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One Little Mistake

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  • #91
    Chapter Thirty-Three

    Lois paced the floor. It had been half an hour since they’d come home to find her parents asleep in front of the television and Kally gone. Clark had wanted to go confront Lex, assuming that the man was behind their daughter’s disappearance, but Lois had begged him not to go off half-cocked until they got the full story. As worried as she was about her daughter, she knew it was extremely unlikely that they would get a confession out of Lex. If he really was behind it.

    “Thanks, Chloe. We’ll see you when you get here.”

    Clark came in, putting his phone down on the counter. “Chloe’s on her way,” he said unnecessarily.

    “Did you manage to get hold of Lucy?” she asked. Her sister had also made plans to go out with her boyfriend, who shared an apartment in the city with some his college friends.

    He nodded. “She’s been with Ron and his friends all evening. I told her to stay there. It’s not like she can do anything.”

    She chewed on her thumbnail. She wished she knew what had happened, but so far her efforts to wake up her parents had been in vain. Her father wasn’t exactly a sound sleeper which made her think he’d been drugged. There was no other explanation for it.

    “Did you check the security cameras?” Lois asked, even knowing that wouldn’t tell them much either. The private sitting room didn’t have a camera.

    Clark nodded. “The video’s been wiped,” he said, explaining that it appeared the software recording the video had somehow developed a glitch.

    Considering Chloe had helped set up the security system, a glitch seemed highly unlikely.

    “It’s looking more and more like this was well-planned,” Lois said with a sigh.

    “Yeah.” Clark took her hand. “As much as I want to go confront Lex, I think you’re right. He’ll just deny all knowledge and try to make himself look good. Maybe we should call the police.”

    She shook her head. “You know we can’t take the chance that the police might find out something about Kally. Do you want them to find out you’re the you-know-what?”

    He sighed. “You’re right. Well, let’s see if we can wake up your parents and try to figure it out.”

    “Okay.”

    They made their way to the sitting room. The older couple were still sound asleep and showing no signs of waking up. Clark frowned.

    “They must have been drugged,” he said, echoing her earlier thoughts. “There’s no way your dad would sleep through this.” He spotted two cups on the table. “I wonder …”

    She watched as he picked up the cups. “What are you thinking?”

    “They were drinking cocoa,” he said. “If someone wanted to drug them …”

    “They’d drug the drinks. But how would they do that? Mom always makes the drinks. Even when a guest comes down, they’re not allowed to help themselves.”

    It was a puzzle, she thought. “How are we going to wake them?”

    “What about smelling salts?” Clark asked.

    She frowned at him, wondering if the salts would really work on someone who had been drugged. Just then, her father stirred. His eyes began to open. Beside him, Bubsy also began waking up. Lois called out.

    “Dad? Mom?”

    They both turned their heads to look at her, clearly still quite groggy.

    “Lois?” The sound was faint, but clear enough. Clark nudged her.

    “I’ll go get them some water,” he said.

    He was back within a minute or so, helping the older couple. They both looked dazed and rather confused.

    “What’s going on?” her father asked after a few minutes.

    “That’s what we’d like to know,” Lois said. “Kally’s missing.”

    He stared at her in alarm. “What?”

    “And we think you might have been drugged, sir. So you wouldn’t wake up when they took her.”

    “How?” Bubsy asked.

    “We’re trying to figure that out. What do you remember?”

    Bubsy’s forehead creased in a frown as she tried to recollect the evening. Lois listened as they slowly started to piece things together. They’d put Kally to bed around seven-thirty and settled to watch television together. A couple of hours later, she’d gone to make hot cocoa. One of the guests had come down and had asked for a hot drink as well, claiming he didn’t like coffee. Bubsy had made him a pot of tea he could take back to his room.

    She’d gone back into the sitting room, while Lois’ father had gone to check on Kally. The toddler was sleeping soundly. He’d made sure the baby monitor was switched on so they could hear anything while they continued to watch tv. They’d both settled down again to watch a movie and had dozed off shortly afterwards. That had been it until they’d woken up.

    “Who was the guest?” Clark asked.

    Bubsy frowned. “Pardon?”

    “The guest who wanted the pot of tea. What did he look like?”

    “Oh, he was tall, skinny. He wore glasses.”

    “Was he kind of nervy?” Clark asked.

    “Yes, come to think of it.”

    “I met him earlier. He was standing around in reception when I came to pick up Lois. What room was he in?”

    “Hm, room five.”

    Clark disappeared. Lois guessed he was going upstairs to check the room. He returned a couple of minutes later with the check-in book in his hands.

    “He’s gone. Packed up and left.” He opened the book. “Edwards. He told me he worked for a company that was looking to invest here. He’s given an address in Metropolis.”

    He started to leave. Lois followed him.

    “What are you going to do?” she asked. “You can’t just speed to Metropolis in the middle of the night.”

    “I have to. If this guy knows what’s happened to Kally … look, we’ll just tell your mom and dad that I looked up the address on Google or something. Okay? Stay here. Chloe will be here soon. I won’t be gone long, I promise.”

    Lois sighed, but let him go, knowing he had to do this his way. She just hoped he wasn’t going to go confront Lex and accuse him. She glanced toward the sitting room. Her parents were still in there, probably trying to clear their heads. She didn’t blame them at all for what had happened. This had obviously been well thought out.

    She bit her lip. She knew this was something they couldn’t do alone. They needed help. Glancing once more toward the sitting room, she picked up the phone and began dialling a number.

    “It’s Lois. We need your help.”

    Clark knew it was a long shot but he had to try the address anyway. He figured whoever the man was, he’d have been told to cover his tracks very well. Before he did so, however, he stopped by the clock tower and rang the buzzer. There was no answer. He looked around, wondering if there was another way up to the tower, but then heard the sound of an expensive vehicle approaching. A Lamborghini, he thought, remembering the one he’d stolen three years earlier.

    The car stopped and Oliver looked over. “Clark?”

    “Oliver. I was just looking for you. Have you been out?” The other man was wearing a tuxedo.

    “Yeah. Society thing. I was just going to go up and change, get ready to go patrolling. What’s wrong?”

    Clark quickly told him what had happened. Oliver nodded. “Give me a few minutes to change and I’ll come to Smallville. I’m sorry, man. I was hoping we’d have been able to prevent this, but looks like Lex got the jump on us.”

    Clark shook his head. “It’s not your fault. You go change. I’m just going to check out this address then head back to Smallville before Lois’ parents send out a search party for me. They’re already feeling bad enough.”

    “I shouldn’t wonder. Look, there’s this guy I know. A doctor. He’ll need to check them over. Don’t worry. He’s on my payroll and knows how to be discreet.”

    Meaning he already knew about the team of superheroes Oliver was putting together. Clark smiled gratefully and left, heading toward the address. He knew the city well enough to know it was near the docks. As he suspected, the address was that of an abandoned building.

    He returned to Smallville. Lois was doing her best to comfort the older couple who were both still fairly groggy from whatever they’d been drugged with. They were also distraught.

    Lois looked at him. “Did you find anything?”

    Clark shook his head. “The building doesn’t look like any apartment building,” he said. “Google wasn’t very helpful. Um, I called a friend of ours. He knows a doctor who can come take a look at you.”

    Sam shook his head. “It’s not necessary.”

    “I think it is, sir,” Clark said quietly. “We think you were drugged," he remiinded him. "I’d rather make sure you’re not going to suffer any ill effects from it.”

    The older man seemed to consider it. He glanced at his wife, who nodded. “He’s right, sweetheart,” she said softly. “Better safe than sorry.”

    Clark took Lois aside. “I stopped by Oliver’s. He’s on his way down.”

    “Yeah,” she said. “I called Bruce. I figured we could use all the help we can get.”

    There was nothing more they could do but wait until the cavalry arrived. As much as Clark wanted to go out looking, he knew they had no clues to go on and his girlfriend needed him right now. Lois spent the time while they waited looking for any information on their mystery guest but was unable to find anything. Clark began trying to draw the man’s face, but while he could recall almost every detail, it was a lot harder to reproduce on paper. He was definitely not an artist.

    They’d been home maybe an hour when he heard the sound of an overstressed engine from a small vehicle and went out to look.

    “It’s Chloe,” he told his girlfriend.

    “What’d she do? Break all the land speed records just to get here?”

    “And then some,” he commented. He opened the door. “Chloe. We’re glad you’re here,” he said, greeting her with a quick hug.

    “I’m sorry, Clark,” she said. “Damn Lex.”

    “We don’t know it’s Lex for sure,” Lois said.

    “Yeah, and pigs fly,” the blonde returned snarkily. “He’s been aiming his arrows at you guys for months. Now we know the reason he’s been so quiet.” She went into the sitting room, greeting her uncle with a kiss on the cheek. “We’re going to find her,” she assured him. “I promise.”

    Lois sent her cousin a grateful smile. “Why don’t I go make some coffee,” she said. “It’s going to be a long night.”

    Clark heard another engine. “Better make plenty,” he said. “Looks like more help’s arriving.”

    Oliver came in, followed by a man with olive skin and dark, wavy hair. He seemed nice, in a nerdy kind of way. “Dr Emil Hamilton,” the man introduced himself. He held what appeared to be a medical bag. “Perhaps you can show me to … uh, never mind,” he added, spotting the former general and his wife. “Sir, I’m Doctor Hamilton. Mr Queen thought it best I come along. I understand you may have been drugged.”

    Clark left them to it. Lois had left the coffee brewing and gone out. She was followed inside by Bruce.

    “It’s like Grand Central Station,” she said.

    “I came as quickly as I could,” Bruce said, explaining that he’d been at the same event as Oliver. Lex had also been there, which gave him a convenient alibi.

    He nodded at the other man. “Oliver. You got here quick.”

    “Yeah, you too.” All right. Let’s see what we can figure out.”

    “I’ve already started,” Chloe said. She had connected her laptop to the main computer. From what Clark could see on the screen, she was looking at some kind of code.

    “Oh. Hi,” Oliver said. “I didn’t see you there.”

    “This is Chloe. My cousin,” Lois replied.

    “Good to see you again, Miss Sullivan,” Bruce greeted her. He grabbed the second chair from behind the desk. “Want to tell me what you’re doing?”

    As Clark watched, the two bent their heads over the screens, talking about the security system. Oliver seemed to be viewing the scene with interest, although it was hard to tell what exactly he was interested in.

