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View Full Version : To Be A Luthor (R)



HumbugGirl
19th May 2003, 13:12
Yup, this has Chlionel again but there is Chlexy moment.

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Title: To Be A Luthor
Author: HumbugGirl
Email: humbuggirl@hotmail.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/powerandair or http://www.geocities.com/oddfiction
Pairing: Chloe/Lionel, Chloe/Lex (friendship)
Rating: R
Summary: Future fic. Nothing brings a family together like a death. WARNING: Character death.
Spoilers: Vague ‘Witness’ spoilers.
Disclaimer: So not mine in any way.
Author’s Notes: 1) Set approximately say, fifteen years into the future. 2) The quotes are from the episode ‘Witness’ and were taken from the Smallville Transcript Center. 3) There’s angst and then there’s this, keep that in mind while you’re reading... I wasn’t going for a happy story here people 4) This took an entirely different direction from what I had originally intended so I hope it still turns out okay.
Feedback: Please.

1.

In the background there is the constant hum of voices, echoing outside the cavernous foyer behind the heavy dark wood front door of the old brownstone house as it fell shut and guards closed ranks over it again. Occasionally the light from a photographer’s flash would fill the sumptuous room with its classic décor in deep dark colours and wood work and a large flower arrangement in the centre which seemed dominate the entire room. To one side a group of servant stood around with uncertain looks painted on their anonymous faces as they glanced towards him anxiously and then close ranks again when he noticed them. On the other side of the room, forming the second camp are a pair of matching lawyers in overly expensive suits and someone who looked suspiciously like a detective, a telltale beige rain coat around his shoulders. These people didn’t look away as he faced them and Lex felt a momentary surge of irritation only to remember that these are most probably his father’s people and as such would probably have been taught not to even dream about fearing him less they felt Lionel’s wrath instead. In retrospect Lex decided he couldn’t blame them.

He ignored them all and walked towards the grand staircase, leaving behind his heavy winter his coat and gloves on the table at the centre of the foyer which were now useless in the almost overly hot house as he went. Climbing the steps Lex was aware of the eyes of all constantly on him from below and it burned into the cold where his emotions had been lingering as he attempted to resist the urge to stop and turn and shout something at them which he was certain would probably come out as unintelligible anyway.

Eyes calm; look ahead Alexander.

At the top of the stairs there was a bend in the corridor and as he rounded it Lex saw a solitary figure stood at the other end of the long hallway, a good seven or eight doors down if he remembered correctly. The figure’s gaze cast down and his shoulders slumped forwards as he tried to avoid looking out of place and comfortable all at the same time. As Lex approached the man, greying now and incredibly tired looking glanced around and tried to put a smile on his face as a greeting. *Tried* only seeing as he didn’t quite manage it as if it actually took too much energy from him and considering the fact it probably wasn’t very important either way he couldn’t dredge up anything. Lex supposed he could forgive him considering.

“Mr Luthor,” the man said and held his hand out causing a wry little smile to light on Lex’s own lips. The man might technically be his step-grandfather but he still deferred to him all too easily.

“Gabe. Is she in there?” he asked gesturing towards the doors before which the other man stood.

Nodding solemnly Gabe replied, “With Lucas.” The man glanced once again towards the door. “She’s not really seeing anyone.”

Enough said, Lex thought then stepped forwards and pushed down the handle stepping past the man and into the room.

* * * *

A photograph sits on the desk at the other side of the room and although logically Chloe knows she shouldn’t be able to see it due to the distance she can. There is something taunting about it; about the perfect lighting and the way in which everything about it seems to shine with perfection as much as with the white of the dress she’s wearing in it. A beautiful low cut number that circles her body and lies against her flesh rather than actually covers it in a fitted manner and if she were to wear it now then Chloe knows that the fall of her own hair down her back would tickle her where the skin was exposed. Classic cut. Very chic. The designer had won an award for her work after creating a wedding gown for the latest Luthor bride.

By her side is a man who isn’t so much as smiling as smirking. He’s old enough that the words ‘cradle snatcher’ were thrown around by more than one person after their marriage but there is not sign on his handsome features that he really gives a damn about what the world thinks of him and his pretty new wife. Lionel Luthor is the living breathing symbol of everything the modern man could want. Rich, successful, handsome and with a beautiful new bride on his arm who is looking up at him with something like adoration in her eyes.

Love wasn’t an issue. Not needed.

Not really.

Only it *was*.

People were mistaken when they said it wouldn’t last. They said, “A couple of years and he’ll get bored of her,” or “She’ll grow out of him; they always do.”

They’d been wrong.

They’d lasted.

They had.

Ten years, two children, more than a few explosive arguments and a million times as many nights together later had silenced doubting voices. She had sat back and watched as those who had mocked turned around and began to admire them. The voices that had hated so much the idea of them being together had praised her and they had been something in the eyes of not just the socialites, not just the press but the public as well. It didn’t mean much to Chloe but she knew how much to meant to her husband so she had played along and it wasn’t that bad. Not really. She almost liked it.

* * * *

“Chloe?”

Lucas had greeted him at the door; his Luthor eyes uncharacteristically wide with something that Lex couldn’t place until he walked past his brother. In the pristine bedroom beyond Lex felt his heart pulled from his chest and he found himself identify the fear that lingered in Lucas’ eyes. Hastily he glanced back at the other man who lingered in the door his reluctance to step inside clearly evident then turned back to the room his eyes jumping around the room focusing on everything all at once in a startling moment of clarity, focusing on anything, *anything* rather than where they were being drawn.

