Chapter 56:
She kept her eyes sealed shut tight, head throbbing. Nigel's attacks had been brief and sparse, but the ferocity of his hatred for her made him an unstable element, and she didn't want to provoke him again.
To be fair, she hadn't meant to provoke him. The second time, anyway. The first time... well, she knew she was pushing it. But she had to test the boundaries, see just what she was up against.
And damn.
If Clark didn't show up sometime soon, she'd find herself at St. John's mercy in a more permanent capacity. She'd severely underestimated her enemy this time. Perry always chastised her for jumping in without checking the water levels. Should have listened. She shouldn't have assumed just because Clark was the man behind the cape that she'd have an easy escape. She shouldn't have assumed that because Lex had loved her she'd be generally untouchable. Money and power and intellect and superpowers all on her side, and still she was in this position.
Maybe she'd cheated death one too many times.
Lois wasn't sure how much time had passed when she first heard the footsteps approach. She shivered and braced herself.
"What the hell did you do to her?"
Her eyes fluttered open at the familiar voice, and a spike of relief stabbed through her. She looked up at him pleadingly, hoping he'd take some pity on her, maybe remove the duct tape from her mouth.
His gaze was cold, calculating, and she had a funny feeling he wasn't coming to her rescue.
"You try kidnapping her next time. She's more difficult than one might think."
Lex glared at his one-time butler... Henchman? Lackey? Lois couldn't quite define their relationship beyond the fact that they had one, and that was frightening enough.
"I said not to touch her until I got here."
"I believe you fired me. That means I'm no longer in the way of taking orders from you."
She took the moment of conflict to glance around the space surreptitiously. It had the bones of an old, abandoned warehouse. There was some defunct factory equipment off to the left, and the room was cavernous. She scowled as she realized she was in the exact center of the clearing, nothing of use within reach. She was sure there was something useful in that duffel bag Nigel had been hauling around, but no way would she get close to that.
"And you—"
Lex got her attention with a hand gripping her hair. Tears sprung to her eyes as he pulled, directing her eyes back to him physically.
"You really thought you could end things like that? Over a God. Damn. Voicemail?"
Lois shook her head, fighting to hold back her tears fruitlessly.
Rage contorted Lex's face, and he ripped off the duct tape fiercely, ripping a cry of pain from her throat. God, that stung.
"Tell me how many times."
He spoke in calm, dulcet tones, and it would have been soothing in any other scenario. As things stood, it came across as terrifying. Lois licked her chapped lips where the tape had made them raw and croaked out a response. "What?"
"How many times did you sleep with Kent?"
Heat flooded her cheeks as a slice of a memory struck, the image of his darkened eyes boring into her soul, his body large and toned and looming over hers, strength and power and raw masculinity... Lois tamped down her visceral reaction to his words with a gulp and refuted his accusation warmly. "Lex, I never—"
"Liar!" He roared out suddenly, making her jump.
"Lex—"
His hand cracked against her face.
Pain. Pain and surprise, both stinging and sharp, following the path of her head as the blow knocked her back. She blinked, a tingling heat washing across her face in it's turn as the impact sank in, driving home the ramifications of what he'd just done. He hit her. He actually laid a hand on her and... and.... Shock triumphed over pain ultimately, the internal hurt far outweighing the physical. Desperately, she bit back her tears, driving her teeth into her bottom lip.
A flicker of doubt, or remorse, came and went behind his eyes before Lex steeled himself again. And a hot ball of hatred settled in her stomach. Because he knew. He knew her past, everything she'd been through, and he did it anyway.
It was suddenly easier to swallow back her tears.
Lex spun on his heel, pulling at his hair like he was trying to tear himself apart. "Lying, cheating... you manipulated me. You made me think I was wrong to doubt, like I was crazy for even thinking you would stray—"
"You are crazy!" she spat back with venom, struggling against her restraints. She refused to be helpless.
He laughed unevenly and wagged his finger at her. "No. Because if I'm crazy then you wouldn't have ended things, and Kent wouldn't be so smug, and those are both facts. Ergo: not crazy."
"You ever stop and think maybe your insanity is the catalyst that brought on all this?"
His face went slack for a moment before twisting into snarling rage again. Lois braced herself for a reaction, nails digging into the ropes that bound her. Even still, she flinched when he stomped and lunged at her.
"Stop!"
Tears flooded down her face at the sound of his voice, and she exhaled with relief. "Cl- Oh, thank God—"
Lex chuckled darkly, slowly leaning away from her. "Back for seconds so soon?"
Lois locked eyes on Clark. What did that mean? He looked slightly pale, almost unwell. He trained his gaze on her, as if he was trying to impress his thoughts on her like she could read his mind. A knot twisted in her stomach. Something wasn't right. He could take care of Nigel and Lex, but for now....
She'd have to take care of herself.
Discreetly, she started to shimmy the ropes binding her against the edge of her chair, keeping one eye on the action going on around her. She'd been smart at least, when Nigel had tied her up. Tensed all her muscles, flexed her wrists. The man had even been sweet enough to drop the broken needle on the ground within the circumference of her reach. Lois eased a foot out and kicked it towards her subtly.
A gun at her temple froze her, and she suddenly remembered the other person in the room.
"Just how fast is faster than a speeding bullet, hmm? Fast enough from here?"
