sabby
6th February 2004, 00:39
Ok, here it is, the demanded and probably already forgotten sequel to my story Chatting (http://forums.naughty-seduction.net/index.php?showtopic=775) but it can be read as a standalone.
Disclaimer: Smallville still isn't mine and as it looks now, never will be, so don't sue me, because I'm doing the stuff that you could do but obviously aren't creative enough to do *nods*
SPOILERS: vague ones for the beginning of season 3 and definite ones for Hereafter.
Thanks to Adeylan for the superquick beta
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Resident_Evil1980 (08:25:27 pm): So we meet again
Sidekickchick (08:26:03 pm): Yeah, seems we’re bumping into each other a lot lately…
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:14 pm): Find anything interesting in Adam’s apartment?
Sidekickchick (08:26:22 pm): Not really, I didn’t stay long after you left
Sidekickchick (08:26:24 pm): I did lock up btw
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:27 pm): Good to know that *smirk*
Sidekickchick (08:26:29 pm): So…
Resident_Evil (08:26:30 pm): So?
Sidekickchick (08:26:35 pm): Did I already thank you for getting the computers back? If not, thank you, I appreciate it.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:37 pm): It was the least I could do
Sidekickchick (08:26:41 pm): after firing my father, I guess so
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:46 pm): I couldn’t keep him employed after what he said, I had to make a statement
Sidekickchick (08:26:53 pm): What do you mean ‘after what he said’? My father never said anything that would warrant firing him! He’s always been loyal to you and took the risk when you asked him for his help to buy out the plant! He trusted you!
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:57 pm): Yeah, which was obvious by the way he trusted in my abilities to ‘sharpen pencils’
Resident_Evil1980 (08:29:03 pm): Why so silent? Don’t pretend you didn’t know
Sidekickchick (08:29:09): Lex, he didn’t say that…
Resident_Evil1980 (08:29:14 pm): Oh really, well who else should have said it if not him and who should have told our resident farmboy about it if not you?
Sidekickchick (08:29:21 pm): Lex I have to tell you something, but you have to promise me not to get mad…
Resident_Evil1980 (08:29:23 pm): What
Sidekickchick (08:29:25 pm): promise, Lex
Resident_Evil1980 (08:29:30 pm): I don’t have time for fucking child games, Chloe. So either tell me or live with the fact that your father got what was coming to him
Sidekickchick (08:29:33 pm) It wasn’t MY father it was YOURS! Ok!?!
Sidekickchick (08:30:25 pm) Lex?
Resident_Evil1980 (08:30:27 pm): That’s an interesting statement, but why should I believe you?
Sidekickchick (08:30:35 pm): because he said it to me
Resident_Evil1980 (08:30:28 pm): What
Sidekickchick (08:30:42 pm): Lex it’s complicated, I
Sidekickchick (08:30:45 pm) I’m not sure how to explain this…again
Resident_Evil1980 (08:30:51 pm): What do you mean ‘again’?
Sidekickchick (08:30:55 pm): It’s one of the things you don’t remember, yet
Resident_Evil1980 (08:31:03 pm): don’t make me pull it out of your nose, Chloe
Sidekickchick (08:31:45 pm): Ok, but you have to bear with me and hear me out. Is your access safe? If not, I already said too much.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:31:49 pm): It’s safe, so talk
Sidekickchick (08:31:52 pm): you mean type ;-)
Resident_Evil1980 (08:31:53 pm): Chloe
Sidekickchick (08:31:57 pm): Ok, ok. So you remember the day you went on your honeymoon?
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:02 pm): Unfortunately, yes.
Sidekickchick (08:32:10 pm): Ok that day, I met with you father at the mansion and …no actually I have to start before that because you need to know what happened so you can understand me…
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:13 pm): At the moment you don’t make any sense, so please explain
Sidekickchick (08:32:16 pm): Ok, so you know Clark and I had a falling out and it got bad, he kept secrets, he was lying to me and then to top it off, he betrayed my trust and I found out the hard way that he’d shacked up with Lana, BOTH of them lied to me about that and treated me like I was stupid.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:18 pm): And what does my father have to do with that?
Sidekickchick (08:32:27 pm): come on, Lex! We both know Clark has secrets and your father knows, too. So he came to me, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse (pardon that one) and after I just saw Clark and Lana ‘celebrating’ their newfound relationship, I was angry and weak.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:31 pm): so you decided to become my father’s lapdog?
Sidekickchick (08:32:37 pm) So then Lionel dangled one of my biggest dreams in front of my nose and I caved, but then I realized what I’d done and tried to get out of it, by then it was too late.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:41 pm): I see. But you got out of it somehow, else you wouldn’t be telling me all this. So what happened?
