Starman

[BigRed67]

Ahh nice to see that Kal is giving Clark a chance to help out, and trusting that he's mature enough to make good decisions. It's a good way for father and son to bond too. Nice to see Dinah make an appearance, just in the nick of time too. And I'm sure Bruce will have his hands full of kitty cat!!
It'll be interesting to see what Jor-El has to say about the Kryptonite thing too.
Hope your keeping warm Leanne, it's damn cold and bucketing down rain here 😕.

[TeamClois]

Whew, glad to hear Brucie and Kal had back-up. Black Canary's presence was a welcome surprise, but I like that it was a female team member who helped kick-a$$ and save the day. Why should the men have all the fun, right? I know Lois would've been there too if it wasn't for the babies.

Anyways, I guess this chapter marks Clark's debut as Superboy! He did a fine job, but I was glad Robin was also there as well. As for Catwoman, heaven only knows what Bruce has planned to get her to spill. It comes as no surprise that this 'ambush' left a stinky trail that lead right back to Chrome Dome. Now the question is, what's Kalois going to do about it?

[jetslay]

Great chapter!

Dinah!! Fantastic addition to the cast, that boy's club definitely needed more feminine badassery in it. Nice to see Clark getting a shot at heroics, he's young for that, true, but it's in his genes. Catwoman's meows are always a highlight, hehe.

[phoenixnz]

Great chapters. I'm glad that Batman & Superman were able to get out of the trap with the help of Black Canary.

Thanks. I liked including the Justice League.

Ahh nice to see that Kal is giving Clark a chance to help out, and trusting that he's mature enough to make good decisions. It's a good way for father and son to bond too. Nice to see Dinah make an appearance, just in the nick of time too. And I'm sure Bruce will have his hands full of kitty cat!!
It'll be interesting to see what Jor-El has to say about the Kryptonite thing too.
Hope your keeping warm Leanne, it's damn cold and bucketing down rain here .

I thought it would be good to have Clark learn to help out when necessary, and you're right, it is a good father-son bonding exercise. All I'll say is, Selina had a good reason for doing what she did.

Whew, glad to hear Brucie and Kal had back-up. Black Canary's presence was a welcome surprise, but I like that it was a female team member who helped kick-a$$ and save the day. Why should the men have all the fun, right? I know Lois would've been there too if it wasn't for the babies.

Anyways, I guess this chapter marks Clark's debut as Superboy! He did a fine job, but I was glad Robin was also there as well. As for Catwoman, heaven only knows what Bruce has planned to get her to spill. It comes as no surprise that this 'ambush' left a stinky trail that lead right back to Chrome Dome. Now the question is, what's Kalois going to do about it?

Yup, the girls get to kick ass in this 'verse too. As for following the trail, Lois plays her part in the next chapter.

Great chapter!

Dinah!! Fantastic addition to the cast, that boy's club definitely needed more feminine badassery in it. Nice to see Clark getting a shot at heroics, he's young for that, true, but it's in his genes. Catwoman's meows are always a highlight, hehe.

Oh you're right, there definitely needs to be more kickass women in the boys' club.

[phoenixnz]

Chapter Thirty-Eight

“Hey Mom!”

Lois glanced up from her computer, frowning at her tall son. How was it possible he had grown at least another two inches in the past few months, she thought. He was just a smidgen taller than his father, and Kal was a big guy at six three. Coupled with the bulk of his muscles caused by his dense molecular structure, Kal looked even bigger.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Clark frowned at her. “Can’t I come and visit my mother?” he returned.

Usually Lois made a point of not mixing her personal and professional life, although considering she was pregnant, that made it a little difficult. Still, she tried to maintain a professional distance. Apart from Perry and a couple of her other colleagues, few of them had met Kal or Clark, or the rest of her family, and that was the way she preferred it.

“Sorry,” she said, and meaning it. Of course he could come and visit her, although given the distance between the city and Smallville, it was probably not something he should do frequently. Not unless he could believably explain how he managed to get to the city so quickly. School had let out … oh, she thought, glancing at the clock on the computer. It was later than she had realised.

She slid her chair back from her desk, rubbing her distended stomach. The twins had been mercifully quiet for most of the day, but it was getting to that point where they liked to play. At least, that was what she imagined they were doing. She could feel the little kicks and punches in her womb which signalled they were awake and ready to party.

It had been a busy week between the attempt on Superman and Batman in Gotham and her investigation into Lex’s activities. Lois had been trying many of her contacts on the street to see what they knew and one had finally told her there had been someone paid a large sum of money to orchestrate the attack on the President. He had even confirmed the attack had been planned so that, if the President survived, it would still look as if her security had been lax.

So far the money trail was cool and getting colder fast, but her cousin had been working on following the trail, hoping it would lead to Lex.

Lois had been so busy that day following up on the dozens of phone calls she’d made over the week that she had forgotten to eat, which wasn’t good for the babies.

“You know what?” she said. “I could go for something to eat.”

