Nightcap (NC-17)

[scifichick774]

Okay, trying this one more time. If it doesn't take this time, then I'm just going to leave it at my archive. Sorry.

Title: Nightcap
Author: scifichick774
Rating: NC-17
Category: Angst/Romance (in a really sick & twisted way)/Smut/Supernatural (eh – sort of) – Chloe/Lex, but there are some other pairings along the way.
Spoilers: Anything through the end of the second season is fair game.
Summary: A local microbrewery starts using meteor rocks to process their beer, giving it a kick that makes the people who drink it think that they’re dreaming and then act accordingly.
Disclaimer: Not mine, no infringement intended, please don’t sue.
Feedback: If you feel like it.
Archival: I’m only going to be posting it at my archive, but if you want it - all you need to do is ask.
Author’s Note: This is going to be a dark one folks. Really dark. There will be some plot points (if you can call them that) that some people may find offensive – think about acting on unrequited feelings and the consequences, and you’ll get a hint of what I’m talking about. That said, I totally understand if you don’t want to read it, and that’s why I’m warning you ahead of time; but my muse wouldn’t let me work on anything else until I got part of this written down. You do what you have to do. The whole meteor/alcohol thing was brought up in ‘Enivre en France’ by HugePedlar. It’s not really a shipper fic, but if you haven’t read it over at ff.net, then you should, because it’s highly amusing.

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

“And then what happened?” Pete asked, letting the basketball fly from his hands toward the hoop.

“And then I told her that she was just acting jealous,” Clark said, easily blocking the shot. Pete let out a small groan and shook his head with disbelief.

“Oh, man.”

“What? She *was*,” Clark protested. Pete shook his head again, stealing the ball away from Clark.

“That’s not the point, Clark.”

Clark tilted his head to the side and Pete stopped dribbling the ball.

“Look, if you blew off an English or Math assignment to spend time with Lana – what would you tell the teacher?” Pete asked. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but it just hung open as the thoughts whirled through his head. Finally, what seemed to be an understanding of the situation dawned on his face. “Exactly,” Pete said. “And you know how seriously Chloe takes that paper. It’s like her whole life. So, to have you blow off a deadline and *then* use the jealousy card to get out of it…?” He trailed off and looked at his friend disapprovingly.

“Guess I owe her an apology, huh?” Clark asked sheepishly. Pete looked at him pointedly.

“Yeah, you could say that,” he replied and then threw Clark the ball. “Of course, it might be too late.” Clark frowned.

“She has been kind of avoiding me lately,” he said.

“Can you blame her?”

“Come on, Pete,” Clark said. “No matter what’s happened, Chloe and I are still friends and ---”

“No, Clark. You aren’t. That’s the problem.”

“Pete.”

“I mean it. Look at it from her point of view,” Pete said. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but Pete cut him off. “It’s not just the one-time missed deadline thing either.” He stopped playing and started ticking off reasons on his fingers. “You left her at the dance for Lana after *promising* her that you wouldn’t, you have pulled the jealousy excuse for way too many things – like any time she gets asked out, you’ve told her that she’s only agreeing to go out with the guy to get your attention and that she should grow up because you two were never going out, you ---”

“Okay! Geez,” Clark said. “I get the point; but you’re making it sound like I’m the only one at fault here. What about when she looked into my adoption after I told her not to? Or printed that picture of the barn in the Torch?”

“Which led to you meeting a guy who actually explained who you were and where you were from,” Pete pointed out. “The problem is that you’re not really mad at her for the things she’s done. You’re mad because you can’t tell her your secret and you’re mad because you think that her crush on you is the reason that Lana doesn’t want to jump into a relationship with you.”

“Well ---”

“Dude. Do I even need to remind you that you wouldn’t even have a chance with Lana if Chloe hadn’t talked her dad into letting her stay with her and her dad?” Pete asked. “She didn’t even get along that well with the girl, but she knew that you were in love with her, so she bit the bullet and sacrificed her own feelings for yours. *That’s friendship*.”

“I – I guess I never really looked at it like that before,” Clark said. Pete leaned his head to the side and gave him a sympathetic look.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to give you a hard time. She’s just been really – distant – lately. From everybody. And she’s my friend, so I’m worried about her,” Pete said. “And I’m just sayin’ – if you kept blowing me off and I didn’t know your secret – I don’t think I’d want to be friends with you anymore either.” Clark nodded thoughtfully and there was an uncomfortable pause in the conversation. “So – you excited about the party?” Pete asked with an impish glint in his eyes. Clark grinned.

“Yeah. I can’t believe I let you talk me into having another one though,” he answered. “How did you do that, by the way?” Pete stretched his hands out and popped his fingers.

“Easy,” he said with a wide smile. “I know the magic word.”

“Please?”

“Lana,” Pete corrected. Clark rolled his eyes.

“Chloe’s coming right? Maybe I can talk to her?” Clark suggested. Pete frowned and gave him an apologetic look.

“Sorry, man. When I brought it up, she totally shrugged it off and said she had plans.”

Clark let out a derisive huff.

“What plans? It’s not like there’s a bunch of other parties going on,” he said. Pete shot him a look and Clark cringed. “Guess I probably shouldn’t say that when I talk to her, huh?”

~*~*~*~*~

Clark raised his hand to knock on the door, but stopped before it made contact. He didn’t know why he was so nervous – it was just Chloe. He frowned as the thought flit through his mind.

‘Just Chloe.’

And therein lied the problem, the entire reason that Pete had been able to guilt-trip him so effectively. Clark had started to think of one of his friends as a ‘just’, as a given, as someone who would always be there no matter how much crap he put them through and the complete lack of support he chose to give.

‘No wonder she’s mad at me,’ Clark thought, bringing his finger down to ring the doorbell instead. He heard her bubbly voice say something that he couldn’t quite make out from inside the house and when she opened the door she had a beaming smile on her face. Until she saw that it was him. Her smile immediately fell and even as she spoke, she moved to close the door.

“She’s at work,” Chloe said simply, closing the door as she said it.

“Chloe, wait!” Clark said, placing his door in the way so it wouldn’t close. She sighed at him.

“What?” she half-snapped. Clark shoved his hands in his pockets and gave her his best puppy-dog eyes, surprised when he didn’t get the reaction that he had gotten since he knew her. She looked at him impatiently and he swallowed.

“Pete said you aren’t coming to the party tonight.”

“Pete would be correct.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Like I told him, I already have plans,” she said. “Now, if you’ll get your foot out of the way…” she trailed off and tried pushing the door again to make her point, but Clark’s foot didn’t budge.

“Chloe,” he said with a pleading quality to his voice, “I know we haven’t been getting along very well lately, but you shouldn’t just stay at home because of ---”

“I’m *not* staying home,” Chloe interrupted. “I hate to break it to you, but not everything revolves around you, Clark.”

“Chloe, come on. You don’t need to pre---”

Clark abruptly stopped talking when a handsome young man, two to three years older than them, appeared behind her in the foyer. The man raised his eyebrows to him as a greeting and Clark stood there with his mouth agape for a second. “I ---” he looked questioningly at Chloe and then shook his head slightly before extending his hand to the stranger. “Clark Kent.”

“Trevor Standish,” the guy replied with an Australian accent. Clark’s eyebrows rose in surprise and Trevor let a small smirk creep across his lips. “I’m guessing from the look on your face that Chloe didn’t tell you about me?” Clark shook his head dumbly and Trevor gave him a nod before placing his hand on the small of Chloe’s back and turning his head to look at her. “Just got off the phone with Jake and he said that Devil’s Lair is going to be especially hot tonight.” His smile fell a little when he noticed that Chloe seemed preoccupied with giving Clark a death glare. “If you still want to go, that is.” Chloe snapped out of her malicious thoughts and smiled over at him.

“Definitely. I need to get changed though,” she said. He nodded and smiled at her.

“The chopper gets here in a half hour,” he informed her.

“Okay.” She smiled again and then looked at Clark with a forlorn and hurt expression. “Bye Clark.” She turned to retreat into the house and Trevor watched her for a second before letting his eyes dart back to Clark.

“What’d ya do?” he asked knowingly, an amused smile plastered on his mouth. Clark frowned.

“It’s a long story,” he said. “So, what’s Devil’s Lair?”

“Club in Metropolis,” Trevor said with a shrug. “You come over to ask her out or something?”

“No – no. We’re just friends,” Clark said. “I was just wondering why she said she couldn’t make it to my party tonight.”

“Ah. Trying to clear the air, eh? Well, maybe I can help out. How late’s your party gonna run?” Trevor asked. Clark seemed to think about it.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Hopefully it won’t get shut down too early.” Trevor threw his head back as a deep laugh came pouring out of his throat.

“Didn’t pay off the cops ahead of time?”

“Uh, well – no.”

“Huh. Well, I’ll try and get her back to your party at a somewhat reasonable hour,” Trevor said and then flashed Clark a mischievous look. “But no promises.”


Chapter 2

A/N: I really hope this doesn’t get too confusing, but there are some time warps here. When I give the ‘however long ago’ references, it’s in relation to the first chapter. If it’s not listed that way at the start of the chapter, then assume it’s current time frame. Hope that helps.

~*~*~*~*~*~

One week earlier…

“Chloe?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Chloe said from the foyer, slipping her bag off her shoulder. “Sorry I’m so late, but ---”

“No problem, sweetie,” Gabe said from the other room. “Could you get the phone please?”

Chloe arched an eyebrow even though she knew her dad couldn’t see it. There was a phone in the living room as well, but since she could hear the overly dramatic music of a soap opera drifting through the air, she figured that her dad and Lana were watching their daily recorded tape of two different soaps again. She shook her head lightly at the weirdness of the situation. Who would have thought that her dad and Lana would have bonded over something; anything?

‘Oh, that’s right,’ Chloe inwardly stated. ‘*I’m* the one who doesn’t have something in common with every single person in town.’ She sighed and made her way to the phone, managing to lift it off the hook before the answering machine picked up. “Hello?”

“Ladybug!”

Chloe’s eyes widened with the accented male voice coming from the other end of the line. She quickly looked over toward the living room to make sure that her dad hadn’t heard what she was sure was a louder than normal speaking voice.

“Trevor,” she hissed in a whispered voice. “What are you doing calling me here?”

“Sorry, but I left your cell number at home,” he replied. “Your dad isn’t giving you a death glare is he?”

“He’s watching ‘Days’ with Lana,” Chloe said disdainfully. “And what do you mean ‘at home’? Where are you now?”

“London,” Trevor answered. “Bodgy plane started to sputter so we stopped here for a check-up. They’re saying we might have to stay here for a few days before we can lift off again. Can you believe it?”

“Where were you going?” she asked, immediately regretting the question when she could almost feel him smirk over the phone.

“To visit my favorite cousin of course.”

Chloe paled.

“Trevor – please, please tell me you’re joking.”

“Chloe, you and your oldies have issues, but we’re still family. Your dad can’t very well ban us from seeing you.”

“Really? Cuz’ you could’ve fooled me. He’s been doing a pretty good job of it up till now.”

“Ah – but you and your prime investigative skills hunted us down,” he said proudly.

“Which I was able to explain away by saying I needed it for my family tree project,” she countered. “But if you show up here ---”

“Calm down,” he said. “Didn’t you say that your dad’s going on a business trip in a week or so?”

“Oh, God,” Chloe mumbled under her breath. “You’re really going to do this, aren’t you?”

“No worries. We’re not staying with you or anything,” he said.

“Who does ‘we’ include?”

“Just me, Jake, and Kim,” he answered. “And like I said, we’re staying at some hotel in Metropolis. We just wanted to finally, *actually* meet you. Not just phone and emails. You know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Chloe said, peeking around the corner when she heard the tape cut to commercial. She lowered her voice to a whisper again when she saw Lana fast-forwarding through what looked like a toothpaste ad. “I’m just not sure how my dad is going to react to me becoming friends with my mom’s side of the family; especially not after all these years.”

“You know, for someone who has been buried alive *and* pushed out a window, you’re kind of acting like a wuss,” Trevor said, goading her on. Chloe couldn’t help the gurgle of laughter that escaped her lips.

“No offense, but aren’t you supposed to compliment someone when you’re trying to get them to agree to something?”

“If I was talking to most people, then yeah, but ---”

“I’m not most people,” she finished for him.

“Exactly.”

Chloe made a grumbling noise and Trevor chuckled.

“Hey.”

Chloe’s head whipped to the side when her father’s voice was suddenly right beside her and absently dropped her hand with the phone away from her ear.

“Who are you talking to?” Gabe asked, grinning at her when he heard Trevor’s chuckle come through the phone. Chloe barely hid her cringe. It was now or never.

“Trevor,” she answered hesitantly. Gabe gave her a questioning look.

“Guy from school?”

“Uh – no,” she said. “Trevor as in: my cousin, Trevor.” Gabe’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So ---”

“Hold on,” she said and held up a finger to indicate that she would just be a minute, bringing the phone up to her ear once again. “Hey. It looks like I have to go.”

“I heard,” Trevor said. “Don’t suppose you could just put it on speaker phone so I could hear the fight?”

“Oh, gee, let me think – no,” Chloe replied. Trevor laughed and then let out a mock sigh.

“Alright, I guess I’ll have to find another way to entertain myself. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Chloe hung up the phone and then looked back at her dad nervously, who appeared to be conflicted about how to deal with what he had just overheard.

“So, how long ---”

“Remember when I had to do research for that family tree project at school?”

“Vaguely,” Gabe answered. “But that was ---”

“A long time ago,” she said, cutting him off once again. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“And – your mom?”

“Haven’t talked to her,” Chloe said truthfully. “But Trevor, Kim, and Jake answered a bunch of my questions, and we kind of became…friends – sort of.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” she said again. “Listen, Dad, I know that you probably don’t want me talking to them, and I totally understand, but ---” Gabe shook his head and held up a hand.

“It’s fine. Really.”

“What?”

“Chloe, you know that your mom and I have some – problems – after what happened. But, I never wanted to keep you away from her or her side of the family. It just kind of worked out that way since they’re scattered all over the world except here.”

“I ---” Chloe paused in shock, “oh.”

“I feel bad that you didn’t think you could confide in me about it,” he said, pulling the guilt strings in Chloe’s heart, “But, I think it will be good for you to get to know some of your other relatives.” Gabe gave her a consoling grin that made her feel considerably more at ease. She smiled at him.

“Thanks, Dad.”

He stepped closer and they gave each other a small hug. When they pulled away, they smiled meagerly at each other.

“You first,” Gabe said knowingly. Chloe nodded.

“They’re coming for a visit,” she said. Gabe’s eyes widened and Chloe’s hands flew out, waving frantically in front of her. “They’re not staying here; they’re going to be in Metropolis.” Gabe let out a breath of relief and Chloe almost chuckled, but bit her lip to prevent her from doing so. “I’d still like to see them though.”

“Of course,” Gabe responded. “Just – be careful. From what I’ve heard of your Aunt Trish’s kids, they can be a wild bunch. I’m not sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.” Chloe smiled at him.

“I can take care of myself.”

“As witnessed by your numerous stays in the hospital over the past three years,” he said dryly.

“All of which were due to some sort of meteor-related person or activity,” she countered. Gabe rolled his eyes and Chloe smiled at him. “So, what did you want to tell me?”

“Oh – um – I don’t suppose I could talk you into Chinese again – or maybe pizza?” he asked. Chloe furrowed her brow.

“I thought Lana was cooking tonight,” she said. Gabe winced and understanding dawned on Chloe’s face. “Gotcha. Yeah, no problem. You want me to call?” She watched her father smile gratefully and she let out a small laugh.

“Aargh! You stupid bitch! He’s not yours!” Lana yelled from the other room. Gabe and Chloe’s heads both turned in Lana’s direction.

“You’d better not have started that without me,” Gabe warningly called out and started walking back into the room he had come from earlier.

Chloe shook her head again and snickered to herself.

‘So what if my life sucks? At least I have entertainment.’


Chapter 3

A/N: It gets graphic here, so just remember that you were warned.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Five days earlier…

“Well, here it is, Mr. Luthor,” a young man said, handing a file folder and a capped bottle of beer to the man at the desk in front of him. “It took a little longer than anticipated, but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

“Hmm,” was the only response that came from Lionel’s lips as he perused the documents in the file. “I don’t see any practical studies in here.”

“Oh, no - of course not. I mean, if you look at the simulation results, you’ll see that it would be much too dangerous for us to do human experimentation,” the man answered with a nervous chuckle. Lionel glared at him and dropped the folder onto his desk. Steepling his fingers together as he leaned back in his chair, Lionel looked him straight in the eye.

“And what could have possessed you to think that this information would please me?”

“I – your theories about the meteor rocks have been proven. They have extremely varied, albeit dangerous, applications and ---”

“Mr. Dunnville,” Lionel interrupted in an authoritative, chilled tone. “I hired you for one reason and one reason only. You were to determine the effects that the meteor rocks would have on humans when they were brought into the alcohol fermentation process.” He paused and the man swallowed at the fire in his benefactor’s eyes.

“The computer simulations are just as good,” Dunnville nervously argued. “And because of that, surely you realize what a disaster it could be if the tainted beer ever made it to the general population. People would literally start behaving as if they believed they were dreaming – and people dream about things that they would never even think of acting on. The crime rates would shoot up to uncontrollable levels. Can you imagine how awful that would be?”

A broad smirk appeared on Lionel’s lips and Dunnville couldn’t help the shudder that shook his body.

“Ye-s,” Lionel said, stringing out the word for emphasis. “I can see how that might be a problem. Perhaps you should do the study on a more – controlled – segment of the population. A small town? Give away some free beer as part of a mock merchandising campaign, maybe?”

“But ---”

“I would hate to have to replace you so far along in the project, Mr. Dunnville,” Lionel said. Dunnville paled at the menacing threat lacing Lionel’s words; knowing very well that Lionel would simply have him killed and proceed how he wanted to anyway. He barely managed a nod at the evil man staring back at him.

“Yes, sir. That won’t be necessary, Mr. Luthor. I’m sure I can find a suitable community in which the increased amount of criminal behavior won’t look too much out of place.” Lionel let out what could only be described as a cackle.

“You’re in luck, Mr. Dunnville. I know just the place.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Two days earlier…

Lex tossed and twisted in the expensive sheets that covered his bed as he writhed in his fitful sleep. For the last several months, his dreams had been filled with the one woman he knew he could never have; the one woman who didn’t care anything about his money or power, or seemingly him in general. Chloe Sullivan. His once best friend’s best friend - although he had heard that she and Clark weren’t getting along all that well these days either.

His head shot up from his pillow, his body covered in a sheen layer of sweat as he panted heavily at the images that his mind had just projected. Even in his dreams he knew that he couldn’t have her and this one was no different. He had been having a nice conversation with her at the Talon, filled with their usual banter, when he had finally made a move and kissed her.

She pushed away from him and looked at him like he was a monster. Clark came in and grabbed her arm, yanking her out of sight. He had cruelly mocked Lex, telling him that she would never love him; that *he* was the only man Chloe would ever love, because *he* was good, decent, and true, and didn’t have pure evil coursing through his body.

Lex had gotten angry and twisted a green-stoned ring around on his finger, making sure it hit Clark’s face as he punched him. Clark yelped in pain and fell to his knees as the veins under his skin popped up with a green tinge to them. He looked at Lex in surprise and then in horrified understanding as Lex had picked up Chloe and thrown her over his shoulder, her tiny fists pounding into his back as she screamed for him to let her go. He refused.

The dream flitted to a room at Clark’s house. The room varied from dream to dream, and sometimes it wasn’t a room at all, but it was always on the Kents’ property; a way of claiming her by proving to Clark that she only belonged with Lex, no matter where she was. He brought her down to her feet and placed his hands on her hips, his grip tight so that she wouldn’t be able to run away. His mouth captured hers in a fevered, one-sided passion as he backed her toward the bed.

She pleaded with him not to do it as he hastily ripped off their clothing and positioned himself between her legs. She told him that Clark was wrong and that she could forgive him if he would just let her go. The words he said in every dream echoed once again through Lex’s mind.

‘I can’t - you’re mine.’

He thrust into her in one feral movement, his body practically reaching climax at the sensation of ripping through her maidenhead. He tried to ignore her tears and whimpered pleas to stop as he moved his mouth against her neck, biting and sucking the soft skin in rhythm with his lower body. His fingers trailed down her stomach to her curls and he delicately searched for the bundle of nerves that he knew would make her come.

Chloe clenched her jaw and Lex knew she didn’t want the release, at least not how he was trying to give it to her.

‘Please…stop…’

He pumped harder and faster into her body until he could feel her inner walls start to clamp around his cock. Her body shook with her orgasm, but instead of a scream of ecstasy, she released a full sob of tears in disbelief over what he had just done to her. Lex pushed a few more times until he shuddered, releasing himself into her body. He peppered her jaw with small kisses, wiping away the trails of wetness with his thumb. His mouth moved to her ear.

‘You won’t ever be able to leave me now. I’ve made sure of it.’

And that was where the dream ended; leaving a very awake and very frightened Lex in its wake. He closed his eyes for a second as he breathed in large gulps of air and then he ran to the bathroom to throw up.

He turned the knob on the sink and ducked his hands into the icy water flowing from the faucet. It splashed over his face and his head as his hands kept throwing the water at him. Finally he stopped, turned the sink off, and stared at his petrified expression in the mirror. To have a nightmare was one thing; to have different variations of it night after night was another; to have it feel so right when he was inside her in the dream was yet another. Lex groaned and reached for a towel to dry himself off. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

He had been fairly successful at covering up any emotions that he might have whenever he saw her, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to for much longer. He had seen her earlier that day at the Talon, talking to a good-looking young man around his age, maybe a couple of years younger, who seemed engulfed in his conversation with her. It had taken every morsel of Lex’s strength to not go over to their table and rip the boy’s head off.

Instead, he had managed to give her a polite greeting; one which she returned with a bright smile. He shivered inside at his own animalistic dream behavior toward her. Even if she had been shocked by his advances, and even if Clark had come and mocked him, it was no excuse for taking her the way he did; for treating her the way he did. Still, when he heard her laugh from his table, he had looked over to see her and her male companion exchanging words that he couldn’t hear, but he wished that he was saying to her.

Lex shook off the memory and walked to his closet; his hand automatically reaching out for a turquoise-blue silk dress shirt, simply because Chloe had once mentioned how nice it was and that it went with his eyes. He knew she was probably just saying it as an everyday compliment and that she held no hidden regard for him, but his life was quickly becoming something he considered to be pathetic and he needed even the smallest thing to hold on to. To believe that some day, maybe he could get her to notice him the way that he had been noticing her.

His head turned at the sound of his cell phone ringing from the small table in his room. He sighed and walked over to it as he buttoned up his shirt. Was it so wrong to hope? He pushed the thought out of his mind. Lex knew that he was becoming obsessed and that it was more than a dangerous road to walk down, especially when he had the money and power to keep him from facing the consequences of any actions he might take. He picked up the phone and turned it on, briskly raising it to his ear.

“Luthor.”

“Hey Lex, it’s Clark.”

Lex’s free hand balled up into a fist, his feelings from the dream carrying over into his emotional state of the morning.

“Clark,” Lex said curtly. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I don’t know if you heard, but my parents are going out of town this weekend ---”

“Uh-huh,” Lex replied without interest.

“And Pete talked me into having another party,” Clark said somewhat sheepishly, but still with barely contained glee. “So, I was thinking, we haven’t been able to hang out too much lately ---”

‘For a reason,’ Lex thought.

“I thought you might like to come over. You don’t have to stay long or anything, because I know it’s not your regular scene, but ---”

“I don’t know, Clark. My schedule is pretty hectic this weekend,” Lex lied.

“Oh – yeah. Yeah, I totally understand,” Clark said. Lex let out a small sigh and ran his hand over his head.

“It’s not a ‘no’ Clark. I just don’t want to make a promise that I might not be able to keep.”

“Well, it’s on Saturday night starting at eight,” Clark said. “If you come, that’d be great. If not, no big deal. Okay?”

“Okay.” Lex paused for a second, his thoughts filling with the possibility if not probability that Chloe might be there as well – with or without whomever the guy he saw her talking to. “Clark?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I’ll be able to make an appearance.”


Chapter 4

One day earlier…

Chloe slithered her hands up his muscular chest until they wound around the back of his head and neck, pulling him down to her. She peppered his jaw with small, teasing kisses until she reached his ear, where she darted her tongue out to trace the shell. She blew lightly and he closed his eyes as she felt him shiver at her actions.

“Tell me you love me,” she whispered.

“I love you. God, Chloe ---”

“I love you too.”

“What about Clark?”

“He means nothing to me. Nothing,” she breathed, nuzzling her face against his neck. He pulled back just enough so she could see that his eyes had become dark pools of desire. Lex slammed his mouth down against hers with a furious and unrestrained passion. When they pulled apart to breathe, taking in large draws of air, they smirked at each other.

He palmed her face and she leant into his touch. She felt alive, loved, and…vengeful. Chloe slid her left hand down to the small of her back, and when it came back into sight, the large emerald-cut green stone of her ring matched the color of the lob of rock clutched in her hand.

“You still think I care about him more than you?” she asked. Lex’s smirk only deepened. “You and I – we’re destiny, Lex.” Clark appeared in the doorway, frowning disapprovingly at the two of them. She held the rock out to Lex in an open hand, shielding her treasure from Clark’s view with her body, waiting for Lex to take it. “Show him we’re destiny.”

Lex clasped his hand around the rock and in one swift movement, Chloe stepped to the side and Lex hurled the rock at Clark like it was a baseball. Clark screamed in agonizing pain, the tint of his skin turning a shade of green as he grabbed at his stomach on the floor.

Lex and Chloe ignored his cries and eyed each other with renewed desire and passion. They kissed and Lex lifted her up to wrap her legs around his waist. The sound of a zipper echoed through the small room as Chloe slid her tongue along his lips.

“My sweet…dark…prince…” Chloe murmured against his mouth, raising herself up only to slam herself back onto him, impaling herself on his shaft. They both moaned; their sounds of pleasure the only ones in the room now that Clark lay on the floor in an unconscious heap. Both of their eyes darted over to their former friend and then back to each other. They grinned and captured each other’s mouths as Lex continually pumped into her and she met him thrust for thrust.

“Mine,” Lex rasped out, backing her against the wall. Chloe closed her eyes in sheer pleasure.

“Yours.”

Chloe’s eyes shot open from her dream. The same one, or at least a similar version of the one, that she had been having for the last couple of weeks. Her heart pounded quickly against her chest and her breathing was rapid and uneven. She forced herself to take one steadying deep breath and then crawled out of her bed. She wandered down the hallway to the bathroom, pleased to see that it was unoccupied.

She thought with her cousins visiting that she would have been able to shake the disturbing images that haunted her sleeping hours, but it wasn’t so. And of course, she hadn’t confided in anyone; not with the specifics at any rate. She shook her head when she could practically imagine telling Lana what she had been dreaming.

‘Hey Lana. You know how you wanted to do a dream analysis on those weird dreams I’ve been having? Yeah, they’re about me and Lex killing Clark with a meteor rock and then fucking against some wall in an unknown bedroom. So, what do you think that means exactly?’

“Yep. That’d go over *really* well,” she muttered sarcastically to herself as she splashed her face with cold water and then looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had managed to hide behind a forced smile when she saw Lex at the Talon the day before, and thankfully Trevor had been with her, so she didn’t need to banter with the man who she had been having sex with in her dreams. The few times she cast a glance over at Lex, he had looked like he was ready to kill her cousin; but she had pushed away the thought, rationalizing that the emotions from her dreams must be seeping their way into her real life.

“Hey,” a cheery voice came from the open doorway, snapping Chloe out of her thoughts. “You’re up early.” Chloe turned her head ever so slightly and managed a wince of a grin at Lana, whose face fell at Chloe’s demeanor. “Uh-oh. Another bad dream, huh?”

“Not ‘another’,” Chloe said, “the *same* bad dream.”

“Chloe – I really wish you would tell me about it,” Lana said, giving her friend a compassionate expression as she took a couple of steps into the bathroom. “I’ve had lots of experience with nightmares because of what happened to my parents. I even got a book a couple of years ago to help me make sense of them,” she said and then looked at Chloe hopefully. “We could go through it together. Figure out what your subconscious is trying to tell you.” Chloe let out a small, sour chuckle and then shook her head.

“It doesn’t mean anything, Lana. Sometimes dreams are just dreams.”

“Yeah, but if you’re having a recurring dream ---” Lana trailed off when Chloe yawned tiredly. “Maybe you should go back to sleep.”

“Can’t,” Chloe said. “I need to put the Torch to bed this morning because I made the mistake of telling Trevor that today was a half-day at school.”

“Whoops,” Lana said with a tiny giggle. “I like your cousins though, they’re --- lively.” Chloe laughed.

“That’s one way of putting it.”

“Just don’t let them keep you up too late tonight,” Lana teased.

“Tomorrow night’s the problem,” Chloe said almost absently, immediately regretting that she had let the words slip from her mouth in her tired haze. Lana’s brow furrowed.

“Why? I’m sure Clark’s party won’t run too late.”

Chloe sighed and ran a hand through her messy blonde hair.

“I’m not going to Clark’s party. We’re just not getting along very well and ---”

“I thought you guys worked things out?”

“Apparently not,” Chloe said somewhat bitterly. “Anyway, the gang’s taking me clubbing with them in Metropolis tomorrow night.” Lana’s eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open slightly in surprise.

“Chloe! You can’t go to those clubs! You’re underage!”

“So?”

“Chlo-e,” Lana said, stringing her name out with a warning whine.

“La-na,” Chloe imitated, mocking the girl’s tone. “Look, there’s going to be alcohol at Clark’s party too. Pete said that Tim’s brother or something works at that new microbrewery outside of town and is getting some kegs. So, what’s the difference if I have a couple of drinks at a club or if I have a couple of drinks at Clark’s party?”

“If you go to Clark’s party, then your friends will be there to look out for you.”

Chloe barely resisted the urge to snort; instead, opting for a light tilt of her head.

“And at the club, my cousins will be there to look out for me,” she said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me ---” she paused and gave Lana a nudge toward the door, “I got here first.” Lana rolled her eyes and smiled at her.

“Fine,” she said, giving up rather than fighting. “You want me to make a pot of coffee?”

“You even need to ask?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Luthor,” Lionel said into the phone.

“Mr. Luthor – it’s Bob Dunnville.”

“Mr. Dunnville,” Lionel acknowledged. “I presume you have news regarding our most recent conversation?”

“Yes, sir,” the young man said. “We have isolated what we believe to be the perfect scenario in which to give the product a practical test.”

“And?”

“As you recommended, Smallville was a good choice. We’ve set up a warehouse on the outskirts of town to make it look like we’re producing the product there, and their crime rate already has several strange anomalies present. Nothing should be able to link the behavior back to us, sir.”