    He turned back to them and spoke quietly, saying he was going to send both Victor and Bart to two Luthorcorp locations to see what they could find out. Victor had had something of an upgrade and was able to upload information into the memory banks while Bart could move quickly if he got into trouble.

    “What are they going to be looking for?” Lois asked.

    “Anything that might give us locations of 33.1 facilities,” Oliver said. “If Lex has got Kally, it’s very likely he’ll have her at one of those.”

    “That makes sense,” she replied.

    Emil came back out. “Well, you were right. They were drugged. I’d have to examine the contents of the cocoa to be sure, but I think it was just a very strong sedative. Do you still have …”

    Clark nodded and showed him to the kitchen. “They’re right here.”

    “I’ll have to use the lab at Met Gen,” Emil said.

    “What about Smallville Medical Centre?” Clark asked. “It’s a couple of miles from here. I bet they’d let you use the facilities.”

    “I’d have to explain what it’s for,” Emil told him, explaining that even small-town medical facilities tended to be cautious about who they allowed to use their equipment.

    “I’m sure you’ll come up with something,” Oliver replied. “I’ll drive you there.”

    Clark bit his lip. “Uh, you probably don’t know Smallville that well. I’ll drive you.”

    Lois returned to making the coffees as her boyfriend left with the doctor. Oliver looked at her.

    “Anything I can do to help?” he asked.

    “No,” she said. She’d done her best to be strong but the thought of what was happening to her daughter, how scared she might be, was too much. A sob escaped.

    She felt strong arms around her. They didn’t feel like Clark’s but they would do.

    “We’ll find her, Lois. I promise we’ll find her.”

    She nodded, letting go of the tight grip she’d had on her emotions. She’d been able to hold back, putting all her energy into trying to work out what had happened and now that help was here, she was able to let it all go.

    She heard her father say something about calling the police but she shook her head. Oliver gently pushed her in the direction of her father and she felt herself enveloped in the warmth and security of her father’s arms.

    “It’s all right, sweetheart,” he said softly. “We’ll find her if we have to call in the entire army.”

    She had no idea how long she stayed there but she guessed it was a while. Chloe must have got up to make the coffee as a cup was pressed into her hand. Her father let her go so she could revive herself with a little caffeine.

    “So, uh, Chloe, what did you find on the computer?” Oliver was saying.

    “Nothing much, to be honest. I found enough to realise that somebody’s wiped the drive clean of any recordings. It’s unrecoverable.”

    “What’s this?” Bruce asked, picking up something.

    Lois looked at what he had in his hand. It was Clark’s drawing.

    “Clark thought he could draw the man we thought might have been working for Lex,” she said.

    “It’s not a great drawing, but it might be enough to do some kind of search,” Bruce advised. He handed it to Chloe, who scanned it. She began typing on the keys.

    “Try this,” Bruce told her.

    She glared at him. “You wanna drive?”

    “Do you mind?” he asked.

    Lois couldn’t help smiling a little as her cousin and the man from Gotham began bickering over how to begin searching in the computer. Oliver looked at her.

    “So, that’s your cousin,” he said.

    “Yup.”

    “She’s uh, pretty good on a computer.”

    “She is.” Lois wondered what Oliver was thinking. She could see admiration in his gaze as he watched Chloe, even as Bruce took over typing on the computer. She wanted to roll her eyes. This was so not the right time for Oliver to take an interest in her cousin.

    Clark returned an hour later with Emil, who told them that the drug had indeed been a powerful sedative. While it would not have any long-term effects, the older couple would feel a little off for a couple of days. He also told them the drug was not something that could be bought from the local pharmacy. There were very strict Federal directives which meant it needed a prescription. Or else it had come directly from one of the pharmaceutical companies that produced it.

    “Didn’t Lex’s father own a pharmaceutical lab at one point?” Chloe asked.

    “He did,” Clark said. “Metron Pharmaceuticals. But they were shut down a long time ago.” Lois remembered Clark telling her about some experimental drug Lionel had been testing, hoping to cure his liver disease. The drug had been created using Clark’s blood.

    “Maybe Luthorcorp still has some stock in one,” the blonde suggested. She reached for the laptop, but Bruce pulled it away.

    “Bruce!” she said in protest.

    “I’m driving.”

    “It’s my laptop!” she told him.

    “And I’m not done yet.” He continued working. “You know, you really need something a bit more powerful than this.”

    “It’s good enough,” Chloe replied. The pair resumed bickering, this time over whose system was better. Lois rolled her eyes, while Clark cocked an eyebrow at her.

    “Don’t ask,” she said.

    Lois’ father touched her arm. “Sweetheart, Annie’s feeling a bit upset.”

    “Dad, it’s not her fault,” Lois assured him.

    “She knows that, but she’s upset anyway.”

    She could see that her father and stepmother were both tired. The drug obviously hadn’t helped that.

    “Dad, why don’t you two go up to bed?” she suggested quietly. “There’s nothing much you can do.”

    He still looked reluctant. “How would these young men be able to help?” he asked.

    “They have contacts who work in law enforcement,” she told him. Technically it was true. Bruce was friends with Commissioner Jim Gordon, through his work as Batman and she supposed that what Oliver did as Green Arrow was some kind of law enforcement.

    Bruce, clearly having overheard, got up. “Sir, your daughter’s right. Both Oliver and I have contacts who as we speak are working on finding Kally. I think it’s more important you both get your rest.”

    The older man nodded in agreement and led his wife upstairs. Lois sent Bruce a grateful look.

    “Hey, I think I’ve got something,” Chloe called out.

    They crowded around the computer. She glanced at them.

    “Thanks to Bruce’s rendering of Clark’s sketch, we were able to get a reasonable image. I cross-checked that with Luthorcorp employees.” She tapped a few keys and brought up a photograph. “Is this your guy?”

    Clark looked at it. “Wow, Chloe. That’s him.” He read the file. “Edward Groll. He’s some kind of researcher.”

    Chloe nodded. “It says in his personnel file he’s been working for Luthorcorp for fourteen years. It looks like they keep a pretty close eye on their employees. He has two girls, both at prestigious prep schools in Metropolis.”

    “Which means he has a lot to lose if Lex threatens his job.”

    Lois felt a twinge of sympathy for the man. It was little wonder he’d looked nervous when Clark saw him. It was likely Lex would hold his family’s future over his head if he didn’t help with the kidnapping.

    “This still doesn’t tell us where Kally is,” Clark said.

    “No. But it’s a start,” Bruce said. He looked at Oliver. “Did you bring your gear?”

    “We can stop by the clocktower. You?”

    “Always. It’s called being prepared.”

    “No one could ever mistake you for a boy scout,” Oliver replied. As Bruce turned away to make a call, Oliver looked at Clark. “I know you’re itching to go talk to this guy too, but there’s a good chance he won’t be there.”

    “I have to do something,” Clark said. “I can’t just sit here …”

    “Well, you’re going to have to. Sorry, but you can’t go off half-cocked. I know what happened last time someone took Kally. She doesn’t need her dad going all Hulk smash and scaring the daylights out of people. I know you’re worried and you’re angry but going and accusing Lex isn’t going to do any good either. Besides, I told Bart and Victor to come here as soon as they get what they need.”

    Lois clutched her boyfriend’s arm. “Please, honey. I really need you right now.”

    He appeared to relent. “All right. I’ll wait for Bart and Victor, but if we find anything, don’t expect me to just stand back and do nothing.”

    Bruce pulled Oliver away. “Alfred’s sending the chopper. It’ll be faster than driving back to the city.” He looked kindly at Lois. “We’re going to find her,” he said. It was about the fifth time that had been said, but Lois drew strength from it. “I promise we’ll leave no stone unturned.”

    “Thank you,” she said. As worried as she was, knowing she had both Batman and Green Arrow looking for her daughter was reassuring.


    a/n: Some might ask why Clark is sitting back and doing nothing. He's not, but Oliver makes a very good point. As much as Clark wants to confront Lex or go all Papa Bear, he's likely to scare Kally. We all know what he's like when he's angry. Not that he goes green monster or anything but let's just say he goes like Red K Clark without the aid of meteor rock. Plus, he has to learn when to step back and let someone else take over. He can't always be the superhero. Sometimes he just needs to be the dad. In this story, anyway.

    Comment


    • #92
      Yay! Can't wait. Hope things don't go wrong for too long. My vivid imagination was already running away with itself, torturing me with crying kidnapped Kally imagines. While my inner cynic says this time won't be the easy quick resolve. Either way, still hanging. Maybe not quite happy but hooked as always 😏

      ~Stay safe

      Comment


      • #93
        Originally posted by Sykobee
        Yay! Can't wait. Hope things don't go wrong for too long. My vivid imagination was already running away with itself, torturing me with crying kidnapped Kally imagines. While my inner cynic says this time won't be the easy quick resolve. Either way, still hanging. Maybe not quite happy but hooked as always 

        ~Stay safe
        It definitely won't be solved as quickly. I'm doing something slightly different for the next chapter, but still just as important for the story. Coming right up.
        Last edited by phoenixnz; 08-18-2020, 02:26 PM.

        Comment


        • #94
          Chapter Thirty-Four

          Sam could not sleep. He was exhausted but as much as he wanted to, sleep just wouldn’t come. He was too worried about Kally. The thought of the toddler being locked up somewhere, strange people around her, was just too awful to think about. His granddaughter was a bright, gregarious child – of course he was biased – but something like this could be very damaging.

          Damn that Luthor, he thought. He had no doubt in his mind the man was behind it. He’d heard enough about the bald bastard to know that this was exactly the kind of thing he would do. Especially if he thought there was something unusual about Kally. There was talk among his military contacts about some secret project to do with people with strange abilities.

          Sam Lane was no fool. When he’d first met Clark, he’d been concerned enough to do a little digging. He’d read every article he could find in Chloe’s archive and he’d talked to a couple of his contacts in the NSA. Clark might have got in a little trouble a few years ago, but that was because he’d apparently been protecting a friend from a college boy who tried to assault her. Since then, however, the boy had been clean as a whistle. Not even a parking ticket.

