Chapter 17
"Lana. . ."
Seated beside Chloe on the arm of the sofa, Clark jumped up and skittered to the back of the room, as far from Lana as he could get. She looked markedly different than the last time Clark saw her. Her hair had grown out again, liberally laced with silver, giving her a goddess appearance. Her face was still the heavenly perfection it always had been but her eyes were tired and weary as if she'd seen too much and her mouth was turned down at the corners, having forgotten the ability to smile. She looked much older than her thirty years.
"No, no," Lana said frantically, coming into the room with her hand out in a pleading gesture.
Clark waited for the burning agony and the sickening effects of Kryptonite. But they didn't come. With wide eyes, he looked up at Lana. She stood only a few feet from him. He looked around at the others, all watching him and Lana with distinct interest. All except Chloe, who gazed at the hands in her lap.
"Dr. Groll fixed me," Lana began, Clark turning his attention back to her. "I don't absorb it anymore. I somehow neutralize it instead."
Still, he gazed at her warily. During his training he'd felt discomfort, hunger and tiredness. None of those compared to the indescribable pain Kryptonite unleashed upon him. He hadn't felt it in over eight years and he wasn't keen on experiencing a physical reminder. Slowly, Clark returned to stand right behind Chloe. He didn't feel anything the closer he got to Lana.
She smiled at him. "See?"
Clark nodded. "It's nice to see you again," Clark said tightly. After their excruciating parting in his loft, Clark never thought he'd lay eyes on Lana again. Now she stood before him, super-powered and Kryptonite-free. Again, he waited. He waited for the emotional pain, the yearning, the longing that had always defined their relationship. Just as before, it didn't come. All that filled him was relief at her safety and obvious good health. Thats when he knew for sure. He was over Lana. Whatever he'd once felt for her, was well and truly gone. Not able to help himself, he looked from Lana to Chloe, finding that when his eyes fell upon Chloe, strong feelings filled him up inside. Feelings of comfort and home and fire that threatened to bring tears to his eyes. As if he were somehow metaphysically connected to her, Clark could feel Chloe's anxiety and the rapid pounding of her heart at the prospect of Clark and Lana's reunion. What he wouldn't give to sweep her into his arms and show her, once and for all, that she was his. Had always been his and he'd always been hers. Chloe was who he'd belonged with, since he was a teenager, he just hadn't been ready for her. He'd needed to grow into her, Clark thought with a smile.
Instead, he sat back down on the arm of the sofa, leaning back and placing a big hand behind Chloe's head. Reaching across him, he grasped Chloe's hand in his other one and brought their twined hands to rest atop his thigh. Chloe peered out at him from under a curtain of blonde hair. Clark smiled down at her. He wished she had warned him. It was a shock to see his ex-girlfriend. But that's all it was. A shock. Chloe relaxed into the sofa, her back resting against the strong muscle of Clark's side. She tightened her grip on his hand.
"Are we all here now?" Bart asked, gently reminding everyone they had a psycho killer and his two henchmen on the loose.
"Yeah," Oliver spoke gruffly. He'd waited years to witness that special, private moment between Clark and Chloe. Grimly, he knew it was only a small stepping stone across the precarious river they needed to cross. "Lana, if you'll have a seat."
Lana took a seat on a tall stool on the outskirts of the group, her booted feet hanging down, toes barely touching the floor. She glanced over at Chloe and Clark. Getting over Clark had been a hard process for her. She almost hadn't come when Oliver called and asked for her assistance in tracking down Lex. But she needed to see him. Needed to see if he still felt the same after all these years. Lana closed her eyes briefly. The look of almost fear in his eyes when she stepped into the room and then shock caused her gut to twist. But the look she'd been hoping for never came. Instead, he looked away and down to Chloe. Now she remembered why she'd asked Chloe not to tell Clark about the reversal of the Prometheus suit. She was right, too much time had passed. Their bond hadn't been strong enough. Or Clark was finally ready to stop running from the feelings he'd always had for Chloe. Either way, Lana knew she'd finally faded from Clark's orbit and it was time to let him go.
"We know from our trip to Russia," Oliver began. "That Lex's lab is still the same smoldering pile of ashes it was a few years ago. Victor, you want to tell them what you found out about the prison?"
"The prison we found was empty," Victor began, more for the benefit of Clark, Chloe and Lana.
"That is what I don't understand," Chloe said, shaking the hair out of her eyes. "When we went last time, that prison was filled with Government Ne'er-Do-Wells. Where did they all go?"
"From older research, we know most of the inmates in the prison were people the Russian Government saw as a threat. Mainly, for people with ties to the Russian Extremist group of Black Skye. Political activists, military leaders, outspoken educators and even the odd scientist here and there. I found some transfer papers," Victor explained. He stood and made his way over to the large computer console set within a counter. Quickly running his fingers along the smooth, glassy surfaces, digital copies of the papers appeared on the expansive screen set into the wall they were all facing. "These show that most, if not all, the prisoners were set to be transferred to a more humane prison by order of the United Nations. Funny thing is, only a few made it to the planned destination."
"How many is a few?" Clark asked.
"Five," Victor answered. "I've kept my ear to the ground and it seems the United Nations has ordered an investigation into the missing prisoners. The Russian Government complied, but it is as if these people disappeared into thin air."
"Or were bought for a very high price," Lana commented.