“That *is* good news. And how do you plan to begin?”

“There’s a party tomorrow at one of the high school student’s homes. We’ve spread a few rumors that someone who knows someone who works at our brewery is going to bring some kegs over.”

Lionel let out a delighted evil chuckle.

“Wonderful,” he said. “I couldn’t have planned it better myself. And the high school student’s name?”

“Um – hold on a second. I have it written down somewhere.” There was a slight lapse in the conversation and Lionel could hear Dunnville sifting through paperwork. “Ah – here it is. Clark Kent. Don’t suppose that rings any bells?” Lionel’s eyebrows rose thoughtfully.

“Indeed,” he said. “Well – this should prove to be a more interesting experiment than I originally thought.”


Chapter 5

That morning…

Lex’s breath hitched when he saw Chloe at the table across the room. Apart from him and Lana, she was the only other person in the establishment. Nary a boyfriend in sight, she was sitting by herself, clutching at her mug of coffee with both hands as she brought it to her mouth. He watched, transfixed as she parted her lips and closed her eyes, letting the scalding liquid slide against her tongue.

“Lex?”

Lex blinked and turned his head, only to find Lana’s eyes glittering back at him with amusement.

“I never thought I’d see the day when I’d catch Lex Luthor zoning,” she said in a light teasing voice. One corner of his mouth barely rose.

“Thinking, not zoning,” he corrected in a well-spoken lie. Lana’s gaze darted in the direction that he had just been staring off in and she frowned.

“I wish she would just let me help her,” Lana said. “She can be so stubborn sometimes.”

Lex’s brow furrowed slightly in concern.

“What does she need help with?”

Lana opened her mouth to speak and then closed it, embarrassment lining her face at realizing that she almost divulged one of her friend’s secrets.

“I shouldn’t say,” she finally said. “Oh – here’s your coffee,” she said with a fake smile, placing a large to-go cup of coffee in front of him. He nodded once and then, almost as if on auto pilot, he started walking toward Chloe. Lana cringed ever so slightly when she saw that he was headed in Chloe’s direction instead of out the door. ‘Shoot.’

For Lex’s part, he couldn’t explain the sudden drive that led him over to her table, to slide into the chair opposite her wordlessly when he had been all but avoiding her because of his dreams, but Lana said she needed help. He could help her. And maybe it would serve as a small piece of penance for the hurt he caused her in his nightmares. Chloe opened her eyes after swallowing another swig of coffee to see Lex sitting in front of her.

“Mr. Luthor,” she said as calmly as she could, though she suspected that her nervousness and awkwardness shown through.

“Miss Sullivan,” he greeted back in the same manner, almost matching her inflections identically.

“So, what brings you to my small corner of the world?” she asked, then allowed herself a small grin over the rim of her cup. “Besides the fact that you own it.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve spoken,” he answered nonchalantly. Chloe raised a skeptical eyebrow and he tilted his head a little to the side. “And Lana said something about you needing help, but being too stubborn to accept it,” he admitted, bringing his own cup to his mouth right away to try and wash away the words he had just spoken; knowing that if Chloe wouldn’t let Lana help her, then she sure as hell wouldn’t let him help her. Chloe rolled her eyes.

“That description fits half the people in the great state of Kansas,” she retorted, not bringing her eyes to meet Lex’s. Lex couldn’t help but let a small grin cross his lips and when Chloe ventured a glance up at him, she flinched. “She told you what it was, didn’t she?” Chloe let out a small grumbling noise and then slouched in her chair in defeat. ‘Unbelievable. Like it isn’t bad enough that ---’

“I’d rather hear it from you,” Lex interrupted her internal monologue. Chloe blinked in surprise. She was barely on friendly acquaintance terms with Lex and he was seriously asking her to spill her guts about what was going on in her life? Coupled with the fact that she had been having some very disturbing dreams where they always ended up…

“It’s nothing,” she lied a little too quickly and gave a shrug of her shoulders, hoping that his eyes would be drawn there instead of to the blush that was now gracing her cheeks. “What about you?”

“What about me?” he asked, trying to shove down the unsettling feeling that was growing in his gut. Chloe corrected her posture and narrowed her eyes slightly as she observed his body language.

“Nothing. Never mind,” she said. She had been about to launch into a theory she had formulated about savior complexes and how the person usually just seemed to be trying to avoid dealing with their own issues by helping other people deal with theirs, when something in Lex’s demeanor started to gnaw at her.

Here was a man, who if he did have issues, then they weren’t going to be the normal person angst sort of problems. They were going to be dark and twisted and fairly comparable to the nightmares she had been having. And if that was the case, then Chloe didn’t want to know.

She scooted her chair away from the table and gave him a small, uneasy smile as she stood up. Lex followed her lead and stood up as well, the manners he had been taught at boarding school still engrained in his being.

“I have to go,” she said, offering no excuse for her impending departure. “Good to see you again.”

“You too,” he said.

Lex watched her walk away and through the Talon’s front doors, the knot in his stomach twisting tighter and tighter. Apart from his own uncomfortable behavior, Chloe had no reason to be so jittery around him. Not that he was aware of anyway. He didn’t even notice Lana seemingly appear out of nowhere until she let out a small sigh.

“Looks like you didn’t have much luck either,” she said.

“You could say that.”

“I don’t see why she’s being so secretive,” Lana complained as she picked up Chloe’s empty mug and placed it on a tray. “I mean, I tell her *all* my bad dreams – even if they have her and Clark in them. It’s just better to get stuff like that out in the open so you don’t carry around hostility that you have no reason for. Don’t you think so?” Lex turned and gave Lana a disbelieving look when she finished rambling. “What?”

‘You tell Chloe your bad dreams about her and Clark? Are you a sadist?’ Lex thought and then shook his head slightly. “She didn’t mention that she was having bad dreams.” Lana nodded.

“For a couple of weeks now – although, *technically* it’s a recurring dream, not dreams plural,” she said. “I used to have one of those – after my parents died. And then after we got the letter saying that Whitney was really gone.” Her eyes started to water a little bit and she sniffled. “I think – I think it was just my subconscious trying to deal with everything. You know?”

Lex stared at her almost blankly, but offered her a curt nod of his head to let her know he was still listening. He hadn’t intended to even stay in the Talon that morning and certainly hadn’t planned on being ambushed into listening to Lana change the topic to her own life rather than what was going on with Chloe, but there was always the off-chance that Lana would start talking about her only girl friend and her problems again and Lex somehow felt compelled to stick around for it.

“I’ve been trying to talk her into letting me do a dream analysis,” Lana started again. “I have one of those books that says what different dreams are supposed to mean, but so far she won’t even tell me anything about the dream. The only thing I’ve sort of been able to get out of her so far is when she asked me whether I thought the meteor rocks could actually kill somebody when they weren’t being hurled at the planet.” Lana shook her head and then handed Lex his cup so she could wipe down the table. “But really, that could just have to do with all the research she does.” She paused for a moment and let a deeply concerned frown cross her lips. “All I know is that I found her sobbing after the first time she had the dream.” Lex blanched. She couldn’t be…it wasn’t possible…anything was possible in Smallville. “Now if that doesn’t scream ‘analyze me’, I don’t know what does.” Lex felt the overwhelming urge to vomit and Lana’s eyes widened as she turned to him and saw his face turn a pale shade of green. “Are you okay?”

He turned his head to look at her, taking small breaths to try and steady himself and will the nausea to go away.

“Fine,” he lied. “I – need to leave. I’ll come by for the books tomorrow, Lana,” he said hurriedly.

“Okay,” she said. “Are you going to come to Clark’s party tonight?”

“I ---”

“I’m still trying to talk Chloe into coming instead of going clubbing with her cousins in Metropolis, because with everything that’s happened with me and Clark, it would kind of be nice to have her there as a buffer. You know?”

“I didn’t realize her cousins were in town.”

“Visiting from Australia, but they’re staying in Metropolis. They’re kind of --- wild,” Lana said with a disapproving look. “I have a feeling that she won’t be safe with them if she goes with them tonight; but her dad is out of town and it’s not like she’s going to listen to me.”

“What about her boyfriend?” Lex asked, trying not to sound too suspicious. Lana blinked a couple of times in confusion.

“Chloe doesn’t have a boyfriend,” she answered, and before Lex could say anything about seeing Chloe there the other day with some guy, Lana came to the realization of what he was talking about. Her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ and then she smiled. “You must be talking about her cousin Trevor. He was in here yesterday with her.” Lex nodded.

“Apparently I misunderstood,” he said, half of him cheering on the inside at the news. Lana rolled her eyes.

“Easy to do,” she said with a smile. “He’s kind of a flirt.” There was a slight pause as she fiddled with the rag in her hands and gave him a somewhat pleading look that he was sure would have turned Clark into a big pile of mush. “So --- the party?”

“Lana, I ---”

“Because if Chloe’s not going to be there, then I *need* someone to be a buffer between me and Clark. You’re the only other person I know who could pull it off,” she explained.

Lex was tempted to tell her that she wasn’t required to go, but he knew how she would take it. Despite not being a cheerleader for a few years, she was still one of the most popular girls in school and it would never do for her not to be seen at an event so large – let alone one that was being thrown by the boy she was supposed to be in love with.

“What about Pete?” Lex asked, arching his eyebrows when Lana’s look changed to one of discomfort.

“He’s – that’s not a good idea,” she stammered. “Besides, he’ll be too busy hitting on all the pretty girls.” Lex noted a hint of jealousy in her voice, but decided not to bring it up.

“I told Clark that I’d be there, but I don’t know what time or for how long,” he finally said. Lana smiled gratefully at him.

“Thanks Lex.”

He nodded once and reached for the door.

“Keep trying to talk to Chloe though,” he said. Lana smiled and nodded, and Lex could tell that she was thinking that he had either taken a concern in the ‘buffer’ situation or was worried about Chloe going out with her cousins. He decided to let her live with her delusions. It was easier than the truth.


Chapter 6

A/N: Okay, back in the current timeline.

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

Chloe balled her hands up into fists as the car neared the Kent farm.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” she grumbled half under her breath. Her cousin Kim reached forward from the back seat and wrapped her arm around her shoulders in a quick hug.

“It’ll be fun!” she said encouragingly. Chloe shook her head.

“If by fun you mean excruciatingly heartbreaking, then yes. It’ll be a blast,” she said, her bitter and angry words slurred from her alcohol consumption at the clubs they had been to earlier that evening.

“You’re looking at it the wrong way,” Jake said, leaning forward so he was resting his arms on his legs as he spoke to her. “You need to start seeing it as payback.”

“What?”

“You like this guy, right?”

“I did.”

“There you go,” Jake said. “Make him notice you – the outfit you’re wearing won’t hurt,” he paused and gave her a wink, “then start hitting on some other guy. Show him how it feels.”

“Listen to him,” Kim said and nudged the back of Chloe’s chair. “Jake’s the master when it comes to mind games.”

“Great,” Chloe said sarcastically.

“Don’t worry about it,” Trevor said from behind the wheel; his voice the only one whose speech wasn’t remotely slurred. “If we get there and you decide you want to leave, then we’ll leave. No big deal.”

Kim scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Speak for yourself,” she said. “Those clubs were a total waste of time with their watered-down drinks and I’m not going home until I’m off my face.”

Despite herself, Chloe started giggling and as Trevor pulled the car up along where the numerous others were parked, she wasn’t feeling as apprehensive about the party as she had been.

‘I don’t have to talk to Clark, I just have to make an appearance and then I can go home,’ she reminded herself mentally, part of her still hoping that Clark might finally notice that she was a female member of the species with the way she was dressed.

It didn’t take long for Chloe to realize that something was very wrong at the party. The people who were there were acting more than just drunk; they were acting like they were all on some form of hallucinogenic drugs. Kim snickered when she saw one of the girls from Chloe’s class attacking one of the jocks, first by shouting at him, then punching him, and then finally pulling him in for a passionate kiss.

“See? Now that’s what I’m talking about,” she said; a broad smile on her face as she headed toward one of the three kegs that had been set up on the yard. Chloe frowned. Even in her drunken state, her mind was working overtime to try and figure out what was going on. This wasn’t typical behavior even for the wildest parties in Smallville, and that included the rave in the caves where alien parasites took over people’s bodies. She felt a hand on the small of her back and turned her head to face its owner.

“You okay?” Trevor asked.

“Fine,” Chloe lied.

“You wanna leave? Because ---”

“And here we go,” Kim interrupted, coming back to Chloe, Trevor, and Jake with two large plastic cups of beer in her hands. She handed one to Chloe and kept the other for herself.

“Hey! What about me?” Jake asked.

“What about you? You’ve got two legs – use them,” she argued back.

“You brought Chloe a drink,” he pointed out.

“Girls stick together,” Kim said with a smirk. “Besides, just look at her. She obviously needs it more than you do.” She looked over at Chloe and motioned to the cup in her hands. “Well, go on – take a swig. You look like you need it.”

Chloe brought the cup up to her lips and tilted the cup upward, taking a long drink, gathering the artificial nerves she felt she needed for her impending confrontation with Clark.

“Mmm,” she hummed as she brought the cup back down. “That’s good.” Kim laughed and Jake shook his head slightly in amusement. He smiled and gave them a quick wave before heading off to get his own drink.

By the time Chloe had reached the middle of her beer, her head was starting to swim. She briefly attributed it to the fact that she was already well on her way to getting drunk by the time they got to the party, but soon every waking thought was pushed from her head and she found herself in the middle of one of her dreams.

‘I must have passed out,’ she thought, only to believe her theory to be confirmed when she saw Lex heading toward her. She gave him a wicked grin and dropped the cup as she walked toward him, completely unaware that he thought he was dreaming as well.

Lex grabbed her face and slammed his lips down punishingly against her own. Trevor’s eyes grew wide and he stepped forward to try and push the obviously drunk man away from his cousin.

“Hey - back off!” he ordered. Lex pulled away and growled at him, seeing Clark’s face instead of Trevor’s. “You can’t just ---” Trevor’s words were abruptly cut off by Lex turning the small, non-meteor encrusted ring on his finger and slamming his fist into Trevor’s face. Trevor wobbled on his feet, but he didn’t fall. “What the ---?” He trailed off, caressing his jaw with his hand as he watched Lex face Chloe again, seemingly going through some inner conflict.

Lex concentrated on his breathing, struggling to change the dream so he wouldn’t have to go through the torment of raping Chloe again.

“I ---” he started in a choked voice, “I can’t let you go, Chloe. You’re mine.”

Chloe stepped closer to him and ran her hands up his chest until they snaked around the back of his neck, pulling his head down to hers. She ran her tongue along his lips and his mouth immediately opened for her. Their tongues entwined, hot and wet as they slid against each other. She pulled back slightly to breathe and peppered his cheek with soft kisses until she reached his ear.

“Tell me you love me,” she whispered.

“I love you. God, Chloe ---”

“I love you too.”

“What about Clark?”

“What about Clark?”

Chloe and Lex both turned to see a very confused and suspicious looking Clark Kent standing behind them. Lex’s eyes darted to Trevor, but were unapologetic as he glanced back at Clark.

“What’s going on you guys?” Clark asked. Lex squared his jaw, readying himself for a fight over the woman he loved when he felt Chloe’s arms cling tighter to him.

“He means nothing to me. Nothing,” Chloe said against the crook of Lex’s neck. Lex leaned down and they kissed again, making Clark’s eyes threaten to pop out of his head. “You and I – we’re destiny, Lex.” Her hands moved to the button of his slacks and undid it, pulling down the zipper right afterward. “Show him we’re destiny.”

Lex kissed her and cupped her ass, bringing her legs to wrap around his waist. His hand drifted down under her skirt and pushed aside the thin string of material standing between them. She lifted her hips, positioning herself above his hard, throbbing cock. Their eyes locked and she thrust herself downward, impaling herself on his shaft.

Clark and Trevor looked on in horror and disbelief as Chloe and Lex started to have sex right in front of them.

“Shit,” Trevor mumbled and shook his head at Clark. “I didn’t think she was that drunk – honest.” Clark frowned and moved toward the couple, only to be stopped by a very familiar female form stepping in front of him. He placed his hands on Lana’s upper arms and was going to move her out of the way when she brought his face down to hers and kissed him almost fiercely. Trevor arched an eyebrow and then took a good look around at the rest of the partygoers.

He made a trail through the sea of people, noting that they all seemed to be involved in some sort of sexual activity or all out bloody brawl.

“I picked a hell of a night to pick the shortest straw,” he said to himself in reference to when he was chosen to be the designated driver for the evening. He found himself in front of the kegs with a stack of unused cups still out for the taking. He shook his head. He wanted to join in the fun, but he wasn’t going to leave his siblings, let alone his seventeen-year-old cousin at the party unattended. Not to say that he was going to get in the way of letting her screw the guy she was with either since they obviously had some sort of relationship that he just hadn’t been informed of.

Just then, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Two men, and their ages weren’t the only thing that put them out of place. One of the men had a small digital camcorder and the other had a notebook and pen. If Trevor didn’t know any better, he’d say that they looked like scientists viewing the party as an experiment. One of them looked at Trevor and then quickly looked away guiltily. That did it. The sneaking suspicion that had wormed its way into Trevor’s gut was becoming more of a pain.

He walked over to the man with the camcorder and folded his arms across his chest. The man gave him a nervous chuckle and looked like he was getting ready to run away as fast as he possibly could.

“You – um – you’re not drinking?” he stammered. Trevor pursed his lips, seemingly towering over the man by only a few inches, but a much more toned and muscular build.

“Designated driver,” Trevor said coolly. “Now, why do I get the feeling that there’s more going on here than meets the eye?”

“I – uh ---”

“What’d you do? Spike the beer?”

“You don’t understand who you’re dealing with,” the man said, clearly not referring to himself or he wouldn’t have exuded the fear he did with the statement.

“Oh? And who is that?”

“I can’t say. Please, just ---”

Trevor reached out to grab the camcorder away from him, almost disconnecting the wire it was plugged in to. He gave him a scolding look and then furrowed his brow.

“Where’s the memory cartridge?” he asked, turning the metal around in his hands. The man shook his head.

“There – there isn’t one. It’s live feed.”

Trevor looked up at him.

“To where?”

[jaded-swan]

Wow! This fic is FANTASTIC! Keep updating please! :chlexsign2:

[drina]

Hey Kris, I think the last part get cut off.


“Lex,” Chloe returned. Lex noticed that she didn’t make an immediate effort to move away fro

[scifichick774]

grrr

thanks for letting me know

[scifichick774]

Chapter 7

This part takes place the next morning.

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

The soft, warm, naked body that his own was curved up tightly against was Lex’s first indication that something was off. Even in the wilder days of his youth, he never was out of it so much as to have sex with a woman and still be in her bed when the next morning. The only times that had ever occurred were during his brief and incredibly twisted relationships with Desiree Atkins and Helen Bryce, both of which had been over for a long time; primarily due to the fact that both had tried to kill him.

The truth was, after Helen’s betrayal, he had effectively stopped dating altogether; unwilling to place any small morsel of trust in anyone, unwilling to get hurt again. Until that one day several months ago when Chloe Sullivan had walked right up to where he sat at the Talon and sat across from him without being invited. She hadn’t given him any false apologies about how sorry she felt for him and what had happened.

Instead, she gave him a quirky smile over the rim of her coffee mug as their eyes met. And after she took the most erotic sip of coffee Lex had ever seen, she spoke.

“Ever consider marrying someone who *doesn’t* want to kill you?”

Lex had blinked in surprise, unable to come up with an immediate response, and she had given him a slight chuckle and shook her head so that some of her hair fell down across her face. He found the gesture oddly attractive and strangely comforting at the same time.

“Sorry. One of those days,” she said, but not really in an apologetic tone. Lex nodded and Chloe looked down at the cup on the table, seemingly unable to make eye contact with him for what she was about to say. “I quit working for him the second I found out that he and Helen had planned the entire ‘relationship’ from the beginning. I hope you know that I would never intentionally hurt you – even if we don’t know each other that well.”

He responded by reaching across the table and covering her hand with his, stunned by the jolt of electricity that traveled up his arm and through his body at the simple and innocent skin-to-skin contact.

A few nights later, he had started dreaming of her. The dreams started off as normal, healthy fantasies; only progressing into the disturbing versions he had been having for the last few weeks after his relationship with Clark had gotten progressively worse. Clark apparently hadn’t appreciated the fact that Lex had continued to investigate the car accident that brought on their first meeting, especially after he had told him not to. And now that Clark was trying to make an effort to repair their friendship, Lex found that he couldn’t care less.

If anything, he was feeling hostile and jealous toward Clark because of the most recent dreams he had been having. In his dreams, Clark would mock him; tell him that Chloe would never be interested in him because he wasn’t a good person; because in most respects, he was the villain. It pained Lex to hear Clark say the words, even if they were only in his head, but it hurt him more to admit their validity to himself. After a few brief sessions of browsing the internet, the most popular theories were that every person in your dreams represented a part of you in some fashion; and that you could alter the dreams if you tried hard enough.

And Lex tried – God knew he tried. Still, the same words poured out of his mouth last night, despite the change in location. Something different had happened though. Chloe had responded to him. It had been the best dream he had in a long time.

Lex slowly let his eyes open, squinting when the light filtering in through the slits in the wall hit his eyes. He frowned. The second indication that something was wrong was the fact that he and the seemed to be lying naked on a couch in what looked like Clark’s fortress of solitude. The blonde next to him murmured something and started to roll over. Lex lifted his arm ever so slightly, allowing her to turn so he could see her face. His mouth dropped open when he saw that it was Chloe. She snuggled up against him, resting her head on his chest and one leg on top of his own as she continued to sleep.

His arm tightened around her and she let out a soft sigh of pleasure. Lex’s heart started to beat faster, pounding against his chest to the point where he was surprised that it didn’t wake Chloe up. She started to stir, stretching out an arm across him as she yawned and started to lift her head. Lex could see the confusion on her face as she took in her surroundings. She lifted her head a little, her eyes growing wide when she realized where she was and who she was with.

“Chloe,” Lex said, hoping to God that she wouldn’t get up as quickly as she could and run screaming away from him. They had obviously both had too much to drink the previous night and ended up sleeping together, but she might not give him a chance to explain that it wasn’t just a casual fuck for him – even if he couldn’t remember it. The only thing he *could* remember was his incredibly intense dream the night before.

“Lex,” Chloe returned. Lex noticed that she didn’t make an immediate effort to move away from him and he took it as a good sign. When she did start to move, she only sat up on the edge of one of the couch cushions instead of trying to run away. Her eyes darted around the loft and Lex realized she was searching for her clothes. He sat up as well and touched her arm.

“We should ---”

“I thought it was a dream,” she said, cutting him off. “God, Lex – I never would have ---” she trailed off and took a deep breath before she continued. “I’m sorry,” she said in little more than a whisper.

“For?”

Chloe turned her head slightly to face him, embarrassed and a little confused.

“I obviously got drunk and --- I seriously thought I was dreaming. I can’t believe that I just walked up to you and made you ---”

Lex reached up and cupped one side of her face with his hand, swiftly bringing his own lips to brush against hers. He pulled back before the kiss could deepen, checking for Chloe’s reaction before he did anything. She furrowed her brow.

“You didn’t *make* me do anything, Chloe.”

Chloe let out a sour half chuckle.

“I ---”

“And I thought it was a dream too.”

“What? Why would you dream about ---?”

Lex cut her off, kissing her again. The kiss was more insistent this time, his tongue darting out to trace along the crease of her lips, silently pleading for entry. Chloe opened her mouth, sliding her own tongue against his as they entwined their arms around each other and he slowly leaned her back on the couch. When they pulled apart to breathe, he hovered over her.

“Why would you?” he asked. Chloe was confused for a second until she remembered what she had asked him before they started kissing. A pink hue rose to her cheeks and she turned her head to the side to try and avoid eye contact. He dipped his head, pressing his lips against the smooth skin of her exposed neck before tracing circles on it with his tongue and lightly grazing it with his teeth. Chloe’s eyes fluttered shut as he started to suck at her neck, first gently, but then with increased pressure.

Her breathing became ragged and she repositioned her legs so he could settle between them. Lex kissed his way down to her collarbone and then to her breasts. Chloe’s hands flew up to his head when he captured one of her nipples between his lips.

“Lex,” she breathed, beginning to writhe against him as he suckled her and teased her other nipple with his fingers. His free hand drifted down her stomach to her curls and Chloe practically jumped when she felt him press his thumb against her clit. Her eyes lolled back in her head as he swept his thumb back and forth across her bundle of nerves, all the while continuing his attention to her breasts. Chloe’s nails raked absently across Lex’s scalp and he shivered in pleasure on top of her. He lifted his head, making eye contact with her before slowly inserting a long finger to see if she was ready for him. Chloe’s hips bucked and she whimpered when she saw him pull the finger out and bring it to his mouth to suck it clean.

He leaned down to kiss her again, his tongue immediately plunging into her mouth almost cruelly. He pulled back for a second before moving his mouth to her ear.

“Tell me you love me,” he said in a husky, hushed voice. He could feel her hot breath against him and could sense her hesitation without looking at her face. “It wasn’t a dream, Chloe. Tell me you love me.”

“I ---” she started nervously and then licked her lips, “I love you.” He kissed her again, positioning his cock at her warm, wet entrance before pulling his mouth away from hers.

“I love you too.”

He thrust into her, the pleasure of her slick, tight channel threatening to make him come almost upon entry. Chloe gasped and Lex pulled back slightly before moving into her again. He developed a slow rhythm and her legs wrapped around his waist to give him more access. Lex let out a groan and sped up his thrusts, going faster and deeper each time, moving around until he found the spot that made her scream.

He remembered the angle and kept hitting the spot as he continued to pump into her. Chloe dug her nails into his back, her full blown screams turning into large moans of pleasure like she had never felt before. Her stomach started to warm with a tingle and it spread through her body. Her vision went cloudy and her body started to shake with release as she screamed his name at the top of her lungs.

Her walls clamping around his cock, quivering as her orgasm rolled over her, was enough to push him over the edge. The last of her climax milked him for all he was worth and he groaned her name loudly before panting against her as he collapsed.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lionel pursed his lips as the audio/visual technician in front of him rewound the tape again.

“There,” Lionel said, pointing to the part where he wanted him to stop. “Can you clear out the background noise so I can hear what these two are saying?”

The technician pushed a few buttons and started to play the tape with the new parameters.

“Clark, I love you. But I can’t be with someone who won’t be honest with me. I know there’s something different about you. Why won’t you tell me what it is?”

“Lana – I ---”

“You – um – you’re not drinking?”

“Designated driver.”

“I thought you said you could filter out the other sounds,” Lionel said accusingly. The technician shook his head.

“The other two voices were too close to the mic,” he explained. “And if you’ll notice, the guy on camera here,” he paused and pointed at Trevor, “pulls the live feed wire in a minute.”

“I’m aware of that,” Lionel said coolly. He set his jaw as he glared at the screen. “There’s no way we can find out the rest of what the other boy was saying?” The technician frowned.

“Maybe, but it’ll take a while – and even then there’s no guarantee.”

Lionel grunted in displeasure.

“See what you can do.”


Chapter 8

A/N: There’s a disturbing twist coming up at the end of this chapter. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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

Lionel narrowed his eyes at the screen as he tried to make out the blurred activity behind Clark and Lana. If his so-called technical experts couldn’t make the conversation between them clear, then perhaps a couple of the local teens who overheard it could enlighten him – given the proper incentive of course. He pursed his lips in frustration and pointed at the screen.

“Zoom in on the couple behind them,” he ordered. The technician did the best he could, but Clark’s massive form was primarily blocking the couple out. Lionel was almost ready to give up, exhausted from having to deal with people he considered to be completely incompetent, when he caught a glimpse of a familiar bald head come into focus. “It can’t be,” he mused aloud, his eyes now fixed to the screen in a desperate effort to confirm what he had just seen.

Confirmation came less than a minute later when Clark stepped to the side and Lex was in plain view with a beautiful blonde woman’s legs wrapped around his waist. The image only lasted a split second, but it was enough to cause a sinister smirk to crawl across Lionel’s lips.

“My, my,” he said to himself.

He wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t seen his son on the tape before. The image was only fleeting and he had been focused on Clark and Lana’s conversation rather than what was going on in the background of the party. But now, now he had a first hand witness to the heated discussion along with a considerable piece of blackmail should his son choose not to cooperate out of his own free will.

“Is that ---?” the technician trailed off, tilting his head at the screen as he rewound the tape in slow motion.

“My son,” Lionel confirmed, his face completely taken over by a pensive expression as he stared at the monitor. After a minute, he finally spoke again. “Get out the earlier tapes.”

“Sir?”

“I want to see if my son had anything to drink last night.”

~*~*~*~*~

“Crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

Chloe held up the small skirt she had been wearing the night before, now donning a solid rip down the back of it.

“How am I supposed to get home if I have no clothing?” she asked, more to herself than to Lex.

“It’s probably better that your dad didn’t see you come home in that anyway,” Lex commented, a light smirk lighting up his face as he pulled up his slacks.

“Dad’s out of town,” Chloe replied off-handedly, her attention still on her skirt to see if there was any conceivable way that she could salvage it. “Maybe if I could find some safety pins…”

“I doubt you’ll need to resort to that.”

“So says the man whose clothing is still intact.”

“Actually,” Lex said, holding up his dress shirt so Chloe could see that all of the buttons had been ripped off. She blushed slightly and ducked her head to try and cover it. “In any respect, I was referring to the fact that I can probably ask Clark for something of his mom’s.”

There was a panicked pause in the conversation as both of them were stricken with a singular thought.

“Clark,” they said at the same time. Neither of them had given much thought to the fact that Clark and Trevor had seen them start having sex in the middle of the party until that point. Chloe’s face fell and it looked like she was going to be sick.

“Oh, God.”

“Chloe ---”

“Oh, God,” she said again. Lex watched as she started to pace back and forth in a pair of black lacy panties with a matching bra.

“It’ll be okay,” Lex assured her, trying to push aside his mixed feelings of lust and jealousy.

“It won’t,” Chloe responded, shaking her head, but still pacing. “He’s going to hate us – or hate you anyway. He already hates me.”

Lex wrapped his arms around her from behind and leaned down to kiss the crook of her neck. He noticed that Chloe’s breathing started to calm down and he made no effort to move from his position.

‘For her,’ he inwardly reasoned. “Better?”

“Be---”

“Chloe?” Chloe’s eyes snapped open and her body stiffened at the sound of Clark’s very startled voice. “Lex? Oh, my God.” Clark turned his head and looked down, still seeing the image of Chloe and conveniently blocking out Lex, fresh in his mind even though he had turned away. “Um ---”

Chloe took a deep breath and then gnawed on her lower lip nervously. She couldn’t have imagined a worse scenario for a nightmare if she tried.

