Blackout - Part 3/8
Title: Blackout
Beta: ladydreamer, with many thanks!
Artwork: tallihensia
Chapter Summary: Lois visits Belle Reve, Kyle and Lori discuss the discrepancies in his life, and Lex unravels some clues
5 - Belle Reve near Metropolis - next day
Lois grinned in satisfaction as she was led down the hallway of Belle Reve to a secure conference room. Thanks to Lex’s introduction, Bruce Wayne had agreed to meet her yesterday and had then reviewed her file on Chloe. He clearly understood the medical details and asked several incisive questions that showed how far off base his flighty reputation was from the truth.
The speed with which he then got her access to Belle Reve had amazed her, but she supposed it shouldn’t have. After all, Thomas Wayne had been a renowned physician, and the Wayne Foundation funded hospital wings and provided research grants across the country. Still she had been grateful, and would have been glad to express that gratitude during a night on the town. Sadly, Bruce had declined. Just as well she supposed - the round trip to Gotham had really eaten into her schedule, especially when the airline misplaced her reservation.
On one side of her strode the thin, somewhat anemic Dr Fine - Chloe’s doctor. On the other was the consultant recruited by Bruce, Dr Chase. The two psychiatrists exchanged academic small talk that went straight over her head, but that was fine. They had their agenda for this meeting; she had hers.
Dr Fine led them into a rather sterile looking room with just four chairs and a table - no pictures, no windows. He turned to Lois and advised, “I fear that you should not expect too much today. Miss Sullivan is essentially as unresponsive as the day she was admitted. Since our last meeting, we have tried to offer her some activities you indicated could be of interest to her. The only one she reacted to at all was the crossword puzzle book. She actually seemed quite proficient, but got quite angry when people tried to talk to her while she was working on it.”
Lois heaved a mental sigh of relief and grinned vapidly. “Sounds like my Chloe. That girl has been a crossword puzzler since we were six - she even won some competitions! Before she got swept up in that Smallville nonsense, I’d always find her with a puzzle book handy. She’s always been the smart one.”
Dr Fine nodded and glanced over at Dr Chase. “Indeed. Obsessive compulsive disorder, perhaps?”
Dr Chase responded coldly, “I hesitate to offer a diagnosis without having even met the patient.”
Dr Fine nodded towards a guard and replied, “Of course. Here she is.”
Chloe entered the room, looking very small and fragile. Lois’s eyes became teary at the sight of her beloved cousin, closer to her than any sister. She took a step forward to hug Chloe, who ducked away. They stood there awkwardly.
Dr Chase broke the silence. “Why don’t we all sit down and I’ll just ask Chloe a few questions.” Dr Fine and Lois took their seats, but Chloe continued to stand until the guard pushed her forward. Batting away at him, she finally obeyed but refused to make eye contact even with Lois.
For the next half hour, Dr Chase tried to get Chloe to talk but seldom got as much as a grunt in response. She finally gave Lois a look that asked if she had any ideas. Lois reached into her purse with a bright smile and pulled out a page torn from a newspaper. She asked Dr Fine, “Is this Okay? It’s the New York Times Sunday crossword - Chloe’s favorite. It might calm her down.”
Dr Fine looked over the page and glanced over at Dr Chase, who nodded. Expressionlessly, he handed the page to Chloe, whose pale face lit up.
The rest of their session was filled with the sound of Chloe muttering about the clues and scribbling down answers. She worked quickly and decisively for minutes at a time, then seemed to lose focus. But when anyone tried to talk to her, she got angry and yelled at them to leave her alone.
Finally, Lois’s patience snapped. She snatched at the puzzle and begged Chloe, “Why won’t you talk to me? I love you! We all just want to help you!”
Chloe responded by snatching back at the puzzle, ripping the page nearly in half. “You’re not real! Nothing is real! Don’t you understand? Don’t believe what you see! The internet is a lie! It’s a conspiracy!” With each statement, she tore her half of the puzzle into even tinier pieces.