          Lois often joked that her boyfriend drove like a grandma, but Sam could understand that. Clark had a lot of responsibilities. It wasn’t just that he was a father. He had a job on his parents’ farm and he clearly worked very hard. Sam had talked with Martha and Jonathan who had told him that Clark did the work of almost four farmhands. Sam didn’t doubt it. Clearly, Clark took his responsibilities very seriously. In some ways, he supposed the boy was trying to make up for his lost summer in Metropolis when the couple had nearly lost everything.

          That summer wasn’t really talked about. All the former general knew was that there had been a tragedy within the family and Clark had blamed himself. The one good thing that had come out of that whole terrible time was Kally. Even if Sam had been more worried about his authority as a general back when he’d learned Lois was pregnant, it was no excuse for the way he’d treated her. She had needed him and he’d done something which would be unforgivable.

          If Ella had been alive, she would have smacked him silly. Then again, if Ella had been alive, Lois would probably never have gone to Metropolis in the first place.

          It was funny how things turned out. Life was full of ‘if onlys’. Still, he was glad that when Lois had run away she had found Annie. He thanked every deity he could think of that that had happened. After all, if Lois hadn’t come to Smallville, he would never have met Annie. She reminded him so much of Ella. All the wonderful things about his late wife that, in hindsight, he would have appreciated much more. It was why he’d chosen to retire from the army. He had always been off on missions, more focused on his career than his family. How that must have hurt Ella. He’d made a lot of mistakes then and he wasn’t going to let history repeat itself.

          It was why he was glad that he now had such a close relationship with his daughter. Why he chose to encourage her in her relationship with Clark. And why he was trying to form a close bond with the father of his grand-daughter. He wanted to be able to pass on his own wisdom from his mistakes in the past in the hope that Clark might not make the same mistakes.

          He hadn’t let on to the kids that he knew, but he’d figured out there was something different about Clark. Perhaps if things had been different, if there were no Kally, he might have had an issue with it. He still thought like a military man and felt the government was the high authority. He didn’t believe in vigilantism. Not that it didn’t exist. He kept up with the stories in the media about Batman and Green Arrow, so he knew they were out there. The Blur - well, he was another matter entirely. He understood that the Blur was out there protecting people, preventing crimes before they happened. He also understood the need to keep to the shadows. Especially with people like Luthor out there, experimenting on people with strange abilities. If that was the reason he’d had the little girl kidnapped, then God help him, Sam thought. Especially if Clark became angry enough to do some damage.

          As dawn broke, Sam got up, leaving his wife in her restless sleep. He’d felt her tossing and turning and knew she had slept as poorly as he had. He went downstairs to find Chloe still working on the laptop and talking to someone on her cellphone. Either Bruce or Oliver, he thought. He didn’t know much about the two men, other than the fact they were very well-off. The military had worked with both of their companies at one time or another but Sam had had little to do with it.

          His niece glanced up and offered a weak smile as he passed. He returned the smile. The blonde had dark circles under her eyes and it was clear that she hadn’t slept all night. He continued on into the private sitting room. Lois was sleeping on the couch, but like her stepmother, it was clearly not a restful sleep. Clark was standing by the window looking out at the cabin.

          “Any news?” Sam asked quietly.

          Clark looked around at him. It appeared he’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard him come in.

          “Nothing yet.”

          Sam gestured for the other man to walk out with him so they wouldn’t disturb his daughter. They stood on the porch overlooking the garden.

          “This is frustrating,” Clark admitted. “I want to be out there looking for her.”

          “I know,” Sam said. “But sometimes you need to put your faith in someone else. God knows, I know.”

          “She’s my daughter.”

          “I get that, son, but you also need to remember that Lois needs you right now. She’s already afraid for Kally. She doesn’t need to worry about you too.”

          Clark studied him. “It wasn’t easy for you, was it? Going away on missions, never knowing if you’d actually come back.”

          He shook his head. “No. It wasn’t. It broke Ella’s heart. I was never able to tell her where I was going or what I was doing. Even now, some of those missions are still classified. And yeah, they could sometimes be dangerous. Some would call them heroic. An old buddy of mine once said there was nothing heroic about going into battle and facing an enemy. Sometimes it was just a matter of luck. Don’t get me wrong. It takes a certain amount of skill to go out there and fight, but you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve had soldiers next to me buy it. Soldiers with twice the amount of brains and a whole lot of gumption, but they’ve still been on the unlucky end of a bullet.

          “That’s not what I was going to say though. Lois doesn’t know about this. I was stationed at a base just outside of DC when Ella was pregnant with Lucy. She’d gone shopping in the commissary. Lois was with her. I was out working with some of my troops when I got a call saying that some nutcase had taken hostages in the commissary, my wife and daughter included.”

          The man had had a son who had been killed on a mission. The father had blamed his superior officer who had been stationed at the same base. From what Sam had been able to gather at the time, the other man had got it into his head to teach the officer a lesson by threatening his family. He’d stalked the man’s wife to the commissary. How he’d even got on base was a mystery.

          It had taken nearly three hours for the man to be talked down.

          “Let me tell you, that was the longest three hours of my life,” Sam confided. “My men had to hold me back from charging in there and taking on the gunman myself. I would have done it too. I probably would have been killed.”

          “Lois and your wife might have got hurt too,” Clark said.

          “You’re right.” He sighed. “Luckily they weren’t. But, you understand?”

          “You’re saying that I shouldn’t feel guilty for not being out there looking for Kally.”

          “You’re a good father, Clark, but like all good fathers, especially of daughters, you can let your emotions get the best of you. One of the things you need to learn is that sometimes you can’t just jump in and do everything. You’ll just wear yourself out. Sometimes you need to focus on what’s right in front of you.” He sighed. “I made a lot of mistakes while Lois was growing up. I neglected her. She needed a father, not a military commander. When Ella died, I just shut down. I let my job take over. I knew if I stopped, I would have to admit that she was really gone. Lois and Lucy ended up being left behind. I know if I had to do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I’d spend more time with the family.”

          Chloe came out. “Oliver and Bruce are back,” she said.

          They followed her back to the reception area. The two men looked at Sam, then with questioning looks at Clark.

          “It’s all right.”

          Bruce spoke first. “We followed up on the lead about Dr Groll. He wasn’t at his house in New Troy and his wife didn’t know where he was. We checked out his private lab and there was no sign of him there either.”

          “Did Bart and Victor report in?” Oliver asked.

          Clark nodded. “Bart came in about three hours ago and gave what he found to Chloe. Victor said he was going to check out another data facility.”

          “I looked at the information they managed to download but there was nothing about Kally on there,” Chloe said. “I have, however, been looking into some of Luthorcorp’s newest acquisitions.”

          Sam almost laughed, knowing she’d been hacking into some confidential information.

          “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear any of that,” he said. He clapped Clark on the shoulder. “Why don’t I go into the coffee house and get us all some coffees.”

          Clark nodded and smiled. “Sounds great. Thank you, Sam.”

          Lois came out as he was putting on his coat. It was a cool Sunday morning.

          “Daddy?” she said, sounding very tired and worn out.

          He kissed her cheek. “I’m just going out to get some coffees.”

          Lois nodded. “Jenny will be in soon so we can get started on breakfast for the guests.”

          “I’ll help you,” Clark said, clearly needing something to do to take his mind off everything else. He’d obviously taken everything Sam had said to heart.

          The town was still fairly quiet as Sam drove to the coffee shop. As he was getting out of his car, he spotted the local sheriff, Nancy Adams. She was holding a coffee cup, clearly having got her own coffee.

          “Well, good morning, General Lane,” she said. “You’re out early.”

          “It’s just Sam now, Sheriff,” he said.

          She sent him a brilliant smile. “You can call me Nancy,” she said. “When I’m not on duty. How’s your family?”

          He was tempted to tell her about Kally’s disappearance, but knew the kids wouldn’t want that. Otherwise they would have called the police already.

          “They’re good,” he said.

          She peered at him. “You look a little peaked, Sam. Everything okay?”

          “Oh, I just didn’t sleep well. Bad back,” he lied.

          “Yeah, I hate when that happens.” Her car radio squawked and she sighed. “Well, guess duty calls.”

          He watched her leave in the patrol car before opening the door to the coffee shop. It was fairly quiet. There was only one customer at the counter. The shop always opened early but Sunday mornings tended to be extremely quiet. At least until church was over. Sam didn’t consider himself a religious man and attended church sporadically. Annie usually attended church and he’d go along if she asked him to, but she never pushed him.

          He ordered the coffees. The girl on the counter seemed puzzled at the large order but he didn’t offer her any explanation. She gave him a carrier to put them all in. Sam took the coffees and turned to leave. He was not pleased to bump into Lex.

          “General Lane,” Lex said, his greeting not quite friendly but not quite cool either. “What a surprise to see you here. I wouldn’t think this was your kind of … that is …” He appeared to be backpedalling on whatever he was going to say.

          “I’m just getting coffee for the family. Annie’s feeling poorly and Lois is helping out with the guests.”

          The other man must have caught an edge in his voice and adopted an expression of concern.

          “Is everything all right? Is there anything I can do to help?”

          “No. You can’t,” he said shortly, heading for the door. Lex followed him, holding the door open.

          “General …”

          “I’m retired,” he snapped.

          “Is there a problem? I don’t understand the hostility. Especially after Chloe.”

          “That was then and this is now.” Instinct told him to shut up but he was angry enough that he chose to ignore those instincts. “I know you had something to do with my grand-daughter,” he accused.

          Lex tried to adopt an innocent look. “Your grand-daughter? Has something happened?”

          “We both know what’s happened, Luthor,” he growled. “And believe you me, when the kids find her, there will not be a rock big enough for you to crawl under. Especially when my son-in-law gets hold of you. If you think as a general I was hard on my troops, you’ll learn never to mess with a father.”

          Lex again tried to look innocent.

          “I really don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr Lane,” Lex said. “But as for Clark, you might be right. He’s very protective of his family. But then, he’s got good reason to be, wouldn’t you agree? We both know how special he is.”

          He still kept a poker face with the bald billionaire.

          “I don’t care what you think you know, Luthor, but I’m telling you, you’re wrong. Clark is a good, decent man. I’m warning you. Stay away from my family or there will be hell to pay. I might not be in the military anymore but I still have friends there.”

          Lex stared at him. “That sounds like a threat.”

          “You’ll know when I’m threatening you. Son.” He knew from the way Lionel had treated his son that the word would rankle. Sure enough, Lex visibly bristled. Sam turned away. “Luthor!” He walked away with all the dignity he could muster.

