Restless Nights (Chapter Eleven)

I can't believe I forgot to post this chapter here!

Above is the new and improved banner by Bkwurm1. She wasn't completely satisfied with her work and wanted to fix a few things. Not that I'm complaining. It was already gorgeous, now it's just even more so. 

I feel I always start off with an apology, but here goes again. I wanted to get back here with this chapter in a week and it's taken me a few days shy of a month! I just have had very little free time with the holidays. December is my feast to the famine that is my January. But things will slow down pretty much the day after Christmas.

I'm going to try to get the next one up in a week or less.

Anyway, this is a rather long chapter. I just a lot that needed to happen. Here's hoping it fits in one post...

And I have known the eyes already, known them all—
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase...

Chapter Eleven

Tess could barely wait till the elevator doors opened, for the minute they cracked and she saw his stupid, bald head. “Were you ever going to tell me?” she demanded when she finally stormed in.

“Good evening to you, too,” Lex said, barely looking away from the bar. “Merlot? Chardonnay? Scotch?”

She tossed her purse to the floor as she approached him. “You son of a bitch!”

He laughed as he glanced at her, which only made her angrier. “Whiskey, it is.”

“It’s Chloe you wanted all this time.”

He laughed again. “Really? You know, I don’t usually go for blondes, but in the right light, she can be…”

“Stop it!” She slapped the drink from his hand. “Stop treating me like an imbecile! I know she’s pregnant.”

Lex only shrugged. “And?”

She took several deep breaths, hating the smug look on his face, hating the fact that he could stay so cool and collected, looking at her like she was a child throwing a tantrum. Damn it, she was better than this. “And,” she started, slowly, “something tells me you wouldn’t be making all this fuss for the spawn of Henry James Olsen.”

He looked down at the floor. “You know, this carpet is genuine…”

“It’s Clark’s isn’t it? You can’t get him to play on your team…”

“My team?”

“So you think you can take this baby and use it to…”

“Wow. Now I’m a baby thief?” He had the nerve to smile. “What colorful ideas you have of me.”

“I don’t know what to think of you. You won’t even tell me what you do or where you go,” she spat. “And I do everything you ask without question.” She hated, just hated, the whimper in her voice. “I thought we were building up to some kind of trust…”

“We are,” he cut in. “But you aren’t ready to…

“Stop saying that! You knew about this, Lex. This is why you wanted her hired. I thought it was about Clark, at the time, but you seemed to barely care he was on board. You want her… or what she’s carrying. Is that it?"

“I want what’s best. Can’t you just trust that?” 

“How can I? How did you know all this?”

“I have my ways. Just trust me.”

“How can I trust you when you won’t trust me? I read your research, Lex. I’ve seen all of your projects. I also read your father’s journals. Do you ever think of how it could have been if you'd just trusted each other?”

Lex stiffened and turned away, back to the bar. “He was the one who kept me out.”

“Like you were an open book?” She took the drink from his hands and downed it in one gulp, pacing away. “I want to believe your intentions are good, Lex, but it’s fucking hard when you won’t let me in.” She whirled on him. “And you, of all people, should know how that feels with your father. Look how that ended up! Is that what you want with me?”

He stared past her. “Are you threatening to push me out of a window?” he asked dully.

“What?”

“I wasn’t going to, you know,” he said, his voice flat. “It wasn’t something I planned, I… Even when it was done, I could hardly believe…”

“Stop. Don’t… Don’t tell me that. Oh, my God!” She moved to him. She didn’t want to know this. Of the many things she wanted to know, whatever happened with Lionel was never on the list. She’d have rather it was kept to hushed whispers. Because -- damn it -- she wanted to trust him. She didn’t even know why, but there it was. She even wanted his trust in return. “I need you to trust me,” she found herself saying, “trust that I would never hurt you, Lex.” Even when she nearly hated him, like right now, that was true. She gripped his arms, searching out his eyes until they met hers. “There’s something between us, a… connection I felt from that start.” She held his gaze. “I think I felt it the first time I saw you. So I don’t care what you did. I don’t care about the past. I care about what’s happening now. Right now, I need you to let me in, to trust me.”

His eyes seemed to clear as he stared at her. “I will if you will,” he finally said. “I’m telling you that you know all you need to for now.”

She released him and moved away. “Damn it, you keep…”

He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “I’d never hurt you, either, Tess. That connection… you… you’re not alone.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Listen, you’re upset. Why don’t you stay here tonight?”

She stiffened, was tempted to pull away. “You want me to stay?” she asked, surprised to find her stomach roiling… and not in a pleasant way. But hadn’t she spent all this time crazy about him? Why did she feel so hesitant now?

