Author's Note...
Wow, this chapter was harder to write than I expected, but I think it turned out rather well.
I'd like you to know that this chapter is not 4,700 words long, only 4,000.
Thanks to Annie, thanks reviewers! I won't talk anymore because this chapter is long enough as it is.
Even though Kaitlyn's alarm clock woke her up early, she turned it off and went back to sleep until her upset stomach forced her out of bed. She hated being pregnant and, in colorful language, told the thing so after throwing up. After lying back down for a while, she decided it was time for breakfast. There was a note on the counter from her mom, saying that they when they came home at five, they would tell Kaitlyn their decision about the baby. She rolled her eyes and threw the note away, not caring what they decided; she was going to get rid of it whether or not she had their permission. In this case, rebelling was the only good option. After eating the easiest thing she could find, toast, she flipped through the phonebook to find the Kents' address. She changed into street clothes and left for their house, using a map to guide her through the uncharted territory of farmland.
As she pulled into their long gravel driveway, she found herself worrying about what Mrs. Kent was like, having never met her before. Maybe Clark's mother wasn't too welcoming to strangers. Maybe she would look at Kaitlyn and decide that this was not the kind of girl she wanted her son to hang around. Stop being so paranoid! She's probably really nice, she told herself before knocking on the door.
Chloe opened the door and greeted her with a bright smile and, "Hey, you're here!"
Kaitlyn, already nervous, now found herself unable to say anything more than, "Oh, yeah. I'm not late, am I?"
"No, five minutes is hardly anything to worry about." The blonde led her through the house to the kitchen. Kaitlyn already liked the place; it was clean, but not in the stiff, impersonal way. The pictures of the family set out in the front room calmed Kaitlyn because the individuals wore genuine smiles, not just-hurry-and-take-the-picture grins. People like that were usually pleasant. Christmas decorations were up in every room, and a Christmas tree lit the den. She felt warm and welcome here. Lana and a woman who Kaitlyn assumed was Mrs. Kent sat at the kitchen table, drinking tea. "You must be Kaitlyn," the woman said, smiling as she stood. "I'm Martha Kent."
Kaitlyn shook her hand. "Yeah, call me Katie. It's nice to meet you."
Mrs. Kent had red hair and a sweet smile, giving the impression of being as welcoming as her house. "Do you want something to drink? Tea? Coffee?" she offered.
"No thanks; I'm fine." She had never liked tea, and the thought of coffee made her stomach churn though she used to love it. Being pregnant ruins everything.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Mrs. Kent asked after the two had finished their tea, rushing around to the counter top to organize the different ingredients that were strewn about. She set the girls to work at peeling and slicing apples, pitting cherries, measuring ingredients, and rolling dough as she asked them all questions about their families, Christmas plans, and what they wanted to do until school was back in session. The girls would answer the questions and ask ones of their own.
"Where's Clark?" Lana asked, obviously eager to see him. Mrs. Kent answered that he was helping in the barn.
"Are you having relatives over tomorrow?" Kaitlyn was informed that Martha's father lived in Coast City and couldn't travel such a long distance.
"Is Lex coming over for Christmas like he did last year?" Kaitlyn tensed at the last question fired by Kents seemed like good people; why would they allow Lex to spend Christmas with them? Doesn't he have his father? she thought bitterly.
"We don't know yet," Mrs. Kent answered. "He is always welcome, though."
Kaitlyn kept her mouth shut, not sure if she should be more wary of the Kents or less wary of Lex. Lana and Chloe spoke well of both, and they hadn't been wrong about Mrs. Kent, but experience screamed for her not to trust Luthors. As the topic changed, she shoved the worries in the back of her mind.
Hours later, the kitchen was bursting with the smell of cherry, apple, and peach. Feet too tired to stand any longer, the four sat around the table. A large pile of mixing bowls and measuring cups had accumulated in the sink and begged to be washed, but Mrs. Kent promised that they didn't have to worry; Clark would wash them. Everyone but Kaitlyn snacked on extra slices of fruit; the numerous smells had sent her senses into overdrive, making her nauseous. Lana stood to remove pies from the oven and replace them with unbaked ones. Before returning to the table, she glanced outside the steamed-up window to see a silver car and a van pull into the driveway. "Lex is here," she announced.
