Monthly Fanfic Challenge - #4 September 2009 - "Who's your daddy?" - Winner: Kitten

Yes, it's finally that time again - challenge voting!!!

This months challenge was:

Who's your daddy?

Fall is in the air. The fading of summer greens and the crisp chill on the wind can lead to only one thing - paternity questions. Someone out in the SV universe, born or unborn, isn't quite sure whose name to write on their Father's Day card. It can be a current pregnancy that poses such a mystery or it can be one long past that now comes into question.

I think that the readers will be especially pleased as we have an amazing crop of submissions. The writers were in top form and everyone will be pleasantly surprised by the really unique takes on this month's prompt.

Please remember to vote after you read! The authors have worked so hard and the votes mean a lot to them. Also, if you'd like to leave a comment, you can do so here. If you'd like to leave a private comment, that's cool too, just send me a note and indicate which story it's for and I'll pass it along to the author.

Voting will be open until 11:59 pm, Oct 7th (pacific time).

I'd like to take a moment and apologize for the lateness of the challenge. Many of you know that I was struck by the flu for part of this month and it has made me pretty ineffective. Thanks for bearing with me. :)

Small note - you'll notice that the last story is not in the poll. That's because I wrote something for the challenge and, since I run it, it wouldn't really be appropriate for me to include it in the voting. lol

Story One
Story Two
Story Three
Story Four
Story Five
Story Six
Story Seven
Story Eight
Story Nine
Story Ten

Story One


Chloe Sullivan opened the gate to the dog park. She glanced down to make sure her springer spaniel, Sadie, was entering through the gate this time. By the time they arrived, the little dog was usually so happy she'd dig under it.

“Now, let's behave ourselves this time, okay,” she asked the dog.

They were coming back from a three week grounding because Sadie had slipped her leash to go off in the bushes with two boy dogs. It was more than half an hour before the dogs were found, huddled together with tongues busily lapping at each other. Hopefully, none of the other witnesses of Sadie's shame were around, because even Chloe couldn't help but flush unpleasantly as she pondered their latest vet appointment.

Things had gone . . . far.

Her sweet puppy was knocked up from an afternoon delight threeway in the dog park. It was certainly not the kind of influence her father had intended when he gave her a pet. The bright golden fur and soft curls hid a heart of apparently rampant horniness, which Chloe was dealing with by alternately laughing and worrying.

She had room for one puppy and the rest would have to find good homes. Five offers of possible homes were on the table.

Expertly moving her shoe away from her dog's crouch to pee, Chloe spotted one of Sadie's paramours. She scowled at the big golden labrador going after a frisbee. His owner was a handsome, dark-haired guy Chloe's age, who looked perhaps a little immature.

“There's one of your partners in crime, Mommy. Come on, we might as well do the right thing. Let's just get this over with. If there are puppies coming, maybe that guy has a big extended family with lots of room for them.”

Sadie trotted over with not a whit of the awkwardness of her mistress. Even with a set of deep dimples pointed at her in recognition, Chloe could barely smile. “Hi.”

“Hey! Chloe, right? We found our sneaky mutts off together a little while ago. He's still sorry, by the way,” the young man said cheerfully, pointing at the large dog sniffing Sadie's ears. “Aren't you, Buddy?”

Biting her lip, she shrugged. “Oh, well . . . um, what happened, happened. Listen, Chuck?”

“Clark,” he supplied, grin even wider. “Clark Kent. And Buddy, who would have called, but I lost my cell phone, I swear. He's been making me bring him all the way here every day, just in case you came back. You and Sadie.”

Ew, she thought. Really clumsy, and no thank you, Clark. From the corner of her eye she caught a large black blur, and turned her head to it.

The big greyhound was heavily muscled for a dog of that breed, and his body was an unremitting midnight grey. It perfectly matched the suit of the slim bald man striding quietly behind him. When Chloe and Clark had shooed the greyhound out of the love nest, he had snapped his fingers and the dog had gone without a look back. As much as Chloe wanted to hold it against him and his dog, this guy might have a country estate where the puppies could live with their father.

She put a hand on Clark's arm, and said, “Hey, can I talk to you later? Are you free for dinner maybe?”

His nod was as exaggerated as Buddy's tail wagging and nosing at Sadie's flank. She slipped her card from her jeans and gave it to the awkward human male, hoping rather ungenerously that Sadie's puppies were with the dignified greyhound. Waving goodbye, Chloe walked over to the greyhound's owner. He gave her a cool glance and cocked his eyebrow at Sadie.

“Puppies on the way,” he said, sagely. “She's a pretty dog. A little wild, maybe. Lex Luthor.”

“Chloe,” she smiled. “I want to ask you to dinner, if you're willing. You might even get a puppy out of it, if you like.”

His smile wasn't very effusive, but he took her card willingly, and she saw him kneel next to his dog and call him Alexander. It should have been pompous, but she kind of liked that he'd named his dog after himself.


It was only at the hostess station that she realized she hadn't been all that clear when she'd set up the date for all three of them. Chloe thought of it as a civilized way to discuss an issue, but both Lex and Clark had brought flowers for her. She felt her face go hot.

“I, uh, we need to discuss . . . The doctor is still waiting on tests, and I won't know who the father is without samples-”

The poor hostess was huddled small behind her podium. Lex looked angry he wasn't the only man there. Chloe cringed as Clark's face fell.

“You mean,” he mumbled, letting his daisy bouquet drop to his side. “The dogs? I thought we were . . . ”

He retreated quickly, leaving her with a rose-toting billionaire who nodded starkly at her apology. Lex placed the flowers in her arms and gave her a short, consoling smile. “For the expectant mother. Call me with the vet's information and I'll bring Alexander over. I suspect he's the father anyway.”