“I ---”

“Do you think your mom has anything that will fit Chloe?” Lex interrupted, furious at the way Clark had been openly gawking at Chloe just a second ago, and determined to get her out of there as quickly as he could.

“I --- maybe,” Clark said, glancing back at the couple. He swallowed hard as his eyes raked over Chloe’s scantily clad form. Lex cleared his throat and Clark colored in embarrassment. He shoved his hands into his pockets and then gave Chloe a bashful smile, concentrating gully on keeping eye contact with her while he spoke. “You wanna come look?” Lex growled and Clark’s eyes widened. “Through her closet I mean? Because I don’t know your size,” his eyes subconsciously drifted down to her breasts, “or anything.”

“I don’t know,” Chloe said. “Maybe I should just bite the bullet and call Lana to have her bring something over.” Her tone was unsure and she was covering herself with her arms as much as possible. Just a few months ago and her ego would have swelled if Clark had looked at her like that – lustful, barely in control – but now it seemed awkward and uncomfortable, and she couldn’t wait to get as far away from Clark as she possibly could.

“She might not be home yet,” Clark said, snapping her out of her thoughts. Chloe raised an eyebrow, pushing down the familiar twinge of jealousy she felt with his feelings. “She got really sick last night and Trevor took her to the hospital to have her stomach pumped.”

“O-kay,” Chloe strung out, “not what I was thinking. And why didn’t *you* take her?”

“We’re --- not really getting along right now,” Clark said. Chloe looked at him skeptically and Clark frowned as he turned his eyes to the floor. “We kind of had a fight last night, she stormed off, and then she slept with Pete.” He said the last part with his words pushed together so Chloe and Lex weren’t sure of what they had heard.

“What?” Lex asked. Clark sighed.

“She slept with Pete, okay? And from the way they were acting, it looks like it’s been a long time coming.”

‘Way to go Pete,’ Chloe inwardly cheered, forcing herself not to scream the words aloud and only hoping that her smile wasn’t too broad.

“Listen, there’s something you guys should know,” Clark said, focusing on Lex instead of Chloe so he wouldn’t risk staring at her body again and losing his train of thought. Lex looked at him questioningly and Clark continued. “Trevor – he caught some guys with cameras here last night.” Chloe’s eyes grew large and full of worry. She pushed them shut and sucked in a breath.

“Please tell me you’re joking,” she said.

“Sorry,” Clark apologized. “And it only gets worse. Apparently they were hooked up to some sort of live feed. I haven’t been able to figure out who would do something like that, but it looks like they tainted the beer somehow too. I don’t know with what, but it made everybody go crazy.”

“Not everybody,” Lex said pointedly.

“Well, I wasn’t drinking,” Clark said, missing Lex’s insinuation. “And neither was Trevor – thank God.” When he noticed Chloe and Lex both shooting him quizzical looks, he rushed to explain. “If he had been drinking then we never would have found out about the cameras – or the beer. Anyway, it looks like people just thought they were dreaming or something, so I ---” Chloe’s groan cut him off.

“Please, *please* tell me that you didn’t just let people go home thinking that they had dreamt the whole thing,” she said. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it again, opting for an expression that made him look like a child who had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Chloe groaned again and let her head fall forward.

“Look, it’s not that bad,” Clark said in a reassuring voice as he took a couple of steps toward her. Chloe followed suit and tried to step toward him as well, only to have Lex’s grip around her waist tighten, reminding her all to well what she was barely clothed in. Clark gave her an almost pleading look and Lex’s grip on her tightened yet again, until her back was flush against his chest.

“Clark?” Lex asked, bringing the younger man’s attention back to him. Clark furrowed his brow in confusion and Lex squared his jaw. “The clothes?” Clark opened his mouth in understanding and then gave Lex a small nod.

“I’ll ---” his eyes traveled the length of Chloe’s body again, almost as if they had a will of their own, and he quickly turned his head away. “I’ll go look for something – stay here!”

Chloe rolled her eyes as Clark sped off.

“Like I’m going to go anywhere looking like this,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Chloe,” Lex started, relinquishing his hold on her so she could turn around in his arms. He searched her face for any sign that she might be mooning over Clark and was astonished to find none.

“What?”

“You and Clark ---”

The corners of Chloe’s mouth lifted into a pleasantly surprised smile and she ran her hands up Lex’s still bare chest. When they reached his shoulders, she leaned closer to him, raising herself onto her tiptoes so she could brush her lips against his already bent down head.

“There is no ‘me and Clark’.”

Lex grinned against her lips before kissing her, driving his tongue into her mouth as their embrace became more passionate.

Clark stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Chloe’s voice. He stared up at the loft and he felt physically ill when he saw her kissing Lex. He shook his head slightly, trying to force the image out of his mind, hoping to God that he was just imagining it. He looked back and felt an unfamiliar tremor of anger and jealousy rack his body. His hands clenched into fists, forcing the dress he had grabbed from his mother’s closet to ball up.

His memory flitted back to the actual dream he had the night before, where his mind had replayed seeing Chloe and Lex together and he had replaced Lex’s image with his own. It hadn’t been the first time he had dreamt of Chloe in that manner, though it had been the first time since they had decided to just be friends, and having a real glimpse of what she was like in that kind of situation had been almost more than Clark could handle – especially since she hadn’t been that way with him, but with Lex.

For some reason, Lana sleeping with Pete bothered Clark less. He had suspected for a while that they had feelings for each other, but had been hoping that he was wrong. He wouldn’t begrudge them their happiness though, especially since Clark had all but told Pete that he wished that he and Lana could get past everything that had happened between them and just be friends.

He never said that about Chloe though. He hadn’t released his completely unofficial claim to her, nor did he have any plans to, especially now that he had that image of her firmly embedded in his mind.

‘There is no ‘me and Clark’.’

‘Not yet.’

[drina]

Oh boy..this is so suspenseful..what with Lionel in the midst of all this plotting and now, Clark entering the fray...I can't imagine what it's gonna be like.

[TestingFaith]

Yay! You put this back up...

Great story, I love angst if the plot is good, and this plot is great.

Waiting impatiently for more,
Lily M. :sunny:

[Gemini]

Brilliant! I love the plot for this fic, I can't wait for more :biggrin:

[NightGlow]

I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!I LUV THIS FIC!

The plot is so original, as are all the twists and turns you've incorporated. :devil: It's a little scary, albeit, but that just adds a more intense tone to the entire story. Besides, I like to be shocked. And Clark is pleasingly annoying for some reason--all of the sudden I find myself loving hating him. Uggh, and Lionel as well.

PLEASE CONTINUE~PLEASE CONTINUE~PLEASE CONTINUE~PLEASE CONTINUE~PLEASE CONTINUE~PLEASE CONTINUE~PLEASE CONTINUE...

[TwirlWriter]

Holy Crap!!! This is wonderful!!!! Please update soon!!!!!

[sydsvaughn]

Did I mention how much I love this fic? If not, consider it mentioned now. So glad you're posting this and I cannot wait to read more!

SaraC

[Impress]

yeah you brought it over here. So enjoying this story. But then you already knew that. Post soon.

[L'infini]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Jun 13 2003, 06:43 AM
‘Not yet.’


Why that little... I hope he tries something and Chloe rips his balls off. Nobody breaks up the Chlex! Stupid red y-front wearing interloper.

Anyway, liking this very much, very original. Update soon? Please?

[scifichick774]

“So what happened…actually…*happened*?” Lana asked, her face growing paler with every word.

“Yeah,” Chloe confirmed, trying to concentrate on her sympathy for the friend in front of her instead of the immense anger she felt toward Clark for not telling people the truth before they left his party. She snapped out of her thoughts and watched as Lana shook her head back and forth in weak denial.

“But --- no,” she protested.

“Lana ---”

“*No*, Chloe. I was only dreaming,” Lana said more adamantly as she tried to convince herself of the validity of her statement. “How else would you explain the fact that I woke up here and not…somewhere else?” Chloe drew in a deep breath and released it slowly before answering.

“Trevor gave you a ride home after you passed out from having your stomach pumped at the hospital,” she replied. “Do you remember any of that?”

“I – I ---” Lana stammered, “--- how did you know about that? It was just a dream. I ---” Lana trailed off with a nervous frown, her eyes darting around the Sullivans’ living room, subconsciously looking for a way to get out of what happened.

“Think about it, Lana. I mean, aren’t you…sore?”

Lana crinkled her brow. Maybe the thing with Trevor had actually happened, and she had just been half asleep for it. But she reasoned that the rest of it couldn’t possibly have happened, as Chloe clearly had a completely different idea about what had gone on. After all, why would she be *sore*?

“My throat *does* hurt a little, but I figured I was just coming down with something,” Lana said.

Chloe opened her mouth to comment, but quickly shut it and gave Lana a forced smile.

“So-ooo many ways I could interpret that statement,” she said, “but I’ll be nice and say that I’m pretty sure we’re talking about different things.” Lana’s eyes widened as she realized what Chloe was saying.

“Oh! You meant…”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, God,” Lana groaned in a panicked voice. “It really happened! What am I going to do, Chloe?” Chloe reached out and comfortingly touched Lana’s arm.

‘Stupid Clark,’ she thought. ‘I can’t believe he let everyone go home thinking that they were still dreaming --- okay, yes I can. What a jerk.’

“Chloe, what am I going to do?” Lana repeated.

“Don’t worry, Lana, everything’s going to work out,” Chloe said. “Trevor’s looking into who could have done something like this, Clark is *finally* going door to door and telling people the truth, and Lex is ---”

“Lex! Oh, my God!” Lana exclaimed. “You – you and – you had ---” Chloe barely restrained her wince with Lana’s appalled tone.

“We slept together,” she confirmed, mimicking Lex’s way of pushing all visible emotion away from his face. Lana opened and closed her mouth a few times, gaping like a fish as she struggled for words.

“You – is that what you meant by sore?” she finally asked. Chloe tilted her head to the side as she gave Lana a questioning look.

“Well, yeah,” she answered. “Aren’t ---”

“He was your *first*?!” Lana blurted out. “Oh, God, Chloe. I had no idea. And here I was, rambling on about me and Pete and worried because we didn’t use protection, when ---” Chloe’s eyes grew large and she had to force herself to resist the urge to run away as quickly as she possibly could.

“Pete – last night – not your ---” she incoherently babbled. Lana shook her head and gave her friend a sympathetic look. Chloe swallowed down the bitter bile that suddenly rose to her throat. “Clark?” she squeaked in what was almost a whisper. She told herself that she didn’t like him anymore, but old feelings were hard to get rid of, especially jealousy.

“Oh, no – no,” Lana protested, her hands waving in front of her for effect. “I never slept with Clark. I was talking about Whitney.”

“Oh,” Chloe said in surprise. Lana gave her a half-grin that seemed apologetic more than anything.

“We went out for almost two years and ---”

“*So* don’t need the details,” Chloe interrupted. Lana giggled, but her amusement with her friend’s statement quickly disappeared and her face twisted into a worried expression. “What?”

“You – you said that last night was your first time,” Lana started carefully. Chloe gave her a small smile.

“I think we’ve established that,” she said in a somewhat teasing voice.

“So, you’re probably not on the pill either?” Lana asked, biting her lower lip nervously and then looking down and off to the side. “At least I won’t have to go through the pregnancy thing alone,” she mumbled to herself in a whispered voice. She raised her head again and then shook it lightly at Chloe. “I should have known better. I should have known that this is Smallville, and like you say, anything can happen here. I should have asked my doctor about putting me on birth control. I mean, you never know what’s going to happen, right?”

“Wrong,” Chloe argued and jumped out of her seat to start pacing the room. “I know exactly what’s going to happen in respect to my sex life – or at least I did. Every guy I went out with was either a meteor mutant or my dates would be interrupted by Clark Kent’s ‘fantastic’ timing. I never had to worry about anything happening because Clark was my own living, breathing birth control – whether it be his bad timing or his constant lectures about who I shouldn’t date, which includes just about everybody by the way. He just didn’t…work…last night.”

Lana frowned and bit back the small amount of jealousy she felt with Chloe’s words. The fact that Clark had always been so upset about whatever Chloe was doing or who she was dating had been one of the reasons they had never gotten past the trust issue between them. She knew that Clark liked her, but she suspected it was only for her looks, for the image she projected, rather than the person she actually was; whereas with Chloe, he cared about her as a friend, possibly even more and hadn’t realized it yet, and that’s why he was so hard on her. He couldn’t stand to see Chloe making what he considered to be mistakes, especially when it came to dating someone other than him.

“He tried to,” Lana finally brought herself to say. Chloe stopped pacing and narrowed her eyes.

“What?”

Lana took a deep breath and looked at Chloe with substantial apprehension.

“Clark tried to stop you, but I – I kind of distracted him,” Lana answered, now chewing so nervously on her bottom lip that Chloe thought she might draw blood. “I’m sorry. I really did think I was just dreaming and ---”

“I’m not.”

Lana blinked.

“You’re not what?”

“Sorry,” Chloe clarified. “It was something that both of us have apparently wanted for a while.”

“B-but, I thought you liked Clark,” Lana said with confusion. “And what if you’re…you know?” Lana asked, motioning to Chloe’s stomach. Chloe waved Lana’s comment away with a flick of her hand.

“Just because we slept together, it doesn’t mean that he…fertilized anything. And the same goes for you and Pete. You shouldn’t worry about it unless you miss your period or start throwing up or something.”

“But ---”

“Besides,” Chloe cut in, “on the off-chance that I *was* ovulating, Lex is probably sterile anyway.”

“Chloe ---”

“I mean, he was at ground zero when the meteors hit. All that radiation had to have ---”

“Chloe!” Lana said again, this time louder so Chloe would actually pay attention. Chloe’s body swiveled so she could look at Lana, but Lana could see the distinctly concentrated look in her friend’s eyes and knew that even if she spoke, there was a good chance that Chloe would just shut her out and continue her rambling inwardly rather than outwardly. Still, she had to take a chance.

“What?”

“I’m not like you,” Lana said.

‘Duh.’

“I can’t just wait and see – I need to know – I can’t do this,” Lana rambled in a panicked voice. “Oh, my God. I can’t do this.”

“Lana, just calm down,” Chloe said. “You’ll be fine – we both will. Okay?” Lana frowned again.

“At least Lex seems like a pretty progressive guy. I’m sure he’ll abide but whatever you decide.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow.

“Did you just say ‘abide’?” she asked, the humor evident in her tone. Lana pursed her lips and threw a decorative couch pillow at her.

“It’s on my ‘word of the day’ calendar, okay?” she huffed. Chloe laughed and shook her head, holding up her hands to wage off any further attacks.

“Okay, okay,” she said and walked back to the couch, choosing to sit on the oversized arm rather than sink back down into the comfortable cushions. “But, like I said, I really don’t think you have anything to worry about. And, if it turns out that Pete is as virile as he claims to be,” she paused and shot a bemused smile at Lana, “then…I’ve known him for a long time, Lana. He’s old fashioned, but…just don’t worry about it. Okay?”

Chloe stopped talking when she noticed that Lana looked absolutely horrified with everything that had happened and the prospect of what might happen because of it, and she couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t feel the same way.

If anything, she felt better about her life than she had in quite a while. But, she supposed that was because of Lex and how he had reacted when they woke up in each other’s arms that morning. Even if it ended up being just a one night stand, even if they didn’t end up having a relationship because of it, Chloe wouldn’t give up the experience for anything. Of course, the look on Clark’s face when he finally seemed to notice that she was a female member of the species hadn’t been bad either.

Chloe’s lips fell into a small frown when she thought about Clark. She wondered how she could have liked someone like him for so long, and more importantly, why she felt like her business with him hadn’t been completed.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“What are you doing in Smallville, Dad?”

Lionel cocked his head at Lex as he walked into his office at the manor.

“I’ve been waiting for you for the last hour,” he informed him, leaning back in his son’s chair.

“Fascinating,” Lex said with dry sarcasm, “but it doesn’t answer my question.”

“Testy,” Lionel teased. With a smirk, he stood up and started to step toward his son. “What’s the matter, Lex? Didn’t you sleep well?”

Lex clenched his jaw and his spine stiffened.

‘As if I couldn’t have guessed,’ he thought to himself. “I presume from your statement that you had something to do with what happened at Clark’s party?”

Lionel arched an amused eyebrow and one corner of his mouth lifted into a small smirk.

“Clark had a party?” he asked with mock-innocence. “I’m surprised his parents allowed that – although, since they’re out of town, they probably don’t know about it.”

“Keeping tabs on your former employee? That’s a little much even for you, isn’t it, Dad? Better be careful or Mr. Kent will bring charges against you for stalking his wife.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t learned that nothing is too much for me, son,” Lionel sneered smugly. “And as far as Mr. Kent is concerned, I’ll just have to inform him that the surveillance was in his wife’s contract – to make sure she didn’t go straight to any of my competitors with her inside information within six months of departure from LuthorCorp.”

“Smooth,” Lex said, half-sarcastic and half-impressed.

“And Martha Kent isn’t the only former employee I’ve been keeping tabs on.”

“Why does that not surprise me?”

Lionel picked a remote off of Lex’s desk and with the click of a button, an image of the party popped up on the television screen.

“I --- I can’t let you go, Chloe. You’re mine.”

The image flickered and Lex glanced over to see his dad fast-forwarding the tape.

Lex kissed her and cupped her ass, bringing her legs to wrap around his waist. His hand drifted down under her skirt and pushed aside the thin string of material standing between them. She lifted her hips, positioning herself above his hard, throbbing cock. Their eyes locked and she thrust herself downward, impaling herself on his shaft.

Lionel paused the recording and leaned his head to the side as he looked for Lex’s reaction to the tape he had just shown him. Finding nothing but a stone-like expression, he decided to push the issue.

“How long have you been involved with Miss Sullivan?”

[Gemini]

Yay! Loved the update :yay: I really want to know how Lex reacts to the tape.

[hler]

Sooo glad an update came, can't wait 'till the next one...my favorite line
“It’s on my ‘word of the day’ calendar, okay?” Sooooo funny, I can just picture her holding a piece of paper, blank look on her face, saying "What does abide mean?" heheh

Love it!!
~Heida

[Elviriel]

It's great ! I'm so happy you updated !!!
Lana sleeping with Whitney :huh: after all we don't know. Maybe !
Anyway, I LOVE that story

[Impress]

woo hoo an update. Worth the wait too. Good job dear.

[hfce]

Oh my Lord :huh: :ohmy: what is Lex going to do now. Ohhhhh :goof:


Hope

[Val]

Yaaaaaayyyy Update!
And a great one! :biggrin: Thanks!

And I was: :huh: at the last part, how Lex can keep a stone-like expression, I'll never know! Of course is Lexie and he just rocks! hehehehe
More soon! :yay2:

[S.Ann Smith]

love it... all of it... ^-^

[Blaire023]

it was sooooooo good!!!!!!

i want more....*rubs up against your leg purring*

now hurry, before sab sees me!

~B

[vardaquareien]

“My throat *does* hurt a little....
- “So-ooo many ways I could interpret that statement,”

:lol: Does it say something about me that I was thinking exactly the same thing that Chloe implied? :newdevil:

[jem]

woah...now lex is in for it.... love it!!!

[scifichick774]

“Seeing as how you don’t look nearly as shocked as I was when I viewed the tape, I’m going to wager that this wasn’t the first time you two have…been together,” Lionel said with a light smirk. “I can’t help but feel a little hurt that you didn’t tell me. How long have you two been ---?”

Lex stared at the screen in front of him, carefully guarding his expression so his father wouldn’t see the combination of anger and arousal that now coursed through his system. He pursed his lips ever so slightly and took a couple of steps to eject the videotape from the machine. After retrieving what he was certain wasn’t the only copy, he turned to give his dad the best impassive look he could pull off.

“I don’t really think that’s any of your business, Dad,” he finally said. Lionel let a small smirk crawl across half of his mouth with Lex’s response, only serving to enrage Lex further, though he was able to keep up the false veneer of disinterest. “I’m so glad my personal life creates such a source of amusement for you,” he said sarcastically. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”

“On a Sunday?” Lionel queried, raising a mocking eyebrow at the same time. His son was obviously more agitated about seeing the tape than he was letting on. Lex let out a huff of air and observed his father with thinly-veiled aggravation.

“What do you want?”

“Actually,” Lionel said, his lips twisting into a sardonic grin, “I think I’ve already gotten what I came here for.”

“Way to go, Dad,” Lex replied with dry sarcasm. He was tempted to ask what Lionel had come there for yet again, but he had been through the game of carefully selected banter with his father on too many occasions to make the mistake of asking again so soon. It would make him appear anxious and weak, and that was something Lex couldn’t afford.

“Yes, I suppose a pat on the back *is* in order,” Lionel said, purposefully ignoring the tone with which Lex said his words. “Although, I must admit, I’m a bit surprised to find out that your relationship with Miss Sullivan wasn’t due to…outside circumstances.”

‘Leave it to him to admit something without actually admitting it,’ Lex thought, quickly followed with a bitter, ‘And to insult me in the process.’

“She always struck me as having an unrequited crush on your friend Clark,” Lionel prodded, pleased when he saw the muscles in his son’s jaw tense. “And she *did* have a drink at the party, so you can’t blame me for thinking that your…interaction…with her was chemically related. Though, admittedly, I should have sensed that there was something between the two of you when she quit working for me simply because she overheard me talking to your ex-fiancée.”

“Would this be one of the conversations where you two were conspiring to kill me?” Lex asked rhetorically, already suspecting what the answer was. Lionel gave a half roll of his eyes. “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.” Lionel looked down at his closely-cropped, manicured fingernails as if he were inspecting them for dirt.

“Do you mind if I ask how long have you and Chloe been seeing each other?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“*Yes*, I *mind*,” Lex clarified, giving his father a pointed look as he did so. “I already told you that it’s none of your business. *No* aspect of my personal life is your business. I’m not sure why you’d think you could get my answer to change in the space of three minutes, but I assure you it hasn’t.”

Lex turned back around and stared out the window. His dad was apparently going to be relentless about finding out about him and Chloe if he was willing to risk asking the same question again in such a short period of time, but for the first time in a long time, Lex didn’t feel victorious over having the upper hand in their battle. At that very moment, he was just desperately hoping that Lionel would just take his turned back as a hint and leave, but unfortunately knew from experience that he wouldn’t.

“You’re my son,” Lionel said in his best impersonation of a somewhat hurt and confused voice, not quite pulling it off because of the evident humor behind his words. “Is it so wrong for a father to ---”

“To *what*?!” Lex asked sharply, spinning back around on his heel and stalking a few paces toward Lionel. “To screw around with other people’s lives as if you have every right to dictate the kind of chaos that you’ve inflicted upon them? Most of the people at that party were *teenagers*, Dad, and most of their lives are going to be irreparably damaged, or at the very least changed, because of what you did. Did you ever even consider that before you started to play God?” Lionel met his angry stare head on.

“I hardly think I can be held responsible if the younger citizens of Smallville willingly choose to break the Law,” he said with mild amusement. Lex shook his head ever so slightly in disbelief, causing the corners of Lionel’s mouth to lift even more. “And you should know better than anyone that *God* is certainly not someone I’ve ever emulated in any fashion.”

Lex gave him a tight, bitter grin.

“Good point,” he conceded. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Lex let go of a breath and searched his dad’s face for any clues to what he might be thinking. “What are you really doing here, Dad? Because if it was just to check on how your little experiment went, I’d say you have all the answers you need.” He held up the videotape and waved it a little. “So, what is it? Did you just come here for another round of trying to torment me?” Lionel tsked and shook his head, taking a step toward his son, but stopping when he saw the warning look in Lex’s eyes.

“Quite honestly, I was hoping we could put aside our sordid history and…work together,” he said. Lex let go of a sour laugh before he realized that his father wasn’t joking.

“You’re not serious?” he asked in disbelief. “You took over my company and you plotted with Helen to try and *kill* me. What made you think I’d lost enough of my mind to *ever* work with you?”

“Because, Alexander, I’m more convinced than ever that you and I are after the same thing.”

“Well, that’s peachy,” Lex said sarcastically, “but from what I’ve gathered, the world dominance thing is really only a one person gig.” Lionel’s eyes flickered with a mixture of amusement and angry frustration.

“That’s not what I was talking about, but I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when the day comes for you to try and overthrow me,” he said. Lex gave him a tight grin and then puckered his lips ever so slightly to rest his tongue in his cheek. “Of course, that day may come much sooner than you think if we work together.” Lex sighed and ran a hand over his smooth head. There was only so much more of his dad’s circular riddles he could take. “Do you want to know the truth about Clark Kent or don’t you?”

Lex’s eyes went straight to Lionel’s and his dad smiled when he saw the startled curiosity that sprung up there, only hampered by the remnants of friendship that Lex, for whatever reason, seemed to be holding onto.

“Isn’t that why you started dating Chloe?” Lionel continued. “Because you think she has the answers to the question you’ve been asking yourself for so long?”

“Is that why you hired her?” Lex bit back, inwardly congratulating himself for not taking his father’s bait and letting it slip that he actually loved Chloe more than Lionel would ever know. If Lionel even suspected that Lex’s feelings for Chloe ran as deep as they did, then Lex had no doubt that he would use those feelings against him to ensure that he got his way, regardless of who got hurt in the process.

“She didn’t tell you?” Lionel asked with a slight sneer. “Interesting --- perhaps your relationship isn’t on as solid foundation as you would have me believe.”

“If you’ll recall, I haven’t said *anything* about my relationship with her – or that I even *have* a relationship with her,” Lex countered. “Whatever you’ve concocted about the two of us has been ---”

“--- Proven,” Lionel interrupted with a smug grin, motioning with his head to the tape that Lex still clutched in his hand. It had taken a great deal of stubbornness, but he had finally come full circle and backed Lex into a corner. He was going to find out one way or the other – for certain – whether Lex had been influenced by his chemically altered beer the previous night or not.

~*~*~*~*~

Chloe tossed her head to the side on her pillow. A much needed nap was exactly what she needed after the previous night’s activities, but unfortunately, it wasn’t going quite as well as she had planned.

She had been letting the answering machine pick up any phone calls at the risk of having hell to pay once she listened to some of the messages, but Lana had been going into hysterics every ten minutes and whatever sleep Chloe had thought about getting had been thoroughly disrupted.

She turned onto her back and sighed as she heard Lana running to the bathroom yet again. Through her fits, Lana had somehow managed to convince herself that she was indeed pregnant and that the early warning signs, such as morning sickness, were already showing up in her body.

Chloe rolled her eyes before plucking the sides of the pillow and bringing them up to cover her ears so she wouldn’t have to listen to Lana gagging herself again. If it was something like an eating disorder, she might have been more understanding, but because it was due to a psychosomatic, non-existent pregnancy, Chloe was less than sympathetic.

‘Idiot,’ she thought as she heard the toilet flush yet again. ‘Only Lana would think that nausea would show up the day after conception.’ Chloe frowned and then cringed as she heard Lana dry-heaving through her house’s thin walls. ‘If she really is pregnant, then she’s moving in with Pete, because there’s no way I’m listening to *that* for the next three months.’

A knock came from the other side of the door and Chloe let out a small sigh.

“Come in.”

The door creaked open and Lana stepped through, closing the door behind her and then leaning against it. Lana looked like death and Chloe found that she couldn’t help it - she was tired, she was grumpy, and she couldn’t resist taking a jab at Smallville’s princess, even if she was her friend. She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow.

“I thought pregnant women are supposed to be all glow-y?”

Lana glared at her and started to shuffle toward her bed.

“I think that comes later,” she grumbled and flopped herself down, head first, on the end of the bed.

“Ah,” Chloe said, quickly hiding the smile that spread across her lips as Lana moved to look at her.

“Be honest,” Lana started.

“Okay – you look like crap,” Chloe said, the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth again. It wasn’t entirely teasing though. Lana looked worse than Chloe had ever seen her. Her face was pale and gaunt, the sweat from her brow moving across her scalp and into her normally beautiful hair to make it appear dirty and stringy.

“That’s not what I meant,” Lana said and rolled onto her back to stare at the ceiling. Even from her position, Chloe could see a delicate disturbed look cross Lana’s features. “I do?” Chloe laughed and Lana shook her head with a smile. “That’s not funny.”

“Okay, okay. So, what did you want me to be honest about?” Chloe asked, not bothering to mention that she really hadn’t been kidding. She saw Lana bring her hands to her stomach and barely resisted rolling her eyes.

“How do you think Pete is going to react?” Lana asked in a concerned voice.

‘Like you’re a head-case,’ Chloe thought to herself. “I don’t know, Lana, but I think you should wait until you have proof before you tell him.”

“The constant morning sickness isn’t proof enough?” Lana asked with wide-eyed horrific expression on her face. Chloe gave her a tight grin.

“You *could* just be having a reaction to having your stomach pumped last night,” she said in a tone that wasn’t too condescending. “Pete’s a good guy, and I think he’ll be cool either way, but you should make sure before you say something about it.” ‘Since you’re not,’ she thought. ‘Probably not what she wants to hear though.’ “You know, so you don’t get his hopes up or anything,” she finally said with a fake smile. Lana gave her a genuine smile in return and a weak nod of her head.

“Thanks, Chloe.”

“No problem.”

A second later, the formerly exhausted-looking Lana practically jumped off the bed and ran out of Chloe’s room for the bathroom once again. Chloe let out a loud sigh and lay back flat on her bed.

‘Yep. Definitely moving in with Pete.’ She paused for a half-second as an almost evil grin spread across her lips. ‘I wonder what his mom will think about that.’



TBC...

[hfce]

:lol: you updated. Chloe is so evil. :lol: Lionel is a sick bastard. He needs to be :die:


Hope

[Impress]

“And you should know better than anyone that *God* is certainly not someone I’ve ever emulated in any fashion.”

I really liked this line. Don't ask me why. Lionel is such a magnificent bastard. So glad you updated chica. Could you have Chloe smack some sense into Lana though. It would be much appreciated. :biggrin:

[Gemini]

God, if Lionel were a woman he'd be such a bitch! I love how you write him :lol: Great chap.

[vardaquareien]

:yay3: Yay an update!!! This is classic.

Lana's such a hypercondriac! (and I luv that she looks like crap! :biggrin: ) Chloe's reaction is hilarious - my heart goes out to Pete getting stuck with the girl though!!!

Luv the magnificent bastard as usual! You always write him so well (or should I say bad?)

[dsapiro]

Lionel is so very evil, you write him really well. Update soon!

[scifichick774]

Lana watched as Chloe sulked, frowning against the rim of her coffee cup as she sat in the far corner of the Talon.

It had been four days since the infamous Clark Kent party, as it was now known in the hallways around school, and not only did Lana know that Lex had not called Chloe once, but Chloe’s cousins had all gone home earlier that morning. To make matters worse, Trevor had only run into dead-end leads when investigating who could be behind what had happened. Lana placed a sympathetic grin on her lips and walked over to the table holding a pot of regular coffee.