Kaitlyn noticed fear slithering up her spine. In that moment, she decided that anything good the others had said about Lex had to go out the window for her safety. Now was not the time to try to see him as a good guy. Have to hide; I have to hide."Mrs. Kent? Where's your bathroom?" As she walked quickly in the direction Mrs. Kent had pointed, Kaitlyn felt like a rabbit, darting to take cover from danger. Maybe she was stupid, even cowardly, but at the same time, it was better to be safe than sorry. As she locked the bathroom, she heard people enter the house through the back door in the kitchen. Greetings were exchanged: Lex introducing his two helpers, Luke and Jason, to the girls.
"Not all the pies are baked quite yet,but they should be by tomorrow," Mrs. Kent apologized. "I hope that isn't an inconvenience. You are allowed to take most of the finished ones."
"No inconvenience at all; it gives me a reason to stop by tomorrow," Lex replied. "Since the party is on Friday, there's no need to rush. Boys, would you get these out to the van?"
"Right," one said.
"Sure," said the other. Kaitlyn recognized that voice, and she tried to remember where she had heard it. What were the boys' names, Luke and Jason? Jason?! Can he hear me?She immediately turned her thoughts from worrying about Lex to admiring the wallpaper. Very cute, very floral. Lovely. Just keep thinking about the wallpaper.
"Chloe, Lana, will you call Clark in and help these boys out?" Mrs. Kent asked.
The two chorused a yes and left with the helpers. Kaitlyn felt weird eavesdropping while Lex made small talk with Mrs. Kent, so she concentrated on the flowery wallpaper. When the door opened again, she heard indistinct chatter between to Luke and Jason. A deep voice she didn't recognize, probably Luke, asked, "Lex, can we talk to you outside quickly?"
"Of course. Excuse me, Mrs. Kent. This will only take a moment." Footsteps crossed the wooden floor, and the door closed. Kaitlyn relaxed, knowing that the Luthor was out of the house. Now if only he'd get off the property, she could leave the small bathroom. Just when she thought it was safe to come out of hiding, the men reentered. "Finish loading up, boys," Lex said as three more sets of footsteps walked through the door. Kaitlyn could only guess that it was Chloe, Lana, and Clark who had come to help out.
She heard Luke's deep voice again, but not through the door. It was in her mind, and she began to worry if she really was hearing voices. Hey, come out.
Maybe I should go back to Belle Reve, she mused. White walls don't sound so bad compared to hiding out in here…
Come out, he repeated. That's an order.
Her hand reached for the doorknob, but not by her own control. Snapping it to her side, she replied, No!
You will come out. And she did, feeling like she was being dragged along like a child's doll behind its careless owner. Kaitlyn kept her eyes averted from Lex and instead looked towards the door to see Jason was carrying an armful of pie boxes. He smiled brightly in greeting. "Katie! It's good to see you. Glad you're doing well."
"Yeah, imagine meeting up here." What are you doing with Luthor?
"I know: crazy coincidence!" he said, blue eyes shining.
You have some explaining to do once you're done with whatever this is.
"Jase, come on. Let's finish this job," Luke ordered, pushing Jason out the door before he could say anything else. Although he was a good eight inches shorter than Jason, Luke had much more muscle and appeared comfortable with bullying his partner. Chloe, Lana, and Clark followed them out, each carrying three pie boxes.
"I'll help them," Kaitlyn told Martha, grabbing a few pies off of the counter top.
"Actually," Lex interrupted, "I'd like to talk to you for a moment."
She stiffened. There's no way you can make me. "Can it wait?" she asked, turning to door.
"Of course it can," he answered with amusement and extended his hand, which had something pink and shiny in its grasp. "I just assumed you wanted your phone back. I believe you left it in my car yesterday."
