Dreaming the Wolf, R, 10-23-09, Chapter 23 and Epilogue

[Kit Merlot]

This update ROCKED!!

And a Happy Belated 4th of July to you as well

All I can say is that Mercy is freakin' hardcore. She knows that Lana is up to something involving Lex and she won't let her hurt him in anyway--AWESOME!

And this part:

Mercy watched Chloe Sullivan walk to her car. “Her hair is longer.” She looked back towards the mansion. It was time to put surveillance on Chloe Sullivan and Lana Lang, but for two very different reasons. It was apparent that Chloe was in some sort of undefined danger and that Lana was the lone idiot who would get them all killed.

was perfect. Mercy, like Lex, has a deep respect for Chloe, and they view Lana as an insipid, self-involved princess.

Continuing excellent work on this story

ETA: I also liked that you have Lex realizing that not only is he sexually attracted to Chloe, but that he's lost all interest in Lana--Wonderful news!

And I liked Chloe's anger at Lex's scent being so intermingled with Lana's. He needs to get away from the Lang as fast as he can

[somethingeasy]

Lex raised his gun and braced himself. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he couldn’t let Chloe hurt anyone. His hand shook. His eyes blurred. His body trembled. He couldn’t do this. “Chloe.” Despite Lex knowing that he had to do this he couldn’t. His hesitation cost him the thing that was more precious to him than anything his money had ever brought him. His life.

oh WOW! I loved the beginning description of Chloe, Ava! It was amazing! I loved the way that she was described as a terrifying, unstoppable, monster! Filled with nothing but rage, hatred and an uncontrollable blood lust. It was especially fantastic seeing Lex’s reaction to the monster, his comprehension that he was about to die, and there was no way for him to ‘negotiate’ his way out of this situation.

But, even with this kind of ‘fight or flee’ adrenaline coursing through him, Lex STILL couldn’t bring himself to hurt the monster… because he still saw it as ‘Chloe’. And even in self-defence, he can’t bring himself to harm her. Wow! He really DOES love her above and beyond the love he bears for himself.

Lex felt Chloe’s fangs rip into his hand. The gun fell to the side. He couldn’t reach it. Chloe released Lex’s hand and went straight for his throat. After she ripped his throat out, Chloe moved to the soft of his belly and began shredding. Lex remembered being with her. The way that her tongue had danced over his throat. The way that that she gently nipped him and had him begging for more. She would lave the mark in time with the movement of her hips. He had loved the way she had made him feel. It was a sharp contrast when measured against his time with Lana and those other women.

Lex remembered how she had moved from his throat down his chest. To continue the work of her tongue on his belly. And then lower. To remember the loving passion of that night and to feel this violation…this pain as she had brutally ripped out his throat and moved to his belly was worse than death.

ROTFLMAO! Oh dear me, Ava! You amaze me! I’ve been asking for a ‘rough sex’ segment forever, and you surprise me with this twisted version of my wish? LOL! Brilliant! I loved the sick, twisted way that Lex likens Chloe’s violation and ravaging of his body to a ‘memory’ of her enrapturing and ravishing him.

I wonder whether that was Lex’s way of trying to turn his mind away from the horror of what was happening to him? Although it seems like the contrasting difference between the two physical encounters only made Lex’s suffering now all the more horrific. Heh… trust Lex to torture his mind when his body is already at the limits of physical pain.

All Lex felt was the blood gushing from his throat. He couldn’t breathe. It was an excruciating pain that lasted for two minutes. It was an eternity. The last thing Lex felt was not the pain from his wounds, but the pain of knowing that the person he loved most in the world had ended his life. That she would live without him.

Through the haze of blood, Lex saw her rear back from his body. Lex turned his head and surveyed their surroundings. Nothing moved. Nothing lived. It was a grisly scene of destruction and the horror would stay with the patrolman that would eventually discover the scene. He watched as Chloe left him and ran to the fields. He was alone and nothing would ever change that.

It made me shudder to watch Lex dying right in front of me. Especially since I could see that he didn’t even have the numbing comfort of shock to alleviate his suffering, it seems like he felt pain right until his last moment.

Lex jack-knifed into a sitting position. His chest was heaving. Feeling the unpleasant oiliness of the sweat on his own skin, Lex looked wildly around the room. The dream had been so real. So all consuming. Lex knew he was awake, but it felt wrong…surreal. As if the other world crafted in his mind was the true world and this was nothing more than an echo.

ROTFL! Actually, I guessed that it was a dream from the second paragraph of the beginning sequence. It was very vivid and visceral, and SEEMED very real, but it was too disconcerting a jump in plot to be anything but a dream

The sexual aspect of the dream had completely boggled his mind. He and Chloe had never had sex before and the summer they spent working to bring down his father was all business. They had gotten close, but it had been friendship and nothing more. The feeling that it could have been more asserted itself. Lex had to destroy that line of thinking because it would bring nothing but misery. He couldn’t understand why his mind would supply such a scenario; especially in a relentlessly violent dream. A fantasy would have been another matter entirely; a very welcome matter. Chloe was beautiful and he was a healthy male. “It’s just stress.” Lex would tell himself that until he couldn’t.

I appreciated Lex analysing his dream and what it revealed about his psyche. I’ve got the impression that he’s not the sort of person to go for deep introspection (he’s afraid of all those ‘here be monsters’ areas inside his head), but this is the kind of dream that demands at least token attention and analysis, LOL! It makes sense that the violent aspect of Lex’s dreams comes from his still unresolved fear of Chloe… and also, I suspect, his guilt over his complicity in her current condition. A part of him might think that he deserves to have his throat torn out by her? Ouch!

Oooh, the sexual aspect of the dream interested ME greatly too
I was a little puzzled about their history as recounted by the ‘memories’ in the dream, until Lex revealed that those were only false memories implanted by the dream, and that he and Chloe in fact never crossed the line into anything more than briefly allied acquaintances.

But it’s fascinating to see how Lex’s guilt somehow got all wrapped up in his desire and longing for Chloe in the dream. Those are some VERY complicated emotions he harbours for the blonde. LOL! Of course it figures that he’s not going to allow himself to think too deeply about it… he dismissed the whole sexual aspect of the dream as an ‘entertaining fantasy’, disregarding his obsessive lust, desire, longing for her.

Lex spent half an hour in his shower before he felt the normal pressure to face his day. There were a few business propositions that he needed to go over, but those could wait. Today Lana had a doctor’s appointment and he would not miss it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong. Despite the many other things that had been going wrong with his interactions with Chloe, he had noticed that she seemed wary and uncommonly jittery in Lana’s presence. He’d even noticed it with Clark on the few occasions he had been able to observe the two. Despite his suspicions and reservations, there was nothing he could do and he would support the mother of his child. No matter what.

his suspicions and reservations? What exactly does he suspect about the situation? That the child might not be his, and that everyone knows it but him? It wouldn’t be too far-fetched a theory.

His competitive drive helped him out of more situations than he could remember, but with her it wasn’t there anymore. He’d looked for that drive ever since he buried his father and it just wasn’t there for him anymore. Lex didn’t need any other indicator to tell him that he and Lana were over and that all that was left was for one of them to say the words. At this point, it was a demented game of chicken.

ROTFLMAO! Oh that was twisted, sad, pitiful and HILARIOUS, Ava! A demented game of chicken where both of them are waiting for the other to declare the relationship to be ‘hopeless’. LOL! I loved that visual of two procrastinators waiting each other out, waiting for the other to admit to failure, as if that signifies ‘winning’ somehow. Sad, sad, SAD… and funny as hell!

As Lex left the room to find Chloe, he considered Lana Lang. The singular fact that repeatedly made itself known to him and Clark was that she didn’t deserve either of them. She didn’t deserve the lies and the hits her self worth took by being with either of them. She didn’t deserve that kind of discontent no matter her faults.

She deserved Whitney Ford or Jason Teague or even Pete Ross. Men who would honestly show her that she was more than what this town thought. That she was more than what she thought herself to be. It was mildly depressing that he couldn’t cast her as the villain of the piece. He really wished that he could be dishonest with himself in this matter, but Lex found that he didn’t want to devote any more mental consideration to this than absolutely required. The entire situation had gotten so far out of control that denying it would be more destructive than blowing it up.