“You’re sure you don’t want one of those foamy espresso things you usually get?”

Chloe glanced up at her roommate, trying desperately to bite back her initial response of, ‘I don’t usually order those, you just screw up my order and bring them to me.’ Instead, she sucked in a breath and shook her head. “No thanks.”

“Chloe,” Lana started, her tone tipping Chloe off to the upcoming lecture.

‘Like I haven’t heard it every day since it happened,’ Chloe thought to herself.

“Why don’t *you* call *him*? I mean, that’s what you made me do with Pete and look how well that worked out.”

Chloe raised her eyes from her coffee mug once more and gave Lana a disbelieving stare.

“Only after he called for you every hour on the hour and sent you flowers, Lana,” she said, unable to pull back the bitter words pouring from her mouth. “There’s a difference, you know?”

Lana drew in a breath, sat down across from Chloe, and then set the pot of coffee down on one of the small menu cards so it wouldn’t hurt the table.

“Chloe,” she half-whispered, “I never thought I’d hear these words coming out of my mouth, but why don’t you give Clark another chance?”

“No.”

“I mean it,” Lana continued, as if she hadn’t heard her blonde friend’s firm answer. “Lex has…a reputation. And yes, it sucks that it turned out to be true, but you *know* Clark and you know how much effort he’s been putting into patching up your friendship. And I can tell that he likes you more than that. Maybe you should just…set aside all the past stuff and make a fresh start with him.”

“No,” Chloe repeated.

Both girls were too involved in the conversation, Lana with talking and Chloe with trying to block her out, to notice the man who had just come into the Talon and strolled over to their table.

“Lana, would you excuse us for a moment?” Lex asked, keeping his eyes fixed on Chloe while he asked the question.

Lana paled and almost knocked the pot of coffee over the side of the table in her haste to get up. She quickly set it up straight and grabbed a rag from her apron to wipe down the small amount of coffee that spilled on the table. Lex cleared his throat and Lana scurried away so she wouldn’t get caught in the inevitable crossfire to come.

“Lex,” Chloe greeted coolly, staring straight head to the empty seat in front of her rather than turning to look at him. Lex bent down and kissed her, taking her completely by surprise. Chloe moved her mouth and stared indignantly at him. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she hissed in a voice so low that it was almost a whisper. Lex seemed unfazed by her words and took the chair across from her.

“Last I checked, kissing was a perfectly acceptable greeting for people in a relationship,” he said. Chloe glared at him, unable and unwilling to hold back the hurt she had been experiencing for the last few days.

“We’re not *in* a relationship,” she retorted, venom lining every note of her voice. Lex furrowed his brow, but let it ease when he thought he realized why she was upset.

“My father left this morning.”

“Bully for you,” she said sarcastically. “Now, if you’d just leave as well…” Lex creased his brow again with concern and reached across to place his hand on top of hers.

“What’s wrong?”

Chloe looked at him incredulously.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Chloe, something is obviously bothering you,” he said. “And ---”

Chloe shook her head and started to stand up.

“You know, I’m not sure why I expected any better of you, but I did.”

“Chloe ---” Lex gripped his hand around her wrist and tugged on it so she would sit back down. Chloe bore into him with a warning glare, but Lex didn’t relent. “Just tell me what’s wrong.”

“We – slept – together,” she said quietly, annunciating every word for clarity. Lex still looked confused and Chloe ran a hand through her hair in frustration. “I don’t know why I expected you to…I don’t know…call or something, but ---” Lex’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly and if Chloe had been paying attention, she might have been able to see the wheels turning around in his head.

“Clark didn’t tell you,” he observed. Chloe blinked and then shook her head lightly.

“What?”

“Chloe, that afternoon after the party…I walked into find my father in my office,” Lex said. Chloe kept her mouth shut, but it was obvious to Lex that she wasn’t even close to forgiving him. “He made some random comments and then showed me a videotape of the party --- of us.” Chloe’s mouth dropped open and closed shut a couple of times before she was finally able to speak.

“He --- are you saying that your dad was behind this?” she asked, now leaning forward so they were hunched partway over the table.

“He was careful with his words, but yes.”

Chloe frowned and pulled back a little.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Lex gave her a tight, bitter grin.

“That’s where Clark was supposed to come in,” he answered. “When he made his usual delivery, I asked him to step outside so we could talk. I explained the situation and that I was afraid that my dad might come after you to get to me. Despite my better judgment, I asked him to tell you that I would contact you when everything was safe and to look out for you and make sure you were protected until my father left town.” Lex paused for a second and gave her a knowing look. “You know I never would have asked *Clark* if I didn’t think something might happen, especially given your history, but ---” he trailed off and let a little grimace come over his face.

“But he’s ‘special’,” Chloe said understandingly. Lex nodded once and Chloe let out a sigh as she perched her jaw onto the propped-up palm of her hand. “Well, I guess that explains why he’s been there every time I’ve turned around.” She stopped talking and gave Lex a small smile. “Good thing you told me. I was about to go get a ring made out of one of the meteor rocks to keep him at bay.” Lex let one corner of his mouth curl upward, but it fell quickly.

“He really didn’t tell you, did he?” he asked. Chloe shook her head and Lex squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. I should have known that was a possibility, but he seemed like the lesser of two evils at the time.”

Chloe looked down at the table and closed her eyes. All of the pain she had felt for the last few days had been over nothing. Lex had been trying to protect her from his father and Clark had been…what? Trying to use her and Lex’s time apart to his advantage?

‘Asshole,’ she thought to herself.

Lex keenly watched the criss-cross of emotions that flit over Chloe’s face.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Chloe raised her head and gave him a sour grin.

“I was just thinking that I might have that ring made after all,” she said. Her smile grew and she let out a tiny chuckle. “Of course, just because it works in my dream, doesn’t mean it works in real life. Still, though, the rocks are kind of pretty, don’t you think?”

Lex’s mouth spread into a wide smile and he stroked her hand with his thumb.

“I could get it for you.”

“What?”

“The ring,” Lex said. “After all, you made a valid point that it probably wouldn’t hurt Clark, so what would be the harm?” ‘And if it does help keep Clark away from her, then all the better.’ Chloe tilted her head to the side and smiled at him.

“You can’t get me a ring, Lex,” she said and then shook her head.

“Why not?”

“Because.”

“Well, that *is* a good reason,” he teased.

“Lex, you know what I mean.”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t. It’s just something you want, Chloe; something I can get for you. So, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that if I accepted a ring from you – even a friendship ring – then Lana’s going to start up on her ‘you could be pregnant’ thing, and I really, *really* don’t want to have to listen to another word of that.”

Lex blinked in surprise and confusion.

“What ‘you could be pregnant’ thing?” he asked, causing Chloe to groan before meeting his eyes once again.

“Lana freaked out because she and Pete didn’t use protection. I mean, *seriously* freaked out – like ‘psychosomatic morning sickness’ freaked out,” Chloe started to explain. “And then she brought up you and me and ---” Chloe paused and shook her head. “God. She’s nice, but she can be so weird sometimes.”

Lex’s head was swimming with the second part of what Chloe had said. ‘And then she brought up you and me ---’ Lex found himself absently staring at her, wondering if it was possible. He had always been so careful with the other women he had been with, because he hadn’t loved them, they had only loved his money, and he wouldn’t risk bringing a child into an unloving home – let alone the fact that the previous women he had been with had been promiscuous and he didn’t want to risk catching anything. But Chloe…he thought he had been dreaming the first time they made love, but what was his excuse for what had happened the morning after? ‘You love her,’ his inner voice reminded him.

Unfortunately, the possibility of a baby only made the situation with his father that much more difficult. If Chloe did end up being pregnant and Lionel found out about it, Lex was sure that nothing, not even Clark Kent, would be able to stop his father from taking Chloe and hurting her to hurt him. Lex felt his stomach tie into a knot and Chloe rolled her eyes as she pulled her hand back.

“I’m not *really* pregnant, Lex,” she said with a smile. “So you can get rid of the ‘oh my God, what am I going to do?’ face.”

Lex gave her a serious look and Chloe felt herself squirming under the intensity of his gaze.

“Chloe, it’s not what you think,” he finally said. Chloe arched an eyebrow.

“Oh? And what do I think?”

“You think that I wouldn’t be happy if you were carrying my child - *our* child – but I would. I just --- it would put you in so much more danger than you are already.”

“How do you figure?” Chloe asked with a bemused grin. “Do Luthor babies rip through your stomach like that scene in ‘Alien’?” Her teasing demeanor changed when she saw that Lex still looked completely serious. “Lex ---”

“I don’t think I could handle it if I lost you,” he said.

“O-kay,” she strung out slowly and gave him a questioning look, not really sure she wanted to know where he was going with this.

Lex simply stared at her, not sure whether he could transfer his jumbled thoughts into a coherent statement. The truth was, the possibility of Chloe being pregnant scared him and excited him at the same time, on so many different levels that he couldn’t even think clearly. Then there was his father. If Chloe was indeed carrying his child, Lex would need to think of a way to get his dad out of the picture for good; and risk losing Chloe if she ever found out about how he had to do it. Finally, Lex came to a decision and gave a quizzical-looking Chloe a hint of a grin.

“When can you get tested?”




TBC…

[drina]

I can see this is kinda different from your usual style, darker as you said it yourself, but still very good.

[buffiy18]

This story keeps getting more and more interesting. I liked how the chapter twists away from the angst at the end. I am very interested to find out how this pregnancy arch plays into the story... is Chloe goign to be pregnant? Also enjoyed the ring convo between the two.

Looking forward to the next chapter. :chlexsign2:

[dsapiro]

Didn't Chloe just tell him that she isn't pregnant. And what if she doesn't want to have his child. Great chapter, update soon!

[crazygirl]

Aww, can't you just arrange something for Lionel? I've heard car accidents are very common these days *hint* :devil: And I can't wait to find out whether Chloe is really pregnant. Hurry with the next chapter, *please* :biggrin: .

[celticangel]

Great part!! :worship2: I hope Chloe kicks Clarks butt.

[staysixkid]

You've got my really torn here!... :tease:
I need another chapter to overcome these ambiguous feelings. So what do you say???

ok, honestly now...
:worship2: EXCELLENT update. Where do we go from here?

[hfce]

More please... :blinkkiss:


Hope :cool:

[fighterangel]

this is getting so good. I can't wait for more. Is she gonna be pregant? Will she get a ring? I wanna know :begs:

[shipperchick]

I love this story! I love how the character's reactions and emotions are more complex, not as clearly defined as the usually are... while it makes for a stomach-twister of a ride, it's an incredibly intriguing one! I'd really like to see this go on for a while, just 'cuz I'm enjoying your approach so so much!

Also:

“Think about it, Lana. I mean, aren’t you…sore?”

“My throat *does* hurt a little, but I figured I was just coming down with something,” Lana said.


:hammer:

Not the brightest crayon in the box, is Lana?

::snork::

[Tandy]

i hope Chloe gets the ring so she can beat the sh*t out of Clark! :devil: More please!!!

Tandy

[Brittany]

:worship2: This fic is so good, the plot totally original and the characters are perfect! I love it and all the Chlex scenes are great, and to think I wasn't gonna read it b/c of your warning, I'm glad I did b/c I would have missed out on one of the best fics out there. Make sure Chlex stays happy, I hate sad Chlex fics. Update soon, I can't wait much longer to find out what will happen next! :chlexsign2:

[darlc]

pls update soon :biggrin:


i love it

[vardaquareien]

Bloody Clark! What a bastard! I hope Chloe and Lex tear him a new one!!! :die: I really hope that Lex does get her the kryptonite ring. Then they could cause some real damage!!!

[scorpio]

Great fic. :)
Oh and um, hurt Clark, ok? Hurt him badly.Why? Just for fun. Do you need more reasons? :lol:
And let Lex get Chloe some jewelery with Kryptonite. :hehe:

[lunaluthor]

this story is sooo excellent can't wait for the update
and please some Clark bashing is in order :yay: :yay:

[kirt30]

more please :dance: :angel: :dance:

[hhl100]

more please

:dance:

[scorpio]

Still waiting for Clark to get his ass kicked...badly. :biggrin:

[lunaluthor]

Originally posted by scorpio@Aug 4 2003, 06:12 PM
Still waiting for Clark to get his ass kicked...badly. :biggrin:
yep I second that
I want a badly hurt Clark soooon :devil:

[argentlife]

This was wonderful, slightly darker but more so intruging. Great work.

*Inserts begging tone* Please update soon, pretty, pretty please?


Lisa

Oh and if Clark's ass gets kicked [I]Whoopie[I]

[shailafter]

yes, when can she get tested? waiting patiently :chlexsign3:

[scorpio]

http://www.smiliegenerator.de/s18/smilies-17079.png

http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/aktion/action-smiley-060.gif

Um, I mean, update soon? :biggrin: Please? :worship2:

[scifichick774]

A/N: You *do* remember that dark angst warning I gave at the beginning, right? Good.

~*~*~*~*~

Two Weeks Later…

“Bill, bill, bill, trash…hmm,” Gabe said to himself as he shuffled through the mail on the way to the front door. He flipped the slim box over in his hand, but saw no other address on it but his own. “Okay,” he muttered under his breath and then balanced the package along with the other mail under one arm as he unlocked and opened the door. “Anybody home?!”

He waited for a minute, but there was no response, nor were there any other sounds in the house to indicate that anyone was there.

“Okay…guess not.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall and his brow furrowed. Seven o’clock on a Thursday night. ‘Chloe should be here. Huh. Probably got sucked into helping Lana at the Talon again.’ He threw the mail down on the table, but kept the box in his hands, ripping along the seam as he walked over to open the refrigerator. ‘Or out grocery shopping,’ he thought sourly.

Deciding on delivery food, he paid little attention to the box in his hands while he placed his order, only frowning when an unlabeled videotape fell out onto the floor, followed by a small piece of white paper.

He hung up the phone and crouched down to pick up the items, his brow creasing when he noticed the typing on the note.

Do you know where your daughter is?

Gabe’s heart stopped and then started again, beating wildly in panic.

“Oh, my God.”

Here he had thought it was just something business related, and now…now he didn’t even want to think about what the possibilities were.

Not a full minute passed between reading the note and rushing to the VCR in the living room to clumsily shove the tape inside. He swallowed down the bile he felt rising in his throat, nervously awaiting the images that were about to flit across the screen.

‘Maybe I should call the cops --- no, no. Wait and see what’s wrong first,’ he thought rapidly.

Lex grabbed her face and slammed his lips down punishingly against Chloe’s. Trevor’s eyes grew wide and he stepped forward to try and push the obviously drunk man away from his cousin.

“Hey - back off!” he ordered. Lex pulled away and growled at him, seeing Clark’s face instead of Trevor’s. “You can’t just ---” Trevor’s words were abruptly cut off by Lex turning the small, non-meteor encrusted ring on his finger and slamming his fist into Trevor’s face. Trevor wobbled on his feet, but he didn’t fall. “What the ---?” He trailed off, caressing his jaw with his hand as he watched Lex face Chloe again, seemingly going through some inner conflict.

Lex concentrated on his breathing, struggling to change the dream so he wouldn’t have to go through the torment of raping Chloe again.

“I ---” he started in a choked voice, “I can’t let you go, Chloe. You’re mine.”

Chloe stepped closer to him and ran her hands up his chest until they snaked around the back of his neck, pulling his head down to hers. She ran her tongue along his lips and his mouth immediately opened for her. Their tongues entwined, hot and wet as they slid against each other. She pulled back slightly to breathe and peppered his cheek with soft kisses until she reached his ear.

“Tell me you love me,” she whispered.

“I love you. God, Chloe ---”

“I love you too.”

Gabe stood there with his mouth agape.

Chloe and…Lex? How long had this been going on?

Lex kissed her and cupped her ass, bringing her legs to wrap around his waist. His hand drifted down under her skirt and pushed aside the thin string of material standing between them. She lifted her hips, positioning herself above his hard, throbbing cock. Their eyes locked and she thrust herself downward, impaling herself on his shaft.

Gabe stumbled backward. Out of all of the things he had expected to see on the tape, his daughter having sex with his boss wasn’t one of them.

He blinked a couple of times and turned his eyes away from the screen, only to have them fall up on the note that had dropped to the floor.

Do you know where your daughter is?

“Crap.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Clark watched on with a frown as Pete and Lana stole looks at each other every time she walked by. Pete caught Clark’s expression and looked at him apologetically.

“Sorry, man; I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay,” Clark said uncomfortably. “It’s just…weird. You know?”

“Yeah, I know.” Pete rustled guiltily in his seat.

He had never set out to start liking Lana; in fact, if anything, he had always viewed her as a friendly acquaintance. They gradually grew into being friends and then after he got past the basic ‘poor me’ image that she projected, he found that he liked her. Of course, it didn’t hurt that she seemed to like him back so it wasn’t another unrequited crush situation.

An uncomfortable silence creeped over their table and Pete twisted in his chair to look toward the bathrooms.

“I wonder what’s taking Chloe so long.”

Clark let out a small sigh and rested his jaw on his fist.

“I think she’s hiding from me,” Clark pouted.

“Hey, don’t think like that. I know things have been pretty stressed, but this is *Chloe* we’re talking about. You really think she would hide in a bathroom just so she wouldn’t have to talk to you? Besides, she accepted the invite to sit at our table.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Clark said with a light smile, clearly relieved by Pete’s evaluation of the situation.

“Still…she has been gone for a long time…” Pete said, turning to look at the bathroom again.

“Pete,” Clark whined, thinking his friend was teasing him.

“You don’t think she’s still sick, do you?” Pete asked with a worried look as he turned to face Clark again. “Because I don’t wanna catch anything.”

“She’s sick?”

“She was. At first Lana thought it was food poisoning, but then that bug is going around, so ---”

“Maybe I should go check on her,” Clark said as he started to stand up.

“Sit down,” Pete said and tugged down on Clark’s arm.

“But ---”

“She’s in the *girls’* bathroom, Clark. What are you gonna do?” Pete asked. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but Pete promptly cut him off with a pointed look. “*Without* using your ---”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it,” Clark hissed in a hushed voice, using his hands to indicate that Pet should lower his voice.

“We could always just ask Lana,” Pete said as Clark sat back down. Clark stirred while he stared over at Lana and Pete held up his hands in mock defeat. “Okay, okay, it was just a suggestion…aw, crap.”

Clark gave him a surprised yet befuddled look and Pete motioned to the door with his head.

Clark let out a small groan and buried his head in his hands. A confrontation with Lex was the last thing he needed.

“Mr. Ross…Clark,” Lex greeted coolly. “Chloe was supposed to ---”

“In the bathroom,” Pete interrupted curtly without even looking at the man. Lex nodded once and started to walk away.

“See? I told you --- *hiding*,” Clark said. “She was probably just waiting in there until Lex came into the Talon.”

“Probably,” Pete said with a mischievous grin. “But he’s also the one who has to go embarrass himself by knocking on the ladies room door.”

A slow smile spread across Clark’s lips.

“Good point.”

~*~*~

Lex reached up to knock on the door when Lana appeared out of nowhere behind him.

“Looking for Chloe?”

He would have jumped had he not been a Luthor.

Instead, he opted for a single nod of his head and what he hoped passed as a polite grin.

“Mr. Ross ---”

“I think you can call him Pete when you’re not speaking to his face, Lex,” Lana said, clearly amused.

Lex’s grin turned tight. Normally he would have been friendly, but getting his dad out of the picture for good was turning out to be more difficult than he had first imagined - at least the aspect of not getting caught at it was; and he had precious little patience for putting up with Lana’s inane attempts at being clever.

Lana ducked her head to look away from him.

“Oo-kay,” she strung out. “How ‘bout I just go get her for you?”

Lana opened the outer door a crack and slid into the room, resting her back against the door and letting out a huff of air after she got in.

Ever since Lex and Chloe had gotten together, Lex had been short with people, and never seemed truly at ease unless he was with Chloe. And even then he seemed strange – jealous and overprotective.

Lana frowned when she saw Chloe sitting on one of the oversized chairs she had put in the lavatory’s waiting room. The blonde had her knees curled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, her gaze focused over to where the sinks were.

“Chloe? Are you okay?”

Chloe raised her eyes and Lana saw that they were wet and red, which probably meant that her roommate had been crying.

“Chloe?”

Chloe shook her head just barely; an action so small that Lana wouldn’t have noticed it had she not been staring at her.

“Lex is ---” Lana trailed off when Chloe’s eyes slammed closed and she turned her head back to look at the sinks. Lana finally followed her gaze and walked over to what she was looking at, her mouth falling open when she saw it. She picked up the small white stick and looked at her friend through panicked eyes.

“My dad just called,” Chloe managed to choke out.

“Oh, my God,” Lana said in little more than a whisper.

“Somebody sent him a video of what happened at the party,” Chloe continued, the tears starting to dribble down her cheeks again. Lana walked over to where Chloe sat and crouched down next to her.

“You think it was Mr. Luthor?” she asked quietly. Chloe nodded.

“That’d be my guess --- asshole.”

Lana bit her lip nervously.

“Did you tell your dad?” she asked and motioned to what she held in her hands. Chloe shook her head and raised a hand to wipe the tears off her face.

“Nobody can know, Lana.”

“But ---”

“I mean it,” Chloe said. “*Nobody*.”

Lana frowned in sympathy for her friend.

“What about Lex?” she asked. Chloe’s pointed look gave her the answer.

“What about me?”

Both girls turned to see Lex now standing in the doorway, his hands shoved into his pockets. He eyed the two suspiciously, but ended up frowning when he saw the tear tracks down Chloe’s cheeks.

“What happened?”

“Well, I think that’s my cue to leave,” Lana said abruptly, covertly shoving the white stick into the long side pocket of her pants. “I’ll um, I’ll tell nobody to come in and bother you, okay?” she said to Chloe.

Lex walked over to Chloe and tried to read the expression on her face, but she made it difficult by darting her eyes away from him.

“What happened?” Lex repeated.

Chloe sniffled. She wouldn’t need to tell him about the test she had just taken because Lana had walked away with the evidence, but he probably should know about her dad and the package he received.

She motioned to the chair across from her.

“You might want to sit down.”

~*~*~

“She okay?” Pete asked, motioning to the bathroom door as he came up to Lana at the counter.

“Not really,” Lana replied under her breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she quickly lied. “Did you and Clark want refills?”

“Uh-oh. It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“She just got a bad call from her dad is all,” Lana said in a flustered voice. “They’re…not getting along…very well.”

“Really?” Pete asked with surprise. Ever since he had known Chloe, she and her dad had always gotten along. “Well, I guess it was bound to happen someday – too bad though.”

“Yeah.”

“So, are we still on for tonight?”

“Um, I don’t ---”

“Come on,” Pete said with an impish grin and ran his hands down her waist. “It’ll be --- what’s this?” he asked when his hands ran over the item she had departed the bathroom with.

“Nothing,” Lana lied a little too quickly. Pete arched a disbelieving eyebrow at her and then held out his hand, palm side up. Lana frowned and fished the white stick out of her pocket. ‘Chloe’s gonna kill me.’ “Just…don’t get mad…okay?”

Pete stared down at the pregnancy test, his mouth falling slightly open at the sight of the little pink plus sign that graced one of the boxes. When his eyes rose again, Lana did everything in her power to avoid meeting his questioning stare.

“You’re pregnant?”




TBC…

[Tandy]

:huh: Poor pete he must be having a heart attack! What a twist, i really didn't expect Chloe to be pregnent! Wow, more soon please!


Tandy

[hfce]

Oh boy chloe has got to tell him.


Hope

[dsapiro]

Poor Pete. Whats Lana gonna say to him? Is she going to say that its Chloe's?

[staysixkid]

Oh snaps! :ohmy:

Lana better keep her mouth shut! I'm more worried abut Chloe/Lex/Gabe...how are they going to handle this?
:sad:

[shailafter]

yay! you updated this fic! :yay: :biggrin:

[Brittany]

Lex got Chloe Knocked up again, Yay! I'm doing a happy dance, right now! :dance: :dance: Can't wait for the next update! I wonder what Gabe said to Chloe and what he'll say to Lex! :devil:

[sabby]

Heh I finally started reading and I'm all caught up and anxciously awaiting the next chapter now, so you better not make me wait! Yes I know, cruel. Another update I will be bugging you about, well tough! Now gimme an update *G*

hugs,
Sabby

[lunaluthor]

wow pregnant again so don't be a teaser and update soon :yay: :yay: :yay:

[bluemoongirl23]

Random Ramblings from reading it all in one sitting:

I loved Pete's lines in the beginning, way to tell Clark!

Gabe and Lana watching soaps together will always be funny. Always.

Lex's dream was intense and disturbing-so well written. And I think that it's great that he knows that the meteor rocks can hurt Clark, he just doesn't know know, you know?

Party sex and the morning after, good times.

Lionel is the root of all evil.

Meteor Ring=Good Idea

Ok, go write more now!

Blue

[drina]

How can you leave it there?? I wanna read the next part!!

[scifichick774]

Lana’s mouth opened and closed a few times, her mind unable to settle on any response to Pete’s question that wouldn’t be a lie or make him angry.

“No – I – I just found it in the bathroom,” she said. “I thought whoever took it just didn’t know the results since it was still on the sink counter.”

“And you brought it out here to try and track the girl down?” Pete asked disbelievingly.

Lana frowned. She hated lying to Pete, especially when it was just the beginning of their relationship and lies and secrets had been the thing that ruined any chance that she and Clark may have had together. She didn’t want that to happen with Pete, but at the same time, it wasn’t her place to tell him Chloe’s news – not when Chloe had told her not to.

“Well, I couldn’t just leave it sitting there, Pete. We have a lot of parents that come in here too, you know? I think they’d kind of freak out if they saw a pregnancy test just lying there in plain sight and I don’t want the Talon to be shut down.”

“I guess,” Pete said, still not entirely convinced. “So what are Chloe and her dad fighting about?”

“He ---” Lana paused and sucked in a breath. “He found out about Chloe and Lex.”

“Oooh – someone’s in trouble.”

“Yeah,” Lana agreed. “Sometimes I think it’s a good thing that I didn’t grow up knowing my real dad. I can only imagine the look on his face if I told him that I was dating Lex Luthor.”

“Ahh,” Pete strung out with a smile, “but you wouldn’t need to, because you have *good* taste and are dating *me*.” Lana giggled.

“True.”

Pete motioned to the bathroom door with his head.

“Her dad making her dump him?” he asked, a smug grin on his lips.

Lana narrowed her eyes a little and the pleased look on Pete’s face. The last thing she needed was for Chloe to break up with Lex and be on the market again, especially when Pete’s unrequited crush on her roommate was common knowledge.

“She didn’t say, but it’s not like there’s a lot he can do.”

“He’s her dad,” Pete argued with a shrug. “His roof, his rules – at least that’s what my parents keep telling *me*.”

“She won’t be under his roof for much longer,” Lana said, biting her lower lip when Pete turned to face her.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” Lana said quickly. “It’s just that we graduate in a few months and next year we’ll start college and she’ll probably be living in a dorm. That’s all.”

“Hey guys, I’m gonna go,” Clark said, appearing out of nowhere to point his thumb toward the front door. “Chores and all that.”

Lana and Pete both gave him sympathetic smiles, knowing the real reason that he was leaving.

“You should stay,” Lana said. “I’m sure they’ll be done talking soon.”

Clark shoved his hands into his pockets and gave her an uneasy look before letting his gaze flit over to the closed bathroom door.

“How’s she feeling? Any better?”

Lana’s eyes grew wide in panic, her lie about to be exposed.

“W-what do you mean?”

Clark gave her an odd look.

“Pete said she was sick.”

“Oh! Oh, that. Um, yeah, she’s still not feeling very good.”

Clark’s eyebrows moved together as he eyed her suspiciously. Lana was a lot of things, but a good liar wasn’t one of them. Then he noticed the pregnancy test that sat on the counter in front of Pete.

“Oh, my God,” he said in barely a whisper, swallowing down the nauseated panic that threatened to spew up from his throat. His eyes caught Lana’s and she knew in that instant that Clark had put the pieces together.

“Don’t worry,” Pete said, slapping a hand onto his friend’s back. “Some girl just left it in there. Lana was going to try and figure out who it was before throwing it away.”

Lana looked at Clark, silently pleading with him not to say anything. He shot her a small, disappointed scowl, but decided to keep the truth from his best friend for the time being.

If Pete couldn’t put two and two together and figure out that Chloe was the one who was pregnant, then he would need to wait to hear the news from Chloe herself.

Besides, if he told him now, then Clark had a feeling it would take every ounce of his super strength to keep Pete from killing Lex.

~*~*~*~

Lex’s face maintained the emotionless mask he had practiced for so many years, but Chloe could tell he was upset by the way the muscles in his jaw were clenched.

‘To tell him or not to tell him…’

The way she saw it, she had three options.

If she told him now it would only add to his anger, but she was fairly certain that his animosity wouldn’t be directed toward her.

She wasn’t so sure that would be the case if she decided to tell him later. Most likely, he would be upset with her for hiding it from him and not telling him right away.

‘Strike option number two,’ she thought to herself.

And if she never told him?

Chloe let out a small sigh.

If she never told him then she could run away or have an abortion, but either way she would be damaging their relationship beyond repair, and she wasn’t prepared to do that.

“There’s more,” she said quietly.

“Of course there is,” Lex said venomously. “Because it wouldn’t be enough for my father to ---”

“This doesn’t have anything to do with your dad,” Chloe cut in. Lex’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Oh. Then ---?”

“Do you remember that really awkward conversation we had a couple of weeks ago?”

Lex looked pensive as he mentally sorted through the times he and Chloe had actually spoken and not been involved in…other activities. The thought brought a grin to his lips, but Chloe didn’t notice because she was looking at the floor.

“Well, it turns out I was wrong about you.”

Lex’s head snapped to look at her, his eyes piercing her skin with a quizzical stare.

‘There’s no way she could know,’ he told himself. ‘Hitmen don’t keep records on computer --- do they? Shit. She’s going to break up with me. The only woman I ---’

“The meteor shower didn’t affect your sperm count. I’m pregnant.” She barely got the last part out in a choked whisper, but it was enough to jolt him away from his thoughts. Saying it aloud only brought forth her tears again and Chloe quickly raised her hands to her eyes to wipe them away. “I’m sorry – God, Lex – I’m so sorry.”

Lex sat there in shock, one singular thought running through his mind.

A scene from his nightmare, he saw himself peppering her jaw with small kisses and wiping away the trails of wetness with his thumb before moving his mouth to her ear.

‘You won’t ever be able to leave me now. I’ve made sure of it.’

“I’m sorry,” Chloe repeated, close to hysterics with her sobbing. “I ---”

“We can’t tell anyone,” Lex suddenly interrupted. ‘Not yet anyway – not until dear old dad’s out of the picture.’

