Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Disclaimer: Same as previous chapters.
Chapter 9
The next day for Andrew was a bit eventful for him, as he woke Lex informed Buffy and him that Lionel Luthor was coming to town for a couple of days.
Andrew was terrified; what if his father found out about him, or worse, wanted him to leave? He really didn’t have anywhere else to go.
“Now,” Lex said, “Andrew, we don’t know what he suspects, just that he’s coming over.”
Buffy calmed Andrew down a bit and said, “Don’t worry, I’m sure Mr Luthor is just visiting. After all we haven’t given him any reason to suspect us.”
Lex nodded as he sat back down at his desk, he was concerned as his father seemed to be almost concerned about Andrew: he would call and inquire about Andrew’s health or if he needed anything.
“Well anyways Andrew,” Lex said, “You have to go to school, don’t you?”
They both nodded and headed out while Lex sat back and waited for his father to show up, he was sure he wouldn’t have to wait long as his father was very punctual.
He didn’t have to wait long.
Lionel walked through the door and smiled, “Lex, how are you?”
“Fine dad,” Lex said in his most civil tone, “Now what brings you out to the sticks?”
“Can’t I take some time to visit my son?” Lionel said with a large smile.
“Considering that you’ve never really wanted to visit me before,” Lex shrugged, “Or cared that much it does seem a little suspicious.”
Lionel smiled, sat down and said, “So where is Andrew and Ms Winterbourne?”
“They’re at school dad,” Lex said, “Or was I supposed to keep them locked up in chains in the dungeon?”
“Don’t be snide,” Lionel said, “I just want you to tell me the truth about Andrew. I know you went to Sunnydale.”
Lex frowned, “Dad, I was just there surveying some land there. As you know Sunnydale has incredibly cheap land values and I’ve been looking to start a new project there.”
“The land around Sunnydale isn’t much good for large scale agricultural use,” Lionel said with a frown, “I know, I went there some time ago myself.”
“Well, then it seems I was misinformed,” Lex said staring at his father.
Lionel shook his head and said, “No. you’re thinking. I’m proud, if only the land around Sunnydale was worth anything.”
As the two sat there chatting amicably Lionel was more certain that Lex was hiding things, especially how he deflected the questions about Andrew to other subjects. He excused himself to go the washroom and cursed inwardly as he was getting nowhere with Lex, as he walked past the two guest rooms he looked in and thought, ‘Both has signs of people staying in there, the only two who could be here would be Andrew and Ms Winterbourne. If they were servants then why weren’t they in the servant’s quarters?’
He walked back in, not saying anything to Lex about what he discovered; he decided that he would question Andrew in person.
Lionel sat in his guest quarters waiting patiently, he was listening to Lex trying to help the Kent’s with their farm and he snorted, he knew Jonathon Kent wouldn’t accept anything from the Luthor’s, he was just too proud, ‘And not to mention he hates our family.’ Then the power suddenly went out.
“Lex?” he called out, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing dad, the power just went out,” Lex yelled.
He heard the Kent’s going out to check things out at the generator, he decided that he would go with Martha; after all it could be dangerous for her.
Meanwhile outside, Andrew was still worried about Chloe because of what Sean did to her at the pool and Buffy looked at Clark and Chloe, “So, Sean turned to a heat vampire?”
“Yeah,” Chloe said, “And he said that fire’s a cheap substitute, he needs body heat to stay warm.”
“Alright,” Buffy shook her head, “How did this guy get his powers? Also, can someone break the Fire starter coach out and bring him here? I have a theory that they could cancel each other out.”
Chloe nodded, still a bit chilled from nearly being frozen to death.
Andrew looked at Clark and said, “At least you were able to get there and help her.”
“Yeah,” Chloe smiled, “He’s always there when you need him. But Clark,” she continued, “Wasn’t your thing with Lana tonight?”
Clark looked a bit sheepish when he realized that he had left Lana alone in the limo with Whitney.
“Well, where would he go for warmth?” Buffy asked, “I mean where are there a lot of people?”
They split up and went to look while Chloe looked at Andrew and said, “You go too, I’ll be fine.”
Andrew ran out after Buffy and said, “So where do you think he’s going to go?”
