Chapter 11
"You," Chloe croaked.
The man smiled. The resemblance to Jonathon Kent, even garbed in the heavy black material of a Priests' cassock, was frightening. Especially given the man's not so wholesome agenda. "I knew you didn't recognize me the first time. Otherwise you would have had security after me in minutes. You know who I am now, though, don't you? We'd met before then. At the employee Christmas party about five years ago. Before you and your Business Boy Toy ruined my life."
"You ruined you life. Tends to happen when you play a game of Global Domination with a Luthor," Chloe retorted. She took a few slow, tiny steps toward the second door behind her.
"I wouldn't do that, Ms. Sullivan, if I were you," Mickler said calmly before he crossed to her and took her upper arm in a vice-like grip. Chloe fought hard not to wince. "Come along, please."
"And if I don't?" Chloe asked, digging in her heels as Mickler tried to drag her toward the double doors.
"I just want to talk," he told her easily.
"We can talk here," Chloe replied. She had to stall. Clark was coming.
"Preferably some place where we will not be interrupted." He tried to pull her along behind him again.
"What makes you think we will be interrupted?"
Mickler turned on her. "I know how special you are," he said, his smile turning into a snarl. "There are two men right outside who would tear this place apart trying to find you if you do not return in a timely fashion."
Chloe swallowed. How did he know about Clark? What did he know about Clark? "Where did you have in mind?"
"That's a good girl," Mickler sighed. He loosened his grip as Chloe allowed him to lead her into the hallway. Smoothly, he pushed Chloe in front of him. She stiffened when she felt the barrel of a gun pressing against the small of her back. Chloe rolled her eyes. "No funny business, now," Mickler warned.
"If all you really want to do is talk, what's with the fire power?"
"I've been warned about you."
"I'm sure you have," Chloe muttered.
Mickler pushed her to the bank of elevators on the opposite side from the banquet hall. He reached around and pressed the down button. The doors slide open immediately and they stepped inside. When the doors closed, Mickler released her and dug around inside his robes for something. He withdrew a security pass and waved it in front of the black panel above the key pad.
"Access granted," a cool, feminine mechanical voice floated down from the speaker. It was then Chloe knew they were headed to the bowels of the building. The basement labs. Whatever he wanted must be down there. But what was it? Chloe knew that all he would find was a bunch of science mumbo-jumbo and microscopes.
The elevator carried them down in silence. Mickler had replaced the gun back inside his robes and now stood easily at her side. The car beeped at BL4 and halted. Chloe stepped out, followed by Mickler.
"This way, please," Mickler, sickeningly polite, motioned for Chloe to proceed him into an observation room overlooking one of the three large labs that lay in the subterranean quarters of Queen Industries.
"I have to say, Dr. Mickler, if this is about your possible re-employment with Queen Industries, your chances aren't looking so hot," Chloe told him, taking a few steps away and crossing her arms defiantly. Of all the days to dressed like a stinking fairy! Chloe raged inwardly.
"This was never about my job," Mickler responded.
"Really? Could have fooled me with all the threatening notes you sent my way. What else could you have possibly been referring to?"
"I must apologize for those notes. I was not a well man," Mickler began, clasping his hands repentantly before his chest. "I have come to see I was using the wrong tactic."
"And holding me against my will is the tried and true method of the Miss Manners Handbook?" Chloe shot at him.
"Ms. Sullivan, please. I am asking nicely. I need only one thing from you."
"What makes you think I would ever help you? You may not have been wielding the knife, but you sure as hell murdered my assistant, an innocent woman who had nothing to do with you and Luthor and your sick mind games!" Chloe felt the venom she possessed for this man flow from her. Fisting her hands, she breathed deeply. She would never unearth what Mickler wanted if she didn't play along.
"He said you would know," Mickler replied with a wondrous look on his face.
Damn it, Chloe thought. She'd already given away she knew he was still working with Luthor. The one possible card she had up her sleeve. "Yeah, well, purple and emotional terrorism always were his colors."
"I am truly sorry about your friend. She was never meant to be drawn into this, but you left me no choice. I had to get your attention somehow," Mickler explained, as if it were all so simple.
