A Lifetime of Tomorrows

[NYC300Z]

So how long does Clark have before the end of the school year?? How sad so if he's late Jor-el's going to do something to Lana??

PPMS!!

[Cardinal]

They are roughly even with episode 17, Legacy. Since there are only another 4 or 5 epsodes left in that season, I figure he's got maybe as much as two months to go. Basically, I wanted him to leave at roughly the same time he left at the end of season 3.

And yeah, if he misses the deadline, Lana, and everyone else, is toast! Jor-El doesn't screw around.

[SmallvilleMan]

Nice job card, now about the three way lolaloe.

[Cardinal]

Well, let's see...Chloe finally finds out that Lana and Clark are back together. Lana still lives with the Sullivans and Lois is visiting Chloe, so they're all in close quarters. What started out as a cat fight with Lois trying to break it up, turned into something more, much more!

Of course, Gabe has a heart attack and dies, 'cause he can't decide whether to be repelled or turned on by Lolaloe!

Best I can do on short notice! Also the best I can do without going to the NC-17 section.

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

Thanks for your kind words, SV!

It just occurred to me that I only have to write one more story scene before I can bring some Clana back into this story...well, technically, this fic has never had Clana since all of my mush has been relegated to At Last! and The Proposal.

Finally, since Meg101 has returned, I was inspired to read her stuff. Both fics are good, but if you've never had the chance to read them, "Never Too Late" is especially good!

[kewl]

AWESOME update!!!!! so clark's gonna leave lana again??? PPMS!

[Cardinal]

Chapter 9: Free at Last

Noon time, Metropolis

Soaring over the soulless glass boxes that are purported to be the pinnacle of modern architecture, Lex mused how he preferred the character and style of his current lodgings. When the LuthorCorp helicopter landed on the rooftop helipad of the LuthorCorp Building, Lex snapped out of his reverie, removed his headset and seatbelt, stepped out of the chopper and walked over to the reception committee, headed by a man in the gray blazer and black slacks of LuthorCorp Security. Upon reaching them Lex quickly checked the man’s name tag. It read, “Jim Symonds.”

Lex asked, “What do you have for me, Symonds?”

“Nothing new, Mr. Luthor. We’ve cleared the 60th floor, as per your orders, and no one has been there since. Guards are posted outside that floor in the stairwells, the elevators won’t respond to a press of the 60th floor button, and your father’s express elevator has been locked down.”

“Very good. Let’s get down there. I need to take a look around before we call the police to inform them of my father’s death.”

“What do you hope to find, Sir?”

“If I knew that, Symonds, I wouldn’t need to look…now would I?” Lex said, grinning. “I want to see that office before the police take anything away as evidence.”

As Symonds led the party towards the Luthors’ private elevator, he said, “We’ll have the elevator unlocked and up here in a couple of minutes, Mr. Luthor.”

Lex continued to walk and headed for the stairs, saying, “Don’t bother. We’ll take the stairs. I’ve been cooped up in the chopper for a while and feel the need to stretch my legs.”

After a quick race down the stairs, Lex and party stopped on the 60th floor landing. When Lex tried to move past the guard on the landing and enter the 60th floor, the guard’s hand shot out and blocked him. “ID please,” the guard said.

Symonds said, “You’ve got to be kidding me, Edwards. How many bald, twenty-something billionaires do you think there are?”

Fishing out his corporate ID for the guard’s inspection, Lex said, “No, Symonds, this man is right. You have no idea how refreshing it is to find a guard who takes his job seriously. Give this man a promotion and have him added to my security staff at the mansion.” Maybe that’ll help cut down on the number of unannounced, heavily-armed intruders.

Retrieving his ID as Edwards opened the door with his key, Lex walked straight to his father’s office. Taking a handkerchief out of his suit coat, Lex used it to open the door so he wouldn’t leave any fingerprints. After using the handkerchief to turn on all the lights, Lex strode over to Lionel’s prostrate form. He circled slowly and looked carefully, all the while keeping clear of the body and the black leather couch on which it was slumped. As he came around to the front of the couch, he stood in front of the low, glass, coffee table and noticed a sheaf of papers. Twisting his head, Lex read the top sheet. When he reached the part where it said, “Unspecified hepatic disease affecting the liver. PROGNOSIS: TERMINAL,” he left the office, turning the lights back off and shutting the doors.