Clark grinned at her. Lois couldn’t help snickering. She had had a few cravings since she’d learned she was pregnant. Fortunately it was nothing too weird. Mostly just pizza in the middle of the night, although she had asked her husband to buy peanut butter cups and mint julep ice cream late one night. Which wasn’t as bad as pickles and ice cream which a colleague had claimed to have craved when she was pregnant.

She grabbed her coat and purse and followed her son out the door. Clark walked quickly, waiting at the elevator, smirking at her.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re waddling. Like a duck.”

“Watch it kid.”

He sniggered.

“It’s not funny!” she growled.

“Yeah it is,” he replied.

She sighed. “You know, you used to respect me.”

“When was that?”

Perry, probably on one of his latest fitness kicks, came down the stairs and grinned at her.

“Don’t sass your mother, kid,” he said.

Clark tried to look innocent. “Was I sassing you, Mother?”

“You know you were. You know you’re not too old for me to take you over my knee.”

He pretended to ponder the situation.

“But how’re you gonna do that when you can’t even see your feet?” he asked.

Perry swiped the back of his head.

“Maybe your mother can’t, but I sure can. You know, in my day, when a kid sassed their mother, they got a few swats of the belt.”

Clark looked at him in mock horror.

“You wouldn’t,” he said.

“Keep sassing your mom and I just might,” Perry threatened.

Lois couldn’t help grinning as the lift doors opened and Perry joined them, continuing to banter lightly with Clark. After all they’d gone through, the fact that her son felt confident enough in their relationship to tease her was comforting. She had long since let go of her guilt for leaving him with the Kents all those years ago. Of course it helped that they had become honorary grandparents.

She wondered if they would mind being called ‘Grandma and Grandpa’ with the twins. As for Clark, while he still addressed them by their first names, he had already told them he considered them to be grandparents as well. He had added that he felt luckier than most kids because he had both his parents, his Grandpa, his Grandmother Lara and Grandfather Jor-El and the Kents. Lois could barely remember her own grandparents, who had passed away when she had been a toddler.

Just as the elevator reached the first floor, her cellphone rang. She glanced at the display and smiled.

“Hey you.”

“Hi honey. Where are you?”

“Clark and I were just about to go get something to eat.”

“Great. How about I join you? I just got through my meeting with Bruce. I have a lot to tell you.”

“Why don’t we make it an early dinner?” she asked, since it was almost five.

“Sounds great. I’ll call home and tell Martha and Jonathan they have a night to themselves.”

Lois smiled, agreeing to meet her husband at their favourite restaurant in the city. Just as they were about to hang up, he sighed, telling her he heard an alarm. Perry was still talking to Clark, who was clearly enjoying exchanging barbs with the editor. Her boss smiled at her, then winked at Clark.

“So, you thinking about your future, kid?”

“I’m only fourteen,” he said. “That’s like way, way off.”

“I don’t know. Your mom tells me you’re on the staff of the Smallville High paper. Doing quite well for yourself, from what I hear.”

“Don’t encourage him, Perry. He’s got a big enough head as it is.”

“Moom!” he whined.

The older man laughed and reached up to tousle Clark’s hair.

“Have fun,” he said. He turned back to Lois. “I’ll see you in the morning kiddo. Don’t forget the early meeting.”

“I won’t. Thanks Perry.”

She watched as the man walked off, whistling. Perry tried to pretend he was gruff and bad-tempered, but the newspaper veteran had a soft spot. He’d been to dinner a few times with the family and Lois had grown very fond of him.

She began walking with her son.

“So how was school?” she asked.

“It was fine. Oh, there was this fire in chem lab, but nothing bad.”

“You didn’t, uh …”

“Mom, geeze. I do know how to control my …” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “… powers.”

Lois recalled Kal telling her about the night he’d explained Clark’s powers to him, especially Clark’s embarrassment over the heat vision and what caused it.

“How’s Trina?”

Clark rolled his eyes. “Mom, we’re just friends.”

She raised her hands. “I was just asking.”

“Yeah, but I can read between the lines. Stop match-making.”

“Who says I’m match-making?” she replied, trying to sound innocent.

Clark continued to mutter protests, but Lois was fairly sure the cheerleader and her son were more than ‘just friends’, even if neither of them really wanted to admit it.

The restaurant was a few blocks from the Daily Planet at the end of a small shopping complex. The outer design reminded Lois a little of a saloon in the old west. The entry doors were two swinging wooden doors with louvered panels, exactly like those she had seen in the old west movies Jonathan sometimes watched on a Sunday.

The first time they’d visited the restaurant, Jonathan had explained to Kal about saloons and the old west, which had eventually led to a discussion between Kal, Jonathan and Clark about the good guys versus the bad guys and being able to tell the difference.

Inside it was furnished with the same style in mind with a long bar which appeared to be polished wood and colonial style wooden tables and chairs with comfortable cushions.

The hostess greeted them with a smile of recognition.

“Good evening, Mrs Kent.”

Lois smiled back. “Hi Melinda. Do you have a table for three? My husband will be joining us shortly.”

