kitten
28th October 2004, 06:07
PG rated Smallville fanfiction
SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers abound, up to the season three finale (Covenant).
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.
Distribution: I have posted these stories and have control of them on this site. I don't want them to be posted anywhere else unless I'm the one posting them. Please take down my stories if you have them posted on another archive site. I understand I can't stop you from doing this but I hope by asking politely you'll respect my work and my wishes. If anyone has more comfort and convenience saving the text of a story to their own computer, I have no problem with that.
A/N: I’ve been wondering why Gabe Sullivan went along with Lex and Chloe’s campaign against Lionel instead of taking her away from Smallville and hiding her until the trial was over. This is what I think convinced him to trust Lex with their safety.
Negotiating the Board
Chloe looked between her father and Lex, waiting for the inevitable explosion. The two men were nearly toe-to-toe, her father trying to stare down his former boss. Meanwhile the younger man kept his facial expression open and sincere and his hand on her lower back. The arm that held her was tensed, as if he was prepared to push her to safe distance if her father’s temper broke and he threw a punch.
Gabe forced his fist to relax, then opened and flexed his hand. When he had gotten a call to see Lex Luthor he had refused at first, thinking it was yet another opportunity for the Luthors to mess with his life. Chloe had convinced him to take the appointment, both by her presence as his daughter and her insistence that she was going with him. He owed it to her to try to salvage his career if it was possible.
In the car he had toyed with the various reasons why she had wanted to accompany him. He knew there was an indirect friendship between Chloe and Lex, but it seemed too serious for that to be the case. He had even briefly sweated the idea that she was dating Lex, which had filled him with fatherly anxiety so intense he had nearly wrecked the car.
The truth was so much worst.
He looked down, just barely, at the little girl who had somehow grown up without him realizing it. Lex Luthor had a hand casually placed on her back like it belonged there. Uncharacteristically, Chloe allowed it, and he thought she might even be leaning into it.
Gabe’s eyes narrowed and he tugged Chloe from Lex, keeping his arm around her shoulders. She resisted just a little but he was insistent, fixing her with a stern look.
“Wait outside,Chloe. I want to talk to Lex alone.”
His arm dropped and Chloe was left outside the circle of tension between her father and her protector. She huffed out a breath and looked at Lex, and her expression of irritation softened as he nodded slightly.
Gabe’s frown deepened. She listened to Lex, deferred to him. He hadn’t expected to see that happen until he was walking her down the aisle to her future husband. No man had ever been able to earn Chloe’s full respect and trust, himself included, and the man who managed it would be the one she allowed to keep her.
There certainly was an air of . . . something intense between them, but he hoped it wasn’t romantic. Chloe joining Lex against his father was his worst nightmare, but falling for the young billionaire on top of that would be disaster on two fronts.
When they were alone, Gabe gave Lex his best glare, letting him know how angry he was that Chloe was in this position. Lex didn’t think it was the time to inform him that Chloe had actually put the entire scenario into play by accepting Lionel’s job offer. He stepped back, very deliberately non-threatening, and gestured toward the bar.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“No.” Gabe’s voice was tight with anger and a bone-deep resentment. His little girl had felt the need to hide this from him for a year, all the while trusting Lex Luthor to protect her. If father and son had been in league she would likely already be dead.
He laughed, desperately, hopelessly. You got yourself in deep this time, sweetheart, too deep for me to help you. But I guess you found a way to help yourself.
He looked at Lex with slightly less rage, accepting that Chloe had at least done some of the stumbling to get them to their present, unenviable situation. She was, literally, too smart for her own good.
“You know, I thought the worst I could hear from you tonight was that you’d gotten Chloe pregnant,” he said, scrubbing his hand over his chin.
Lex paused, shocked by the implication. He hadn’t known he was so transparent in his attraction to the young woman, had done his best to hide it from even himself. Apparently his pause was too long or thoughtful because a flush was covering Gabe’s face.
He shook his head. “Chloe and I aren’t sleeping together.”
Having just spent the most breathless ten seconds of his life, the worried father didn’t have the energy to yell. He followed as Lex led the way up to the second level of the study, sitting on one side of the chess table. He took the other chair and stared at the pieces lined up, ready for a game.
