Chapter 2
You will travel far, my little Kal-El, but we will never leave you-even in the face of our deaths. You will make my strength your own. You will see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father. And the father, the son.
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"Oh, yeah?" Lois yelled into the phone. "Well, you tell that grasping, little slut that she can have the story. And I just hope the good congressman is very hands-on with his constituents. Oh, but I forgot." She laughed. "Linda would like that kind of thing. And guess what else? I quit!" She slammed the phone down.
Chloe didn't look up. Lois would see it as a way to start a fight, the way she'd been acting.
"I hated that rag anyway." The phone rang again. "What? I said all I... Oh, hi, Martha." Chloe's head shot up from her laptop. "No," Lois was saying. "I was just... how are you?... I'm just peachy... Yes, she's right here." She tossed the phone to Chloe. "It's for you," Lois said before stomping away, muttering to herself.
Chloe was nearly shaking as she grasped the phone. If anyone knew where Clark was, it was Martha. "Hi, Mrs. Kent."
"Hi, Sweetie. Listen, I hate to just jump into this. But do you know where Clark is?"
Chloe's face fell. "No. I... I thought you might."
"I've been phoning the house for days and he hasn't returned any of my messages."
"I was..." She couldn't tell Martha what had happened before he left. "I was just as surprised as you are. It's as if he just vanished off the face of the..." She trailed off as she heard soft sobs from the other end. "Mrs. Kent?"
"I always knew it would happen."
"What would happen?"
"Chloe, wherever Clark is, just know that he has a very good reason for being there." Martha sniffled on the other end. "Honey, I've got to go. There are things I... I just have to go."
Chloe stared at the wall as the dial tone sounded. She was more worried than ever. If Martha was this upset, then something awful must have happened. The face of Lex Luthor swam into her mind.
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"Lois, I'm seriously not doing anything important. You don't have to come."
Lois slammed the passenger door and grappled with the seatbelt. "No. I have damned good reason for going into the city. And you're coming in with me. I need moral support while I clean out my desk at that disgusting rag and maybe shove it up Linda King's bony ass while I'm at it." She groaned and slapped the dashboard. "Your seatbelts don't work."
"Take a deep breath and try again." Chloe gritted her teeth as she drove off. She wanted to slip into Luthorcorp and it would be a lot harder with Lois on her heels. She'd just have to give her the slip.
It was difficult, though, considering Lois had her hand in a vise grip the minute she tried to drop her at The Inquisitor's building. "They think they can just hand my story over to some cheap tramp who..."
"Hi, Lois," an obviously smitten guy in a sweater-vest said.
"Yeah. Hi."
"Hey, Lois," another man drawled. "Looking good."
"Screw you, Baxter."
Chloe looked back, still being dragged along as Baxter and Sweater-vest stared after them. "What's up her ass this time?"
Chloe guessed that this wasn't the first time Lois' more abrasive side had shown itself. She turned her face front as she nearly crashed into a desk. Lois dropped her hand and turned her attention to the desk instead, still muttering under her breath.
"Lois, I should..."
"You know, it just figures. I get one good lead and then I get distracted and that vulture just swoops in and..."
"Oh, hi, Lois," A slim red-head called from the other side of the room. She strolled over. "Surprised to see you today."
"Linda," Lois said with a phony smile. She turned to Chloe. "Chloe, this is Linda King. Don't you find it funny that she showed up just when I said the word 'vulture'? Someone's ears must have been burning."
Linda patted her hair. "I hope you're not upset about... Oh!" A tone of feigned surprise took over her cool, waspish voice. "You're not leaving us, are you?"
"You bet I am."
"What's the matter? Can't handle a little competition?"
"I find it kind of hard to compete against your brand of journalism. What did you do? Give Congressman Jones a lapdance?"
"Oh, Lois." She giggled. "Don't sulk. It's aging you."
"Uh, Lois." Chloe gestured to the front door. "I should..." Lois was taking no notice. Chloe sensed a catfight in the works. "I'll meet you at the cafe on ninth." She took off as their voices and jibes became harsher behind her.
When she pulled into traffic, she took her cellphone out. "Yeah, Oliver. Can you get me Victor?"
"Hi to you, too."
"I don't have time. I'm going into Luthercorp's main office."
"What? We can't do something like that yet, Chloe. There's a sequence..."
"I think he has Clark, Oliver," she cut in. "I just need to download some files, see if Luthercorp has any more pet projects. Victor could help me in. A code should be enough. Just so I can get into the mainframe from home. I can work from that and..."
"No, Chloe. We can't show our hand yet. The loss of Reeves Dam was a big blow to him. If Lex suspects we're after 33.1, somebody will get hurt." Chloe heard him sigh. "And you're right in his backyard. So's Lois."
"Don't you care, Ollie? Clark could be hurt."
"You're not thinking straight, Chloe. These things need to be planned before they're..."
She hung up and pulled into the garage under the building. She dug through her purse for the badge Oliver had sent to Maine with his initial package. She wasn't supposed to make use of it yet. But she didn't care. She flashed it to the guard and drove in. Now what?
Her phone rang again and she silenced it. Oliver didn't understand. She got out and made her way to the elevators at the end of the garage. She hastily slipped a pair of sunglasses out of her purse as the car rode upwards. Still, what now?