She wasn't brave enough to suggest they have dinner since they were at the restaurant. Chloe watched him go and sighed. It was another nine days before she entered a cafe, and slid into a booth he'd chosen before she arrived.

Chloe picked up her coffee and took a gulp of steaming brew. She grinned at Lex warmly. "They're yours," she told him. "The doctor called today."

He shrugged, his shoulders going straighter and puffing up a little despite his cool act. "Of course they are. Alexander is very excited."

She bit her lip and looked at the table as a giggle built up. She and Lex would need planning dates. Her hand slipped into Lex's for a calming squeeze.

"I brought baby name books," he offered.

Story Two


TITLE: All of You

When she was done with him, she always slammed the door. It was a reminder. Everything she did was a reminder of her mastery of the situation. Lex knew it. Whenever she came to him, she gently knocked on his door, but her entrance was sly and insidious.

Lex spent the hour after she left him demolishing everything. Every moment of that hour he wished it was her he was destroying. It was her face in the mirror when he threw it to the ground. Her face he imagined as he picked up his chairs and bashed them into walls.

Now he stood in the middle of his formerly beautiful, destroyed room and knew it to be a symbol of his life. It was the death of hope all over again. There were times when he knew that she would come around eventually and let him out or kill him. There were times when he knew that he could somehow develop a strategy to defeat her; but nothing he did ever worked and today was the first time he truly knew and believed that there would be no saving him.

He looked to the chair that Chloe had sat in and was lost.

********

Brainiac pulled the chair out for Chloe to sit, and then he stood by the door. Chloe never even acknowledged Brainiac. Silence reigned until she smiled. It was a genuine smile and Lex saw the old Chloe peek through.

Her brilliant smiled turned into an ugly smirk and she chuckled, her voice full of mirth, “The silent treatment, Lex?”

Lex crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair, “Yes, Chloe. The silent treatment.”

Chloe threw her head back and laughed. Her focus was unnerving when it returned to him, “Fair enough. Ask me why I’m here, Lex.”

It was a demand. She would never ask. Asking meant he had a choice and Lex knew that he didn’t and never would again.

Before he could answer, Chloe leaned forward and caressed his cheek. Lex leaned into it and closed his eyes. This was the first time she had touched him in a long time. It was pathetic how much he craved this simple contact. No one ever touched him. He remembered how he used to hate uninvited touches, now it was all he could think about some days.

She drew her hand back and he followed it until they were close enough to breathe each other’s air. Chloe’s mouth ghosted over his face; and when she reached his ear, she whispered gently, “I’m pregnant.”

Lex sat back in his chair, stunned. “Pregnant? How? Who?”

Chloe’s eyes narrowed. Her voice was reverent and hushed, “You know what the best part of being married to Brainiac-as-Lex Luthor is? He can be whatever Lex I want. He can be the gentle Lex. The Lex that cares for me and isn’t selfish or hurtful; although he can be selfish if I desire. He can be the Lex that is submissive. He can be whatever part of you that I want, Lex. His Lex touches me the way I want when I want. Hard, fast or rough, it doesn’t matter because it’s never what you or anyone else wants. But the absolute best part? I don’t have to settle for just you. I can have a Clark that loves me and no one else. He can be Oliver and even Davis.”

She leaned forward once more and Lex could see her cleavage. Her voice intense and her eyes blazed with something he couldn’t identify, “The ‘how’ part is easy, but the ‘who’ part? I took what I wanted from you and Clark, and Oliver, and even Davis when I won this game we play.”

Chloe stood up and he lunged for her, but Brainiac was right there before Lex could reach her.

Lex was desperate and he didn’t care. She knew this was the button to push and she pushed it with zeal, “WHO?”

Brainiac threw him to the ground and walked away. Lex was on his knees, his look pleading for answers.

She bent down as Brainiac looked on and touched her forehead to his own, “Don’t you get it yet? There is no part of you that you can hide from me that I cannot find and hurt and possess,” she paused and kissed him in between her words, “And I have all of you. And Clark. And Oliver. And Davis. And whoever else I want. But you, none of you, will ever have even a part of me.”

Chloe pushed him back onto the floor and slammed the door behind her. He could only stare.

********

Lex came to himself and saw that his room was beautiful again. It was then he realized that she had drugged him. She did it periodically to throw him off-balance and to show her power. That day had been so clear; almost like her announcement had been yesterday, but that wasn’t true.

He understood everything now. She hadn’t drugged him. Lex Luthor was president now. Chloe wouldn’t get pregnant so late in life. That day had happened years ago. Here time lost all meaning and everything blended together. There was no way for him to keep time. Even if he decided to keep tick marks, they would be erased.

Rushing to the mirror, Lex carefully studied his own face. The person in the mirror had wrinkles. Who was this man staring back at him with tear tracks running down his cheeks? He had broken. Lex knew that now, but he also knew that it wouldn’t last long. She would come and fix him and then he would remember everything again and time would have meaning. It was the worst part.

Lex sank to his knees and rocked back and forth. Intense despair overwhelmed him. Screaming into the emptiness of his room, Lex begged the ghost of Chloe’s former self for forgiveness. Chloe had all of him and Lex couldn’t take it back.

Story Three


“Fertile Greens and Baby Blues”

Spoiler: Season 6 After “Freak”/Before “Phantom”


Unfortunately by the time Chloe had realized she was pregnant, Jimmy had already left for Minnesota. She didn’t feel right dropping this information by a phone call or through an e-mail. She wanted to tell him in person, but he wasn’t due back to Metropolis for a few months and she couldn’t get vacation time until next month.