“I won’t have you risking my daughter’s life for your ambitions. She’s the only thing in the world that means anything to me. I don’t know how, but I’d find a way to make sure neither you nor Lionel could use her again.”
His rant was delivered in Chloe fashion, quick and outraged, and it made Lex oddly more fond of him. Father and daughter were very much alike, loyal beyond all reasonable capacity. He knew for a fact that Gabe didn’t have the resources to protect Chloe, but he would try with everything he did have and for a Sullivan that was a lot of determination. His daughter used it to great effect.
Looking sincerely into the man’s eyes, Lex broke one of his own rules. He stopped acting out his emotions and let them exist and show that he cared for Chloe.
“I’ll protect her Gabe. If I fail at everything else I will keep her safe.” He left the rest unsaid but it seemed to register anyway, because the man looked surprised.
“I believe you.” He said it once, then again with more surety. “I believe that you will.”
Both of them looked down at the board, glad for the respite from the emotions of the night.
“She’s probably snooped through half of the mansion by now,” Lex mused. “Best to let her calm down a bit. She’ll burst in demanding to know what we were talking about pretty soon.”
Gabe chuckled despite himself. He’d lost track of Chloe only seconds after she learned how to walk and he hadn’t caught up since. There really was no use looking for her until she wanted to be found.
“How about a game of chess to pass the time? It’s supposed to mirror life.”
Gabe considered Lex’s words. The younger man had said them almost bitterly, and he knew they weren’t just talking about the board in front of them.
“But life isn’t a game,” he said, picking up a black pawn and replacing it. “You’ll have to remind me of the rules. It’s been a while since I’ve played.”
Lex nodded, giving the lesson in a flat voice. “The pawns are allowed to move in single spaces only, straight or diagonally for a capture. The rooks can move in straight lines in one direction. The bishops can move only diagonally on the colour of the starting square.”
“I’ve always wondered if the pawns are meant to know they’re pawns,” Gabe replied. “I wonder if the real game is not between the players, but between the pieces. Do they all know that the only important piece is the king?”
He picked up a bishop. “Does the bishop really serve as the king’s conscience? Do the pawns serve him willingly or do they have no choice?”
The second question was given with a raised eyebrow to Lex. Are you using my daughter, it really asked.
“Honestly, I’ve only really been interested in the pieces that knew what they were and how they could become more,” Lex replied. “If a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board it can be kinged.”
He picked up all the pawns on his side of the board, setting them off to the side with Gabe watching him.
“But I’m not interested in gathering pawns either. All the king really needs is his queen and his knight.”
He pushed the rooks and bishops off the board, then picked up one of the knights.
“If the king earns the respect of his knight he can count on her to be loyal, to protect him from his enemies.”
Gabe was still listening in silence. Lex picked up the queen, rolling it in his fingers and putting both knights to the side with the other discarded pieces.
“And sometimes, if his knight is extraordinary and the king is patient enough, she can become more to him,” Lex said, laying the queen back down next to the king on his empty half of the board.
His eyes widened as Gabe watched Lex push the king and queen closer together.
“And the queen gets to move whichever way she wants.”
Gabe sighed, running his hand through his hair in exasperated fatherly concern. Good God, he thought, am I looking at my future son-in-law?
He didn’t have to reply to himself or to Lex because Chloe stomped into the study, calling for them.
“Dad? Lex? Did you kill each other?” She walked to the middle of the room, turning to all corners of the large space. Her eyes found them upstairs over the chessboard. “You’re playing chess? Why didn’t you call me back in if there wasn’t going to be any bloodshed?”
Gabe looked to Lex in time to catch the flicker of a grin as the man stroked a fond finger over the queen. Of all the people to fall under Chloe’s considerable charm, Lex Luthor was the most unexpected and likely the most terrifying.
“Hell-O!” Chloe snarked, and Gabe reconsidered. Maybe Lex was the one who should be afraid.
He leaned across the table and muttered to him. “Just as long as the king waits until she graduates from college.”
Lex extended his hand, pushing down the urge to smirk. “Done.”
Handshake over, the two men trooped downstairs to face the future queen.
SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers abound, up to the season three finale (Covenant).
