Disclaimer: see ch1
A/N: So it looks like my writing is slowing down. The next update might take some time.
A/N2: MWAHAHA! Teh Evol is MEEEE!
Chapter 3- Baring of the Wolf
“. . . there was about him a suggestion of lurking ferocity, as though the Wild still lingered in him and the wolf in him merely slept.”
Jack London
As Clark continued to talk to her, Lois marveled. She couldn’t believe how fast it took for Clark to lose interest in Chloe. “The boy had to have noticed something.” Lois could never understand what it was about Clark that inspired loyalty in her cousin. Of course people said that about herself in regards to Chloe, but that was only because she was abrasive and people never bothered to look any further. However, while she knew that she wasn’t an authority on Clark Kent, she honestly hadn’t seen any reason other than the fact that he was beyond pretty. And she had been trying. Lois loved Chloe. Chloe got her like no one else and that was why she was willing to moderate her naturally big mouth. Chloe’s regard, once earned, could never truly be lost unless that person was a complete and utter jackass.
So as Clark talked about some issue or another, she watched as Chloe talked with Lana. “Chloe’s body language is hostile.” Lois might not have noticed a real change in Chloe’s body language as she was talking with her, but it was obvious as she spoke with Lana. It was even slightly apparent as she stood next to Clark. Chloe had leaned away from Clark. Chloe usually stood firmly in his personal bubble. Clark never minded because they were exceptionally close friends. Lana and Chloe’s conversation afforded her the ability to objectively look at Chloe.
Lois took in Chloe’s stance. “It’s wide. To stabilize. Stabilize for what?” Chloe’s eyes seemed to dart over Lana’s body. “As if she’s looking for something.” Lois trailed her eyes over Lana in much the same path as Chloe’s. “What could she possibly be looking for?” If the gravity of the situation had been any less, Lois might’ve been tempted to make an internal comment on how Chloe could’ve been looking for a brain or even an errant thought in that vapid exterior. And then Lois saw Chloe’s eyes move to Lana’s. And something she thought she’d never see happened. Lana dropped her eyes for a split second. Lana’s head actually ducked and her eyes lowered. “What the hell?”
But something else happened to trump even that and make Lois’ eyes widen and a gasp to almost slip from her lips. Chloe’s entire body posture changed. No longer was irritation and hostility evident in her frame. No longer did she seem like she wanted to be anywhere other than standing in front of Lana speaking with her. Chloe *relaxed*. It didn’t last for long. And then Lana’s and Chloe’s conversation apparently came to an end. Lois didn’t think that Chloe had even realized what was going on. She also didn’t think that Lana realized what had happened either.
Lois was certain that Chloe was most likely too busy trying to seem as if nothing was wrong for her benefit. Lois watched Chloe leave the Talon. Her body language alert. “As if she’s anticipating an attack of any sort.” If Lois, for even a second, had thought about not uncovering what was going on with her cousin then what she had just witnessed steeled her resolve.
“Lois? Earth to Lois.”
Lois came back to the present when she heard Clark call her name in irritation and wave his hand in front of her face.
“Sorry Clark.” Lois actually tried to look repentant but she knew that such a look wasn’t something she could fake. She was too direct to be subtle and she had long ago come to grips with that fact.
“What was so important that for the last few minutes I might as well have been talking to the cows?”
Lois could not believe that Clark would actually liken her to a cow. If Lois had been a lesser person, she might’ve decked the guy. “Negative reinforcement would do wonders on Farmer Ted.”
“Did you actually imply that I was a cow? Seriously Clark, were you raised in a field or just in the barn itself?”
Lois felt a momentary twinge as Clark’s eyes actually darkened. “I suppose I very nearly came close to impugning the honor of his most sainted mother.” But Clark was too much of a stand-up guy to say anything in reply. She watched as Clark glanced to his watch.
“Lois, I’ve got chores to do.”
“Clark, don’t be mad. It was a joke. It would be just like if someone asked me if I lived under power lines as a child. Nothing to get your flannel in a bunch over.”
Clark shook his head and a small smile danced across his features. “Did you see what just happened there? You actually came close to apologizing. Maybe we’re making progress after all. I actually do need to head home. I’ll talk to you later.”
Lois watched him leave. She finished drinking her coffee, Chloe’s untouched coffee, and ate the chocolate chip muffin. Lois left soon after, her mind busily considering the best way to approach Chloe. No matter what people thought of her, she’d never do anything to hurt Chloe or to alienate her, but she couldn’t leave Chloe to deal with a problem that was as big as this one seemed to be.
********
It was a shame that Clark, Lois, and Chloe were all too wrapped up in their own concerns and as a consequence missed the pair of eyes that had tracked Chloe from the time she entered the Talon until she left.
It was in moments like these that Samuel Kale appreciated the swift, progressive turns that technology underwent every few months. Competition made the world go ‘round. Bluetooth was probably one of the best inventions to hit the market. It made talking on the phone such an inconspicuous thing. The conversation taking place would’ve proven to be interesting no matter who overheard. But it held particular importance to Chloe and would’ve provided a less ephemeral lead for Lois.
