Happy early Monday; 2:40am seems like a wonderful time to post :D Hope you have a lovely week.

Oh you beautiful reviewers :) You just want me to blush, don't you? (It's working)

For those who are interested, yes; Clark does make an appearance later on.

Please don't be too hard on the JLA, their leader is an unhappy bunny without his Chloe, he cannot think straight and thus the entire group is suffering from lack of awesomeness.

Previously; Lionel was admitted to hospital. Chloe had a run around f-wing, discovering the truth of another of Lex's pet projects and the location of 33.1. The JLA have accessed the GPS to Lex's vehicles and are following his footsteps, hoping he will lead them to 33.1, but all he seems to do is work. (Hehe)

Chapter Forty-One; The Hand That Feeds

'Don't worry dad. I still have plenty of land to conquer above sea level before I take on the underworld.'- Lex Luthor (Season Six, Episode Nemesis)

Lex walked down the corridor of Metropolis General, he whistled absently to himself. He was taking his time, trying to cover the limp he was battling against. He was winning his fight.

His father on the other hand…

Was it sick Lex derived pleasure from the announcement of his father's admission to hospital? Possibly.

Was it wrong that he hoped he never left the hospital again? Probably.

Did Lex care? No, he whistled happily down the empty corridors towards his father's room. It was clear which; men in black suits stood outside, constantly on alert. Nurses would pass scared glances as they scurried past. Satan was dying, who wouldn't be scared of his final words? His son perhaps?

Lex heard his phone's ringtone before he felt it. The winter was clawing at the air, forcing coats and gloves onto those who dared to pass through it. He lifted out the phone. It was his lead researcher in the bioweapons development, currently working on his truth serum. He'd created a lot of things for Lex, but none were as important as this right now.

"This better be good news." Lex answered, stopping his movement closer to hell's doorway.

"I have a projection for completion of the drug, without impairing side effects."

"I couldn't care less about side effects. I just need it to work."

"I thought you'd say that," Sometimes, Lex wondered if he took as much pleasure from his job as his voice said. It always sounded sadistically pleased with himself. "One month."

"A month." Lex repeated. "I don't have a month. You have a week."

"Then you'll have a drug that doesn't work." Lex rarely had someone strong willed enough to reply like that (except Chloe). He admired it sickly. "I projected a month, and it will take a month. If you want it sooner, then you'll want to hire another scientist." And then the sadistic sarcasm cropped back up "Oh, wait… but that would take more than a month to hire them, get them up to speed, figure out how much to pay them for silence… find material to blackmail them…" he continued cockily.

"Do not make the mistake of thinking you are irreplaceable." And Lex felt his lips curve into a smile as no witty reply came. "You have a month, but not a day later. And if there are any complications you know the price." And Lex hung up. He had the time… but so did Chloe. He wondered off hand how she was doing, if they'd ripped her to pieces yet. He grinned, picked up his whistle and put the skip back in his step.

A month. He could work with that.

"Mr Luthor requested no visitors." A guard informed, blocking Lionel's door with a hand.

"I don't aim to visit." Lex answered. "Just gloat." And he knocked aside the man's arm to enter the room. Lionel was lying across the bed, an oxygen mask across his nose and mouth, his eyes a sickly yellow as they focussed on Lex.

Lionel sighed, but waved off the guards and the door shut.

"Here to pity a dying man?" Lionel asked, tugging down the oxygen.

"That would require feelings for said old man." Lex replied, moving across and taking the chart from the edge of the bed. He tutted as he read. "Doesn't look good Dad."

"Neither does your face. What happened?"

"Don't act like you care. You might not have much time left and already a long list of sins to repent for, best not to add lying." Lex grinned sickly.

"Oh Lex. Take your party elsewhere, I'm not in the mood."

"Dying does that to you." Lex wittily answered, then set back the chart and moved further towards his father, taking the seat next to the bed and unbuttoning the coat as he sat. "So tell me Dad. How does it feel? Everything I imagined and more?"

"Whatever happened to make you so cruel Lex?" Lionel wheezed, his lungs heavy in his chest.