As Chloe became increasingly agitated, Dr Fine stood and quickly administered a sedative. He then signaled to the guard, who led a still struggling Chloe out of the room. Something in their attitude sent a chill down Lois’s spine. She would need to work fast.
She left Belle Reve with Dr Chase by her side, both lost in thought. When they finally reached the privacy of the car provided by Bruce though, Dr Chase turned to her. “Your suspicions are well founded. Her doctor seemed competent enough technically but seems strangely lacking in empathy. I can’t say it’s surprising that his patients don’t respond. And granted I didn’t have much time with her, but I believe your cousin is no more crazy than a fox.”
Dr Chase paused for a moment, and gave Lois a curious look. “She’s certainly putting on a great show though. The question is, why?”
Lois was silent, but her lips tightened in resolve as she vowed to answer that question. She clutched the other half of Chloe’s puzzle tightly in her fist.
***
6 - Spring Cove - next day
Lori entered the sun-filled kitchen at around 8 to find Kyle already there, reading the paper. He’d already prepared them a light breakfast and poured her some coffee, then handed her the front page.
‘Financial Markets Closed: Terrorism Suspected,’ blared the main headline in the large type reserved for major disasters. ‘Protecting Your Money,’ read the banner for a sidebar article. And beneath the fold, overshadowed by the stories on a possible financial meltdown, two smaller stories stood out. The first read, ‘No Leads in Home Invasion’, with a picture of her and Kyle looking disheveled. The second blared ‘Luthor Released in Evidence Dispute.’ Lori smiled in relief at the last.
She then quickly read through the lead story. All over the world, investigations were being launched into what were being dubbed acts of economic terrorism. It went beyond the financial system though - discrepancies had been noticed in electronic records of just about all types, from online newspaper archives and blogs to scientific and business data to travel reservations to personal information posted on places like Facebook.
The discrepancies had been minor at first and the corresponding complaints had been ignored, or handled on a one off basis. But officials now believed those early attempts were just test runs for whatever virus was being used. Financial chaos loomed.
“Good thing I’ve got enough cash on hand to get through the next few weeks. It says here they’re temporarily freezing credit and shutting down the ATMs. I bet it’ll be a nightmare if you have to go to a bank to make a withdrawal.” She laughed and added, “I’m going to have to put some feelers out. Electronic security and disaster recovery were my specialties. I bet my old company is swamped right now.”
She glanced over at Kyle who looked back with a clear question in his eyes. She responded, “Yeah, I do miss my old job, but it got out of control towards the end. We were the “it” company for a while and got all kinds of publicity and the press latched onto me in particular. It was really strange, and then these people started following me around all the time. One guy in particular just creeped me out every time I saw him. He never said anything to me, but I just felt threatened somehow. So I decided to take a break and came back home to raise horses for a while. I’m sure I’ll go back someday.”
Kyle nodded understandingly but said nothing. He looked tired and wan - even the once livid bruise on his cheek from the attack had all but faded away.
The silence didn’t bother her - Kyle’s somewhat haggard appearance did. It had only been three days since the attack on her home, four days since she met Kyle, and yet she already felt like she’d known him forever. They seemed to have a connection, helped perhaps by the fact that there were no sexual overtones to their relationship. Kyle was probably the handsomest man she’d ever met, but his underfed look had brought out her protective instincts from the very start. She now thought of him as a brother of sorts, and wanted only to see him happy.
He finally broke the silence and admitted, “I’ve been having these headaches for the past few days; bad ones, like my head is going to explode. I have all these gaps in my memory, and nothing seems to make sense. Maybe I should have gone to the hospital as the paramedics suggested.”
Lori suppressed the urge to smile, because the paramedics had done somewhat more than “suggest” Kyle return with them for treatment. They’d been downright insistent, only backing down in the face of what amounted to a panic attack on Kyle’s part and the arrival of Lori’s own doctor. He’d assured them all that as bullet wounds went, Kyle had been remarkably lucky; in fact, the assassin had nearly missed him completely. The doctor had patched up Kyle’s shoulder and they’d signed a lot of forms before the paramedics finally left, grumbling about patients who wasted their time by refusing treatment.