“Of course,” she replied, studying the book at the hostess table. “There may be a slight wait for a table.”

“That’s fine,” Lois returned, noticing that only a few tables were empty. There was a four top that had a reserved sign on it and some larger ones, as well as a couple of two tops. She wasn’t going to complain about a short wait, since they could sit in the bar while they waited.

The bartender was a med-school student who worked part-time to put himself through school. Lois had always admired his work ethic.

“Hey Mrs K,” he said. “Hey Clark.” He smiled. “And before you even ask, no, you’re not allowed a beer.”

Clark snapped his fingers and shook his head, pretending to look disappointed. “Damn. Oh well, worth a shot. Can I have a coke?”

“One coke coming right up. Iced tea for you, Mrs K?”

“Adam, I’ve told you a hundred times to call me Lois,” she scolded, grinning at the younger man.

“But then you’d have no reason to scold me,” he returned cheekily, making her laugh. Adam looked over her shoulder and smiled. “Hey Mr K.”

“Hey Adam. How are the studies going?”

“Great. I got an A on my biology paper.”

Kal smiled. “That’s wonderful. Congratulations.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi back,” she replied, glancing at her husband. His hair was wet. He’d clearly just showered. Lois caught the slight odour of smoke. “Fire?” she asked.

He nodded. “Tenement in Suicide Slum. Superman managed to get everyone out safely.”

“Great!” she returned, taking the tall glass of iced tea and handing Kal a bottle of beer Adam had served him.

Melinda returned, telling them their table was ready. They followed her into the main part of the restaurant. She had given them a table by the window.

“Here are your menus,” she said, handing them each a folder. “And your server will be right with you.”

“Thanks Melinda,” Kal said.

“So what did Martha and Jonathan say?” Lois asked her husband.

“Nothing much, really. I think they were happy to have the place to themselves for the night.” He grinned slyly and winked at her. Lois smiled back, knowing exactly what he was implying. She loved that the older couple were still romantic at their age.

Clark made a face. “I don’t think I want to know,” he said.

Kal reached over and ruffled his son’s hair. Clark batted his father’s hand away.

“Not the hair, Dad, c’mon.”

The server came over to fill their water glasses. She was clearly new as she seemed nervous. Her hand was trembling a little and some water splashed on the table.

“Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry,” she said, sounding upset.

Kal smiled at her. “It’s perfectly all right,” he said. “Take your time. Is this your first day?”

She nodded, looking relieved at Kal’s easy manner.

“Don’t worry,” Lois said. “I did a little waitressing myself. It takes a little time to get used to it.”

Another customer could be heard snapping his fingers. Lois grimaced when she heard him calling the waitress, demanding she hurry up and serve him. Lex. The girl, who had clearly not yet learned how to maintain a poker face, groaned softly. Kal smiled again.

“Don’t let customers like that get to you,” he said. “People like him have no manners.” He glanced toward the table and scowled at Lex, who clearly recognised them. He stood up and came over.

“Well, I see they let all kinds of riff-raff in here,” he said. He glared at the server. “Hurry up and do your job!” he growled.

The girl nearly dropped the water carafe, she was so flustered.

“Why don’t you learn some manners, Mr Luthor, and leave the poor girl alone!”

Lois struggled to maintain a straight face as Clark told him off.

“You know, when I was that age, if I spoke so rudely to my elders …” Lex said, glaring at Clark. “What the hell are you teaching him?”

“To speak his mind,” Kal said. “And to be honest. You clearly don’t like being called out on your bad manners, Mr Luthor. This young lady is doing her best and your rudeness isn’t helping. You are not the only person in this restaurant and you cannot demand attention whenever you please. Now, I would like to get back to enjoying my evening with my family.”

Kal’s dismissal had Lex stalking off in a huff back to his table. The server smiled gratefully at them, saying she would leave them to peruse their menus and would be back shortly to take their orders.

Clark grinned at his father. “Boy, you sure told him.”

Lois shrugged. “He deserved it.” She was proud of her son for speaking up, glad that he had the confidence to be able to call out someone like Lex. She glanced at the bald man’s dining companion. The woman was a fairly attractive brunette in her early forties. Lois frowned, trying to figure out where she had seen the other woman before, but the answer eluded her.

“So, how did your meeting with Uncle Bruce go?” Clark asked his father. Lois turned her attention back to her husband.

Kal was clearly being careful not to give away too much as he spoke in a low voice.

“Bruce went to see that old girlfriend of his. The one who tried to set up the meeting last week.”

Lois nodded. She knew Bruce had gone to see Selina after the debacle the week before.

“So anyway, it turns out she was pressured into setting up the meeting by a mutual business acquaintance.”

“Pressured how?” she asked her husband, frowning a little.

The waitress came back to check on them, asking if they were ready to order. Lois smiled at her and gave her selection. Clark glanced at her before cracking a grin, then ordered a cheeseburger, with everything. After Kal had given his own order, the girl smiled and nodded, checking their drinks and went back to put their orders in.

“So?” Lois prodded.