"OK, you have it," Chloe replied. "What do you want?"
Mickler reached inside his robes again. Chloe tensed until he pulled out a. . . folded up news clipping? He came forward, arm out-stretched, handing her the crumpled paper. It was older, the date in the upper left hand corner reading April 17th, 2014. From some of the headlines she could tell it had been cut out of the Daily Planet's Society pages.
"Anything look familiar?" Mickler asked.
"Should something?" Chloe returned, staring down at a picture of newly re-elected Mayor Kennington.
"Oh, silly me," Mickler giggled, a creepy sound. "The other side, Ms. Sullivan."
Chloe turned the battered paper over to see a picture of a short, blonde woman walking across a street with big sunglasses hiding most of her face, a paper tucked under her arm and a cup of coffee to go clutched in one hand. She gasped as she read the caption under the picture.
"The King of Queen Industries seems to have picked a new Queen, Metropolis' own business royalty, Chloe Sullivan, CEO of the fast growing, altruistic Isis Foundation," Chloe whispered aloud. Her eyes were drawn to her right wrist, where it was pictured, clear as day.
"So?" She thrust the paper back at him. "I'm in the gossip pages all the time. What's the big deal about this?"
"Interesting piece of jewelry, Ms. Sullivan. Not very common or so I've been told," Mickler continued, not taking the paper.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Chloe replied tightly.
"The bracelet on your right wrist. Not something you would find in your everyday department store, I would say. Where did you get it?"
"It was a gift from my cousin," Chloe lied.
"Ah, unusual gift, wouldn't you say?"
"I wouldn't know. My cousin has a weakness for poorly cast, fake antique trinkets. Where's the crime in that?"
"So, you didn't like the gift?" Mickler questioned.
"Not really. I only wore it when I saw her," Chloe said smoothly.
"Were you on your way to see your cousin on this day?"
"Obviously. I'm wearing her hideous gift, aren't I?" Chloe answered with a sarcastic smile.
"Are you close? You and your cousin, I mean?"
"What does she have to do with anything?" Chloe asked, a new fear for Lois being drug into this mess blossuming inside her.
"Just answer the question, Ms. Sullivan," Mickler ordered tensely. Chloe could tell he was losing patience.
"You should have been a detective, Doctor. As Luthor's beck-and-call boy, your interrogation talents are being seriously wasted," Chloe sneered.
"Answer the question!"
"Yes! We're close!" She yelled back.
"Your cousin is Lois Lane, the Daily Planet's very own Katie Couric. And you only wore the bracelet in front of your cousin, as to not hurt her feelings, correct?"
"I already told you that. I don't see what any of this has to do with-"
"There's only one problem, Ms. Sullivan. I have many pictures of you and your cousin. Out to lunch, at the movies, shopping," Mickler ticked off. "You're never wearing the bracelet. This," he jabbed his finger at the picture. "Is the only time you have it on."
Chloe gritted her teeth. "What do you want?"
"I want the bracelet."
"Why? It's just a piece of junk jewelry."
"Oh no, it's not. I know that, Lex knows that and so do you. Otherwise you wouldn't have lied about it. Where is it, Chloe?"
The use of her first name threw her and she glanced up at him. His eyes were bright with excitement that he was so close!
"I don't have it," Chloe answered indifferently.
"I don't believe you."
"You can believe whatever you want, but I don't have it."
"Then where is it?" Mickler's voice tightened again.
"I don't know," Chloe said sharply. "I threw it away."
"No, you didn't."
"Listen, we talked. I don't have your damn bracelet, so I'm going to go now," Chloe announced, side-stepping him only to be yanked back.
"I want that bracelet."
"Well, then, you're going to have to find someone else to help you. Like I said, I don't have it," Chloe shook his hold and squared her shoulders, daring him to touch her again. When he made no move, Chloe walked around him.
"Maybe I should I ask your cousin, maybe she knows where you put it. Maybe Mr. Queen knows. Or maybe," Mickler paused as Chloe began to turn the knob on the stainless steel door. "I should ask Connor and Kincaid where Mommy keeps her valuable possessions."
Chloe stopped, chills running over her body at the pure malice in Mickler's voice. She turned, murder in her eyes.