"When did the transfer go through?" Chloe asked.
"Two and a half years after Lex was sentenced."
"Are we sure this is connected to Lex?" Dinah said. "I mean, could this be something completely separate?"
"There is the possibility. Lex lost whatever stock in the company and all his vast resources went to trying to get him off or to cover up his heinous acts," Oliver replied. "I don't know how he could pull something like this off from behind bars."
"What if that was all part of the plan?" Clark ventured. "What if he wanted to get caught? So when the final part of his plan was complete, no one would think it was him because he was in prison?"
The group fell silent, each mulling over the possibility that the Justice League had been played.
"But that would mean he knew Oliver was the Green Arrow," AC mused.
"That's not necessarily true," Lana countered. "From what I remember, he was laundering money from Queen Industries. He might have not counted on the Green Arrow, but may have counted on Oliver noticing and hiring the right people to get to the bottom of it."
"Until we know more, let's go with that theory," Oliver suggested. "That being said, how about we get down to work? Lana, you have some ideas about some locations Lex has used in the past that he may be using again."
"Yeah. Chloe, could you help me?"
Chloe slid her hand out of Clark's and stood. "Sure." Joining Lana, both women leaned over the computer console and mimicked Victor's actions. Three clear building plans took shape on the screen before them.
"Lex has three major locations since he last used them that have fallen into disrepair. I think these are the places you all need to look at first. This one, is the facility he used to house the spaceship that came down in the last meteor shower. Warehouse 15," Lana told them as she pointed to the first schematic. "It was one of the many satellite plants Lex opened around Lowell county."
"I know the one you're talking about," Oliver broke in. "It's not being used and the budget committee wants to sell it back to the county. That would be a good place to start. Back on his old hunting grounds. Bart, Victor, I want the two of you to go check this one out."
"The next one I have is the original sight of his first 33.1 Experimentation Lab," Lana continued. Clark saw Chloe's hands clench slightly.
"The one that was inside the abandoned hospital on Old Paper Mill Road," Chloe whispered, remembering when her mother had been sequestered there by Lex and his minions.
"Yes," Lana said. She reached out and rubbed Chloe's arm. She turned back to the room. "This one would be my best guess as to where he's hiding or planning something. It's very run down, out of the way and just hidden enough by Hobson's Forest you can barely see it from the road."
"Dinah and me will take that one. Since it was a 33.1 Lab there might be some left over meteor rock and we don't want Clark near that and Lex at the same time," Oliver said.
"The final one I came across is Reeve's Dam. The sight of his cloning base. I know it was basically washed away but there is still some underground facilities that are accessible from above ground."
"Clark, Lana and AC, I want you three to take that one. AC, you can go in underwater while the two super twins can sift through the rubble. Now, all this is, guys, is an observation run. You get in, you get out. You'll have the communication links back here to Watchtower where Chloe will be monitoring the video feed the cameras send back to her. You see it, she sees it and will let the rest of us know to head your way if something is less than kosher. You are, under no circumstances, to go in without the rest of the team," Oliver voiced the final part while shooting daggers at Bart.
"You make one lousy mistake. . ." Bart mumbled.
"Let's suit up and we'll meet back here in ten minutes. Clark, you got your cape or do you need to borrow something?" Oliver asked just as the group began to disperse.
Clark looked around at the faces of his friends all trying to hide their mirth. "It was the closest thing I had at the moment," he ground out between his teeth.
"Come on. Bruce is about your size, I think he left some clothes here you can borrow," Oliver said, coming over and laying a friendly arm around Clark before leading him off and away from the Situation Room. "Guy has a strange obsession with black, though. . ."
"They are never going to let him live that one down," Chloe muttered, crossing the space and up the stairs to the War Room. From the staccato beats on the cement floor, she knew Lana was following her. Flipping switches and pressing buttons, Chloe began readying the room for the upcoming video feeds Watchtower would be receiving.
"So," Lana started on an inhale. "You and Clark? That's great, Chloe."
Chloe stood, facing her old friend. "Lana, you don't have to do this." Chloe handed Lana some communication devices and walked away, back down into the main Watchtower area.
Lana followed, keeping close behind her. "Do what, Chloe?"
"Act as if you're okay with me and Clark. I understand," Chloe answered, taking the ear pieces from Lana and laying them all in a row, making sure she grabbed enough. She handed one to Lana and had her settle it in her ear, hitting a few keys to activate the wireless camera and smiled when she saw herself on the screen. "Hopefully they all work this good."
"Chloe," Lana said heavily. Chloe turned back to her. "I am okay with you and Clark. I'm not as vapid as I pretended to be when I was eighteen. I realized how much seeing Clark and I together must have hurt you and yet, you continued to be our understanding, supportive, neutral , happy best friend. I just want to be the same for you two."
"But you two were in love-"
"Please, Chloe," Lana scoffed. "Clark never loved me. Not the way he loves you. He trusts you and depends on you. Clark loved the idea of me, especially when we were younger, but thats not enough now."
"Lana," Chloe reached out, hearing the evident pain in Lana's voice.