“A friend of hers was used to help pressure her.”

She bit her lip, trying to interpret what that meant. She didn’t know Selina Kyle that well, but if there was one thing she could say about the woman, it was that Catwoman was loyal to her friends. Protective, even. It sounded like Lex had threatened one of Selina’s friends to force her to set the trap for Batman. Only, that didn’t quite make sense. Why would the Toyman have been involved and why would they have used Kryptonite? Unless it had actually been a set-up for Kal.

Her husband went on to explain that Selina’s story had been true, to a point. She had heard of someone who knew how the two men who had attacked the President had managed to get onto Air Force One.

Clark got up to go to the bathroom a short time later. Lois used the brief interlude to flirt with her husband, rubbing her foot up his pants leg. He grinned at her.

“Why Mrs Kent, planning something devious?”

“Who me?” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.

He took her hand, stroking her fingers. Sadly, the brief flirting was interrupted with the arrival of their food. Lois frowned. Clark had been gone a little while. She rose.

“I’m just going to go see what he’s up to,” she said.

She walked toward the bathrooms, as if she was going to go to the ladies’ room, and saw Clark talking with the woman who had been with Lex.

“You know, I like younger guys,” the woman was saying.

Clark was looking uncomfortable.

“Um, that’s nice, ma’am.”

“Oh, you don’t have to be so formal.”

Lois snorted. The woman was speaking in breathy tones, as if she was trying to flirt with Clark. She decided to speak up.

“You know, I realise Lex Luthor isn’t the most agreeable dinner companion, on any day of the week, but I think it’s rather bad form to flirt with another male when you have a date waiting at your table. Especially when said male happens to be my fourteen year old son.”

The woman glared daggers at her.

“I was just being friendly.”

“If you were any friendlier, lady, I would be calling the cops.” She smiled at her son. “Come on, honey. Your dinner’s waiting.”

Clark shot her a look of relief and moved away from the woman.

“Thanks Mom,” he said quietly. “Ms Atkins was a little, um, forward.”

She frowned at him. “Atkins?”

“Yeah, she said her name was Desiree Atkins.”

Oh brother, we’ve got a live one here, she thought.

Not wanting to interrupt their dinner, she chose not to comment, telling her son not to say anything to his father.

By the time they had finished dinner, Lex and his companion had left the restaurant. Kal asked politely for the check, making sure to give the manager their compliments over the server, who had become less nervous as the night wore on.

As they were leaving, she turned to her husband.

“I need to stop by the Planet for something,” she said.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, frowning at her.

“Oh, it’s fine. There’s just something I need to look up in the archives.”

They walked back to the building. Lois let herself in with her security card and took the elevator up to her eighth floor office. Kal and Clark sat on the couch while she put her bag and coat down on the desk.

“I’ll just be a few minutes, honey,” she said.

She sat down and logged in to her computer, running a search through the archives. It wasn’t long before the search hit pay dirt.

“A-ha,” she said.

Kal frowned at her. “What is it?”

“Desiree Atkins. Aka, Alison Sanders. Aka Desiree Luthor.”

Kal gaped. “Lex was married?”

“It was around the same time he came to Smallville. Desiree was known as the Black Widow. She was a teacher who seduced her first husband, then seduced a student into killing her husband so she could inherit his estate. She lost all her money after she invested it in dot coms.”

“Dot coms?” Kal asked.

She nodded. “It was something to do with the internet boom, only it sort of crashed and people who invested lost a ton of money. Anyway, Desiree got greedy, so she seduced Lex and married him, then tried to seduce someone who worked for Luthorcorp to kill him. Only Lionel found out about it and paid a private eye to investigate her. She was jailed for the murder of her first husband sixteen years ago.” She saw another article and skimmed it. Desiree Atkins had been paroled two years earlier, but had apparently kept out of trouble since then.

Kal frowned. “What would Lex be doing with her now, then?”

Lois chewed on her lip. “I don’t know. Whatever it is, it’s not good.”

“She seemed kind of confused when I was talking to her,” Clark observed.

Lois frowned at them, trying to understand why Desiree would try to seduce her son. What could Lex want with a woman who had planned to murder him for his money?

[BigRed67]

Ooooooohh Desiree makes an appearance! Poor baby Clark getting cornered like that, yuk. Lucky for those Kryptonian genes huh? And have I mentioned that Lex is a real Pr!ck? So happy Clark and Kal told him off.
I wonder who was turning the screws on Selina?

[TeamClois]

So as Lois follows Lex's stink trail, Desiree aka Black Widow is who she finds. For now anyways. We all know ole' Lex has filthy closets full of skeltons, but seeing him with Desiree (when you consider her shady past) makes me wonder what kind of trouble he's cooking up now.

[clarkfan325]

Interesting chapter. The appearance of Desiree and her connection to Lex is very interesting and I can't wait to see whether Lex will ask Desiree to use her powers on Clark or Kal.

[jetslay]

That was just lovely. Quiet chapters like this is one of most underrated things.