Sidekickchick (08:32:58 pm): To make a long story short: You found out, you offered me help in turn for information on your father. Your father found out, he drugged you, put you into Belle Reve, fried your brain and presto chango, he had a son that didn’t know about his dirty little secret and was willing to do everything for his old man.
Sidekickchick (08:34:03 pm): Lex?
Sidekickchick (08:34:42 pm): Lex are you still there?
Sidekickchick (08:35:01 pm): God, I’m sorry Lex, I shouldn’t have told you like that it’s just, once I started it all just came rushing out and… I’m sorry
Resident_Evil1980(08:35:08 pm): Meet me at the Talon, in 20 minutes
Resident_Evil1980 has logged out (08:35:10 pm)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chloe’s hands were shaking over the keyboard as she sat frozen in place, staring at her computer screen. A few seconds later, her brain seemed to kick back in gear and she pushed back from her table and made a dash for her shoes under the bed, grabbed her purse as she pulled them on and hurried down the stairs.
“Dad, I gotta go out again, I forgot to wrap something up for the Torch. I’ll call you later, kay?”
“Sure sweetheart, see you later.”
Gabe’s faint voice trailed after her as she grabbed her car keys and slammed the door shut behind her.
“Fuck….fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” she muttered as she revved the engine and sped towards the center of the town to the Talon.
When she arrived, Lex’s Porsche was already parked in front of the coffee house and she pulled to a stop behind it, yanking her door open and getting out even while she killed the engine and pulled the key out.
She slammed her door shut and turned in a half circle, looking for the billionaire.
“Lex?”
Chloe jerked and emitted a very female shriek as somebody gripped her arm from behind and whirled her around.
Face to face with 6 foot pissed off Lex Luthor.
“Shit Lex, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
Lex scowled and released her arm, taking a step back.
“I want you to tell me everything you know, now,” he demanded.
His silver-blue eyes pierced right through Chloe as he towered over her. Suppressing a shiver, she held her ground.
“Can we do this somewhere not outside in the cold?”
Without a word, Lex turned on his heel, coattails swirling behind him as he strode away and opened the entrance to the Talon.
Chloe followed him and uttered a curt ‘thanks’ as he held the door for her. She strode towards one of the tables and settled down in the booth rather ungracefully, waiting for Lex to take a seat across from her.
When she didn’t say anything for another moment, Lex prompted her with a look and a sudden movement as he settled his elbows on the table, folding his hands in front of him.
“Lex, I’m really sorry that you found out this way… I mean…”
“Oh and which way would have been a good way to find out my father ‘fried my brain’ as you so eloquently put it?”
Chloe bit nervously into her bottom lip and sunk a little lower in her seat.
“You’ve got a point. Ok, I guess it’s easier if I tell you all the way from the beginning. You got a few hours to spare?” she tried for humor, sending a half smile his way.
“I’m all yours.” Lex spread his hands out before folding them back together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple hours and more than a few cups of coffee later, Chloe had caught Lex up on everything that happened in the last few months, from Clark’s and Lana’s failed relationship over Clark’s time in Metropolis, the debacle with Morgan Edge and how Lex had landed up in the looney bin. Her eyes had stayed rooted to the billionaires face, trying to gauge his reaction and giving understanding half smiles whenever it felt like he could need them.
When she was done telling her story, silence fell over them, but oddly enough, it wasn’t exactly an uncomfortable one. Chloe waited for a comment from Lex, since he’d stayed silent through out.
“Wow.”
Chloe’s eyebrows flew up. ‘Wow?’
“Wow? ... Wow? I tell you all this and all you can come up with as a response is ‘wow’?”
She’d expected…well honestly she didn’t know what she had expected but it sure as hell wasn’t that. Not from a man who could use words like weapons and knew an appropriate metaphor or adage for seemingly every single situation under the sun.
“Chloe what you just told me could’ve come straight out of a soap opera, a very cruel and twisted soap opera but…” he trailed off, running a hand over his smooth scalp.
Obviously Lex had problems wrapping his mind around everything he’d just found out. Chloe couldn’t blame him. Most times she was still trying to figure out how all that could have happened and in a small town in Kansas, no less.
“Yeah I know” Her voice was inflectionless. “So what are you gonna do now?” she enquired.
“Honestly?” Lex looked up at her, shaking his head once as Chloe nodded, “I have no idea.”
“Hmmmm…” Chloe shook her head and stretched, trying to loosen her protesting muscles. “Want another coffee?”