Lana bit her lip. She couldn't believe she was fixing to break down. God, she was such a baby! "Chloe, I am so happy for you. I really am. Some part of me, deep down, knew it would be you Clark would spend the rest of his life with. I was the one who kept holding on to him. And I'm sorry. Because of me-"
"No, stop that." Chloe wrapped her arms around her and pulled Lana close. She didn't know if it was the maternal instinct or the remembrance of her own tears shed over Clark, but she felt the unstoppable need to comfort. She thought of all the chances she could have taken with Clark, always running away, even now. "Not all of it was you," Chloe said, pulling back. "Some of it was, but not all."
Lana caught Chloe's teasing tone and laughed despite herself. The two women smiled at each other and then began to giggle.
"Lana, we need to find a new hobby!" Chloe exclaimed.
"We do! We really do!" Lana returned before they both dissolved into laughter again.
"You need to do what?" Asked the subject of most of their conversations. Chloe and Lana swung their gazes over to Clark, dressed in a tight black cable knit turtleneck on top of some kind of track pants. He's also been able to find some black Nikes to complete his outfit.
"You know, Clark," Chloe started. "I think I like the blue Tick suit better." He looked good, but black made him seem far too sinister, too imposing, too Kal. Clark lowered his brows with mick menace.
"Oh, yeah! Nice save, by the way, Superman ," Lana said, blinking back her tears. If Chloe could do it, so could she. "I picked up a Planet on my way over and saw the headline. All three of you made the first page!"
"I had a lot of help," Clark replied, coming over to stand by Chloe, looking down at her sweetly.
"Lana's good to go, so let's get you wired up." Chloe stood on her tip toes and placed the link in his ear. Activating the camera, Chloe deemed it was working properly. "Okay, here's the deal with you two. Oliver has a special pair of glasses he wears that can show floor plans. I've already uploaded the plans to hospital to him. Victor has the same thing, except-"
"In his brain, basically," Clark supplied.
"Exactly, so he and Bart are good with the plans for Warehouse 15. I'm relying on you, Clark, to use your x-ray and lead AC and Lana where they need to go. Now, I'll be in the war room with all three schematics pulled up but there is only so much I can do from a little room hours and hours away."
As Chloe spoke, the room began to fill, each member dressed in his and her League uniform. "So I'm counting on all of you guys to watch each others backs and to not do anything stupid. The only good kind of hero is a breathing hero. Got it?"
"Got it, boss," Victor chirped.
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Oliver dead-panned. Chloe passed out the remaining links, making sure she handed AC the waterproof one directly, and then powered them all up. Splitting the screen into sections, she gazed at seven identical squares of her up on the screen.
"Looks like we're ready to go," Chloe said to the group. She slipped her own link in.
"Meet back here when we're all done," Oliver ordered, switching on his voice distorter. "Arrow, online." Dinah parroted him as the two disappeared.
Bart and Victor were the next to leave. "Dude, why do I always get stuck with you? Carrying you is like carrying a mechanical bull. Impulse, online."
"Cyborg, online. Do you think I like being stuck with you either, fire-pants?"
Chloe rolled her eyes at the bickering she could still hear as they made their way to the back exit and out into the darkening night. "That leaves you three. Ready for a run? Or a swim?"
"I'm always ready for the great big blue. Or, brown, in this case. Aquaman, online. See you two later." AC made his way out the door, leaving just Chloe, Clark and Lana.
"Wait, how is he getting there?" Lana asked.
"Sewers," Clark and Chloe said.
"Gross," Lana returned, wrinkling her nose. "Do I have a code name?"
"Uh. . ." Chloe began. "How about. . . Lady Loxley?"
"Chloe, if you're going some Goldie Lockes correlation, I have to say you're a lit-"
"Not Lockesley. Loxley. It is rumored to be Robin Hood's birthplace," Chloe spoke over Clark. When they both kept staring at her, Chloe continued. "Robin Hood. . . Stole from the rich to give to the poor. . . Prometheus. . ." Chloe gestured wildly to Lana. "Stole fire from the gods to give to the people. . . You know, think up your own code name, I can't be responsible for everything!"
"It's good! It's good, I like it," Lana hurried, smiling at Chloe's exasperation. "But how about Loxley for short?"
"Whatever you want," Chloe said. "Now, get going or AC really will beat you there."
"Loxley, online?" Lana spoke with a shrug of her shoulders.
Clark stepped up to Chloe. "Boy Scout, online." He leaned down and brushed his lips fleetingly against Chloe's before he and Lana were gone in a super-powered rush.
"Watchtower, online."
It amazing how Chloe could keep all their voices straight, but she could as she operated upstairs in the War Room.
Bart and Victor were the first to arrive at their target.
"Arrow was right," Victor intoned. "Place looks completely deserted."
"Where is Impulse?" Chloe asked.
"Finishing a perimeter check," Bart answered. "All clear."
"Be careful guys." Chloe watched the monitor as Bart and Victor, armed with a high-level security clearance badge Oliver handed to them so they could get in the building without tripping any alarms, prepared to enter the building.
"Arrow, Canary, what is your ETA?"
"Still about an hour out," Dinah growled. Chloe knew Oliver was pushing his bike as fast as he could without endangering himself or Dinah, but it looked as if Dinah was getting punchy like she always did when she didn't travel as fast as the others.
"Boy Scout, Loxley, any sight of Aquaman?"
"Not yet," Clark spoke, swinging his head around so Chloe could see the outline on a screen with a small 'BS' in the upper left hand corner.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Keep your tights on Superboy," AC gurgled. "Watchtower, ready and waiting for entrance from underwater." Chloe looked at the screen marked with a 'AQ', seeing AC's bobbing view of Reeve's Dam.
