Monthly Fanfiction Challenge #2 - "The Safe House" - July 2009 - Winner: lexie

Hello, all, and welcome to the voting for the July challenge. This month's challenge was "The Safe House".

First of all, thanks to all of the fantastic NS writers that participated in this month's challenge. You guys seriously rock!

There was a lot of discussion about the way voting is going to be handled and now that our fearless leader Jules has returned I'd like that that discussion to be ongoing with her input. So, the system we're trying out this month is this - we're going to have a poll. That means that everyone only gets to vote for their favorite and not their top two this month. I think it's for the best that before we figure out which voting method works best we give just a basic version of polling like this a try.

So, everyone please vote! It is anonymous to do so, so even our shyest of Chlexers can participate. :) Voting will end at 11:59 pm on July 31st.

Thanks!


Direct links to the stories:

Story One

Story Two

Story Three

Story Four

Story Five


~Sarah~

STORY ONE


TITLE: “On a Day Just like Today...”

CHALLENGE: July ´09- Challenge #2- The Safe House

RATING: PG

WORD COUNT: 1,000

Today she was turning twenty-two and still, she felt as if she´d lived a lot longer. Five years ago she´d been full of dreams and projects- an idealist who believed the world could be changed by the power of her pen and her unquenchable thirst for the truth. She wasn’t that gullible girl any more.

As she looked at the Metropolis skyline from the balcony of the Ace of Clubs- away from the loud music and the inane talking and laughing she couldn´t find the heart to join in tonight- she found herself reminiscing that summer, the summer that had changed it all.

The green-eyed monster can make you do the most foolish and reckless things, and she´d fallen prey to it at seventeen. She´d been lured by the most cunning of devils and let herself be trapped in a mirage which almost cost her and her dad their lives.
Salvation had come from the most unexpected knight in dented armour, and she´d let herself be rescued only to be trapped in a different way. Two strong-willed and independent souls had come together under the oddest of circumstances and a strange alliance had been forged to slay the dragon which was threatening them both.

Her oppressive dungeon was changed for a secluded safe house on the beach and her dangerous jailor for a young man whose purpose in life had always been to break out of his own prison- a destructive iron maiden forged in the same hellish foundry as her cage.

The traffic was slimming down and yet, the sound of blaring sirens and distant shootings- so ubiquitous in a criminal-infested city like Metropolis- pierced her ears and made her wish she could obliterate the world around her and go back to that beach.

“If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again,” she remembered quoting one very special sunset- the last one they´d shared sitting side by side barefoot on the sand.

“I didn´t know you were so fond of Du Maurier,” he´d told her after a long pregnant silence.

“I´m not, but I ran out of books to read... And that passage for some reason kind of stuck in my mind.”

“You should have told me the last time I came. I thought the box I´d brought you a fortnight ago would last you until the end of the month.”

“So did I, but I haven´t been able to sleep much lately,” she´d confessed, staring at the horizon, too overwhelmed by emotion to look him in the eye.

“It´ll soon be over, Chloe,” he´d said softly, covering one of her hands with his as she wrapped her arms around her bended legs and rested her chin on her knees.

“I know, “ she´d whispered in a strangled voice, wondering if those words meant what she hoped.

“The trial´ll be over the day after tomorrow and he´ll be put away for life. He won´t hurt you, Chloe. I won´t let him,” he´d promised fiercely, fighting the urge to thread his fingers through her hair and bring her closer to him.

“I know,” she´d said, feeling the tears well up when she realised he hadn´t meant his words that way.

“Chloe, “ he´d said, resting his hand on her back only to feel her tremble. “Come. You´re cold; we should be getting back to the house.”

“No!” she´d exclaimed, pulling him down by the hand.” I´m fine. Let´s just stay for a while longer... until the sun sets. I want to remember this moment.”

“Are you sure everything´s all right?” he´d asked, wanting nothing more than to embrace her and never let go. “Chloe?” he´d insisted.