Chloe nodded. She had figured as much. She wiped her tears away once again before grabbing a Kleenex off the small coffee table that sat between them. She blew her nose and waited a minute before speaking again.

“Lana knows,” she finally said. “She walked in right after I found out.” She stopped and shook her head. “But she won’t say anything. And I can…find a doctor or clinic or something in Metropolis that can ---”

Lex fixed a steely, warning glare on her and Chloe felt her blood run cold.

“I would never – God – please don’t do this, Chloe,” he said, his voice changing from a hard protest into a desperate plea at the end.

“I don’t want to,” she said in confusion. “I don’t understand. I thought you didn’t want ---”

“I just want you to be safe,” Lex said, rising from his chair to crouch down next to hers. “And my dad ---”

Chloe nodded with the new comprehension of what he was talking about. If Lionel Luthor was malicious enough to send her dad a videotape of her and Lex at the party, then who knew what evil he would resort to if he found out she was pregnant.

As if reading her thoughts, Lex placed a comforting hand over hers.

“I’ll take care of it.”

[tigerbaby]

I just so love protective Lex. Sweet but not too domineering.

And yes Clark,keep your nose out of it

[bluemoongirl23]

*cracking knuckles* I'll help Lex take care of Lionel. I've so got his back. Poor Chloe....Stupid Pete.

Blue

[staysixkid]

Eek! :huh: What is Lex going to do? I love that he's all protective of Chloe ...but he's capable of a lot of things, and with the baby on the way...again...eek! :huh:

[asharnanae]

break out the baseball bats people, we are going an'asswhuping an the lucky recipeant is Lionel Luthor!!! And clark better keep his nose out as well, or I think someone is gonna stick a big ole chunk of kryptonite where the sun don't shine!!!

Loved protective lex, poor chloe, i feel for them both.

Please, more soon!!!! :worship2:

[hfce]

I am so glad she told him . It would not have been good to keep the baby news from him. More please...



Hope :biggrin:

[Brittany]

:biggrin: I love it I can't wait for the next part!!! Lana better tell them Clark knows so they can do damage control. More please, hurry, hurry, hurry!!! :worship2:

[TestingFaith]

ooh...please keep going this is really really good...

waiting for more,
Lily M. :sunny:

[dsapiro]

Glad she chose to tell him. Loving protective Lex. Can't wait to see how he takes care of Lionel.

[Tandy]

I can't believe dimwit figured out that Chloe was pregnant before Pete :devil: ! Lex is such a sweetie! More soon please!

Tandy

[sabby]

Oh do I detect a hint of patricidal Lex there? Niiice *g* Anyway, what was he babbling about with the hitmen and the computer? That's not making any sense to me..did I miss something there? Sorry if you already told and I'm too stupid to remember *ducks* Anyway, update ASAP please, this is sooo good in the dark way.

hugs,
Sabby

[lunaluthor]

Lex is so caring :wub: and Clark smarter than Pete hmmm oh and don't forget to kill Lionel that old dirty bastard :devil: :yay: :yay:

[shailafter]

can't wait to see just how he will be taking care of this.. taking care of lionel.. heh heh heh :devil:

[flower]

Yep, Lex will take care of it...
That´s what he does :biggrin:
So...Go write more and please put some Lionel-kicking in it, it´s funny :biggrin:

FloweR,

Owh ya, almost forgot....
I.Need.UPDATE!

[scorpio]

:huh: Chloe is pregnant. *Go Lex* :chlexsign1: Ahem..*cough* Now it´s getting interesting. ;) Just kidding, hun. This is very good. :worship2: How do you do that? Comming up with all these intense and unique plots, I mean?
And I´m still not opposed to you hurting Clark *hint, hint* and even Lionel in the process. :biggrin:

Have a heart. End our suffering and update, ok?

[happy bunny]

Originally posted by asharnanae@Aug 11 2003, 07:41 PM
break out the baseball bats people, we are going an'asswhuping an the lucky recipeant is Lionel Luthor!!! And clark better keep his nose out as well, or I think someone is gonna stick a big ole chunk of kryptonite where the sun don't shine!!!
Couldn't agree more, and absolutely love how you put it Asharnanae.

This story is awesome and I think about due for an update. (Aren't I ever so subtle?) I wanna see how this is all gonna play out so please please please update soon!!

[fighterangel]

Ok so Pete is stupid, Clark suddenly became intelligent?!?! but at least Lex remains soo sweet wanting to take care of Chloe although he does get to kill his father and have a baby with her... I love this story... Update soon.

LA

[SexInStilettos]

What?? no, please i still want clark to get beat up!!! :hammer:

[Blaire023]

geez Kris, just can't help making her pregnant in all the fics huh? Just for that....*plots a revenge* MWHAHAHA, SWEET REVENGE

great chappie btw

~B

[Sab_Luthor]

awwwwww
i love it
it's very great
more please
update soon :chlexsign3:

[scifichick774]

A/N: The dark angst warning was there for a reason folks. Keep that in mind before you try to kill me.

~*~*~*~*~

Lex awoke to a darkened room, only the sounds of beeping machines and muffled voices behind the door to help him realize where he was. A hospital. Lex furrowed his brow and tried to push himself up, only to be surprised at his muscles faltering under him and falling back against the bed.

The last thing he remembered was his conversation with Chloe in the Talon’s bathroom, about how he would take care of his father so he couldn’t hurt her and the baby; and the next thing he knew he was waking up in a hospital with no recollection about what happened to bring him there.

His head turned to some excited activity out in the hallway and the door to his room opened to reveal an extremely pleased-looking doctor, followed by a nurse. Lex squinted his eyes to try and filter the light coming into room, staring at the doctor with a mixture of anger and panic.

“Where am I?” he croaked out, barely recognizing the sound of his own dry and raspy voice.

“Language – good, that’s good,” the doctor said appreciatively. “It means your brain damage wasn’t as extensive as we thought it might be.”

“Brain damage --- what? How did I get here?” Lex asked, trying to rise up again, only to fail because of his weakened muscles.

The doctor, a man who Lex placed in his mid-fifties, grinned sympathetically down at him.

“Your muscles have started to atrophy,” he explained, taking out a small flashlight to examine Lex’s eyes.

“Why? What happened?”

The doctor pulled back, a steady but almost sad look on his face. He motioned to the nurse to stop checking Lex’s stats and leave the room so he could have the discussion with him privately. When she closed the door behind her, the doctor turned his attention back to Lex.

“My name is Dr. Grant. Tell me, do you remember your name?”

“Of course I remember my name,” Lex snapped. Grant looked at him expectantly and Lex let out a huff of air. “Lex Luthor.”

Grant nodded.

“Good. Now tell me, what’s the last thing you remember?”

Lex groaned and closed his eyes, letting the back of his head press harder against the pillow behind it.

“Chloe,” he said.

Grant furrowed his brow and raised his chart to make notations in it.

“Chloe?”

“My girlfriend…we were talking.”

Grant frowned and briefly glanced up at Lex.

“When was this?”

“We were talking and then --- I don’t remember anything after that,” Lex said. “Obviously something happened though or I wouldn’t be here. Is she alright? She didn’t get hurt did she?”

“I don’t know,” Grant replied. “I don’t see a ‘Chloe’ listed anywhere in your chart.”

“Just --- tell me what happened.”

Grant gave him a curt nod and let out a breath before starting.

“You might find it a little hard to swallow,” he warned. Lex’s perturbed glare gave him all the permission he needed to continue. “You’ve been in a coma for almost a year now.”

“What? That’s not possible,” Lex said as he got visibly upset. “Oh, God. This has something to do with my dad, doesn’t it? If he hurt her ---”

“Your father has been by to see you at least once a week since you were found on the island,” the doctor interrupted.

Lex creased his brow in confusion.

“Island?”

Grant nodded.

“You were on your way to your honeymoon in the Caribbean when your plane went down due to sabotage,” he said. “They found you a few months later, barely alive, wandering around an island with little recollection of who you were. You had some seizure activity due to some swelling in your brain and by the time medical help got to you, you had slipped into a coma that we were unable to stir you out of. Our best guess was that you had been falling in and out of small comas in the time you were missing, and the last seizure was just large enough to throw you over the edge so-to-speak.”

Lex blinked in confusion.

“How much of this do you remember?” Grant asked.

Lex shook his head slightly.

“I – none of it,” he admitted, an uneasy feeling twisting in the pit of his stomach. “Is Chloe okay? Did they find her?”

Grant tilted his head to the side, the expression on his face making Lex decidedly more than a little uncomfortable.

“Like I said, there’s no ‘Chloe’ listed in your file.”

“My wife,” Lex clarified, suspecting that he and Chloe must have gotten married after the talk he remembered and his father caught wind of it and tried to kill them.

Grant flipped through the pages in the chart before he came across what he was looking for.

“It says here that your wife’s name was Helen,” he finally said.

The knot that had formed in Lex’s stomach threatened to push its way up through his throat with a horrible wave of nausea.

“That’s not possible,” he argued, more with himself than with the doctor. “I came back to Smallville after she tried to kill me. I ---”

Grant stared at him, a pensive expression on his face.

“Do you remember how you got back to Smallville?”

Lex closed his eyes and tried desperately to remember, but he couldn’t.

“Alright, here’s the situation,” Grant started. “I think the things you’re remembering, anything past the plane crash, were all part of a long, coma-induced dream. It’s rare that patients actually remember them, but it’s probably what kept you alive by keeping your brain active while you were out.”

“What are you saying?” Lex asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting confirmation anyway. “That nothing I remember past Helen trying to kill me actually happened?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Grant said somberly.

“That’s not possible,” Lex said again. “It was real – it ---”

“Look, all I can tell you is that after they found you, you were immediately brought to Metropolis General and I’ve been one of the neurologists with you since the beginning. Despite our best efforts, you’ve been in a coma for almost a year. So, anything that you remember happening after the crash, apart from wandering around on the island, only happened in your mind.” Grant paused for a second at the completely destroyed look on Lex’s face. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re up!”

Lex and Grant both turned their heads to see Lionel Luthor, standing in the doorway with a broad smile on his face.

“They called and told me, but I wasn’t sure whether to believe it,” he said, walking into the room.

Grant stepped toward him and tilted his head to the side so he could speak in a hushed tone.

“I need to speak to you in the hall.”

Lionel nodded once and then grinned back at Lex.

“Back in a second, son.”

The door closed behind them and Lionel looked at him with a sullen expression in his eyes.

“How bad is it?”

“Well, he can speak and that’s more than we were hoping for,” Grant replied. Lionel nodded once.

“But?” he asked expectantly; reasoning that if the doctor drug him out into the hallway, then there was probably a good reason for it.

“But --- do you remember the brain activity markers I mentioned?”

“Yes. You said that his activity was remarkably high if I recall,” Lionel said, a tiny, proud grin lining his lips.

“Well, it turns out there was a reason for that,” Grant said. “From what he’s said, it looks like he was trapped in some sort of elaborate dream. He honestly believed everything in his head was happening.” The doctor paused for a moment and gave Lionel a serious look. “It might take him a while to accept reality and there’s a possibility that he might never accept it at all.”

“I see,” Lionel said pensively. “And did he mention anything about this…dream?”

“He seems to be fairly concentrated on a woman named Chloe, but he hasn’t mentioned any specifics,” Grant answered. “He’s going to need extensive physical therapy to help rebuild his muscles and I wanted to give you the heads up that I’m going to order a psychological evaluation as well.”

Lionel raised his eyebrows for a split second, but let them drop in understanding. His face turned back to the door.

“Let me speak with him. Perhaps we can get this settled without needing to resort to that,” he said, knowing that it was going to be hard enough for his son to reemerge into the outside world without having the papers get a hold of his current mental state.

He only hoped that his current mental state wasn’t as bad as the doctor was making it out to be.



TBC...

[scifichick774]

Lionel walked back into the room and gave Lex a hint of a grin as he made his way to a chair beside his bed.

“How are you feeling?”

Lex squared his jaw as he glared at his father.

“How did you do it?” he asked. Lionel opened his mouth to speak, but Lex held up a warning hand. “I think I can figure out the ‘why’, I just want to know how. You obviously paid off the doctors and anybody else you needed to back up your story, but how did you get my muscles to atrophy in such a short period of time?”

“Lex, you’ve been in a coma ---”

“Yes, your well-paid doctor already filled me in on the story you handed him. Now I’d like the truth.”

Lionel sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and sadly staring back at his son.

“It *is* the truth, Lex. I found out that Dr. Bryce might have ulterior motives in marrying you and I tried to bribe her out of doing so, but I had no idea that she was going to try and kill you. When they found you alive ---”

“Let me guess. It was the happiest day of your life,” Lex said with dry sarcasm. “Just cut the bullshit and tell me the truth for once, Dad. What did you do to Chloe? Because if you hurt her ---”

“Chloe?” Lionel repeated questioningly. The only Chloe he knew was Chloe Sullivan and there was no way Lex could have known about her short period of employment with him.

“Sullivan,” Lex grit out.

Lionel blinked once in surprise.

“I wasn’t aware that you were friends with Miss Sullivan.”

Lex’s hands clenched into weak fists.

“More than friends,” he corrected. “She’s carrying my child.”

Lionel arched an amused eyebrow at him.

“Well, I sincerely doubt that given the fact that you’ve been…indisposed…for the last year,” he said with a light grin.

“So you say.”

Lionel gave a half roll of his eyes, but then steadied his gaze on his son.

“Tell me what *you* think has been going on.”

“Where would you like me to start?”

“At the beginning preferably. It’s awfully hard to follow a story when people skip around,” Lionel said, the humor evident in his voice.

“Your labs came up with some kind of formula – something to make people think they were dreaming when they were awake,” Lex started, earning an interested look from his father.

“Really? Hmm…”

“You decided to try it out at Clark’s party,” Lex continued. A smirk crept across Lionel’s lips.

“Go on.”

Lex narrowed his eyes.

“You’re enjoying this,” he observed.

“My, yes,” Lionel answered, resting his jaw on his propped up hand. “It’s quite entertaining. I don’t suppose you remember what the formula was?”

Lex’s stomach tied itself into a now familiar knot and beads of sweat started to form on his forehead.

“You didn’t do it.”

“No,” Lionel answered and then smiled. “Though I certainly won’t rule it out for the future.”

“It never happened,” Lex said despairingly, getting a vacant look in his eyes. Lionel creased his brow.

“Son?”

Lex’s body started to convulse and the machines attached to him started to go haywire with loud beeping alarms and bright displays on their monitors. Lionel jumped out of his chair, shouting for someone to come and help.

A nurse came rushing into the room to check on the situation, frowning when she took in the sight in front of her. The doctor quickly followed, handing a vile of clear liquid to the nurse, who sucked some of it into a syringe and pumped it into Lex’s IV.

The seizure stopped and Lex’s breathing returned to normal, but his eyes were still glazed over because of what happened.

Grant looked at Lionel, hoping for an explanation, but instead only receiving a sigh. Lionel reached up and ran a hand down his face.

“I think that psychological consult might be in order after all,” he said solemnly. Grant nodded.

“I’ll take care of it.”

~*~*~*~

The next day…

Lex sighed and rubbed his face before shooting a glare at the woman who now sat in a chair against one of the walls of his hospital room.

Dr. Claire Foster.

He had no doubt that she was yet another person on his father’s payoff list, and the fact that she wanted him to open up and answer a bunch of personal questions irked him to no end.

“I wasn’t imagining it,” Lex said for what seemed like the zillionth time, growing increasingly frustrated that no one would listen to him. The previous day’s seizure had wiped away any acknowledgement that his mind may have made about the truth and the dream, and Lex found himself clinging to the reality that only he knew. “It actually happened. I’m sure my dad is paying you very well to say otherwise, but --- what do I need to do to make you believe me?”

Foster kept her neutral demeanor and scribbled something into the notebook on her lap.

“You’ve said that you were involved with…Chloe,” she said, completely ignoring his outburst. “Can you elaborate?”

“She’s my girlfriend – please. Just believe me. I don’t know what he’s told you or how much he’s paid you, but I think he found out that she’s pregnant and ---” Lex trailed off, the sick feeling returning to him once again with the thought of what his father might do to Chloe and their baby.

Foster glanced at her watch and then clicked off the tape recorder that was sitting next to her. A few last scrawls in her notebook and she rose from her seat, nodding once at Lex as an acknowledgement that their time was over.

Lex groaned as she left the room.

Either everybody was paid to treat him like he was crazy or his father had actually been telling the truth. He had been in a coma for almost a year and he and Chloe Sullivan had never been involved.

He stubbornly clenched his jaw. He needed to know for sure.

Lifting the phone from its position inside the bed railing, Lex dialed ‘9’ to get an outside line, and then dialed Chloe’s home number. Holding the phone up to his ear, he took a few deep breaths to try and steady himself. He would find out where Chloe was and what had really happened, then he would have enough evidence against his dad to lock him away in a prison somewhere for good.

“Hello?”

“Gabe!” Lex exclaimed at the familiar sound of the man’s voice. “Don’t hang up on me, this is important.”

Gabe Sullivan furrowed his brow as he tried to place the voice on the other end of the line.

“Lex?” he asked in surprise.

“Yeah, it’s me – just don’t hang up, okay?” Lex pleaded, certain that Chloe’s father was still livid about seeing the tape of them together.

“I wasn’t going to,” Gabe replied, a touch of confusion in his tone. “When did you wake up?”

Lex paled and he suddenly felt weak.

“W-what?”

“When did you wake up from your coma?” Gabe asked. “Chloe and Clark just went to visit you last week and they said there wasn’t any change.”

‘Chloe…Clark…’ Lex thought, trying to push aside the irrational swell of jealousy that overcame him at even hearing their names mentioned together. “Actually, that’s kind of what I’m calling about. Is Chloe there?”

“No, no,” Gabe answered. “She’s at school – Met U. She graduated from high school early and never looked back,” he said, his tone light but clearly proud.

“I ---” Lex trailed off, swallowing down the lump that formed in his throat. No matter how many people Lionel might have influence over, Gabe Sullivan wasn’t one of them.

It meant that everything he had been told was true.

And that his world had just fallen apart.



TBC…

[ruafair]

em..what...eh.... :huh: :huh:

Fiona enjoyed it, but Fiona is very, very confused....... :ohmy:

Great work as always Kris..

Fi

[hfce]

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!???????? :huh: Very confused chick here. Me dont understand. :huh:


Hope :goof: :ohmy:

[Calliope]

:ohmy: Shocker!! But, I loved it! Poor Lex, though.

Chloe, get thee to Smallville, stat!

[krahmogh]

That wasn't very nice. String all of us along like that, get Chloe pregnant, have Lex happy about it, Lana and Pete together, everything's great. And then Lex wakes up from a coma???????? Where's the happy ending???


:chlexsign4:

[beautiful N' Bruised]

Of course we couldn't except an old fashioned 1-D plot from Kris, now could we?

I love how you never allow your readers attention to wane - there's always some mystery to be discovered, some plot line waiting to be resolved.

Keep up the great work on my fav fic, and thanks for the double update!

Sara

[flower]

:huh: :ohmy: :sad: :wacko: :unsure: :mad:
Need to say more?

hihi...
!UPDATE SOON!
FloweR

[buffiy18]

That was an unexpected twist of events. A coma... very interesting. I was interested in the plot before, but this is way better. Linoel actually telling the truth... theres a new one for you. Please update soon.

[Gaia]

I love it! I hope you´ll update soon because this is too dame good!! :worship2:

[shailafter]

oh my gosh! NOOOOO!!! :crygreen: can those last two posts be part of the dream.. you know so he wakes up for real in chloe's arms? :biggrin:

[Carina]

Okay, I never expected this! I feel so sorry for Lex, he's going to be heartbroken. So there's no cousin Trevor? Lex has quite an imagination, doesn't he? Love the way you wrote Lionel as sympathetic and worried about his son, yet he can't help but be interested in the fictional formula lol. Clark and Chloe went to visit Lex together... hmm, I hope they're not a couple because that would present a bit of a roadblock for Lex getting her back. Looking forward to the next chapter.
:biggrin:

[tigerbaby]

Are you sure you aren't confused with Deserted? *shakes head*

When I found out it was just a dream, I was ready to scream. Don't do that again.

I love how you worked the new character of Dr. Foster in. Keep up the good work!!

[Arin]

Oooh, you are truly semi-evil.

[asharnanae]

BUT .... BUT ..... BUT....... BUT ........ :huh:

WHAT???

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

:tease: :tease: :tease: :tease: :tease: :tease: :tease:

[Joy]

eeehhhh???

Poor, poor Lex. How could you??? :crygreen:

What will Lexy do now? Brilliant plot, please don't keep us waiting too long!

[drina]

WOW! What a shocker! This is really good...and makes me so excited and anxious now...pls update soon

[Blaire023]

no, but, he, she, they,

THEY DID THE DIRTY! MORE THAN ONCE!

*frowns*

well that's just wrong.

~B

[Tandy]

:huh: Wow! What a twist!!!! Loving this fic. Poor Lex! I feel so bad for him now. I can't wait for Choe and him to meet.

tAndy

[SexInStilettos]

please, if u care of any of us faithful chlex readers, you won't leave us hanging like this!!!! :worship2:

[sabby]

Woah, that was...unexpected. *sighs* Now let's hope Lex doesn't go berserk now that he knows it's not been true and that he spent the last year in lala land. *shakes head* Poor guy.

Great twist in the story. I hope your muse will cooperate and that I get a new chappy soon.

Oh and it's nice to see Lionel isn't the all out big bad for once.

hugs,
Sabby

[bluemoongirl23]

I. Love. It. Just frigging great. Love the twist and poor, poor Lex. Can't wait to see what he's going to do now and how he'll try to get Chloe back. Or, if he can even accept this without going out of his mind.

Blue

[randa]

argh...you pulled an alias(and you know what i mean) and now it was all a dream and now im very sad...

BUT!! this just leads to an opportunity for lex and chloe to get closer for real....ummmm


i love this story and cant wait for more

randa

[Sab_Luthor]

an update to go please

[Zealot]

That's just brillant! Love this twist.

So Lex was imagining all this... might be that deep down Lex has feelings for Chloe before the accident...

[Brittany]

How could you do that!?! I was so happy with chlex and the pregnacy and then it's all gone and I'm so sad :crygreen: . But I do like the twist and it was a great chapter. Please update soon and make it happy again. :biggrin:

[happy bunny]

Originally posted by asharnanae@Aug 30 2003, 09:13 PM
BUT .... BUT ..... BUT....... BUT ........ :huh:

WHAT???

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

:tease: :tease: :tease: :tease: :tease: :tease: :tease:
What she said.

[Charlie]

Nooooooooooo, what kind of ending is this. Or is it the end........

[vardaquareien]

WOW!!! I didn't see that coming!!! *sobs* Oh my poor Lexy!!! They have to meet and they have to get together and...and...ooh your fics are just so good, you always get me emotionally involved!!!

[HumbugGirl]

*grins*

*grins some more*

Maybe it's the angst-queen in me but I loved that twist. You handled it really well as well. A lesser writer would have had problems making all the twists and turns, individual perspectives of the characters confusing but it really worked.

[Sunflow]

:ohmy:



:ohmy:



...talk about messing with someone's head X_x No, not Lex's. Mine.
I like it, well, at least I like that what you did gives you a whole new set of cards to play with.
But I swear, if it turns out later, that it was all just a Gabe's dream caused by an accident at the factory, and in fact Lex and Chloe are married with kids.... :E ... I'm going to keep on reading anyway. Damn.


Sunflow

[tigerbaby]

Originally posted by Sunflow@Sep 8 2003, 04:16 AM
But I swear, if it turns out later, that it was all just a Gabe's dream caused by an accident at the factory, and in fact Lex and Chloe are married with kids....

Don't give her any ideas!!!!! She's evil enough without any help :blinkkiss:

[scifichick774]

Originally posted by Sunflow@Sep 8 2003, 02:16 AM
But I swear, if it turns out later, that it was all just a Gabe's dream caused by an accident at the factory, and in fact Lex and Chloe are married with kids.... :E ... I'm going to keep on reading anyway. Damn.


*snicker*

That's not actually what I have planned, but if you'd like, I can change it...

[Czech Angel]

Poor Lex. Great twist. Update soon.
Sorry for the 2 word sentences;I hven't had my coffee yet :coffee:

[Sunflow]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Sep 8 2003, 03:37 PM
*snicker*

That's not actually what I have planned, but if you'd like, I can change it...
DON'T ever *think* about that. What have I done O_o I created a monster O_o

Fuhgeddaboudit ? *begs* Please?

:D

[Sunny]

Please, please, please!!!! Update soon!!!! :yay:

[scifichick774]

A/N: Okay, guys. Keep in mind that this is a rewrite and is no where near as good as the one I lost when my hard drive crashed. And don't worry, all will be explained.

~*~*~*~*~*~

One week later…

“I can do it!” Lex snapped, barely holding himself up by shakily gripping onto the two metal bars on either side of him.

A mocking chuckle came in response.

“No you can’t,” Dean Miller, the physical therapist assigned to him, said. Lex glared at him through the corner of his eye and he held up his hands in mock defense, continuing to watch as Lex struggled to start walking again.

It had taken so much effort just to get that far and Lex had no intention of stopping now. However, raising his foot a little to take a step forward found him starting to collapse under the sheer intensity of his own weight, and he began to fall to the ground.

An arm quickly wrapped around his back before he completely fell even to a kneeling position, and much to Lex’s dismay, the man started chuckling again.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Dean, but aren’t you supposed to be supportive of me making progress?”

Dean gave a half-shrug of one shoulder and then helped Lex take the last couple of steps needed to make it to his wheelchair.

“Hey, I’m all for you making progress, but killing yourself because you think your dream girl *might* be visiting today ---”

“She *is* visiting,” Lex corrected, his expression a frustrated scowl as he realized that he would indeed have to be in the wheelchair or his hospital bed for the duration of Clark and Chloe’s visit.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Dean said. “You know that your friend Clark is visiting and you’re *assuming* that since she came with him last time that she’ll come again.”

Lex squared his jaw. Technically Dean had a point, but he was going to be damned if he admitted it. He felt the wheelchair brake unlock and he closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that if he acted like the physical exhaustion caught up with him that he wouldn’t need to listen to yet another lecture on why he shouldn’t be getting his hopes up about Chloe visiting.

“Look, not to sound like your shrink, but you’ve got to remember that Chloe’s not yours. You told me you were only acquaintances before your plane went down. How do you think she’s going to react if she shows up today and you start talking to her like ---”

“I get the point,” Lex said tersely.

Dean sighed. Lex was never going to get better if he kept dreaming about something that was never going to happen.

“So, you think they’re going out?” Dean asked, slowly pushing him down one of the hallways they would need to travel in order to get back to Lex’s room.

“I don’t know.”

“Allow me to rephrase,” Dean said. “Do you think you have a chance?”

Lex blinked and then craned his neck a little to look back at his physical therapist.

“Why do you care?” he asked suspiciously, too many years of having people betray him and give details about his personal life to the press to trust anyone completely.

Dean shrugged.

“Just curious,” he lied. The truth was that if Lex did have a chance with Chloe, then it could actually help him get better faster, if not then he may lose the will to even keep trying.

Lex frowned, but accepted Dean’s answer. If the information ever turned up in the papers, then he could just ruin the man’s life as retribution.

He let out a small, defeated sigh.

“I just want her back,” he said quietly.

“Again, not yours to begin with,” Dean reminded him. “I know it doesn’t feel like that, but ---”

“Clark,” said with a frown.

Dean nodded, not understanding Lex’s true reason for saying the name.

“He’s your friend - *that’s* reality. And if he’s dating her, then ---”

“Hey.”

Dean stopped when a dark-haired young man came over to them, flashing a clearly uneasy smile at Lex as he greeted him.

“Clark,” Lex responded.

Dean’s eyes widened. So this was Clark. Tall, handsome, well-built – the kind of man that most women seemed to flock to for some indiscernible reason. He inwardly cursed.

‘Well, there goes the recovery,’ he thought to himself. He stuck out his hand. “Dean Miller – I’m Lex’s physical therapist.”

Clark smiled back at him, relieved to be out from under Lex’s suddenly intense glare, if only for a few seconds.

“Clark Kent.”

They shook hands and then Dean raised his eyebrows at Lex.

“I’m gonna split. Talk to you later,” he said, wanting to get as far away from what now what he was sure would be an oncoming battle site. “Nice meeting you,” he said quickly to Clark. Clark nodded and gave him a small wave and then Dean disappeared down the hallway.

“He seems nice,” Clark said.

“Things aren’t always as they seem,” Lex retorted, his steely gaze still pinned on a man he considered to be a former friend.

“I would have come sooner, but my parents wouldn’t let me drive down to Metropolis on a school day,” Clark said uncomfortably.

Lex nodded once, trying to hold back the feelings of loathing he had developed toward Clark during his coma.

“Understandable,” he said dryly. Clark practically winced at the menacing look in Lex’s eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“So…how are you feeling?” Clark asked.

Lex clenched his jaw, reminding himself that the boy in front of him was his only source of information on Chloe. If he wanted to find out anything about her or her possible relationship with Clark, then he was going to play nice – or at least pretend to play nice.

“As well as can be expected,” he answered, forcing his tone to be a little friendlier. It seemed to work as Clark visibly relaxed in front of him. ‘Good,’ he thought, seeing his opportunity to steer the conversation where he wanted it to go without making it seem too obvious. “Gabe tells me that you and Chloe paid me a visit not long ago.”

“Yeah. She’s come to most of the visits with me,” Clark said. At Lex’s arched eyebrow, he quickly added, “Just because she’s in Metropolis already and I barely ever get to see her anymore. You know?”

Lex nodded and made it a point to look past Clark.

“But not today?”

Clark let an expression cross his lips that looked remarkably like a pout.

“Her boyfriend’s in town,” he said. “You want me to…” he trailed off and motioned with his head to the back of the wheelchair. A slight shrug of Lex’s shoulders and Clark was pushing him down the hallway toward his room.

Lex continued to listen to Clark, though he was filtering out most of the ‘poor me’ rambling that seemed to be coming out of his mouth.

He was pleased to learn that Chloe wasn’t going out with Clark, but with some unknown man, probably a college student, who would undoubtedly hold no serious competition for him - especially if he didn’t live in the same city she did.

“It’s probably for the best though. Lately, she’s been really…blunt,” Clark said, snapping Lex back to listening to what he was saying. A sulking session was one thing, but when the younger man dared to say something about Chloe in a derogatory manner…

“How so?”

“Okay, she’s always kind of been that way,” Clark offered with a humored grin. “But the things she said – they were just really inappropriate.” Lex gave him a pointed look and Clark squirmed, his cheeks coloring with embarrassment. “She asked if you ever thought about marrying someone who didn’t want to kill you,” he admitted quietly and then winced as he waited for Lex’s reaction.