          He went over the conversation in his head as he drove back to the Inn, mentally berating himself for letting his emotions get away from him. Exactly what he’d told Clark not to do.

          “You idiot, Lane!” he told himself.

          a/n: In this last bit, I wanted to make the point that even a former army general can have his emotions overrule his common sense.

          Comment


          • #95
            Great chapter, even if not where I wanted to go.

            I was right there with Sam in my head was thinking about a second, longer incident for Kally😥

            That Sam was onto the Blur and the BDA?
            This was definitely a surprise, but one I like.

            As for the big Uh-oh?

            Really like how fully fleshed out and aware you have made Sam, especially after his original response to Lois' pregnancy and Kally's birth. Totally get how cool reason goes out the window when face to face with the cause of family worry, pain and misery. Was a bit shocked that Sam threatened Lex with the wrath of Clark.

            Still hoping for the shortest duration for Kally and wondering how they are gonna keep it mum with Jonathan's senate spotlight having having already highlighted Kally.

            Awesome story crafting as always. Really anxious for more🤗

            ~Stay safe.
            Last edited by Sykobee; 08-18-2020, 10:15 PM.

            Comment


            • #96
              Originally posted by Sykobee
              Great chapter, even if not where I wanted to go.

              I was right there with Sam in my head was thinking about a second, longer incident for Kally

              He's worried, not just for Kally. I know some will be thinking that I need to just get on with it and get Kally back to her parents, but sometimes there is a reason for chapters like these. It's a little bit of exposition, and a way for me to let Clark off the hook for not getting out there. If Sam's experience tells him anything, it's that when it's a loved one, he needs to think before he acts.
              That Sam was onto the Blur and the BDA?
              This was definitely a surprise, but one I like.
              I have never considered Lois' dad to be obtuse. Even though I've written his character in a couple of fics where he's not the good guy, in this story I wanted to show that he is aware that something isn't right, but he judges a man by his actions and his character and this is the way he looks at Clark. Especially for the way he stepped up and took responsibility for his daughter. All I'll say is, he doesn't know everything and only suspects. He also knows the importance of keeping secrets and this is his own way of supporting his family.
              As for the big Uh-oh?
              Really like how fully fleshed out and aware you have made Sam, especially after his original response to Lois' pregnancy and Kally's birth. Totally get how cool reason goes out the window when face to face with the cause of family worry, pain and misery. Was a bit shocked that Sam threatened Lex with the wrath of Clark.
              The one thing I love about Sam in this story is that I haven't just paid him lip service and he's not just a two-dimensional background character. He participates fully in family life and in many ways, I think my story is richer for it. As for the things he said to Lex, firstly, you're right, cool reason goes out the window. In hindsight, he's thinking he shouldn't have let Lex get to him, but when you're tired and worried, of course you're going to end up saying the wrong thing. As for his threat, he's coming at it from the point of view of a father, rather than Clark being super-powered. No good, loving father ever wants to see their child in danger and god help anyone who does that. That was all he meant. Of course, Lex will take it a different way, but he's Lex. For an exceptionally intelligent man, he can be really obtuse sometimes.
              Still hoping for the shortest duration for Kally and wondering how they are gonna keep it mum with Jonathan's senate spotlight having having already highlighted Kally.

              Awesome story crafting as always. Really anxious for more珞

              ~Stay safe.
              You'll notice they haven't mentioned anything about Clark's parents. Simply, they don't want to create more worry than they already have. As for Jonathan's senate spotlight, it's a concern, but the thing about Lex is he thinks there's more power in holding that information over their heads. Like he could find out the truth about Kally and go to the press. And they know it's not an empty threat.

              Comment


              • #97
                a/n: Sorry for the long delay in posting. I've got a full-time job until early December which has made for some very busy days. I've also been finishing off two university papers for a grad dip in psychology. I've only got an exam to go. Anyway, I've spent most of my spare time the last few days writing three chapters, the first of which is coming up. So the good news is I'll have a little more time to spend on writing. The bad news is, it won't be all fanfics as I need to finish my eighth novel and get it to a friend who will edit it for me.

                Having said that, let's get on with it.

                Chapter Thirty-Five

                Lois listened as Chloe talked about the Luthorcorp acquisitions.

                “I was right about the pharmaceuticals. Lionel bought stock in one not long before he died. Of course, Lex acquired it as part of his father’s estate.”

                “So he could have got the drug from there,” Lois confirmed with her cousin.

                “Okay, so that at least proves someone with some connection to either Luthorcorp or the company were able to get access to the drug,” Clark said. “But it’s not a smoking gun.”

                “It’s circumstantial at best,” Bruce said. Chloe shot him a glare, but he ignored it. “What else you got?”

                “Lex has a few new properties. For someone who nearly used up all his cash reserves a few months ago, he sure has money to burn.”

                “I wouldn’t worry too much about Lex’s finances,” Bruce told her. “He’ll have funds in accounts all over the world. He’s like a lot of rich a$sholes. They take advantage of the lack of tax laws in places like the Cayman Islands so they don’t have to pay tax.”

                “Yeah, why am I not surprised,” Lois said with a snort. In one of her classes in politics, they’d been debating the issue of taxation and some of her classmates had argued that rich people should be taxed more. Another had argued that it was pointless because they’d just choose to hide their money to avoid paying the tax.

                “So, where are some of these new properties?” Clark asked.

                “There’s one by the river. It’s called the Ridge Facility.”

                “Anywhere else?”

                She nodded, naming a few others that could be possibilities. Oliver spoke up.

                “I’ve had Bart, Victor and AC out doing recon on every known Luthorcorp facility. I knew about a few of these, but some of these others are new to me.”

                “This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Lois said, upset. Clark wrapped his arm around her and squeezed gently. She looked at him. “Don’t try and placate me, Smallville. I …” She frowned as the front door opened and her father came in. He looked a little worried.

                “Dad?”

                He put the tray of coffees he was holding down on the counter.

                “Uh, I think I’ve gone and done something rather foolish,” he said. “I ran into Luthor in town.”

                Clark looked at the older man. “What happened, sir?”

                He told them he’d revealed that something had happened to Kally and he’d basically threatened the bald man.

                “I should have known better,” he said. “I let my emotions get the best of me.”

                Clark shook his head. “No. I would have done the same thing,” he said.

                Bruce sighed. “I hate to play devil’s advocate, but I’m afraid it puts us in a bad position,” he said. “Now Lex knows we’re onto him and looking for Kally, he’s likely to move her around.”

                “Maybe not,” Lois said, musing aloud. “Maybe we can use that to our advantage.”

                Clark looked at her. “What are you thinking?”

                She pulled him aside. “If Lex is worried about us finding Kally before he has a chance to do something to her, then he’ll probably be making some, you know, calls.”

                He chewed on his lip and glanced over at Lois’s father. Lois shook her head.

                “Are you suggesting I … eavesdrop?” he asked.

                “Can you hear that far?”

                He nodded. “All right,” he said. “I’ll see what I can find out.” She knew from his expression that he was relieved to have something to do other than wait around for news. He disappeared out the back. She figured he wouldn’t want her parents seeing what he was doing. He didn’t have many tells, but she could always guess when he was using his super-hearing. He would tilt his head at an odd angle or just get this intense look of concentration. Almost as if he was constipated, she thought, snickering.

                Lois returned to her father’s side. Bubsy had just come down. She looked tired and pale, but otherwise okay. Lois hugged her stepmother.

                “You okay, Mom?” she asked softly.

                “I’m just worried,” the older woman returned. “I didn’t sleep very well.”

                Lois nodded. None of them had slept well. She’d managed to get maybe a couple of hours but it had been fitful dozing more than actual sleep.

                The front door burst open and Lucy came running in, almost tripping over. Bruce caught her. Ron came in behind her, clearly having driven her back to Smallville.

                “Whoa, slow down. You’ll hurt yourself.”

                Lucy stared wide-eyed at the Gotham billionaire. “What …”

                “Bruce,” he said. “I came to the wedding.”

                “Oh. Sorry.” She looked at Lois. “I couldn’t sleep a wink all night. Is there any news?”

                Lois shook her head. “Not yet.”

                Bruce continued to hold her gently. “We’re doing everything we can to find out what’s happened.”

                “If I’d been here …” Lucy began.

                Lois smiled gently at her sister. “I don’t think you could have done anything,” she said. “They drugged Mom and Dad.” Lucy looked stricken, immediately going to her father and Bubsy.

                “Oh my god. Are you guys okay?”

                Their father nodded. “A doctor friend of Mr Queen’s looked us over. We’re fine, sweetheart. Just worried.”

                “I bet it’s that Lex guy,” Lucy growled. “If I get my hands on that guy, I’m gonna …”

                “Don’t worry. Dad got there first,” Lois told her with a slight grin at her father. He grinned at her sheepishly.

                Clark, meanwhile, had sped to the windmill in Chandler’s field. He paced back and forth, trying to focus his super-hearing. He knew it wasn’t going to be easy. His mind was still on his daughter and he knew he needed to be fairly calm in order to concentrate. He couldn’t help thinking about the toddler and whether she was being hurt.

                You can’t think about that now, he admonished himself silently. You need to focus.

                He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes, letting the gentle breeze wash over him. He slowly relaxed, the sounds of the sleepy hamlet surrounding him. He remembered the first time he’d learned to use his super-hearing. It hadn’t been easy. Everything had been so loud and he hadn’t been able to tell one sound from another. He realised if he concentrated, he could filter out each sound until he heard what he needed.

                It took a minute or so for him to be able to focus. That minute felt like a lifetime. He heard the sound of Lex talking. His voice was slightly off, almost as if it was a recording and Clark realised he was talking on a cellphone.

                “Make sure the girl is secure.”

                “I’m not sure I like this,” the other voice said.

                “I’m not paying you to like it, doctor.”

                There was no way for Clark to tell where the doctor was but as he listened he began to understand what Lex’s plan was. He was hoping to extract some of Kally’s DNA to see if he could use it in whatever experiment he was involved in. If what Clark had read about Edward Groll in Luthorcorp’s files was true, he was involved in genetic research. Was Lex trying to do some sort of gene splicing to create a super soldier?