"Would you like me to fetch a mirror?" he retorted, reaching out to take his father's hand with a strong grip. Lionel wriggled, as subtly as he could, but Lex squeezed tight. "I came to say my farewells. Nothing more."

"Farewell implies well wishes." Lionel stated. "Let's not strain anything."

"You're right." Lex chuckled, but tightened his grip still. He saw his father try to hide the grimace, it gave him a thrill. "I came to see you in pain." Lex admitted with no effort to smother the joy he felt. "So tell me Dad, how does it feel?" Lex listened to the heart rate monitor increase its beats and he smiled. "Problem, Dad?"

"I'd rather die here than watch the man you become."

"Says the father who not only taught me all I know, but murdered in cold blood, kidnapped and encouraged slavery." Lex pointed out. "Long way down from that high horse Dad. Mind the fall." And with one final tightening of his grip Lex released his hand, instead choosing to lean back; the picture of ease.

"If you have nothing better to do that annoy me, you need to find a new hobby, Lex."

"This is my hobby, Dad." Lex flashed a grin, the white of his teeth showing. "I'm thinking of taking a photo, letting Chloe hang it up in her room."

"Where is she, Son?" Lionel begged, the need for the answer dragging at him.

"Careful Dad, you're letting your emotions show."

"Damn it Lex. I don't have time for this. What have you done with her?"

"Nothing you wouldn't have. But that's a story for another day." And then Lex leaned in close. "Woops. Guess I forgot… you don't have that many days, do you Dad?" Lionel saw Lex's darkness in that truest glimpse of him. His soul was torn. "How many days did they give you?"

"Son. I'd appreciate if you left."

"All those medications; accelerating the growth, decelerating, freezing, burning. You've been mixing a big potion in your blood, no wonder it accelerated so fast. Imagine you have a week." Lex guessed. But Lionel's eyes filled with emotions he'd tried to hide from his son. "Less?" Lex read like playing poker. "Tell me it's less than a day." Lex replied giddily. "I do hope you changed that pesky will." Lex warned him.

"Don't worry. I've written you out of everything." Lex didn't seem fazed to hear this. He'd expected it if anything.

"And who are you leaving that vast fortune to?" he enquired, curiosity more than anything else.

"There are several charities in great need of f-"

"See. I know I asked, but I don't care. And… as it happens, I seem to recall a certain lawyer who will cross any lines for the right price."

"Lex. You shall not forge my will." But without his dominating voice, without his challenge, Lionel was nothing more than an old man, confined to his last resting place while he lived. The doctors gave him little more than two days, a week if he was lucky. Lex was right, the constant experimentation had reacted and sped up the process.

"Oh, I shall. And I shall do whatever I like with the father's dying gift to his son."

"Lex!" Lionel warned. But it was without the fear factor. Lex felt his mobile return to life and lifted to see the screen again. It was the guard he'd put in charge of Chloe. Senior Officer Adrian Keith. It was amazing what people would do for money. Keith had been a respectable man until his wife had divorced him and found a better lawyer, Keith had barely kept the clothes on his back when Lex found him.

"My apologies Dad. I have to take this." But Lex didn't sound at all sorry as he stood, the chair legs scraping the floor. He walked to the door, but then paused and turned back to his father. "Cremated… right?" and with a laugh, he pushed open the door, letting himself out.

Lionel felt a coldness grip him. What had happened to Lex? Lionel wasn't the perfect example of human rights, but Lex, he was too far gone to even shed a tear for his dying father.

"How is she?"

"Resistant." Came the answer. Lex sighed and stepped into the hospital elevator.

"Meaning?"

"We retried the experiment. Shot another subject in the leg. She healed him, took the injury herself."

"As expected. And now?"

"She took three shocks trying to fight her way out."

"And F-Wing."

"Disappointing, Sir. She appears to have won them over."

Lex rubbed the bridge of his nose, watching the lights move down a floor as the doors prepared to open at the entrance.

