cresmix
27th October 2003, 21:08
Title: Digging For The Future
Author: cresmix
Rating: PG-13
Summary: the totally depressed Lex runs into Chloe under very specific circumstances
Author's Notes: the story takes place somewhere after "Phoenix" (I still have to watch it actually).
** Digging For The Future**
The flashy red ‘Ferrari’ was rushing down the gloomy road. The pitch-dark woods swept by as Lex made his way to the unknown futures, which lay ahead like planets of the Solar System: one was a light and blue abode of infinite sadness, the other was red and hot like hell and that were anger and inner resistance taking hold of him right now, blinding his sight and blocking his breath. It was one of those bouts of sudden depression which occurred quite frequently these days – flashbacks, embodied by nightmares or insomnia, crept up the slope of his mind quietly driving him mad.
The only way out Lex could see through all this madness was running – running away from the dark walls of the mansion, from Smallville, from all those people that knew what Luthor Junior had had to go through. People that looked sideways at his scars and sunburns and made sympathizing faces. At moments like this he simply hated them.
Black trees threateningly hanged over the road forming a kind of a deadlock in front of him – and there seemed no way out, the only thing that awaited him there was darkness… thick and impenetrable…
All at once, his weary eyes caught a sight of a light. It was so rapid and abrupt that first Lex thought it was merely his imagination. But then he instantly recollected the whole picture and realized that it was no hallucination – there was someone walking in those woods late at night and that someone was really a brave person to try such a thing in such a notorious place as Smallville.
Seized by an odd mixture of feelings – anxiety and curiousity at the same time, Lex pulled in and turned the car back, to the place where he thought the light flashed through the massive trunks of the oaks and ashes. Stopping at the roadside Lex left “Ferrari” and, as silently as he could, walked down the narrow forest-road that led deep into the thickets.
In a blink of an eye a very logical thought came to his head – was he really that stupid to pick his nose into ‘adventures’ like this after what had happened to him only some weeks before? He was never stupid, his proud mind in no time rejected, but exactly because of what had happened, he was now ready to face any kind of danger – be it another “Smallville-type” freak or a mean lady with a gun in her hand. He left fear behind; it seemed now years since he last feared for his life as a normal human being would. No longer was he that Lex whom this provincial town had got a chance to know. He was changed.
Soon he came upon a car. It was too dark though to make out the model but Lex wasn’t interested in that – at the moment his eyes were following the light twinkling among the trees as a moth. Then he heard a strange noise, which his strained senses quickly shifted into the sound of digging; somebody was busy delving into the ground no more than ten yards close to him. Lex’s eyes were now fully used to the half-dark and he reckoned that this somebody was obviously not very tall but very persistent - for the spade gleamed against the light (which was evidently an electric torch) almost every three-four seconds.
Having stepped even closer Lex finally recognized a stranger and that brought an unexpected wave of relief into his half-cicatrised soul. He hesitated for a moment and then, in a more or less loud voice, uttered,
“I guess, working for the ‘Daily Planet’ is tougher that I supposed”.
Started, Chloe nearly dropped the spade out of her hands and shot a hostile glance at the intruder. Under the cover of night she looked strangely ominous and scared all together.
“Mr. Luthor”, she uttered in an undertone, and Lex could bet he heard the voice of his father in it.
“What are we diggin’?” he asked almost derisively.
“A grave”, she snapped back, evidently feeling very uncomfortable caught unaware.
Once again Lex remembered his father. He knew that she and Luthor Senior had met several times, both in Smallville and Metropolis, but he himself, though quite intrigued, was way too busy to speak to her about it. For he really wanted to. He knew Chloe wasn’t such a simpleton to dive into some business with his father unless she had no other choice. He might have threatened her or… Or what? Could he make her an offer she wouldn’t refuse?
Watching intense speculations reflecting over his face Chloe forced a dry explanation,
“I’ve stumbled on a very curious piece of info in “Planet”’s old files… and… decided to check it”.
“Yeah, I see that”, with a cunning spark he looked down at the fresh-dug hole in the coal-black ground, “I hope you know what you’re doing”.
“Oh yes, don’t worry about that”. Her voice sounded flat. Indifferent.
As if sympathetically Lex nodded still brooding over her face. Chloe firmly sustained his chary look. Finally he voiced what was jarring on within him.
“Chloe, what are you doing?”
“Digging for what the Judge has dropped”, she cited shrugging her shoulders. By all means she was going to keep her secret from being revealed.
A famous sneaky smile touched on his lips.
“’All The King’s Men’”, he stated. “A great novel. Only the Judge, if I’m not mistaken, came to a really bad end…”
She stood straight as if preparing for a fight.
“And who’s that Judge?” Lex asked emphasizing the last word.
Digging her spade in the ground, Chloe looked past him lost in her own uneasy thoughts.
“Chloe”, he quietly pronounced her name, stepping a little closer. “What are you up to with my father?”
She backed away as he approached and then, summing up her confidence, replied,
“It’s just a job”. Pausing for a second she added, “And I have to wrap it up”.
They kept silent for a while, their eyes fixed on each other’s faces, and as he looked at her weary features Lex saw the one and only expression that seemed to be crying out into the whirling darkness around them: HELP ME.
“Fine”, he said. “If there’s something you want to talk to me about – feel free to call on me, okay?”
She reacted in an uncertain nod. Lex was about to head off when he suddenly paused and then turned his head and softly remarked,
“By the way… It’s ‘Lex’ for you, Chloe. Always”.
On a return to his car, Lex took a quick look at the little light yet hiding in the woods. He felt a bit relieved; he didn’t know why but the madness reigning over him some minutes ago was gone.
And the only tangible desire he sensed now was to drive back to the mansion and drop off… definitely and completely.
