, and lets out a deep breath...he feels a little better, but it is only blind relief.
"You guys are right...I'm just being "me" I guess..."
"Clark, are you sure you're okay?" Chloe asks, still seeing he's worried, she places her hand lightly on his arm to comfort him.
"I don't know...it just feels..."
"Hey, Bros..." AC interrupts as he places a tray of drinks on the table. "...Complements of a beautiful lady."
Clark smiles widely at the sound of that, along with Chloe and Bart, he thinks AC is talking about Lois.
"So, is this beautiful lady going to join us anytime soon?" Clark asks in a slightly teasing voice, thinking of Lois the whole time.
"Here ya go..." AC says to Chloe, placing her drink in front of her, and shrugs to his question. "Maybe...it's up to her."
Clark laughs and shakes his head thinking Lois is playing another one of her games again. "Well, tell her not to take so long..."
AC raises his brow not understanding why Clark is so interested in the blonde girl he was dancing with to come over.
"Yea, I'll be sure to let her know..." he replies, placing down Clark's drink in front of him.
"So, where is Lois at now?" AC asks in a playful smirk, and places her drink on the table in front of her empty chair.
Chloe drops her drink at the sound of that, Clark's heart painfully drops in his chest. It was like someone sucked all the air from his lungs; they burned and ached as if someone threw them in a vat of acid. He couldn't speak, his words caught in the dryness of his throat.
"What do you mean...isn't Lois the pretty lady you were talking about?" Clark rasps out, even taking a quick sip from his drink didn't help moisten his throat.
AC looks at them, his brows furrow at the expressions on their faces.
"No, I was talking about Melissa...the girl I was dancing with." he says pointing to her over at her own table, she waves back at them.
Clark quickly stands to his feet, kicking his super-hearing into gear...he knows every beat of Lois heart, even when it is eratic he knows its rhythm...but her beat is the one sound among the noises that isn't around.
"She's not here!" Clark says in an almost helpless voice, fighting all the while inside to keep the panic from engulfing him.
"That's it I'm calling her cell phone..." Chloe says in a scared voice.
"Did you see her in line or anywhere around?" Clark asks AC intently, trying to find some hope in the situation.
"There is no lines...the last time I saw her was on the dance floor."
The pit in Clark's stomach drops deeper, no hope is given, he pushes past AC about to leave. If his super-speed kicks in, in front of all these people he won't care.
"I'm going to find her..."
Chloe quickly grabs her cell phone from her purse, knocking the crumbled paper out onto the table. She pauses as she sees the note, her hand slowly stretches out to it like she is about to touch a poisonous snake. She carefully picks it up, her hands shake and she doesn't know why but soon it becomes clear as she unfolds the note. Three little letters smile evilly up at her and she drops it as if it burns to touch it.
"Clark wait!" Chloe shouts, halting Clark in his tracks as he turns around to look at her.
She stands there with a grave expression on her face, her eyes shine at the threat of tears, she holds up the note to him. Clark rushes to her side, he takes the note in his hand and sees the same offending message.
"Lex..." Clark growls through clamped teeth, his eyes burn red like his heat vision would ignite as his hands turned white from squeezing the paper tightly with anger.
"I'm going to kill him!" Clark's jaw sets, threat sounds in his voice as he tries to walk past Chloe. She steps in front of him, and places her hands on his chest to stop him.
"Clark, wait...wait!" Chloe yells, her voice pleading. "Don't go into this half cocked...we have to plan this out."
He won't listen, he keeps trying to walk past her and she keeps putting herself in his path.
"Clark please...that monster has my cousin...we can't go into this blind and make mistakes, Lex well be counting on that."
Clark continues to push forward, ignoring her words, death burns in his eyes. AC and Bart stand behind Chloe and bring Clark to a stop, he glares at them, he sees them as only a block in his path to what he felt he needs to do.
"Move!" he shouts angrily, making them jump. "Let me by...she needs me...I need to help her!"
Chloe pushes against his chest, tears stinging her eyes. "Clark, we all feel the same way, but you can't do this on your own."
"Clark man, listen to her we have to work together on this."
Clark stops struggling and stands there, his head drops as the pain washes over him. He looks up at Chloe, his eyes red with tears, his face down with hurt.
"I can't lose her Chloe...not now...I just got her...I can't..." he sighs heavily as he drops his head down.
Chloe quickly cups his face and pushes his head up, forcing him to look at her.
"We're not going to lose her..." Chloe says definitely, not accepting anything else.
"You're right...I'm sorry...I'm not going to let that happen." he says staring into her eyes. " I promise I'll make that bastard pay for this!"
Chloe nods her head, keeping back the tears that want to fall...it wasn't over yet. "Not on your own Clark, we're going to do this together."
She walks back over to her purse, grabs her cell phone and dials Lois' number. Instantly Lois' ring tone for Chloe plays off in the distance. Clark quickly at a little more then human speed rushes to the sound of her cell. He finds it on the floor in the last palce she probably was before Lex took her away.
Clark clings tightly to the phone his face a mixture of confusion and anger. "Why didn't she just tell me?"
"Clark..." Chloe says placing her hand on his shoulder; he turns around to face her. "Lex has Lucy too."
She shows him the crumpled note again; on the other side Lucy's name is written. "She is protecting her sister...that's why she didn't tell anyone."
Clark shakes his head, fighting the demons inside that cry for blood...Lex's blood, for what he is doing.
"What does he want with them...what kind of sick game is he playing?"