Panic rushed in on Clark's face, and he held up a hand defensively. "No, Nigel- don't!"
Lois felt the gun pull away from her temple, and she glanced over to see why the man hadn't just pulled the trigger. Nigel, for his part, looked one part surprised and one part gleeful. He'd pulled the gun back and tipped it casually up at the ceiling, a smile blossoming across the old man's face.
It wasn't something she wanted to see twice.
"That was fear. Real fear. You really doubt you could make it in time."
Lois analyzed him carefully: the sweat beading at his forehead, the slight pinch between his brows. Her first impression was right. Something was off.
The trouble was, Nigel could see it too.
Clark suddenly raced across the space towards them, and covered the barrel of Nigel's gun. Nigel fired into his hand.
Lois felt her heart stop for half a second.
Clark cried out in pain, and he gently pulled away his hand, cupping the bullet gently. He was in pain. He was never in pain. She couldn't make out any blood, as he dropped the shell casing onto the ground, but still—
The slackening of Nigel's jaw told her he'd arrived at the same conclusion. "So you do feel pain."
Clark's eyes widened in response, and in the blink of an eye, Nigel fired again. He tucked and rolled, out of the line of fire as Nigel fired off a few more rounds into him.
Concern for Clark and the realization that he wasn't getting her out of here any time soon prompted Lois to keep working at her restraints. Fear was an excellent motivator. She knocked her wrists sharply against her tailbone. No success. Lois bit her lip. This was outrageous. For the first time in a long time, she wasn't sure that they would get out of this one.
The taste of blood springing from her lip startled her back into action, and she gathered her senses. There was a way out of this, because there had to be. Because this wasn't the end of their story. She had to be the strong one, for Clark.
She knew what she had to do.
She braced herself tightly, and tipped her chair over onto the floor.
Lois blinked a few times, clearing the brief fog from the fall out of her mind. Panic flooded her veins, adrenaline rushing her system and slowing her fingers down, making them clumsy. She forced herself to breathe a moment in spite of the chaos around her. One, two...
A cry of agony ripped from her throat as she finally did what she'd set out to do, and felt the joint of her left thumb slip and a snap sounded. She didn't have time to waste, quickly shimmying out one hand before the joint swelled too much and it was all pointless.
His eyes found hers at the sound of her pain, and his voice was tremulous when he spoke. "Lois?"
Clark's concern gave Nigel just enough time to load a second clip, and as her wrist finally slipped through her restraints, he fired again, hitting Kent square in the back. The momentum pushed him forward slightly, but he rallied, unhurt and regaining his strength with every attempt. Clark turned back to face Nigel with a grin. In a flash, he knocked the gun out of his hands and slammed Nigel into the wall across the room.
"Enough!"
Clark’s position faltered at Lex's exclamation, and he staggered back.
The pit in Lois' stomach grew into a sinkhole.
A sickly green glow emanated from a metallic box in Lex's hands. Lois looked at her ex in horror, the light from the crystals inside painting his features with a sickening pleasure. Her stomach lurched as Clark stumbled and fell to his knees.
Nigel's responding laugh sounded like defeat.
Hands free now, Lois turned her focus to untying the rest of her. She had to save him. She had to help somehow... But if they were able to stop Clark with all his abilities, what hope did she have?
"What is this wonderful trick that brings the Man of Steel to his knees?" Nigel murmured darkly. Lois shivered.
"Haven't thought of a name for it yet. So far, all I've got is Project K, but it doesn't have that ring to it, you know?"
Lois couldn't stomach much more of this. She reached out towards him with a note of begging in her voice. "Lex—"
"Get away from me!"
He turned around and kicked at her, or more precisely the chair she was tied to, spinning her to face the scene more fully. The tears started streaming once again as she watched Clark struggling to go to her with a strangled cry in his throat, but St. John just laughed at him and kept him grounded on his knees. She worked rapidly to free herself from the rest of her restraints, but all she wanted to do was puke. How did it come to this? Another instant hit of fear raced through her as the British man fisted his jet black hair tightly and exposed Clark's throat— much like he'd done to her earlier.
"I don't care what you call it, but I want some."
Lois glanced over at Lex to find the man picking through the box carefully. He seemed to find a suitable piece, and tossed it over to his right-hand-man. Nigel twirled it in his fingers to adjust his grip on it and placed the sharp end against her lover's neck. Her heart skipped a beat, palms sweating.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a long time," Nigel crooned at him.
Clark let out an exasperated laugh. "I bet you have."
"No," Lois murmured under her breath, chest tight. She looked around, and her eyes alighted on the glint of gunmetal.
St. John yanked on his hair again, added some pressure to the green shard against his carotid. "Any last words, Kent?"
Her stomach sank at his use of the name, and at the whisper of an echo coming from Lex as he put it together. She pulled herself together and scrambled for the weapon, pulse racing, hands shaking.
"I swear to God, you'd better do it this time, Nigel." Clark glanced at her for half a second, saw what she was thinking, and immediately steeled his gaze on Lex Luthor. He was resolved in his focus. "Or you won't be so lucky next time."
Nigel snarled menacingly. "I don't doubt it. Save me a seat down below, would you?"
The sharp snap of a gunshot echoed across the cavernous space.