I loved all your observations about Lana in this chapter, Ava! How the whole town had basically cast her in this role of a ‘tragic princess’, so that’s partially how she drifted into this personality and mind-set that keeps her rather ‘limited’ as a growing person. How the entire town treated her (her entire friggen LIFE) with the kind of (usually short-term) coddling that one tends to give to the intensely grief-stricken, until she grew up with that damnable sense of arrogance and entitlement.

And I LOVED Lex’s sad and grim observation that both he and Clark treated Lana like an object. Granted, an object of ultimate desire, but still an object and a symbol no less, rather than as a person. It seems like everyone contributed to turning Lana into the spoiled princess she is today, incapable of making any real friends, attachments or commitments. The poor girl has been cheated out of a chance to grow, and now there’s a good chance that it might be too late for her to learn that the world in fact does NOT revolve around her. Let’s hope she never leaves Smallville and finds out differently.

He passed Mercy on the way to his office and she fell into step with him. Mercy never walked fully behind him, but she was always a half step off of his gait. He’d seen her do it with his father and a few others who had her in their employ at one time or another. It never mattered if they deliberately walked quickly or went at a snail’s pace. She was always right there reminding them that she was dangerous and was there to help.

I just love the very scary, intimidating, hard and merciless picture you’ve painted of Mercy, Ava! She’s exactly the killer, semi-robot I imagines from classic canon. Brilliant!

She stopped when he did and gave him a cursory glance before her eyes met his own. Mercy held up her hand and began ticking points off of them, “Your shoes aren’t shined, you wore that suit two days ago, and Felix Dandridge called. Twice. And you have yet to answer him. I don’t trust Langston and I’m not supposed to do so. I say all that to point out the fact that you are distracted,” Mercy invaded his personal space, “I never question a client’s personal life as long as I can do my job. Get your house in order, Luthor, so I can do my job.”

Mercy executed a sharp military about face, walked away and tossed over her shoulder, “By the way, I changed all of your pass codes on all of your computers yesterday and installed a new security suite. New access codes are in your lock box.”

No other person could dismiss him quite like she could. Shaking his head, he continued the trek to his office.

ROTFL! No other person, Lex? Not true! I’ve seen the way Chloe dismisses you when she’s busy with ‘more important matters’ in your presence. Mercy’s dismissal is nothing compared to the ice-queen treatment that Chloe can deliver, ROTFL!

But that being said, I loved seeing the way Mercy bullies Lex. She’s actually playing a great ‘Lionel like role’, disdainfully listing out all of Lex’s mistakes, indiscretions, faults AND the cracks in his mask… and then basically telling him how SHE will go about fixing HIS mistakes. LOL! I don’t know how Lex lucked out in hiring her, but it was immense good fortune for him to get this scary lady on his side.

As he watched the gentle rise and fall of her back with each breath, her muscles visibly shifted to settle into the correct pattern of a more human Chloe. The general size and shape of her body slowly crept closer to its normal configuration. Lex didn’t know if this was happening as a natural function and gradual resolution to the traumatic shift from wolf to human; or if it was because she was asleep and didn’t have anywhere near the control she had while awake and so her body randomly changed.

He did note that her body might be doing this as a way to get her more comfortable. Chloe wouldn’t need to toss and turn as much if her muscles shifted to alleviate various pressures from being in one position or from being on a sleeping surface that was too hard or soft. “Intriguing.” It would be something to ask her later. Lex was fairly certain that she wouldn’t become angered over this question. It was something that should be brought to her attention.

Wow! That WAS fascinating! I loved this whole sequence of Chloe slooowly shifting back into human shape while she was sleeping. I wonder how long has it been since she fell asleep on the couch? I wonder whether her dreams are shifting from a sensory wolfy experience to some more ‘human’. Was she too tired to shift back into human before falling into a deep sleep, or is it regular practice for her to collapse into bed in wolf form and wake up human?

I really enjoyed Lex’s geek-gasm glee and fascinating in seeing Chloe shifting. LOL! He didn’t even take a moment to appreciate her nakedness before he lost himself in observing tendons, shifting muscles and strangely arranged joints. LOL! And he’s already begun devising some questions to ask her when she wakes up. He’s being very careful about WHAT questions to ask her, wary of causing offence, but his curiosity is just too strong to keep him discrete and quiet forever, LOL!

Chloe abruptly stopped being aggressive and began a soothing, gentle rumble that he could feel in his bones. It relaxed every muscle in his body as though he had just seen a masseuse. Whatever tensions that he carried over from his earlier realizations were removed. He felt light and nothing mattered except that she was on top of him and felt so good.

She leaned forward and down and nuzzled his neck. He heard and felt her face shift. The fangs he knew she had grazed his neck. Her hand moved over his heart and Lex inhaled and exhaled sharply. As soon as he did so, Chloe reared back. Before he even knew what had happened, Chloe had taken her blanket, wrapped herself in it once more, and was across the room with her back to the window. “What the hell?”

Wow! In light of his nightmare, I would have thought Lex would have panicked at suddenly being violently pulled in a submissive and vulnerable position under Chloe. I think he WOULD have panicked, if he hadn’t heard what I firmly believe was a soothing ‘mate growl’. LOL! I wonder how long before Lex guesses that these soothing, complementary noises that get him relaxed and tingly at the same time are meant to be mating calls?

He could see the faint outline of the normal green of her eye, but the gold still overshadowed it. The only consolation was that she wasn’t feral and he wasn’t going to be horribly eviscerated. There was still menace in the air, but he didn’t think it would be the kind that ended in violence unless he did something stupid. It was then and there that Lex decided that maybe he should install cameras in this room. Before he lost himself in his ruminations, Lex focused on the situation at hand.

*rolls eyes* Didn’t Chloe specifically warn you against having cameras designed to capture her ‘strangeness’, Lex? Has he already forgotten everything she told him… that recording her shifting and movements might eventually put her in danger? Let’s hope he remembers all of Chloe’s entreaties and warnings before he orders a technician in the study.

Then it got weirder and far more disturbing because when she nuzzled Lex’s neck, she had smelled his unique scent; but then he exhaled and Chloe smelled Lana. The smell became a taste that settled on the back of her tongue. Lex was marked as hers and that fact made her want to rip Lex’s throat out. But something was really wrong with the way that he smelled. “How did her scent become so thoroughly enmeshed with his?” Chloe could barely discern his own unique scent under Lana’s cloying one.

She’d smelled sex before and it didn’t obliterate the natural scent of the participants. The feeling of Lana being wrong permeated his skin. Something was terribly wrong and she didn’t understand it. Chloe might’ve been able to think more on the matter but the wolf was so close that she couldn’t focus on anything other than the fact that he smelled strongly of Lana.

Heh… at least Chloe’s inner-wolf didn’t get violent at seeing signs of her potential mate being marked by another. Does this mean that the inner-wolf actually believes in wooing rather than just claiming? That’s VERY good news for Lex (and Chloe) because I don’t know how they’d respond to inexplicable dominance and violence erupting between them.

Hmmm, dominance and violence power play sex games… mmmmmmm!!!!

Lex took a step towards her and she turned from him to face the window, “You know, Lex. You know what it feels like to hate your own skin. To see something in yourself that you can’t accept.”

ouch! Harsh! And also sad to see that Chloe still feel self-loathing whenever she contemplated what she’s become. I wonder whether she would feel better knowing how Lex was filled with so much AWE and wonder seeing her looking so beautiful from his window last night. LOL! But then again, he went to sleep and dreamt of a monster tearing out his throat that exact same night

Lex was incredulous. He was about to do something he almost never did and she didn’t want it from him. The realization came that he didn’t really deserve it, but he had thought that they were slowly making progress. The one time in his life that he genuinely felt contrition for something he had done and was prepared to own it was the time that the person he wanted most to unburden to was not accepting it. It hurt. It was another failure.

wow! I’m amazed by how well and easily Chloe can read Lex. Not only did she understand that he was about to take a MAJOR step with her, she also understood the reasons why that major step wasn’t enough of a concession for his sins.