                He was torn. Part of him wanted to confront Lex while another part knew Lois needed him right now. It was one of the things that worried him about becoming the Blur. While he understood his girlfriend felt it was her job to support him when he needed it and to be a sounding board when he needed to work things out, he wondered if splitting his focus so much might prevent him from doing what he had to. His family was important to him, but there were going to be times where he had to put the needs of the rest of the world first. This time was a little different, since it was his daughter in danger.

                Lois was a big fan of the thriller genre and they’d watched a couple of movies where the main character’s family had been kidnapped to force him into doing something that went against his own code. Clark never wanted to find himself in that position but he knew with people like Lex around, it was almost inevitable. Lois was never going to be the kind of woman who would stand back and let him do everything. She would always be there fighting alongside him.

                Except for now, he thought as he made his way back to the inn. Lois was clearly too upset, too worried about Kally to think straight.

                When he returned, he watched as Bruce, Oliver and Sam argued over the best strategy. Sam Lane clearly thought his military training gave him more experience over the two billionaires. He wasn’t wrong, Clark thought. The problem was this was going to take more than military training to figure out where to go.

                Lois decided to interject before things got any worse.

                “Look, Dad, I get it, but this is going to take more than just military might. We don’t even know for sure that Lex’s people have Kally.” She must have heard Clark come in as she turned to look at him. He nodded.

                “I’d say it was pretty much self-evident,” Chloe said. “We know Lex has been circling for weeks.”

                “You’re being far too reasonable, Lois,” Bruce told her.

                “It’s called evidence, Bruce. And we don’t have any.”

                Chloe sighed. “Well, no, not without the security footage.”

                Clark frowned, remembering the camera footage. “Uh, question. If Dr Groll is some kind of a geneticist, how would he know to sabotage the tapes?”

                Lois looked at him. “That is a good question.”

                Oliver nodded. “He’s right. Dr Groll wouldn’t. Which means …”

                “The infamous Dr Groll wasn’t working alone,” Chloe finished. She turned back to the computer and pulled up the guest list. There had only been about half a dozen guests in the inn at the same time. Would it be enough for them to figure out who might have been working with Dr Groll?

                “Look, I hate to say it, but you’re assuming somebody else came with him,” Bruce said.

                “Maybe, maybe not,” Chloe replied patiently. Every moment they’d worked together, the blonde hacker and the Gotham billionaire had spent it arguing over who could do the job better. “I mean, if Dr Groll wasn’t the one who sabotaged the surveillance feed, someone else had to. And they had to know the software we were using. It’s not something that can be done with the snap of a finger.”

                “Well, that’s true,” Bruce conceded. Chloe shot him a derisive look. Clark glanced at Lois, who grinned.

                The two worked together to run background checks on all the other guests. Chloe ran cross-checks against any of her Luthorcorp files. One of the names popped up. A guy named Munro. He was a tech specialist in Luthorcorp’s security division. On top of that, he’d spent several years on active duty in the army before retiring.

                “Not just a pretty face after all,” Lois quipped, giving Clark a nudge.

                “Thanks,” he said.

                “This is good and everything but how does this help you find Kally?” Sam asked.

                “If we can find this Munro guy, I know a guy who can contact Green Arrow,” Oliver told him.

                “And I can give Commissioner Gordon a call since he seems to be the only one in Gotham who can contact Batman,” Bruce replied.

                Clark smiled. Oliver and Bruce seemed to have their covers all worked out. That was something he would need to think about for the future if he was going to use the same kind of tactic to ensure people didn’t identify him as the Blur.

                “That’s assuming that Munro’s not wherever they’re keeping Kally,” Lois replied.

                “If Lex is doing tests on Kally, they won’t need Munro,” Chloe replied. She wrote something down on a slip of paper. “Here’s his address.”

                Lois took the paper from her cousin before looking at Oliver and Bruce.

                “I know you probably think this is a bad idea, but I’m going. Clark?” she said, glancing at him.

                He nodded, realising she needed to be doing something, and if confronting someone like the tech specialist was her way of getting involved, then he wasn’t going to stop her.

                “I’m going with.”

                “So am I,” Sam said.

                Clark looked at the retired general. He understood the man was upset. Not only at what had happened earlier with Lex but also at the fact that someone had got the drop on him.

                “Sir, I appreciate …”

                Bruce trailed off as the older man shot him a look. “You think you can stop me, young man?”

                “Uh, no, sir. But at least let us contact Batman and Green Arrow in case you need back up.” He nodded his assent, promising to call if the need arose.

                “I want to go too,” Lucy said in protest. Clark had almost forgotten she was there.

                Her father turned to her. “Honey, I need you to help Annie. She’s still feeling poorly and we need someone to help with the guests.”

                She nodded. “Okay, Daddy.” Her smile was weak but she seemed to understand.

                Clark glanced at the other two men and shook his head slightly before they could protest. Having heard the older man’s story, he understood exactly why the general wanted to be involved.

                Lois watched her father go upstairs to change his clothes before glancing at Clark.

                “I’m not so sure about this,” she said.

                “I am,” Clark told her. “He’s hurt and he’s angry because he feels like he’s failed Kally. And us.”

                “But I’m not blaming him at all.”

                “It’s not about blame,” Bruce said gently. “After my parents died, I was so angry for a long time. I wanted to kill the guy who shot them. I very nearly did too. I think the point is your father needs to feel like he’s done something to rectify the situation.”

                Lois wondered if there was more to it than that. She pondered it as Clark drove them into the city, barely listening as her father instructed her boyfriend to keep the truck to just over the speed limit, while keeping a watch out for any law enforcement.

                She couldn’t help thinking that in some ways her dad still felt guilty for what had happened when Kally had been three months old. She had long forgiven him for that, but maybe he hadn’t quite forgiven himself.

                There was still the little matter of what he’d said to Lex. Lois had heard enough to think that he’d threatened the wrath of an angry father. It reminded her of a time when she’d been in grade school. A boy a little older than her had been bullying other kids and Lois had taken it upon herself to show the boy the error of his ways. She’d been taking karate lessons and thought she knew enough to be able to defend herself against the bully. When she’d stood up to him, defending a little nearsighted girl he’d been bullying, she realised she’d bitten off a little more than she could chew. He was at least a couple of inches taller than her and more than a few pounds heavier and she hadn’t yet learned how to use his weight and his height against him. They’d ended up rolling around on the playground. She managed to get in a few good licks, probably giving him a black eye, but he would have emerged the victor if a teacher hadn’t broken them up.

                They’d both been sent to the principal’s office and their parents had been called. Lois had told her father about the bully before, but hadn’t had much response from him. When he arrived at the principal’s office, she had been shocked to learn that he had not only heard everything she’d said about the bully, he also defended her actions. He’d read the principal the riot act for not taking action against the bullying. Then he’d promptly reprimanded the father of the bully, who, it turned out, had been a lieutenant under his command.

                Lois had still been suspended from school for a couple of days, but that was the extent of her punishment. Her father had never mentioned it again.

                She realised that there had been times when it hadn’t seemed he cared about her or Lucy, but when she’d really needed him, he’d been there. She understood what he’d meant by threatening the ‘wrath of Daddy’. Clark might be the Blur, but he was a father first. A father’s anger knew no bounds when it came to protecting his child. Regardless of any powers he might have.

                She couldn’t help but smile as she thought of the night she’d read Bruce the riot act. Clark still called her Mama Bear sometimes. She was equally protective of her child.

                “We’re here,” Clark said. Lois looked up. They were approaching the apartment building where Munro lived. It was a four-storey building, probably built some time in the early twentieth century. The paint work around the windows was showing a lot of wear and tear and the steps to the main entry looked worn.

                She crossed her fingers, hoping Munro was just cocky enough to think he wasn’t going to be identified.

                The three of them got out of the truck and went up the steps. Lois quickly looked to see if there was any kind of buzzer as her father reached for the door. It wasn’t locked.

                “I guess they don’t worry much about security,” he said.

                She nodded. Munro lived in what seemed to be a rather poor area of the city. For someone who worked in technology, he didn’t appear to be that well-off. Then again, she thought, there could be any number of reasons why that was.

                They walked up to the second floor and followed the corridor. Her father frowned.

                “Is that a baseball game?” he asked.

                Clark nodded. “Sure sounds like it.”

                Even Lois could hear someone yelling at what was probably the television. She made out enough to realise the speaker was disgruntled at one of the players.

                Clark knocked on the door and waited. And waited. He knocked a little more forcefully. Lois’ father sighed and tried the door handle. The door opened and he barged in without hesitation.

                There was a yell of surprise and she heard her father yell back.

                “On your feet, soldier!”

                Lois blocked the door while Clark moved to join the former general. The apartment wasn’t that large and she had a good view of the action. Munro was a small, barrel-chested man. He looked like he had done some weightlifting in the past but had clearly stopped at some point. The muscle had all turned to fat. Munro stared at his visitors.

                “Who the f*ck are you?”

                “Don’t bother!” the elder Lane snapped. “We know who you are and what you’ve done. Now you better start telling us where my grand-daughter is or there will be hell to pay. You understand me?”

                “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Munro said. “General …” His eyes widened as he realised how he’d addressed the older man. “I mean …”

                It was way too late for a denial, even if he tried to deny knowing who they were.

                “Where is she?” Clark growled. Lois watched her father take a step forward, a menacing look on his face. He grabbed the man by the collar of his grubby t-shirt.

                “You heard him. Where is my grand-daughter?”

                Munro stared for a moment. “I … I don’t know, sir. I swear to you. All I was told was to handle the surveillance. That was it. The doc and that other guy did the rest.”

                “What other guy?” Lois asked.

                “I don’t know. The doc let him in. He looked none too happy, either. The doc, I mean. Not the other guy. That one looked kinda like a thug, you ask me. He grabbed the kid and took her out then told me to do the job and split.”

                “Who told you to sabotage the cameras?” Clark asked.

                “I don’t know his name. He’s kinda pasty-faced. Dark hair. One of those executive types. Said if I did the job there’d be a bonus in my paycheck.”

                Lois wondered if he was lying to save his own skin. A man who worked with computer technology might be the type to save certain information. Given his poor living conditions, she figured he might try to use that information in the future, if he thought he could make some kind of profit from it.

                “You better not be lying to us, soldier,” her father barked.

                “I wouldn’t lie to a superior officer, General,” Munro told him. “I know you’re retired and all, but …”

                “You can take the man out of the army, but you can’t take the army out of the man. Or whatever,” Lois replied. Her father grinned at her.

