Progression (15)

[HumbugGirl]

Title: Progression
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@hotmail.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/peacefulempress/home.html or http://www.geocities.com/oddfiction
Pairing: Lex/Chloe, Lex/Lana
Rating: 15
Summary: Three lives in the future.
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: Smallville and none of the associated characters are mind.
Author’s Notes: 1) I have the rather scary impression this might be controversial whichever list I post it on but I’m going to go for it anyway.
Feedback: Naturally, I’d love some.


Standing before the huge windows in the living room that look out over the Metropolis skyline Lana attempted with levels of determination she had not been sure she had possessed to ignore the faint sounds she could hear coming from somewhere else in the apartment. It was difficult though because the noises were so very loud and distinct and her attempts were made all the more difficult by the fact that she knew exactly where the noises were coming from and exactly what the noises were. If she didn’t know then she thought that perhaps she would have dismissed them already and would have continued to go about her usual routine that followed her getting in from work.

Work might have been too strong a word of course because all she seemed to do day in, day out was sit on various committees for causes that all merged into one another after a while and which she didn’t really care about because they weren’t her causes at all; they were the causes that Lex had picked out for her to support simply because they were socially suitable ones to aid at the time. It often seemed that the more suitable they were the more boring they also were but such sentiments were irrelevant for the most part. Lex had once determined it to be ‘their civic duty’ but then Lex did not have to sit on the committees in the first place so he didn’t exactly understand.

But, she thought, I’m digressing and it was clear to Lana that her mind was trying to find away to escape the fact that somewhere else in the apartment someone was making a series of deep, chesty groans now. Somewhere else in the apartment someone was having sex and most probably they were having sex with her husband. She had secretly suspected for a while that Lex brought girls back with him sometimes when Lana was out playing the part of the Good Samaritan for the sake of the family and to corporation and the only reason that her suspicions had now been confirmed was because she actually started to feel physically sick this afternoon while listening to some vapid socialite babble on and on and on about her new Gucci sunglasses even though they were meant to be meeting about something or other… What was it? Runaway girls or something similar… That sounded vaguely familiar.

Absently she wondered whether the girl who was currently yelling out what sounds like an absolutely delicious orgasm at the top of her voice was some runaway girl but then no, that didn’t sounds right. Lex wouldn’t just pick someone up off the streets; not because he would be worried about the girl but because he’d be more concerned about what would happen if the press ever happened to find out. An affair with one of the socialites who had been annoying her all afternoon or some up and coming Hollywood starlet would be perfectly acceptable but not some poor, star struck no-one from the streets; that would get him into trouble. Lana couldn’t even begin to imagine the things that might be said though she was in no doubt that Lex would have a full grasp of the possibilities.

Still, she wouldn’t put anything past Lex. There was nothing the man was no capable off if he but decided to try it.

They had been married for nearly five years now and she had to admit that they hadn’t been a bad five years over all. They could have been a hell of a lot worse Lana pondered. He could have divorced her long ago, he could have lost all his money for which he made her sign a pre-nuptial agreement to make sure she never got her hands on and he could have turned out to have been a wife beater. But he hadn’t. They had two wonderful children; Lydia who was four and a bit and who was conceived dangerously close to the wrong side of the sheets and Liam who was two, had a bright red shock of hair and who was the love of Lana’s life. When discounting Lex of course. Neither of them, or their children, had ever been seriously ill. They had no accidents either which was a miracle considering the way that Lex still drove and the fact that sometimes the children were less than careful when they played and she had often to run and catch them and sometimes scold them a little to remind them to be more careful.

Thinking of her babies, shockingly beautiful little creatures who would be heartbreakers one day, made Lana’s heart flutter for a moment with panic and she had to remind herself that they were perfectly safe with Nell who often took them when Lana was between nannies, none of whom she has especially trusted. They weren’t like mothers; they didn’t know how much effort it took to look after her children. Some of them paid dangerously little attention to their charges and Lana for the life of her couldn’t figure out how the other ‘working’ mothers she knew could stand to leave their children alone with such women for any extended period of time.

Lana’s best friend in the city was a woman called Irina Blackwell who was surprisingly intelligent for one of the socialites that Lana had come to dislike so much over the years and reminded her a little of Chloe sometimes when the other woman was irritated which was only very rarely and normally when she had fallen out with her husband. Irina was a good five years older than Lana but the two of them had connected well and bonded because they both married young and they had both married into money although granted Lana’s ‘money’ was somewhat more than Irina’s and considerably more influential as well. Lex approved of the friendship though so the difference, although only slight in the grand scheme of things, didn’t really matter all that much. Like Lana, Irina also had a child soon after she married but unlike Lana she wasn’t so careful and her baby boy had fallen into the pool one day and drowned. Lana knew that Irina still had horrible nightmares about finding her child, his face blue and twisted in death.