Chloe turned her body to face the window. She gently caressed it. Her voice was soft when she spoke to him again, “Lana is many things. Often times callous. Sometimes generous, but she is honest. She is what she is and has never tried to apologize for it. Lana is incapable of empathy and it’s a function of the kind of parent Nell was to her…of how everyone chooses to deal with her. But it’s not because she’s malicious. You, Lex, are incapable of empathy because you choose not to feel it. It’s something conscious on your part. It’s a function of your Lionel induced insecurities and your own unique brand of arrogance. That’s why I don’t particularly want to hear those words from you until you can tell me why you feel them.”

wow! That was… an excellent, insightful and stunning point! It’s all true, isn’t it? In a way, Lana (and even Lionel come to think of it) can be more easily forgiven for being selfish, self-serving, self-absorbed, greedy and arrogant than Lex, because she honestly doesn’t know any better way to behave. But LEX… HE should know better, because he’s actually more intelligent as well as empathic. Chloe is right that he doesn’t have any excuse for acting the way he does. That was a brilliant observation, Ava! Loved it!

Lex knew what she was doing. If he named them, he couldn’t hide from it anymore. She wasn’t going to let him. But she said what he had wanted to hear from so many people in his life. She was telling him that she wasn’t going to make him do all the work in whatever relationship they had at the moment. That she would accept him, but only if he accepted her. Lex also noted that she wouldn’t let him skate by. Chloe would try for him if he would extend the same courtesy. This was the best he could hope for because he had no doubt that the wolf was more than willing to make demands that all amounted to him doing whatever she said.

Nice! Lex actually understood Chloe’s ‘bargain’ in the spirit in which it was offered. He understood, and agreed to her conditions. In fact, it seems like he’s even grateful to her for being so strict, merciless and ruthless in her ‘handling of him’. Mostly because he understands that Chloe wouldn’t be bothering to go through this trouble unless she actually cared about the kind of person that he was becoming. And he well SHOULD be grateful for it. Chloe’s going to whip him into a better man whether he likes it or not LOL! Mercy too actually! ROTFL!

He looked down at his watch. Lana would be ready by now and they needed to leave. As he opened the door he stopped, “I’m sorry. Even if we weren’t friends you never deserved that. None of you did,” with that he left the room and closed the doors.

oh NICE! I sensed real, true and sincere regret in Lex after Chloe’s speech and bargain. I think he’s genuinely repenting what he’s done, and he might even make an effort to NOT repeat his mistakes (as apposed to just learning to cover up his mistakes better).

Mercy knew that Lana Lang didn’t like her and she didn’t really mind. There had been many times that she had worked for a client whose significant other couldn’t stand her. It came with the territory; but there was some quality about Lana Lang that was somehow an affront to her. Mercy couldn’t put her finger on it. It was just there. Boiling beneath the surface.

hmmm, I’ll admit, I’m rather curious about what it is exactly about Lana that irritates the hell out of Mercy so much. Lana has a lot of irritating qualities about her (her dullness; shallow, superficial nature; greedy, flighty attitude). But I think Mercy hates Lana because she represents some kind of ‘threat’ that she doesn’t fully understand…? Heh… I guess I’m going to have to wait a little while longer for Mercy to examine her feelings a little better and get a definite answer.

Mercy gave an internal smile. She would enjoy showing Lana her place. If only to remove some of that entitled attitude that the other woman wore like a second skin. Lana was the king with no clothes and this town fed her little ego like one would a starving refugee. Mercy didn’t bother to hide the fact that she was amused and condescending to Lana, “Yes, Lex and I have slept together.”

Of all the things that Lana expected to hear, that was not on the list and she had no idea how to respond. Lana was realistic and knew that he’d had many lovers in the past, but to hire one to guard them was like a slap in the face. To learn that fact from his previous paramour was an insult.

Ouch! That was rather petty of Mercy! She did that purely to get a rise out of this ‘other female’ in Lex’s life. Any woman… even Chloe would have been offended and shocked if SHE had been in Lana’s place in this situation.

Before she knew what happened, Lana felt a stinging in her hand and realized that she had slapped Lex’s dangerous bodyguard. Mercy knew such a hit was coming, but it was important for Lana to understand that no matter what she did, Mercy was capable of recovering and doing something worse, which is what she did. Mercy grabbed Lana’s arm and bent it behind her back in classic karate hold. Just before she slammed Lana’s body into the limo, Mercy pulled back so that Lana was barely touching the surface.

Mercy’s voice lowered into a dangerous drawl, “You don’t get to touch me, Lang. Until Lex gives that bastard you’re carrying his name, you mean nothing to me. Lex is the priority. If I ever catch your handiwork on any of his computers or peeking into matters that don’t concern you; you will regret it. I’m very good at what I do and all that would be required for me to end you is to not do my job,” Mercy leaned closer so that her lips were next to Lana’s ear, “I don’t lie, Lang. And that means that I can get away with one big lie. In this case it would go something like this: “I tried my best, Lex. We were outnumbered.” Try my patience, Lang, and you’ll be my big lie.”

Heh… now I understand where that pettiness came from. Mercy was trying to GOAD Lana into making a stupid violent gesture so that she could return it ten fold back. Sneaky, cunning, vicious Mercy! LOL!

Wow! And the speech she made to Lana… it was cruel and truly vicious! Even more painful, scary and nasty than the jujitsu hold that she had Lana pinned in. I would have been frightened out of my wits if MY boyfriend’s psychotic chauffer had done that to me! But then again… we can’t really say that Mercy didn’t have a GOOD reason for warning Lana off in such a cold, callous, venomous fashion.

Lana ran from Mercy. She had never been so threatened. So scared in her life. What hurt the most was that she didn’t think Lex would do anything about Mercy even if she told him what happened. It was just further confirmation that Anthony Burner and she were doing the right thing. She’d prevent Lex from hurting anyone else.

oh dear! This is bad! Lana is only going to take Mercy’s warning as further justification that she’s completely right in her mechanisms, backstabbing and betrayal behind Lex’s back. Although, I think Lana would have found SOME rationalization or another to assure herself that she was being ‘brave and noble’ in his disloyal, vindictive actions… so Mercy’s actions didn’t really make much of a difference in the long run… except make Lana more careful and wary around the chauffer.

Chloe stopped two feet away from Mercy and pondered the other woman. She understood why Mercy did what she did, she just hoped the other woman fully understood what she had done.

Mercy straightened her chauffeur’s hat and stood taller, “No, I shouldn’t have. Lex should have done this. But if you’re concerned that Lang is being insufficiently watched, then I suppose you could broach the subject with him.”

Chloe shrugged, “No, I don’t think I’ll be doing that. Be careful. Lana is dangerous in her own way,” with that Chloe headed towards her own car.

That was FANTASTIC! I loved how Chloe didn’t launch into platitudes about how it was ‘wrong’ to manhandle and frighten ‘poor, innocent Lana’ like that. Because Chloe knew that the idea of Lana being helpless and innocent is ridiculous. I wonder whether Chloe’s attitude towards Lana comes from her true realization about Lana’s self-serving, manipulative nature… OR whether it’s because she now (subconsciously) views Lana as a rival and therefore not worthy of any care or mercy…?

Or perhaps Chloe was warning Mercy that Lana is not the type of ‘dangerous person’ that Mercy is used to dealing with. Mercy can deal easily with dangerous foes who face her head on and directly, but Lana has a tendency to attack from sneaky, sideway (or behind) positions. Perhaps Chloe was warning Mercy that she shouldn’t have raised Lana’s guard so early. She shouldn’t have given Lana the benefit of a warning!

Mercy watched Chloe Sullivan walk to her car. “Her hair is longer.” She looked back towards the mansion. It was time to put surveillance on Chloe Sullivan and Lana Lang, but for two very different reasons. It was apparent that Chloe was in some sort of undefined danger and that Lana was the lone idiot who would get them all killed.

“No rest for the wicked.”