Small. It was the first thought that entered his mind. Small and oh so very delicate. So much more than he had ever thought possible. Wasted somehow, thin limbs and small shoulders all emphasised by the flimsy little dress she was wearing made from extraordinarily petal thin material of ivory. Skin ghostly white is places, almost grey in others. Hair, shoulder length and tucked behind her ears as she buried her face against her knees and sat, curled against the wall in one corner with those knees drawn up to her chest.

“Chloe?”

No sign of response even as he swallowed his nervousness while creeping closer, footsteps silent on a carpet that made him seem to bounce.

“Chloe?”

The first sign of life - a tiny trembling that predicted tears rising into her eyes.

“Chloe, Lex is here to see you.” Lucas, in the doorway growing frustrated from the sounds of things. If he had been able to then Lex would have turned to see that his brother was pacing a little and maybe he would have gestured to the younger man that he could leave but he couldn’t bring himself to tear his eyes away from the woman sitting on the floor before him.

His words were enough to make her move though and Chloe’s head turned as if on a stick, stiffly and unnaturally so that he could see one green eye rimmed with red and horribly bloodshot looking out at him as he lowered himself to his knees by her side. Her gaze was cool, unfocused and Lex quickly found himself wishing it had remained that way as recognition flooded in and with it a terrible pain that ripped through him just by seeing it. She seemed to straighten her back somewhat from the hunched position she had been occupying. There was no… no dignity in the movement. Something that Chloe had always had so much of and it was missing now almost entirely. Shoulder shook suddenly and a violent sob erupted from her lips which parted widely and thinned into that of a banshee and the screaming began.

* * * *

She’s vaguely aware that Lucas is in the bathroom that adjoins their room making a dreadful amount of noise while he’s searching through the cupboards on Lex’s orders.

“I want it all out of there,” the man had said. “Everything you can find. Prescription medicines, blades, painkillers, vitamin and iron supplements all out.”

She wanted to tell him that he was being silly; that he was over-reacting but there was a tiny traitorous little part of her that can see the very definite pros of putting a razor blade to her wrists at the moment and getting rid of the nightmare she’s stuck in once and for all. And that thought terrified her more than she thought was possible not least because it’s seemed so very out of character but because at that point it seemed like just the right thing to be thinking, to be doing. The thought made her choke out a burst of laughter and the arms that had been firmly settled around her tightened about her shoulders in a way that Chloe couldn’t decide whether it was meant to be comforting or just to silence her.

Lucas emerged from the bathroom several moments later carrying a heavy looking bin liner and avoiding looking at the pair still sat on her floor. As it was Chloe had her back to Lex’s chest and was leaned against him. It was… uncomfortable. She didn’t want to settle back. She didn’t even want him near her if truth be told but Lex refused to let go despite her struggles. An hour before she had nearly screamed herself hoarse trying to get away but he still wouldn’t let go and now she was exhausted and she couldn’t even cry anymore.

She wanted to call out to Lucas as she saw him walk through the room. She wanted to shout out and tell him to come back so she could tell him that she needed him now and not the other son who seemed so determined to be there for her. After all, it had been Lucas who had been around for the past ten years and not Lex and she didn’t understand why that so suddenly had to change. She didn’t want it to change. All these years Lex had shunned them, shunned her because of the marriage and now he was here and it just seemed all wrong. You couldn’t forget ten years worth of history just like that.

As calmly as she could manage Chloe said, “Please let me go Lex,” and found herself startled by the grainy quality for her voice. When he didn’t move she repeated her request, her voice becoming stronger as she did and gradually the arms around her loosened and Chloe fell away from him, crawling a few steps until she could sit leaning against her bed to look at him with her legs crossed, the material of her dress straining over her knees. Looking at it Chloe smoothed the fabric out with her hands, enjoying the feel of it and realising for the first time that she had been set with her two step sons in nothing other than a nightdress; barely a scrap of material really. It would have made her blush if blushing hadn’t seemed like a stupid idea right at that moment.

Looking up she found that Lex was staring at her, curiosity burning in intelligent blue eyes. She refused to look away and said, “I’m not going to hurt myself.”

“I’m not going to let you,” was his reply and despite herself Chloe felt a rush of gratitude though she refused to let it show on her features. “You just need to rest for a little while,” Lex added and Chloe nodded in agreement.

“I’ve never felt so tired and yet… I… I can’t believe I’m awake.”

Lex’s reply was to nod in apparent understanding. “The children…” he began and Chloe felt cold flood through her.

“My babies…” she said as tears began to rise into her sore eyes once again. “Oh God…”

“Chloe, calm down. They’re fine but they do need to see you. Lucas says that they don’t really understand what’s going on yet, no one has really spoken to them about where you are and they’re upset.”

“I’m not sure I can face them,” she said softly.

He leaned forwards and covered one of her hands with his own. “Just for a few minutes.”

She nodded, “Okay, only… only don’t leave me alone with them.”

* * * *

The first time that Lex saw the twins it was in a photograph on the front cover of The Daily Planet. It was a typical press photograph taken in front of a private hospital in Metropolis where the press had congregated on hearing that the young Mrs Luthor had gone into labour. In the foreground was Lionel, grinning proudly with a chubby, swaddling babe in each arm. The children themselves were red faced, their eyes still shut in sleep and with wispy blonde curls. Their mother stood to one side, next to her husband looking a little pale and slightly tired but startlingly pretty all the same, her hair tied back away from her face and a cute little outfit on. Standing slightly in the background was Lucas a sneer on his handsome arrogant face as he looked over at the twins no doubt wondering whether they were yet another step between him and the Luthor fortune.