Lex shook his head. “No thanks, I don’t think I’ll need the caffeine to keep me up all night.”
Chloe nodded as she got up, taking their mugs around the counter and placing them in the sink behind it.
When she returned to her seat, Lex was still looking straight ahead, his gaze focused inwards. Other than that, there was no sign as to what was going on behind those intense blue eyes.
“Lex, I have to ask you something,” Chloe started hesitantly.
His eyes focused back on the outside world and he turned his head to look up at her.
“What is it?”
“Your offer, does it still stand?”
Lex’s eyebrow rose slightly, before he obviously made the connection to the offer she was talking about. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
“I don’t know why you’d still want that after you’ve seen how it turned out the last time…” he trailed off.
“Oh, ok.”
She tried to shrug it off and move on, but some part of her had hoped that they could get back to where they’d started. Their alliance hadn’t been an easy one, but Chloe had seen a chance to permanently free herself from Lionel’s clutches with the help of Lex. ‘Seems not.’
Chloe jumped lightly as a large hand landed warm on her arm.
“If you want to risk it, though. Yes, the offer still stands.”
His eyes were sincere and his hand slowly brushed down before it left her arm completely. A small smile started at the corner of her lips and grew until it turned into the first real smile that she’d given anyone in a long time. This could work. They would work out a plan and get back to where they had started, but more careful this time and things would work out for the both of them. They had a chance. There was only one thing left that bothered her.
“Great, but one thing?”
“And what would that be?” The smirk on his face would have been a grin on anyone else’s.
“My father…” she left the sentence dangling.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
“Good.”
She nodded as Lex got up from his seat and started towards the glass doors at the front of the Talon. Chloe snatched up her purse and followed a few steps behind him. She smiled up at her ally as he held the door for her and accompanied her to her car.
When she was safely in her seat, the key in the ignition, he turned around to get into his Porsche.
Chloe zoomed down the window and stuck her head out to yell at him.
“Hey, Lex?”
He turned his body half way to face her, “Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
The now familiar smirk on his lips, Lex shook his head slightly.
“No, Chloe. If anyone deserves thanks, it’s you.”
He turned back around and got into his car before she could say another thing and Chloe watched silently as the taillights on his Porsche lit up and the silver vehicle vanished in the direction of Luthor manor.
An unusual alliance between a high school reporter and a young billionaire had been established, once again. But this time, maybe they really had a chance that it would work.
The End
Disclaimer: Smallville still isn't mine and as it looks now, never will be, so don't sue me, because I'm doing the stuff that you could do but obviously aren't creative enough to do *nods*
SPOILERS: vague ones for the beginning of season 3 and definite ones for Hereafter.
Thanks to Adeylan for the superquick beta
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Resident_Evil1980 (08:25:27 pm): So we meet again
Sidekickchick (08:26:03 pm): Yeah, seems we’re bumping into each other a lot lately…
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:14 pm): Find anything interesting in Adam’s apartment?
Sidekickchick (08:26:22 pm): Not really, I didn’t stay long after you left
Sidekickchick (08:26:24 pm): I did lock up btw
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:27 pm): Good to know that *smirk*
Sidekickchick (08:26:29 pm): So…
Resident_Evil (08:26:30 pm): So?
Sidekickchick (08:26:35 pm): Did I already thank you for getting the computers back? If not, thank you, I appreciate it.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:37 pm): It was the least I could do
Sidekickchick (08:26:41 pm): after firing my father, I guess so
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:46 pm): I couldn’t keep him employed after what he said, I had to make a statement
Sidekickchick (08:26:53 pm): What do you mean ‘after what he said’? My father never said anything that would warrant firing him! He’s always been loyal to you and took the risk when you asked him for his help to buy out the plant! He trusted you!
Resident_Evil1980 (08:26:57 pm): Yeah, which was obvious by the way he trusted in my abilities to ‘sharpen pencils’
Resident_Evil1980 (08:29:03 pm): Why so silent? Don’t pretend you didn’t know
Sidekickchick (08:29:09): Lex, he didn’t say that…
Resident_Evil1980 (08:29:14 pm): Oh really, well who else should have said it if not him and who should have told our resident farmboy about it if not you?
Sidekickchick (08:29:21 pm): Lex I have to tell you something, but you have to promise me not to get mad…
Resident_Evil1980 (08:29:23 pm): What
Sidekickchick (08:29:25 pm): promise, Lex
Resident_Evil1980 (08:29:30 pm): I don’t have time for fucking child games, Chloe. So either tell me or live with the fact that your father got what was coming to him
Sidekickchick (08:29:33 pm) It wasn’t MY father it was YOURS! Ok!?!