LOL! Well there’s no doubt about who Mercy has cast her loyalties with. Chloe is most definitely regarded as a person worthy of respect and protection, while Lex’s ‘official girlfriend’, Lana is only a dangerous nuisance. I think Mercy has formed a VERY clear view of this strange triangle that even the members of the triangle haven’t’ figured out yet. LOL! I love it!

This was a great chapter, Ava! I was so glad to see you’re updating again. I look forward to the next chapter. Good luck!

[SVfan1286]

Terrific chapter!

I absolutely love Mercy, the way she threatened Lana was totally awesome... Serves that bitch right! (LOl) I also love that Mercy knows somethings up with Lana, and that she was trying to break-in Lex's computer. Lex is really lucky he has Mercy because he's to blind to see what Lana's up to.

Lex's dream about Chloe was completely disturbing, but also interesting, especially about them having sex in the past, when they didn't. I loved that Lex was the one who found Chloe, but it would have been awesome, if it was Lana. *grins*

Another amazing chapter and as always, I can't wait to read more!!

[Avalanche]

Disclaimer: see chapter1



Chapter 14- Hearing the Wolf



“If we do not know ourselves to be full of pride, ambition, lust, weakness, misery, and injustice, we are indeed blind. And if, knowing this, we do not desire deliverance, what can we say of a man...?”
Blaise Pascal





As she was driving away from Lex’s mansion, Chloe took a moment to think about what she had just witnessed. Mercy had thoroughly deflated what ego Lana may have had in regards to Lex. It was at that point that Chloe could almost feel her mind stutter to a stop and ponder the meaning of what she had witnessed. No one had done that to Lana before. Chloe thought back to every moment, every negative thought she had ever had about Lana Lang. She came to a very grim conclusion.

She went home, showered, ate and changed clothes. Chloe took a few moments to call Lois. She spent half and hour convincing Lois that everything was okay and that she would not appreciate a visit. Lois also bullied her into discussing her feelings about her father’s departure. Chloe let Lois do this because she knew that Lois cared and she was grateful.

With those things done, Chloe got into her car and drove to the Kent farm. She got there in record time because she didn’t bother with the speed limit. It was important that she speak with Clark because on the heels of her Lana revelation, Chloe had another. Clark Kent had vastly superior senses than everyone else. That was an obvious statement and only an idiot would think it was important; but Chloe came to find that only an idiot would disregard the direct ramifications of it. Every person who knew what Clark was, including Clark himself, took his senses for granted. That meant that the things he could do were taken for granted, and Chloe could’ve kicked herself for being such a blind fool.

Clark dealt with sensory input that no one else would need to deal with; even animals. In addition to the vast amount of input he processed, he also processed it differently. He was an alien and there was no way that he processed information the same way as a human. There were moments when his differences and how he interpreted a situation were jolting. The problem that every person dealt with when interacting with Clark was that he wouldn’t think to ask certain questions.

Clark was so used to things that he honestly would not get or understand that something was amiss because he had already noted and seen the problem. It was like telling a blind person that the storm had cut the power and there were no lights. What would it matter to that person? They dealt with darkness all the time and the way they reacted to any given situation would not change in its absence for everyone else. It was time to ask Clark some very pointed questions because he had answers. He just didn’t know he did.

It was with urgency and a renewed sense of purpose that Chloe bolted from her car in search of Clark as soon as she stopped. She tracked his scent to the barn. In the back of her mind, Chloe took note of the fact that she didn’t try to pinpoint a heart beat. She pinpointed his scent.

Striding brusquely to his barn, Chloe yelled for him, “CLARK!”

Chloe saw him quickly come down the stairs to meet her. He seemed mildly irritated, “Why are you yelling?”

“You’ve never cared before.”

Clark looked at her for a moment before he answered, “There’s a weird undertone to your voice now and it hurts my ears.”

And that right there validated every realization that she’d had on the way to him. He had only looked irritated because of her heightened senses.

Chloe took a deep breath, “How long will your mother be gone?”

He looked puzzled for a moment, “She and her friends decided to see the new exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in Metropolis and won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon. Why?”

“Because we need to talk.”

Clark did not like those words. The last time she had said that, she had made him promise to let her do things her way. Chloe was his best friend and he loved her. To honor her request hurt him because he wanted to be there for her.

Chloe read the dread in his face and quickly tried to alleviate his concerns, “It’s not like that. I’ve realized a few things and I think you and I need to seriously talk about what we can do. You might get mad during some of it, but I want you to remember that there is a reason for everything I’m gonna ask you. Just…trust me and go with it, okay?”

He nodded once and stepped aside so that they could sit on the couch.

Chloe started small. She’d work her way up to her real question, but he had to be at ease first, “What do I smell like?”

Clark took so long to answer that she didn’t think he would, “You smell like chamomile. The same body wash set that your dad gave you for your sixteenth birthday.”

She remembered that birthday. It was more special than most others she’d had.

“Do I smell like kryptonite? Because everyone in this town smells like it to me except for you.”

Clark jaw tightened and then relaxed, “Yes, you do. And yeah, everyone in this town smells like kryptonite to me too,” Clark looked away from her for a moment, “Actually, the kryptonite smell isn’t strong on you anymore.”

He let out an exasperated breath, “I’m not explaining this well. Everyone smells like kryptonite and you smell less of it than you used to.”

Chloe nodded, “Ever since I was kidnapped, right?”

“Yeah.”

Chloe firmed her resolve. It was going to get trickier because her next questions involved Lana, “And Lana? What does she smell like? Her kryptonite scent is stronger to you, isn’t it?”

Clark genuinely looked taken aback, as if he couldn’t understand a riddle, but he knew he should. His voice was soft in contemplation when he answered her, “Yeah. Yeah, it got really strong after she got pregnant.”

And that lead to an even trickier question that wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement of fact, “Clark, she isn’t pregnant.”

The silence after her revelation was so damning and oppressive that the wolf inside didn’t just want to fight or growl. It wanted to run and cower and it had everything to do with the sudden spike in Clark’s heartbeat. It was the conflict that she had with him before she changed in front of him; except it was magnified by one thousand.

Clark abruptly stood and glared down at her. She wanted so much to run away or to rip his throat out, but she couldn’t do that. “It’s okay. Clark wouldn’t hurt you. He’s just upset.” Chloe felt the claws rip from her hands and the gold of her eyes. She tried to get her voice to work, but wolves didn’t have the necessary equipment to speak. Chloe forced some of the change back.

Her voice was frantic to her own ears, but she had to get him to see, “Think, Clark. Think about the heartbeat of a baby. It’s not there in Lana. Is it?”

Clark took stock of the situation. He realized that he wasn’t the most intuitive of people; but when he heard Chloe’s voice on the edge of panic and rage, he knew that he had just done something stupid. He could not forget that Chloe was now closer to the baser instincts of a predatory animal and that moving as he had done would result in injury. Hers since he was stronger and invincible. He relaxed and sat back down. Clark watched as she unclenched her hands. Her body visibly shuddered.

He made sure his voice was soft and non-threatening, “I’m sorry. I…hadn’t noticed about Lana. Even before her pregnancy I couldn’t tell much about her. She wore that necklace for so long and it’s like she’s always surrounded by this barrier of kryptonite,” he seemed to deflate and then his voice firmed, “Lex. It has to be Lex. He’s tricking her.”

Before Clark could move again, Chloe braced her hands on his chest and looked him in his eyes, “No, Clark. He’s not. Lex thinks she’s pregnant just like everyone else. And before you ask, no, I don’t think she’s deliberately faking.”

Clark swallowed thickly, “Is this why you came over?”

Chloe sighed, “Yeah, but that isn’t everything. I just…needed to know, Clark. You know things and it wouldn’t occur to you to tell someone because you take it for granted and assume that what you know, everyone knows.”

He looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop; and it was. If he thought the previous reveal was shattering then he was going to be destroyed when she dropped the next. It wasn’t something that Chloe wanted to do, but if she had any hope of figuring out what was going on, then it needed to be done.

Chloe cleared her throat, “Do you remember the first time you looked at Lana and knew that she was the one for you?”