“I´m a year older today. Seventeen,” she sighed, trying to keep her lips from trembling.

“I know. I got you a present. I was going to give it to you before I left.”

“You were?”

“I am.”

“Will I like it?” she´d asked softly, blinking away some treacherous tears.

“I think you will. I wish I could give you more, but...” he´d begun responding.

“So let´s go and see what you got me, Mr Luthor,” she´d scrambled to her feet, cutting him off before he could say something that might make her heart ache deeper.

“Chloe,” he´d called, trying to catch up with her, his bare feet sinking in the sand of the dune on his way up.

“So... where is it? I want to unwrap my present,” she´d told Lex on crossing the threshold, her eyes unnaturally bright, feigning a cheerfulness she was far from feeling.

“I´ve left it on the coffee table,” he´d said quietly, cursing Lionel Luthor and fate for bringing them together much too soon.

“Tales of the Weird and the Unexpected,” she´d read aloud.

“There´s an inscription inside,” he´d told her, putting his hands deep in his pockets.

“Let there always be a mystery to solve and a story to write.”

“You OK?” asked Oliver´s voice, bringing her back to the present.

“Yeah. Birthdays make me a little reflective. What´s that?”

“I´m sorry to say it isn´t mine. Clark must have left it on my desk when he visited LuthorCorp this morning. Aren´t you going to open it?”

`Tales of the Weird and the Unexpected´ read the cover of the book she unwrapped.

“Isn´t there a dedication on the first page?”

“Yes,” she answered softly.

Happy birthday, Chloe. Here´s what I wish I could have said that summer: Will you wait for me?

“Someone´s told me you´re the birthday, girl,” Zatanna, a gorgeous woman in a top hat, told Chloe.
“Make a wish. Ready? Blow the candle on the cupcake, then.”

Take me back to that summer. I won´t let him leave the safe house this time.

“Do you like it, Chloe?”

“Tell me the words you really meant to write, Lex.”

THE END

A/N:

Chloe´s quotation in her conversation with Lex in the flashback corresponds to Daphne Du Maurier´s “Rebecca”.

The first two lines of her conversation with Oliver are taken almost verbatim from “Hex” (8x17)

STORY TWO


"Playing to Get a Better Hand"




One. “I”

Two. “De-“

Three. “-clare”

Four. “War!”

“Yes!” Chloe shouted enthusiastically when her top card featuring the Seven of Hearts beat Lex’s Six of Clubs thus ending an amazing round which finished with an unlikely triple war and claimed the last of his cards.

There was no shame as she did a mini dance of joy while sitting cross-legged on the sofa in the living room of the safe house where she was forced to spend her time for the summer. Lex offered a small, yet genuine smile as she basked in her triumph, but he couldn’t let think that she had bested him completely. “Very well, you are obviously very lucky in games of chance, but the next game will require skill.”

Chloe gave him a quick eye roll before asking, “What like some tiresome game such as ‘Monopoly’ where the only real winner is the last one to give into the boredom before declaring the game a wash?”

Lex had to laugh at her accurate assessment of said game. “Actually, I tend to steer away from games that resemble my real life too closely.”

“So no to ‘Operation’ then?” She teased before he could finish his thought.

Giving her the stare, he finished “I think both of us would be done with hospitals but if you want to play ‘Doctor’…” He should feel guilty that he managed to make the seventeen year old blush. Guilty and dirty, but honestly he couldn’t muster those emotions around her. Besides if Chloe felt he was crossing a line, she’d be the first tell him.

As soon as she felt the flush in her cheeks lessen, she stated, “Moving on, what game did you have in mind?”

“How about a game that matches our equal skill…‘Scrabble.’” At her nod, he went to the chest where various games were piled. He brought the chest and games with him the day after he’d been released from the hospital. He knew she had her computer but there wasn’t much she could do with it without a connection to the internet. And Spider Solitaire lost its allure after winning several games in a row.