                Clark, meanwhile, was glaring intently at the man. “I think you’re lying to us,” he said. “Giving us just enough information so we’ll leave. You’ve pretty much confessed to being at the scene of the crime. How about we let the cops deal with you?”

                “What? No!”

                “Then tell us who he is. You’re already an accessory to kidnapping,” Lois reminded him. “You know what they do in jail to guys who hurt children?” Not that they’d actually involved the police, but Munro didn’t need to know that, she thought.

                “You wouldn’t …”

                “Yes, they would,” Lois’ father told him. “I’m mad enough to beat you senseless. Now you tell my kids the truth or I’ll let my son-in-law have his turn with you.”

                Lois watched as the man paled and looked almost like he was going to throw up. She wasn’t surprised. Clark was a big enough man that he could look intimidating without even trying. When he was in full Papa Bear mode, he was scary.

                “Matthews. Regan Matthews. He’s like high up.”

                Comment


                • #98
                  A very hearty welcome back. Also congrats on the grad degree coursework. Thanks for the update. Still hoping Kally is found soon. Very, very glad that this one of the docs that rate update attention and time. Hoping that LC does soon too. Will be waiting for next installment and kudos for novel 8.

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Originally posted by Sykobee
                    A very hearty welcome back. Also congrats on the grad degree coursework. Thanks for the update. Still hoping Kally is found soon. Very, very glad that this one of the docs that rate update attention and time. Hoping that LC does soon too. Will be waiting for next installment and kudos for novel 8.
                    Thanks for the congrats. I'm exhausted. I focused a bit on this story because it's been so neglected. Mind you, so have the others, but I did leave this one in a tough place, so I wanted to resolve it. Little spoiler. Not this upcoming chapter but the next one will see the resolution.

                    Comment


                    • a/n: I managed to write quite a bit and decided to separate it into three chapters. 35, 36 and 37. Enjoy.


                      Chapter Thirty-Six

                      “He’s on Lex’s executive team,” Chloe told Lois when she called her cousin with the information. “It pretty much confirms this came from Lex.”

                      Lois wasn’t convinced. She knew somehow Lex would wriggle out of it. He was just that slippery.

                      They’d voted on whether to call the police and have Munro arrested but even her father decided against it. He was astute enough to realise that the local police might not look favourably on them for taking the law into their own hands. They’d left the man’s apartment, knowing full well Munro would be packing to leave town. Lois didn’t think it was the police he would be worried about so much as the wrath of his boss.

                      Her father was all for going and looking up Regan Matthews and beating the tar out of him.

                      “Dad, I don’t think that would help. If Regan’s one of Lex’s guys …”

                      “He might have some kind of insurance policy,” Clark finished. Lois knew the insurance policy was more or less a euphemism for whatever protection Matthews would have. It wouldn’t protect him if Lex suddenly decided he was a liability, however.

                      As they were about to leave in the truck, a black figure stood in front of the vehicle. Another figure in green leather jumped down to join him.

                      “I wouldn’t worry about the likes of Regan Matthews,” Batman said hoarsely. “Let us take care of that.”

                      “A little water-boarding wouldn’t go astray.”

                      Lois stared, outraged at her father’s suggestion of torture. “Daddy!”

                      “Uh, I think that’s illegal, sir,” Green Arrow replied.

                      Clark just grinned. “Worth a shot,” he said with a look at Lois’ father.

                      “Smallville! Don’t you dare!”

                      He just shot her an innocent look. Her dad laughed. Lois turned back to the two vigilantes.

                      “So, what happens now?” Batman looked at her.

                      “We’ll take care of Regan and see what we can get out of him. I think it’s best you three don’t get involved.”

                      “I can’t just sit around and wait,” Lois said. Her little girl was locked up somewhere, probably frightened. This wasn’t like last time. Last time the good doctor had at least had some sort of conscience.

                      “Neither can I,” her father said. “You find this Matthews and you hit the son of a ***** where it hurts.”

                      Oliver had turned away and appeared to be speaking to someone. He had a hand pressed up to his ear. Lois watched him for a few moments, glad for the way Batman was distracting her father so he wouldn’t overhear and possibly put the pieces together. Not that she thought he would worry too much. Especially with all he’d witnessed so far that morning.

                      Clark meanwhile was doing his best to keep a deadpan expression while listening to Oliver’s conversation with Chloe. Victor had apparently brought her some news. He’d managed to hack into one of Lex’s files and together they’d eliminated most of the facilities. There were a couple left. The Ridge Facility was one of them. The second was a lab Lex and Lionel had used to bankrupt a former business rival. Clark remembered it very well. He’d walked in on an ex-girlfriend of Lex’s who had been reading the file on Lex’s computer. He’d seen enough to remember the name. He’d thought the Luthors had closed it down after they had no further use for it.

                      From what he heard of the conversation, the information about the lab had been buried deep within Lex’s private files and Chloe had almost overlooked it when Victor had downloaded the information. She had kept detailed records on almost everything to do with Lex, but hadn’t known much about this one. It had been a lucky find on her part, going through some of Luthorcorp’s acquisitions from years ago. It had been officially recorded in the files as one of many projects Lex had supposedly abandoned. Clark snorted softly. Like everything with Lex, nothing was ever really abandoned. Just left to simmer in the background until he could find a use for it.

                      “Cadmus,” he said to himself, mentally smacking himself for having forgotten about the incident and not connected it with Kally’s disappearance. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

                      Oliver looked at him, but turned back to his conversation with Chloe. Clark glanced at his girlfriend and Sam. He desperately wanted to go to the lab, hoping Kally was there, but he had no idea how he was going to do so without the former general figuring it out.

                      He glanced back at Oliver, biting his lip. He was torn between wanting to help his friends and his family.

                      “What is it, Clark?”

                      He looked at Lois. “Uh, there’s this place. I can’t believe I forgot about it until now. Green Arrow’s contact thinks it’s a possibility.”

                      “Luthorcorp also has a facility by the river,” Oliver reminded him, careful not to reveal too much in front of the general. “But a new problem has cropped up. One of my people was on a recon at a Luthorcorp facility and he’s overdue. No one has seen or heard from him in at least two hours.”

                      “Who?” Lois asked.

                      “His name is Impulse.”

                      She looked puzzled. “You have a guy named Impulse?”

                      Clark grinned, practically seeing Oliver roll his eyes. “It’s a codename. I called him that because he acts a bit impulsive.” The blond man glanced at Clark with an odd expression.

                      Clark realised what the name really denoted. An electrical charge. Bart had got his speed force from some kind of electrical charge. It was very unlike Bart not to keep in contact. Which meant he was in trouble.

                      There was no way Cadmus Labs could keep someone like Bart. Not without serious drugs.

                      “My contact says the Ridge Facility has had a serious tech upgrade in the past few weeks,” Oliver told them. “We’re talking heavy hardware.”

                      Clark nodded. Oliver had been sending Bart on reconnaissance missions to try to get information on some of the 33.1 facilities Lex had been developing around the globe. Given Bart’s speed and his ability to practically walk on water, he was able to run the distance. He wondered if Lex had built something purposely designed in the hope that he would be able to capture Bart.

                      “There is no way I’m going to just stand by and wait,” Sam said, joining in the discussion. “If you think you have a lead with this Cadmus Labs, son, then you, Lois and I will go check it out.” He looked at Batman. “You can go after Regan Matthews, but I’m going to get my grand-daughter. Any objection to that?”

                      Batman regarded him silently, then spoke in a gruff voice.

                      “No, sir. I know better than to get in your way.”

                      “Good. Now, how do we find this Cadmus Labs?” Sam asked.

                      “I don’t know,” Clark said.

                      “But I bet Chloe does,” Lois replied, pulling her cellphone out of her bag. She quickly called her cousin and got the address. Clark watched her write it down. It was about an hour’s drive from their current location, on the opposite side of the city from the river, where the Ridge Facility was.

                      Lois drove the truck while Clark discussed a strategy with Sam. The older man suggested using military tactics, while Clark just wanted to barge straight in. His future father-in-law was adamant that was the wrong strategy.

                      “Listen to an old warhorse, son. I know you and Lois like to snoop around a bit with your newspaper stuff, but you want to assess the situation first. Figure out your best entry points. You don’t want to get trapped in a corner and you sure as hell don’t want to get caught in a crossfire either.”

                      “I doubt they’ll have guns, Daddy. Not if Kally’s there.”

                      “Maybe. Maybe not. But you really want to take that chance? Now here’s what I suggest. We get the lay of the land before we do anything. I don’t suppose you got any binoculars in this truck, do you?”

                      Clark chewed his lower lip. He never needed them. Ever since he’d begun to develop what he liked to call his x-ray vision, he’d been able to adjust his vision so he could see over long distances.

                      “Uh, no,” he said. “There’s never really any call for them on the farm.”

                      “I suppose not. Well, we’ll just have to figure something out,” the older man said. He glanced at Lois. “Where are we, honey? I don’t recognise this part of the city.”

                      “We’re close to Suicide Slum,” Clark told him. “It’s a pretty bad part of the city.” He could see homeless people sitting in doorways. The streets were dirty, as if they hadn’t been swept in months. Trash had piled up in the gutters.

                      “I hope your hunch is right, son. Ugh. I’d hate to think of little Kally in a place like this.”

                      “Me too,” Lois said, making a face. She stopped the truck on the kerb and nodded her head toward a building a few yards away. It was a three-storey building. The first level looked like any other storefront. The windows had been smashed and someone had spray painted obscene words and images all over the grey brick. It didn’t see any different from all the other old stores which had clearly been closed for some time.

                      Clark understood why the lab’s purchase had bankrupted the Luthors business rival if this was the state the building was in.

                      Lois moved to get out of the truck but her father stopped her.

                      “No. Let’s just wait a few minutes and see what we can see.”

                      Clark took advantage of the moment to use his x-ray vision, trying to see the inner sanctum.

                      “Hey, isn’t that the guy Munro was talking about?” Lois asked.

                      Clark let his vision return to normal to look at the man she was pointing out. She was right. He looked exactly how the other man had described. Like a thug. He stood outside in the alleyway, leaning against the side door, smoking a cigarette. It looked like he hadn’t spotted the truck.

                      “Watch and learn, son.” Clark turned as Sam got out of the truck and walked across the road, going into the alleyway. He listened in as the older man began to speak to the thug.