In some respects it gave Lana a certain feeling of satisfaction to know that she was a better mother than all the irritating women around her now. It elicited a degree of pride in her that made her want to smile. Well, almost made her want to smile.

The sounds that were still coming from the bedroom even though she had been standing here by the window for a good hour now did more than a little to break down that sense of pride now. It seemed that Lex didn’t find quite as much satisfaction in her abilities as a wife as she had originally thought he had. He never made those kinds of sounds when he was fucking her. But then, they had been ‘making love’ so much less and less recently hadn’t they? And perhaps the reason for that was the woman who she could now hear talking in a loud but muffled voice in the bedroom.

That one woman could do what she suspected a legion of others had been unable to do was something stunning in itself and the implications that such thoughts brought to her mind as a result were far from comforting for the brunette woman who now nervously bit at her lip.

The thought caused Lana to bring her hands up to grip her arms and hug herself in some effort to get comfort. She wanted to move but her feet seemed glued to the pristine hardwood floors than ran throughout the apartment. There was a desire in her to run through the place screaming and hammering on the walls and doors until she could escape and then was an equal desire to march bravely through the corridors until she walked right into the bedroom and confronted them in the act and perhaps say something witty though her mind was a blank as to what she would say and the ‘brave’ part of the equation was unfortunately currently missing.

Raised voices were now coming from the direction of the bedroom though Lana was unable to hear exactly what was being said because the voices were still far too distorted by the walls between her and them. She didn’t need to be close though to know that they were angry and that some of the words flying back and forth were more than a little frustrated on both sides. It grated on her already fragile nerves and she found herself digging her nails into the soft flesh of her arms even without realising it, leaving small reddened half moons. In fact, she barely felt it as in the distance somewhere in the apartment a door slammed and there was the sound of heals clicking on the floor boards. It took her only seconds to realise that they were getting closer and even as the realisation came to her the brunette’s heart began to jump into her mouth, threatening to leap from her mouth altogether as she found herself too stunned to move and with nowhere to hide anyway.

The woman who appeared strode confidently into the room, deceptively tall in high stiletto heals while searching around in the small stylish bag she was carrying for something, her entire concentration on the hunt. She paused and as she did so, triumphantly pulled out a sleek modern mobile phone which she immediately flipped open and pressed at the buttons while turning gracefully on one foot towards the window.

She faltered the moment her eyes reached Lana and the phone very nearly slipped from her hand as her reddened lips parted slightly in a surprised gasp. Lana could do nothing but stare back at her; at the way in which the neat red dress she was wearing clung to the rich full curves of her body and how even in the dim natural light of the living room she could see inquisitive green eyes peering at her from beneath a soft mess of blonde hair. Even without a smudge of make-up on her face she was still ever so pretty, certainly pretty enough to make most men stop and stare. Lana found herself looking down at the long skirt and shirt she wore that, while fashionable, still left her feeling dowdy in comparison and then looked up at the other woman again somewhat shyly.

Her mouth dropped open as if to say something but closed again as they both spun to look to the door through which the blonde had appeared. A figure appeared; his entire body tense with the emotions flying through him. Lex came stalking out, his face a perfect mixture of passion and anger as he snapped loudly, “Chloe!”

Then he stopped and stared and suddenly things were far from fine anymore.

* * * *

The hotel was undeniably one of the more desirable locations to stay in town. It was a towering affair covered with glass and white stone that sparkled and shone in the sun, the outside contrasting strongly with the dark interior. In many ways it resembled a fairy tale castle in the forest of dull buildings that had sprung up in Metropolis over the past few years.

A simple piece of research, backed entirely by the fact that she was technically a Luthor, had lead her here but now that she was stood outside the tall building with its shimmering glass walls towering into the sky there was an odd feeling of nervousness settling into the pit of her stomach that made her feel more than a little nauseous. It was a feeling she tried to suppress, that she had to push away and bury before it took total control of her. This was not a time to let her shy and timid side out to play.

People looked at her as she entered the foyer; their eyes bright with curiously and speculation. As she had been taught Lana ignored them skilfully, placing on her features a somewhat arrogant expression of indifference that usually kept people at bay. Even when she heard her name mentioned she resisted the urge to turn and look at the person who had spoken and continued her deliberate if careless seeming walk over to the reception. The man stood behind the desk had to make a conscious effort not to gawp at her open mouthed.

