The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Mr.Mxyzptlk (PG-13 to NC-17)

[scifichick774]

Title: The Completely Mental Misadventures of Mr. Mxyzptlk – Story 1: The Iceman Cometh
Author: scifichick774
Rating: PG-13
Category: Supernatural/Humor/Romance/Drama – honestly, it’s got a little bit of everything. The pairings are all over the place, but Chlex fans won’t be disappointed.
Spoilers: Anything through the second season is fair game.
Summary: Mr. Mxyzptlk decides to go back in time to cause mischief in Smallville, since Clark isn’t Superman yet and won’t know how to send him back to the fifth dimension.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: Yes please.
Archival: Sure – just let me know where.
Author’s Note: I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the Superman fandom outside of Smallville, but Mr. Mxyzptlk is an imp from the fifth dimension’s land of Zrfff. It sounds like I just made that up, but I honestly didn’t. His main purpose in the comics seems to be to play pranks and cause mischief for Superman. Since he is from the fifth dimension, he can basically do anything (which means great fun for me as a writer).

The first story, The Iceman Cometh, has elements from CT’s challenge in it. A kid named Cole who has been affected by the meteorites and has X-Men’s Iceman-like powers. He gets blamed for a series of crimes, and it’s up to Clark and his friends to help him clear his name. On a side note, I’m sorry CT. I know you were probably expecting a more drama/action oriented fic, but this was the best I could do. I hope you like it anyway.

What else should you know? Despite the fact that I dislike Helen, she’s in the first couple of stories. And Lucas has come back to Smallville to stay. Each story in the series will be two to three chapters long. Hope you enjoy this first one!

~*~*~*~*~*~

The fifth dimension – Zrfff

Mr. Mxyzptlk looked at the multi-dimensional viewer screen in front of him. What had ever possessed him to tell Superman about the clause for sending him back to the fifth dimension was beyond him.

“Good idea. Tell him that you’re sent back to Zrfff if he can get you to say or spell your name backwards,” he sarcastically chided himself. “It will make it more sportsman-like that way.” He rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “If only there was some way to ---” his monologue trailed off and a wry grin curled the corners of his mouth upward. He glanced back at the screen, its image changed to what he had been thinking about. “Clark Kent in cow town, before he was Superman. And he doesn’t have all of his powers yet, or the knowledge of how to get rid of me.” His grin turned into a wide smile and he leaned his head back on his arms. “I’m so good.”

Smallville – The Talon

“I have to take this,” Helen Bryce said as she looked down at her cell phone. Lex gave her a curt nod of approval and she rose from her seat, clicking the phone on as she walked away from the table. Lucas’s head was leaning heavily onto his arm on the table as he watched her walk away.

“Explain to me why you’re dating her again,” he said. Lex took a sip of coffee and looked at his brother disapprovingly.

Ever since Lucas had come back to live at the castle, he had been giving Lex a hard time about dating Helen – let alone asking her to move in with him. Clark shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He knew that Lex was trying to get him and Lucas to get along, but the forced ‘play dates’ as Chloe called them, only seemed to widen the rift between them.

“I like her,” Clark chimed in. “She’s nicer than some of your other girlfriends, and you know she’s not after you for your money, because she’s a doctor.” Lex grinned at his friend for his sudden show of support. He was about to say something when Lucas started talking again.

“Yeah, but she’s boring,” Lucas argued.

“You’re not the one dating her,” Lex said.

“Thank God,” Lucas said. “I’d have slipped into a coma and dad would have pulled the plug by now.” Clark coughed on the sip of coffee he had taken and he reached for a napkin to wipe his mouth off with. Lucas settled back into his chair, scanned the room with his eyes, and a lustful grin curled his lips upward. “Now that,” he said as he motioned with his head, “is another story altogether.” Clark and Lex followed his gaze to another table, where Lana had stopped her refill rounds to talk to Chloe, Pete, and a boy who Clark only partially recognized from school. Clark looked at Lucas suspiciously.

“I thought you and Lana didn’t get along,” he said. Lucas made a disgusted face.

“Not the princess, Smallville,” he protested. “Your other friend, the blonde one.” Clark and Lex shared a look and Lex tilted his head at Lucas.

“Chloe?” He asked. Lucas smiled widely.

“And now I have a name,” he said with a hint of victory to his voice. Lex barely resisted the urge to chuckle, but he did smile.

“Sorry about that,” Helen said as she came back to the table. “I can’t believe they want me to come in tonight. This is my first day off in how long? And they want me to work?” She shook her head lightly. “Unbelievable.”

“Are you going in?” Lex asked. Helen shot him a not quite apologetic look.

“Lex, we’ve been over this, it’s my job,” she explained to him as if he were a child. He was getting really sick of that, but the Talon was far too public a forum to air their personal problems. Lucas, on the other hand, was thrilled. He smiled at her and made a shooing motion with his hand.

“Off you go then, go save some lives,” he said condescendingly. She glared at him, but his smile stayed fixed on his face. She wanted nothing more than to let her anger management classes fall by the wayside while she took a swing at him, but she settled for the scowl that took over her features and the knowledge that one day she really could take a swing at him and not have her job be at stake because of it. She bent down and gave Lex a light kiss on the lips.

“I’ll see you later,” she said before walking away from the table and toward the front doors. Lucas rolled his eyes as she left the building and muttered some expletives under his breath. Lex gave him a warning look, which he promptly shrugged off in favor of looking at Chloe again.

“You can forget about it now,” Lex said. “Miss Sullivan wouldn’t give you the time of day.” Clark nodded in agreement.

“And even if you did get her to go out with you, Chloe can be --- a handful,” he said. Lucas arched a questioning eyebrow at him and Clark shifted in his chair once again. “We’ve been friends a long time,” he explained.

Mr. Mxyzptlk, in an invisible state, watched the entire scene with a great deal of amusement; summing up the situation in his mind. He knew Lex from the future, although his younger self seemed friendlier and less evil. He didn’t know Lucas, but he could already tell that he would have an ally in him if it needed to come to that.

And then there was Clark. He wasn’t used to seeing him out of his blue and red spandex, unless it was as his alter ego dressed in poorly fitting suits and frumpy looking glasses; but he had to admit that the flannel look seemed to work for him. He kept watching, wondering what powers Clark had developed, and looking for the perfect time to begin causing mischief. The opportunity soon presented itself. He saw the three young men looking over at the table where a blonde girl and two boys were sitting, and he decided to find out more.

“No!” Cole said a little too loudly. He looked around the Talon to make sure no one was watching or listening to them, but excused the startled looks coming from Clark’s table. He leaned toward Chloe. “You can’t put me in the paper *or* on your wall of weird. I don’t want anyone to know.” Pete snorted.

“Then you shouldn’t have been using your powers where Chloe could see you,” he said. Cole shot him a frustrated look and then turned his attention back to Chloe. He was just glad that they hadn’t started talking about it when Lana had stopped by the table. He had a small crush on her, but from what he had seen, most of the guys from school did too.

“Cole, try to understand, publicity isn’t always a bad thing,” Chloe said as she tried to persuade him. “With your abilities, you could end up having lots of doors opened to you that you might not have even known existed before.”

“Yeah, like ice sculptor at the winter festival,” Pete said jokingly. Chloe shot him a look and Pete ducked his head, but his smile didn’t fade.

“I was thinking more like secret government operative, you could be a spy or something,” Chloe said. Cole didn’t look convinced.

“Whitney was in the military, and he *died*,” Cole pointed out. Pete had his arms folded across his chest.

“Exactly,” he said. “Exposure isn’t always a good thing Chlo.” Chloe rubbed her temples and gave Pete another look.

“Hey, look Pete. There’s Clark. Why don’t you go talk to him for a little bit?” She suggested. Pete smiled.

“Because he’s with Lex and Lucas,” Pete said. “*Two* Luthors. Need I say more?” Cole pushed himself away from the table.

“Be right back,” he said, heading toward the restrooms in the back of the building. Chloe flopped her head against her arms on the table.

“You’re not helping Pete. Why aren’t you helping?”

“The guy has a right to some privacy Chloe.”

“I know, but an actual ‘freak of the week’ admitting that they have abilities? Tell me that interview wouldn’t get me a byline on The Ledger.”

“Probably, but still ---”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, sloughing him off with a wave of her hand. “I know.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk suddenly grew interested in the boy that the girl had just been talking about. Someone else from Smallville had powers? ‘But Superman was the only one to come from Krypton,’ he thought to himself. He decided to follow Cole, to find out if he would have another adversary while on his visit there. Cole came out of the restrooms and saw one of the jocks from school coming in his direction.

‘Time for some payback,’ he thought to himself. The athlete gave him a little push as he walked past him, but didn’t look at him as he did it.

Cole concentrated his attentions on the floor in front of the other boy. He held out his hand and suddenly a thin layer of ice was formed on the ground. The jock slipped and fell and Cole walked away as if nothing had happened.

Mr. Mxyzptlk’s eyes darted from the boy on the floor to Cole and a wry grin formed on his lips.

‘Hello scapegoat.’

~*~*~*~
Ch. 2
~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched Cole say his goodbyes to Chloe and Pete before he zapped himself outside into the alleyway. He promptly changed out of being invisible and made himself look like Cole. His face lit up with a devilish smile as he walked out toward Main Street.

“Let’s see how much you can handle without giving yourself away, *Clark*,” he said to himself, emphasizing the boy’s first name to remind himself that he wasn’t Superman yet.

With a wave of his hand, small patches of ice dotted the streets and the sidewalks. He let out a conceited chuckle as cars crashed into each other and people started falling down. Clark, as expected, ran to the doorway of the Talon to see what was going on. Unfortunately for Mr. Mxyzptlk, he stopped himself in the middle of the frame before he slipped on the ice himself.

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched the emotional dilemma play on Clark’s face. If he used his powers to save the people, then everyone would know his secret; but if he didn’t, then a lot of innocent people would be hurt far worse than they were already. Mr. Mxyzptlk rubbed his hands together in delight. This was going to be so much fun.

Clark spun his head around and looked at Lex, who was on his way over.

“Call an ambulance, I’m going to see what I can do to help,” he said and rushed out the door, speeding over the carefully placed patch of ice in front of it at such a speed as to not be affected. Mr. Mxyzptlk bunched his hands into fists and made a pouty gesture much like a toddler.

Clark helped the people he could, and was thankful that none seemed to be seriously injured. He noticed Cole out of the corner of his eye, but brushed him off, knowing that there was no way that he could have seen him use his heat vision from the place he was standing; and everything else could be explained away by an adrenalin rush. The ice had completely melted by the time the ambulance reached them and they hauled off the more serious cases. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned around. Lex gave him a half grin.

“Clark Kent plays the hero again,” he quipped. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were bucking for a medal.” Clark gave him an uneasy expression in return.

“You did just as much as I did. You’re the one who called the ambulance,” he pointed out. Lex arched an eyebrow.

“Holding a piece of plastic up to my ear is hardly the same thing as dragging people from their vehicles, Clark,” Lex said and then gave him a nod of his head. “You should be proud of yourself.” Clark opened his mouth to spout a rebuttal, but Lex cut him off. “I’m going to the hospital, make sure Helen made it there alright.” Clark nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. It would be much easier to investigate what had happened without being the one who the questions were directed toward.

Clark watched Lex leave and then looked around for anything out of the ordinary that might explain the sudden ice patches. He frowned when he saw Chloe taking pictures of the accidents and wondered how long she had her camera out for. She might have evidence of his powers on her camera’s digital memory and not even know about it. He made a mental note to destroy the camera before she could find out.

“So --- anything?” Clark asked as he walked over to her. Mr. Mxyzptlk changed back into his invisible form to watch Clark and Chloe’s interaction. Chloe looked up at Clark with a somewhat disturbed expression on her face.

“I don’t understand why Cole would do this,” she said to herself aloud and then went back to taking pictures. Clark creased his brow.

“What?” He asked in confusion. Chloe looked up at him again.

“I mean, there are better ways to tell me to back off from a story, don’t you think?” She scanned the area with her eyes and shook her head. “He’s lucky that nobody got really hurt.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes.

‘Another reporter. He’s probably in love with her too,’ he thought. An impish smile played at his lips. ‘Of course, that makes my next move easy to figure out.’

“You’re talking about the guy who was sitting with you and Pete?” Clark asked. Chloe nodded. “What makes you think he’s responsible?”

“Well, I don’t know anyone else with the ability to form ice out of nowhere, do you?” She quipped. Clark’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“He’s ---”

“Material for my ‘wall of weird’, but apparently not for my paper, since he refused to go public with his abilities,” Chloe said disdainfully. “But he’s a nice guy; I just can’t believe that he’d do this, even if it was to make a point. Maybe I’m wrong and someone else has the same powers he has. It’s happened before with Kyle Tippett and ---”

“He was by the alley,” Clark interrupted. Chloe gave him a confused look and Clark elaborated. “Cole. I saw him standing by the alley when I was helping those people out of their cars.” Chloe’s face fell.

“I was hoping I was wrong,” she admitted. Clark nodded knowingly and saw the new sheriff heading toward him out of the corner of his eye.

“Mr. Kent,” Sheriff Matthews greeted. “After all the briefing I’ve had on this town’s history, why am I not surprised to see you at another crime scene?”

“It’s a crime scene? I thought it was just an accident,” Clark said, as he played dumb. Chloe had to hand it to him, he pulled it off well.

‘Years of practice,’ she thought jokingly to herself. She flashed a smile at the sheriff, who was thankfully *much* younger and cuter than Ethan Miller had been, and then looked at Clark. “I’m going to get some shots from a different angle.” Her pointed look tipped Clark off and he immediately knew that she was going to go look around in the alley. He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I’ll see what I can find out from Sheriff Matthews,” he said. Chloe just about burst out laughing at the expression that crossed the sheriff’s face, but she managed to hold it in and make her way to the alley.

“And here I was going to ask *you* what happened,” Sheriff Matthews said. Clark shrugged.

“I didn’t see anything. I was in the Talon with my friends and all of a sudden we heard cars crashing into each other,” he said. The sheriff made notes in his small notebook and gave him a look to indicate that he should continue speaking. “I came out to see what happened and told Lex to call an ambulance when I saw the cars in the road.”

“The O’Connells said that you pulled them from them from their car,” the sheriff said with an arched eyebrow. Both of their eyes darted to the mangled car and Clark got a sinking feeling in his gut. He hadn’t even noticed the condition of the car because he was concentrating on getting the couple out, and seeing it now led him to believe that adrenaline might not be a viable excuse.

“Uh – yeah,” Clark said hesitantly.

“Care to explain how you did that?”

“Adrenalin I guess. I don’t really know.”

“Mmm,” Sheriff Matthews said disbelievingly with his tongue resting in the corner of his mouth; but then, anyone he had gotten to speak to who was actually involved in the accidents couldn’t remember seeing Clark until after the fact. “Okay. That’s all for now, but don’t leave town in case more questions come up.”

“Yes sir,” Clark said obligingly. Chloe walked back over to them and forced a smile on her face. There was still a small patch of black ice in the alley that hadn’t melted yet, indicating that her and Clark’s suspicions about Cole were probably true. The sheriff grinned at her and motioned to her camera with his head.

“Any good shots?” He asked. Chloe returned his grin and shrugged.

“I won’t know until I can upload them to my computer,” she answered. He nodded.

“Forward them to me if you come across anything interesting,” he said as his eyes quickly shot to Clark and then back to her. The pleasant surprise was written all over Chloe’s face as she practically beamed.

“Oh. Okay,” she said cheerfully. Sheriff Matthews took a card out of his pocket that had all of his contact information on it and handed it to Chloe. “Thanks.” He nodded once at her and then gave Clark an almost warning look before turning and walking away. Chloe sighed after the sheriff left.

“Cole’s probably home by now. I guess I should go talk to him; let him know that his ‘message’ was received so no one else gets hurt.”

“Chloe, you can’t go over there by yourself,” Clark protested. “He’s dangerous.”

“Don’t tell me you’re actually concerned for my well being,” Chloe said with a small teasing smile. When the serious expression on Clark’s face didn’t change, Chloe’s smile turned into a reassuring grin. “Don’t worry Clark, he’s not dangerous – not generally anyway. I’ll be fine.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk got a mischievous smile on his face. He had been a little down about Clark not realizing that he was behind it, and had to constantly remind himself that Clark didn’t even know he existed yet. But now – the pretty blonde girl was giving him the perfect chance to introduce himself. He morphed into the form of the other boy he had seen her talking to.

“Just take someone with you,” Clark urged. He had a feeling that Chloe wouldn’t let him come with her and his mind immediately went to her other best friend, who, as luck would have it, seemed to appear out of nowhere behind them. Clark smiled in relief. “Take Pete. He knows Cole and maybe Cole won’t feel as threatened as he would if someone else went with you.”

Chloe rolled her eyes at Clark’s protective behavior, but she had to agree with his logic. She smiled at the boy she thought was Pete.

“So, what d’ya say Pete? Up for a visit to Cole’s house?” She asked. Mr. Mxyzptlk smiled back at her and offered her his arm.

“Anything for you sweetheart,” he said jokingly. Chloe laughed and looped her arm through his as they left Clark and started walking to her car. Mr. Mxyzptlk partially frowned as she opened the driver’s side door.

“You’re not going to let me drive?” He asked. Chloe gave him a ‘yeah, right’ look.

“No way! You and Clark end up wrecking more cars than Lex, and that’s *really* saying something,” she said. Mr. Mxyzptlk opened the passenger’s side door and got into the car. He flashed her a bright smile.

“Are you sure? Because we could have lots of fun,” he said in a sing-song voice. Chloe laughed and started her car.

“I’m completely sure,” she answered. Clark watched them drive off, feeling secure in the fact that Pete would protect Chloe – at least until the real Pete came walking up behind him.

“Hey,” Pete greeted. Clark swung around and gave him a baffled look. “I kept everybody inside the Talon for as long as I could. Figured it was probably safe to come out now though.” Pete tilted his head at him as Clark looked back and forth between him and the road Chloe had just driven down. “Uh-oh. I know that look. What’s wrong?”

“I think Chloe’s in trouble.”

~*~*~*~*~
Ch. 3
~*~*~*~*~

He knew Helen was safe the second he spotted her car in the hospital parking lot, but Lex figured as long as he was there he should go inside to see her. That was a mistake. The ER was overflowing with minor emergency cases from the mischief Mr. Mxyzptlk had caused earlier and Helen was frazzled and angry from having to deal with so many people at once. Lex caught her eye and flashed her a smile as he walked over to her. She glared at him almost accusingly and then just lost whatever sanity she had left.

“What are you doing here?!” She snapped. Lex arched an eyebrow as his smile fell into a confused expression.

“I was worried about you,” he said. “There were some accidents and I wanted to make sure you got here alright.”

“I *know* there were accidents, Lex.” She waved her hands in the air. “Look around! You don’t think I know there were accidents?”

“Like I said, I ---”

“You just wanted to make sure I was alright,” she interrupted. “You could have just called and one of the nurses could have told you. There was no need to come down here and take my time away from my patients – whose numbers have increased tenfold in the last hour.” Helen started walking away from him, grabbing a chart off the wall as she did so. Lex stared blankly at her as he watched her enter a room and glare at him before closing the door.

‘Why are you going out with her again?’

His brother’s words rang in his ears and Lex frowned. He didn’t want to start thinking that way. Like Clark pointed out, Helen Bryce was the first woman he had dated who was with him for his money. It felt nice to be with someone who wanted to be with him for him and not because of his financial status. There was the rub though. More and more, it hadn’t felt nice. It felt like she was walking all over him and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

Helen came out of the room and the surprise registered on her face at still seeing Lex there. She came over to him and placed a hand on his chest as she gave him an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “Things have been crazy around here. I’ve had to call a psych consult down here five times already.”

“Why?” Lex asked. A humorless chuckle escaped from Helen’s lips as she took a step back from him.

“People are blaming the accidents on patches of ice that just suddenly popped up on the roads. Like that could ever actually happen.” She rolled her eyes and then continued. “I mean, geez! Take some responsibility for your actions.” Lex nodded once to placate her, but only because Helen hadn’t lived there long enough to believe in the impossible. Lex had seen enough to know that the patients’ accounts of what happened were a very real possibility in Smallville, and many of the strange events ended up having Clark Kent caught up in the middle of them.

“I should go,” he said, pressing a light kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She nodded and gave him a small emotionless wave as she started to walk the other way to tend to another patient. Lex turned around and headed back out toward the main doors. He needed to have a talk with Clark.

Despite the traffic congestion due to the accidents, Lex’s trip back to the Talon was pretty fast. He briefly noticed that Pete’s truck and Chloe’s car were no longer parked out front though, and had a suspicion that Clark was no longer there, having left with one of his other friends. He spotted Lucas through the glass door. It looked like Lana was trying to get him to sit like a normal person instead of having his chair leaned back and his feet comfortably propped up on the table. Lex grinned and opened the door, giving a nod to his brother as he stepped into the building.

“Comfortable?” Lex asked as he walked over to Lucas. Lana shot him an exasperated look and placed her hands on her hips. Lex looked at her knowingly. “I’ll take care of it.” She grinned and nodded, and then quickly scurried away from them.

“You’ll take care of it?” Lucas asked in a mocking voice.

“Get your feet off the table,” he replied. Lucas rolled his eyes, but did as requested.

“So, how’s the ice queen?” Lucas asked with no real interest in his voice.

“*Helen* is fine,” Lex said.

“Sorry to hear that,” Lucas said callously, a smile playing on his lips. Lex squared his jaw and sat down across the table from his brother.

“Clark left?” Lex asked, changing the topic to the reason he came back to the Talon in the first place.

“Yup.” Lucas frowned slightly and leaned forward. “How come you never told me that Pete guy has a twin?” Lex’s face flashed with surprise, but he quickly covered it.

“He doesn’t.”

“A clone then,” Lucas said wryly. Lex picked an invisible piece of lint off his jacket and then looked at his brother.

“What is this about, Lucas?” He asked. Lucas sat back in his chair.

“Chloe left with the Pete clone and when Clark realized that he wasn’t the *real* Pete, he freaked out and he and the real Pete took off in a hurry,” he explained without making a lot of sense. Lex’s suspicious nature kicked into overdrive. He had no doubt that it had something to do with the mysterious ice patches appearing on the road, although he couldn’t connect in his mind how the two would be related.

“Why didn’t you stop her?” Lex asked. Lucas looked at him and grinned.

“Chloe?” He replied. Lex’s pointed look answered his question and Lucas shrugged. “Why would I? I didn’t know anything was wrong.”

“You saw the girl you like leave with someone who looks like Pete, but who you knew wasn’t Pete, and you didn’t think anything was wrong?” Lex asked in disbelief. Lucas chuckled in amusement.

“It’s a *Pete* clone. How dangerous could he be?” He joked. Lex scowled at him and Lucas stopped laughing. “She’s a big girl Lex; she can take care of herself.”

“And if she can’t?” Lex countered. Lucas shrugged.

“If she can’t, then Kent will save her. Isn’t that what he does?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

As Pete was pulling his truck into Cole’s driveway, he and Clark could see Chloe and the ‘other Pete’ having an animated discussion with Cole through the front window.

“It’s true,” Pete said in shock. “I can’t believe we have another Tina on our hands.”

“Like one wasn’t bad enough,” Clark agreed.

They ran up to the front door and rang the bell. Cole sighed and walked over to answer it. At least visitors would mean a temporary reprieve from having accusations hurled at him about something he knew nothing about. When he opened the door, his mouth dropped open in shock.

“What the ---?”

Clark and Pete pushed past him and Clark quickly wrapped his arms around Chloe and gave her a hug.

“Are you okay?” He asked as he pulled away. Chloe, not having seen Pete yet because of Clark’s hug blocking her view, gave Clark a strange look.

“I’m fine, Clark. That’s why you sent Pete with me. Remember?” Her eyes darted over to Cole and then a look of surprise and partial fear crossed her face. “Oh my God.” Pete was standing next to him, but then he was also standing next to Chloe. Mr. Mxyzptlk grinned.

“Finally,” he said, morphing back into his true self. His small form floated in the air so he would be at Clark’s eye level. “I was beginning to think that you’d never figure out it was me.” Clark’s face held a shocked and baffled expression.

“W-who are you?” Clark asked.

“*What* are you?” Chloe asked. Mr. Mxyzptlk ignored Chloe’s question and smiled at Clark.

“I keep forgetting that you don’t know me already,” he said and then tipped his hat as he continued to speak. “Mr. Mxyzptlk.” Clark, Chloe, Pete, and Cole all exchanged strange looks.

“I ---” Clark trailed off as he shook his head. Mr. Mxyzptlk laughed at the boy’s expression.

“You’re the one,” Cole said, interrupting the confusing moment. Clark glanced back and forth between Cole and Mr. Mxyzptlk and Cole looked directly at Chloe. “He must be the one who did the ice thing on the streets. Not me,” he said. Clark frowned at the little floating man.

“Why would you do that?” He asked. Mr. Mxyzptlk waved his hand and Chloe, Pete, and Cole all froze in their spots.

“For fun,” Mr. Mxyzptlk answered. “I wanted to see how many people you could help without giving yourself away.”

“Giving myself away?” Clark asked hesitantly.

“You don’t have your alter ego to fall back on here. It adds a new aspect to our game, don’t you think?”

“*Our* game? But I’ve never even met you,” Clark said. He had a bad feeling about this, suspecting that the imp in front of him knew everything there was to know about his powers.

“And now you have,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said cheerfully.

“I still don’t understand,” Clark said.

“Because you’re stupid,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said gleefully with a broad smile. He was having a great time. “I know you from the future,” he explained.

“O-kay,” Clark said apprehensively.

“Consider this a challenge.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your life is about to get a lot more interesting, *Clark*,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said. The next second, he disappeared into thin air and Chloe, Pete, and Cole were all back to normal.

“Where did he go?” Chloe asked as she looked around the room.

“I don’t know,” Clark said, pretending that he hadn’t just seen the man disappear right in front of him. Chloe sighed and ran a hand over the back of her neck in frustration and embarrassment. She looked at Cole and gave him a small smile.

“Sorry about ---”

“It’s okay,” he interrupted. “There was *no* way you could have known – you know?” Chloe nodded and turned to her friends.

“So, what now?”

“Now we find out who that guy was and what he’s doing here,” Clark answered.

Mr. Mxyzptlk smiled devilishly.

“Let the games begin.”



The End
(Of Story #1)

[scifichick774]

Title: The Completely Mental Misadventures of Mr. Mxyzptlk – Story 2: Genie In A Bottle
Author: scifichick774
Rating: PG-13
Category: Supernatural/Humor/Romance/Drama – honestly, it’s got a little bit of everything. The pairings are all over the place, but Chlex fans won’t be disappointed.
Spoilers: Anything through the second season is fair game.
Summary: Mr. Mxyzptlk decides to go back in time to cause mischief in Smallville, since Clark isn’t Superman yet and won’t know how to send him back to the fifth dimension.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: Yes please.
Archival: Sure – just let me know where.
Author’s Note: The second story is a response to Adeylan’s challenge, but because there were very specific requirements, they won’t be listed until the end of it. The genie name Mxyzptlk uses comes from a Scooby-Doo episode, so I don’t own the rights to it either. This story begins a couple of days after Clark first met Mxyzptlk and there are some really bizarre scene switches, so I hope it won’t be too confusing.

~*~*~*~*~

Lionel’s office – Metropolis – a little after lunch hour

“I don’t see why this is necessary,” Lionel said as the hairdresser shaved off his beard. The woman finished up and then got her scissors out to start cutting his hair. Lex tried to hide the smirk that so desperately wanted to play on his lips. He folded his arms across his chest and tried to look serious.

“Technically it isn’t,” Lex said. “You could just forfeit the Tanaka Taro account to Lex Corp and not change your personal appearance at all.” Lionel scowled at his son and then stared straight ahead.

“Stubborn man set in his horribly outdated values. I doubt he’s even worth doing business worth.”

“Well, like I said ---”

“Oh, shut up.”

This time, Lex did let the smirk show on his face. The truth of the matter was, although Tanaka was renowned for not doing business with people who didn’t appear to live up to a clean-living lifestyle; which roughly translated to short hair, clean shaven, and impeccably dressed; he also refused to do business with people and companies who weren’t environment friendly. And Lex had been kind enough to fax him several documents earlier that day that indicated Luthor Corp had stepped outside of the EPA’s guidelines.

Lex barely resisted the urge to start chuckling; knowing that the account wasn’t going to go to his dad’s company, regardless of what he did to his appearance.

~*~*~*~*~

Lana’s office – the Talon – around closing time

Mr. Mxyzptlk hovered invisibly in the air as he watched the Lana pour over the books at the Talon. She had been at it for a good two hours now and he could see that she was unhappy with the results that she kept coming up with. He also knew that she was one of Clark’s friends and if he caused trouble for her, then Clark would inevitably get involved, but he could do it without Clark knowing that he was behind it. He smiled to himself. He had the perfect plan.

Lana sighed and rubbed her temples. Despite everything she was doing, profits were down at the Talon. Part of it could be blamed on the increased cost of coffee beans from their supplier, but she knew Lex would only see that as an excuse and want her to fix it. Her eyes drifted around the room until they landed on something that she was sure hadn’t been there before. Lana furrowed her brow and rose from her seat as she kept her gaze fixed on the dusty Aladdin-styled oil lamp in the corner of the room.

She walked over and bent down to pick it up. After she lifted it, she drew in a large breath of air and blew on it to rid it of some of the dust.

“Too bad these things don’t actually work,” she mused aloud. “Still, it looks old. I could probably get Chloe to sell in on EBay for me or something.” Mr. Mxyzptlk inwardly groaned.

‘Stupid girl,’ he thought from his new position inside the lamp. ‘Just rub the lamp so I can start my fun.’ A quirky grin curled at the corners of her mouth as she held the ornate lamp out in front of her.

“Of course, you never know unless you try. Right?” She held the lamp in one hand and started to rub it with the other. Mr. Mxyzptlk started to stream out of the opening in a swirling green fog. When he finally appeared, floating in front of her, he had changed himself to look like one of the genies from the old movies that he doubted she had ever seen.

“Who summons the great Babu?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked in a thundering voice. Lana’s eyes grew wide and she dropped the lamp.

“I – I ---”

Mr. Mxyzptlk crossed his arms and looked at her almost scathingly. He arched an eyebrow in apparent disgust.

“You?” He asked. Lana nodded, too weak from shock to speak. “Mmm,” he said as if he were considering it. “What is your name?”

“La-Lana,” she sputtered.

“Lana,” his voice roared. “You may have three wishes and no more. What is your first wish?”

Lana thought about it. She could really use more business at the Talon to bring profits up.

‘But then, I *do* have *three* wishes,’ she thought. She cleared her throat and tried to speak confidently. “I wish that the two people in Smallville who are meant to be together, but aren’t, will finally get together.” ‘Finally. No more skirting around the idea with Clark. We’ll finally be together.’

Mr. Mxyzptlk was taken by surprise, but didn’t show it. He had expected her to wish for more money, or something along those lines, but she obviously had a crush on some guy and wanted to be with him.

‘Too bad she didn’t clarify that,’ he thought. Her first wish was still going to be to his advantage. Mr. Mxyzptlk still believed that Clark liked Chloe, and what better situation to disturb Clark than the girl he liked getting together with his future enemy? He gave a nod of his head as he looked at her. “Granted. Your second wish?” Lana furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Done?” She asked. She didn’t know why, but she had been expecting immediate results. ‘Maybe it doesn’t work like that,’ she thought. ‘Maybe he’s having Clark drive over here right now.’ She took a breath as she calmed herself down. “I wish that the Talon’s business would go up; that we would start getting more customers.”

“Granted,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said with a small smirk that Lana didn’t catch. Life was about to get very interesting for the girl Lucas had referred to as the princess.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Helen stormed out of Lex’s office after initiating yet another pointless fight with him. Lucas glanced at her as she started to walk through the room he was in. He casually flipped through the pages of the magazine he was reading, but he could feel her eyes burning an imaginary hole in his head.

“You should really stop doing that before he kicks you out on your ass,” Lucas said bluntly. Helen crossed her arms and glared at him.

“Excuse me?!”

Lucas set his magazine down and stood up, completely unthreatened by Helen’s posturing. He crossed the room to where she was and half-smirked at her.

“I said you need to stop all of this passive aggressive bullshit with my brother,” he said. Helen’s eyes filled with rage and if she were a cartoon, Lucas could have sworn that smoke would be coming out of her ears.

“That is it!” She yelled while pointing her finger at him. “Go pack your things! You are *so* out of here!” Lucas chuckled and crossed his arms.

“Yeah, right,” he said. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m *blood*. You’re *nothing*.”

Helen’s mouth dropped open and then shut as she glared angrily at him.

“We’ll just see about that!” She turned on her heel to head back to Lex’s office. “Bastard!”

Lucas shrugged.

“Ye-ah,” he strung out as if she were a complete idiot.

Helen bunched her hands into fists and stormed down the hallway toward Lex’s office. She was ready to verbally attack him about Lucas when she stopped dead in her tracks at the site in front of her.

Lex’s office door was open and he was in the middle of what appeared to be a very heavy make-out session with a familiar looking blonde girl.

Helen was stunned. She thought she had Lex wrapped around her little finger and hadn’t been expecting anything like this. She thought about backing away from the door, but the anger inside her won out.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Lex and the blonde separated and Helen recognized her as Chloe Sullivan, one of Clark Kent’s friends. Her mouth opened in shock.

“You’re cheating on me with *her*?!” Helen screamed. “I can’t believe this!”

Chloe and Lex exchanged a look and Lex picked up his phone and called security as Helen continued to rant at him. Two guards showed up quickly, but not before Helen had spewed a string of profanities at Lex and Chloe. Helen glanced at the security guards.

“You’re kicking me out? You can’t do that! God, Lex! Come to your senses already! *I’m* your *girlfriend*. The woman you asked to help you from turning to the dark side. The woman who ---”

“The woman who has been manipulating my emotions from day one,” Lex interrupted. “I’m sorry that I didn’t turn out to be as foolish about it as you believed I was.”

“You asked me to move in with you,” she pointed out cockily, leaning her head to the side as she crossed her arms. Lex gave her a curt nod.

“I did,” he agreed. “But only because you had some information I needed.” Helen’s face showed her surprise and she looked over at Chloe who seemed almost surrealistically calm about the situation going on around her. “Now, if you’ll excuse us ---” he trailed off and motioned for the guards to take her with them.

Helen shook her head in disbelief as the guards latched onto her arms to escort her out of the house and off the property.

Lex turned to look at Chloe and he raised a questioning eyebrow at her.

“You handled that much better than I would have thought,” he commented. Chloe shrugged and then her hands trailed up his chest and rested on his shoulders.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s just a dream anyway.”

~*~*~*~
Ch. 2
~*~*~*~

The corners of Lucas’s mouth twitched upward in a delighted smile when he saw Helen being escorted out by the security guards. He had actually jest been expecting a short lecture from his brother on why he shouldn’t instigate fights with the harpy, but it appeared as though Lex had finally come to his senses about her. Lucas glanced down the corridor that led to Lex’s office and briefly contemplated going down to see him, but he thought better of it; reasoning that his brother was sure to be in a bad mood after what looked to be a bad breakup.

~*~*~*~

Lex tilted his head at Chloe and thought about what she said. It did seem a little strange that she had appeared out of nowhere and they had been immediately drawn to each other. It also seemed out of the ordinary that he had finally gotten past whatever emotional abuse Helen had been putting him through and kicked her out of the house. Still though, he didn’t want to question it. Being with Chloe felt so unlike how he had felt with anyone else. It felt right. He had always liked her for her spunk and wit, not to mention how easy she was on the eyes; but if he had known how it felt to have her in his arms, then he would have seduced her away from her longtime crush on Clark Kent long ago.

This, unfortunately, begged another question. Why would Chloe think she was dreaming if she was kissing *him*? Certainly her thoughts, consciously or not, would have been filled with images of Clark instead of him. Lex’s head started to spin with all the questions that Chloe’s one simple statement brought up and Chloe looked at him with concern. She brought her hand up and stroked Lex’s cheek with the back of it.

“Are you okay?”

‘How to answer that?’ Lex thought. A seductive grin moved across his lips. If she thought she was dreaming, there was a significant chance that he might get further than he would if he told her the truth. He leaned down to speak in her ear.

“It’s a good dream,” he half-whispered huskily.

~*~*~*~*~

Lana left her office with the intent of flipping the sign on the door to ‘closed’ and locking up to start closing for the night, but the sight that met her when she left the room was quite different than she expected. It seemed like every person in Smallville was now crammed into the Talon’s main area and the one poor waitress she had staffed for that time looked like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Lana smiled worriedly. When she wished for wanting more business, this wasn’t what she meant.

She quickly darted behind the counter to help her waitress out, but within just a few minutes Lana was just as frazzled as the waitress was. She smiled when she caught Clark in the middle of the crowd of people, certain that her first wish was about to come true. She and her waitress took care of the orders quickly and soon Clark was up at the counter.

“Hi,” Lana greeted happily. He smiled at her, but she inwardly frowned when she realized that it wasn’t anything more than a friendly smile.

“Hey Lana,” he said. “Can I get a large triple espresso?”

Lana was startled. Definitely not what she had been expecting. He was ordering coffee? He was supposed to be sweeping her off her feet and rescuing her by getting her out of there. Not to mention the fact that it wasn’t Clark’s normal choice of drink. She shook her head absently.

“Yeah, sure,” she said and went to retrieve his coffee for him. Clark paid her and smiled his thanks. She watched him leave, not even listening to the next customer in line who was now placing their order. ‘I’m going to have to have a talk with that genie when this rush is over.’

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched on invisibly and snickered to himself.

‘So, she likes the bumbling boy wonder,’ he thought. ‘Interesting.’

The rush went on for a few more hours before Lana finally had to be stern about making the people leave. She closed the front door and locked it, flipping the sign over to the ‘closed’ side as she did so. She leaned her back against the door and blew a puff of air upward, effectively moving the hair out of her face for a moment.

Lana had never felt so exhausted in her entire life. Every muscle in her body ached and she was fairly sure that if she tried to walk then she wouldn’t be able to. Her one waitress had left about an hour before, telling Lana that she didn’t mind working *some* overtime, but this was ridiculous. Lana’s face contorted into an angry pout.

“Babu!”

Mr. Mxyzptlk took the image of the genie once again and seemed to appear from out of nowhere in front of her. His arms were folded across his broad chest and he looked down at her as if she were the most insignificant creature on the face of the planet. Lana felt uneasy at the genie’s domineering presence, but she forced herself to stand strong. After all, he was supposed to be working for her, not the other way around.

“What was *that*?!” She yelled, motioning wildly with her arms.

“You wished for more business,” he stated.

“Yeah, but not ---”

“If that was not what you desired, then you shouldn’t have wished for it,” he chided her. “Have you decided upon a third wish?” Lana’s mouth dropped open at his gall.

“What about my first wish?” She asked. “Why wasn’t Clark all romantic and stuff?”

“I don’t recall there being a ‘Clark’ mentioned in your first wish.”

“Uh, ye-ah,” she strung out. “I wished that ---”

“You wished that the two people in Smallville who are meant to be together, but aren’t, would finally get together,” he reminded her. “And it is done.”

“No,” she said as she shook her head. “I meant me and Clark. We’re supposed to be together.”

“Apparently you aren’t,” he said, trying to fight the smile he felt from lifting his lips. “And if you wanted to be paired with this ‘Clark’, then you should have been more specific.”

Lana’s eyes blinked rapidly in disbelief and she didn’t even realize that her mouth had dropped open again. She and Clark weren’t the one true couple in Smallville who were meant to be together? How was that even possible? And then the increased business thing – Lana had a feeling that she would go out of business if it didn’t calm down the next day. They had already used up more than half of their month’s supply on the sudden wave of people who had flocked to the Talon with an inexplicable need for coffee. Lana frowned. There was one face she hadn’t seen in the sea of people who she had definitely expected to.

“Can I ask you a question?” She asked. Mr. Mxyzptlk held his hand out in front of him as if he were examining his shortly trimmed nails.

“You *may*,” his thunderous voice replied.

“Where’s Chloe? She’s my best customer and she wasn’t here even though practically everyone else was. Why didn’t she come in?”

“Do you wish for me to locate her?”

“No, no,” Lana said, shaking her head and motioning with her arms again. “I just thought you might know.” Mr. Mxyzptlk gave her a scathing look.

“I’m a genie, not a God,” he said.

“Sorry, I just --- never mind. I’m sure she’ll be here tomorrow.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk nodded once, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Lana’s statement.

“Have you decided upon a third wish?” He asked again. Lana bit her lip. She only had one wish left and she had to make sure it was a good one that wasn’t going to backfire on her like the other two had.

“Not yet.”

“Mmm,” he sounded with disapproval and then vanished into a cloud of smoke.

Lana looked around the Talon’s main room and groaned. The establishment wasn’t designed to hold so many people at once and as she took inventory with her eyes, she noticed that all of the tables and chairs had been squeezed up against the far wall; not to mention the small trails of litter that now seemed to be lining the floor.

“Damn it,” Lana said under her breath. “Maybe I should wish for him to clean all this up,” she thought aloud and then shook her head with amusement at the idea.
‘He’d probably just make it all disappear, and that wouldn’t do me any good. No. I need to think of a good specific last wish, and I’m not going to waste it on cleaning this place up.’ “Stupid genie.”

~*~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk grinned almost evilly when he saw Lex and Chloe kissing like there was no tomorrow, and about to do significantly more.

‘She didn’t say *how long* the couple needed to be together for,’ he thought to himself. And he would hardly be the gentleman he considered himself to be if he let Superman’s future nemesis take advantage of the poor girl. That, and he doubted that Lex’s brother would be pleased if he walked in on them. He still wasn’t sure what kind of a role Lucas was going to play in his pranks, but he knew that he wanted that kind of irreverent sociopathic attitude on his side rather than Clark’s. He snapped his fingers and as quickly as Chloe had originally appeared, she was gone again.

Lex opened his eyes when he couldn’t feel warmth of her body pressed against him anymore. He briefly thought that maybe Chloe was right and it had been a dream, but he had never experienced a dream that felt so real before. And he was sure that if it was a dream, then she would still be there. If the years of therapy he had after his mom died taught him one thing, it was that he could control aspects in his dreams – and he never would have let her leave.

No. It wasn’t a dream. Something strange was going on, and Lex left his office determined to find out what it was.

~*~*~*~
Ch. 3

This chapter takes place the next morning.
~*~*~*~

The Talon

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Lana said under her breath. She had arrived to open the Talon early and found a large group of people waiting out front for her. Luckily, she was able to sneak in the side entrance with no one noticing her. Lana sighed and slowly made her way to the front door. No additional help was expected for a couple of hours and Lana dreaded facing the crowd by herself, but then, this had been her wish – sort of anyway. She flipped the sign to the ‘open’ side and unlocked the door, only to be mowed down by the coffee-crazed patrons.

She shook her head and tried to push herself up to at least a sitting position when she saw a hand reached out to help her. Lana looked up and saw Clark smiling down at her. She smiled back and took his hand. Clark pulled her to a standing position and she shook her head lightly at the crowd that had gathered by the counter, complaining loudly that no one was there to serve them.

“Looks like business is good,” Clark said. Lana took a deep breath and smiled at him again.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to help?” She asked, batting her eyelashes persuasively.

“Depends,” Clark said coyly.

“Oh, just get behind the counter, Clark,” Chloe said as she walked in and caught the last part of Clark and Lana’s conversation. When he arched an eyebrow at her, Chloe gave him a little shove to motivate him. “Come on! I need my caffeine!” Clark and Lana both chuckled and then made their way to the back of the counter to start waiting on people.

It had been a good half hour since the Talon opened before Lex pushed his way into the building. He had already had his coffee at the house, but he had a rather firm suspicion that he would find Chloe at the Talon, and he could always use ‘checking on his business investment’ as an excuse if he needed to. His eyes widened when he realized that the crowd of people packed almost every inch of the building.

‘She must be putting something in the coffee,’ he thought to himself and then allowed a tiny smirk to grace his lips. ‘Good for her.’ Then he saw Lana being cornered by what appeared to someone wearing a large dragon costume. It seemed to be attacking her for no discernable reason, but Lex saw no need to rush to her aid. After all, how much harm could the person do while wearing a padded costume? Lex was yanked out of his thoughts when he felt a familiar female body being pushed into him.

“Hey! Watch it!” Chloe snapped at the man who had just shoved her. She had a ‘to-go’ cup and was on her way out anyway, so there was no need for him to be so rude. She turned and looked up to see Lex staring down at her. Chloe couldn’t help the blush that rose to her cheeks. ‘Whoa. Down girl,’ she thought to herself. ‘It’s not like he knew what you were dreaming last night.’ “Mr. Luthor,” she greeted. “Sorry about that. I guess these people need their coffee even more than I usually do.” She smiled at him and he returned it.

Mr. Mxyzptlk barely kept himself from laughing at the predicament that Clark was in. Lana was being attacked by someone in a dragon costume and Clark was too busy serving coffee at a ‘normal’ hurried speed to notice. He was tempted to turn the person into a real dragon, but he thought that might be pushing it a little too far. ‘It would be lots of fun to watch though,’ he thought to himself.

There were so many people in the establishment that Chloe didn’t even notice when Lex slipped his hands onto her waist. Mr. Mxyzptlk did though, and he had to say that he was pleased that Lex wasn’t giving up so easily. Spurring a competition between Lex and Clark over Chloe would only add to Clark’s inability to cope with the other little things that he had in store for him.

“Dragons included, apparently,” Lex said. Chloe gave him a quizzical look and he motioned to where the man or woman wearing the dragon costume was trying to bite Lana with the big plastic teeth. Chloe started laughing and Lex could feel her body reverberating under his hands. He looked down at her and Chloe suddenly felt a little uneasy with his gaze.

“I should go,” she said and took a step to the side to move, but Lex quickly pulled her back over.

“Stay,” Lex said. “I need to talk to you. I tried calling you last night, but your dad said you were already in bed.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, do you mind moving the conversation outside then? I’m feeling a little claustrophobic in here,” Chloe said. Lex gave her a curt nod and offered her his hand to help her get through the many patrons who were surrounding them.

She took a deep breath and then released it after they got outside and far enough away from the crowd of people for her to feel comfortable – or as comfortable as she could be holding Lex Luthor’s hand after having a rather vivid dream about him the previous night. “So --- what did you need to talk to me about?”

“I ---” Lex trailed off when he realized that Chloe may have been right all along. Perhaps he had just been dreaming. He bit his tongue. ‘No, that can’t be it, because this morning Lucas congratulated me on finally getting rid of Helen.’ “Do you remember being at my house last night?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched the couple invisibly and rested his hands behind his head.

Chloe’s skin paled and her eyes darted away from Lex. The pale skin started to color into a lovely blush when she remembered her dream in all of its lurid glory.

“I – what do you mean?” She finally got out. Lex arched an eyebrow. Obviously she remembered. The only thing that remained to be seen was whether she still believed it was a dream or not.

“Chloe,” Lex said as he started leaning toward her slightly.

“Hey, Lex!” Lucas greeted as he came up behind them. He slapped his brother on the back and flashed a bright smile at Chloe. “Hello beautiful.” Chloe let a nervous chuckle escape her lips. She couldn’t believe that she had almost lost so much of her self control that she was about to kiss Lex. He didn’t think of her that way and she would have been mortified in embarrassment if Lucas hadn’t showed up exactly when he did.

“Hey,” she greeted.

Mr. Mxyzptlk snickered as he watched Lucas interrupt Lex’s moment with Chloe, but his minute of amusement was quickly destroyed when he heard Lana calling his ‘genie’ name. He let out a suffered sigh and zapped himself to her location, which happened to be her office inside the Talon. He appeared before her in his genie form and crossed his arms, trying desperately not to laugh at the poor girl’s appearance.

Her hair was messed up, her clothes were torn, she looked exhausted, and she had tiny little scratches on her skin from where the person in the dragon costume had tried to bite her with the plastic teeth.

“Yes?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked.

“I know what my third wish is,” she said. Mr. Mxyzptlk arched an eyebrow.

“And?”

“And I ---”

“Lana?” Clark asked as he opened the door. His eyes grew wide when he saw the large blue genie floating in the middle of the room. Lana looked panic-stricken. She couldn’t believe that Clark had caught her talking to the genie. She was never going to live this down. “What’s going on?” Clark asked hesitantly. Lana bit her lip. It would probably be better just to tell him the truth and get it over with; even if he did try to have her committed afterward.

“I – uh,” she paused and sucked in a breath. “I found an old genie lamp in the office last night and I know it was wrong, but I wished for business at the Talon to be better, but it’s turned into a nightmare, and I was just about to wish for everything to go back to normal when you came in,” she rushed the words so quickly that Clark was surprised she had managed to say it all in one breath.

Clark narrowed his eyes at the genie. Something wasn’t right here.

‘Other than the fact that there’s a genie floating in the middle of Lana’s office,’ Clark thought to himself. His mind went through all of the weird things that had been happening lately and it stopped when a picture of Mr. Mxyzptlk drifted into his head. He would never forget seeing the purple-clad man who looked like an oversized leprechaun with a head too big for his body floating in the middle of Cole’s living room. He couldn’t have been more than three feet tall, but he obviously had the ability to shape-shift to take on the appearances of others.

Lana turned her attention back to Mr. Mxyzptlk since she thought Clark was too stunned to speak.

“Babu, my third wish is that everything would go back to normal,” she said. Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes.

‘How predictable,’ he thought. He nodded his head once in acquiescence. “It is done.” With that, he kept up the appearance of pretending to be a genie and started to dissolve into a green fog.

“Wait!” Clark shouted. Mr. Mxyzptlk solidified again and couldn’t help but smile when he saw the accusatory look on Clark’s face. “It’s you, isn’t it?”

“It took you long enough,” he replied in his regular speaking voice. Lana furrowed her brow, wondering where the genie’s thundering voice from just seconds ago had gone. Mr. Mxyzptlk morphed into his normal self and looked at Clark. “Two to zero,” he boasted. His eyes twinkled when he turned them upon Lana. “Be careful what you wish for.”

He disappeared into nothingness and Clark and Lana stared blankly at the empty area in front of him.

“Clark?”

“Yeah?”

“What was that?”

“That --- is a long story.”



The End
(Of Story #2)

Adeylan’s challenge requirements:
1. Lionel must get a shave and a haircut.
2. Mr. Mxyzptlk has to willingly be caught by Lana.
3. Lana has to use him to make wishes.
4. All of the wishes turn out wrong.
5. Lana has to get nibbled by a dragon.

[scifichick774]

Title: The Completely Mental Misadventures of Mr. Mxyzptlk – Story 3: The Love Bug
Author: scifichick774
Rating: R
Category: Supernatural/Humor/Romance/Drama – honestly, it’s got a little bit of everything. The pairings are all over the place, but Chlex fans won’t be disappointed.
Spoilers: Anything through the second season is fair game.
Summary: Mr. Mxyzptlk decides to go back in time to cause mischief in Smallville, since Clark isn’t Superman yet and won’t know how to send him back to the fifth dimension.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: Yes please.
Archival: Sure – just let me know where.
Author’s Note: The third story is in response to one of Joi’s challenges. I think I’m just going to start listing the challenge requirements at the end of each story. It’s easier that way and more fun for you.