She just wanted to find him. If he was here, if she was near him, wouldn't she feel it? And wouldn't she find a way? There was never a mess they didn't get out of. That meant something. But as the car approached the seventh floor, she felt edgy. This had been stupid. She was nowhere near ready to infiltrate Lex's headquarters. And she also had the sinking feeling that Lex had nothing to do with the particular evil of Clark's disappearance.
Chloe, wherever Clark is, just know that he has a very good reason for being there.
Didn't that indicate choice? Oliver had been right. She wasn't thinking clearly. She pressed the basement level button hard. She'd just have to leave. She faded into the corner as the doors opened on the seventh floor.
The eyes behind her sunglasses widened as they opened on the devil himself. Lex Luthor. "Chloe?" He held the door open with a well-manicured hand. "I was thinking you'd never pay me a visit." He smiled.
A small, gray-haired, file-laden secretary next to him looked harried. "Should I get coffee?"
"No!" Chloe calmed her voice. "I really can't stay. I just realized that Lois is waiting..."
He reached a hand in and pulled her lightly. "I'm sure your cousin won't mind waiting." She found herself outside the doors as they closed. "I've seen you around town, but we haven't had a chance to catch up. Jail time leaves a lot of business unfinished." He turned to his secretary. "Two lattes." She hurried off and he turned back to Chloe.
She felt frozen as his hand grasped her elbow. "I can't stay long."
"Oh, I won't keep you." He steered her to a set of metallic doors that slid open as he approached. "I really do want to catch up, though. I heard you went on vacation." He left her to sit behind his desk, nodding to a chair.
She perched on the edge and cleared her throat. "Yes. I just needed some time alone."
"Perfectly understandable. Smallville does get crowded in the summer. All of those out-of-town visitors." Her eyes widened agan and she was grateful for the sunglasses. Lana. Could he know? He smiled. "I'm referring, of course, to the tourists with the Fair coming. You know they're there, of course, but... well, you have more important things to do."
Oh, he knows. Chloe dimly wondered if she should try calling Lana again.
"Why so silent, Chloe? I thought we had so much to talk about."
Chloe let a hoarse laugh escape her. "We've never talked much, Lex. Why ruin it?"
"But we have so much in common," he said, still with that plastic smile. "We're both fairly driven. Aren't we? We like to get what we want. We hardly take time to slow down and take stock of what's important." He leaned forward. "Where's Clark, by the way? The two of you are usually so inseparable."
"I couldn't tell you," Chloe said, returning his smile. "We've had a parting of the ways."
"Much like my wife and I." Chloe folded her hands in her lap. "Separated by fate. Of course, Wherever she is, I hope she's very happy." He smiled wider. "But of course she is. Lana would go nowhere except straight to heaven."
Or Florida. "True." Chloe stood and hooked her purse on her shoulder. "Well, I feel very caught up, Lex, so..." He pressed a button on his desk and she turned. The metal doors were sliding closed. She rushed forward, but they shut right in front of her.
She stood facing the doors as she heard him behind her. "Just one more thing." She felt him at her back and suppressed the urge to turn around and bring her knee up. "I really do think you should go back to your regular job... at The Daily Planet. You're suited to more orthodox journalism." He chuckled softly and she felt his hand on her neck. "I remember that paper you used to publish in high school. Got a real kick out of your wild leaps." The hand squeezed, light but firm. "But you were young then. It brings to mind a quote. 'When we are young, we read and believe the most fantastic things. When we are older, we learn with regret that these things cannot be.'" He suddenly spoke directly in her ear. "From Blithe Spirit." She willed herself still. Blithe. It was so close to Blythe that her heartbeat sped up. "Noel Coward. A favorite of mine."
"Really? I thought your tastes ran more to Doctor Faustus." She turned sharply and the hand fell from her neck. She refused to be intimidated by him any longer, at least not physically. Lex may have the money and power, but she knew she could hand his ass to him in a street fight.
He tilted his head to the side. "Didn't he make a deal with a demon?"
She slipped off her sunglasses. "He dabbled where he shouldn't."
"Yes. In unnatural things. Well, you should know that I wouldn't dabble there. In fact, I believe we should all be protected from such things." He strolled away and to his desk, pressing the button again. Her spine seemed to unclench.
The door opened on his surprised secretary. She was holding two large paper cups. She smiled and held one out? "Your latte."
"Thank you. But I'm just leaving," Chloe said, starting away.
"Oh, Chloe?"
She stopped and turned back.
"If you get in touch with any old friends, give them my regards. I'd tell them myself, but it seems I have a full workload right here."
She smiled tightly. She turned again, but the secretary stopped her. "You might as well take it to go." She held out the cup in her left hand with a smile.
Chloe took it and nodded her thanks. In the elevator, she noticed something blue between the paper cup and cardboard sleeve. She waited until she was in the car to pull it out. "10 p.m. La Salette." She pushed it into her purse and reminded herself to burn it later. She picked up her cell. "Oliver?"
"Chloe, tell me you didn't..."
"Not exactly." She recounted her conversation with Lex. "He's obviously trying to scare me off, but I find that encouraging."
She heard a huff on the other end. "You would."
"Oliver, he doesn't know as much as he wants us to think. Otherwise, he wouldn't waste his time with half-threats and hints."
"He knows enough. You'll have to stop writing for now."
"I know." And it broke her heart. The Underground was her only outlet. The only way she could do what she did best: spread the truth.
"Well, at least we know he doesn't have Clark," Oliver said.
"We know more than that," Chloe said, an almost forgotten excitement in her voice. "We have an in at Luthorcorp."
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