A genuine smile slid across Lex’s lips and he chuckled, causing Clark to furrow his brow in confusion. Seeing Clark’s befuddlement, Lex let his smile fall into a smirk.

“Sorry, Clark. I guess it’s true what they say about coma patients being able to hear what’s said to them,” he explained.

The panicked horror that crossed Clark’s face was something Lex silently filed away for later, as he had a feeling it didn’t only have to do with Chloe’s comment.

“I --- what do you mean?” Clark stammered.

“She said the same thing to me in my dream.”

“You dreamt about *Chloe*?”

‘You have no idea,’ Lex thought, pursing his lips ever so slightly as he wondered how much he could share without going into detail. “I dreamt about everything. They say it’s rare, but apparently my brain created a ‘dream world’ of sorts while I was in a coma.” He paused for a second and gave his friend a hard look. “I thought I was awake.”

Clark wasn’t sure what to say, so he settled for an unenthusiastic, “Wow.” He looked down at the floor and then back up to his friend with a hesitant expression marring his features. “So, what did you dream about?”

“As great as it sounds to entertain you with tales from the depths of my psyche, I’d much rather hear what happened while I was out,” Lex said evasively. “Papers can only tell you so much my father has been…less than forthcoming with anything that’s not business related.”

“Ah.”

Clark opened the door to Lex’s room and started to push him inside.

“I’m not even sure I’d know where to begin,” Clark said.

‘What was your obvious fallout with Chloe about? Did she really work for my dad and quit when she found out he and Helen had conspired to kill me? Can the green meteor rocks really kill you?’

“The beginning is always a good place,” Lex said, pushing aside the questions bombarding his brain to smirk at Clark. “What happened after my plane went down?”

“Hey!”

Clark and Lex both turned to see an apparently very happy Chloe Sullivan smiling in the doorway. She looked even more beautiful than Lex remembered from his dream and the only thing that kept him from leaping toward her and engulfing her in his arms was the fact that he was physically unable to do so.

Clark’s reaction was notably different as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at her.

“I thought you said you couldn’t make it because Bruce was in town?”

“He’s coming,” Chloe said dismissively, sloughing off Clark’s comment with a flick of her hand as she concentrated her smile and gaze on Lex. “So, I’d ask how you’re doing, but the fact that you’re awake pretty much answers that question.”

Clark groaned in embarrassment at what he thought was an uncouth thing to say, but Lex’s smile grew.

“I missed you too, sweetheart,” he said, emphasizing the last word so Clark would think he was being sarcastic. Chloe laughed and beamed another bright smile at him. “So, who’s Bruce?”




TBC...

[Czech Angel]

Let me guess. Bruce Wayne! :biggrin:
Oh, you just keep getting better and better!
Update soon! :chlexsign4:

[asharnanae]

:crygreen: :tease: no no no noooooooooo!!!!!!! now poor lex has got to fight off sucky bruce !!!! ugh!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! how can you!!!!!



:biggrin: Fantastic update,but your killing me hear, this is so sad, I wan it to be happy. oh well, whatever happens I'll be waiting avidly!!

[eurydices falling]

Oh, the humanity!

Now how exactly do you propose I stay comfortable while on these tenterhooks you put there?

I beseech the oh great authoress, update soon. :worship2:

[Tandy]

:crygreen: OH, poor Lex! I'ts bruce wayne isn't it? Well, then lex just has to show Chloe that he's better than some clumsy farmboy and a dememted bat!

Great update!

[hfce]

Oh no not Bruce!!!!!!!! :crygreen: Lex doesn't stand a chance. :tease:


Hope

[happy bunny]

:worship2: I love this story, it's amazing. It's got a twist in every chapter and always leaves you wondering.

And Chloe's dating Bruce? :tease: I hope that's not a permanent thing. Chruce is okay, but Chlex is way better.

UPDATE SOON!

[tigerbaby]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Sep 11 2003, 05:47 PM
‘What was your obvious fallout with Chloe about? Did she really work for my dad and quit when she found out he and Helen had conspired to kill me? Can the green meteor rocks really kill you?’


I had to read this twice as I thought he had actually spoken out loud!! Poor confused me. But I'm all sorted out now.

If I haven't said it before, I'm saying it now. I love this fic and I can't wait to see jealous Lex. :devil:

[Calliope]

It was wonderful! :blinkkiss: Poor Lex, I hope Chloe visits more often. Sans Bruce. And Clark. They need a little bonding time. :biggrin:

[shailafter]

:biggrin: yay an update! that chap was great! can't wait for next chap!! bruce? really? competition for lex huh? but he already has it bad enough! not being able to walk..

[vardaquareien]

*crawls into wheelchair and curls up in Lexy's lap and gives him a big hug* It's ok Lexy, if Chloe wants to date a nocturnal mammal then I'm always here for you! :blinkkiss:

[hhl100]

hurry up to get to chelx please



:chlexsign4: [SIZE=7][COLOR=red][QUOTE]

[sabby]

Heheh, how was that about 'no serious competition'? Poor Lex *shakes head* this is not gonna be easy for him. Well he'll have to take what's coming at him. Update soon chica. Can't *wait* to see how Lex reacts to Bruce *snickers*


hugs,
Sabby

[SexInStilettos]

you're killing me, u know that right? :crygreen:

[Sab_Luthor]

oh i hate you i hate u i hate u
with all my heart and soul
you are evil
no thats wrong i like you coz this fic is very great but youare evil
you can't finish like that and let us wait till you update
its not very nice of you to do that you know
so please come back and update more

[kirt30]

:worship2: keep it coming :worship2:

[beautiful N' Bruised]

Don't know how I missed this update, but anyway...

Bruce, hmmm, sounds vaguely familar :) do I sniff *another* plot twist? Poor tortured Lexy. Ah well, I have faith in you and know that'll all come together in one neat Chlexy package at the end.

It will, won't it? :ohmy:

[HumbugGirl]

You know, for the first time ever I find myself wanting to murder *Bruce*. Grr...

Anyway, if the chapter you lost was better than that hun then it was probably Nobel Prize winning stuff :biggrin:

[vardaquareien]

(I know I've already reviewed but..)

*snort* It just occured to me that while we all automatically assume that "Bruce" = "Wayne" I'd die laughing if "Bruce" turned out to be Bruce Smith a nice average guy who goes to college with Chloe...! :hehe:

[Charlie]

Ok, so Chloe has a boyfriend. Not to worry! She'll dump him for Lex, just as fast as he shows some backbone and tell her what he dreamt about. No problemo!! :biggrin:

[drina]

Originally posted by vardaquareien@Sep 13 2003, 09:37 PM


*snort* It just occured to me that while we all automatically assume that "Bruce" = "Wayne" I'd die laughing if "Bruce" turned out to be Bruce Smith a nice average guy who goes to college with Chloe...! :hehe:
lol, but wat would be the point to name chloe's bf bruce if kris is not going to use bruce wayne?

i'm amazed and fascinated by the many twists and turns of the story and i can't wait for angsty Lex..heehee...sorry i'm a sadist.

[Brittany]

:devil: Please don't make it Bruce Wayne, he's horrible, I hate him!!! It would never work out since she could have Lex, not to mention Bruce is just like Clark and will eventually abandon Chloe to save the day! Please make Chlex get together soon, the angst is killing me!!! Update soon, the faster you get rid of her boyfriend the happier I'll be! :worship2:

[scorpio]

Amazing story.So many twists. :ohmy: My brain has just gone into overload. Too much turns and twists and general complications. ;)
I can´t wait for an update. And I can´t believe that everything that happened between Chloe/Lex was just a dream :huh:. *sigh* I guess you´ll just have to fix this mess. ;)

[scifichick774]

“Her boyfriend,” Clark answered sourly.

It took all of Chloe’s willpower not to slap Clark across the face right then and there. Willpower – and the knowledge that her hand would be much worse off than his face.

In the events leading up to the end of her employment with Lionel, Chloe had discovered some things; among them that Clark was some kind of meteor freak and that she felt sympathy for the man most people considered to be the son of the devil.

She could only imagine the hell it must have been for Lex, growing up with Lionel as a father, a man with such great expectations who always stayed emotionally at arm’s length so you could never meet them.

She wouldn’t have even come to visit Lex with Clark all those times had she thought she could get past security on her own. And now that they recognized and accepted her visiting by herself, she’d be damned if she was going to put up with Clark Kent’s unwarranted attacks on her personal life.

Chloe gave Clark a warning glance out of the corner of her eye and then looked back at Lex, only offering a fake smile because of the way Clark had riled her up.

“You know him actually,” she said.

Lex mentally flit through the different Bruce’s he knew, settling on only one who he didn’t deem entirely too old or daft for her. His stomach clenched into a knot and only hoped that the blood draining from his face wasn’t too noticeable.

“Wayne?” he asked.

Chloe’s fake smile lessened into a softer, real one and Clark shuffled his feet in agitation.

“Yeah,” the young man said when Chloe didn’t immediately answer.

Lex’s mood immediately turned dark.

Some inept college student was one thing, but Bruce Wayne was something else entirely.

He was handsome, charming, intelligent, and had a fortune that surpassed Lex’s own. He also had a vice for beautiful blondes, though Bruce had admitted to him that the only reason he went through them like water was because the ones who were smart and interesting enough to keep his attention were only after him for his money.

And now that man had Chloe. *His* Chloe. Beautiful, blonde, smart, *and* interesting, but definitely not interested in his money, Chloe.

‘Shit.’

Then a more encouraging thought occurred to him. Clark had said that her boyfriend was in town…

“Last I knew, he still lived in Gotham,” Lex said, interrupting the intense glares that Chloe and Clark were giving each other.

“Still does,” Clark said.

Lex’s eyebrows rose as he turned his attention to Chloe.

Long distance relationships were difficult to maintain even when one or both parties had money to spend on frequent trips to see each other. To Lex, the news that Bruce still lived in Gotham meant that he still had a fighting chance at getting Chloe away from him.

“May I ask how you two met?” he asked, pretending to be as friendly about it as possible.

Chloe’s lips quirked into a humored smile and she arched an eyebrow at him.

“You’ve been in a coma for a year and you want to hear about *my* personal life?” she asked. “Maybe you have some lasting damage in that head of yours.”

Clark groaned again, but Lex merely smirked at Chloe’s teasing tone.

Banter was good. Bruce was alright at it, but Lex had doubt that his wit would help win her back.

‘Er…win her period,’ Lex inwardly corrected. “I don’t see how wondering how two people I know met is indicative of head trauma, Miss Sullivan.”

Chloe laughed and though Lex grinned back at her, he still gave her an expectant look.

“He was in Smallville for…something,” Clark answered, causing both of his friends to look away from each other and at him.

Chloe’s demeanor changed, her face falling into an apologetic sorrow. She shook her head lightly and then ran a hand through her hair.

“He’s going to find out eventually, Clark,” she said. Clark gave her a warning look that wasn’t lost on Lex, but Chloe ignored it and turned to face the young bald man who was now watching Clark with a suspicious gleam in his eye. “Right after you got married; I worked for your dad for a little while. I’m not proud of it, but ---”

“You quit when you found out that he and Helen had planned our relationship from the beginning,” Lex interrupted.

Chloe furrowed her brow.

“How did you know that?”

“You told me,” Lex answered. A beat passed before he added, “In my dream.”

“Dream?”

“When Lex was in a coma, his mind created an elaborate dream world to live in,” Clark said, his words rushed together, pleased to be getting away from the direction he thought the conversation had originally been heading.

“Wow,” Chloe said, mimicking Clark’s earlier sentiment and making Lex inwardly frown.

He didn’t know what he had been hoping or expecting Chloe’s reaction to be, but a simple ‘wow’ wasn’t it.

A wide, almost giddy smile spread across Chloe’s lips.

“I was in your dream world?” she asked. “That’s so cool!”

Lex smiled broadly.

*That* had been the reaction he had subliminally been hoping for.

“So, what else did I say?”

“I thought we were talking about how you met Bruce?” Lex reminded her, carefully dodging the question so he wouldn’t be tempted to start reiterating everything that had happened in his dream.

“Bruce came to Smallville because my dad found his number in your files. Something about thinking the plant was going to be closed down,” Chloe said flippantly.

“And?”

“*And* your dad was throwing a big fuss about me quitting. Bruce walked in on him threatening me and ---”

“Came to your rescue,” Lex finished for her.

“That’s about it, yeah,” Chloe agreed.

“I see,” Lex said. “So what were you doing for my dad in the first place?”

“I thought you were going to tell me what I said,” Chloe said pointedly.

“You don’t remember what you said?”

Chloe turned at and smiled at the source of the familiar voice coming into the room.

Clark and Lex’s reactions were noticeably different.

“It was in a dream Lex had,” Chloe said, taking a couple of steps to meet Bruce for a small kiss.

Bruce raised an eyebrow at Lex.

“You’re dreaming about my girlfriend? And to think I felt sorry for you,” he said, a slight teasing quality to his voice.

Lex picked up on the hint of a grin lining Bruce’s lips immediately and extended his hand, which Bruce promptly shook. It would make things considerably easier if Bruce didn’t suspect that Chloe wasn’t going to be his much longer.

“How’s it going, Luthor?”

“I’d say no complaints, but ---” Lex purposefully trailed off and looked down at the wheelchair he was seated in.

Bruce nodded a couple of times in understanding and then stepped back to stand halfway behind Chloe and wrap his arms around her waist.

Lex squared his jaw and took only partial relief in the fact that he didn’t have to keep the eyes on the two of them as a hospital volunteer came in with his lunch tray.

His eyes drifted away from the painful sight of seeing Chloe with another man and settled on the tray of food. Despite the fact that his relationship with Chloe had never really happened, Lex couldn’t help the hurt he felt with seeing her with someone else – especially someone who looked remarkably unwilling to let her go.

Had it been Clark that she had started dating during his sleep, then the boy would have his hands shoved in his pants pockets instead of wrapped adoringly around the woman he loved.

Chloe grimaced when she saw the look on his face, offering him a sympathetic smile after the volunteer left the room.

“You want me go and get you something else to eat?” she asked.

“No!” he said a little too loudly at the prospect of her leaving, earning him narrowed eyes from both Bruce and Clark. “No,” Lex said a little quieter, pushing a forced half-grin onto his lips. “The only people I’ve gotten to see are my father, doctors, and therapists. I can’t let the only *normal* people who’ve come to visit me just leave to get food.”

Chloe laughed and smiled brightly.

“Well, I’m not sure I’d consider Clark normal, but okay,” she said, causing Clark to look even more uncomfortable than he had before and Lex to wonder exactly how much of his dream translated into reality.

Was it possible that Clark really was negatively affected by the green meteor rocks that were littered throughout Smallville? And if so, why?

“You weren’t suggesting that he be the one to go fetch the contraband,” Lex countered.

Clark frowned.

“I don’t think that would be such a good idea,” he said. “I mean, they have you on that diet for a reason. Your body needs to get back to ---”

“And therein lies the *reason* I didn’t suggest he be the one to go get the food,” Chloe interrupted with a wry grin.

Bruce leaned down and kissed her neck to cover up the gurgle of laughter he felt bubbling up at the base of his throat and Clark made a sound akin to a displeased grunt.

Ignoring the younger man, he placed a small kiss on Chloe’s jaw as he rose and then looked over at Lex, who for some reason looked just as perturbed as Clark did.

‘Interesting,’ Bruce mused.

Pretending he hadn’t seen their reactions, he leaned down to brush his lips against Chloe’s ear, gently taking the shell between his teeth and smirking against her when he saw the goosebumps rise up on her skin.

Chloe gave Lex a tight grin.

“Would you excuse us for a second?” she asked, not waiting for a response before she drug Bruce out into the hallway and allowed the door to close behind them.

Clark winced.

“You don’t think they’re going to --- you know?”




TBC...

[tigerbaby]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Sep 17 2003, 04:00 PM
Clark winced.

“You don’t think they’re going to --- you know?”


Say it with me Clark...s.e.x.

Yes that's right...s.e.x.

Idiot.

[staysixkid]

:biggrin: THIS. IS AWESOME! CHRUCE!!!!!!! Could I ask for more? For a while, I have been hankering for some Chlex and Chlucas, but now that've read this, it was really Chruce I was after.

me before :dry:

me after :biggrin:

[SexInStilettos]

"Say it with me Clark...s.e.x.

Yes that's right...s.e.x.

Idiot."

Tigerbaby ur great...and so is this story update!!!

[asharnanae]

:tease: *Eyes go red and foam drips out of mouth!*

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Sod off back to gotham Sucky bruce the Payne, you big scitso rodent!!!

:worship2: this story is so great, I really feel lex's pain and anger, and it looks as though chloe does care for him in some way, as a friend at the very least!!

[beautiful N' Bruised]

oO, Lex, please resist the urge to hire a hitman for Bruce.

But God, can you imagine how much that would hurt? *Shudders*

Great update, Kris.

ETA: I meant the hurting because of everything being a dream, not the hitman, duh! :biggrin:

[hfce]

No to Bruce no to Bruce Not to Bruce :tease:


Hope :tease:

[shailafter]

aw why are people so mean to bruce.. bruce is like lex with hair.. both good looking, smart, rich.. :biggrin: i feel sorry for bruce actually.. because we all know chloe is going to end up with lex.. love this story! :wub: update as soon as you can!

[drina]

Originally posted by shailafter@Sep 18 2003, 11:27 AM
aw why are people so mean to bruce.. bruce is like lex with hair.. both good looking, smart, rich.. :biggrin:
i totally feel the same way!

Bruce is so cool! pls let me comfort himm after chloe dumps him...PLEASE!

[scifichick774]

A/N: I'm wondering when you guys are ever going to learn that things are never the way they seem in this fic...

~*~*~*~*~

Clark’s question brought forth a host of images into Lex’s mind.

Bruce gripping Chloe’s arms, balancing her back against a wall while she wrapped her legs around him and he pummeled into her.

Her heated cries of passion ringing with the other man’s name…

Lex blinked.

“I doubt it,” he finally answered coolly, trying to push aside the mental pictures aside.

“But why would she take him out of the room unless ---”

‘God! Shut up, Clark! Just shut up!’ Lex thought. “From what I’ve noticed, it doesn’t look like you have the best relationship with either one of them right now. I’m sure she just wanted to discuss something with him privately.” ‘Yeah, just keep telling yourself that,’ a little voice in his head taunted.

Clark frowned.

“Maybe,” he said, his voice betraying that he didn’t completely believe with the man next to him.

Lex clenched his jaw.

“Trust me, Clark. I’ve known Wayne a long time. We’re not the best of friends, but he’s…reserved. Not the kind of guy who would have sex with his girlfriend in a hospital.”

At least he hoped he wasn’t.

His eyes closed and his hand balled into a loose fist. Bruce Wayne was going to be out of the picture one way or another.

Clark, misreading his friend’s actions, gave him a sympathetic look.

“You’re in pain. You want me to call a nurse?” he asked.

Lex thought about it for a moment.

Truthfully, he was starting to feel the throbbing soreness from his physical therapy workout, and the pain medication they gave him always knocked him out.

Sleep would be a happy escape from having to think about Chloe being with someone other than him.

He nodded despairingly a couple of times.

“Please.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

“Okay,” Chloe started in a hushed hiss after they were far enough away from the door for Lex and Clark to be able to hear them. Or Lex anyway, as she had no idea how far Clark’s special abilities had blossomed. “What the hell was that?”

Bruce ushered her into an empty room and closed the door. The last thing he needed was for some unseen orderly to be listening in to sell their conversation to the gossip rags.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, feigning his innocence. “I was simply living up to my end of the agreement.”

“By nibbling on my ear?” Chloe asked in exasperation.

“Chloe, you wanted Clark to believe we were going out so he would stop messing up your life. He’s not going to believe that we’re not going to be affectionate after being apart for two weeks.”

“I know, but ---” Chloe tapered off with a sigh and closed her eyes for a fleeting moment.

Bruce reached out and stroked his hand down the side of her head, lovingly tucking some errant strands of hair behind her ear.

“Is the media attention getting to be too much for you?” he asked.

“No,” Chloe said. “No, that’s not it.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

Chloe hugged her arms around herself and then stared up into Bruce’s dark blue eyes.

“It just seems wrong – awkward,” Chloe said, causing Bruce to furrow his brow as he waited for more of an explanation. “Lex just woke up last week to find out that *yet another* woman he loved only wanted to kill him for his money and ---”

“You’re uncomfortable with acting like we’re in love in front of him.”

“A little, yeah,” Chloe said.

Bruce let out a small sigh and then nodded.

“I see your point,” he said. “But ---”

“Don’t worry,” Chloe interrupted. “I’m not calling off our pretend relationship. Our agreement was for a year and a half minimum and I’ll honor that.”

Bruce wrapped his arms around her and Chloe sank her head in against his chest with a contented release of breath.

“Is it really so bad?” he asked, one hand binding her tightly to him while the other ran up and down her back.

Chloe let out a humorless chuckle and shook her head against him.

“That’s the thing – it’s not bad at all. You’re attractive, you’re great company – overall, this is the best friendship I’ve ever had. But it’s not a real relationship.”

“Not everyone’s life is a fairy tale, Chloe.”

“Not everyone is pretending to be involved with someone for ulterior motives.”

“I’m sad to say that it seems to be working better on your side of the agreement.”

“Really?” Chloe asked in surprise.

Bruce nodded solemnly.

“Barbara has actually taken a liking to you,” he said. “She talks about you all the time.”

Chloe gave him a bemused yet sympathetic grin.

“I’m sure she’s only doing it because she’s nervous around you.”

“I’d like to believe that, but her parents have informed me otherwise,” he said. “By the way, expect an invitation to her ‘girls only’ birthday party next month.”

“You’re joking.”

“No. And you’re turning her down, by the way.”

“Why?” Chloe asked. “It would be the perfect opportunity to see if I can find out how she really feels about you.”

“Despite her upbringing, Barbara runs with a fairly wild crowd.”

“I hope you’re not insinuating that I’m boring,” Chloe warned with a teasing grin and a lifted eyebrow.

“I’m insinuating that when she says ‘girls only’ it means that her friends don’t want their boyfriends to see them dancing with male strippers.”

“Oh.” Chloe snickered and it gradually grew into a full-blown laugh.

“You’re not going.”

“You’re not my real boyfriend. How are you going to stop me?”

“Chloe, if a tabloid photographer caught you there ---”

Chloe held up her hands in mock surrender.

“Fine, fine, I get it,” she said, the smile still prominently on her face. “No reckless nights of abandon with the woman you really like and her wild friends.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled, where do you want to have lunch?”

“What?”

“Clark may be oblivious to what real relationships require, but Lex isn’t. He’ll expect us to have reservations somewhere.”

“Oh,” Chloe said, her previous smile sliding into a thoughtful frown.

The corners of Bruce’s lips began to rise as the light bulb finally clicked on for him.

“You like him.”

“What? I like who?”

“Lex. You like him.”

“Lex is Clark’s best friend,” Chloe argued.

“So?”

Chloe pursed her lips and tried to force down the color that was rapidly rising to her cheeks.

“Shut up,” she finally said when the smile lifting his lips threatened to break into a chuckle. She rapidly took a couple of steps toward the door, but Bruce grabbed her arm and pulled her back with ease.

“I can help you get him,” he said seriously.

Chloe looked down at the floor and then shook her head.

“No. He’s not ready for anything like that,” she said.

“Well, you still have another six months with me,” Bruce replied. “Let’s see what we can do, hmm?”

Chloe gave him a warning look that he merely smirked at and they started to head back to Lex’s room.

When they got there, Lex was lying down under some light blankets on his bed and the nurse had just gotten done pushing a syringe of something into his IV cord.

Chloe frowned.

“I thought you were feeling better?”

Lex lopped his head over to the side to look at her.

Chloe’s hair and clothing was still perfectly in place and her cheeks didn’t look flushed at all.

A small grin spread across his lips.

She hadn’t slept with him – or at least not in the small time they had been out of the room.

“I was,” he answered. “But the physical therapy sessions ---”

Chloe nodded once.

“Gotcha,” she said understandingly. Lex’s brow crinkled and Chloe smiled. “When I was pushed out your window,” she explained.

Bruce arched a questioning eyebrow at her.

“What? You didn’t tell me about that.”

“Not really something I like to talk about,” she said, offering him an apologetic grin. She turned her attention back to Lex. “Well, if you’re going to be all drugged up, you’re probably going to sleep, so we should leave.”

Chloe didn’t give him a chance to respond, but instead quickly crossed over to his bedside and leaned down to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

She started to pull up, but Lex weakly caught her wrist.

“You’ll come to visit again?” he asked, relishing the feeling of her skin beneath his fingertips and the warm lingering tingle on his cheek where she had kissed him.

Chloe smiled brightly.

“Of course,” she said. “You still have to tell me what else I said in your dream.”




TBC…

[drina]

A/N: I'm wondering when you guys are ever going to learn that things are never the way they seem in this fic...

Ain't that true... :worship2: :worship2:

[tigerbaby]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Sep 18 2003, 01:29 PM
His eyes closed and his hand balled into a loose fist. Bruce Wayne was going to be out of the picture one way or another.

Clark, misreading his friend’s actions, gave him a sympathetic look.

“You’re in pain. You want me to call a nurse?” he asked.

No one can be that dumb can they?

Loved it. Sneaky, sneaky Chloe. Now that we know it's a ruse, are going to be seeing more of Jealous Lex? *hint hint*

[sabby]

Yeah I love this fic, really do! One of my favorites, and all the twists and spins. Now I can't wait to see what Lex will come up with while he still thinks Chloe is with Bruce. I feel a little bad for him, but well it'll just give him an incentive to work harder to get what he wants *G*

hugs,
Sabby

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: hokay, bruce not so sucky after all!!! he be nice bruce wayne that will play the nice matchmaker!!

What a twist, I really didnt see that one comeing!!!! You are the best!!! :worship2:

[SexInStilettos]

i just want to say that i love you!!!!!! :worship2:

[Czech Angel]

You rock! :goof: I just loves me a jealous Lexy.

[Calliope]

Awww, I love a Chruce friendship. But, since Lex is around, why settle for second best. ;)

[hfce]

Heeh Heeh :blush: so sorry hee hee :blush: I loved it.


Hope :biggrin:

[happy bunny]

:worship2: Kris, have I told you how much I love you?? :worship2:

That was amazing. Yet another twist that I was unable to see coming. I love the whole agreement between Chloe and Bruce. Also loving that Chloe likes Lex and he doesn't even know it. So cute.

I really hope you add more soon.

Like now.

[gravelgerdie]

Kris....
great job.. Love your stories :cool:

Suzanne

[sara_noele]

This is getting better and better!! I just can't stop reading any of your stories. ( Not that I want to). :worship2:

[krahmogh]

I've been having computer problems and just read the last couple of updates. I like Chloe and Bruce having an arranged relationship just to keep Clark out of her life. I Love the fact the Bruce offered to help her get Lex.

Please update again soon. This is turning into one of my favorite fics.

:chlexsign4:

[Brittany]

:biggrin: That was great , there you go with the plot twists again. So glad Bruce isn't really her boyfriend! ;) Bruce better hurry up and get them together, I hate it when Lex gets sad. Please update soon!!! :worship2:

[Tandy]

:worship2: :yay: Wow, what a wondeful twist! I love this fic i love this fic I l love this fic I love this fic I love this fic! :worship2: :yay:

Tandy

[shailafter]

lol this fic is so amazing! so many surprises! first the coma dream and now this.. the chruce friendship.. heh at least we all know bruce isn't in love with chloe! yay he won't be heartbroken! :biggrin: you just know how to keep us all in suspense! lol

[lunaluthor]

it's so dallaseque I love this story and boy was I happy that there is no Chruce only friendship the old "we make our stupid chrushes jealous by pretending a steamy affair" :devil:
go girl go :yay: :yay: :yay:

[tigerbaby]

Originally posted by shailafter@Sep 20 2003, 03:39 AM
heh at least we all know bruce isn't in love with chloe! yay he won't be heartbroken! :biggrin:

There's always Barbara/Batgirl to kiss it better ;)

[beautiful N' Bruised]

Ouch. Spine all crooked from all the twists and turns. :cool:

Aw Bruce/Barbra so cute. But not as cute as Lex n' Chloe both liking each other and not knowing... awww...

Bring on the next <s>twist</s> chapter.

[buffiy18]

Bruce and Chole pretending? I wonder how that came about. I love the interaction between Lex and Chloe... I wonder how much of what she told him while he was in a coma happened in his dream world. I also love Clark&#39;s reaction to Chlo and Bruce :biggrin:

[vardaquareien]

I swear girl, your messin&#39; with my concept of reality&#33;&#33;&#33; I&#39;m never gonna believe what&#39;s happening in this fic til it ends, coz I swear it&#39;ll be another twist&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2: All hail the queen of twisting&#33;&#33;&#33;

Very interesting that the Helen/Lionel situation was the same as in his dream - I wonder what else is similar?

I want more&#33; ASAP&#33;&#33;&#33;

[Sunny]

Awww :wub: .... I love this fic.... this is really great&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;Perfect&#33;
Please, continue&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[scifichick774]

Two days later…

Dean sighed. Ever since he had found out who the Chloe that Lex had been talking about really was, he had lost more and more hope for the young man’s recovery. Chloe Sullivan was in love with Bruce Wayne, and he with her. Case closed.

Even if Lex was capable of recovering physically, Dean had a bad feeling that he would never get over the psychological trauma of living in his dream world for a year and then waking up to a reality where the woman he loved was in love with someone else.

He raised his hand and lightly rapped on the door as he was walking through it.

“Hey buddy,” Dean said, forcing a cheerful tone into his voice. “You ready to hit the weights?”

Lex glanced over at him from where he sat in his bed.

“Did you bring them?” he asked.

Dean’s half-fake smile completely fell.

“Yeah,” he answered. “But I don’t see why you want to torture yourself like this.”

“I just need to know what I’m up against,” Lex replied, motioning for Dean to give him the cardboard box he held in his hands.

Dean set the box down on Lex’s lap and then shook his head despairingly as Lex unfolded the criss-crossed lid.

“I thought you said you knew the guy,” Dean pointed out. “Shouldn’t you already know what you’re up against?”

Lex frowned as he started to sift through the many newspaper and magazine clippings that lay in the box. Apparently his physical therapist hadn’t been exaggerating when he said that Chloe and Bruce were his sister’s favorite society couple and that the younger girl practically obsessed over them for some unknown reason.

“I do know him,” Lex confirmed, settling on a recent article from yesterday’s online edition of the Gotham Times. “But I’ve never seen him in a relationship for more than a couple of weeks. He obviously likes Chloe quite a bit.”

“Loves,” Dean corrected, earning him a fleeting questioning look from Lex. “He *loves* her. Sorry man, but they’ve been together for a year. You don’t stay with someone that long if you just *like* them – especially if it’s a long distance thing.”