Story # 3: The Love Bug

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“It’s official,” Chloe said to Lana as she came up to the counter in the coffee shop. “I’m dying.” Lana shot her a sympathetic smile.

“Still not feeling good, huh?” She asked. Chloe shook her head lightly, but stopped when it made her want to throw up. “What did the doctor have to say?” Chloe gave a partial roll of her eyes.

“Lots of rest, lots of liquids so I don’t get dehydrated from puking my guts out, and that’s about it,” Chloe answered.

“Sorry. You should go home.”

“I will, just as soon as I get some coffee,” she said. Lana looked at her friend warily and folded her arms across her chest.

“When your doctor said ‘liquids’, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t referring to coffee,” Lana said. Chloe glared at her and Lana threw her hands up in the air in mock surrender. “Fine, fine! But if you throw up on my counter, you’re cleaning it up.” Chloe made a face and Lana leaned her head to the side. “How about a nice hot cup of tea instead?” Chloe grumbled.

“Sadist,” she said. Lana laughed and went to retrieve a ‘to-go’ cup of tea for her friend. Chloe played with a small slip of paper in her hands.

“What’s that?” Lana asked as she handed her the tea.

“Prescription for anti-nausea meds,” Chloe answered with a shrug. “Although I have a feeling that all it’s going to do is knock me out.”

“That’s good,” Lana said. “You need something to slow you down and make you rest; otherwise you’ll never get well.”

‘Thank you Mrs. Kent,’ Chloe thought with heavy sarcasm. She forced a fake grin onto her lips and held back the comment, knowing that Lana wouldn’t take it as a comparison to Martha, but rather a reference to the ongoing triangle between her, Lana, and Clark that they all tried so hard not to talk about.

Mr. Mxyzptlk looked on invisibly as he saw Lex steal glances at Chloe when he thought no one else was watching. He couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the guy, since it was kind of his fault that he had set the two of them up in the first place and now she seemed to be ignoring Lex any time they were in the same room together. Although, granted, that hadn’t been often.

He saw Chloe hold the back of her hand up to her forehead and an idea formed in his head. He zapped himself back to where the bathrooms were and reappeared, disguising himself as an average looking man in his mid-twenties. He walked over to Lex’s table and pulled a chair out for himself without waiting for an invitation. Lex arched an eyebrow at him and Mr. Mxyzptlk motioned toward Chloe with his head.

“I can help you with her,” he said. Lex looked at Chloe and then back to the seemingly young man sitting in front of him.

“I beg your pardon?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk leaned a little bit forward and Lex saw what he could have sworn was an actual twinkle in his eye.

“She looks too sick to drive herself home safely; maybe you should offer her a ride?” He hinted. Lex frowned.

“I doubt she’d take it. She’s been avoiding me ever since ---” he caught himself just as he realized that he was starting to open up to a complete stranger. Mr. Mxyzptlk didn’t look at him expectantly though; instead, he grinned and nodded.

“Ever since your brother interrupted you trying to tell her that her dream wasn’t a dream,” he filled in. Lex tilted his head and looked at him suspiciously.

“How ---?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk held up his hand to stop him from talking.

“Like I said, I can help,” he said. He let his eyes flicker over to the counter, but he knew that Chloe had already left while they were talking. “Tough luck. Looks like you missed that opportunity.” Lex’s head whipped around and he frowned when he saw that Chloe was gone.

“Listen, I don’t ---” he started to say, but when he turned his head back around to look at the young man, Mr. Mxyzptlk had disappeared. Lex looked around the Talon briefly, but the man was nowhere to be found. He shook his head lightly and got up from his chair. ‘Great. My subconscious has created an imaginary friend for me,’ he thought. Lana noticed that he was leaving and called over to him.

“Lex?”

Lex turned around and walked to the counter, where Lana flashed him a bright smile.

“Did you need the books before you go? We’ve been doing really well this month, I think you’ll be surprised,” she rambled. Lex grimaced, but hid it well.

“No, thanks,” he said. She looked confused, so he decided that he’d better elaborate. “I think I’m coming down with something. I’m just going to go home and go to bed.” It was a lie, but at least it was a feasible one. After all, he couldn’t exactly tell her that he had started hallucinating or that he thought he might be starting to fall for her friend. Lana gave him a pitying look that made Lex feel *really* sick.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It must be going around, because Chloe’s sick too.” Lex blinked a couple of times before answering.

“I saw her in here a few minutes ago,” he admitted. “You were serving her coffee when she’s sick?” ‘Good Luthor. Put the blame on Lana. That way she won’t pay attention to the fact that you said you saw Chloe,’ he thought. Lana got a guilty look on her face.

“Actually, I sort of convinced her to have tea instead,” she said. Lex grinned in amusement.

“I didn’t realize your debate skills had advanced that far.”

“We-ll,” she strung out. “I didn’t really give her a choice.” Lex chuckled and Lana scrunched up her face into a stubborn expression. “She shouldn’t be having caffeine right before she picks up her prescription anyway.”

“Prescription?”

“She said it’s for her nausea, and that it will probably just put her to sleep,” Lana explained. Lex nodded.

“It probably will,” he agreed, having gone through enough prescription medication in his earlier days to know what effects different drugs would have on someone’s body.

‘I can help you with her.’

Lex heard the man’s voice as clear as a bell in his head and concentrated on not letting it affect his outward appearance.

‘You look tired. Go home and get some sleep.’

Lex couldn’t help the frown that played at his lips. The young man hadn’t said that before, so he was ready to acknowledge now that he might actually be losing his mind.

‘Your wife will be waiting for you.’

Lana’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Wow, you really don’t look so good. You should go home and get some sleep, Lex.”

He nodded and held up his hand in a partial wave and then left the building.

~*~*~*~*~

“Alright sweetheart,” the pharmacist said to Chloe as he handed her the bottle of pills. “Now these will make you really drowsy, so wait until you’re at home to take them, and don’t drive when ---”

“Okay, thanks Mr. Johnson,” Chloe said, cutting the older man off. He could be really nice, but he could also be really tiring, and Chloe’s patience was already worn down to virtually nothing with the combination of being sick and Lana giving her tea instead of coffee. She had already paid and after Chloe snatched the bottle from his hands, she practically ran from the pharmacy.

Mr. Mxyzptlk laughed as he morphed out of Mr. Johnson’s appearance and into his own.

“She’ll never know what hit her.”

~*~*~*~
Ch. 2
~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched invisibly as Chloe poured one of the pills out into her hand and popped it in her mouth, quickly followed by a swig of water to wash it down. She sighed, replaced the cap on the bottle, and then headed toward her bedroom. All of a sudden, her feet felt very heavy under her and she could barely make it down the hallway. Her eyes started to drift closed before she even made it to her bed. Mr. Mxyzptlk watched her lay her head down on her pillow and fall asleep, the mischievous grin on his lips growing with each second that passed.

“Time to get this show on the road,” he said. With a snap of his fingers, Chloe disappeared from her bed, and reappeared sleeping on Lex’s bed.

Mr. Mxyzptlk looked around the room and decided that it needed some help if his scheme was going to work. An impish gleam lit up in his eyes and with a sweep of his hand the room had been completely changed.

The room was now decorated in warm, inviting colors and had pictures of Chloe and Lex hanging up and placed throughout it.

Mr. Mxyzptlk smiled again and the clothes that Chloe had been wearing when she first appeared there were changed into a short aqua blue, silk and lace teddy. He morphed into the image of the man Lex had seen earlier that day at the Talon, and covered her up with the blankets. Then, an almost evil idea hit him. He held out a hand and a stuffed yellow dragon with orange polka dots popped into it. He tucked it underneath her arm and turned around to leave the room to greet Lex, who he now heard coming up the stairs.

Lex narrowed his eyes when he saw the man leaning against the wall by his bedroom.

“Should I even ask?” Lex asked as he walked toward him. Mr. Mxyzptlk flashed him a large smile and shrugged as he pushed himself off the wall.

“I told you I could help, so I’m helping,” he replied cryptically. “But you’ll have to play along if you want her to believe it’s real.”

Lex’s eyebrows moved together suspiciously.

“What do you mean?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk motioned toward the open bedroom door and Lex took a few steps forward to glance into it. His eyes grew wide in shock and he looked back at the man standing in front of him.

“What’s going on? What did you do to her?”

“Calm down,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said as he looked down at Lex’s ring finger. Lex followed his gaze and was shocked to find a platinum ring now resting on his finger. He looked back up at Mr. Mxyzptlk, who just grinned at him, and started to tell him his cover story for when Chloe woke up. “You’ve been married for two years. You have a baby girl named Lena. Your photo albums and home movies are under the TV if she wants proof.” Lex stared blankly at him and Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes. “I thought you were supposed to be smart. Come on, let’s go. You only have a small window of time here.”

Lex looked into the room again and a smile curled the corners of his mouth upward.

‘Okay, so I’m dreaming or hallucinating,’ he thought. ‘Maybe I should have a talk with Lana about what she’s been putting in the coffee.’

Mr. Mxyzptlk slapped him on the shoulder and Lex looked back at him.

“Don’t worry; it’ll all come to you when you wake up.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lana smiled at Clark as they walked into the house.

“Just let me check on Chloe, grab my books, and then we can study,” she said. Clark smiled and nodded.

“No problem. Is she feeling any better?”

“I don’t know. She wasn’t when I saw her earlier this morning, but maybe the medicine that the doctor gave her has helped,” Lana said as she started to climb up the stairs. She walked down the upper hallway a little bit until she got to Chloe’s room and then she knocked softly on the door. It came open as she knocked on it and she looked in, only to find that Chloe wasn’t there. Lana blinked her eyes a couple of times in surprise. “Clark?” She called out with some worry in her voice.

Clark looked up at her from the bottom of the stairs.

“Yeah?”

“She’s not here.”

“What? Where else would she be?” Clark asked, now walking up the stairs to meet Lana. Lana shook her head a little.

“I don’t know,” she said and took a few steps into Chloe’s empty room. “She said she was going home after she got her medicine and I saw her pills on the table as we came in.”

“Me too,” Clark said. Lana bit her lip when she saw Chloe’s bag on the ground and her cell phone was laying half out of it. Clark’s mouth dropped open as he noticed the same thing.

“She never goes anywhere without her cell phone.”

“I know,” Clark said in agreement. A sudden jolt of panic swept through his body. “Lana?” She looked up at him. “You know all those weird things that have been happening?” She nodded. “You don’t think ---?”

“Oh my God,” Lana said and put her hand over her mouth. “What do we do?” Clark paused for a minute before answering.

“I’ll go look for her,” Clark said.

“Clark,” Lana said and tilted her head to the side with a concerned expression. Clark placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Call Pete, have him check his end of town,” he said. Lana let go of the breath she was holding in. This wasn’t a Clark chasing after Chloe because he harbored feelings for her thing; this was a Clark chasing after Chloe because he was concerned about his friend sort of thing. Lana nodded and gave him a wince of a smile.

“Okay.” She caught his arm as he started to leave. “Call me if you find anything out.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

When Chloe started to wake up, she was no longer nauseous, dizzy, or running a fever.

‘Wow. That stuff really works,’ she thought. She furrowed her brow as she untucked the stuffed dragon from her arm and eyed it with confusion. Then she really noticed her surroundings, and more importantly, she noticed the warm body pressed up against her back that had an arm slung over her waist. Her eyes widened, but rather than acting on her first instinct and jumping out of the bed, she slowly turned her head and body to see who’s arms she was wrapped in. Chloe felt a tightening in the pit of her stomach when she saw him. She started to sit up and lifted her hand to push back the blanket so she could crawl out of the bed. That’s when she noticed the large diamond ring and wedding band on her finger. “Okay, now I’m dreaming that I’m married to the guy,” she mumbled, “this can not be good.”

“Mmm,” Lex said and pulled her closer again. His eyes flitted open when he realized that she wasn’t lying down anymore. “Sweetheart,” he said in a groggy voice, pulling himself up to a sitting position. Chloe’s eyes darted away from him when the sheets moved back and she could see that he wasn’t wearing any clothes. “How long have you been up?”

She couldn’t help but think how real this all felt. The soft sheets beneath her, the silk of her teddy against her skin --- the color rushed to Chloe’s face when she saw what she was wearing.

“I ---” Chloe saw the door to what appeared to be the bathroom and she looked over at Lex for a split second before throwing the small stuffed dragon in her hands at him. “Be right back!” She bounced quickly out of the bed and started almost running to the bathroom, which for some reason, she didn’t seem to be getting any closer to. A brief thought popped into her head that it was like the Scooby-Doo episode where they were in the fun house and couldn’t get away.

Lex jumped out of bed and within seconds he had run up behind her. He placed his hands on her upper arms and turned her around, only to bring his mouth down to hers in what he intended to be a passionate kiss. Chloe struggled to get away from him at first, but soon felt herself melting beneath his lips and returning the kiss. His tongue slid along her bottom lip and Chloe opened her mouth for him. Their tongues snaked against each other and Chloe could feel Lex’s arousal pressed up against her. Everything felt entirely too real to be a dream, but she knew it wasn’t reality – so what was it?

Lex lifted her up and Chloe wrapped her legs around his waist as he took her back over to the bed. He kissed her again as he lay her down on the bed.

“We don’t have much time before Lena wakes up,” he murmured into her hair. Chloe creased her brow and moved her head to the side.

“What?”

Lex nipped at her neck and Chloe struggled to keep her eyes open and remain attentive.

“Agnes said she was up a lot last night,” he explained.

“Agnes?”

Lex pulled back and leaned his head to the side to look at her.

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Obviously not,” she answered. “Oh, that stupid medicine. Why didn’t I figure it out before?” She asked herself.

“Chloe, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing, nothing,” she said. “Don’t worry about it.” Lex gave her a strange look and then began to lean down to kiss her again when a knock came at the door. He groaned and pushed himself off the bed, walking quickly to the closet where he took two fluffy white robes off of the door. He threw one at Chloe and put the other on himself.

He walked to the door and opened it. Chloe’s mouth dropped open when she saw who was on the other side.

~*~*~*~*~
Ch. 3
~*~*~*~*~

Chloe looked at the older woman standing on the other side of the door with a pudgy baby girl in her arms. Chloe stood there in her robe, staring at the baby in shock. The little girl appeared to be about nine months old and there was no mistaking who her parents were supposed to be. She had small red curls gracing the top of her head, one of them tied up in a bow and Chloe noticed that her eyes looked achingly similar to her own. She wasn’t about to admit that it looked like the baby had inherited her fat cheeks from when she was a baby too, but it was obvious that she had.

‘This isn’t happening, this isn’t happening,’ she repeated as a mantra in her head.

“Lena,” Lex greeted, holding his arms out until the nanny transferred the baby over to him.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt your time together, but she was still a little fussy after feeding, so I thought she might want her parents,” the nanny said. Lex nodded once at her and then looked back at the baby smiling at him.

“Thank you Agnes,” he said. The woman smiled warmly at Chloe and then shut the door behind her as she left. Lex held Lena up with his hands. “How is my little monchichi?” He brought her stomach to his nose and gently rubbed against it, causing the baby to spurt into giggles.

“Monchichi?” Chloe asked. Lex smiled over at her and then started walking closer with the baby.

“You want mommy?” He asked Lena, ignoring Chloe’s question. The baby leaned toward Chloe while still in Lex’s arms.

“Mama,” she said with her arms outstretched and a bright smile that displayed one tooth in the bottom of her mouth.

“I – uh ---” Chloe trailed off as Lena practically jumped into her arms from Lex’s. “Hi.” The little girl started laughing and then leaned forward to give Chloe a drool-filled semi-kiss against her mouth.

“Mama,” Lena said again in a contended voice as she snuggled up to Chloe. Lex folded his arms across his chest and looked at Chloe and Lena with a small smile.

“She’s such a mommy’s girl,” he commented and then met Chloe’s eyes with his own. “I don’t suppose you’ve given any more thought to having another one?” Chloe’s eyes widened at his suggestion and he tilted his head to the side. “I’m feeling a bit outnumbered, you know?”

“I ---” Chloe trailed off as she looked down at the baby, who was now gazing at her mother like she was the most beautiful creature in the world. Lena noticed the stuffed dragon on the bed and her face lit up.

“Mxyzptlk!” Lena said and stretched out her arms to try and reach it.

“What?”

“I haven’t been able to figure out what she’s trying to call that thing either,” Lex admitted. Chloe reached behind her and then handed the dragon to Lena, who promptly bit down on its snout. Lex started laughing and his gaze turned to Chloe. “I wonder where she gets that from,” he said teasingly. Chloe looked at him questioningly and he came to stand next to her, his warm breath hitting her ear with his next words. “Not that I mind.” He nipped at her earlobe gently and Chloe turned her head to face him, just now noticing that he had a rather large hickey on the upper part of his neck.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Clark checked everywhere he could think of that Chloe might be. He checked with her neighbors, at the school (and not just the Torch office), and at the Talon, but she seemed to have just disappeared into thin air. He started to get really concerned when Lana told him that Pete hadn’t been able to find her yet either. Clark’s bad feeling about the strange imp being involved was becoming more and more pronounced, and he only hoped that if Mr. Mxyzptlk was involved that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Chloe. Clark shook his head a little with guilt. If anything happened to her, it would be his fault because he didn’t get to her in time to stop it.

‘But I’ve checked everywhere,’ he thought to himself. ‘Well, not *everywhere*,’ he corrected and then shook his head again. ‘Lex is going to think I’m nuts.’

~*~*~*~*~*~

Chloe flipped through one of the photo albums she found under the television set. She still couldn’t believe this was happening, but she knew it wasn’t a dream. It was too real to be a dream. But, how could she have lost her memory and only remember part of her life? How the hell did she end up married to Lex Luthor?

‘And for a whopping two years none the less,’ Chloe thought to herself. ‘It must be some sort of record for him.’

Then there was the baby. Lena. How could she not remember having a baby? And how had she been able to do it without getting any stretch marks? Chloe frowned and stared down at the pictures in the album. The last one was filled with pictures of them and their friends and family at the wedding and reception that she couldn’t remember – even though the pictures were there to prove that she had been there. The current album was filled with pictures of a honeymoon that she only wished she had in her memories.

Her and Lex on some tropical beach. They looked so happy together that it made Chloe’s heart hurt just to see the photos of memories that she didn’t have. She felt the tears starting to well up in her eyes.

“I think we may have to cancel our plans for the day,” Lex said casually as he walked back into the room. “Lena’s gone to sleep again.” He took off the robe and threw it on a chair sitting against the wall. He noticed the photo albums spread out over the bed and he strolled over to her. Chloe felt a weight settle behind her on the bed.

“Bermuda,” Lex said wistfully into her ear, wrapping one arm around her waist and placing his other hand on her upper arm. He kissed the shell of her ear gently and let his lips linger against her skin. “I have a break in my schedule coming up, so we can go again if you’d like.” She felt him smirk as he trailed his mouth down to her neck. “Or would you prefer to go to the cabin?” Chloe looked questioningly at him through the corner of her eye. “We could tell the kids they were conceived in the same place,” he teased. Chloe wasn’t sure why the blush spread to her cheeks, but it did. Lex grinned at her reaction and then repositioned himself so he could kiss her.

Before she had a chance to object, his tongue was weaving its way into her mouth and sliding against her own. Chloe let out a small gasp when she felt his fingers pinch one of her nipples and then continue to tease it by rolling it back and forth. Her body wanted him – she knew that much. She figured that she must have gotten used to him while they were married, but this felt so new – and so right. Lex slowly moved her until she was lying down on the bed, and then something happened that made Chloe’s eyes shoot open. He delved a finger into her waiting wetness.

“God, Chloe,” he murmured against her as her heat surrounded him and he started pumping his finger in and out of her. He added another and Chloe’s hips bucked, making Lex inwardly smile with masculine pride. He loved the way her body responded to him. Chloe’s stomach started to tighten and her orgasm started to wash over her in heaping waves of pleasure.

“Lex,” she moaned, gripping the sheets beside her with tightly clenched fists. That was all the encouragement Lex needed to hear. He positioned himself between her legs and plunged into her in one fluid motion. Chloe screamed at the pain that it caused, but it quickly turned to pleasure and she found her hands digging into his back as he thrust himself in and out of her.

“Chloe,” he half-whispered before capturing her mouth with his own again. He was so close and he could feel that Chloe was on the verge again too – just a few more pumps and --- a second after that thought, Lex found himself spilling his seed onto the bed. Chloe had disappeared and the room had returned to normal. He looked around in confusion. “What the fuck?!”

It was all a dream – it had to have been. And now he had been rudely awakened and wasn’t at all happy about it. One minute he was married to Chloe, with a happy life and a beautiful daughter – and the next he was back where he started. He growled and sprung off the bed, promptly throwing the alarm clock at the wall. There was a knock on the door and Lex grabbed the robe that was now hanging back up in his closet. Quickly putting it on, he answered the door.

“What?!” He snapped at the butler on the other side of the door.

“Clark Kent is here to see you. Is this a bad time? Shall I send him away?” The man asked. Lex’s glare was bearing an imaginary hole through the servant’s head.

“No. Just give me a minute. I’ll meet him downstairs,” Lex said angrily. The butler nodded and turned on his heel to leave. Lex threw his clothes on, the entire time cursing the fact that his dreams were getting more and more indistinguishable from real life and that Chloe wasn’t really his. No. Chloe was in love with Clark. Lex clenched his hands into fists and then released them. Something was going to have to be done about that. “Clark,” he greeted in what he hoped passed as a neutral tone as he came down the stairs.

“Hey Lex,” Clark said. “Sorry to bother you, but Chloe is missing. We’ve been looking all over town for her, but we haven’t been able to find her anywhere and I’m starting to get worried. I don’t suppose you’ve seen her?” He asked somewhat sheepishly. Lex stared blankly at him as he tried to comprehend what Clark was saying. Clark’s cell phone rang before Lex got a chance to speak. Clark pressed the phone up to his ear. “Hello? --- She is? --- Where? --- Okay, thanks Lana.” Clark hung up the phone and gave Lex an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. Lana said that Chloe must have come back into the house while she was in another room, because she’s in her bedroom fast asleep now. So --- thanks anyway.” He gave a slight wave of his hand and Lex watched him exit through the front door.

“It *wasn’t* a dream,” Lex mused aloud, somewhat awestruck by the thought. He remembered his ‘imaginary friend’, or not so imaginary as it had turned out, and he pursed his lips. He was going to have to track him down. He wanted his other life back.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Chloe stretched her arms out and let out a loud yawn as she woke up. She blinked a few times as she took in the scene around her. It was her bedroom – her old bedroom. She absently ran her hand across her forehead and through her hair, and felt the heat radiating from her skin.

“It really *was* just a dream?” She mused aloud. She let her head flop back against her pillow, instantly regretting it when the pain in her head started to throb. “Well, that sucks.”



The End
(Of Story #3)

Joi’s challenge requirements:
1. Chloe is sick and Mr. Mxyzptlk makes himself looks like the pharmacist to give her something that will knock her out.
2. She wakes up in Lex’s bed and they’re seemingly married.
3. Smut ensues.
4. They must have a baby named Lena, who must have a ponytail on top of her head like a monchichi (from the 1980s cartoon if you’re not familiar with that reference).
5. Lex calls Lena his monchichi.

[scifichick774]

Title: The Completely Mental Misadventures of Mr. Mxyzptlk – Story 4: Where's Pete When You Need Him?
Author: scifichick774
Rating: PG-13
Category: Supernatural/Humor/Romance/Drama – honestly, it’s got a little bit of everything. The pairings are all over the place, but Chlex fans won’t be disappointed.
Spoilers: Anything through the second season is fair game.
Summary: Mr. Mxyzptlk decides to go back in time to cause mischief in Smallville, since Clark isn’t Superman yet and won’t know how to send him back to the fifth dimension.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: Yes please.
Archival: Sure – just let me know where.
Author’s Note: The fourth story comes from my own warped little brain and a few suggestions from friends on what they’d like to see in the fic series. I just didn’t have a solid challenge that would fit in this particular spot. Sorry.

~*~*~*~*~

Chloe lay back on the uncomfortable bed in her doctor’s office and placed her feet in the stirrups as instructed. When she woke up a couple of days ago from what she thought was a very vivid dream about her and Lex being married, she noticed that she had pain between her legs and she was bleeding. She made an appointment with her doctor and explained the situation, and now she was about to go through the exam that would change her life – she just didn’t know it yet. She heard her doctor make a knowing noise and push his chair away from the bed.

“You know what’s wrong?” Chloe asked hopefully. The older man nodded and smiled gently before standing up and folding his arms across his chest.

“You could have mentioned that you’ve become sexually active, Chloe. It’s not at all unusual for a woman to bleed after her first time,” he said. Chloe’s eyes grew wide.

“What? No. I’m not – I mean – I haven’t – I ---”

“Don’t worry. It’s all confidential,” the doctor said. “Your dad doesn’t need to know.”

“But, I ---” Chloe trailed off as she remembered how real it had all seemed at the time. Then her mind flitted to the strange little man that had been floating in Cole’s living room and all of the weird things that she heard happened to her friends as well. The baby in what she thought was a dream called the stuffed dragon Mxyzptlk, which sounded like what the man had called himself. Was it actually possible that she and Lex had been together? She inwardly frowned. Even if she told him, there was a very real possibility that Lex would just think she was crazy, so she decided against that option. But she felt the driving need to talk to *somebody* about what was going on – and it wasn’t going to be her doctor, because he would have her committed for a psych evaluation in a heartbeat.

Definitely not Pete. He had been there when Mr. Mxyzptlk had appeared, but she was pretty sure he was passing off the experience to meteor fumes or something since he hadn’t spoken of it since. Plus, she could almost picture him going to borrow Mr. Kent’s rifle for the occasion – even if she told him it was just a dream. There was Clark. He was there too, and he was the one who backed up Lana’s story about the so-called genie turning into the small floating man. On the other hand, if she told him what happened, she risked him thinking that she was nuts or losing whatever little chance she might have with him, so that was out too.

There was Lana. She had her own horrible experience with Mr. Mxyzptlk, so certainly she would be able to empathize with Chloe. But, she would have to be prepared to tell Lana the truth and not omit any details about who her husband had been and that the idea wasn’t entirely repulsive to her; in fact, it had seemed right. She finally resigned herself to nodding absently at her doctor. If all else failed, she could always call the teen hotline they had set up at school and just leave out details.

“Have you thought about it?” The doctor asked, bringing Chloe back to the realization that he had been talking all that time and she hadn’t heard a word he said. She stared at him with what he interpreted to be an overwhelmed expression on her face and he smiled compassionately. “Okay, look. I’ll give you some pamphlets to take home. They basically describe the pros and cons of the different kinds of birth control. Just read over them and let me know what you decide, alright?”

An hour later, Chloe was sipping her coffee alone at a corner table in the Talon. They weren’t busy, but Lana was taking up most of Clark’s attention and vice versa. Mr. Mxyzptlk, observing invisibly, noticed this as well and was a bit confused. He thought that Clark liked Chloe and that was the entire reason for hooking Chloe and Lex up in the first place; just to torment Clark.

‘Maybe he just hasn’t made up his mind yet,’ he thought to himself. An evil smile crept across his lips. ‘But I can help with that.’ With that, Mr. Mxyzptlk popped himself out of the coffee shop.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Chloe thought, forcing herself to look away from the couple at the counter. ‘I wouldn’t know where to start anyway.’ She didn’t notice Lucas come into the building, get his coffee, and then come striding over to her until he took the seat across from her and flashed her an almost hypnotic smile.

“Hey beautiful,” he greeted. She stared at him over the rim of her cup. Normally flattery was nice, even if it was coming from someone who had pickup lines down to a polished art form, but not today. Today she had too many other things occupying her mind to put up with this crap.

“That’s the second time you’ve called me that. I *do* have a name, you know?” She bit. Lucas didn’t seem at all fazed by the comment. Instead, he nodded his head and leaned back leisurely in his chair.

“I know, *Chloe*. But, you only ever hang out with dumb and dumber – well, and pretty prissy princess over there,” he said. Chloe raised her eyebrows in amusement.

“You make her sound like a ‘My Little Pony’ figurine.”

“She’s not?” Lucas joked. Despite her best effort not to laugh, she let out a little chuckle. “The point is, I don’t think any one of them has enough brain cells to appreciate you,” he said in a mock honest tone. Chloe gave him a wince of a smile and sipped at her coffee.

Even though she was sitting in the corner, Sheriff Neil Matthews noticed Chloe when he first came into the Talon. He didn’t know why, but for some reason he had been stricken with the irresistible urge to get coffee and he made his way down to the coffee shop right away. He frowned when he saw Lucas saunter across the room and sit at her table. He thought she had more common sense than to hang out with Lionel Luthor’s youngest son, who had quite the criminal record from what he had been able to gather. Most of it had been covered up by the boy’s evil father, but there were still rumors and the occasional misplaced piece of paperwork that turned up. Of course, Chloe was best friends with Clark Kent too, and that boy seemed to show up at every possible crime scene there was in Smallville.

“Hello, Sheriff,” Lana greeted with a smile. “What can I get for you today?”

“Black coffee to go,” he answered somewhat gruffly, his eyes still fixed in a disapproving glare toward Chloe’s table. Clark followed his line of sight and groaned.

“Dang,” Clark said under his breath. “I thought Lex warned him to stay away from Chloe.” He was talking more to himself than to anyone else, but Matthews overheard him. He couldn’t say that he liked the Kent boy all that much, but he didn’t exactly have any evidence against him either. The closest thing he had were the pictures that Chloe took, which showed a blurred image in several shots. Unfortunately, the lab hadn’t been able to clear it up much, so Matthews was forced to accept defeat for the time being.

“Maybe he needs a reminder,” the sheriff said casually. Clark looked at him in surprise. Sheriff Matthews hadn’t been all that friendly toward him since taking over the position – but he had gone out of his way to be nice to Chloe. Clark’s surprised look changed into a suspicious glare. Matthews was probably only being nice to Chloe to learn his secret and if he wasn’t --- Clark inwardly shook his head, not even wanting to think about it. The guy had to be in his late twenties; he was way too old for Chloe. Clark started to stand up, but Matthews held out his hand to push him back down. “Let me.” His eyes darted toward Lana, where she was helping a customer at the other side of the counter, and then back to Clark. “It will seem less personal that way.” Clark looked at him pensively. On one hand, he didn’t want Matthews to get any ideas about going after his friend; on the other, he had obviously noticed the ongoing triangle between him, Chloe, and Lana – and if he let the sheriff go over to warn Lucas off then the job would still get done without Lana getting mad at him.

“Thanks,” Clark finally said, still not entirely convinced of the purity behind the sheriff’s motives.

Matthews gave him a curt nod and Clark watched as he started walking over to Chloe’s table.

“Okay, here you ---” Lana trailed off when she saw that the sheriff was no longer standing there talking to Clark. She followed Clark’s gaze over to where Matthews was now talking to Lucas and Chloe and then she leaned her elbows onto the counter so she could speak to Clark in a hushed voice. “What do you think *that’s* about? Is Lucas in trouble or something?”

“Or something,” Clark responded, matching her volume. He focused his super hearing on the conversation so he could listen in.

‘Ooh! Fun, fun!’ Mr. Mxyzptlk thought to himself as he leaned back in the air, everyone in the room oblivious to his presence.

“They were *all* blurred?” Chloe asked. Matthews shook his head.

“Not all of them; and they weren’t blurry, but there was a smudge or something on some of them.”

“Weird,” she said under her breath.

“Yeah, weird,” Lucas said shortly and then gave the sheriff a fake smile. “Is that all? Because you know, *Chloe* and I were having a nice little conversation.” Chloe arched an eyebrow at him. Lucas felt threatened by Neil Matthews?

‘Could my life get any more bizarre?’ She thought. “No we weren’t,” she said. Lucas smiled and her and tilted his head to the side.

“But it was getting there,” he said. Chloe was about to tell him that it wasn’t, when Matthews decided to speak up.

“I’m sure that Miss Sullivan has better things to do with her time than to ---”

Lucas scoffed and then shook his head at the man.

“*Miss Sullivan*. Geez! You sound like my brother,” Lucas said. Chloe started coughing on the drink she had just tried to swallow and cleared her throat a couple of times until she was completely better.

“Are you okay?” Both guys asked at once. Chloe placed a fake smile on her lips.

“Fine, it just went down wrong,” she lied. What was she going to tell them? That Lucas even casually mentioning Lex in conversation brought back an image of the two of them together?

Clark snickered. Neither one of those guys had a chance with Chloe; he didn’t know why he had been so concerned about it. He noticed Lana giving him a strange look and realized that he must have made the sound out loud.

“What?” He asked, hoping that she would fall for his ‘innocent’ face. Lana narrowed her eyes at him and then shook her head a little.

“I don’t know,” she said. “You just --- well, it wasn’t really a laugh, but ---” She trailed off as the bell on the door sounded and she saw Lex walk in. She gave him a small smile as he walked over. “Hi Lex.” Clark turned around a little on his stool and smiled at his friend.

“Hey Lex.”

Lex nodded once at both of them.

“Clark, Lana,” he said. “I don’t suppose either one of you has seen ---” Lex paused as his eyes scanned the establishment and he caught his brother sitting with Chloe. “Lucas.” His brother’s name came out as a small growl and Clark and Lana exchanged a surprised expression. Lex squared his jaw and started to walk over to the table.

“Well, that settles it,” Lana said. “Lucas is *definitely* in trouble.” She crinkled up her nose and looked at Clark. “I wonder what he did?”

~*~*~*~
Ch. 2
~*~*~*~

Chloe’s eyes widened when she saw Lex heading over to the table.

‘It’s okay,’ she tried to tell herself. ‘It’s not like he remembers anything – hey, it’s not like there’s anything to remember because it was probably just a dream and I’m overreacting,’ she inwardly rambled. ‘Oh yeah?’ the little voice in her head spoke up, ‘then why were you bleeding?’ She forced herself to focus when Lex reached their table. She noticed that his eyes were fixed on Lucas in a cold, warning glare; and although she probably should have felt sorry for Lucas, all she could feel was relief for herself.

“Hey Lex,” Lucas said in a smug tone and a teasing grin on his lips. It hadn’t been long since Lex had told him that he didn’t have a chance with Chloe, and ever since then Lucas had a strong suspicion that Lex had some sort of feelings for the girl – even if he hadn’t admitted them to himself yet. When he heard Lex calling out Chloe’s name in what he assumed was a masturbatory passion, it only served to solidify his theory.

“What are you doing here?” Lex asked, holding in his temper only because the sheriff was standing next to the table as well. Lucas held up his coffee cup and wiggled it back and forth as much as he could without spilling any of the hot liquid. Lex frowned. “You’re here for coffee? You expect me to believe that?”

“You can believe anything you’d like,” Lucas said with a shrug.

Sheriff Matthews and Chloe shared a look. Lex was obviously angry with Lucas about something and Lucas was apparently goading him on. Both of them were smart enough to know better than to get in the middle of a Luthor war. As Lex and Lucas kept their eyes fixed on each other, the sheriff motioned for Chloe to get up.

‘Ye-ah,’ Chloe thought, ‘because that wouldn’t look like I was trying to run away at all. Geez. What is it with the stupid guys in this town?’ Her eyes darted around the room and she smiled brightly when she saw Pete walk in the front door. ‘Thank you, God!’

“Okay, well,” Chloe said as she quickly pushed her chair away from the table, “see you guys later.” Lex turned his head when she spoke and opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. What could he say to her in front of his brother and the local sheriff without sounding like he was crazy?

‘Hey – you remember a couple of days ago when my imaginary friend made us think we were married with a baby? Yeah, *that* would go over well,’ Lex thought sarcastically. Chloe pushed her way past her nerves and flashed a small grin at Lex before turning to leave. ‘Shit. She doesn’t remember at all.’

Matthews shot a warning glare at Lucas and then he headed back to the counter to retrieve his now lukewarm coffee. He was pleased to see Chloe rush over to Pete Ross and practically pull him out the door even though he had just come in. At least she had friends to help her get out of whatever Lucas was trying to pursue with her.

“Way to scare her off,” Lucas complained, snapping Lex out of whatever thoughts he was having while staring at the Talon’s front door. Lex turned his attention back to his brother and squared his jaw before sitting down.

“Pete just showed up; she would have left anyway,” Lex said with a calm he didn’t feel. “Why was the sheriff over here? Are you in trouble?” Lucas shrugged.

“Not that I know of,” he answered. Lex tilted his head slightly to the side, weighing whether or not he believed him and Lucas rolled his eyes. “He was over here for the same reason you were.”

“I sincerely doubt that.”

“You came over here to warn me away from her, right?” Lucas asked snidely. Lex barely resisted the urge to knock over the table between them and strangle him, but Lucas could see his nostrils flare with the comment and he smirked at the reaction he got. If he knew one thing about his brother, it was that he didn’t like competition, and it was a much more strategic play on Lucas’s part to get Lex jealous of the sheriff rather than him.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Pete, you have incredible timing,” Chloe said as she looped her arm through his. Pete looked down at the contact and then back up to her.

“Are you okay, Chloe?”

“I’m fine – okay, well, I’m not fine,” she said and gave her head a light shake, “but that’s not the point.”

“What *is* the point?”

“The point is that you have incredible timing,” she said and stopped as they reached her car.

“Not that I don’t love a compliment, but I have a feeling this doesn’t have anything to do with me,” he said, giving her a questioning look. Chloe sighed and tilted her head to the side.

“Sorry,” she said. “I had some bad news from my doctor today ---”

“Are you still sick?” Pete cut her off and took a wary step away from her. Chloe chuckled at his reaction and shook her head.

“No, I’m feeling better – but thanks for your concern.” She said the last part pointedly and Pete gave her light smile.

“Sorry Chlo, I just can’t afford to get sick with our game this Saturday,” he said. A look of understanding dawned on Chloe’s face.

“So, *that’s* why you haven’t been around,” she mused aloud. Pete frowned and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Yeah. Coach is pushing everybody pretty hard. He’s even put us on curfew,” he said. Chloe let out a small laugh and Pete’s frown faded into a grin. “So, why do I have incredible timing?”

“Oh yeah, that,” Chloe said, almost forgetting their original topic of conversation – or at least she was hoping to. “Lex’s brother just kind of helped himself to sitting at my table and it was just kind of uncomfortable.” She decided not to tell him about the rest of what was on her mind, knowing that he wouldn’t react well at all. The expression on Pete’s face grew serious and even a little threatening. Chloe wasn’t watching his hands or she would have noticed them clenching into fists.

“Was he hitting on you?”

“Not really – well, sort of I guess.” Chloe paused and shook her head. “No, not really. I think that’s just how he is.”

“I’ll kill him,” Pete said under his breath. Chloe chuckled, thinking that he was joking.

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Pete,” she said. “And how would you make the game on Saturday if you were locked up?”

“My mom is a judge,” he said. “There’s no way I would still be in jail by Saturday.” That only made Chloe laugh harder and Pete smiled because of it. “Besides, I don’t think I would even be arrested. I’ve seen the looks that new sheriff has been giving you,” he said teasingly. Chloe stopped laughing and looked at him in confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, please. Like you haven’t noticed?” Pete’s eyebrows rose when he saw the completely clueless expression on Chloe’s face. “Dang, girl. I know you have a crush on Clark, but you need to start opening up your eyes. There are lots of guys right in front of you who you’re completely ignoring.”

Chloe felt a pang of guilt as she remembered when Pete was under the influence of the Nicodemus flower. He hadn’t shown any signs about being interested in her since then, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking about himself. She decided to make light of the situation before it got too uncomfortable.

“Who? Like Lucas? I think I’ll pass, thanks,” she said.

“Yeah, speaking of him – he must have been pretty bad for you to practically push me out of there as an excuse.”

“He really wasn’t,” she said and shook her head. “But no matter how many times he calls me *beautiful*, I’m not going to start liking him; and in the mood I’m in today --- it was really more annoying than anything.” She glanced down at her watch and then gave Pete a small smile. “I’ve gotta get going. Talk to you later?”

“Yeah,” Pete said with a forced smile, “call me.” She nodded and Pete watched her as she drove off. He let the corners of his mouth fall into a menacing scowl. “I can’t believe he was hitting on her. Who the hell does he think he is?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk had watched the entire scene in and outside the Talon play out with a strange fascination. Neither Chloe nor Lex had told anyone what had happened to them – not even each other – even though they both strongly suspected that it hadn’t been a dream.

‘How am I supposed to upset Clark with the information if no one *gives* him the information?’ He thought to himself. An almost evil grin curled his lips upward. ‘Ooh. I know.’

Pete went back inside the Talon and gave a small smile to the sheriff who was just now on his way out after waiting for Lana to get him a new cup of coffee. He glanced around the room and his eyes narrowed when he saw Lucas and Lex talking over coffee at one of the back corner tables. Normally he would have just ignored them, but for some reason, he felt an overwhelming surge of protectiveness flow through his body.

Mr. Mxyzptlk looked on invisibly as Pete crossed the room and glared angrily at Lucas. He snapped his fingers and leaned back in the air as he watched his scheme go into action.

“You,” Pete said, pointing a finger at Lucas, “you stay the hell away from her!”

Clark and Lana shared a confused expression as they saw Pete come in, but instead of greeting them, he headed directly over to Lex and Lucas and started yelling. Lana leaned toward him.

“Maybe you should go over and play peacekeeper,” she suggested. Clark nodded.

“Good idea.”

Lucas arched an eyebrow at Pete and Lex leaned over the table toward him.

“He’s talking about Chloe,” he said in a hushed voice. Lucas rolled his eyes.

“I *know* that. I’m not an idiot, Lex.”

“The validity of that statement remains to be proven,” Lex said. Lucas gave him a tight grin and looked back at Pete.

“What are you getting mad at me for? I’m not the one who was jacking off while thinking about her,” he said, his brother’s eyes growing wide as the statement poured from his mouth. Pete’s anger seethed and his hands clamped onto Lucas’s shirt. With what seemed to be super-human strength, he picked the younger Luthor up and threw him against the wall.

Clark didn’t realize what was happening until too late and he rushed over to Lucas’s unconscious form. There was some blood coming from the back of his head, but he was still breathing. He looked over at Lana and she took his non-verbal signal to call an ambulance. Pete just stood there in shock, amazed by what had just happened.

“Pete?” Clark asked. The sound of Clark’s voice just barely registered in Pete’s head. Instead, Pete turned to look at Lex, who seemed just as stunned as he was.

“What did he mean by the ‘jacking off’ comment?”

~*~*~*~*~
Ch. 3
~*~*~*~*~

Lex looked at his brother and then back at Pete.

“How did you do that?” he asked suspiciously.

“You answer my question, I answer yours,” Pete said.

Lex ignored him and went to check on his brother. Sure, Clark had already checked on him and there was an ambulance en route, but checking on Lucas had the dual benefit of making him not look like an uncaring asshole in front of the other patrons of the Talon and allowing him to dodge Pete’s question at the same time. Momentarily anyway.

“Lucas?” Lex shook his brother’s shoulder a little bit, but Lucas didn’t respond. Lex wasn’t concerned. Lucas was still breathing and his heart rate was still good, he was just unconscious and a little bit bloody. Pete started to stalk over to him, but Clark held him back, shooting him a questioning look with his eyes.

“What’s going on with you?” Clark whispered, his gaze darting to the Luthors on the floor and then back to Pete. Pete tilted his head toward Clark.

“I don’t know,” he admitted in a hushed voice. “I just got so angry. I’ve never felt anything like that before, Clark.” Clark frowned at his friend. “And then, the next thing you know ---” he trailed off and shook his head as he looked at Lucas. “Do you think this has something to do with the ‘you-know-what’?”

“Maybe,” Clark said, sounding unconvinced. “But do you think it can do that?” Pete shrugged.

“It cured your mom,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but ---” Clark stopped whispering when the ambulance and a police car pulled up outside the Talon.

Sheriff Matthews came in first and his eyebrows rose when he saw the unconscious bleeding form of Lucas on the floor. The paramedics came in and started to take his vital signs as the sheriff began to ask questions.

“Why am I not surprised to see you here?” he asked Clark. Clark shoved his hands in his pockets and gave him his best ‘I’m innocent’ look.

“Because I’ve been here for the last hour?” Clark offered. Matthews scowled at him and then made his way over to where Lex was watching his brother being examined.

“You want to tell me what happened?” the sheriff asked.

“Mr. Ross came over to our table to tell Lucas to stay away from Chloe; Lucas made an inappropriate comment; Mr. Ross lost his temper,” Lex summarized. Matthews looked over at Pete and motioned for him to come over.

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched on, disguised as one of the paramedics. He blinked once and Pete’s boiling anger and super-strength that he had temporarily given him were taken away. Pete walked over to the sheriff and gave him a guilty look.

“*You* did this?” Matthews asked. Pete’s shoulders sunk.

“Yes, sir,” he said.

“How?”

“I – I don’t know,” he said and shook his head a little. “It just sort of --- happened.” Matthews looked questioningly at Pete.

“What did he say to set you off?”

“He was hitting on Chloe,” Pete said in a defensive tone.

“And?”

“And then,” Pete paused and ducked his head, “then he said something about Lex – you know – while thinking about her – and ---”

Lex was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings from when Mr. Mxyzptlk made him and Chloe believe they were married.

“I wasn’t jacking off and what I do with Chloe is none of your ---” Lex interrupted, only to stop himself when he realized what he had just said, and who he said it to. Sheriff Matthews and Pete both narrowed their eyes at him.

“What did you say?” Matthews asked in low growl fraught with suspicion.

“Yeah,” Pete chimed in. “News flash Luthor – Chloe would never go out with you.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk grinned mischievously as he helped lift Lucas onto the stretcher. He was a little surprised that Lex hadn’t recognized him yet, since he went to all the trouble of looking like he did when he was Lex’s ‘imaginary friend’, but he would get a good look at him soon enough.

“Excuse us,” he said as he walked backward, carrying his end of the stretcher. Lex and the sheriff moved to the sides but Lex grabbed the man’s arm as soon as he recognized him, almost causing them to drop Lucas.

“You!” Lex yelled. Clark’s eyebrows rose and he leaned his head to the side. He didn’t recognize the man, but Lex obviously did. “You took her away from me!”

“She wasn’t yours to begin with,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said in a taunting voice. Lex snarled at him and he started laughing. Clark recognized the laugh and finally put the pieces together. He stepped toward Mr. Mxyzptlk and stared him down.

“What did you do?” he asked accusingly. Mr. Mxyzptlk smiled giddily.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he answered. Clark reached out and grabbed him by the jacket, to which Mr. Mxyzptlk responded by changing back into his true form and floating out of Clark’s grasp. The sheriff’s mouth dropped open and it looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head. The other paramedic let go of his end of the stretcher, but Lucas body stayed horizontal as it hovered in mid-air.

“What the hell?” Matthews asked. Mr. Mxyzptlk waved his hand and everyone in the Talon froze except for him, Clark, and Lex.

“What did you do?” Clark repeated.

“I froze them,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said.

“I can *see* that,” Clark said. “I mean ---”

“I want her back,” Lex interrupted, completely unfazed by Mr. Mxyzptlk’s normal appearance, or the fact that the imp could bend all rules of physics in the universe to suit his whim. Clark and Mr. Mxyzptlk turned to face him.

“You never had her,” Mr. Mxyzptlk reminded him, but then tilted his head to the side. “Well, okay, you *had* her, but - it was just one of my fun little games.”

“I don’t care,” Lex said in almost a growl. “I want my life back.” Clark observed the two of them with a great deal of confusion.

“What are you talking about?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk smiled proudly.

“I made them think that they were married,” he answered. Clark was almost afraid to ask, but only because he had a strong suspicion as to what the answer would be.

“Who?” he asked hesitantly.

“Me and Chloe,” Lex answered for the little man. Mr. Mxyzptlk nodded in agreement.

“Why?” Clark asked.

“Because ---”

“I don’t care why,” Lex interrupted again, “but I’ll pay you whatever you want to get her back.” A look of complete shock crossed Clark’s face and Mr. Mxyzptlk just seemed amused.

“Lex, I don’t think ---”

“I don’t need your money,” Mr. Mxyzptlk cut off Clark and sloughed off Lex’s proposal with a wave of his hand.

“What *do* you need?” Lex asked. Mr. Mxyzptlk was surprised. He should have expected a counter offer from Clark’s future nemesis, but for some reason he hadn’t, and it intrigued him. He waved his hand again as Clark was starting to protest what Lex had just said and Clark froze.

“Interesting,” Mr. Mxyzptlk mused aloud. Lex was about to say something when Mr. Mxyzptlk snapped his fingers and everyone in the place fell to the floor or slumped down in their chairs, including Lex. The ambulance and other paramedic disappeared, as did the stretcher underneath Lucas. The blood on the wall disappeared and Lucas’s head wound healed. Then, Mr. Mxyzptlk added a final touch of making the room smell like natural gas. With a blink of his eyes, he vanished.

Clark awoke around the same time as the others, with his head pounding and coughing into his t-shirt as he held it up to his nose and mouth. All of the patrons made it outside and Lana shook her head lightly as she wove through them to get to Clark and Pete.

“I can’t believe we had a gas leak,” she said as she got up to him. “I hope everyone’s going to be alright.”

“I’m sure they will be,” Clark said reassuringly. The sheriff came over and gave Lana a quick nod of his head as a greeting.

“We’re going to have to shut you down for a few days until they can find the source of the leak and contain it,” he said. Lana nodded.

“Of course,” she agreed. Matthews looked suspiciously at Clark before leaving and Lana furrowed her brow. “What was that about?”

“I don’t know,” Clark lied. “He just doesn’t seem to like me for some reason.”

Lex and Lucas walked over to where the group of teenagers had gathered and just like them, or most of them anyway, they didn’t remember what had happened either.

“Lex, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how this could have happened,” Lana said.

“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault, Lana,” Lex said. Lucas rolled his eyes as much as he could before the throbbing pain in his head stopped him.

“Of course not,” he said somewhat sarcastically, only reigning in the full force of his quip because too many of her friends were surrounding her. He made a face and then looked at Clark. “Hey, I didn’t see ---” He was about to say that he didn’t see Chloe leave and ask if she was alright when he saw her talking to the sheriff and trailed off. “Never mind, I see her,” he said with a smile.

Pete shook his head as he watched Lucas cross through the crowd to get to Chloe.

“You think he even realizes that he doesn’t have a shot with her?” Pete asked. Clark looked over at Lex to gauge his reaction, and frowned when he saw Lex squaring his jaw. Pete turned back around and gave Clark and Lana a small smile. “Well, I gotta go guys. Talk to you later.” Lex barely acknowledged the fact that Pete walked off before trying to head in Lucas and Chloe’s direction. Clark stopped him and smiled at Lana.

“Lana – isn’t that the health inspector?”

Lana’s head whipped around and she wrinkled her nose.

“Ooh,” she muttered under her breath. “Wish me luck.”

Lex turned to look at Clark almost angrily, but Clark glanced at Chloe and then back to his friend.