                      “We’re a little lost,” the former general told the other man. “You wouldn’t happen to know where East and seventh is, would you?”

                      The man frowned. “East and seventh? Uh, no. Sorry, man.”

                      Clark could see the older man studying the building, but the thug didn’t seem to notice. It looked as if he didn’t recognise Sam at all.

                      “Are you sure you don’t know it?” the general was saying. “I was sure my map said it was around here somewhere.”

                      “Clark?” Lois spoke in a low voice. “What’s going on?”

                      He glanced at her. “I think your dad’s trying to stall the other guy so he can get a good look around.”

                      “Did you, you know, use your vision gizmo?”

                      He snickered. “Vision gizmo? Yeah, you’re making me sound like, I don’t know, that gremlin thing.” They'd recently watched an old movie which was about a cute little creature that could reproduce if it got wet and turned into a monster if fed after midnight. Clark had enjoyed it but Lois had thought it was stupid.

                      She rolled her eyes. “Will you just look in the building already?”

                      He glanced back to the alley. Sam was still talking to the other man. He tried x-raying the building once more. He spotted several figures but all of them were tall. If Kally was there, she was well-hidden.

                      “What is this place, anyway?” Lois asked.

                      Clark told her what Lex and his father had done. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this place before.”

                      “Don’t beat yourself up, Smallville. That’s my job,” she added with a smirk. He rolled his eyes at her. “Besides, you said you thought Lex had closed it down. You wouldn’t have had any reason to think of it.”

                      “I guess that’s true,” he replied.

                      The truck door opened. Clark looked around and realised the thug had gone back in the building.

                      “There’s some kind of access lock,” Sam said. “I couldn’t get a good look at it, but there’s no way we can just walk in. What about your friend, Green Arrow? Or Batman?”

                      “We don’t have time to wait for them,” Lois said. “Not if Kally’s inside.”

                      “What about above?” Clark asked. “Did you see anything that looked like some kind of fire escape?”

                      “If it is, it’ll probably be at the rear of the building. They’ve got cameras outside. I spotted one on the corner.”

                      Clark was worried. If Dr Groll was there, running his tests or whatever, and had seen the general on the camera, it might have already blown their cover. Sam nodded when he voiced his concern.

                      “I thought about that but I figure if the doctor is inside, he’ll be more occupied with whatever he’s doing to worry about looking in some security monitor. I think I had that guy convinced we were just lost.”

                      He suggested Lois drive around the corner so the truck was out of sight and they all double back on foot. Clark still wanted to barge in but he knew the general was just trying to help him learn a different way of dealing with things. It was probably the wisest choice, he thought. He had no idea if there was any Kryptonite inside.

                      They discussed a new plan. Clark suggested he find the fire escape and see if he could enter the building that way. Lois pulled him aside.

                      “What if they have you know what?” she asked quietly.

                      “That’s why I figure if I use the fire escape I might be able to get on one of the other levels and that’ll give me some distance.”

                      Sam suggested they try to find another door that wasn’t secured by any kind of system while Lois was all for trying to break in through the secured access door anyway. Her father quickly vetoed that idea.

                      “I’d rather not go to defcon one before we even get inside,” he told his daughter. She grinned at him.

                      They had at least the makings of a plan. Clark left his girlfriend and her father to try to figure out another way in without alerting those inside while he used his abilities to leap up to the top level of the building. There was a door on the roof but it was locked. He broke it, careful to do so quietly and entered.

                      From what he could tell, most of those inside were on the first level. The second level had a mezzanine floor where he presumed observers could watch experiments in the lab at a safe distance. He made his way down to that floor, keeping to the shadows, using his super hearing to tune in on the conversations.

                      He heard what sounded like shouts of alarm and footsteps running toward one of the doors. He focused and sighed. Lois and her father had been spotted by one of the guards. He found a vantage point and watched from above as his girlfriend and the older man were brought in. Two of the guards held weapons on them.

                      Lois and her dad looked oddly calm. Clark sighed again. Knowing Lois, she had probably persuaded her father to let them get caught, thinking that would give them a way in. He saw her eyes darting to and fro and figured she was trying to spot him.

                      A man in a stained lab coat glared at them. Clark studied him, trying to memorise the man’s face. He wondered where Dr Groll was.

                      “You wanna explain why you two were snooping around?”

                      “It was in the tour package,” Lois told him smartly.

                      The man growled in annoyance and lifted his hand about to slap her. Sam grabbed his wrist and growled at him.

                      “Don’t. Touch. My. Daughter.”

                      “And who are you?”

                      Sam shook his head. “Name, rank and serial number is all you’ll get from me.”

                      “I see,” the man returned coolly.

                      One of the other lab workers approached him. Clark listened in to the whispered conversation.

                      “Dr Groll’s on his way back in. He said to keep them here until he hears from the boss.”

                      “And?”

                      The worker shrugged. “Dunno. All I heard was there was some kind of trouble down the river.”

                      That sounded like Oliver was already at the Ridge Facility. Clark listened to more of the conversation. It sounded like they’d been given orders to lock down the lab making sure no one got in or out. If Dr Groll was on his way back to the building, it either meant Kally was still in the lab somewhere or the doctor had taken her somewhere.

                      Clark wondered if Lex, knowing they figured he had something to do with Kally’s kidnapping, had decided to temporarily shut down all his projects thinking Clark might somehow figure out the truth. It was frustrating and terrifying at the same time. He couldn’t help thinking about the last time Kally had been kidnapped. How frightened she had been, especially when he’d lost his temper and practically destroyed the lab. He curled his hand in a tight fist, a tic throbbing in his jaw as he thought about his little daughter and what Lex might be doing to her. If Lex was standing in front of him right now, it wouldn’t take much for him to land a knockout blow to the other man.

                      He glanced down. Lois and her father clearly hadn’t heard anything that was said and he had no way to warn them that Dr Groll was returning. The other men didn’t recognise them, but the doctor would. He needed to figure out what to do before that happened.

                      He heard footsteps behind him and turned, ready to fight whoever it was. Batman smirked at him.

                      “I thought you were chasing down Matthews?” Clark asked in a low voice.

                      “Oh, don’t worry. I took care of that. He’s squared away until we’re ready to deal with him. What’s happening here?”

                      Clark told him what had happened. The other man’s expression was cool, but he didn’t seem surprised at the way Lois and her father had got ‘caught’.

                      “She does that a lot, doesn’t she?”

                      Clark shrugged. “She wouldn’t be Lois if she wasn’t getting herself into trouble at least once a week.” He chuckled softly. For as long as they’d been together, his girlfriend was always getting into scrapes, especially while she was chasing down whatever story she was working on. That meant he was always getting her out of trouble. As troublesome as that could be, it was part of what he loved most about her. She just wasn’t the kind of woman who could sit back and wait for the answers to come to her. She had to make things happen.

                      Bruce made a non-committal shrug. “Better you than me. Anything on Kally?”

                      “I x-rayed the whole place. Unless they’ve got a room lined with lead, I don’t think she’s here. I think maybe Lex ordered Dr Groll to take her somewhere else.”

                      “That’s logical. What do you want to do?”

                      “We need to find out where he’s taken her. You didn’t get any answers from Regan?”

                      “Not yet. There’s still time.”

                      “Who are you?”

                      Clark turned, startled by the voice of the security guard. Great, he thought as he and Bruce started toward the man. There was nothing for it now. If they were all going to get out of here without Lex knowing, they would have to fight their way out.


                      Note: In case you're curious about Sam's attitude, he's trying to impart his wisdom in his own way. It's a small way of him encouraging Clark without actually coming out and saying what he suspects.

                      Comment


                      • Love the "tour package" 🤣 I love how everyone has there own insider knowledge and is trying to help without being obvious about what they know, can do, or are. This is moving right along, yay! Can't wait for the next one. Thanks again.

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Sykobee
                          Love the "tour package" 藍 I love how everyone has there own insider knowledge and is trying to help without being obvious about what they know, can do, or are. This is moving right along, yay! Can't wait for the next one. Thanks again.
                          I couldn't help the Lois quip. Even in a crisis she can still come up with them. As for everyone doing what they're doing, I thought it would be cool to see everyone pitching in in their own way. New chapter coming right up.

                          Comment


                          • Chapter Thirty-Seven

                            “I want my daddy!” The girl was screaming, biting and kicking the man who tried to hold her down. Lex watched from the monitor. He might have had sympathy for the girl if he hadn’t already been so pissed. Green Arrow and his cohorts had destroyed the Ridge Facility in a massive explosion. He’d lost a lot of his research in the process.

                            He touched the cut on his cheek. That green-costumed a$shole had fired an arrow on him. Lex had no idea whether the other man had intended to actually seriously injure him or just fire a warning shot. Given the man’s skill, he was sure it had been just a warning, but he wouldn’t have put it past the jerk to attempt murder.

                            The screams on the monitor had reached a high pitch and he winced. He already had a throbbing headache from tripping over some debris while evacuating the facility. He’d almost knocked himself out and bruised his arm badly when he’d thrust it out to try to stop the fall.

                            The little girl screamed again and the man guarding her smacked her, which only served to make her even more outraged. Lex groaned. What was it with toddlers and their ability to scream so loud it was almost deafening?

                            Dr Groll’s tests had failed to turn up anything remarkable, except for one thing. The girl had a slightly higher-than-normal metabolism. Which probably wasn’t that unusual by itself. The whole scheme would have been a colossal failure, except for the DNA. That might be useful in future.

                            Lex was in a quandary. He didn’t want anyone to connect him to the kidnapping. It was bad enough that the general had accused him of it, although luckily no one had been around to actually witness the conversation. There were still others who could go to the authorities, which would seriously curb his activities. The one thing Lex knew about being a minor celebrity in a small community, it was that it was difficult to hide his movements. Everyone in that town seemed to know what he was doing.

                            He’d already made plans to move to the city, but that was before he’d decided to make his move on Clark’s offspring. He’d been hoping to prove his theory about Clark once and for all and use it to manipulate his former friend. After all, the government wouldn’t look too kindly on a senator harbouring a man with dangerous abilities. He was sure he could blackmail the senator into pushing through approval for some of his projects stalled by red tape.