"Of course she did." Lex muttered. "Alright. Dose her with MBN-4, increase it. Throw her back in. If nothing has changed by midnight, put her into storage."

"Sir." The acceptance echoed and the line died.

Chloe had weaved them a story. His finest soldiers. His nuclear weapons. His fighters. She'd won them over… Damn woman.

Chloe rolled in her cell, it was close to midnight, or so she thought. The others were sleeping, injured, but sleeping. The guards had been a bit chatty as they carried her back to the pit, they said the men had come back around from the gas and fought anything and everything instantly. They'd had to be drugged again and locked in cells until they calmed down, one had almost been killed. But she finally understood the lies Lex told to obtain new employees for down here. The guards were terrified of the men in the pit, they were told that everyone meteor infected would turn into the raging monsters that f-wing held. He told them he'd been looking for a cure, to prevent it, which qualified all the experimentation. The guards truly believed they were helping people, well, they believed they were helping the people out in the world; Lex told them those that were inside 33.1 were already too far gone to be saved and could only contribute to saving others before they turned too evil.

Chloe rolled again, trying to find comfort in the cot bed. The doors were all electronically locked with bulletproof glass, everyone in their own little cell. Lex had doubled her dose of MBN and it was messing with her mind, she hadn't even managed to find her 30 minutes of sleep yet. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to block out the way Jayden cried softly, talking to himself about everything and nothing. The other may be asleep, but she was wide awake, like him, unable to find peace. She could hear him, grasped by a hallucination. From what she heard, he was reliving his first kill on constant replay. Her eyes closed and she wondered if she'd see her own version of that memory.

The first time she'd taken a life.

Jayden may have been following orders, but Chloe had no intention of killing the man she did. He was loaded with crimes, she even supported Lionel's plan to 'encourage' him to leave the city. The plan was that she'd get access to his apartment by posing as a neighbour, then present him with the evidence to blackmail him out of the city. He was a problem for Lionel's plans and also a bad man in his own right.

But the man had grabbed a kitchen knife, tried to add murder to his list of crimes. They'd fought, she'd taken a cut across her stomach, had 14 stitches that night, but somehow, he'd slipped on the floor and Chloe had held strong on her grip of the knife, landing it straight into his organs. He'd died slowly while she desperately called Lionel for help.

Now… she had no scars, no evidence of her past.

The only hurt Chloe had was a killer limp in her left leg that felt like a bullet had been shoved through muscle and bone. She'd been stumbled back into the pit, held up by two guards, the men had been clawing at their doors, banging on the walls. The commander had been sat on his bunk, glanced up, seen the limp and then went back to his pensive thinking. Chloe had been far too drained to do anything more than reposition herself on the bunk the guards had dropped her on.

But as she laid back, staring at the ceiling, all she could think of was Oliver. She missed him, really missed him. She wanted to feel his arms around her. God, what she wouldn't do to be back in his arms right now. To smell that stupidly expensive cologne, to see that cheeky smirk, to verbally spar… hell, to physically spar with him. She wanted to be wowed by Green Arrow, she wanted him to take control again, to have her in an alley any way he wanted. She wanted him to crash through the walls and save her, to sweep her up in kisses and fill her with hope.

But… he'd never find this place. It would never even be on his radar of possibilities. He wasn't coming and she was truly alone.

"359." A voice barked into the quiet and Chloe's eyes flew open wide. What now? "Transfer, on your feet." The electronic lock on her door clicked and the glass slowly slid open. Chloe sat herself up, put all her weight onto her hands and pushed onto the one foot.

With a test, she walked to the door, hand on the wall, helping her walk. "359. Now." The voice grumbled out and she wanted to curse him, she was going as fast as she could. "359!" he called again. Chloe's head came around the glass door and she watched as he saw her, but he smiled and pressed his thumb down, sending a shock through her. He watched with a grin as she gripped the doorframe, her legs crippling and dragging her down.

When the pain passed, when the shakes finished, when she lifted her eyes again, she saw the challenging expression on his face, asking what the hell she was going to do about it when he held all the power. If she had her way, she'd sling the damn collar around his neck and never lift her finger until he cried for his mother.

