Chapter 13 Part II- "The Game's Afoot"
Luthor Mansion
Clark barged into the study and was surprised to see Richard White standing right beside Lex Luthor in a heated talk, "What are you doing here?" Richard asks the farm boy with anger in his voice.
"I came to ask Lex about Lois's disappearance."
A smirk crosses the CEO's face and looks from the young reporter to his ex best friend, "Great minds think a like." He takes a sip of his drink before motioning over towards Richard, "It appears that Mr. White also has it in his head that I'm somehow connected to your lover's abduction."
"Are you?" Clark asks in a serious tone stepping forward in a very heroic like pose, "Lois was investigating your father's Level 3 experiments and how they were connected to recent patient transfers from Belle Reeve to an unknown location.
Lex's only response of a laugh, "Listen to yourself Clark. My father and I may share a few genetic traits but that doesn't mean I'm picking up where he left off, I'm simply giving those few patients the chance I never had when I was locked up in that asylum. I'm giving them their freedom."
"Bullshit" Richard responds out of the blue, "Your tricking people into thinking they need your help and when they sign their lives away." He slams his fist on the table for emphasis, "You lock them away again as your own personal lab rats."
Lex begins mock clapping with a smirk still on his face, "I can see now what side of the family tree you hail from. Your Uncle Perry must be so proud that his nephew followed in his same crazed footsteps."
Before Richard could say or do anything he might regret, Clark put his arm out preventing further movement and said, "Let's go." He turns around and walks away with the reporter following close behind.
Once they were outside the illustrious mansion, Richard kept walking towards his car when he notices that Clark was close behind him, "I appreciate the help back there but I'm going to find Lois if it's the last thing I do."
"Let me help." He stops walking further, "If we don't work together then we might as well be running around in circles and if you care about Lois which I know you do, you'll put aside whatever animosity you have towards me and help me find her."
Richard struggles with the idea of working with the man who almost put him in coma but the image of Lois flashed in his mind and he shook his head negatively, "Alright Kent. But don't think for a second this changes things, I still don't trust you."
"I feel the same way." Clark replied as the two shook hands in agreement over their pact to work together in hopes of reaching the woman they cared about before something bad happened.
When the sack was ripped from her head a blinding white light caused her to wince turning her head to the side while her eyes adjusted to the sudden light, "Good evening Ms. Lane." The familiar disguised voice greeted her as a large masked figure loomed over her side trailing their leather gloved hand across her cheek before pulling the gag from her mouth, "We gave you everything you needed but you still denied us what we wanted and now your going to tell us everything you found out about the Luthors and Level 3."
"I didn't find anything."
Anger flashes across the masked man's eyes, "Liar!" he nods his head to someone behind her but nothing happens which causes the man to grow even more angry, "Do it!" he shouts at his accomplice.
The feeling of another pair of gloved hands caused her to flinch as she was wheeled over towards a metallic tub full of water with traces of floating ice; it was the last thing she saw before being shoved into the icy depths for several minutes.
She jerked trying to fight them off but was unsuccessful until finally the accomplice relented and immediately pulled her out which caused her to let out a loud gasp for air, "I'm not known for patience Ms. Lane." The electric voice said from behind as the mask man came into her sight once again, "Tell me where Level 3 is and this won't have to turn ugly."
Her eyes just stare into his for a few seconds before leaning her head towards him menacingly, "I know who you are." She whispers, "So why don't you two just take off those masks and show your faces instead of acting like a bunch of cowards."
The man let out a laugh while he pulled the mask from his face and threw it to the ground revealing both the Billy and Joel Kane, "You're not as dumb as I thought but that still doesn't answer my question." He places his hands on the armrest that were duck taped to her arms, "Where is Level 3?"
She just smirks leaning back in the chair with a smug smile, "Up your nose with a rubber hose." He backhands her across the face with enough force to split her lip which causes her to start laughing, "I've grown up around the best and brightest minds in the world. I've drunken Russian generals under the table and even took down a Navy Seal, so if you think for one second that these little antics are gonna make me talk then you obviously never meet someone like me."
