Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.

Chapter five:

Clark chuckled as he exited the small town coffee shop, ignoring the appreciative glances sent his way by the fickle girls that worked there. He was amused that the young brunette had stepped into the building, not seeming to notice him coming out of the manager's office. He'd even exited through the back and come in front just to see the look on her face as she saw him. She hadn't disappointed.

Meetings at the tiny businesses of Smallville and the fertilizer plant aside, today had been one of the more exciting days he had had; His father had heard about his little foray into the pest control business and decided to punish him for his indiscretions.

He stared after the small red vehicle speeding into the distance and absently threw the near-full cup of coffee into one of the nearby trashcans, smirking as the car exited his line of vision.

On the bright side, he knew that this wouldn't be the last time he saw the petite girl; Between her career in journalism and her father's job at the Metropolis branch he would make sure of it.

Chloe panted as she dashed up the stairs two at a time, locking herself in her room and collapsing onto her bed. Seeing the evil Luthor progeny had bought back all kinds of horrible memories, and not for the first time she cursed his penchant for the dramatic and sheer cruelty. He knew she was there; He had to have known for a while at least, watching her while she talked with her friend, while she drank coffee, while she was unaware of him in any way.

How long? How long had he been sitting there enjoying watching her, knowing that she was defenseless and couldn't hope to stop him no matter how hard she tried?

Gathering her wits about her, the young girl sat up, gently pulling open one of the drawers next to the bed and pulling out one of the few things of her mother's that she still had.

An emerald-green rock lay embedded in the center of the small pendant, shaped like an oval surrounded by tarnished silver.

The pendant hadn't been expensive, nor was it particularly valuable or durable, but it's true worth lay in sentiment; It had been gifted to her by her mother, Moira Sullivan, mere weeks before the other woman had been committed.

For a while she had worn the cheap jewelry everywhere she went, but an incident with the football team had damaged it, leaving a thick crack running through it. Lug-head's throwing footballs had always been one of her peeves, but never before that moment had she felt true hatred for any single player before, even when Sean Calvin attempted to kill her and another had thought to wreck her Torch office, she had been angry and scared at worst, but not truly hateful.

For a while she simply sat there, staring at the green gem and dull metal, before lightly pushing it back into her bedside drawer and closing it. Those small rocks had ruined so many lives, caused people to go psychotic and given powers to the already deranged, but she could never bring herself to throw it away; It simply meant to much to her.

She hissed as her thoughts instantly turned back to the Luthor spawn; Everyone knew that he was adopted, Lionel Luthor didn't exactly try to keep it a secret; In fact, if you looked deeply enough, it almost seemed like he took pleasure in pitting his two sons against one another, watching them vie for his attention.

Although lately both sons seemed to hate the older man, Lex Luthor was known to actively avoid functions that his father would be frequenting, whereas Clark seemed to just not care.

She scowled, walking over to her desk and booting up her computer. She was tired of having to fear the unknown. Even if it killed her she was going to discover the truth one way or another.

Pacing his office, Lionel Luthor turned to stare at his son, watching as the youth sat on the black leather without a care in the world. "And you want me to what?" He drolled, watching his son's face for the tick that would inevitably follow. He knew the boy well enough that he knew it would always chafe at him having to ask a favour of his father.

"I feel that selected talents could be put to better use under my direct employ." He shrugged, as though he didn't particularly care. Nonetheless Lionel felt a stab of vindictive glee as the expected reaction briefly slipped through his visage.

"And you think that a former plant manager will work better under you." He shot back, watching the broad-shouldered youth for any reaction.

Clark glared up at the businessman, rolling his eyes. "I will admit to having an interest in the history of him. Working in a town like Smallville, high work ethic and no sick days; He seems like an ideal candidate for my new sections manager."

Lionel narrowed his eyes at him, lips tugging into a frown. "And this interest would have nothing to do with the man's daughter?" He smirked as his words evidently riled the other man, but nonetheless Clark tried to school his expression.

"I won't lie," He started, glare intensifying. "His daughter does look... Attractive, and the girl's articles on the meteor freaks of Smallville is impressive considering the denial that most seem to have on the subject, but I'm genuinely interested in Gabe Sullivan as an employee, and I'm not hiring him for his daughter." He lied.

"Really, Clark. I've read the reports, I've heard about your interactions with the young Ms. Sullivan." Pursing his lips, Clark silently cursed Lana Lang and her little business. "Try a little harder, son." He taunted.

Clark snarled, slamming his fists on Lionel's desk as he seemed to virtually disappear. "You're not irreplaceable, 'Dad'." He hissed under his breathe to the older man, voice too low for any of the camera's around the office to hear. "I will hire Gabe Sullivan for my branch, you will sign the papers, and you will avoid monitoring me in the future if you know what's good for you."

Both men knew that he was at least partially bluffing, Lionel had a chunk of meteor rock in his desk at all times and even if Clark did act it would be a race to see who was faster. They both knew that it would probably end in Clark's victory. But, simultaneously, they both knew exactly what his desperate threat also meant; He was willing to bargain.

Too rarely did the super-powered boy actually offer his abilities to the older man's cause, but in revealing his hand so early he clearly knew what was at stake.

"Alright." The older man spoke casually after a moment of silence. "But I'm going to want something in return for this."

Huffing, Clark drew back and collected himself. "...Alright, what do you want?" He asked gruffly.

Lips twisting into a parody of a smile, Lionel spoke. "A little 'venture', so to speak. Two men are currently bidding for the top spot on my list of bad purchases. I want you to get rid of said opposition."

A deniable statement that clearly conveyed what he truly wanted; Kill these two men, they haven't met their quota, they owe me money or they just plain annoy me.

"And who would these two men be?" He queried coolly.

"Edward Teague and Oliver Queen."

Chloe stared intently at the screen before her, finger twitching as she scrolled down the page. No birth records. No known family. Not even a blood type.

The youngest Luthor had seemingly come from nowhere, adopted into a rich family on nothing but the kindness of Lionel Luthor's heart. Lionel Luthor didn't do kindness, but he did do business.

She had seen just what kind of man the eldest Luthor was, and while she didn't forgive Clark and still hated him every bit as much as she had when she first met him, she couldn't help the twinge of pity that went through her at the thought of being found and used by such a terribly man at such a young age. He hadn't stood a chance.

She fruitlessly searched for minutes, hacking both Metropolis and Smallville's medical records. Nothing.

She searched through the articles involving him; business functions and charity events, school records and any incident reports. Nothing.

Adoption records. Metropolis united charities, scant few adoptions actually done by said charity, funded and built by... Lionel Luthor. One small mystery. He had been adopted the day of the meteor shower.

A search of just what he had been doing the day of the meteor shower revealed very little, but expanding the search and she found his most recent purchase from that day.

Ross' Cream Corn. Lionel Luthor had been in Smallville the day of the meteor shower, Lex Luthor had been caught in the aftermath and shortly after lost his hair, and Clark... Luthor had been adopted shortly after the meteor shower.

He had been found in Smallville the day of the meteor shower. There were no records of him before then.

A smoking gun, but when she put it all together...

For a brief moment she had an image of a small boy without any family or relatives being strapped to a table by a group of white-clad people, cold calculating eyes thinking of the money to be made.

For a brief moment her absolute hatred was tempered by stunned pity, but it went away just as quickly. Clark Luthor hadn't exactly led a hard life, and the only person responsible for Clark Luthor's horrific actions was Clark Luthor. He didn't deserve her sympathy.

Now how could she use this?