Cool use of Desiree, I like it when old/one episode Smallville characters are introduced and used in a new way.

[SG2788]

That can't be good, whats Lex up to this time and he's got to have something either on or offered to Desiree to get her to help him

Can't wait for the next chapter, Please don't make us wait to long

[phoenixnz]

Ooooooohh Desiree makes an appearance! Poor baby Clark getting cornered like that, yuk. Lucky for those Kryptonian genes huh? And have I mentioned that Lex is a real Pr!ck? So happy Clark and Kal told him off.
I wonder who was turning the screws on Selina?

I have plans for Desiree which will help the case. Yes, Lex is a pr*ck. As for who was turning the screws on Selina, who else would it be?

So as Lois follows Lex's stink trail, Desiree aka Black Widow is who she finds. For now anyways. We all know ole' Lex has filthy closets full of skeltons, but seeing him with Desiree (when you consider her shady past) makes me wonder what kind of trouble he's cooking up now.

Let's just say that Desiree is going to provide an answer to a question they've been asking since the incident with Air Force One. What Lex is cooking up will be answered soon.

Interesting chapter. The appearance of Desiree and her connection to Lex is very interesting and I can't wait to see whether Lex will ask Desiree to use her powers on Clark or Kal.

Desiree has already tried with Clark. Tried and failed. As for Kal, she will try that again soon.

That was just lovely. Quiet chapters like this is one of most underrated things.

Cool use of Desiree, I like it when old/one episode Smallville characters are introduced and used in a new way.

I like writing about their domestic lives as well as their adventures and mixing it up.

That can't be good, whats Lex up to this time and he's got to have something either on or offered to Desiree to get her to help him

Can't wait for the next chapter, Please don't make us wait to long

You know he always has something on the people he uses.

Just so you know, I'm not neglecting you guys on purpose. I'm working on my third novel and I hope to have that done soon. This story and Bed of Roses are the ones I intend to update next, after I've finished the novel. Promise. As a hint as to the novel, it's based on a Chloe/Lex fic I completed about three years ago.

[phoenixnz]

a/n: Sorry for the long delay between chapters. My profic has been keeping me kind of busy but it's nearly there. Anyway, I decided I needed a wee break away from the novel so I wrote this chapter.

a/n2: I changed tack slightly on an idea I had following on from the previous chapter but this direction works better in my mind.


Chapter Thirty-Nine

Lex glared at the woman who had once been his wife.

“What do you mean you failed?” he growled.

“I tried, but … I don’t know. There’s something strange about the boy. And his mother intervened before I could try again.”

He huffed. Desiree bit her lip, clearly wondering what he was going to do to her for her failure to get what he wanted.

He recalled how he had met Desiree seventeen years ago. He’d gone to a business function in Metropolis and she had sidled up to him telling him she had come to ‘save him’ from just another boring function. Next thing he knew, he had taken her up to his hotel room where they’d proceeded to attempt to break every record for how long a couple could have constant sex.

He’d married her within a week of that meeting, only for her to try to kill him just forty-eight hours later. He’d been lucky that Lionel had hired a private investigator who had managed to dig up the truth about Desiree and police had arrived before the man his ‘wife’ had seduced to kill him could carry out his task.

Bitter, and most definitely wiser, Lex had quickly annulled the marriage while Desiree had been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.

Then three years earlier she had been hospitalised in the prison when another inmate had attacked her, stabbing her in the stomach. Blood tests had revealed how Desiree had managed to seduce him into marrying her. She had some kind of strange ability that allowed her to use pheromones. It seemed she had been involved in an accident in a lab in her senior year of high school. Lex had learned she had been in the lab after hours with another student and they’d both been in the throes of passion when the accident had occurred.

Lex had visited her at the prison, telling her he could secure her release on the proviso that she come to work for him. Desiree had jumped at the chance without even asking what she was going to do for him.

Lex had made sure of her silence and her gratitude by ensuring her release was drawn out, letting her know that he had complete and utter control over her.

When he needed information, her ability made her the perfect interrogator. She had been useful in other ways as well, most especially with the recent attack on Air Force One. Desiree had seduced the security team into letting the two ‘terrorists’ on board the plane.

Lex hadn’t planned on using Desiree at the restaurant, but never let it be said he didn’t recognise a good opportunity when he saw one, he thought. He had sent her after the Kent boy, hoping to learn more about his mysterious father. Lex was sure Kal was the one Checkmate had been after.

“I’m giving you one last chance,” he told her. “I want you to find the boy and talk to him again.”

“How do you expect me to …”

“My ex-wife, Lana, has a coffee shop in Smallville. It has become a popular hangout for the high school crowd. I expect you will find him there in after school hours. Do not, under any circumstances, visit the Kent Farm.”

“Why not?” she asked. “Wouldn’t that be the best place to find him?”

He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. Desiree was certainly not the brightest of women.

“His father is more than likely to catch you there,” he pointed out.

“Why don’t I try his father instead?”

“Stay away from Kal Kent!” Lex growled.