"Okay, Team 3 is all together. Go on in."
And so it went for the next four hours until Bart and Victor were the first back to Watchtower. Bart collapsed on the floor of the War Room and began snoring.
"Impulse,"Chloe hissed. Bart jumped up and ran for it, knowing when Chloe's patience was wearing thin. Gratefully, Victor slipping onto the stool beside her, took over command for Clark, Lana and AC, enabling Chloe to help their least super-powered pair.
Eyes and hands moved seamlessly, Victor and Chloe taking turns talking over each other to their assigned group. Chloe could hear the crushing of cement and rubble as Clark and Lana lifted and moved and waded through the mess that once was Reeve's Dam.
"Nothing here," Oliver groaned. Chloe looked quickly at a screen labeled 'GA'. He was right. The odd desk here and there or a bed, but nothing. No papers, no supplies, no Lex.
"Looks like another dead end. How are Boy Scout and Loxley doing?" Dinah asked.
Chloe looked over at the three screens Victor was monitoring. AC had finished his underwater search and had gone ashore. She opened her mouth to reply, but stopped when she saw all three screens were trained on something. A dark stain upon the cement floor.
"It's blood," she heard Clark mutter. "And it's fresh."
"How fresh?" Victor asked.
"Probably only a day or two," Lana answered.
"Loxley, do me a favor. Stand up and face east," Chloe ordered. "Boy Scout, you do the same except face west." She waited until Clark and Lana stood back to back. "Now, turn slowly so that I can get a clear picture of your surroundings."
Victor took over AC, directing him around the room for closer inspection and finally outside and down a hall, looking for the injured and possibly dead party.
"I looked up 911 records, no one has called within the last two or three days from that vicinity or come in to any neighboring hospitals with wounds that would cause a lot of bleeding," Bart supplied as he listened.
"Thanks, Impulse. I'm betting whoever it was didn't make it out alive," Chloe said.
Lana and Clark had completed the turns. "This building was way too clean except for that blood stain," Clark said. "It looks like it's been worked in recently. The dirt has been disturbed and I can see shoe print over in the corner."
"You're standing in the store room. According to the prints and Loxley's description, this is where Lex had all his clones and the equipment. Boy Scout, straight ahead of you is a door. I need you and Loxley to head over there. This is where Lex kept most if his meteor rock. Loxley, I want you to open the door and see if it's empty."
"Got it, Watchtower." Chloe watched as Lana broke the lock on the door and peeled it back. The room was dark and empty.
"Watchtower, I was wrong," Bart broke in behind her. Chloe turned around and looked at Bart. He handed her a single sheet with a transcripted call. "A call did come in the other day. Sounds like two boys called 911 and then were dispatched over to the police."
"Watchtower, what's going on? We're heading back to you directly," Oliver said.
"Sounds good, Arrow. Seems like the Super Twins have found something," Chloe replied, reading quickly down the police report.
"Looks like the two boys said they heard screaming coming from Reeve's Dam when they went out there to pop some wheelies on their bikes. When the deputy got there, there was nothing. Reported it as a prank call," Bart finished.
"Looks like he didn't look deep enough." Chloe turned back to the screen.
"Guys, this place is way too clean. It looks dirty, but it's not. Someone has been here and removed anything and everything that ever was here," AC radioed.
"All right, everybody," Chloe said. "Boy Scout, Loxley and Aquaman. Head on back to Watchtower."
Chloe pushed away and rubbed her eyes. Lifting them, she looked at the ashen faces of both Bart and Victor.
"Do you think he's-" Victor swallowed, not even able to finish his thought.
"Who knows what Lex is capable of," Chloe sighed.
Oliver and Dinah were the last two to make it back to Watchtower around three in the morning. They came dragging in, each covered in road dirt and grime, picking loose gravel out of their hair and clothes.
"First ones to leave and the last ones to return. I need a shower," Dinah groaned as she flopped onto the sofa next to AC. He made some sarcastic comment, causing Dinah to swat him before curling up to him.
Oliver, too, sat in one of the chairs. "Total bust."
"We just need to widen our net," Chloe said positively, standing over with Lana, each sipping coffee from matching Met U mugs. "At least we know he may still be in the state with the way Reeve's Dam was made under."
"I'll go over more possible locations tomorrow," Lana offered.
"Okay. You can come over to the loft tomorrow and we'll all help sift through them Except for those two," Oliver said, pointing to Clark who had changed back into his own street clothes and Chloe, her mug poised halfway to her mouth. "They have plans for the day. So, the rest of you, go home, get some sleep and I'll see you all at the loft sometime in the afternoon."
"Oliver, I'm not sure I can make it," Dinah told him. "I'm running late on a deadline for my column-"
"It's okay, Dinah. Come over whenever you can," Oliver relented.
"Thanks, Ollie. It was nice to meet you, Lana." Her and AC strolled out, hand in hand.
"You two going to crash here?" Chloe asked Bart and Victor.
"Yeah. Vic is going to sort through the video feed we got tonight and I'm going to help," Bart answered, stretching.
"All right. We'll let's get to work then," Chloe ordered, gulping down the rest of her coffee.
