Claire sat on the counter watching as people she didn't know trashed her house. God what had she gotten herself into, she had only wanted to have a few people over while her parents were gone to metropolis. Now it had just got completely out of control.
A loud bang could be heard from outside and Claire turned see the light of fireworks coming through the kitchen window. Quickly turning to Pete she glared at him. "Seriously Pete." Claire shot up off the counter and made her way outside with Chloe and Pete in tow. "Why don't you just call the police, it would have been easier."
"Hey I can't claim credit for this." Pete spoke raising his hands in the air in surrender.
"It was mine actually. I hope you like it." Came Lex's voice from behind them. Claire turned to see him standing there in a pair of dark grey slacks and a black light materialed sweater.
"It's great, it's just…" Claire began.
"Don't worry about the police, it's covered. I know this kind of party can make or break a reputation and I wanted to make sure yours was a hit. I hear you're taking a tour of my plant tomorrow." Lex spoke as he moved a step closer towards Claire.
"It's a class field trip." Chloe spoke as she looked between the pair.
"What did you do wrong?" Lex laughed lightly as he looked from Chloe to Claire.
"That bad huh?" Said Claire, then they heard the sound of someone screaming that the bathroom toilet had overflowed. "Oh god, I am so screwed."
"I'm sure you will be fine Claire. Now, I have to run, but I will try and come by while you guys are at the plant tomorrow." Then with one last look at Claire he headed off towards his car.
Claire watched him go and once his car was out of sight she felt someone grab her arm and looked over to see Chloe clung to her side. "So...you never did tell me how your trip to Metropolis was."
"It was okay." Claire said simply trying to will herself to not to blush at the memories of Lex's and her night together.
"I'm sure a date with Lex Luthor was a little more than okay." Chloe smiled to her friend not believing her for one moment.
"Claire!" Came Lana's scream from the barn. "Claire, you need to come here right now!"
Taking off in a run Claire, Chloe and Pete rushed to the barn and headed up to the loft where Whitney stood with a pitchfork pointed towards a moving bundle of cloth. Moving forward slowly Claire reached forward and pulled back the blanket to see her parents friend Earl huddled against the wall.
"Earl? What are you doing here?" Claire questioned.
"I came looking for your father, he's the only one I can trust." Earl then began to shake violently and Claire reached out to grab him, but had to suddenly pull her hand back in pain. Staring down at her hand she noticed the familiar green veins that appeared whenever she was around the meteor rocks.
"Earl, we are going to get you to the hospital."
The next morning came and Claire had just finished cleaning the downstairs when she heard clapping behind her. Turning slowly she saw her mother and father standing at the bottom of the stairs, plunger in hand.
"Claire where have you been, we called six times last night and every time talked to someone who didn't even know who you were." Martha spoke sternly as she approached her daughter.
"I was at the hospital." Claire said softly as she diverted her gaze to the floor.
"Who got hurt?" Jonathan questioned as he stared down angrily at his daughter.
"Nobody, but I found Earl Jenkins in the loft. He was really sick dad. He came here looking for you last night." Claire said this as she looked back up to meet her fathers eyes.
Jonathan was slightly taken aback by what his daughter had just told him. "What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know dad, but he was bad, and now he is wanted for murder." Said Claire
"What did he have to say for himself?" Questioned Jonathan.
"I couldn't really get close to him. I tried to touch him but, I got sick, like what happens when I'm around the meteor rocks, so I didn't want to hang around while on my own." Claire spoke as she reached up and ran a hand through her hair.
After that Claire and her father made their way into town and to the hospital to see Earl. When they left however they had even more questions than before they had come in. Earl had claimed that the experiments at LuthorCorps level three had made him sick, and now they were trying to cover it up. Jonathan dropped Claire off at school just in time for her to catch the bus for their trip to the plant.
Once they arrived everyone was ushered into the building and Mr. Sullivan came forward.
"Hello, everybody. I'm Gabe Sullivan, plant manager and proud father. Hi, sweetheart." Mr. Sullivan spoke while giving a slight wave to his daughter.
"Hi, Dad." Chloe said simply before hiding behind Claire.
"Welcome to LuthorCorp, where we give a crap." Mr. Sullivan laughed lightly as he said this.
Chloe groaned from behind Claire. "Okay, somebody kill me now."
After they had deposited their loose items into bins the class was led through the plant until finally making their way to the main control room. They were just beginning to go over how the plant worked when the door was shaken open and Earl entered the room with a gun.
"Don't move!" Earl yelled waving the gun in the air and then grabbing Mr. Sullivan. "Take me to level three. Now!"
"Hey where's Claire?" Questioned Pete.