"You so much as breathe in my children's direction, I will kill you myself," Chloe told him with frightening calmness.
Mickler began moving toward her. "You can't stop him, Chloe. You, of all people, know how powerful Lex Luthor is. How much more powerful he will become."
Chloe snorted at Mickler's awe-inspired reverence of the a man currently serving life to infinity. "Lex Luthor is in prison, Dr. Mickler. There's not much you can do with over a hundred and fifty feet of barbed wire and electric fences, not to mention cement bars, between you and the outside world."
"Not anymore. He's free."
"Excuse me?"
"Lex Luthor was released earlier today," Mickler told her.
"Released? Bartered his way out? Or dug out with a pair of spoons?"
"Either way, Lex is out. And it's only a matter of time. He's already granted you clemency if you'll give him the bracelet."
"You can tell Lex Luthor," Chloe started sweetly. "To take his clemency and shove it down his striped jumpsuit."
"So, you won't be helping us?" Mickler clarified.
Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Over my dead body, will I ever help Lex Luthor again."
"So be it."
Mickler reached inside and pulled out his gun, taking his eyes off Chloe for a second. But that was all she needed. With as much force as Chloe could muster, she swung her right leg in an arc, her foot hitting the delicate bones of his wrist holding the gun. Mickler dropped the gun with a cry of pain as Chloe shifted forward, taking his shoulders and bringing up her left knee, connecting with the soft tissue of his groin. As he sank to his knees, trying to hold his wrist and groin in both hands and moaning, Chloe jumped to his side. She kicked the gun away to the other side of the small room before grabbing the back of his head and smashing it against the steel wall, knocking him momentarily unconscious.
She watched Mickler fall all the way forward, his body limp on the floor. With a heaving chest, Chloe retrieved the gun and daintily stepped over him and opened the door. Keeping the gun trained on his prone form, Chloe backed out the room.
"CLARK!" Chloe screamed, loud and shrill. Within seconds, she heard a mighty rumble above and finally a crash coming from the service stairs on the other side of the lab. Chloe dropped the gun and broke into a run, ducking and dodging the many big machines and lab tables on her way to the stairs. Halfway there, the locked door was torn off and Clark emerged, his royal blue suit making him shine like a sapphire in the harsh fluorescent lighting. He looked frantically around. He'd lost his antennae somewhere along the way, his black hair thick and mussed. "Clark!"
Clark finally caught sight of her, running toward him on the lower level of the lab. "Chloe!" Clark vaulted the white railing and landed with a crack before shortening the space between them with his speed. He caught her as she threw herself at him, picking her up and wrapping his arms around her shaking body. Chloe clung to him with her arms and legs, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
"Hey, hey," Clark murmured soothingly, rubbing her back. "I got you. You're safe, now." Clark turned his head, breathing in the clean scent of her hair and laying a kiss against the soft strands. Chloe pulled back a little and Clark continued on, showering tiny kisses along her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose, until he kissed the corner of her mouth. When Chloe didn't pull away, Clark laid his lips softly against hers. Chloe kissed him back shyly. Instinctively, Clark strengthened his hold on her and deepened his kiss, only to feel her soft hands brushing his jaw, lifting his face away from her. He pulled back and looked at her, her lips pressed into a thin line.
She shook her head. "No, Clark. Not yet," Chloe whispered. "I know what the weapon is."
Clark raised his eyebrows at the only words Chloe could have said that would have distracted him from kissing the daylights out of her, damn her resistance.
"It's Blue Kryptonite."
"How did the two of you let him disappear?" Oliver demanded from his chair behind his desk, still in his Peter Pan costume. It would have totally undermined his rank had it not been for the authoritative timber of his voice.
Clark and Chloe stood side by side in front of the desk, hands fidgeting at their sides. They slid side-long glances to each other. Truth is, neither of them had any idea where Mickler had slithered off to. When they returned to the observation room, Chloe's hand gripped in Clark's, all they found was the crumpled clipping which Chloe swooped up and balled in her fist. The gun, where Chloe had dropped it, was gone along with it's owner. Clark used his x-ray vision and super-hearing but it was as if the man vanished into thin air.