Kyle looked at her, sensing her train of thought, and gave a wry smile. “Okay, so I over-reacted that time, and it’s not as though I actually want to go to the hospital. But it’s scary not really understanding who you are. I mean, so many things just don’t add up.”
Lori nodded - that had quickly become apparent. After the paramedics left, Kyle and she had spent the day lounging in the solarium, doing nothing more than talk when it suited them and admiring the view when it didn’t. He’d given her a brief outline of his life story - a native of Star City, survivor of a broken home and an abusive step father, a run away at 16, a life on the streets. He’d glossed over his memories of all too many back alley assignations, but they manifested in Kyle’s reluctance to be touched anywhere remotely intimate. Kyle was clearly ashamed what he’d done to keep himself alive, but at least had managed to stay clear of the worst of it. All too many of the boys he’d met that first year had wound up dead or hooked on drugs.
Yet the next day, they’d both learned a lot more about Kyle. They’d gone to the stable to check up on the live-in groom who, like the guard at the security gate, had been knocked unconscious the day before by the assassin. Fortunately, the injuries had not been serious - the assassin apparently prided himself on minimizing the collateral damage on his attacks. “I only kill for money,” was the one statement the assassin had made to the police, who had not yet even been able to determine the man’s name.
The groom had still been somewhat groggy, and Kyle had volunteered to do the heavy work around the stable. The groom had supervised at first, but headed to bed when Kyle had quickly shown his proficiency with a pitchfork. The horses had reacted calmly to Kyle’s presence and Lori had been impressed with how quickly Kyle had cleaned out the stalls. She had helped out with the grooming, then started her normal morning riding routine.
Kyle had further impressed her with his comments about each horse’s performance after she finished their workout. He didn’t have the technical vocabulary, but recognized for example that Red Storm had a wonderful natural stride but was too stiff when asked for a collected trot or canter.
Lori had explained, “I bought him off the race track when I saw him run one day. He’s not fast by thoroughbred standards but he just seems to float along. I hope to make him an event horse given his jumping ability, but he needs a lot of training in the dressage ring. He really just wants to run and doesn’t quite understand why I want him to take shorter steps.”
Kyle had smiled and gave Stormy a pat. “I remember…” And then he had stopped, before hesitantly continuing, “That’s weird. For a moment there, I had this glimpse of a girl and a horse. I think I was helping her train for a show. She said something almost the same about what we needed to work on. But I don’t know when that could have happened.”
“Before you ran away from home, certainly. What’d she look like?”
“Dark hair, pretty, beautiful even. I think I had a crush.” Kyle had had a puzzled look on his face. “Why can’t I remember anything else about her?”
Lori had frowned. “Maybe that attack in Gotham caused a concussion. When we first met, you said you couldn’t remember the details. How’d you wind up there in the first place?”
Kyle had shaken his head. “I don’t know. I’d never been to Gotham before, avoided it even because of the gangs. I just… woke up and I was there, and this guy had his hand on my dick and another one was stroking my hair and saying how much money I’d be worth. I started fighting and the rest you know.”
They had both fallen silent for a while then mutually decided to change the topic. After lunch, Lori had taken him on a tour of the Manor’s extensive gardens. Kyle had been impressed and wound up talking with her head gardener about fertilizer and pesticides and organic alternatives. The gardener, a taciturn old man with little use for most people, had been positively voluble in Kyle’s presence.
Lori shook her mind from the past and spoke to Kyle. “So, you were a city boy who ran away and lived on the streets and got hit on the head during a fight. You’re also good with horses and know your way around a barn and a garden. You think you had a crush on a girl but don’t remember much else about her. And you’re a hero of course.” At Kyle’s skeptical look, she insisted, “You saved my life twice in under a week. That makes you a hero.”
“Anyone would have done the same. I’m just glad I was there to help.”
Lori gave him her best “Oh please” look, but decided not to debate the point and instead asked, “Anything else?”