Meanwhile outside, the police had just set up their temporary headquarters outside of the plant. Lex rushed forward with Jonathan and Martha close behind him. "What's going on here?" Jonathan questioned as he rushed to catch up to Lex.
"There is a lunatic inside demanding to be taken to some place called level three. We've managed to evacuate the plant, but he's taken the students hostage." Lex spoke as he began looking over the monitors that were in front of him for any sign of Claire.
"Is anyone hurt?" Martha questioned as she took looked over the monitors for her daughter.
Lex sighed when he could not see Claire and ran a hand over his head. "Not yet."
"What's his name?" Jonathan questioned, wondering how much Lex actually knew.
"Earl Jenkins, and I want know what he is doing in my plant and how he got in." Lex spoke as the police set up around him.
"Earl use to work for us." Spoke Jonathan. "He claims that LuthorCorp is doing some crop experiments on some secret level three and that's what made him sick. He's convinced that it's the only place he can get a cure."
"The we've got a serious problem, because there is no level three." Said Lex.
Martha ran a hand through her hair and looked over the monitors once again. "Where's Claire?"
Soon Lionel Luthor arrived and the group stood watching the monitors for any mistake Earl might make that could mean getting the kids out of that building. Then the next few minutes seemed to happen in slow motion for everyone outside watching the monitors. Claire had appeared in the control room holding blueprints of the building and nearly collapsed when Earl ripped them from her grasp.
Then they watched as Whitney attempted to gain control of the gun but was knocked back by Earl and appeared to be injured. Then they found out that methane gas was beginning to fill the building from a ruptured pipe. "What was that boy thinking?" Lionel asked as he watched the monitors.
"He wasn't. He's a teenager who's been waiting for someone out here to take the initiative. Look, you've got a hostage situation, and a potential bomb in there. Somebody's gotta do something." Jonathan spoke with a raised voice towards Lionel Luthor.
"You're right. I'm going in." Lex spoke as he quickly began to make his way towards the tactical teams van.
"Don't be foolhardy. This is not time for mock-heroics." Lionel spoke sternly as he walked after his son.
Lex told the officer in front of him that he wanted to go in, to try and reason with Earl, and was soon handed a vest. "You said this is my plant. It's my call." Lex said simply, as he tried not to think about Claire being locked in the room with that maniac.
"I won't allow this Lex." Lionel spoke getting into his son's face.
Ignoring his father however, Lex moved to the office as he strapped the vest to his chest. "Tell him Lex Luthor is coming to see him."
The officer just looked at him with a look of disbelief. "I wouldn't advise that, sir."
"Make the call." Lex said sternly.
Claire sat on the floor in pain as she felt the effects of the meteor rocks. Chloe had noticed her discomfort and had attempted to get Claire as far away from Earl as she could. As she laid there with Chloe gently stroking her hair she watched as Lex appeared in the doorway with his hands raised.
"What kind of man sends his own kid to do his dirty work?" Earl questioned as he walked towards Lex.
Lex looked from Earl to the students in the room as he sought out Claire. "What are we gonna do about these kids, Earl?"
Earl gripped his head with his free hand and squeezed his eyes shut. "I never meant to hurt anybody. I tried talking to your father, but he wouldn't listen to me."
Finally Lex's eyes found Claire as she laid against Chloe with a light sheen of sweat on her head. She did not look good and it took everything in his power not to go to her side. Looking back to Earl, Lex kept his head calm as he began to take the vest off himself. "I know the feeling. Earl, you say that everybody's been lying to you. I'm gonna tell you the truth. My father doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anybody in this room. Because if we all die, his P.R. firm will spin it, his insurance company will pay out, and you Earl, will go down as the bad guy."
"I'm not the bad guy. I'm just trying to get better." Earl spoke looking quickly at the students in the room.
"How are you gonna get better by killing a bunch of kids? Let them go, and I will take you to level three. Trust me, I'm a man of my word." Lex spoke as he slowly approached Earl, coming to stop in front of him.
Earl grabbed him roughly and shoved the gun against his side. "Get out. Get out. Get out! Everybody, get out!" Spoke Earl as he waved the students and employees out of the room and towards the door.
As Chloe and Claire walked by Lex Claire stopped to whisper to him. "Do you really know where level three is?"
"Yeah, it's in his imagination. There is no level three Claire. Now get out of here." Lex spoke just as Earl turned to pay attention to him again. Claire and Chloe quickly left the room and as soon as Claire was out of range of Earl she felt a hundred times better.
Claire was the last one to head out from the plant besides the officer next to her, but as she saw the large doors begin to close she quickly pulled away from Chloe and rushed to slide under the door before it sealed shut behind her.