“I can make up the couch if you want. It’s actually pretty damned soft and....”

“The couch?” She rolled her eyes and turned to him. “You know you could just say it.”

He shook his head. “Say what?”

“If you’re trying to proposition me, then…”

He pulled away, something like horror in his eyes. “Is that what you think?”

“I…”

“Jesus!” He backed away. “Is this what you do?”

“What I do?”

“Is this what you’ve been doing all these years? Fucking every man that’s halfway decent to you?”

“No. Usually it’s the ones that aren’t,” she said, frowning. “But I wasn’t…”

“And that’s so much better," he growled, pacing away. "You know what? Let’s just stop this now! That’s not what this is… You and me… This is not..." He stilled, leaning against the wide window. She saw his face in the glass, disgust plain on it. "That's not what you do anymore, okay? You can be more than that. Better than that." He seemed to recover as he turned to her, a smile on his face when he faced her. “That’s not what’s happening here. We work together, Mercer. Let’s just try to keep things professional.” He moved past her to the elevators and jabbed the button multiple times.

“Where are you going?” She shook her head. “You live here.”

“I know that,” Lex snapped, stopping just before the doors opened and stepping aside. “I was… I was just opening them for you.”

“Yes. Thank you,” she breathed, rather dazed as she moved past him and into the elevator, trying to figure out what just happened. 

“Wait.” Lex stopped the doors, lifting his eyes to hers. “Tess, I feel a connection, too. I trust you. I might even… care about you. But not like that.”

The doors closed on him. 

She was glad to see it at the moment.

That night, she tossed and turned in her four poster. All this time, she’d been fixated on him. Yet, the minute she thought something might happen between them, she felt repelled. The again, nothing would have happened. Lex’s look of abject horror at the idea of it conveyed that just fine.

Why was she so upset? Because he rejected something she wasn’t even offering? That seemed petty.

Maybe it was the confusion. This connection between them -- she couldn’t figure it out. Lex, even Lex, said he felt it. Up until tonight, she’d thought it was attraction. But, when it came down to it, she didn’t exactly find him attractive. 

Maybe it was a meeting of minds. They did seem to think alike, always looking for answers to all of…

She sat up in bed. Damn him! She had no answers. He’d told her nothing tonight. Hell, he might have even diverted the conversation on purpose. She laid back down stiffly, glaring at the ceiling. She was getting tired of dancing to his tune.

********

“Aren’t you tired?” 

“It’s barely past midnight.” Chloe turned to Clark in the commissary. “If you want to go to bed, then go.”

“Not without you.”

Chloe held his gaze, lifting an eyebrow.

“I mean, not till… Well, you know.”

She did. In fact, she’d finally figured it out. All of Clark’s touching, all the fussing… It was the pregnancy. Something about this must be triggering Clark’s heroic instincts. It was actually kind of endearing except when it wasn’t – like now. “You know, I’m not doing anything more strenuous than reading,” she pointed out.

“Most of the info is blacked out on those copies. What are you even reading?”

“Between the lines,” she said absently. “Or more like behind the black marks.” Their Louisiana friend had been thorough, not giving her much to go on if she wanted to find this well-inoculated baby’s origins. She sat back with a groan. “This is impossible.”

“Good. So drop it,” Clark mumbled

“Not a chance. Is Tess dropping anything with us? Our computers were accessed just this afternoon.” 

“So? We’re getting around her just fine.”

“That doesn’t mean we get complacent.”

Clark took a deep breath and met her eyes. “Chloe, this is personal, what we’re looking into. It’s also deep in the past. This tells us nothing about why she’s so fixated on us now.”

“What else do we have to do, Clark?”

“Work, write stories. I guess I was nuts to think you rejoining The Planet’s staff would be about that, but…”

“We can’t just pretend there’s nothing else going on."

Clark threw up his hands. “You can’t do everything at once. You can’t investigate Tess and still break news.”

“I think we can.” She nodded to herself. 

“You keep using we. In case you haven’t noticed, I am working under protest.”

She chuckled. “Still, here you are.”

“And here we are!” she heard, loudly announced. 

She turned to the doorway and found Dinah there, dragging Bart behind her. 

“Just one little Reuben. Please?”

Bart rubbed his eyes, growling, “I don’t want to.”

“I will pay you twenty bucks,” Dinah whispered to him before pushing him toward the kitchen.

Bart just grunted and moved in, waving sleepily at Clark and Chloe.

Chloe shoved her notes back into the folder, not sure how of this side project she wanted to share with the gang, then turned to Dinah as she sat. “You’re back early.”

“Yeah. Star City was pretty devoid of action, unless you count Oliver’s stupid business dinners. I told him he could wine and dine fat-cats just fine without me. So I took the jet back.” She leaned in. “And how are you?”