"It's my fault, Oliver," Chloe began. "I heard Clark coming and I took off. I should have stayed and watched him until Clark got there."
"What good would Clark have done?" Lois snorted from her perch on the corner of Oliver's desk. "You should have gotten your asses out of there and called security."
"Lois-" Oliver started.
"No, Ollie! I know how much these two love to play Starsky and Hutch, but it always comes off more like Maxwell Smart and Agent 99!"
Oliver squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Lois," he said again. "Please? I need to focus."
"Fine," Lois muttered. "You're the hero."
Oliver looked back to Clark and Chloe. "The most important thing is that you're safe," he said to Chloe. "And at least we know what he wants. Now we just need to know what for."
"Any word on Impulse?" Clark asked, using Bart's code name. Lois cocked a brow at him.
"Yeah, I got a communication from him about ten minutes ago when I radioed and needed a status on Mickler. Said the man had been in his apartment since five-thirty."
"Obviously, it was a decoy," Chloe said.
"I'm sorry," Lois broke in, looking from Clark to Oliver. "Smallville knows about your little group? Which means he knows about you?"
"Yes," Oliver answered shortly, trying to get back on topic. "How-"
"For how long?" Lois asked, sounding annoyed.
"For awhile," Oliver answered calmly.
"As in a couple of years, weeks, minutes, what?"
"Who do you think you kissed that night, Lois? And stop calling me 'Smallville'!" Clark growled.
Lois' face screwed up in a mash of indignation and embarrassment as she stood to her feet, balling her fists "I'm gonna kill you, Kent!"
"I'd like to see you try!" Clark yelled back, his frame tensing.
"Clark! Seriously not helping!" Chloe jumped in, catching hold of Clark's arm.
"Can we focus?" Oliver joined, trying to defuse the tension as well. Lois and Clark immediately deflated, looking somewhat ashamed.
"Sorry," Lois muttered, resuming her corner of the desk.
"I'm sorry, Chloe," Clark apologized, moving closer to her. "We're good, Oliver."
"Thank you. Now, if we can get back to business here," Oliver snapped. He sat back down and directed his attention back to Chloe. "How did he know you had the bracelet in the first place?" Oliver asked.
"What bracelet?" Clark asked.
Chloe squirmed a little. "From this." She unfurled the paper and handed it over to Oliver who smoothed it out over his desktop. Lois leaned to the side and Clark took a place behind Oliver, looking over his shoulder. In a small voice, Chloe explained, "I must have forgotten to take if off that morning."
"This was taken a couple of years ago," Clark stated, his head shooting up. Chloe held his gaze for a moment before turning her head and pretended to study the Kandinsky painting hung above the love seat.
"All this fuss," Lois began, her voice unimpressed. "Is about a bracelet? Not to mention an one ugly, too."
"The bracelet is very. . . valuable," Chloe answered her.
"But you never wear it," Lois pointed out.
"You know, Lois, it's a really long story. . ." Chloe trailed off.
"Yeah, it is. One we will fill you in on later," Oliver informed, cutting short any explanation Chloe was about to spin as he stood. "Chloe, contact Cyborg, Aquaman, Canary and Impulse. I want to meet at Watchtower in under an hour." Chloe nodded curtly and took off, sending Lois' bewildered face a smile, her wings bouncing along behind her.
"Is she-"
"Yes, Lois, she helps me," Oliver interrupted.
"I know that, Oliver," Lois returned hotly. "Is she gonna to be safe by herself?"
"From the security feed I saw, she can handle herself. Clark, here are my keys." He tossed his keys to Clark, who caught them easily. "Go grab something to wear from the loft. I know you two have a deadline to meet, so go to the Planet and finish up your work there, but I want you at Watchtower in an hour. Lois, no word on Luthor's escape from prison. I don't care if we can scoop anyone, I want no word of it in the paper until we know more. I'll call some of the other owners and see if I can convince them to do the same."
"Hold up there, Commander Pan!" Lois exclaimed. Both Clark and Oliver stopped and looked at her. She hopped off the desk and took a stance between Clark who stood at the door and Oliver who was a few steps from his office bathroom. "Clark gets to be in on this Watchpoint or whatever it is and I'm supposed to sit at the Planet and twiddle my thumbs?"
