Crossroads - Chapter 31

by a campbell

Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, PG-13

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 An open box of meteor rocks glowed on the metal tray beside the examination table.

Clark moaned as the doctor smeared a handful of cold gel on his exposed belly. He tried to cover himself but Ramani grasped both his wrists and snapped them efficiently into chrome restraints. The wand coasted over the mound; the image blurred, then cleared on the screen --a fetus which visuals indicated was near to term. The monitor picked up the rapid thump of a tiny heart.

Lionel stood nearby, chiseled features impassive.

Lana’s lower lip trembled. Despite valiant attempts at resolve, she couldn’t stay upstairs, couldn’t stay away from the basement level, from Clark and the mysteries that surrounded him, the secrets he contained.

So it was really true. She gazed through the two-way glass at Clark but his face was turned away. His hands hung limp in the metal clasps as his chest rose and fell with his panting breaths. The fetal heartbeat remained strong and steady.

"Look," and Gabrielov sounded as close to amazed as was likely possible for the stoic Russian doctor. "To all appearances, a male child, and entirely normal."

Ramani held a scalpel near. In a panic, Clark struggled. "No!" he groaned.

Gabrielov laid a hand on Clark’s wrist. "Clark, you must relax. We are only testing today."

Clark’s eyes were squeezed shut, but Lana could see a trail of tears on the cheek she could see. His whole body tensed as his captive hands curled into fists.

Lana held her breath the doctor nicked at the bare skin of Clark’s abdomen. The blade was repelled, leaving no mark, and she surprised herself with a gasp of relief.

"I hope there’s an alternate plan for this birth," Gabrielov muttered in lightly-accented English. "For a Caesarean appears to be impossible. Even with the presence of the rocks."

Clark struggled to sit up. "It’s too early," he gasped Clark. "Not time...not yet." Lana could hear his heavy, labored breaths.

"You will only need to move the rocks closer," Ramani said in his oddly soothing voice. "Place them on his abdomen. Then you can make an incision. Calm yourself, Clark. This is practice only."

Gabrielov shook his head, gaze darkening as he glanced up at Ramani. “We were ordered to use care.”

"And we will. But securing the child alive and healthy is of primary importance."

Lana could almost hear the unspoken imperative. If there’s a choice to be made, save the child first.

**

Lana cast a furtive glance to the right and then to the left into the darkness of the motel parking lot as she opened the door. "You’re alone?" she hissed in a whisper as she grasped Chloe’s wrist and drew her inside.

Chloe freed her arm gently but firmly. "Of course." If Lana thought she wouldn’t do everything possible to ensure Clark’s safety, she didn’t know her nearly as well as she seemed to think she did. And she wasn’t such a fool herself that she’d betray upon arrival what she knew about Lana’s involvement in Clark’s disappearance.

Lana would have to work hard to earn her trust again, but she’d risk anything to save Clark.

"It’s good to see you," Lana nodded at the chair by the bedside table.

Chloe shook her head. "I’ll stand, thanks." Her supervisor at the Planet habitually claimed that people remained more alert on their feet, and often held meetings in rooms barren of chairs. No way could she let herself slide back into the easy familiarity of their erstwhile friendship. She must remain steadfast, aware--keep on her guard, while fighting the almost irresistible urge to hurl accusations at Lana for her unspeakable actions. Clark’s life could depend on how successfully she held her tongue.

Her lips curved into a tight smile. "So what’s up?"

Lana glanced uneasily around the room as she hesitated.

Chloe aimed for a lightness in tone she was far from feeling. "So why did you want to see me? And why here?" A nervous giggle. "A budget motel hasn't been your style for quite a while now."

Lana remained standing as well, gaze dark and urgent. "Does anyone know you’re here?"

Summoning her best poker face, Chloe shook her head. She’d of course told Lex, as they were in this together--Lex, who, after initial protest, had acquiesced to her plans, demanding only that she allow surveillance from several blocks away. When she expressed unease about this, he vowed that he could best his father’s methods or die trying.

"Listen to me, Chloe." Lana began. "It’s about Clark. He’s in terrible danger. And I want to save him, but I can’t do it alone. I need your help, and Lex’s, too. I know the two of you are working together."

How did she find that out? Chloe wondered, but didn’t say. Instead, she lowered her voice. "Where is he, Lana?" She studied Lana up and down, dark hair like a raven’s wing, designer slacks and shoes, and wondered exactly how much she could be trusted. Much would depend on her answer.

Lana looked off across the room, toward the curtained window. "He’s a prisoner in the basement of Lionel’s new townhouse. In a specially-prepared cell."

Chloe feigned surprise with raised eyebrows and a small gasp. "Why?"

"Chloe, don’t pretend you don’t know. Because Lionel wants him. And something he has." Lana stared straight at her, chin raised in near-defiance. "Chloe, I know about Clark’s powers." She drew a deep breath, steadily holding Chloe’s gaze. "And his baby."

Chloe could have kicked herself for the way her voice squeaked when she blurted out. "You do?"

"It’s no use denying it. I have ways of finding things out. I’m not the imbecile you all seem to think I am."

