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.
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.
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