Lex scowled at him and turned his attention back to the clipping, absently running his finger over the accompanying photo of Chloe and incredibly tempted to grab a pair of scissors and juvenilely cut out Bruce’s head and replace it with a picture of his own.

Given the size of the collection, Lex doubted that Dean’s sister would appreciate that, and he forced himself to actually read the article instead.

…He flew to Metropolis two days ago and despite his busy schedule of business meetings, reliable sources have confirmed that the couple has been practically inseparable.

Though one would like to believe that dating billionaire Bruce Wayne would be filled with expensive dinners and parties, apparently the couple has settled into a more simplistic life and were actually seen coming from a hospital visit with the newly awake Lex Luthor.

If Bruce is confident enough in their relationship to allow Chloe around a young man with Lex’s reputation, and considering that their first year anniversary is this week, this reporter wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Chloe return to Gotham with Bruce, sporting a nice big rock on her finger…

Lex growled and Dean gave him a sympathetic frown.

“I tried to warn you,” he said.

Lex fisted up his hand, the article crumpling up into a ball before he threw it across the room toward the still-open door, almost hitting Chloe as she arrived.

“Whoa – watch it,” she said jokingly, smiling brightly at Lex whose eyes had grown wide with the sight of her surprise visit.

“Chloe – I ---”

Chloe’s smile fell.

“Bad time?” she asked. “Because I really only stopped by to bring you ---”

“Ooh – candy,” Dean interrupted with a giddy, anticipatory grin on his lips.

Chloe chuckled and smiled at him before looking at Lex again.

“I forgot to bring anything the other day,” she said apologetically.

“It’s okay,” Lex said.

Chloe shook her head.

“It’s not,” she argued. “I just…didn’t think about it. All the other times I came to see you, you were still ---”

“Chloe, it’s okay,” Lex reiterated.

Chloe gave him a thankful smile and Dean cleared his throat, sticking his hand out toward her. It wasn’t every day he could tell his sister that he met one half of her obsession for the last several months.

Chloe met his hand and shook it.

“Dean Miller.”

“Chloe Sullivan.”

“I know,” Dean said, pulling back his hand. Chloe looked at him questioningly and he gave her a smile that vaguely reminded her of the one that Clark used so often when he realized he had just stuck his foot in his mouth. “Just…Lex said you were here the other day – and how many ‘Chloe’s’ could he know, right?”

Chloe’s eyes darted over to Lex and Lex rolled his eyes.

“You’re sure this isn’t a bad time?” she asked.

“It’s not a bad time at all,” Lex answered. “Dean was just about to take me down to physical therapy.”

Chloe handed the box of candy off to Dean and then started walking over to Lex.

“And how does that make it *not* a bad time exactly?”

“He hates physical therapy,” Dean answered, ripping through the paper covering the box and lifting the lid to reveal an assortment of expensive chocolates.

Chloe gave Lex a tight grin.

“Of course he does,” she said as if she were actually talking to Dean. “But that doesn’t mean ---” she trailed off when she saw the box on Lex’s lap. “Are you working on something?”

Lex and Dean shared a panicked glance and Dean quickly rose from his seat.

“Oh, that. That’s nothing,” Dean lied, removing the box. “Have a seat.”

Chloe arched a suspicious eyebrow at him, but only humor lined her voice.

“I wasn’t planning to sit on his lap,” she said.

Dean blushed with embarrassment. He had meant to motion toward one of the other chairs, but the box in his hands prevented him from doing so.

“You could though,” Lex said, causing Dean to give him an ‘Are you crazy?’ look. “I’m still working on building up my muscles from their atrophied state. I doubt I’d even feel it.”

“Well, that’s incentive,” Chloe said deadpanned.

Lex smiled, but his mirth was cut short when his father’s voice drifted over to him from the doorway.

“Lex,” Lionel greeted, his eyes purposefully darting around the room. “Miss Sullivan,” he said. “What a surprise.”

Chloe didn’t even bother giving him a forced, fake grin.

“I was just leaving,” she said.

“I hope it’s not on my account,” Lionel said with mock sincerity.

Lex reached up and weakly squeezed her hand, prompting Chloe to look at him. He didn’t want to deal with his father. He needed to concentrate his energy on getting better and worming his way into Chloe’s good graces as something more than a pity case.

And yet, here they both were, and it was apparent that Chloe was unwilling to stay if Lionel was there.

Not that he could blame her.

If he was in complete possession of his faculties, then he would have stood up and walked out as well.

“Actually, I believe something was mentioned about contraband,” Lex said, his eyes pleading with Chloe’s and silently trying to tell her that he wanted her there and would get rid of his father if need be.

Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of what she was going to say, and closed it with a light smile.

“What did you want?” she asked.

“Burger and fries from Sal’s on fifth?” Lex replied with a hopeful look that only made Chloe’s smile grow.

“I think that can be arranged,” she said.

Dean frowned, but not before shoving another piece of the chocolate that Chloe had brought for Lex into his mouth.

“Their burgers are way too big,” he said with a full mouth, swallowing down the remnants of the smooth, sugary treat before speaking again. “You shouldn’t have all that fat. It’s not good for ---”

“Protein builds muscle, right?” Chloe quickly interrupted, anxious to get out of the room since she could practically feel Lionel’s intense stare on her. She squeezed Lex’s hand and then released it. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Dean rose from his chair again and set the box of candy down.

“I’ll go with you.”

She looked at him questioningly, but one flick of his eyes in Lionel’s direction and she completely understood.

They left the room and Lionel smirked down at his son.

“Boyfriend?” he asked.

“My physical therapist,” Lex answered curtly.

“Ah,” Lionel said as he sat down. “So she hasn’t disposed of young Mr. Wayne then.”

“You might have warned me about that,” Lex said.

Lionel’s smirk turned into a giddy grin.

“And miss his reaction when you told him that his girlfriend of a year now was carrying your child?” Lionel teased. “I heard he came to pay you a visit the other day. Did you tell him then?”

“You know as well as I do that was just a dream,” Lex said coolly.

“Accepted that now, have you? Interesting,” Lionel mused. “Apparently Dr. Foster is well worth her fee.”

“Dr. Foster is just a quack you hired to get me to spill all of my deep, dark secrets so you could use them against me. Well, I hate to break it to you, Dad, but there’s not much more I can tell her that I haven’t told you already.”

Lionel sighed and leaned back in his chair, bringing his hand up to rest his jaw on and pensively observing his son.

“You honestly believe I tried to kill you, don’t you?”

“Didn’t you?”

“Of course not. As I told you before ---”

Lex scoffed.

“Save it. I think we both know how much your word means,” he said. Lionel pursed his lips indignantly, but Lex continued. “Chloe told me why she stopped working for you.”

“And you believe the word of the mother of your imaginary child over me? I’m hurt, Lex,” Lionel said, the teasing quality to his voice not lost on his son.

“Get out.”

Lionel shook his head.

“I doubt you’ve heard the whole story, and I don’t intend to leave until you have.”

“Great,” Lex mumbled sarcastically.

“Although it’s true that Dr. Bryce and I…arranged…for you two to become involved and I…um…may have manipulated the relationship for the benefit of my own company,” Lionel said, giving Lex a hint of a grin. “I had no idea that she intended to kill you. I came to the belief that she was simply going to divorce you and leave you with nothing – I even tried to bribe her out of doing it, but ---”

“Why should I believe you, Dad? Why should I believe one word that falls from your mouth when all you’ve ever done is lie to me?&#33;” Lex spat angrily.

“Temper, Lex – temper. You *are* in a hospital, after all.”

“And what are they going to do? Kick me out?”

“Your anger is misdirected, son,” Lionel said simply. “If I had known that one little visit from Chloe would get you this riled up --- shall I take her off your approved list of visitors? I’m sure Bruce would be nothing less than thrilled.”

“Get. Out,” Lex said through gritted teeth.

“Alright,” Lionel agreed, pushing himself up from the chair. “But keep in mind what I’ve told you. I’m not your enemy, Lex. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”



TBC...

[tigerbaby]

Ooooh this is getting good.


Lex scowled at him and turned his attention back to the clipping, absently running his finger over the accompanying photo of Chloe and incredibly tempted to grab a pair of scissors and juvenilely cut out Bruce’s head and replace it with a picture of his own.

I just loved that reaction.

[sabby]

Oh this is good, really really good, and I want more, like NOW&#33; Go to it, write the next chap, gimme more *bounces* please?

hugs,
Sabby

[celticangel]

I loved that part. Update soon please. :yay: :worship2: :yay:

[asharnanae]

:worship2: just fantastic, as always&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

[vardaquareien]

Originally posted by scifichick774@Sep 27 2003, 01:38 AM
“Oh, that. That’s nothing,” Dean lied, removing the box. “Have a seat.”

Chloe arched a suspicious eyebrow at him, but only humor lined her voice.

“I wasn’t planning to sit on his lap,” she said.
:hehe: Oh that part of the convo was undoubtedly my fav&#33;&#33;&#33; Thas was a classic&#33; Oh how I luv this fic&#33; I can&#39;t wait til you post more&#33;&#33;&#33;

[SexInStilettos]

thats right lex, let him have it&#33;&#33;&#33; please update again, i have no life and i love chlex&#33;&#33;&#33; :chlexsign1:

[hfce]

Lionel :hammer: :die: and Lex :lol: about Chloe and Bruce. He is so cute when he is jealous.


Hope

[drina]

Lex scowled at him and turned his attention back to the clipping, absently running his finger over the accompanying photo of Chloe and incredibly tempted to grab a pair of scissors and juvenilely cut out Bruce’s head and replace it with a picture of his own.
:pclol: tHAT was just freaking HILARIOUS&#33; i love that.

[Brittany]

:wub: Loved it, Chloe was so sweet to Lex&#33; I think they should hang out more often. She can keep him company so he won&#39;t be bored back into a coma. She can fall in love with him while they play Uno or something&#33; Anyway love the fic, can&#39;t wait for more&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2: :worship2:

[buffiy18]

:biggrin: I&#39;m glad Chloe got the hint and didn&#39;t decide to leave for good. I see some yummy :chlexsign1: coming in the next chapter &#33; ? Please?&#33;

[Tandy]

awesome&#33; Amazing chapter&#33; My poor sexy.... :crygreen: Make it better soon&#33; please&#33;


Tandy

[happy bunny]

This story just keeps getting better&#33; :worship2: I really hope you update soon, I can&#39;t wait to read the next chapter&#33;

[sara_noele]

Aaah, an update&#33; But I still don&#39;t know what to think of Lionel. Shall Lex trust him?
Update soon, please&#33;&#33; :wub:

[kirt30]

please update soon

[lunaluthor]

it&#39;s getting better and better ah btw kill Lionel :devil:

[krahmogh]

this story is great i loved the scene with the newspaper clippings. and chloe going to get Lex a burger so she&#39;ll have a reason to come back is really cool.

please update again soon.

:chlexsign4:

[scifichick774]

Chloe yawned as she shut the door to her small apartment behind her. Pretending to be Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend could be exhausting at times, and though he had politely offered a spare room at his more spacious lodgings for the night, she desperately wanted to crash in her own bed after the day she had.

She still couldn’t believe that she had gone to see Lex on the lame pretense of forgetting a gift on her previous visit. Lex had been cordial though, even friendly considering that they didn’t actually know each other that well and Clark wasn’t there to act as a possible awkwardness buffer between them.

It gave her a strange surge of hope that someday, after he had gotten over the emotional issues of marrying yet another woman who only wanted to kill him for his money, that there might be the possibility of something more between them.

Of course, what she told Bruce still held. She made an arrangement to stay with him for another six months and she would. And, even after that period of time was over, there was always the very real issue that Lex was generally only seen in the company of tall, beautiful brunette women, which meant that even if she had an unrequited crush on him, that it was likely to stay that way – unrequited.

With a lazy flick of her hand, she flipped the light switch, jumping back and letting out a startled half-scream when she saw an all too familiar looking intruder sitting calmly on her oversized chair.

“It’s not very gentlemanly of him not to escort you to the door, Miss Sullivan,” Lionel said with a light, lopsided smirk. “Or are you and Mr. Wayne having relationship problems?”

Chloe glared at him, but her heart wasn’t in it. She had spent the longest, arguably most boring night of her life at a dinner party surrounded by dull corporate executives and had little to no fervor to deal with Lionel Luthor.

“Three words: breaking and entering.”

“That’s two words,” Lionel pointed out.

“I was counting the ‘and’,” Chloe said tiredly. “My point was that I’m perfectly within my legal rights to shoot you right now.”

“But you won’t,” Lionel said confidently.

“Sure I will,” Chloe replied with a lazy smirk. “Just let me go get my gun.”

Lionel gave her a partial roll of his eyes.

“You don’t own a gun. You’re as in favor for gun control as your boyfriend is. So, let’s cut through the pretenses, shall we?”

Chloe sighed.

“Besides for ‘get the hell out of my apartment’, I don’t have anything to say to you,” she said evenly. “But if you’re desperate to be lethally injured for trespassing, then I can call Bruce back here right now.”

Lionel relaxed into the chair, but his shoulders stayed stiff and rigid as he postured the very power that he seemed to exude on a regular basis.

“That’s actually what I wanted to speak with you about,” he said.

“This ought to be good,” Chloe mumbled under her breath, folding her arms across her chest as she did so. With a quick nod of her head, she motioned for him to continue.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, there’s quite a bit of society page speculation that the two of you will be engaged soon.”

“So?” Chloe asked, trying to seem indifferent instead of rebutting the rumor to the elder Luthor.

“I was wondering if I might get you to…reconsider that.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes at him and tightened the squeeze that her crossed arms held against her chest.

“My social life is none of your business. My *life* is none of your business,” she said, her previously tired body springing to life as Lionel’s words riled her up. “Now, I suggest you get out of my apartment or the society pages you just mentioned will be sporting headlines tomorrow about your untimely death.”

An amused smile lifted the corners of Lionel’s mouth.

“I certainly hope that my death would be front page material rather than buried in the society columns,” he joked teasingly.

“We could always try and find out,” Chloe retorted dryly.

Lionel let out a mock sigh and then gave her a surprisingly defeated look that Chloe furrowed her brow at.

“I was rather hoping that we might try to get along…for Lex’s sake.”

Chloe scoffed.

“Lex doesn’t like you either,” she pointed out.

Lionel simply shrugged off the comment.

“You’ve been informed of the fact that he was living in a dream world of sorts for the last year?” Lionel asked, continuing without waiting for an answer since he already knew what it would be. “He’s still holding onto parts of it; the primary pieces of it being that he and I are engaged in some kind of battle and…”

“Aren’t you?” Chloe countered.

Lionel gave her a tight grin.

“I believed my son to be dead, Miss Sullivan. And then to have him returned to me…needless to say, being given such a dramatic second chance changes one’s perspective on things.”

Not entirely convinced, but wanting to believe him, Chloe merely darted her eyes over to the wall for a split second before returning her gaze to Lionel.

“So, you want me to…what? Convince him that you’re a good guy? That you didn’t start making his life a living hell from the second he was born? That you and Helen didn’t plot out her fake relationship with him from the beginning?” Chloe shook her head and then glared at him angrily. “I can’t do that. Because, unlike our deal about Clark, Lex and I are barely friendly associates, let alone friends. And more importantly, I wouldn’t even if I could. I learned my lesson about working for you the hard way the first time around and Lex has been through enough. I won’t do that to him. If you want to try to convince him that you’ve reformed, then *you’ll* have to be the one to do it.”

Lionel observed her carefully, his palm rising up so he could rest his jaw on it while his mind flit over what she had just said and the emotion with which she had said it.

“You didn’t let me finish earlier,” he finally said.

Flustered from her rant and the surprise of Lionel’s response, Chloe blinked a couple of times in confusion before speaking.

“What?”

Lionel placed his hands on the armrests and pushed himself out of the chair, walking over to her to exert his full height and remind her how much larger he was than her physically. It was a ploy he had often used when she worked for him and she’d talk back to him, but she had caught onto it fairly quickly and was now not even in the mood to humor him into believing that he intimidated her.

Chloe looked at him expectantly and one corner of Lionel’s mouth curled up into a look she had never seen on the older man before. He almost looked…impressed.

“My son thinks that he’s in love with you,” he said bluntly. “When he first woke up, he wanted to know what I had done with you and whether or not you were safe.”

Chloe arched an eyebrow. She had expected him to lie, but she didn’t think that she had exhibited any signs of the way she felt about Lex when Lionel had seen the two of them interact in the hospital. Certainly no more than any other friend would have.

But, as always, Lionel was one step ahead of everyone else, and was obviously willing to use that fact to try to convince her of something that wasn’t true in order to have his plan be carried through.

“And that’s why you want me not to marry Bruce?” she asked, her tone wry as she indicated that she was onto his scheme – to get into Lex’s good graces with her help - without having to use the actual words. She shook her head a little, looking down at the floor before raising her eyes to his once again. “Lex doesn’t love me and I’m not going to become a pawn in another one of your games – so I think you should leave before I really am forced to call Bruce and play the damsel in distress to get you out of here.”

Lionel grinned and then nodded once.

“Good night, Miss Sullivan.”

“Mr. Luthor,” she returned.

Pausing before he opened the door, Lionel turned his head around just enough to make eye contact with Chloe.

“If you need proof – next time you visit him, ask him if you two had any names picked out for your baby.” He said the words with a hint of a teasing grin and opened the door to walk through it before waiting for a response.

Making sure that she locked both deadbolts on her door after he left, Chloe rested her head on the door, her entire body shaking because of the lies that Lionel was trying to fill her mind with.

She wasn’t sure how he had gotten into her apartment in the first place, but she had a suspicion that it had to do with a rather large bribe to her unseemly landlord, and if he had let Lionel in once then there was nothing to stop him from doing it again.

Shivering at the thought, she rubbed her hands quickly along her arms to warm up. Her eyes went to the phone.

Perhaps spending the night in Bruce’s guest room wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next afternoon…

Bruce paused in front of Lex’s hospital room door. He knew that Chloe specifically ordered him not to interfere, but he was going back to Gotham tomorrow and he didn’t relish the idea of leaving her alone after her run-in with Lionel Luthor the previous night.

He knew Clark could physically keep her safe, but he also knew that Chloe would kill him if he so much as suggested the idea. And since she had turned down his suggestion to take some time off of school, move to Gotham, and start again at one of the universities there when the next semester came up, he wasn’t left with many options. In his mind, he was actually only left with one option.

‘Only one *legal* option,’ he thought to himself.

So, it came down to this. He glanced down that the medium-sized box that he was using one arm to carry. He could almost guarantee that Lex would be too stubborn to accept a gift from him, but held out the small twinge of hope that the younger Luthor wouldn’t be completely unreasonable and would see that there was a significant gain in it for him.

He pulled back his hand and rapped lightly on the door.

“It’s open.”

Bruce turned the door handle and entered the room, giving an upward nod of his head to Lex as a greeting. He could see the muscles in Lex’s jaw tense and forced the smirk that naturally came to his lips to turn into a friendly grin.

“Bruce.”

“Lex,” Bruce returned, turning his head back a little when he saw Lex looking expectantly past him. Unable to resist the smirk this time, he covered the expression by arching an eyebrow. “Expecting someone else?”

Lex narrowed his eyes, but didn’t rise to Bruce’s baiting line. Instead, he motioned with an upward lift of his eyebrows toward the box that the other man was holding.

“More candy?” he asked. Bruce creased his brow and eyed Lex questioningly, causing the corners of Lex’s lips to curl up. So Bruce didn’t know about Chloe’s visit the other day. ‘Interesting,’ Lex thought, pleased at the spark of hope that the revelation brought. “Chloe visited yesterday and ---”

“She brought you candy,” Bruce finished with an understanding nod of his head. “I see.” Lex smirked at Bruce’s reaction, but Bruce ignored it and continued, walking over to hand the box to Lex. “It’s just a prototype, but the tests so far have been encouraging. I thought you might be interested.”

Lex regarded him with suspicion, but quickly darted his eyes over toward the small side table next to the bed to see if he had anything to open the box with. Grabbing the letter opener that he practically had to fight the hospital staff to keep, he slid it under the tape that held the lid of the box closed, frowning when he saw a glob of hard black plastic with wires sticking out of it.

“Gee, you shouldn’t have,” Lex quipped dryly as he removed the object from the cardboard box.

Bruce chuckled and lowered himself to one of the chairs next to the hospital bed.

“It’s supposed to help coma patients’ muscles from going into atrophy,” he said. “But, apparently the tests are showing remarkable results for simply speeding up the amount of recovery time afterward.”

“Oh.”

Lex cleared his throat. There wasn’t much he could say to that. It had been nothing more than a friendly gesture that might help him get out of the hospital faster and still, all Lex could think about was using the gift he had just been given to steal Chloe away from the man who had been thoughtful enough to bring him the device in the first place.

Never one for sitting down for extended periods of time, Bruce rose from the seat and walked over to the window, his back facing Lex as he started to speak.

“If it works, I need you to do me a favor,” he said, his serious tone not leaving any room for argument. Lex looked over at him, but Bruce still didn’t turn around. As if Bruce could feel Lex’s eyes on him, he continued with his ‘request’. “I need you to keep your father away from Chloe.” With that, he turned his head and then his body, fixing a cool glare in Lex’s direction, which the other man promptly returned.

“I thought that was taken care of?”

“So did I – until he took it upon himself to break into her apartment last night,” Bruce said.

“Shit,” Lex grumbled under his breath. If anything besides Chloe being in love with Bruce was going to ruin his chances with her, then his dad would have to be it. Inwardly cringing, he forced himself to push the words from his mouth that he never wanted to say. “The papers say you’re probably getting engaged soon. Why not just take her back to Gotham with you where your security detail can keep an eye on her?”

Resisting the urge to snicker at what he perceived as being obvious jealousy that Lex was trying to set aside, Bruce gave him a tight grin. He could only say so much without completely lying, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun with it.

“She’s not willing to move to Gotham until the semester is over,” Bruce said, purposefully dodging the unasked question of whether he and Chloe would be getting married.

Lex’s eyes seemed to gloss over as he remembered part of his dream; part of what he thought had been his life. Chloe had been independent and stubborn till the very end and he had loved her all the more for it.

“So?” Bruce asked, snapping Lex out of his thoughts and making him realize that he had just missed the better portion of what Bruce was just yammering on about.

Lex blinked and shook his head quickly to clear it of the images of him and Chloe that had come up with Bruce’s comment on her unwillingness to move.

“I’m sorry, I missed most of what you just said,” Lex admitted.

Bruce gave him a wary look.

“Do you need me to call a doctor?”

“No. Just tired,” Lex lied.

Bruce nodded, but didn’t look entirely convinced.

“Maybe I should just call Clark,” he mused aloud, suspecting that it would infuriate Lex enough to get him to agree to watch over Chloe in his absence. Even if he was wrong about Lex liking Chloe, he wasn’t wrong about the strained friendship between Lex and Clark; and if Lex spent more time with Chloe, then perhaps he could develop feelings for her – if he hadn’t already.

“What?”

“To look after Chloe,” Bruce clarified. “It’s certainly not ideal considering that he still lives in Smallville and they’re not getting along too well at the moment, but she outright shunned the idea of being followed around by a security guard and ---”

“I’ll do it,” Lex cut in. Bruce arched an eyebrow at him. “If your…contraption…here works, then I won’t let her out of my sight. You have my word.” He reasoned that it wasn’t a total lie, as he *would* be with her all the time – just not in the loyal friend context that he was sure that Bruce was envisioning.

Bruce smirked at the fact that he hadn’t been wrong about Lex’s feelings for Chloe…which meant that what Chloe said that Lionel told her last night might actually be true.

Was it really possible that Lionel was just trying to be a good father for once? Somehow Bruce doubted it, but there was only one way to find out.

“Your dad…said some things…to Chloe,” he started.

“Such as?” Lex asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

“He said that you’re in love with her – asked her to call off whatever engagement we might be planning.” Bruce put the best fake warning scowl he could muster onto his face, but almost felt sorry for Lex as the bald man started to pale. It wasn’t like Lex to back down from a fight, especially not over something or someone that he wanted.

“What did she say?” Lex asked, his voice little more than a whisper. He was angry that Lionel was the one to tell her, and even more upset that there was a good possibility that Bruce could kill him over the words that just spilled from his mouth, but he had to know.

“Told him that he was wrong and to get out of her apartment,” Bruce replied. Lex nodded absently. He should have expected as much. “Then he made some comment about asking you if you had picked out names for your unborn child or something.”

Lex barely resisted the urge to clutch at his gut. If the prototype Bruce brought him worked, then the first thing he would do would be to strangle his father.

Chloe knew.

She had been told everything – or as much as he had told Lionel at any rate, and that was enough.

The pain that came from knowing that none of what had happened in his dream was true resurfaced and Lex’s body started to shake as a seizure rolled over him.




TBC…

[happy bunny]

Oh my God&#33;&#33; :ohmy: Poor Lex.

But wow, that was evil. He better be okay. Please please please post more soon, I need to know what happens next, I&#39;ll give you anything&#33;

[tigerbaby]

Kris, you are just plain evil to do that to Lex. Hasn&#39;t he suffered enough?

And I gotta say, I love the idea of a match-making Bruce.

[Brittany]

:ohmy: That damn Bruce&#33; Poor Lex, but I can&#39;t wait until he can walk again and get with Chloe&#33; Loved it and can&#39;t wait for the next chapter&#33; Please don&#39;t take too long to update. :worship2: :worship2:

[seraphic]

keep updating please. absolutely love this story :yay: :yay:

-cher-

[Sab_Luthor]

c&#39;mon c&#39;mon c&#39;mon quickly please please please i can&#39;t wait for reading more please come back to me please with an update please

[Sunny]

This fic is a pure work of art.... It&#39;s wonderful.... incredible....I can&#39;t wait for next chapter.... :chlexsign3:

[vardaquareien]

Ahhhhh&#33; Two words. Sacrificial. Knife.

You end it with him having a seizure&#33; That is just so far beyond evil that...I just don&#39;t have words&#33;&#33;&#33; :mad: You better update this immediately or I might go into a seizure of my own&#33;

btw I&#39;m happy that Chloe knows, even if it was the magnificent bastard that told her&#33;



What are you still reading this for? GO UPDATE&#33;&#33;&#33; NOW&#33; chop-chop&#33;&#33;&#33;

[hfce]

Oh no poor Lex :crygreen: please make him ok. Please......... :crygreen:



Hope :huh:

[asharnanae]

:blush: I hope lex gets better soon, and I kinda like bruce or wanting to help, but I also kinda hate him for helping to give lex the sesure. Wonderful update&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :worship2:

[sabby]

Now I really feel bad for Lex. Poor guy gets his nose dunked into his misery over and over again. But it&#39;s not Bruce&#39;s fault. The guy only wants to help and he asked out of curiosity and probably thinking it was just a petty jibe from Lionel, not the low blow it actually was. *sighs* I hope that contraption Bruce gave Lex will work, so that he can go and throttle and tortutre Lionel properly for what he&#39;s done *grim nod*

You know I love this story and that I&#39;ll bug your for the next update starting now. I&#39;d love to see more Lex/Bruce interaction and I hope you write that party at Barbara&#39;s with the little surprise I suggested *g*

hugs,
Sabby

[sara_noele]

Oh Lionel, this was so evil, I loved it. And I so love the interaction between Lex and Bruce. Please update soon.

[Sab_Luthor]

fabulous update
just like i love them
another one like that please but this time with more chlex

[jaded-swan]

I just love the twist and turns in this story&#33; Bruce as a matchmaker? Beautiful :biggrin: although maybe Chloe can help repay Bruce a favour by let&#39;s say helping him with Barbara? :blinkkiss:

[autumngold]

Poor Lex&#33; I hope he&#39;ll be ok after the seizure&#33;&#33; I can&#39;t wait to read more Chlex&#33;&#33; Please update soon&#33;&#33; :chlexsign1: :biggrin:

[SexInStilettos]

omg that was a great update&#33; but poor lex ......bruce telll him or i will use chinese water tourture on you&#33;&#33;&#33; hehe j/k

[Lady Candy]

Oh God oh god oh god&#33;
What does it happen now? You can&#39;t stop this story, so...

[happy bunny]

*whines* Still no update? *pouts*

Please, please, please, please, please update soon&#33; *really* soon. Now would be good.

[Blaire023]

*grabs Kris by her shoulders and shakes as hard as possible*

YOU. CAN&#39;T. LET. HIM. DIE&#33;

cuz i said so :tease:

take that

~B

oh and yes i just caught up on this, you&#39;ll notice that i haven&#39;t replied since about the 7th chapter or so. And i have to say, i just got sucked right back into it. it&#39;s amazing. i love it, absolutely.

[drina]

I feel so bad for Lex..his muscles atrophied, and the woman of his dream &#39;with&#39; Bruce.


That say, I love the way Bruce tortures Lex, haha, and at the same time helping Lex too.

[scifichick774]

The next day…

Chloe sighed and closed her eyes, taking the moment to settle her head back against the plush leather interior of Bruce’s limousine.

“You’re overreacting,” she said in the calmest voice she could muster. “I’ll just have the locks changed or something.”

“Chloe ---”

“I can’t just leave, Bruce – I have classes. And besides, it would be like admitting defeat.”

“I can’t keep you safe here,” Bruce said. “And Lex isn’t exactly in any condition to ---”

“What?” Chloe cut in, turning her head sharply to look at him. “Oh, God. Please tell me you didn’t tell him about this.”

“He had a right to know that his father broke into your apartment to harass you.”

Chloe groaned and ran a hand wearily over the back of her neck.

“Why?” she asked. “It’s not enough that he’s going through everything that he is? You had to tell him about his dad too?”

“Like I said, he had a right to know,” Bruce argued in a smooth, even tone. “And he’s just as concerned as I am.”

“I don’t want him to be concerned&#33; I just…I just want him to concentrate on getting better and for his dad to leave me alone. That’s all,” Chloe said. Bruce lifted an eyebrow at her and Chloe half-scowled at him. “Don’t start.”

“You like him, Chloe. I don’t understand why you won’t just tell him,” Bruce said. ‘God knows he could use the news.’

“He barely even knows me,” Chloe said. “The last thing he needs is for one of Clark’s ‘little friends’ to be hitting on him.”

“If it was Lana or Pete then I’d agree with you, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I really think ---” Bruce’s cell phone went off and he grumbled something under his breath before reaching into his inner jacket pocket to retrieve it. “Wayne,” he answered gruffly. “Yes…When did this happen?...I see…” he paused and glanced at the expensive watch on his wrist. “No. That’s fine. Tell him I’ll be there in a half hour.”

He clicked off the phone and slid it back into his inner jacket pocket before hitting the communication button to talk to the chauffer.

“There’s been a change of plans. I need to go to Metropolis Memorial Hospital.”

“Yes, sir,” came the somewhat static-filled reply.

