Thanks to those who gave comments last time. And thanks to rkn for betaing again.

Here's part III.

A Box of Swiss Chocolates

The next day, Kiley looked through her sketches of some of the Alps. Not bad, but maybe she should go back later today to draw some more.

She sighed. Back to Switzerland. That was the whole problem right there, wasn’t it? Should she go back? Should she see Larry again? Should she call him? His last name was Luthor, which gave her the creeps. Did that mean he was related to Lex Luthor? Maybe his son?

A person didn’t grow up in Metropolis without hearing all the evil things that Lex Luthor had done to the city, although he had died long before she had been born. And didn’t he have another son, too? Someone she seemed to remember that had tried to briefly take his father’s place in Metropolis. He turned out to be a bad seed, too, if she recalled correctly. So, in that case, were all Luthors bad?

Kiley causally stroked her canvas with her paint brush as she thought. She wasn’t painting anything in particular right now. But she often played with paints while she was thinking. And given the fact that she had planned on painting this morning, it made sense that she seemed to be “doodling” with her paints. Her mother often buried herself in her work when she was upset or needed to think. She supposed she was doing the same thing, in a different way.

Speaking of her parents, maybe she should talk to them to get more information on Luthor and Son. If she remembered correctly, they had gotten a lot of the stories on him. Not that that was surprising. They got most of the “big stories” in the city, although they were not as aggressive in seeking them since having children.

Still, in some ways she was inclined to give Larry the benefit of doubt. After all, if he really was a bad guy, like his father and brother, why hadn’t he tried to take over Metropolis as well? Maybe he wanted to run Switzerland instead? Yet, he didn’t strike her as a power – hungry guy. She liked him. But should she like him?

She stroked her canvas with her paintbrush again. She would really like to at least go back and do some more sketches of the Alps. But to do that she would have to go to Switzerland again, and in her mind she already considered that “Larry’s territory.” Even if she never went near his chocolate shop, it was still “his.” And that scarred her.

Kiley put down her brush and left her studio, sighing. Maybe she should just some information on Luthor through the internet. Then she wouldn’t have to bother her parents. Seriously, how would she bring up the subject, anyway?

Heading toward her computer, she passed the box of chocolates she had bought yesterday. He really did sell great chocolate. She opened the box and ate one. Yeah, that’s how it should taste. She imagined Larry behind the counter, smiling at her, and she sighed again. The chocolates were good, but they still reminded her of Larry. And that brought her back to her problem again. Could a Luthor be a good man? Who were these Luthors, anyway?

She sat down at the computer and got to work. There really was a lot of material. It seemed Lex Luthor jumped to his death in 1994, off the end of his balcony on his penthouse. And then Mom and Dad revealed all of his criminal network over that summer. He had run almost all of Metropolis! Wait a minute! He had actually bombed the Daily Planet! She knew how much the Daily Planet meant to her parents. Not to mention Uncle Jim and Grandpa Perry. Lex Luthor had destroyed it.

But that wasn’t all. Most surprising was that her mother had been engaged Lex Luthor at one time. It was just before he jumped to his death in 1994. The idea that her mother would ever consider marrying anyone but his father was appalling to her, especially considering how affectionate they were with each other.

Lex Luthor wasn’t even done with Metropolis then. In 1995, he had ‘risen from the dead!’ Briefly, she wondered how that was even possible, before moving on. And then he kidnapped her mother when Mom was about to marry Dad! What was that all about, anyway? Where did her mother fit in Lex Luthor’s criminal mind? What purpose was there? Was he obsessed with her? Or was he just using her? And if that was the case, did that mean Larry’s interest in her was also unhealthy?

Larry seemed like a nice guy, but Lex Luthor had apparently fooled a lot of people, too. What if Larry was fooling her as well? What was she going to do?

Suddenly Kiley’s super – hearing snapped on. There was a large warehouse on fire, and it was completely out of control. She spun into Superwoman and took off. Her father arrived shortly after she did. The two of them got the fire under control. Then they helped the Metropolis fire department put out the fire. When they were almost done, she suddenly heard someone moaning. She flew towards the sound. In the back of the building, there was a man being almost crushed by the rubble. “Dad, help me with this!” she called out. Understanding the situation, her father quickly removed the rubble so she could pick up the man. She flew him off to the hospital. Hopefully, he’d be okay. She sighed. Did they push the rubble onto him while they were putting out the fire? She hoped not.