Up until that moment Lex had never actually met the pair in person and he found himself shocked by just how much they resembled their mother with soft wavy blonde hair and inquisitive green eyes peering out at him. Despite the resemblances to Chloe though he could see the Luthor in them; his father had left his mark in the line of their jaw and somewhat pronounced if well proportion brow bones as well the way that they stood and their serious little expressions. Still, as he stood and looked at them Lex thought that he could spy mischief flickering occasionally in their eyes that was pure Chloe and when they saw their mother then the strong lines of their faces seemed to soften and lighten as brilliant smiles emerged. The two little boys, his two little brothers he amended mentally ran across the room when they saw Chloe slumped on the bed. One threw himself onto the structure wrapping arms around his mother’s neck while the other, perhaps a little more sedate in nature, walked around and let himself be drawn into a hug that looked wonderfully warm and caring. At eight years they were sturdy for their age and Lex watched as they easily accepted their mother’s embrace and gave back as good as they got while Chloe murmured soothing words into eager ears.

It was a wonderful scene but Lex found he could scare take it in. Tears rose in his eyes as he watched the young family together and realised that there was one person missing from the scene; that the scene was happening because of that one person was missing. He watched in amazement as Chloe sat the two boys down and talked to them answering their weepy little questions about where their father was and when he was coming back. It reminded him far too much of when he had found out his mother had passed on except… except he had had months to prepare for her death but these little boys had had no warning. When Lionel had been shot at, the action leading to the crashing of his car and his subsequent death, only a matter of days before then there would have been no doubt in their mind that they should have had years together yet. It seemed that it would take forever for the crying to stop as Chloe had encouraged the boys to let out their grief instead of bottling it up inside. She lay back on the bed and held them both to her, curling her body around theirs comfortingly, so gently that Lex realised to his surprise that he had never admired the woman as much as he had at that moment. When her world was falling apart she was doing everything she could to remain strong for her children.

It was… awe inspiring.

His eyes were drawn to movement on the bed. One of the boys – he couldn’t tell which – sat up slowly, rubbing his sleep and tear worn eyes and turned to look at Lex. Curiosity flickered into his eyes and he slipped off the bed. Then, with all the confidence as be-fit a Luthor he walked very slowly across the carpet and held his hand out. “William Luthor,” he said. “But most people just call me Liam.”

Taking hold of the boy’s smaller hand Lex shook it gently. “Lex,” he replied watching as the boy’s eyes widened. “It’s good to meet you Liam.”

“You’re Lex? As in *Lex* Lex? My brother?”

With a little sheepish smile Lex nodded. “You’ve heard of me then?”

“Mom told me about you.”

“Nothing bad I hope.”

A small grin and that mischievous look he had certainly inherited from his mother. “No, not really. She says you used to be friends but then she upset you and that you and Dad don’t… didn’t get along.”

Lex ducked his head slightly feeling embarrassment wash over his features at the thought that despite everything that he might have said to her in the past and what was no doubt Lionel’s views on his eldest son Chloe had undoubtedly made the effort to make sure they had an objective view at least. It was exactly the type of thing that he should have expected her to do and all the years he had sat back and spent wondering what his two youngest brothers would be like suddenly seemed like a waste. There was a part of Lex who wondered whether Chloe wouldn’t have objected if he had wanted to see them before this moment.

Looking towards the bed Lex wondered whether he hadn’t greatly underestimated the formidable Mrs Lionel Luthor.

* * * *

She’s knelt down, picking bits and pieces up off the floor and trying to push back yet another wave of tears that are threatening. One thought keeps rolling around in her mind, that after everything this just isn’t fair; why is it always her dreams that get destroyed? In front of her is an old copy of the newspaper that has somehow been thrown all the way across the room from the filling cabinet.

“Miss Sullivan.”

Shooting to her feet Chloe turns and see the somewhat imposing figure of Lionel Luthor stood in the doorway and before she knows what is happening she all but stutters, “No. No, I mean I'm--I've never entertained a billionaire before,” and wonders whether she’s flushing at the thought of just what ‘entertaining’ the man stood in front of her could entail.

Then, Lionel’s sympathetic expression as he surveyed the damage surrounding them and before she knew what was happening his kind offer to help her rebuild followed by her own guilty suspicions that she will regret for years to come even though he did in a way suggest a bribe at one point during their conversation. In the end, a simple explanation: We're after the same thing, Miss Sullivan--the truth. You know, um, journalists are the midwives of history. Perhaps, with my help, we could, uh... make history together.”

The scene shifting and suddenly Chloe is sat in a different newsroom, a larger one and Lionel is stood before her with yet another superior smirk painted on his features. A few steps behind him there are two large bodyguards who are staring at her with as much suspicion as they would have had she actually been pointing a gun to their boss’ head. To one side is a small, nervous looking little man who can scarcely believe that one of his little reporters, Chloe Sullivan of all people, knows Lionel Luthor. There is a look of horror on his face as Chloe fires questions at the billionaire with apparently no fear and awe that Lionel Luthor is actually answering them. It’s almost humorous; or so Chloe feels because the small terrified man is the same one who the day before yesterday threatened to fire Chloe for her insubordination and is now on the verge of worshipping her as she manages to get Lionel to agree with an on air interview. “But only with the lovely Miss Sullivan,” Lionel adds, turning to the blonde’s boss with a meaningful look in his eye.

