Andrea was still recovering from her gunshot wound and now, she was silently sitting on the couch and she was grunting in annoyance. "You shouldn't be moving." Lex noted.
"I'm not." Andrea snapped and Lex was walking over to her with a big cup of hot chocolate. "I hate this." She mumbled and she took the cup. "Thanks." She muttered.
"Why didn't you take the chance and get medical attention?" Lex asked and she was looking at him. "Why didn't you leave with the kids, Andrea? You could have died from the blood loss..."
"I don't care about that, Lex." Andrea cut him off and Lex looked at her. "I stayed in the plant, because I owe you a lot more than I can ever repay you for." She said and Lex's eyebrows lifted. "Every time I called, you picked up the phone. If I needed a ride, if I needed help to wind down a party, if I ever needed someone to beat up Ollie..." Andrea was shaking her head. "You were always there when I called." She said.
"I've told you before, Andy, that you don't owe me jack shit." Lex said and she lowered her head. "Do you want a hug?" Lex offered.
Andrea replied without words as she was moving closer for the offered hug and Lex moved his arms around her carefully. "I'm never going to get out from under my own guilty conscience about owing you Lex." She mumbled and he looked down at her.
"Fine. But in my mind, just know that we are even." Lex said quietly and she rested her head on his arm, closing her eyes as she was shaking briefly. "Are you coming to the Luthor Hall Collection Charity Gala?" He asked and she sighed.
"Can I steal a suit?" Andrea asked, opening her eyes and he nodded at her quickly. "Well then, yes." She said and Lex scoffed quietly.
"You would have gone anyways, wouldn't you?" Lex asked as Andrea looked up at him before she was nodding.
"Your Head of Security isn't going anywhere right now." Andrea muttered, as at this, Lex was chuckling at how tired she seemed to be and she elbowed him. "Stop, laughing, at me." Her words came out muffled, but her elbow sure didn't and Lex chuckled softly.
"Ow. All right, I get it." Lex said as Andrea's eyes were closing again, as she was moving into sleepyhead land and rather luckily for her, he had nowhere to be at the moment.
It was a few days later that Andrea found herself in a fitted suit that Lex had basically just given to her, plus some of her old, black dress slacks that she was ninety percent sure that she had stolen from Oliver back in their youth, which would explain why they fit.
"Andrea?" The person that she had least wanted to run into, he had spotted her and Lex spotted her discomfort.
"Oliver." Lex answered for her now as Andrea's eyes locked on her brother's and his eyes flashed.
"It's okay, Lex." Andrea said as Lex looked down at her before she was nodding quickly at the wordless communication. "Go and see the others, I'll meet you in a bit." She said as Lex walked off into the crowd.
"I heard that you got shot, are you all right?" Oliver asked as they walked around the museum and she sighed.
"I got shot, Ollie, and I made it worse by helping Lex. What do you want me to say? Is there a script, a cameraman who is watching us? Perhaps?" Andrea asked and Oliver was looking down at the floor.
"I'm trying to be a good big brother to you, Andrea, but you won't let me. Why won't you let me try?" Oliver asked.
"If you were in my position, after knowing that I'd never been there when you wanted me to be... Would you really have wanted me to keep approaching you?" Andrea said as she crossed her arms, before Oliver was nodding.
"All right. Have a good night then." He said and she was turning around, walking into the crowd again.
"Are you boring Clark now, with a few good more of the all-too familiar "Alexander the Great" facts again?" Andrea asked as she caught up to Lex and Clark.
"Of course not." Lex said and Andrea lifted her eyebrows at him. "Okay, yeah, maybe."
"Andrea, I am glad that you're okay." At the words, Clark was gingerly now moving his arms around Andrea, who appreciated the effort and she had no doubt that he was able to easily crush her by mistake, if he got too excited by seeing her.
Clark had gone outside, Lex had gone off with Victoria Hardwick much to Andrea's rolling eyes and now, she was eating dinner with Lana and Whitney.
"If you apologize to me again, even one more time for the ever-annoying gunshot wound, Whitney, I swear to god, I am going to kick your ass." Andrea warned, holding up a spoon pointed in his direction and the quarterback ducked his head, looking for a way out. Slouching in his seat. "Hey don't worry, Whitney, I'm not even comfortable here. And I grew up basically following Lex and my brother around... Well, mostly Lex."
"Is your brother actually here?" Lana asked as she was looking around as Andrea searched with her.
"He was here... Maybe he left already." She had a feeling that he wasn't gone yet but she dared to hope anyway.