Still he worried it wasn’t enough. Her only viable opponents were him and her father as the guards could not have any distractions. Try as he might, there was only so much interest a father, even a good one like Gabe, could manage when it came to board games, especially when Chloe had finally learned how to best him at Chinese Checkers at ten.
So that left Lex as her sole companion for fun around here and unfortunately he couldn’t be around as often as he liked or else risk alerting Lionel’s minions to her presence. But he managed to see her at least once a week, no matter what his schedule, no matter how much back-tracking he had to accomplish in order to throw off the enforcers.

As they went about setting up the board and preparing the tiles, Lex figured it was a good enough time to mention that he hadn’t found Clark yet. He knew Chloe hated trying to find casual ways to ask, and it wasn’t right to make her wait too long for a report even if that report hadn’t changed at all sense the day their friend disappeared.

At the stilted news, Chloe’s happy nature was once again downcast. She got up from the sofa and paced behind it frustrated that due to her safety protection there couldn’t even be a window to look out. “I think if I was able to help, I might find something.” She pleaded with Lex.

He didn’t know whether to smile at her persistence or frown at the risk she was willing to take when she was already swimming in trouble. “I can’t deny how good you are with a computer, but this is different Chloe. There is literally no trace, and Martha isn’t being forthcoming.” He stood up to stop her pacing and made her look at him. “We both know how good Clark is at saving people. I’m sure if he’s in any trouble, he’ll be fine. Until then, we just have to wait. And Clark will never forgive me if I let something happen to you. I’m already in enough trouble with him as it is.” When she acquiesced to his reason with a nod, he dropped his hands from her shoulders and walked back to his spot around the table.

Truth of the matter was that while he wanted Clark’s friendship, when it came to Chloe, Clark didn’t even come to close to the list of reasons he wanted her protected. From the beginning of their partnership, even the advantage of finally being rid of his father was slipping farther down that list.

“Thank you.” He looked up from the tiles he was flipping over (Chloe had insisted that picking the tiles from a pile allowed for more choice that picking from the bag.) to see that she had returned to her seat, and was now staring at him with honest gratitude. “Not just for believing me when I first came to speak to you about your father or continuing to hide me, but thank you for coming to see me. And for talking me down from the proverbial ledge.”

She took a deep soothing breath before continuing, “I just feel like sometimes even though Lionel’s the one in jail, I’m the one stuck in the cage. And I know it won’t be forever and I just have to wait, but it’s hard to remember that sometimes. So I’m glad you’re here. And I’m glad that I came to you months ago.” She reached across the table to take his hand in a foreign show of affection that somehow didn’t feel that odd. “And not just because you got me out of that mess. I’m glad because it allowed for us to be closer friends.”

Since he was a teenager, Lex had done his best to never show true emotions but at this moment he didn’t care. He gently squeezed her hand before answering with a smile, “I’m happy for that too.” After a shared smile, they dropped their hands to pick their tiles.

Chloe had become very important to him in the short span of time that they worked together. He swore to do everything in his power to protect her from Lionel and anyone else that could cause her harm. And if he didn’t have the power, then he would find a way to get it.

The End.

STORY THREE



In Another Life

Once upon a time, in another life, Lex Luthor and Chloe Sullivan fell madly in love, and when they were asked when their romance began they would always smile at each other and say: "The Safe House."

The safe house was the first time in the year that they were working together to stop his father that Lex had truly feared for Chloe's life.

And it was in that fear that he understood the depth of his feelings for the blonde reporter.

So in typical Lex Luthor thinking, he tried to emotionally pull away from his feelings, but Chloe wouldn't let him.

"Lex, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

Lex had looked up startled at Chloe's angry tone, and felt his own temper snapping back. "Trying to keep you safe."

Chloe, not in the least bit intimidated, stared him down. "From your father, or from you?"

When Lex didn't answer, Chloe had rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Lex, don't even try to say that you're anything like Lionel Luthor. If you were, you would have left me and my dad to fend for ourselves. You're a good person and don't ever forget it."