Then, later that same night and Chloe is sat on an oversized leather couch in the hotel suite that Lionel is staying in as the man turns away from the bar and strolls towards her with a glass of whiskey. “To our continued relationship,” he said and their glasses clinked. Chloe leaned back against the deep cushions feeling them mould around her. She sipped her drink while looking at the man who had just reached across to brush fingertips across her bared knee. Tonight’s ensemble was a tip red button down shirt with a dangerously low neckline and a matching cute suede skirt that Chloe hadn’t realised how short it was until she had sat down. Both were brand new and entirely too expensive but it was worth it to see the look on Lionel’s face earlier as he had blatantly appraised her figure.

It was a little game they played. Chloe would get dressed up, go along and act as pleasant eye candy for the man during their meetings. Up until now however it had always been a ‘look and don’t touch’ relationship; Lionel had apparently decided to change that tonight. The thing that worries Chloe the most is that she doesn’t actually mind. His hand on her knee feels nice and it sends a shot of desire flooding through her body and directly to her groin as his fingers move up her thigh a little way. In his eye there is a speculative look and with a small smile Chloe placed her drink down on the coffee table quickly swinging her leg over his and sitting on his knees. Lionel raised an eyebrow and said, “I’m glad we see eye to eye on this.”

A kiss, long and anything but sweet; demanding, grabbing at her attention fiercely. Sliding down his knees Chloe finds herself pressed up tightly as a wonderfully hard bulge and wriggles against him causing the man to groan into her mouth. There’s one thought in her head as Lionel’s hands slip over her and then move up to cup her breasts and before long she’s laid back on the couch with the man furiously thrusting away between her legs and then… then…

Then there is a police officer stood before her, a horrified look on his face as she starts to cry and collapses into a heap on the floor moaning the name of the man he has just told her is dead. When she looks up at him there is an appealing look in her eyes and the officer’s face is suddenly covered in pity and he almost looks as if he wants to comfort her. Chloe might only be a Luthor by marriage though but she still is a Luthor and that puts a whole world of distance between them.

A matter of hours later and she’s stood before a glass window looking through it with a pensive look on her features that is the result of two glasses of scotch and a couple of sedatives. Her hand comes up to touch the glass, frighteningly cold beneath her fingertips and in a muted voice she says, “That’s him.”

* * * *

And then she was awake and tears were rolling down her face again. A whimpered cry escaped Chloe and it turned into a long, low pained whine as the events of the past few days rolled over her mind once again.

A hand appeared from nowhere, curled over her hip as she lay and down to rest over her stomach. She was pulled back slightly as a compact body moulded itself around her back in a spooning position, just holding her while she cried for the millionth time in recent days. A nose buried itself into her hair and Chloe heard someone breathe in deeply. She couldn’t tell whether the sound he made afterwards was appreciative or not.

Lex, she thought and for a second disappointment flooded through her the memory of him putting her children to bed and then crawling on to her bed behind her in order to hold her when the warmth of her children had disappeared coming flooding back to her. There had been a second; an incredibly brief second when she had wondered whether it wasn’t Lionel who was behind her. There forms were similar, the shear sense of presence that both emitted about the same and his arm around her middle could almost have been that of his father’s… The tears were back and for a moment, Chloe wondered whether she would ever stop crying.

* * * *

It was hours before she finally drifted back off to sleep and by that time Lex was more than a little uncomfortable with how aware he was of her. More than once he was forced to remind himself that this wasn’t some random woman he was laying next to. Sleeping was practically impossible in case he awoke to find that he had accidentally wrapped himself too far around her; knowing that the shock he would have on waking would be nothing in comparison to Chloe’s. So he lay there most of the night with the warm shape of the grieving woman so near to his and tried to fight down his more instinctual urges. It wasn’t as if he actually felt anything for her in that respect anyway, any reaction would just be automatic on his part although he had his doubts that Chloe would be quite so understanding. That aside there was one other thought rolling around his head, refusing to let him sleep. It nagged at him furiously until he could no longer think of anything and then rolled around in his mind echoing; my father shared this bed with this woman.

It was enough for Lex to make himself untangle his limbs from around her and slid silently out of the bed, the rustle of the bed sheets he had been laying on top of the only mark of his movement. Chloe shifted immediately, moving into the space he had occupied and flinging her arm out to curl around the pillow. It almost looked as if she were hugging it and his mind flashed to an image of what he imaged the scene would have looked like if it were his father that she was curling herself around so contently.

Shaking his head he moved away from the edge of the bed realising he had been standing there for a good fifteen or twenty minutes with no clear purpose. Instead he had been simply staring and wondering what it was that kept him around. He’d done this duty; he’d shown the solidarity that would be needed now that his father had died and he could easily have gone home again without even attending the funeral but no, he’d stayed and now he wasn’t entirely certain he wasn’t stuck here. He wasn’t entirely certain that wasn’t what he wanted though deciphering whether that was actually the case was going to take a whole lot more work than Lex thought he was going to be willing to put in.