Running to Martha and Jonathan Chloe quickly told them the Claire went back in. Martha then rushed to Lionel. "You have to open the doors."
"They're safety locked and can't be opened until the gas levels have gone down." Lionel spoke simply.
"My daughter is still in there!" Martha shouted at Lionel.
"So is my son." Lionel spoke without much emotion in his voice.
Lex was being roughly shoved down the hall by Earl as they made their way towards the basement level. "There is no level three Earl, it's all in your head.
Thats when Claire's voice came out over the intercom. "Earl, I found level three. They built a wall in front of the elevator but it's still here."
"Stop playing with me!" Earl shouted into the air.
"Get out of the building Claire!" Lex yelled as he attempted to pull away from his captor.
"I promise Earl it's here." Claire spoke simply through the intercom.
Earl then led Lex through the long hallway to find the wall that hid the elevator had been smashed through and he smiled. "Son of a bitch! How do you explain that?"
Lex had to keep himself from letting his face give away his surprise. "I can't, but look two buttons, two levels I'm sorry."
However Earl just smirked as he shoved Lex into the elevator and pushed just below the second level button, as he touched it the area lit up with a number three. Once they arrived and the doors opened Earl rushed out onto the catwalk and looked around the large area below him. "Where is...where is everything? There use to be, a field of corn with sprayers all over it. Every night they'd spray this green mist on it." Looking back to Lex he started to rush towards him. "What have you done with it?"
Lex looked around the room not knowing what to say. "I don't know. They lied to me too Earl. I had no idea this was down here."
"Earl. Let's go back upstairs and talk about this." Claire's voice sounded from behind Lex and he turned to look at her as she stood next to the elevators.
"I didn't know about this place Claire. You have to believe me." Lex spoke desperately as he stared into Claire's eyes.
Claire just smiled at him. "I believe you Lex."
"He's lying. He's just like his father!" Scream Earl, just before he started to convulse, causing the catwalk to shake and become unattached at the bolts holding it together.
"Claire!" Lex yelled as he slid down the now slowly detaching catwalk. Claire rushed forward just as Lex slipped and grabbed onto Earl's legs. Holding onto the railing Claire grabbed Earl's hand in her own and attempted to pull him up as her viens turned green and she felt her strength waiver. But she pushed through it, pulling both Earl and Lex up. Just as Lex was almost to the elevator when Earl began to convulse again and the rest of the bolts let go. Claire rushed forward and shoved herself, Lex and Earl into the elevator right before the entire catwalk collapsed beneath them.
Lex looked over to Claire as she attempted to sit up. "Claire, how did you pull us up?"
"Adrenaline I guess." Claire said simply as she reached forward pushing the button to take them back to the ground floor. Once they all made it outside Earl was transported into an ambulance and sent straight to Metropolis. Claire rushed to her parents as Martha wrapped her arms around her daughter.
"I have never been so happy to see you in my life!" Martha gasp as she held her daughter tightly.
Meanwhile Lex moved to his father's side. "You lied to me."
"No I didn't. I said level three wasn't on any plans. It wasn't. It's plausible deniability." Lionel said simply as he moved to head towards where the press stood.
"What were you doing down there?" Lex questioned as he took a step after his father.
"Doesn't matter. It was a failure, we closed the door and moved on." Lionel spoke as he approached a small makeshift podium.
Lex quickly moved to step in front of his father blocking his way. "You almost got me killed."
"No, you almost got yourself killed. It was your call, remember?" Lionel then side stepped around his son and moved to talk to the press. As a reported stepped forward to ask about level three Lex turned to look at Claire who was being held by her parents in a comforting family hug. "I think you're referring to a redundant storage area at the base of the plant. Mr. Jenkins is a very sick man who desperately needs medical attention…"
"That's why my father and I have pledged to find Mr. Jenkins the best medical care possible. He was a LuthorCorp employee and here at LuthorCorp, we always put family first. Isn't that right Dad?" Lex spoke smugly as looked out at the sea of reporters.
"Mr. Luthor, is it true the government is trying to shut you down?" One of the reporters questioned.
"No, no, no. No more questions please." Lionel then wrapped his arms around Lex for an awkward hug. "My son has been through quite an ordeal today."
As Lex's father hugged him however, Lex looked back towards Claire and her family, who were now just separating, but her mother still had an arm tightly wrapped around daughter. Lex closed his eyes as he felt his father pat his back and sighed. Once his father pulled away however he felt another pair of arms wrap around him and looked to see Claire looking up at him with a smile.
"Lex, thank you for coming to save me." Claire whispered as she rest her head against his chest.
"I should be thanking you, again." Lex said simply as he brought a hand up to place on the back of her head. Pulling her close to him he breathed in her scent.