“About the same. Maybe fatter,” Chloe grumbled, pulling in her tea cup.

“In a good way” Dinah looked her over. “I mean, you’re bigger, but your rack has totally pulled ahead of your stomach.”

Chloe choked on her tea.

“What? I’m giving you a bright side.” Dinah turned to Clark. “Don’t try to tell me you haven’t noticed.”

Clark pulled Chloe’s folder to himself and opened it quickly. “So Star City…”

Bart popped his head out of the kitchen. “I can do the Reuben, but not the fries,” he said on a yawn.

“Fine. Fifty bucks,” Dinah sighed.

“It’s not about the money. The oil in the fryer’s not gonna heat quick enough to…”

“Clark can give it a little blast.” Dinah turned to Clark. “You can do that, right?”

Clark snorted. “Do I get paid?”

“No. But I can see if I can talk Chloe into undoing a button or two.”

“That’s not… I don’t… You…” Clark dropped the folder and stood. “I’ll go heat your stupid oil.”

Dinah laughed as he stormed into the kitchen. 

“You shouldn’t do that, you know,” Chloe said.

“What?”

“Tease Clark about… well… anything even remotely sexual,” Chloe finished, toying with her tea bag. “He’s not like the other guys. He gets so easily flustered.”

“Too easily flustered.” Dinah waved a hand. “He’s a grown man. Besides, he did look… a few times… in the last minute,” she finished on a grin.

“Well, how can anyone help it?” Chloe shrugged. “They’re everywhere. Every time I try to look down, there they are, blocking my view.”

“You poor thing. Meanwhile, I’m stuck with barely b-cups and no ass at all.”

Chloe had to laugh. “Fine. Take it all. You can have the smushed bladder and the crazy cravings that do nothing but punish me all night.”

“Baby still wants spicy food?”

“Nothing but. And I’m giving it to him. You’d think he’d be grateful and stop fidgeting.”

Dinah gasped. “Is there kicking? Oh! Can I feel…”

“No. Nothing that obvious yet. Just this restless feeling when I try to sleep, like he refuses to calm down. Or maybe that’s me.” She frowned and opened her folder again. She was rather frustrated. “I really thought I’d be further along by now.” She’d been working at The Planet for weeks now and she still hadn’t figured out Tess. 

“Further along? You do know this is a nine month…”

“No. Not him,” Chloe said dismissively. “Maybe Clark’s right. Maybe this is something we shouldn’t be digging into. Or maybe I just feel that way because I’m at a dead end. All I know is that a baby girl had her shots at Metropolis General at the request of... I’ve got as S, an O, a P, an NA and… that’s it.” As hard as she looked through the black marks, she could make only a few letters out. 

“That’s funny.”

“Not really. It doesn’t even spell something funny.”

“Not that. The baby. You said he and him. Usually, even when you start to say that, you have this half-hearted switch to it.”

Chloe looked up, frowning. She hadn’t realized that. Not the “it” thing. Most times, she felt like she was insane to call this baby “he” with the complications. Her pregnancy, apart from annoyance when the symptoms got in the way and the increased calcium and iron Emil was insisting on in the second trimester, wasn’t something she liked to contemplate very deeply. And the baby… it… he… “I don’t know. Maybe I wasn’t thinking.” Or maybe she was still stuck in this afternoon, with Mary Louise beaming and crying and congratulating her on her boy. It was strange, seeing this situation through different eyes, ones not full of fear of what could come. 

“Anyway, it’s a boy,” Chloe said, the letters blurring in front of her. “I might as well call it him.” She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. “I wasn’t talking about that, anyway.” At least, she didn’t want to. “It’s this lead. I felt so close to it, figuring out Infant Tess was at Met Gen. I’ve even got medical history on the birth family, but this woman blocked out all the relevant info and…”

“You’re still on Tess?” Dinah groaned. “You know, if Oliver, with all his resources, couldn’t figure out…”

“I have a few resources Oliver doesn’t,” Chloe cut in. Most of them being a pregnancy, the willingness to use it to her advantage, and actually wanting to investigate Tess. She didn’t know all the details, but she sometimes suspected Oliver and Tess ended badly and that it may have been all on him. It would explain the nearly guilty way he avoided dealing with Tess Mercer fully and the large amount of leeway he gave her. But Dinah, of all people, didn’t need to know all that. “I’m getting somewhere,” she went on, “I just keep getting blocked by a Sharpie.” Chloe opened the folders more fully. “I managed to get that her infancy shots were done at Met Gen, but…”

“Well, then get into Met Gen’s files.”