“She doesn’t remember, Lex,” Clark said. Lex looked at him questioningly and Clark sighed and gave him a sad, almost pitying look. “She doesn’t remember.”




The End
(Of Story # 4)

[scifichick774]

Title: The Completely Mental Misadventures of Mr. Mxyzptlk – Story 5: Deal With The Devil
Author: scifichick774
Rating: R
Category: Supernatural/Humor/Romance/Drama – honestly, it’s got a little bit of everything. The pairings are all over the place, but Chlex fans won’t be disappointed.
Spoilers: Anything through the second season is fair game.
Summary: Mr. Mxyzptlk decides to go back in time to cause mischief in Smallville, since Clark isn’t Superman yet and won’t know how to send him back to the fifth dimension.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: Yes please.
Archival: Sure – just let me know where.
Author’s Note: The fifth story is based on Rachael’s challenge, and the requirements will be listed at the end of it. Just so you know, because of the contents of the challenge, I’m going to be making this into a dual story fulfillment (parts I & II). This part takes place a week or so after the last one left off. Enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Luthor Castle

Over the last week, Mr. Mxyzptlk had been quiet, picking up lots of knowledge about the relationships and goings-on in Smallville without anyone being the wiser. Clark liked Chloe as a friend, and maybe a little more, but only seemed to be moderately concerned that he had made Chloe and Lex think they were married.

‘Only because he wasn’t told how far it went,’ Mr. Mxyzptlk thought to himself with a smile. His thoughts were pushed aside when he heard footsteps in the hallway. He had a plan and it was time to put it into motion. Quickly, he morphed into Lionel’s image and a glass of an amber colored liquid magically appeared in his hand.

Lex scowled at him the second he walked into the room and saw his dad seated in front of the fireplace. He walked over to the decanter set and poured himself a drink, swallowing some of the alcohol before turning to face who he thought was his father.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Lex said coolly. Mr. Mxyzptlk lifted his lips in a smug smirk that he had seen Lionel use many times over the course of his observation.

“Unhappy to see me, Lex?”

Lex took another sip from his glass and turned around to walk to the chair across from Mr. Mxyzptlk. He sat down and gave Mr. Mxyzptlk a completely neutral expression, although Mr. Mxyzptlk could tell that it was well practiced.

“Why don’t we just skip the small talk and you can tell me what you’re doing here?” Lex asked snidely. Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes a little to the side and then looked back at Lex.

“Such hostility,” he teased and then let out a mock sigh. “Well, I suppose that’s to be expected.” He set his glass down on the side table next to him and leaned back in his chair. “Tell me, how much do you know about the young woman that your brother is chasing after. What was her name? Chloe Sullivan?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk noticed that Lex covered his surprise and his anger well.

“I’m sure there’s nothing I can tell you that your detectives haven’t already,” Lex responded and took a larger swig from his glass. Mr. Mxyzptlk looked at him questioningly and Lex squared his jaw. “You don’t need to worry about her – she’s not after his money,” Lex said. A small grin played at his lips. “She’s not after him,” he said before raising his glass to his lips and taking the last drink.

“I see,” Lionel said.

“No, you don’t,” Lex said, leaning forward in his chair. “She doesn’t like him as anything more than a friend – if even that. She’s not any kind of threat to you.”

“She’s the daughter of your plant manager *and* a reporter,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said in a displeased tone. Inwardly he was thrilled though. Lex was getting riled up and that’s exactly what he needed for his plan to succeed.

“For the high school paper,” Lex countered. Mr. Mxyzptlk arched an eyebrow and Lex sighed and leaned back in his chair. “She’s a friend of Clark’s,” he said, answering what he believed to be his father’s unspoken question about how he knew so much about her. Mr. Mxyzptlk gave Lex a teasing grin and took a sip from his glass.

“If I didn’t know of your propensity toward brunettes, I’d say that Lucas might have competition,” he said goatingly. Lex stared at him and Mr. Mxyzptlk rose from his chair and flashed him a smile. “Well, in any case, I should be able to evaluate the situation for myself this evening. Lex tilted his head and started to stand up.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you?” He smiled broadly, smugly. “I’m meeting Gabe and his lovely daughter Chloe for dinner tonight – at, uh – The Jade Dragon I think it was.”

“What?” Lex ground out through gritted teeth.

“Indeed,” Mr. Mxyzptlk confirmed. “I thought it would only be fitting to meet the woman that my son is so enamored with and Gabe agreed that he would like to meet Lucas, so he and I arranged a bit of a sit-down if you will.” He gave a light chuckle. “Neither Lucas nor Chloe knows the either will be there, so it should provide a pleasant surprise.” He let his smile fall to an amused grin. “And if not, then at least it will be entertaining.” Mr. Mxyzptlk turned on his heel and left. “Have a good night, son.”

Lex growled as the door shut behind Mr. Mxyzptlk. He grabbed his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed for the operator. He listened to the voice on the other line for a moment and then spoke into the phone.

“Yes. I need the number for The Jade Dragon restaurant in Smallville,” he said. There was a pause as the information was received. “Yes. Could you connect me?”

Lex listened to the phone ring and didn’t even realize that he was pacing. Mr. Mxyzptlk watched on from his now invisible state and almost started laughing.

“This is Lex Luthor. My father has reservations there tonight --- eight o’clock? Right. I need to add another member to the party.”


The Jade Dragon Restaurant – later that evening

“So, are you going to tell me what prompted this sudden urge for father-daughter bonding?” Chloe asked as Gabe held the door open for her. Gabe grinned at her.

“I barely get to see you anymore, sweetheart, that’s all. And I figured since Lana has to work late at the Talon, we could spend some quality time together,” he answered. Chloe arched an eyebrow and shook her head lightly.

“You’re the worst liar ever,” she said with a laughing smile. “Okay, maybe not *ever*, because Clark ranks right up there too. But you’re definitely in the top ten,” she said while pointing a finger at him. Gabe chuckled and gave his daughter a half-hug around the shoulders.

“Just don’t kill me,” he said in a hushed voice as they neared the host’s podium. She narrowed her eyes at him, but was soon distracted by someone saying her name. She looked over to the counter, only to see Sheriff Matthews smiling at her. She smiled back and told her dad that she would be back in a second. The host was busy seating someone else, so Gabe looked on in amusement as Chloe went to go talk to the officer.

“You’re early,” Lex said to Gabe as he came through the front doors. Gabe turned around and smiled at Lex as he stuck his hand out for a handshake.

“Lex,” he greeted.

“Gabe,” Lex responded, shaking his hand. Lex’s eyes went to where Chloe was talking with the sheriff and Gabe followed his line of sight.

“It seems like he’s being a little *too* friendly with her, but I’m probably just being paranoid because I’m her dad,” Gabe said, a small frown starting to appear on his lips.

“You’re not,” Lex said. Gabe gave him a strange look and Lex smiled. “Being paranoid,” he clarified. “Lucas and her friend Pete have pointed out the same thing recently.” The frown on Gabe’s face grew more pronounced.

“He’s too old for her.”

“She’s a mature young woman,” Lex said carefully. “How old is too old?” He only hoped that Gabe wouldn’t see through his thinly veiled attempt at finding out what Gabe considered to be an acceptable age difference for dating his daughter.

“I know she’s mature,” Gabe said, “and I guess I’ve always expected her to end up with someone older; but I was thinking more along the lines of five or six years, not *thirteen*.” Lex inwardly smiled. Chloe’s dad considered the difference in their ages to be acceptable – he even expected it. That would make things much easier. The second part of what Gabe said finally broke through Lex’s thoughts.

“Matthews is thirty?” he asked. Gabe nodded, prompting Lex to do the same. “That is too old. But five or six years --- would mean someone around my age,” he said hesitantly to see how Gabe would react to the idea of him with his daughter. Gabe snickered.

“I think your brother might have a problem with that,” he said.

“Do you know Lucas?”

“No, but I know he’s persistent,” Gabe answered. “If this dinner with your family doesn’t work out tonight, then I think she’ll be ready to take out a restraining order on him.” He was joking, but Lex nodded seriously in agreement.

“She should,” he said. Gabe chuckled, thinking that Lex was joking in kind. Lex grinned and watched as Matthew’s take-out order was brought to him. Chloe waved goodbye and strolled back over to her dad, not even seeming to notice that Lex was there.

“You know, for being a cop, he ---” she trailed off when she saw Lex standing there and tried desperately to force down the blush she knew was going to rise to her cheeks. “M-”

“Lex,” he cut her off. Chloe smiled uneasily.

“Lex,” she said.

“Chloe,” he greeted. “So, what were you and the good sheriff talking about?”

“Oh. Noth-”

A little girl with a furry little doll came running past and bumped into Chloe, interrupting what she was going to say.

“Monchichi!” the little girl yelled excitedly, spinning the doll around in the air. Chloe and Lex’s eyes both grew wide, but Gabe just shook his head in amusement.

“I remember that cartoon. Your cousin Tommy used to watch it,” Gabe told Chloe. Chloe turned her head to look at him, but caught Lex’s eyes instead. Chloe quickly looked away and smiled nervously at her dad.

“I forgot – I promised Lana that I’d bring her home something, but I didn’t write down what she wanted --- I’m just going to go call her real quick,” Chloe stammered, pointing toward the phones and dodging eye contact with Lex. Gabe opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by the sound of Lucas and Mr. Mxyzptlk, who once again looked liked Lionel, coming in the front doors.

“Chloe!”

~*~*~*~
Ch. 2
~*~*~*~

“Lucas,” Chloe greeted with a fake smile. Lucas came over and tried to give her a hug, but Chloe stepped toward her dad instead. “What’s he doing here?” she asked in a strained, whispered voice.

“Surprise?” Gabe offered. Chloe narrowed her eyes at her dad and Lex shot Mr. Mxyzptlk an ‘I told you so’ look.

Lucas didn’t seem at all fazed by Chloe’s apparent disregard for him. He gave her a broad smile and then shook Gabe’s hand politely.

“Lucas Luthor,” he introduced. Gabe nodded once and shook his hand back.

“Gabe Sullivan.”

The host finally showed up at the podium and flashed an apologetic smile at the group.

“I’m so sorry,” he said as he grabbed the menus. “We’ve been really busy tonight.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk let out a derisive huff and Lex shot him a warning look. His father was used to dining at only the best restaurants with the best service, and Lex had a feeling that he was going to make their poor waiter’s life a living hell for the time they were there. The group started following the host to their table and Lex placed a hand on the small of Chloe’s back. Chloe looked up at him, startled. Lex leaned down to speak into her ear and Chloe felt a shiver of delight pass through her. She quickly forced it down.

‘He doesn’t think of you like that and he doesn’t remember what happened,’ she reminded herself. ‘Stupid little floating guy.’

“If he tries anything, just tell me,” Lex whispered. Chloe furrowed her brow slightly in confusion, wondering why Lex was being so protective all of a sudden. She could understand it if they were really together, but they weren’t and – was there a possibility that he remembered? She looked away from him as they reached the table and Lucas took the seat next to hers.

No sooner did they sit down before Chloe noticed Clark and Pete walking into the restaurant, presumably for takeout since they went straight to the counter. Pete noticed her and they waved at each other.

Mr. Mxyzptlk frowned. If Clark was here, it would ruin his plan. He had to think of something to get him out of here. Damn. That stupid boy and his friend were on their way over to the table.

Lex noticed Mr. Mxyzptlk scowling at Clark and his face lit up.

“Clark, Mr. Ross,” Lex stood up and greeted with a nod of his head. Clark smiled back and Pete returned the head nod.

“What’s this all about?” Pete asked, motioning to the table that seated the three Luthor men, Chloe, and her dad. Lucas leaned back in his chair and gave Pete a cocky smile as he draped his arm over Chloe’s shoulders.

“Dinner with the future in-laws,” he answered. Chloe rolled her eyes and took Lucas’s arm off of her. Pete snickered and Mr. Mxyzptlk arched an eyebrow.

“Is something amusing?” he asked in a sneering tone, copying what he figured Lionel would do in the situation. Pete and Chloe exchanged a look and Pete beamed him a fake smile.

“No, sir,” he said in a tone that reeked of mock respect. Clark cringed with embarrassment, but Chloe, Lex, and Pete all barely hid their chuckles afterward.

As much as Mr. Mxyzptlk liked to joke around with the best of them, this wasn’t the best time for it. First of all, he was disguised as Lionel – who he doubted had much of a sense of humor at all unless it involved laughing at other people’s failures; and second, he didn’t have a chance of getting his plan to work as long as Su- Clark Kent and Pete Ross were there. Then, the perfect idea struck him and he inwardly smiled. He looked past them to the windows and placed a shocked look on his face.

“What in ---?”

Everyone’s heads swung around to look out the windows, where the neon dragon that had been above the restaurant’s sign had apparently come to life. Clark’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the now very real neon-green colored dragon that was breathing fire onto some of the surrounding establishments. He and Pete exchanged a look that everyone else missed because they were looking out the windows too.

“Looks like your little friend is at it again,” Pete whispered.

‘There. Let’s see you deal with that without exposing your powers,’ Mr. Mxyzptlk thought.

Clark frowned. How was he supposed to stop a dragon? And he knew it had to be up to him, because nobody else in town would be able to do it. He had to get out of there. Clark turned around to face Chloe, who was still looking at the neon colored dragon in awe.

“I – uh – gotta go,” he said quickly. He and Pete had run out of the building before his words sank into Chloe’s head. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again, pushing herself away from the table.

“I can’t believe he’s trying to scoop me! That ---”

Lucas tugged on her arm to bring her back down to a sitting position and she glared at him.

“What are you doing?” she asked in frustration. “I need to get out there! I need to ---”

“Why? It’s not like there’s anything you can do about it,” Lucas pointed out. “And some things are more important than a story – you know, like *staying alive*?”

Chloe clenched her hands into fists and pursed her lips. There was no way she was going to let Lex’s scamp of a brother stand in between her and what could possibly be the biggest story she would ever have. She turned her body around in the chair and looked pleadingly at her father. Gabe shook his head and held his hands up.

“Oh, no. I’m with Lucas on this one. I don’t even know what possessed Clark and Pete to run out of here like that. You could get hurt,” he said.

“But --- *dragon*,” she emphasized. “Come on, Dad. Stories like this don’t just come along every day! Well, okay, they kind of do here in Smallville - but that’s not the point.”

“Chl-oe,” her dad strung out her name warningly and Lucas smugly grinned.

“Yeah, Chloe. It’s not like there won’t be other stories,” he said. “Who knows? In a few years, one of your meteor freaks might learn to fly or something.” Chloe tilted her head at him and shot him a scathing look, which only seemed to spur on his teasing. “Besides, the dragon will probably get sick after eating the princess anyway and then you can get pictures of its dead body.”

“The princess?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked in a somewhat amused tone.

“Lana,” Lucas said. “She works over at the Talon and every guy in town seems to be into her for some unexplainable reason.”

“Lucas, what makes you think the dragon is going to go after Lana?” Chloe asked hesitantly. Lucas shrugged.

“Just wishful thinking,” he said. The corners of his lips curled upward in a small grin. “*And* it was headed in that direction.”

Chloe’s head whipped around to look at her dad with a panicked expression. Gabe frowned and sighed, but after a moment he nodded.

“Just be careful,” he told her. Chloe practically jumped out of her chair and both Lucas and Mr. Mxyzptlk gave him puzzled looks.

“You’re letting her go?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked with surprise.

“Like I had a choice?” Gabe retorted.

“You certainly did. You could have kept her here,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said. Gabe shook his head and gave him a weary look.

“You don’t know my daughter. Once she gets her mind set on something – and especially if one of her friends is involved – there’s almost no way to stop her. I’m sure that Lex can back me up on that.” Gabe looked over to where Lex had been sitting, only to find him gone. “Where’d he go?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk made a sound of displeasure for show and then pushed himself away from the table.

“If you’ll pardon me, I have a phone call to make,” he said.

Gabe looked over questioningly at Lucas after Mr. Mxyzptlk left the table.

“Is your family always like this?” he asked in a joking tone. Lucas chuckled.

“Is yours?”

~*~*~*~*~

“Chloe, wait!” Lex grabbed her arm as she was running toward the Talon through the light cloud of smoke forming from the building that the dragon had already attacked.

“Lex!” she said in surprise, quickly turning her head back around to see the dragon picking people off the street and flinging them around haphazardly. “Let go! I have to ---”

“You have to what? As much as I hate to admit this, Lucas was right. There’s nothing you can do and you’re going to get yourself hurt.”

“But ---” her statement trailed off into a high-pitched scream as the dragon flung Clark toward them and his body slammed against the sidewalk. The cement cracked and a large hole was formed from the impact. “Clark?” She kneeled beside him, but he seemed to be knocked out cold. “Oh, God.” She looked up at Lex and chewed on her bottom lip before speaking again. “Give me your jacket.”

“Excuse me?”

“Give me your jacket,” she repeated with a little more authority in her voice. “I have to keep him from breathing in the smoke and it’s your jacket or my shirt – so take it off.” Lex stood there for a second without moving, too stunned from the mental image that her words had created. “Luthor!” He shook his head lightly to snap the image out of his mind.

“Right. Sorry,” he said, shrugging the jacket off his shoulders and handing it to her. Just as she was about to shield Clark’s face with it, Clark started coughing and his eyes fluttered open.

“Clark!” she yelled in relief and threw her arms around him. Lex tried to hold back the surge of jealousy he felt over seeing her in Clark’s arms, but was unsuccessful. He put his hand on her shoulder and pulled back slightly, urging her to stand up.

“Give him some room,” Lex said as calmly as he could. Chloe gave Clark an embarrassed smile and pushed herself off of him.

“Are you okay?”

“I – I don’t know,” Clark answered, rubbing the back of his head. “I --- you!” Chloe and Lex looked down at him in worry, but he was looking past them to the floating imp in back of Chloe. Chloe and Lex turned around to follow his angry stare and their eyes widened.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Mr. Mxyzptlk scolded, waving his finger in the air as Lex stepped toward him. “One more step and I feed the dragon.” Chloe furrowed her brow until the red-haired baby from her previous experience appeared in Mr. Mxyzptlk’s arms. He smirked and held the baby out in the direction of the dragon. “He-re, dragon, dragon, dragon.”

“Lena!”

~*~*~*~
Ch. 3
~*~*~*~

Chloe and Lex’s heads whipped around to face each other when they both called out Lena’s name.

“Y-you ---?” Chloe asked with wide eyes.

“--- Remember?” Lex finished for her. They both stared at each other in shock Mr. Mxyzptlk’s voice snapped them back to reality.

“Well, it’s about time!” he exclaimed. Chloe frowned. The floating imp still had their daughter in his outstretched arms, but now he was facing them instead of the dragon.

“Just – give her to me,” Chloe said, holding her arms out and stepping closer to him.

“Mama!” Lena squealed and tried to lean toward her.

Clark’s eyes grew wide when the baby girl called Chloe ‘mama’. His conversation with Lex and Mr. Mxyzptlk from the previous week went flashing through his mind.

‘I made them believe that they were married…’

Clark paled. Obviously the little girl had been part of the illusion, and the scary thing was that she did look like both of them. Clark pushed himself up off the ground and stared at Mr. Mxyzptlk as he made his way over to Chloe. He laid his hand on her shoulder and leaned down to speak into her ear.

“Just remember – she’s not really yours. We need to keep her safe so she can be returned to her real family,” he said. Clark’s words made Chloe feel physically ill. Of course the baby wasn’t really hers, just like she wasn’t really married to Lex. What had she been thinking?

“I ---” she trailed off when she felt her eyes filling with tears.

“Actually, they *are* her real family,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said, feeling a little bad about making Chloe cry. “Or, they would be if she existed.” He blinked his eyes and Lena disappeared. Lex growled.

“What did you do?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk sloughed off his threatening tone with a wave of his hand.

“She’s *not* real, she *doesn’t* exist,” he tried to explain. A small smirk played at the corners of his mouth. “At least, not in this time frame.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clark asked. Mr. Mxyzptlk’s smirk grew with what he conceived to be jealousy coming from Clark.

“Lena is the baby that Chloe and Lex would have if they ever got together,” he answered. Clark shook his head.

“That’s never going to happen,” he argued. Mr. Mxyzptlk laughed at Clark’s insistence.

“It happened once,” he said. Clark furrowed his brow and looked back and forth between his friends. Mr. Mxyzptlk took Clark’s distraction as the opportunity to disappear.

“What does he mean?” Clark asked hesitantly. Chloe bit her lower lip nervously and looked at Lex, who unfortunately wasn’t going to be much of a help at all. She saw the look in his eyes and took a few steps back as he started walking toward her. He quickly closed the space between them and gripped onto her hips with his hands, pulling her toward him. He brought his mouth down to hers and Chloe’s eyes grew wide.

‘We aren’t married, we aren’t married, we aren’t --- mmm,’ her line of thinking trailed off and her body began to give into his persuasion. Her eyes fluttered closed and Chloe’s hands ran up his chest and rested on his shoulders as she opened her mouth to him.

Clark stood there, gawking at the fact that two of his best friends were engaged in a rather heated kiss.

“Guys?” he asked, trying to alert them to what they were doing. ‘Well, they’re obviously not doing this on their own,’ he thought and then past them, only to find that Mr. Mxyzptlk had disappeared. He ran a worried hand through his hair. He had to stop them, but he had a bad feeling that he wouldn’t be able to do so without exposing his powers.

“He-lp!” he heard a woman scream from down the street. And not just any woman, but Lana. His head turned around quickly to see Lana squirming in the dragon’s jaw. “Help me! Somebody! Please!” Then he heard Pete’s voice with his super hearing.

“Just hold on, Lana. I’ll go get help,” he said. Clark’s stomach fell, knowing that he would be the one that Pete turned to when he said he was going to get help. But if Pete came over there and saw Chloe and Lex making out, then heads would roll. Clark took a deep breath and used his super speed to rush over to Pete, Lana, and the dragon. “Good thing you’re here, man. The thing went right for her.” Clark gave him a nervous look.

“I don’t know if I can stop it without – you know,” Clark said quietly. Pete shook his head at him.

“Hey, I’m all for the keeping your secret thing, but that’s your dream girl up there. You’ve gotta set some priorities,” he said. Clark nodded.

He focused his eyes on the dragon’s heart and used his heat vision to burn at the skin. The dragon let out a roar and dropped Lana into Clark’s arms. She stared up at him and then rested her head against him.

“Clark – oh, thank God,” she breathed.

The dragon snarled down at them and pulled back his head to blow fire at them. Lana screamed and buried her head against Clark’s chest. Clark turned around so he would take the full brunt of the fire, but no fire ever came. Mr. Mxyzptlk, pleased that Clark had exposed himself by using his heat vision, snapped his fingers and the dragon disappeared. Clark turned around, Lana still in his arms, and a look of relief spread over her face. Lana looked up at him questioningly.

“Clark? What’s going on?”

Clark frowned. He really had no way of answering that.

“You know that genie?”

“Ye-ah?” she answered.

“Well, I think he has it in for me,” he said. Lana’s nose wrinkled in confusion.

“Why?”

“I’m not sure,” Clark admitted. Lana frowned, but nodded.

“Clark?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you can put me down now.”

“Oh, right,” Clark said, a red hue spreading to his cheeks. He placed her feet on the ground. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said with mild amusement. She glanced around the surrounding area. All of the buildings that had been on fire were now completely repaired as if nothing had happened. Lana shook her head. “I don’t get it. I mean ---” she trailed off, tilting her head to the side as she looked in the direction that Clark had come from earlier. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. “Is that ---” Clark and Pete both turned to see what her stare was fixed on. Clark winced when he saw that Lex had Chloe pushed up against the wall of the building and her legs were wrapped around his waist. Pete chuckled, but only because he didn’t immediately recognize the couple.

“Well, you know what they say about intense situations,” he said and waggled his eyebrows.

“Um, maybe we should go into the Talon – make sure everything’s okay,” Clark said, trying to usher his two friends into the building so Pete wouldn’t flip out when he realized who the couple was. Pete took one last look over his shoulder and his smile fell into a gasp.

“Son of ---”

“Pete,” Clark interrupted, pushing on his friend’s back to urge him to go inside the Talon. Pete pushed his way past Clark and Lana and Clark ran a hand over his face. Lana tugged at his arm.

“Come on. We need to get over there before Pete kills them both,” she said. Clark nodded and the two ran after Pete.

At that exact moment, Lucas was on his way out of the restaurant. He had gotten sick of waiting around for his dad to come back from the phone and Gabe said it was fine to leave him behind to eat alone. His eyes focused on Lex and Chloe. Chloe had her back up against the wall of the building and her legs wrapped around Lex’s waist. Both of their eyes were closed and Lex was thrusting into her, eliciting a series of loud moans and grunts from both of them. Lucas narrowed his eyes.

“Oh, hell no!”

~*~*~*~
Ch. 4
~*~*~*~

Chloe moaned loudly with every thrust Lex delivered. He felt so good, so right inside her, that she wondered how she could have kept her crush on Clark Kent for so long when it was obvious that Lex was the man she was supposed to be with. The thought scared her a little, especially since they weren’t technically together, but she pushed it away and concentrated on the sensations coursing through her body. She was so close – her hands gripped Lex’s shoulder’s tighter as she slammed herself against his thrusts. Chloe felt her stomach quiver and her vision became blotchy as she felt the full-on impact of her orgasm sweep over her.

Lex let out an almost whimpered grunt when he felt Chloe’s inner walls close around him and her juices coated his cock. He pounded himself into her a few more times and let out a strangled cry of her name when he finally climaxed. Weak from their lovemaking, they practically collapsed against the wall he had her pushed up against. Chloe slowly rose up a little and then lowered herself down to the ground with Lex’s assistance. He barely got the zipper on his slacks up when he felt a firm fist slug him in the stomach.

He was leaning forward, grabbing his stomach from the pain, when another fist from the other direction smacked his jaw hard. Chloe screamed. Pete seemed to have come out of nowhere and just attacked Lex for no reason; and then Lucas, also suddenly appearing on the scene, punched his brother’s face.

“Stop it!” Chloe screamed, trying to get the two boys away from Lex. Clark and Lana arrived and Lana tugged at Chloe’s arm to get her away from the brawl that had ensued. Chloe shot the other girl a glare, but Lana was persistent.

“Let Clark handle it,” Lana pleaded, “he’s stronger.”

“Ya think?” Chloe asked sarcastically out of frustration. She immediately gave Lana an apologetic look. “Sorry,” she said and ran a hand through her hair as she watched Clark grab Pete and Lucas and tear them away from Lex. Lex had started fighting back after the second blow, but he was already injured and it was two against one, so he hadn’t been fairing well. Clark kept a firm grip on the collars of both Pete and Lucas’s shirts as they struggled to get back to attacking Lex.

“What are you doing, Clark?!” Pete growled angrily. “Didn’t you see what he was doing to her?!”

“Yeah! Come on, Smallville, let up!” Lucas chimed in.

Clark gave them both a warning look.

“You guys don’t understand,” he said. Lex spat out some blood and looked thankfully, but with a modicum of surprise, at Clark. He knew Clark was strong from growing up on a farm, but here he was restraining two other young men, with what appeared to be very little effort on his part.

“Well, how about you explain it to me then, Clark,” Pete said, almost spitting out his best friend’s name. “Because the way I see it, he deserves to die for what he just did to her.”

“Agreed,” Lucas said with a dangerous glint in his eye.

“Guys,” Clark said pleadingly. They were still struggling against him and Clark looked over to Lex, silently asking him to explain the situation so he wouldn’t have to. Lex nodded once, but didn’t step any closer to them. He gave Chloe a small lopsided grin and Chloe frowned because he had almost been beaten to a pulp because of her. Lex coughed and stared at Pete and his brother through his one good eye and the eye that was already swelling shut.

“We were married,” Lex said in a raspy voice, his throat lined with the coppery taste of his own blood. Pete scoffed.

“Hel-lo,” Pete said, sounding much like a valley girl from one of the teen movies that were so popular in the 1990s. “You and Chloe were never married. You’re delusional – and even *that* doesn’t give you the excuse to do what you did to her.”

“I made love to my *wife*, Mr. Ross,” Lex said through gritted teeth. Granted, in retrospect, I should have chosen a less public environment to express my feelings for her, but ---”

“Oh, man! You really are a nut-job!” Lucas exclaimed. “Chloe has never been married. She’s too young to have ever been married. And even if, by some fluke, she had - it would *never* be to you.” Lex closed his eyes and winced at the pain that shot through the one that one of the boys in front of him had hit. Lucas shook his head lightly and let out a sour chuckle. “You are *so* going down for this.”

“Stop it!” Chloe yelled angrily, storming around where Clark held the two boys back so she could get to Lex. She looked directly at Pete and he winced a little when he saw the look in her eyes. “For your information, Pete, Lex and I *were* married. That little floating imp guy transported us to the future or something,” she said.

Clark tilted his head a little to the side and was about to correct her by saying that Mr. Mxyzptlk only made them *think* they were married, but he thought better of it; knowing that once Chloe got on a roll, it was better to stay out of her way.

“And you,” she continued as she turned her attention on Lucas, “what part of ‘I’m not interested and never will be’ did you not understand exactly?” Lex would have smirked if his lower lip hadn’t started to swell to five times its normal size.

“Chlo-e ---” Pete and Lucas said at the same time, stringing out her name and making them sound pathetically whiney. She shook her head and held up her hand.

“I don’t wanna hear it,” she said decisively. She turned around and took in Lex’s appearance with a frown, stepping toward him at the same time. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly. He nuzzled his face into her hair as she came closer and she wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders. She gave Pete and Lucas a sad, yet warning look before she started to walk with Lex toward his car.

Clark kept his hold on Pete and Lucas, who had stopped trying to fight against him the moment that Chloe started to lay into them about their behavior. Lana watched Chloe get Lex into the passenger seat of his car and then slide into the driver’s seat herself. She only nodded at Clark when the car was safely out of eyesight.

“They’re gone,” she said softly. Clark let go of the two boys and Lucas turned around to face him angrily while Pete knew better and just started to roll his head in circles to stretch out the muscles in his neck. Lucas gave Clark a look that any other person would have found incredibly intimidating, but Clark just stood there with the knowledge that there was nothing Lucas could do to hurt him. Lucas took a swing at him and Clark blocked it. Lucas looked at him in surprise, but only for a second before lashing out again.

This time he went for Clark’s gut and pulled his hand back when it felt a splintering pain radiate up his arm. Lucas’s eyes grew wide and he took a few steps back.

“W-what are you?” he asked. Clark and Pete shared a look and Lana looked at Clark with confusion marring her features.

“What is he talking about, Clark?” she asked. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him sideways. “Does this have something to do with the twister?”

“Uh ---”

Pete let out a nervous chuckle and shrugged his shoulders as if Lana was speaking nothing but crazy talk.

“No,” he said almost indignantly. “Luthor is just a wuss.”

“He broke my arm!” Lucas exclaimed, cradling his wounded arm with his other hand.

“Clark,” Lana said hesitantly, but then shut her mouth when she realized that if Clark’s secret was so big that he hadn’t told her, then he certainly wasn’t going to tell her in front of Lucas. She gave Lucas a forced grin and walked over to him.

“Come on,” she said, placing a hand on his good upper arm. “Let’s get you to the Talon and I’ll call an ambulance.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Lucas grumbled. Lana looked over her shoulder one last time, shooting Clark a look she hoped would be construed as hopeful rather than saddened.

Clark frowned and Pete took a few steps closer to him as they watched Lucas and Lana walk further down the street toward the coffee shop.

“You’re gonna have to tell her, man,” Pete said, keeping his gaze focused straight ahead. Clark shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and let out a sigh.

“I know.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“It’s a sports car, Chloe,” Lex said, his head rested back against the seat and his eyes closed. “You can drive it faster than this.” Chloe scoffed.

“How do you know how fast I’m driving? You’ve had your eyes closed the entire way.”

“I’m used to the feel of the car,” he explained with a shrug. Chloe let out a tiny sigh.

“Okay, I’m going a *little* slower than I normally would, but I don’t want to get in an accident and you’re already hurt ---”

“Actually, I’m starting to feel a little better,” he said, cutting off whatever else she had been about to say.

“Really?” she asked with surprise. They pulled up to a stop sign and she finally allowed herself to look over at him. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open a little.

“What?”

Chloe couldn’t seem to come up with the words to describe the sight in front of her.

“Chloe, I can *feel* you staring at me. So, will you just tell me ---?” He trailed off when he felt her fingertips brush against the skin of his cheek. He opened his eyes and caught her hand before she could pull it away. Lex gave her a small grin and brought her hand to his mouth, where he gave it a light kiss. He immediately noticed that he could feel his lips again – not to mention see completely out of both eyes.

“You – you’re ---” Chloe shook her head in disbelief and reached up to adjust the rearview mirror with her other hand. Lex looked at the image in the mirror and was shocked to see that he had almost completely healed. There was still some bruising and a couple of cuts, but all of the swelling had gone down and it seemed to be getting better every minute. “Lex?”

Lex’s turned his eyes upon Chloe. She looked apprehensive and even a little frightened.

“What’s going on?”

~*~*~*~
Ch. 5
~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched on invisibly, a wide smile of accomplishment gracing his lips. The ambulance had picked up Lucas and Clark was now faced with the dilemma of whether or not to tell Lana his ‘big secret’. Mr. Mxyzptlk almost started laughing when he pictured the conversation in his mind.

“What is it? What have you been keeping from me?” <pouty expression>

“Well, Lana, the thing is – you remember that meteor shower?”

“Of course I remember the meteor shower, Clark. It killed my parents&#33;”

“Oh. Yeah. Right. Well, see, here’s the thing ---” <guilty look>

“What is it, Clark? Don’t you trust me?”

“Of course I do&#33; How can you even ask that?”

“How can I even ask that?? Clark ---”

“I came down with the meteors&#33;” <blurts it out>

“What? What are you telling me?”

“I’m not human, Lana.”

“Oh, my God&#33;” <horrified look>


Mr. Mxyzptlk let out a tiny gurgle of laughter. At first he was delighted that nobody seemed to notice, but then he was a little put out. He liked to be the center of attention and right now *nobody* was paying attention to him. He crossed his arms and pushed out his bottom lip somewhat poutingly.

‘Stupid Superman and his stupid friends,’ he thought. His attention was drawn back to the scene when he heard Lana’s office door close.

“Okay, explain,” Lana said; folding her arms across her chest and giving Clark the most threatening look she could muster. “Lucas punched you and yet *he’s* the one who got hurt – so you can’t blame this one on adrenalin.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Clark said.

“Uh-huh,” Lana said disbelievingly. Clark took a deep breath and then sighed it out.

“Maybe you should sit down,” he said. Lana eyed him warily, but did as she was instructed.

Mr. Mxyzptlk couldn’t help but notice that Clark looked incredibly nervous and he wondered for a moment if he was actually going to tell Lana the truth. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but Lana cut him off.

“Clark?”

“Yeah?”

“If it helps, I think already know,” she said. Clark and Mr. Mxyzptlk both registered shock on their faces.

“What?” Clark practically gasped out.

“The way you can disappear in an instant, the way you never seem to get hurt…you were affected by the meteor rocks, right?”

“I – uh ---”

“It’s okay, Clark. I understand why you didn’t want to tell me. With all of the people who have tried to attack me, I can see why you wouldn’t want me to think that you were some meteor freak who was just going to try and hurt me,” she said.

“Well ---”

“And don’t worry,” she continued, “Chloe is my friend, but I would never tell her your secret.” She gave him a bemused smile and shook her head just a little bit. “Although, I’m a little surprised that she hasn’t figured it out yet.” Clark just grinned nervously at her.

“So-ooo, you’re okay with --- me?”

Lana nodded and smiled gently as she stepped closer to give him a hug.

“I’m just glad you finally told me,” she said. Clark’s arms wrapped hesitantly around her small frame.

“Yeah,” he said with a worried look he was glad she couldn’t see. “Me too.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk grumbled. She thought he was just some mutant? But she still accepted him? It wasn’t anything like how he had planned it.

‘Oh, well,’ he thought. ‘At least Chloe doesn’t know that he’s an alien yet – and she’s the one he likes more than a friend.’ The impish grin returned to his lips. ‘Maybe I should check up on her.’

He popped himself over to where Chloe and Lex were now sitting in his car, parked by the side of the road. The grin spread into a full blown, self-appreciative smile. Mr. Mxyzptlk started dancing invisibly in the air.

‘She’s in love with the bad guy, she’s in love with the bad guy,’ he sang in his head. “And they couldn’t even wait to get to his house, they’re just in the car – they’re as lusty as a Nebari who hasn&#39;t been mind-cleansed.”

Chloe’s attention was snapped away from the sight of Lex’s miraculous healing when she heard someone’s voice come from outside the car. She looked around as much as she could without getting out of the car, but she didn’t see anyone.

“Tell me you heard that,” Chloe said. Lex nodded and was looking around as well.

“I heard it,” he confirmed. “It sounded like ---”

“You think he healed you?”

“I don’t know why he would.”

“How else would you explain it?”

“Good point,” Lex said. As if they reached an understanding, both of them reached for their door handles and climbed out of the car. Chloe placed her hands on her hips as she looked around.

“We know you’re here&#33;” she yelled accusingly.

“We just want to talk to you&#33;” Lex added.

Mr. Mxyzptlk’s eyebrows rose. These two had heard him and acknowledged him even when Clark and Lana hadn’t? That was certainly worth a reward of some kind… He popped into view right behind Chloe.

“Heya cutie&#33;” he greeted. Chloe screamed in surprise and jumped away from the noise, but quickly turned around to face him. She clasped her hand to her heart and tried to get her breathing under control again.

“Don’t do that&#33; You scared me&#33;” She stopped for a second before speaking again. “Well, you know, more than usual.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk shrugged unapologetically and Lex crossed over to the other side of the car to stand next to Chloe.

“So, why’d ya wanna see me?”

“Why did you heal me?” Lex asked.

“What are you talking about?”

“You healed him,” Chloe said, motioning with her hands to show that there were no more wounds on Lex’s body. “Pete and Lucas beat him up – and you healed him.”

“No, I didn’t,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said. “Why would I do that?”

Lex and Chloe shared a look and then their eyes went back to Mr. Mxyzptlk again.

“If you didn’t do it, then who did?”



TBC

[Not An Addict]

*pounces on you* Yay&#33; You put them up here&#33; *dances the dance of not having to deal with ff.net anymore because it HATES ME* You rock. :biggrin:

[pynr]

Yeah....these are good ones :hehe: Glad to see &#39;em here.

ScifiChick - I seem to remember people at ff.net asking for pronunciation help w/ Mr. M&#39;s name.......I think I recall you adding a phonetic spelling for it in one of the chapter intros....or somewhere anyway - If this memory is incorrect, do you think you could add one here? I swear.....I re-forget how to say it 5 minutes after learning to do so, every single time I see him.... :unsure:

Thx in advance&#33;&#33; :yay:

[scifichick774]

Hee hee. Yeah, no problem.

Phonetically pronounced: Mit-sell-plik

At least, that&#39;s what it says in my husband&#39;s Superman encyclopedia (and yes, he actually has one).

[pynr]

Ah hah&#33; Great) :idea: Thanks again :wave:

[Sway]

ooooooooooh thanks for posting it here&#33;&#33; i love this fic, and i can finally review it&#33;&#33;

:blinkkiss: Sway

[scifichick774]

Story # 5: Deal With The Devil – Chapter 6

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“How should I know?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked. “Lots of stuff happens in this crazy town that doesn’t happen anywhere else. Don’t you have a ‘wall’ devoted to that?” Chloe blinked a couple of times, a surprised and somewhat disbelieving look on her face. He knew about her ‘wall of weird’? Lex was a meteor mutant?

“Hold on&#33; I sure hope you’re not implying that Lex has healing abilities from meteor rock exposure, because ---”

“I was at ground zero,” Lex interrupted, saying the statement more for himself than anyone else. He seemed to be in some sort of a daze when Mr. Mxyzptlk and Chloe both turned their heads to look at him, their eyes brimming with curiosity. “After I read all of your theories, all of the people who were affected, I always wondered why the only thing to happen to me was to lose my hair – even though I was right in the field where a lot of the meteors fell.”

“But – wouldn’t it have showed up before now?” Chloe asked, disbelief still lining the tone of her voice. “I mean ---” she trailed off with a frustrated look on her face.

“Not necessarily,” Lex answered. “Who’s to say that the affects are brought on from one incident? Maybe it’s gradual exposure like radiation. And since I just moved back here a few years ago ---”

“You could have developed more vulnerability to their affects on top of the initial shower,” Chloe finished. Lex nodded in agreement and Chloe made a displeased face as she looked to the side. “Great,” she said sarcastically, “My boyfriend’s Wolverine - well, you know, without all the hair and cool metal stuff.”

“Wolverine?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked.

“Comic book character – has self healing abilities,” Lex clarified and then turned to Chloe. “And I’d say I’m more than just your boyfriend, wouldn’t you?”

“You’re getting off the topic,” Chloe told him. “If the little floaty guy here isn’t lying to us ---”

“Hey&#33; I have a name&#33;”

“Yeah, I know,” Chloe said and then waved her hand to slough off his comment. “I just can’t pronounce it.”

“Mit-sell-plik,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said somewhat angrily. His face turned a strange shade of red and Lex grinned, expecting steam to shoot out his ears at any moment. Chloe and Lex both shot him a quick glance and then looked back at each other. Mr. Mxyzptlk folded his arms across his chest with a huff. “I never should have gotten you two together,” he mumbled. After a moment, Lex noticed the mischievous grin spread across the imp’s lips and he pointed threateningly at him.

“Don’t even think it.”

“Why not?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked devilishly. “You guys are almost as fun to play with as captain spandex.”

“What?” Chloe and Lex asked, exchanging confused looks.

“Speaking of which ---” Mr. Mxyzptlk stopped talking and snapped his fingers, disappearing from their sight altogether.

“I wonder if there’s anyway we can get rid of him – permanently,” Lex mused aloud. He felt Chloe’s hand on his arm and looked down at her.

“Not until we get Lena back. I don’t care if he says she’s not real – she’s *real*, Lex.”

“I know she is – or will be anyway.”

“What?”

“Chloe,” Lex started, turning his body so he could wrap his arms loosely around her back, “we can get her back without his help – it will just take…time.” He looked pointedly down at her belly and Chloe frowned.

“I sure hope you’re not suggesting that you get me pregnant,” she said, a touch of disbelief lining her words. Lex raised his eyes to hers once again and had a small, but firm smirk planted on his lips.

“What makes you think you aren’t already?”

“Hello&#33; Because ---” Chloe trailed off, desperately seeking her mind for an answer. ‘Oh, crap.’ Her stomach sank as the thought hit her mind. They hadn’t used protection either time they were together, and the second time he had climaxed inside of her for sure. ‘Shit&#33;’

Lex watched as the emotions played upon her face. She didn’t seem happy about the idea of being pregnant, and he couldn’t blame her. She was still young and had her entire future in front of her. Despite what Mr. Mxyzptlk had convinced them of, their friends and family weren’t going to be supportive of them being together anytime soon. Then there was the matter of Lena’s age. According to the fantasy arrangement they had been placed in, Lena was certainly conceived after he and Chloe had already been married for at least a year. He was pulled out of his thoughts when Chloe’s face lit up as if she found the answer she had been inwardly looking for.

“Because you said she was conceived at our cabin&#33; And seeing as how *we* don’t *have* a cabin, let alone have ever had sex in one – no baby.” She ended the last part by motioning to her stomach with her hands and Lex tilted his head to the side before grinning at her. At least she hadn’t thought about the non-supportive family and friends issue. If she had, he was sure that she would call off their burgeoning relationship right away.

“We should get going,” he said. “Your dad is going to be worried.” Chloe blinked a couple of times, surprised that he was giving into what could have possibly turned into a nasty argument.

“You’re not going to fight with me?”

“Did you want me to?”

“Well, no. But ---”

“You’re right,” Lex said, cutting off whatever she was about to say. “Lena was conceived in a cabin. It doesn’t really leave a lot of room for argument.” A smile started to crawl across Chloe’s mouth.

“Glad you see it my way,” she said. Lex chuckled and placed his hand on the small of her back as he led her back to the car. She slid into the passenger seat and handed Lex the keys.

“So – this weekend then?”

“What about it?” Chloe asked.

“I thought we could go look for a cabin.”

“Ha ha,” Chloe said dryly. “You’re hilarious, Luthor.” Lex smirked at her, but said nothing, and started to drive the car back toward town. “You *were* joking - right?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pete looked back and forth between Clark and Lana with a hesitant grin as he assessed the situation. From what he could gather, Lana assumed that Clark was a meteor freak and Clark hadn’t bothered to correct her. Pete inwardly shook his head. He couldn’t blame the guy. After all, his dream girl was, amazingly enough, apparently willing to accept him for having powers as a mutant. Having abilities because of being an alien might be a completely different story though.

“So, what now?” Pete asked.

“What do you mean?” Lana asked.

“I mean – you know what Clark was hiding from you,” Pete said, quickly adding, “and you really can’t blame him for that.” Lana shook her head.

“I don’t.”

“So – what now?” Pete asked again. “Are you two going to start dating or what’s the deal?” Pete watched on with some amusement as Lana and Clark’s eyes threatened to pop out of their heads and a furious blush rose to both of their faces. ‘It’s good to be me,’ he thought.

“I – uh ---” Clark stammered.

“Yeah, I ---” Lana continued. Pete snickered and Clark and Lana exchanged embarrassed looks.

“Come on, you guys. You can’t just be all ‘looks across the room’ forever,” Pete said, almost in a pleading voice. ‘At least I hope they can’t.’

“It’s not that simple, Pete,” Clark said.

“Right,” Lana agreed and then furrowed her brow at Clark. “Why not?” Clark opened his mouth to speak, quickly closed it, and then opened it again like a dying fish gasping for air.

“There are --- trust issues – and ---”

“Ah&#33; But there aren’t trust issues anymore,” Pete reminded him, giving him a pointed look not to say anything. “Lana *knows* - so there’s nothing keeping you from going out with each other.” He leaned back in his seat and tilted his head to the side slightly. “Unless you still have ‘Chloe issues’ – and by now, I think we all know that’s never gonna happen.” Clark frowned.

“What do you think about that?” he asked. “I mean, I know that ---” he paused while searching for the right word, “guy – set them up and everything, but ---”

“It did seem a little intense,” Lana said. Clark nodded and Pete let out a sigh as he shook his head.

“Hey, you know how I feel about Luthor, but ---” he stopped and cringed.

“But?” Clark prodded.

“But – I’ve known Chloe long enough to know not to get on her bad side,” Pete answered. “And this thing with Lex is just some weird residual thing from whatever that little guy made them do. Once it wears off, things will be back to normal.”

“Maybe,” Clark said, unconvinced.

Mr. Mxyzptlk listened in and stared grumpily at Clark, Lana, and Pete from his invisible state. Things weren’t working out as he had planned – not at all. All he had wanted was to cause a little bit of mischief and try to get Clark to expose his powers; he hadn’t known that powers or abilities weren’t exactly uncommon in this little town in Kansas and that his friends would just accept the excuse that he was another meteor freak.

He pursed his lips. It was time to change strategies. Maybe instead of getting Clark to just show people what he could do, he would need to try and trick him into exposing where he was from and who he really was. An almost evil smile creeped its way across Mr. Mxyzptlk’s face. Everything up until now had been mere child’s play. It was time to bring out the heavy artillery.




The End (Of Story # 5)

Rachael’s challenge requirements: 1. Chloe and Lex have to have sex against a wall in a public place and get caught by Clark, Pete, and Lucas.
2. No skirmishing away from the incident, a fight/argument thing needs to happen. 3. Mr. Mxyzptlk references to the existence of a Farscape species. 4. Lex gets a permanent power from all that meteor radiation he absorbed as a kid and it has to stick. Really permanent.

[HumbugGirl]

*squeals* I love this series of fics. Really I do and I&#39;m so happy you decided to post them here as well.

[hfce]

Yeah I am so glad you finally updated. I can&#39;t wait to see if Lex ends up buying that cabin. :lol:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[bluemoongirl23]

This fic is amazing&#33; Clever, hot, different and well-written. Can&#39;t wait for the next chapter.

Blue

[beanie1816]

Love this story. Cant wait for the next chapter&#33;

:wub:
Megs

[Sway]

oooooh. another awesome chapter&#33; i love this fic&#33; :biggrin:

:blinkkiss: Sway

[sabby]

Oh, lovely&#33; An update&#33;&#33;&#33; And a good one with lotsa Chlex interaction&#33; (realizes she shouldn&#39;T review when sleep deprived)

Ok gettin it together, I love the wolverine referance&#33; Gotta love that guy, mmyummy

And I&#39;m glad that Chloe isn&#39;t preggers yet; that has time&#33;

Good to see Pete givin Clark and Lana a piece of his mind

Can&#39;t wait for the next update

hugs,
Sabby

[dsapiro]

Another great story, Kris, can&#39;t wait for the next one. I love Mr. M. :yay:

[scifichick774]

A/N: This sixth story is based on Sami’s challenge. As usual, the requirements will be listed at the end. I would like to say that I think you guys are really going to get a kick out of this one. *smile* This takes place a few weeks after the last story left off.

Story # 6: Adventures In Babysitting – Chapter 1

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched on thoughtfully as Lionel entered the Luthor castle. After some deliberation, he decided that an alliance with someone that Clark wouldn’t automatically disregard might be in order, and he was looking at the magnificent bastard right now. The scene was set; all Mr. Mxyzptlk had to do was wait and see whether or not Lionel would take the bait.

“Son?” Lionel called out half-heartedly before entering Lex’s empty office. It was the middle of the night, so he didn’t expect Lex to be there, but it never hurt to make sure. He smirked to himself as he made his way over to the desk. “Quite underhanded of you to steal the Tanaka Taro account away from me, Lex. But I’m sure I can find a way to ---”

Lionel stopped talking to himself when he caught sight of a picture on his oldest son’s desk. He fingered the 8 x 10 inch frame, lifting it to bring it closer to him so he could make sure he wasn’t just seeing things. It was a picture of Lex in a lilac-colored bunny costume standing next to a beautiful young blonde woman who was holding a red-haired baby girl in her arms.

He blinked a couple of times in complete surprise. There was no question in his mind that the little girl in the picture was Lex’s daughter, as she looked achingly similar to how his dead wife Lillian looked when she was a baby. But, why hadn’t Lex told him?

True, their relationship was strained at best, but he felt a strange tightening around his heard at the thought that his own son distrusted and detested him so much as to not tell him that he was now a grandfather. He set the picture back down on the desk and set off in the direction of his son’s bedroom.

Lionel opened the door without knocking and glared at Lex’s sleeping form from across the room. He cleared his throat loudly, but Lex showed no response. Lionel pursed his lips and stepped closer to the bed. His eyes widened for a second at the wedding picture of his son and the blonde woman from the picture in the office.