When she left the hospital, Dad was waiting for her. “Thanks for the help.” He sighed. “I don’t know if I could have handled that myself.”

She looked back at her father sadly. “Dad, do you think we caused that man’s injury? I mean, we blew on the building pretty hard to stop the fire. We could have blown the rubble right on top of him! Why didn’t we X – ray the building to make sure it was okay? We should have taken him out first!”

Her father placed his hands on her shoulders. “Kiley, the building was lined with lead! You can’t use X – ray vision on lead! Besides, there is a good possibility that the rubble simply fell on top of him because of the fire, especially since it was burned. And we needed to put out the fire or he would have died, anyway.”

Kiley sighed and checked the building quickly. He was right! She really had too much on her mind. She needed to put her problem with Larry aside. “I’m sorry, Dad. You’re right.”

Dad sighed again. “Kiley, are you okay? You wouldn’t normally forget to check the building first.”

Kiley paused. How was she supposed to answer that? She couldn’t pretend nothing was wrong; her father already known she was upset about something. But she wasn’t ready to tell him about Larry yet.

“I’m trying to start a new painting of the Swiss Alps, and I’m having trouble putting it together,” she replied finally. That was partly true.


Clark frowned. He knew that couldn’t be the real reason. Kiley painted tough pieces all the time, and they didn’t affect her concentration like that. If she was forgetting to use her X – Ray vision on a rescue, this was serious.

Still, Kiley was obviously not willing to tell her what she was really worried about. And as much as he wanted to help her, he couldn’t force her to talk to him until she was ready.
But maybe there was still something he could do for her. “Kiley how would you like to come over for dinner? It will get your mind off your problem.”

She nodded. They both flew to Hyperion Avenue.

Lois was somewhat surprised when Clark arrived with Kiley as well. But she welcomed her daughter with open arms, just as Clark knew she would. Clark decided to make pot roast, knowing it was one of Kiley’s favorite meals. Maybe that would make her feel better.

Soon, he was dishing the meal in to their plates. As Lois poured the milk, they accidentally bumped into each other. “Clark, watch it!” she exclaimed. Before the milk or the roast could land on the floor, he used super-speed to retrieve them. “Thank, honey,” Lois said as he put them back on the table. They shared a loving glance.

************************************************************************

It was nice to spend time with her parents, and Alice as well. Dad had obviously made pot roast with her in mind. That was sweet of him. Some of her earlier tension was already disappearing.

“Guess what I did today?” Alice asked everyone excitedly.

They all shrugged their shoulders and indicated she should continue.

So Alice carried on with, “I went to the mall and I saw a band performance. It was a lot of fun. In fact, I’m thinking about taking up an instrument myself.”

“That’s great.”

“I’m glad you had a great day.”

“I hope you’ll be able to do that, Alice.”

They all congratulated and encouraged her in her new-found interest at once.

Kiley was a lot more relaxed now. “How’s the paper going?” Kiley asked her parents. “We’re still working on that corruption in city hall story,” her mother replied. “It’s hard to find anything concrete, but I know there’s something there.”

Dad nodded. “They don’t seem to have enough money to operate, but the city’s paying the same percentage that it always has. It just doesn’t smell right. But it’s hard to prove, because people argue that it’s just an increase in expenses.” He looked a little frustrated.

Kiley thought for a minute. “You guys have had a lot of stories where your theories are hard to prove, right?”

Her parents both nodded, wondering what brought this up.

“So is it better to go with your gut feeling or what the evidence seems to support?”

Her parents exchanged glances. Traditionally, Lois had always believed in gut feelings, while Clark believed in looking for proper evidence. But over the years, they understood the value of both tactics.

“While it’s really best to a little of both” Dad replied grinning. “That’s why it’s nice to have a partner who looks at things a little differently.” He smiled at Mom and rubbed her back.

Alice rolled her eyes.

Kiley sighed. That really didn’t answer her question. Was it a good idea to trust Larry or not? She certainly couldn’t ask a “partner” as Dad implied she should! She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about this tonight, though!

