Disclaimer: All is owned by the WB, DC comics, Tollin, Robbins, to name just a few. Unfortunately my name isn't in there. I promise to give them back. Really.
A/N: Once again this is not possible without the support and kind beta assistance of LaCasta.
Summary: Futurefic, Chloe investigates a story and finds more than she bargained for.
Pairing: Chloe/Clark
Rating: G for now
The Missing
Chapter 1
"What have I gotten myself into?" Chloe whispered to herself as she scratched her palm on a metal rivet. Stopping to suck on the offended appendage, she looked down the long, dark air duct and wondered how much farther she would have to abuse her knees. Moving carefully to avoid making sounds, she continued towards her goal, occasionally stopping to puff the hair out of her eyes with a frustrated breath.
Chloe Sullivan knew full well this could be the story of her career. While still a student at Metropolis University, she'd established herself quickly as an investigative reporter with the Daily Planet and her anonymous exposes were the talk of the town. She wasn't afraid to take risks and her reports showed it. This particular investigation had been in the works for weeks. She'd first caught wind of a possible government facility on campus. It was almost an urban legend, a place with absolute security and no hint as to the true nature of its research. It had taken a lot of called favours and weeks of insinuating herself into the cleaning staff, to get this far and all she had to show for it was dishpan hands. This was her coffee break. She had twenty minutes to get to the records room, get what documents she could, and get out.
At last, she reached the vent to crawl out. Peering through to make sure the room was empty, she pushed at the sides with her hands, using the edge of her jacket to protect them. Swinging out with agility, she landed on the floor below and set to the task of gathering what info she could.
This was just a paper file room. Chloe knew it was not where the really important stuff would be found but she was excellent at reading between the lines and these sorts of records often hinted at bigger things, giving her a clue as to where to focus her efforts.
Chloe set to her task, rummaging through files and finding little of use but being an eternal optimist, she opened a box of floppies and began filling her pockets. She would gather what she could from this and return them the next shift. A sound in the hall made her freeze. Slowly she returned to the vent, listening as footsteps approached. She jumped to the entrance and pulled herself in, listening as the steps passed by. With a surge of relief, she worked her way further down the vent deciding to explore while she still had time. This had been a successful foray even if she found nothing more.
The vent system was an endless maze and Chloe had to be careful to keep her bearings, taking time to map her progress. Turning a corner, she pulled up short. Directly in front of her she could see red lines of light cutting across the passage. Directly below this was a vent opening. This was obviously a very secure area. Straining, she tried to see down through the grid. Perhaps a glimpse of what was down there would give a clue to the research they did here.
Drat it. Nothing. Desks, computers, wait... someone was moving. Chloe leaned closer making sure her hair did not hang in the sensor streams. A trim woman with what had once been red hair tied in a bun behind her head was cleaning up. Her mostly grey hair indicated an older woman but she did not seem feeble. Her movements were spare, efficient and somehow familiar. Chloe wrinkled her forehead in concentration, willing the figure below to give her a better view. Come on...
The woman turned and brought a weary hand up to brush a stray hair from her forehead, finally lifting and turning her head as if relieving tension in her neck. Chloe gasped in surprise. It was Martha Kent.
*****
Pushing back from the computer, Chloe rubbed her eyes. Most of these disks were useless but there had been an inventory disk with strange items on it. There was food delivered regularly, like they were keeping animals but the variety...perhaps they ran a cafeteria for their workers. The volume seemed a bit low for that purpose. No one would run a cafeteria to feed what looked like enough for maybe five or six people.
Chloe ran her fingers through her hair trying to puzzle this out. The biggest puzzle was the presence of Martha Kent. Seeing her had sent a wave of emotions through Chloe. The Kents had lost their farm in Chloe's senior year. They had disappeared literally overnight without any goodbyes and the notice of power of sale on their front door indicated the bank had taken over. Most speculated that the Kents had decided to leave quickly so as not to face the shame. She had never believed that, but her searches to find them had all turned up empty. She'd also been the only one to look. Pete and his family had moved suddenly, earlier that year, as Judge Ross had been given a supreme court appointment. Lana had followed Henry Small into Greenpeace activism the spring before, leaving behind a broken-hearted Clark. Even her approaches to Clark's grandfather had turned up no results. He seemed to feel they had disappeared to spite him.
Lex had left the year before and did not respond to her messages.
Through e-mails, Pete had been sure it was a government plot but was unable to provide much help in the search. He seemed to feel they would want to take Clark but would not give details why. Their communication had become strained and eventually stopped.
Gradually, Chloe had given up. Whole families didn't just disappear. The Kents must have wanted to leave no trail. They had always kept to themselves, even had an in-town moniker as "the reclusive Kents", no wonder no one had looked twice after they were gone.
Seeing Martha Kent in a possible government facility made Chloe wonder all over again. Opening up those old wounds. She missed Clark. Even after all this time. Even after their aborted attempt to date their freshman year. Even after his brief dating of Lana Lang, who had discovered he was not what she wanted and left to rejoin her biological father, gravitating to Henry Small's hopeless causes in a way only mutual genetics could justify. Chloe'd just been working up her nerve to try again with Clark, when he'd vanished. Proving, to her insecure heart that he cared not at all for her feelings. Not even a goodbye.
Well, no use dwelling on that...again... This was a wonderful opportunity. She just had to talk to Martha Kent. Chloe shut down her computer with a new sense of purpose. Tomorrow she'd try the duct again and hope she would see Martha. If necessary she'd go back again and again, until she did. Another item on her to do list would be to hack their security, a favourite passtime of hers.