“I tried that. Besides Victor bickering about me using the console…”

“Ugh. Don’t even get me started on Victor. Two seconds on my email and I’m destroying the fabric of hero society,” Dinah laughed.

“I don’t know. I get that he needs it with you all on patrol. I’m just annoyed as I was kind of screwed from the start. They’ve only got digital archives of the last twenty years. Anything older and you need to request a copy.”

“Well, how’d you get this one?”

“I lied a lot, falsified documents, went to New Orleans. But I can’t keep that up,” Chloe sighed sadly. Not just because it was exhausting, but it was hard to lie successfully with Clark hovering over her shoulder like an overgrown Jiminy Cricket. “If I could just get access to…”

“Aren’t you a reporter?”

“Well… yeah. But I need a special pass to get anywhere near records like that.”

Dinah shrugged. “So get one.”

“It’s not that simple. It would have to be story related.”

“So make it story-related.”

“But it’s not that…” She stopped. “Huh.” Was it really that simple?

The kitchen door swung open.

“Alright. Got your precious reuben with fries,” Bart announced loudly. “Would have had it sooner, but crazy eyes over here overheated the oil.” Bart nodded to Clark as he set a plate down. “Had to actually wait for it to cool down.”

Clark just frowned as he took his seat again.

“You’re a prince,” Dinah sighed, holding out some cash.

Bart took it. “Yeah, yeah. I’m going to start crashing at my own place. Less annoying, demanding people.”

“I bet it makes up for it in cockroach population.” 

“And what do you mean by that?”

“Just that I’ve been there and I notice you never use your boundless speed for cleaning.”

Bart gasped. “Well, if I’m so dirty, maybe I’m not fit to make your food.” He pulled at the plate.

“Hey, I paid good money for that!”

Chloe ignored them and moved to Clark, taking the chair next to him. “I think I’ve got our next step,” she whispered. “We need to get a pitch together.”

*******************

“I just don’t know about this story,” Clark said, following closely behind Chloe.

“What’s to know? We’re coming up on Thanksgiving. Christmas is hot on its heels. Charity is very in style, the colder it gets, and disadvantaged youths should sell like…”

“No. I get that. It’s just…” He stopped and pulled her to a stop with him. “Chloe, I haven’t felt comfortable about digging into Tess from the start. And now, this story angle…”

“Clark, it’s not an angle. It’s a story that we are actually going to write. If, on the side, we also find out some very extraneous details about Tess,” she shrugged, “then that’s just a bonus. Besides, we will be doing some genuine good here.”

Clark was still glowering. “Yeah?”

“We’ll be bringing attention to the hospital’s safe drop program and maybe we could even go into Sarah Simms and her work with the kids.”

He smiled just a little. “That is some genuine good-doing. I mean, Sarah needs funding and she does work so hard to…”

“Yeah, she’s a saint,” Chloe groaned, walking on. Not that she didn’t like Sarah. Not that she didn’t admire her work. In fact, she’d looked into her shortly after first meeting her and Sarah Simms was a veritable saint, studying all day and volunteering all night. That was what annoyed her about the whole thing. Something in her gut told her there was something more to Sarah Simms, some reason for the way the gang went to such lengths to hide her presence at first. But maybe she was wrong. Maybe Sarah was just a good and trusted counselor and the only awkwardness was due to her getting so up close and personal with everyone. 

She turned to Clark as they walked on. “So have you had sessions with Doctor Sarah?” 

“Huh?”

“Counseling sessions, Clark. That's what she's here to do, isn't it?”

“Sarah can be trusted,” Clark said as they approached The Planet. 

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“No. I have not had a… session with her.”

“But everyone else has?”

“You know,” he went on, “I’ve been meaning to make an… an appointment, myself.”

“Well, maybe I should talk to her,” Chloe tried. 

“Did you want to?” Clark stopped just before the doors. “I mean, if you want to talk to her, she’s actually said she’s open to…”

"No. I don't need counseling,” Chloe broke in, annoyed. She couldn’t help but feel frustrated when Clark, even Clark, seemed to be giving her the run-around. Maybe she was being needlessly paranoid. Maybe no one was hiding anything. “I just meant I could pick her brain about her after school program – for the story and all.” She moved to the doors, but Clark opened them before she could lift a hand.

“Well, tying Sarah’s work in can’t hurt,” he said lowly, “as far as keeping the story pitch legit. We don’t want Tess to be suspicious.”

Chloe had to laugh. “I’ve got a feeling Tess will be suspicious no matter what we do.”

****************

Tess watched them with narrowed eyes as they moved into the break room. 

She quickly moved to her desk and turned on that feed. They rarely said anything groundbreaking in there, but right now she needed every word. She was getting little enough from Lex…

“…already had enough,” Clark was saying.