He answered her question quickly, forgetting with little trouble that he was not meant to give out room numbers so easily but as she turned to go he added, “But Mrs Luthor, there she is now. Over there, do you see her? In the bar.”

Lana nodded and left him a typically generous tip before following his line of sight into the bar which was fully fitted out in what Lana liked to term ‘business chic’, a mixture of dark leathers, wood and the occasional burst of brilliance as light hit chrome. Lex had the same look to his offices in Metropolis.

The blonde woman she had come to see looked relaxed in a pair of blue jeans and a clinging black shirt and at the same time entirely out of place considering the sea of suits surrounding her. It didn’t seem to faze her in the least however. She was slumped in one of the low leather body hugging chairs, a pile of papers in disarray on the table before her but a book actually in her hands as she read with her usual zeal.

Chloe, she knew, had written three books since leaving high school and was rarely out of a best seller list somewhere around the world for long while still managing to put herself through college. She had also embarked on what had promised to be an exciting and lucrative career in journalism though from what Lana had gathered there had been problems recently connected to her chosen profession. Lana didn’t know enough about the business to make a judgement on whether those problems were serious or not.

She had read each of Chloe’s books out of curiosity as they had come out, wonderfully written exotic tales of the weird and the wonderful that appealed to a large audience. Lana had even managed to get her hands on a copy of the blonde woman’s last book before it had even been published and had devoured it mercilessly over the course of a matter of days.

A glass of something or other sat on the table before her and as Lana watched the woman leaned forwards and too a sip of it pausing as she noticed Lana but continuing the action anyway though her eyes did not leave the other woman’s face. When she finished Chloe said, “Are you going to sit down or do you want to keep drawing attention to yourself like you are now?”

The brunette felt herself bristle. “I was hoping that you might invite me to sit actually.”

Chloe turned wry eyes on her that spoke volumes and Lana quickly slipped into the spare chair. Something told her that Chloe was in no mood for delaying tactics today. The blonde, while she had looked relaxed from a distance, looked anything but now she was up close and Lana began to wonder whether this had not been one of her better ideas. A trapped Chloe Sullivan, one that felt as if she were beginning pushed into something was not a particularly pleasant Chloe Sullivan to deal with. That was something that Lana could remember from the years they had spent growing up together in Smallville.

A waiter appeared; Lana ordered iced tea after a moment’s thought and then he disappeared again and all the while the two women sat in silence, Chloe staring at Lana with a somewhat unforgiving gaze. At that moment Lana wondered whether she hadn’t made a colossal mistake by placing herself in a position where she might be exposed to some of Chloe’s finer journalistic skills.

Leaning back once again in her seat and once again taking on her relaxed pose Chloe said, “I was beginning to wonder how long it was going to take you to show up.”

“I wasn’t going to come at all,” Lana lied and then instantly regretted it as she saw the knowing look in Chloe’s eyes. A tiny smirk lighted on the reporter’s lips. Quickly Lana added, “I half thought that maybe you would come and find me.”

“Now why would I do that?”

Lana felt her eyes widen and she leaned forwards, not wanting anyone to hear what she was about to say. “Because you’ve clearly been having an affair with my husband!”

Chloe nodded and a very serious, completely out of character look came onto her features as she looked away from Lana and towards the huge plate glass windows that looked out on to the busy street and gardens beyond. Lana got the impression however that she was not admiring the charming view the hotel had no doubt paid to have created there. “Do you remember that time that the four of us, you, me, Clark and Pete all went out to the lake to swim when we were about sixteen or so?”

“What are you talking about?” the brunette asked finding herself growing confused at the sudden change of direction.

“It was the year after the tornado hit Smallville and you moved in. You told Clark to make up his mind once and for all who he really wanted even though I’d already decided to move on and, typically and expectedly he chose you. It really was a surprise to no one, not even you Lana because you were always so sure that he would come running to you but you still walked around with that slightly dazed and surprised expression on your face that everyone seemed to buy so they would feel all the happier for you. Well, everyone but me and a certain someone else bought it that is.”

“Where are you going with this?” Lana found herself asking irritably but the question only caused Chloe to tip her head silently to one side again and just look at her with a stern expression. It was enough to make Lana fall quiet.

“I was… so angry,” the blonde admitted though she showed none of the regret and bashfulness that Lana would have half expected with such a statement.

“So this is about revenge?”