"I don't think so," Clark interrupted, grabbing Chloe by the waist before she could charge up the stairs with Victor and Bart. Chloe looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"You don't think so?"
"You hardly got any sleep last night and were up way before me this morning. We're going home and going to bed. You heard Oliver, we have plans for tomorrow," Clark explained, pulling her gently back to his side.
"You were also trapped in an elevator shaft day before yesterday, too. Sounds like Clark is right, Chloe." Lana reached out and took Chloe's hand and squeezed it.
"Et tu, Lana?" Chloe gasped playfully.
"Chloe," Clark said, taking her other hand and examining the palm closely. "You took off your bandages."
"I couldn't stand them anymore. Most of the stitches have dissolved anyway," Chloe told him as she flexed her hand underneath his gaze. Clark kissed the heel of her hand before lowering it, keeping it enveloped in his own between them.
Lana swallowed and then yawned deeply. "Well, I would offer to stay and help but I think I'm suffering jet lag."
"Where are you staying?" Clark asked, remembering she still stood among them.
"Don't know yet. I'll find a place, though."
"Here," Clark fished inside his pocket for his key ring and then handed it over to Lana. "Use the Talon. I'm staying in town with Chloe at the loft so you'll have the place to yourself."
"Thanks, Clark. I appreciate it. Guess I'll see all of you later this afternoon." With a wave, Lana shot out of Watchtower.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing Lana do that," Chloe commented. "You want a ride?" Chloe asked Oliver.
"Please," Oliver rubbed at his own eyes. "I'm not up to driving anymore tonight, even if it just two blocks over."
"Where are you going?" Clark asked, knowing the loft was at least a ten minute drive from here.
"Lois'."
"How is that going?" Chloe asked after calling out a good-bye to Victor and Bart. She walked along between Oliver and Clark, her hand still laced casually within Clark's, swinging slightly between them.
"It's. . . Weird. She wants to talk. A lot. I think she's still getting used to the whole 'Honey, I made it home alive' thing. But, she's worth it."
"The good ones usually are," Clark said. Oliver glanced over to find Clark and Chloe looking at each other, Clark smiling down at her and Chloe blinking rapidly. Clark wrapped an arm around her shoulders, as he'd done hours before, Chloe laying her cheek on his chest
"Glad you learned something while you were away," Oliver muttered.
"I'm sorry about Lana, Clark," Chloe apologized after they'd dropped Oliver off at Lois' downtown apartment.
"Why didn't you tell me, Chlo?" Clark asked, steering the SUV through the almost quiet streets of Metropolis.
"About what? That she was coming in to help or that she's no longer a walking Kryptonite sponge?"
"Both."
"First, I lost my nerve. Oliver didn't call her in until just a couple of hours before the meeting, so I wasn't even sure she was coming, really, until right before she showed up. And second, she asked me not to," Chloe told him.
"When was the last time you saw her?"
"The day you went to see your mom. She was the friend I was meeting for coffee."
"How long has she been able to neutralize the Kryptonite?"
"They worked out the final kinks with the suit about two years after you left."
"Around the time she stepped down and named you as the CEO of Isis."
"Yes."
"What has she been doing since then?"
"Lots of things. Lex had left all his business holdings and the mansion to Tess, but all of his personal assets went to Lana, with the exception of the off-shore bank accounts and bonds he lived on after he was in Russia. Lana's a billionaire. She goes around the world on relief efforts and just where she thinks she's needed. Lately, she's been spending a lot of time in Star City," Chloe filled him in.
"Why did she not want you to tell me about her?"
Chloe breathed in deeply. "Clark, that is something you need to ask her about."
"Chloe, we've never talked about Lana and I, but I want you to know, she's not the one-"
"Clark," Chloe interrupted. "I would love nothing more than to let you finish your declaration right now, but you and I both know that there are some things we need to talk about. So, why don't we table that until later?" She couldn't stomach to hear what he was going to say knowing later today would change everything for them, knowing he may not feel the same after he learned of her deception.
Silence filled the car and Clark bit his tongue. He pulled the car over onto the shoulder and shifted into park. Turning in his seat, he looked at Chloe across the seat from him. Her eyes were wide and the moonlight turned her hair a silvery color.
"Clark-"
"No. What I want to say, I'm saying now. I know you and I have a lot to talk about and I understand you wanting to wait until the right time. But, right now, I have something I want to say to you," Clark blustered at her. He waited, watching to see if she would interrupt him again. Chloe pressed her lips together and breathed heavily through her nose.
"I wished you had told me about Lana, but not for the reasons you would think. I still care about Lana. I always will, just as you will always care about Jimmy or Oliver. I want to know she's okay and safe and healthy. But that's it. It wasn't Lana I spent eight years thinking about. It was the girl I left behind. The girl who has, never once, left my side until I forced her from it. Us,is what I want. I'm not going to lie to you and say it's what I've always wanted, but it's what I've wanted for a long time. I think I've wanted you since you told me I was amazing that day in the Yukon. I know I've wanted you since we kissed in the Daily Planet. I just got side-tracked."
"Clark," Chloe began with tears in her eyes. "There is so much I want to tell you, that I need to tell you-"
"And that's okay. I can wait until you're ready. You've waited a long time for me, I can do the same. But with Lana today, I had to let you know it's over for me and her. It was over long before she put that suit on." Clark reached over and did what he'd wanted to do in Watchtower. Pulling Chloe none too gently across to him, he pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that sent fire chasing down his spine. He smiled against Chloe's mouth as she kissed him back just as fiercely. Chloe dug her fingers into his thigh as Clark lost his own deep inside her hair, trapping her against him.