He hadn't believed her at first, but slowly, through his weekly visits, Lex had begun to understand that Chloe truly trusted him with her life and the life of her father.

They didn't have long drawn out conversations on the subject, but Chloe would give Lex the letters she'd written to her dad, knowing that he would see to it that they were delivered.

That had humbled him to his very core, and he carried the duty out faithfully.

When the danger passed and Chloe and Gabe were allowed to return to Smallville, Lex had again tried to pull away, and again, Chloe stopped him.

She would show up unexpectedly at the Mansion or his office at the crap factory, and she'd hand him a letter she's written, but this time it would be addressed to him.

The letters wouldn't be overly sappy, but rather, they would be just like the letters she'd written in the safe house: full of the mundane aspects of life, but it was Chloe's way of letting him know she was alive and well.

And because Chloe was writing it, the letters were witty and full of life, and Lex treasured them all.

They communicated by hand written letters for most of Chloe's senior year until the day of her graduation, when Lex finally realized that he wanted more and asked her out on a date.

She'd refused, and it wasn't until he sent her an engraved invitation to dinner that she'd accepted a date with him.

The only person who understood why Chloe and Lex would leave each other long, hand written letters was Gabe.

The letters were Chloe and Lex's way of remembering all that they might have lost and all that they had found in each other.

Present Day

Lex Luthor stared at Chloe Sullivan through the plexiglass of the Metropolis jail.

His trial was starting tomorrow, and the only interview he granted was to The Daily Planet’s star reporter, Chloe Sullivan.

His lawyer questioned the wisdom in Lex’s speaking to the woman whose expose on his crimes against humanity was what lead to the investigation into his projects and experiments, which in turn lead to his being arrested.

But he couldn’t hate her. She had always been a resourceful investigator and formidable opponent, who never gave up until the truth was revealed.

She covered Metropolis’ crime beat, and her investigations usually involved reporting on corruption in the city’s political structure, she also uncovered Luthorcorp’s and their competitors unsavory business deals.

Unlike the dynamic duo of Lane and Kent, Chloe didn’t target Lex and his company because he was an easy victim, rather she went after him when she had proof that he’d done something illegal.

Lois and Clark, on the other hand, wrote articles based on hearsay and innuendo about all of his alleged evil doings without a shred of proof.

Lex would then sue Lois and Clark and the Daily Planet for libel and defamation of character, and it happened enough times that Lane and Kent were made laughing stocks of in the journalism world.

But it was Chloe, through years of quietly and meticulously gathering evidence on 33. 1 and Black Creek, who managed in a series of articles, to destroy Lex’s benevolent businessman facade and show the world his dangerous obsession with meteor freaks.

She also gave the Daily Planet back it’s credibility.

Chloe stared back at Lex and waited for him to speak, noting with a slight twinge of conscience, that he looked exhausted.

Finally, he broke the silence. “Chloe, do you remember the safe house?”

Chloe was startled by this opening topic, but she answered gamely. “Yes, I remember it well. You still had your humanity then.”

He didn’t flinch, but he couldn’t hide the flicker of pain that crossed his face at her words. “That was before I knew how dangerous meteor freaks could be.”

He paused briefly before adding, “Present company excluded of course.”

Chloe’s smiled bitterly through her sarcasm.. “Thanks ever so much.”

She looked wearily around the visitors room before asking, “Why are you asking me about the safe house? That was a million years ago.”

“Sometimes I feel like it was yesterday,” he answered softly. “I still have all of those letters you wrote me.”

“I burned mine the day after graduation when you asked Lana Lang on a date” she retorted sharply.

Lex winced, knowing that had been his crucial error, and the minute it all started going wrong for him. He’d chosen the wrong woman, and lived to regret it.

He tried again, wanting Chloe to understand what he was trying to tell her. “Do you ever think, in another life...” He broke off, not quite sure what to say.

But Chloe surprised him by whispering, so low he wasn’t quite sure he heard her correctly, “Everyday.”