Clark looked at her like she was crazy. How could that be important? She had just told him that Lana wasn’t pregnant and had probably been a kidnap victim just like she was. At least, that’s the conclusion he came to and he figured it was the same one Chloe came to as well. He thought about the first time he knew that Lana was the one for him and came up blank. There wasn’t a singular moment in time when he knew he wanted her. Clark just knew that he wanted her and loved her.

Chloe watched his face. Clark was expressive in unguarded moments. It was what originally drew her to him. But she knew that he wasn’t finding what he thought he would. A million romantic moments and thoughts were flitting through his head; but none of them would satisfy the question she asked.

She gave him a knowing look, “You can’t tell me, can you? You can’t even tell yourself, can you?”

He gave her an irritated look, “What does it matter? I love her.”

Chloe knew it would be a battle, but she was going to continue to fight it, “I know the exact moment that I decided to like Lana, Clark. I would be civil to her because you and she were together, but I didn’t like her. I didn’t hate her either. Sure, she was the girl that took you away from me, but that was your decision and I couldn’t hate her for what you felt. But I decided to like her about two months after Lionel’s trial. She came up to me and wanted to be friends. And I could find nothing wrong with that. It had nothing to do with you, Clark. I just wanted to be her friend because she wanted it; but not because I actually wanted it.”

“But you had done so much together. You even hung out together.”

Chloe looked down at the ground, “You’re right, but I never actually thought we were friends. And I only did that because you cared for her. If left to my own devices, I probably wouldn’t have,” she looked at him again, “I stopped faking it at that moment and honestly wanted to be her friend. It wasn’t a gradual thing. It was a complete 180.”

The implications were clear. Clark had to see what she was getting at. She couldn’t force feed him this one. He would hate her and react badly if he thought she was pushing this issue.

Chloe could tell from the way his throat worked that he needed one more push to see what she saw, “I can count on my hands the number of people who have actively disliked her. You remember Adrian Harwick? She was on the dance squad and we shared a class. She once told me that she couldn’t understand why people liked Lana. I shrugged and played it off, but I couldn’t either and I thought it was because of my jealousy,” Chloe caught his eyes before she continued, “The only people who have ever actively not liked her were people who moved into this town. You and I both know that Lex went for her because he wanted to get back at you; but out of the blue, he’s declaring his love? That isn’t the way he works. The only person who has ever reacted naturally to Lana was Jason Teague—“

Chloe would’ve continued and said what it meant, but Clark did it for her, “And he was slightly imbalance, but not so much that you could actually call him crazy.”

Clark blew out a harsh breath and raked his hand through his hair, “You’re telling me that everything I feel is because Lana is some kind of meteor freak?”

All he could hear in his head was Chloe’s question: Do you remember the first time you looked at Lana and knew that she was the one for you?

His voice was so defeated…so confused. It hurt her because he was hurting. Chloe moved closer to him and touched him. Her voice was gentle…soothing, “People who aren’t from Smallville don’t feel the need to like her; and if they don’t like her, the dislike might actually be heightened. Adrian was indifferent to her and then started actively not liking her. Tobias smelled strongly of kryptonite too, didn’t he? Just like me and Eric Summers. Just like Lana.”

Left unspoken were the words: Just like every other meteor freak.

The knowledge that he had a way to refine his ability to smell the meteor infected in no way made the revelation easier to handle. Clark didn’t know if anything he felt for Lana was real. If maybe he genuinely came to care for her; or if it was the result of her mutation. He didn’t think it was something she was doing on purpose either. Chloe would’ve mentioned if she thought so.

Clark put his head in his hands. He’d ruined a friendship over her. His father was lost to him because of her. The thought that he had wasted so much for her was a crushing blow. He had immense power. His life would always be about helping others and he had chosen to forsake all of that for her. For her love. Clark wasn’t sure he could forgive himself.

His voice cracked like it hadn’t since he first reached puberty, “What do I do now?”

He felt Chloe kneel in front of him and force his hand from his face, “Clark, you can’t wallow in this. It hurts now and will probably always hurt, but you can only make it better by being the man you can be. That you need to be. Not for the world, or for your father or for me; you need to be him for yourself. You have the opportunity to be more than anyone thought possible.”

Clark hugged her close to his body and kissed her forehead, “I need to be alone. I’ll call you later.”

The Clark of an hour ago would’ve made that last statement a question. Some life changes happened in the space of a heartbeat and Clark was learning a harsh lesson. Chloe would’ve protested, but she knew that he wasn’t going to wallow in futility. Clark was honestly going to sort out this new fact of life. He may not have been intuitive, but he had time to be.

It was with a markedly different stride that Chloe exited the barn. She sat at the wheel of her car for five minutes before she left. Her friend would never be the same and she hated the fact that she was the messenger.


********


He wished that he had never gotten involved in the Luthor muck. He wished that he had never decided that Serena Edgler might be the gateway to bigger and better things. But most of all, Ryan Langston wished that he was smart enough and capable enough to get himself out of the situation. As it was, he was waiting for a phone call from Serena’s man. Langston wasn’t privy to his name, but the mere sight of Serena’s hire was enough to make him break into a cold sweat.

The private phone rang and broke the silence. The sound was as ominous and as deadly as the cocking of a gun. Langston knew who was on the other end of the line. He knew and he wished with his entire being that he was wrong. All hope was dashed when he heard the even tones of Serena’s man.

Samuel Kale knew fear. He knew the signs. He also knew that Dr. Langston was probably pissing his pants at the moment.

“Did she take the pills?”

Langston’s gulp was audible to Kale. “What a pathetic waste of space.”

“She did, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t know what’s been done to her. An amniocentesis would give me more information on her condition.”

Kale let his irritation seep through, “Then why haven’t you done so?”

For the first time in a long time, Langston found the courage that had been missing since he became hopelessly entangled in a game that he was ill equipped to play, “Because Luthor was standing there. There’s no reason to have the procedure done.”

Kale was silent on the phone, “My good doctor, be ready to perform the procedure at any moment. I think I might know a way,” he hung up the phone without saying anything further. Langston wished he had the courage to leave, but he had family and he knew that everything would be done as Serena’s man ordered.


********

Lana’s phone was ringing. It was her special phone that Anthony Burner gave her. She had recognized the serious nature of the situation. Taking down Lex was not going to be easy.

“Let no one see this phone. I got it to look exactly like your normal phone, except there’s a chip on the side so that you’ll know it’s special. Don’t let it out of your sight. It’s the only way I can contact you.”

She was snapped out of her reverie by the phone’s continued ringing.

“Hello?”

Kale had to change his mindset completely. What worked for Langston, intimidation, would not get him what he wanted from Lana. It was important that she be afraid of Lex Luthor, but not so much so that she actually started thinking about her decisions.

He made sure to soften his voice and affect a fatherly tone, “Lana, we need to meet. Can you get away?”

Lana could hear the urgency in his voice even as he tried to disguise it, “I don’t know. Lex’s new bodyguard is suspicious of me.”

Kale sighed, “Do you trust me?”

She hated when she was asked that question. It inevitably came with a betrayal or a disappointment.

“Lana, I promise that I’ll take care of it. Just meet me at the clothing district in Metropolis. Give me a call when you get there.”

If there was one thing that irritated her most about Anthony, it was that he hung up without warning.


********


Samuel Kale strategically placed his look-outs. They would know when and where Lana appeared. More importantly, they would know if she was being followed. The Morse code beeps in his ear piece told him that she was being followed by a blue minivan. He had to hand it to whomever it was that Lex Luthor had hired. No one would ever suspect that a blue minivan would be a tail. It was ingenious. Kale would love to meet the mind that decided on that course of action.

It was a mind that should be nurtured and allowed to grow. Of course, he also thought it was ridiculous. The last thing that Samuel Kale, hit-man for hire, wanted was for this entire job to descend into a spy vs. spy scenario. No good ever came of such things. Although, it did get pretty entertaining at times.

Kale used his cell phone to dial the phone he had given her with the express instructions on what to do. By the end of it he had wanted to ram her head into the table. It wasn’t that she had asked stupid questions. It was just the way she had looked at him as if he was being unnecessarily cautious. She wanted to take down Lex Luthor, second only to Lionel Luthor in terms of ability to be paranoid; but he had taken a deep breath and plowed ever onward and forward.