"A disk..." Chloe says flatly, her mind picking up pieces of memory from her drunken debut.
Chloe grabs her head feeling a spurt of dizziness come over her as her vague memories try to come to her.
"I thought I was dreaming...but I remember holding a shiny round disk...before Lois snatched it away." she says, placing the pieces together, it all finally making scense.
"Lois musta stolen some very important files from Lex, for him to go through all this trouble...I mean this could very well break him or has something on it he really wants."
"Lois!" Clark slightly growls and shakes his head.
"Why would she do this...she of all people knows how dangerous Lex can be..." he stops talking when he realizes why and looks up at Chloe. "...the cancer."
Chloe nods, already having the same thought. "Lois would do anything to make sure the people she cares about are safe...even if it's dangerous or stupid. She musta really been in a slump when she had it..."
"...and she was going to make sure we were protected...even if she couldn't be here to do it herself."
"Lois knows a lot of people, I don't even know half of the people she does and many have some high positions that can get things done."
"That's my, Lo." Clark says softly, a smile on his lips as he thinks of her.
"We need to get back to the suite, and check out Lois' room for the disk." Chloe says as she grabs her purse and starts walking in the direction of the girl's suite, Clark, Bart and AC follow.
"If it's still there." Bart adds, as he walks along side of her.
"There's no way Lois would give it up." Clark says in a knowing voice.
"Clark's right, Lois knows that's the only card we have against Lex. She knows he won't kill her or Lucy until he's sure he has it."
"We need to get the police involved, they can handle this better." AC suggests, he walks behind her as they cross the deck.
"No...not yet anyway...any signs of the cops and he'll know we're onto him...There's no way of knowing how he will act."
"...and we're not going to take that chnace, we've got to come up with a plan, do this right...and finally nail that son of a !" Clark sneers, his eyes set in a deathly gaze.
x
Lex pushes Lois through the open door of his suite, his hand clings tightly to her arm as they enter, she fights and struggles against him the whole way.
"Get off of me!" Lois sneers pulling away from him as he pushes her down on the couch.
"Where is my sister? I want to see her now!" Lois shouts angrily, as she stares coldly up at him.
Lex just smiles and looks back at her over her shoulder as he pours a couple of drinks and walks over, handing her one.
"Patience is a virtue, Miss Lane."
Lois smacks the glass from his hand and continues to glare at him. "I swear if you done anything to her..."
"Please, Miss Lane I'm not the monster everyone perceives me to be." Lex says, the smile never leaves his lips as he stands there in front of her.
Lois lets out a fake laugh at his blind take on the truth. "Riiiight..." Lois mocks sarcastically. "...then I'll just take my sister and be leaving then."
She tries to stand to her feet and walk away only to be pushed back down onto the couch by Lex.
"You're really trying my nerves Miss Lane...now I want my disk! Where is it!"
"Where's my sister?" Lois growls between her teeth, her eyes narrow up at him.
"Of course..." Lex says carelessly and walks over to a door, disappearing inside the room for a moment before reappearing with Lucy in front of him.
"Lois!" Lucy shouts with joy, she pulls from Lex and runs over to Lois on the couch.
Instantly she's engulfed in Lois' waiting arms, who hugs her tightly like it's been forever, as Lucy cries into her shoulder.
"Lois I'm so sorry...I didn't know, I swear I didn't know."
"Shh...it's okay." Lois whispers into Lucy's ear, rubbing down her hair, trying to console her as she wept into her shoulder.
"Hey, I'm going to get us out of this...I always do, don't I?"
Lucy nods her head against her shoulder, taking comfort in being in her sister's arms, as Lois continues to comb her fingers down Lucy's hair.
"...besides I have some really great friends out there who will be looking for us...so don't worry."
"Oh, how sweet...a little family reunion." Lex mocks teasingly as he stared at the girls with an innocent face. "So, is all the whispering just girl talk or can anyone join in?"
Lucy pulls away from Lois' embrace and gives Lex a steely glare.
"Lois was just telling me how much she's going to make you suffer...and how I am going to love every minute of it."
"Lucy." Lois says in a warning tone, and tugs her sister's arm a little, giving her the message not to provoke him.
Lex lets out a slight laugh and run his eyes to Lois. "I want my disk, Miss Lane. My patience is wearing thin...Now, where is my disk!"
"...but remember Lex, patience is a virtue." Lois snarks, smiling slyly as she throws his words back in his face.
He narrows his eyes at her, his jaw set tight, he flexes the muscles in his jaw, about to comment when his cell rings.
"You ladies will excuse me..." he says as his phone continues to ring.
"...now, you two don't go anywhere." he teases evilly as he walks out the door and leaves the room.
Lucy stands to her feet like she was about to do something but gets pulled down by Lois and watches as he leaves.
x
"What is it?...and it better be good." Lex sneers into the phone as he closes the door behind him, and stands out in the hall.
"Oh, I would say it's very good." Chrissy's voice comes on the other end, smiling evilly as she stares at Lana, tied and gagged on the chair trying helplessly to free herself.
"Chrissy I don't have time for games..." Lex smirks, pinching the bridge of his nose at the threat of a headache. "...did you find the disk I sent you for?"
"No..." Chrissy answers licking her lips devilishly. "...but I did find something even more interesting..."
"What?" he snaps back impatiently.
"It's a surprise, come to my room and you'll see just what it is."
"I don't know what you've heard about me...but I don't sleep with every girl that throws themselves at me..."