"That wouldn't happen to be him, just over there next to the ancient breastplate from the fabled Alexander the Great... Would it?" It was a good question from Whitney and she was gritting her teeth, turning to look to see that her brother was getting progressively more and more loose-lipped as she groaned.
"Do you need help?" Lana asked and Andrea was shaking her head, before she was getting up and she was walking swiftly over to her brother.
"Oliver." Andrea interrupted him before he could say anything else and her big brother turned to look at her. From over five feet away, she could smell the stink of alcohol and it made her want to puke. "It's time for you to call a cab." She said calmly and Oliver was shaking his head, barely managing to stay on his feet. "You're wasted, Oliver, just come on." She said and he was knocking her hands away from him.
"Stay away from me, you little brat!" He snapped at her loudly as she flinched at the words, feeling a pulse of pain shooting through her.
"If somebody could please call a cab for him, that would be wonderful." Andrea said and she saw that Lana was on the phone, as she was attempting to swiftly just drag Oliver away from the bar.
Oliver spun around and he pushed her hard. Andrea crashed into one of the pieces from the exhibition and shards, plus smaller pieces of glass went everywhere and she brought her arms up to shield her eyes.
Andrea felt like she couldn't move and she choked in air, swiftly realizing that she had just been winded in the fall and Lana came running over with Whitney.
Whitney rolled her onto her side and Andrea's coughing was a relief for her and air was coming back into her lungs again as she was shaking for a few minutes. "Andrea? Andrea, are you okay?" Lana asked and Andrea swallowed briefly, before she was nodding.
"Oliver?" Andrea asked and Lana winced as she was looking over at the doors. Oliver was currently being herded out by a pack of security guards and Andrea groaned at the sight of one of the artifacts that was broken, shattered. "Oh. Lex is so going to kill me for that." Andrea muttered as the cleanup crew was doing the work and Andrea was going towards the bathroom.
Andrea winced in disgust when she turned the corner to the bathroom and she saw that Lex and Victoria Hardwick were... Busy, as she preferred to think of it.
Andrea went into the bathroom and now, she was shaking her head and running her fingers through her hair to make sure, that there was no glass left.
Andrea was planning on just taking a cab back to Smallville, until someone caught her by the arm and Andrea, who was already on edge with frayed nerves after the ending of the night felt someone's hand on her, she just acted.
Andrea was pinning down the person swiftly in an arm-lock, who was struggling hard to get out of the painful lock. "For the love of God. It. Is. Me!" Lex said and she let him up, backing away.
"I'm sorry." Andrea said and he was standing up, brushing off his pants and his suit as he looked at her. "Oliver pushed me into the artifact. I know that I can't buy you another one, but my paycheck can at least buy you..."
"Andrea." Lex said and she raised her eyebrows at him. "You don't ever owe me anything, all right?"
"Yeah, okay." Andrea muttered.
Andrea was testing the security cameras after a brief black-out that they had gone through last night and she was shaking her head. "Weird." She muttered and she was going outside to check the generator, only to find that it was working perfectly.
"Everything okay?" Lex asked as she was walking back into the mansion as Andrea was checking things off on her notepad that was pinned to her clipboard.
"Yeah. We just had an outage last night, the security cameras rebooted. I was just doing a check, to see if anything hadn't rebooted itself." Andrea stated as she looked past him at Victoria, who waved at her. "Victoria Hardwick, right?" She asked.
"Yes. Remind me who you are, again?" She asked and Andrea shrugged at the words.
"Andrea Queen." She replied.
"Sister of Oliver Queen?" Victoria sounded surprised and Andrea nodded at her. "What is it with this place? I found both Lex Luthor and the younger sister of Oliver Queen, both in Smallville." Victoria stated.
"For the record, I was here first." Andrea replied and Victoria nodded swiftly. "I have to get groceries, Lex, where the hell are my keys?" Andrea asked and she looked up at him.
"You are still not supposed to be driving, Drea, you took a real hard hit to the head last night... Again." Lex pointed out as he held up her keys. "Come on, I'll drive you."
"Better than nothing." Andrea replied evenly as she went to get her wallet and as well, she threw on a hoodie.
Andrea was sitting in the Beanery with a massive coffee in her hands as she was shaking her head, yawning.
Lex swiftly now walked past a few people with a barely balanced tray of food, while Tommy was carrying their drinks.