She spent the rest of the evening spending time with her family. They ate, they laughed, and they watched old comedies. It was fun. Mom and Dad kept ‘making eyes’ at each other when they thought no one was looking. Alice grumbled when she saw them. Kiley remained quiet, but it only served to remind her that they had something she was lacking.

When she went home, she looked at her box of chocolates again. Wasn’t there a saying about chocolates? Something about never being certain what you were going to get? And that was like life?. She opened the box and ate one. Then she paused. That really didn’t apply to someone who had X – ray vision. As long as that person remembered how to the vision, that is.

*********************************************************************
The next day, Kiley decided to go to Switzerland. She still wasn’t sure whether she should trust Larry, but she wanted to try. Spending time with her parents had only reminded her of how much she wanted someone to love. She might have a chance on that with Larry. Assuming he wasn’t the classic Luthor manipulator, that is.

Besides, even if he was all wrong for her, she had to see him and talk to him again. He was destroying her ability to concentrate, as her father had clearly pointed out last night. Anyway, she needed to do some more flying if she intended to eat more of his Swiss chocolate. With that thought, she ate another chocolate, spun into her Superwoman outfit, and took off.

A few minutes later, she strolled into the chocolate shop. Hopefully Larry would be here today. Or was she really hopeful, she thought to herself nervously, as she picked up another box of chocolates.

He was.

Larry smiled when she walked up to him. “So, you’re still giving me business, huh?”

Kiley nodded nervously.

“Given your reaction to my, uh business card, I thought maybe you had decided to get your chocolate elsewhere,” Larry commented just as nervously.

“No, there’s no beating the chocolate you sell here,” she replied. She brushed her long hair with her fingers.

“So, are you still getting some good scenery for your paintings,” he continued, remembering why she was here.

“Oh! Yes of course!” Actually, she’d have to fly back home and get her supplies again. In her obsessing about Larry last night and this morning, she had completely forgotten about her desire to work on more sketches. Gosh, if this guy made her forget about her painting, he really did have an effect on her!

“So, um I thought maybe after you finish work again, we could talk about our, um, situation.” Kiley brushed her hair with her fingers again.

“Yeah! I think that’s a good idea, I guess. ” Larry sounded excited and nervous at the same time.

“So, um, I should probably pay for these,” she said, gesturing to the chocolates.

“Oh, right!” He rang them up and she paid for them.

Kiley quickly flew home and grabbed her sketch pad and pencils again. Now, should she sit in a different spot so she could get a different angle of the mountains?

Later that morning, she looked at her all of her sketches of the area. Did she have enough to start painting? She really preferred painting to sketching, but she couldn’t start a picture like this without seeing some ideas on what she wanted to paint. Still, if she started painting, she wouldn’t have a good excuse to stay in Switzerland that Larry would understand. That was, assuming of course, that she wanted to keep seeing him.

Time! What was the time again? She remembered how she had almost lost track of time last time she had a date with Larry. But then, this wasn’t really a date today. They were just going to talk. To see if it was possible to have dates in the future. So she didn’t need to dress up or anything.

Still, as Kiley looked at her pants, covered with paint, dirt, and grass stains, she decided it might still be a good idea to change. She flew home. She quickly dropped her sketches in her studio. Maybe she would be able to use them in her painting in the near future. Then she walked into the living room and checked the time. It was 9:30 AM.

Good. That was enough time to get ready, considering it was only 3:30 where Larry lived. She could even use the extra time to make sure there weren’t any disasters that needed Superwoman’s attention tonight. She didn’t want to be late because of such complications, like she was last time.

So she took off her painting clothes, and picked out some clean pants and a blue t – shirt. Nothing too fancy, but nice enough, she thought, inspecting herself. She ran her fingers through her hair again. What would come of this meeting tonight? What did she want to come of it? She couldn’t decide.

It was now 9:45PM. She was going to fly over Metropolis and over Europe. That way she shouldn’t be late again, right? Of course, logically, Kiley knew that wasn’t necessarily true. Some rescues took longer than others. Furthermore, there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t see or hear someone that needed rescuing when it was time to meet Larry. But it was easier to tell herself that there was a solution to this problem than that there wasn’t. She didn’t like situations when there wasn’t anything she could do. She spun into Superwoman and took off.