They kissed until Clark felt the urgency leave his system, the need to show her just what he was feeling inside. Gentling and finally pulling away, Clark opened his eyes, meeting Chloe's shining hazel ones. She blinked slowly, as if coming out of a trance. She smiled at him, biting her bottom lip in the process. Clark kissed her once more, on the tip of her nose, before settling back into the driver seat and driving the rest of the way to the loft.
"See you in the morning?" Clark asked, standing again outside the closed door to the room Chloe was sharing with the boys. Everyone had been in bed when they came quietly in, Allistor keeping vigil by the elevator while Krenshaw reclined in the LA-Z-BOY, catching some sleep.
Chloe nodded. She still hadn't regained the use of her tongue since Clark kissed her in the car.
"Good night." Clark kissed her again. It was a quick brush but it still managed to send Chloe's head spinning.
Four hours later, at 7:45, Clark rolled over in bed. With a slow smile, he recalled the night before. He and Chloe were on the right track, full speed ahead. Feeling it in his bones, he knew today would bring answers and finally the end of something old and the beginning of something new. Clark threw back his covers and hopped out of the bed. He pulled on some jeans over his boxers and grabbed a shirt off the pile on the floor. Sniffing, Clark deemed it would do until he could get to the Talon and pick up some other clothes. He tugged it over his head and left the room.
"Morning, Mom," he said when he spied his mother and Krenshaw, sipping coffee together at the bar.
"Good morning! When did you and Chloe get in?"
"Around 3:30," Clark answered, accepting the cup Martha handed to him. "Thank you."
"Was the meeting productive?"
"Kind of. We'll know more later today. Lana is coming by and Oliver and the rest of the gang are going to help her go over some other locations we need to check," Clark told her vaguely, not sure just how much Krenshaw knew of his boss' late-night extracurriculars.
"Lana?" Martha asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Oliver and Chloe called her in to help with the search."
"But, I thought-"
"She can't do that anymore. She told me she neutralizes it."
"So, you can get close to her without-"
Clark recognized the look in his mother's eyes. It matched the same one Chloe had watched him with the night before. "Don't worry, Mom," Clark started. He was a little hurt his mother thought him that fickle, given what he'd told he when he returned from training. Although, Clark could understand. It was Lana. "She doesn't fit into my life any longer."
Martha's face relaxed into a smile. "You want some breakfast?"
"Sounds good. What time did the boys go to bed?" Clark asked.
"Around nine. Why?"
"I'll be right back," Clark said as he took off down the hall. He stopped at the door and knocked softy. When there was no answer, Clark opened the door slowly. Peeking in, he saw Chloe curled up in a recliner in the corner as Connor, Kaid and Shelby sprawled on top of the big mattress. Shelby lifted his head and gave a sharp yip! accompanied with a furious wagging of tail. The boys stirred until finally Kaid opened his eyes. He blinked them sleepily, drawing his brows down as he looked at Clark.
"Hey," Clark said softly, not wanting to wake Chloe. "Me and Aunt Martha are going to have breakfast. You want to come?"
Connor, too, had woken and was regarding Clark in the doorway. The boys looked at their mom, still sound asleep in the chair. Connor rolled over and looked at Kaid.
"Remember what mom said yesterday," he whispered quietly to his twin. They both sat up and gazed back at Clark.
"Okay," Kaid answered.
"All right. Do you need any help or anything?" Clark didn't know exactly what to do, but he remembered his mom laying out his clothes when he was this age.
"No, we got it," Connor told him.
"We'll be in the living room. Come on, Shelb, let's go outside." He patted his thigh and the dog flew off the bed.
"Can Shelby come?" Connor asked, stretching his long arms.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Clark said, wondering where they were going to find a place to eat with a dog.
"Yes!" Both Connor and Kaid said as they jumped out of bed. Clark smiled and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Shelby followed him as he returned to the kitchen.
"We're taking Connor, Kaid and Shelby, it seems, to breakfast. Krenshaw, you know any places you can take a dog to eat?" Clark asked the older man.
"There's a place off the Turtle Creek Park. Would you like me to go with you?"
"No, I want someone to stay with Chloe, if you don't mind, but thanks," Clark answered.
"No problem. I'll radio Allistor and he can come and cover Ms. Sullivan until we return." Krenshaw turned on his heel and started speaking into the lapel mic, always present on his expensive suit jacket.
Moments later, two little boys came running down the hall dressed in jeans and matching winter flannel shirts. Clark cocked his head to the side, watching them. There was something slightly familiar about them as they rolled on the floor with Shelby, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Shaking his head, he clapped his hands, bringing the room to attention.
"All right, guys. You ready to go?"
"Yeah!" They answered, pumping fists into the air.
"I'm going to go tell your mom where we're going and then we'll leave." Clark ruffled their hair as he walked by them and back into the Chloe's room. She was still curled up in the recliner, her sons movements not waking her. Scooping her up into his arms, Clark carried her over to the bed. She murmured something as he kneeled upon the bed and placed her gently down.