STORY FOUR


2014

Helicopters whirled overhead and Chloe pressed her earpiece tighter into her ear. They had appeared when a journalist from the Daily Planet had asked Lex a question on witness intimidation. A neat trick by Lex to destroy any footage they might take of his impromptu press conference on the steps of City Hall.

He hadn’t noticed her and she supposed that that was the only advantage she would get today. “Mr Luthor, sources inside of Judge Whelan’s office say he is looking closely at the suggestion that LexCorps employees were involved in the assault of Mrs Rhys.” This time someone from The Inquisitor. Lex turned slowly at the voice and said easily, “I don’t comment on idle speculation”’

“Jackass” Chloe murmured under her breath but was already running in the direction of his waiting limousine whilst he answered one final question. And the Gods smiled upon her, as at the moment she got to the car someone hurled a lit torch at the vehicle, missing it but distracting Mercy long enough for Chloe to slip inside. She turned her recorder on and waited.

*************

2004

Lex never stayed long, it really was mostly to check that she was still alive. And this lack of confidence in his security team really should have been troubling to Chloe considering what later happened. Clark, always rescuing her, even when she was dead.

The first time he came she had been in the shower and he had gone by the time she had got out. A note left on her computer, Just checking, L. Checking what? she thought as she saw the laptop opened slightly higher than she remembered leaving it. There was not much to do with the long days and short nights. She had transported her Wall of Weird with her but it did not provide her with the comfort she had wanted from it. She wrote a couple of articles for the Torch on things she picked up from the local papers but spent most of the days reading pre-trial documents that she had requested from Lex.

The second time he came she was sitting by the window chewing her lip, lost in reflection. He appeared wordlessly behind her and she jumped, catching the scream in her throat. Maybe she was more on edge than she had thought.

“You should be more alert. I could have been anyone”

“Nice to see you too” she replied rolling her eyes.

“The lawyer wants to meet you to go over your testimony. Is tomorrow ok?”

“Let me check my schedule.” She made a show of looking into her blank notebook

“It will soon be over Chloe, just a few more weeks”

“Easy for you to say, you’re in the land of the living. All I have for company is that potted plant over there, the internet and my wild imagination.”

“You’d be surprised what could be accomplished with those with a bit of application” was all Lex said and Chloe again wondered about Lex’s misspent youth. Or well spent youth, depending.

The third time was also the last time and Chloe had many years to think about it. She had spent the afternoon looking at old photos of her, Clark and Pete. Especially her and Clark. She wondered how much he was mourning, and part of her hoped, a lot. This time she had the advantage of the light from the kitchen illuminating the window in front of her so she could see Lex reflected behind her and was prepared when he walked soundlessly towards her. She turned to him with a knife in hand and a raised eyebrow.

“You need to be aiming it here to cause any real damage” he said, grasping her hand and re-directing the angle of the knife.

“You know, one day, I actually will catch you off guard. I’ll surprise you”

Lex looked at her strangely “You already surprise me” he was still holding her wrist and he lowered her hand and took the knife with his other hand, dropping it into the sink. He rubbed her wrist with his thumb and she flushed.

“Do I make you uncomfortable Chloe?”

“No.” Yes

“Are you sure?”

“You’re not the Luthor I’m afraid of” and then his cellphone rang and the moment was broken.

Chloe snatched her hand back and Lex looked at her a moment before taking the call. Now, with a few years experience behind her Chloe recognized that moment for what it was. A subtle imperceptible come-on and she really had never known what to do with that information. The next time they met was at court and it was like nothing had ever happened, and she guessed nothing actually had.

********
2014

“What the -- ?” Lex turned in his seat seeing her

“Genuine emotion Lex? I’m shocked!”

“I could have you arrested for trespassing”

“Trespassing in a car? That would be a new one”

Lex seemed to compose himself. “What can I do for you Chloe?”