"I'm not talking about sex...god are all men alike..." Chrissy mumbles into the phone and shakes her head. "Just get here; I have something you really need to know about."
x
Lois yanks on the door knob, pulling back against it, the door only jiggles some as she shakes it.
"I've already tried that, you know?" Lucy says from the couch looking on as Lois beats on the door.
Lois turns around, lets out a deep breath, and gives Lucy a pointed look.
"Doesn't hurt to have a second opinion." she smirks teasingly despite their situation which makes Lucy smile some.
"Well, you were always the better one at getting us out of stuff." Lucy says beaming a smile.
Lois shakes her head and takes her seat by Lucy again, and sees her face clearly.
" God, Luce what did he do to you?" Lois asks with concern, as she lightly touches the bruises on her face.
Lucy shakes her head and gently pushes her hand away. "Nothing I can't handle...he smacks softer then a girl, anyway."
Lois laughs some, she couldn't help but see herself in Lucy, even though she is a pain a lot of the time...she is family. Lois looks down and sees Lucy's red and bruised wrists from the cuffs still locked around them, tightly.
"How did this happen Luce...How did Lex get a hold of you?"
"It would have helped to know that you guys and Lex aren't exactly friends, anymore." Lucy smirks, and raises her brow at her.
"Ok, maybe I should have let you in on that little detail..." Lois says and nods her head sarcastically. "...but how did you end up with Lex?"
Lucy shrugs and shakes her head. "They say the devil is a smooth talker."
"Lucy, now is not the time to patronize me..."
"I was in Germany like usual...doing my classes like I should be..."
"Lucy, it's Spring Break..." Lois points out, cocking her brow at her.
"Ok, ok...I was shopping, when I got a phone call from Lex. He told me how he set you, Chloe and Lana up with great rooms for your cruise trip and how he wanted to surprise you by sending me on board with you guys..." Lucy explains, and lets out a deep sigh.
"...I swear Lois, I had no ideal what he was up to I just wanted to surprise my Big Sis and show up on the cruise."
"I know...I know..." Lois says in a voice that told Lucy she believes her and to stop her run of the mouth as she reaches out and plays with her hair.
"I'm sorry I got you into this mess...usually you're the one getting into these things."
"What is going on Lo, I mean what does Lex want?...What disk is he talking about?"
Lois folds her arms and stands to her feet as she paces the floor. "Believe me Luce the less you know the better and beside the point, it's kinda a long story."
Lucy looks around like it's very obvious before her eyes focused back to her. " Well Lo, doesn't look like we're going anywhere anytime soon...and "besides" I've been dragged into this too, I think I have a rights to an explanation."
Lois lets out a deep breath and shakes her head. "I did something really stupid Luce...I mean your kind of stupidness..."
"Obviously..." Lucy huffs out and rolls her eyes. "...and, hey! Not everything I do is stupid...and come on Lo, what did you do that was so bad to make Lex go Hostage on our asses?"
Lois cocks her head at Lucy's use of profanity. "The disk he's talking about...I kinda stole some Hard Core files from Lex's laptop."
"Lois you stole pornography from Lex's computer! Why didn't you just go to the local video store and why would Lex go through all this trouble just for that!"
Lois scrunches her face up in disbelief at Lucy's lack of understanding. "Nooo! Luce, Hard Core as in very juicy information...I have files on that disk that could put down Lex, Lex Corp and his entire operation!"
"Lois why on earth would you do something like that...are you really that crazy?"
Lois slumps back down into the couch with a huff and looks desperately at her sister. "I was going crazy...at the time I was doing all that, stealing files from Lex."
She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. "I know I should have called you or at least Chloe, but I was just so scarred...not for myself, even though I was the one who was going...but I was scarred not being there to help my family and friends...that I ..."
Lucy grabs Lois' hands forcing her to stop speaking. "Ok Lois, first breath...and then please tell me what the heck you are talking about?"
Lois takes a deep breath and holds it a few seconds before slowly releasing it out and hesitantly speaks. "Luce a few months ago I had...I had cancer."
Lucy's eyes go wide, she swallows hard at the information. "Like mom?"
Lois painfully nods her head as Lucy rubs her fingers over her hand. "...Wait...you said "had" as in you don't have it anymore...but how?" Lucy asks flabbergasted.
"...I know there isn't exactly a pill out there you can take to make it go away."
Lois lets out another heavy sigh. "That's a long story too...really long story and not important right now."
"Lo..."
Lois holds her hands up and shakes her head. "No, let me finish...I had it at first, but now I don't...I can't explain it right now, but look, the point is when I did find out I had it, I was a complete and total wreck...all I could think about was what would happen to my family if I wasn't there..."
Lois' eyes turns red from the tears that begin to pool as she looks seriously in Lucy's eyes.
"I didn't want to be like mom, suddenly not there anymore and leaving those behind to fend on their own..."
Lucy's eyes began to collect tears as well as she slowly shakes her head sadly. "Lo, it wasn't Mom's fault that she left us..."
"I know it wasn't...but the fact is she did...and we were on our own Luce, the General was there, but he really wasn't; at least not emotionally...not really, and I didn't want to do the same..." Lois tries to explain, pain heavy in her voice.
"I didn't want to leave this world and not know for sure...100 percent that my friends, and my family are going to be okay."
Lois wipes hard at the tears that began to fall from her eyes, which she no longer can keep back.