Tomorrow would be the funeral and Lex had some memory of Lucas walking into the room as he had sat earlier with Chloe and saying he had organised everything. He had even gone so far as to send out to get together Lex’s clothes for the event which turned out to be a finely tailored black suit and a glistening white shirt. They stood in such sharp contrast to each other, seemingly alive from how vivid the picture was that they painted, that for the briefest moment Lex had considered telling him to go and get something else instead until he realised he was being unreasonable. Until he realised that he was letting his anxiety get control of him.

The woman shifted suddenly on the bed, coming awake and staring into the dim dawn light that was permeating through heavy curtains. “Lex?” her voice was quiet, frightened almost.

“I’m here.”

“Where?”

“Over by the door.”

“Oh.”

He took a few steps towards the bed. “Want to go downstairs and get something to eat?” Chloe’s face crept into a frown and his words and so when he saw that she was about to open her mouth Lex knew that an objection was coming. Quickly he said, “It’s the middle of the night still Chloe, even for most of your staff. There won’t be anyone around.”

Somewhat reluctantly she nodded and slipped out of the bed, quickly reaching for her robe and tying it tightly around her body. It did nothing but outline a very pretty figure. Lex silently kicked himself.

They wandered down to the kitchen, Lex leading the way through the darkened corridors until they emerged into the gleaming kitchen. He seated Chloe at the centre island. “Coffee?” he said glancing back over his shoulder at her. A little nod of her head was the only reply he received and Lex turned and began to move about the unfamiliar kitchen searching for everything he would need. Eventually he had the coffee pot going and some English muffins toasting under the grill. Real butter and some strawberry jam sat on the counter top before Chloe and she stared at them with unusual intensity.

“I’m pregnant again,” she said. The words were so quiet even in the echoing cavern of the kitchen that it took a moment for Lex to register what he had been told. She looked up at him again. “I found out about a week ago. I was going to tell him but… well… I never got around to it and now he’s never going to know. Neither of them are going to know.”

Lex shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably, completely at a loss for what to say to the woman sat before him whose shoulders now shook again with unwept tears.

“What am I going to do?” she asked.

And for the first time, Lex found himself asking the same.

* * * *

The next morning, at a more reasonable hour Chloe found herself alone for the first time. She woke and looked around the room finding Lex gone and took to opportunity to climb into the shower and let warm water sluice over her tired body.

There was a startling moment that followed when she found herself stood before the mirror, entirely naked except for a small white towel fastened about her breasts and with her hair slicked back when Chloe nearly frightened herself. She looked so much younger, so much more like the girl who had first met the man who would be her husband in Smallville all those years ago. For the first time in days such thoughts did not bring tears to her eyes. Instead she let them drift shut.

“You always did look lovely all slick and wet like that,” a voice said behind her ear.

Chloe let a smile drift onto her face even as she felt fingertips brush her shoulders tenderly. “Oh really?”

“Hmm,” the man confirmed, placing his lips where his fingers had been, the bristles of his ever-present bread scratching her slightly. Hands were wandered down over her arms, eventually to her waist and then sliding around the front of her body. Chloe felt herself pulled backwards, the smile on her face widening as she felt him already wonderfully hard against her back. “You’ll always be my blushing bride won’t you?” he murmured, laying yet another kiss on her, this time on her neck. Chloe nodded even as she felt one hand disappear beneath her towel to cup her heated groin and the other come up to envelop a breast. She moaned a little and arched her back against him.

“I love you,” Chloe said quietly, her voice but a whisper.

Close to her ear, “I know darling. I know.”

“Chloe?”

A frown washed over her features. The voice was too loud, too foreign and reluctantly she opened her eyes. Her lips were already forming the question to ask the man behind her to get rid of whoever it was but finding herself looking into the glass Chloe’s mouth did nothing but fall open a little as she found herself confronted with nothing but steamed glass and her own reflection.

“Chloe? Are you okay?”

The door opened a little letting in a gust of cold air and Lex’s face appeared. The way he looked at her, the momentary flicker of something that could only be desire, perhaps even lust, sent a thrill of disgust to the pit of Chloe’s stomach. She shuddered a little at the way in which his eyes passed over her and further to Chloe’s horror she found that what repulsed her was not that it was her stepson who was so openly appraising her with keen eyes but that her body, still throbbing from her memories, responded to him. She felt a twinge of something that could only be described as thrill in her cunt and had to resist the urge to rub her thighs together even as her nipples tightened.

His face suddenly flushed and he looked away from her sharply as he caught himself. In an uncharacteristic display of embarrassment he avoided her eyes and simply backed out of the room.

And in that moment, Chloe hated him.

* * * *

An appropriate sort of gloom had settled over Metropolis. Lex had always imagined that when his father was buried then the sun with be shinning, celebrating the death of such a monster but instead the very elements themselves seemed to mourn him as torrential rain fell in intermittent cloud bursts. The downpours clearly frightened the small Luthor boys who both clung to their mother while dressed in their little matching suits. Chloe herself could have been a queen. An artfully tailored suit, deceptively simple and yet outrageously expensive moulded to and almost seemed to accentuate her curves while the cut of the simple black silk blouse she wore beneath it made the whole thing look a little more sedate, a little more fitting for the situation to which it was being worn.

Across from her Lex and Lucas sat stiffly, looking more like brothers in their own smart suits than they had ever done so before, both with the same slightly rattled expressions on their faces that they were each desperately trying to control. It was a little difficult when faced with the expression on face of the woman across from them.