“I had two sips,” Chloe groaned. “That was like… a couple teaspoons full. Not even near a half cup.”

“Well, you had your precious half-cup yesterday and you were up half the night, even when I left, so…”

As boring as this was, it did sort of hammer in one thing. How could she have not seen it before? She’d actually heard little exchanges like this since they started working. She just hadn’t known what they meant before now. So Chloe wasn’t living with Clark. Yet she listed his house for her home address. Where was she staying?

“… can get it myself,” Chloe was saying. 

“Fine. Sorry. Didn’t mean to touch you too much or anything.”

Chloe huffed loudly. “Are you still pouting about that? I said it didn’t bother me. But I also don’t need you hovering every time I…”

“Fine. Drink your caffeine and fall off things. I won’t bother you,” Clark said, his voice trailing off at the end.

“Seriously? If you’re going to get all…” Chloe’s voice trailed off as well.

Tess’ eyes snapped to the window as they came out of the break room, still talking animatedly, but too low for her to hear. She started to wonder if she could disguise microphones in mistletoe when the Christmas season started when they finally went back to their desks. 

She turned the feed up, but she knew from experience that they rarely spoke there. 

“… all of our notes together,” was all she heard Chloe say as she sat – followed by a grunt from Clark.

“Screw you,” Tess muttered, turning it off and pushing away from her desk. They were about as informative as Lex. Truth be told, she was still angrier at him. He hadn’t answered his phone all morning, not even to give her his pat answers about how she’d know when she was “ready,” whenever that was. She was getting damned sick of dancing to his tune… and dancing around the truth.

Her eyes moved to the window again, wondering if she’d have better luck with them. Her assistant had told her they’d booked fifteen minutes with her at quarter-to-ten… together She stared at them, wondering if they might be coming in to give her what Lex refused to – answers. Maybe nothing direct, but it would be refreshing to have a conversation where she wasn’t treated like an idiot.

Maybe Chloe would disclose her condition. Maybe Clark would betray his part in it. Maybe they, of all people, would be honest with her. Stranger things had happened in her lifetime.

**********

“Let me get this straight,” Tess said slowly. “You booked time to pitch me a story?”

Chloe nodded. “Yes. Your new policy says that all in-depth pieces have to be cleared with you in advance…”

“I know what it says,” Tess cut in, looking from Chloe to Clark and back to Chloe again. “So you two… want to write a story?”

Chloe stared at Tess, trying to figure out why she seemed so irritated. “I know it’s a crazy kind of thing to do at a newspaper, but…” She shuffled through her notes. “Listen, I’ve got quite a few angles we can hit it at and raise awareness for programs that…”

“Yes. I get all that.” Tess moved back to her desk, muttering. “Holidays, help the kids, isn’t it a beautiful thing.”

Chloe glanced at Clark. She kind of wished he’d speak up more. His whole strong and silent act might be half of why Tess, and Lex before her, always looked at him with such mistrust.

He only shrugged and cleared his throat. “So… Are we okay to start?”

“Yes. Fine.” Tess opened her planner. “Tell Karen what you need and I’ll sign off.”

“Thank you,” Chloe said, relieved, starting for the door.

Tess suddenly shut her planner. “And is there anything else you two want to clear with me in advance?”

Chloe stopped, trying to smile. “No. That’s everything.” She nudged Clark.

“We’ll let you know when we have a first draft,” he put in.

Chloe pulled him out, then toward the file cabinets. “What do you think?”

“About…”

“You were in there.”

He shrugged as he opened the drawer. “Yeah. Did we need form three A or…”

“She was definitely hacked off about something. It’s B.”

Clark stilled. “What? Do you think she suspects we’re looking into her?”

“No.” Chloe frowned. “I was actually watching to see if anything might tip her off. It’s like she was barely listening to the pitch. She seemed angry from the start.”

Clark chuckled. “Maybe it’s getting to her, us bypassing all her bugs.” 

“Maybe.” 

He pulled the form and leaned against the cabinet, lowering his voice. “I mean, it’s not like she can come out and chew us out for not letting her spy on us every second.”

“Maybe that’s it. It just doesn’t seem like that’s it.”

“Or maybe she’s angry about something that has nothing to do with us. You said it yourself – she seemed angry from the start.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Whatever it is, we have a hospital to get to.” He handed her the form. “Why don’t you give this to Karen? I’ll get our things.”

She handed it back to him, along with the folder. “Switch that. I have a few extra notes I’ll need to bring along.” She smiled just a little as she leaned in. “The secret kind.”

********************

“I still don’t think you’re going to find anything on Tess here,” Clark whispered as the rather brusque nurse left through the archives door. 