"Mom...mom trusted dad to take care of us in every sense...but he didn't, Luce...he was probably there physically, but not there in the way we needed him to be...and I don't know...when I found out I was not going to be here...not going to be around...I just wanted to make sure that all I can possibly do for everyone, is done."
Lucy wraps her arms around Lois, and takes her big sister into her embrace, as they hold each other for a moment, taking comfort in each other as the tears silently fall. Lois pulls back after a while, and wipes at her tear soaked cheeks, Lucy does the same.
"You can seriously be a pain, Luce..." she laughs out, staring at her. "...but you're my sister and I love you...and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
Lucy's eyes begin to flood with tears again and roll down her cheeks. "I love you too, Big Sis."
They hug each other once more, and laugh through their fresh tears...this certainly being something they never did with each other, but they let that little fact go for the time being.
Lucy pulls back and wipes at her eyes, Lois does the same. "What, about cousin Chloe and Lana, are they okay?"
Lois nods her head and blinks her eyes as if thinking. "I don't know about Lana...but Chloe is with AC, Bart and Clark."
"AC? Bart?" Lucy asks confused about who these two are and shakes her head at the fact Clark is here and that Lois didn't call him by one of the many nicks she gave him.
"Clark?...Is here?...Clark!"
Lois nods her head slowly, the dreamy look claims her features as a small smile creeps over her lips. "Yea...Clark."
"Oh My God, Lo!"
"What?"
"You didn't!...you and he...you've actually fallen for him, you've fallen in love with Clark "farm boy" Kent!"
"Hey!" Lois smirks playfully. "Only I get to call him that."
"So, it's true then you and Clark and..." Lucy moves her eye brow up and down in a suggestive manner, a sly smile on her lips.
Lois groans into the pillow behind her and playfully hits Lucy with it as she laughs. "Is it that obvious?"
"You do glow when his name is mentioned..." Lucy replies, smiling widely. "...but I can't say I didn't see this coming...even when I first met him, I saw the sparks between you two."
Lois falls back against the couch and shakes her head. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"
Lucy laughs and puts her hand on Lois' shoulder. "Face it Lo, everyone knew you two were written in the stars for each other...except you two."
Lois turns her head on the couch to look at Lucy and gives a playful glare as she laughs herself. "It's ironic...the one person I swore would be the last person who was ever even possible for me turned out to be the one for me after all."
Lucy laughs more and shakes her own head as she lays back against the couch. "Kinda confusing isn't it?"
Lois nods her head, a wide smile on her lips. "Yea...but we're Lanes, that's the way our lives are."
Lucy raises her brow, a sneaky grin on her lips. "Sooo, how is he...you know in the sack?"
Lois hits Lucy harder with the pillow. "Lucy!"
"Whaaaat!" she asks innocently. "...I mean any girl would be curious...even through his clothes you can still see he's hot."
Lois rolls her eyes and groans. "Luce, I'm not going to talk about my sex life."
"I don't want details...just is it ok, or orgasm heaven?"
Lois bites on her bottom lip as she rolls her eyes to the back of her head, making low sexual groans of satisfaction...her body experiencing chills just thinking about it.
"Oh, it's definitely Orgasm Heaven times 100, squared."
Lucy's eyes open wide, her jaw slightly drops. "Whoa!...that good?"
"You have no ideal..." Lois lets out a soft laugh, and smiles widely. "...but it's more then just sex...I'm in love...I love him."
"I can tell...it looks good on you, Lo." she smiles over to her older sister. "I'm really happy for you...You of all people deserve to be happy and I see he does..."
Lois smiles and nods, they both sit there quickly in comfortable silence as they enjoy the serene bliss of ignorance that didn't last long until the facts of reality come breaking through. Lucy turns her head against the couch and looks over at Lois, her brow raise up.
"So, how are we getting out of this?"
"I'll think of something...I always do..."
"Excuse me for my lack of optimism here Sis, but I'm really not seeing a way out of this."
"Don't worry, Luce...I have a secret weapon." Lois smiles smugly, as she thinks of one blue-eyed farm boy.
x
"I don't see anything, Chlo...I don't know why you are still searching." Clark says, his arms folded as he watches Chloe search under the matress.
Chloe looks up at Clark a bit annoyed, still reaching underneath just to feel space. "I know it's here...and I didn't imagine it, Clark...the disk is here, somewhere in this room."
Clark squints his eyes, his vision goes through the mattress, and sees the void between, and the bones of Chloe's body.
"It's not there..." Clark says knowingly.
Chloe lets out a soft groan and rubs her neck as she stands to her feet. "Would have been nice to know before I tried to break my back to check."
"I told you Chloe, I X-rayed everything it's not here."
"It has to be...I know Lois wouldn't have told, and she wouldn't have left it just anywhere for anyone to find."
"I know..." Clark sighs in frustration and rubs his hands through his hair. "...but I checked everything it's not here...Lex must have gotten to it."
Chloe shakes her head and slams the drawer shut to the dresser. "It is...I just need to think..." she says and smiles as a thought comes to her.
"Of course!...Lois you're a Genius!" Chloe says to herself and walks to the middle of the wooden floor.
"What...What is it?" Clark asks as he follows her, he watches her curiously as she firmly taps on the floor with her foot.
"Can't find a hiding space..." Chloe states, hearing the different sounds of the floor as she taps her foot and comes to a hollow sound.
She smiles brightly at the irregular noise. "...you make one."