Disclaimer: Smallville, the characters therein, and all affiliated copyrighted materials are owned by the WB. This is a work of fanfiction not intended for profit or infringement, only for the pleasure of fans of the series.
Distribution: I have posted these stories and have control of them on this site. I don't want them to be posted anywhere else unless I'm the one posting them. Please take down my stories if you have them posted on another archive site. I understand I can't stop you from doing this but I hope by asking politely you'll respect my work and my wishes. If anyone has more comfort and convenience saving the text of a story to their own computer, I have no problem with that.
A/N: I’ve been wondering why Gabe Sullivan went along with Lex and Chloe’s campaign against Lionel instead of taking her away from Smallville and hiding her until the trial was over. This is what I think convinced him to trust Lex with their safety.
Negotiating the Board
Chloe looked between her father and Lex, waiting for the inevitable explosion. The two men were nearly toe-to-toe, her father trying to stare down his former boss. Meanwhile the younger man kept his facial expression open and sincere and his hand on her lower back. The arm that held her was tensed, as if he was prepared to push her to safe distance if her father’s temper broke and he threw a punch.
Gabe forced his fist to relax, then opened and flexed his hand. When he had gotten a call to see Lex Luthor he had refused at first, thinking it was yet another opportunity for the Luthors to mess with his life. Chloe had convinced him to take the appointment, both by her presence as his daughter and her insistence that she was going with him. He owed it to her to try to salvage his career if it was possible.
In the car he had toyed with the various reasons why she had wanted to accompany him. He knew there was an indirect friendship between Chloe and Lex, but it seemed too serious for that to be the case. He had even briefly sweated the idea that she was dating Lex, which had filled him with fatherly anxiety so intense he had nearly wrecked the car.
The truth was so much worst.
He looked down, just barely, at the little girl who had somehow grown up without him realizing it. Lex Luthor had a hand casually placed on her back like it belonged there. Uncharacteristically, Chloe allowed it, and he thought she might even be leaning into it.
Gabe’s eyes narrowed and he tugged Chloe from Lex, keeping his arm around her shoulders. She resisted just a little but he was insistent, fixing her with a stern look.
“Wait outside,Chloe. I want to talk to Lex alone.”
His arm dropped and Chloe was left outside the circle of tension between her father and her protector. She huffed out a breath and looked at Lex, and her expression of irritation softened as he nodded slightly.
Gabe’s frown deepened. She listened to Lex, deferred to him. He hadn’t expected to see that happen until he was walking her down the aisle to her future husband. No man had ever been able to earn Chloe’s full respect and trust, himself included, and the man who managed it would be the one she allowed to keep her.
There certainly was an air of . . . something intense between them, but he hoped it wasn’t romantic. Chloe joining Lex against his father was his worst nightmare, but falling for the young billionaire on top of that would be disaster on two fronts.
When they were alone, Gabe gave Lex his best glare, letting him know how angry he was that Chloe was in this position. Lex didn’t think it was the time to inform him that Chloe had actually put the entire scenario into play by accepting Lionel’s job offer. He stepped back, very deliberately non-threatening, and gestured toward the bar.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“No.” Gabe’s voice was tight with anger and a bone-deep resentment. His little girl had felt the need to hide this from him for a year, all the while trusting Lex Luthor to protect her. If father and son had been in league she would likely already be dead.
He laughed, desperately, hopelessly. You got yourself in deep this time, sweetheart, too deep for me to help you. But I guess you found a way to help yourself.
He looked at Lex with slightly less rage, accepting that Chloe had at least done some of the stumbling to get them to their present, unenviable situation. She was, literally, too smart for her own good.
“You know, I thought the worst I could hear from you tonight was that you’d gotten Chloe pregnant,” he said, scrubbing his hand over his chin.
Lex paused, shocked by the implication. He hadn’t known he was so transparent in his attraction to the young woman, had done his best to hide it from even himself. Apparently his pause was too long or thoughtful because a flush was covering Gabe’s face.
He shook his head. “Chloe and I aren’t sleeping together.”
Having just spent the most breathless ten seconds of his life, the worried father didn’t have the energy to yell. He followed as Lex led the way up to the second level of the study, sitting on one side of the chess table. He took the other chair and stared at the pieces lined up, ready for a game.