Now, she was at the OB/GYN’s waiting to have the first sonogram of her baby, and she had no one with whom to share the experience. Clark and Lois were each working on their own agendas. Lana was still dealing with the loss of her own pregnancy, well Chloe assumed she was. Her friend had abruptly stopped mentioning the loss soon after she informed everyone, which was uncharacteristic for Lana. All the same, Chloe knew it would be cruel to share the information at this time.

She could have asked her father, but she worried about his reaction. She knew eventually he would be happy to take on the mantle of Grandpa, but at this time he still wanted for her what she also wanted: to be successful in journalism. This development would set her back, and letting her father know would be admitting that out loud. She needed time to herself to come to terms with everything, but that didn’t negate the loneliness she felt.

She was settled back on the examination table when her doctor walked in and announced that the father was waiting to join them. Chloe couldn’t have imagined how Jimmy had found out, and she would definitely be asking him later, but for the moment she just wanted to see him.

However, when the doctor opened the door for him, Chloe was surprised and very angry to see Lex Luthor standing before her. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.

To his credit, Lex didn’t falter, merely turned to her doctor and requested in his most charming voice for some time alone with Chloe. Whether it was his tone or the tension in the air that got the doctor moving, one would never know.

As soon as the door shut, he edged toward the table. “You didn’t seriously think I’d miss my child’s first sonogram, did you?” His voice was teasing as if he wasn’t aware of all the facts that she knew…or perhaps he was the one who was more aware.

“You’re mental, because I’d have made sure ‘us,’” she gestured between them, “never happened.”

He nodded his assent, “True, in the most conventional of circumstances, ‘we’ have never happened, but then when are we ever conventional?”

Frustrated, Chloe snapped, “I’m tired of your games. Congratulations, you’ve managed to ruin this moment for me. Now leave!”

Lex refused to budge. “I told you. I’m here to watch my child’s sonogram.”

For a moment, Chloe considered that Lex had gone mad. He had somehow found out about her pregnancy…not much of a stretch for someone like him…and transferred Lana’s pregnancy with hers through some late term grief. Carefully, she spoke to him, “Lex, you are mistaken. You are not the father of this baby. We’ve never had sex.”

At this, Lex raised an eyebrow to challenge her, “How do you know? Can you account for every night in the last few months?”

That question sent a chill down her spine. She couldn’t verify what had happened to her the night after Lana’s bachelorette party. There was a choking in her throat that had nothing to do with morning sickness. “You?...you…”

“Raped you?” He was cavalier about it, as if she just asked him if he had taken a sandwich she’d been saving. “No, if you want to get technical, I didn’t rape you. I did, however, have a team of doctors implant your egg and my sperm in one of your fallopian tubes without your knowledge.” He lifted her gown to where a small scar rested on her abdomen. Tracing the scar, he said, “You probably thought you received this on one of your many excursions.” She ripped his hand away from her, not admitting that he was correct.

He did nothing but smirk at her anger. “The entire fertilization process took place in your body. What can I say? I’m a natural kind of guy.” She wasn’t sure if she could show anymore anger through her eyes but at that point, she tried her best.

She shook her head defiantly. “You’re wrong. This is Jimmy’s baby.”

“You have to admit curiosity as to how pregnancy occurred when you’ve been so careful. Then again, it’s not as if you’ve known someone bribed your pharmacist to replace your birth control with placebos.” Every word he uttered was one more nail in the coffin.

“That still doesn’t eliminate…,” but before she could finish, he stated, “and if one procedure can be done to fertilize, then another can be done to sterilize.”

This was where denial ended and self-preservation kicked in; with Lex as a foe, she couldn’t waste time railing against the unfairness of it all. She was having Lex Luthor’s baby. With his certainty, there was no reason to believe anything else. And if he had been this controlling without her knowledge, with a mere whisper of a possibility of a child, she could be certain that any chance of terminating the pregnancy would be impossible. Even if she had managed it, he would find her, complete the process again, for whatever reason he saw fit.

And what did reasons matter? It wouldn’t change her situation. Whatever the reason: a child, control over her, another method to piss off Clark; all boiled down to her still being pregnant.

Her only purpose now was what she could get out of this act of violation. Lex’s secrets, her mother back, Clark’s safety. They were all up for grabs.

The doctor walked back into the room to ask if they were ready to begin. Staring into Lex’s eyes with determination and without any fear, she declared she was.

Story Four


Mother's Ruin


“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t pull this trigger”

Lex Luthor all but roared as he stood over the beaten body of Superman’s son, holding him to the ground with one hand and pressing the business end of a Colt .45 into his chest with the other.

“Because...” the much younger man coughed a moment before he could continue, “I’m your son” he choked out.

The painful sound that left Lex’s throat could only be laughter, though it was almost unidentifiable as such.

“I think I would remember lowering my standards enough to sleep with Lois Lane” he sneered at the very suggestion.

“You’re such an idiot” it was the boy’s turn to laugh this time, full, loud, and uncaring for the danger he was apparently in, “No wonder my real mother wanted to keep me from you” he snapped then, serious in a second as his hazel eyes stared up into Lex’s own, “Do the math, Dad! Think real carefully about why Clark and Lois would name me Joseph Gabriel Kent”

Lex was stunned to silence in a moment as those names pounded into his brain like bullets and the intensity of this boy’s eyes burnt through to what was left of his soul.

“Chloe” he all but whispered, his grip loosening enough that Joseph could wriggle free and scramble to his feet.

“Finally, the light dawns” he said cuttingly, every inch his mother’s son now that Lex paid attention, though he’d seen not a hint of it before, “and to think my Mom actually respected you as one of the smartest guys she knew. I guess that was a long time ago, before you got so bitter and twisted”

“I don’t understand...” said Lex, looking beyond baffled as his arms fell limp at his sides and his head spun with a hundred or more thoughts.