Joel just smirks and leans his face so close to hers that their almost touching each other, "You're in for a surprise babe." He pushes her chair away and lets out a chuckle when it falls to the floor with a loud thud, "We're a whole new breed of human." He states while Billy rushes to Lois's aide pushing the chair back up and wheeling it back towards them.
"Oh, I didn't know they made trash in your size."
He stalks towards her ready to backhand her again when Billy grabs him by the arm preventing him from moving as the two brothers stare at each other until Joel brushes him off and starts to walk away leaving the youngest Kane brother alone with the intrepid reporter.
Richard poked his head out around the corner and Clark's head quickly followed as they watched the two security guards chatting over a box of donuts, "You would think that Lex would pay to have better security." Richard says as they move back to hiding against the wall when the guards look their way as if they had heard something, "Remind me again why you thought it was a good idea to break into LuthorCorp?"
"Whatever Lois was working on had something to do with one of Lionel's past projects and with the names Chloe gave me we might be able to learn more about why they want with Lois." Clark was anxious to get what they needed and get out in time to find Lois, "You keep an eye out while I sneak in and get the files."
He starts to walk away when Richard stops him from moving, "Who said you get to be the one that gets the files?"
"This is no time to argue. Just watch my back." He ran off without another word leaving Richard to stand there keeping an eye on the gluttonous guards.
A couple minutes later Clark reappeared and pushed the files into Richard's chest rather forcefully, "There. Now let's get out of here before anyone sees us." He rushes off.
Richard looks at the files then back at Clark perplexed as to how the farmboy had gotten the files so quickly.
Several Hours Later…
Another gasp for air escaped her lips when she was once again pulled up from the icy tub this time her body began to pale and shake with the sudden onset of the cold, "Tell me what I want to know." Joel demands while holding her hair roughly in his hands.
Her body was growing weaker and colder with each trip to into the water but she didn't tell them a thing even though there really wasn't that much to go on at all in her investigation, "I told you that I don't know anything."
"And I say you're lying to protect that scumbag Lex Luthor." He releases her hair and takes a few steps back while running his hands through his dark hair, "Billy!" he calls out to his brother, "Watch her while I go to Atlantis to blow off some steam." He grabs his leather jacket and slides it on leaving Billy alone once again with Lois Lane.
"You should just tell us what you know. Lying to Joel's face only makes him angrier and that tends to cause problems for normal people around him."
"But I really don't know anything except that there's a missing piece to your gang…a brother that went missing years ago from a Belle Reeve asylum." She watches the painful glint in his eyes, "That's what all this is about isn't it? You're just trying to find your brother."
Billy remains silent as he grabs a warm blanket and throws it around her in hopes it'll keep her temperature up, "We've always had to look over our shoulder because of what we are and it eventually caught up to those two." He says in a straight tone.
"You don't have to do this Billy just let me go." She pleads tiredly as she watches the teen struggle inside with what was right and what was clearly wrong, "I know what its like to want to save someone you care about. My sister got involved with this guy and she owed him money so she came to me for help, I tried so hard to help her but in the end she ran away from me and from her problems."
"Do you hate her?" he asks in a soft voice
She shakes her head, "I would give up everything I have right now if it meant that I can see my baby sister again, so no I don't hate her."
Billy lowered his head contemplating what was said, "My brothers and I don't exactly have that type of relationship with each other. We've had to move around a lot and change our identities each time but it never ends, we always end up running." He grips his fist tightly causing a nearby beaker to shatter, "How am I suppose to love killers like them? Sebastian stalked and killed women while Joel turns people against each other causing them to get so angry that they either kill each other or their hearts fail."
"Family is family."
He shakes his head negatively, "I never wanted any of this. Joel was suppose to find someone with connections to the Luthors and get them to obtain information but none of this was suppose to happen I swear." He breaks down and begins to cry.
Lois uses her tippy toes to wheel her chair over towards the teen where she placed her hand over his and said, "I know"
The search for Lois's kidnappers had reached another dead end and caused more frustration between the two men as they continued to investigate the files until finally something clicked.
"I've got an address."
TBC
I wanted to focus more on Lois while dealing with Clark and Richard as well. How many of you think Lois is going to be rescued?
Feedback!