"Clark, I'll see you at Watchtower later," Oliver told him as he came over and escorted Clark out of the office. "I need to have a few words our in-house reporter."
The Situation Room at Watchtower an hour later was a somber place. Dinah and AC sat side by side, holding hands and talking quietly. Chloe had interrupted them both on dates. With each other. From her seat in an overstuffed recliner with a laptop open on her Indian Style crossed legs, Chloe watched them covertly with a smile. Dressed in a nice, red striped Polo on top of pair of chinos, AC actually looked like a grown-up. A very handsome grown-up. Victor was up in the War Room, running updates on everything electronic and Bart was in his usual place on the floor, beside Chloe. He had been uncharacteristically quiet since he arrived. Bart was the youngest of the Leaguers at twenty-seven. They all pretty much treated him as the baby brother, which was why his carefree and cavalier attitude remained. Even though he was at times the one who made them all want to pull out their hair, he made their work fun and less stressful with his sunny disposition. However, tonight he was all doom and gloom as the rest. Chloe, currently emailing Oliver's private jet crew his flight plan, saved her work and shut the computer.
"Hey," she said softly, running a hand through Bart's long, sandy colored curls. Oliver was always after him to get a hair cut, but he never did.
Bart startled. He turned his head up to look at her. "Hey," he replied.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." His voice said the opposite.
Chloe shifted the computer to balance on the arm of the chair and slid down to sit beside Bart. She'd changed from Tinkerbell into Mom chic, sporting a loose pull-over sweatshirt on top of some ratty jeans she'd found at Watchtower. The puff-ball flats had to stay as Chloe could find no other shoes, but they were currently kicked off somewhere in the room. Dinah and AC glanced over, watching. They, too, had tried to draw Bart out when he'd arrived only to be met with stony silence. Slipping an arm around his shoulders, Chloe leaned over and laid her head against his."It could have happened to anyone."
"No," Bart replied. "It wouldn't have happened to Oliver. It wouldn't have happened to Clark."
Chloe smiled as she said, "Yeah, but Clark has x-ray vision and Oliver has made his share of mistakes, too." Clark and Oliver were Bart's personal heroes and Chloe hated he felt he didn't measure up to them. "How were you to know he'd figured out someone was following him? There's no way he could have seen you, you're too fast."
"I put you in danger, Chloe. It's because of me that you could have-" Bart broke off, emotion clogging his throat.
"But I'm not, Bart," Chloe said strongly. "I'm here and I'm alive and I'm fine." Chloe gripped his hand, jerking him a little so he would look at her. "See?"
"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?"
"Not as long as you keep thinking this is all your fault. We know what to look for, now, Bart. It was me and Clark who lost him when it counted," Chloe answered.
"I guess that's true," Bart muttered with a smile.
A few minutes later, Oliver and Clark walked in, signaling the beginning of the meeting. Hearing the commotion downstairs, Victor made his way down, still slightly buzzing when he sat down in the chair Clark was leaning against.
"It's time, guys," Oliver began, his face grim. "Lex Luthor escaped from prison. He's already disappeared underground so that means whatever he's got planned, it's going to go down fast and soon. Is everything in place for our trip to Russia?" Oliver asked Chloe. Thankfully Chloe filled everyone in as they arrived, now all was left were the brass tacks.
"Yes," she answered, her arm still around Bart. "Your flight crew knows to expect you and a certain number of guests to be arriving within the hour."
"Good, now I went ahead and stocked the plane with everything we're going to need in Russia. Victor, is the War Room ready to go?"
"Yes, sir. All updated, encrypted and ready to roll whenever we are," Victor answered.
"OK. Dinah, Victor and Bart, you three are with me. Bart, Victor, start loading up the equipment. Dinah, you go on over to the hangar and help get the jet ready. We three will meet you in a little while." The three Leaguers stood to their feet and began to ready for the mission. Dinah leaned over and kissed AC quickly on the cheek. Most of the men averted their eyes to the display of affection.
"You can look now," Dinah quipped. Most of the guys, except AC, cleared their throats and began to bustle around the room more freely.