Not only had Lex not told him that he had a daughter, but he hadn’t told him that he had done what Lionel considered the responsible thing and married the girl’s mother after he found out that the baby was his. Lionel looked questioningly down at Lex, who was still blissfully unaware of his father’s presence in the room. The thing that struck him was that Lex was sleeping in the bed alone. He knew that Lex had a poor history with relationships, but to drive away his wife and child? It was unacceptable.

“Lex,” Lionel said in what was practically a yell. Lex’s eyes fluttered open and he squinted at his dad as he tried to make out who was standing in his darkened room in the middle of the night.

“Dad?” Lex asked, pushing himself up to a sitting position. “What are you doing here? What time is it?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Lionel asked accusingly and with a touch of hurt lining his voice. “I know our relationship isn’t what you had hoped for, but to not tell me that I have a granddaughter ---”

“What?” Lex asked in sleepy confusion. “I ---”

A light knock came against the open door, accompanied by the sound of a crying baby. Lex looked over to see the older woman he had previously called Agnes holding Lena in her arms. Lena’s crying went to a full-pitched screaming and tears poured down her cheeks. Suddenly realizing that it wasn’t a dream, Lex snapped to attention and slid out of his bed, clad only in his pajama pants, to walk over to her.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Luthor,” Agnes said. “But she ---”

“It’s alright, Agnes,” Lex interrupted and took the wailing baby away from her nanny. “It’s okay, Lena. Shhh.” He bounced slightly with her in his arms but she refused to calm down. “What do you want, sweetheart? Hmm?”

The baby sniffed and barely managed to blubber out one word.

“Mama.”

Lex half-snorted in amusement.

“Yeah, join the club,” he said under his breath. Lionel arched an eyebrow at him and Lex let out a sigh. His dad just had to pick now to visit, right in the middle of when an imp was playing tricks on everyone in town. There was no reasonable explanation that Lex could give him that Lionel would even begin to believe and it frustrated Lex to no end.

Lena scrunched up her face as the moonlight and the light from the hallway lit up Lionel’s face. Her eyes grew wide and she sniffled again as she stopped crying. She leaned forward in Lex’s arms and held her hands out in Lionel’s direction.

“Gam-pa&#33;” she said excitedly. Lionel’s eyebrows rose in surprise and a partial giggle erupted from Lena’s lips. “Gam-pa, Gam-pa&#33;” she repeated.

“I ---”

“You want Grandpa?” Lex asked with a small smirk on his face. ‘Good,’ he thought. ‘This will keep him occupied while I call Chloe and get her over here to help me come up with a story.’ Lex flicked on the lights and then walked over to Lionel, holding Lena out for his father to take from him.

“Gam-pa,” Lena said again, a bright smile on her face as she clapped her hands together.

“I ---” Lionel trailed off again as the little girl lunged from her father’s arms into his. She rubbed her runny nose against his and then gave him a drool-filled kiss on his lips. Lionel made a face and Lena started laughing with delight at the expression.

She snuggled in closer to him, eyeing him the whole time and letting out spurts of giggling. Lionel wasn’t sure what he was feeling. Pride, certainly. Amazement, definitely. Love? Lionel cleared his throat and looked down at the little girl who seemed fascinated by his hair.

“And what’s your name?” he asked.

“Gam-pa,” she answered. The corners of Lionel’s mouth lifted into a small smile.

“No, that’s my name,” he replied. Lena started laughing again and Lionel’s smile grew wider. She stopped laughing and gave him a look he knew only too well from Lex and Lucas. Mischievous. He arched an eyebrow at her and she twisted her tiny fist into the back of his hair and gave it a hard pull. Lionel yelped in pain and Lena started cracking up.

Lex walked over and smirked at his dad’s reaction to Lena. He leaned down slightly to match Lena’s eye level and then smiled at her.

“Mommy’s on her way over,” he said. Lena’s green eyes lit up and her smile beamed across her face.

“Mama&#33;” she yelled. Lex nodded.

“Mama,” he said in agreement, placing his hands on her sides to take her away from Lionel. Once she was in his arms, he smiled down at her and tweaked her nose with his thumb. Lena snuggled against his chest and he kissed the top of her head, ignoring the look that Lionel was giving him.

“Son,” Lionel started quietly, noticing that despite the fact that Lex was sleeping alone he was still wearing his wedding ring. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Lex glanced at him and then turned his eyes back to Lena.

“It’s hard to explain, Dad,” he said. Lionel scoffed.

“How hard can it be? You were involved with a woman and at some point one of you broke it off, she had your child, and you did the right thing by marrying her,” he said. “I’m hurt that you didn’t feel you could tell me, and I’m concerned that your wife is no longer living under the same roof as you.” Lex stared blankly at him and then shook his head.

“It’s a long story,” he said. “And it’ll have to wait for tomorrow when I’m more awake.” Lionel frowned but nodded.

“Alright.”

“Lex?&#33;” Chloe yelled from downstairs. Lex grinned at his daughter and then walked out the door to go meet Chloe.

“Hey,” he greeted from the top of the staircase. Chloe gave him a flustered look as she smiled and practically ran up the stairs.

“Mama&#33;”

Lex handed Lena over to Chloe, who hugged her tight against her and kissed her forehead.

“How did you get here so fast?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered and shook her head lightly. “One minute I was getting into the car and the next ---”

“Ah,” Lex said in understanding. “Transportation was courtesy of our little friend.”

“Since Lena’s here, that would definitely be my guess,” Chloe agreed. Lex looked down at the baby girl when Chloe mentioned her name and saw that she was finally drifting off to sleep as Chloe stroked her head lovingly with her hand.

“We might have a problem.”

“Besides for having a baby that we don’t really have?” Chloe asked with a lopsided smile.

“My father’s in town.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Mmm,” Lex hummed in agreement.

“So ---”

“He thinks we’re married and that you’ve moved out or something,” Lex said. “I didn’t catch all of it because I was half-asleep when he started rambling.”

“Well, don’t worry about it,” Chloe said and switched Lena over to rest on her other arm. “We can tell him the truth tomorrow – not that he’ll believe us, but it’s the thought that counts.” Her left hand went up to stroke the baby’s red hair and Lex’s eyes were drawn to the large diamond ring and wedding band on her ring finger.

“Chloe,” he said. She looked up at him and he motioned to her hand with his head. Chloe’s eyes grew large with the sight and then her gaze darted over to him. He held up his left hand and her mouth opened slightly when she saw the wedding band on his finger.

“You remember how to pronounce that guy’s name?” she asked in a slightly panicked voice. Lex shook his head. “Crap.”




TBC…

[dsapiro]

:lol: Yay, a new one&#33; This is great so far. I love Lena&#33; :yay: :yay: :worship2: :yay: :yay:

[bluemoongirl23]

Kris,

This is the greatest&#33; Please keep them coming. Especially if the next part has Lionel and his new found family.

Blue

[hfce]

Oh my God Kris. I love this story. You have to keep Lena somehow. I love her. And Lionels reaction priceless. :lol:

More more more.....


Hope :)

[Sway]

ooooooooooooh. that whole thing was so sweet... especially the drool and the hair pulling... and they need to keep lena&#33;&#33; Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease give us an update soon... i love this fic&#33;&#33;

:blinkkiss: Sway

[xmag]

HI

yes, a new part, and with Lena &#33;&#33; i am so glad she is back, i told you that you had to find a way to keep her (well, i left a FB on FF.net about it), and that cute baby is back. And just when Lionel is back too.
Good, good, can&#39;t wait to see how "Gampa" is going to take all this.

[tigroon]

Originally posted by scifichick774@May 2 2003, 02:02 AM
He arched an eyebrow at her and she twisted her tiny fist into the back of his hair and gave it a hard pull. Lionel yelped in pain and Lena started cracking up.

I love this story.

But, is Lionel clean shaven now ? I only saw a few
episodes of the show (enough to get convinced that
chlex fanfiction is way better than anything the
scenarists can think of) and I remember a Lionel
with a beard.

Babies love pulling beards.
My dad has a beard (as well as long hair).
Every time he hold a baby there&#39;s beard-pulling.
Never hair-pulling. Hair is such a common thing,
while a beard is rare and intriguing...

[scifichick774]

Originally posted by tigroon@May 3 2003, 10:06 AM

But, is Lionel clean shaven now ? I only saw a few
episodes of the show (enough to get convinced that
chlex fanfiction is way better than anything the
scenarists can think of) and I remember a Lionel
with a beard.


Well... in Adeylan&#39;s challenge (Genie In A Bottle - the second story in the series) - Lionel had to get a shave and a haircut (although the haircut wasn&#39;t that extreme). So...if he has a beard, then it&#39;s just stubble now. :)

[tigroon]

Originally posted by scifichick774@May 3 2003, 04:48 PM
Well... in Adeylan&#39;s challenge (Genie In A Bottle - the second story in the series) - Lionel had to get a shave and a haircut (although the haircut wasn&#39;t that extreme). So...if he has a beard, then it&#39;s just stubble now. :)
too bad &#33;&#33;&#33;
although babies do have very small and strong fingers...
Nah I guess stubble is too small even for them.

This is the problem with fanfic - read 12 stories at once and you forget the plots between updates :( sorry

[NightGlow]

OMG I adore this story&#33; I can&#39;t believe I&#39;ve been overlooking it until now&#33; My eyes must have been crossed--what was wrong with me? This is, by far, the funniest fanfiction series EVER&#33; And as much as I like Lana, (a rarity among Chlexers--I know ;) ), I can&#39;t help but laugh my ass off every time a dragon is brought into the mix&#33;
Please continue&#33; It&#39;s SOOOO good. :worship2:

[scifichick774]

A/N: Glad you guys are still enjoying this one.

Story #6: Adventures In Babysitting - Chapter 2

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lionel watched from the shadows of the hallway as Agnes seemed to appear out of nowhere and took the now sleeping baby girl out of Chloe’s arms. He kept his eyes on Lex and Chloe until he noticed his granddaughter’s nanny coming his way. He grinned to himself. Servants were highly observant and could be valuable sources of information if the price was right.

“Agnes,” he greeted quietly as she walked by him. The older woman gave him a nod of her head and a kind look.

“Mr. Luthor,” she replied. He started to walk with her, giving her a smile as he did so.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to see my granddaughter put to bed. I so rarely get to see her,” he said, hoping to play upon whatever sympathy the woman had within her.

“Of course, sir.”

When they had walked far enough away from Lex and Chloe, Lionel decided it was time for the thinly veiled questioning to begin; but Agnes beat him to the punch.

“I’m so glad that your son called Mrs. Luthor back to the house,” she said. “It just hasn’t seemed the same without her here.”

“Yes,” Lionel said in agreement, trying not to sound too conspicuous. “Where was she?” Agnes let out a displeased huff.

“She’s been seeing after a sick friend, but between you and me, I think that Clark Kent has ulterior motives,” she said quietly and in a gossipy manner. “I mean, what kind of man takes a woman away from her husband and child to take care of him while he’s sick, especially when he’s fully grown and capable of taking care of him of himself? Not to mention the fact that his parents will be back in town tomorrow night?” She tsked and shook her head as they entered Lena’s nursery.

“What is it that you think he’s trying to do?” Lionel asked. Agnes rolled her eyes and lay the baby down in her crib, covering her with a small blanket.

“Trying to win her back of course,” she replied. “Not that he ever had her to begin with, and even if he had, Chloe – Mrs. Luthor - isn’t the kind of woman who would ever leave her husband – not ever.”

“Of course not,” Lionel said consolingly, seeing that the woman was getting a little worked up about the situation. Agnes shook her head again as they left the room and she closed the door behind her. Lionel followed her a few steps down the hallway before speaking again. “It would seem as though I have an apology to make to my son.” Agnes raised an eyebrow, well aware that the elder Luthor never apologized to anyone.

“You should wait until tomorrow, because you know how those two are” she started as casually as she could. “Like rabbits. I’m surprised she’s not pregnant with their second child already.” Lionel’s eyebrows rose, but the woman didn’t notice as her eyes were focused on the hallway in front of her. She came to a stop at her bedroom door and gave him a polite, yet curt nod. “Good night, Mr. Luthor.”

“Good night,” he said and took a few steps back in the direction they had just come from.

“Mr. Luthor?” she called out. Lionel turned back around and looked at her questioningly. “Since you’re in town, are you going to want to spend part of the day with Lena tomorrow?”

Lionel’s mind quickly flitted through what he had heard since he had arrived there and landed on the memory of Lex taking his daughter out of her nanny’s hands.

‘It’s okay, Lena. Shhh.’

One corner of Lionel’s mouth turned upward and he nodded at Agnes.

“Yes, I think that would be lovely,” he answered. Agnes nodded knowingly but then gave him a strange look.

“Alright, but just to warn you ahead of time – she’s teething and has a nasty temper because of it.”

Lionel barely resisted snorting. He sincerely doubted that his granddaughter’s temper had anything to do with teasing, but more likely had to do with her genes. He simply nodded at the woman and turned back around to walk down the hall.

Mr. Mxyzptlk watched on invisibly through the whole thing and a wide smirk played upon his lips. Getting Lionel to become so attached to his granddaughter that he wouldn’t want to give her up was going to be easier than he had anticipated.

The next morning, Chloe woke up, stretching her body against the silk sheets of Lex’s bed. She furrowed her brow until she looked around the room and her memories from the previous night came rushing back to her. She rolled over onto her side to see that Lex was no longer in the bed and she frowned. The least he could have done after the whole Lena surprise and then convincing her to stay the night so they could make love was to be there when she woke up. She sighed and shook her head, letting the covers unveil her body as she climbed out of bed.

She glanced around the room and saw that the clothes that had been strewn so haphazardly about the night before were now completely gone. She ran a hand through her hair and her mouth dropped open ever so slightly.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” she mumbled to herself.

Lex leaned against the door frame that led to his private bathroom, watching Chloe search in vain for her clothing.

“Going somewhere, *Mrs. Luthor*?” he asked somewhat teasingly, making sure to emphasize the last part of his question. She whipped around to see him smirking at her, only a towel tied around his waist and his skin still a little damp from the shower he had just taken.

“Not if I can’t find my clothes,” she retorted with a terse smile. Lex’s face fell and he stepped toward her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where would you like me to start?”

“Chloe ---” he reached out for her, but she dodged his hand and shot him a warning look.

“Not only do you call me in the middle of the night, waking me up from the very little sleep that I actually get, to tell me that our non-existent daughter is back; but then you talk me into *staying* with you,” she said in an upset tone, “which I can’t *believe* I did – and then you’re not even here when I wake up&#33;” She motioned wildly with her hands and then took a deep breath. “Where are my clothes?”

“You’re not leaving,” Lex said with a light chuckle. Chloe’s eyes widened as she looked at him and he placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry I wasn’t in bed when you woke up, but you looked…cute…just sleeping there…and I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Oh.”

“You want the shower?”

“Yeah,” Chloe said almost absently and started walking toward the bathroom. She stopped and turned around with a suspicious look on her face. “Where *are* my clothes?” Lex shrugged and smiled.

“If you mean the ones from last night, then I have no idea,” he said. “But our flying friend has apparently seen fit to provide you with closet space.” He motioned toward the walk-in closet and Chloe arched a questioning eyebrow. He walked over and opened the doors, pointing to what was seemingly her half of the closet, complete with several designer outfits in her size.

“Wow.”

“Go take your shower,” Lex said and gave her a half-smile. “I’ll keep my dad occupied for as long as I can.” Chloe’s eyes grew wide in panic.

“Your dad?” she asked. Lex winced a little and his face held an apologetic expression.

“He wants to spend the day with you, me, and Lena – something about getting to know his daughter-in-law and his granddaughter.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Sorry.”

“Well, what about Lucas? If this is supposed to be some familial bonding thing, shouldn’t he be there too?” Chloe asked somewhat irritably. She watched Lex cough into his hand to cover the laugh that erupted from his mouth.

“The doctors that treated his broken arm put him under a month-long psych evaluation since he was telling wild tales of a little floating man and how punching Clark’s stomach fractured his arm,” he replied. Chloe couldn’t help the small chuckle that shook her body.

“Oh, man,” she said, “that’s so mean.”

“Karma’s a bitch,” Lex said with no hint of sympathy in his voice.

“Karma?” Chloe asked skeptically. Lex grinned.

“It serves him right for trying to take you away from me.”

“So, basically his situation had nothing to do with karma and everything to do with you paying off the hospital employees?” she countered.

“Not everything,” he argued. “They did want to give him a 24 hour psych eval, I just *convinced* them that it should be a little longer given that mental instability runs on his mom’s side of the family.” Chloe laughed and shook her head.

“You’re evil.”

“You haven’t spent time with my dad yet.”

“Nor do I want to,” she said in a bit of a grumble.

“I can’t blame you, but I don’t think you’ll have much of a choice since he already talked to your dad.”

“What?&#33;”

“Next time you leave the house in the middle of the night, you should probably get someone *other* than Lana to cover for you,” Lex said. Chloe groaned.

“Lana told him where I was?” she asked, more to herself than to Lex. “I’m so going to kill her.”

“Well, you’ll get your chance. We’re meeting your dad at the Talon for breakfast – all of us.”




TBC…

*Ahem* Dragon warning in the next chapter, so if you love Lana, then you should skip it. *smile*

[sabby]

An Update&#33; *dances* And what does Mxyzptlk want now? And Dragon warning? Goodie, can&#39;t wait for the next chappy

hugs,
Sabby

[HumbugGirl]

Grandpa Lionel is funny and just as sneaky as he should be. Lena is so cute&#33; I really do love this series.

[dsapiro]

:lol: dragon warning, *gasp*. Can&#39;t wait&#33; Loving Lionel and Lena, and of couse Lex and Chloe, and even Agnes, everyone, really, except for Lana of course. Dragon *snicker*

[Blaire023]

OOOOH OOOOOH ANOTHER DRAGON GIG? I am soooooooooooooooooo loving this. Hehe, I promise to love and obey the next chapter as much as I have the ones prior to it. let me at it....<lunges for it> but then again, you could always do one of those fancy shmancy little updates on the Deal.

NOW&#33; Or this one, either way.

Blaire

[bluemoongirl23]

Hee. I hope that Lena take a lot out of Lionel. He deserves it. Oh, and bring on the dragon. Dra-gon, Dra-gon. Come on, people, chant with me.

Blue

[hfce]

Oh my God I love this story. I can&#39;t wait until Gab sees his grand daughter . That is going to be some breakfast. :lol:
Please you have to update this now.


Hope :)

[Sway]

oooooooooh an update&#33;&#33; Lionel is actually... behaving. tell me this doesn&#39;t last long?&#33;? ohohoh and dragon warning? even better. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE UPDATE SOON&#33;?&#33;?

:blinkkiss: Sway

[Queen Of Tact]

Ok, Kris u get back here and post another ch.... I can&#39;t wait to see what the dragon does.....

CC

[scifichick774]

A/N: Thanks for all the great feedback – you know I love it. *smile* And, yet again, you owe another chapter to the ‘shiny teeth’ song. You know, somebody’s going to have to issue me a challenge with that song in it…*cough*hint*cough*

Story # 6 - Chapter 3

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“Oh, man,” Pete said in a hushed voice, leaning slightly over the counter so he could talk to Lana, but darting his eyes over to the table where Gabe was sitting. “This is gonna be bad. Thanks for calling and telling me about it.” Lana arched an eyebrow at him.

“If I didn’t know you any better, then I’d say you were just sticking around to see Gabe blow up at Lex, rather than give Chloe moral support,” she said. He smiled impishly at her.

“Yep,” he answered. Lana rolled her eyes and shook her head at him.

“You know that they have no control over what’s happened. It’s all Babu’s fault.”

“Babu?”

“Uh, okay – that’s not his real name, but it’s the genie name he gave me and it’s easier to pronounce, so I’m using it,” she said. Pete snickered.

“Just don’t let Clark catch you saying it,” he said. Lana looked confused, so Pete decided to elaborate. “He’ll get jealous.” Lana frowned. “Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise already?” Lana let out a suffered sigh.

“I don’t know, Pete,” she said sadly. “I thought that knowing Clark’s secret would help things between us, but he’s just as withdrawn as ever.” He gave her a hint of a smile.

“I hate to break it to you, but that’s the way most of us are,” he said. Lana chuckled in amusement. “Seriously. Most guys aren’t in to talking about feelings and stuff.”

“Yeah, but you do,” she pointed out.

“Only because I’ve had years of being whipped into shape by having Chloe as a best friend.”

“Hmm,” Lana said thoughtfully and then smiled. “I’ll have to thank her for that.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” he said, wagging and then pointing his finger at her. “No making fun. I’ll have you know that particular skill has gotten me many a date.” Lana’s smile grew wider.

“And here I thought you were a ladies’ man because you’re just so cute,” she said and reached over to pinch his cheek.

“That too,” he said with a slight blush rising to his cheeks. “What can I say?” he asked and thumped his chest proudly. “I’m the complete package.” Lana giggled loudly, but it died the second she saw who was coming in.

She flashed an uneasy smile at Chloe as she walked in the Talon’s front door, followed by Lex carrying Lena with a stuffed dragon in her arms, and then Lionel. Pete turned around to see what Lana was looking at and he grinned when he saw the baby in Lex’s arms. He turned back around and beamed a quick, mischievous smile at Lana before lowering himself from the stool.

“Well, it’s been real Lana, but if you’ll excuse me, I have a best friend who needs teasing.”

“Pete,” Lana said warningly. He playfully waggled his eyebrows at her and made his way over to the table where Chloe and the Luthor entourage had joined Gabe.

“Hey guys,” he said a little too cheerfully. Lex glared at him, but Chloe smiled at the fact that Pete didn’t look like he was going to try and kill Lex for what was happening.

“Hey,” she greeted back. Lena smiled brightly and held her arms out from where she was perched on her father’s lap.

“Pee,” she squealed. Pete gave the baby a tight smile as Lex snickered at his daughter’s pronunciation of Pete’s name.

“Hey monkey,” Pete replied. Chloe slapped his arm.

“Lena is not a monkey&#33;” she berated him with a smile. Pete tilted his head to the side and smiled again.

“Please. You have her hair all done up like those cartoon monkeys – damn. What were they called?”

Chloe and Lex exchanged a look and shrugged, and Lionel simply looked furious that the boy in front of him was referring to his granddaughter as a primate.

“Young man, if you ---”

“Monchichis,” Gabe interrupted almost absently. Chloe and Lex both blinked.

“What?”

“The Monchichis,” he repeated, looking up at Pete. “I think it’s the cartoon you were referring to.” Pete’s smile seemed to consume his face and he nodded giddily.

“Yup. That’s it. My brother’s girlfriend collects those stupid little dolls and even has a couple of the episodes on tape,” he said. “Weird.”

“Well, I guess that’s where the ‘monchichi’ nickname came from,” Chloe whispered to Lex. He nodded in agreement and grinned at her. Gabe frowned as he saw Lex and Chloe smile at each other.

“Chloe, could I speak to you for a minute?” he asked, scooting his chair back, already knowing what her answer would be.

“Yeah, sure,” she answered, scooting her own chair back as well. “Excuse us,” she said to Lex, Lionel, and Pete.

“Look, I know what Lana told me,” Gabe said quietly after they made it to a far corner of the room, “but I’d like to hear it from you.”

“What did Lana tell you?” Chloe asked. Gabe ran a hand through his hair and his gaze flipped over to the table before turning to Chloe again.

“She said that something – someone – I don’t even know how to say this, it sounds so ridiculous,” he said. Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Tell me about it,” she said.

“But she said, whoever this guy is, he’s responsible for everything weird that’s been happening in the past few months.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“So – you and Lex ---?” he asked, leaving the question dangling at the end. Chloe winced and gave him a nervous smile.

“Going out, but not married.”

“And the baby?”

“Lena,” Chloe said. “The – um – guy kind of zapped her here a while ago but kept taking her away. Lex called last night and told me that she was back, that’s why I went over there.”

“Uh-huh,” Gabe said, not entirely convinced. Chloe sighed.

“I’m sorry, Dad. I just don’t know what else to tell you. It’s not like I know why this is happening either,” she said, bringing her hand up to sweep some loose strands of hair behind her ear. Gabe’s mouth opened slightly at the sight of the ring on her finger. Chloe noticed what he was staring at and she let out a humorless chuckle. “Uh, yeah. That was kind of there when I appeared over at Lex’s last night.” Gabe frowned and Chloe gave him an apologetic look. “Dad ---” He held up his hand and shook his head.

“No, no,” he said. “It’s okay. This is probably my fault anyway.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well ---”

“Lena – NO&#33;” Pete’s voice yelled. Chloe and Gabe turned their heads to see Lena laughing in delight after apparently throwing her stuffed dragon at the back of Lana’s head. Lionel scowled at Pete.

“I’ll thank you not to reprimand my granddaughter, Mr. Ross,” he said, taking the giggling girl away from her father and into his own arms. Pete opened his mouth to speak but Lex gave him a warning look and shook his head ever so slightly.

“We should get back,” Chloe said. Gabe nodded.

“She’s got quite an arm,” he commented with a smirk as he folded his arms across his chest. Chloe couldn’t help the snicker that escaped her lips, but it turned to a gasp as she watched Lena’s stuffed dragon start to grow.

“Uh, Dad?” she said to get his attention. “We need to get out of here.”

“What? But I ---” he trailed off as he saw what she was staring at. “Right.”

Lex took Lena out of Lionel’s arms and motioned to Chloe to leave the building.

“Would someone like to explain what is --- dear lord,” Lionel said as he watched the stuffed dragon crash through the top of the building as it grew larger and larger, faster and faster.

The dragon let out a ferocious growl and then snarled down at Lana.

“Oh, no,” she said, waving her hands in front of her face. “Not again.” Pete motioned for her to hide behind him, but the dragon snorted in amusement at the action.

“Mxyzptlk&#33; Mxyzptlk&#33;” Lena cheered happily, clapping her hands with glee. The dragon looked in Lena’s direction and actually seemed to smile at her before turning its attention back to where Lana was huddling behind Pete.

It ducked its head down, baring its large, drool covered teeth as it sneered at Pete and Lana. In the blink of an eye, it darted its tongue out and wrapped around the two friends, bringing them into its mouth and swallowing them whole. Chloe’s eyes grew wide and her mouth was hanging open.

“Oh, God,” she said under her breath.

“Mxyzptlk&#33;” Lena cheered again, her arms high in the air as she laughed wildly.

“Chloe?” Gabe asked quietly.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”





TBC…

This challenge is apparently going to take up four chapters to fit everything in there. Sorry.

[Not An Addict]

*giggles, much like Lena* Dragon&#33; *dances about* The draaaaaagon ate Laaaaaaana, the draaaaaaaagon ate Laaaaaaana&#33; Aww, but it got Pete, too. Poor Pete. I take faith from the fact that you like Pete, and you won&#39;t leave him to fester in the belly of a dragon. Cute the way you worked in the &#39;monkey&#39; nickname. ;) More please&#33; With some good Chlexy lovin&#39;, perhaps? :eyebrows:

[hfce]

:lol: Oh my Lord :lol: I love thi story. I can&#39;t believe the dragon ate pete to. :lol: Please save Pete&#33;


Hope :blinkkiss:

[drina]

Lena is sooooo adorable....And poor Pete, getting stuck in dragon&#39;s stomach with Lana.

[arianaisis]

Okay, I just have to say that of all the fics you&#39;ve written that I&#39;ve read, this one has got to be by far the most insane and funniest one. I love it so much, I want to marry it&#33; :wub: :wub:

[Sway]

that was great. i love Lena - she has the Chlex sense of humor; Lana gets eaten and all she does is cheer. great, great, great.
take as maaaaaaaaany chapters as you want, just get them posted quick. i can&#39;t get enough of this story&#33;&#33;

[AlwaysPretending]

It took me a while to read it - but it was definitely worth it&#33; I&#39;m completely loving this fic :)

We need more&#33;

Kerry

[bluemoongirl23]

*claps hands and jumps up and down, giggling* hee, Dragon ate Lana. But, poor Pete. She&#39;ll probably complain that everyone left her....to be eaten by a dragon. And, good old Gabe, love him

Blue

[Sway]

ahem. *looks around* AHEM&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :biggrin: update time&#33;&#33;&#33;

[scifichick774]

A/N: Sorry for the delay on this one folks, but you know how demanding real life (and my other fics) can be. That – and my muse has kind of died for this fic. I love Mxyzptlk, I really do, but I just haven’t been in the happy happy joy joy mood lately. Sorry.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Son?” Lionel asked; his eyes wide in a horror that was rarely, if ever, seen on the man’s face.

“Long story, Dad,” Lex answered shortly to the unspoken question. He turned to Chloe and held Lena out to her. “Take her home, I’ll ---” Chloe took the baby girl, but scoffed at what Lex was about to say.

“Oh, no,” she argued. “You stay, *we* stay. Besides, Lena’s the only one who can pronounce his name.”

“Good point,” Lex conceded.

“Well, if you won’t take my grandchild out of harm’s way,” Lionel started and stepped toward Chloe, arms poised to take Lena away from her.

In the blink of an eye, Lionel found himself unable to move anything but his head and everyone around him completely frozen in place, including the dragon.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Mr. Mxyzptlk’s voice chided and then the imp appeared in between Lionel and Chloe, waving his finger back and forth scoldingly. “I’m the only one allowed to do *that* disappearing trick.” He snapped his fingers and Lena vanished. Lionel’s eyes grew wide.

“I demand to know what’s going on. Who – what – are you and what have you done with ---”

“*I* am Mr. Mxyzptlk,” he interrupted, poofing his chest out. “Everything you’re seeing is because of me – including Lena.” Lionel scoffed.

“I hardly think you ---”

“How else would you have been able to see your granddaughter before she’s actually been conceived?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked.

“What?”

“Oh – that’s right – they didn’t tell you, did they? Not that you would have believed them anyway, but one would think a *little* honesty might not be too much to ask.” Mr. Mxyzptlk smirked at the confusion on Lionel’s face; sure that it was an expression that most people never got to see on him. “Okay, here’s the deal. Your son,” he said and motioned to Lex with his head, “not really married to Chloe – not yet anyway – which means no baby Lena since she won’t be conceived until after they get married.”

“But ---”

“I know, I know – you saw her,” Mr. Mxyzptlk cut in again. “Why does everyone in this dimension have such a hard time with things that don’t exist in this time?”

“What do you want?” Lionel asked. “If you are indeed the one responsible for all this, you must have a reason for doing it. What do you want?”

A broad grin spread across Mr. Mxyzptlk’s lips.

“You’re the only other one who knows that Clark Kent is an alien,” he said.

“Lex knows. He was there when ---”

“Actually, he thinks that the bumbling boy wonder is another meteor mutant, much like --- too many of those damn people in this town – I should have done my research before coming back in time.”

“You ---”

“Yes, yes,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said with a wave of his hand. “From the future, different dimension, the laws of physics don’t apply to me. What you really want to know is how *you* fit into the picture.”

“I don’t suppose you’re planning on telling me anytime soon?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk laughed at the discomfort in Lionel’s voice and snapped his fingers. Lionel found that he was able to move again and he stretched his arms out just barely enough to be effective.

“I need you to help me expose Clark Kent – or rather, have him expose himself,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said. Lionel’s eyebrow arched at the last part of the sentence and Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes dramatically. “Is every Luthor’s mind always in the gutter?”

“I don’t see why you would need my assistance, Mr. ---”

“Mxyzptlk,” he filled in. “And the problem is that he’s figured out that it’s me who’s causing all the sudden torment in his life. Normally I would be flattered, but he’s taken it too far and has started to opt out of my little game.” Mr. Mxyzptlk motioned to the area outside hardware store across the street, where Clark was frozen in place just like everyone else. “There – you see? He was in there the whole time when Lena’s little dragon came to life and swallowed his friends, and he didn’t once come to try and rescue them. He knows he would have to use his powers and he doesn’t want to risk further exposure. Plus, he knows that his friends will be just fine at the end, just like they always are.”

“Perhaps you’ve considered this already, but it seems as though your solution is simple,” Lionel started.

“Yes,” Mr. Mxyzptlk agreed, “you join me. Clark will think the more ‘realistic’ things are due to something else – namely you – and will let his guard down a little more.” He stopped and rubbed his hands together evilly. “And then, *then* we will *really* start having fun.”

“Or you could simply stop returning his friends back safely,” Lionel pointed out in a somewhat condescending tone. Mr. Mxyzptlk looked surprised. He knew the man was evil, but he hadn’t expected him to say that.

“But ---”

“Now then,” Lionel said, adjusting one of the cuffs on his shirt before meeting Mr. Mxyzptlk’s eyes head on with a threatening glare, “I highly recommend that you bring my granddaughter back here.” Mr. Mxyzptlk felt a smile start twitching at the corners of his mouth.

“Not until you agree to help me,” he said.

“I already --- fine,” Lionel said, unwilling to put anymore effort into the conversation. “If I help you get Clark to admit that he’s an alien, will you bring my grandchild back?” He watched as a solid smirk took over the imp’s lips.

“Already on its way,” he said in a cryptic voice and then added, “Just not the way you think.” He snapped his fingers again and vanished. Lionel blinked as everyone around him became animated again and the dragon disappeared from sight.

Chloe frowned as she looked down into her empty arms and then at the bare ring finger on her left hand. Her eyes started to well up with unshed tears and she felt Lex’s hand on her back and his warm lips against her temple.

“I’ll give you one he can’t take away,” he half-whispered, not bothering to explain whether he meant the ring or the baby. Chloe leaned against him, but her gaze went to the now untouched Talon, and her gut twisted into a knot when she realized that Pete and Lana weren’t there.

“He can take anything away,” Chloe said quietly, letting a single tear slip down her cheek.

“Hey,” Clark greeted, suddenly appearing behind them. “I caught the last part of our little friend’s newest thing. So, where are Pete and Lana?” Chloe’s hands bunched into tiny fists as she quickly swiveled around and glared at him.

“You *caught* it?” she asked menacingly. “You mean you saw what he did to them and you didn’t even *try* to come and help?&#33;”

“I ---”

“Damn it, Clark&#33; They’re *gone*&#33;” she yelled, her voice pent up with anger and grief. “And it’s *your* fault&#33;”

“What?” Clark squeaked out.

“That little floating guy – Mr. ---” she stopped and shook her head, “The only reason he’s here is because of *you* and you don’t have the decency to come and save your friends. The jig is up - everyone knows you’re wall of weird material, Clark. But instead you decide to try and keep your secret instead of helping them. And now --- now my daughter is gone again too,” she said in a choked voice. “All because you didn’t want to play his stupid game.” She took a breath and then buried her head against Lex’s chest.

“Chloe,” Clark started in an almost pleading voice. “You wouldn’t have been ready to have her around all the time anyway.” He paused when Lex and Lionel both shot him icy glares that sent a shiver through his body. “You know I’m right. You still have to graduate and what would you have done? Actually gotten married to Lex? We all know that the only reason you’re going out with him is because ---”

Lex loosened his grip on her waist, meaning to hit Clark himself, but Chloe beat him to it. She took a couple of steps toward Clark and then kicked his shin hard. Clark’s eyes widened with surprise when the kick actually hurt – a lot. He yelped and bended down to rub it, looking up at Chloe’s trembling lips and pointed finger.

“If you do anything, and I mean *anything* to have Lena taken away from me again, you will know what pain *really* feels like,” she said. Clark nodded almost absently, still surprised that Chloe had been able to hurt him – and without a hint of kryptonite in sight.

“He’ll bring them back,” Clark said, his voice betraying the doubt he felt. “Pete and Lana - *and* Lena eventually – they’re alright. I know they are. He’s never hurt them before.”

“Maybe you should go find him and make sure,” Lex said coldly. Clark nodded again, his eyes trying to catch Chloe’s to give her an unspoken apology.

“I’ll bring them back, Chloe,” he said. He turned around, but found he couldn’t use his super speed due to the throbbing in his leg. Instead, he walked as briskly as he could to his dad’s truck and sped off in it. Lex looked down at Chloe.

“You hurt him.”

“Good.”

“I mean it – he’s practically invincible and you managed to hurt him with a well-placed kick to the shin. How did you do that?” Lex asked. Chloe took in a breath and then released it, unsure of what to tell the man next to her. Gabe stepped up beside her, his hands in his pockets as he stared straight in front of him.

“That reminds me – your mom called.”




The End (Of Story # 6)

Sami’s Challenge Requirements:
Lionel and Gabe must both find out about Chloe/Lex and Lena
Lionel becomes smitten with Lena and strikes a deal w/Mxyzptlk to get Clark to expose himself as an alien in order to keep her around
Lana must get eaten by a dragon
Lex has to be in a lilac-colored bunny costume
Lena pulling Lionel’s hair and laughing about it
Lana & Pete flirting
A reference to Lionel as the magnificent bastard

[bluemoongirl23]

By the way, you&#39;re mom called....*snort* Yeah, Chloe&#39;s gonna take that one REAL well. Love the Chlexiness. Keep the genius coming, baby.

Blue

[tiff]

Not the way he thinks? Hmm...keep this going...I love your fics&#33;

[HumbugGirl]

Hehe, you&#39;ve only made me love Lionel more with that fic. lol.

[Carina]

Hmm, can&#39;t wait to see what Mr Mxyztplk meant when he said Lena was coming back, just not the way Lionel thought. And what&#39;s going to happen with Chloe&#39;s mum? And will they get Pete back (okay, I guess I&#39;m curious about Lana as well)? Looking forward to the next chapter.

[Sunny]

This is really my favourite fan fic.. really, congratulations to the writer&#33; :worship2:
It&#39;s funny, original, ... and Lana is eaten by a dragon&#33;
What more could we ask ???


:chlexsign3:
By the way, Lionel is great... devilish but adorable with Lena... ;)

[Calliope]

This is one of my favorite series&#33; :chlexsign3: I love Lena and Chlex&#39;s immediate attachment to her.

And yes, Lex does need to get Chloe a ring that won&#39;t disappear.

[scifichick774]

Okay, probably not the right place to ask for this, but I have no choice.

I have one challenge left undone for this story. One. And it&#39;s more of a story-arc type thing than a real challenge with actual elements. Sooo... if you&#39;d like to see the story continue, I need some people to issue challenges.

They need to have 4-5 elements, although some people have issued more (please no more than 10) and can&#39;t have Lex involved with anyone else. Trust me when I say that I wouldn&#39;t be able to fit it into the upcoming story arc if I split Chloe and Lex apart for any reason at this point.

If you&#39;re interested - let me know. Either post your challenge in this thread or email me. Thanks.

Kris

[hfce]

Originally posted by scifichick774@May 24 2003, 04:37 AM
Okay, probably not the right place to ask for this, but I have no choice.

I have one challenge left undone for this story. One. And it&#39;s more of a story-arc type thing than a real challenge with actual elements. Sooo... if you&#39;d like to see the story continue, I need some people to issue challenges.

They need to have 4-5 elements, although some people have issued more (please no more than 10) and can&#39;t have Lex involved with anyone else. Trust me when I say that I wouldn&#39;t be able to fit it into the upcoming story arc if I split Chloe and Lex apart for any reason at this point.

If you&#39;re interested - let me know. Either post your challenge in this thread or email me. Thanks.

Kris
Kris I just emailed you a challenge. Just be gentle when you turn me down. Ok. :blush:


Hope :goof:

[dce]

Okay, here&#39;s my challenge:

1. Lots and lots of balloons
2. Someone talking about the ancient city of Pompeii
3. Chloe getting caught reading Little Women (and Jo can&#39;t be her favourite character)
4. Something nice happens to Lana (I&#39;m starting to feel a little sorry for her, she got *eaten*, poor thing)
5. Cerulean Blue and Gabe mentioned together


Well, that&#39;s it, feel free to accept or disregard :cool:

[sabby]

Ok challenge hmmmmm *evil grin*

Lana has to say or do something absolutely brilliant, when no one expects it from her.

Lionel Luthor buying baby clothes and/or toys

Lex buying a cabin in the mountains and Chloe freaking over it

the word pristine in the same sentence with the words blue and innocent. (kris if you&#39;re going huh here, I&#39;ll explain later)


and last but not least MM getting attacked by his own dragon, if you can somehow manage that *g*


feel free to ignore

hugs,
Sabby

[scifichick774]

A/N: This seventh story has elements from Hope and Sabby’s challenges, V’s story arc challenge, and has a mention of something that Blue asked for. As usual, the requirements will be listed at the end. By the way, if you didn’t know already, I’m looking for further challenges for this series – so feel free to email them to me. This one starts right where the last one left off.

Story # 7: Motherly Love - Chapter 1

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I see,” Chloe said coolly, sucking in a deep breath to calm her nerves. “Should I even ask?” Lex noticed her tone of voice and instinctually wrapped his arm around her.

“We can talk about it when we get home,” Gabe said, turning to face his daughter.

“About that,” Lionel started, taking a few steps forward while giving his son a half-knowing, half-disapproving look, “When will you two *really* be getting married?” Lex stared at him blankly for a second and then pursed his lips.

“I take it you’ve spoken with Mr. ---”

“Mxyzptlk,” Lionel interrupted and gave a small wave of his hand.

“No fair. How come he can pronounce his name and we can’t?” Chloe whispered to Lex. Lex grinned and his father completely ignored what Chloe had said.

“Yes,” Lionel continued, “Quite an interesting fellow, but not the answer to the question I asked you.” Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but her dad beat her to it.

“If I get a vote, I think it should be soon,” Gabe said, folding his arms across his chest as he spoke to Lionel. Chloe and Lex’s eyes both widened in surprise, but Lionel gave him a small smirk and a curt nod of his head.

“I agree,” he said. “Glad to see we’re of like-mind, Mr. Sullivan.”

“What? You can’t just ---” Chloe was ripped away from her objection by Gabe’s hand on her arm. He forced a grin at Lex as he pulled Chloe away from him.

“Your *mother* called,” Gabe said in a hissed whisper, his eyes darting toward Lex and Lionel to make sure they couldn’t hear him. “And unless you want to give up whatever dreams you may have had for your life so you can go live with her, then you *need* to get married. It’s the only way, Chloe.” Chloe frowned and ran a hand through her hair.

“I don’t understand,” she replied. “Why now? Why is she doing this now?” Gabe looked at her sympathetically, his hands resting on her upper arms.

“Sweetheart, you know the rules – so did she, and she broke them. Forcing her to live without her daughter was her punishment.”

“So, why now?” Chloe repeated. Gabe shook his head a little.

“She said something about the council deciding that she had been punished long enough,” he said quietly and then gave her a wry grin. “And I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that you were suddenly able to hurt Clark.” Chloe grumbled.

Lionel and Lex looked over to where Gabe and his daughter were huddled and speaking in hushed voices.

“I like her,” Lionel mused aloud. “Apart from being beautiful and intelligent, she’s also got fire and determination.” He allowed himself a small chuckle. “*And* she hurt was able to hurt Martha Kent’s son. She’s obviously meant to be a Luthor.” He noticed the way Chloe seemed to be getting more and more upset with the conversation she and Gabe were having. “What do you suppose *that’s* about?”

“I have a feeling it has something to do with her mom,” Lex finally commented.

“Hmm,” Lionel said pensively. “She won’t be a problem, will she?”

“I don’t know,” Lex responded honestly. “Chloe hasn’t ever talked about her.”

“And Clark?”

“What about him?”

“He seemed rather set against the idea of you two getting married – and I know what good friends you are,” Lionel pointed out, his voice lined with innuendo as he raised a suspicious eyebrow. “Anything you want to tell me, Lex?” Lex kept staring at Chloe and her dad, his hands clenching into fists at the mention of Clark’s name, but not for the reason Lionel was implying.

“She used to be in love with him.”

Both of Lionel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“What?”

Lex turned his head toward his father with a growl. The bad feeling that grew in his gut when he first heard that Chloe’s mom called had tripled with the animated conversation Chloe and Gabe were having along with his father mentioning the man that Chloe used to think she was in love with.

“What part didn’t you understand?” Lex asked through gritted teeth. “She – was – in – love – with - *him*.” He spoke slowly and annunciated every angry word, causing his father’s surprised expression to fall to a somewhat bemused one.

“*Was*,” Lionel reminded him gently, before Lex took his aggression out on him. Lex took a deep breath and tried to relax his body as he nodded once.

“Was,” he agreed.

“She can’t make me move there&#33;” Chloe yelled, bringing Lex and Lionel’s attention back to her. Gabe was trying to calm her down with whispered words, but was apparently failing.

“And here I thought Mr. Sullivan was anxious for his daughter to marry you because of our family’s money,” Lionel mused, more to himself than to Lex. Before Lex could respond, Lionel continued. “But apparently it’s to keep her away from her mother. You’re sure Chloe’s never mentioned her?” Lex nodded. “Yes, well, little does the former Mrs. Sullivan know that problems such as herself can be easily taken care of.”

Lex turned to look at his dad as he heard the familiar tones of cell phone buttons being pushed.

“You can’t ‘take care of’ her, Dad. Chloe might not be on the best of terms with her, but she’d never forgive me.”

“My, but you do like to jump to conclusions, don’t you?” Lionel asked with a smirk on his lips. Upon hearing someone answer on the other line, his attention went to them instead of to his son. “Yes; I have an assignment for you.”

“Dad,” Lex said warningly. Lionel continued to ignore him, speaking only into the cell phone pressed against his ear.

“I need you to find the best wedding planner in the area and bring them to Smallville --- don’t be absurd, Lex is the one getting married --- alright, thank you.” He clicked off his phone and placed it back in his jacket pocket, smugly grinning at the not quite relieved expression on Lex’s face.

“Now who’s jumping to conclusions?” Lex asked. “I haven’t even asked her to marry me yet – and there’s always the possibility that ---”

“Lex, Lex, Lex,” Lionel chided mockingly, tsking with his tongue. “She’s not going to say no.”

“She hasn’t graduated yet, she ---”

“She’s going to be shipped off to God knows where if she doesn’t marry you,” Lionel interrupted. “And I’ve seen the way she looks at you – and at my future granddaughter…she’s not going to say no.”

“There’s got to be another way,” Chloe said insistently, breaking whatever bonding moment had been occurring between the two Luthor men. One corner of Lionel’s mouth lifted up and he forced himself to hold back a chuckle.

“Of course, I could be wrong,” he told Lex, the mirth coming through in his statement. “No matter,” he said confidently, “I’m sure you’ll find a way to convince her.” Lex glanced at his dad, recognizing the warning tone in his voice. His face held no hint of emotion, but he was inwardly surprised that he and his father had finally found something they agreed on.

Chloe walked over to him, wiping away the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks with her hand.

“I – um – I have to go,” she said in a choked voice, trying to keep herself from crying again. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” She gave him a sad look and began to turn around to leave with her dad. Lex reached out and grabbed her arm, swinging her back around to face him. He cupped her face with his hands and leaned down swiftly to kiss her. He could taste the salty warmth as her fresh tears dripped down her face and onto their lips, sliding into their mouths as their tongues moved together. When they finally pulled back to breathe, they pulled each other into a tight hug, Chloe burying her face against his chest. “I ---”

“I won’t let her take you away from me,” Lex said, one of his hands stroking the hair on the back of her head soothingly. She pulled away and gave him a meager grin.

“It might not be up to you,” she said. “But I appreciate the thought.” Lex nodded and allowed her to slip out of his arms, their hands running down their extended arms for one last lingering touch before she left.

Lex watched Chloe walk with her dad to his car and clenched his jaw. Lionel stepped up beside him, observing the scene as well. Both sets of eyes focused on the departing Sullivans, Lionel spoke in an entirely too measured voice.

“Would you like me to make that second phone call now?”

~*~*~*~*~

Clark drove along one of the old roads almost absently; his mind on other matters besides his driving. Lana and Pete were gone – really gone, or so it seemed; and yet he couldn’t escape his thoughts of how Chloe had been able to hurt him. Surely he would have remembered having some of his powers transferred to her, and he knew that didn’t happen. He shook his head and gripped the wheel tighter. Maybe he wasn’t the only one in Smallville hiding something. What was to say that another family from Krypton didn’t send their child there and his biological parents just didn’t know about it?

The second ship could have easily been hidden in the same meteor storm and it would certainly explain why Chloe was so attracted to anything having to do with the meteor rocks. But she didn’t have the same adverse reaction to them that he did.

‘Maybe girls are different,’ he thought to himself. ‘Maybe she’s just coming into her powers but doesn’t have the same weaknesses I do – maybe I react that way around them because of some allergy or something.’ He frowned. “Geez, that would suck.”

Clark sighed when he remembered that Chloe was originally from Metropolis, which pretty much discounted his theory, but still didn’t explain why Chloe had been able to hurt him. Of course, Chloe had never told him where she was born; and if she wasn’t coming into her powers until now then it would be easy for Gabe and his ex-wife to pass her off as their own child without arousing suspicion. He made a mental note to do some research of his own when he got back from looking for Pete and Lana, of whom there was still no sign.

A horrible scent wafted into the truck and Clark’s face contorted in a gagged displeasure. He covered his nose and mouth with one hand as he pulled the truck to the side of the road to look for the source of the offending odor. Using his x-ray vision, he caught sight of what looked like a large mound of reptile stool. The smell was ten times worse than anything that he ever had to shovel at the farm, but he had a bad feeling that he might find Pete and Lana there. It would be just like Mr. Mxyzptlk to make him jump through this sort of hoop to get his friends back since he hadn’t tried to rescue them in the first place.

Clark made his way over to the pile, cringing at the smell that was permeating his senses. He didn’t even need to use his x-ray vision this time. He saw something or someone trying to make its way out of the poop and knew immediately who it was. He went over and plunged his arm down into it, pulling Pete out and placing him to the side while he rescued Lana. When both of his friends were safely out, Clark noticed that Lana couldn’t stop shuddering in disgust. He couldn’t blame her because if it wouldn’t have looked incredibly unmanly then he would have been doing the same.




TBC...

[creativegirl]

You updated&#33;&#33;&#33; YEA&#33; I LOVE this story so much... what&#39;s the deal with Chloe&#39;s mom.... confused... but I&#39;m sure you&#39;ll explain :)

Bexter

[drina]

:pclol: Lana and Pete in dragon poo&#33;&#33;&#33; Funny.

wooo...this is getting intriguing...council and mum, and Chloe being able to hurt Lex...don&#39;t know why, but this reminds me of buffy the vampire slayer....

[Sunny]

Originally posted by drina@May 27 2003, 06:08 PM
don&#39;t know why, but this reminds me of buffy the vampire slayer....
yeah, in series finale, they said every girl had the potential to become a slayer&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;
Hey&#33; Perhaps Chloe is the new slayer...

Great chapter, as always&#33; :wub:

:chlexsign3:

[celticangel]

Great part. :worship2: I can&#39;t wait to see what going on with Chloe&#39;s mum. :chlexsign3:

[hfce]

Yeah you updated. Chloe so wants to marry him. She should just get over it and marry him. :lol: More please.. Thanks for using my idea :blush:

Hope :)

[nessa]

:yay: You&#39;ve updated&#33; Great chapter but I&#39;m a little confused ( :ohmy: I sound like a farmboy) What&#39;s the matter with council and Chloe&#39;s mother? Please post next chapter soon. :blinkkiss:

[Tandy]

:wub: The scenes between Lex and chloe are so cute&#33; Lionel and Lena...hilarious, rather cute also&#33; Council? :huh: More soon please&#33;
Tandy

[scifichick774]

Geez, you guys have me wanting to give you spoilers, but I just can&#39;t. I will say this: she&#39;s not a slayer, different council. Sorry, but that&#39;s all I can give you for now.