“Did you find what you were looking for, Sir?”

“Yeah, I think that my father shot himself. At least that’s what the evidence indicates.” I can’t believe it, I’ve wanted to kill him so many times and…the jackass did it himself.

“Symonds, get that elevator up here and call the police. I’ll go to the executive dining room while I wait for the police to arrive.” While waiting for the elevator, all Lex could think was, the bastard was dying of liver disease, that would explain why all of Dr. Tang’s patients were suffering from the same obscure liver disease! Stepping into the elevator, Lex had an epiphany. Speaking of evidence, “Symonds?”

“Sir?”

“Who’s my father’s number one computer expert? The one he goes to whenever he wants to hack into someone else’s system.”

“Well…umm…”

“Come on, Symonds, you work for me now, you can tell me,” Lex cajoled.

“He’s a grad student in Computer Science over at Metropolis University. He’s not a LuthorCorp employee; your father hires him as an independent contractor on a case-by-case basis.”

“Name…”

“Huh?”

“I need a name, I can’t hire a vague description.”

“Oh, it’s William Gates. He‘s relatively tall and somewhat emaciated-looking with sandy-blonde hair, wire-rimmed glasses, an omnipresent pocket-protector for his short-sleeved shirts, and khakis that don‘t quite reach his shoes.”

“Great, that’ll narrow it down some,” Lex said sarcastically, “you’ve just described three-quarters of the computer techs I’ve ever met. Find this Gates character, offer him double his usual rate if he’s here within an hour, then send a team to expedite his arrival.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Meanwhile, back at Smallville Medical…

As Chloe, Lana, and Pete made their way out of the hospital to have lunch, and to give the Kents some time alone, Chloe asked, “I see Pete’s car…but where’s your SUV, Lana? Normally, that gas guzzler stands out like a sore thumb.”

Looking supremely uncomfortable, Lana answered, “Umm…it’s at the Kents’, I rode over here with Clark.”

“What were you doing out there that early in the morning? I know when the 911 call came in and Clark’s usually still doing his chores at that time.”

“Just drop it, Chloe,” Pete said, jumping in to save Lana some embarrassment. “The important thing is, Mr. Kent’s okay.”

Waving her hands for emphasis as she walked, Chloe said, “How is that possible? I know this is Smallville, but walking away from a diagnosis of lifetime paralysis is pretty incredible…and how did Clark, ‘Know what happened?’ He wasn’t even in the building when Mr. Kent was miraculously healed.”

Sharing a look of exasperation with Pete over Chloe’s full-blown 60-Minutes-rant, Lana answered, “Come on, Chloe. Everyone in the ER was talking about it by the time Clark showed up…it wasn’t a big secret.” At least, I hope not! “And as for Mr. Kent, you’ll just have to add him to the Wall of Weird.”

“Okay, okay…there’s no point in us taking two cars, but there’s no way I’m riding in the back of Pete’s car, and neither one of you can get into the back of mine,” Chloe said, thinking out loud, “too bad your SUV’s at the Kents’, since we’d have plenty of space in it.”

“We could take Clark’s truck. I still have a set of keys for it, and that bench seat has plenty of room for the three of us,” Lana replied.

At this piece of news, Chloe exploded, “When did you get a set of keys of your own? Are you two dating again? I mean, the last time I checked, you and Clark were nothing more than ‘friends.’ Except, I’ve been friends with Clark since 8th grade and I’ve never had a key for so much as the tool shed at the Kent Farm, much less Clark’s truck!”

“The keys are Mrs. Kent’s and I don’t believe what I do with Clark is any of your business, Chloe!” Turning to face Chloe full-on, Lana decided to get it over with, “Since you asked, however, Clark and I are dating again. We’ve gotten past our problems and are…”

Chloe held up a hand to cut Lana off,and nearly shouted, “STOP! I don’t want to hear any more!” Turning to Pete, she said, “I’ve changed my mind, I can’t eat right now, you two will have to go on without me.” Then, her eyes filled with pain and unshed tears, Chloe said to Lana in a softer, plaintive tone, “At least you had the guts to tell me this time.”