"Chloe? Chloe," Clark said softly, but with insistence. "Mom and I are taking the boys and Shelby to breakfast, okay? Krenshaw is coming and Allistor is going to be up here with you? Do you hear me?"
"Yeah, yeah. The boys are with you," she answered groggily, not even opening her eyes.
"We'll be back later."
Chloe settled down into the pillows. Clark shut off the lights and turned to look at her one last time before her left.
"I know you'll love them," Chloe murmured in her sleep as he pulled the door to.
Clark stood with his hand on the door, peering in at her. "I'm sure I will."
"So, what do you guys want to do today?" Clark asked. They'd returned from breakfast, which had been an interesting adventure. Connor and Kaid were so full of energy. The restaurant Krenshaw led them to was a place out on Turtle Creek Lake, right on the water. The manager, at first, had balked at allowing Shelby to sit with them out on the deck, but when he caught sight of Senator Kent standing just behind, he couldn't seat them fast enough. After breakfast, Clark took Shelby, Connor and Kaid over to the park and the boys and Shelby ran and wrestled and screamed. Clark joined them, being careful to always let the twins topple him to the ground. When the boys had worked up a good sweat in the morning sun and their winter coats, the group trooped home where the boys collapsed onto the sofa. It was around nine-thirty and Chloe was getting dressed.
Connor and Kaid turned their heads to look at him. They'd been taking turns arm wrestling each other, Connor winning most turns.
"You mean, we get to pick?" Kaid asked.
"Of course! Anything you want to do."
The boys looked at each other, communicating silently. Connor spoke for the both of them. "We want to ride our horses."
"Dalma and Mancha?"
"Guys," Chloe said as she walked into the room, dressed again in some borrowed jeans and a soft looking blue long-john shirt. "Why don't we stick close to the city?"
"But, Mom-" Kaid began.
"Young man," Chloe warned. Kaid sat back, trying hard not to pout.
"Chloe, I don't mind," Clark told her quietly as he gained his feet, coming to stand beside her. "Unless you had something else planned. . ."
"Clark, that's a really long drive just to go horseback riding. Are you sure?"
"I did say we could do whatever they wanted," Clark told her sheepishly.
Chloe made a face, a face Clark made whenever Chloe humored Lois. She faced Connor and Kaid, who were looking at her with their best puppy dog eyes, another inherited trait to wheedle their way out of their mother. "If it's okay with Clark, then it's okay with me."
"Yes!" Connor and Kaid high-fived each other.
Martha came into the room, dressed in her own casual way with a coat over her arm.
"And what are you doing today?" Chloe asked.
"I thought that since Oliver's friends will be here later, I'd make myself scarce. It's been awhile since I was in Metropolis for longer than five minutes and I want to re-discover it again. Krenshaw is going to come with me."
Chloe laughed at the way Clark's eyebrows met. With a knowing smile, Chloe said, "You two have a good time."
"Oh, we will," Martha replied, throwing a smile back to Krenshaw. "I heard someone is going horseback riding?"
Connor and Kaid nodded excitedly.
"What time will you be back?" Martha asked. She was going to be keeping an eye on the boys while their parents had their night out.
"I'll call you when we're headed back," Chloe told her.
"Okay. Well, have fun!" Martha exclaimed, taking her time to hug each one of them. She saved Chloe for last and squeezed her a little tighter. "Good luck," she whispered in the younger woman's ear.
"Thanks," Chloe whispered back. "You, too." Martha pulled back with wide eyes and then blushed. With a shrug of her shoulders, Martha allowed Krenshaw to take her arm and escort her out of the loft.
"Is that what I think it is?" Clark finally asked Chloe when Martha and Krenshaw were gone.
Chloe glanced over at him. "I wouldn't worry, Clark. Krenshaw is a very responsible man."
"Did my mother," Clark cleared his throat. "Just leave on a date?"
"I doubt it's a date, Clark. I think her and Krenshaw get along and maybe she wants to get to know him better. Don't worry. Once you go Kent, you never go back."
Clark let his eyes follow her as she withdrew her coat from the coat closet and slipped into it. Chloe caught him watching her and smiled.
"Boys? Do you already have your coats on?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Let's go then," Clark said. Clark reached over and took Kaid's hand and walked over to the elevator door. Chloe gripped Connor's and all four waited as the elevator came up to meet them. With a deep breath, Chloe stepped in as Clark held the door open for all of them. Once inside, Clark hit the G button and it began to groan as it made it's way down. With Connor and Kaid on either side of them, attached at the hands, Clark felt Chloe slip her free hand into his.
He rubbed his eyes wearily. With a deep sigh, he raised the binoculars back to his face, keeping them trained on the Clocktower Loft situated on the corner of Metropolis Avenue and Torrance Drive. He'd been in this same spot, huddled in the corner of the adjacent rooftop all damn night. In the cold. His hands were numb, his feet felt like blocks of ice and his nose dripped constantly. Did he care? Hell, no! Just as long he got what he wanted.
"Damn his skinny, bald ass," Doug growled, turning his back to the wind that had started to kick up with the clouds moving in from the north. Taking his gaze away from the loft, Doug glanced briefly up at the wall of clouds building behind the Daily Planet. In November, rain clouds hanging over Kansas were rare occurrences, but there they were, broiling up and around like the air from a cartoon bull's snort. Doug pulled up his collar, Elvis-style, and went back to watching the building.