He heard her soft voice over the line, “Lana, I’m at Macy’s. Meet me there and relax. I’ve got everything covered.”

Kale had people and cars in place to slow her trackers down. Not obvious and it wouldn’t halt them, but he didn’t need them stopped. Just delayed. He saw Lana and ushered her towards the fitting rooms.

When they got to the fitting rooms, Lana was surprised to see a girl that looked remarkably like herself.

Kale turned to Lana, “This is Janine; she’s going to be your stunt double today. She’ll buy a few things on Luthor’s card. Don’t worry she won’t steal your credit card numbers. Will you, Janine?”

Janine was not actually her real name. Her real name was Gabrielle Simons. Serena had taken her in and she knew the consequences of not following directions. Gabrielle was an odd one. She could subtly shift the bones in her face so that a close inspection would reveal a fake; but from afar, she could pass as whoever she wanted. Only luck had given her to Serena.

“Lana, switch clothes with Janine. We’ll be back in no time.”

He waited patiently. There was going to be a battle ahead and he might as well be rested for it. Kale waited until they were comfortable at the table before he began, “How was your doctor’s appointment?”

Her brows furrowed, “It was fine, why?”

Kale stirred his coffee before answering, “I hacked into—“

Lana interrupted him, “I wasn’t able to get into Lex’s computer. I think he changed all of his passwords. Your instructions also didn’t work.”

He gritted his teeth and vowed not to kill her. “She still has uses. Can’t kill her yet.”

“That’s okay, Lana. We’ll figure it out later. But as I was saying. I hacked into one of Lionel’s database and it mentioned your pregnancy. There weren’t any details, but something could be wrong. Normal tests don’t catch everything,” Kale waited a moment before continuing, “An amniocentesis would catch whatever problems there might be.”

“But…isn’t it dangerous?”

Kale leaned forward in his seat to lend his words more gravitas, “What if Lex has done something? Don’t you have a right to know?”

Lana was uncertain. Her baby may have been unplanned, but she accepted and looked forward to bringing a new life into the world. If she knew what was wrong then she could plan. Lana harbored serious doubts that Lex would do something to his own child, but Lionel would. Even dead his deeds were felt.

“Lex is always around; and I don’t think I can get away from his new guard.”

Kale sat back in his seat, “You can go now. Your doctor isn’t too far away, right? Janine is fine. She’ll keep them off the trail.”

The indecision was plain to see, but they needed to know what the hell was going on with her baby, or lack thereof. As much as he wanted to pressure her, Kale knew that he couldn’t. So he waited and let her stew. For once in her life, no one was going to make the decision for her. This was a step she had to take for herself. Kale could spare a moment of pity for this girl, but he couldn’t actually bring himself to care about her.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t think that Lana had gotten a free ride. Free just meant that you’ve already paid for it or you will pay. The universe eventually took notice and collected. Something would eventually come collecting from Lana. The only thing a person could do was hope for mercy. Lana motioned for the check; and he knew that she was going to do it.

When they got to Langston’s office, Kale was glad to know that it wouldn’t take long. He politely asked her if she wanted him in the room; but Lana declined. To be honest, he was glad. He would’ve played the part of a supporter, but it wasn’t something he wanted to witness. She seemed slightly subdued, but there was an air of resolve about her when she exited the exam room. In another life where she was allowed to be a human and not some cut-out, Lana Lang could’ve been someone special or at least mildly interesting. Kale shook his head on the inside. “What a waste.”

Lana went home with a lot of new maternity clothes. It was to be expected with a new mother. As soon as he left Lana, Kale dialed Langston.

“Do we have what we need?”

Langston rubbed his forehead, “Yes, we do.”

Samuel Kale hung up the phone and called Serena, “Langston has gotten the sample from Lana. It should get to you soon or I’ll know the reason it hasn’t.”

Serena’s voice was soft, “You ever get the feeling that something’s coming that gives you everything you want in one hand and destroys everything else in the other?”

Samuel nodded to himself, “Too many damn times, Serena.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and her sample will open the keys to the kingdom.”

She hung up the phone and Kale got into his car. Not for one minute did Kale think that it would be that easy and neither did Serena; but people had to have hope that maybe they weren’t the bad people they knew themselves to be. Serena still cared and it cast a dead and sickening pall on every choice she made. But none of that mattered because now was the time to wait and waiting was a bitch even on the best of days.

“Hurry up and wait.”

[dagney]

So glad to see this updated. Chloe is kinda scary in this, her new abilities a bit spooky, I wish it was SV cannon that lana was a meteor freak that made men adore her. lol, I enjoyed the scene btw Chloe and Clark. Dagney

[Kit Merlot]

What an awesome update!

I like that Clark now knows the truth about Lana and that he's sickened by how much of his life was taken up with her--man do I wish this would happen on Smallville

And we have the return of Kale--I missed that psychotic bastard!

This story is so intriguing that I'm not sure what question to ask next. Just know that you are doing an excellent job with this fic

[purplemoon123]

Great chapter!!!

In agreement that SV canon should include Lana as a meteor freak/infected and her power was to have the men around her fall at her feet. Poor Clark realizing everything that he gave up or pushed to the side for Lana and to find out it was all an illusion.

Kale's back!!! And he admire's Mercy's work. I don't know what I want to see more Kale vs. Mercy or Kale and Mercy working together.

I'm not liking this feeling. You're actually making me feel sorry for Lana. Make it stop. I enjoy hating her. So would you please come back and fix this so I can go back to actively hating her, without remorse.

[GroundedSouls]

Is Kale going to get Lana killed? Or kill her himself? Please let that be true lol. I loved the Clark and Chloe conversation too. I too wish that Lana was a metor freak on SV see it would explain the attraction by all Smallvillian males. I mean you don't see any of the other guys on the show like AC,Bart,Ollie and Jimmy falling at her feet, they like Sullivan/Lane women. lol Can't wait to read more and see what happens.

[somethingeasy]

Clark dealt with sensory input that no one else would need to deal with; even animals. In addition to the vast amount of input he processed, he also processed it differently. He was an alien and there was no way that he processed information the same way as a human. There were moments when his differences and how he interpreted a situation were jolting. The problem that every person dealt with when interacting with Clark was that he wouldn’t think to ask certain questions.

Clark was so used to things that he honestly would not get or understand that something was amiss because he had already noted and seen the problem. It was like telling a blind person that the storm had cut the power and there were no lights. What would it matter to that person? They dealt with darkness all the time and the way they reacted to any given situation would not change in its absence for everyone else. It was time to ask Clark some very pointed questions because he had answers. He just didn’t know he did.

I loved Chloe’s startling epiphany and assessment about Clark Kent. Quite honestly, it’s something that I myself have often considered when thinking about Superman’s various powerfully amplified senses as WELL as his super-speeded thoughts AND as his photographic memory. He should be a first class detective with all of these gifts, and yet it’s Chloe (or Batman in the DC verse) who are the brain-trust members of the team, the ones putting the pieces together and getting a whole picture out of the few clues.

I think Chloe put it very well over here… Clark could have the makings of being a very skilled and talented detective, if only he thinks to ask the right questions to any investigation. LOL! in the meantime, it’s up to Chloe, Lex and Batman to pick at Clark’s brain for whatever ‘extra clues’ he might have picked up in order to put together the jigsaw puzzle pieces for themselves, LOL!

It was with urgency and a renewed sense of purpose that Chloe bolted from her car in search of Clark as soon as she stopped. She tracked his scent to the barn. In the back of her mind, Chloe took note of the fact that she didn’t try to pinpoint a heart beat. She pinpointed his scent.

heh… Chloe is never going to really stop ‘self-evaluating’, is she? She’s not geeking out to the same extent as Lex, but she IS pretty fascinated as well as slightly freaked by the new behaviour traits she’s exhibiting. And I think the ‘freaking’ is becoming less all the time in favour of the enthralled, intrigued fascination.