“Neither did I, for a long time” his apparent son admitted, “then I started asking too many questions, Clark and Lois didn’t have a choice but to tell me the truth” he explained, reaching deep into an inside pocket, mindful not to get blood on this most important possession that he carefully handed over, “Read it”

With shaking hands Lex took the pages from Joseph and tried to focus his eyes on what was undeniably Chloe’s handwriting that he hadn’t seen in so many years.

‘Dear Joseph

If you’re reading this then I am dead, and it can’t hurt for you to know the truth, both about me and about yourself.

My name is Chloe Sullivan. That won’t mean much to you, but perhaps my alias might. I am Watchtower, and I help co-ordinate the members of the Justice League of America. I do this from secret locations and far away places, where neither family and friends nor our enemies can reach me. Believe me, we have a lot of enemies, and none so great as Lex Luthor.

This is painful for me to write Joseph, because of how much I love you, and how much I know you will hate me when you learn the truth. Whilst Lois and Clark have most likely told you by now that you’re adopted, they won’t have told you who your real parents were. I am your mother, Joseph, and your father is Lex Luthor.
Before you give in to anger, be it at your adopted parents or me, please read the rest of what I have to say. I have my reasons for giving you up, and I hope one day you’ll come to understand what they were.

A long time ago, I was very much in love with your father, Lex, and I thought he loved me too. For years I had a crush on him, that developed into something stronger as we became close friends. Unfortunately, there was a dark side to Lex that could not be repressed. I tried to stand by him, to keep him on a straighter path, but sometimes no matter how much you love someone, you can’t save them.

Our time as lovers was complicated but ultimately short and explosive. I understand you will not want the details so I’ll say no more, but by the time I realised I was carrying a child I had lost all hope in saving Lex. He was already too much like his own father, I couldn’t bear to stand by and watch him lose what was left of his heart and soul.

I ran, cut myself off from everything and everyone, knowing that if I stayed anywhere near Lex I would do something stupid. I couldn’t condemn you, son, not to the secluded life that I must have for myself, and I knew if I kept you with me you would be a constant reminder of the man I had always loved but was now forever lost.

I am so sorry, Joseph, if I have broken your heart. Believe me, I know what it is to feel that pain, but please also believe that things would have been so much worse if I stayed, if you knew the truth from the start.

Whatever you want to do now, I know it will be the right thing, the best thing for you.

All my love, now and always,

Your mother, Chloe.’

Lex was shocked, so many times over, by the words he read. That Chloe had loved him only and always. That she was now done for this world. That they had made a son who stood here now, whom he had threatened to end just minutes before.

Tears had filled Lex’s eyes as he read the words that broke what remained of his heart into a thousand tiny shards, and now his tears fell unchecked down his pale cheeks.

“Well, what do you know” said Joseph, a real Luthor smirk formed on his lips, as Lex glanced up and saw him stood their, arms folded across his chest, “Underneath it all, Lex Luthor actually is a human being”

Story Five


Title: Surprise Slip


Chloe sat and stared through the doorway and faintly smiled. The small dragon nightlight gave off an interesting glow from behind the green plastic. Pulling the door closed she continued down the hall and crawled into her own bed. She glanced at the picture on the far nightstand and said a silent goodnight to the face that smiled back at her. Tonight she knew that she would have problems sleeping because tomorrow would be the second toughest day of her life.

“You don’t have to do this. I mean its not like its something that has to done.” Chloe ignored the voice. “Cuz, what are you exactly going to walk in and say?” Chloe stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and glared at Lois. After considering the options for the last year, she told herself silently she didn’t need anyone’s permission or feelings.

“Because after thinking about it and after the last year, I’m quite capable of handling the situation, so go back to work and pretend we didn’t talk.” Chloe pulled out of Lois’ grip and headed down the street.

Sitting quietly in the main entrance of the building, she flipped through a magazine while eyeing one particular elevator until lights appeared. As the doors opened, she flopped the magazine on the side table and started toward the man who had three other men buried in Blackberries following him like lap dogs.

“Excuse me. Can I walk with you?”

Lex turned and startled his minions into a bumbling pile. Looking over the woman, her petite figure was a little less than what he would go for, but the light nutmeg hair looked familiar. “Do I know you?”

“We met several years ago.” Chloe carefully covered her voice, not wanting to give away the nervousness or a pitch he would recognize. She caught up to his side as he continued to walk, ignoring her mostly. “We had an evening together.”

Lex stopped just in front of a limo and turned as the men all entered the limo, leaving the two standing outside. “It must have been several years ago because I neither remember or care to know you now. Miss, if this is some kind of sick joke to get into the mind of widow, it’s an awful attempt.”

Chloe grabbed his arm as she watched Lex’s face stare at her stunned at her presumptuousness. “It’s not I swear. I really think we need to talk.” She slipped a card into his breast pocket and smiled softly. Lex watched her walk quickly down the street; something was strangely familiar about the bounce in her step.

**

“I think its all the white rabbit’s fault.” Chloe laughed at Patrick’s comment as she got up to answer the door. Movie nights had become more and more political as he grew older.

“No, it was her naiveté,” she answered back as she opened the door to dark pants and a pale purple shirt. “I see you did some homework. I gave you my phone. Come on in.”

Lex walked into the modest upper west side condo and glanced at the random knickknacks. “I figured I would just come by on the way home. Somehow, I think you were always persuasive.”

Chloe laughed and turned off the television as Patrick cleared the table. Lex watched as boy, he guessed seven or eight, kissed his mom and disappeared down the hall. Chloe glanced at him and read his thought. “He knows when mommy’s working.”