“We’re not looking for something on Tess, at least not directly.” She turned to him. “Listen, I know you’re still not on board with this, but could you stop naysaying me? I’ve got a plan. Maybe it’s not direct, but…”

The nurse came back. “Okay. I’ve got some open records from the fifties to the eighties. I don’t think they’re going to tell you anything about safe dropping.”

“Thanks so much,” Chloe said as sweetly as she could. “We just really want a clear picture of how things worked before your amazing programs smoothed out all the rough edges.”

“Between you and me, they’re still pretty rough. Too much damned red tape these days.” She handed Chloe a folder. “I practically gotta fill out three forms in triplicate to get a kid shots, then deal with those idiots Jenny McCarthy sicked on the world, thinking all our vaccines are giving kids autism. Don’t even get me started…” She muttered as she led them to another room. “Copier’s in here. You drop them at my desk when you’re done.”

“Thanks again.” Chloe dropped the folder on the counter when the nurse left. “Okay! You copy these, I’ll take…” She shuffled through the papers, grabbing the top half. “These.”

“There’s one copier.”

“I’m not copying them. I’m examining them.”

He groaned, but got started. “I don’t see why we’re bothering copying them.”

“We still have a story to put together. We’ll look at them later, see what we can use.”

“And what are you looking for with those?”

“A stamp.” She started thumbing through the papers. “Remember how I was up half the night? That wasn’t the coffee. It was the letters.”

“The letters?”

“S,O,P,N,A. I had to figure out what kind of name they fit into and wasted time going through so many databases of women in Metropolis, even ones who moved away since 1983, trying to find a match when I finally stepped back and looked at the whole.” She pulled out Tess’ vaccination record. “It wasn’t some name typed in. It was a stamp. You could see bits of a rectangle around it and how it’s slightly askew. And people don’t use stamps. So it must be some organization.” She held up one paper, examining it with her copy. “So if we can just look at other similar forms from the time,” she picked up another, “see if the lettering looks about the same as this, then…”

“Oh, give me those. You copy.” Clark shooed her out of the way. “I can look faster than you.”

She scoffed. “How exactly do you look faster?”

He flipped through the papers so quickly, it made her a little dizzy. “I think this might be the one,” he said after bare seconds, holding one out.

She stared at it, wide-eyed. “What is this? How do you know?”

“You should know. After last year and the way you could take things in…”

“Well, I had a supercomputer in my head. What’s your excuse?”

“Well, it’s nothing that dramatic. Sometimes I can take things in quickly. You knew about this.”

“No. You never told me you had a photographic memory.”

“That’s what John called it. It’s not exactly. It’s just… sometimes I can take in large amounts of information at once.”

She swatted him with her folder. “Then why were you always so borderline lazy in school, always goofing off with Pete?”

“Because I was a teenager. Now will you look at this and tell me if it matches?”

She finally took the page. “St. Louise’s Orphanage,” she read. “It does look a little like the same stamp.”

“A little?”

“Fine. A lot,” she said, still annoyed he’d found it so quickly. Then again, why? They could be getting closer. “It also makes sense. Whoever gave her up dropped her there and she was just taken here for routine shots.” She frowned. “Still, it doesn’t tell us much else. What if we go there and the trail goes cold?”

“Now who’s naysaying? Why don’t we worry about that if it happens? Should we go right now?”

“No. We still have all these stupid copies to make. Stupid story.”

He laughed. “Complaining about work. I guess you have settled back in at The Planet.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” She smiled just a little. “So what other abilities are you hoarding away?”

“I wasn’t hoarding it. I just figured we must have talked about it at some point.”

“When? It was always crisis to crisis after I knew your secret. And I put in a lot of work you could have gotten done faster. One of these days, we are going to sit down and catalog all your powers so I know how best to use you.”

“You make me sound like a tool.”

She laughed. “You said it, not me.” She glared at the copier as the light lumbered its way across another document. “Too bad you can’t make this speedier.”

He shrugged and smiled. “Maybe technology will catch up with me… one of these days.”

She picked up her folder and swatted him again. 

By the time they made it outside with heavier bags, he was smiling. “You know, we should probably take a cab there.”

“Where?”

“St. Louise’s. It’s a lot farther than midtown. I mean, I could run it with you, but I feel like it’s an unnecessary risk with all the people out on lunch and…”

“What? Today?” She started. “I mean, right now?”

“We might as well get it over with.”

“So now you’re all gung-ho on this?”

“Well, you’re going to go ahead and do it no matter what I say. I think we might as well get it over with.”

“Well, we need to plan for this part. Find the right questions for the right answers, make sure we ask things story related, but also get access to the good stuff,” she said quickly. “Besides, you just pointed out it’s lunch time.”