"Afternoon, Lex... or is it now, Mr. Luthor, here in Smallville?" Someone asked and then Andrea's blood ran cold at the familiar voice, as Lex put down the food on the table in front of Andrea and he turned around to face Sam Phelan, the corrupt cop that Lex's father had paid to keep Lex out of trouble and to pull him out of dicey situations.
Lex silently watched Sam Phelan for a moment, before he shook his head. "Phelan. Isn't Smallville a couple counties out of your jurisdiction?" Lex asked as Andrea was eating her food quickly, not wanting to get Phelan's attention in any way.
Sam Phelan scoffed at the words from Lex and he was unbothered by it. "Well, I do not need jurisdiction to look up an old friend... Or his girl." Sam had spotted Andrea and she was staring at the table silently.
"As usual, you have no idea what you're talking about." Lex replied as he spotted the silently uncomfortable Andrea, who was sipping at her drink quickly. "And we were never friends. If you want to see me, call my office." Lex replied coolly to Phelan, who was shaking his head.
"When does it happen, Lex?" The corrupt cop just wasn't going to leave them alone, at all, apparently.
"When does what happen?" Lex asked and Andrea finished her coffee real quickly and she paid the waitress directly, quietly telling her to keep the change. Andrea was packing up her computer bag quickly, along with the rest of the files and she was slinging the bag as it rested on her back.
"You sure do have a good life here in Smallville, Lex. I would sure hate to see that all get compromised." At the words from Phelan, Andrea was clenching her fists tightly and Lex glanced over at her. "Or, for Miss Queen to have an unfortunate... accident."
"You can't touch either of us and you know it." Lex replied coldly and his eyes flashed as he looked at the corrupt cop, while Andrea was suddenly aware of the press that was gathering outside of the door.
"Guess you're losing your instinct. Maybe you should think about retiring." Lex said and Phelan scoffed at him, as Lex and Andrea were quickly walking away from the Beanery. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked and she was shaking.
"Did you ever have any luck with finding out who leaked my location and real name to the public?" Andrea asked quietly and then he sighed, before he nodded.
"His name is Roger Nixon. He works for the Metropolis Inquisitor and... Is also the same man who tried to blackmail me about Club Zero." Lex admitted and Andrea stopped as she turned to look at him.
"Club Zero?" She asked as she sounded thunderstruck by the revelation and now frankly, she felt the revelation as well. "I am in those records too, Lex." Andrea said and he was looking at her. "Oliver brought me along, when he didn't want me to tattle... Oh god." Andrea said and she could already feel her heartbeat racing and her chest felt like a foot pressing down on it.
"Hey, take it easy." Lex said and she was clenching her fists, trying to keep her own self-control. "I took care of it, okay? That won't ever get out to the news, I promise."
"Yeah, okay." Andrea said as she was shutting her eyes briefly, before she opened her eyes again and then she was getting into the car quickly. "We should go and see Clark, especially if Sam Phelan is after him." She muttered as Lex glanced over at her, before he was nodding.
"Later?" She nodded silently in agreement and he was driving off.
"Well, you look like you're carrying the weight of the world." Lex stated and Clark jumped, turning around to look at Andrea and Lex, as they walked into the loft of the barn. "I'm sorry if I surprised you, but there's, uh... Really nowhere to knock."
Andrea snickered at the words before she was moving her arms around Clark in a hug as he was gingerly, carefully returning it as he nodded.
"It's okay. Thanks again for last night. It was a lot of fun." Clark said and Andrea looked at the view silently, missing when she was able to be anonymous in the town.
"Your first visit to Metropolis, and you're involved in a police investigation?" Lex asks as he was looking up at Clark. "That has to be some kind of record." He said.
"How'd you two know about that?" Clark asked and then, at the question, Lex swiftly was glancing over at Andrea, who nodded slightly.
"Sam Phelan was hired by my father to take care of some... Expensive problems. I had my fair share of legal issues, Andrea actually knows all about them. It isn't the type of thing that you would read about in the newspapers." Lex explained and Clark glanced over at Andrea, who was nodding slightly.
"Trust me, Clark. You really don't want Phelan in your life. If you don't trust me then you can trust Lex, at least." Andrea stated as she was shaking her head. "Watch your back when you're dealing with him."
It was three days later, when Andrea was lying on her bed and she heard a beeping noise from her computer. Andrea lifted her eyebrows as a few alerts were coming up as she shook her head. "The museum in Metropolis?" She said quietly to herself in confusion.
Andrea watched from inside of her truck on the Kent Farm and Jonathan Kent was reuniting with his family. Andrea sighed softly, before she turned the key in the ignition and now, she was driving off quickly.