“Are we working?”

Chloe smiled and sat down on the couch next to him. “So do you remember anything yet?” Shaking his head, he stared at the most intriguing woman.

“I did some homework, but that only yielded that you have a son, you’re the PTA president and also lost your husband in the pile up last December.”

Chloe nodded acknowledging both had rocky pasts. A moment of silent passed between the two as she ran her hand carefully across his. “You know all the things we had been through, I never imagined a snowstorm taking our spouses.”

“What do you mean, what we’ve been through?” Lex watched as the woman that looked and sounded so familiar grabbed a book and handed it to him. Lex opened and saw picture of his past; things he had suppressed, erased with help from multiple head injuries. Flipping slowly through the pictures, his gaze traveled back to Chloe. “Chloe Sullivan, I guess this means we…”

“Not exactly. We had an evening out many years ago, and nothing like that happened. But I want you to see something that I’ve been saving.” Chloe disappeared into another room as Lex continued to wrack his brain while flipping through the old pictures from when he could only guess she was in high school.

“It was the oddest thing after your strange memory lapse. We all kind of quit talking. Then one day I ran into Mrs. Luthor of all places the fertility clinic. She had no idea who I was and we became friends. We had dinner, you, me, our spouses. She and I became friends.”

Lex continued flipping through the strange papers that Chloe handed him shaking his head in earnest refusal. “She understood that we had no possibility of having a child.”

Chloe sighed. Turning on the couch, she smiled as carefully as possible. “She understood. She was just waiting until she could sneak it by you.” Lex turned curiously to Chloe. “You were never impotent. She had paid the doctor to fake your results where when you two had unprotected sex it would happen. Unfortunately, my husband and I were trying and his … vial got mixed up with yours. So, after Jimmy died not knowing the truth, I figured you should.”

Lex stared at the boy’s pictures on the mantle and saw the blue eyes. Chloe giggled slightly, “at least you weren’t a complete stranger.”

Chloe stood up and headed to the hallway, motioning him on. “Come meet him, if you want.”

Story Six


In Peace


The place was, in a word, normal. Not really the type of place he would have thought that he would occupy, especially since he was not the definition of normal. He looked around his surroundings and he shook his head in incomprehension.

It was a small town, not unlike Smallville. Mom-and-Pop shops surrounded the area. His gaze landed on one shop in particular. Sullivan’s Travels. He stopped behind a large tree and surveyed the place. Nothing seemed out of ordinary, the bookstore looked just like it should; a number of people went in and out at a consistent pace.

The sound of the bell from the store captured his attention. A tiny little girl with blonde locks that shone with unrivaled brightness walked out of the store. The child looked about three years old. There was something familiar about her but he was unable to recognize what exactly.

“Young lady, what have I told you about leaving without me?” A sharp voice dragged his attention from the little blonde to…another blonde.

Chloe Sullivan.

She was still as blonde as ever, she was not wearing her typical garb of business suits instead she was wearing a yellow sundress, so un-Chloe like. And yet it was her.

His mind reeled at the revelation. Chloe had been missing for years. It was common knowledge among her peers if anyone could truly disappear from the radar it was her. And to discover her here.

He watched as Chloe talked to the girl and then proceeded to hug her. The little girl was clearly her child. Chloe had a daughter. In all the years that she had been gone, it was not exactly the future he imagined for her. He resisted the impulse to march over to her. He watched as the mother and daughter held each others hands and crossed the street towards an ice cream parlor.

Who could be the little girl’s father? He wondered to himself as he watched the little girl clamor for ice cream and Chloe look on with such obvious love and affection for her child.

Jimmy Olsen was dead. There was no way that he could have fathered the child, unless Chloe had somehow found a way to preserve Jimmy’s memory more concretely. It was possible; she had such resources at her fingertips.

Or it could be she met some man during her self-exposed exile from Metropolis, fell in love and decided to live her happily ever after as far from Smallville as possible. But it was difficult to imagine there was no way she would not share her happiness with her family.

And she did look happy. He knew her well enough to know when her smile was genuine. And her smile was brighter than he had ever seen before. Her eyes lit up with such love for her daughter.

His gaze followed her as she left the ice cream parlor and started for the park. His heart started beating furiously. She was going to see him. He had no idea how she would react once she does.

She was mere yards away and he was stuck to his place, like a deer in headlights.

“Clark” A cool voice woke him from his panicked trance.

He gave a start when he finally found the source of it all. The man he was investigating that led him to this nowhere town. “Lex.” He said with barely controlled fury.

Lex Luthor. He was following a lead. Ever since his former best friend returned from the “dead,” he had been following his actions closely. He knew that he could not be possibly be up to any good.

Lex nodded imperceptibly in his direction. His gaze then followed the person that he had been watching avidly.

Clark watched as Lex’ found the source of his preoccupation. His eyes narrowed when he saw a degree of warmth in Lex’ look as he stared at Chloe and her daughter. He found out that Lexcorp had been funneling money to some companies and somehow Sullivan’s Travels was its benefactor. It was obvious that Lex had somehow found Chloe. It was clear that Lex was somehow involved with the fact that Chloe hadn’t been in touch with anyone in her past, including Lois, including him.

“Daddy!” Chloe’s little girl burst out as she raced towards him.

Clark’s eyes widened as the child ran towards him, a bright smile on her face, her arms outstretched to hug him. He barely saw Chloe follow after her at a much sedate pace.

Before he could deny being her father, the child ran past him. And right into Lex’ awaiting arms. His eyes widened even more as he stared at Lex, who scooped the girl into his arms and accepted the kisses that he was showered with.