Chloe stoops down, tracing the edge lines of the wooden floor design with her nails, she initially has some trouble but soon gets enough of a grip to pull it up. Her lips form a wide grin as she reaches into the space and pulls out the clear case that holds the shiny silver disk.
"Voila!" Chloe says smugly, as she holds it up for Clark to see, while she stands back on her feet.
Clark and Chloe stare intently at the screen of Lois' laptop, they're 30 minutes into the loads of information the disk held. Videos, reports, files and files of every experiment he ever done, the cover-up to all those failed experiments and his plans for more...
"I can't believe this..." Chloe's eyes lock onto the screen, she bites her nails nervously as she pulls up file after file of all the crazy stuff Lex or his corporation was ever involved in.
"...this is like the find of the Century...since the discovery of King Tut's tomb...in Journalism world. We have proof right here that Lex is partly to blame for certain unexplainable things happening in Smallville...even some we don't know about..."
"Lex...it was him the whole time..." Clark says in disgust. "...even using some of the Meteor victims for his own selfish needs."
"This "is" Lex Luthor we're talking about...I don't doubt it at all."
"I don't either...I mean...I just thought Lex would change..." Clark stops talking as something on the screen catches his eyes. "Wait..."
"Chloe, go back...there." he says pointing to a specific title among the many others. Chloe looks on in confusion as she reads the title Clark points to.
"The "Cave" Project..." she looks over to Clark, a skeptical expression on her face. "...you don't think?"
Clark double clicks on the words, instantly pictures and speculations pop up in their separate tabs. His mouth sets tightly together, his eyes glarring deathly at the screen as some familiar information pops up with the new.
"He lied...he told me he destroyed all the stuff he had on me, and I believed him." Clark says reluctantly as he shakes his head.
Chloe looks solemnly at him. "Now you know why Lois kept her mouth shut when she had the cancer...she was protecting you...was going to protect all of us."
"She knew about me...not everything, but she knew I wasn't normal...and she didn't treat me any differently..." Clark says as a smile claims his lips.
"Hate to be the rain on your picnic..." Chloe strides, and looks over at him. "...but Lois isn't the only one who knows...Lex does as well."
Clark looks away from her and back to the laptop screen, her words play deep in his mind as he eyes over the files. Bart and AC come through the door to Lois' room, holding tapes in their hands.
"Look what we found..." Bart announces as they walk in.
"Found them in our room and here in the girl's room." AC says as he places them on the bed. "...you found the disk?"
Chloe nods and smiles smugly. "Hidden well by my Cuz...What's on the tapes?"
"Exactly what Lex wants more than anything...proof." Bart says, as he sits down next to Chloe on the bed.
"The tapes shouw us using our powers in the room...it has Clark and I super-speeding in the living room of our suite..."
AC clears his voice loudly, sending a message to Bart who knows exactly what it is.
"...and you might want to bury...erase...burn..." Bart suggests, as he shrugs his shoulders and hands Clark the tape. "...this one, Dude."
Clark gives him a confused look and slowly shakes his head. "Why?...What is it?"
"Let's just say Lois wasn't kidding about the "riding you" part..." Bart smirks teasingly, raising his brow up at Clark "...and here I thought you had a lot of energy."
Clark quickly snatches the tape away from Bart's hand; his face goes pale, now knowing what exactly what was on the tape. Chloe rolls her eyes and glares at Bart and AC. "You guys actually watched it?"
"No...not all of it...exactly..." Bart tries to defend as he shakes his head. "...more like we skimmed through it..."
Yeah...if "skimmed through" means watching while enjoying a bowl of popcorn as you rewind certain parts over and over again...wondering if that position is actually even possible. Chloe punches Bart hard in his shoulder; he lifts his hand to rub the sore spot.
"Whaaat?...we had to check out what were on the tapes."
AC lightly clears his throat moving onto another subject. "What did you guys find out on the disk?"
"That my Cousin isn't in Journalism for nothing." Chloe smiles proudly. "Everything we need to bring down Lex is on here...Not even the best lawyers in the world can argue a case against this!"
"She stole from Lex!" Bart exclaims in shock. "Not even I would...Ok there was that one time and I almost died...so is she crazy!"
Chloe rolls her eyes and glares slightly. "No just the opposite...whether Lois has stolen the information or not, I'm willing to bet my life that Lex is still planning this setup. Lex has information here on Clark and he's close to figuring out his secret and thanks to my Genius Cousin, we have a play against Lex."
"Now, we just have to find them..." Clark sighs heavily as he stares intently at the screen.
x
Chrissy opens the door to let Lex in, he looks bored by her presence as he walks in her room and turns around to face her.
"Well?" he asks questioningly and says in a mocking voice. "What was so important that I just had to see?"
Chrissy furrows her eyes, looking sternly over at him and leads him to the living room area.
"Who is this?" Lex deadpans, as he looks curiously at the person tied to a chair, her face covered by a blind fold.
Chrissy slyly walks over to Lana's side, and grabs the edge of the blindfold.
"A Rat." Chrissy states as she pulls off the blindfold; to Lex's surprise Lana is the one tied to the chair.
"What the Hell is the meaning of this?" Lex snaps out as he rushes to Lana's side and unties her hands.
Chrissy raises her brow at Lana, a smirk on her lips. "You gonna tell him Cupcake, or should I?"
Lana only looks nervously at Lex and back at Chrissy, rubbing her sore wrists, with no attempt to answer her.
Chrissy rolls her eyes and looks over to Lex. "I found your girl here, snooping around Lois' room, looking for the disk..."