A/N: Once again this is not possible without the support and kind beta assistance of LaCasta.
Summary: Futurefic, Chloe investigates a story and finds more than she bargained for.
Pairing: Chloe/Clark
Rating: G for now
The Missing
Chapter 1
"What have I gotten myself into?" Chloe whispered to herself as she scratched her palm on a metal rivet. Stopping to suck on the offended appendage, she looked down the long, dark air duct and wondered how much farther she would have to abuse her knees. Moving carefully to avoid making sounds, she continued towards her goal, occasionally stopping to puff the hair out of her eyes with a frustrated breath.
Chloe Sullivan knew full well this could be the story of her career. While still a student at Metropolis University, she'd established herself quickly as an investigative reporter with the Daily Planet and her anonymous exposes were the talk of the town. She wasn't afraid to take risks and her reports showed it. This particular investigation had been in the works for weeks. She'd first caught wind of a possible government facility on campus. It was almost an urban legend, a place with absolute security and no hint as to the true nature of its research. It had taken a lot of called favours and weeks of insinuating herself into the cleaning staff, to get this far and all she had to show for it was dishpan hands. This was her coffee break. She had twenty minutes to get to the records room, get what documents she could, and get out.
At last, she reached the vent to crawl out. Peering through to make sure the room was empty, she pushed at the sides with her hands, using the edge of her jacket to protect them. Swinging out with agility, she landed on the floor below and set to the task of gathering what info she could.
This was just a paper file room. Chloe knew it was not where the really important stuff would be found but she was excellent at reading between the lines and these sorts of records often hinted at bigger things, giving her a clue as to where to focus her efforts.
Chloe set to her task, rummaging through files and finding little of use but being an eternal optimist, she opened a box of floppies and began filling her pockets. She would gather what she could from this and return them the next shift. A sound in the hall made her freeze. Slowly she returned to the vent, listening as footsteps approached. She jumped to the entrance and pulled herself in, listening as the steps passed by. With a surge of relief, she worked her way further down the vent deciding to explore while she still had time. This had been a successful foray even if she found nothing more.
The vent system was an endless maze and Chloe had to be careful to keep her bearings, taking time to map her progress. Turning a corner, she pulled up short. Directly in front of her she could see red lines of light cutting across the passage. Directly below this was a vent opening. This was obviously a very secure area. Straining, she tried to see down through the grid. Perhaps a glimpse of what was down there would give a clue to the research they did here.
Drat it. Nothing. Desks, computers, wait... someone was moving. Chloe leaned closer making sure her hair did not hang in the sensor streams. A trim woman with what had once been red hair tied in a bun behind her head was cleaning up. Her mostly grey hair indicated an older woman but she did not seem feeble. Her movements were spare, efficient and somehow familiar. Chloe wrinkled her forehead in concentration, willing the figure below to give her a better view. Come on...
The woman turned and brought a weary hand up to brush a stray hair from her forehead, finally lifting and turning her head as if relieving tension in her neck. Chloe gasped in surprise. It was Martha Kent.
*****
Pushing back from the computer, Chloe rubbed her eyes. Most of these disks were useless but there had been an inventory disk with strange items on it. There was food delivered regularly, like they were keeping animals but the variety...perhaps they ran a cafeteria for their workers. The volume seemed a bit low for that purpose. No one would run a cafeteria to feed what looked like enough for maybe five or six people.
Chloe ran her fingers through her hair trying to puzzle this out. The biggest puzzle was the presence of Martha Kent. Seeing her had sent a wave of emotions through Chloe. The Kents had lost their farm in Chloe's senior year. They had disappeared literally overnight without any goodbyes and the notice of power of sale on their front door indicated the bank had taken over. Most speculated that the Kents had decided to leave quickly so as not to face the shame. She had never believed that, but her searches to find them had all turned up empty. She'd also been the only one to look. Pete and his family had moved suddenly, earlier that year, as Judge Ross had been given a supreme court appointment. Lana had followed Henry Small into Greenpeace activism the spring before, leaving behind a broken-hearted Clark. Even her approaches to Clark's grandfather had turned up no results. He seemed to feel they had disappeared to spite him.
Lex had left the year before and did not respond to her messages.
Through e-mails, Pete had been sure it was a government plot but was unable to provide much help in the search. He seemed to feel they would want to take Clark but would not give details why. Their communication had become strained and eventually stopped.
Gradually, Chloe had given up. Whole families didn't just disappear. The Kents must have wanted to leave no trail. They had always kept to themselves, even had an in-town moniker as "the reclusive Kents", no wonder no one had looked twice after they were gone.
Seeing Martha Kent in a possible government facility made Chloe wonder all over again. Opening up those old wounds. She missed Clark. Even after all this time. Even after their aborted attempt to date their freshman year. Even after his brief dating of Lana Lang, who had discovered he was not what she wanted and left to rejoin her biological father, gravitating to Henry Small's hopeless causes in a way only mutual genetics could justify. Chloe'd just been working up her nerve to try again with Clark, when he'd vanished. Proving, to her insecure heart that he cared not at all for her feelings. Not even a goodbye.
Well, no use dwelling on that...again... This was a wonderful opportunity. She just had to talk to Martha Kent. Chloe shut down her computer with a new sense of purpose. Tomorrow she'd try the duct again and hope she would see Martha. If necessary she'd go back again and again, until she did. Another item on her to do list would be to hack their security, a favourite passtime of hers.