"Be careful," Chloe told her when Dinah stepped over to her.
"You, too." Dinah reached over and pulled Chloe into an embrace. "Bye." Dinah waved and she left the room.
"What are we supposed to do, Arrow?" AC asked as he and Clark were the last standing with Oliver as Bart and Victor carted boxes and carriers through the open space and down to the unmarked van Oliver had arrived in.
"You and Clark are in charge of Watchtower," Oliver answered with a glance at Chloe.
"You're not going?" AC questioned, gesturing to both Clark and Chloe.
"Oliver and I agreed that for my safety and the safety of the group, that I should stay away from this one," Chloe answered.
"What about Clark? Don't you need him and all his super-ness?"
"Oliver wants me to stay and man the front here. If some part of Lex's plan does involve Chloe, he'll have a hell of a time getting through me," Clark explained.
"That covers the landlubbers. What about me, dude? Why am I stuck in Prairie-ville?"
"While Clark is working at the Planet with Lois, they can keep their ears open if something comes over the wires about Lex or anything. While he's in the city you'll be at the farm with Chloe, Martha and the boys."
"Dude, Mama K's in the house?" AC said excitedly.
"She came in today to see Chloe," Clark replied. "When I went to the house to check on her and the boys, I told her she probably would need to go back to D.C., but she doesn't want to leave Chloe."
"I'll talk to her when I get home, Clark. I don't want her to be in danger," Chloe told him, touching his arm.
"No, it's OK. She wants to stay with you and the boys."
"And she's a Kent. Good luck talking her out of something once she's made up her mind," Chloe finished.
"Exactly," Clark replied with a grin.
Clark, AC and Chloe accompanied the group to the tarmac. AC and Dinah hugged one more time, while Chloe hugged each one of the guys, giving Bart an extra squeeze. When she got to Oliver, she paused.
"Come back safe, you hear me?" She told him sternly.
"I hear ya," Oliver smiled. "This is not different than any of the other times you've sent me off."
"Yeah, it is. Lois will kill me if you get hurt right after I've returned you," Chloe responded lightly. "Oliver, I-"
"I get it. You, too." Oliver leaned over and kissed Chloe quickly on the cheek. Chloe stepped back to Clark and AC, standing between them. They watched the plane taxi down the strip and finally take flight into the cold night air. They watched until it was no more than a tiny dot in the sky.
Chloe took both hands of Clark and AC. "Come on, boys. Let's go home."
The next morning found Martha, Clark, AC and Chloe all seated around the island on bar stools, varying stages of filled coffee cups clutched in their hands. Connor and Kaid were conked out on the couch, clearly visible to all adults. To their delight, they'd been allowed to stay up late last night with Uncle AC and Uncle Clark, watching whatever movies were being shown on USA. Thankfully, given most of movies gruesome content since it was All Hallows Eve, both boys dropped off not an hour into the first Halloween movie, snuggled safely between AC and Clark. Martha and Chloe had stayed in the kitchen, talking in whispers.
"How long does it take to get to Russia?" AC asked, his voice sounding deep and foreign after the long stretch of silence that had been broken.
"Normally, it would take a little over ten or eleven hours, but with the changes Victor made to the jet and it's smaller size, it should only be about five or six," Chloe answered. She looked at her watch. The team had left about one in the morning and it was now half past six. "We should be getting confirmation that they've landed soon."
"Anyone want any breakfast?" Martha asked, sliding off her bar stool. She'd refused to return to Washington D.C., when it was very clear she was needed here. Things would not pick up for another week or two and then there would be the final push before the Holiday Break, which she could easily get back in time for once this crisis passed. She needed to be with her family.
"Sure, Mrs. K. I'd never say no to some of your homemade waffles," AC replied.
"Waffles it is," Martha smiled, patting AC on the shoulder before she began to gather the ingredients.
"I'll help," Chloe offered.
"No, no. You all sit. I work faster by myself anyway." Martha successfully shooed them all over to the table, giving her more room to work.
"I don't get it," AC began a few minutes after Chloe had refilled his mug and hers, pouring Clark a glass of orange juice afterward and setting it before him.