As the car pulled up outside the church Lex was the first one to climb out. He instantly found himself blinded by the flashed of a photographer’s camera, caught in the light for a split second that only seemed to get stronger as Lucas stepped out of the car putting on his usual arrogant mask. When the two children climbed out the cameras went wild and the little boys shied back towards the car. Lex put his hands on their shoulders and guided them towards Lucas who stood waiting to take the two boys up the steps and into the church. The elder brother paused for a moment and then leaned inside the car to say, “Do you have some sunglasses?”

Chloe’s expression was baffled as she said, “Yes but why?”

“Don’t ask question. Just put them on and then take my hand and get out.”

She scrambled around, eventually coming up with a large pair of black framed, black glassed sun glasses which she flipped open and slipped on. Then her hand was in his, cold and betraying the fear he had seen in her eyes only seconds before and Lex was drawing her out of the back of the limo. Her fingers tightened around his with the first flash of light but despite the nervousness that he knew to be present Lex knew that on the front page of papers all around the world tomorrow the pictures would show the newly widowed Mrs Luthor looking every inch the part of the family she had married into.

* * * *

The church service had been surprisingly calm. There was no crying, no screaming, no hysterical fits that Chloe had been sure that if someone else hadn’t descended into then she would have done. There was nothing. It was… it was oddly cold in a way.

She managed to tell herself she was fine. Even when little Liam buried his face into her shoulder so that no one would see the upset look on his features she managed to maintain an expression of complete and utter calm. Even when she had been guided to her feet by Lex and all but pushed towards the front of the church, parading past her husband’s coffin and seeing him laid there; the sight of him enough to make her heat fracture and break all over again she had said to herself ‘I will not be upset; he wouldn’t want me to be’. Even afterwards when the minister had walked up to her with an overly serious expression on his face and said, “My deepest condolences Mrs Luthor, your husband was a great man,” and Chloe had felt a bubble of hysterical laughter start in her she had managed to stay calm. There had been a time when Chloe had heard the man who was calling her husband ‘great’ also call him a ‘malicious, devious bastard’.

From the church they moved to the cemetery where the Luthor family plot was located. Chloe had always found the idea of knowing where she was going to be buried before she died a little morbid, even more so when she considered the fact that she might very well find herself buried next to Lillian Luthor, her predecessor. Once or twice she had crept out of the house when she was sure that Lionel wouldn’t notice her unexplained absence – even though she knew she didn’t really have to explain to him just where she was going all of the time – and driven up to the cemetery to stand before Lillian’s grave. Most of the time she would just stand there but occasionally… occasionally she would speak to the dead woman and pretend that she was discussing with her what life was like married to Lionel.

Lionel himself would have found the idea horrifying.

Watching her husband be lowered into the ground was like having a part of herself be removed too. It dawned on her that there would never be another person who could share the memories she held of their time together with. Oh, it wasn’t as if she and Lionel had ever spent great time actually talking over their past together but there had always been the possibility that they could and now it was gone. She stumbled a little and Lex’s arm was instantly around her waist supporting her even as her body was pressed to his side. Around them one or two of the people threw curious glances towards the pair but Chloe noticed it only took one look from Lex and they were suddenly extremely interested in anything but herself and her stepson. It was, Chloe thought with an odd little smile, a trait that Lex had inherited from his father.

There was a queue of dignitaries to speak to her before leaving the gravesite. All were imposing looking men and women, some important in their own right and some present as representatives for other far more important people who could not be present. Listening to them talk, offering their condolences and talking about how wonderful a man Lionel had been, was like listening to a stuck record. Very few, Chloe thought, sounded especially sincere and more than once she thought she spotted a vicious little smile, eager to take a chunk out of the widow now that her fearsome husband was dead. All were warned off by the constant stern presence of Lex and Lucas.

There came a time when they were all gone. Chloe heard car doors slamming and engines revving as they pulled away and headed slowly out of the cemetery and yet although she knew she should move, although she knew that it was now the time to move it seemed her feet were glued to the ground.

“Chlo’?” a voice called and she looked up to find Lucas standing before her. She shot him a weak smile and gave him a brief hug.

“Will you take the boys home for me?”

“Sure,” he answered although there was a look of doubt in his eyes.

“Don’t worry; Lex will be here with me.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m worried,” he answered seriously.

“Don’t,” she repeated and he nodded then turned and left her alone with Lionel’s firstborn.

Rain was beginning to drizzle from the sky as Lex finally moved from where she had been standing a few feet away and came to a halt before her. “Well? What now?” Chloe asked, noticing the way in which he stood, the way in which it betrayed his purpose.

“Now… Now we talk.”

* * * *

There was something fragile about her still. She stood there, arms crossed underneath her breasts, distorting the jacket and pushing them higher so that Lex found herself having a difficult time keeping his eyes on her face as much he wanted to. When he spoke she shifted slightly from one foot to the other, bringing a hand up to wipe away a strand of damp hair that had threatened to get in her eyes. Lex found himself cursing the fact he hadn’t thought to retrieve an umbrella from the car before Lucas had driven off with the children. The dampness however had invaded her silk shirt and the flimsy material clung to her body, the cut of the jacket showing clearly the way in which it moulded to her chest and the way in which the cool air around them made her nipples stand out in contrast to the fabric.

Lex found himself having to close his eyes for a moment in order to will down his body’s reaction to the sight.

And people thought it had been his father who had been the devil, who had been the source of temptation, Lex thought with a wry chuckle.

“What are you laughing at?” she asked.

