Chapter 8
This world has given you a life when all hope was lost. You will shelter it in turn...
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Chloe paced in the main room, knowing Victor was not done, otherwise he'd be out by now. She'd looked over the rest of the headquarters, even briefly glancing in the room Lois and Oliver had been in. It was a lounge. She didn't tell the guys what must have happened there. They wouldn't now be... lounging in it if they knew.
Victor was in a tiny workroom that she suspected was his main digs, using the engineering knowledge that was inherent both in his genetic makeup and his machine-like mind. She wondered that he was so insightful about human relations as with computers. The only other person in the area who even suspected about her and Clark was Lois.
As if on cue, Lois came in on Oliver's arm. They were both laden with bags. "I'm serious," Oliver was saying. "I never went down so hard."
Lois giggled and kissed his black eye. Chloe thought she might vomit. "You just remember that in case you try pulling one over again."
"Is that lunch?" Chloe interrupted loudly. A door suddenly swung open and Bart was at their sides, grabbing the bags and zooming back to the lounge. Chloe followed with a groan.
Chloe ate with A.C. and Bart at the table while Lois and Oliver fed each other on the couch. She'd never had less of an appetite in her life. She was extremely relieved when Victor finally appeared again. "Do you have it?"
"The device is not fully functional. I could only manage to take some of the info myself. It's audio. It seems to be part of a larger body of work- all instructions or observations. Almost stream-of-consciousness sometimes."
"If this disc is one of many, that explains why." The others stared at her. "M...." She caught herself before reavealing Mrs. Tessmacher's name. Now was not the time to get sloppy, even with those she trusted. "M-my alternate source at Luthorcorp told me that he hadn't missed it. Lex is fairly observant, as well as a sneaky bastard, it's like... one page that's torn from a diary to him. Too small to notice..."
"Well, this particular disc doesn't seem too recent," Victor said darkly. "And it's damaged. It's all in bits and there's not much I could get clearly. I don't know how helpful it could be."
Chloe's face fell. "Well... what did you get from it? We never know..."
Victor closed his eyes and opened his mouth slightly. Suddenly, Lex Luthor's voice filled the room.
"...knocked me over in the caves. Later, I found her in The Yukon. She said Clark's name as I came in. She pretended it was in sleep, but I know. She knows what it is and she's hiding it for him. I even had the octagonal disc, but.... Hit him and he bled. There must be a mistake. Kent... My men are scoping out the territory... Will be extremely costly, but Luthorcorp is secondary to Ruby at this..."
Victor moved to the table and sat. "That's all I got. It seems to be at least two years old, which pre-dates 33.1. I doubt this will help us find the last facility."
Lois spoke up. "What exactly is 33.1?"
"It's a name for facilities Luthor uses to experiment on those with abilities that are... above average," Bart said. "I've been a patient, myself, as has Chloe."
"We've found most and helped who we could," Oliver explained. "But there's one that keeps alluding us."
Chloe stood up. "But there's something there. Ruby. I know it's important. He said Luthorcorp was secondary and that must mean... This might be bigger than Reeves Dam."
"Reeves Dam?" Lois stood as well. "You mean where you found me and..."
Yes," Chloe said excitedly. "Lex had something big going there, but everything was destroyed when the place just blew. Then the flood just wiped out the rest. A.C. managed to find some..."
"We need to focus," Oliver cut in. "There is nothing there that helps us find what we're looking for."
"But he said Ruby was more important than his business," Chloe said quickly. "Whatever it is, we..."
"Chloe, just..." Oliver sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I know you've been invested in your contact and I... I don't blame you, but... This disc was a bust. I think it's best if you just go back and wait for your source to contact you."
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Oliver paid for the both of them to fly first class home. Chloe was more than a little angry with all of them. There was something important about that word. Ruby... Why didn't anyone see it? Why was it just at the back of her mind?
"Chloe," Lois said hesitantly. "There's something I don't get."
"What?"
"What does any of this have to do with Clark? Lex keeps mentioning him. Is he a meteor freak?"
Chloe shook her head. "Not now, Lois. Someday."
Lois nodded, then placed a hot towel over her eyes. "Yeah. I have all I can handle right now."
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After Lois' SUV was paid for and released, she seemed to perk up. "Call me crazy, but I'm looking forward to the humdrum town of Smallville for a change. And maybe, being around people with nothing super-human about them." She turned to Chloe. "Please tell me Martha Kent isn't bionic or..."
Chloe smiled for the first time in two days. "No."
"Great!" She pulled out of Metropolis International Airport's circle and into the street. "Up for breakfast? The Met Stop Diner? You love their omelets."
Chloe's stomach rumbled and she remembered how little she'd eaten in Star City. "Yeah. Let's go."
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"So." Lois sat across from Chloe and perused her menu. "What looks good?"
"Anything," Chloe sighed. It was seven in the morning and the diner was fairly empty. Just an older man with a paper at the counter, two rather gothic teens in a corner booth, and the back of a red-haired woman in the booth behind Lois.
"I still can't get over it all. I mean, I know there are some evil corporate types in the world, but Luthor is a downright sadist. It's like those mad scientists types in the movies. They never step back and realize how batshit they are."
"Keep your voice down, will you?"
Lois covered her mouth. "Sorry." They both ordered coffee and the supreme omelet.
"I hope Lucy's been behaving," Chloe said when their coffee finally came.
"Not likely," Lois snorted, putting about half the cream pitcher in hers. "Poor Martha."
"Mrs. Kent has handled worse than a teenaged girl in her life."