“Hardly,” Chloe snorted. “Lana, I was over Clark until you started stirring everything up again. I had already moved on but you couldn’t see that. I had already found someone else but that little factor was something you chose to ignore.”

Lana frowned, she couldn’t help it. Despite the quiet discomfort and irritation that had been growing since Chloe started to speak she found herself searching back over the years to those days and trying to remember anything that might have give her a clue to what on earth Chloe was talking about. Nothing sprung to mind though and she was left waiting on an answer from the other woman.

A little smile had formed on Chloe’s lips and it left Lana worried. “We were never the best of friends Lana, as much as you might have liked to pretend that we were. There were always little things, Clark aside, that used to get in the way. But that’s beside the point. My point is that it was always about you. You never noticed that there were things going on in my life that didn’t concern you and maybe if you had then all this,” she said the last with an expressive little wave of her hands. “Would not be such a surprise to you.”

“Are you saying that you used to be involved with Lex?” Lana asked, barely able to keep the shear shock and almost heart wrenching pain that appeared in her chest out of her voice.

The smile turned into an all too familiar smirk and Chloe sipped at her drink before saying, “Oh look, you finally found some of those brain cells you’re reputed to have.”

[HumbugGirl]

* * * *

Did I actually just say that? The thought escaped Chloe as a long burst of air. She couldn’t actually believe that those words had just come out of her mouth. The emotions that rushed through her were almost overwhelming. There was a mixture of embarrassment and surprise and more than a little relief that she had finally said something. It was startling and liberating all at once; she had never realised how much she wanted the freedom of having that one thing off her mind all these years.

Lana stood without a word, there was anger on her features mixed with shock and Chloe guessed that there was honestly nothing that the woman could say in reply. Certainly she would have had a hard time thinking of something and Chloe had always figured that she had more or less had a gift for words. For a second Chloe sat, then rubbed her face with her hands and began to collect her things together from the table top and shove them into her document case in a flurry of activity. When she was done the blonde woman stood, waved away the waiter who approached with a ‘put it on my bill’ and hurried out into the lobby and towards the elevators.

There was no way that she could stay in there with what had just happened. There was no way that she could simply sit by and do nothing as emotional as she felt at the moment. To her horror she realised she was actually afraid that she might cry.

It felt as if there were hundreds of pairs of eyes watching her, staring at her accusingly and for not the first time since she had taken up residence in the hotel Chloe felt distinctly out of place and far too much at the centre of attention all at the same time. She had stayed at some of the finest places around the world, interviewed some of the most famous people on the planet and yet she had never felt more like she was in the spotlight than she was at the moment. Lord god she couldn’t believe she had just had that conversation with Lana in the middle of a public setting. If what had been said ever got into the press… Well, Chloe knew what would happen if it got into the press. They’d have a field day and Chloe knew she would either come off as the bad guy or the good guy. Probably the first of the two actually seeing as it was Lana Luthor, American Sweetheart extraordinaire who she was in competition with and that was the last thing she needed considering the state her career was in at the moment.

The last few months had not been kind to her career. There had been a number of controversial stories that had led to her being moved from her favoured post as a correspondent in Washington and Chloe had found herself unable to fit into life at the head offices in Los Angeles. Eventually she had grown so uncomfortable that she had quit her job deciding to once again return to the freelance writing she had so loved. Her reputation, and the now associated blemishes it carried with it, had preceded her though and it had been difficult to get any stories picked up for publication. It was one of the reasons that she had come back to Metropolis after so many years living out in the world; to once again try and pick up some of the respect she had earned as a journalist and to once again get in touch with the reasons that she had chosen a career in media in the first place. Instead she had run into Lex Luthor and once again her life had managed to get sidetracked.

She hadn’t been lying to Lana when she had told the other woman about the relationship she had had with the other woman’s husband. Years before, back in Smallville, they had been involved though it had been different then. At the time she had been excited by the prospect of being involved with an older man, a man who was as powerful and mysterious as Lex was and she had been hurting from the recent events with Clark and Lex, and the carefree relationship she had shared with Lex had seemed perfect but now… Now it was something else entirely.

Stepping out of the elevator Chloe wandered down the corridor with the silent question such a revelation caused her to ask. As she pushed the key into the lock she realised there was no definitive answer. Whatever was currently happening between Lex and herself felt like it was a phase of completion of something; perhaps something that should have happened a long time ago and Chloe liked it despite all the complications it brought with it. The idea of being involved with a married man appalled her but… but the more she had tried to push Lex away the more persistent he had been and in the end she had felt like she had no choice at all but to give in to him.