Kyle gave her a hesitant look then admitted, “Last night I went online. I was looking for information on headaches and I found all these interesting links. I started clicking and pretty soon found myself reading stuff straight out of medical journals. I can still see the pages in front of me!”
He gave her a nervous glance, as though somehow ashamed of his photographic memory. She just shrugged and waved for him to go on. “So, I saw these ads for free IQ tests and started doing them. I was amazed at how many different kinds there were. I scored really high on most. Like REALLY high.”
Lori smiled. “I’m not surprised Kyle, you strike me as a very intelligent person.”
Kyle gave her a bashful grin and admitted, “But I really flunked out on some of the tests too. There was this one about identifying people’s emotions based on their facial expressions and I was just baffled. It said I lacked empathy.”
Lori laughed. “Now that I find hard to believe. Maybe you don’t react in standard ways, but you’re one of the most caring people I’ve ever met. Those tests aren’t always right, you know.”
Kyle smiled back. “So I should believe all the tests that say I’m smart and ignore the ones that say I have problems?”
Lori nodded, “That’s pretty much how it works. So we’ll add ‘intelligent’ with an asterisk and ‘internet savvy’ to your list of abilities. What else?” Lori loved trying to correlate data - it was one of her particular skills.
Kyle paused for a long moment, clearly struck by a memory. He finally blinked and gave her a troubled look. “I think ‘abilities’ is a loaded word for me. I just remembered this time I was feeling really upset, and saying my abilities just complicated everything. This woman tried to comfort me but I don’t think I really believed her.” He paused and softly smiled. “She sure was a nice lady though.”
Lori finished her breakfast while Kyle remained lost in though. He finally spoke up after she drained her cup of coffee. “My dreams are the weirdest though. I know dreams aren’t about logic and interpreting them is tricky, but mine feel really real - more real than my memories somehow. But they don’t make any sense at all. Sometimes I’m just bursting with power and energy, and I can run faster than the wind. And I’m invincible too - I dreamt of swatting bullets away like flies or blowing them up by looking at them. You know, I wasn’t frightened at all when that guy pointed the gun at me. I think I thought I could just dodge it. And I almost did, you know.”
Lori nodded slowly. “It never made sense to me that a trained assassin could miss from that short a range. There was blood everywhere but you seem to be healing fast. Do you mind if I see?”
Kyle pulled back his sleeve and pulled off the bandage on his shoulder - sure enough, the wound had completely healed. They both looked at it in silence.
Lori hesitantly continued, “So, maybe there’s something to the rest of your dreams. Do you want to run some tests?”
Kyle visibly shuddered. “That’s definitely another loaded word. Most of my dreams are about that. I’m locked in a room and all these people keep staring at me like I’m an animal in a zoo but they can’t figure out the right label to put on the cage. Sometimes they take me out and do things that make me scream and then they look at each other in disappointment and scribble some notes.”
Lori swore under her breath and raised her hand to Kyle’s shoulder for a gentle squeeze. “It won’t be like that I promise. I just want to help you understand who you are. If you’ve got some special abilities, we need to know, and even more we need to know your limitations. It could be fun you know. We can start by testing your speed on the jogging trail outside. If you break the four minute mile barrier, I’ll… I’ll bake you a cake!”
Kyle thought about it carefully and then slowly nodded. He ducked his head, then looked up and begged, “Chocolate cake?”
Lori’s lips twitched in amusement as she absorbed the devastating blast of those soulful eyes. She had a feeling she’d be doing a lot of baking over the next few days.
***
7 - Luthor Mansion in Smallville - same day
Lois was brimming with repressed energy as she waited to be let into the library to see Lex. She bounced on her toes and asked to the security guard, “So was he late getting out of bed today? I do have an appointment, you know.”
The guard studiously ignored her, staring instead at the panel in front of him.
Lois persisted, “I really think you should tell him again I’m here. He’ll definitely want to see me. I think he kind of owes me one now. You know, if I hadn’t told him about…”
A light flashed on the security panel and the guard interrupted tonelessly, “Mr. Luthor will see you now.” He opened the door to the library and ushered Lois in.