“Fine. Lunch. You know, Bart says Olamendi’s has this extra hot…”

“Oh, no. You can have a break from my spicy food today.” She gave his arm a pat as they walked on. “I’ll grab something and meet you back at The Planet. I have some errands to run on my lunch.”

He stopped. “What kind of errands.”

She stopped, as well. “Personal ones.”

“Like what?”

“Like… the kind that are personal.”

“Why? Emil's taking care of you and you're not due for your sixteen week check-up until next Tuesday.”

She crossed her arms and turned to him. “How do you know that?”

“I asked him for a breakdown of your visits and meds. Oh, did you take your calcium yet?”

She huffed and walked on. “Is there any aspect of my life you aren’t hovering over?”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. I’m actually looking out for you. Once again, you said it didn’t bother you…”

“It doesn’t except for… when it does.” She stopped and whirled on him. “Clark, compared to the way things were last spring, I prefer this. I really do. But not all the time. I have no privacy. And that’s not even about you. I barely go anywhere without one of you in tow or do anything without one of you with me. I’ve got Emil as my doctor, Bart as my personal chef, Dinah picking out all my clothes, Oliver was pretty much handing out my allowance until I finally got a paycheck in. It’s like I’m a child and you… you’re the worst of all of them!”

“Well, you can just… You… You can just get used it to it,” Clark finally finished. “Right now, you need…”

“I don’t need a nanny!”

“This isn’t nannying.”

“Fine, a mother hen!”

“You just be glad I haven’t told my mother about this,” he hissed. “That summer I lost my powers, she made me eat pounds of vegetables all the time and…”

“Will you listen to me? I’m trying to tell you I need some space!”

He sucked in a breath. “That’s where you’re going, isn’t it? You’re looking for an apartment.”

She sighed, defeated. “Fine. I am. I have some listings that would fit my budget and… Clark, you – all of you – need to understand. I can’t live at Headquarters. I can’t even get my stuff out of storage to fit it in that little room.”

“There’s always…”

“Don’t tell me the farm. That’s even farther away from everything and I don’t like the idea of you running me to work or to Emil when my stomach’s out to… wherever. I know you worry, but do you really see me living there when… well, once…” She didn’t want to go there. She couldn’t even see what was there. “Clark, I don’t know what this next year is going to bring,” she said softly. “So I need to have some kind of security. I need to have something to be sure of, something of my own, some place to call my own. Don’t you see that?”

He stared at her for a long time. “I do see that. I just…” He nodded. “I get it.”

“Thank you. I’m just looking at one or two places over lunch. I mean, all I’m talking about is some walls and a kitchenette. And it’s not like I’m moving out of state. I’ll be right in the city.”

“I get it,” he repeated.

“It’s not like I’m not going to see you guys all the time. I mean, we still work together and…”

“I said I get it,” he said tiredly. 

“Good.” She nodded and walked on.

“So can I come with you?”

***************

“I think we have some good notes on safe drop, but we might have to hit a few more orphanages besides St. Louise,” Clark was saying as they made their way back to Headquarters. “That way when we bring it to Tess, it doesn't look like we're honing in on…”

Chloe stilled. “What? Do you think she knows about St. Louise?”

“No. But in case she does…”

“Either way, we won’t need any forms for this,” she said, walking on. “It’s not like we could get into their records with anything short of a search warrant. I don’t think we’ll be treating that orphanage like any other. But you’re right about seeing a few others.”

“I’m sure we can find time and even see those other apartments on lunch.”

She stopped. “Oh, no. You are not coming with me.”

“Why? I got you to each place quicker than you could have…”

“Yes, you did. You also took each place apart, pointing out every little flaw, especially the last…”

“There were rats in the walls! I saw them!”

“So I set out some traps! This is the city. There are rats in all the walls.” She jabbed a finger at him. “And before you say how much better the country is, let me remind you about that whole family that made a nest in your old pickup.”

“They were country rats,” he muttered. “They’re less… aggressive.”

“I’m looking at the next ones by myself,” she said before walking away.

“Fine, then. You don’t need me to tell you anything,” he said behind her.

“Glad you agree.”

“Not even that you’re passing Headquarters.”

She stopped. “Well, I was… just going to take a look at the… First Federal Bank,” she said, gesturing across the street. “They got the Lion’s head back up.” She turned, looking around her nodding. “General repairs seem to be… looking good.”

Clark chuckled. “Great cover.”

“No. I’m serious. You’d hardly know anything happened here.” She looked up at that lion’s head again. She’d always thought it was majestic, like a remnant of when this neighborhood was beautiful. She’d hated seeing it lying in the street that awful night. It seemed mostly intact now, just a bit less regal with a few chips in its nose now. That night seemed to leave everything worse for wear.