But, that was if, and in reality, she had little other option than obeying.

She pushed herself to standing, guided herself along on the glass doors, shuffling the good leg and trying to block out the pain from her injury. But as she reached the next cell, she found Alexis standing, fists by her side, her eyes glowing a brighter red than she'd ever imagined to see. Did they really glow like Chloe thought they did? Chloe whipped her gaze across the other side, men lined up and down, eyes red as burning embers, anger over their features, white knuckles. The guards were stirring their anger, and she was in the crosshairs.

But the glass… it would hold. Right?

A fist slammed against the glass and Chloe jumped, her heart in her mouth as the vibrations shuddered beneath her feet, shaking her bones. Chloe pushed from the glass of Alexis's cell, stumbled her way in quick step towards the elevator.

They scared her to be perfectly honest, she felt fear squeezing her lungs, forcing her to ignore the pain and escape. Another fist hit glass, then like a drum solo to a rock concert, it all kicked off, fists, feet, heads, anything possible slammed against the cage that held the beasts.

Chloe forced herself faster, but a metre from the elevator, she heard the ominous sound of glass breaking, scattering over the floor.

Chloe turned fast, alert, fearful. Then, stepping into the pit came female legs, stretching over glass then standing perfectly still, eyes locked on Chloe. Another glass shattered, then another. Chloe's panic was consuming her, she froze, locked as she was, resting weight on a leg that couldn't hold her, but she couldn't move… she just couldn't. Ruby red lights were pinning her from every direction.

"359!" a guard called, "Elevator, now!" he was worried too. Chloe didn't know what else to do. Risk it down here, or up there? Her chances seemed better up top. She turned and pushed off her good leg to attempt a run to the shaft.

They weren't to be beaten and glass slid across the floor scattered by pounding feet behind her, her heart beat was thumping in her ears, she thought she was going to die then and there. She grabbed the rail in the elevator, tugging herself further into it, men were charging towards her, fuelled by a rage she couldn't even begin to comprehend.

Closer, closer, even closer, they covered distance like lightening. The door of the elevator remained open, operated from above and ignored, and the men just kept coming. Chloe closed her eyes, ready for the impact, but instead she heard bodies hit the walls like hard rain on a rooftop, Mason was directly before her, using the ribs of the elevator shaft as monkey bars, making impossible jumps further up the wall of the pit, climbing higher.

Chloe felt the door finally close, bringing her higher inside the cage he climbed.

Their anger wasn't for her, it was personal. It was for the men that made them angry, the men circling like vultures, picking apart their carcass before they even died.

These captives weren't beyond reason. They knew their own comrades weren't the enemy, they knew she wasn't.

Grunts and pained gasps broke the air, it sounded like a warzone before they could even reach the top. She was out of the elevator seconds before Mason, thrown over the shoulder of the commanding officer and carried from the area. The last sight she had before being locked in the first chamber door was Mason pulling himself onto the top level, throwing the closest guard to the pit and grinning. Mason was a hound of hell, driven by pleasure, driven by hunger and he was biting the hand that fed with no remorse. He wanted this. She saw his eyes, saw the blood dripping from the corners, running down his face. But the smile. The smile never dropped.

"Give her the dose." Her guard spoke, she was off his shoulder, pulled along a new corridor while armed guards with stun guns crowded into the chamber they vacated. A lab coat grabbed her arm and stuck her with something pink, then she was dizzy, being led along corridors and different floors.

"Where are we?" she mumbled much like a drunkard.

"When you change your mind. He'll be here." The guard spoke, and then she was tossed into another cell. Empty, but pitch black. The lights clicked off as the guards left. But there were no calls of pain, no screams, no talking, no nightmares. She was utterly alone in the darkness. No lights, no comfort, no voice. She reached out a hand, but felt nothing, there was an unconscious wave begging for her and she stopped trying, letting it take her onto the cold stone of the floor.