[bluemoongirl23]

Ok, so not a Slayer.....got powers or strength from somewhere....shady mom....yup, never going to figure this one out. Which is good caues I&#39;m all intrigued and stuff. And poor Pete...not Lana, though.

Blue

[scifichick774]

A/N: For those of you who asked for more Clark, here you go. And I should have told you before that this challenge will probably be another six chapter one. Sorry. This part takes place the next day.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Not to be rude Clark, but don’t you think that’s a little…out there?” Pete asked. “I mean, come on&#33; Chloe – my *best friend* Chloe – a space alien? I think I would have noticed something like that.”

“You didn’t with me,” Clark pointed out. “And it makes sense. According to the few records I was able to dig up; her parents were here during the meteor shower. There was a credit card receipt for that little bed and breakfast that used to be out off the highway.”

“Whoa. Clark Kent super-hacker,” Pete said. “I always thought that was Chloe’s gig.” Clark tilted his head and gave his friend an exasperated expression.

“It makes sense, Pete,” Clark said again. “If my biological parents sent me here, what was to keep hers from doing the same?” Pete shook his head.

“I just think you’re way off here, man. Why wouldn’t she have the same reaction to meteor rocks that you do? Why wouldn’t she have powers?”

“She *hurt* me,” Clark said, raising the cuff of his jeans just far enough for Pete to see the large bruise that had formed. “Have you ever known anybody that was able to hurt me?” Pete opened his mouth to speak and Clark held up a finger as he stopped him. “*Without* the help of meteor rocks?” Pete frowned and barely shook his head.

“No.”

“Exactly,” Clark said. He paced back and forth a little bit and ran a hand through his hair. “The thing that Dr. Swan told me, it said that I was the last *son* of Krypton. What if Chloe ---”

“What if this all has to do with that weird little floating guy that keeps bugging you?” Pete interrupted. “Mr. ‘what’s his name’? It would tie in with everything else that was happening, right? Maybe he gave her some kind of temporary super powers to hurt you back.”

“I don’t know, Pete. Maybe,” Clark half-conceded. Pete let a lopsided grin cross his lips.

“You sound disappointed,” he said.

“I’m not,” Clark protested. “I mean --- yeah, okay, I’m disappointed. I was kind of warming up to the idea of having someone around that was like me. Someone that ---” Pete snorted.

“Someone meaning a *female* someone,” he said. “Meaning that you and she would have some sort of ‘connection’,” Pete said, using his fingers to make quotation marks in the air, “and your decision between Lana and Chloe would finally be made for you.” Clark gave him a sheepish grin and ran his hand over the back of his neck.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

Pete shook his head and looked at his friend sympathetically.

“Hey – if you want to go after Chloe, take her away from whatever brainwashing that Mr. M has put her under, then all the power to you,” Pete said with his trademark smile. “And you’ll need it. I talked to Lana this morning and she said that Chloe’s mom called and apparently she’s going to try and force her to go live with her.” Clark’s mouth fell open and his skin paled.

“She can’t do that,” Clark said to himself. “If she *is* who I think she is and this isn’t just one of ---”

“Call him Mr. M,” Pete interrupted and smiled brightly. “He hates that.” Clark arched an eyebrow, but chose not to question how Pete knew that. He figured it had something to do with Lana, Pete, and the pile of dragon poop he found them in, and he was trying desperately to block the memory out of his head.

“O-kay,” Clark strung out. “Anyway, if he wasn’t responsible ---” he stopped talking and shook his head as he looked at the ground. “I can’t lose her, Pete. She’s one of my best friends – and even if she wasn’t ---”

“She might be from Krypton and therefore your one true love,” Pete finished for him in a monotone voice and stamped down the desire to roll his eyes. “What about Lana? You still like her, right?” Clark’s face contorted into a mixture of apprehension and confusion and Pete’s eyebrows rose. “What? When did this happen? I thought you were in love with the girl.”

“I was --- or at least I thought I was,” Clark said. “I just ---”

“Dude, you’d better not be basing this all on the Chloe thing from yesterday,” Pete said. “Because ---”

“I’m not&#33;” Clark argued. “I’m not – really. Lana – she’s beautiful and sweet, but ---”

“But? Wow. Never thought I’d hear that word coming out of your mouth after describing Lana.”

“I know,” Clark said. “But after spending more time with her, we just don’t really have a lot in common is all.”

“Opposites attract,” Pete said with a shrug.

“Yeah, but we’re not opposites. We’re just – I don’t know what we are,” Clark said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “We don’t seem to be able to get past whatever issues we have. I mean, it’s like there’s a big wall there still. I don’t think I can keep lying to her, Pete.”

“So don’t.”

Clark’s eyes grew wide.

“I can’t *tell* her, Pete&#33; Can you imagine how bad she would flip out?”

“She understood about the meteor mutant thing and that’s just as bad.”

“It’s not the same,” Clark objected. “Put yourself in her shoes. If I told you that I actually an alien and had just gone along with her previous assumptions to get out of telling her the truth ---”

“And the meteors that came down with your ship crushed her parents – yeah, okay, I can see your point,” Pete said. “Still though, how long have you two been pining after each other? Like *forever*. And you’re starting to have some doubts just because you don’t have very much in common, she doesn’t like you having secrets and is going to be pissed when she finds out that you lied to her, and Chloe *might* be a female member of the species from your home planet.” Pete stopped talking and scrunched up his face. “Huh. Those are actually pretty good reasons.” Clark nodded.

“Plus – um - I’ve kind of been getting the vibes that she might like somebody else,” he said quietly.

“Duh,” Pete said. “She’s practically shacked up with Luthor.”

“No, no – I meant Lana,” Clark said.

“Ohhh. So that’s what this is all about,” Pete said in an overly dramatic tone. “It’s all suddenly clear now – you’re *jealous*. And you’re trying to keep Chloe on the line as your contingency plan.” ‘Just like always,’ he thought and then paused for a second. “Wait a minute - what makes you think that Lana likes somebody else?”

“I don’t know – it’s just a feeling,” Clark admitted.

“Yeah, well, your ‘feelings’ are usually pretty spot-on,” Pete said. “Except for that whole thing with Lex – I’ve gotta say, even after seeing monchichi ---”

“Monchichi?”

Pete beamed a smile at him.

“It’s the nickname I came up with for Lena,” he responded somewhat proudly. “I was calling her ‘monkey’, but ---” Clark narrowed his eyes somewhat suspiciously at him and Pete rolled his eyes. “Okay, the point is that I still don’t like Lex --- no matter how cute their kid is.”

Clark snickered, but his demeanor quickly changed and he ran a nervous hand through his hair while he looked at his friend pleadingly.

“So what should I do? About Lana I mean. Because I still like her, but if she likes somebody else, then I don’t want to stand in her way. We’ve finally gotten our friendship to the point where I don’t want to risk losing it over something like this.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen Lana looking at any other guys except for you, but if you want, I can ask her ---”

“That’d be great,” Clark said a little too quickly. A blush rose to his cheeks and he ducked his head. “Just – you know ---”

“Yeah, yeah,” Pete said and flipped his hand. “You want me to be sneaky about it.” Clark nodded and Pete rolled his eyes again. “You’re so going to owe me.”

“I pulled you out of a massive pile of dragon manure,” Clark reminded him. Pete shuddered and then held a warning finger in the air.

“We never speak of that again.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“There’s *got* to be another way,” Chloe said, flopping her head down into her hands in exhausted defeat. “I’m only seventeen; I’m too young to get married.”

“Well, I would suggest just lying about it, because I’m sure that Lex would back up your claim, but I have a feeling they’d find out,” Gabe said. Chloe grumbled and gave a pout more characteristic of Lana than herself.

“Who’d find out about what?” Lana said as she came into the room, rubbing a towel over her wet hair.

“You washed it again?” Chloe asked with some amusement. “I think the smell is gone now.” Lana made a face.

“I just wanted to make sure. You have no idea how horrible that was.”

“I’m really sorry about that, Lana,” Chloe said. Lana shook her head.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she replied. “But if I ever see Babu again, he’d better watch out.”

“Babu?”

“Oh, um – it was the name he gave me when he pretended to be a genie,” Lana said. “I can’t pronounce his other one.” Chloe smiled in understanding and Gabe cleared his throat.

“Not to be mean, but we should get back to the topic at hand,” he said. Chloe’s smile immediately fell.

“I’m too young to get married, Dad. And ---”

“You’re getting married?&#33;” Lana squealed happily, a bright smile on her face. Chloe cringed and held her hands out in front of her.

“No&#33; No, no – too *young* to get married.”

“Actually, since we’re in Kansas, you could have gotten married when you were sixteen without your dad’s permission,” Lana said. Gabe arched an eyebrow, but decided not to question his daughter’s friend about how she knew that particular fact.

“That’s not the point, Lana.”

“Yes it is,” Lana argued and moved to sit next to Chloe on the couch. “Ooh – and your baby girl was soooo cu-ute. Well, except for throwing her stuffed dragon at me, but I think all kids are a little mischievous.”

Chloe looked up to her father for support, but he was just looking back down at her expectantly.

“I’m not even shaped like them. Why would she want me there anyway?” Chloe grumbled, half changing the topic. “Oh&#33; Maybe I could send them a picture and my vital stats. Once they see that I’m short and ---”

“I doubt that will matter, Chloe,” Gabe interrupted. “And you’re stereotyping. Not all women there ---”

“But ---” Chloe trailed off with a sigh that quickly spread into a cheeky grin. “You know, *technically*, Lex hasn’t even asked me; so it’s really kind of a moot point.” Lana squealed again and lunged toward her to envelop her in a large hug.

“You’re going to do it&#33; You’re going to get married&#33;”

“Lana,” Chloe said as she pulled away. “He hasn’t asked me yet.”

“*Yet* being the operative word,” Lana said with full confidence.

“And I’m sure a simple phone call can remedy that,” Gabe chimed in. Chloe groaned.

“Maybe going to live with mom wouldn’t be so bad after all.”



TBC...

[drina]

curiouser and curiouser abt the mum thing...they have to be a certain height? Is it a certain amazon tribe?

LOL, i like this part of the series because it&#39;s like kinda a guessing game.

[crazygirl]

I&#39;m confused :huh: . But please, don&#39;t let that stop you, I&#39;m still hoping everything will become clear in the next chapter. Don&#39;t let my hope be in vain ;) .

[nessa]

:biggrin: That was interesting. I hope Lex&#39;s going to propose in next chapter and you will finally explain situation with Chloe&#39;s mother. Please don&#39;t keep us in suspense any longer. :chlexsign1:

[trenchtown]

I going with drina and guessing Chloe&#39;s an Amazon. Hmm... I wonder who her mother would be though? I&#39;m waiting for Lex to find out. That should intrigue him. :devil: Lot&#39;s of potential there.

But just like Clark to find Chloe attractive now that she&#39;s displayed superhuman tendencies. :nono: Hmpf.

Keep me guessing Kris.

[andy jo]

great story well all you&#39;r stories are great .
one question if im new here can I post a challenge too......
I hope I can.
and the part of lana and the poo was great.

[scifichick774]

Of course you can post a challenge&#33; I&#39;d love it&#33; :)

[NightGlow]

A massive pile of dragon poop? :huh:

OK. Now something *really* nice has to happen to Lana. (Not to mention Pete...)

Hey, you oughtta make her maid of honor @ the wedding&#33;

--Threatening tone-- There *IS* going to be a wedding, right?

I&#39;ll throttle Mr. M myself if he messes this up, too. (Lookie here, they can&#39;t pronounce it and I can&#39;t even find the effort to spell it&#33;)

[Tandy]

I think that Chloe is an amazon too&#33; Wonder Woman...oh wait, she has black hair&#33; Damn it woman&#33; I&#39;m confused&#33; More soon please, this story is great and i can&#39;t wait for the next part. Its really interesting and original, keeps you guessing all the time&#33; :worship2:
Tandy

[rhetoricai]

Okay, here&#39;s a challenge for you:

1. Lena throws up on Pete
2. Mr. M and Oompaloompas mentioned in the same sentence
3. Mr. M makes a main charachter spontaneously combust :yay:
4. More dragon action&#33; This time, stuffed dragon bites Lana
5. Clark gets kissed by a Warner Bros. character
6. SMUT SMUT SMUT SMUT SMUT&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; (Chlex smut of course) :wub:

[bluemoongirl23]

Curiouser and curioser. Tall, eh? Shaped wrong? So confused in that good, I have to read more now way. So, give me more&#33;

Blue

[sydsvaughn]

Definitely need more&#33; Lana and dragon poop was great and I have my suspicions about Chloe ... cannot wait for more&#33;&#33;

Sara

[tiff]

Chloe...Her mom...the Council. Hmm...I know what I&#39;m thinking but I&#39;m not going to mention it cause I could be wrong and how stupid would I feel? Yeah, I digress. Clark interested in Chloe cause she might be like him...*rolls eyes* No Clark, you&#39;re not good enough&#33; It&#39;s all about the :chlexsign1:

[Sway]

i&#39;m confused... not confused as much as curious tho... whats the dealio with mummy-dear??

[scifichick774]

A/N: Thanks for the nudge on this one Hope. And thank you to anybody else who’s actually still reading it – your patience amazes me. Working off of comic book canon in this one (or one form of it anyway, only God knows how many different lines of canon there are), so I hope you don’t get too confused.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk leaned his head on his hand, tapping his fingers against the side of his face as he invisibly eavesdropped on Clark and Pete’s conversation. He knew from the time he spent in the future that the only other people who showed up from Clark’s doomed home world of Krypton were General Zod and his cronies, and Supergirl Linda Danvers, though technically she was from a parallel earth.

When Mr. Mxyzptlk pushed past his inner ramblings, the question still remained. Who was Chloe Sullivan and how had she been able to hurt Clark? He figured there was nothing like going to the source itself, so he zapped himself over to Chloe’s house right in time to hear her conversation with Gabe and Lana.

He pursed his lips and clenched his hands into tiny fists when he heard Lana refer to him as ‘Babu’, but still listened intently to the dialogue between the three people.

‘She doesn’t want to get married to Lex…interesting,’ Mr. Mxyzptlk mused. ‘Not that I can blame her, because who would want to marrbut the way those two go at it, I figured that she’d --- shaped like them? What’s that supposed to mean?’

Gabe sat down and leaned forward in his chair, giving his daughter a sympathetic smile.

“You know, you’re going to have to tell him either way,” he said. Mr. Mxyzptlk and Lana both furrowed their brows.

“Not if I go to live with her,” Chloe argued. “Lex will just think that the custody thing was changed and ---”

“Chloe,” Gabe interrupted and then winced, “I hate to bring this up – I *really* hate to – but you could already be pregnant with the man’s child. He has a right to know what he’s gotten himself into.”

“Why? So he can know that I’ll be forced to leave him and my daughter in a few years anyway?” Chloe asked, quickly adding, “And I can’t be pregnant, because apparently Lena was conceived in a cabin.” Gabe arched an eyebrow at her and she gave him a nervous half-smile. “Long story.” Gabe shook his head.

“You were born *and* raised here,” he started, “if you get married before ever setting foot on their land, then technically their rules won’t apply to you anymore and you won’t have to leave.”

“But ---”

“Your mom was born and raised *there*, Chloe,” Gabe said understandingly, “she’s bound by their laws no matter where she goes.”

Lana scrunched up her face, barely following the father/daughter conversation at all.

“What are you guys talking about?” she asked with a befuddled smile. “You’re making it sound like Chloe’s mom is from some really strict country or something.”

“Something like that,” Gabe replied dryly, trying his best not to sound too condescending.

“Then why would their laws have ever applied to her? She’s a U.S. citizen&#33; They can’t go bossing her around&#33;” Lana stated with loud indignation.

“Oh, God,” Mr. Mxyzptlk groaned aloud. Chloe, Lana, and Gabe’s eyes all darted around the room to see where the voice came from and Mr. Mxyzptlk obliged them by appearing mid-air in front of Chloe.

“Babu?” Lana gasped, her eyes wide as she covered her open mouth with her hand. Mr. Mxyzptlk whipped his head around for a second and scowled at her.

“Mxyzptlk&#33; Mr. Mxyzptlk&#33;” he yelled in frustration. “Why is that so hard for you to remember?” He turned back around to face Chloe and then shook his head slightly in what appeared to be despair. “You are, aren’t you? You know, you should really tell me these sorts of things before I go and hook you up with Superman’s nemesis.”

“What?” Chloe asked. “And – excuse me?&#33; I can only assume that you’re talking about Lex, and I don’t remember ever even being consulted&#33;”

Mr. Mxyzptlk waved his hand in the air nonchalantly as if to brush off her comment.

“Details,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said, waving his hand nonchalantly in the air as if to brush off her comment. He frowned as a thought came to him. “No wonder I couldn’t remember you from the future, you were probably shipped off to the Amazon in the original history. Damn&#33; I’m gonna be in so much trouble…”

“Amazon?” Lana asked, her facial features still marred in a thoroughly confused expression. “What is he talking about?” Chloe sighed and shook her head.

“It’s nothing,” she lied. Mr. Mxyzptlk scoffed and was about to mount a rebuttal when the doorbell rang. Lana gave Mr. Mxyzptlk a look before pushing herself out of her seat and going to answer the door.

“You --- behave,” she said, pointing a finger at him as she walked backward toward the foyer.

“What does she think I am? A dog?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked indignantly.

“Well…” Gabe started, but then just left whatever he was going to say hanging there as Chloe shot him a warning look.

Mr. Mxyzptlk laced his fingers together behind his head and leaned back in the air. He gave Chloe a smarmy smile and she raised her eyebrows at him.

“Listen doll, what do I have to do to get you to seal the deal with Luthor over there?”

Chloe’s face washed with a look of disgust.

“I really, *really* hope that wasn’t an innuendo,” she said half under her breath.

“Hey&#33; Don’t knock it till you tried it,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said and then winked at her. Chloe shuddered and Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes. “What? You think you’re going to have your choice of guys once you have to go live with your mom in the jungle?” He shook his head. “Hate to break it to you kiddo, but your mom had to leave just to find *him*,” he said and motioned toward Gabe with his head.

“Hey&#33;” Gabe objected.

“Look, I’m just sayin’, would it really be so bad if you married Lex?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked. “He’s rich, he’s smart, he --- has extra fast healing abilities,” he offered lamely, but then his face lit up with a genuine grin. “He could pass that gene on to Lena, you know? Then she could be a little warrior girl who can heal quickly…why does that sound so familiar?”

Chloe stared blankly at him for a second.

“You’ve been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” she said dryly.

Gabe rubbed his eyes and walked away, mumbling something about needed a drink as he left the room.

“You&#33;”

Chloe and Mr. Mxyzptlk turned their heads to see Clark standing there, pointing angrily at the floating imp. Mr. Mxyzptlk smiled broadly.

“Me,” he confirmed happily in a sing-song voice.

“Are you responsible for this?” Clark demanded.

“For what?”

“For Chloe’s mom suddenly being interested in her life,” Clark said with hints of sarcasm and suspicion lining his voice. He stepped toward Mr. Mxyzptlk menacingly, not noticing the effect his sentence had on Chloe.

Chloe frowned at Clark’s choice of words because they stung. As irrational as it may have sounded to her once she said the words aloud, Chloe had always seen what her mother had done to her and her dad as abandonment. True, she was just following the laws of her heritage; but Chloe, generally speaking, wasn’t someone who let rules stand in the way of something she wanted, and she had a hard time believing that *anyone* would desert the two people they loved most in the world just because some council told them that they had to.

The tone in which Clark spoke pulled her from her thoughts and she looked up to where he and Mr. Mxyzptlk were only inches apart and staring each other down.

“Did you?” she asked, her eyes fixed on Mr. Mxyzptlk. The floating imp looked astonished by the accusation and he held up his hands.

“No, no, of course not,” he answered.

“Yeah, and you’ve been so honest so far,” Clark said with heavy sarcasm. Mr. Mxyzptlk folded his arms across his chest and rolled his eyes.

“If I was behind her mom getting in touch with her, would I be trying to get her to marry Luthor?” he asked and then paused for a second as he thought about it. “Okay, I see your point, but I’m still not behind it.”

“So you didn’t give her the power to hurt me?” Clark asked skeptically. Pete had done a good job of convincing him that everything that was happening with Chloe was all due to Mr. Mxyzptlk’s outside influence and now Clark was not only angry with Mr. Mxyzptlk, but also with himself for believing that Chloe could have been from Krypton.

“No-ooo,” Mr. Mxyzptlk strung out, “her mom gave her that.” The anger on Clark’s face faded into confusion and he blinked a couple of times before responding.

“What?”

“Your friend here is an --- mmmph,” Mr. Mxyzptlk’s eyes grew wide as Chloe jumped up from her seat and covered his mouth within a second’s period of time. Chloe forced a fake smile at Clark and he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Chloe?”

Chloe looked past Clark and spotted Lana, who appeared to be trying to make sense out of everything that had been said. She gave her a pleading look and Lana smiled and nodded, happy to be part of the inner circle of someone’s secret for once – even if she hadn’t actually figured out what it was yet.

“Clark,” Lana started, placing her hand on the young man’s upper arm. Clark looked down at her in surprise and she beamed a smile at him. “Did I tell you how grateful I am that you saved my life?”

“I – uh – it was nothing,” Clark stammered. Chloe let out a breath of relief as she thought that she was in the clear, but her body quickly stiffened as Clark turned back around and his eyes seemed to be boring into her.

“What?” she asked uncomfortably. Clark stepped closer to her.

“It’s okay, Chloe,” he said. Mr. Mxyzptlk’s little slip had been enough for Clark to disregard everything Pete had said.

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” she replied. Clark looked up at Mr. Mxyzptlk, who was now floating much higher than Chloe’s arm could extend to cover his mouth.

“You said she’s *an* - you were going to say ‘alien’, right?” Clark asked in a sure tone. Chloe’s jaw dropped and her eyes threatened to pop out of her head.

“What?&#33;”




TBC…

[sydsvaughn]

Oh, this is getting good. Gotta love the Buffy reference as well. Is it wrong of me to like Mr. M? Sigh... I so cannot wait to read more, and am so glad you updated this one&#33;

Great job&#33;

Sara

[drina]

Oh boy&#33; Some of us was right about her being from an Amazon tribe...can&#39;t wait to see what happens in the next chapter&#33; :yay:

And Lol at the buffy references

[Impress]

oh, this is getting good. no wait, this is getting better. It was already good. Can&#39;t wait for more.

[sabby]

Clark can be such a dope sometimes...wel most times. Anyway&#33; Loved the chapter adn you know it. Glad that I FINALLY know what Chloe is. I hate being out of the loop *grumbles*

Oh and gotta love the Buffy quip *g* well let&#39;s see where you take this.

hugs,
Sabby

[hfce]

Yeah you finally updated :yay: .I loved the chapter and knowing what Chloe is now Wonder Woman Amazon type. But where was Lex? I want her to tell him before Clark knows. :tease:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[hler]

Woohooo&#33;&#33;&#33; For updating you get :cake: and :gift: and :party2: and :cake: and :gift: and :cake: ....can you tell that I love TCMMOMM??&#33;&#33;&#33; Well I do. I Love the update...more as soon as possible please&#33; And hehe *evil cackel* have Chloe kick Clark again, I want farm boy in pain, the dork.
:worship2: ~Heida

[bluemoongirl23]

I like that Mr. Mxyzptlk was all, &#39;shaped wrong?&#39; much like I was. And, I think that you&#39;re doing an excellent job. More soon, please. Especially if you are going to explain what, exactly, is going on with Chloe and her mom.

Blue

[Susan S]

Really great chapter. I love the whole "mess" with Chloe&#39;s mom. I can&#39;t wait to see how Clark gets out of this one.

Susan

[Tandy]

Poor Clark, so desperate not to be alone&#33; :goof: Wonderful chapter,c an&#39;t wait for the next one&#33;

Tandy

[kidkarmina]

I&#39;m only done reading the first story (3 chapters) and I&#39;ve got to tell you, I&#39;m hooked :worship2: &#33;

I do remember Mr. mxyzptlk. In fact, he was one of my favorite villain from the old (very old) Superman&#39;s episodes. Anyway, I&#39;m off to do chores so I will be back and start reading the 2nd story..... :cool:

Thank you :biggrin:&#33;&#33;

[kidkarmina]

It&#39;s almost midnight and I just finished reading story 2: Genie in a Bottle (3 chapters). I could not put it down especially since you had some great Chlex scenes in there :yay: . Of course, I was disappointed and *ugh*** frustrated when Lucas interrupted them @ the Talon (outside of the Talon) :tease: . I know you did that on purpose :devil: &#33;

Good job :biggrin: :worship2: &#33; As much as I want to read the next story/chapter, I think I am going to need some shut eye to be ready for work tomorrow :crygreen: &#33;

[kidkarmina]

Okay, my frustrations were quenched on Chapter 3: The Love Bug :biggrin: :yay: &#33; Thank you :wub:

Again, :worship2: :worship2: &#33;

[scifichick774]

A/N: *sigh* Please keep in mind that the Amazon tribe I have in mind is from the Wonder Woman comics (think Mt. Olympus/Greek stuff) and not Xena. Hope that helps.

Story 7: Motherly Love, Chapter 4

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Why would you automatically jump to *that* conclusion?” Chloe asked in an angry, insulted tone, her hands placed firmly on her hips.

Mr. Mxyzptlk smiled evilly at Clark as he folded his small arms smugly across his chest.

“Yes, Clark, do tell,” he said, every note of his voice tweaked with utter delight. “What could have possibly made you think that the little blonde girl is an alien?”

Chloe tilted her head to the side at him.

“First of all, *little*? I hardly think you’re in a position to be throwing a description like that one around. And second, I have a name, you know?”

“So do I, but you never use it,” Mr. Mxyzptlk shot back.

“Because I can’t pronounce it&#33;”

“I *told* you how to say it&#33;” Mr. Mxyzptlk yelled, his face turning red with angry frustration as he balled his hands into fists at his sides. “What more do you want? A phonetic cue card?&#33;”

Sensing that the mischievous imp was about to pass the boundaries of his temper and lash out at Chloe, Clark cleared his throat and stepped forward to intervene.

“You guys, just…calm down, okay?”

Chloe crossed her arms and Mr. Mxyzptlk let out a huff of air.

“Fine,” they both grumbled like spoiled children.

“Good,” Clark said, letting go of the breath he had been holding in. ‘Man, that was too close.’ He desperately wanted to know what the big secret about Chloe’s lineage was now that the last daughter of Krypton thing had been ruled out, but in a fleeting moment of common sense, he realized that it wasn’t the right time to bring it up.

The phone rang loudly, startling everyone from the uncomfortable silence that had creeped into the room. Chloe ran one hand over the back of her neck to soothe the now-tensed muscles that lay there, hesitating before picking up the phone with her other hand.

‘Who knows? Maybe it’s Lex and I can get the fuck out of here,’ she thought. “Hello?”

“Chloe?” a surprised woman’s voice returned. “Is that you?”

Chloe frowned.

“Ye-ah,” she answered slowly. “Who is this?” She already suspected the answer and a knot began to form in her stomach while she waited for what seemed like forever before the woman spoke again.

“Chloe, honey, it’s me – it’s your mom.”

Chloe closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath to try and fight off the sudden, overwhelming bout of nausea that swept through her. She shakily held the phone out to her dad.

“It’s for you.”

Gabe nodded once as he took the phone from her, attributing her demeanor to all of the things that had just happened in the living room.

“This is Gabe.”

“Gabe? This is Ann.”

“Ahh,” Gabe said in understanding. He stole a quick, concerned look at his daughter before turning his attention back to the conversation. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she responded somewhat sadly. “I’m guessing from her reaction that she didn’t take the news quite as well as I’d hoped.”

“You could say that.”

“Gabe, you know that I have no control over this,” she said. “And I want to see her – I never wanted to leave the two of you in the first place, but the rules ---”

“Yeah, about that,” Gabe started, only to be interrupted by Mr. Mxyzptlk.

“This is *boring*,” Mr. Mxyzptlk pouted. Gabe scowled at him and he smiled mischievously. “But I know what would make it better.”

“Listen,” Gabe said into the phone, still keeping a steady eye on the floating imp, “I might have to call you ba---”

Mr. Mxyzptlk snapped his fingers and a beautiful blonde woman dressed in a long toga-esque sheet appeared out of nowhere in front of them. Her petite yet curvy frame closely mirrored Chloe’s and although her eyes were sea-blue, their shape and the sparkle in them reminded Chloe of her own.

Clark and Lana’s jaws both dropped open and Clark tipped his head to the side as he gazed at the Amazon beauty in front of them.

“Well,” he started and then paused, “that *is* more…interesting.” Lana pursed her lips in jealousy when she saw how Clark was leering at the stranger and Chloe backhanded his chest.

“That’s my *mom*, jackass&#33;”

“Ouch&#33;” Clark rubbed the now-sore spot on his chest and then looked back at the woman with long, wavy blonde hair.

“That’s your *mom*?” both Clark and Lana asked at the same time.

“B-but,” Clark stuttered and then leaned his head to the side again. “She’s ---”

“She’s too young to be your mom, Chloe,” Lana cut in and then gave Chloe a sympathetic yet condescending smile. “Maybe she just looks like her.”

“Or maybe Mxyzptlk zapped her in from the past,” Clark said. His eyes ran down Ann again. “From a Halloween party or something.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, don’t I wish,” she muttered under her breath. Her mom stepped toward her, a joyous, nervous smile plastered across her face.

“Chloe,” she said lovingly, her arms opening up to give the daughter she hadn’t seen in so many years a hug.

“I’m not going there,” Chloe said, the strong emotion racking her body coming through in her voice.

“Chloe ---”

Gabe looked past the back of his ex-wife to Chloe and met her pleading eyes with his own. He let out a small sigh and stepped forward, placing a hand on Ann’s shoulder.

“Antiope, there’s something you need to know,” he said. Ann turned around and looked at him questioningly, trying to fight down the shiver of pleasure that swept through her with his touch. “Chloe’s engaged – they’re getting married – they’re having a baby.” He paused for a second, glancing at Chloe and hoping she took the hint to keep her mouth shut instead of protesting. “She can’t go back with you. She wasn’t born there, she wasn’t raised there, and she’s already committed to a male here. That’s in your rules too. If she hadn’t been involved with Lex, then maybe, but ---”

“No,” Ann argued and shook her head in disbelief. “She’s only seventeen. She can’t get married, she can’t ---” she trailed off and whipped back around to look at Chloe. “Is this true?”

“Mom ---”

“Is this true?” she repeated. “Or is your father just trying to keep you away from your destiny?”

“It’s not my destiny, mom,” Chloe said, running a shaky hand through her short, flippy hair. “I’ve seen my future, and believe me, being on Themyscira isn’t it.”

Ann furrowed her brow suspiciously.

“What do you mean you have seen the future?”

“Uh ---” Chloe stalled and then pointed at Mr. Mxyzptlk. He ran a hand over his face.

“Oh, shi---”

“You&#33;” Ann roared and the house seemed to vibrate. “Mischievous imp from the fifth dimension. *You* have summoned me here?&#33;”

“I can explain,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said, holding his hands out in front of him to defend himself.

“*And* you showed my daughter her future?”

“Well, I ---”

Lana touched Clark’s arm and motioned for him to bring his head down so she could whisper into his ear.

“Why isn’t he just blinking away?” she asked. Clark shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Because I can’t,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said through gritted teeth. “After my last little game on their ‘precious’ island, Hera made a change in my powers. I can’t leave by my normal means if there are two or more of them present.”

“Hera?” Lana asked. “Like Greek mythology, Hera?” Mr. Mxyzptlk raised an eyebrow.

“*You* know about Greek mythology?”

Lana glared at him, but the door bell rang before she could move toward him to try and hurt him.

Gabe looked at the others in the room, all poised in defensive positions, and gave a small roll of his eyes before making his way to the front door.

“I should have stayed in Metropolis,” he mumbled to himself as he reached for the doorknob. He let out a half-snort of twisted amusement, opening the door wide and seeing who was standing on the other side. “Like I couldn’t have guessed.”

“Pardon?” Lex asked and stepped past him into the house.

“Nothing,” Gabe said dismissively and shut the door. “She’s in the living room.” Lex nodded and casually walked beside Gabe as he headed back to the other room. Gabe stopped and turned around right before the other people in his house came into Lex’s view. “You should know that things have gotten pretty ugly in there.” Lex gave him a questioning look.

“What do you mean? Is Chloe alright?”

“Fine – er – sort of,” Gabe said. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. “How do I say this? You know that…creature…who has been causing a bunch of trouble?” Lex nodded. “Well, he sort of blinked Chloe’s mom into the living room.”

“What?” Lex said, losing his usually cool demeanor and letting the panic he felt show on his face. “She’s not going to try and take Chloe is she? Gabe, you can’t let her do that. I ---”

“I sort of told her that you and Chloe were getting married and having a baby,” Gabe said and then winced, expecting that Lex would react just as poorly as Chloe had done to the idea of getting married.

“Oh. Well…good,” Lex said in surprise. “Did it help?”

“I don’t think she believed me,” Gabe replied. One corner of Lex’s lips curled upward to smirk at him and he removed a small black velvet box from his inner jacket pocket.

“Perhaps this will help.”



TBC...

[scifichick774]

A/N: *sigh* Please keep in mind that the Amazon tribe I have in mind is from the Wonder Woman comics (think Mt. Olympus/Greek stuff) and not Xena. Hope that helps.

Story 7: Motherly Love - Chapter 4

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Why would you automatically jump to *that* conclusion?” Chloe asked in an angry, insulted tone, her hands placed firmly on her hips.

Mr. Mxyzptlk smiled evilly at Clark as he folded his small arms smugly across his chest.

“Yes, Clark, do tell,” he said, every note of his voice tweaked with utter delight. “What could have possibly made you think that the little blonde girl is an alien?”

Chloe tilted her head to the side at him.

“First of all, *little*? I hardly think you’re in a position to be throwing a description like that one around. And second, I have a name, you know?”

“So do I, but you never use it,” Mr. Mxyzptlk shot back.

“Because I can’t pronounce it&#33;”

“I *told* you how to say it&#33;” Mr. Mxyzptlk yelled, his face turning red with angry frustration as he balled his hands into fists at his sides. “What more do you want? A phonetic cue card?&#33;”

Sensing that the mischievous imp was about to pass the boundaries of his temper and lash out at Chloe, Clark cleared his throat and stepped forward to intervene.

“You guys, just…calm down, okay?”

Chloe crossed her arms and Mr. Mxyzptlk let out a huff of air.

“Fine,” they both grumbled like spoiled children.

“Good,” Clark said, letting go of the breath he had been holding in. ‘Man, that was too close.’ He desperately wanted to know what the big secret about Chloe’s lineage was now that the last daughter of Krypton thing had been ruled out, but in a fleeting moment of common sense, he realized that it wasn’t the right time to bring it up.

The phone rang loudly, startling everyone from the uncomfortable silence that had creeped into the room. Chloe ran one hand over the back of her neck to soothe the now-tensed muscles that lay there, hesitating before picking up the phone with her other hand.

‘Who knows? Maybe it’s Lex and I can get the fuck out of here,’ she thought. “Hello?”

“Chloe?” a surprised woman’s voice returned. “Is that you?”

Chloe frowned.

“Ye-ah,” she answered slowly. “Who is this?” She already suspected the answer and a knot began to form in her stomach while she waited for what seemed like forever before the woman spoke again.

“Chloe, honey, it’s me – it’s your mom.”

Chloe closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath to try and fight off the sudden, overwhelming bout of nausea that swept through her. She shakily held the phone out to her dad.

“It’s for you.”

Gabe nodded once as he took the phone from her, attributing her demeanor to all of the things that had just happened in the living room.

“This is Gabe.”

“Gabe? This is Ann.”

“Ahh,” Gabe said in understanding. He stole a quick, concerned look at his daughter before turning his attention back to the conversation. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she responded somewhat sadly. “I’m guessing from her reaction that she didn’t take the news quite as well as I’d hoped.”

“You could say that.”

“Gabe, you know that I have no control over this,” she said. “And I want to see her – I never wanted to leave the two of you in the first place, but the rules ---”

“Yeah, about that,” Gabe started, only to be interrupted by Mr. Mxyzptlk.

“This is *boring*,” Mr. Mxyzptlk pouted. Gabe scowled at him and he smiled mischievously. “But I know what would make it better.”

“Listen,” Gabe said into the phone, still keeping a steady eye on the floating imp, “I might have to call you ba---”

Mr. Mxyzptlk snapped his fingers and a beautiful blonde woman dressed in a long toga-esque sheet appeared out of nowhere in front of them. Her petite yet curvy frame closely mirrored Chloe’s and although her eyes were sea-blue, their shape and the sparkle in them reminded Chloe of her own.

Clark and Lana’s jaws both dropped open and Clark tipped his head to the side as he gazed at the Amazon beauty in front of them.

“Well,” he started and then paused, “that *is* more…interesting.” Lana pursed her lips in jealousy when she saw how Clark was leering at the stranger and Chloe backhanded his chest.

“That’s my *mom*, jackass&#33;”

“Ouch&#33;” Clark rubbed the now-sore spot on his chest and then looked back at the woman with long, wavy blonde hair.

“That’s your *mom*?” both Clark and Lana asked at the same time.

“B-but,” Clark stuttered and then leaned his head to the side again. “She’s ---”

“She’s too young to be your mom, Chloe,” Lana cut in and then gave Chloe a sympathetic yet condescending smile. “Maybe she just looks like her.”

“Or maybe Mxyzptlk zapped her in from the past,” Clark said. His eyes ran down Ann again. “From a Halloween party or something.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, don’t I wish,” she muttered under her breath. Her mom stepped toward her, a joyous, nervous smile plastered across her face.

“Chloe,” she said lovingly, her arms opening up to give the daughter she hadn’t seen in so many years a hug.

“I’m not going there,” Chloe said, the strong emotion racking her body coming through in her voice.

“Chloe ---”

Gabe looked past the back of his ex-wife to Chloe and met her pleading eyes with his own. He let out a small sigh and stepped forward, placing a hand on Ann’s shoulder.

“Antiope, there’s something you need to know,” he said. Ann turned around and looked at him questioningly, trying to fight down the shiver of pleasure that swept through her with his touch. “Chloe’s engaged – they’re getting married – they’re having a baby.” He paused for a second, glancing at Chloe and hoping she took the hint to keep her mouth shut instead of protesting. “She can’t go back with you. She wasn’t born there, she wasn’t raised there, and she’s already committed to a male here. That’s in your rules too. If she hadn’t been involved with Lex, then maybe, but ---”

“No,” Ann argued and shook her head in disbelief. “She’s only seventeen. She can’t get married, she can’t ---” she trailed off and whipped back around to look at Chloe. “Is this true?”

“Mom ---”

“Is this true?” she repeated. “Or is your father just trying to keep you away from your destiny?”

“It’s not my destiny, mom,” Chloe said, running a shaky hand through her short, flippy hair. “I’ve seen my future, and believe me, being on Themyscira isn’t it.”

Ann furrowed her brow suspiciously.

“What do you mean you have seen the future?”

“Uh ---” Chloe stalled and then pointed at Mr. Mxyzptlk. He ran a hand over his face.

“Oh, shi---”

“You&#33;” Ann roared and the house seemed to vibrate. “Mischievous imp from the fifth dimension. *You* have summoned me here?&#33;”

“I can explain,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said, holding his hands out in front of him to defend himself.

“*And* you showed my daughter her future?”

“Well, I ---”

Lana touched Clark’s arm and motioned for him to bring his head down so she could whisper into his ear.

“Why isn’t he just blinking away?” she asked. Clark shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Because I can’t,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said through gritted teeth. “After my last little game on their ‘precious’ island, Hera made a change in my powers. I can’t leave by my normal means if there are two or more of them present.”

“Hera?” Lana asked. “Like Greek mythology, Hera?” Mr. Mxyzptlk raised an eyebrow.

“*You* know about Greek mythology?”

Lana glared at him, but the door bell rang before she could move toward him to try and hurt him.

Gabe looked at the others in the room, all poised in defensive positions, and gave a small roll of his eyes before making his way to the front door.

“I should have stayed in Metropolis,” he mumbled to himself as he reached for the doorknob. He let out a half-snort of twisted amusement, opening the door wide and seeing who was standing on the other side. “Like I couldn’t have guessed.”

“Pardon?” Lex asked and stepped past him into the house.

“Nothing,” Gabe said dismissively and shut the door. “She’s in the living room.” Lex nodded and casually walked beside Gabe as he headed back to the other room. Gabe stopped and turned around right before the other people in his house came into Lex’s view. “You should know that things have gotten pretty ugly in there.” Lex gave him a questioning look.

“What do you mean? Is Chloe alright?”

“Fine – er – sort of,” Gabe said. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. “How do I say this? You know that…creature…who has been causing a bunch of trouble?” Lex nodded. “Well, he sort of blinked Chloe’s mom into the living room.”

“What?” Lex said, losing his usually cool demeanor and letting the panic he felt show on his face. “She’s not going to try and take Chloe is she? Gabe, you can’t let her do that. I ---”

“I sort of told her that you and Chloe were getting married and having a baby,” Gabe said and then winced, expecting that Lex would react just as poorly as Chloe had done to the idea of getting married.

“Oh. Well…good,” Lex said in surprise. “Did it help?”

“I don’t think she believed me,” Gabe replied. One corner of Lex’s lips curled upward to smirk at him and he removed a small black velvet box from his inner jacket pocket.

“Perhaps this will help.”



TBC...

[Blaire023]

by golly, i think it just might&#33;

heh, you know i like this one&#33;

~B

[xadie]

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

Like I said on ff.net, I am totally addicted to this fic&#33; I just got a big rush of happy highness reading the new chap&#33; God, I love this fic. :wub: Could I please request a swift return of baby Luthor - Monchichi is so very very cute&#33;

You&#39;d really better update soon - I need this, dude&#33; You really don&#39;t want to see me on a downer&#33; :devil:

[hfce]

No why did you stop? Ugh I love this story. I so hope Chloe accepts his proposal. More now please.......
Oh is there a possibility that Lena makes an appearance? ;)

Hope :)

[sabby]

Ohh goodie, now let&#39;s just hope Chloe will forget her muleheadedness for once and just say yes and be done with it&#33; I mean I would rather be married to him than stuck on a stupid amazon island wearing nothing but a metalbowl bra and a towel *shakes head*

Anyway.. Great chappy, and gimme more soon please

hugs,
Sabby

[hler]

Ooooh, me like, me like lot&#33;
I can&#39;t wait to see the proposal scene, should be fun&#33;&#33;

~Heida

[who?]

This fic is amazing :yay2: :yay2:

update soon please

[sara_noele]

This is so great to read&#33;&#33; I&#39;m having a lot of fun. Can&#39;t wait to read the next. :biggrin:

[dsapiro]

Yes, I think it might help, now lets see, how can we find out? Oh, I know, UPDATE&#33;&#33;&#33;

[trenchtown]

Lex arrives to save the day just in time. Please don&#39;t let Chloe refuse whatever he&#39;s offering. Obstinacy will only take you so far. :biggrin:

This has a very good story so far.

Nadia

[Sunny]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Jul 3 2003, 06:34 PM

“Hera?” Lana asked. “Like Greek mythology, Hera?” Mr. Mxyzptlk raised an eyebrow.

“*You* know about Greek mythology?”


Haha&#33; Well told&#33;
I love this fic, it&#39;s a pure work of art&#33;
PLeeeeaaasssseee&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; Write more&#33;

[Sunny]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Jul 3 2003, 06:34 PM

“Hera?” Lana asked. “Like Greek mythology, Hera?” Mr. Mxyzptlk raised an eyebrow.

“*You* know about Greek mythology?”


Haha&#33; Well told&#33;
I love this fic, it&#39;s a pure work of art&#33;
PLeeeeaaasssseee&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; Write more&#33;

[bluemoongirl23]

Dude, Clark, that&#39;s her *mother* you perv&#33; Hee. Let&#39;s see how Lex and his future mother-in-law get along. More soon, please.

Blue

[Charlie]

Why, oh why is my writing sooooo bad?? :crygreen: I wish I could write like this. Please update fast. :worship2:

[jem]

aw shucks... poor charlie... scifichicks good aint she???

MORE&#33; :biggrin: luv ya

[Blaire023]

there are no words that are good or respectable enough for me to label Kris&#39; aka Scifichick&#39;s work.

She&#39;s one helluva writer.

NOW UPDATE THE DEAL&#33;&#33;&#33;

Love ya girlie,

B

[jem]

OMG i forgot about that&#33;&#33;&#33;

YEAH GO UPDATE THe deal&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

thats such an angsty fic.....


go scifichick&#33;&#33;&#33; u rock chickadee

p.s ten more posts and i can get into the blue lounge

YAY&#33;&#33;&#33;what goes on in there huh??? :devil:

[kidkarmina]

:worship2: I know I&#39;ve posted my review to ff.net but I just love these emoticons, I just had to add it.

More, more, more, please :wub: :worship2: :blinkkiss: &#33;&#33;

[NightGlow]

This fic is just such a... a ball of fun&#33; :yay2:
Sorry for my lack of articulateness but I&#39;m too amused right now to be serious.

Dragons, fifth dimensions and Amazon women. I couldn&#39;t even begin to fathom how I could pull that off. Keep up the good work&#33;

[shailafter]

ohh you&#39;re one of my fave chlex fic writers&#33; love this fic.. heh Mr. M is so devious and funny to read about.. update soon&#33; :chlexsign3:

[scifichick774]

A/N: I apologize for the delay on this. It should have been up yesterday, but I’ve been having issues with my ISP.

Story 7: Motherly Love – Chapter 5

~*~*~*~*~*~

“You’re absolutely sure?” Lionel asked as his eyes scanned over the documents that had just been faxed to him.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Luthor,” came the voice on the other end of the line. “I sent you everything I found.”

“Hmm,” Lionel hummed pensively, an almost evil grin spreading across his lips as he found something on the paperwork that caught his attention. “This part on her passport papers ---”

“Yes, sir?”

“If your findings are correct - do you have any idea what this means?”

“Uh ---” the voice stalled. “Well, I know you wanted them in conjunction with your son’s fiancée, but I really don’t think it will be a problem, Mr. Luthor. Just because Miss Sullivan’s mom was born outside the United States, she herself is a natural born citizen and ---”

Lionel pressed the key to hang up the speaker phone without so much as a goodbye or a warning of the call ending. He could only endure less intelligent people for so long, and the lackey on the other end of the line had been testing his patience with his rambling sentence.

Lionel reread the passage of the papers that had caught his eye just moments before. His eyes held a trace of the smile that had been on his face and he rested back into the chair in Lex’s office. Although it was true that there was a chance that the information he was presented with was all a lie, he found himself hopeful that it wasn’t because of the implications it held for his future granddaughter and any other children that Lex and Chloe ended up having together.

If the information he was given was correct, then he would need to make sure that Lex’s marriage to Chloe didn’t end up like all of his son’s other failed relationships. He doubted that it would after meeting the girl since she seemed to genuinely care about Lex and not his money, but there were always outside influences that would need to be care of.

‘Like that interfering Kent boy,’ he thought to himself. ‘But getting started on my part of the deal with that Mr. Mxyzptlk fellow should take care of that.’

The corners of his lips curled upward again and he reached for a small glass of water on the desktop before raising it slightly in the air in an imaginary toast.

“Here’s to the next generation of Luthors.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Gabe raised an eyebrow at the small closed box in Lex’s hand.

“Awfully sure of yourself, weren’t you?” he commented. Lex gave him an unreadable expression.

“Not really,” he admitted. “And I’m still not entirely convinced that she’ll say yes, but ---”

“--- You had to try,” Gabe finished for him. Lex nodded once and Gabe gave him a glint of a smile. “So, it took you an entire day to find a ring befitting my daughter, huh? At least you put some thought into it – I suppose that should give me a little bit of comfort.” Lex smiled back, though it quickly turned into a smirk that made Gabe’s stomach feel incredibly uneasy.

“Actually, I’ve had the ring for some time,” Lex said. “I had it made after Mr. Mxyx--- after he made us think we were married.” Gabe grumbled something inaudible under his breath as he looked at the ground and when he raised his face; his lips were thin and tight in a forced grin. Lex frowned. Gabe was finally showing the emotions that he had expected all along. “You wouldn’t want this – Chloe and I to be together – if her mom wasn’t trying to take her away, would you?”

“Does it matter?” Gabe asked seriously. Lex kept eye contact with Chloe’s dad, but even Gabe could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

“No,” Lex finally said. “Although, I would like to think that you’re not going to hate me for marrying your daughter and taking her away from you. You and Chloe have the kind of relationship I always wanted with my own father, and I want you to know that I really want you and I to be on good terms after she and I get married.” Gabe visibly relaxed and he shook his head lightly with a modicum of amusement.

“I’d like that too,” he said. “And you’re not taking her away from me, Lex. Now, her mom on the other hand ---”

As if on cue, two raised voices got progressively louder and started shouting at each other from the other room.

“Yes, you are&#33;”

“No, I’m not&#33;”

Gabe sighed and ran his hand over his face before slapping Lex on the shoulder.

“Welcome to the family.”

Lex followed Gabe into the living room, where he saw Clark and Lana’s backs, and past them, Mr. Mxyzptlk floating in the air, and Chloe squaring off with a beautiful blonde woman dressed in what looked like an ancient Grecian robe. He turned to look at Gabe, cocking his head to the side as he shot him a quizzical expression. He had come into the room expecting to see Chloe’s mom – someone in his mind who would be around Gabe’s age, perhaps a little younger, but nothing as young as the woman who looked like she couldn’t be any older than her late twenties.

“The women in her family look young for a long time,” Gabe replied to the unspoken question. Lex raised his eyebrows in surprise, a look that swiftly turned into a lopsided smirk when he thought about the connotations regarding Chloe.

They hadn’t talked about it, but Lex had briefly been worried that Chloe wouldn’t want to be with him after his healing abilities had surfaced and shown themselves. If his condition was indeed comparable to the fictional character of Wolverine, then he would age more slowly than she would and he didn’t know how she felt about appearing to be the older woman further down the line. Now though, it seemed he didn’t need to be concerned about it.

“Yes, you are&#33;” Ann repeated. “You are not carrying his child ---”

“Yet,” Mr. Mxyzptlk interrupted, quickly coughing into his hand and looking away when Chloe’s mom cast a warning glare at him.

“You are not even wearing a ring of betrothal,” Ann continued. “You are returning to Themyscira with me and you are doing it now.”

Chloe was about to start arguing with her when something clicked in Lex’s head.

He knew from his studies that Themyscira was the mythical home of the Amazons and…Gabe said that the women in Chloe’s family aged slowly.

‘Chloe is an Amazon,’ he thought to himself. ‘Well, that certainly explains why she was able to hurt Clark.’ He stepped forward and caught Ann’s line of vision.
“Themyscira?” he asked.