That's where it went! She tried to mask her eagerness by saying, "I've got my hands full. Just leave it on the counter." The less contact with him, the better.
Jason, closely followed by Luke, burst through the door again. Jason grinned and removed the pie boxes from her hands. "Oh, I'll take those."
Kaitlyn glared at him. Are you trying to make this hard on me?After a glance at her pink phone held hostage by Luthor, she snatched it away quickly and shoved it in her pocket. In the process, she accidentally brushed his hand, sending sparks flying up her arm and down her spine; though Kaitlyn chalked it up to her fear of Lex, she had a nagging feeling that it might be something else that she didn't want to consider. Besides, with Jason around, she had to be careful with her thoughts.
Lex smiled. "May I talk to you outside?"
Before she could answer, Luke was in her head again. Go. Hear him out.
She swallowed hard, feeling conflicted. There was something that made her feel compelled to obey, but she was scared—alone with a Luthor was the last place she wanted to be. "Can't we just talk in here?"
No. Go outside, Luke's voice in her head commanded.
She walked to the door and stepped outside. "I guess we can go out." She thought she saw Lex give Luke a stern glare before following her outside and wondered if this whole thing had been planned. How would he know that Luke could do anything, though? Was it the way she had been "dragged" outside? She tried to stop her hands from shaking by picking at her nails.
"Are you cold?" he asked, mistaking her trembling for shivers. He began to take off his overcoat.
"Keep your jacket; I'm fine," she said quickly. "What do you want?"
"Jason told me that you two have already met." Lex stepped down from the porch. "He also described the story. Walk with me."
She squinted at him suspiciously but didn't make a move to follow. "Is there a point to this?"
He smiled, recalling her attitude as being the same as yesterday's. "Tell me: why would someone shoot you?"
Walk with him, Luke's voice ordered, echoing in her head. She was pulled down the stairs to Lex's side by imaginary strings and found it hard to breathe from fear and from being treated like a marionette.
"You're a horrible liar, Ms. Grant." He started walking down the driveway, towards the road, and she was compelled to follow because of Luke's order. "Would you like to try again?"
"I told you: I don't know," she repeated.
"Really? You already had a brush with death last week and were nearly shot in the head yesterday. It's a wonder that you're not six feet."
"People nearly die every day. It's not uncommon."
"Even for a small-town teenage girl?"
She tried to show her exasperation by sighing, but it came out shaky and uncertain. "What do you want?"
"Jason mentioned that the shooter was under orders from someone else. My father tried to kill you on Friday, and unless you have entangled yourself with a crime boss, we have reason to believe that he tried again. Would you like to explain?"
She looked at him in disbelief. "Why don't you just ask your father and leave me alone? He can give you better answers, I'm sure. Can't you stay out of my life?" The moment the last statement left her mouth, she regretted it. No, she had not just said that. She had not just provoked him. Who knew what this one would do? He could be worse than his father.
"The moment I step out of your life is the moment my father steps in." That got the response he was looking for. She was immediately imagining twenty awful situations, some where she died, others that ended much, much worse. Her trembling increased. "And right now, it doesn't look like you would survive another attempt on your life, despite any miraculous powers you may have."
Kaitlyn was frozen now. Couldn't walk, could barely swallow or even blink. Just stare in fear at the devil's spawn. She managed to open her mouth and force out, "How do you know?"
"The deadly cocktail cooked up by the scientists of my father clued me in that you had an ability, and Jason simply confirmed it."
You little rat! she screamed at Jason. I thought you were someone I could trust! How can you be working for this man? Silence hung in the air until she finally asked, almost in surrender, "What do you want?"
"I want to help you, but that is not possible until you explain everything."
Her body began to regain its ability to move. "You already know everything," she muttered. "You don't want to help me; you don't careabout me. Why would you? Luthors are only concerned about themselves. You just want something out of me." She didn't even want to begin to think about what that something might be.
Lex placed a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away. In a calm voice, he answered, "Shall we walk a bit farther? This is not about what you can do for me. This is about justice."
"How can my telling you anything bring justice?" she demanded, staying where she was and becoming more aware of the biting cold by the second.