Sidekickchick (08:30:25 pm) Lex?
Resident_Evil1980 (08:30:27 pm): That’s an interesting statement, but why should I believe you?
Sidekickchick (08:30:35 pm): because he said it to me
Resident_Evil1980 (08:30:28 pm): What
Sidekickchick (08:30:42 pm): Lex it’s complicated, I
Sidekickchick (08:30:45 pm) I’m not sure how to explain this…again
Resident_Evil1980 (08:30:51 pm): What do you mean ‘again’?
Sidekickchick (08:30:55 pm): It’s one of the things you don’t remember, yet
Resident_Evil1980 (08:31:03 pm): don’t make me pull it out of your nose, Chloe
Sidekickchick (08:31:45 pm): Ok, but you have to bear with me and hear me out. Is your access safe? If not, I already said too much.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:31:49 pm): It’s safe, so talk
Sidekickchick (08:31:52 pm): you mean type ;-)
Resident_Evil1980 (08:31:53 pm): Chloe
Sidekickchick (08:31:57 pm): Ok, ok. So you remember the day you went on your honeymoon?
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:02 pm): Unfortunately, yes.
Sidekickchick (08:32:10 pm): Ok that day, I met with you father at the mansion and …no actually I have to start before that because you need to know what happened so you can understand me…
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:13 pm): At the moment you don’t make any sense, so please explain
Sidekickchick (08:32:16 pm): Ok, so you know Clark and I had a falling out and it got bad, he kept secrets, he was lying to me and then to top it off, he betrayed my trust and I found out the hard way that he’d shacked up with Lana, BOTH of them lied to me about that and treated me like I was stupid.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:18 pm): And what does my father have to do with that?
Sidekickchick (08:32:27 pm): come on, Lex! We both know Clark has secrets and your father knows, too. So he came to me, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse (pardon that one) and after I just saw Clark and Lana ‘celebrating’ their newfound relationship, I was angry and weak.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:31 pm): so you decided to become my father’s lapdog?
Sidekickchick (08:32:37 pm) So then Lionel dangled one of my biggest dreams in front of my nose and I caved, but then I realized what I’d done and tried to get out of it, by then it was too late.
Resident_Evil1980 (08:32:41 pm): I see. But you got out of it somehow, else you wouldn’t be telling me all this. So what happened?
Sidekickchick (08:32:58 pm): To make a long story short: You found out, you offered me help in turn for information on your father. Your father found out, he drugged you, put you into Belle Reve, fried your brain and presto chango, he had a son that didn’t know about his dirty little secret and was willing to do everything for his old man.
Sidekickchick (08:34:03 pm): Lex?
Sidekickchick (08:34:42 pm): Lex are you still there?
Sidekickchick (08:35:01 pm): God, I’m sorry Lex, I shouldn’t have told you like that it’s just, once I started it all just came rushing out and… I’m sorry
Resident_Evil1980(08:35:08 pm): Meet me at the Talon, in 20 minutes
Resident_Evil1980 has logged out (08:35:10 pm)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chloe’s hands were shaking over the keyboard as she sat frozen in place, staring at her computer screen. A few seconds later, her brain seemed to kick back in gear and she pushed back from her table and made a dash for her shoes under the bed, grabbed her purse as she pulled them on and hurried down the stairs.
“Dad, I gotta go out again, I forgot to wrap something up for the Torch. I’ll call you later, kay?”
“Sure sweetheart, see you later.”
Gabe’s faint voice trailed after her as she grabbed her car keys and slammed the door shut behind her.
“Fuck….fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” she muttered as she revved the engine and sped towards the center of the town to the Talon.
When she arrived, Lex’s Porsche was already parked in front of the coffee house and she pulled to a stop behind it, yanking her door open and getting out even while she killed the engine and pulled the key out.
She slammed her door shut and turned in a half circle, looking for the billionaire.
“Lex?”
Chloe jerked and emitted a very female shriek as somebody gripped her arm from behind and whirled her around.
Face to face with 6 foot pissed off Lex Luthor.
“Shit Lex, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
Lex scowled and released her arm, taking a step back.
“I want you to tell me everything you know, now,” he demanded.
His silver-blue eyes pierced right through Chloe as he towered over her. Suppressing a shiver, she held her ground.
“Can we do this somewhere not outside in the cold?”
Without a word, Lex turned on his heel, coattails swirling behind him as he strode away and opened the entrance to the Talon.
Chloe followed him and uttered a curt ‘thanks’ as he held the door for her. She strode towards one of the tables and settled down in the booth rather ungracefully, waiting for Lex to take a seat across from her.