* * *
THE END
edited in rating by moderator
Author: cresmix
Rating: PG-13
Summary: the totally depressed Lex runs into Chloe under very specific circumstances
Author's Notes: the story takes place somewhere after "Phoenix" (I still have to watch it actually).
** Digging For The Future**
The flashy red ‘Ferrari’ was rushing down the gloomy road. The pitch-dark woods swept by as Lex made his way to the unknown futures, which lay ahead like planets of the Solar System: one was a light and blue abode of infinite sadness, the other was red and hot like hell and that were anger and inner resistance taking hold of him right now, blinding his sight and blocking his breath. It was one of those bouts of sudden depression which occurred quite frequently these days – flashbacks, embodied by nightmares or insomnia, crept up the slope of his mind quietly driving him mad.
The only way out Lex could see through all this madness was running – running away from the dark walls of the mansion, from Smallville, from all those people that knew what Luthor Junior had had to go through. People that looked sideways at his scars and sunburns and made sympathizing faces. At moments like this he simply hated them.
Black trees threateningly hanged over the road forming a kind of a deadlock in front of him – and there seemed no way out, the only thing that awaited him there was darkness… thick and impenetrable…
All at once, his weary eyes caught a sight of a light. It was so rapid and abrupt that first Lex thought it was merely his imagination. But then he instantly recollected the whole picture and realized that it was no hallucination – there was someone walking in those woods late at night and that someone was really a brave person to try such a thing in such a notorious place as Smallville.
Seized by an odd mixture of feelings – anxiety and curiousity at the same time, Lex pulled in and turned the car back, to the place where he thought the light flashed through the massive trunks of the oaks and ashes. Stopping at the roadside Lex left “Ferrari” and, as silently as he could, walked down the narrow forest-road that led deep into the thickets.
In a blink of an eye a very logical thought came to his head – was he really that stupid to pick his nose into ‘adventures’ like this after what had happened to him only some weeks before? He was never stupid, his proud mind in no time rejected, but exactly because of what had happened, he was now ready to face any kind of danger – be it another “Smallville-type” freak or a mean lady with a gun in her hand. He left fear behind; it seemed now years since he last feared for his life as a normal human being would. No longer was he that Lex whom this provincial town had got a chance to know. He was changed.
Soon he came upon a car. It was too dark though to make out the model but Lex wasn’t interested in that – at the moment his eyes were following the light twinkling among the trees as a moth. Then he heard a strange noise, which his strained senses quickly shifted into the sound of digging; somebody was busy delving into the ground no more than ten yards close to him. Lex’s eyes were now fully used to the half-dark and he reckoned that this somebody was obviously not very tall but very persistent - for the spade gleamed against the light (which was evidently an electric torch) almost every three-four seconds.
Having stepped even closer Lex finally recognized a stranger and that brought an unexpected wave of relief into his half-cicatrised soul. He hesitated for a moment and then, in a more or less loud voice, uttered,
“I guess, working for the ‘Daily Planet’ is tougher that I supposed”.
Started, Chloe nearly dropped the spade out of her hands and shot a hostile glance at the intruder. Under the cover of night she looked strangely ominous and scared all together.
“Mr. Luthor”, she uttered in an undertone, and Lex could bet he heard the voice of his father in it.
“What are we diggin’?” he asked almost derisively.
“A grave”, she snapped back, evidently feeling very uncomfortable caught unaware.
Once again Lex remembered his father. He knew that she and Luthor Senior had met several times, both in Smallville and Metropolis, but he himself, though quite intrigued, was way too busy to speak to her about it. For he really wanted to. He knew Chloe wasn’t such a simpleton to dive into some business with his father unless she had no other choice. He might have threatened her or… Or what? Could he make her an offer she wouldn’t refuse?
Watching intense speculations reflecting over his face Chloe forced a dry explanation,
“I’ve stumbled on a very curious piece of info in “Planet”’s old files… and… decided to check it”.
“Yeah, I see that”, with a cunning spark he looked down at the fresh-dug hole in the coal-black ground, “I hope you know what you’re doing”.
“Oh yes, don’t worry about that”. Her voice sounded flat. Indifferent.
As if sympathetically Lex nodded still brooding over her face. Chloe firmly sustained his chary look. Finally he voiced what was jarring on within him.
“Chloe, what are you doing?”
“Digging for what the Judge has dropped”, she cited shrugging her shoulders. By all means she was going to keep her secret from being revealed.
A famous sneaky smile touched on his lips.
“’All The King’s Men’”, he stated. “A great novel. Only the Judge, if I’m not mistaken, came to a really bad end…”
She stood straight as if preparing for a fight.
“And who’s that Judge?” Lex asked emphasizing the last word.
Digging her spade in the ground, Chloe looked past him lost in her own uneasy thoughts.
“Chloe”, he quietly pronounced her name, stepping a little closer. “What are you up to with my father?”
She backed away as he approached and then, summing up her confidence, replied,
“It’s just a job”. Pausing for a second she added, “And I have to wrap it up”.
They kept silent for a while, their eyes fixed on each other’s faces, and as he looked at her weary features Lex saw the one and only expression that seemed to be crying out into the whirling darkness around them: HELP ME.
“Fine”, he said. “If there’s something you want to talk to me about – feel free to call on me, okay?”
She reacted in an uncertain nod. Lex was about to head off when he suddenly paused and then turned his head and softly remarked,
“By the way… It’s ‘Lex’ for you, Chloe. Always”.
On a return to his car, Lex took a quick look at the little light yet hiding in the woods. He felt a bit relieved; he didn’t know why but the madness reigning over him some minutes ago was gone.
And the only tangible desire he sensed now was to drive back to the mansion and drop off… definitely and completely.
* * *
THE END
edited in rating by moderator