Lex rose to greet her and gestured to the man at his side. “Lois, you’ve met Bruce. He flew over this morning to discuss the financial situation. I’m sorry, we lost track of time.”
Bruce stood in front of the stained glass window, looking breathtakingly handsome in the light. He greeted her with a careless smile and a quick touch of palms. “Miss Lane. Can I hope that you got what you wanted from your visit to your cousin yesterday?”
Lois resisted the urge to flirt in response, though the temptation to thaw out those ice blue eyes was compelling. “What I really wanted was to get Chloe out of there, but I knew that wasn’t possible so quickly. Seeing that she was safe was the next best thing.” Lois paused, then awkwardly resumed, “I’m sorry, Mr. Wayne, but I need to talk to Lex in privacy about something. I hope you don’t mind.”
Bruce gave her a small bow and moved smoothly to the door. “Not at all, Miss Lane. Lex, I’ll just be in the guest room when you’re through.” He silently exited, pulling the doors closed behind him.
Lois turned to Lex. “Thanks for seeing me again on such short notice, Lex. I imagine you’re busier than ever, but this is important.” She reached into her bag and pulled out several sheets of paper. The first was the half of the crossword puzzle that Lois had taken from Chloe, laminated to prevent it from tearing further. Another sheet contained a blank copy of the puzzle, while a third sheet was yet another copy of the puzzle, partially filled in by Lois.
She put the blank copy of the puzzle in front of Lex and demanded, “22 down - what’s the answer?”
Lex stared at her for a moment, then looked at the clue. “‘Felt abundant ire.’ That’s easy - Fertile. Abundant is the real clue and the rest is an anagram.”
Lois smiled. “And 44 across?”
Lex gave her a quizzical look but responded, “‘Half of a Dan Brown novel.’ So it’s either Angels or Demons. And since it intersects with the ‘l’ in Fertile, it’s Angels. Lois…”
Lois interrupted, “Would you say those are pretty easy answers?”
Lex responded, “Certainly for the Times Sunday crossword. Lois, what’s this all about?”
Lois’s smile widened and with a flourish she placed Chloe’s copy of the puzzle in front of Lex. “So you can see why I find Chloe’s answers so fascinating!”
She picked up a marker and circled Chloe’s answers to the clues. Instead of Fertile, Chloe had written Farmboy, and for Angels, she had written Luthor.
Lois explained in a rush, “It’s a game we used to play when we were kids. We were always figuring out ways to pass each other secret messages if we got caught behind enemy lines. The General taught me some cryptography tricks but Chloe thought this one up for fun. You take a big crossword puzzle and fill it in but answer a few of the questions wrong - those wrong answers are your secret message. It helps if the people who are guarding you don’t really speak English well, because then they usually can’t pick out the wrong answers. And for added security, you always tear the puzzle in half just in case your contact gets searched.”
Lex gave a small smile, “Elaborate but it looks like it worked.” He rubbed his thumb over the word Farmboy, feeling his heart beat faster at the thought of some clue concerning his best friend’s disappearance. “What else?”
“That’s where I need your help. I’ve come up with several words clustering around the Luthor.” She circled them - held, three, level. “And over here, there’s two more - black, alien. I may have missed some more.”
Lex quickly checked Chloe’s answers, impressed by how she had woven the wrong answers seamlessly together, then into the correct ones. “Just this one other set - mimic, ship, doctor, power, stole.”
Lex stared at the words, combinations forming in his head. He wrote them out. ‘Farmboy held level three’: this stood out and filled him with excitement. Could Lionel have possibly kept one of his Level Three facilities hidden from Lex’s view? Knowing Lionel, Lex wouldn’t put it past him. But no matter how well hidden, Lex knew there would have to be a paper trail somewhere. He silently blessed Chloe for the tip, and vowed to help her any way he could.
‘Black ship alien’: this he already knew. He remembered the sickening feel of Lionel’s taunts the day it disappeared from his research facility. He wondered again what had happened to the alien invaders who had arrived with the ship. They had killed hundreds in only a few short hours, then disappeared completely from sight. Was there a link to Clark?
