Band of Blue TOCChapter 21 He walked in as straight a line as he could; climbing up and down the stepped terrain, weaving in and out of soaring crystal columns. It felt good to be home but where was everyone. Suddenly he stepped out of the structure and fell to his knees in shock. This wasn’t Krypton. Turning his head to look behind he saw the crystal building rising up behind him but it was obviously a lone structure. He turned to look back out ahead and was greeted with a white expanse.
Snow A knowledge from the back of his mind. This body, this man, knew that the white expanse was called snow.
He set off trudging through the snow.
Of course it wasn’t going to be Krypton. I destroyed Krypton many years ago. It’s why I ended up ... there. He sneered as he remembered his prison. Glancing down at his clothing he sneered again. Obviously smart clothing which had been destroyed by the harsh wasteland.
Armani Suit
How did I know that? This body, this man ... I can access his memories. He continued walking through the snow and he began to concentrate on those memories.
Earth
Arctic
Stones This vessel he inhabited had come here with some stones hoping to discover their purpose. Instead he had been banished to that prison.
Unlucky for him. Lucky for me. It gave me a body again. He continued on, musing over the life of his host. He found himself smiling in satisfaction. This host was rich ... powerful. He looked up at the sun. The heat hardly reached him here in the arctic.
Powerful, yes. I should be powerful here on earth. He stared at the yellow sun and soaked in its rays. Closing his eyes he felt the strength build inside him. He smiled and opened his eyes. He bent his legs slightly and launched himself into the air.
Time for this body to return home to LuthorCorp ... and time for Zod to finally rule a planet. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chloe stared at the screen in front of her as the random cycling letters, symbols and numbers slowly transformed into readable text.
File: Project Ares
Location: R. D.
Level: Incomplete
Status: Abandoned Oliver Queen came round to stand behind her. “Project Ares!” he read out. “Well done Chloe. Can you find out what this project was?” He looked down at her and she twisted her neck to look up at him.
“Sure thing, Mr Queen.”
“Call me Ollie,” he replied. He strode away and poured himself a drink.
Chloe found her confidence growing. She had managed to get past a seriously high level decryption, a handsome, playboy billionaire was acting ‘friendly’ towards her and she’d been let into some secret society. Well, ‘let in’ was not quite true. They’d requisitioned her as a resource. This confidence enabled her to ask a bold question.
“So what’s all this about? Who are you?” She indicated the whole room to imply she was asking who the whole group were.
“If you can find the information we are after. And if it says what I expect then I’ll explain everything.” Oliver Queen ... Ollie ... lifted the glass to his mouth and finished off his drink.
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Clark had spent the whole night proving his worth as a hero. Proving to who? The voice in the Fortress couldn’t see his heroic acts. He sighed as he headed towards Lois’s apartment. He’d needed to prove it to himself. He’d felt belittled when the voice had said he was not ready for his destiny. Now, in the morning light, after a night full of rescues, saves and captures he realised that it didn’t matter whether he thought himself a hero or not. It also didn’t matter whether the voice thought he was. Only one opinion mattered. He wanted to know what Lois thought.
As he approached her door he knew that he couldn’t actually ask her straight out. He couldn’t tell her the truth but just being with her would help anyway. He knocked and waited.
No answer.
He looked through the door and dropped his head in disappointment. She wasn’t there. He growled and punched the door, slowing the impact just in time to stop a serious accident.
We need to talk. I need to know what is happening between us. I want to know why she ran out on me. He turned a walked away.
Is she avoiding me? Maybe she went to visit her father? Maybe she’s just out and it’s nothing to do with me. Clark continued walking while he considered all the possibilities. His heart was heavy as he had a large suspicion that Lois
had run away from him.
She doesn’t want anything more from me. She doesn’t even really want to be work partners. Hands in his pockets he strolled along and felt his heart waver between hope, remembering the kiss, and despair, seeing the empty apartment.
I won’t give up on this. I know we are meant to be together. I know it. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chloe quickly shut the top of the laptop when she heard knocking at the door.