"What?" Clark asked.
"It was a mistake any of us could make, but how did Bart not know the guy in the apartment wasn't Mickler?"
"From what Bart said," Clark explained. "He'd been trailing Mickler all day. He went back to his apartment around five-thirty and never moved from his spot on the couch. All he could see was the back of his head. Bart said he watched the people coming and going and didn't even suspect that a switch had been pulled. He saw the Priest leave the building around six, his hood pulled up but when Bart looked back at the window, Mickler's decoy was sitting on the couch, watching the evening news. Bart never even thought to check the Priest out."
"The building is one of places the housing authority places a lot of Metropolis' lower income elderly couples. He could have been easily visiting one of his parishioners. From what Dinah told me, when she talked to some of the business owners in the neighborhood, it's not odd to see any and all types of clergy coming in and out of the apartment buildings," Chloe added.
"But how did Mickler get into Queen Industries? Wasn't he red-flagged by the security?"
"He should be, but I didn't know him when he delivered those flowers and with his strong resemblance to Mr. Kent-"
"This guy looks like my dad?"
"Oh, yeah. They could be twins, 'Scout. Totally unnerving. Don't you think so?" AC responded.
"No," Clark answered. He'd seen the man on the security tapes Oliver showed them of him and Chloe in the labs, but Clark didn't see any likeness to his father.
"Well, I guess it's not a big deal. You think they'll find anything over there?"
Chloe looked at AC. "I hope so. I've gotten used to a world without a loose Luthor in it, I'm a little spoiled to it."
Chloe's computer dinged over on the counter and she jumped up to open it. When she did, the screen activated and Oliver, Bart, Victor and Dinah were crowded around the small camera linked between the two computers. They were all dressed in black. Re-con clothes.
"Trip was uneventful and we're here," Oliver started. "Boyscout, did you get the target somewhere safe?"
"Yeah, nobody should be able to find it except me," Clark answered. He'd found the bracelet, right where Chloe said it would be. On the top shelf of her closet, in a box with a smashed picture of the two of them taken on Clark's twenty-first birthday out at Crater Lake. He'd wonder about it later. He didn't have time right now. Before returning to the city, he'd taken it up to the Fortress. Jor-El had sensed his presence and had tried to speak to him, but Clark ignored the disembodied voice. His anger toward his biological father was one more thing he didn't have time to deal with.
"Good. It's still a couple of hours until full darkness here so we're going to hang out for a while. We'll let you know if we find anything," Oliver said.
"OK. Be safe, guys," Clark replied.
"Will do, Boyscout. Arrow, out." Oliver made a motion and the screen went blank. Chloe, AC, Clark and Martha, who had come over a little to see, all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mom, can I go play outside? Please?" Kaid whined at Chloe's elbow as she was putting the finishing touches on her new L.L. Database.
"Kaid, I already told you. I want you and your brother to stay close today," she replied.
"But I can stay close outside."
"Kaid," Chloe began, looking at him. "What did I just say?"
Kaid pulled his face into a pout. "Yes ma'am."
"Come here," Chloe shuffled the laptop over to the other side of her bed. She pulled Kaid into her lap. Laughter could be heard below where the others were playing some game with Connor while Chloe had retreated up to her bedroom to work on a new program for Watchtower since Lex was back on the prowl. "Why aren't you downstairs with everyone else?"
"I don't know," Kaid whispered.
"Do you not feel good?" Chloe asked, lifting her hand to his forehead. She knew it was preposterous, since Connor and Kaid hardly got sick anymore, but she did it anyway.
"I feel fine. I always feel fine," Kaid muttered.
"Then what's wrong?"
"Mom? Can I ask you something?"
Chloe raised her head from his hair. "Of course. What is it?"
"Where do we come from?"
"Honey, what do you mean?" Chloe knew kids were getting older all the time, but was it right to have the sex talk with your seven year old?
"The other day, I heard you and Aunt Martha talking about me and Connor. She said we needed to know where we came from. What did she mean?"