No one said no to Lex Luthor. It just wasn’t the thing to do.

On entering the room Chloe sat on the edge of the bed and laid back, closing her eyes as she did so.

She loved Lex… at least she thought she did. Indeed she half believed she had always loved him and the space that had grown between them, both in time and in distance had merely prevented her from recognising that as the truth. Chloe also reasoned that age had given her clarity when viewing their situation, their relationship. If Lex loved her then it wasn’t something she expected him to say. He was as close minded and mouthed on the matter now as he had been years ago but that didn’t stop her from making assumptions. The way in which he had reacted to her threatening to leave Metropolis for good the day before, shortly before Lana had found them in the penthouse, had been proof enough that he did feel something for her though whether that something was love and not just part of a possessive nature that Chloe suspected it to be was another matter entirely.

In her heart she wished that it was love that had made him react in such a way. If it was then it would make everything so much easier. If it was love then maybe Lex would just up and leave Lana. Of course, the divorce would be messy and very public but Chloe was certain she would be able to stand it if it meant that she could be with Lex again.

Chloe shook her head. That was an idealised view and she seriously doubted that it would ever happen so easily.

The phone ringing in the silence of the room brought Chloe out of the reverie that she had been lingering in while contemplating her current situation. Rolling over to her side she reached over to the bedside table and grabbed the handset from the cradle, hearing the quiet beep that told her it had picked up.

“Hello? Chloe Sullivan speaking.”

“It’s me.”

“Lex? Is everything okay?”

“We need to talk.”

* * * *

Forty minutes later and Chloe looked up to see Lex strolling towards her, his stride easy and relaxed despite the slightly anxious look adorning his face. She was sat on a bench facing the large pond in the middle of the central park in Metropolis, one that had been created years before with the generous funding of Luthor Corp, and had been amusing herself by throwing lumps of bread to the ducks in the pond while trying not to think about what this hastily arranged meeting could be about. Despite her asking him on the phone Lex had adamantly avoided giving her any details. He sat down on the bench beside her, holding the edges of his coat so that they would lie well when he was settled and not get creased. The action caused her to smile fondly.

It seemed for a while they would sit in silence indefinitely and then he reached out and laid a hand over hers to stop her from throwing another piece of bread at the water. Her action had been growing progressively more violent anyway and Chloe was glad of the reason to stop. At his touch she felt the familiar rush of emotions fill her, a mixture of love and lust and perhaps even a little uncertainty in herself. Chloe shifted slightly on the seat and finally looked towards him for the first time since he had sat down.

“She spoke to you?” The words were spoken with a hint of coolness that the blonde woman found distressing.

Chloe nodded. “Yes. I think… I think that maybe I might have said some things that I shouldn’t have.”

“I suspected you might.” As she turned to him sharply and opened her mouth to demand what he meant by the comment Lex added, “You have an incredible tendency to boast sometimes Chloe when you’re confronted with uncomfortable situations. I believe a meeting with Lana after so soon after yesterday would more than constituent such a situation.”

Her mouth fell shut. He was probably right anyway.

There was a moment’s more silence during which Chloe bit her lip lightly before she asked while dreading what his answer might be, “So, what do you want to do now?”

The man sighed and removed his hand from hers so that he could rub his head slightly while leaning forwards, elbows resting on his knees while gazing out over the pond. “Its all become something of a mess hasn’t it?” he asked and the tone of his voice made Chloe’s heart slip several stories from where it usually hovered when she was around him and hit the floor heavily. “I don’t think I had really thought very far ahead about what would happen should Lana find out and now she has… I really don’t know what to think. It’s a perfectly baffling situation to be honest.”

The reporter remained quiet for a moment, unable to think of anything to say. Finally she said in timid tones, “Is this a break up speech?”

He turned so rapidly that Chloe jumped in surprise. His face was a mask of confusion and even shock to some extent and Lex quickly exclaimed, “No!”

A relieved sigh exploded from her and Chloe found herself flinging her arms around his neck and pulling their bodies in close together. She felt Lex’s arms wrap around her waist and his face being buried comfortably in the crook of her neck. Lex laid a soft kiss there and Chloe immediately felt more relaxed. “I was convinced this was the end,” she said quietly. “You were being so distant… Don’t scare me like that again mister or there’ll be hell to pay.”