“Coming,” she shouted. She glanced back over her shoulder at the laptop to make sure that it was closed just before opening the door. “Lois!” she shouted and felt a smile appear on her face.
“Hey cuz, ok if I visit?” she asked.
“Of course. Come in, I’ll get you a drink.” Chloe closed the door behind Lois and headed for the kitchen. She walked straight past the laptop. Picking it up as she past she noted Lois’s position out of the corner of her eye before then sliding it out of sight on a high shelf. It wouldn’t do for Lois to happen to notice the classified documents she was decrypting. Chloe turned back to see Lois facing in completely the other direction. She let out a breath and her heart calmed back down. Gosh, it was exciting ... and terrifying ... this work for Ollie.
Chloe made two coffees then went and sat with Lois.
“So, how’s the General?” she asked.
“Stubborn as ever,” replied Lois. “Won’t let us in to see him ... still.” Lois sighed and rested back into the seat. “I tried to visit again this morning. Got to speak to the doctor this time. It’s a minor heart attack, no problems. He’ll probably be discharged within a day or so. If he doesn’t discharge himself before then.”
Chloe nodded in agreement. It sounded like something Uncle Sam would do.
“How are you,” Chloe asked Lois earnestly.
“Me?” Lois had an incredulous tone to her voice. “Why would you think anything’s wrong with me?”
“Lo,” Chloe started. “It’s the General.” Lois lowered her head and looked at her lap. “Are you ok?”
She lifted her head and flicked her hair as she turned to look at Chloe. An obvious fake smile lit up her face. “I’m fine. Maybe I wasn’t on Friday but Clark stayed and looked after me and then I did a lot of thinking yesterday.” She paused. “I’m fine.”
Chloe took a sip of her coffee. Lois’s voice had wavered when she’d mentioned Clark’s name. She’d heard Clark’s version of Friday night already, maybe hearing Lois’s point of view would be just as interesting.
“So, Clark looked after you then. That’s just like him ... the perfect gentleman.” Chloe waited and watched for any kind of reaction.
“Yes, the perfect gentleman,” Lois replied. “Too perfect,” she muttered but Chloe still heard.
“What do you mean?” Chloe asked innocently.
“Well any other red-bloodied male would have ... er,” Lois seemed to stop herself from saying any more and she went slightly red. “Would have left me alone,” she continued. “But he stopped on the couch then went for breakfast in the morning. Perfect gentleman.” Chloe knew that Lois had been going to say something else but couldn’t figure out what.
“Breakfast eh! Sounds nice.”
“Oh I didn’t stick around for breakfast. I couldn’t face him.”
Chloe suppressed a smile. “Why-ever not?” she asked innocently.
Lois turned to look at Chloe and her eyes widened. “You know.” She stood up and pointed accusingly at Chloe. “You already know.”
“Clark visited me yesterday.” Lois sat down again, silent. “He was devastated that you ran out on him.”
“Devastated! Why?” Lois looked surprised. “I kissed him.” She spoke nervously. “I kissed him,” she repeated a little stronger, in resigned acceptance, “and he rejected me. Why should he be surprised that I wouldn’t want to face him?”
“Lois, it’s obvious he likes you.” Chloe shook her head in frustration at Lois’s lack of understanding. “And since when did you like him? I can’t believe you kissed Clark.” She paused for effect. “Clark!”
Lois smiled shyly. “I know. He’s not my usual type. I always talk about liking the intelligent geeks but truthfully actually end up dating the men of action. Smallville’s all geek but no action.”
Chloe suppressed a laugh.
That’s what you think, Lois. “Smallville?” Chloe asked.
“Oh that’s my nickname for him. Drives him mad.” She frowned. “At least I hope it does. I think it does?”
Chloe took another sip of her coffee and formulated the next set of questions in her head but she never got the chance to ask them as the front door flung open.
“Chloe,” came Clark’s voice. She looked up to see him striding through the door. One hand held his glasses half way towards his face, the other hand was in his hair, slicking it back. “We need to talk about what happened at Ol ...” He stopped mid sentence as he looked up and noticed the occupants of the couch.
“Lois!”
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