“Someone who is trying to compromise my journalistic integrity, and at the moment my list of suspects is narrowed down to just one, is spreading a story saying that I had an illicit affair with Lex Luthor when I was 17 and the exposés I am currently running are a form of misguided revenge for a love affair gone desperately wrong.”

“And what makes you think it’s me?”
“I’m close Lex. So close I can smell the drying blood on your victims. You know it and I know it, so you’re fighting low and dirty. Make it go away”

“And hypothetically speaking, if it doesn’t stop?”

“Then you will be the second Luthor I will put away”

She let herself out at a red light and breathed deeply thinking back to that summer, the people they were and the people they had become, and really this had always been the only outcome.

STORY FIVE


Field Mice and Aged Wine
One shot: Safe house Challenge
Pairing: Chlex
Category: AU, Romance
Rating: PG:13
Summary: There were field mice in the wine cellar.

***


Chloe paced the large expanse of the “safe house.” Well, if you could call it a safe house. It was more like a huge mansion with a living room as big as her whole house. When Lex had said safe house, Chole had imagined a small space with nothing but the bare necessities.

But when Lex, has said safe house, Chloe should have known better. It was a huge eight bedroom home in the middle of no where USA. The town was so unknown that she could barely remember its name. But still…

The house was huge and it had everything one could want. A whole entertainment system, a top of the line computer system, good food. Lex had certainly gone all out, making sure she was as comfortable as possible for her stay at Casa de Safe house.

Yes, she was comfortable. That much was true, but she was also lonely. So very lonely.
She and her dad had to have been separated, at Lex’s orders of coursing explaining that it would be safer for the both of them if they were split up. Chloe understood. She really did.

But it didn’t suck any less though.

She wasn’t allowed to speak to him on the account of not being able to have a cell phone. However, she was able to e-mail him, but that wasn’t any fun on the account of having to practically speak in code.

She still was trying to figure out what he meant by saying the “The Money in the mattress.” She whished she hadn’t given him that code talk for dummies book for Christmas two years ago. But anyway, it sucked that she hadn’t had any real human interaction for a whole month save for the creepy hired bodyguard who only ever says
“I’m just checking the perimeter.” At least three times ago. She’s given up trying to engage him in conversation whenever she sees him on the account that he always gives her this creepy look.

She doesn’t even know where he sleeps at night. If he does sleep at all.

But Anyway, back to the pacing. She had been In hiding for exactly forty four days today. How long was she going to be stuck here? Six months? A year? Years? Chloe wasn’t sure especially now that she was officially “dead.” The thought made her utterly depressed. Well more depressed than she already was.

Shaking her depressive thoughts, she made her way from the living room and into the kitchen. She didn’t want to watch TV anymore. Nor did she want to surf the net or read anymore books.

She was bored and anyone who knew her knew that a bored Chloe was a dangerous Chloe. Of course, because of her curious nature she had already explored the house from top to bottom. Except one room, which was locked.

“Not for long.” She mutter out loud. She made her way into the kitchen and quickly reached for a knife. She jogged down toward the end of a hall and quickly went to work. She stuck the knife in between the lock and the door. She bit her lip as she wriggled it once then twice. She narrowed her eyes and pushed hard.

The knife slid in between the lock and the door slid open, banging against the door loudly. She reached over and switched on the light switch. She didn’t know what she was really expecting.

“Stairs.” She said softly. She stared down at the narrow stairs. “Should I walk down there?” She asked. She nodded once. “Yes.”

***********

It was a wine cellar.

Chloe didn’t really know what to expect when she had walked down those stairs. Maybe Lex’s deepest darkest secrets. Maybe some dead bodies. Not wine.

She sighed and placed her hands onto her hips. Rows and rows of wine bottles lined one wall and Chloe idly wondered why he had so many if he wouldn’t bother to drink them. She stared at them for a long moment before she reached for one bottle.

“Cayuga White,” she read. “1904.” She opened the bottle and sniffed. She shrugged. “Bottoms up.” She said before taking a swig. Her eyes widened and she gagged. “Blah!” She said. She shook her head. “That’s awesome.” She said and took another drink.