“Well I’m sure he’s going to go the Luthor mansion,” Buffy said her hands in the air.
“How do you know that?” Andrew asked curious.
“Because there’s no way I can be that lucky enough to avoid the human freezer to come where I live,” Buffy said smirking.
“Well, let’s get going,” Buffy said as they got into her car, she looked at Clark and wondered vaguely if he needed a ride. When she looked back he wasn’t there anymore and wondered, ‘How did he do that?’
As they drove to the mansion Buffy stopped and saw a crashed vehicle, she frowned as she stopped by and looked at it and said, “Umm, it looks like Whitney’s truck.”
Andrew nodded, “Yeah, he showed it to me a couple of days ago. I think he was trying to impress me.”
‘So,’ Buffy thought to herself, ’The only place where they could go was the mansion, the other places were too far.’
They drove to the mansion and Andrew looked worried: the power was out and his brother was in and he didn’t want to see his brother end up like Jenna. He rushed out before Buffy could stop him to go look.
Andrew rushed around when he heard a noise, he saw Martha and Lionel being cornered by Sean and he ran out to help them.
“Leave them alone!!!” Andrew screamed as he picked up something to throw at Sean.
Sean looked at Andrew and walked over, he whispered, “I can’t seem to get warm,” as he grabbed Andrew’s arm. He smiled, “You feel so warm.”
Andrew moaned as he felt the heat leaving him, he tried to fight back but Sean was holding on to him tight.
Lionel looked at Andrew slowly being frozen to death and the other boy seeming to have some sort of psychotic joy out of it. “No!!” he whispered as he rushed over to Sean pulling him from Andrew and pushed him down.
He picked up Andrew and shuddered with a rage he couldn’t quite place yet as Andrew felt so cool to the touch and was so still. He looked at Sean and growled, “If he dies I will make it my life mission to make sure that your whole damned life is nothing but miserable!!”
Sean backed away wondering what the hell did the old guy care about this kid who he didn’t even know?
Martha rushed over and started to rub Andrew’s shoulders in order to warm him up when Clark appeared and said, “Sean, its over.”
No Sean growled it’s not over I need to get warm
Buffy rushed over and saw how pale Andrew looked and punched Sean hard in the stomach causing him to double over, she winced, ‘Still too hard, gotta control my punches.’
Sean grabbed her and she started to feel the heat being leeched from her when Clark pulled him off and threw him into the wall.
‘How the hell,’ Buffy thought, ‘Did he do that!!? Nothing human could do that.’
Andrew coughed and muttered, ‘I feel cold, too cold,’ and Martha breathed a sigh of relief as Clark picked him up and Andrew cuddled close to him to get warm.
Buffy got up and shook her head, she looked at Sean who was still alive and thanked god for that, she didn’t think Clark could deal with killing even if the guy was a psycho.
Sean moaned, “Too cold!!”
“Yeah,” Buffy said, “Don’t care,” and she grabbed the cell phone and called the police. She smiled, “Don’t worry Sean, they’re going to put you with the fire starting coach I bet and you can be as warm as you want to be.”
“No,” Sean shook his head.
Clark took Andrew by the fireplace inside and Lex looked at him and asked, “What happened to Andrew?”
“Sean; he’s some sort of heat vampire. He was leeching body heat from people and he nearly killed Andrew,” Clark said as Andrew tried to get closer to the fire.
“Oh and Lex,” Clark whispered, “Are you sure your father doesn’t know about Andrew?”
“No, I’m sure of it, I think,” Lex said unsure, “Why?”
“He went psychotic when he saw Andrew get hurt,” Clark murmured, “He threatened to destroy Sean’s life anyway he can.”
Lex looked thoughtful for a moment, ’My father, protective? Could he know about Andrew? No,’ he shook his head, ‘Josie seemed adamant that my father knew nothing about Andrew.’
After he dismissed his guests and carried Andrew to his room, he made sure the door was shut tightly and he informed the butler to bring Andrew some hot soup if he needed it and to make sure that he was doing better.
Buffy rushed up and said, “Mr Luthor I’m sorry, he rushed off when he saw Martha and your father in danger.”