“It’s the place her mom is from,” Clark said informatively. “Lana and I have never heard of it either.”

“My daughter has not informed you of her heritage?” Ann asked Lex pointedly, her arms folded across her chest in a defensive position.

‘Crap,’ Chloe and Gabe both thought at the same time, knowing that if there was any loophole that existed to get Chloe to go back with her, then Ann would find it. And from the tone of her voice, it sounded like she might be onto something. Fortunately, Lex caught onto it too.

“I didn’t say that,” he replied, walking over to Chloe and giving her a confident grin before looking back at her mom. “Themyscira – the island paradise of the Amazons, protected by the Goddesses Hera and Artemis.” Everyone in the room stared at him in surprise. Lex placed his hand on the small of Chloe’s back and rubbed it in a small circular motion to help ease whatever stress he was sure had built up there from her confrontation with her mom and her secret basically being exposed to everyone. “I was simply going to object to you taking her there. If I recall what Chloe told me correctly, husbands are frowned upon.” Lex didn’t even look to Chloe to back up his lie, knowing that her mother would probably catch onto any exchanged looks at this point. Ann grunted in response.

“You are not her husband,” she pointed out. “You are not the father of the child that Gabe said she was carrying though she has admitted she is not, and you have not even ---”

“Oh, right,” Lex cut in, “the ring.” He turned and held the box out to Chloe, still keeping his free hand on her back. “The jewelers finally called to say they were done sizing it for you.”

Chloe bit back whatever response she would have normally had, opting for a tiny purse of her lips at Lex’s smirk. This was the only way out of leaving permanently with her mom and he now knew that for a fact, and was apparently willing to take full advantage of it. He removed his hand from her back and opened the box, making Chloe release a small gasp when she saw the large diamond ring inside.

It was the same one that Mr. Mxyzptlk had her wearing along with her wedding band when he had made them believe that they were married, and Chloe couldn’t help but tear up and smile at the fact that he remembered. Lex removed it from the box and lifted her left hand, silently exchanging a look with her to make sure of the decision she had made. She smiled back at him and he slipped the ring on her finger before leaning forward to kiss her.

Lana sniffled and covered her heart with her hands.

“Aww, that’s so beautiful,” she said and then looked up at Clark with large doe-like eyes, fluttering her eyelashes sweetly. “Don’t you think it’s beautiful, Clark?”

“I – uh ---” Clark paused and ran a hand around the back of his neck. “I guess so.”

“Since you’re so fond of them, I was going to have a couple of the meteor rocks added to the sides of it,” Lex said, ignoring Lana and Clark’s comments, “but I wasn’t sure which color you’d prefer.” Chloe smiled up at him. “We can still do it if you’d like to though.”

Clark’s eyes widened and his face flushed.

“Wow,” Chloe said, holding her ring finger out to admire the stone. “I don’t know. What do you think? Green maybe?”

“That’s what I was leaning toward,” Lex responded. Clark sucked in a breath and stepped forward.

“I don’t think that’s such a great idea you guys.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk snorted, barely able to contain the gurgle of laughter threatening to escape from his throat.

“Why is that funny?” Lana asked. “He’s probably just concerned because those rocks can do some pretty bad things to people.” She turned her attention away from the floating imp and looked over at Chloe with concern. “You’d better not do it, Chloe. You don’t want to risk hurting Lena.” Chloe frowned ever so slightly, but nodded in agreement. Mr. Mxyzptlk grumbled.

“But you’ve already *seen* Lena. She’s nice and healthy and ---”

“Who is Lena?” Ann interrupted, finally getting over the startled constriction she felt in her heart when Lex slipped the ring on her daughter’s finger.

“Your granddaughter,” Gabe stated simply.

“But ---”

“Or rather, *future* granddaughter,” he said. Ann stared at him questioningly and he gave a light shrug of his shoulders. “Mxyzptlk gave us a…sneak preview, so to speak.”

“You saw our granddaughter?”

“I still can’t believe you and Mr. Luthor can pronounce his name,” Chloe said, causing Mr. Mxyzptlk to glare at her.

Gabe nodded, ignoring Chloe’s statement.

“And ---?” Ann trailed off, hoping that Gabe would know enough about what she was trying to ask from the inflection in her voice.

“Cute as a button,” Gabe answered with a smile and proceeded to fold his arms across his chest as he bounced on his heels proudly. “And she’s got a hell of an arm.”

Ann rolled her eyes, but her grin betrayed whatever annoyment she was trying to portray. The corners of her mouth fell and she let out a sigh. If having a family with the man standing next to her daughter was what Chloe wanted, then no matter how much she wanted her to be with her, she couldn’t bring herself to stand in the way. Chloe would have a real chance at happiness, at being able to stay with the man she loved instead of being forced to abandon him, and Ann would make sure of it. She swiveled her head to look at Mr. Mxyzptlk, who squirmed under the intensity of her gaze.

“Send me back,” she said in an authoritative voice, not questioning the imp’s abilities. Mr. Mxyzptlk raised his eyebrows in surprise, as did Chloe and Gabe. Ann grinned sadly over at Chloe. “I will inform the council of the circumstances and you will not be forced to return.” A slow, thankful look creeped across Chloe’s face.

“Thank you.”

Ann nodded.

“They will want you to at least consider sending whatever daughters you have to us when they come of age so that they may be properly trained,” she informed her. Chloe gave her a completely serious look.

“It’ll be Lena’s choice if she wants to go there or not, Mom,” she said, purposefully ignoring the fact that her mother had indicated that she and Lex might be having more than one child. “I’m not going to make her go if she wants to stay here.”

“Of course not,” Ann said, a hint of pride lining her voice that her daughter had still grown up as a strong, independent woman even without her guidance. She turned back to Mr. Mxyzptlk, who found himself uncharacteristically touched by the display of emotion he had just witnessed. He snapped his fingers and Ann disappeared.

“Well,” he said, trying to hide the fact that his voice was a little choked up, “now that *that’s* over with…” he paused and smiled over at Chloe. “I still think you should consider getting the kryptonite for your ring. If Luthor passes his genes onto her, then there’s no way it can hurt her.”

Clark narrowed his eyes at him.

“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t ---?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk blinked and vanished from sight, leaving Clark to look over to Chloe and Lex for an explanation of what the imp had just said.

“Guys?”

Instead of offering an explanation, Lex leaned down and kissed Chloe’s forehead.

“So – it looks like we have a wedding to plan.”

Chloe gave him a half roll of her eyes, but beamed a smile at him.

“Yeah it does,” she agreed. A second later, her brow furrowed in contemplation.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s ‘kryptonite’?”



TBC…

[dsapiro]

Yay, an update&#33; Heehee, great chapter. Yay, a wedding to plan. Update soon&#33;

[hfce]

Yeah you updated finally :yay2: Oh I loved the ring. That was a nice touch. Bye the way how old is chloe supposed to be again?


Hope :)

[scifichick774]

If you scroll back, it says that she&#39;s 17 somewhere in the fic, which is part of the reason she threw such a fit about having to marry him. Hope that helps. :)

[bluemoongirl23]

Oh, goodie, update for me&#33; Well, for everyone I suppose but I&#39;m a bit possesive. Loved the doe eyed comment. And, wouldn&#39;t it be wonderful if they did put the rocks in her ring, Clark wouldn&#39;t be able to come near her. *g*

Blue

[drina]

Haha, can&#39;t wait to see how it&#39;ll turn out...will Clark finally reveal his secrets to them?? I guess not. ;)

[sabby]

YAY Update good&#33; Loved that Lex was in the right place, at the right time. But I think you went decanon there, what with him not being able to get hurt by the kryptonite. Remember the black glove? Not just a fashion tick he has *G*. Anyway loved the way Mxyzptzlk let the one with the Kryptonite slip *G*. And that Chloe&#39;s mom finally backed off, really good thing. So now the only thing they have to deal with is MM (and Lionel) and Clark&#39;s secret. That should be a piece of cake *g* Update soon please&#33;

hugs,
Sabby

[Ranting Idiot]

THIS IS AWESOME&#33;

Oh, goodness, I just sat down and read this from the beginning to the latest chapter and it&#39;s incredible, wonderful, hilarious, fascinating, wojebegon (I know that&#39;s not a word, but I couldn&#39;t think of anything else).

I love the original plot, the fun twists and the comedy, it&#39;s absolutely great. (Ha&#33; And I kept chanting "Wonder Woman Wonder Woman Wonder Woman" when I read the comment about &#39;vitals&#39;. So glad my guess was close.) Hope to see the new chapter soon.

-Rant

[vardaquareien]

Add the rocks, add the rocks... please add the rocks&#33;&#33;&#33; I luv that Chloe picked up on Mr M&#39;s use of &#39;Kryptonite&#39;.

I luv the idea of Lex and Chloe both not growing old together&#33; They can stay yummy and sexy for ever&#33;

[jem]

loved the ring part..... smooth....

thanks for updating&#33;&#33;&#33; this fic is too funny to not read.

update soon pls&#33;&#33;&#33;

[scifichick774]

A/N: If you’re wondering why you’ve had to wait so long for an update on this, it’s because my muse has been objecting to this chapter because it has no Chlexy goodness in it whatsoever. Yeah, I know, bummer, but it had to be done to keep the story rolling along. Sorry.

Story #7: Motherly Love – Chapter 6

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day…

“Here you go, Pete; one hot chocolate with extra whipped cream.”

Pete smiled down at the drink as Lana placed it on the table in front of him and then raised his head to smile up at her.

“Thanks, Lana.”

“Sure,” she replied and much to Pete’s surprise continued to stand there for a second. He looked at her questioningly and she gave him a modest smile. “I have a break. Mind if I join you?” Pete pushed out the chair next to him with his foot in response and Lana giggled as she moved to sit down. “So, why do you always order a hot chocolate instead of coffee?” Pete flinched and Lana looked at him curiously.

“Promise you won’t hurt me?” he asked. Lana narrowed her eyes but said nothing and Pete seemed to shrink back into his chair. “At first it was because you *sort of* had a tendency to screw up people’s orders,” he admitted. Lana’s lips thinned until they look like they were a single line.

“And now?” she prodded in a perturbed voice.

Pete shrugged and gave her an embarrassed look.

“I know it sounds stupid, but it’s kind of addictive.”

Lana’s expression changed from homicidal to practically mirthful in a split second, leaving Pete to jokingly wonder whether the girl had some sort of personality disorder.

“You sound like Chloe,” Lana observed, rattling Pete away from his thoughts. And yet again Pete watched her demeanor change, this time into a nervous yet serious expression. “Speaking of which ---” Pete held up his hand to stop her.

“We’ve had this discussion before, remember?”

“Yeah, but now they’re engaged,” Lana argued. “Granted, it was kind of against her will, but ---”

“Look, Lana, I’m okay with it - *really*,” Pete said as he interrupted. “She’s my friend and sometimes friends make bad decisions, but it’s her life so all I can do is be there for her.” Lana reached over and placed her hand on top of Pete’s.

“I’m sorry, Pete. I know you were hoping that she would come to her senses and start liking you as more than a friend.” Pete couldn’t help the glint of a smirk that came onto his lips.

“Come to her senses, huh?”

“Well --- yeah,” Lana replied, trying to push down the color that had risen to her cheeks when he caught her comment. “I mean, you’re a great guy. Cute, smart, loyal – I’m a little surprised that nobody’s snatched you up already.”

“Keep talkin’ like that and Clark’s gonna get jealous again,” Pete teased.

Lana blinked and wrinkled her nose up in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

Pete gave her an overly dramatic roll of her eyes and was tempted to respond with an ‘oh, please’, but managed to keep the words from coming out of his mouth.

“He thinks you’re into some other guy. He asked me to see what I could find out, but come on – it’s obvious that you don’t.”

Lana’s mouth dropped open and shut a couple of times, her eyes wide in indignation.

“I could,” she objected. “You don’t know.” Pete burst out in laughter, causing Lana’s mouth to open again. “I could&#33;”

“Yeah, yeah, okay,” Pete said sarcastically with a touch of a condescending tone behind his words. “You could like someone other than the guy you’ve been doing the mating dance with for the last *three years*.”

“Hey&#33; Now wait a second&#33; Three years? I was with Whitney until ---”

“Oh, yeah, and *he* counts,” Pete said with heavy sarcasm as he continued to tease her. “Come on, Lana. You liked Clark for the last year you were going out with the guy. Even *he* knew it.” Lana frowned and Pete suddenly felt his heart twist, feeling badly for taking the teasing too far. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “But hey – at least you have somebody.” He gave her a self-deprecating smile and Lana shook her head lightly, impressed at the way Pete was able to change her moods so quickly.

“You’ll find someone, Pete,” she said comfortingly. “I know you will.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

The island of Themyscira…

Hippolyta, her long, dark wavy hair curled up to her crown in twisted braids, stared unblinkingly at the woman she had come to regard as a sister even though they were not related by blood. She sympathized with Antiope’s point of view, but rules were rules.

“She is of our kind, she is bound to our laws,” Hippolyta repeated for what seemed like the zillionth time, but in reality was probably only the third or fourth.

Ann shook her head and pinched the pressure points on the bridge of her nose before regarding the Amazonian leader and the rest of the council. They were being stubborn and she was rapidly losing her patience.

“May I remind you that *you* were the ones who chose for Chloe to be raised by her father in the outside world?” she asked, though it didn’t come out as much of a question as it did a rhetorical remark. “Although it served its purpose by punishing me, it *was* your decision that set her new destiny into play. To try and change it to how you feel it should be would cause nothing but unrest in her community and in ours.”

“Are you telling us that you don’t feel she would get used to living in paradise?” a council member asked, a mocking eyebrow arched high on her forehead. Ann shook her head.

“I don’t believe she will,” she replied. “Chloe is too used to the outside world in which she has been raised. She does not covet our ideals of peace and joy. Instead, she seems to unwittingly seek out trouble, investigating stories as a reporter with little to no regard for how much danger she is placing herself or others in.”

Hippolyta frowned. If that was indeed how Antiope’s daughter had turned out, then the blood that coursed through her veins could be a very real threat if someone was able to manipulate her into doing their will. She straightened her posture. She would need to find out if that was possible and then do what was needed to prevent it.

“The man she is engaged to be married to,” Hippolyta started, “he is a good man?”

“He seems to be,” Ann said. “But I did not get to know him well. In truth, I was only there for but a half-hour before the imp from the fifth dimension transported me back here.”

“I see,” Hippolyta said. “Assuming that we agree to let her stay there, we will need his full name so that we may thoroughly check into him and his family. We cannot have your daughter become a threat of any kind if someone were to use her for their own purposes.” Ann nodded, pleased that Hippolyta was finally coming around to the possibility of letting Chloe stay in Smallville.

“And any daughters she may have from the union will ---” another councilwoman began to say, only to be cut off by a curt nod of Ann’s head.

“I have informed her,” Ann said. “But she said it will be Lena’s decision.”

“Lena – the granddaughter from the future that you told us about,” Hippolyta said with recognition. Ann smiled proudly.

“Yes.”

Hippolyta couldn’t help but smile as well at the woman’s enthusiasm.

“Her name is the reverse of your mother Anel’s name,” she observed. Ann blinked, surprised that she hadn’t even considered how Chloe and Lex would choose the name in the future.

“It is,” Ann agreed, “though I don’t know if that’s why it was chosen.”

“I’m sure it is,” Hippolyta said. “And it encourages me to know that Chloe will not have forgotten her roots completely.” She let out a small sigh and let a stern look pass over her face. “I believe it is important that we remedy our mistake in letting your daughter be raised away from you by making sure Chloe will know our ways in order to raise her own daughter or daughters appropriately. She will also need this knowledge in case her husband to be and his family turn out to be less than acceptable. Therefore, I pose a proposition to the council that we send a representative to help train her where she is, so that she and future generations will not suffer.”

Murmuring among the council members started up almost immediately after Hippolyta finished speaking. Ann herself couldn’t even believe what her friend was suggesting. Would it be possible for her to return to Smallville, to Gabe and to her daughter?

Hours passed before the council finally reached an agreement and they resumed their positions along the arced table. One woman to the right of Hippolyta stood, facing Hippolyta rather than Ann.

“You have reached a decision?” Hippolyta asked, already suspecting that they would not go against one of her suggestions since they never had before.

“We have,” the woman said. “We agree that Antiope’s daughter, Chloe, must receive her training so that she may not be corrupted by evil influences. And because she is unwilling to come to the island and live among us, a fact for which we take responsibility, then a representative may be sent to help lead her on the right path and teach her how to use the gifts our tribe has been blessed with for good and not for malicious purposes.” Hippolyta nodded, trying to keep the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth from encompassing her entire face.

“And the one you have chosen for this duty?” she asked, her eyes briefly sparkling over at Ann, who seemed to be suspecting the same thing she was. Hippolyta’s face fell when the woman’s expression turned very sullen. “And the one you have chosen for this duty?” she repeated.

“By majority of the council, we have chosen your daughter, Princess Diana.”

Ann’s mouth dropped open in shock and Hippolyta felt like she had just been stabbed through the heart.

“What?” she barely rasped out. “How can this be?”

“She is the most blessed out of any of us, Hippolyta. She is also…stubborn, and will not find difficulty in dealing with someone who has not been raised among us,” the woman continued.

“But ---”

“And she is Chloe’s age,” the council member added. “We suspect that Antiope’s daughter will react more favorably to someone in her own age group, someone to whom she can relate.”

Hippolyta swallowed down her pain and absently nodded. The council had made their decision and it was final. She was to lose her daughter for the amount of time it took to train Chloe.

Seeing the strong, conflicting emotional expressions passing over Hippolyta and Antiope’s faces, another councilwoman stood up, sharing a look with the already standing member before speaking.

“It is also the council’s decision that one person may not be enough to undo the years of damage that have already been done,” she said. “Therefore, we decree that Antiope shall return to Smallville as well, to make sure that Diana is doing an adequate job and help to mold the daughter that was taken away from her.”

Hippolyta looked over at Antiope and sucked in a breath. If her daughter needed to be sent away, at least her best friend would be there to keep an eye on her and make sure she was safe. Under the circumstances, it was the best she could ask for.

“So be it.”




The End (Of Story #7)

Challenge Elements Used:

Hope: 1. Have Lex propose
2. Bring back Pete and Blana – er – Lana
3. Find out why Chloe’s mom called

Sabby: 1. Lana has to do or say something absolutely brilliant when no one expects it of her
(your others will be brought up in the future stories hon)

V: story arc challenge: Bring WW into the mix somehow. And of course, since this is a story *arc*, it means that you’ll actually get to meet her in the future stories.

Blue: Heh. I didn’t realize she meant literally when she said the rainbow elephant walking through the scene, so it just has a little hint of slash innuendo on Lionel’s part instead. I’ll try to bring the actual rainbow elephant into one of the future stories for you, hon.

[hler]

*sigh* no Chlexyness...but I&#39;ll live....:sad:
Great end to this story, even though I grumble about no Lex and Chloe, and know I am waiting with bated breath for Story #8


You won&#39;t keep me waiting long, will you?

Will you?:unsure:


~Heida

[bluemoongirl23]

Another wonderful chapter. But, really, it seems you don&#39;t write anything else. Lana&#39;s reaction to Pete was great, all, I could *so* like someone else. And Ann getting sent back will certainly add some wrinkles, I&#39;m sure, to the planning of the wedding.

Blue

[dsapiro]

Great story, can&#39;t wait for #8.

[Susan S]

I can&#39;t wait to see Clark, Lana and Pete&#39;s reaction to Diana&#33; Maybe Diana can kick Clark&#39;s butt at something. Love this arc--can&#39;t wait to see #8.

Susan S

[hfce]

Oh goody you updated :yay: even though no chlex . I still enjoyed it. Thanks for using my challenge :blush:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[Brittany]

:biggrin: I&#39;m so glad you updated&#33; Very good chapter, glad to see they weren&#39;t gonna make Chloe live on their island. More, please&#33;

[vardaquareien]

You&#39;ve raised so many interesting possibilities&#33;&#33;&#33; What&#39;s gonna happen when they find out about Lex&#39;s family? What will Chloe and Diana think of each other? How is Ann coming back gonna effect the Chlex relationship?...oh I wanna know everything and I wanna know it now&#33;&#33;&#33;

Sorry. No pressure or anything&#33; I&#39;m just really excited about where this ficcy&#39;s going&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay3:

[sabby]

Oh I do so not like that&#33; They decide over Lena&#39;s fate even before the girl is born&#33; That will give major trouble when Chloe finds out&#33; And I don&#39;t think the Chloe will just say &#39;yes and amen&#39; to the training thing. She&#39;ll probably tell Diana and her mom where to shove it. Can&#39;t wait for the next chap, and bring back the Chlex&#33;

Love the story

hugs,
Sabby

[drina]

Hmmm...sorry I&#39;m not familiar with this Amazon folklore at all...so I&#39;m a bit confused...is this the Wonder Woman Amazon?

[shailafter]

oOoo can&#39;t wait to read what you&#39;ll come up with next&#33;&#33;&#33; :biggrin:

[scifichick774]

A/N: This one’s going to be a long one folks; maybe six, but probably eight chapters. This story has challenge elements from Sami, Sabby, Ori, Angei1, and dce’s challenges along with V’s story arc challenge. As usual, the challenge elements will be listed at the end of the story.

Story #8: All Together Now – Chapter 1

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gabe pushed his way past the seemingly endless color and fabric swatches, bridal books, and sample pictures of weddings, only to sigh in defeat when he saw Lana pouring over wedding details with the coordinator that Lionel had hired. His tired eyes turned upon Chloe, who was twirling a pen around in her fingers and looking completely bored.

“Tell me again why you girls aren’t doing this over at *Lex’s* house? You know, the one with all the space? Where…” he paused and removed a long stream of toole from the top of the TV set. “…what is this?”

Chloe shrugged and Lana rolled her eyes, crossed the room, and tore it away from his hands with a huff.

“It’s toole,” she said in aggravation. “And we can’t have it at Lex’s because the *women* are supposed to plan the wedding.”

The wedding coordinator nodded and Gabe pulled his head back ever so slightly when he noticed the eerie resemblance between the woman and his daughter’s roommate. The planner was older and had a different shade of brown for hair, but the expressions they wore matched and Gabe felt a shiver pass through his body.

‘Scary.’

“Well, I’ll let you have at it then,” he said, wanting to get as far away from the living room as possible. “Um, Chloe, could I talk to you for just a second?” He thumbed in the direction of the foyer and Chloe nodded, rising from her seat.

“But you haven’t decided on your colors yet&#33;” Lana protested. “We can’t do anything until you pick them.”

“I’ll be back in just a minute,” Chloe said, an amused smile on her lips as she turned back around to follow her dad out of the room.

They made it out of Lana and the wedding planner’s line of sight and then exchanged a look.

“You look tired,” Gabe observed. Chloe ran an exasperated hand down her face.

“They’ve been doing this for an hour,” she griped under her breath. Gabe nodded in understanding, but then frowned.

“And pale.”

“What?”

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked, holding out the back of his hand to touch her forehead.

“I ---” Chloe paused with a sigh. “The last couple of days have really been getting to me. Lana’s been in hyper-wedding mode, Clark’s been completely avoiding me ever since Lex said he was thinking about getting meteor rocks for my ring, and Mr. Luthor has been asking how many kids we plan on having. When exactly did he become so keen on having grandkids anyway?”

Gabe gave her a hint of a grin.

“Since he met Lena, I’m guessing.”

Chloe let out a half-chuckle and shook her head.

“I guess.”

“Speaking of which, I was thinking about your wedding.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

“If you convince Mr. Luthor to let us elope, I’ll love you forever,” she joked. Gabe laughed.

“No, no. No eloping,” he said. Quickly adding, “Lana would kill me.” Chloe snickered. “No, I was thinking – maybe you should try and contact Mr. Mxyzptlk.”

Chloe’s eyes widened for a second and then she frowned.

“I can’t believe you can pronounce his name, but I can’t.”

“It’s not that hard, Chloe. It’s not like I’m trying to say it backward or anything,” he said with a bemused grin.

“Whatever,” she said. “So, why do you want me to try and contact him? Not that I can, mind you, but I can’t wait to hear your reasoning.”

“Well, I could be wrong, but couldn’t he just zap something up for your wedding?” Gabe asked, erratically waving his hands in the air. “You know, so you wouldn’t have to go through this? It’s obviously stressing you out.”

Chloe shook her head.

“That, or it’s the flu bug that’s been going around.”

“You didn’t feel that warm,” Gabe said with concern. Chloe shrugged.

“It’s no big deal, I’ll be fine,” she said offhandedly. “And contacting Mr. M – I’m thinking that’s not such a great idea.”

“Why not? I mean, it’s worth a shot, right?”

“Dad&#33; He’s *crazy*&#33;” Chloe exclaimed. “If I have him ‘zap’ me up a wedding, then he’ll probably have a dragon barge in and --- you know, maybe that’s not such a bad idea after all.” Gabe arched an eyebrow and Chloe smiled. “His dragons always attack Lana for some reason.” Gabe rolled his eyes and Chloe laughed. “Look, Dad, I know things are…hectic right now, but it’ll get better. You’ll be back to watching your soaps and basketball games in no time.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

The doorbell rang and Gabe grinned at his daughter as she turned to walk toward the living room before he moved over to open it.

Taking one look at the people on the other side, he blinked and felt his mouth go dry.

“Hi Gabe,” Ann greeted apprehensively.

“Ann,” Gabe replied with a polite nod, but didn’t say any more or step aside to let her or the young woman beside her into the house.

“You want to know what I’m doing here,” Ann said knowingly.

“That would be nice.”

Ann went on to explain the council’s decision and Gabe found the frown on his face becoming more and more pronounced. Finally, he shook his head.

“You can’t stay here, Ann.”

“Gabe, I know it might be hard on Chloe, but she has to accept ---”

“No, I mean you can’t stay *here*,” Gabe said. “I already have a full house with Lana staying here. There’s no room.”

“Oh.”

“Well, I’m sure that Lex will let Chloe move in with him early,” Lana said, overhearing the last part of the conversation as she headed toward the kitchen to retrieve something.

Gabe glared at her, but Lana ignored it, walking over to greet the women standing on the other side of the door. She stuck out her hand and smiled as if nothing was wrong, as if there were no tension in the air at all.

“Hi. We weren’t officially introduced last time. I’m Lana.”

“Ann.”

Shoving done a swell of irrational jealousy from when she first saw her, Lana held out her hand to the beautiful brunette girl that stood beside Chloe’s mom.

“Diana,” the young woman greeted. Lana nodded and faked a smile.

Although she was inwardly pleased that it looked like Chloe might have a chance to reconnect with her mom, she immediately felt apprehensive about allowing a young woman that could take some of the town’s male attention away from her.

Lana’s eyes darted to the man strolling purposely up the driveway to the front door and she bit her lip.

“Ladies,” he greeted somewhat rudely and squeezed between the two of them. “Mr. Sullivan…*Blana*,” he said pointedly.

“L-Lucas,” Lana stammered.

“So where is she?”

“She’s getting married to Lex&#33;” Lana burst out. Lucas gave her a tight grin.

“So I heard. But don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said, slinging an unwanted arm over her shoulders. “I’ll talk her out of it.”

Ann arched an eyebrow.

“And you are?” she asked somewhat scathingly. She may not have liked the idea of her daughter getting married and staying in Smallville, but she would much rather see her with a man with manners like Lex than a boorish male who’s only attribute seemed to be his outward physical beauty.

“Lucas - I’m Lex’s brother.” He paused for a moment, waiting for her to speak, but she said nothing in response. “One, two, three, four,” he annoyingly started counting out the seconds. “*And you are*?” he asked, mimicking her tone with a sneer.

“Chloe’s mom,” Lana hissed up at him in a whispered voice. Lucas raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah?” he asked and then openly looked her up and down. Nodding toward Gabe with a smirk, he added, “Nice job, man.”

Diana opened and closed her mouth in disgust, her hands balling into fists as she felt the sudden urge to punch the young man in front of her. Ann stilled her with a simple touch on the arm and a warning look. They were here to train Chloe how to use her strength for peace and starting fights with her fiancé’s brother wasn’t going to help get their cause across very well.

‘Of course, if he continues to be a nuisance, then it wouldn’t hurt to teach him a lesson,’ Ann thought and then returned the smirk Lucas was giving her. ‘Well, it wouldn’t hurt *me*.’




TBC…

[hfce]

Yes you updated :yay2: and lucas :hammer: whatever man. Face it chloe is with lex. I would love some more chlexy interaction in the next chapter. ;)


Hope

[dsapiro]

Yay, a new story. Lucas seems to be not to bright in this one, though, if he thinks he can sepperate Lex and Chloe.

[shailafter]

yay&#33; you started another tale of this series&#33;&#33; loved that last chap&#33; can&#39;t wait for more&#33; :biggrin:

[sabby]

Oh Lucas *shakes head sadly* I just know that boy is going to get his ass kicked if he keeps being like that. Hmmm did this little scene between Lucas and Diana remind anyone else of a certain Slayer and Vamp or was that just me? *frowns*

Anyway, update soon please and yes some Chlex interaction would definitely be appreciated *G*

hugs,
Sabby

[eurydices falling]

oh i absolutely love this story. the union between the comics and the show are seamless. i bow before your goddess like writing abilities and you use your powers for good and not evil (Blark fics...blech)&#33;

i love the fact that lucas is on the scene. that can only result in beautiful blana bashing (oooo alliteration...go me). i could do without mumsy dearest trying to get on my boy lucas though.

imho, it would kick amazon ass if some super sexy and respectable alpha chick came on the scene and made a play for gabe. i think gabe is just the sweetest thing and it would do him a world of good to show the deserting heiffer (yeah yeah yeah. i know she was bound by the code. still don&#39;t like her leaving heart-breaking ass) that he is still a hot property. it will get her vex watching him make googly eyes in the house with some other woman who has no issues with sticking around for a good thing. just my 2 cents.

as for wonder brunette-threat, she definitely ain&#39;t ready for lucas and i&#39;m sure she&#39;ll strung out on him in no time. but i do appreciate her fostering blana&#39;s insecurities. since it&#39;s no secret she is an amazon amongst the inner circle then farm boy&#39;s brunette/freak of the week radar will go on high alert. that fluffy pink and perky bimbo needs some self esteem issues in her life anyway.

as for wedding planning blana needs to keep her fashionazi tasteless talons of the wedding gown. she&#39;ll probably make that pink if lex and chloe don&#39;t put her in check. oh and i shudder at the thought of a blana doppleganger (did i spell that right?).

anyways let me stay shut now. i just wanted you to know i dig your story and can&#39;t wait for an update.

[drina]

Oh yeah, a new story. Great. Lucas still can&#39;t get over Chloe, huh. Say, is Diana supposed to be Wonder Woman?

[Calliope]

I&#39;m so glad Ann and Diana are back on the scene. Perhaps, Gabe can get a bit of lovin&#39;. (Not that I want to read about that, because, um, no.) :huh:

Waiting for the next chapter..... :biggrin:

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Yay&#33; I&#39;m so glad you updated, it seems like it&#39;s been forever&#33; Looking forward to the wedding and is Chloe already Pregnant? I have to admit I still don&#39;t like Chloe&#39;s mom, she makes me bitter, poor Gabe. Anyway, Please update ASAP&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2:

[vardaquareien]

Yay&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay3: You updated my fav ficcy&#33;&#33;&#33;

Poor Gabe, his house is festooned in tulle and taken over by Blana and a Blana clone wedding co-ordinator, his ex turns back up out of the blue and then to top it all off Lucas turns up to talk Chloe out of getting married. *gives Gabe giant hug*

I luv Lana being Jealous of Diana and afraid that she&#39;ll take female attention away from her&#33;&#33;&#33; Go WW&#33;&#33;&#33; And is it wrong that I&#39;m really luving Lucas at this point in time?

[bluemoongirl23]

*pounces on update* Yay, more goodness for us. Lucas better watch his step, on second thought, it&#39;s much more fun for us if he doesn&#39;t.

Blue

[tigerbaby]

Only Lana could be so self-centered when another brunette enters town. I&#39;d like to see some guys after Diana, who inturn ignores them but it drives Lana nuts because they&#39;re all ignoring her.

The update is just fantastic. Can&#39;t waitn for more.

[Sunny]

Plllleeeaassseee&#33;&#33;&#33; Write more soon&#33; :worship2:

[Czech Angel]

YAY&#33; :yay2: You updated&#33;
As usual the chap was excellent. :biggrin:
Poor Gabe though. His wife who left years ago comes back, his highschool daughter is marrying his boss, and he has Lana staying there.
Talk about a breakdown ready to happen.
:chlexsign1:

[scorpio]

This is amazing. I´m so enjoying this story. I was constantly wearing this huge grin on my face when I read the previous parts. *lol*

Write more, please,please,please.

Just dropping off a little hint for you on howyou could treat the pink princess an Lucas...just for fun of course.;)
http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung/aktion/action-smiley-060.gif

...or maybe Lionel could do it. Kicking Lucas ass, I mean. After all Lucas tries to come between Chlex and w/o Chlex there won´t be cutie pie Lena. And No one is coming between Lionel and his grandchild. :biggrin:

[scifichick774]

For Galen. Happy birthday&#33;


Story #8: All Together Now – Chapter 2

~*~*~*~*~*~

‘Hmm…interesting…’ Mr. Mxyzptlk mused to himself as he watched Lucas and Diana’s interaction in the Sullivan’s doorway.

He had secretly been thrilled when the council had chosen to send Diana back to Smallville with Ann because it presented a new host of possibilities for torturing Clark, but seeing the future Wonder Woman lose her normally cool and sweet demeanor over Lucas’s behavior was intriguing.

Lucas began to walk back toward the living room and Mr. Mxyzptlk frowned. He knew that Chloe didn’t have any feelings for Lucas, but as with every member of the Luthor clan, Lucas had been born with a silver tongue and could be quite persuasive when he wanted to be. Added to the fact that Chloe wasn’t entirely keen on the idea of getting married in the first place, Mr. Mxyzptlk saw that the situation was a recipe for disaster.

With a snap of his fingers, Chloe disappeared from where she was having a heated argument with the wedding coordinator over colors, leaving Lucas and the coordinator in stunned surprise at what had just happened.

“What the hell?” Lucas asked, his brow furrowed at the empty space where Chloe had just been standing.

“I --- that’s not possible,” the coordinator said, her own gaze focused on the same spot.

“Hey&#33;” Lucas yelled and then turned on his heel to start back toward the front door. “What the fuck was that?” he asked, pointing toward the living room.

“Language,” Gabe said warningly, causing Lucas to roll his eyes. “And I’ve been asking myself the same question.” He turned to face Lana. “Is it really necessary to have all that stuff taking over my living room?”

“No ---” Lucas paused; opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before he continued. “No,” he protested. “I mean, one second Chloe was standing there and then *poof* - she’s gone.”

“Poof?” Lana asked as she bit her lower lip.

“Mxyzptlk,” Gabe said with a sigh, running a hand down his face.

“The who with the what now?” Lucas asked, not understanding the gibberish that Gabe seemed to be speaking.

“Mr. Mxyzptlk,” Gabe repeated. “He’s…well…it’s complicated.”

“It’s not *that* complicated. He’s an imp from the fifth dimension who comes to this realm to wreak havoc on people’s lives,” Diana said, not realizing that people outside the secluded island paradise she had grown up on might not believe in magic and other dimensions.

Lucas gave her a blank look and then shook his head to try and slough off her seemingly insane ramblings.

“What?” he asked. Diana glared at him and placed her hands on her hips.

“Which part didn’t you understand and I’ll speak slower to explain it to you.”

“Um – the part where you started spouting off about an *imp* and a *fifth dimension*?” he said, giving her a pointed look. “Geez, and they sent *me* to a nuthouse.”

“That explains a lot,” Diana shot back, folding her arms across her chest.

“Hey&#33; I was there under false pretences. *You’re* the one who believes in mystical creatures and ---”

“How do you explain her just disappearing then?”

“I don’t,” Lucas replied. “I ---”

“I assure you, Mr. Mxyzptlk is very real,” Ann interrupted.

“Yeah?” Lucas asked incredulously. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but the only other person who was in that room was the princess’s mom here.”

“My mom?” Diana asked in surprise.

“Nooo,” Lucas said and then motioned to Lana with his head. “*Her* mom.”

“But ---”

“My mom is dead, Lucas,” Lana said, a sorrowful look overcoming her entire being.

“You sure?” Lucas asked unsympathetically, not wanting to listen to one of Lana’s famous ‘my parents were squished by a meteor’ stories. “Because the chick in there looks just like you. Maybe it wasn’t just your biological dad you were wrong about all these years.”

Diana’s mouth dropped open and her hand curled into a fist.

“What’s *wrong* with you?” she asked, taking a threatening step toward him.

Lucas sneered at her, completely unfazed by her coming closer.

“You’re obviously new here, so let me fill you in. The pink princess here – her parents are dead, crushed by a meteor when she was like two or three years old. I’m sparing you all the unsavory details because I’m sure you’ll be hearing the full story over and over again just like the rest of us have had to.”

Lana’s lower lip quivered and for a second it looked like she might start crying.

“You’re inhuman,” Diana spat.

Lucas gave her a tight grin.

“Nope. Dear old dad might be the devil, but I’m as human as it gets, sweetheart.”

“She just told you that her mother was *dead*&#33;”

“Which, as I pointed out, I *already knew*. You can only have so much sympathy for someone who’s led an otherwise charmed existence.”

“That’s not true,” Lana objected, the tears that once threatened to spill mysteriously gone from her eyes. Lucas turned his head to shoot her a glare.

“Please,” he said. “Your aunt took you in and raised you, gave you *everything* you wanted – including a damn horse and those things are expensive. Then, when she finally stopped devoting her life to you and wanted to move to Metropolis with her fiancé, you threw a big tantrum about it and Chloe let you stay with her. You have had everything handed to you because people feel sorry for you, because you constantly remind them that you’re an orphan. Well, guess what? That’s life. Get over it already.”

Before she knew what came over her, Diana pulled back her arm and punched Lucas in the face, the sheer impact cracking the cartilage in his nose and causing Gabe and Ann to both grimace.

“Bastard&#33;” Diana hissed, standing over Lucas as he started to rise from the floor.

“Duh&#33;” he shot back.

Diana furrowed her brow in confusion and Lucas rolled his eyes.

“You don’t keep up with the society pages, do you?” he asked. Diana continued to give him a blank look and he stared at her. “Bastard – a child born out of wedlock – that’s me. Add in the fact that I was tossed around from bad foster home to *worse* foster home even though my dad was *alive* and had lots of money, and I think you’ll see why I’m not jumping on the ‘I love Lana’ bandwagon.”

“Just because you had a bad life, it doesn’t give you the right to ruin others,” Diana said, though her words didn’t come out with as much conviction as she would have liked since she found herself feeling sorry for the young man in front of her.

“Of course it does. What country have *you* been living in?”

“Could you two just knock off the whole Buffy and Spike thing?&#33;” Lana uncharacteristically snapped. “Babu is *dangerous*.”

“Babu?” Lucas and Diana asked at the same time.

“The imp, okay?&#33;”

“You have a pet name for an imaginary imp?” Lucas asked in disbelief. “You people need serious help.”

Lana glared at him.

“The point is that Chloe could be in a lot of trouble and you guys fighting isn’t going to help her.”

Ann frowned and placed her hand on Diana’s shoulder.

“She’s right. We should combine our forces to look for her.”

Gabe shook his head.

“I doubt he’ll hurt her,” he said. “He never has before.” ‘Well, except for that whole thing with making her think she was married to Lex, but that actually worked in our favor, so I’d better not mention that.’

Ann looked at him sternly.

“He caused much damage among our people,” she said. “Nightmares and evil creatures abounded. A dragon of his making destroyed one of our temples.”

Lucas folded his arms across his chest and snickered before getting a far off look of glee on his face.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about the dragon,” he said in a dream-like voice, then blinking a couple of times as if he was startled. “Wait a second. There was really a dragon?”

“You’ve had one here too?” Ann asked with concern.

“Lots of them,” Lana answered, fidgeting with her fingers worriedly.

“So, does that mean there was really a little floating guy too?” Lucas asked. Lana gave him a pointed look and he groaned. “The imp?” Lana nodded. “Great,” he mumbled to himself, “Knew I shouldn’t have swallowed the pills those doctors gave me.”

“Maybe I should call Clark,” she said.

Lucas scoffed.

“Don’t bother. Knowing Kent, he’s probably already there.”

A familiar red truck pulled up along the curb outside the Sullivan house and Lucas frowned as he saw Clark step out of it.

“Or not.”

“Hey&#33;” Clark said with an upward nod of his head, a look of pure shock crossing his face when he saw not only Lucas standing in the doorway, but Chloe’s mom and a beautiful brunette girl about his age as well. “What’s going on?”

~*~*~*~

“And any shade of *pink* is *not* an option&#33;” Chloe continued yelling, her eyes closed and her hands fisted.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Chloe opened her eyes to the familiar voice, blinking in confusion when she took in her surroundings and the man coming toward her.

“Lex.”

“Chloe.”

“What happened?”

“Well, you suddenly appeared out of nowhere, so I’m guessing that it had something to do with ---”

“Right,” Chloe said, cutting him off and then sighing. Her body twisted as she took a better look around the room she was in. “Where are we?” Lex opened his mouth to speak, but Chloe started speaking again before he could answer her. “This is a cabin.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes suspiciously and Lex grinned to try and cover up his nervousness.

“Do you like it? It’s between this one and a couple of others. I can take you to ---”

“Le-x,” she said, stringing out his name warningly. “Why are you in a *cabin*?”

“You are too,” he pointed out.

“Lex,” she said impatiently through gritted teeth. “You have no idea what my day has been like. Just tell me why ---”

“It was supposed to be a surprise – a wedding present of sorts. I thought you might like a place outside of Smallville to just get away.”

“Uh-huh. And the fact that Lena was conceived in a cabin had absolutely nothing to do with it?”

“Well ---” Lex paused and then smirked at her. “I didn’t say that.”

Instead of the burst of angry expletives he expected to spew from her mouth, Chloe merely closed her eyes and let a wave of silent laughter begin to shake her body.

“O-kay. Not the reaction I was expecting,” Lex admitted. Chloe opened her eyes and gave him a strange smile.

“Like I said, you have no idea what my day has been like.”

“Tell me,” Lex suggested, stepping toward her. Chloe shook her head lightly and then moved toward him.

“Lana, completely evil wedding coordinator, my dad not giving in to just letting us elope – which I still think we should consider, by the way – and oh&#33; My mom’s back in town and wants to live with us,” she said.

“What? I thought ---”

“I only overheard bits and pieces from the living room, but it sounds like *the council*,” Chloe spat, “has decided that I need formal training. And since I won’t go to them ---”

“They sent her to you,” Lex finished.

“Yep. Along with someone else – Dana or Diana,” Chloe said, tapering off with a shrug and then resting her head against his chest. “I don’t know.”

Lex wasn’t sure what to say to comfort her. Although it was true he didn’t prize the idea of Chloe’s time being taken away from him, he also believed that if she was able to reconnect to her mother that it might move her along in getting Lena back to them faster – the old fashioned way.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, that’s life, right?” she asked. She was silent for a couple of minutes while she truly took the large room in. “This is nice.”

Lex pulled back slightly and arched an eyebrow at her.

“Spacious, nice view,” she continued, causing Lex to smirk and rest his hands on her waist. He dipped his head and caressed Chloe’s cheek with his own, peppering tiny kisses to her ear.

“You don’t say,” he teased, his husky whisper sending a pleasurable shiver through Chloe’s body.

“Mmm.”

Lex’s hand wove into her hair and rested at the back of her head, not giving her the means to escape even if she wanted to. Their warm lips met in a gentle kiss, brushing and nipping lightly until Chloe’s tongue darted out to deepen the embrace. Lex pulled her body flush against his, his tongue tangling with hers in a wet and passionate battle that neither one of them could win.

Pulling apart when the need to breathe became too urgent, Lex panted against her neck, dotting it with wet, lazy kisses until he could feel her rapid pulse beneath his lips. He sucked the skin covering the vein into his mouth, raking his teeth across it before soothing it with his tongue.

Chloe’s hands frantically pushed at his jacket and Lex pulled away for a split second to let it fall to the ground. She untucked his shirt from his slacks and Lex tugged at the hem of her blouse to get her to raise her arms. The next moments were a blur as clothing was taken off and haphazardly thrown onto the bare wooden floor.

Lex started kissing her again, slowly guiding her backward until the backs of her legs hit a cushioned surface. Twisting her head slightly, Chloe frowned down at the futon she had run into. Lex kept brushing his lips against her skin until she purposely moved her head out of the way.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, hoping to God that she hadn’t realized the possible implications of what they were doing.

“I’m pretty sure that thing isn’t going to hold us,” she said, motioning to the large futon with an upward nod of her head and then smirking at him. “At least not for long.”

Lex smirked as well and leaned down to nibble at her earlobe.

“Only one way to find out.”

His arms wrapped around her again, crushing his body to hers as he laid her back on the stuffed material covering the wooden frame. Chloe’s knees rose up and spread out, allowing Lex to lie between her legs as he kissed her. He skimmed a hand up her side and palmed a breast, letting out a primal grunt of male pride when she arched her back to give him better access.

Lex kissed down her neck to her chest, his tongue peeking out from between his lips when he reached her nipple, already peaked because of the colder air in the cabin. He lapped at it in slow, steady circles, his finger and thumb rolling the opposite nipple in the same rhythm, then alternating, methodically driving Chloe past the point of simple lust and onto the point of need.

“Lex…just…now…”

She felt him pull away from her, the cooler air from the cabin hitting the damp nipples he left behind.

The tip of his hard length positioned at her warm, wet folds; Lex stared down at her, breath stilled as he waited for her to realize what they were doing, where they were doing it, and object.

‘Un, deux, trois, quatre…five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten…’ he counted in his mind, giving her ample time to back out. Chloe stared back at him, her brow creased in confusion.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Nothing,” he lied. “I love you.”

Chloe’s eyes widened a little at his admission and she opened her mouth to speak, but Lex quickly leaned down to cover her mouth with his, covering up the moaning gasp she let out when he thrust himself into her. Slowly he pulled back and pushed into her over and over again, gradually increasing his tempo until Chloe was pushing against every thrust, driving him deeper inside her with every movement.

Lex grunted and swallowed down the panted breaths that were coming faster and faster as Chloe’s inner walls grew slicker and started to clamp around him.

“God…Chloe…”

A strangled scream ripped from Chloe’s throat as her orgasm shook through her body and milked Lex’s own climax out of him. He laid his body softly on top of her and nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. Chloe closed her eyes and let her fingers dance over his naked skull, grinning when she felt him shiver on top of her.

“Lex?”

“Hmm?”

“I love you too.”




TBC…

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: WOOOOHOOOOOO&#33;&#33;&#33; fantastic&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; Loved it, just loved it&#33; and lucus dissing lana was just sooo funny&#33;&#33;

[tigerbaby]

I have so many reactions, I&#39;m not sure where to start.

First off, thanks for the update. I was really missing my Mxyzptlk fix.

I love that Lucas put Lana in her place.

I love Diana&#39;s reaction to Lucas.

I loved Lucas&#39; reaction to the truth.

And lastly, I loved the smut and the "I love you"s.

It was great&#33;&#33; :yay2:

[drina]

This is so great&#33; A new chapter&#33; I love the part where Lucas disses Lana...and do we see Lena being conceived here? ;)

[hfce]

Oh I loved it. :clap: that was so good. I miss this story. It is one of my favorites of yours. :blinkkiss: and the smut :drool: good :drool:


Hope :chlexsign2:

[kirt30]

i love this fic it&#39;s so fun :die: :newdevil: :angel:

[sabby]

sweet. Gotta love me a snarky Lucas. And oh the chemistry between him and Diana *g*. Oh and nice smut of course with the added cherry on top that they finally exchanged the I love yous. Now I wonder how this little tet a tet turns out for the two of them.

hugs,
Sabby

[slayer44]

Gosh, I don&#39;tknow how I ever missed this story. It&#39;s so amazing.

:chlexsign3:

[ghostwriter]

*rubs eyes* why the hell did i not realdthis fic... i must have been insane :ohmy:
It&#39;s going to take me forever to read it all (lol) but i hope you will update soon :biggrin:

[HumbugGirl]

*squeals* I haven&#39;t read this for ages... I didn&#39;t even realise you&#39;d started the next story. lol. I really need to pay better attention.

I loved with a passion the Lana/Lucas interaction. The bits where he was talking about her life were classic. God I wish they&#39;d bring him back onto the show to do just that.

Great couple of parts hun, keep up the good work.

[vardaquareien]

:yay3: I luv Mxyzptlk&#33;&#33;&#33; Totally luv Lucas in this chap, he&#39;s a classic&#33; I hope Diana finds out how painful Lana is soon though and stops defending her&#33;&#33;&#33; I found this smilie which made me think of Lana in this fic - http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung/aktion/action-smiley-074.gif *smiles dreamily as she imagines Lana being devoured* I adore the end of the chap - am I to guess that Lena will be around in about nine months time?

[hfce]

:lol: I love that smiley. Where did you get that? :lol:


Hope

[scifichick774]

I also adore the dragon smiley and now I desperately want one too. Tell us where you found it. :)

[Susan S]

A big YAY&#33;&#33;&#33; to Lucas for what he said about Lana. I just wish Chloe had been around to hear it too. Can&#39;t wait to see how Diana and Chloe, and Diana and Lana all get along. Great smut and I love that Lex was looking for a cabin for them.

Susan S

[vardaquareien]

hehe&#33; Thought you might like the smilie&#33; I found it here (http://www.click-smilies.de/rechts_engl.html) under the action catergory. So now that I&#39;ve given you that, does that mean I can have an update sooner? :biggrin:

PS I was actually looking for a begging smilie when I found that - If anyone finds one can they let me know?

[Brittany]

:wub: Loved it&#33;&#33;&#33; Lex was so cute looking around for a cabin to buy for them, and the smut was fantastic&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; Hopefully Lena will be arriving soon ;) &#33;

[Czech Angel]

The :smut: was excellent.
Great chap, more soon please&#33;

:chlexsign4:

[scifichick774]

No Chlex in this chapter - warning you ahead of time - but I think you&#39;ll enjoy it anyway. :)

Story #8: All Together Now – Chapter 3

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk scrunched his hands into fists and his face contorted into an angry pout.

‘Everyone is taking me seriously *except* flannel boy,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing into tiny slits. ‘And Lex’s dad. Some alliance *that* turned out to be. Promises to help me get Clark to expose himself and then doesn’t even try. Well, I’ll show them how dangerous I can be. *Then* they’ll take me seriously.’

He snapped his fingers and then laced his hands behind his head, invisibly leaning back in the air to admire his handiwork.

What was once simply acres of farmland and barely paved streets, now served as stomping grounds for thousands of small dragons the size of Chihuahuas.

Lucas’s eyes grew wide as he took in the sudden influx of reptiles roaming the streets, hopping along like they were trying to fly but couldn’t. A few started to crawl up the driveway and he quickly pulled Ann and Diana into the house and tried to shut the door, but felt it being gripped away from him.