What was so special about this Sullivan dame anyway? Sure, she was cute if you liked short, bossy and driven types. He was more of a brunette man himself. He had asked her out once, when she'd seemed lonely and sad. He was looking for an easy lay. His mind put two and two together and went, cha-ching!
Doug Weimar was not a man used to rejection. Even from a high and mighty CEO of a multi-million dollar company. So he was just a security guard, but he was ruggedly handsome and, as he often told the girls casually, "heir to the second largest Whiskey dynasty in the country."
"You've never heard of it?" Doug crowed aloud, as if the fire escape ladder to his left was a beautiful woman he was putting the moves on. "Bartender! Two fingers of Weimar's Wild Turkey for the lady!" They were putty, drunk putty, in his hands.
After Chloe shot him down, he'd found himself in a downward spiral with the female population. His dry spell only lasted a couple of months, but it still rubbed his boots the wrong way when he remembered the polite but disinterested refusal. As it turned out, it had worked to his advantage that she turned him down. If he'd used her and tossed her out with the next morning's garbage, she would have had him fired in two shakes. How would he have been any help to Lex then?
"I'm giving you another chance, Doug," Lex had said.
"Another chance-"
"Another chance to prove yourself. It seems we were lucky Chloe didn't die in the explosion."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to watch her. Let me know the moment Clark Kent leaves her side."
"With all due respect, Luthor, Chloe will now have Queen Industries top security tailing her at all times. You really think the only thing standing in your way of getting to Chloe is some hayseed turned reporter?"
Lex smiled as he steepled his fingers above the makeshift desk he sat behind. "You don't know Clark Kent as I do. He always has a tendency to cause even the best laid plans to go awry. Especially when Chloe Sullivan is concerned." Lex's jaw twitched as he recalled their younger years together. "Is everything in place?"
"Yes. I finished a few minutes before they arrived back home."
"Good, good. Call me the moment she's without him. We'll make our move then."
"Lex, why is she so important? We have everything we need-"
"I've told you, Doug," Lex interrupted with barely concealed frustration. "Without the blue meteor rock bracelet we have no way of controlling the outcome."
"But Mickler didn't find it when-"
"I know he didn't find it!" Lex yelled, jumping out of his chair. "Like I've explained before, we need that bracelet. It is imperativethat we find it." Lex came around the corner of the desk. With well played affection, Lex gripped Doug's shoulders. "We cannot go forward without that one piece. But I believe I may have found a solution. We may not need the meteor rock after all, but we must have Chloe Sullivan in order to rule it out."
He would not tell Lex he'd missed the first opportunity because he was sleeping on the job. He was jarred awake by the sound car horns blaring to see this Clark Kent, his mother the Senator and Chloe's children returning to the loft without Chloe in their midst. When would he get another chance like that?
Doug wiped his nose on his sleeve. This woman was beginning to be a real pain in his ass. He spied movement. Senator Kent and Oliver Queen's top security guard strolled out of the ornate front doors. Moments later, a dark red Chevy SUV pulled out of the underground parking level. Pressing the binoculars deeper around his eyes, he recognized Chloe's car. She sat in the passenger seat with Clark Kent behind the wheel, the twins and the family dog in the very back. Doug cursed. Unstrapping the cell from his belt loop, he hit the speed dial button and brought it to his ear.
"She alone?" Lex answered without preamble.
"No. Clark Kent just drove them all out, heading toward FM 94. Senator Kent walked out with Arthur Krenshaw, Queen's top security guard."
"Never mind Martha Kent. She's not important. Let me know when they come back to the loft. I doubt the farm house is livable yet, so she must return at some point to the loft."
"Sure thing." Doug disconnected the call.
He'd worked for Lex for years, but that had been when he was the CEO of Luthorcorp. He'd only needed Doug as brawn then, not as brain, too. Now with Mickler dead, killed by one of the specimens, it was just Lex and Doug. After the monster had torn the man to shreds, his blood-thirst quieted, both Lex and Doug knew there was no way to control them without the meteor rock as they'd hoped. They could not proceed without that one special ingredient. Fleeing from Reeve's Dam in the cover of darkness after they'd thrown Mickler into the churning river, Lex told him to get Chloe Sullivan or die trying.
"We have to abort the project Lex. It's too unstable!" Doug hissed, fearing the thing behind them would overhear and stop purring in contentment.
"Too much is riding on this! We're both dead men if we don't find a way to fix this. I promised Black Skye a weapon and I'm not about give up yet."
"But Mickler-"
"He knew the risks when he signed on," Lex said as he opened the door to Doug's F350 and waiting for the specimen to alight into the vehicle. Neither Doug nor Lex made eye contact with it. "As did you."
"Well, excuse me if I'm having second thoughts after watching a man get disemboweled," Doug spat, slamming the door.
The memory caused his hands to shake and Doug needed a drink bad. Packing up, he decided to go sit in the nearest bar, to warm his outsides and insides. He knew time was running short, their timetable running out.
Somehow he had to get his hands on Chloe. Lex was too caught up with his work with the specimens and putting out feelers for another scientist. It was up to Doug to solve the Sullivan problem. He still didn't see how some Daily Planet reporter could put such a kink in his plans. Well, Lex was just going to have to trust him. Clark Kent may be big and tall, but there were ways to get around that. When the little group returned, Clark Kent or no, Doug would make his move.