His mind tried to think of a rational explanation for the situation. Chloe and Lex. Chloe and Lex have a kid together. It was impossible. Lex probably had somehow tricked Chloe into being him. Maybe he had blackmailed her. There had to be an explanation.

Chloe finally reached her daughter and Lex. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Lex on the mouth.

“Who is he daddy?” The little girl in Lex’ arms asked gaily. When Clark met her eyes, he knew then that Lex was truly the father of the child, she had his eyes.

“He’s Clark.” Lex answered the question mildly. He then nodded to Clark with finality before placing an arm around Chloe’s waist and directed his family away from him.

He fully intended to grab Chloe and convince her that she did not belong with Lex. But all his intentions vanished into thin air when he heard the exchange between them.

“I used to have a friend named Clark.” Chloe said quietly, as though to keep her daughter from hearing her. Lex seemed to tighten his hold on her as she spoke. “He’s dead.”

He knew then that she spoke the words for his benefit.

The End

Story Seven


“Chances Are...”


She looks at her baby girl struggle back to her bare feet after collapsing with a bump on her nappy-padded rear. With a stubbornness Chloe´s grown accustomed to the tiny tot doesn´t even whimper and, before the blonde can take pity on her, she´s standing again- her little arms wrapped around the leg of the reporter´s computer desk. Today she´s turning a year, but it seems it was only yesterday when Chloe bid farewell to the stifling and judgmental society of Metropolis. She hasn´t regretted moving to Gotham, although there are times when she wishes things were different, days when she misses having someone to talk to after burning the candle at both ends only to end up feeling as if she were alone fighting against the windmills.

She swivels her chair and stretches out her arms for Gabrielle to cruise into them on unsteady legs. Chloe feels a sudden clench in her gut when the baby looks at her and, for a fleeting second, she thinks she´s really losing her sanity like Moira before her. As soon as the thought creeps into the blonde´s mind, Gabrielle´s face breaks into a blinding smile and Chloe´s heart, which has skipped a beat, starts pumping again. She picks the girl up and clutches her to her bosom while treacherous tears well up in her eyes; Gabe should have been here to witness his granddaughter´s first steps. She knows she´s also depriving someone else of being part of this miracle, but she doesn´t want to dwell on it because doubt will only make her question her decision- the one that´s helped her survive her dad´s untimely death due to a heart attack- and she can´t afford that. She knows Gabrielle´s in her life due to a selfishly conscious decision that nobody, not even those closest to her, could understand.

Two months after burying Gabe in Smallville´s cemetery Lois came by Chloe´s bedsitter in Metropolis to find her asleep on the cold tiled floor of her bathroom; her head resting on the seat of the toilet bowl where she´d previously emptied her stomach for the third time that day. The blonde had always been a trooper and the General´s daughter knew her too well to buy the empty excuses she´d come up with to skip work for two days in a row; there was nothing on this Earth that could keep Moira´s offspring away from the bullpen she´d fought tooth and nail to get in. The imposing brunette had bullied the superintendent until fear of being deported back to his native Cuba convinced him to use his master key and let her in Chloe´s flat.

A quick shower and two cups of chamomile later Chloe was submitted to the third degree. It didn´t take long for the worldlier cousin to discover the reason behind the flimsy out-of-character excuses- morning sickness. “A severe case by the looks of it,” Lois thought, observing the ghastly appearance of her usually radiant little cousin.

“Why didn´t you tell me, Chlo´?”

“Tell you what? That I had a twenty-four-hour bug that wiped me out?”

“Don´t patronise me, cuz. You have a bun in the oven. I wasn´t born yesterday, you know. Why didn´t you tell me you were seeing someone? “

“Because I wasn´t..... ”

“Well, clearly that´s changed because the last time I checked babies don´t grow in trees. So... who´s the father?”

“It´s complicated.”

“Complicated? You did get sex-education at Hickville High, right? Or... is it that you don´t know who...? No, you´d never do something like that. Tell me nobody forced you, Chlo´ , or I swear...”

“I knew what I was doing, Lo´.”

“Then, why won´t you tell me?”

Although the blonde knew there was a slim chance either her cousin or Clark would understand, she needed to share it with someone and Lois was the only family she had left. The disbelieving look on the brunette´s face as Chloe´s confession poured out in a torrent is still imprinted on the blonde´s mind because it was what convinced her she´d grown into someone neither Lois nor Clark could understand. She still wonders if there´s someone out there who ever will.

Gabrielle starts chanting and giggling taking her mum out of her pensive mood. Chloe mirrors her luminous smile and feels a sudden pang once again when her eyes clash with her daughter´s, but her reveries are short-lived for the eerie bonding is broken by the ringing of the front door bell.

A sixth sense tells her the moment she´s been dreading has arrived, and as she looks through the peephole she realises she´s been a fool to believe her choice wouldn´t come with a price.

“Chloe,” says a cultured voice she hasn´t heard in over two years.

“Lex,” she responds with a hammering heart.

“We have to talk,” he adds gravely, handing her some papers whose letterhead she recognises immediately.

She takes the papers with strangely firm hands and reads the words she´s been expecting to read for months now.

“How?” she whispers.

“My father,” he responds in a voice so charged with emotion as his eyes caress the cherubic features of Gabrielle in her arms that Chloe´s taken back in time to hear a different Lex confess his hunger for his own father´s love.

Damn Lionel Luthor. Manipulative till the very end. He managed to move us both like pawns on his chessboard.

`Be careful what you wish for´ thinks Chloe, suppressing the urge to burst into hysterical laughter when she remembers what she wrote in that form at the fertility clinic.

For a minute Lex wishes he could hate Lionel for manipulating even the most sacred thing in a man´s life. Having Chloe- whom he once tried to murder- unscrupulously fertilised with the sperm sample obtained years ago when Lex wondered if his fertility had been affected by meteor radiation was twisted. And yet, now that Lex´s seen her and their child he knows this is one deal he doesn´t want to lose.