"I want you to be a Witness."
"A what?"
"A witness against my father. There is a group willing to speak out against him, lock him away for all the crimes he's committed."
So he's not on his father's side? That alone made her more willing to follow him up to the road. The cold was affecting her now, so she rubbed her hands up and down her arms to warm them. Before she could resist, Lex had draped his heavy black coat around her shoulders. Its smell—his smell—floated up to her face, filling her nostrils, and she suddenly felt lightheaded. He smells goo— No! Bad Katie! You are not going to think like that! she scolded herself. Kaitlyn was having trouble forming words. "There are more victims than just me?"
There was the look of pity again. "Yes, twenty-five in one case alone."
"Then why do you need me?"
"Because I know that you want to see justice served as much as anyone else."
"You don't know me at all," she hissed. "I'd rather keep my life, thanks."
"You can do both. All of the Witnesses have supernatural abilities, some strong enough to be Protectors. Their job is to keep everyone safe; you will be no exception."
"How can all of them have abilities?" she asked, suspicious.
"Last month, my father hired scientists to perform tests on a group of twenty-five people with extraordinary abilities. Means to what end, I don't know. They were tested to see the extent of their abilities, pushed beyond the brink of what they could handle physically and mentally. Five are afraid to come forward. One is in an irreversible catatonic state. Three are dead. However, the others scream for justice, and I intend to give it to them. I released them, promising to help take down my father so that he couldn't hurt anyone else."
"And you want me to witness, too?" Lex is working against his father; he wants to ruin him. What kind of son does that?She didn't know, but she noticed herself warming up to Lex a bit. Kaitlyn felt lightheaded at this revelation and, for support, leaned against the weather-worn wood of the fence that surrounded the property. "Your dad's already tried to kill me twice," she whispered. "What would stop him from making the third time the charm?"
He gave a convincing half-smile that didn't look nearly as mocking as she had once thought. "Would it be alright to walk down the road a bit?" She nodded hesitantly, and they continued on. "As I said before, the Protectors will be present. They are the core group with strong defensive and offensive powers of laser vision, time control, mind control, mind reading, and creating illusions. No one will be able to touch us."
"Luke has the mind control, doesn't he?"
"Yes. He was ordered not to use his powers today, but I can tell he disobeyed," Lex answered. "I apologize; you weren't supposed to be forced into anything."
"Does he read minds, too?"
"No, that's why Jason is his partner. Jason tells Luke where people are and what they are thinking so that he can pinpoint them easily. They work well together."
"They sound like they would dangerous if they turned on you," she commented.
"The others keep them in check," Lex replied easily.
"So when is this witness thing happening?" she asked. Without thinking, she pulled Lex's heavy wool coat closer.
"The Luthor Christmas Party won't be a party for everyone." Lex had a sly grin on his face, obviously relishing the idea of Friday night.
She shot him a perplexed expression. "How are you going to manage that?" Kaitlyn noted this as the turning point: he was on her side.
"The only thing that could damage my father more than the charges we are going to bring against him is doing so in front of his business associates, all of our guests, and a few FBI agents. You, Kaitlyn Grant, are cordially invited to attend this event."
She was back to being lightheaded, knowing that she couldn't face Lionel. "Do I have to actually…speak?" It would be bad enough having to see his face again while trying not to throw up.
With a casual shrug, he answered, "Eventually, yes. At the party? Not necessarily. We're far enough away from the house now." He stopped walking, and she sensed the need to run. Far enough away from the house? Had he brought her out this far to do something? Breaths came in short gasps. She had made a mistake, trusting him. "Kaitlyn, are you alright?" he asked, extending a hand to place on her arm.
She would have jumped away, but her joints locked up. The only thing she could do was stare at him in fear and shake. "This is a mistake," she whispered hoarsely. "I shouldn't have come out here."
He examined her face, gauging her meaning of the words. "There is no need to be afraid. The only reason we are out here is because I thought you would rather talk to me out of Jason's range." She just blinked. "I'm not interested in hurting you, Kaitlyn. You are safe with me," he promised, making eye contact.