The man shifted slightly. “I guess that I shall just have to think of a way to make it up to you,” he replied and Chloe felt a rush of desire flood through her. The fact was though that there was something far more serious yet here to discuss. The blonde pulled away from him reluctantly, noting the way in which Lex’s usual resplendent suit looked slightly wrinkled now and the fact that his face was flushed a little. Seeing him ruffled always gave her a wonderful secret thrill. “I don’t like that look on your face,” he said suddenly and Chloe realised she had been frowning despite her welling lust. “When you look like that it normally means we’re going to end up having an argument.” Lex paused a moment and then added, “Of course, making up after the argument is always fun so…”

“Lex!” Chloe warned. “We really should work out what we’re going to do now. We’re not back in Smallville, there are going to be consequences for us all now and we have to figure out how we’re going to deal with them.”

Seeming to sense the change in her Lex nodded seriously. “Okay. What do you propose?”

Chloe slumped back against the park bench and said unhappily with a shrug of her shoulders, “I don’t know. She’s you wife…”

“She’s your friend…”

“Correction, she was my friend,” the reporter pointed out.

“I could say the same,” Lex said. “I believe that Lana and I will be no more after this is through.”

Chloe shook her head sadly. “She’s going to be heartbroken,” the blonde said as guilt once again picked away at her inside. For weeks now she had been avoiding thinking about what would happen to Lana should the other woman ever find out what was happening between Chloe and her husband and thinking about it now that it had happened made her feel more than a little sick. I never wanted to hurt her, Chloe thought mournfully.

“Highly possible,” Lex said in reply to her comment.

“You’re not helping!” Chloe exclaimed irritably.

Lex just smirked a little at her. “What did you think her reaction would be?”

The blonde shot him a withering look. “Well seeing as how you were fucking me Lex, I assumed your marriage was on the rocks and she wouldn’t care very much at all. Lana, however, seems to have had a different opinion of the status of your marital bliss than I did.”

“I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘denial’,” Lex answered. “And believe it or not it’s not a recent occurrence. Lana has been living in her own little fantasy land for quite a while now.” Once again Chloe frowned at him, displaying her disapproval and Lex relented. “Okay, so maybe she’s not quite that bad.”

“Do you feel no remorse for what we’ve done at all?” the reporter asked suddenly.

Once again Lex sighed. “I was actually trying not to think about that particular aspect of this mess although I suppose that isn’t the wisest course of action either.” He looked at her with blank eyes and asked, “You don’t think I actually intended to hurt her do you?” She lowered her eyes away from him before she could stop herself. “Oh for God’s sake Chloe…”

“Sorry! But the way you’re carrying on…”

“Things have not been right between myself and Lana for a while now. I dare say that I would have ended up breaking things off with her eventually even if you hadn’t come along again but you have and you’ve just given me a push in the right direction.”

“You’ve never given any indication that you wanted to end things…” she trailed off when faced with the cool look in his eyes once again.

“I seem to remember us having this conversation yesterday and you storming out before we could finish it. I told you then and I will tell you now Chloe, I don’t like being pressed into action. I like making decisions for myself and this is no exception. I want to be with you but I won’t be forced into it.”

Chloe’s mouth fell open and her face fell. “I don’t want to force you into anything,” she said.

“I know,” Lex replied, his voice softening. He reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand, lightly brushing his thumb over the flesh. “Its one of the things I love about you.”

[HumbugGirl]

* * * *

Glancing down at his phone as he manoeuvred his car through the busy Metropolis streets Lex noticed for the first time that the caller id had registered at least one missed call. Turning his eyes back to the road he reached down with one hand and picked up the handset, instinctively pressing the right buttons from habit and holding it up to his ear to listen.

“You have four new messages,” the generated voice on the other end said. There was a beep and then a pause until a voice filled his ear.

“Lex?” Lana’s quiet voice came. “Honey, can you call me soon? I… I want to talk.”

Another beep as the message ended and a new one followed.

“Lex, its Lana. I know you’re busy but can you call me as quickly as you can. It’s important.”

Another beep.

“Please, Lex, if you’re angry at me I’m sorry. Please call. Please.”

Another beep.

“Lex, really, we need to talk. I’m at home now. I’ve left the children at my Aunt Nell’s so we can talk. Please, hurry.”

Lex frowned at the somewhat uncharacteristic hysterical tone in her voice. Pressing the ‘end’ button quickly before the automated voice could come back on then tossed the phone onto the passenger seat again.

His phone had been switched off for the last three hours or so which explained why he hadn’t heard the calls she had made. It made a momentary vein of guilt pass through him as he realised that perhaps his wife had been concerned about him and as he remembered the reason he had not been answering his phone was a sleeping blonde beauty probably still lying in her bed naked from their latest romp. He shifted slightly to ease the sudden tightness of his trousers at memories that flooded in of the last few hours and tried to turn his attention back to the problem at hand. As appealing as it was to think of nothing but Chloe for the remainder of the day Lex knew it was impractical while the question of Lana still hung over his head.