“Why?” she said, looking sly. “Is there something you’re not telling me about him?”

He strode toward her, one hand around her neck as if preparing to throttle her. He shoved her against the wall and she cried out in pain.

“Lex!”

“Don’t cross me, Desiree! Unless you would like to end up like a few others I could name.”

She stared at him, her eyes wide. She clearly knew the threat was no bluff. Lex had tracked down a few people who had varying abilities. Some of them, like her, had received their powers through some accident. Others had come about them naturally. Lex collected such people like other people would acquire collectable objects like antiques. He had managed to imprison some of them in one of his facilities, his scientists testing their abilities for ways in which they could be transferred.

He let Desiree go, assured that she had got the message loud and clear. He’d once been fool enough to fall under her spell, but now he was the one who had power over her and she knew it.

***

Clark walked in to the Talon and leaned on the counter. Lana shot him a look.

“Manners, Clark.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

“What would you like?”

“Um, what can I get for ...” He dug in his jeans pocket and managed to come up with a dollar fifty odd in change.

Lana sighed. “Spent your allowance already?”

“Uh, yeah. Kind of. It’s Amy’s birthday next week and I spent most of it on a present.”

“Well, I hope the present is spectacular,” Lana said. “All right. You can owe me the rest but this is a one-time only offer. If you don’t pay me back next week you’ll be working here a couple of hours helping me clean.”

He grimaced. Cleaning was the last thing he wanted to do.

“Okay. I’ll get the money. Somehow,” he said, since he wouldn’t get any more allowance for another week. He would have to talk Martha into helping him out.

Lana grinned at him as if she could read his thoughts and handed him a mocha latte in a disposable cup. Clark turned and looked around the coffee shop. All the tables except one were full. He quickly headed for the only empty table and sat down, taking out his phone to read some stuff Amy wanted him to look over for the school paper.

“Do you mind if I join you? Everywhere else is taken.”

He looked up and frowned at the brunette, remembering her from the other night at the restaurant.

“Miss Atkins?”

“Desiree,” she said, sitting down in the chair opposite him. “I wanted to apologise for the other night.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Your mother seems to have got the wrong impression. I just thought you were a nice young man, and I …”

Clark narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“That’s not what happened and you know it.”

She leaned forward. Clark felt the heat of her breath on his face. He was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.

“Uh, I should go,” he said. He got up from the table and left the coffee shop. He would have super sped home if it weren’t for the people crowded on the sidewalk. There was no way he could easily extract himself from the crowd and speed off without being seen.

Desiree pursued him.

“Wait,” she said. “I just want to talk to you.”

She was trying way too hard. Clark glared at her as she took his arm.

“What do you want from me?”

“I just want to talk to you,” she repeated.

He suddenly found himself cornered, not sure how she had managed to push him against the brick wall between the Talon and the next store. She again invaded his space, moving close to him.

“Lady, I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but you’re invading my personal space and I don’t like it.”

“Is there a problem here?”

Desiree looked around, her eyes widening in surprise. Clark smiled at his uncle.

“Uncle Ollie. I didn’t know you were here.”

“That much is obvious,” he said, sounding amused. “Is this lady bothering you?”

“Yeah, kinda.”

He turned back to her, seeing a flash of fear in her eyes. He narrowed his gaze, zeroing in on her pulse point. Her heart rate was up far more than was normal for a woman who was just trying to engage him in casual conversation.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I should go.”

Clark knew he couldn’t just let her disappear into the crowd.

“Uncle Ollie, stop her,” he said in a low voice as she started to walk off.

Oliver moved to intercept her. She began to protest loudly, drawing stares from people passing by.

“Desiree Atkins, aka the Black Widow.”

Desiree looked scared as Aunt Chloe confronted her.

“Who …”

“You don’t know me, Ms Atkins, but I know you. I think we need to have a little chat.”

Desiree struggled in Oliver’s firm grip.

“No, please, you don’t understand!”

Clark followed his aunt and uncle as they returned to the coffee shop. Lana looked at them and nodded.

“You can use the apartment upstairs,” she said.

Desiree was still protesting loudly as she was pushed up the stairs. Clark glanced at Lana questioningly.

“Your parents are on their way,” she said. “I think they’d rather you stay down here, but I know I can’t stop you.”

“How did you …”

“I recognised her as soon as she sat down. Don’t forget, I was married to Lex.”

Clark nodded and raced up the stairs, entering the apartment just in time to hear Chloe warn her husband not to let Desiree breathe on him.

“Why?” Clark asked.

“She has the ability to make anyone do what she wants,” Chloe explained. “It’s called pheromones. There was an accident when she was in high school. Some kind of chemical explosion.”

“That’s not …” Desiree began, then looked up in alarm as Clark’s parents came through the door. “Please let me go,” she pleaded.

“Hell no,” Clark’s mother replied. “First you try to pick up my son in a restaurant, now I hear you accosted him in the coffee shop.”

“Mom, don’t fuss, I’m okay,” he said as she put a hand on his back.