Pete said quickly to Lana, “Maybe you should go alone, there’s something that Chloe needs to hear. I’ll see you later.”

As Pete ran off to catch Chloe, Lana thought, Jeez, it’s usually Clark that abandons me…I wish Chloe would just move on, she’s got so much to offer, but Clark belongs to me. With a stupid grin spreading rapidly across her face as she headed for Clark’s truck, she thought, I love the sound of that: Clark belongs to me!

[Scotty]

Bill Gates working for Lex Luthor

PPMS!

[Cardinal]

Well...sort of Bill Gates!

[NYC300Z]

Originally posted by Cardinal
Lana "I love the sound of that: Clark belongs to me!"[/I]!

That's the best part!! It's gonna be sad when Clark tells Lana the deal he made with Jor-el. PPMS!!

[Cardinal]

There should be some Clana in the next update!

[Dr. Jeckyll]

Can't wait. Just caught up on this one. Excellent update! PPMS!

[SVsleuth]

Both of these had me &

I can’t believe it, I’ve wanted to kill him so many times and…the jackass did it himself.

“I need a name, I can’t hire a vague description.”
“Oh, it’s William Gates.

And loved this;

Clark belongs to me.

Super update, Cardinal. I just have such a hard time stifling my urge to at 12:30 a.m , when the rest of the family is asleep! I should read your story in the daytime.

[SmallvilleMan]

That was kind of a mean comment by Lana, how are you make lana mean

[kewl]

great update!!!! PPMS!!!

finally, lana had the guts to tell chloe about the real score between her & clark!!!! "clark belongs to me" i like this, hehehe....

[Cardinal]

Chapter 10: Intervention

“Hey, Chloe, wait up!” Pete yelled, trying to catch the attention of the distraught blonde before she got into her car and drove off.

Turning to face the onrushing Pete Ross, Chloe answered, “What do you want? I thought you, like every other male around here, preferred to spend time with Lana.”

“Lana will be fine on her own, but you need someone to talk to, someone you can vent your feelings and frustrations on, and today, that’s me. I mean, what good is all of that work down at the Smallville Youth Center if I can’t use those skills to help my friend? Let’s go get something to eat, I’m buying.”

After having bought containers of dim sum, vegetable lo mein, and Hunan beef to share from and large iced teas to drink, Pete and Chloe went to the park and found an empty and secluded bench to sit on while they ate and talked.

“Start whenever you’re ready Chloe, I’ve got all the time in the world.”

After a brief silence, punctuated only by the sounds of food being devoured, Chloe started, “Pete, am I a bad person?”

Pete just waited for Chloe to continue, sensing that her question was rhetorical in nature.

“I mean, I’m smart, people tell me I’m pretty, I’m a lot of fun to be around, I’m loyal…” as her voice trailed off, Chloe added, “but Clark…all he sees is good ol’ Chloe, Nancy Drew to his Hardy Boy, Sherlock Holmes to his Dr. Watson…a buddy!”

Looking Pete right in the eye, she asked, “Why can’t I get through to him? I about do flips trying to catch his attention, but for all the good it’s doing, he might as well be blind!”

Giving Chloe a minute to come down from her crying jag, Pete said, “Love doesn’t have to make sense, Chloe, it just is. You can’t choose who you love, it just happens,” approaching his next sentence with trepidation, Pete continued, “I know you’ve heard this a hundred times, but Clark fell in love with Lana at the age of five, long before he even knew you existed. I was there, I remember it happening like it was yesterday.”

Caught momentarily by her curiosity about story she’d never heard, Chloe couldn’t help herself and asked, “What happened?”

As he thought back to kindergarten, a smile crept across Pete’s face. “First day of school, Clark and I were, same as now, on the same bus route. Lana would have been on our bus, too, but her aunt drove her to school. Anyway, we got off the bus about the same time that Lana got out of her aunt’s car. As we were walking up the front walk to the school, he saw Lana being walked into school by her aunt and he tripped. This is important ’cause when he tripped, he fell into me and we went down in a pile of arms, legs, and sleeping mats.