Maybe she could trust him, maybe she couldn't, but his gaze made her knees give out. Eyes so much like his father's, yet actually having a soul beneath their cold color. He caught her before she collapsed and helped her to the fence so that she could support herself. Yes. Yes, she trusted him. "I can't go to your party. I don't think I can actually," she looked up at the cloudy sky and took a deep breath, "handle seeing him again." Her voice cracked, making her feel like a coward. She didn't shrug off the hand that was placed on her shoulder.
"Jason can't hear you. If you want to tell me what exactly happened, now would be the time." When Kaitlyn looked down at the ground, he tilted her chin back up, his gray-blue eyes searching hers. Once again, she was caught breathless. "Why are you so afraid of my father?"
Her tongue seemed to swell so that she couldn't say a word, just shake her head. The world seemed to be spinning. It must be upside-down. Here she was, talking to the son of her worst nightmare and not cringing at his touch, wondering if maybe he was on her side. Almost wishing she could confess everything to this person that she barely knew. Heart hammering so hard that she could hear, not just feel, it. "He…" Oh, this wasn't going to come out right.
And Lex stood there, patiently waiting. His gaze seemed to say, "You can trust me."
"You're going to be a big brother," she choked out, touching her stomach. Well, the statement wasn't entirely true—she would probably get an abortion—but it communicated the point.
Lex let his hand fall from her shoulder, and she suddenly wished it were still there. His face was pained, maybe disappointed. Kaitlyn couldn't help but wonder that he wished he hadn't been right. The expression on Lex's face slowly changed to fiery anger, and he cursed. Kaitlyn stiffened, wondering if he was angry at her. "What would possess him to do something that?" he asked.
This Lex scared her. I shouldn't have said anything.She stared down at the gravel and snow mixture on the road. If he was asking a question, not sounding like he had an answer, what did that mean? Was he knocked off-guard? Was Lex questioning her credibility? Did he think she was lying? This was all a mistake, telling Lex. My entire life has been a mistake. Mom should have aborted me, not Andrew. He wouldn't have screwed up his life this bad. "I…guess that maybe it was my fault," Kaitlyn mumbled, looking down at the snow.
Lex grabbed both of her shoulders with an intensity that shocked her. She was forced to look him in the eye and found herself breathless. "It is not your fault. Only my father is to blame."
But you don't understand! "You're wrong."
"How am I wrong?" he asked, sure that he was right; Lex was always right.
A million words rushed out of her mouth before she could even think to stop them. She spilled her guts to the Luthor——the last thing she expected to ever do. Finding out about the Luthor-Bell affair. Lionel's threat and her disregard of it. Selling out to the Inquisitor, becoming a freak, Lionel taking her. Finding out she was pregnant and trying to kill it. Landing in Belle Reve, telling Hailey everything. Hailey dying, Kaitlyn being released and getting shot at the gas station. By the time the story was done, she was crying. I look like an idiot, feel like an idiot, am an idiot.
She almost expected him to pull her close and say that everything was alright, like in the cheesy fairy tales, but he didn't. Lex gave her space to cry, simply standing between her and the house to block her from the view of prying eyes, not expressing a single thought that went through his mind. Kaitlyn wished he would do something; she needed to know he was on her side and ready to bring down Lionel Luthor. She wished he would hold her close. She didn't want space anymore, just to cry on his shoulder. "I can't go to your party. I can't face him," she finally managed. "I'm too scared."
"There's nothing to be afraid of," Lex replied.
"He's going to kill me."
"He couldn't with the guests present and the Protectors constantly on guard," he assured. "I'll be by your side the entire time."
Her heart jumped, both afraid and strangely excited by this. "Promise you'll keep me safe?"
He examined her face: bloodshot eyes, tear stained cheeks, trembling lips. She didn't look much different from the first time he had seen her in Belle Reve, broken and scared. How could he say no to this innocent girl? "Absolutely."
So tell me what you think and review! Only two (or maybe three) chapters left!