"Really?" Lois leaned forward. "I assume you mean Clark and I wish you'd be specific."
"Not now, Lois. I told you."
She leaned back and sighed. "Fair enough. At least I'm in the loop now." She smiled and tilted her head. "I never thought I'd be in the espionage game."
Chloe's eyes widened as the red head behind Lois turned. "Lois..."
"And the Oliver issue, well... It's kind of a turn-on when you think about..."
"We have to go," Chloe choked out.
"But our food's almost..."
Chloe slipped out of the booth as the red-head got up. She started past Chloe to the door, but Chloe grabbed her arm. "Linda King," she said loudly. "I thought I recognized you."
Linda turned back, her shoulders stiff. "Yes. Hi. You're Lois' cousin." She nodded coldly at Lois.
Lois' face was white and she turned fear-struck eyes to Chloe. She got up as well. "I'm surprised to see you at out for breakfast, Linda," she said, some of the color returning to her face. "Don't you wait for night time to feed?"
She turned a stiff smile on Lois. "Oh, I eat when I can." She looked up and down. "Food's not as much a priority with me as with some people."
Chloe quickly put a hand on Lois' shoulder. Nothing got her like being called fat, no matter how untrue it was. "Lois and I were just talking about..." She grappled for a story, anything that might put Linda off the trail.
"Oh, I'm sure whatever you have to say is just fascinating," she said, smiling bigger. "But I really have to go to work." She tore her arm from Chloe's grasp. The waitress was standing with two plates, watching them. Even the goths in the corner had turned their way. Chloe watched her leave before siting down, giving the waitress a half-smile.
"Dye job," Lois yelled after her.
Lois and Chloe sat staring at their food, but not touching it. "Don't worry," Lois finally said. "She couldn't have got much out of that."
"But it could start her looking."
"You think she'll find anything? Chloe, you're a freaking genius with research and it took you this long to get anywhere. Linda's just... a sensationalist hack. She probably uses all her brain power just to keep her roots covered." Lois tossed a twenty on the table.
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Chloe closed her door just as Martha came out of the house. "Lois, you have to talk to your sister." She stopped short. "Oh... and hello." Martha stepped forward to hug them both.
"Hi, Mrs. Kent," Chloe said.
"What did she do?" Lois broke away and went toward the house. "Not even gone two days and she..." Martha and Chloe followed Lois's muttering into the house. "Lucy!" she yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
"Mrs. Kent! Did you tell them?"
"No," Martha called up.
"Okay! Wait a sec!" Lucy's voice was coming from the spare room. She sounded almost excited. "It's supposed to be a surprise. I'm almost done."
"Done what?" Lois yelled.
"Just wait!" They didn't have to wait long. Chloe gasped as a figure who looked nearly like her came down the stairs. "Ta-dah!" Lucy's hair was short, blonde and flipped outwards in a rather overdone way.
Chloe blinked at her. "You... Is this a joke?"
"I know, I know. The face is all wrong, but..." She pulled on some large sunglasses and jumped the last step. "See? It's like we're twins."
Chloe approached her, shaking her head. "Lucy, why are you..." Her gaze fell on the clothes. A purple velvet jacket covered an orange top that was over a yellow and black flowered skirt. "I don't dress like that."
"Oh, honey." Lucy patted her cheek. "Yes, you do."
Lois seemed to have had enough. "Okay, fun's over. Take off the wig and..."
"It's not a wig. I dyed it. I... I mean, I did this for you guys." She looked almost hurt. "I have a plan."
"A plan?" Lois nearly shrieked. "You have a plan?"
"Yes, Lois! I can occasionally do something useful. Would you just listen?"
"Fine." Lois stalked into the living room and threw herself on the couch. "But be quick because I want to kill you before lunch."
"It's a good plan." She looked at Martha. "Well, Mrs. K doesn't think so, but look..." She strolled into the living room and Chloe followed, still trying to absorb the valley girl version of her. "It's like how that Luthor guy is after you," she said to Chloe. "Well, we throw him off. I'll go to California or Canada or something and I'll be all obvious about it. I can just keep moving." She turned to Lois. "That ex-boyfriend you guys were talking about with the money... Gulliver. He can help."
"I... you..." Lois sputtered. "Are you ten?"
"No, listen! I get that you guys are doing all that Mission Impossible stuff. And I won't butt in. But this is something I can do. And he'll be too busy paying attention to fake Chloe," she quoted with her fingers, "to go after real Chloe. And in the meantime, you guys can rescue Dad."
"Rescue Dad?" Lois echoed.
"Well, yeah."
Lois nodded. "I get it."
Lucy looked doubtful. "Really? You mean my plan is..."
"No. I just suddenly understand why you failed out of college."
"Lois, this guy killed our uncle and he has our dad. I want to help."
"Lucy," Chloe said gently. "He's not holding Uncle Sam prisoner."
"Well, he... He doesn't want to be there. I know it."
"What are you thinking?" Lois shouted, getting up. "Do you think Lex Luthor is just going to run around and give you a merry chase? You have no idea what kind of monster you're dealing with."
Lucy whipped the sunglasses off as tears filled her eyes. "And you just want me to sit back and do nothing because I'm too st-stupid to..."
Martha Kent was first there. "Honey, you're not stupid. You just... Lois and Chloe have been closer to this. They know what to do." She shot a hopeful look to Lois.
Lois approached them, her shoulders shaking. "Lucy, there's not much left of our family. I just want you safe."
Martha stepped back as the two of them embraced, both crying. Chloe hugged her own arms, just staring. She'd never felt so alone.
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Chapter Nine
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