“The first thing he said as we got up wasn’t, ‘Are you alright,’ or ‘I’m sorry,’ or even ‘Can I help you?’ Nope, the first thing Clark ever said to me was, “'Who is that girl?'...I did get something out of that day, ‘cause Clark and I played together at recess and we’ve been best buds ever since.

“What I’m trying to say is that some things are just meant to happen. It’s not that you’re unattractive, believe me. It’s just that Lana had taken possession of Clark’s heart long before you entered the picture.”

“But, Pete, you don’t understand. You don’t know what its like to watch the one you love, day after day, and know that they love someone else. You keep hoping that a miracle will happen and that suddenly that person will truly see you for the first time and…” as Chloe broke down in another bout of crying, Pete slid over, knocked mostly empty food boxes out of his way, wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight.

When she finally began to settle down, Pete ventured, “What do you mean, ‘you don’t understand?’” I can’t believe I’m doing this…this is stupid, Pete! “I know exactly what it feels like to be around the one I love and know that I have no shot with her ‘cause she loves someone else.”

Sniffling, Chloe asked, “You, Pete? Pete the Player? Pete the guy who chases every skirt in sight?”

Not especially pleased with Chloe’s dead-on assessment of his behavior, Pete said, “That’s all true, but they were all just…just something to keep my mind off of the woman that I truly want…the woman I’ve always wanted, since the day I met her. Great, now I’m beginning to sound just like Clark.”

Her curiosity fully engaged by this side of Pete that she‘s never seen before, Chloe straightened up, disengaged herself from his arms, and asked, “Who is this mystery woman and why can’t she see the sweet, sensitive guy that hides beneath that tough exterior?”

“I don’t know why she won’t give me a chance, Chloe…maybe you could ask her for me.”

“Well, who is she?”

Finally, in the faintest of whispers, Pete said, “Her name is Chloe Sullivan.”



Metropolis, 2 p.m.

“Mr. Luthor, the Gates kid is here,” said a nameless LuthorCorp Security drone.

Bring him up, when he gets to this floor, show him into my office,” Lex replied.

“Yes, Sir.”

After a few minutes, a man apparently in his late-20s strolled into Lex’s office, followed by a member of LuthorCorp Security. Waving at the security man to wait outside, Lex thought, I can’t fault Symonds’ description, he looks like an extra from Revenge of the Nerds.

“Sorry, we had to meet in here, but my father’s office is off limits while the police complete their investigation,” Lex said as he pushed across a bag with $20,000 in it. “There’s your doubled fee, Mr. Gates.” Asking a question that had been niggling at him since Symonds first described this hacker, Lex said, “William Gates…are you in any way related to…”

“Cutting Lex off mid-sentence, Gates replied, “The richest man in the world, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates? Not a chance. Just an unfortunate coincidence that we share the same name; it’s a really unfortunate coincidence since I love computers. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked that…well, I wouldn’t have to take these ‘consulting’ jobs on the side.” After waiting a second, Gates asked, “What do you need me to do, Mr. Luthor?”

“As you may have been told, my father died today, and, as the new owner of the controlling stake in LuthorCorp, I need unfettered access to my father’s computer files. There are all sorts of projects going on that I need to familiarize myself with immediately.” One, especially.

“That’s all?” Gates asked, “I can do that right now.” Finally taking the twenty-grand as he knew he could complete the requested job, he said, “I know your father’s password.”

“How could you know that?” Lex asked in surprise.

“Easy, the first job he ever had me do was to hack his computer setup, then find and eliminate as many holes in his security system as possible. That’s when I found out you’d been accessing your father’s account from a remote terminal in Smallville.”

“You’re the one that shut me down?”

“Yeah, but before I finished my work, after I took out all the security holes I could find, I made a ‘backdoor’ for myself as insurance, so I could get into the LuthorCorp system any time I want. It didn’t take long to find out what password your father is currently using.”

“Well,” Lex said, as he fired up the terminal on his desk, “what is it?”

“It’s Martha_Luthor.”

You sick bastard! Lex thought.

“That’ll be all, Mr. Gates. Your services are worth every penny.” And then some.

As Gates walked out to meet up with his security escort, Lex said, “Let’s see what we can find out about Metron Labs and Dr. Tang.” Now that Dad’s dead, I’ve got to find the evidence to get the FBI and Metropolis PD off my back.