Shaking his head Lex answered, “At how ridiculous this situation is.” She raised an eyebrow and he continued. “I’m stood in the middle of a cemetery next to my mother’s grave having just buried my father and the only thing I can think of it pushing you, my stepmother, up against a tree and slamming into you.”

Chloe’s eyes widened and she said, “Lex… You can’t talk like that.”

He ran a hand over his scalp finding it slick with rain water. “I know. It’s probably some fucked up desired to get one over my father one last time by screwing his wife and trust me when I say I’m thoroughly disgusted with myself for thinking it but unfortunately the desire just doesn’t seem to be disappearing.”

The blonde bit her lip and stared at him. “Make it disappear,” she said.

Lex shrugged then covered the last few steps separately them to stand before her. “If it was that simple then I would have already.”

“Nothing is going to happen, Lex,” she said while looking up at him and unlike before her voice sounded strong.

Even so when he reached out and covered her cheek with one hand Chloe did nothing to make him move. Lex leaned close, resting his forehead against hers. “Just once,” he said. “Just once and then I’ll have to out of my system. We’ll both be rid of it,” he added hoping that his suspicions were right. Chloe exhaled softly and he touched his lips to hers. The kiss was soft, practically nothing but for a second Lex thought he felt her respond before hands were planted on his chest and he found himself being pushed back firmly, stumbling a little as he went.

Meeting his eyes Choe said, “Don’t you ever dare do that again,” before turned and storming out of the cemetery. He might have been wrong, but Lex thought he had seen tears spring to her eyes.

* * * *

She couldn’t stand the way that they were all so careful around her. The house seemed even more eerily quiet than normal and the servants who normally might have stopped to talk to her avoided her like she had the plague and whenever she passed someone in the corridor then they would give her a wide berth. Occasionally she would get the urge to just stand in the middle of a room and scream at the top of her lungs until she was hoarse and tell everyone to stop being so silly, she didn’t need distance she needed… She didn’t know what she needed but she knew it wasn’t this.

It was three days after the funeral when Chloe saw her first newspaper. She had been avoiding the news programs on the television, instead concentrating on spending time with her children and whenever she had looked for a newspaper there had never been one around. In the end she found them tucked away downstairs in the kitchen where supposedly she should not have been able to find them. The pile was sizable, the Luthors being known for buying most of the more important papers on a daily basis not only for Chloe’s personal curiosity but also for Lionel’s. As a result it took Chloe quite some time to drag them all out and lay them on the large kitchen table in order to look at them. Taking a cup of coffee she sat before them her eyes widening even as she began to leaf through them. Pictures of Lionel’s car; wrecked by the side of the road. Pictures that suggested the shape of his body as it lay at a twisted angle. Pictures of the outside of her house and of Lex entering it. Pictures of her baby boys and then herself and Lex at the funeral. Even a close up on Lucas’ face as he seemed to stare towards his older brother and his stepmother; the look on his face indefinable. They had even reprinted pictures of her wedding day and one or two society pictures that they couple had posed for over the years.

The one that really gets to her though, the one that really makes her want to curl up into a ball again though is the newest. It’s rather large, dominating the front page in stark colour despite the dull atmosphere in which it was apparently set. Rain is visibly falling in heavy drops, soaking the two people stood in the distance but there is nothing bedraggled about them. They are the picture of stately elegance, cool, calm and collected. The man stands close to the woman, leaning his head down against hers and their eyes are glued to each other. The article doesn’t come right out and say what it suspects but the implications are clear and Chloe has to admit that as she looks at the picture there does seem to be *something* there.

She was only glad they hadn’t caught the attempted kiss. That would have really given them something to talk about.

The rest of the article intrigues her as well though. It talked mainly about LuthorCorp and Chloe came to the startling realisation that she hadn’t thought for a moment what would happen to her husband’s company. The reporter stated that it had been assumed that after the death of Lionel Luthor that it would be Lucas who would take over the role of running everything but it went on to say that Lex’s sudden reappearance and his visibility around the core members of the Luthor family had created suspicions that perhaps he would run it now or that even an amalgamation of the two companies would occur resulting in LuthorCorp disappearing entirely. Anger suddenly rumbled low in her chest, emerging as a frustrated little growl. Picking up the paper she swept out of the kitchen and up the stairs onto the ground floor.

She found him sat in Lionel’s study, behind the desk and reading over some papers. As she entered the room he looked up and gave her a small, somewhat nervous smile that he desperately tried to cover. Chloe stormed across the room and slammed the paper down before him, her fury over finding him in a place that had always been Lionel’s, that she had always thought of as her husbands and her husbands alone and that her children were not even allowed into fuelling her. Lex leaned forwards picked up the paper and looked at it for a second. “You found them then.”

“You hid them from me?”

He met her eyes. “If you’d seen yourself a matter of days ago Chloe you would have hidden them from yourself too.”

“I’m fine now,” she said gritting her teeth. Lex raised an eyebrow as if to query her judgement. Chloe’s eyes hardened. “I don’t like games Lex.”

Leaning back he said softly. “I’m not playing any Chloe.” She snorted in disbelief and he added, “Perhaps you were married to my father too long.” The moment the words were out of his mouth Lex winced.

Chloe’s eyes had widened and she took a step away from the desk, turning slightly so he wouldn’t see the pained look that entered her them. “Don’t… don’t speak of him like that to me.”

Lex pushed out of the chair and wandered around to stand near her. A hand crept out but when the blonde woman shot him a withering look Lex let it fall back to his side. “I’m sorry Chloe. I didn’t mean that.”