Chloe closed her eyes tiredly. She had always known this day would come. When the boys' questions would no longer be sated with her 'You're just special' line. She'd always planned on having this conversation with them at one point, but as foolish as it was, she'd always hoped either Clark would miraculously return or she could combine both 'the birds and the bees' and 'half-Kryptonian' into one whole afternoon. Clark had miraculously returned, but he needed to know first in order to have this chat with his sons. And there was no way that was happening with this un-forecasted break out of evil they were fighting. Kaid shifted, turning to look at Chloe from the side.
"Kaid," Chloe started, only to be stopped by Clark calling up the stairs to her.
"When did my life become a Danielle Steel novel?" Chloe whispered. "Coming!" Kaid didn't budge, just sat, staring up at her. "Sweetie, I promise we will have this talk. But right now-"
Kaid slid off her lap. "It's OK, Mom."
Chloe grabbed his little hand. "I love you." She pulled her son close, nuzzling her nose to his like she used to when he was a baby.
Kaid grinned, looking so much like Clark with blonde hair. "I love you, too, Mom."
"Chloe!" Clark called again.
"Go tell him I'll be down in a second," Chloe instructed Kaid. The boy sprinted out of the room and Chloe could hear him speaking to Clark. For a second, Chloe allowed the weight of everything press her down, letting it push her forward to hang her head down, almost between her knees. Damn Lex Luthor and his extremely bad timing, Chloe growled in her head. Something rubbed her back and Chloe jumped with a yelp.
"Whoa, Chloe, sorry. It's just me," Clark said hurriedly as he squatted in front of her. "Are you OK?"
"As fine as everyone else is," Chloe answered, sitting back and tucking her disheveled hair behind her ears. "What's up?"
"You have a telephone call from a lady named Janice Boroughs. I tried to take a message but she says it's very important."
Chloe's eyes widened and she hopped off the bed, moving so quickly Clark staggered back and into her night table, knocking over a lamp. "Did she say what she wanted?" Chloe asked excitedly.
"No, just that she needs to speak with you. Who is it, Chloe?"
"She's the secretary to Collin Parker, the head of the Metropolis Grant committee. Isis is up for their yearly Humanitarian Business Grant!" Chloe took off, skipping down the stairs.
"Here she is," AC spoke into the phone before handing it over to Chloe.
"Hello?" She said breathlessly.
"Ms. Sullivan, this is Janice Boroughs. I work for Collin Parker and he would like to see you as soon as possible concerning your grant application," the woman spoke in a low, business-like tone.
"Of course. When?"
"Would you be able to come in today?"
"On a Sunday?" Chloe didn't even work on Sundays, or tried not to.
"Well, yes. Mr. Parker is going out of town on business for the next couple of weeks and a decision on the grant is needed by Thanksgiving. Mrs. Lewis has confirmed for one o'clock this afternoon, otherwise Mr. Parker would be more than-"
"No, no, that's fine. What time?"
"Three o'clock? Would that be possible?"
"That's perfect. I will be there. Thank you."
"Oh, Ms. Sullivan!" The woman exclaimed, stopping Chloe from disconnecting.
"Yes?"
"We will need you to bring a copy of your company's by-laws and mission statement. One of Mr. Parker's assistant misplaced some of the paperwork for the grant applicants and those were the only two things missing from your file."
"No problem."
"Good. See you later, then."
"Yes, thank you." Chloe hung up the phone.
"What was that about?" Clark asked from behind her.
Chloe turned and faced the little group that had assembled behind her. "Mr. Parker, the head of the Grant committee needs to see me today, which means I have to make a trip into the city."
"Chloe," Clark began, taking her arm and leading her away. AC followed. "Do you really think that is a good idea?"
"Clark, Isis needs this grant. My competition has already agreed to meet this afternoon. I let Lex Luthor bully me out of something I really loved once, I will not allow it to happen a second time," Chloe finished with force.
Clark looked at AC, who shrugged his shoulders. "Fine," Clark sighed. "But I'm coming with you. I can get some work done at the Planet. You gonna be good without us?" Clark asked AC.
"We'll be fine. I can call in reinforcements if needed," AC answered, referring to some of the other newbie Leaguers.
"All right. I'm going to go grab a shower. Can't meet Collin Parker looking like I went one round with a psycho Priest!"