“Boss, Patient 081 just left the Talon. The second surveillance unit is moving into place.”
Kale listened for a response and when none was forthcoming, he continued, “We have the recordings from the microphones Miss Lang so industriously placed around the Talon. This would be much easier if you simply gave me the authorization to enter 081’s apartment.”
The cultured tones that filled his ear were bored, “If she is what we think she is and if she is capable of what we think she is then she will know that her residence has been violated. Simply do as you are told and improvise as little as possible.”
“We might be having a few problems with the future Missus Luthor. She insists on more involvement.”
“I pay you quite handsomely for your services because you are one of the best at what you do. If you can’t manage a simple woman, then perhaps it is time for your severance pay.”
Kale was not an idiot. Had he been any less smart, he knew that he would’ve found himself in a cell. Instead of bowing under the weight of the circumstances of his childhood, he got his degree in psychology and joined the marines. It’s what made him so good at what he did. Well, that and the fact that he looked pretty ordinary. He was someone that no one would be able to describe to a sketch artist simply because few people would actually remember that he was anywhere near the scene. There was nothing distinguishing about him. As a younger man, Kale was often bothered by this fact. But the money and the respect he garnered made it inconsequential. It was because of the fact that he was one of the best that he knew a threat when he heard one.
The voice on the other end of the phone continued, “She is still a serviceable asset. Dr. Langston assures me that all is progressing as planned. After this is over, she will be replaced. Until then, deal with her arrogance and her need to be something more than she is. Let her feel important and clever. Are we clear?”
“Yes, Boss, we’re clear.”
Like Lois, Samuel Kale finished his coffee and took the time to reflect. When he left, it was with a much clearer mind and a more solid plan to deal with the small town girl he was being forced to accommodate. “Maybe I’ll get to kill her when all is said and done.”
********
After Clark finished his chores, he went to the barn to be alone. He hadn’t been angered over Lois’ insinuations and slight insult, but he did feel the need to do some quiet reflection. Of course, most people would’ve called it brooding or being needlessly angsty.
Clark was no fool. He knew that his view of the world was limited. It had to be. His gifts were too strong to allow for him to be as dynamic as other people. Clark knew that he wedged the people in his life into roles. His mother and father could never be more than that to him. He couldn’t let them be friends. They had to serve as the code by which he lived his life. Martha had to always be the person that took care of him. That protected him with remarkable ferocity. His father had to always remain the rigid, moral force in his life. Lana had to be the girl to which he aspired to have. She was perfect in his eyes. Pure. She needed him and no matter whose arms she ran to, or what plans and actions she engaged in, she had to be *that* girl for him. And Chloe…Chloe had to be his best friend. Chloe occupied that place in his life that served as an example.
If Jonathan and Martha were the road that he traveled, then Chloe was the compass that he held in his hand every step of the way. She showed him how to be better. His parents lectured, they proselytized the virtues of strength and honor, but they were never examples of what it meant to be those things the way that Chloe was. She was alive and dynamic. She never lectured him, but with every action she took she showed him how to be better. Her tenacity, her strength, her thirst for knowledge and truth were manifest in everything she did. How could he, a man whose gifts elevated him, be any different?
He could clearly see the scale of any obstacle that was thrown his way, but the minutia of life and all that it entails were obscured to him because he couldn’t allow himself to become too invested in those things. Clark knew that if such things became paramount to him, then he could easily descend into thinking that he was superior and not merely gifted. His role as protector was not a mantle that he had donned willingly, but a burden placed on his shoulder by the mere fact that he was what he was and his parents reinforced this. It would’ve been so easy to chafe at this, but the people in his life that filled a role moderated and soothed that which could have broken him.
He couldn’t grant himself the luxury to pick and choose when and where to be moral; he had to be obsessively consistent because he wanted to be a good person. He wanted to be worthy of the gifts that he was granted. Clark could readily admit to himself that he was lonely, but Chloe took him as he was. He wasn’t the savior his parents wanted him to be yet. He wasn’t the man that Lana could love. He wasn’t able to be a friend to Lex. But he could be the person that Chloe cared for and was loyal to. He could simply be himself and he knew that Chloe would like him still. And it was for this reason that no matter what happened he couldn’t let her go. He realized that he took her for granted, but all she would ever need to do is cast one glance at him and he knew he’d go running. But the thing about Chloe was that she never did. She didn’t need him like others needed him.
The harsh truth was that Chloe didn’t *need* him, she *wanted* him. Clark knew that if she had never met him then her life would be much the same. She’d still have her journalism. She’d still get into trouble. Her vivacious personality would still exist, but would his parents have been content? They needed a child and he could be that. Lana needed a savior and he could be that too. Chloe, however, wanted him around and that freed him to find his way. It freed him to accept what he was and what he could be…to find his purpose. It meant that he could be content, he could be happy, but most of all it meant that he didn’t have to be alone.
Clark was getting tired of this particular train of thought and was about to leave to go to the house when he heard shuffling, a crash, and a faint moan. He quickly ran outside and saw Chloe lying on the ground, clad only in an over-sized shirt, half conscious and covered in blood.
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