“Yes, you did.”

“Don’t be like this.”

“Like what Lex? My life is falling apart and if that article is at all true then you’re at least partly responsible.”

He scoffed back a burst of laughter. “I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“How can I trust that? You never did anything that should make me trust you now.”

A blank expression settled over his face. “A few days ago I was the only person you did seem to trust.”

Chloe pulled her shoulders back and turned to look at him. “I was… not myself. You said so yourself.”

Lex shook his head. “I never thought I’d see the day that you’d act more like a Luthor than I did.” She blinked and looked away from him. “Is that a little hard to swallow Chloe? You let him corrupt you and while I’m sorry that he’s dead, that you’re upset that he’s dead there is part of me that’s happy you’re away from him.”

Her face creased into a frown. “How can you say that? He is… was your father!”

“My father hated me,” Lex said bitterly.

“Your father was proud of you,” Chloe countered. “Perhaps prouder of you than you could ever have realised. But, you never took the chance to know that so don’t you dare come in here telling me what my *husband*, the man I loved and who loved me, was like.” She turned and walked to the door pausing only when she heard him speak again.

“Chloe…”

“I… I want you gone Lex.”

“Damn it Chloe…”

“No, I don’t think you should be here anymore. Not with the talk.”

She pushed open the door and stepped through, barely hearing the quiet, “Who gives a damn about talk?” before disappearing.

* * * *

He stood in the doorway, watching her, knowing that she couldn’t see him from this angle and knowing that he didn’t want to be seen. She sat on a high backed couch, facing away from him and whatever it was that she was staring out blocked from his view.

“So you’re just going?” Lucas asked his voice a little incredulous.

Lex didn’t even so much as twitch. “It’s not like I have any other choice.”

“You know Chlo’, she’s just… angry.”

“I don’t think I do know her.”

“Lex you’re being foolish…”

“You explain that to her. I can’t be around her at the moment; not with how things currently stand.”

Lucas shook his head. “You’re just being stubborn. She needs you.”

Lex turned his head to look at his brother. “She has you.”

The other man gave a small smirk. “In case you haven’t noticed I’m not always the most reliable guy.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.”

Lucas shifted from one foot to the other. “So… you’ll be back.”

“Do you think I should?”

“Yes, I do.”

* * * *

Chloe sleeps in a room down the hall from their bedroom now and no one ventures into the old room but her. It isn’t that she’s turned it into a shrine exactly but she likes to keep something that was just theirs solely theirs. It makes her feel better when she’s having doubts to just go down there and sit in the room, close her eyes and recall their time together. It’s the only place where she lets herself seem weak.

To a lesser extent the study where Lionel used to spend much of his time is also preserved but Lucas now works in there, much reformed from his previous days though Chloe suspects that has more to do with his frequent phone conversations with Lex that she isn’t supposed to know about than it has to do with than anything else. They don’t mention the real source of his sudden work ethic especially seeing as Lucas seems happy enough to continue in his present position; the degree of immunity it provides him with from his peers and the law a seemingly large enough pay off.

Chloe just sits back and raises her boys and when she thinks she can lend a hand then she does so whether Lucas wants her to or not and when she comes across some of his shadier dealings then she’ll straighten him out. The Luthor name didn’t need anymore slander after all. He always gets a mildly disgruntled look on his features that remind her far too much of Lionel’s and usually sends her scurrying out of the room and away from business matters for at least a few days. Usually such things are enough to remind her that Lionel is still very much a part of her life though that isn’t necessary a good thing.

On the six month anniversary of his death she received a card through the post. It wasn’t signed, it didn’t have to be, the mark at the corner of the envelope clearly told her it was from the offices of LexCorp and the only person who would be mailing her from there was Lex himself. After finding it, buried beneath an invitation to one society gala or another Chloe stood for a moment doing nothing but looking at it. Then she rather too hastily ripped at it and pulled out a single crisp sheet of ivory coloured paper. The message was simple, ‘Cemetery, 4 o’clock’, but she found herself reading it again and again then looking down at the now titanic rise of her stomach before she finally slipped it back inside the envelope and then she dropped it in the bin.


THE END

drina
19th May 2003, 17:41
Bravo :applause: This is very well-written piece and totally engaging. I find it a mark of a good writer who is able to compel readers to like otherwise odious characters (ie Lionel) I've always dislike Lionel, but here you make him more human, and likeable.

And this is so sad too...your characterisation of Chloe is superb.

bluemoongirl23
19th May 2003, 23:18
Wow. This was materfully written and completely different. Great and complicated.

Blue

tiff
21st May 2003, 00:31
*stares dumbly at moniter* Wow....That was really good. Reading it captured my complete and total attention.

A-u-r-o-r-a
21st May 2003, 02:08
:crygreen: i feel so sorry for him! -_-

and i agree with drina, chloe was fantastic ^_^

Sunny
22nd May 2003, 20:06
God, it was so sad... but I liked it...
And if we see the chionel relationship from your point of view... well, I kinda like it too...
And the chlexy moments were great...
In other words, very, very, very, vvveerrryyyy..... good story! :yay:



:chlexsign3: ... and Chionel too... ;)

Janet
28th September 2004, 05:52
Ya, it's been over a year since this fic was posted, but I just saw it when I was browsing the fics...

Wow.

Amazing job. I have tears in my eyes.

Ami Rose
28th February 2020, 09:43
Wow