She pushed the night away, trying to slow her breathing. She tried not to think about that night. There was no point to it. She just had to move on, deal with now. She turned to the apartment building with its old stone and faded red awning. She bet a place like this had a doorman once, before the apartments were split in half, going from two-bed/two-bath to one beds with washer/dryer in building, no pets, wood… She stopped, realized she was just reading a sign at this point. For Rent.

She’d only been looking in Midtown. She hadn’t thought of living here. She rarely even went this way, always going somewhere in the other direction. That was mostly because, if a person went too far down Hoff Street, they’d end up in Suicide Slums. But it wasn’t that bad here. She squinted at the sign. It was on the third floor. She could barely make out the tiny writing at the bottom. 

“Clark? Can you come here and read this for me?”

“Are you putting me to use just like you threatened?” he huffed, but he shuffled over. “I’m not a tool, you know.”

“Oh, it’ll take two seconds. There’s this sign on the third floor and I can’t make it out.”

“For Rent,” he read. “One bedroom, one bath, W/D in building, no pets, wood…” He stopped and turned to her. “Chloe, no.”

“Yeah. That’s where I got stuck, too,” she said, pretending he hadn’t said that last part. She just knew he’d have some problem with this place, too. “That tiny writing. Can you just give a little… super squint?”

“This isn’t a good…”

“Clark, just finish it for me?” She stared up at him, making her eyes as wide and pleading as possible.

He sighed and turned back. “Wood floors, parking on premises, seven hundred plus util…”

“That’s all I needed to hear,” she said, clapping her hands. “It’s in my range, it’s walking distance…”

“It’s in a dirty, dangerous neighborhood,” Clark cut in.

“Pfft! This neighborhood isn’t that bad.” In fact, now that she looked again, it had a certain old-school charm.

“Chloe, Bart stopped a mugging here just last…”

“This is the city. There are muggings every…”

“Is that your answer for everything?”

“Clark, I was down here all the time last year. More than that, I’m living right next door to this place as we speak.”

“Headquarters is different,” Clark harrumphed. “We’ve got heightened security and… and a team of…”

“And I’ll be right across the way from that team,” she said, getting more excited as she spoke. “I’m starting to think you’re going to have a problem with any place I look at, but this one’s perfect! Look! It’s a corner apartment, too.” She approached the alley. “So I can even wave goodnight from my window.” She laughed as she moved into the alley. “Hell, I can even drop by any time I want and…” She stopped laughing abruptly as her eyes moved down the wall. There was blood spattered on it, it looked fresh. She turned to Clark. “Did they even clean this up?” she asked dully.

He squinted at her. “See? I told you this neighborhood was dirty.” He was dirty, too, dusty, clothes torn, bloody gashes everywhere.

She looked back at the wall, then at the base. Blood was pooling, spreading. “So much blood.”

“Blood?”

“It’s all over.” 

"Chloe, there's no... Are you okay?"

She turned back to Clark, but he wasn’t there. It was Bart, holding a bloodied boy. "Damn it, Dollface! Stay back!"

She let out a whimper as Bart sped off, leaving Jimmy, grey and bleeding from his stump of a hand. 

“Chloe?”

“I’m so sorry,” she moaned, feeling hot tears seeping from her eyes as Jimmy fell away, leaving only the Beast, advancing on her as she tried to back away. “No!” She knew this part. She hated this part. She knew why it was coming, not for Davis, but for her. And she didn’t want to think of why. She clutched her stomach and backed up. “You stay away from me,” she screamed.

“Chloe, calm down.”

It was talking? How was it talking now? It’s… whatever it had in place of a mouth wasn’t even moving. Her back hit the wall.

“Don’t you touch me,” she heard herself rasp, her voice deep, almost unrecognizable.

“Chloe!” 

It had her arms. She tried to rip away but she couldn’t. She pushed hard, knowing it was useless, knowing it had her now.

“Chloe, you’re scaring me.”

“No! Get off me!” she growled loudly, squeezing her eyes shut as she pushed. She heard a dull crunching noise and felt her arms freed. She let out a shaky breath and looked up. It was gone. There was only Clark, pushing himself out of a dent in the wall across from her. “How… what… what’s…” She couldn’t even speak, breathe, it suddenly seemed like a fight to keep standing. She gave up that fight as her legs buckled under her and she slid down the wall. Yet she didn’t hit the ground.

“Chloe… Chloe…”

CHAPTER TWELVE

I’m sure you all know what Chlark are going to find out about Tess, but I just have to get them there in a realistic way. 

You might have also guessed that Lex already knows. But I don’t want Tess to know just yet. I have my reasons.