Clark looked at her for a moment before he answered, “There’s a weird undertone to your voice now and it hurts my ears.”

And that right there validated every realization that she’d had on the way to him. He had only looked irritated because of her heightened senses.

A weird undertone to her voice? Was that the tenseness Clark was sensing from Chloe because of her anxiety over the impending conversation? Or was it something a little deeper and more long term? Perhaps Clark was hearing the an unsatisfied mating urge in Chloe’s voice…?

Chloe started small. She’d work her way up to her real question, but he had to be at ease first, “What do I smell like?”

Clark took so long to answer that she didn’t think he would, “You smell like chamomile. The same body wash set that your dad gave you for your sixteenth birthday.”

She remembered that birthday. It was more special than most others she’d had.

“Do I smell like kryptonite? Because everyone in this town smells like it to me except for you.”

Everyone friggen person in this town smells of Kryptonite? NO-one is safe? You weren’t kidding, Ava, when you dropped suggestions about how everything in this town (the farm produce, groundwater, air, insects, animals) are ALL infected with Kryptonite and spread it out all over the town. I wonder what Kryptonite smells like…?

Clark jaw tightened and then relaxed, “Yes, you do. And yeah, everyone in this town smells like kryptonite to me too,” Clark looked away from her for a moment, “Actually, the kryptonite smell isn’t strong on you anymore.”

He let out an exasperated breath, “I’m not explaining this well. Everyone smells like kryptonite and you smell less of it than you used to.”

Chloe nodded, “Ever since I was kidnapped, right?”

Eh? Well, that’s interesting! So Chloe is actually less of a Krytp-Freak ever since she had those experiments done on her which turned her Wolfy? I wonder why that worked out that way…?

Clark genuinely looked taken aback, as if he couldn’t understand a riddle, but he knew he should. His voice was soft in contemplation when he answered her, “Yeah. Yeah, it got really strong after she got pregnant.”

hmmm, so Chloe started smelling less of Kryptonite when she got experimented on, but Lana got MORE of a Kryptonite smell after HER science-project experiences? So who smells more of Kryptonite now, Lana or Chloe?

Clark abruptly stood and glared down at her. She wanted so much to run away or to rip his throat out, but she couldn’t do that. “It’s okay. Clark wouldn’t hurt you. He’s just upset.” Chloe felt the claws rip from her hands and the gold of her eyes. She tried to get her voice to work, but wolves didn’t have the necessary equipment to speak. Chloe forced some of the change back.

Her voice was frantic to her own ears, but she had to get him to see, “Think, Clark. Think about the heartbeat of a baby. It’s not there in Lana. Is it?”

Clark took stock of the situation. He realized that he wasn’t the most intuitive of people; but when he heard Chloe’s voice on the edge of panic and rage, he knew that he had just done something stupid. He could not forget that Chloe was now closer to the baser instincts of a predatory animal and that moving as he had done would result in injury. Hers since he was stronger and invincible. He relaxed and sat back down. Clark watched as she unclenched her hands. Her body visibly shuddered.

FINALLY! Chloe told someone about her findings about Lana fake pregnancy. I was waiting for her to share the news with someone… anyone, and I think Clark is an awesome choice, although I’m still eagerly awaiting the day when Chloe decides to trust Lex with this disclosure too.

I thought it was fascinating seeing how Chloe becomes panicked whenever she senses Clark is tense, angry or upset. Her inner-wolf can NEVER forget what unstoppable kind of a threat Clark poses, and therefore can never bring itself to fully ‘relax’ in his presence. I really liked seeing Chloe grabbing hold of her inner-wolf and trying to reason and soothe it down into submission. Sense and logic seems like a weak tool to be using against the inner-wolf, but it worked this time.

The soothing probably worked probably Clark himself noticed Chloe suddenly going into fighting mode, and he made a special point of appearing as small, relaxed and non-threatening as possible. NOT for his own sake, because he knew he was invulnerable and could NEVER be hurt, but for Chloe’s sake, who could have been hurt.

Before Clark could move again, Chloe braced her hands on his chest and looked him in his eyes, “No, Clark. He’s not. Lex thinks she’s pregnant just like everyone else. And before you ask, no, I don’t think she’s deliberately faking.”

I suspected that Clark would immediately place the blame of Lana’s fake pregnancy on Lex. And, to be fair, Lex IS the most logical culprit for Clark to jump to. But I was very pleased to see Clark believed Chloe immediately when she told him that Lex wasn’t responsible for this, and neither was Lana. So now Clark knows that Lana was a lab-experiment kidnapped victim just like Chloe. Hmmm, I think there’s less of a chance now of Clark agreeing to ‘stay put’ while Chloe goes on playing investigator into this on her lonesome (with Lex as her chosen ally).

Chloe looked down at the ground, “You’re right, but I never actually thought we were friends. And I only did that because you cared for her. If left to my own devices, I probably wouldn’t have,” she looked at him again, “I stopped faking it at that moment and honestly wanted to be her friend. It wasn’t a gradual thing. It was a complete 180.”

The implications were clear. Clark had to see what she was getting at. She couldn’t force feed him this one. He would hate her and react badly if he thought she was pushing this issue.

Oh, that is terrifying! I always suspected that Lana always gave out some kind of ‘love me, worship me’ mutant vibe around herself that made everyone adore her… but the thought that this vibe was controlled and directed by Lana’s wishes and preferences… there’s something unspeakably creepy about that. To be fair, it doesn’t seem like Lana is consciously aware of the mind and emotions controlling power that she’s wielding over others, but it’s still pretty scary to imagine a person who can force you to love them, simply because they WANT your affections and worship.

No wonder Clark found it impossible to let go of Lana for all of these years. Lana LIKED the idea of having the lovely, pretty, sexy, sweet and decent farmboy as her love-slave, worshipping her from a distance until she deigned to make herself available to him. How horrible! Lana’s only saving grace is that I don’t think she was aware of doing this to Clark consciously.

It also explains a lot about Lex… He started out wooing Lana as a semi-serious joke to taunt and needle Clark. He probably never meant to take it so far as to actually sleep with the girl, much less propose to her. But I think I can see how that happened. Lana must have been flattered by his charming attentions, and decided she wanted more, which turned her ‘love me’ mutant powers on Lex, who then proceeded to actually take his own seduction campaign as a serious matter, convinced that he WAS indeed madly in love with the lovely girl of his dreams, Lana Lang. What a mess!

Chloe could tell from the way his throat worked that he needed one more push to see what she saw, “I can count on my hands the number of people who have actively disliked her. You remember Adrian Harwick? She was on the dance squad and we shared a class. She once told me that she couldn’t understand why people liked Lana. I shrugged and played it off, but I couldn’t either and I thought it was because of my jealousy,” Chloe caught his eyes before she continued, “The only people who have ever actively not liked her were people who moved into this town. You and I both know that Lex went for her because he wanted to get back at you; but out of the blue, he’s declaring his love? That isn’t the way he works. The only person who has ever reacted naturally to Lana was Jason Teague—“

sooo… Lana’s powers are stronger over people who have long term exposure to HER or to Kryptonite? Are Lana’s powers more effective over people who ‘smell more’ of Kryptonite? Or is it a power that grows stronger as she spends more time with that person? Or is Chloe suggesting that Lana herself took a while to warm-up to out-of-towners, and therefore it took them a while to fall under her spell?

Clark blew out a harsh breath and raked his hand through his hair, “You’re telling me that everything I feel is because Lana is some kind of meteor freak?”

heh… he’s catching on. I was delighted beyond all imagining to see that Clark didn’t waste everyone’s time trying to deny the obvious evidence.

The knowledge that he had a way to refine his ability to smell the meteor infected in no way made the revelation easier to handle. Clark didn’t know if anything he felt for Lana was real. If maybe he genuinely came to care for her; or if it was the result of her mutation. He didn’t think it was something she was doing on purpose either. Chloe would’ve mentioned if she thought so.

hmmm, that IS a very useful new ‘power’ to become aware of… the ability to smell out Meteor Freaks. Not all freaks turn out psychotic and dangerous, but it’s a still a useful thing to be aware of.