THE END

Story Eight


To Live a Lie
Summary: Life has a way of laughing at him….


Considering how great things had been going for Lex; he had been pretty sure that he was done receiving multiple disappointments and ugly surprises he had been receiving throughout life.

Apparently he was wrong.

He glanced down at the paper gripped tightly in his hand. His eyes constantly strayed to the numbers and the of the test. A formality, they had said. It was just a formality. He was to take the test and then the procedure would be completed. Everything would go back to normal. Lionel would live to see another day.

He almost laughed at that. Life had a way of laughing at him. No. Correction. Life had a way of beating the crap out of him until he could barely get up.

The result he held in his hand was physical proof that his whole life had been nothing but a lie.

He swallowed and tightened his hand into a fist, the paper he held crumbling as he did. The man he thought was his father, was not.

Lionel Luthor was not his biological father.

His eyes widened as the thought crossed his mind. He could feel his heartbeat began to pick up. It was as though his world was slowly closing in on him. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t-

Suddenly small familiar arms wrapped around his waist and he instantly calmed as his wife’s scent enveloped him. “Chloe.”

She tightened her arms around him at the despair in his voice. “Lex,” She said quietly. “Are you okay?” She asked quietly.

He was quiet for a long moment before answering. “My whole life I’ve tried to gain his approval. His love. I was starved for any type of affection or attention from him. There were times when I agonized for hours over why he couldn’t simply be my father. I can’t help but keep thinking for what?”

“He’s all you’ve known your whole life.” She said quietly. She moved around him so that she could look up at him. She placed her hand onto his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

He sighed heavily. “So am I.”

*******

“Who is my father?”

Lionel looked up from the newspaper he was reading. He chuckled as he folded the newspaper and placed it onto his lap. He took his glasses off. “So you found out then?”

Lex stared at his..father. Even dying he still managed to look bigger than life itself. “Who is he?”

Lionel shook his head. “Lex, my boy-”

Lex shook his head. “Who is he?!” he screamed.

Lionel stared at him for a long moment. “Don’t you get it?” He asked. “You’re my son. Blood doesn’t matter.”

Lex walked further into the room, he paused at the foot of the bed. “You always said it did! Tell me.”

Lionel sighed heavily. “Your mother and I went to the same graduate school. I always admired her, but she was always so-” He trailed off with a small wistful smile. “Unattainable.”

“Unattainable isn’t in the Luthor vocabulary.” Lex said from memory.

Lionel gave him an amused smile. “Your mother was involved with someone who couldn’t take care of her. She became pregnant. I saw my opportunity and took it. She agreed to marry me.”

Lex stared at his father and blinked. He couldn’t even go into thinking the measures his father took to get his mother to marry him. He knew there was way more to the story, but he knew this was all he was going to get.

Lionel eyed Lex quietly. “I adopted you.” He said very softly. “You’re my son Lex. When I’m gone, everything is yours.”

Lex just shook his head. “You know I always wondered how you could treat me so terrible without an ounce of guilt. Without an apology. Still Even now. But, now it all makes sense. You adopted me. You raised me. But, I was never your son. Not by blood. Which is important to you.” You never loved me. He thought, but he refused to say it out loud for fear of sounding overly pathetic.

He wasn’t surprised when Lionel chuckled. “Lex,” He chuckled. “You’re being dramatic.”

No. He wasn’t being dramatic. It was the truth. He knew it. He knew Lionel. He knew how devious he was. How he could think. “I was nothing but a thirty year amusement to you. Someone to prove their worth to you.” Lex was surprised himself by the words that were slipping from his own mouth. He had thought he had let go all of the anger he had felt toward Lionel years ago, but apparently he was wrong.

“You’re my son.” Lionel repeated, his tone almost desperate.

Lex stared at the man who had been his father for thirty years. Lionel had mind as well been saying you’re my car. He was just a possession. “That may be.” He said softly. Quietly. “But not by blood.”



********

Something was poking her.

“Chlo?”

She groaned and buried her face into her pillow. Something poked her in her side.
“Chloe, wake up.”

“Lex,” She whined. “I have to get up early remember? I-”

“I found my adoption papers.”

Her eyes snapped open and she sat up. She nearly knocked into him he was so close. “Okay.”

“Lionel said he adopted me, but I figured why would he adopt me if my mother was pregnant with me. People would just assume that he was the father when she gave birth. It turns out that I was ten months old before they even got together.”

Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked down at the court documents he handed her. “This is a motion to terminate parental rights.” She said a loud. “But where your real father’s name is suppose to be it’s just initials. T.S.” She looked up at Lex, who’s gaze she noticed for the first time looked pale. “Lex?” she asked.

Lex handed her the next document which was a birth certificate. “Certificate of Birth for Alexander Smith.” She frowned and continued to read. Her eyes strayed toward the father’s name. “Tobias Smith.” She frowned. “Why is that name familiar?”

Lex let out a shaky sigh. “It’s because I know him.”

Chloe looked up surprised. She hesitantly smiled. “That’s-great right?”

Lex looked away from her as he spoke. “I always thought he was someone my father hired to keep my ridiculous accidents under wraps.” He laughed as he shook his head. “He was always there. Ever since I was a teenager. For years he was there and I never knew.” He took the papers from her hands and pulled her down so they were both lying back onto the bed. “Toby is short for Tobias.” he whispered.

Chloe’s eyes widened in shock. “You mean Dr. Toby is-”

Tears slid down lex's cheeks as he laughed. “Life is funny this way.”