"Not something I asked her to do...but what does that have to do with you tying her up like this!" Lex demands as he glares at Chrissy.
"Before you get all hostile with me, maybe you should know something first before you decide "who" you're going to use that anger on...Maybe you should know why exactly she was looking for it..."
"What do you mean?" Lex asks with interest as he stares Chrissy down curiously.
"Lex, pleases...it's nothing..." Lana says in a timid voice and grabs Lex's arm, only for Lex to pull away from her grip.
"Why was she looking for the disk!" Lex asks again his voice louder; causing both girls to jump, but Chrissy holds her ground.
"She was planning on giving it over to Clark and his friends...she was turning you in Lex...like I said, a Rat."
Lex slowly turns his head toward Lana, a menacing look claims his face as he stares at her, his experession scaring her back to sitting into the chair.
"Yo-You lied to me..." Lana stutters in fear. "You promised me no one would get hurt...but you're not planning on keeping that promise!"
Lex leans down close to Lana's face, and grabs her by the back of her hair, squeezing a handful o f her straight long raven hair tightly in his fingers.
"I told you to keep out of this!" he yells in agner, breathing crazily. "You were suppose to lay low...just lay low, that's all!"
He pulls her up by her hair to her feet and drags her over to the door, and pushes her back hard against it. He grabs her neck, and slowly squeezes his boney fingers, like claws around her throat. Lana gasps in painfully for air, tears roll down her cheeks as her face turns blue as she tries to catch her breath.
"Lex...please..." Lana cries in a raspy breath, her lungs unable to receive air.
He leans his face close, her nose curls from his vial breath that caresses against her skin.
"I told you what would happen if you ever defied me..." he snarls into her face, his eyes burning into her fearful ones.
x
The door to the room Lois and Lucy are in sings open as Lex drags Lana in wailing loudly, tears visbly seen soaked upon her face. Lucy quickly grabs Lois' arm and holds her back as she tries to go do something about it. Lex throws Lana downt ot the floor, his eyes piercing through her, not an ounce of love did Lana see in him for her anymore...it was as if it was never there.
"You can die with the rest of them!" Lex growls with no care, no pity in his voice before he leaves her there crying into her hands.
Lois slowly makes her way over and bends down to her side, softly she brushes Lana's hair back from her face.
"You, okay?" Lois whispers with concern.
"Don't touch me!" Lana shouts, she quickly rises to her feet aned leans back against the nearest wall allowing her tears to flow freely.
Lois quickly rises to her feet as well, a bit startled by Lana's sudden and confusing reaction, she looks over to her strangely.
"Lana?" Lois asks cautiously as she inched her way over to her and jumps as Lucy suddenly comes by her side, placing her hand on her arm.
"Don't...just don't..." Lana cries out in a soft pleading voice, her eyes closed and terars roll down continuously.
"Lana, did that bastard hurt you?" Lois asks in a stern voice, she didn't much care for the girl, but she still wouldn't want to wish ill fate on her especially the thing that was going through Lois' mind.
Lana slowly moves her head side-to-side, whimpering softly, her hands clasped together and held tightly against her chest.
"Lois, I think this is about more then just being captured..." Lucy whispers to her, who steadily kept her focuse on Lana.
Lois quickly turns her head to Lucy understanding what she was saying and back to stare fiercely at the pink one.
"You knew..." Lois replies in a calm voice as she kept her fierce gaze.
"...all this time you knew...answer me, DAMN IT!" Lois fumes out as she slowly makes her way over.
Lana stops her little babyish cries and stands deathly still in fear, her head nods to Lois' demand shouted to her.
"I'm sorry...I..."
Lois strikes her hand against her cheek, stopping her from speaking any futher. Opting to smack her rather then using her fist which might of killed but at that moment Lois could have cared less...Lana deserved worse then that.
"Lois, please!" Lucy begs, pulling her back some away from Lana.
"How the dare you put my family in danger!" Lois sneers out, her eyes were like daggers piercing through Lana with no remorse.
"I considered you a friend...a part of my family..."
"Why don't you cut the bullshit, Lois...you never liked me...you only put up with me because of Chloe and Clark..." Lana says not caring about anything anymore, her face still turned away from her, holding her cheek as her skin burned on fire from the force of Lois' strike.
"You're right I don't like you...but I did respect you...and whatever tinsy bit I did have for you...it's gone!" Lois spits back, anger in her voice.
"How could you do this!" Lois yells, advancing toward her but gets pulled bacy by Lucy who grabs her arm.
"Lois, No!" she shouts, holding her older sister back with difficulty.
"I didn't know everything!" Lana whines back in a loud voice, as new tears begin to roll down her face.
"He was only suppose to scare you into giving the disk back...nothing else was suppose to happen!"
"...and you believed him!" Lois shouts in disbelief.
Lana cowards against the wall in terror of Lois' wrath as she approaches closer to her, Lucy still holding tightly onto her arm.
Lois face scrunches up in disgust as she stares at Lana, realizing something else.
"Oh god, don't tell me you're sleeping with that bastard!"
"I love him..." Lana simply replies.
"Only you could ever love a monster like that!" Lucy smirks and rolls her eye, her grip loosening on Lois' arm.
"You are a sad excuse for a woman..." Lois says loudly, closing the rest of the space between her and Lana as she grabs Lana's shirt, pulling her off the wall some and slams her back hard against it.
"...He's going to "kill" you...and you're still in love with him!"