That left five words: ‘Luthor doctor stole power mimic’. He looked up at Lois to see if she had any insight.
“Luthor - that might just have been telling me to go see you. Chloe’s real smart though and I’m thinking it might have a second meaning. Remember that the clue refers to Angels and Demons? Well, Chloe was muttering while she was solving the puzzle and said something about a bald angel fighting a hairy demon. So I think Lionel has something to do with this.”
Lex agreed cynically, “I’d take that as a given.”
Lois resumed, “So remember those rumours of Lionel suddenly having powers? What if he stole them somehow, maybe using some alien technology?” Lex looked at her questioningly, and she shrugged. “Look, I talked to Lana - she told me about seeing two aliens come out of a black ship. I saw them in action at the hospital - they were incredibly fast and strong. She lured them to the mansion before being knocked out. Guess who else was there?”
“Lionel. It’s not the first time I’ve thought there might be a connection. He collapsed during the meteor shower because of a mysterious artifact that then disappeared from my safe. He was fine the next day.”
“Did you see any changes in him after that?”
“It was more like he reverted to his old form. For a while after he was released from jail, he did seem to be a different man, more caring, less wrapped up in power games. But I was never sure if it wasn’t simply a PR ploy. Too many rich people use charity as a cover for making business connections. Anyways, after the meteor shower, he disappeared for a few weeks. When I saw him again, he’d just announced his backing for the Metahuman Act. I tried convincing him that it wasn’t fair to treat all mutants like criminals for simply existing, but he said this was the time to show strength and gain control. He was getting more involved in politics; I had a feeling he was thinking of running for President on a law and order platform. That’s why I backed Jonathan in the election campaign.”
Lois nodded sadly. “Mr. Kent could really have made a difference. Everyone around Smallville had reason to be scared but when he talked, you could also see the other side. It was a tragedy for everyone when he was killed.”
“I always wondered if dad had anything to do with that. It was all so convenient for him, leaving the election wide open and Martha Kent adrift. I tried to warn her…”
Lois nodded again. “So did I. But she was so sad, so lost, what with Clark missing and Jonathan dead. She needed a friend, and I just wasn’t old enough. And then Lionel saved her when that guy attacked them. She gave him a chance and he did what he always did - he made her regret it. I’m just glad she wasn’t hurt even worse when she finally left him.”
Lex nodded somberly. Martha had left Lionel two days before his death after a vehement argument that apparently revolved around Clark. She had then been attacked on her way back to the Kent Farm and still lay in a coma. Lex had been suspicious over his father’s involvement but as always there had been no proof. Even the audio for the security tapes showing the fight had been deleted.
Lex put aside his thoughts about the past and shifted his attention back to the puzzle. “Okay, so we’re agreed Lionel was involved somehow, and that ‘stolen power’ might refer to him. That leaves ‘doctor’ and ‘mimic’. Any ideas?”
“Well, this is a little out there, but there’s something really off about Chloe’s doctor - he just gives me the creeps. Even Dr Chase commented on his lack of empathy. And Chloe shouted something about not believing what you see. She said, ‘You’re not real’. I don’t think she was talking about me.”
“So her doctor’s a fake?” Lex circled the word ‘mimic’ in the puzzle clues. “What does he look like?”
“Nothing unusual. Average height, slender, brown hair, a little pale. The only thing that really stands out are his cheekbones. And his eyes I suppose - they’re really intense. He always looks at you like you’re some sort of insect.”
Lex looked at her with an arrested expression. “That sounds very familiar.” He started to sketch on a blank page and showed it to her.
“That’s him! I had no idea you could draw so well. Where did you meet Dr Fine? Was he one of your doctors at Belle Reve?”
Lex grimaced bitterly. “No. I met him about a week ago. He said his name was Milton Fine, and that he was working for the Department of Domestic Security. He showed me some proof that Lionel was behind the outbreak of violence, all to enable an alien invasion. He’s the reason I went to see Lionel that night - the reason Lionel is dead.”
(Part 4 - chapters 8, 9 and 10)