Clark put his head in his hands. He’d ruined a friendship over her. His father was lost to him because of her. The thought that he had wasted so much for her was a crushing blow. He had immense power. His life would always be about helping others and he had chosen to forsake all of that for her. For her love. Clark wasn’t sure he could forgive himself.

Oh that was painful, Ava! That was a horrible, anguishing, traumatic and nasty thing to do to poor Clark Kent. I was only thinking about all the positive things of Clark finding out about Lana’s new power. That he will be able to gain some perspective about her and finally be able to move past her influence now that he knows that his emotions towards her are artificially enhanced. But I didn’t think about Clark thinking back on all the time and effort he’s WASTED on Lana. Even Jonathan’s death has taken on more tragic tones now that Clark knows that his choice was coloured by fake-emotions.

I imagine that Lex will also be experiencing some similar humiliated, galled and despair filled emotions when HE is also told about how yet another female Freak’s powers of Mutant Seduction clouded his sense of judgement, and made him act like a besotted, idiotic fool.

He felt Chloe kneel in front of him and force his hand from his face, “Clark, you can’t wallow in this. It hurts now and will probably always hurt, but you can only make it better by being the man you can be. That you need to be. Not for the world, or for your father or for me; you need to be him for yourself. You have the opportunity to be more than anyone thought possible.”

I loved this reassuring support delivered by Chloe to help Clark through his moment of humiliation and despair. She’s right that he WILL be able to accept what happened and be able to work past it, as long as he believes that he CAN move past it instead of spending another couple of years dwelling and moping on the topic. And I think Clark exhibited some maturity at the end when he told Chloe to leave him be for a little to give him time to sort things out.

Langston’s gulp was audible to Kale. “What a pathetic waste of space.”

“She did, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t know what’s been done to her. An amniocentesis would give me more information on her condition.”

Kale let his irritation seep through, “Then why haven’t you done so?”

For the first time in a long time, Langston found the courage that had been missing since he became hopelessly entangled in a game that he was ill equipped to play, “Because Luthor was standing there. There’s no reason to have the procedure done.”

Kale was silent on the phone, “My good doctor, be ready to perform the procedure at any moment. I think I might know a way,” he hung up the phone without saying anything further. Langston wished he had the courage to leave, but he had family and he knew that everything would be done as Serena’s man ordered.

Ooooh, more hints about the mystery surrounding Lana and the science project that’s based around her fake pregnancy. I really wonder what the hell is everyone using Lana for?!?? And why do they need to convince her that she’s pregnant as part of the lab experiment. But we’re getting more clues here… such as the hint about who is Kale’s ‘insider’ to the LuthorCorp Meteor and Freak Research…? So it was Dr. Langston, huh? I loved the idea that the traitorous insider is suffering for his involvement and betrayal.

Kale had to change his mindset completely. What worked for Langston, intimidation, would not get him what he wanted from Lana. It was important that she be afraid of Lex Luthor, but not so much so that she actually started thinking about her decisions.

He made sure to soften his voice and affect a fatherly tone, “Lana, we need to meet. Can you get away?”

ROTFL! I just LOVE this guy you’ve created for out reading pleasure, Ava! The ‘characters’ he can adopt affect according to need and depending on who he is talking to is amazing. It’s amazing to see him ‘shifting’ from one role to another to accommodate different people. His boss, his girlfriend, Lana and the people he threatens see all different aspects of him, and although some of them get to see ‘more of him’ than others, none of them actually see the ‘whole of him’.

If there was one thing that irritated her most about Anthony, it was that he hung up without warning.

LOL! It’s a very peeving experience for anyone to be dismissed and ‘hung up on’ during a phone conversation, but I imagine it’s extra irritating for Lana who is used to everyone hanging on her every precious little syllable… never interrupting, and NEVER cutting off, LOL!

It’s probably ‘safer’ for Kale if Lana remains irritated with him. Heavens knows what might happen if Lana decides she LIKES him and wants him as one of her customary worshippers, and turns her ‘love me’ vibe on HIM! It’s scary to imagine the kind of effects that mutant power might have on a man like Kale.

Kale used his cell phone to dial the phone he had given her with the express instructions on what to do. By the end of it he had wanted to ram her head into the table. It wasn’t that she had asked stupid questions. It was just the way she had looked at him as if he was being unnecessarily cautious. She wanted to take down Lex Luthor, second only to Lionel Luthor in terms of ability to be paranoid; but he had taken a deep breath and plowed ever onward and forward.

hmmm, I remember Chloe remarking earlier how out of towners are usually inordinately irritated by Lana’s presence whenever they first meet her…? Is it because they are genuinely baffled and enraged about how everyone else can adore this vapid, boring, self-absorbed child? Or does Lana’s mutant power works as a repulsive force against people that she’s not interested in…?

Whatever the case, it’s still interesting (and slightly fun) to see Kale being so irritated by Lana’s pompous, oblivious, know-it-all attitude.

Janine was not actually her real name. Her real name was Gabrielle Simons. Serena had taken her in and she knew the consequences of not following directions. Gabrielle was an odd one. She could subtly shift the bones in her face so that a close inspection would reveal a fake; but from afar, she could pass as whoever she wanted. Only luck had given her to Serena.

heh… well, that’s a very interesting power. It’s very unusual and specialized, but I can imagine quite a number of ways that this power can be useful. Although, the fact that she can’t perfectly duplicate another person’s features is probably a bit of a problem, but it seems like Team-Kale has worked around that limitation.

Lana interrupted him, “I wasn’t able to get into Lex’s computer. I think he changed all of his passwords. Your instructions also didn’t work.”

He gritted his teeth and vowed not to kill her. “She still has uses. Can’t kill her yet.”

Lana DID sound rather petulant and whiny, but even so, Kale’s reaction seemed so extreme to her childish response. Again, I wonder whether it’s her mutant power working to irritate him as much as her genuine attitude problems.

The indecision was plain to see, but they needed to know what the hell was going on with her baby, or lack thereof. As much as he wanted to pressure her, Kale knew that he couldn’t. So he waited and let her stew. For once in her life, no one was going to make the decision for her. This was a step she had to take for herself. Kale could spare a moment of pity for this girl, but he couldn’t actually bring himself to care about her.

Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t think that Lana had gotten a free ride. Free just meant that you’ve already paid for it or you will pay. The universe eventually took notice and collected. Something would eventually come collecting from Lana. The only thing a person could do was hope for mercy. Lana motioned for the check; and he knew that she was going to do it.

I liked this moment of ‘pity’ that Kale suddenly felt for Lana. I guess it IS true that Lana has also had her share of hardships during her life. Not because of past sufferings (which she’s been blowing out of proportion to set herself like a martyr for YEARS!). But suffering that will happen in the future because she’s never been give the opportunity to grow and develop through REAL suffering and hardship. I think it’s very likely that she’s living (and lived through) most of the best days of her life already, and the years ahead are going to be harsh and unforgiving to a undeveloped, childish person like herself.

Heh… if Kale had the inclination (and the sanity and stability) he might have made a great therapist

Samuel Kale hung up the phone and called Serena, “Langston has gotten the sample from Lana. It should get to you soon or I’ll know the reason it hasn’t.”

Serena’s voice was soft, “You ever get the feeling that something’s coming that gives you everything you want in one hand and destroys everything else in the other?”

Squeee!!! More clues about WHAT the heck is going on, and what is Team-Kale’s real agenda. I can’t wait to find out all the details!! Heh… but I think I’m going to have to be patient for a little while longer… which is not really that much of a chore because I’m LOVING the slow build-up, Ava.

I look forward to the next chapter. Please update soon!!!

[SVfan1286]

Another fascinating chapter! I truly love this story, it's completely incredible and beyond interesting.

I love Lana being a meteor freak... I sooo wish that it happened on the show though, it would have explained alot of that shit on SV. LOl Poor Clark finding the truth about Lana, but I think he handled it well. The mystery about Lana's fake pregnancy is really interesting, I wonder what the hell is wrong and who is behind it? I missed Kale, so I'm glad he's back for this chapter, he's such a kick ass character.

As always, I look forward to reading your next chapter!!