One Week Later

Dinah stood in Oliver's elevator yet again, grumbling as she read the morning paper. It was almost a week since Lionel had been admitted to hospital and now the headlines were telling her he was stable and making good progress in recovery. It ruined her mood. She flipped from the front cover to glance at the section Green Arrow had recently been dominating. Since Chloe had told him Queen was all down to fate, he'd consumed himself in the role of Arrow. Arrow she loved, Queen she wasn't making efforts for. So, every day, there would be a new save to report, there would be a risky photo of green leather blurred in action and it was Oliver's way of showing Chloe where she could find him if she was to return. Dinah sighed to herself as the elevator doors started to open. Star City last night. Well, early this morning actually. Small time burglar had been thrown to the city's police department. Apparently, he'd put up quite a fight and had to be fought down by Arrow. Dinah rolled her eyes and stepped out into the apartment.

First thing, she pulled off the snow boots and placed them by the doors, then came the coat and scarf. The man had the heating on full and she was sweating the instant the doors opened. Dinah wasn't a big fan of winter at all, ever more so when it came early; it wasn't even December yet! It was arguable that she kept such a close eye on Oliver recently just to steal his heating. In fact… it was very possible.

Dinah stretched out her body, padding barefoot into the home like it was her own. Her first target was the coffee maker.

"Get out of hand last night Jolly Green?" she called as she started the machine, walking back into the living room. She heart a grunt, then the sound of feet hitting the floor heavily.

She knew that all too well by now. Oliver had fallen asleep on the sofa again. She rolled her eyes. "Coffee, I presume." But she didn't find the blonde scrubbing down his messed hair, squinting in the new light. No… something else entirely. "Seriously?!" she hissed, throwing a couch cushion at him. "What if I had been the cleaner?!" There he was, top to toe in Green Arrow gear, the crossbow on the coffee table where it had clearly been abandoned last night.

"It's not her day." he gruffly replied, annoyed at her accusations.

"I can't believe you crashed on the couch again. What's wrong with your million dollar bed princess?" She whacked the back of his head lightly with jest, enjoying her morning tease of his sleepy highness. He just rubbed his head, then stretched out his limbs from the ache of the sofa.

Several things were wrong with his bed. Like the stairs he had to take to reach it, the memory of Chloe haunting it, the way he'd roll over and wish for a warm body but got nothing but cold sheets.

His fingers brushed into his hair again, finding dried gel. He should have showered. Actually… he turned over his arm, the feint memory of a fight returning. "Seriously?!" Dinah chastised again, seeing the dried blood crusting on his elbow. Probably from breaking some poor criminals nose. "Shower. Then we talk!" she insisted, turning back to the kitchen. He didn't bother to argue, it was a good idea.

15 minutes later, he was downstairs, fresh and bloodfree to join Dinah who was finishing frying bacon in the kitchen. She had a strict rule that she would never mother the boys, would never be forced into cooking or cleaning for them. Would be seen as their equal. But… Oliver needed talking to. And men listened best when they had food in their mouths, and Oliver wasn't in the mental shape to be bothered by food. So, she split the bacon between two sandwiches and shoved one in front of Oliver as he sat with his coffee. He looked up from the table confused.

"What's this?"

"What does it look like?" She rolled her eyes and sat opposite.

"You don't cook." he reminded, still refusing to eat yet.

"I overestimated by appetite, figured you may as well eat it instead of binning it." she lied and he shrugged, picking up the food and taking a testing bite.

"What happened last night Ollie?" she asked the second after his first successful man-sized bite.

"Same as usual." he grunted around the food, realising it was good. Better than he'd had in a while. Wait, when was his last meal? Did he eat yesterday? He was out most of the day…

"Same as the last week actually. Except last night, Metropolis wasn't good enough for you." He looked up to Dinah, wondering her point.

"I got bored. Figured a change of scene."

"Or, you know there's a port in Star City that doesn't care much for legality." Dinah suggested, watching as he paused his bite.

"She wasn't there. There was no record." he finally spoke.