"Lana, you have to understand why this had to be kept secret. For the very reason that Clark’s a prisoner now. Lionel Luthor is dangerous. And who knows how many enemies Clark and his child might face if the world learned his secrets."

Lana looked down at the carpet, then back up at Chloe. "I was the one who turned him over to Lionel."

"I know."

"How did you find out?"

Superior research skills. Along with, maybe, just maybe, some help from a Superior Being. "Lana. How could you do that to Clark? He’s been a good friend to you all these years. How could you?"

"He didn’t want me. He didn’t love me. And it wasn’t enough for him to cast me off himself. He rejected me and then he took Lex from me. I was angry. I wanted revenge." Lana’s lips settled into a grim line. "I needed it! I’ve always been on the outside. Clark never trusted me, wouldn’t stay with me. And when he and Lex got back together, I was alone again."

Chloe stepped closer and took Lana by the arm. "I had no idea you felt this way."

"I know that," Lana turned to face her, and the bitterness in her gaze was unmistakable. "He told you! I had to 'find out'. You’ve always had parts of Clark that I never did. When he dumped me and took up with Lex, he kept you. Clark didn’t want me, and Lex wants a child with Clark but not with me. I have no one--and nothing.”

“Lana, none of us can choose where we will love.”

"I know that." Chloe noticed how her eyes welled with tears. "But, Chloe, I’m alone in the world. Except for Nell, and she has her own life now, with Dean. I couldn’t stand being alone with myself, Chloe. My life had no purpose. When Lionel took me in, when he enlisted my help. I had to align myself with him. Finally, I was needed." She drew a deep breath.

"Oh, Lana," Chloe shook her head with a sigh. "Why didn’t you come to me? We could have talked this over, and maybe I could have helped."

"I was angry...jealous. Of the two of them, but more than anything...of you. At different times, they both wanted me, my affection...my body...but you, they always saw as a friend. They trusted you. They still do. I had to do something. Just to get my mind off the pain, and keep it off."

"Had to? Lana, you know what he is. What he ‘needed’ you for was to assist him in his unspeakable crimes. Kidnapping Clark, for starters."

"I know that now. I must have gone a little crazy for a while. But I swear I’ve come to my senses now."

"A ‘little crazy'? Is that why you changed your mind about making Clark and Lex pay for your loneliness?" Chloe noted the rise and fall of Lana’s chest and the tremble in her voice. "Do you realize what you've set in motion?"

Lana was silent for a long moment. "Lionel wants to send me to Paris. He’s saying it’s because he knows it’s my favorite city. But I don’t understand why now, unless he’s had second thoughts about our working together. He told me--before Clark was taken--that I could have charge of the baby. So I should be here--not halfway across the world--when the baby arrives."

"It does sound suspicious."

"I wanted to ask more, but I was scared. And I was trying so hard to deny it, but I realize now that all Lionel has to offer is misery and anguish. And evil. For me and for everyone that crosses his path." Lana scarcely paused to breathe as her words came tumbling out over each other. "Chloe I'm scared. I thought that I could get something out of this, survive and even thrive with Lionel, but I no longer think that there's any way this can end well for me. But I refuse to let him hurt Clark more than he already has. The depths that Lionel's willing to go to... no revenge is worth this hatred I feel for myself now. I just can't do this, be a part of this, any more."

She was sobbing now. Chloe drew closer, hesitated for an instant and then reached out to deliver an awkward pat to Lana’s back, noting as she did so how Lana’s shoulders shook

"And I’m not sure Clark will find things much different with Lex, but they deserve at least a chance at happiness." Lana’s face crumpled as she wrapped her arms around Chloe and wept on her shoulder. "I want to make up for what I’ve done. I knew Lionel wanted Clark, but I wasn’t expecting it to be…practically torture. No one deserves to have done to them what Lionel is doing to Clark. Lionel Luthor has no heart, and no soul, either. Whatever my feelings toward Clark--Chloe, he loves that baby so much. I always thought that I would be able to give Clark a family, that we would have a family together, and that--he’s so scared and so alone, and no one knows what’s coming for him, not even the doctors."

Chloe freed herself gently to reach into the pocket of her jacket, then pushed a pack of tissues into Lana’s trembling hand. Pensive, trying to process Lana’s words, she stepped slowly over to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain and immediately let it drop. Sure, it all sounded good, it sounded great, but was it sincere? Lana Lang’s powers of manipulation, of eliciting sympathy, were legion. She knew that better than just about anyone. And involvement with the Luthors could only have strengthened those powers.

Behind her, Lana was still talking. "...and I need you to help me, Chloe, because I can’t do it alone. I know you care for Clark more than anyone else in the world. Please tell me you’ll help me make up for what I’ve done. Please"

Chloe hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was plunge Clark into more danger. What if contact from Lana had been engineered by Lionel. Perhaps this entire scheme of Lana’s was a plot to bring all three of them down: Lex, Clark, and her. Hell hath no fury... But Clark was already captive, so it wasn’t as though things could get much worse. He was as much at risk of death in childbirth as from any malice on the parts of Lionel or his henchmen.

Abruptly, she turned around. "Yes, Lana, I will. I’ll help you."

But if this is another trick, God help you.

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