Chapter II.

“I would say that I always pictured you behind a desk but it wouldn‘t be fair since I always saw you behind one at your beloved Torch,” Whitney commented, letting his hand venture on the polished wood that was Chloe’s desk. She’d invited him to accompany her to the Isis Foundation, no doubt eager to ask more questions. “What happened to your dreams of working at the Daily Planet?”

Chloe went to answer but hesitated when she actually processed what he had just said, “You knew about my dreams?”
 

He laughed at that, took a seat behind her desk and crossed his arms before his chest, “Who didn’t know about it?”

“I just didn’t expect the resident quarterback to care enough,” Chloe admitted. Solemnly she added, “The Planet and I didn’t work out.”

“What happened?”

“I was fired when Lex Luthor was holding the reigns.”

“Was? Past tense.” Whitney repeated. “I don’t understand. Why don’t you go back?”

A small smile came to her face as she shrugged a shoulder, “Because I love it here. I realized that I could do more than just write for a newspaper. I could help people by getting to know them instead of putting their names on a notepad, printing off their story and never seeing them again. There‘s more than getting the full story.” Her smile turned mischievous, catching up to her lit eyes, “Speaking of full stories…”

“Subtlety of an anvil,” Whitney said half-jokingly. “I told you, Sullivan, there’s no more to what I told you. I’m hardly anything of interest.”

“You don’t call coming back from the dead interesting? I’m waiting for the appropriate amount of time to pass before I ask you for story rights.” Chloe joked.

Chloe bit her lip, uncertain of how to approach her next question that seemed, to her at least, to be hanging in the air. Before today, she had hardly ever talked with Whitney and now they’d be exchanging conversation for the past two hours. But neither one of them had brought her up. It couldn’t be that awkward of a conversation, right? It was over five years ago and Whitney certainly wasn’t the same person he used to be. His ego wasn’t that sensitive anymore. Hopefully. “Have you tried to contact Lana?”

His posture stiffened at the sound of her name. “Um, no, I haven’t.” Whitney confessed lowly.

She walked over to her desk and dropped her backside on the edge of the wood, no more than a foot away from him. She gazed at him sympathetically, “But you’ve thought about it. I‘m sure she‘d love to know that you‘re breathing and walking. I mean, she might be hard to reach--”

“If you want her to know,” Whitney started defensively, “then you call her.” Wasn’t it obvious that he had thought about that an infinite amount of times. That he wanted nothing more than to talk to Lana and let her know that he was okay, that he was alive and dreaming of her. That he felt disgusted with himself because he couldn’t let go of his pride that had been building since adolescence.

So much for that maturity, Chloe thought at the back of her head before following through, “You loved her, Whitney.”

He laughed sarcastically, “And she broke up with me over a videotape.”

“That seems to be her forte.”

It had slipped out, bypassing the thought process, completely on impulse. Whitney regarded her, “What?”

She decided to feign ignorance, “What?”

However, this wasn’t exactly the Whitney Fordman of yesteryear. He was still for a moment before leaning over with a softened face, “Chloe, I heard what you said. I just want a little clarification, if you‘d be so gracious.”

Knowing she was caught, she rushed to defend herself. Although, she had idea why she felt the need to. It was as if she had stepped into the twilight zone today…or more locally, Smallville. “It just slipped out. I wasn’t thinking but--but it’s… Lana sent Clark a ‘Dear John’ video, too.”

“Kent?” Whitney asked in disbelief, “I can’t believe that.”

“Umm…”

“ I thought maybe they’d be picking out furniture for a nursery by now.”

“No,” Chloe told him. “She left him months ago.”

Whitney sat back, considering the new information. He seemed so poised that Chloe was surprised when he began to speak again, “I feel for him. That video…hurts like a bitch, it cuts deep.”

“There‘s something for you guys to bond over,” Chloe deadpanned.

Unceremoniously, Lois busted through the door, hands filled with papers and folders. “Hey cuz, I need you to look over these descriptions for me because apparently there was a heist last night at Metro--” Lois stopped when she caught sight of her cousin and guest, “Well who do we have here?”

Chloe didn’t even have time to open her mouth before Lois extended a hand to Whitney, “That name’s Lois. Lois Lane.”

He took her hand in his and was taken by her strength. It actually reminded him of the tension filled handshakes he would have with Kent. However, Whitney gave her a genuine smile, amused by her candor, “Whitney Fordman. Nice grip you got there.”

“Thanks. So how do you,” She let her hand free and turned to give Chloe an obnoxious waggling of the brows. To which, Chloe rolled her eyes at. Lois finished with her attention back on the male blond, “know my cousin over here? Your name does sound familiar but I’m not coming up with anything.”

“I went to high school with Whitney,” Chloe inserted quickly. “He’s a fellow crow!” she added too cheerfully.

Lois cringed at the exuberance, “Never repeat those words. Ever.”

“Those descriptions, Lois?” Chloe asked to remind Lois of her initial agenda, raising from the desk.

“Right,” Lois said, she shifted through the papers in her hand and handed a few over, simultaneously speaking to her cousin, “There was a heist last night at the Metropolis Bank. Other than the missing there’s no traces of a break-in. Whoever did the job knew damn well what they were doing. There were no prints and nothing was out of place except for the 10 mil.”

Chloe’s eyes scanned the papers, taking in the sketch and record sheets, “What’s all of this have to do with me?”

Lois sighed, blew breath between her teeth, “There’s an eyewitness out there who swears that he saw a meteor-infected teenager spying around the bank about ten minutes prior to the robbery.”

Whitney rose from his seat and took a stance behind Chloe. He examined the drawings from behind her shoulder, “How do they know the kid was meteor-infected? It’s not something you can spot at face value.”

Both girls turned to Whitney, mild shock shadowing their features.

“Apparently this guy can shift through walls--”

“And disconnect all of the cameras in under twenty seconds?” Whitney inquired skeptically.

Lois arched a brow at the comment, “How’d you know that?”

“It’s right here,” Whitney answered, index finger pointed to the material in Chloe’s possession.

“Oh, yeah. Forgot about that for a second,” Lois said. “It’s a pretty weak accusation but everyone believes the only way to explain it is to put the blame on the specially enhanced. Right now, nothing else makes sense and if it’s one of the kids in your group, Chlo, the Planet wants the scoop.”

“I can’t help you,” Chloe declared firmly, giving Lois back the papers. She didn’t recognize the kid in the picture but even if she had she wasn’t about to betray anyone’s confidence. She knew that Lois meant no harm and was only doing her job but there was no way she would aid in the exploitation of a helpless teenager. It went against everything she‘d built and stood for. “And I can’t say I’m sorry about that.”

Lois wasn’t the least bit offended, instead she beamed at her cousin proudly, “Good, I was hoping you’d say that. I was also hoping that you’d want to have some lunch with me but since you already have company, I’ll take a rain check.”

Whitney cut in abruptly, “No, don’t do that. I was just about to head out anyways.” He saw that Chloe was unnerved by his announcement, “We’ll be in touch, Sullivan. Don’t worry about it.”

After saying his goodbyes to both Lois and Chloe, Whitney headed out the door. He walked steadily done the hall and pulled out his cell. He pressed his speed dial and kept his cell to his ear. It didn’t take long for the person on the other end to pick up, Whitney’s voice took on a more serious edge, “I’m in and I’ve got some news that you need to hear.”

As always, comments and constructive criticism are very welcomed!