Before he could stop himself Lex gave a little sigh wondering how on earth he had managed to get himself into this situation. Years ago, when he had first seduced the young Chloe Sullivan into bed he had never imagined that it was something that would affect him for so many years to come. He had never imagined that the sweet, pliant teenager who had naively climbed into his bed would have been a person who he had found himself thinking of continually in the years after he left Smallville and they had fallen out of touch. It had, he told himself at the time, just been a meaningless little fling despite whatever she had chosen to believe.

Now however, there was no doubt in Lex’s mind that his assumptions had been drastically wrong; perhaps even disastrously so.

For years he had seen nothing of her except for the glimpse that he had seen of her on the television from whichever exotic destination she had been reporting from on any given week. When she had been given the chance to interview him, something which could have been potentially career making before she had been given the chance to make a name for herself, Chloe had turned it down bluntly with no explanation as to why although Lex had known instantly within himself why she had refused the way she had. Once they had even stayed in the same hotel for nearly a week and for the entire duration she had expertly avoided him so that Lex had been left wondering whether she had really been staying in the place at all. He had, on one particular occasion during the stay at the hotel, stood outside her door for nearly an hour knocking when he had been certain she was inside the room and receiving strange looks from the other residents who passed him in the hallway. The worst part had been the knowledge deep inside him that the reason she had been staying away from him was because of his involvement with Lana, the girl who had been both Chloe’s friend and enemy while she had been growing up. Even now when he had just come from her warm bed thoughts of those years when they had been apart sent shivers of pain through him and confirmed to him what he had been half suspecting the past few weeks that they had spent together – he was in love with her.

The revelation irked him. It wasn’t that it was bad – it was actually far from bad - but it was the idea that Chloe’s somewhat misplaced sense of morals might prevent them from being together. She wanted him to break things up with Lana, and that was natural enough and he was inclined to want do so himself but he wasn’t entirely certain that the blonde knew exactly what they would be starting by making their relationship public. Chloe, somewhat unfortunately, wasn’t someone he saw as being happy constantly in the public eye despite what she might believe otherwise and if there was no thing for certain that he knew about Lana was that at least as far as public appearances were concerned she was the perfect wife. Chloe, for however wonderful she was in person tended to come off rather badly to some people on occasion and in his world that wasn’t something that Lex could afford to let happen very often.

He shook his head wondering why he was even thinking of such things and remembering the first time that he had seen Chloe on her return to Metropolis. They had passed each other on the street, barely noticing each other. Indeed Lex had merely smiled at the thought that the pretty blonde woman he had just seen looked like Chloe until the thought had dawned on him that it actually was her. Stopping and turning he had found himself confronted with the sight of her stopping and looking at him also and for once in his life Lex had found himself at a loss for words. What had followed had been a day of talking and eventually a trip back to her hotel room where the two of them had repeatedly tested the limits of their abilities in the bedroom only to find that whatever had existed between them years before was still there, was still strong and that it was something that they both still wanted.

Pulling his car up in front of the building where he lived with his family while in Metropolis Lex leaned back and looked up towards where he imagined the penthouse would have been if it wasn’t for the roof of the car obstructing his view. Whatever happened when he went up there tonight he knew one thing for certain. Someone was going to end up heartbroken.

* * * *

When he found her, she was sat at the kitchen table with a single glass before her filled with amber liquid and a bottle sat on the table beside it. For a moment Lex watched from the doorway as his wife lifted the glass to her lips, sipped it and shuddered at the taste, undoubtedly reminding herself of the fact that she didn’t drink anything stronger than the occasional glass of wine for a reason. The glass made a clinking noise when she placed it back down.

Lex crossed the room quietly and picked up the glass, moving it away before Lana could refill it from the bottle. “Are you drunk?” he asked.

“No. I don’t think so at least; although I suspect I’m well on the way to getting there.”

“That won’t solve anything.”

Her reply was surprisingly dry. “There have been times when you would have disagreed with that statement.”

“At the moment however I agree with it whole heartedly and that is what matters.” He slipped onto one of the other chairs at the table. “Now, why don’t you tell me what has precipitated this sudden bout of drinking?”

Ever so slightly bleary yet still pretty eyes turned on him suddenly and Lex saw that tears were welling there. As he watched one spilled over the edge and trailed down her cheek. It was a sad sight for Lex to behold and just for a second he thought he felt regret course through him. He tried to shake off the emotion; this wasn’t his fault, it would have happened sooner or later anyway.