Clark gave him a piercing glare and stood in the open doorway.

“Come in or get out, Kent. This isn’t the barn you were raised in,” Lucas said.

Clark frowned at him, but he stepped inside, hearing the soft slam of the door closing and the deadbolt lock behind him.

“What are you doing?” Diana snapped at Lucas irritably. “We’re supposed to be ---”

“I’m saving your life,” Lucas cut in. “But hey, if you wanna be dragon food, then don’t let that deadbolt stand in your way.”

Diana glanced at Ann, who in turn gave Gabe a questioning expression. Gabe walked over to one of the windows in the living room and frowned, the street appearing to be moving of its own accord because there were so many dragons moving down it.

“Damn,” he muttered.

“See?” Lucas said to Diana, motioning to Gabe with his head. “You owe me.”

“I can take care of myself,” Diana said.

“Please. You didn’t even notice the invasion,” Lucas countered.

Diana placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

“Because I was looking in the other direction&#33;”

“And whose fault is that?”

“Yours&#33; I was looking at you&#33;” she yelled. Lucas raised a smirking eyebrow and Diana groaned. “Because you were talking. I was looking at you because you were talking.”

“Uh-huh,” Lucas teased.

In an effort not to stare at the new girl in the room instead of Lana, Clark tilted his head to the side and looked at Lucas.

“What happened to your nose?”

“Shut up.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes. He was never going to get Clark to take him as a serious threat if the boy kept taking the easy way out and avoiding the situations he placed around him.

A finger tapping against his chin thoughtfully, Mr. Mxyzptlk’s lips curled into a delightfully evil grin.

‘What to do when you need a hero…’ he thought, trailing off at the end as he flicked his hand in the air.

Gabe looked away from the window and glanced around the living room and foyer, furrowing his brow when he realized that not everyone was accounted for.

“Has anyone seen Lana…or the wedding coordinator?” he asked.

“Maybe the town got lucky and the imp zapped them outside for the mini-dragons to snack on,” Lucas offered snidely, earning him a pointed glare from Clark.

Gabe grumbled.

“I hope not. Lana went through two bottles of shampoo last time that happened.”

Ann, Diana, and Lucas all looked at him for a further explanation, but Clark merely winced at the memory of digging his friends out of a pile of dragon manure. Gabe held up a hand.

“Don’t ask,” he said. Ann huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “What?” he asked, barely noticing that Lucas had entered the living room to take a look outside.

“You are more concerned about…Lana’s disappearance than your own daughter,” she said.

Gabe sighed and ran a hand over the back of his neck.

“Like I tried to tell you before, Mr. Mxyzptlk won’t hurt Chloe. He never does.”

“There are dragons outside&#33;” Ann countered.

“But Chloe’s not out there&#33;” Gabe returned.

“Nope. But Lana is,” Lucas said gleefully.

Clark’s eyes widened in panic.

“What?&#33;”

“Take a look for yourself if you don’t believe me,” Lucas said nonchalantly.

To avoid anyone in the room finding out about his x-ray vision, Clark swiftly made his way to the window and then to the door once he saw that Lucas wasn’t lying.

The second Clark stepped out the door, Lana let out a high-pitched scream and her hands went to her scalp, where her hair had been just moments before, but wasn’t now.

“Lana&#33;” Clark yelled, rushing over to aid her.

Not being able to use his super-speed in case the people in the house were watching through the window, Clark wasn’t fast enough to outrun a dragon that seemed a few inches larger than the others.

It drew in a breath and spewed fire at him, igniting his clothes into bursts of flame.

“Oh Goddess&#33;” Diana exclaimed, watching the atrocity unfold in front of her.

Lucas smiled almost giddily and then a loud gurgling chuckle erupted from his throat. He shook his head back and forth in merriment as he turned away from the window.

“Oh, man. If I wasn’t rooting for the dragons before, I sure as hell am now.”

“Wow. He’s…alive,” Diana said, tipping her head to the side as she gazed appreciatively at Clark’s naked, sculpted body.

“Geez, not another one,” Lucas groaned. “Man, I really need to invest in some flannel shirts if I’m gonna keep living here.”

“No shirt,” Diana muttered quietly to herself, leaning her head the other way and grinning as Clark tried to cover himself.

Lana finally took notice of Clark and started screaming at the top of her lungs. One minute she was inside the house, trying to explain to the wedding coordinator that despite Lucas’s protests, the wedding was indeed still on; and the next she was outside in the middle of a mini-dragon stampede, her beautiful dark hair all being singed off by one of the passing reptiles.

Mr. Mxyzptlk started giggling. Now it was really time for some fun.

One blink of his eyes and the dragons all disappeared; another and Sheriff Matthews was driving around the corner. Mr. Mxyzptlk rubbed his hands together in anticipation. This was a day to savor.

As expected, the sight of the screaming girl and a naked Clark Kent made the sirens and lights on the police vehicle turn on almost immediately and Clark found himself desperately wanting to use his super speed to go anywhere but there.

But, knowing that would only lead to more serious questions that he wasn’t able to answer truthfully without being locked away as a government lab rat somewhere, he settled for blushing furiously and covering himself the best he could with his hands.

Sheriff Matthews climbed out of the SUV, his eyebrows raised with questioning disbelief. He opened his mouth to speak, but Clark beat him to it.

“There were dragons,” Clark rushed out quickly.

“Dragons,” Matthews repeated incredulously.

His gaze darted over to Lana for any sort of confirmation or denial of Clark’s words, but the young woman was in hysterics, her hands covering her smooth, slightly burnt scalp while she sobbingly choked out incoherent strings of words.

As Matthews had a difficult time with crying females under the best of circumstances, he turned his attention back to Clark.

“You do realize that nudity in public is against the law?” he asked, a stern quality to his voice even though there was a small part of him inside that was cheering. He had tried for so long to connect Clark to many of the crimes that happened in their small town and now he had evidence to lock him up – if only for a little while.

“I – it wasn’t my fault – the dragons ---” Clark stammered.

Matthews gave him a tight grin.

“Save it for the judge,” he said. Wincing slightly when glanced down at the position of Clark’s hands, he instantly started to regret the situation. “Please don’t make me use the cuffs on you.”

Clark blushed again and started to walk toward the SUV.

“My…hair…is…*gone*&#33;” Lana blubbered to no one in particular.

Matthews frowned and stepped toward her. Resting a hand on her upper arm, he gave her an apprehensive, yet clearly faked grin.

“How ‘bout I give you a lift to the hospital and they can check out that burn?” he offered.

“Babu burned off my hair&#33;” Lana screamed, tears pouring down her face.

Matthews blinked.

“Babu?”

“Mr. --- whatever,” she said dismissively. “He popped me out into the middle of a bunch of little dragons and ---”

“Okay, Miss Lang,” Matthews interrupted, slowly guiding her over to the vehicle. “Whatever you say.”

Obviously the girl had sustained some kind of head wound and anything she had to say wouldn’t be reliable, but Matthews couldn’t help but wonder about Clark saying something about dragons too.

‘He probably just put the idea in her head by talking about it when she was so upset,’ he thought, opening the front door for Lana to climb into the SUV.

Diana frowned.

“We should help them,” she said.

Lucas threw his head back with a loud laugh.

“Good one,” he replied. Diana glared at him and Lucas let his laughter dwindle down to a mere smile, and then to a look of contempt. “Oh. You were serious.” He rolled his eyes and then pinned her with a disbelieving expression. “Worst. Idea. Ever.”

Diana tugged on his arm, making him stumble over his own feet as drug him to the front door.

“Hey&#33; Let go&#33; If you want to go tell the sheriff that you’re all kinds of crazy, then do it without me.”

“You’re from here, he’ll believe you,” Diana argued.

“First of all, *not* from here,” Lucas said, now walking of his own accord, but only so Diana would ease her grip on his arm. “And second – just got out of a mental institution,” he said pointedly.

Diana stopped walking and frowned at him.

“I forgot about that,” she admitted. A quick, forlorn look at where Clark was sitting in the back of the police car and she brought her attention back to Lucas. “So, what do we do?”




TBC...

[vardaquareien]

How much do I LOVE this chapter&#33;&#33;&#33; Weeehheeee&#33;&#33;&#33; Lana&#39;s got no hair&#33;&#33;&#33; That&#39;s just so very satisfying&#33; I can&#39;t believe that you can make me love a chapter so much without including any Chlex at all&#33;&#33;&#33; Truely extraordinary&#33; I absolutely ADORE Lucas in this fic&#33;&#33;&#33; He just has the best lines - I was gonna quote some good ones but just about every word out of his mouth is hysterical&#33;&#33;&#33;

I cannot wait for more of this - my very FAVOURITE fic&#33;&#33;&#33;

*toddles off humming* Clark got arrested and Lana has no hair&#33; doo-dah, doo-dah&#33;

[tigerbaby]

Kris that was just fabulous. No Chlex and it&#39;s still a great chapter. Hee hee. Lana, bald. hee hee.

[sabby]

“So, what do we do?”

What they do? No idea. What I do *g* *lets go of an evil cackle holding her belly and pointing at bald Lana and nekkid Clark*

Seriously though, gotta looove the Lucas Diana bickering and I&#39;m so with the dragons *hauls out pompoms* Go Dragons&#33; Burn Baby Burn&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; *puts away pompoms* Nuff said *g*

hugs,
Sabby

[hfce]

:lol: I loved it :lol:


Hope ;)

[Calliope]

It was great&#33; I&#39;m sure Chlex are off *busying* themselves in the cabin. :blush: Hee. Clark&#39;s going to jail naked, and Lana doesn&#39;t have hair. :hehe:

[eurydices falling]

You kick rock solid ass. I almost feel sorry for Blana. I would die without my hair. dah well&#33;

I&#39;m sure Chloe and Lex are in the process of making our favorite monchichi, but I wouldn&#39;t mind an insy winsy glance at the smut.

I just love this story so you have to update soon. pwetty pwease?

[asharnanae]

:eyebrows: :pclol: :lol:

How funny was that&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2:

[kirt30]

keep it coming

[who?]

Isn&#39;t it time for an update??
I love this fic..I want an update...I need an update

please :wave:

[happy bunny]

This story is awesome&#33; I love how every time something goes wrong, it always happens to blana. *happy sigh* that&#39;s just too damn awesome. :biggrin:

I&#39;m loving this, can&#39;t wait for an update.

[scifichick774]

A/N: Happy Birthday Sami&#33; I will do my best to get the next chapter up in time for your actual b-day on Wednesday, but if I don&#39;t, please forgive me.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Story #8: All Together Now – Chapter 4

~*~*~*~*~*~

Matthews frowned over to where Lana was sitting on a hospital bed and sobbing uncontrollably.

“You’re sure she’s alright?” he asked the doctor.

“Fine,” the older man replied, tipping his head to the side to look at Lana as well. “Other than the loss of her hair and some minor burns…”

“How minor?” Matthews asked. “I mean, she’s crying an awful lot.”

“Nothing worse than a bad sunburn from what I saw,” the doctor said. “How did you say this happened again?”

Matthews let out a half-snort.

“She was like that when I found her and the only thing I’ve been able to get out of her is something about *dragons*.”

The doctor frowned and nodded once in a decisive manner.

“I’d better go call for a psych consult then.”

“Oh&#33; That horrible, horrible little man&#33;” Lana wailed. “When I get my hands on him…ooh&#33; I’ll kill him&#33;”

Matthews grimaced. Lana had always seemed like such a nice girl – a bit self-centered and vapid, but nice. But, he had to go by the evidence in front of him now, not the way he had perceived her as being in the past.

He nodded at the doctor.

“I think that would be best.”

~*~*~*~

Jonathan folded his arms across his chest and gave his son a stern look through the metal bars that Clark was currently standing behind.

“Your mother is paying the fine. You want to explain to me why you were standing out in the middle of a street *naked*?”

“Dad, I ---” Clark started, trailing off to pull down the hem of the oversized police jacket again. It hit mid-thigh, but it still wasn’t a length that Clark was entirely comfortable with. He gave his dad a pleading look. “You brought me clothes, right?”

Jonathan frowned and gave Clark a curt nod of his head.

“They’ll bring them in a minute,” he said and then looked at Clark with a disturbed expression. “I know you like Lana, son, but I thought we taught you better than ---”

“It was the dragons&#33;” Clark interrupted.

“Dragons,” Jonathan repeated, his tone indicating that he clearly didn’t believe him.

“Come on&#33; You had to have seen them – they were everywhere&#33;”

“Clark ---”

Clark groaned.

“It was Mr…M,” he said, using Pete’s nickname for the imp as means of an explanation. “He zapped a bunch of mini-dragons out into the street and then he put Lana out there. I went to save her, but I couldn’t use my…you know,” he said, giving his dad a pointed look. “So, one of the dragons cornered me and burned off all my clothes.”

“Uh huh,” Jonathan sarcastically replied.

“Really, Dad. You have to believe me.”

“We’ll talk about it more when we get home.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk snickered from his invisible state.

‘Serves him right for not playing any of my games until now,’ he thought.

His mind flit to the other person that he vowed some form of revenge on and his tiny hands curled up into fists. For the life of him, he had not been able to come up with anything that would faze Lionel Luthor in any way, shape, or form and it was driving him crazy.

A smirk lazily made its way across the imp’s lips as inspiration struck him and within the blink of an eye, he was gone.

~*~*~*~

Appearing in front of a large tombstone in a Metropolis cemetery, Mr. Mxyzptlk rubbed his hands together evilly. The woman who was buried in the ground under him had died from cancer, but it’s not like that wasn’t something that couldn’t be taken care of easily.

Unfortunately, Mr. Mxyzptlk forgot about the rule that had been passed, preventing him from raising the dead, and after a couple of failed attempts he gave up on the idea and came up with what he thought was an even better one.

He held his hands out in front of him, his fingers pushing out from the fists he had made, and a bald woman clothed in a hospital gown appeared out of nowhere. Her eyes were large and she looked around her in a frenzied panic. Settling her gaze on the floating imp in front of her, she let out a shrill scream that Mr. Mxyzptlk had to cover his ears because of.

When he couldn’t stand it anymore, he blinked and her voice disappeared.

“There. That’s better,” he commented. “Now, you’re probably wondering where you are, *when* you are, and why I brought you here.” The woman shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, but nodded. “Well, I guess I couldn’t *technically* rip your soul away from wherever you went when you died, so I just brought you here from the past.”

The woman opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Mr. Mxyzptlk narrowed his eyes a little with suspicion, but ultimately decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and returned her voice to her.

“W-who are you?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk beamed, his arms folded across his chest proudly.

“I am Mr. Mxyzptlk.”

“And you brought me here from the past? What year is it now? How did you ---”

“The rules of time and space don’t apply to me,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said, waving off her questions with a flick of his hand. “And the only thing you need to know is that ---” he paused and twitched his nose, the woman’s appearance drastically changing as a result.

Instead of the gaunt features that had graced her face, her skin was now firm and lovely, her blue eyes going well with the new, wavy auburn hair that flowed down from her skull. The hospital gown was replaced with a silky green dress to compliment her skin and Mr. Mxyzptlk smirked at his inventiveness at getting around the rule he only just remembered.

“All you need to know is that your cancer is gone and that you owe me,” he said. “Now,” he said, holding out his hand for her. “Let’s go pay a visit to your husband, shall we?”

~*~*~*~

“A, B, C, D,” Lionel said, shuffling through the books he was starting to accumulate for his granddaughter and then holding up one with a pink cover. “Tea Party,” he read with disgust, immediately flipping to a random spot in the book and then scowling at the assistant who had brought him the material. “Can I bring my friend to tea?” he read with disgust. “I think Lena is a bit advanced for this sort of drivel, don’t you, Mr. Farnsworth?”

“I – I don’t know, sir,” the man stammered. “You said she was about fourteen months old, I was going by ---” he trailed off with a cough into his closed hand. “Right. My mistake. I’ll return these immediately.”

Lionel made a ‘humph’ sound under his breath and excused the man with a dart of his gaze toward the door. With a shake of his head, he walked over to pour himself a drink, pausing in irritation when he heard a gasp come from the doorway.

“I thought you were ---” he started as he turned around, his mouth hanging open with no further words coming out when he saw who was standing there.

Lillian narrowed her eyes, not quite believing what she was seeing. It was her husband, though, as her angel or hallucination had pointed out, he looked much older and they were standing in a house that she didn’t recognize.

“Lil---”

“Lionel,” Lillian greeted carefully, still unsure whether any of this was actually happening or not. “You look…what did you do to your hair?”

Lionel paled and looked down at the glass in his hand before he set it back with the rest of the decanter set.

“I – um – I ---”

“Is this real?” Lillian interrupted, her eyes flitting around the room before she settled on the wooden doorframe that she reached her hand out to touch.

“Yes.”

Lillian nodded absently, the feel of the wood’s grain beneath her fingertips confirming Lionel’s statement.

“I don’t know how to tell you this, Lillian, but you’ve been dead for ten years.”

Lillian nodded again.

“The little man told me.”

“The little --- ah. Mr. Mxyzptlk. Why does it not surprise me that he’s behind this?”

Lillian squared her jaw at Lionel’s tone. The imp whom she thought was a hallucination until now had cured her cancer and given her a second chance, told her that Lex was going to be getting married soon, and Lionel was acting like it was an inconvenience and he wasn’t at all happy to see her.

She told herself that she shouldn’t be surprised since he had been that way for quite a while the only reason she hadn’t divorced him for cheating on her was because she was dying, but things were different now.

Lionel forced an obviously uneasy smile onto his lips.

“Well, I think for once, I’m at a loss for words,” he admitted.

Lillian returned his gesture with a tight grin.

“In that case,” she said, straightening her posture as she spoke to him, “I want a divorce.”

Lionel blinked.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I want a divorce,” Lillian repeated. “I’ve miraculously been given another chance at life, Lionel. I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend it married to a man who cheats on me left and right and only ever married me for my money in the first place.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk appeared behind her, clutching his gut as the roaring laughter escaped his throat.

“I warned you,” he said through the chortles of laughter. “You didn’t help me…she has all the money…” he trailed off, his body shaking with silent laughter. “Oh, I’m soooo good.”





TBC…

[tigerbaby]

OMG Kris, you have truly earned the title &#39;Evil&#39;. I don&#39;t even know where to begin&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;


Okay, the whole believing Lana is psycho is just fabulous. She needs to be locked up far far away.


I love it when nobody believes Clark.

And as for Lillian, you go girl. Poor Lionel, what&#39;s he going to do if he&#39;s got no money?

MWAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA....

*ahem* I just really loved this chapter even without the Chlex. I&#39;m so giddy, I could swear I&#39;d been drinking.

[happy bunny]

Hee hee&#33;&#33; This is so damn funny&#33;&#33; Poor, penniless Lionel. So funny that the first thing his wife would do if given a second chance at life is file for divorce. I almost feel bad for the little bugger.

I love that everyone thinks that Lana&#39;s a psycho. Can&#39;t wait to see where you take this, I&#39;m loving it&#33;

[shailafter]

BAhHAhAHAhHA&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; and i thought lionel was evil&#33;&#33;&#33; i love this fic&#33; so freaking hilarious and brilliant and.. and.. :worship2: &#33; lol can&#39;t wait for more&#33;&#33;&#33;

[Brittany]

:ohmy: never expected you to bring her back, but I like it&#33;&#33;&#33; I can&#39;t wait for Lex to see his mom. Hopefully she&#39;ll get back at Lionel for being so horrible to Lex. Please update soon&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2: :worship2:

[hfce]

Wow I wasn&#39;t expecting that. You are good ;) Not to be greedy but when will be getting some Chlex?



Hope :blinkkiss:

[eurydices falling]

Oh you clever girl. You&#39;ve got more twists in you than chubby checkers ever did. I love what you make that diabolical rascal do.

My only personal request is one more scene with Lena. I figure Chloe can&#39;t freak out about being knocked up if she has one more encounter with the end result.

update soon.

[hfce]

Originally posted by eurydices falling@Oct 15 2003, 01:39 AM
Oh you clever girl. You&#39;ve got more twists in you than chubby checkers ever did. I love what you make that diabolical rascal do.

My only personal request is one more scene with Lena. I figure Chloe can&#39;t freak out about being knocked up if she has one more encounter with the end result.

update soon.
I second that motion one more Lena scene please..... ;)



Hope :cool:

[vardaquareien]

*evil grin* Lionel with no money, that&#39;s gonna be fun&#33;&#33;&#33; Muahahahaha&#33; It should be interesting getting to know Lillian, and I can&#39;t wait to see Lex&#39;s reaction&#33; *sniffle* he&#39;s got his mummy back&#33;&#33;&#33; I don&#39;t need to tell you how much I adore this fic, it truely is wonderful&#33;

[Sunny]

I love it&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; Please, more now&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[scifichick774]

Story #8: All Together Now – Chapter 5

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lillian wasn’t sure how to react to the imp’s laughter, but given that he had been kind enough to cure her cancer and bring her to the future – even if he had ulterior motives for doing so – she took a guess that he’d help her again and sucked in a breath before steadying her gaze on him. She cleared her throat and Mr. Mxyzptlk’s laughter trailed off as he looked at her, arching an eyebrow at the look on her face.

“What?” he asked.

Fidgeting with her hands in front of her, Lillian pushed an uneasy, yet hopeful grin onto her lips.

“You said Lex is alive,” Lillian reminded him in a soft voice. Mr. Mxyzptlk narrowed his eyes ever so slightly, suspecting that the beautiful woman probably got her way quite often using that voice. “Well…I was hoping I could…see him.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk frowned.

“But that’s not funny,” he said to himself, his frown turning into a pout. “I want funny. Heartwarming reunions aren’t funny. They’re…heartwarming.”

Lionel quickly poured himself a splash of a drink and threw it back in one swallow.

“Put Lex in the bunny suit,” he suggested dryly, already pouring himself another drink, horrified at the situation in front of him.

His dead wife was now alive and had apparently never been as in the dark about his mistresses as he had believed her to be. And Mr. Mxyzptlk was correct – she did have all the money – or *would* at any rate since her family had been considerably wealthier than his and her father had insisted that they sign a prenuptial agreement that would leave him with nothing if they divorced.

Lillian’s eyebrows rose and she turned her attention from where Lionel was apparently trying to get himself drunk back to Mr. Mxyzptlk.

“Bunny suit?” she asked.

Mr. Mxyzptlk snickered.

“The family picture,” he mused almost sadistically, his snicker turning into a giddy and evil sounding giggle. He shook it off when a thought struck him. “I suppose you want to meet Lena too, huh?”

“His fiancée?” Lillian asked, a genuinely pleased look gracing her lips.

“My…*our* granddaughter,” Lionel corrected, pursing his lips after taking a sip of the bitter liquid from the glass he was holding. He glared at Mr. Mxyzptlk. “Under the circumstances, I don’t think that would be the best idea. Maybe when she gets older and can understand ---”

“This isn’t the sort of thing that most people can understand, Lionel,” Lillian argued. “Regardless of age.” She turned to shoot Mr. Mxyzptlk a disturbed expression. “And why didn’t you tell me I had a granddaughter?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes.

“Because she doesn’t exist yet,” he said, glaring at Lionel through the corner of his eye.

“What?” Lillian asked in confusion.

“Don’t worry. The way those two are, I’m sure she’s on her way,” he said snidely.

“I don’t understand. How can I see her if ---” she trailed off at the look on Mr. Mxyzptlk’s face. “Oh. Well, I suppose it makes sense – if you could bring me here, then you could ---”

Mr. Mxyzptlk made a rolling motion with his hand to prompt her to speed her answer along.

“Yes or no?” he asked.

Lillian drew in a breath and then smiled and nodded her head.

“Yes. I’d love to meet my granddaughter.”

“Wow. I’m in shock,” Mr. Mxyzptlk replied sarcastically.

He waved his hand in the air and Lex appeared in the room, dressed in the violet-colored bunny suit that Lionel had recommended, causing Lionel to snort against the glass that was already against his lips.

“Lex?” Lillian asked in awe. The last time she had seen her son, he was a good ten years younger and she was on her deathbed. “Is that you?”

Lex’s eyes narrowed at first, taking in where he now was, but quickly widened when he saw the woman in front of him. Stilled in shock, he started to shake his head slowly.

“No,” he uttered in a half-whisper, not believing his own eyes.

Lillian opened her mouth to speak, but closed it as she couldn’t think of any words that would express how she felt. Her eyes watered with unshed tears and within a second’s time, her arms were wrapped around her son.

Lex stood there, stone-like and not returning the embrace. Lillian pulled away with a sniff of her nose, wiped the tears of joy from her cheeks, and smiled up at him.

“You’ve gotten so…big,” she said.

Lex’s eyes darted over to his father, who simply motioned with his head to indicate that Lex should turn around and look behind him. Lex turned, understanding dawning on him the second he saw Mr. Mxyzptlk’s floating form.

“Is she real?” he asked, unwilling to get his hopes up just yet since Mr. Mxyzptlk had a habit of showing him people he loved and then yanking them away from him.

Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. She’s real. Happy homecoming and all that jazz,” he said, and then moved his finger around in a circular motion. “I don’t suppose we could hurry this up and get back to the fun stuff with her divorcing your dad and all?”

Lex lifted an eyebrow, but the smirk that twitched at one corner of his mouth was undeniable. He slowly turned when he felt his mother’s hand on his shoulder, surprised to see that she wasn’t looking at him, but at Mr. Mxyzptlk.

“So, when do I get to meet this granddaughter you promised me? Or my future daughter-in-law for that matter. Maybe *they’ll* be happy to see me,” Lillian said, glancing at her son through the corner of her eye as her last words came out teasingly.

“I’m happy to see you,” Lex argued. “Just…surprised. You do know that you’ve been dead for ten years, right?”

“So I’ve been told,” Lillian replied with a laughing smile. “But I didn’t actually die, Lex.”

“Excuse me?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk paused for a second before answering, using the time to blink and turn Lionel into an ice sculpture. Lex looked at him questioningly and Mr. Mxyzptlk swiftly explained.

“I zapped her here from a couple minutes before she died,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said with a pleased smirk as he folded his arms across his chest. “Teach those jerks to put rules on me,” he mumbled under his breath. “Of course, she’s not *technically* from your world, since the past would have changed, all your memories would have been different, and my work here would be undone. But it’s really close – the only difference was that she had Mrs. Hopkins as her French tutor when she was in school instead of Mrs. Lloyd. So, you see why your dad couldn’t hear what I was going to say. He would have ---”

Lex cleared his throat to cut off Mr. Mxyzptlk’s rambling and the imp scowled at him.

“Do I interrupt you when *you’re* talking?” he asked.

“Consistently,” Lex answered.

Mr. Mxyzptlk blew out a huff of air through his nose.

“Knew I should have set Chloe up with Lucas,” he grumbled. He tilted his head to the side and an evil grin soon followed. “Of course, I still could…” Lex let out an animalistic growl and Mr. Mxyzptlk’s grin spread into a wide, amused smile. “Awww. Is the big bad bunny mad at me?”

“If you so much as ---”

“Calm down, Floppy,” Mr. Mxyzptlk interrupted.

He snapped his fingers and Chloe appeared in the room, completely naked as she had been at the cabin. She let out a screech and Lex quickly enfolded her in his arms to shield the front side of her anatomy from view as she desperately tried to cover her ass with her hands.

“Clothes&#33;” Lex snapped.

Mr. Mxyzptlk snickered and let his eyes run over Chloe’s body.

“I don’t know…” he said teasingly, trailing off at the end. “This look kind of works for me.”

Lex’s nostrils flared.

“Do I *need* to remind you of her lineage?” he threatened. “Or do you want some of your powers taken away here as well?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk pursed his lips, but did as Lex demanded; zapping Chloe into a toga-esque dress. He completed the look with the gold arm band and a loose, metal-link belt that cinched the material of the dress and showed off her waist.

“There. Happy?”

Chloe was about to answer when she noticed the ice sculpture of Lionel by the decanter set.

“Should I even ask?”

“At least he didn’t see you naked,” Lex offered consolingly.

“I guess,” Chloe agreed, her gaze quickly falling upon the beautiful redhead that was standing only a few feet from them. She squinted. The woman looked so familiar, but… “Lena?” she asked, her question directed toward the other female.

“My mom,” Lex answered for her.

Chloe blinked.

“I thought she was --- wow,” she said, the awe evident in her voice. “Guess we know who she took after, huh?” Lex smiled down at her and she returned it.

“Mom, this is Chloe. Chloe, this is my mother, Lillian,” he introduced.

The two women smiled apprehensively at each other and then extended their hands to shake.

“I guess you probably weren’t expecting to have to deal with a mother-in-law,” Lillian only partially joked, unsure of whether she would be welcomed by the young woman in front of her or not.

Chloe’s hesitant smile spread into a real one. Lex’s mom had a sense of humor and didn’t seem unfriendly like Lionel at all.

“No, but it’s great to meet you,” she replied honestly.

Mr. Mxyzptlk threw back his head and groaned loudly.

“You people and your sentimental crap,” he whined. “Where’s the bitterness, the pain, the *loathing*? You’re the Luthors, damn it&#33; And Lucas is the only one acting like it&#33; What do I need to do to get the rest of you to start being evil?&#33;”

Lex glanced over at where his father was still frozen and then back to Mr. Mxyzptlk.

“Does it help that I’m apathetic to him dripping away into a giant puddle?” he asked with a smirk.

“No. Apathy doesn’t equal evil. It just equals…apathy,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said in frustration. “Come on. Don’t you want your little girl to grow up with a nice evil example so she can be the next Poison Ivy or Mystique?”

“Who?”

“Never mind,” Mr. Mxyzptlk grumbled. With a wave of his hand, Lena appeared and was sitting on the floor. “There. You’ve got your little girl back. Go and raise her like the sweet little Amazon you want her to be.” He grunted and then started mumbling under his breath. “Like one Wonder Woman isn’t enough. Stupid Lex Luthor. Evil genius my ass.”

With one last huff, he blinked out of sight, leaving Lex, Chloe, Lillian, Lena, and a still frozen Lionel in the room behind him.

The chubby-cheeked baby gurgled up at Chloe and half-crawled until she pushed herself up onto her feet and wobbly covered the small space between them.

“Mama&#33;” she cooed with delight.

Lillian and Lex both grinned goofily as they watched Chloe bend down to pick up Lena. She balanced the little girl in her arms and Lex looked down at where Lena’s feet dangled against the top of her mother’s stomach.

He tilted his head to the side, wondering if he should dare to bring up what he thought was obvious, but that Chloe hadn’t said anything about. Taking the chance that Chloe wouldn’t project herself in a negative light by throwing an emotional fit in front of his mother; he let a tiny smirk curl up one corner of his mouth.

“You could be holding her twice, you know?”

Chloe looked away from where she was making baby noises and rubbing her nose against Lena’s to eye her husband with a confident look that he hadn’t been expecting.

“I know,” she said with a small grin.

Not at all pleased with having her father take her mother’s attention away from her, Lena turned her head with the intent of blowing a raspberry at him with her tongue, but quickly became sidetracked when she saw the woman standing next to him.

“Nana&#33;” she screamed, her arms outstretched as she twisted her body away from Chloe.

Lillian seemed stunned that Lena recognized her, but she wasn’t about to call Mr. Mxyzptlk back for another rambling explanation of metaphysics.

Lex grinned at his mom and then pulled Chloe a little to the side to whisper in her ear.

“You know?” he asked.

Chloe gave him a bemused expression.

“Give me some credit, Lex. I’m not an idiot.”

“Well, no. I didn’t think you ---” he trailed off and shook his head. Running his hand down the side of her body, he moved it a little so it settled on her belly. “Are you okay with this?”

Chloe looked over to where Lillian seemed to be in heaven simply by playing with a granddaughter that she had just met and then smiled.

“Yeah. I am.”





TBC...

[tigerbaby]

*squee* Chloe&#39;s preggers?? Well, I&#39;m kinda in a huff that we didn&#39;t get to see that smut. *pouts*

This was a funny and touching chapter rolled into one. I love the visual of Lex in this giant bunny suit. *pinches cheeks* he&#39;s such a cutey pie.

[happy bunny]

Hee&#33; Love it&#33; :worship2:

:biggrin: Mr. M making fun of Lex in the bunny suit was hilarious.

Can&#39;t wait for more?

[hfce]

Yes WOO HOO Chloe is Pregnant and she got to meet Lillian. :blinkkiss: I loved Lena in this. She is so cute&#33;



Hope :wub:

[staysixkid]

FANTASTIC&#33; This is simply....fantastic&#33; :biggrin: Ok, Ok...this is the line that I adore....
“Knew I should have set Chloe up with Lucas,” he grumbled. He tilted his head to the side and an evil grin soon followed. “Of course, I still could…”

Ok...you got me&#33; You got me there&#33; You have my mind spinning&#33; :biggrin:

Fee

[eurydices falling]

sniffle...Kris you complete me. :wub:

i am so glad lena is there and chloe is content to be a mommy. a sulky Mr.mxyzptlk is good, it means he will divert all his frustration with the Luthor&#39;s to the other town baldy and the village idiot.

I can just imagine Lionel melting away, it would totally rock if he could still hear everyone badmouthing him as he melted.

Now my not so gentle nudge. Lillian seems like a fine woman and i&#39;m sure she and gabe will have bunches to "talk" about what with their children being in love and all. ;)

Update soon you goddess of the cosmic comic crossover.

[vardaquareien]

Kris, have I told u lately that I luv u? :biggrin:

*happy sigh* Another awesome chapter&#33; I was gonna quote some of my fav lines, but there are just too many&#33; I luved Mr M&#39;s Evil genius my ass comment&#33; I found it highly amusing that Lex didn&#39;t seem at all fazed by the fact that he was dressed in the purple bunny suit, he took it all in his stride&#33;

I&#39;m so happy that Chloe&#39;s pregnant&#33; I luv Lena so much and soon she&#39;ll actually be real&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay3:

Lillian seems wonderful so far too&#33; She has a sense of humour&#33; Shock-horror&#33; How in earth did she end up married to Lionel?&#33;

Thanx for updating so soon&#33; I luv this ficcy&#33;&#33;&#33;

[Sunny]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Oct 16 2003, 01:53 AM
“Where’s the bitterness, the pain, the *loathing*? You’re the Luthors, damn it&#33; And Lucas is the only one acting like it&#33; What do I need to do to get the rest of you to start being evil?&#33;”

Lex glanced over at where his father was still frozen and then back to Mr. Mxyzptlk.

“Does it help that I’m apathetic to him dripping away into a giant puddle?” he asked with a smirk.

“No. Apathy doesn’t equal evil. It just equals…apathy,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said in frustration. “Come on. Don’t you want your little girl to grow up with a nice evil example so she can be the next Poison Ivy or Mystique?”



I LOVE THAT FIC&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;It&#39;s so funny &#33;&#33;&#33;This is a pure work of art.... PLeeeaaassseeee write next chapter quickly&#33;

[sabby]

niiice chappy, I really really like it. And poor Mr. Mxyzptlk I feel almost sorry for him. *shakes head* Ah well *shrugs it off* Oh and shouldn&#39;t he zap Lionel back to life? Because I&#39;m not so sure you can get a divorce from a puddle of goo, but then again, American law is weird enough so maybe it&#39;s possible. Anyway update soon

hugs,
Sabby

[drina]

This story truly defies description....wow....

[Brittany]

:biggrin: Great chapter although I figured Lex would be a little more thrilled to see his mom, the lack of hugs b/t them was wierd, but it was great. So now they&#39;re gonna have 2 Lenas, how cute and odd&#33; Can&#39;t wait for another update, so please hurry.

[Sunny]

Lilian and Lionel made me think a bit of Arvin Sloane and Emily... lol... PLease, update quickly :chlexsign1:

[SinnerSaint]

I love this story not just because I love ChLex but because I am also a huge comic book fan and actually have some of the ones containing Superman and the Justice League up against Mr. M . You really nailed Mr. M by the way. He&#39;s like a really smart and super powerful toddler with a warped sense of humor who gets all pissed when things don&#39;t go his way .
This story should never end . You should just keep writing it for all eternity , okay ? ;)

[scifichick774]

Story #8: All Together Now – Chapter 6

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk blinked away from the Luthor castle in disgust. They weren’t evil – they weren’t even *trying* to be evil. The only conclusion that Mr. Mxyzptlk could come to was that he was wasting his time with them.

He needed to regain his focus. He was there to torment Clark – and possibly Diana too, now that the Amazon council had seen fit to send her to Smallville.

‘Next thing you know, Batman and the Flash will show up too. Stupid Justice League. It’s like they’re conspiring against me, even back in time,’ he thought to himself.

His lips pursed into a tight pout. He would not let himself be distracted by the Luthor family and their issues again. Soon, everyone in Smallville would know that Clark Kent was an alien; and that his super powers weren’t so special after all.

~*~*~*~

Lillian frowned.

“Where did he go?”

Lex shrugged as if it were nothing, grinning at Lena as she propped herself up by holding onto his costumed leg.

“He’s always doing that,” he answered.

“At least he left Lena this time,” Chloe said. Flashing a smile at Lillian, she quickly added, “And you.”

“And hey – dad’s still a block of ice. Gotta love that.”

Lillian gave a partial roll of her eyes and then tilted her head to the side to look at Lionel’s frozen form.

“I suppose we should get him into a freezer or something,” she said off-handedly.

Lex blinked at her.

“Why?”

“Because he’s your father.”

“So?”

“And he’ll melt if we just leave him standing there like that.”

“Did you not hear the comment that I made to Mr. M---” he paused and glanced at Chloe for help, but the look on her face told him immediately that she hadn’t learned how to pronounce the imp’s name yet either.

“We should really take him up on his offer of phonetic cue cards or something,” Chloe said.

“We should,” Lex said, nodding his head a couple of times in agreement. “Of course, that would entail him sticking around for more than a couple of minutes while we stumbled our way through it.”

“True.”

Lillian cleared her throat lightly, bringing Chloe and Lex’s attention back to her.

“As fascinating as it is hearing you banter back and forth about how to pronounce your little friend’s name ---”

“Hey&#33; We can call him that,” Chloe said with a joking smile.

“Sure. Then every time we have to introduce him to someone, I can launch into my Scarface impression,” Lex teased back.

“Should I be worried that you even *have* a Scarface impression?”

“Not at all. In fact, I’ll show it to you later if you’d like,” Lex said suggestively.

Lillian cleared her throat again and Lex barely held back a grumble. He thought having his mother back would be a good thing since it was something he dreamt about ever since she died, but now it was proving to just be a hindrance to his foreplay with Chloe.

Chloe, on the other hand, snickered and then smiled at Lillian before reaching down to pick up Lena.

“Come on, I promised my mom that I’d let her meet Lena the next time M&M blinked her over.”

“M&M? He’s not a rapper, Chloe.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Well…no. But…”

“What are we going to do about Lionel?” Lillian interjected.

Lex twisted his head to glance at Lionel one more time and then let out a dramatically suffered sigh before looking at Chloe.

“Let me make a call and get changed - *then* we’ll go to see your mom.”

“Get changed?” Chloe asked teasingly. “I don’t know, Luthor. I think the bunny suit might just win her over.”

Lex smirked.

“Well, if it doesn’t, then I’m sure *your* outfit will.”

~*~*~*~

Lana was on the verge of tears. One of the hospital’s staff psychiatrists had given her only a brief consultation session, but after a few minutes of tales filled with genies and dragons, it had been enough to convince the doctor that she needed further observation under more controlled conditions.

So there Lana stood; her arms wrapped around herself as she waited to be transferred to the Summerholt Institute for a seventy-two hour examination period.

A tiny knock came at the door before it opened and Lana burst into tears when she saw Pete step into the room. He let her rest her head against him and encompassed her in his arms as she kept bawling.

“They think I’m crazy…they’re going to lock me away…I have no hair…I don’t know what to do…”

“Shh – calm down,” Pete said comfortingly. “They don’t think you’re crazy…okay, they *do*. But I managed to convince them that you were just having a bad reaction to some anti-depressants you were put on recently, so they’re not going to lock you up.”

Lana sniffled and pulled back to look at him in confusion.

“You told them I was on anti-depressants? Why would I be on ---”

“You’re missing the point, Lana. They’re not going to ship you off to the mental hospital to be surrounded by all your former stalkers. Okay? It’s a *good* thing.”

“I…guess.” Lana gave Pete a tiny smile. “Thanks, Pete.”

“No problem. I’m sure Clark would have found a way to get you out if I hadn’t --- you know, if he hadn’t been arrested for being naked in public.”

Lana frowned deeply and shook her head.

“Why does Babu ---”

“Mr. M,” Pete corrected.

“Why does he keep doing these things?”

“Why does he do anything he does? I mean, Clark had to haul us out of a pile of *dragon poop*. Mr. M? Not so much a good guy…or whatever he is.”

“I just don’t understand. Why won’t he leave us alone?”

Pete sighed and ran a hand around the back of his neck to soothe the muscles there.

“He’s got some sort of personal axe to grind with Clark, I think.”

“Well, then Clark needs to have a serious talk with him and get things settled, because I can’t handle much more of this. Just look at me, Pete&#33; God&#33; I look like *Lex*&#33; Only with burns…and they kind of itch,” Lana said, mentally slapping her hand away before it reached all the way up to her scalp to scratch at it.

“So, we’ll get you some cream and a wig,” Pete said dismissively. “You’ll be good as new.”

~*~*~*~

Mr. Mxyzptlk floated invisibly, his eyes narrowed on the scene in front of him as he tried to form a plan in his head.

Clark was being released from jail and much to Mr. Mxyzptlk’s chagrin, it was the old fashioned way - through his parents bailing him out rather than using his super powers to bend the metal bars or break the lock off of his jail cell.

‘It’s just not fair,’ Mr. Mxyzptlk thought. ‘Everything I do – the ice, the dragons, the Amazon girl and Luthor getting together – they just write it off like it’s nothing or pretend it didn’t happen. They should have named this town Denialville.’

He followed along until the Kents were outside, a spark of an idea taking form when he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

‘But then again…maybe I just had the wrong Amazon girl and Luthor…’

The corners of his lips rose into an evil, yet almost giddy grin. He had no way of knowing if it would work, but if the future he knew was anything to go by, then he had to at least give it a shot.

“There he is&#33; Come on&#33;” Diana said excitedly, tugging on Lucas’s arm and jerking around to glare at him when he drug his heels to stop her. “What are you doing?”

“Hello? He’s with his parents,” Lucas pointed out. “I think we can safely say that he no longer needs rescuing. Well, unless it’s from them – and really, he deserves whatever lame farm chores they give him as punishment.”

“But it wasn’t his fault.”

“So?” Lucas asked indignantly. “Maybe this is just karma’s way of biting him in the ass.”

“Great Hera&#33; You’re the most arrogant, annoying, and ---”

Mr. Mxyzptlk waited until Clark turned his head at Diana’s outburst and then he snapped his fingers.

All of a sudden, Diana felt a strange tingling sweep through her body; so strong that it made her dizzy at first and though she tried to shake it off, it only intensified when she looked at Lucas.

A warm hum of arousal began to accompany the tingle and her breathing started to come in fast pants when he furrowed his brow in mild concern and spoke, his voice sending a jolt of electricity through her that settled between her thighs.

“Are you okay? You look off.”

Diana cupped his face with her hands and slammed her lips against his; causing Lucas’s eyes to widen comically as he wondered what the hell had come over her.

But, living by the expression of not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Lucas quickly started to reciprocate the kiss, delighting in the feeling of the brunette’s warm and moist, plump lips against his. His tongue darted out; probing for entry and Diana moaned deep in her throat as the sensation sent a passionate tremor through her.

Their hands crawled over each other’s bodies, sliding and groping, each touch bringing them closer to an edge that they weren’t supposed to even be near.

Mr. Mxyzptlk snickered as Clark stopped walking to the truck and watched on in slack-jawed horror. This wasn’t right. Diana and Lucas had nothing but contempt for each other in the little amount of time they had known each other and now…

He took a step forward with the intention of moving to stop them, but Jonathan placed his hand on his arm.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Clark shot his father a pleading expression.

“Dad – I have to stop them. They don’t know what they’re doing&#33;”

Jonathan glanced over to where Lucas now had Diana pressed against the outside wall of one of the buildings and was proceeding to remove any of the fabric standing between them. He turned an arched an amused eyebrow at his son.

“Looks like they do to me,” he said. His gaze drifted back over to the couple and he cocked his head to the side as he looked at them. “Though, I’ll admit, it seems like they should have a little more sense than to do it in front of the Sheriff’s office – especially after you were just hauled in for public nudity.”

“You don’t understand&#33; They hate each other&#33;” Clark yelled. “That small, floating guy – Mr. ---”

“Son…”

Jonathan turned back around to find that Clark was no longer there and cringed when he saw him suddenly pulling the couple apart and then holding them that way.

Clark looked at Diana.

“You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re under a spell or something. The imp --- he must have done something to make you…you know.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk snickered again and then popped up in the air slightly above Clark’s head level.

“Did everyone see that?” he asked, looking around at the few people passing by on the street. “He was over there and now he’s over here in the blink of an eye. Doesn’t that make you curious?&#33;”

“You’d have a better case against him if you weren’t *floating*,” Lucas pointed out.

Mr. Mxyzptlk frowned, but within moments, simply sloughed off the comment. If the people in Smallville were really going to ignore what was right before their eyes, then he would need to come up with something more…elaborate.

Clark glared at him.

“Fix them,” he demanded.

Mr. Mxyzptlk stared down at his fingernails.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, the sing-song quality to his voice betraying his words.

Clark’s nostrils flared and Mr. Mxyzptlk giggled.

“What’s the matter? Can’t stand to see your future pseudo-girlfriend making out with someone else?”

“What?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk sighed.

“Stupid three-dimensional hicks,” he mumbled to himself.

He waved his hand in the air and the strong arousal that had been coursing through Diana’s veins vanished – as did he.

Diana looked down to where Clark’s hand was on her chest, trying to keep her from jumping Lucas again. She couldn’t remember what had happened, but she knew Clark’s hand didn’t belong there. Her mouth opened for a second in outrage and then she twisted his arm hard and drew him up over her shoulder to throw him against the wall.

Or through it as the case may be.

Her eyes widened as Clark slowly got up and dusted the mortar from the broken bricks off of himself.

“W-what are you?”




TBC…

[sabby]

Loved the chappy. Lex still in his bunny suit. I adore Lillian. Chloe snarky as ever.

*cuddles Mr. Mxyzptlk* He&#39;s sooo cute in his evilness. Oh and Diana and Lucas. Keep the sexual tension coming&#33;

Lana on anti depressants *snickers* heh too bad she&#39;s getting out of the looney bin.

Can&#39;t wait for the next update. This kiss makes up for the &#39;disaster&#39; that was the ending of Beloved for me.

hugs,
Sabby

[hfce]

That was great :hehe: more please...



Hope :chlexsign2:

[drina]

still can&#39;t get over the picture of Lex in the bunny suit...heehee

and i hope lionel melts into a puddle of water, and then the dog comes and lick it all up&#33;

[Calliope]

Lionel&#39;s a popsicle&#33; Heh. :biggrin:

[autumngold]

That was so funny, Lucas and Diana making out&#33; I think she should do that more often&#33;&#33; Don&#39;t you think they would make a great couple?&#33;&#33; Lucas deserves some love&#33;&#33; Thanks for not having Pete go gaga over Lana&#33; I&#39;m so sick of her&#33; And how is Clark going to explain flying through the wall? I really enjoyed this chapter&#33;&#33; :chlexsign1:

[shailafter]

hmm i wouldn&#39;t mind batman and the flash showing up :drool: yum


‘It’s just not fair,’ Mr. Mxyzptlk thought. ‘Everything I do – the ice, the dragons, the Amazon girl and Luthor getting together – they just write it off like it’s nothing or pretend it didn’t happen. They should have named this town Denialville.’
i loved that part :lol:

[SinnerSaint]

I love this story . I love to read it right when I get home from work because I know that each new chapter will have something like a Lionelsicle in it that will leave me on the floor laughing and I completely forget about my crappy day. Never stop writing this story . :biggrin:

[vardaquareien]

Ok you already know how much I love this fic Kris but I swear it just keeps getting better&#33;&#33;&#33; How is that even possible? I love the irony at the end that as soon as Mr M. disappears someone finally questions Clark for the first time&#33;&#33;&#33; And as for Batman and the Flash showing up...ok now that you&#39;ve put that idea in my head you&#39;ve gotta deliver girlfriend&#33; That&#39;s just all there is to it&#33;&#33;&#33; :blinkkiss:

[happy bunny]

:lol: Still loving this story&#33; It&#39;s just so funny&#33; :lol:
Add more soon&#33;

[Susie Q]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Nov 12 2003, 08:48 AM
“Shh – calm down,” Pete said comfortingly.* “They don’t think you’re crazy…okay, they *do*.* But I managed to convince them that you were just having a bad reaction to some anti-depressants you were put on recently, so they’re not going to lock you up.”

Lana sniffled and pulled back to look at him in confusion.

“You told them I was on anti-depressants?* Why would I be on ---”

“You’re missing the point, Lana.* They’re not going to ship you off to the mental hospital to be surrounded by all your former stalkers.* Okay?* It’s a *good* thing.”


http://www.angelfire.com/emo2/emoticons0/images/rotfl.gif While this whole chapter had me giggling like an idiot, for some reason this passage particularly tickled me. Anyways, great update&#33; http://www.angelfire.com/emo2/emoticons0/images/clapping.gif

[ColumbiaBlue]

I don&#39;t know how I managed to miss this story&#33; You are a genius&#33; I love this story so much that I read it in one sitting which is saying something&#33; Please please please update soon-ish&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2: :worship2: :worship2:

~
Manda

[Sunny]

The more I read that fic, the more I love Mxyzptlk... lol
Update, pleassseee&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[scifichick774]

“Argh&#33;”

“Calm down,” Pete said, inwardly hoping that he hadn’t made the wrong decision on springing Lana from the psychiatric ward of the hospital. “It’s only the…tenth one you’ve tried on,” he continued, grimacing as he realized how many wigs Lana had actually tried to fit over her abnormally small, dragon-burnt scalp. “Maybe we should be looking at hats.”

“Pete&#33;”

“Hey – how was I supposed to know that your head was so tiny?” he said in his own defense, though he realized that it was the wrong thing to say when Lana glared at him. He smiled sheepishly back at her. “How about this one?”

He reached past her to grab a red wig off of a mannequin head and then tossed it to her.

“It’s red.”

“It’s not red, it’s…light red – like pink – and you like pink,” Pete said, flashing a thousand watt smile at her.

“That is *not* pink,” Lana argued. “It’s strawberry-blonde. And it will totally clash with my skin tone.”

“And pink doesn’t?” he scoffed snidely, cringing when he realized that he had spoken the words aloud and Lana’s mouth dropped open, aghast in shock. “You’re running out of options here and this is the only place in town that sells wigs. Unless you want to go to Metropolis and show off your ‘new look’ then maybe you should just try it on,” he said, hoping that his directness would steer the conversation away from anything that would end up with her screaming at him.

Lana frowned, but bent down a little so she could smooth the wig onto her head.

“It fits,” she said in somewhat disgusted surprise.