“It’s alright,” Lex said, “But Ms Summers you’re going to better trained so you can keep up with him. I’m having some people come up after my father leaves and they’ll train you better, like firearms training.”
“Umm,” Buffy said, “Don’t like guns.”
“I know Ms Summers,” Lex said, “But it’s a good skill to have handy and besides Andrew is going to be taught how to shoot.”
“Yeah,” Buffy muttered, not sure if Andrew using guns was the best thing for him.
Andrew was shivering under his bed covers, he was freezing still but at least he was feeling a bit warmer. He was drifting between consciousness and sleep when he thought he saw someone come in, he felt a warm hand on his forehead and someone was stroking his hair. He thought it was Lex and attempted to move closer to the warm hand when it disappeared and the door was closed.
Lionel walked out of Andrew’s room looking at the shiny hairs in his hands, he knew it was risky but he also felt that Lex wouldn’t tell him the truth but he would find out who Andrew Wells is.
The next day Andrew was sleeping soundly as Lex walked in and wondered if Andrew was well enough to go to school. It was odd that his father was suddenly called away on business but Lex wondered what he was up to.
“Morning Lex,” Andrew murmured as he got up.
“How are you feeling?” Lex asked gently as he patted Andrew’s hand.
“Better,” Andrew said, “Still a bit stiff but nearly being frozen does that to you.”
Lex nodded and said, “Stay home today, it’s understandable if you want to stay home.”
“No,” Andrew shook his head as he got off the bed, “I’m alright, just a little stiff.”
As Andrew shooed him out Lex shook his head, he looked at Buffy and said, “Be careful around him, he’s going to be a bit slow today until he warms up.”
Buffy nodded as Andrew left his room and she winced a bit on how slow he was being, she went to take him by the hand only for him to slap it away and he smiled apologetically, “Sorry, I can walk by myself.”
She nodded as they left to go to school, patting him on the back.
As they drove she looked at Andrew and said, “So I heard that to keep Sean alive they put him with the former coach, apparently he creates the heat that Sean needs.”
“That’s cool,” Andrew said smiling a bit at his little joke while Buffy shook her head and laughed.
Andrew smiled a bit as they got into the parking lot. Andrew walked out and waved to Chloe who walked over and smiled, “Hey there, are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Andrew said, “Just a bit stiff but I don’t like missing school.”
“Well I know what you’re going through,” Chloe said, “Still feeling a bit cold myself, might get myself a latte today after school. You and Buffy want to join me?”
Andrew nodded as he walked towards the school only for Clark to rush towards him, “Oh god Andrew,” he said, “Are you feeling well enough to be here?”
“Yes,” Andrew grinned, “I’m just feeling stiff right now,” and suddenly remembered cuddling against him and blushed, “Sorry about cuddling against you last night.”
“No,” Clark smiled, “It was alright and do you remember your invitation to Metropolis to go see the sights? I talked it over with my parents and they said it’s alright, if the offer is still good?”
Andrew smiled and said, “It’s still good.”
“Oh and before you go; mom wanted to thank you for trying to save her from Sean and well, they want you to come for dinner,” Clark said, “So you can come, right?”
“Sure,” Andrew said as he walked towards the school and nearly tripped, only for Clark to pick him up. He was starting to like Smallville a lot.
Just outside Smallville a van stopped, Oz was looking at the map and said, “I think we’re here.”
Cordelia rolled her eyes and pointed at the sign and said, “Yeah, that’s what the sign said Oz.”
“Umm, can we stop anyways?” Jonathon called out, “I have to really go to the washroom.”
“Uuugh!!” Larry moaned, “Just do it, he’s been gassy ever since we had those stupid burritos.”
Oz nodded and decided that, next time, this wouldn’t be done on a moment’s notice, planning was definitely of the good, other than them all going into his van and driving to Kansas for about two days.
“So,” Oz said, “We have no idea where Andrew is. So let’s head to the school, if he’s here then he’s probably there.”
TBC
Poll question: What do you think Jonathon and the others reaction to why Andrew moved to Smallville will be? How will Andrew and Clark’s visit to Metropolis turn out? It might involve that corrupt cop. What do you think of Ice guy’s (Sean) fate?
Please rate and review.