                            Well, at least one thing was taken care of, he thought. He’d made sure once Groll had handed the child over to a local criminal faction Lex often employed when he needed grunt work that the doctor would never make it back to Cadmus. The man’s widow and children would be well taken care of. As much as he hated to get rid of such a brilliant geneticist, the man was a liability. He hadn’t wanted to be part of the kidnapping but Lex had threatened to fire him and then blacklist him with every other facility that might have employed him.

                            He’d already sent another of the faction to take care of his other problem, only to realise that the tech specialist had somehow been warned and had skipped town already.

                            He continued to watch the monitor. The men had been told not to do anything to physically harm the child. Lex did, after all, have some boundaries. Not that the gang knew who actually employed them. He always had Regan Matthews do his dirty work and the jobs were always paid in cash. Cash was untraceable.

                            As he sat contemplating the situation, his phone rang. He debated ignoring it but picked it up.

                            “Yes?”

                            “Sir, there’s something on the local news. About Edward Groll. He worked in my division last year.”

                            Lex pretended to show concern at the grieved tone of his regional VP’s voice. “What’s wrong, Miss Mercer?”

                            “Well, sir, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it appears he was shot in a mugging gone wrong. He’s dead.”

                            He made a sound as if to imply shock. Tess went on to explain that Groll had been killed less than an hour earlier. His car had broken down somewhere near Suicide Slum and he’d been trying to fix it when he’d been confronted by a gunman. Witnesses had claimed the man had shouted at the geneticist, demanding his wallet, when he’d fired the gun at point blank range.

                            Lex made the appropriate noises during the conversation and was about to hang up when he sensed she had something else for him.

                            “What is it?”

                            “Well, I called the office and was told to make a report to Regan Matthews in your stead. But I can’t reach him and no one knows where he is. That’s why I called you directly, sir.”

                            Lex frowned but chose not to voice his immediate concern. “I see. Thank you, Miss Mercer. That’ll be all.”

                            “But aren’t you …”

                            “I will handle this personally,” he said.

                            He glanced at the monitor and realised that while he’d been distracted with the phone conversation that chaos had erupted within the building. An arrow was embedded in the wall less than a yard away from the camera.

                            Two hours earlier

                            Oliver left the now destroyed Ridge Facility with a sense of satisfaction for a job well done. Victor had been able to access the digital records at the Ridge Facility. It had not only told them the locations of several other 33.1 facilities around the world, but also where Bart was being kept. Luthor had had a cell set up with pressure plates which would deliver some kind of electrical shock at a voltage that would kill a normal person. If Bart stopped in one place for even a second, he would be jolted.

                            Fortunately, they were able to get in and shut it down, letting Bart out before they blew the facility to kingdom come. Knowing Lex had been intending to use the facility to study people with unusual abilities, Oliver had decided that blowing it up was the only option.

                            His communicator beeped and he touched it to activate it.

                            “Arrow here.”

                            “Arrow, this is Watchtower. What’s your status?”

                            “Watchtower?” He frowned at Chloe’s voice, then shrugged. He supposed the codename was as good as any. “We’re free and clear.”

                            “Good. Batman needs your assist.” She gave a location about five miles away. An underground bunker Batman obviously used when he was in Metropolis and needed to keep his equipment hidden.

                            “What’s there?”

                            Chloe went on to explain that Batman had captured Regan Matthews and was holding him. Oliver’s job was to get information out of him while Batman went to see if he could assist Clark and Lois at Cadmus. Oliver grinned. He had got to know the younger couple a little over the summer and was well aware of Lois’ penchant for getting into trouble. With her father tagging along, it would probably be ten times worse.

                            He left the three others to make their way to his penthouse apartment so Bart could recover and rode to the bunker on his motorcycle. He was greeted by a man in his late sixties. Alfred.

                            “Ah, you must be Green Arrow,” Alfred said. Oliver frowned but said nothing, realising the butler was treating him as a stranger for the benefit of the man currently sitting on a chair. Oliver could see he was handcuffed. He had a rather large bruise on his cheek. Yet he didn’t look at all worried.

                            “If you think your tactics are going to work on me,” Matthews was saying.

                            “I think, young man, you’d do better to revise that thinking.”

                            Alfred pulled Oliver aside. “The little girl was not at Cadmus. Batman believes she was taken elsewhere. He hopes you might be able to find out where.”

                            Oliver nodded in understanding. He returned to stand in front of Matthews.

                            “I’m going to ask you one question. Now we can either do this the hard way or the easy way. Me? I prefer the easy way.” He held up his compound bow. “But if you prefer the hard way …”

                            “Ask your question!” Matthews snapped.

                            “Where is the little girl?”

                            “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

                            “Wrong! Answer!” As much as he disliked the thought of using torture, he knew that if he allowed someone like General Lane at the man, the military man wouldn’t hesitate to use whatever expertise he had to get the information on his grand-daughter. “I’ll ask you again. And let me remind you, you are an accessory to kidnapping. If you choose to refuse, I’ll just wait and let her grandfather at you. I’m sure you know of General Lane’s reputation.”

                            The prisoner visibly flinched. Oliver again showed his compound bow and made as if he was going to pull an arrow out of the quiver.

                            “You really think Luthor cares what happens to you? You’re expendable!”

                            He could tell the other man believed every word. It still didn’t convince him. Oliver didn’t want to use torture but he wasn’t sure he had any other choice. Unless he tried something else, he thought.

                            “Listen, I get it. Working for Luthor, it’s probably good money. But do you really want to work for a boss who expects his people to not only do all his dirty work for him but go to prison for him as well?”

                            Matthews looked at him, clearly thinking it over. “Besides,” Oliver continued. “I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when that little girl’s parents find you. Let me tell you something. You might not care what happens to that child, but they do. Believe me, if anything does happen to her, they will hold you personally responsible. You get my drift?”

                            “Why should I help you?”

                            “Because I have the power to do something about it,” he told Regan. “Because I’ll be the one holding that little girl’s dad back from beating the crap out of you. I’m not sure about her grandfather though. From what I hear, General Lane can be a mean son-of-a-b!tch if he’s tested.”

                            Oliver continued to talk, making sure the other man knew exactly what Kally’s family would do to him. Regan finally groaned.

                            “Enough! I get the picture!”

                            He told Oliver where to find the little girl. There was a private nightclub that Lionel had once owned a percentage of. The majority shareholder had been a man who had died nearly three years earlier. He’d controlled much of the organised crime in the city. The club had been closed for a little while but was apparently being used by the gang once more. It was the worst place to take a two-year-old.

                            Oliver left the bunker, leaving Alfred to handle Regan and relay the message to the family. He went to the club, leaving the motorcycle in the alleyway and found his way to the rooftop of the club. As he entered, he heard enough to realise the gang was considering a ransom. Kally was screaming, calling for her parents and refusing to listen to a single word any of the men present were saying to her.

                            He crashed through the plate glass window separating the office from the rest of the club, firing an arrow so it embedded in the wall next to where one of the men was standing. Oliver spotted a camera but before he could do anything he was surrounded by half a dozen men. He began fighting them off and was ‘helped’ by a little dark-haired dynamo. Kally was still screaming, the sound enough to distract most of the men. Oliver heard the click of a gun and started to turn. The toddler kicked the gunman in the shin. It probably wasn’t a very hard kick but it forced him to lower the gun in order to take care of his leg. Kally stood over him with a stern look on her face and mumbled something as if telling him off.

                            Oliver stood there laughing at the thought of a man just a few inches shorter than himself bested by a toddler. He got down on his knees and held his arms out, hoping she would realise that he was there to help her, not hurt her.

                            “Hey, baby,” he said. “I’m here to take you home to your mommy and daddy.”

                            Kally looked up at him. “Mommy?” Her expression was hopeful. She hesitated a little and he sent her a reassuring smile, telling her silently that he was one of the good guys. She was too young really to understand the difference, but he figured the open gesture, and the fact that he'd been fighting some of the men might convince her.

                            He nodded. “That’s right, sweetheart.” She ran to him and he scooped her up into his arms.

                            The six men on the floor just groaned in defeat. Oliver chuckled. He doubted any of them would be reporting what really happened. Kally was definitely as feisty as her mother and as bold and brave as her father, he thought.

                            He took her away, out the front door of the club this time. The club staff, who had been cleaning but had obviously heard the commotion, just stared at him. As he left, Kally reached up to take his glasses.

                            “No, sweetie,” he said.

                            “Why?” she asked.

                            “Because they’re secret glasses.” It was too simple an explanation but she seemed satisfied. Her eyes widened as she turned away.

                            “Mommy! Daddy!”

                            Lois and Clark ran to her and gathered their daughter in their arms, all three babbling, while Sam Lane wrapped his arms around his family and held them close. Lois was crying, but she looked up long enough to realise where they were.

                            “Smallville!” she said.

                            Clark nodded. “I know.”

                            Lois’ father looked puzzled. “What is it?”

                            “This is where Clark and I met three years ago,” Lois told him.

                            “It was also the headquarters of a local crime boss,” Clark added.

                            “It still is,” Oliver said. He turned to look back at the club. “There’s six of them in there, licking their wounds. You should have seen Kally,” he added. “She gave ‘em hell.”

                            Sam laughed. “That’s my girl,” he crowed, taking her from Lois and lifting the giggling toddler in the air. “She’s a Lane, through and through.”

                            Oliver watched as the family walked back to the truck. Clark made sure the others were in the truck before he turned and smiled in gratitude at Oliver. He got in the truck and drove off.
                            Last edited by phoenixnz; 11-05-2020, 11:12 AM.

                            Comment


                            • 😍 Mom and Dad's tiny tornado! Glad she's safe and relativity unscathed. Wonder what the GramsKent will say after the fact. And poor Dr. Groll, Lex is a notoriously horrible boss.
                              Thanks for the three quick updates. Will BOLO for more.
                              Good luck & stay safe

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by Sykobee
                                😍 Mom and Dad's tiny tornado! Glad she's safe and relativity unscathed. Wonder what the GramsKent will say after the fact. And poor Dr. Groll, Lex is a notoriously horrible boss.
                                Thanks for the three quick updates. Will BOLO for more.
                                Good luck & stay safe
                                Somebody definitely takes after her mother. She's not totally unscathed and that will start to show itself. As for the Kents, they won't be happy.

                                Poor Dr Groll is right. Lex will get his just desserts, just in a different way.

                                New chapter is ready.

                                Comment

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