"You need to accept this Ollie." Dinah looked to him with eyes as soft as her voice, not wanting to anger him. "She'll find you when she's ready." She saw the circles under his eyes, the ache as he moved. She knew he'd been burning himself flat trying to find her. "You need to rest."

"I do." he answered without conviction.

"When's the last time you slept eight hours?"

"I don't need eight hours."

"Research disagrees." Dinah stated, but it didn't seem to change him.

"I'm fine."

"How's work?" she asked instead. "Queen Industries still alive?"

"It runs itself, Dinah." he defended. "I've been busy."

"When's the last time Oliver Queen was seen out in public?" she probed again.

"Where are you going with this?" And he set the sandwich down. Dinah had something to say, one way or another she'd get it out.

"Chloe left Oliver, and since then you haven't been him again. You've been living as Green Arrow with a desperate hope she'll come back into a town that she'd possibly be arrested in." Dinah pressed firmly. "She'll come back when she's ready. But you can't stop living. They'll be questions."

"She'll come back when Lex is gone." Oliver disagreed. "Lex is only going when we find 33.1" he continued, his voice raised. "I'm doing what I have to do to stay on task."

"You're burying yourself in your work, making a spectacle and hoping she comes back for your alter ego!" Dinah fired back. But Oliver didn't rage against her like she'd expected. Instead he dropped his head. It was true. And, he didn't have the energy to fight it. "I know you want her back. But the world will keep turning." She softened her voice, reached a hand across to his. She knew he was in pain, dealing with it in his own way. "But when she does come back, she'll need a man to come back to." she highlighted, tilting her head to see the eyes that looked so worn looking back at her. "Wearing yourself out every night is not helping anyone." No… it wasn't. "We have missions planned, your own crusades are fine in your own time, but we need you at 100% Ollie." It made sense, and he hated it. The Luthor financial past had dark corners to be explored, buildings to be broken into, shipping reports to be stolen.

"I won't stop." Oliver finally answered. "She needs to know I'm here."

"Trust me. She does." Dinah offered him a warm smile.

"But, maybe a little less." And Dinah felt a whoosh of success flood her. He'd seen sense.

"Thank God."

"We got anything for tonight?" he asked, lifting the sandwich back now that they were finished with the heavy stuff.

"Three previous purchases from Lex. One's a shipping company, we're going for the documents. One's an old warehouse; don't expect much, but worth checking anyway. And, one's a flopped business he was looking around, gunna take a look why."

"I'm in."

"Of course you are." She laughed to herself. Oliver wouldn't say no to anything recently.

"Any movement?" On Lex's GPS, she presumed.

"Not really. The press must have got him scared. He spends most of him time at Luthorcorp plant three. Hasn't been back to see his father either." Dinah noted, being the nosiest and most interested in Lex's life dealings.

"His business is taking a hit, he might not go back to 33.1 personally for a while." Oliver summed sadly.

"Any way you can speed that along?" Dinah asked, brushing the crumbs from her hands as she took her last bite. "Business man to business man?"

"I don't know, depends how bad it is." Oliver spoke. "I haven't exactly been keeping up with Lex's problems." he admitted and stood, shoving the last bite into his mouth. The size of the bite rose an eyebrow from Dinah. Men really did think with their eyes, when he wasn't playing rich boy, the man had no problem shoving half a slice of bread into his mouth at once. She stood and followed him into the office. He claimed the chair and pulled up the recent articles of Luthorcorp while Dinah tapped a pen against the desk and pointed at certain articles in an attempt to aid. The faster Lex returned to 33.1, the faster they could find it. This scandal had the press hot on him, he couldn't risk it until the media storm blew over.

"Nothing I can do." Oliver summed after 10 minutes of quick browsing. "Lex's problem entirely."

"Stupid man." And Dinah stood, stretching herself out. "Alright. Well. You need sleep before tonight, and I need to hit work."

Dinah wished him a goodbye and took herself off home to get changed for work. She loved her flexible work hours more than anything else, especially because of the recent missions.