“Why were you after Clark?” his father asked. “What’s this about?”

Desiree kept shaking her head, chanting: “No, no, no, no.”

Clark figured it was time to change tack.

“I know you’re scared,” he said gently. “We can help you. You just need to talk to us.”

“You don’t understand. You don’t know what he’s like.”

“I think we do,” Chloe replied. “What did Lex want you to do?”

The woman’s gaze darted back and forth, pausing on Kal.

“He wants information. On Kal.”

“Well, that’s a rather unique interrogation technique,” Mom replied.

“How long have you been working for him, Desiree?” Kal asked.

“Two years. He told me he’d arrange my release from prison if I’d come to work for him.”

“What else has he made you do?”

“I … the plane,” she said.

“What plane?” Oliver asked.

“Air Force One.”

Kal frowned. “Superman said the security team claimed a woman convinced them to let the two terrorists on board the day of the attack on the President.”

Desiree looked upset. Clark could see she felt cornered.

“I didn’t want to do it,” she said. “But he told me, he threatened …”

“So he gets you to commit an act of what can be considered high treason,” Chloe began.

The brunette seductress looked even more scared. Clark wondered for a moment if she was putting on an act, but it was apparent this was no act. Her eyes widened in horror as she lifted her hand to her chest. His father darted forward, catching her as she collapsed.

“She’s having some kind of cardiac event,” he said.

“Get her on the floor, Kal.”

Blood streamed from her nose. His dad lay her on the floor but it was fairly obvious there was nothing they could do. She was dead the moment she’d collapsed.

“Damn!”

Clark stared as his father looked up at the others.

“What is it, honey?” Mom asked.

“I should have checked her before. I think Lex may have had some kind of electronic surveillance on her.”

“You mean he had her lo-jacked?” Chloe said. She snorted cynically. “Typical!”

“Looks like it.”

“Should we call the sheriff?” Clark asked his father, but his mother intervened.

“If we do, they’ll just take her to the morgue and I’m betting her body will disappear before they can do any kind of autopsy.”

Oliver nodded. “I’ll call Emil and get him in on this,” he said. “If we can figure out how she died, we might be able to track it back to Lex.”

Kal and Oliver elected to stay with the body. Clark let himself be led out of the apartment by his mother and aunt. Downstairs, Lana looked at them questioningly, but was distracted by someone wanting coffees.

Since his mother had flown from Metropolis with his dad, Chloe drove them to the farm. She told Clark they’d decided to visit the family for the weekend. The two children were already at the farm, running around and getting into mischief.

Jonathan had clearly managed to corral them as he carried them inside the house just as Clark was helping himself to a glass of milk and some cookies.

“Ooh, cookies!” Connor exclaimed gleefully.

“Uh uh, you’ll spoil your dinner!” Chloe told her son.

“But Mommeeeee!”

“I said no, Connor!”

“But Clark …”

“Clark eats more than you,” Mom told her nephew. “Come and sit with me,” she said, holding out her hand. Connor followed her into the parlour to sit on the couch. Laura trailed after her brother, clearly not wanting to be left out of things.

Clark took his snack into the parlour and sat down.

“So, what was that all about?” he asked. “What did you mean by pheromones?”

“You know what pheromones are?”

He shrugged. “Sure. I’ve already had the birds and the bees talk.”

“Well, I won’t go into detail about how she got her ability but it meant she could seduce anyone into doing anything she wanted.”

“I’m guessing Clark and Kal would be the exception,” Mom replied.

“Luckily for us, yes. I’m guessing her power wasn’t strong enough to break the resolve of steel.”

Mom glared at her cousin. “Funny, Chloe.”

“Why would Lex use her to try to get information?”

“I’m guessing he’s still trying to pin the disappearance of the ship on your dad. But you’re right. I do think there’s more to it. We need to do some more digging.”

Mom looked thoughtful.

“What if Lex is trying to take up where his father left off? Studying meta-humans? I remember when Brainiac told Kal about the information he’d dug up on Lionel. He was trying to figure out a way to harness the meta-humans’ abilities for himself.”

“Which could explain Lex’s obsession with Kal,” Chloe agreed. “He’s always had an obsession with power.”

“Why would he attack the President?” Clark asked, munching on his cookies.

“It’s fairly well-known that Lex has ambitions which include the Oval Office,” Chloe replied. “He may have tried to use the incident as a stepping stone.”

“Why though?”

“Well, think about it, honey,” his mother said. “Why do you think Lex would do such a thing?”

He considered this for a few moments. Lex could use people’s concern for domestic security for political grandstanding. He’d already announced his company’s research into better security technology.

“So, he can profit on the patents for the new technology,” he said, but realised there was far more to it than that.

Lex would capitalise on that fear, he thought. Use it to build a political platform promising stronger counter-terrorism measures. Clark remembered his political history, especially in various periods where dictators had taken advantage of their country’s woes and used them to promote their own agenda. Lex wasn’t the first powerful person to take advantage of a climate of fear to rise to the top of the political heap and he wouldn’t be the last.