Chloe’s face contorted with concern.

“The hospital? Was that about Lex? Is he alright?” she asked in a rambling manner.

“Better than alright,” Bruce answered. “It seems that the prototype I gave him apparently worked – and in a record amount of time at that.” He gave her a sly grin. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was material for that wall of weird you used to keep.”

Chloe nodded once.

“He has an incredibly high white blood cell count – has ever since the meteor shower.”

“Should I ask how you know that?”

Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but quickly snapped it shut with a smile that spoke volumes. Bruce smirked at her in return.

“You need to tell him, Chloe,” he said seriously, causing Chloe’s smile to fall.

“Bruce ---”

“Listen,” he said, leaning forward and resting his forearms against his thighs, “if a woman like you liked me, then I’d want to know.” Chloe sighed. “Just think about it. Okay?”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lex rolled his head back and forth and then smirked at Dean, who merely shook his head in return.

“I can’t believe it worked,” Dean said. “If he produces that thing, it’s going to put me out of a job.”

“No it won’t,” Lex assured him. “It only works for people with atrophied muscles or to prevent the muscles from going into atrophy. It doesn’t rips or tears or ---”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Dean said with a humored grin. He gave Lex an upward nod of his head. “So, are you really gonna go after her? I mean, it kind of seems like you owe Wayne now…”

Lex frowned.

While Dean had a point about him being in Bruce’s debt, he loved Chloe; and if getting her to love him back meant stealing her away from the man who had just saved him at least a year’s worth of physical therapy, then he’d do it.

“She doesn’t belong with him,” Lex said in a decisive tone, leaving little room for argument.

“I think my sister would disagree with you.”

Lex sighed.

“I love her.”

Dean shook his head despairingly before fixing Lex with a pointed look.

“You don’t even know her – not really,” he said. “You know how she was in your dream, and you know how cool she’s been since you woke up, but you don’t *know* her, which means you can’t *love* her.”

“I do know her,” Lex argued. “So far, everything that’s been mentioned to me that she said while I was in a coma correlated with the things she said in my dream.”

“So?”

“Don’t you see? She was probably a frequent visitor and told me all about what was going on in her life.”

“Does the phrase ‘grasping at straws’ mean anything to you?”

Lex gave him a tight grin.

“Well, then I’ll get to know her,” he stated. “Bruce is leaving for Gotham today and has entrusted me with Chloe’s safety. It should given us plenty of time to become more than acquaintances.” Dean groaned. “What?”

“I know what you’re thinking and it’s a bad idea, man.”

“Oh, really? And what am I thinking, Dean?”

“You’re thinking that you’re going to try and seduce her away from Bruce while you’re ‘protecting’ her from your dad. Give her all the attention that she barely ever gets because he lives so far away and then she’ll realize that you’re the man for her instead of her fiancé.”

“They’re not engaged,” Lex pointed out.

“Yet,” Dean cut in.

“And I fail to see how it’s a bad idea,” Lex finished.

“Because he’s your *friend*. Doesn’t friendship mean anything to you?” Dean asked. “I mean, the guy, out of the goodness of his heart, brings you a prototype to basically make you better – except for the seizures – and the entire time you’re thinking about how you can use it to your advantage to snag his girlfriend away from him. That’s just…wrong.”

The door opened without a knock and both Lex and Dean turned their attention toward it because of the slight squeaking sound that it made.

“Lex&#33; You’re…up.”

The muscles in Lex’s jaw tensed, but he kept an impassive expression on his face.

“It’s considered polite to knock before entering someone’s hospital room, Victoria.”

The leggy brunette shot him a charming, serpent-like smile and started to walk toward him.

“Well, I figured I’d surprise you, and it wasn’t as if you could get up and answer it…though it looks like I was misinformed,” she said, her gaze raking over his body unabashedly before settling on his eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

Victoria pouted.

“And here I thought you might be happy to see me,” she said. “You know, me being one of your only ex-girlfriends who never tried to kill you and all.”

“I’m sure that would have changed had we ever actually been in a monogamous relationship and you had any shot in hell of getting my money.”

Dean slowly rose from his seat and started to slink out of the room. The woman Lex was talking to was beautiful, but she exuded evil and deceit. If he hung around much longer then he had no doubt that he would find himself rooting for Lex to go after Chloe simply to avoid Victoria and other women like her.

“Pardon me,” Bruce said as he almost bumped into Dean in the hallway.

“Yeah, sorry,” Dean mumbled, not really paying attention to whom he had just passed.

“Hi Dean,” Chloe said, jerking him from his thoughts.

Dean grinned nervously at her, finally taking notice of the rather imposing man she was with.

“Hi.”

He glanced down to where Chloe and Bruce’s hands were linked and felt a sinking feeling in his gut. Despite everything he had told Lex, he was secretly hoping that Bruce and Chloe were having problems that might justify Lex trying to steal her away from the dark-haired man. Obviously that wasn’t the case.

“Now probably isn’t the best time to go in there,” he warned, motioning to Lex’s door with his head.

“They said he was feeling better,” Bruce said.

Dean grimaced.

“Yeah, but ---”

Bruce peered down at his watch for a split second and then looked at Chloe, an expression on his face that she understood immediately. He was a gentleman, but his business always came first. She almost pitied Barbara if she and Bruce ever got together. She smiled a sweet, apologetic smile at Dean.

“It was good to see you again,” she said.

“You too.”

And with that, she followed Bruce out of little choice because he was tugging lightly on her hand. Bruce lightly rapped on the not entirely closed door, but didn’t wait for a response before entering. It was an action he would quickly regret.

He tried to shield Chloe from seeing Victoria draping herself all over an extremely displeased Lex, but was unsuccessful.

Chloe’s heart sank at the sight in front of her and she found herself snuggling against Bruce’s side as he wrapped an arm around her back for support.

“Lex,” Bruce greeted without emotion, watching as the other man practically shoved Victoria Hardwick away from him and focused his eyes on Chloe. Bruce arched a suspicious eyebrow at the brunette before giving her a cool greeting. “Miss Hardwick.”

Victoria didn’t let the action faze her. She was there for a reason and the fact that Gotham’s favorite society couple had decided to pay a visit only made her job easier.

“Bruce,” Lex returned, his eyes flashing with jealousy when he saw Chloe in Bruce’s embrace. “Chloe,” he said, his voice softening a little as he remembered that Chloe had never been his in the first place and he would need to reign in his temper if he was ever going to get her to love him.

Victoria grinned smugly to herself. It was easy to see what Lionel had been talking about, as it indeed appeared that Lex was in love with Bruce Wayne’s fiancée. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell whether the girl reciprocated or not, and from the way Bruce was holding her, it didn’t matter, because he wasn’t about to let her go.

“We…um…” Chloe uncharacteristically stammered, forcing the corners of her lips to curl upward.

“Heard that the prototype worked?” Lex guessed.

“Yes,” Bruce answered for Chloe. “And congratulations on that.”

“I already sent it back to your office in Gotham via courier,” Lex said, speaking to Bruce, but his eyes were still on Chloe.

“We actually just came to say goodbye,” Bruce said, knowing that Chloe wouldn’t object to going to Gotham now that she had just witnessed Lex being fawned over by an ex-girlfriend.

Lex’s eyes darted from Chloe to Bruce with the words that came from the other man’s mouth.

“*We*?” he asked, his gaze flitting back to Chloe with a questioning look. “I thought you refused to even consider moving to Gotham until the end of the semester.”

Victoria barely resisted the urge to point and snicker. Now that Lex had finally fallen in love for real, it wasn’t reciprocated – not even for his money. Granted, Bruce Wayne had a larger fortune, and if he wasn’t in the picture then Lex might have a shot; but from the way Chloe was dressed, Victoria guessed that wasn’t the case.

Clearly Chloe wasn’t with Bruce for his wealth or she would be decked out in designer clothes, and probably wouldn’t be letting him keep less than a millimeter between them at all times. No. Sex in private was fine, but honest physical affection in front of others was strictly reserved for people you cared about; it was something that Victoria knew about only too well.

She folded her arms across her chest and tried to push away the sudden wave of jealousy that overcame her. The feeling almost seemed foreign to her and she didn’t like it one bit.

“I’m sure Mr. Wayne can be…persuasive,” Victoria said to try and taunt Chloe into a jealous reaction; her lips curled upward in a broad, fake smile. “So, when’s the big day?”

Chloe barely stifled a laugh at Victoria’s obvious ploy and Bruce smirked as an idea came to him.

“Six months,” he answered, desperately trying not to erupt in laughter when he felt Chloe stiffen against him. He smiled over at Lex, who looked like he was ready to beat him to a bloody pulp right then and there. “You’ll be there, of course?”

Lex gave him a sharp, lopsided grin.

“Of course,” he answered. “I’ll be the one who stands up when the priest asks if anyone objects to the union. You won’t be able to miss me.”

Victoria’s eyes widened at Lex’s admission and Chloe furrowed her brow in confusion. The only reason she could think of for Lex objecting to her and Bruce getting married was that Lionel hadn’t been lying to her, and that wasn’t a possibility she was completely ready to accept.

She rolled her eyes at Lex, convincing herself that he had said what he did in a joking tone.

“Ha ha,” she said dryly and then shook her head. “You’ve been hanging around Clark too much. His sense of humor is rubbing off on you.”

Lex turned to Victoria.

“Leave,” he ordered.

She arched an eyebrow at him.

“Excuse me?”

Lex simply glared at her and she pursed her lips before shooting a snide look at Chloe and Bruce on her way out of the room.

“Don’t go to Gotham,” Lex told Chloe quietly.

“Lex ---”

“Finish off your semester here so you don’t get behind in your classes,” he said almost pleadingly. If he could convince her to stay, then he’d have exactly six months to try and get her to return his love and dump Bruce. It was his last shot. “If you’re worried about my father, then you can stay in the guest room at my apartment.”

Chloe looked at Bruce, who leaned his head down to kiss her temple.

“Your call,” he said as he pulled up. For Lex’s benefit, he quickly added, “You know I trust you no matter what.”

Chloe nodded and then looked at Lex. She wasn’t sure she could handle living under the same roof as Lex, especially if he was going to be constantly surrounded by beautiful ex-girlfriends, but it seemed to be the only option that Bruce was willing to offer her besides moving to Gotham.

“Are you sure that’s okay? I mean, I don’t want to get in your way or anything,” she said.

“I’m sure,” Lex said with a breath of relief. He grinned smugly over at Bruce. “Don’t you have a plane to catch?”




TBC…

[tigerbaby]

goddam stupid little bitch&#33; When I started reading I was getting a sinking feeling in my stomach. I smell trouble but Victoria still needs to go away. Far far away. Like somewhere on a deserted island maybe?

But yay for Chloe staying. Trapped in the same house as Lex, she can&#39;t help but give in&#33;&#33;

[hfce]

That was great go Lex :clap: and victoria :hammer:



Hope :)

[asharnanae]

:biggrin: OH NOOOOOO&#33;&#33;&#33; TRAPED IN A HOUSE WITH LEX, OH HOW HORRIBLE&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; LOL&#33;&#33;&#33; God what I wouldnt give for that&#33;&#33;&#33; great chappy, but victoria needs to die, slowly and ironically&#33;&#33; :worship2:

[flower]

That´s my Lex,
show that Bruce where ye made off..
hehe...
this is to good to be true...
I Love IT&#33;
:biggrin:

F

[Sab_Luthor]

:wub: i love this chap :wub:
plus chloe is staying in lex&#39;s penthouse so i&#39;m very happy
the sequel please

[Kit Merlot]

This fic keeps getting better and better. I was at first freaked out by the whole rape fantasy Lex had, but then that turned out to be just one of Kris&#39; ass kicking plot twist. Now, we are going to have Lex and Chloe sharing his apartment. I wonder how long before it will be them sharing his bed??

Yeah baby--this is an awesome story :biggrin:

Keep up the great work.

[sabby]

Damn, Vicky means trouble. And she&#39;s working for Lionel, what a surprise...NOT. Now I really hope that Lex can win Chloe over. I feel bad enough for him that he had to go through all that crap already. Update soon again, please&#33;

hugs,
Sabby

[Not An Addict]

*takes deep breaths* Ok, I can handle this. *snickers* Actually, the Victoria angle is quite amusing. And it&#39;s all good because Chloe&#39;s going to be staying with Lex . . . in his apartment . . . *mind drifts off to naughty, naughty thoughts*

*snaps back* Right, so where was I? Oh yeah. Since I&#39;m giving you a sneak peek at my story, you&#39;re going to be nice and work more on this one, right? *pleading look* Right?

[happy bunny]

Yay&#33; You updated&#33;&#33; Can&#39;t wait to see what role Victoria&#39;s gonna play in this. Love that Chloe&#39;s staying with Lex, it&#39;s a shame she&#39;s still got 6 months before her agreement with Bruce runs out.

Really loving this, thanks so much for updating.

Can&#39;t wait for more&#33;

[randa]

i loved the update, and i cant wait for your next little, or big, twist to thies story&#33;&#33;

and who wouldnt want to be "traped" with Lex in his apartment until the end of the semester or six months? no objections here

great chapter

randa

[Sab_Luthor]

you know what
i love it i enjoy it i adore it
and i want another like that

[Calliope]

Wonderful&#33; I can only hope that Lionel is using Vicky to help both Chloe and Lex open their eyes. :huh:

I can&#39;t wait until they move in together. :biggrin:

[vardaquareien]

*dancing &#39;round the room manically* Whoo-hoo&#33; They&#39;re gonna move in together&#33; That means smut must be in the not so distant future *gives puppy-dog eyes*

Can I just say how much I adore the dynamic of Lex being so jealous of Bruce, while Bruce tries to get Chloe and Lex together&#33; What a classic&#33; The introduction of Victoria was intresting, I wonderf what part she&#39;s gonna play&#33; I am absolutely loving this fic&#33; I can&#39;t wait for more&#33;&#33;&#33;

[autumngold]

I couldn&#39;t be happier&#33;&#33; You updated my two favorite stories, "Nightcape" and "Deserted"&#33; :biggrin: You are the best&#33;&#33; :biggrin: I hope you are able to update again soon&#33; Victoria needs to be gotten rid of&#33; :biggrin: :chlexsign4:

[ColumbiaBlue]

I HATE Victoria&#33; :die: :die: :die: She&#39;s such a stupid whore&#33; Moving on...

I love love love this story&#33; Seriously, Nightcap is one of my favorite stories on here&#33; It&#39;s so well written and I love all the twists&#33; And Lex asking Chloe not to go to Gotham and to say with him in his apartment, it&#39;s swoon worthy&#33; :wub: Update soon&#33;&#33;&#33;

:heart:
Columbia :balloon:

[SexInStilettos]

that was beautifully played out&#33;&#33;&#33; please update :yay:

[gina]

This fic is amazing&#33; Love all the twists and turns&#33;

I can&#39;t wait to see what happens when Chloe moves in. Please update soon&#33; :)

[sara_noele]

Chloe moving to Lex, can&#39;t wait to see ( or read) whats happening there. ;)

[Tandy]

I loved this fic&#33; You must update soon&#33; Please&#33; :worship2: Please&#33; wonderful&#33; Wonderful&#33;

Tandy

[drina]

Stupid. b*tch, victoria&#33; working with lionel this time, huh...you won&#39;t succeed, b*tch&#33;

[jaded-swan]

Though I can&#39;t wait for the Chlex that s to come... i must say that i am beginning to like Bruce Wayne a lot&#33; Oh please add in some Bruce and Barbara if you have the time... :worship2:

[WolviesLover]

I love this story. It&#39;s great&#33; But I think Bruce should meet a wonderful woman named Selina Kyle and leave Barbara in the dust&#33; :devil: She&#39;s just as snarky as Chloe&#33; And we all know that those types are more entertaining. ;) -Vix

[buffiy18]

Yeah&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay: Lex is healed.... :yay: Chloe is staying in Metropolis.... :yay: Chloe and Lex under the same roof :biggrin: :biggrin:

I hope Chloe really thinks about what Bruce told her in the limo and tells Lex her feelings.

[Crimson Thrill]

:chlexsign2:
Six months to win Chloe? More like six weeks. No, scratch that. Six hours. Or six minutes&#33; (Can you tell I&#39;m a little over eager?) Whatever it takes, I can&#39;t wait&#33;

Oh... and, death to Victoria. She seems pretty conniving in this fic... although I&#39;ll always like her a hell of a lot better than Helen. *grimace*

[Housten]

This is such a good story&#33; I :wub: it&#33;&#33; Update soon&#33;

[Iskra]

ok i LOVE this story, however, I would love it even more if I could read some more of it :blinkkiss:

[Sunny]

awww... how sweet&#33; I can&#39;t wait for next part... Lex and Chloe all alone... lol... :wub:

[lunaluthor]

great chapter and finally Chloe in Lex&#39;s appartment and btw kill Lionel and Victoria :devil:

[jaded-swan]

Please update soon&#33; I&#39;m dying to see what happens when Chloe moves into Lex&#39;s place&#33; :yay:

[SinnerSaint]

I keep checking on this story , hoping and praying for an update . Please update soon&#33;

[nickielh]

Please update soon as I can&#39;t wait to see what happens next.

Nickie

:chlexsign4:

[scifichick774]

Two weeks later…

Lex grinned at her. With her second glass of cognac and her legs tucked under her on the couch, Chloe smiled and looked like she belonged there; like she had always belonged there. A tiny voice inside Lex’s head reminded him that Chloe saw things differently and he motioned to her close-to-empty glass before rising from his seat.

“I really shouldn’t,” Chloe said, handing him the glass all the same. “If I drink too much then I get ---”

“Mean?” Lex guessed teasingly.

“Horny,” Chloe corrected, an embarrassed smile lifting her lips at the same time she started to blush.

A startled look swept over Lex’s face and he silently gave thanks that he wasn’t facing her, but ‘concentrating’ on pouring more alcohol into their glasses.

“And this would be a problem because…?” he finally asked, pleased with the way his tone came out half-joking.

Chloe laughed and the sound vibrated into Lex’s ears and sent a jolt of arousal coursing through his body.

“Because Bruce is in Gotham?” she replied. Lex’s heart jumped to his throat in hopeful anticipation when Chloe’s expression turned pensive. “Though, I suppose I could call him.”

The lump in Lex’s throat squeezed and then shattered, sinking down and leaving an unsettled feeling in his stomach. Pushing what he hoped would pass as a snide smirk onto his lips, he handed her the now-full glass.

It was their third round. And though getting Chloe drunk was a cheap tactic that he never would have considered before, he didn’t know what else to do. She had yet to respond to his more subtle advances over the last couple of weeks, and he had a bad feeling that any small chance he had with her would be gone the second she started planning her wedding to Bruce. Thankfully, that hadn’t occurred yet, and it also provided him with a way of sidestepping her comment about calling her ‘loving’ fiancé.

“So…” Lex started, pausing as he sat down next to her on the couch and took a sip of his drink. “Only six months left until the big day…or five and a half now…I haven’t seen you making any wedding plans.”

“Well, it’s not as if I’ve had a lot of time,” Chloe countered. “Between classes and moving my stuff into your place ---”

“*Our* place,” Lex corrected. “You’re going to be living here for a while, after all.”

“Only three months,” Chloe reminded him. “And then semester’s over.”

“And you’re off to Gotham,” Lex said sourly.

Chloe forced a grin onto her lips and took a sip of the smooth alcohol, relishing the way it burned as it slid down her throat. She had only lived in Lex’s penthouse for two weeks and already the sexual tension between them seemed almost unbearable – at least for her.

Lex, on the other hand, seemed as cool and collected as always. He had jumped back into his life as if he had never been in a coma; as if nothing had happened at all.

“I don’t know about that, actually,” she finally said, immediately taking another drink. Lex looked at her in surprise. “Not that I would impose on you by staying *here* – I just meant Metropolis and --- never mind.”

“You’re welcome to stay here as long as you’d like, Chloe,” Lex said, kicking himself for getting his hopes up again, but unable to stop it from happening. There was a possibility that he had heard incorrectly, but it sounded like she was having second thoughts about marrying Bruce; and if it was true, then he wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass him by. “Not that it’s any of my business, but are the two of you having problems?”

Chloe looked down at the glass that was cradled in her hands. She hated lying to Lex and the more in-depth their conversations became, the more she was forced to.

“Why would you ask that?”

Lex gave her a one-shouldered shrug to try and seem aloof.

“I haven’t seen an engagement announcement in the news; you mentioned staying here past semester…”

Chloe let out a small sigh and set her glass down on the coffee table. She sat back up and ran a hand over the back of her neck, rubbing the suddenly tense muscles that lay underneath her fingertips.

“I don’t suppose we could just say that things aren’t always as they seem and just leave it at that?”

Lex frowned and set his glass down as well.

“He’s not hurting you, is he?” he asked, his voice lined with a gravely threat that if Bruce had caused Chloe so much as an ounce of pain – physically *or* emotionally – that he would pay dearly.

“No&#33;” Chloe said quickly. “No – of course not. He would never ---” she trailed off and closed her eyes. “God, why can’t this just be easy?”

“What?”

Chloe absently shook her head.

“It’s been a long day,” she said dismissively. “Just ignore me.”

“Chloe ---”

“You know, maybe I *will* call Bruce,” she said, slowly rising from her spot on the couch, only to have the full effect of the alcohol hit her once she was on her feet.

She swayed and Lex moved to catch and steady her with his hands. He stood and let his arms loosely wrap around her and Chloe placed a hand on his chest.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Y-yeah,” Chloe stammered, suddenly stricken by the feeling of the warmth radiating from under Lex’s shirt and the fact that he was holding her in his arms – even if it was just to make sure that she didn’t fall down because of her drunkenness.

“Are you sure?” Lex asked, his tone no longer concerned, but low and seductive.

He leaned toward her, dipping his head to brush his lips against hers. Chloe’s mouth opened in surprise and Lex pulled her closer, tightening his embrace of her to keep her from pushing away from him as he swept his tongue past her lips and slid it against her own. Chloe moaned in the back of her throat.

“This isn’t happening,” she murmured quietly after Lex released her mouth and began to trail wet kisses along the nape of her neck.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why isn’t it happening? God, Chloe, I can tell you don’t love him,” Lex said, not caring that his voice now sounded desperate. When Chloe didn’t respond, Lex pulled back a little and met her eyes with his own. “Do you love him? *Really* love him?” he asked, his breath stilling in anticipation of her answer. “If you do, I’ll --- no,” he said, pulling her back against him and moving his mouth so it was right next to her ear. “I won’t lose you. Not again.”

The look on Chloe’s face was a mixture between confusion and shock, neither of which was terribly encouraging for Lex, but he wasn’t going to give up now – not when he was so close. He watched as she opened her mouth to speak and then closed it without saying anything. He lifted a hand and lightly ran the back of it down her cheek.

“I love you, Chloe. When I was in a coma – God. It was all I thought about.”

“I ---”

Chloe wasn’t sure what to say, but the old adage about actions speaking louder than words filled her head and she grabbed Lex’s face to bring his mouth down to hers. Their tongues entwined and their hands frantically began to grope at each other’s bodies.

She pulled back abruptly, panting for breath as she looked at him.

“Chloe ---”

“I --- I can’t do this,” she said, stumbling backward a couple of steps and shaking her head. “You have to know the truth and I can’t tell you because you’ll hate me.”

“I could never hate you.”

Chloe closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“You’ll hate me for lying to you,” she said weakly.

Lex furrowed his brow in confusion. What could she have possibly been lying to him about? An answer to the question struck him and he suddenly felt a wave of nausea sweep over him.

She was still working for his father. What else could it be? It had all been an elaborate ruse to get him to invite him to stay with her and find out his weaknesses – and he had walked right into it.

Lex stepped away from her, the sting of betrayal etched deeply across his features, but Chloe wasn’t looking at him. Her own eyes had blurred with unshed tears and she kept her fuzzy gaze on the floor, too ashamed to meet what she was sure was a perturbed and questioning look on his face.

“Bruce and I --- we’re not --- we’re just friends,” she finally got out. “He came up with the idea to pretend we were going out for a year and a half, thinking that your dad would never try to hurt me as long as I was with him, and would probably lose interest in my investigative abilities during that period of time. Of course, it obviously didn’t work out that way, but…”

Lex blinked as he absorbed Chloe’s lengthy, rambling words.

“You’re *not* working for my dad?”

“What? No,” Chloe said. “Where did that come from?”

“And you’re not going out with Bruce?” Lex asked, ignoring Chloe’s question.

Chloe sighed and rubbed her temples.

“You know, it really *has* been a long day – and I need some sleep. Maybe I should go and see if I can get a room at a hotel.”

“Chloe ---”

“Lex --- I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth sooner, but I really am tired and I just don’t have the energy to argue with you about it right now. I’ll get a hotel room and have Bruce send for my things tomorrow.”

“I thought you said you weren’t seeing him?”

“I’m not, but he offered ---”

“I’ll bet.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means he likes you, Chloe – and not as a friend.”

“Lex ---”

“That his real reason for coming up with the fake relationship was to get you to spend time with him in the hopes that you would start to like him back.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Chloe said, inwardly cursing when her words came out slurred.

“Then how do you explain the way he acts around you?”

“You mean the way he acts around *you*,” Chloe defensively corrected. “Ever since he found out that I like you, he’s taken it upon himself to try and make you jealous…and I really shouldn’t have said any of that.”

She dropped onto the couch and leaned forward to bury her face in her hands.

“You like me?” Lex asked, stepping toward her.

“The whole kissing thing didn’t tip you off?” Chloe asked without raising her head.

“I thought you had too much to drink,” Lex admitted, taking a seat next to her.

“I did,” Chloe grumbled.

She felt Lex’s fingers lightly skimming along the back of her hair, but she still didn’t raise her eyes to meet his. Instead, her head fell forward a little more and she allowed a small moan to escape her throat as Lex began to softly knead the muscles in her neck and shoulders.

“Well, I must say, this has all been very enlightening,” Lex said and then smirked. “I should have gotten you drunk the second you moved in here.”

He expected a laugh or possibly even a scoff, but he received nothing. He listened to the silence that surrounded them and sighed gently when he realized that Chloe’s breathing had evened out and she’d fallen asleep under his hands’ caress.

“Come on,” Lex said quietly, rising from the couch only to bend down and scoop her into his arms. “Let’s get you to bed.”

~*~*~*~*~

Chloe had never been a deep sleeper, but a hectic day and two and a half glasses of expensive cognac had thrown her for a loop and knocked her out cold – at least until the middle of the night when she tossed and turned and discovered that she wasn’t the only occupant of the bed she was in. Her mouth fell open a little when she saw that both she and Lex were naked, but then she remembered their ‘discussion’.

The corners of her lips curled upward, but her head quickly snapped to the closed door when she heard sounds coming from the other room. She would have written the whole thing off as being a dream, but the way her heart pounded in her chest and Lex’s arm snaking over her told her otherwise. She wasn’t dreaming.

She glanced at Lex, who was sleeping soundly and still had an arm draped over her body. She waited for a second, to see if the movement would go away, but it didn’t. She tried to reassure herself that it was probably just a maid or some other servant, but she knew it wasn’t. Still distrusting of his father and protective of Chloe, Lex had refused to hire any staff for the apartment after he woke up from the coma.

Chloe sat up and raised a hand to place on Lex’s upper arm before shaking him gently.

“Lex,” she whispered. He didn’t stir and she paused, her eyes darting to the closed bedroom door when she heard a loud crash come from what she figured was the living room. “Lex – wake up,” she said slightly louder and with a higher amount of panic in her tone.

Groggily drifting out of his dream at the sound of Chloe’s worried voice; Lex began to open his eyes; only to scrunch them up in confusion at what he saw.

“Lex – good. Come on. We need to get out of here.”

Lex felt her arm circle around his back to help lift him to a standing position and though he tried to move his arm to wrap around her, he found it constrained. He looked down at the straight jacket he was wearing and then back up at Chloe.

“What’s going on?” he asked, allowing Chloe to lead him out of the padded room. “What happened?”

Chloe didn’t look at him; instead, darting her gaze back and forth down the hallway, searching for her partner in crime, and making sure that Lex’s escape hadn’t been detected – at least not yet.

Clark appeared seemingly out of nowhere and wrapped his arm around Lex’s back from the other side, helping Chloe to guide the young man away from where they were.

“How is he?” Clark asked her, ignoring the fact that Lex was conscious and could probably speak for himself.

“Still pretty out of it,” Chloe answered. “But it takes a while for the antidote to the drugs his dad had Dr. Foster pumping him full of to take effect.”

“What’s going on?” Lex demanded again. “Why am I ---”

“I’ll explain later. Right now we just need to get out of here,” Clark said, moving the three of them quickly toward an exit.

“Don’t worry, Lex,” Chloe said, giving him a sympathetic expression when he turned his head to look at her. “Everything&#39;s going to be okay now.”




TBC…

[hfce]

KRIS WHAT THE HELL&#33;&#33;??? Did the episode Shattered inspire this latest twist? Color me confused :huh:




Hope :ohmy:

[liasonforever33]

WOW&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; :yay: :yay: :yay:
Great way of combining the this week&#39;s episode with the story. This is my most favorite story right now and I&#39;m glad you updated&#33; Can&#39;t wait for more&#33;

[nessa]

I don&#39;t want to sound like Clark :biggrin: but I&#39;m a little bit confused. :huh: What&#39;s with this drug? :yay: I&#39;m glad you&#39;ve updated and can&#39;t wait for the next chapters.
:read:

[petriebird18]

and yet ANOTHER twist comes into the fic. ;) Wow, that&#39;s really weird, but in a good way. :biggrin:
Can&#39;t wait for another update with Chloe and Clark explaining what happened and Lex figureing out that not only was the coma dream not really, but the whole coma, chloe/bruce, everything was because he was drugged. And what he&#39;ll do when he remembers what&#39;s really been going on and what he&#39;ll do to get Chloe :biggrin: ;) I LOVE IT&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;
~Deidre~
:chlexsign3:

[Susie Q]

Holy crap&#33;…I mean what is?….but how?…*splutters* Ok, missy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do. *shakes head* I swear, you with all the plot twists can make a girl dizzy. But, you know, the good ‘oooh…look at all the pretty colors’ kind of dizzy. :tongue:

You know this story reminds me of one of those movies where the person wakes up screaming from a nightmare then realizes that it was just a nightmare, but then something freaky happens and so they wake up screaming from the second nightmare that they thought was just a dream from before. Yeah um…what the hell did I just say? Huh, I seem to have completely lost my train of thought. http://www.angelfire.com/emo2/emoticons0/images/Scratch-Head.gif You see what you’ve reduced me to, Kris, I sound like an idiot. Ah well, great update&#33;http://www.angelfire.com/emo2/emoticons0/images/CaptainsBigsmiley.gif

[Impress]

damn...gettin quite a work out with all this twisting.

good work hun. More soon.