Lois only gets Lana's soft cries as a reply t oher question. "Now because of your psycho boyfriend, my sister and friends lives are in danger!"
"He lied to me...it wasn't suppose to be like this!" Lana cries out loudly.
Lois smacks her hand across Lana's face to shut her up, Lucy quickly grabs her, keeping Lois from doing anything else to Lana.
"Lois enough!"
Lana holds her jaw once again, the stinging sensation still throbbing on her skin, bringing tearst to surface in her eyes.
"It's okay...you can't hurt me anymore then he has."
Lois growls out in disbelief at her, she was absolutely hoepless.
"You better pray to God that Lex offs you, because it will nothing compared to what I woud do to you!" Lois yells, pushing Lana hard against the room's door.
x
"Sounds like the other two are going to kill her..." Chrissy says, jumping a little from the sound as Lana gets rammed into the door. "...or at least by Lois, anyway."
"Good...saves me the trouble of doing it later." Lex smirks, snatching out a handkerchief from his Intaian grey suit and wipes his hands free of Lana's touch, as if trying to wipe the feel of her from off of him.
Lex turns around to face Chrissy, pushing the handkerchief back inside his inner suit pocket.
"What's the status of the team I hired?"
Chrissy smiles and folds her arms over her chest.
"Doing exactly as you said they would." she replies following along side Lex as he starts off down the hall.
"They're at the ships vault...so much for help these days."
"No...I counted on it happening...all part of my plans." Lex says, opening a door to another room. "Now to get what I came here for..."
"Could you really do it...kill that girlfriend of yours, Lana?" Chrissy asks as she places hersefl down on a nearby chair.
"Ex- girlfriend, my dear...no attachments." Lex corrects, pulling open a drawer and reaches in grabbing out a small pistol with a silencer on the tip of the barrel.
"Like there ever were any..." Chrissy smirks and raises her brow up at him.
Lex looks from the silver plated gun he held, examining it, to Chrissy who sat across from him.
"Enjoy...never love them...never fall in love at all. It's a blind, fool's game..." Lex states his lips smiling evilly in the reflextion on the metal of the gun.
He shrugs and sways the gun to the side as he speaks. "...beside I've warned her too many times of what would happen if she ever crossed me..."
"She seems to be still in love with that Clark guy." Chrissy says as she aimlessly plays with a strand of her hair, staring back at him.
Lex opens his Italian jacket and places the pistol in the holster strap to his body.
"Yes, well my good friend Clark..." he says his name with malice in his vocie.
"...is a very popular guy, unbeknowest to him." he scoffs as he fixes his jacket back in place, and walks in front of her; leaning down close to her face. "Would apepear...Chrissy, you have your eyes on him as well."
Chrissy features narrow as she cuts her eyes at him. "Let's get one thing straight..."Lex"...my job is my main priority."
"See that it stays that way..." he warns as he stands and walds from her to fix himself a drink at the bar.
"I would really hate to make it a nastly little habit of mine to kill such beatiful women...when I could be doing other things with them."
She binks her eyes, a bit numb by his words before her faces scrunches up in anger. "Are you threating me?...How dare..."
Shre springs to her feet only to get pushed back down, she glares up at him as he smiles smuggly down at her.
"Just take it as friendly advice toward a long life." he says, humor playing in his voice at his own words and then becomes serious.
"Now to make you start earning the money I'm paying you...I want you to spy on my faithful hired hit crew." he smirks, releaving the glass of some of it's contents.
"I want updates every 20 minutes of thier actions in the vault. The guards will be knocked out, so you don't have any worries about acess in the area...just don't get caught by them."
Chrissy pushes up off the chair as she comes to her feet, glancing at Lex one more time before walking over to the door.
"...and Chrissy?" Lex calls after her, bringing her to a hault.
"Yea..." she turns back around to look at him as she held open the door.
"Don't make me regret hiring you...I had just about enough dissapointments for the day and has ran dry on mercy..."
Chrissy swallows hard, not allowing it to be visible to him as she kept her poised expression and slowly nods before leavign the room.
x
"Ahhh..." a guard grunts as a blunt hit to the back of the head knocks him unconcious and he falls to the floor.
"That's the last of them...the rest are tied up." the thug announces to the head ring leader as a couple men from the rest of the crew ties up the guard he just knocked out.
"Great, now to get things moving along." Mark says, walking pass him to the vault room where two others were busy drilling wholes to place the explosives.
Mark places his hand down on one guy's shoulder who was drilling. "How long till we get this baby open?"
He stops the drill, and takes the cigar from his mouth as he looks up at him.
"Not sure yet...this steel is thicker then I expected, we have to let the tools rest every 30 minutes or they'll over heat and lock up...they won't be any good then." he yells over the noise the other driller made.
Mark shakes his head impatiently, annoyed by the slow progress. "That's no good...we don't have that kind of time!"
"You can't rush these things, we could really screw this up if we don't put the explosives right!"
"Look put a rush on it!...There's going to be more guards coming soon and the last thing we need is to tip anyone off!"
He puts the cigar back in his mouth letting out a small grunt to Marks impatience as he started up his drilling again into the steel frame.
Another guy yonger then the rest comes to Mark's side, very nervous by all that's going on as he looks on at the sparks flying all around from the drills.
"Shouldn't we be worried about getting Lex's crap, man?...We're getting payed more then enough just to sweip some stupid tapes and disk." he said grabbing Mark's arm trying to put some scense in his head.