“Good. Let’s buy it and get out of here.”

A bemused grin twitched at the corners of Lana’s mouth.

“What’s the matter, Pete? Scared of the mannequin heads?” she teased.

“A little,” he said jokingly. “So?” Lana giggled. “Actually, I’d have no problem if it was *just* a wig store, but this place is so…girly.”

Lana arched an eyebrow and he exasperatingly motioned to the numerous stuffed animals, crystal figurines, and other nick-knacks that lined the shelves.

“There’s nothing wrong with this store, Pete.”

“They have dolls and tiny tea sets, Lana&#33; I dare you to try and tell me this place isn’t for little girls. They probably only started selling wigs when they realized that some of the grandmas were losing their hair.”

“That’s a horrible thing to say,” Lana said, thought the snickering smile on her face betrayed whatever little scolding there was in her voice.

“But true.”

Lana rolled her eyes and then shook her head.

“And I’ll have you know that there’s nothing wrong with being ‘girly’,” she said.

“Unless you’re a guy.”

“*Even* if you’re a guy. Girls like sentimental guys.”

“Sentimental – not effeminate,” Pete said.

Initially, Lana narrowed her eyes; but then an indignant look slipped across her face and she placed her hands on her hips.

“Peter Ross, I think *you* need to be taught a lesson.”

Pete eyed her warily, an unsettled feeling building in his gut when he saw the smirk on her face and the direction in which her body was pointed.

“Oh, no,” he said, holding his hands up in front of him. “No way are you dragging me over to play ‘tea party’. Not even if we were in the privacy of your house. No way, no how, no chance in hell.”

Lana ignored his rant and grabbed his hand, forcefully tugging him over to a small display table that was set up for a little girls’ tea party, complete with a couple of teddy bears as guests. She leaned down and plastered a fake smile on her face.

“Excuse me, Mr. Bear. Can I bring my friend to tea?” she asked.

Pete groaned.

“If you keep up like this, people really *will* think you’re crazy.”

Lana opened her mouth to retort, but was quickly cut off by the sound of a large crash and the feeling of the store’s walls jerkily reverberating as if something had rammed into the building.

“Woot&#33; Earthquake&#33;” Pete hollered with entirely too much enthusiasm and relief. “Thank you, God&#33;” He reached out and grabbed Lana’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here and find some place safe.”

“But…Wait a minute. Don’t earthquakes usually shake the *ground*?”

“Okay – dragon then,” Pete said, inwardly smirking when Lana paled. “Now, are you gonna stand there and argue with me all day or are we going to pay for your wig and run to safety?”

~*~*~*~

“What are you talking about?” Clark asked with feigned innocence.

“I just hit you and you went right through the wall&#33;”

“Yeah – how’d you do that anyway?” Clark asked.

“I am Diana. Princess of the Amazons.”

Lucas raised an eyebrow.

‘And they thought *I* was crazy,’ he thought to himself.

“The more important question is how you managed to stay conscious, let alone completely uninjured,” Diana continued, looking expectantly at Clark for an answer.

“Milk does a body good?” Clark offered somewhat cheekily with a small smile.

“Tell me,” Diana demanded impatiently.

Clark shrugged and went back to sweeping the dust off of himself.

“There’s nothing to tell. They obviously just used cheap building materials. I’m sure anyone else would have been able to withstand the blow as well. In fact, why don’t you try it on Lucas and find out?” he suggested, his smile turning smug and practically giddy at the prospect.

Diana didn’t look convinced, but didn’t have the opportunity to make a rebuttal before a woman screamed and ran over to them.

“Oh, my God&#33; Clark&#33; Are you okay?&#33;” Lana asked, her words coming out with a frantic speed.

Clark’s eyes widened as he stared down at her.

“L-Lana?”

Lana turned to Pete, who had taken his sweet time and simply strolled over once he saw that there was no real emergency.

“He barely recognizes me,” Lana told him. “And he’s dirty. He must have been thrown through the wall by a dragon.”

“Because the logical conclusion is that a *dragon* did it,” Lucas said sarcastically.

Lana ignored what Lucas said and turned back to Clark to palm his cheek.

“Oh, my poor Clarky. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you.”

“Clarky?” Diana and Lucas asked mockingly at the same time.

Pete rolled his eyes.

“Shopping in the girly store fried her brain,” he said as means of explanation.

Lucas snorted.

“That would imply that she had one to begin with.”

“Hey&#33; I *heard* that&#33;” Lana said angrily, shooting a glare at him.

“So?” Lucas quipped. “I said you were stupid, not deaf.”

Lana growled and her hands pumped into tiny fists.

“Why are you even here?”

Lucas gave her a one-shoulder shrug.

“Beats the hell out of me,” he answered. “For some reason, Diana thought that she needed to help you and Clark and felt it necessary to drag me along. I’m pretty sure it was just so she could take advantage of me though.”

Diana opened and closed her mouth and Clark cringed at Lucas’s audacious stupidity.

“No,” Lana contradicted before the scene could turn into a showdown between Lucas and Diana. “I meant why are you in *Smallville*? Nobody wants you here. Why won’t you just go away?&#33;”

“Aww. None of the local hicks like me? I’m heartbroken,” Lucas replied with mocking sarcasm. “But to answer your question, dear old dad wants me to stay where he can keep an eye on me. Something about me being a troublemaker. And I’m obliging because I have no desire to give up my nice big allowance to be poor again.”

“I sure hope that’s not supposed to make me feel sorry for you,” Lana said.

“Well, I admit it’s no ‘my parents were squished by a giant rock falling from the sky’ story, but at least mine has the happy ending of not winding up the town sweetheart who gets knocked up straight out of high school and becomes a fatty during the ten years it takes for everyone who was smart enough to get the hell out of dodge to come back and visit for a reunion.”

Clark zoned out Lucas and the others and concentrated instead on the car that just drove by quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Diana asked.

“That was Lex and Chloe.”

~*~*~*~

“You got her?” Lex asked in a hushed voice, offering his hand to help Chloe out of the car since she had Lena sleeping in her arms.

Chloe nodded and climbed out of the car, glancing down at the tiny snore coming out of her daughter. She raised her eyes to meet Lex’s and flashed him a warm smile which he quickly returned.

“Dad will be happy to see her,” Chloe said quietly.

“Your mom too.”

Chloe frowned.

“I don’t know,” she said. “She doesn’t seem too thrilled about the idea of us getting married to begin with.”

“Trust me. Once she sees Lena, she’ll be pushing for the wedding as hard as Lana is.”

“Now there’s a scary thought. Sure you won’t change your mind about eloping?”

“It’s not my mind that needs to be changed, it’s my father’s.”

“Great,” Chloe said with surprising sincerity. “Then let’s take advantage of the fact that he’s a big ice sculpture right now and ---”

‘Or not so surprising,’ Lex thought to himself. “*And* --- I’d kind of like to see you in the white dress,” he said with a smirk, cutting off her ill-thought out plan.

“Ivory.”

“What?”

“The dress I’m leaning toward is ivory,” Chloe said, still keeping her voice down in fear of waking Lena. “I mean, I can’t very well wear white after…” she trailed off and motioned to Lena.

“Chloe – if *Desirée* could wear white, then ---”

“I *really* hope you’re not comparing me to your ex-wife.”

Lex opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when he saw that Chloe was actually upset about the minimal comparison and wasn’t just bantering.

He furrowed his brow.

“What’s with the sudden insecurity complex?” he asked. It wasn’t the most subtle approach, but if he had learned anything about his wife-to-be, it was that she appreciated forwardness. “You know I was only with her because she used some sort of mutant pheromone on me.”

Chloe sighed.

“I know – I’m sorry. This whole thing with the wedding coordinator and then my mom showing up…and then *your* mom showing up…I guess I’m a little on edge.”

“What are you worried about?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe said. “On one hand, I really want my mom to meet Lena, because Lena is great; but on the other hand ---”

“You’re afraid she might try to take Lena back to Themyscira with her.”

“Can’t say that it hasn’t crossed my mind.”

“Your mom is here because of the council, Chloe. Doesn’t she have to obey them?”

“Well…yeah. But it’s not like she hasn’t broken the rules before – obviously – or *I* wouldn’t be here.”

Lex frowned and they stopped walking when they finally reached the front door. He turned and gently placed his hands on Chloe’s upper arms, careful not to wake their daughter with the action.

“I meant what I said at the cabin, Chloe,” he started, referring to the fact that he loved her. “And I’ll do every in my power to make sure nobody takes you away from me – either of you.”



TBC...

[hfce]

Aww that was so sweet... More please......


Hope :biggrin:

[Not An Addict]

YOU MADE PETE SAY W00T&#33;&#33;&#33;

Yeah, I know, there are better and more important things to be commenting on. But . . .

YOU MADE PETE SAY W00T&#33;&#33;&#33;

*ahem* Ok. I&#39;m loving the Lucas/Diana interaction. Priceless. ^_^ And while I enjoy the possibility of some Pete/Lananess, I like it that he&#39;s not treating her like she&#39;s made out of spun glass. Someone needs to stand up to her, and it might as well be her future husband. ^_~ Loved this chapter. Can&#39;t wait for more&#33;

[ColumbiaBlue]

I was giggling the entire time I read this chapter. Pete and Lana in the wig shop&#33;


“It’s red.”

“It’s not red, it’s…light red – like pink – and you like pink,” Pete said, flashing a thousand watt smile at her.

“That is *not* pink,” Lana argued. “It’s strawberry-blonde. And it will totally clash with my skin tone.”

“And pink doesn’t?”

That was hilarious&#33; I&#39;m so glad you updated this&#33;&#33;&#33;


YOU MADE PETE SAY W00T&#33;&#33;&#33;

Totally agree with you. Woot is the greatest word ever&#33;

~Manda

[tigerbaby]

*gasp* an update&#33;&#33; LOLOL.

*ahem* I just love the Lucas/Diana banter and can I just say Clark is *evil* for even suggesting throwing Lucas against the wall? Damn shame they didn&#39;t find out his secret though...*sigh* I guess we can&#39;t always get what we want...

As for Pete....you go boy&#33;&#33; Tell her whose boss. And I just had a giggle fit at the comment that she had an "abnormally small head". Hee.

[Clannadlvr]

Woo hoo&#33;&#33; I just started reading this fic and I&#39;ve been giggling for the past hour&#33;

Things I love:

Lana and a big pile of Dragon doo doo. &#39;nuff said

So much DC comics goin&#39; on- I grew up reading comic books so this makes me very squee-like&#33;

Lana getting her hair singed

Lana almost being sent to a mental institution

(hrm....noticing a pattern here?)

Oh, and of course:


“I *told* you how to say it&#33;” Mr. Mxyzptlk yelled, his face turning red with angry frustration as he balled his hands into fists at his sides. “What more do you want? A phonetic cue card?&#33;”

I want a phonetic cue card&#33;&#33;&#33; *smiles* Actually, I remember asking my dad when I was little how to pronounce Mr. M&#39;s name. It took me FOREVER to keep it in my head, so I completely understand how they all feel.

Great job and can&#39;t wait to read more soon&#33;&#33; :yay2:

[autumngold]

Great chapter&#33;&#33; :yay: I love the fact that Clark doesn&#39;t fawn over Lana now that she has blonde hair&#33;&#33; Lucas is perfect for Diana, he can keep her from being so uptight&#33; Thank you for the LOL update&#33;&#33; :chlexsign4:

[vardaquareien]

WOOT&#33;&#33;&#33; :hehe: (sorry just couldn&#39;t help myself&#33;)

*blissful sigh* You updated my favourite ficcy&#33;&#33;&#33;

Great update&#33; Lana has an abnormally small head and got told that pink clashes with her complexion&#33; What more could a girl ask for in life? Oh yeah, wonderful Lucas and Diana interaction and Lucas insulting Blinky to boot&#33;&#33;&#33;

Hope we get a bit more Chlexy interaction in the next chap too&#33;

[Jen1388]

Like OMG&#33; Alright I keep reading all you&#39;re fics, and they just get better and blumming better&#33;

All the the stunts Mr. Mxyzptlk has pulled on Lana, have been sooooo funny&#33; And the Chlex interaction... :huh: :ohmy: :chlexsign3:

Yeaaaa baby&#33;

Okay I don&#39;t really like Lucas and Diana... because well in my world Lucas can only ever be with Chloe... but she&#39;s with Sexy Lexy... so Lucas should just pine after her&#33; :biggrin:

Seriously though, this is really cool, I&#39;ve been reading it for the past two nights&#33;

And I need and update&#33;&#33;&#33; :biggrin: *cough* just reminding you of you&#39;re little &#39;bargain&#39; cough* ;) lol


Jen
-x-

[scifichick774]

Damn. Figures you would pick this one. Okay, I&#39;ll work on it over the weekend and see what I can do.

[Jen1388]

LOL, well you remember I am the biggest fan of your Beloved fic, and I&#39;m still waiting for a sequel, but as you have many fics on the go... I thought I&#39;d do ya a favour :devil:

Besides, I&#39;m totally hooked to this one&#33; :biggrin:

[katspell]

:yay: I took me two days to read through this, but I love it&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; I hope to get more soon.

[drina]

Protective Lex is such a turn-on.

[scifichick774]

Story #8: All Together Now – Chapter 8

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lex slowly opened the front door for Chloe and their sleeping daughter. He may have to face the possibility of losing them, but that didn’t mean he had to rush toward the event. The smell of fresh roses wafted through the door and assaulted his nose. His face pulled back and he raised his arm to sneeze against it.

‘Great,’ he thought sarcastically.

“God bless you,” Chloe said. Lex nodded his thanks, but his eyes were rapidly watering and he was starting to find it difficult to breathe. “Oh, my God,” Chloe gasped quietly, glancing past Lex to the dozens of red roses that graced the foyer of her house.

“I thought we…*achoo*…told the coordinator…*achoo*…no roses…*achoo*.” Lex turned his face away from the house in an attempt to stop the sneezing and compose himself, but the flora had already worked its scent fully into his nostrils, and he began to cough and sneeze uncontrollably.

“We did,” Chloe replied with a frown. “Go back to the car. I’ll get rid of them.”

Lex nodded and moved to step away when he heard a tiny sneeze come from behind him. Lena squirmed in Chloe’s arms and sneezed again, this time louder and more forcefully. The action woke her up and she started crying, drawing her grandparents’ attention from where they were having a discussion in the living room.

“What in the name of ---”

Not particularly inclined to finish the conversation that his ex-wife had started with him, Gabe was thankful for the interruption and swiftly rose from where he was sitting. He half-ran to the front door, arriving just in time to see Chloe trying to comfort the little girl who he thought hadn’t reappeared.

“What’s going on?” he asked, flinching slightly as Lex and Lena let out large sneezes at the same time.

“Lex is allergic to roses,” Chloe informed him. “…And apparently Lena is too. Didn’t that coordinator take the hint the first million times I told her that we couldn’t have roses at the wedding?”

“She’s not the one who sent them,” Gabe said.

“Fine. The florist she works with then. Whatever,” Chloe said in dismissive frustration.

Gabe shook his head.

“They came with a card,” he told her, turning and plucking the card off of its perch before beginning to take the vases of flowers to the kitchen.

Chloe frowned and handed Lena over to Lex’s waiting arms. She slid her finger under the already open flap of the small envelope and then drew the card out of it. Though it was true that not many people knew of her fiancé’s allergic reaction to roses, she couldn’t think of anyone besides him who would be sending her flowers – let alone several vases of the expensive, long-stemmed roses that sat before her.

“So, who’s trying to kill me?” Lex asked, sniffling a little as he kept his and Lena’s faces pointed out toward the street.

Chloe cleared her throat and started to read the card aloud.

“A is for…oh crap.”

“A is for crap? Wow. The English language certainly has changed since I went to school,” Lex joked, letting out a small cough immediately afterward. “I can’t wait to hear what E, F, G, H, I, and J stand for now.”

“No,” Chloe replied with a distempered grin. “It’s from my Great Aunt. For some reason, she thinks it’s funny to write out poems to the alphabet every time she sends me a letter.”

“*Why*?”

“It’s her way of teasing me about wanting to become a reporter.”

Lex furrowed his brow, but didn’t turn around to face her out of fear that Lena, who was now starting to slowly drift off to sleep again, would wake up.

“Why would she tease you?”

Chloe shrugged.

“She’s…old-fashioned,” she said with distaste.

“Ah,” Lex said knowingly. “Women should stay at home, barefoot and pregnant, and that sort of thing?”

“Excuse me?&#33;”

Lena jolted from the sleep that was overcoming her and wailed loudly, causing Lex to wince and then turn around to glare at the woman who had just cut into his banter with Chloe.

He fixed his eyes in a cool glare, but Chloe beat him to actually saying anything. She swore under her breath and then took Lena back into her arms before narrowing her eyes at her mother.

“You woke her up,” she practically hissed.

Ann seemed taken aback by Chloe’s coldness, but softened her startled features when she remembered how her daughter was at Lena’s age, and how short-tempered she had been when she had to deal with a crying baby.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t realize…this must be granddaughter from the future I’ve been hearing so much about. May I hold her?” she asked, already outstretching her arms to take Lena from Chloe as if her daughter’s answer would be a given.

Lena’s eyes widened in horror at the prospect of going into the stranger’s arms and started screaming even louder than she had been before. She clutched wildly to Chloe’s shoulders and hair, only calming down a little when her face twisted to check and see if Ann was still standing there and seeing Gabe return from carrying the last vase of roses to the safety of the kitchen instead.

She blubbered and her upper lip quivered, tears streaming down her chubby cheeks as she tentatively leaned her tiny body toward her grandfather.

“Gam-pa?” she whimpered questioningly.

Gabe gave her a warm grin and held his hands out to take her from Chloe. He brought her close to his body and she sniffled against his shoulder.

“Didn’t like the roses, eh kiddo?” he asked, bouncing his granddaughter up and down a little so she’d continue calming down. As if on cue, Lena’s face screwed up and her nose wrinkled before she let out a sneeze. “Gesundheit.” He looked over at Chloe. “F is for fifty flowers,” he said in a sing-song voice.

Chloe groaned.

“Remind me to send her a copy of the article on how Lex and Lena almost died because of it,” she said.

“You probably shouldn’t mention Lena since she doesn’t technically exist yet,” Gabe pointed out, missing the wry look that Chloe and Lex shared because he was smiling at his granddaughter. “Besides, she’s overjoyed that you were even able to snag yourself a husband – seeing as how you want to be a ‘career woman’ and all.”

Ann’s mouth fell open and then closed.

“That’s what you were talking about,” she said to Lex.

“Yes,” Lex answered gruffly.

“I see,” Ann said. “I apologize for misjudging you.”

Lex opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again to turn toward the sound of screeching tires in the street.

“Chloe&#33;” Clark yelled, jumping out of the back of his father’s truck to run at what would be considered a humanly feasible speed toward his friend.

Diana, Pete, and Lana followed suit; though Lana took her time getting out of the truck because she didn’t want her wig to fall off. It had taken all her effort to keep it on during the ride over because of how fast Clark’s dad had been driving and she was determined not to lose it now after she had been through that.

“Are you okay? You just disappeared and ---” Clark abruptly stopped talking and paled at the sight of the baby girl in Gabe’s arms. “Is that ---?”

“Lena,” Lex confirmed.

“But…” Clark started in confusion, trailing off when he took in what Chloe was wearing. “I thought you weren’t going to leave with your mom.”

“I’m not,” Chloe said irritably. “Mr. Mxyzptlk thought it would be hilarious to dress me in the ‘clothes of my ancestors’.”

“So, why didn’t you just change?” Clark asked.

Chloe inwardly cringed. Though she had no qualms about rubbing her relationship with Lex in Clark’s face after all the times he had unwittingly done it to her about him and Lana, she had no desire to try to explain in front of her parents why she and Lex were naked when they were zapped to Lex’s house – or that she had no change of clothes there, so unlike Lex, she was forced to stay in the outfit that Mr. Mxyzptlk had given her.

She blinked and tried to think of a quick lie, but it ultimately proved unnecessary as Mr. Mxyzptlk suddenly appeared with a bright smile on his face.

“You did it&#33;” he cheered at Chloe.

“I did what?”

“You said my name,” he gushed with over-dramatic emotion.

Jonathan and Martha, who were walking at a leisurely pace toward the house, felt their eyes grow comically large and their jaws drop open.

“Martha?”

“Jonathan?” Martha responded.

“Tell me I’m not seeing what I think I’m seeing.”

“A small…man…floating next to our son?”

“Yes.”

“Then I can’t,” Martha said, shaking her head in disbelief.

“So…he was telling the truth?”

“Apparently.”

“Mxyzptlk&#33; Mxyzptlk&#33;” Lena shouted excitedly.

Mr. Mxyzptlk flew over to her.

“Your mommy said my name,” he said with a childlike smile. Lena giggled. “I think this calls for a celebration.”

Lena clapped her hands in agreement.

“Eh-wa-pant&#33;” she screeched.

“Elephant?” Mr. Mxyzptlk asked. “I thought you liked dragons?”

Lena’s eyes lit up.

“Bofe&#33;” she yelled.

Mr. Mxyzptlk grinned evilly.

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day,” he said.

“Now wait just a minute,” Gabe started warningly.

Mr. Mxyzptlk ignored him and snapped his fingers, conjuring up a dozen elephants on the ground and a few dragons in the sky. One of the gigantic, winged dragons swooped down and opened its mouth, engulfing one of the elephants in its powerful jaw and slicing into it with its raptor-like teeth.

Blood sprayed down from the sky and Lana started screaming, unconsciously gripping onto Pete for support.

Lena’s reaction however, was very different. She laughed and cheered wildly, spurring the dragon on.

“Mommy’s girl, my ass,” Chloe said under her breath.

Lex couldn’t hold back the snicker that escaped his lips or the smirk that promptly took residence on them.

“She’s a Luthor,” he said with proud amusement.

Another dragon crushed another elephant under the weight of its teeth and the blood that fell showered over Lana and Pete.

“Bom bom bom bom-pa bom&#33;” Lena squealed.

“Make it stop&#33;” Lana cried.

“Yes,” Ann agreed sternly, fixing a pointed glare on Mr. Mxyzptlk. “Make it stop.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk grinned.

“She likes it,” he said almost pleadingly, motioning to Lena with his hands.

“She is a spoiled little girl who has apparently inherited demonic traits from her father’s side of the family,” Ann protested. “It does not matter what she likes. Make. It. Stop.”

Chloe gave a sideward glance at Lex.

“Did she just call Lena a *demon*?”

“That’s what it sounded like to me,” Lex said angrily.

“She’s not your child, Chloe. She’s a creation of this monster’s mind,” Ann said, motioning to Mr. Mxyzptlk with her head.

Mr. Mxyzptlk rolled his eyes.

“Stupid council…sending you back…curse them…” he muttered in broken strings under his breath.

A splatter of elephant blood hit Ann’s face and her nostrils flared.

“Make. It. Stop,” she repeated with a finality to her voice.

Mr. Mxyzptlk sighed.

“Fine,” he grumbled, snapping his fingers.

But, instead of the animals disappearing as everyone expected, the elephants merely changed from their normal color of grey to rainbow-striped, causing Lena to cackle because she was laughing so hard.

“What did you do?&#33;” Diana demanded. “She told you to make it stop.”

“And, if you’ll notice, it has,” Mr. Mxyzptlk pointed out. “Dragons don’t eat anything rainbow-colored. *Everyone* knows that.”

“I meant for you to make them *go away*,” Ann said.

Mr. Mxyzptlk folded his arms across his chest indignantly.

“Then you should have been more specific,” he said. “How’d they send you to Smallville anyway? Invisible plane? Or hasn’t that been built yet?” Ann and Diana opened their mouths to speak and though Mr. Mxyzptlk knew he should stop goading them, he couldn’t resist. “Or did you travel the old way and chop the tree, sail the ship…”

*Whack&#33;*

Mr. Mxyzptlk went hurling toward the house and bounced off, rubbing his head as he did so.

“Fine, fine,” he said, flicking his hand backward in the air and making all of the elephants and dragons disappear. “Happy?” Ann glared at him and Lena stuck her tongue out at her. “At least Lena has a good sense of humor.” He blinked and a jump-rope appeared in his hands. He gave it to Lena and grinned. “There you go, you good evil little girl, you. Jump the rope.”

“She’s barely learning how to walk – let alone jump,” Lex interjected.

“Then she’ll use it as a lasso,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said dismissively. “Doesn’t have any special powers, but if she keeps up her wicked personality and doesn’t let the Amazons corrupt her, then maybe we can see about changing that…”

“The Amazons aren’t the ones I’m worried about corrupting her,” Lex said pointedly.

“*Someone* in the Luthor family has to grow up to be evil,” Mr. Mxyzptlk argued. “And since me going back in time has turned you into a giant wuss, Lena is my next best option. Oh, the havoc we’ll wreak,” he said wistfully. An evil grin lifted the corners of his lips upward. “Speaking of which…”

He blinked and disappeared.




TBC…

Sorry to end it there, but I still have like four pages that I’m typing out right now for the next chapter, so it should be up soon.

[autumngold]

I loved all of Mr M&#39;s Wonderwoman references&#33;&#33; The lasso, the invisible plane, etc. He really is an evil little thing&#33;&#33; You forgot to have Lana get burned though&#33;&#33; The elephant blood wasn&#39;t enough&#33;&#33; Maybe next chapter? Great update&#33;&#33; :chlexsign3:

[Not An Addict]

Fantastic&#33; I know this fic is getting you down, but I&#39;m still loving it. ^_^ I can&#39;t wait for Lena to grow up, either. Oh, the havoc she&#39;ll wreak. ^_~

[hfce]

Great update :clap: Lena :lol: evil. :lol:


Hope :chlexsign1:

[scifichick774]

Story #8: All Together Now – Chapter 9

~*~*~*~*~

Lucas arched an eyebrow at the woman standing in front of him in the waiting room next to the foyer.

“Lex’s mom,” he said, repeating what she had just told him. “Hate to break it to you, lady, but she’s dead. And even if you *were* her, which you’re not, you’d be a lot older…well, unless you’re a clone,” he said thoughtfully. “And that’s just wrong.”

“I’m not a clone,” Lillian said, frustrated by the young man’s rambling. “And you still haven’t told me who *you* are and why you just strolled into the place like you own it.”

“I do own it – or my dad does anyway,” Lucas said. He gave her a hint of a grin and extended his hand. “Lucas Luthor. I’m Lionel Luthor’s son.”

Lillian blinked and then frowned.

“I never had a son named Lucas,” she said with some confusion. Perhaps the floating imp hadn’t gotten her to a reality as similar to hers as he originally thought.

“I didn’t say I was *your* son,” Lucas pointed out.

Lillian took a swift intake of breath. She knew that Lionel had cheated on her several times over, but she had no idea that one of his mistresses had bore him a child. She wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She already felt hurt and betrayed, hence the reason for the divorce, but she also felt…sympathetic.

The young man in front of her seemed intelligent, but so guarded. Lillian had seen how he treated their own son when he was younger, and she could only imagine how horrible it must have been to grow up without a mother like her to temper it.

“So, if you’re not a clone – ah, shit. That Mxyzptlk guy brought you here, didn’t he?”

“Watch your language, you’re in the presence of a lady,” Lillian chided.

“Nooo – I’m in the presence of an animated corpse. But hey – as far as dead people go – you’re looking pretty good.”

“Thanks,” Lillian said, a bit taken aback by his comment. “I think.”

“Are you going to answer my question?”

“I thought it was rhetorical.”

“No.”

“Oh. Well, then – yes. Mr. Mxyzptlk cured my cancer and brought me here from the past.”

Lucas nodded once.

“Sweet,” he said. “But why?”

Lillian gave him a hint of a grin.

“To torment Lionel, I believe,” she answered. “He made vague references to ‘getting even’ with him and ‘that’ll teach him’.”

“Yeah?” Lucas asked, perking up. “Cool. So, what are you gonna do first and can I have exclusive internet rights to the video footage?”

Lillian’s grin grew at Lucas’s excitement. She had no idea what he was talking about, but his enthusiasm was contagious.

“There’s very little I can do or say to him until Mr. Mxyzptlk returns him to his natural state.”

Lucas raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“What’d he turn him into?”

“An ice sculpture,” Lillian said dryly.

Lucas snickered, but it rapidly turned into a full-blown laugh when he saw that Lillian was serious.

“Oh, man. That’s just --- did you take pictures before he melted?”

“No. I ---”

Mr. Mxyzptlk zapped into the room and startled Lillian out of the rest of her response.

“Hel-lo,” he drew out in a sing-song greeting. “I see you two have met.”

“Yep,” Lucas confirmed. “Thrill a minute.”

“You seemed to be getting along,” Mr. Mxyzptlk pointed out.

“Mutual hatred of someone else will do that for you,” Lucas said. “And how do you know anyway? Were you spying on us?”

“No, no. I just came from Chloe’s…” Mr. Mxyzptlk trailed off as something struck him. There had been not two, but three – four if he counted Lena – Amazons and he had still been able to transport himself away from the area. A broad grin lifted his lips. Apparently Hera’s little curse didn’t extend outside the boundaries of Themyscira as he had psyched himself into believing earlier. ‘Well, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities,’ he thought giddily.

“You just came from Chloe’s?” Lucas asked with interest, jerking Mr. Mxyzptlk from his thoughts.

“Yes. I was a little surprised not to see you there.”

Lucas gave him a sour expression.

“Kent vetoed me coming along because he thought I only wanted to go to hit on Chloe, not because I cared about what happened to her.”

“Didn’t you?”

“So?” Lucas asked snidely. “Hey - you really turn my dad into an ice sculpture?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk beamed and puffed out his chest proudly.

“For a second I thought about turning him into a big chunk of sculpted kryptonite, but that’s so overdone in this town,” he said.

“Kryptonite?” Lucas asked.

“The meteor rocks, kid. Where have you been?”

Lucas shrugged.

“Didn’t know they named it,” he said before his face screwed up in disgust. “What kind of stupid name is ‘kryptonite’? Geez, I could have come up with something better than that.”

“I think they had a contest,” Mr. Mxyzptlk lied to explain his slip away.

Lucas frowned.

“Man. You miss everything when you’re locked up in a loony bin.”

Lillian cleared her throat.

“I don’t suppose we could get back to the topic at hand?” she asked.

Lucas and Mr. Mxyzptlk shared an expression.

“We had a topic?” Lucas asked.

Lillian ignored him and looked at Mr. Mxyzptlk.

“You need to turn Lionel back,” she said before the imp could come up with a smart ass remark off of Lucas’s comment.

“*Why*?” Lucas asked snidely.

Lillian sighed.

“I may not love him, but ---”

Mr. Mxyzptlk cut her off with a wave of his hand.

“There. He’s back to normal,” he said shortly.

Lillian looked around.

“I don’t see him. Where is he?”

Mr. Mxyzptlk shrugged.

“How should I know? Where’d you leave him?” he asked.

Lillian’s eyes widened in panic and she left running from the room. Lucas watched her leave and then turned back to look at Mr. Mxyzptlk as if nothing had happened.

“So, where is he?” he asked knowingly.

“Walk-in freezer,” Mr. Mxyzptlk answered with a smirk. “She didn’t want him to melt.”

“Wanted to prolong the torture, huh? I can dig that,” Lucas said. Mr. Mxyzptlk wisely kept his mouth closed on the subject, not wanting to ruin Lucas’s version of reality since he was now the only evil Luthor he knew. “You just come to unfreeze my dad? Because, you know, I could help you come up with some great stuff for making the citizens of Smallville’s lives a living hell if you’re running out of ideas.”

“Tempting,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said thoughtfully. “But I actually came to see you about something else.”

“You came to see me?” Lucas asked in surprise. His eyes quickly narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”

“With the exception of the whole ‘me giving Chloe to your brother’ thing, you’re taking my stint here in Smallville particularly well.”

“Uh-huh,” Lucas said, giving him a look that prodded him to continue.

“I’d like to reward you…in a manner of speaking,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said, an evil smirk creeping across his lips.

Lucas gave him a tight grin.

“Sorry, buddy. I don’t swing that way. *Really* don’t.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk swished his hand in the air and a distinctive female body appeared next to where he was floating.

“More your type?” he asked wryly.

Lucas circled around the blonde.

“She looks like she’s asleep. What did you do to her?” he asked accusingly.

“I didn’t do anything to her, because that’s not her.”

Lucas glanced at him.

“What?”

“*That*,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said, motioning to the woman with his head, “Isn’t Chloe. It’s a robot.”

“A robot?” Lucas repeated incredulously, reaching out to poke the contraption with his finger. “But she looks so…real.”

“Of course she does. What do you think I am? An amateur?” Mr. Mxyzptlk shot back defensively. “Hell, I could have made her black, white, green, or red if I wanted.”

“She’s already white,” Lucas said with a humored glare.

“Not really,” Mr. Mxyzptlk argued. “She’s more of a…peachy color. *And* - she’s my gift…to you,” he said, presenting the robot with one hand like he was a hand model.

“Well,” Lucas started, folding his arms across his chest. “Since you went to all the trouble of making her…what’s the catch?”

“No catch.”

“Yeah, right,” Lucas said. “Let me guess – she’s not actually compatible for any of the stuff that I’d want to do with her.”

“She’s one hundred percent compatible for anything and everything that you have rolling around in your dirty little mind,” Mr. Mxyzptlk assured him.

“Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“So…can I take my friend to bed?” Lucas asked. “You know, assuming she ever wakes up – or whatever it is that robots do, because it’s not cool to be with someone who’s unconscious – even if she is a robot.”

Mr. Mxyzptlk snickered.

“She’s fully programmed to…see to your needs.”

A horny smile raised the corners of Lucas’s mouth.

“Well, in that case – thanks,” he said, tugging on the Chloe-bot’s hand so she would wake up and follow him out of the room.

“No, no,” Mr. Mxyzptlk said in an insistent voice. “Thank *you*.”

~*~*~*~

Chloe sighed as she looked down at the fabric swatches that had yet to be cleaned up. Her father had moved stuff aside to form a walking path on the floor, but the entire living room was still a constant reminder that she was getting married and that none of the decisions were really going to be up to her.

“Pink, brown, yellow, orange, and blue?” She rhetorically asked in disgust, chuckling when Lena scrunched up her nose as well. “Oh, I love you, Lena.” The girl snuggled her head into the crook of her mother’s neck and sighed softly.

Lena’s breathing evened out and Chloe realized that the baby girl was falling asleep in her arms. She grinned and shuffled over to an oversized chair, gently bending at the knees until she was able to sit down without waking her daughter.

“We should get going,” Lex said quietly, seemingly appearing out of nowhere to lean against the doorframe that led to the foyer.

Chloe barely nodded, but she made no move to stand up.

“I can’t believe you talked my dad into it,” she said without looking at him.

“It didn’t take a lot of convincing,” he replied. “Clark and Pete’s families don’t have the room to be able to take in your mother and Diana as well, and ---”

“He got steamrolled,” Chloe finished for him with a slight smile that Lex rapidly returned.

“Essentially,” Lex admitted with a bemused grin. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked, his tone serious as he took a few steps toward her. “I realize that you haven’t gotten much of a say in…well…anything lately, but I’d much rather have my fiancée and child staying with me than ---”

“Her mother and pseudo-cousin, who both happen to be vehemently on the right side of the law at all times?” Chloe offered.

“You said it, not me.”

Chloe snickered.

“But you were going to,” she said.

Lex nodded.

“If I may…you don’t seem as happy to see your mom as I was to see mine,” he said thoughtfully.

“Your mom didn’t leave you on purpose.”

“From what I understand, she didn’t have a choice, Chloe,” Lex argued, disbelieving that he was actually defending the actions of someone who had abandoned his wife as a child and called his own daughter a demon.

“There’s always a choice, Lex,” Chloe said solemnly. “Always.”

“Yes. But rarely an easy one,” he replied. Clearing his throat, he forced a grin onto his lips and motioned to the fabric swatches to change the topic. “Pick our colors yet?”

“*Our* being the operative word,” Chloe said. “How come you get to get out of all this wedding planning stuff?”

“I said ‘no roses’.”

“That doesn’t count,” Chloe protested. “You should have to stick around while Lana moons over how well cerulean blue would work because it would compliment my dad’s eyes.”

Lex grimaced.

“Did she really say that?”

“No,” Chloe said with a light shake of her head. “She’s too busy pushing pink.”

“Ah. Well, then allow me to step in with my bridegroom’s duties and oppose that as a choice,” Lex said. Chloe let out a light laugh and he stepped closer to her so he could take Lena from her arms and she could get out of the chair. “We still have time for all this. Right now we’re together and dragon-free. Let’s go home.”






The End (of story #8)

Challenges used:

Sabby – Lana has to do or say something brilliant when no one expects it of her (the earthquake bit to remind you), Lionel buying baby clothes or toys, and Lex buying a cabin in the mountains.

Ori – handcuffs, 50 roses and the symbolism of their color.

Angei1 – Clark in public naked, someone saying something about Lana wearing too much pink.

dce – something nice happens to Lana (awfully hard to pull off, so I opted for Pete springing her from the possibility of going to the mental health facility as the something nice), cerulean blue and Gabe mentioned together.

Blue – a rainbow-colored elephant has to walk through the middle of the scene.

Sami – the characters have to use the lyrics to the Beatles’ “All Together Now” in daily speech.

V – bringing Diana in – it’s a story arc that keeps going throughout the end of the series so I can’t give you details.

I know you all issued me other challenges, and since the next story is based on Catheryne’s one challenge, then I’ll incorporate the ones I left out into that.

[Pufkinz]

HOoooooooooooooooo ly shit... to updates :ohmy:

:worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2: :worship2:
Now i&#39;m going to read.... :chlexsign1:

[Clannadlvr]

Yay&#33; Keep on going with this&#33; Thought I do have a sick feeling in my stomach about what Lex will think if he see the Chloe-bot and Lucas in a compromising position.

yipes&#33;

[hfce]

Great update but Lucas robot will be interesting...



Hope :biggrin:

[Not An Addict]

^_^ Faaaaaaaaaaantastic. Oh, I see the Chloe-bot going bad, BAD places. And no, I don&#39;t mean what Lucas is doing with her in his room. I mean . . . um . . . ok, sorry, I got sidetracked by that thought. This is going to have consequences, and they&#39;re not going to be good, I can tell already.

I can&#39;t wait for the final challenge&#33; Great job, Kris, you&#39;re doing just wonderfully. ^_^

[autumngold]

Great chapter, but I think Lucas is crazy to go to bed with a robot&#33;&#33; Gross&#33;&#33; I hope he realizes that he is going to ruin Lex and Chloe&#39;s wedding with this&#33;&#33; I think Mr. M has got to be stopped&#33;&#33; Thanks for the update, but of course now I just want more&#33;&#33; :chlexsign4:

[katspell]

Love it, as always.

[vardaquareien]

*squee* Lucas and Chloe-bot&#33;&#33;&#33; Brings back memories of Spike and Buffy-bot&#33;&#33;&#33; :clap: I love this story&#33;&#33;&#33; And two updates&#33;&#33;&#33; *squee* I must say I like Lex&#39;s mum heaps better than Chloe&#39;s&#33;

Can&#39;t wait to see what&#39;s gonna happen next&#33;&#33;&#33;

[Jen1388]

*mental images flash thru Jen&#39;s mind* :ohmy: Lucas with a robot Chloe... it&#39;s nearly like a real Chloe, like yeaaaa baby&#33;&#33;&#33;

Thank you for updated&#33; This is one of my fave fics/series&#33;:p

Lena is just so adorable&#33;

I&#39;m just so in the mood for this fic right now, I&#39;m gonna go back to page 1 and re-read it all

Update soon&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[gina]

It&#39;s taken me a long while to read through this fic, but it&#39;s definitely been worth it. I absolutely love it&#33;

Lex, Chloe, and Lena make an adorable family&#33; And I am so enjoying Mr. M torture Lana and Clark&#33;

I can&#39;t wait to see what happens with this Chloe robot. Please update soon&#33; :)

[Sunny]

God, this fic is great&#33;
More Mxyzptlk/Lena, please&#33; I love them&#33;

[BlushingRose]

Wow--

Kris, this is absolutely amazing...and I&#39;m just up to Lana washing her hair for the zillionth time to get the dragon...err...stuff out of it. And the thought of Chloe&#39;s mother being Wonder Woman...geez. That&#39;s really mind-bending. And Lena is *so* adorable... :wub: :wub: :wub:

:crygreen: :crygreen: :crygreen: I want to sit here all day and read the rest, but I have *got* to work (at this moment, *hates* being self-employed and having deadlines...). But I&#39;ll look forward to rewarding myself with reading more after I&#39;ve gotten some work done :tongue:

RA

P.S. (two hours later)...Okay, so much for good intentions...no way I could work until I caught up. If I start talking about dragons and multi-colored elephants in my next seminar, it&#39;s all *your* fault :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

[MissMed03]

you know when i first started reading this fic i was so damn confused by it, i mean i couldn&#39;t pronounce "Babu&#39;s" real name (still can&#39;t but I love how stupid Blana keeps calling him that, it&#39;s so like her). I&#39;m so glad that I found this story after Smallville&#39;s episode last night after that dismal Chlex scene, i just hate the way Lex talks to Chloe, it&#39;s... i don&#39;t i can&#39;t seem to find the right words for it but it bothers the crap out of me. Anyway great story and update soon.

[hfce]

Kris, sweety, darling, honey pie.. PLEASE UPDATE THIS STORY NOW&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;



Hope :worship2:

[MissMed03]

YEAH KRIS WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? I&#39;m getting depressed, really. I need my Chlex and I need you to update, NOW&#33;

[hfce]

Please...................



Hope :worship2:

[ColumbiaBlue]

KRIS&#33; Are you TRYING to kill us here? Update&#33;&#33;&#33;

~Manda :blinkkiss:

[scifichick774]

A/N: Hey look – I’m updating. *ducks all the flying objects suddenly lobbed in my direction* That said, you know the drill by now. The challenges I used will be listed at the end so as not to spoil the story for you. As with most of the titles in this series, this one is totally ripped off as well (from The Fairly Oddparents), so even though the show isn’t included or mentioned other than the episode title, the standard disclaimer about me not owning it applies.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Story #9: To Eris Human

~*~*~*~*~*~

Regret. Ann had felt it for the last twelve years of her life after being forced to leave her husband and daughter behind, but no more so than now; as she just finished a lengthy argument with her only child about the Amazon society she held so dear to her heart.

She sat down in a plush, oversized chair and absently brought her fingers to her temples, beginning to rub in an effort to ease her fast oncoming headache away. She closed her eyes and tried to slip into a meditative state, but it didn’t seem to be working. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, taking in long, languorous breaths to calm herself. If she couldn’t do her meditation rituals away from Themyscira then she would have a real problem, as her temper seemed to rule over her only too often.

Ann had been sent to train Chloe in the ways of their ancestors, but no one in the tribe – including herself – had seriously considered the possibility that Chloe might not want to learn of their culture; might not care about their principles.

It would be so easy to blame Chloe’s fiancé for her daughter’s attitude, but Ann knew better. Chloe had a stubborn, independent streak since the day she was born and nothing anyone said or did could convince her that something was different than the way she saw it if she had already made up her mind about it.

The endless stories of the effects that meteor rocks had on people that Chloe wrote and spoke about were the first examples that sprung to Ann’s mind. Far-fetched ramblings of people turning into evil, super-powered mutants when it was perfectly obvious to any outside observer that Mr. Mxyzptlk had not been the only one playing with the residents of the small town.

No. Eris, Hecate, and Loki had obviously joined forces as they often did and manipulated the people’s lives in order to amuse themselves. And yet, when she had patiently told her daughter the truth, Chloe had rebuffed her and clung to her ‘scientific explanation’. Ann all but screamed in frustration.

How could Chloe be so accepting of the fact that Mr. Mxyzptlk and his magic existed and so closed-minded to the gods that reigned over all elements, all living beings, all worlds? Chloe had tried to explain, saying that it was a matter of theories and evidence; that alternate dimensions’ existences had been accepted as reality by many people in the upper levels of the scientific community, that Mr. Mxyzptlk was proof of that truth, and that the gods and goddesses Ann had been raised knowing and worshipping were little more than myths and fairy tales to the monotheistic society she had been raised in.

Ann clenched her jaw. What was wrong with her daughter? Why could she accept that there were small, flying imps from the fifth dimension, but not that there were several outside forces governing every living creature’s existence?

‘Well…’ she thought. ‘That’s not entirely true. She didn’t outright deny their existence; just that they had any control over her life.’

Still, how was she supposed to teach her to harness her energy when Chloe didn’t believe where the energy came from?

Taking a deep breath, Ann rubbed her temples a little harder.

“Here.”

The voice snapped her out of her thoughts and Ann opened her eyes to see her ex-husband holding two small blue capsules and a glass of water in outstretched hands. She looked at him questioningly and he gave her a sympathetic grin in return.

“I’ve been doing this parenting thing a lot longer than you have. Trust me,” Gabe said.

Hesitantly, Ann reached out and took the capsules, placing them on her tongue before taking the water to help wash them down her throat.

“They’re prescription pain killers,” Gabe said, answering the unspoken question. “Looked like you needed them.” Ann nodded her head a little. “Training’s not going so well, huh?”

“It’s not going at all,” Ann said and then let out a loud sigh. “How do you do it?” she asked helplessly, in awe of his ability to remain so calm when the circumstances around him were spiraling out of control.

“Years of practice,” Gabe answered, sitting down in a nearby chair.

“But she’s so…”

Gabe raised an eyebrow.

“Stubborn?” he offered with a quirk of a grin on his lips.

“Yes&#33;”

“Opinionated?”

“Right. Exactly,” Ann said in agreement.

“Hmm,” Gabe hummed in mock thoughtfulness. “Can’t imagine who she got those traits from.”

Ann scowled and leaned forward in her seat.

“Now, wait just a minute ---”

“No,” Gabe said simply. “You know I’m right. And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing; in fact, as I remember it, it was one of the things that attracted me to you in the first place. I’m just saying that it’s probably why you and Chloe are butting heads.”

“Only the males of each species do that.”

Gabe rolled his eyes.

“It’s an expression,” he said. “It means you aren’t getting along.”

“Well, I could have told you that,” Ann responded in exasperation.

Gabe sat down on the couch and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs as he spoke to ex-wife.

“Look, parts of your personalities are similar…too similar. But that doesn’t mean you can’t reach some sort of compromise. She may not ever want to become a warrior and uphold the values that have been drilled into you your entire life, but I think it’s obvious that you do need to sit down and talk to her; one on one. Just talk. No accusations or lectures, just talking and listening.”

Ann frowned, clearly shamed by Gabe’s words and the sentiment that lay behind them.

“Is that what you do?” she asked, once again feeling wretched that she hadn’t been able to raise her daughter. Things might have been so different if she had been allowed to stay…

“Sometimes,” Gabe said with a hint of a grin, cutting through her thoughts on how life could have been. “And if that doesn’t work, I always have the Kents to fall back on.”

Ann creased her brow.

“The Kents?” she repeated, trying to place the name as she asked the question.

“Yeah. You think her friend Clark can deal out a moralistic guilt trip? He’s nothing compared to his dad,” Gabe said with a light chuckle.

“I see,” Ann said. “Perhaps I should speak with them if she heeds their words.”

Gabe scoffed.

“Well…I didn’t say that,” he said. “But their platitudes take up enough time that she usually decides the crime isn’t worth the punishment.”

“The punishment being their lectures,” Ann said with new understanding, a grin twitching at the corners of her mouth. She enjoyed this; spending time alone with Gabe. She had been gone so long that she had forgotten how comfortable and safe his presence could make her feel.

“You haven’t been on the receiving end of one of them yet,” Gabe retorted with a small, teasing smile. “And I stress ‘yet’. I’m sure you’ll be getting an earful after they hear Clark’s version of the last couple of weeks.”

~*~*~*~

Lucas rolled over on his bed, panting heavily through an open-mouthed, fully satiated smile. The Chloe-bot Mr. Mxyzptlk gave him a little over two weeks ago was nothing short of amazing. So what if she was considerably less argumentative than the real thing? It’s not like he wanted to fight with her…

‘Well, maybe a little,’ Lucas thought with a grin. The grin morphed into a smirk as he rolled to his side and ran his fingers along the Chloe-bots’s bare stomach. “How would you feel about some different programming?”

“I am programmed to do whatever you desire,” the Chloe-bot responded, still looking up at the ceiling. She turned onto her side to face him. “May I ask what programming you want? Have I not been satisfactory in meeting your needs?” she asked in concern.

“No, no – you’ve been great,” Lucas assured her. “It’s just…you’re not really like the real Chloe.”

“The real Chloe?” the Chloe-bot queried with some confusion.

Lucas grimaced.

“You know you’re a robot, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Lucas said in relief. “Okay, see, this…well, I’m not exactly sure what he is…anyway, the guy who made you; he made you look like this girl, Chloe Sullivan.”

“Oh,” the Chloe-bot said, taking in the new information with surprise.

“Anyway, he made you look like her because he knows I have a thing for her. And even though he got you spot on for the outside, he got your personality…wrong.”

“Wrong?”

“Not wrong,” Lucas said, quickly covering his tracks. “Just…different than her. Does that make sense?”

The Chloe-bot was silent for a moment and then lightly shook her head.

“No,” she said.

“No?”

“If you like someone who looks like me, then why even make me? Why are you not simply sleeping with her instead?”

Lucas rolled his eyes.

“Long story. But the primary reasons are because a) she’s engaged to my brother, and b) she pretty much hates me.”

“No one could ever hate you, baby,” the Chloe-bot cooed, stroking his muscular arm with the pads of her fingers as she had been programmed to do in that particular situation.

“Well, she does.”

The Chloe-bot furrowed her brow.

“And yet you desire for me to be more like she is?” she asked. “But that does not compute. Logically you should not want your lover to spurn you.”

Lucas gave her a half-shrug and pushed himself up to a sitting position.

“Attraction’s not really a logical thing,” he said. “And I don’t want you to spurn me, but banter…having to work for it…adds a little spice.” He stopped and flashed her a shark-like grin. “So, are you up for it?”

“For becoming more like her?” the Chloe-bot asked. Lucas nodded. “In the time I have been with you, I have not witnessed you performing any feats of engineering, let alone dealing with the mechanics of advanced electronics. Are you capable of manually manipulating my programming construct?”

“Uh…”

“If not, then I will need to observe her myself, not just on videotape. I will need to see and record her actions, mannerisms, and language when she interacting with you; so that I may do what you have requested.”

“Ah,” Lucas said. “That could be difficult.”

“Why?”

“Because if you’re watching us interact, then there’s a chance someone could see you and find out about what’s been going on.”

“I do not see the dilemma.”

“Well, they’ll get pissed if they find out I’ve been sleeping with someone who looks exactly like her,” Lucas explained slowly.

“I still do not see a problem. It should not matter if anyone else knows of my existence,” the Chloe-bot insisted. “As you have stated, you cannot have her and I am not her. No one should have reason to be upset with you simply because I look like her. That would be foolish.”

Lucas snorted.

“Yeah, right. You just remember you said that when they try to break you – and me – into a zillion pieces.”




TBC…