Metropolis was rather quiet this morning. Naturally, with both her and her father on guard here, they didn’t get as many problems as they used to, but it was still a quiet night for a city. London had a bomb threat. She located the bomb, defused, and handed it over to the police. They appreciated her help. Paris had an armed robbery. She assisted there as well.

Finally, it was time to go see Larry. Kiley flew into an empty alley and spun into the pants and shirt she had picked out. Then she strolled into his chocolate shop.

“So, uh, are you all set?” she asked him as she came in. She spoke English this time, since it was the language they were both raised on. She ran her hands through her hair. She had forgotten how handsome he was.

Larry looked up at her. “Oh, yeah. Just let me makes some notes and get my stuff.” He finished up in a few minutes. Then he picked up his record book and they walked out of the store.

“So…..”he began not sure where to start.

“Yeah, um…..” Kiley continued.

“I guess by your reaction to my business card that you’ve heard of my uncle.” Larry finally commented. They both thought back to the moment he had given her the business card.

******************************(flashback)*********************************
Kiley continued to stare at the business card, particularly at the name “Luthor.” This wasn’t good at all. She had heard the name enough times growing up to know it was synonymous with evil.

Avoiding Larry’s eyes, she finally said, “I think I should be going now,” before turning sharply and walking off. In fact, she almost dropped the card because she was walking so fast. She needed to get out of here now! Would it even matter if she dropped it?
*****************************(end of flashback) *************************

“Not that it’s surprising if you lived in Metropolis”, he continued.

Kiley stopped walking and looked at him. “Uncle??? I thought Lex Luthor was your father!” This was exactly what she was afraid of. He was related to Lex. But it was still better for Larry to be Lex Luthor’s nephew than his son.

“No, he’s not. I don’t even know who my dad was. But Uncle Lex was like a father figure to me until he died when I was nine. So it’s not much better. The only man I looked up to as a kid turned out to be an international criminal.”

“I see.” Kiley replied. He didn’t sound happy that Lex Luthor was his uncle. Was it right to judge him by his uncle’s example? Should she trust him? But he also said he looked up to Lex when he was young. So what did that mean?

“But that’s why I live here and not in Metropolis,” Larry continued. “Even though he was an international criminal, he had the most control over Metropolis. I know that. So his name, and my name, is more well – known there.

“And I don’t want to take over his empire. My chocolate shop is successful, and that’s enough for me.”

Kiley nodded. She had figured that last night. Or at least, she thought she had. She had so many different scenarios running through her head she hadn’t known what to think.

They walked again, neither saying anything.

“So, I guess I need to tell you my last name too,” Kiley finally announced, sighing. She wondered if he would recognize it. Apparently her mother and Lex had been a couple at one time. How much of that would he have discussed with his nephew?

“My name is, ah…Kiley Kent.” When Larry didn’t quite recognize the name, she added “As in Lois Lane and Clark Kent.”

It was Larry’s turn to look completely shocked. It was probably more than he bargained for. All he was interested in was dating a pretty, interesting woman who liked his chocolates. But then she had to be from Metropolis, the center of his uncle’s empire. And then she had to be Lois Lane and Clark Kent’s kid.

“Well,” he finally said, “I remember Uncle Lex mentioning Lois Lane when I was young. He talked about how beautiful she was. Although,” he added “if she looked anything like her daughter, he probably had a point, there. And he talked about he intended to make her his no matter what it took. With that kind of history, I’m surprised that you were willing to see me again at all.”

“I am too, I guess,” she admitted. “But I decided to give you the benefit of doubt.” Although she wondered for a second when he told her she was beautiful. While it was certainly flattering, it had some unwanted connotations because Lex Luthor had thought her mother was beautiful as well. She sighed. She needed to stop thinking about this!

Larry smiled from ear to ear. “Thank you.”

They continued their walk. Larry pointed out some of the places he enjoyed going to on his day off. They walked through the park. Kiley pointed to one of the spots she had done her sketches for her paintings. It was a nice night. They even made plans to have dinner again the next day.