When she didn’t say anything for another moment, Lex prompted her with a look and a sudden movement as he settled his elbows on the table, folding his hands in front of him.
“Lex, I’m really sorry that you found out this way… I mean…”
“Oh and which way would have been a good way to find out my father ‘fried my brain’ as you so eloquently put it?”
Chloe bit nervously into her bottom lip and sunk a little lower in her seat.
“You’ve got a point. Ok, I guess it’s easier if I tell you all the way from the beginning. You got a few hours to spare?” she tried for humor, sending a half smile his way.
“I’m all yours.” Lex spread his hands out before folding them back together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple hours and more than a few cups of coffee later, Chloe had caught Lex up on everything that happened in the last few months, from Clark’s and Lana’s failed relationship over Clark’s time in Metropolis, the debacle with Morgan Edge and how Lex had landed up in the looney bin. Her eyes had stayed rooted to the billionaires face, trying to gauge his reaction and giving understanding half smiles whenever it felt like he could need them.
When she was done telling her story, silence fell over them, but oddly enough, it wasn’t exactly an uncomfortable one. Chloe waited for a comment from Lex, since he’d stayed silent through out.
“Wow.”
Chloe’s eyebrows flew up. ‘Wow?’
“Wow? ... Wow? I tell you all this and all you can come up with as a response is ‘wow’?”
She’d expected…well honestly she didn’t know what she had expected but it sure as hell wasn’t that. Not from a man who could use words like weapons and knew an appropriate metaphor or adage for seemingly every single situation under the sun.
“Chloe what you just told me could’ve come straight out of a soap opera, a very cruel and twisted soap opera but…” he trailed off, running a hand over his smooth scalp.
Obviously Lex had problems wrapping his mind around everything he’d just found out. Chloe couldn’t blame him. Most times she was still trying to figure out how all that could have happened and in a small town in Kansas, no less.
“Yeah I know” Her voice was inflectionless. “So what are you gonna do now?” she enquired.
“Honestly?” Lex looked up at her, shaking his head once as Chloe nodded, “I have no idea.”
“Hmmmm…” Chloe shook her head and stretched, trying to loosen her protesting muscles. “Want another coffee?”
Lex shook his head. “No thanks, I don’t think I’ll need the caffeine to keep me up all night.”
Chloe nodded as she got up, taking their mugs around the counter and placing them in the sink behind it.
When she returned to her seat, Lex was still looking straight ahead, his gaze focused inwards. Other than that, there was no sign as to what was going on behind those intense blue eyes.
“Lex, I have to ask you something,” Chloe started hesitantly.
His eyes focused back on the outside world and he turned his head to look up at her.
“What is it?”
“Your offer, does it still stand?”
Lex’s eyebrow rose slightly, before he obviously made the connection to the offer she was talking about. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
“I don’t know why you’d still want that after you’ve seen how it turned out the last time…” he trailed off.
“Oh, ok.”
She tried to shrug it off and move on, but some part of her had hoped that they could get back to where they’d started. Their alliance hadn’t been an easy one, but Chloe had seen a chance to permanently free herself from Lionel’s clutches with the help of Lex. ‘Seems not.’
Chloe jumped lightly as a large hand landed warm on her arm.
“If you want to risk it, though. Yes, the offer still stands.”
His eyes were sincere and his hand slowly brushed down before it left her arm completely. A small smile started at the corner of her lips and grew until it turned into the first real smile that she’d given anyone in a long time. This could work. They would work out a plan and get back to where they had started, but more careful this time and things would work out for the both of them. They had a chance. There was only one thing left that bothered her.
“Great, but one thing?”
“And what would that be?” The smirk on his face would have been a grin on anyone else’s.
“My father…” she left the sentence dangling.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
“Good.”
She nodded as Lex got up from his seat and started towards the glass doors at the front of the Talon. Chloe snatched up her purse and followed a few steps behind him. She smiled up at her ally as he held the door for her and accompanied her to her car.
When she was safely in her seat, the key in the ignition, he turned around to get into his Porsche.
Chloe zoomed down the window and stuck her head out to yell at him.
“Hey, Lex?”
He turned his body half way to face her, “Yeah?”
“Thanks.”
The now familiar smirk on his lips, Lex shook his head slightly.
“No, Chloe. If anyone deserves thanks, it’s you.”
He turned back around and got into his car before she could say another thing and Chloe watched silently as the taillights on his Porsche lit up and the silver vehicle vanished in the direction of Luthor manor.
An unusual alliance between a high school reporter and a young billionaire had been established, once again. But this time, maybe they really had a chance that it would work.
The End