"Lex, please. Talk to me." Lana begged, following him through the halls of his mansion. "I know you're upset about your father's illness, but you can't shut him out like this. It's not healthy." His newest security had made the arse up of informing Lex his father was on the phone wanting to speak to him… in front of Lana. Lex hadn't been in the mood anyway, so when his short answer was 'no' without swearing, he thought he'd done pretty well. His mind was on the damn press anyway, they were eating up Lionel's sob story, feeding his recovery and then beating on Lex every time he went into work. It was grating on his nerves. Lana had decided something called 'date night' should happen, he'd agreed reluctantly and now she was upset with him.

"I can, and I have Lana. We won't discuss this again." he ordered, but she wasn't having it, she tugged on his arm, turning him back to speak to her.

"What happened to make you hate your father so much?!" she implored, wishing to uncover the deepest edges of his soul. She wouldn't like what she found if she kept digging. "Nobody's perfect, Lex. But he's family."

"My relationship with my father is tricky at best of times Lana. I'd prefer if you weren't involved in it." And he started walking again. She was doing well to keep up with his strides, he could give her that, even in heels she wasn't faltering. He set it down to the long lines of her legs that he loved. But right now, he was craving the short stumps Chloe walked on, the type of woman that would have toasted with him over Lionel's demise, the one who would have sat with him and a glass of brandy as they forged Lionel's will. Lana… she was beautiful… but high maintenance.

"So what, I won't ever get to know your father?" she snapped. "What if we were to marry Lex would I never know the man who single-handedly raised you? My father-in-law."

"I'm not in the mood Lana." he insisted, huffing out another breath.

"Well get in the mood."

"Fine." And surprisingly, he turned, a hairs width from her. "We're not married Lana. He's dying. And he single handedly 'raised' me, because my mother couldn't stand the sight of him." Lex answered viciously. "Don't make the mistake of thinking my childhood was a happy one. I'd trade for any other family any day of the week." He was calming the more he spoke, she could hear it as his voice lightened. "My father needed an heir and that is the only reason I am alive. So trust me when I say I was not hugged and kissed by my parents like every other child, and believe me when I say I wish I was."

"Lex…" her voice cracked with sadness. But her next words spiked his temper back to heights again. "He's still your father."

"Lana…" he breathed out slowly, trying to regain his anger. "I don't wish to talk about this with you. Please." He watched her nod numbly. "Good." And he pressed a quick emotionless kiss to her forehead. "There's supper in the observatory." he continued like the argument had never happened, taking her hand and tracking their journey upwards as it had originally happened.

"Lex." She sounded apologetic even in the tone of his name. He tensed, but turned back to face her, awaiting the words she was going to crush him with. "I know you don't get along with him. But… I'd like to visit him." Lex hadn't expected the words. He didn't know if it was a request for his permission or just an entry to the worst possible scenario for him. He stopped all movement, his teeth ground into each other and he tried to release the tense breath in his lungs.

"No." he answered for a second time that night, and her response was much the same.

"What do you mean no?!" she hissed, pulling her hand back from his. "You don't control me Lex." And how often he was sadly reminded of that fact…

"I'm telling you right now. You are not going!"

"Lex! I can visit him if I want. He's might not have much time left, and while you remain heartless to him, I have nothing but good memories of him."

"You spent less than ten minutes around him Lana!"

"His own son won't visit him Lex, how do you think that makes him feel?!" she snapped. "He's reaching out and you just threw his request back in his face!" Lana stepped back, her eyes wide with shock and the start of tears. "I thought you were different Lex. I thought you were better than everyone else." He met her eyes, he saw she was slipping away fast.

"Lana, I-" but she stepped back from his reach.

"I guess I was wrong." she whispered and turned back down the corridor, her long legs striding to run from him.

Lex huffed out a breath, slammed an arm against the wall and dropped his head against it. Fucking women! Why couldn't she be more like Chloe?

Chloe… he wondered how she was doing. One week alone…

Had she broken? If she had, it would definitely cheer up his day.

Her hallucinations were getting worse, surely she'd be ecstatic to see someone real by now. Lex grinned to himself. Promising he would patch things up with Lana when he returned.