Mark snatches his arm away and sneers at him. "What we can get from this vault is way more the payload then what that cheap, bald bastard is willing to pay all of us!"
"This is dangerous, lets just get the easy money...get the tapes and disk and get the hell out fo here!"
"It's what we do...go after the big score...We do not settle for pocket change! Now get back to work!" Mark snaps pushing the guy away. "...and you guys, hurry with the damn explosives...I want this door open now!"
x
Chrissy turns back from looking around the corner; spying on the guys as they were busy trying to crack the bank. She smiles as she leans back agaisnt the wall and pulls out her cell phone.
"Status?" Lex's voice came on the other end.
"They're in the vault room as we speak...all the guards are out cold and tied up. You've certainly hired a crew, here..." she smirks in a low voice so she's not detected by them.
"Well they're not the best...I couldn't have them out smarting me, so they're perfect for the job." Lex states as he cradles the cell phone between his shoulder and ear while he slipped on some black leather gloves to keep his prints off things.
"More guards will be cooming soon...distract them at all cost!"
"What the hell do you want me to do!" Chrissy asks in a perplexed voice.
"Show them your chest...take them in a closet and thier brains out...I don't give a damn!" Lex scoffs out sarcastically, in a impatient voice.
"Just buy the crew enough time to get thier hands dirty...give them a chance to get inside the safe!"
"I seriously don't think that's a problem..." Chrissy replies, her eyes wide as she watches two of the thugs carry crates of explosives in the valut room. "...they're going to blow the door!"
"What!" Lex asks in shock, his smooth expression faultering some at the sound of the news.
"Are they ing brainless...are they trying to blow us up!"
"I wouldn't know...you are the one who hired them..." Chrissy answers in a taunting voice.
"I'm paying you to spy...not to be a wise ass...Now keep your eyes peeled on them, I want to know every bit of details of their actions...no one thing left out. Call me back in the next hour, not 20 minutes like before."
"Why...What are you going to do?" Chrissy asks confused by his change in time.
A sinical grin slowly runs across Lex's lips, his teeth showing some making his smile all the more sinister as his ming thought over his soon to be actions.
"Going to pay the girls a little visit...and rid the world of 3 less "L's" " he replies, a horrible, toothy grin planted on his faces as he spoke.
x
A guy walks in with a crate full of very powerful explosives, his foot slips some as he steps on the mixed marble colored floor, but catches his footing just in time before dropping the crate. Everyone around takes in a deep breath of relief at such a close call.
"Would you be ing careful with that!" Mark shouts angrily as he walks by putting it over next to the drillers who had stop thier work and began attaching the bomb material to the frame of the steel door.
"I don't want to die before my cash in!" he turns to the guys setting up the bombs. "Now get this ing thing open...I've waited long enough!"
"This is dangerous...I've never set bombs up without calculating things out first. I'm doing this blind here!"
"There's no time to calculate...Just put up enough to blow the door away...and now!"
The guy shakes his head and gets back to work setting up the explosives nervously, praying all the while inside they would live at the end of it all to reap the rewards behind the door.
Mark tuns around to face the rest of his crew standing by, waiting further orders...he smiles at them in a triamphant way. His eyes burning with joy at what they all will recieve in a moments time.
"Get ready all...for the biggest damn pay day you ever had!" he shouts in a victory voice, gettting cheers and claps from his men.
"Just in a few minutes time...and we'll be much richer then when we came..."
The clock slowly counting down in more ways then one for all things to happen...
x
Chrissy looks at her watch, her brow raised up as she watches the secound hand fly by...
"Just an hour and this will be finally over..." she says, starring intently at it.
x
Clark sits there antsy by Chloe as she tries again to get through to Lois' cell phone but just getting her voice mail...thier adreanline spiked up at the thread that seem to come heavier with every secound gone by...
"It's time to get out thier and find them Chlo...I waited around long enough, I've got to do something..." Clark says, rushing to his feet.
"Clark be patient we have to plan this out right...just a bit more time..." Chloe says, abandoning trying to get a hold of Lois through her cell and begins to work some planning out on her trusty laptop.
"Time mabye one thing we don't have..." Clark says, Chloe stops for a moment looking up at him as she nervously bites on her bottom lip before going back to her work.
x
Lucy nervously reaches her hand out, sliding it over Lois' hand, holding it tightly in fear...Lois turns her head toward her sister, giving her a weak encouraging smile as she silghtly squeezes her sisters hand to comfort her. Lucy lays her head on Lois' shoulder, fighting to keep from crying as Lois reaches up and rubs her sisters hair back...
"Don't worry Luce...just a matter of time before Clark and the others find us..." Lois says, trying her best to make light of the situation, nodding her head as she tried hard to believe her own words. "...if not you know damn sure I'm going to get us out of here...one way or another...just in time..."
x
Lex whistels, a sick grin on his lips as he pours some of the golden red liquid in a glass. He knocks it back in one quick swallow before slaming the glass down, making a loud thud to sound before breathing out a harsh sound from the stinging drink. He pulls on his suit jacket, straightening it out to sharpen his image...getting repped up for what he was about to do, as he slowly runs his fingers over the cold metal of his gun...
"The time is...now."
A/N Ok try to be gentle with me...I know you guys are probably pissed with the long time that I've update but if you read it please leave some type of review good or bad...at least it's something
Thanks!
Spoliers for last two chaps: See what happens at the end of all this crazy mess...a bomb is going to blow...will anyone survive?
Till Next Time...promise it won't be long...Laters!