“How could you do this to me?” she asked softly.

“Are you suggesting this was really a surprise to you? You certainly knew about the others…”

“This is different and we both know it. This is… Chloe.” She looked at him and it seemed a cool calmness had filled her. “When were you going to tell me?”

Lex ducked his eyes and thought over his answer. The truth was he hadn’t been entirely certain himself as to when he was going to tell her. “I had no idea you would find out so soon. I wanted some time to prepare…”

“An excuse?” Lana offered. She shook her head. “I can hardly believe you’ve done this to me and the children.”

He flushed with anger. “The children will be fine Lana. They are always fine.”

“They should have both their parents.”

“They will have both their parents.”

“I meant that their parents should be together.”

“You have an idealised view of what motherhood should be Lana. I wish I’d known sooner.”

She looked at him sharply. “I thought an idealised view was what you wanted.”

“I did but things change.”

There was a moment of silence during which Lex found himself staring at her knitted hands that rested on the table top. She was gripping them so tightly that the flesh had turned to a pure white and was trembling ever so slightly. In that instance he saw clearly what was influencing Lana. She wasn’t angry, not like he would have been if he had found the person he loved with someone else. No, she was scared. Scared of losing him, of losing the life they had built over the past few years and of losing the children if he forced her to leave. In startling clarity he realised that the only thing that Lana had ever wanted was a family of her own.

There had been a time when he would have asked for the same thing of course but that was gone now and as much as he hated to do it he was going to take the same thing away from her. Well, at least as far as he was concerned. There was no doubt that if Lana really wanted to then she would be able to find someone else; after all she was an attractive woman still and he had seen the way that the men he surrounded them with on a daily basis looked at her.

“This is the end isn’t it?” she asked breaking him out of his thoughts. “I half wondered whether you might change your mind and leave her but you haven’t. This really is the end. I can’t believe it.”

“Would you rather things dragged out for years Lana and caused us all pain while it did so?”

She shook her head slightly but it seemed that all the energy had drained entirely from her body. Lana slumped back in her chair, a dejected expression on her features. “All I know is that I don’t want this to end,” she said.

“It has to. We’re done Lana. Maybe we wouldn’t have been if Chloe hadn’t shown up again but she did and now… well, now she’s here and I plan on keeping her around.”

“You should have told me sooner.”

“I’m not sure I knew sooner.”

Lana pushed herself to her feet suddenly, swaying slightly but pushing away the helping hand that Lex put out towards her. Looking at him he saw a sudden fire in her eyes as she said, “You’ll get tired of her again eventually and then what will you do? She doesn’t deserve this anymore than I do.” Noting the way she had stumbled over the words Lex let his expression turn blank.

“But then that,” he said, “Will be none of your business.”

“No,” she said sadly. “I don’t suppose it will.” And with that, she walked from the room.


THE END

[Warunee]

Another wonderful angst filled fic from you Carmen! I can't believe how great it was. This has got to be my favorite from you. :yay:

Amazing job!

[frogprincess]

That was just...great. Really, I hope you're writing a sequel or some more chapters.

[Not An Addict]

Man, you scared me there for a minute with the Lexana crap. *breathes huge sigh of relief* You shouldn't scare a girl like that. It's not nice. Anyway, great story! I realize it has nothing to do with anything, but I love this emoticon, so: :popdevil:

[sabby]

Wow, this sure was, err stunning.

You are good with the angst, girl. I really like this story

What bothers me though is the thought, that it doesn't leave the feeling Lex made a decision for life with Chloe.

Being left thinking it might end the same way as with Lana is, disturbing to say the least.

Damn I really need something to cheer me up now

hugs,
Sabby

[bluemoongirl23]

This was really amazing. I love that you got into each of the character's heads. Very well written.

Blue

[WolviesLover]

Wow...That certainly was very angsty. The end really got to me..like he knows he's going to eventually betray Chloe. Very well-written

[starmoon]

Wow...That certainly was very angsty. The end really got to me..like he knows he's going to eventually betray Chloe. Very well-written

so sad i hate lana and even lex in this story. i agree with everything said he will betray chloe again and when he does she will leave for good and have a better life. chloe deserves the best and in this story lex can't give it to her. even though i cried a little i still liked the story no matter how sad it made me.

[spaceboi's pixie]

love it was not going to read it because of lana but some thing made me lol

[jagged]

that was great.

[darkangel]

Huh. The end bothers me. Sigh.