Searching… constantly searching. The wading through documents was getting old fast. Only the thought of 33.1 was keeping them going. Victor, Ac, Bart and Dinah were working as hard as he was, sifting through the work piece by piece. It wasn't a difficult task, just time consuming.

He wished Chloe could have been here, or contacted him… just to give him a direction to look in. Lex's computer was vast to say the least, everything had its own code name, and then subnames and subject names. It was turning into a minefield of numbers, letters and names.

Oliver leant back against the chair, the printed folder entitled RL-95 was in his hands. It answered a questions he'd had regarding Lex's custom made drug. In fact, as much as he hated to admit it, the research was solid. He was thinking about cloning the chemical signature for himself. It certainly dealt with the rage issues they face with RL-65. But, what Lex had done to achieve it… it was something else. Subjects in 33.1 had been his lab rats and from the reports, they were not all survivors. Oliver didn't feel comfortable using something Lex had created, nor something that he'd perfected by torture, but, the science behind it… it was flawless. He put the file aside, sticking a post-it note atop with the name 'Emil'. So far, there were a few science heavy sections they wanted Emil's opinion of. This one though, he wanted to see if Emil could adapt or change, borrow some of the science to help them perhaps.

"Ummm, Ollie." Dinah whispered from her place on the floor, surrounded by documents and folders much like himself. He flashed his eyes to her. The boys were scattered around the living room, music was loud over the speakers (as demanded by Bart's overly energetic spirit), why was she whispering?

"What now?" he grumbled low. Dinah hated manual labour, she wasn't too thrilled about being stuck at a computer or desk with papers to read through. She made sure everyone knew about it too.

"I think you might want to see this." she muttered in conspiracy and passed him the laptop that had sat to her left buried in paper. Oliver sighed, but accepted the screen.

"What is it?" he asked after a few seconds. He was feeling the start of a headache and didn't have the patience for reading screens.

"Little Luthor's been collecting Lionel's crimes too." she spoke, but kept her voice low. This still didn't explain the strange absence of loud mouthed Dinah. "Not just the ones she's had a hand in."

It was about Chloe. Now it had his full attention. Oliver started reading again, it was a copy of the obituary for Gabe Sullivan, then finances, Lionel's phone records and a transcription of an audio file. He read the beginning, then Dinah's voice came back as his eyes found the jewel she was passing to him. "Lionel hired someone to run him off the road. Pumped him with alcohol and decorated the scene." Dinah summed what he was currently reading. "He staged the entire thing to look like a drunk driving accident."

Lionel had killed Chloe's father.

… something bubbled inside Oliver, something he thought he'd made peace with a long time ago.

"Find the earliest entry regarding Lionel. Let me know the year." he instructed and handed back the laptop.

Dinah frowned, shrugged, but accepted back the laptop and dove into the new task.

It wasn't long before she lifted up sorrowfilled eyes to Oliver's expectant face.

"Dinah." he insisted when she swallowed and sealed her lips again. "Tell me!"

Oliver didn't notice the audience staring at him. But Dinah did, and she couldn't meet their eyes either. Why did she have to be the one to tell him this?!

"Ollie…" she tried, she didn't want to do this to him.

"He did, didn't he…" then he cursed. "Tell me Dinah!"

"D, what's going on?" AC called across, but when Dinah didn't snap at him for the nickname, they knew it was serious. Bart paused the music, sensing the nature. "Ollie?"

But Oliver was glued on Dinah, begging the words from her. He needed to know. He had to hear the echo inside his head aloud.

"Lionel had your parent's killed." she finally answered, her throat choking on the words. She couldn't meet his eyes, only saw his back after two seconds of silence as it left the room. She listened to him enter his office, locking the door behind him.

"That's enough for today." Victor broke the silence that followed. "I'll stay."

Dinah just nodded, taking the offered exit to deal with new guilt she'd been handed. Bart and AC didn't offer fight either, just patted their friends back in a goodbye and left.

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Much love, hope you enjoyed some evil Lex. Even the evil are not without problems.

Xx.