END

Story Nine


The Piece of Me Left Behind

Summary: Set in Season 6, about two months after Zod was vanquished. So that probably puts it around August technically. Chloe Sullivan hasn’t been feeling well. After an attempted mugging after work, Clark won’t take no for an answer to get her checked out at the hospital. The flashback takes place after Zod left the mansion to head for the Pentagon and right before he sees Lana again when he returns.


"There’s been some mistake,” Chloe argued with the nurse.

“Chloe Sullivan, age 19.” The nurse checked Chloe’s ID bracelet against the chart. “I assure you that everything is in order. You are fortunate that you didn’t lose the child during your ordeal.”

“Stop saying that,” Chloe shrieked as her hands instinctively clutched her flat stomach. “It’s impossible.”

The nurse huffed in irritation. “Your records state that you are on a contraceptive, and you are no longer a virgin.”

“I haven’t had sex in a year and a half! I’m not some tramp!” Chloe shouted.

The nurse sighed. “I’m sorry, Miss Sullivan. Either you are suffering from a serious case of denial or something happened to you that you don’t remember. The latter is a lot harder to believe. It has been my experience to see more denials than amnesiacs.”

Chloe buried her face in her hands. The last year had been one nightmare after another. It tore her heart out to see Clark and Lana break up. Of course that also had to do with the fact that Lex Luthor, a man that she’d secretly been in love with for years, was now dating Lana Lang. Then, everything that happened with Lionel Luthor, Milton Fine, and Zod threw her an even bigger curveball. How could she have gotten pregnant? “If I’m going to be pregnant, it would be nice to remember having sex,” she said sarcastically.


The door to Chloe’s room was cracked open when Lex Luthor walked by. He was shocked to hear the news that Chloe was pregnant. No matter how hard he’d pushed the blonde away, something clutched at his heart to think that someone else would be that close to Chloe.

Lex’s hurt expression turned into a darker grin as a part of him thought, “I knew the blonde was a better choice for us.”

“What?” Lex muttered to himself. Was that really a voice in his head? “It’s just the stress of seeing Chloe hurt and hearing this news.”

While Lex tried to ignore the seductive lure of the voice, he turned away. “You can try to push me aside, but I’ll always be a part of you.” Zod nudged from the dark recesses of Lex’s mind. “She gave herself to us freely. Our legacy begins with her. No one else will ever satisfy you now that you know.” The memories hit Lex full force.

~*~*~*~*~

Flashback to Luthor Mansion in Smallville during Black Thursday (Zod’s Time)

As the night gave way to morning, a limping Chloe finally snuck into the Luthor mansion. While working on deciphering the symbols, she realized that she’d seen something at the mansion that might help her. She had her doubts that Zod would need the mansion. She took the chance to steal a car and drive back to Smallville.

Unfortunately she encountered Zod. A spark of recognition kept him from killing her outright, and he flew them up to the roof. Chloe tried to reason with Zod, to beg for Lex’s life, even if it meant her own.

“Why do you wish him to return?” Zod studied Chloe’s facial expressions and body language. The brunette annoyed him with her prattle. This blonde’s willingness to sacrifice herself intrigued him.

“Lex has enough issues without someone else controlling his life. You have to be getting bored. There is no challenge for you here.”

“If I leave him, you will still lose him. His thoughts are filled with that insipid brunette.” Zod never mentioned how many of Lex’s thoughts actually centered on Chloe. He needed to push the point home that his offer would be her only chance with Lex.

“It’s better to lose Lex to Lana than to lose his mind completely.”

“And what if, instead of asking for your life, I ask you to agree to carry a life for me?”

“Carry a …” Chloe’s sentence ended abruptly when her mind caught up to what he was implying. “You want me to …”

“I must find some way to live on, some part of me to survive,” Zod taunted Chloe.

“How is that possible? Clark always implied …” Chloe slapped a hand over her mouth.

Zod laughed. “No wonder you aren’t sniveling and too weak to confront me. You know Kal-El’s secret.” He advanced a step nearer to Chloe. “You know of Krypton.” He moved a little closer. “You know our power.” He gripped Chloe’s arms tightly in a mock embrace. “And you aren’t afraid of it.”

“I also know your weakness,” Chloe answered defiantly.

Zod raised a curious brow. “Interesting. Yet you haven’t utilized it. You must truly care for this vessel. I shall assume that the weakness, if exploited, would kill my vessel as well?”

Chloe lifted her chin in defiance. She wasn’t going to acknowledge him out loud.

“In answer to your question, the one you knew as Milton Fine made sure that any genetic discrepancies would be taken care of. He knew of my need to procreate and that my options would be limited to a human female.”

Chloe thought to herself for a moment. If Zod was willing to relinquish his control over Lex’s mind the sacrifice would be worth it. Even if Lex never remembered it, as Zod released his essence, she figured she would know. “Fine. I accept.”

~*~*~*~*~

Lex was violently torn from the rest ...

“You do have several options available to you, Miss Sullivan. I would recommend that you give yourself some time to adjust to the news before you proceed with anything. There are plenty of people willing adopt a baby. Of course you could always have an abortion this early.”

“I don’t think I could …” Chloe started.

“No!” Lex burst into Chloe’s room. “Please. Don’t do that to our child.”

“Lex?” Obviously Lex had overheard. She couldn’t decipher why it would matter to him. “Ours?”

“Yes, ours.” Lex grabbed Chloe’s bare arm; gateways to memories opened. She started to tremble.

Chloe pulled away. “You … We did … Lex …” she stuttered before she fainted.

(Note: Once the challenge is over, and all voting has been done, I might consider writing a sequel to this one shot. Also, the nurse gave the options that they would give at the hospital in certain situations, and it is not that I agree with the options given.)