Oliver and his father still weren’t back by the time dinner was ready an hour or so later.

“I’m sure they’ll be back soon,” his mother assured him when he asked.

“Finding out what killed Desiree isn’t exactly as simple as just x-raying her,” Chloe told him.

He nodded. “Guess you’re right.”

***

Kal paced up and down Watchtower, glancing toward the medical bay occasionally.

“You’re gonna wear a hole in the floor,” Oliver told him.

“Sorry,” he replied. “Just anxious.”

While taking the body to Watchtower wasn’t necessarily illegal, since they’d asked Emil to take care of it, it wasn’t exactly ethical either.

There was the sound of someone clearing their throat and Kal looked up. Emil stood, wiping his hands on a towel.

“Well, you’re right. This was not a natural death by any means.”

“Care to elaborate there doc?” Oliver asked.

Emil had something in his left hand. He placed it on the scanner, which then projected an image on the monitor above them, giving them a close-up. It looked like any microchip found in a computer.

“What is that?” Kal asked.

Oliver groaned. “I know what that is. It’s a chip designed by one of my scientists several years ago.” He keyed in some instructions and the scanner zoomed in on one area. There was a tiny logo indicating the chip belonged to Queen Industries, along with a serial number.

Oliver continued typing. A number of documents showed on the screen including a shipping manifest.

“It was being shipped overseas. These chips were designed to help people with various mental disabilities. They were powered by the body’s biorhythms. Except this shipment never made it to its destination. It was stolen.”

Kal looked at his friend.

“Oliver, who knew about this technology?”

“Its designer.” Oliver’s face was pale. “Winslow Schott. The guy’s a genius when it comes to anything electronic. He worked for the company for years but then, somehow his mind snapped. He started bringing in toys to work, planting explosives, so I had to let him go. Now he has a new handle. The Toyman.”

He brought up an image of the man. Kal studied it, then remembered that Bruce had called one of the men who had attacked them Toyman.

“That’s one of the men who attacked Bruce and I in Gotham last week.”

“I may not be an expert in electronics,” Emil said, “but it seems to me the chip has been adapted. It’s more than likely there are more of them out there and they’re being used to control certain individuals. In this case, it appears it was used to trigger cardiac arrest in Ms Atkins.”

“So she couldn’t testify against Lex. Once again it leaves us with no proof that Lex was behind the attack on the President.” Kal sighed.

“Since the chip can be tracked back to the stolen shipment that leaves us back at square one,” Oliver added. “Damn it!”

“I’m afraid it appears Lex has won this round,” Emil told them. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not over,” Kal told him. “We’re going to get him. We’ll get proof. Somehow.”

“Even if there is evidence she was working for him, it proves nothing,” Oliver pointed out. “The Air Force One security team could identify her, but he could still cover himself by saying she was working independently.”

Kal nodded. As much as he hated it, both Emil and Oliver were right. They couldn’t prove Lex was behind any of it. When Bruce had met with Selina, she had told him that two men had grabbed her old roommate and threatened to hurt her if Selina didn’t set up Superman. They didn’t care about Batman. All they had wanted was Kal.

It had been fairly obvious Lex was behind the kidnapping, even if he’d only been pulling the strings.

Kal flew Desiree’s body to the morgue and Emil promised he was going to take care of the paperwork. He had a friend in the coroner’s office who would help him cover up what they’d done.

Lois was not happy when they finally returned to the farmhouse and reported what had happened.

“So once again Lex gets off scot-free,” she grumbled.

“I know,” he said. “There isn’t much more we can do about this. Without Desiree’s testimony we’ve got nothing to prove Lex ordered her to seduce the security team.”

“This is nuts,” she said. “There has to be something we can do.”

“I wish there was. The trouble is, Lex is smart enough to cover his tracks and anticipate any problems.”

“It still makes me angry.”

He wrapped his arms around his wife as she pressed her face into his chest.

“I know honey. It’s frustrating. But one day Lex will slip up and when he does, we’ll be there to catch him.” He smiled down at her and bent to kiss her. “I promise we will one day take him down. Because no one messes with us.”

“Damn straight,” she replied.

He lifted her in his arms, carrying her up the stairs to bed.

[TeamClois]

Seeing as you're busy these days, I really do appreciate the update. Too bad Desiree isn't around to help prove Lex was the mastermind behind the attack on Air Force One. I was really hoping the team would have a solid lead by now with Lois looking ready to pop and all. I'd just hate for Kal - Superman - to be preocuppied with Lex when Lois goes into labor. Hope that doesn't happen, but you never know with Lex.

Until next time...happy writing!

[BigRed67]

Hey Leanne, so happy you had some time to update, we really appreciate it!
Well looks like Lex gets away once again, and poor Desiree pays the price even though she was pretty creepy in her own right. Lucky for all concerned that young Clark is a smart kid, I like the way he gets the opportunity to work things out for himself with a little guidance from the family. They treat him like the smart young man he is.

[clarkfan325]

Great chapter. I hope that they are able to get something on Lex soon.