“I won’t have you risking my daughter’s life for your ambitions. She’s the only thing in the world that means anything to me. I don’t know how, but I’d find a way to make sure neither you nor Lionel could use her again.”
His rant was delivered in Chloe fashion, quick and outraged, and it made Lex oddly more fond of him. Father and daughter were very much alike, loyal beyond all reasonable capacity. He knew for a fact that Gabe didn’t have the resources to protect Chloe, but he would try with everything he did have and for a Sullivan that was a lot of determination. His daughter used it to great effect.
Looking sincerely into the man’s eyes, Lex broke one of his own rules. He stopped acting out his emotions and let them exist and show that he cared for Chloe.
“I’ll protect her Gabe. If I fail at everything else I will keep her safe.” He left the rest unsaid but it seemed to register anyway, because the man looked surprised.
“I believe you.” He said it once, then again with more surety. “I believe that you will.”
Both of them looked down at the board, glad for the respite from the emotions of the night.
“She’s probably snooped through half of the mansion by now,” Lex mused. “Best to let her calm down a bit. She’ll burst in demanding to know what we were talking about pretty soon.”
Gabe chuckled despite himself. He’d lost track of Chloe only seconds after she learned how to walk and he hadn’t caught up since. There really was no use looking for her until she wanted to be found.
“How about a game of chess to pass the time? It’s supposed to mirror life.”
Gabe considered Lex’s words. The younger man had said them almost bitterly, and he knew they weren’t just talking about the board in front of them.
“But life isn’t a game,” he said, picking up a black pawn and replacing it. “You’ll have to remind me of the rules. It’s been a while since I’ve played.”
Lex nodded, giving the lesson in a flat voice. “The pawns are allowed to move in single spaces only, straight or diagonally for a capture. The rooks can move in straight lines in one direction. The bishops can move only diagonally on the colour of the starting square.”
“I’ve always wondered if the pawns are meant to know they’re pawns,” Gabe replied. “I wonder if the real game is not between the players, but between the pieces. Do they all know that the only important piece is the king?”
He picked up a bishop. “Does the bishop really serve as the king’s conscience? Do the pawns serve him willingly or do they have no choice?”
The second question was given with a raised eyebrow to Lex. Are you using my daughter, it really asked.
“Honestly, I’ve only really been interested in the pieces that knew what they were and how they could become more,” Lex replied. “If a pawn reaches the opposite side of the board it can be kinged.”
He picked up all the pawns on his side of the board, setting them off to the side with Gabe watching him.
“But I’m not interested in gathering pawns either. All the king really needs is his queen and his knight.”
He pushed the rooks and bishops off the board, then picked up one of the knights.
“If the king earns the respect of his knight he can count on her to be loyal, to protect him from his enemies.”
Gabe was still listening in silence. Lex picked up the queen, rolling it in his fingers and putting both knights to the side with the other discarded pieces.
“And sometimes, if his knight is extraordinary and the king is patient enough, she can become more to him,” Lex said, laying the queen back down next to the king on his empty half of the board.
His eyes widened as Gabe watched Lex push the king and queen closer together.
“And the queen gets to move whichever way she wants.”
Gabe sighed, running his hand through his hair in exasperated fatherly concern. Good God, he thought, am I looking at my future son-in-law?
He didn’t have to reply to himself or to Lex because Chloe stomped into the study, calling for them.
“Dad? Lex? Did you kill each other?” She walked to the middle of the room, turning to all corners of the large space. Her eyes found them upstairs over the chessboard. “You’re playing chess? Why didn’t you call me back in if there wasn’t going to be any bloodshed?”
Gabe looked to Lex in time to catch the flicker of a grin as the man stroked a fond finger over the queen. Of all the people to fall under Chloe’s considerable charm, Lex Luthor was the most unexpected and likely the most terrifying.
“Hell-O!” Chloe snarked, and Gabe reconsidered. Maybe Lex was the one who should be afraid.
He leaned across the table and muttered to him. “Just as long as the king waits until she graduates from college.”
Lex extended his hand, pushing down the urge to smirk. “Done.”
Handshake over, the two men trooped downstairs to face the future queen.