*********

She was dizzy.

Not room spinning dizzy, but the good kind. She had already sampled four bottles of wine and she was beginning to become a connoisseur of wine. She giggled to herself. “Connoisseur.” She said. She had settled on a forty year old Chardonnay and was halfway through the bottle before she heard it.

It was a squeaky sound. She lowered the bottle and glanced down with a frown when she heard the squeaky sound again. She slowly blinked when she saw a little grey creature run across her feet.

It took her exactly five seconds to realize that the little gray creature was not a hallucination. It took her another two seconds to realize that the little grey creature was a little grey mouse.

Chloe has done more dangerous things than the average girl. She faced more dangerous people than the average person. But she hated mice.

She did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.

********

Lex frowned as he moved from room to room in search of Chloe. “Chloe?” He called as he moved from the kitchen. He made his way down the hall. He paused in front of the whine cellar doorway. His eyes widened as he heard a scream. He reached and drew his gun.

“Chloe!”

********
She was standing on top of a table.

“Chloe!”

She yelped as she turned to face Lex. She yelped again as she noticed the gun he was currently pointing in her direction. She lifted her hands and the wine sloshed out from the bottle and down her wrist.

“Lex!” She said.

He frowned and lowered the gun. “Chloe?” He glanced around, his brow furrowing in confusion.

“Why are you pointing a gun?” She asked.

“I heard you scream.” He answered. He put his gun away and glanced at the open wine bottles. “Chloe, why are-” He trailed off as his arms were suddenly filled with Chloe.

“There are mice down here!” She muttered. She buried her face in his neck.

He stumbled backwards as he tried to shift his weight. “Chloe, you have to get-”

“No!” She whimpered. She held both the wine bottle and his neck in a death grip. “I’m afraid.”

He sighed loudly and adjusted her weight. “Where is Connor?” He asked as he slowly made his way up the stairs.

“Who’s Connor?” She asked.

“Your Bodyguard.” He answered.

She was quiet for a moment then. “So that’s his name.”

He set her down onto her feet when he reached the top of the stairs.

“Thanks.” Chloe smiled up at him. She lifted the bottle of chardonnay. “Wine?”

Lex’s frown returned. “Chloe, you aren’t suppose to be-” he trailed off at her expression. With a small sigh he reached over and plucked the bottle from her hands. “This was a five thousand dollar bottle.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “I knew I tasted money.” she said with a small shake of her head. She tried to move around him, but noticed her world seemed to tilt in a strange way if she moved too much. “I think,” She started. “I’m drunk.”

She fainted.

*********

She woke up five hours later.

She groaned as she sat up in bed. She glanced about her darkened bedroom with a small frown.

Her head pounded with a headache and she groaned again. “I didn’t even drink that much.” She groaned.

“It’s very aged wine.”

She nearly jumped out of her skin and turned at the sound of Lex’s voice. He was sitting on the floor beside her bed.

He glanced up at her. “There’s water and two aspirin on the night stand.”

She reached over and switched on the lamp. She blinked against the sudden brightness and reached for the two pills and water. She quickly downed them and swallowed the water. It was almost instantaneous the way the headache faded. She sighed, her shoulders relaxing. “Thanks.”

Chloe sighed as she slid from the bed and sat next to him. “Hi.”

He smiled. “Hi.” He said. “You know your dad asked me to let him know how you’re holding up. I guess I shouldn’t tell him about the drinking huh?”

She smiled. “No, I guess not.” She looked down feeling embarrassed. “I was bored.” She explained. “I haven’t been around anyone for a whole month.”

Lex was giving her that look again. That I’m sorry my father is a crazy asshole look. But there was no need for it really. She should have known better than to get involved with Lionel Luthor. Now she and her dad were both paying the price for her stupidity.

“I would come by more Chloe, but it would-”

“Make things look suspicious I get it.” She sighed. “It’s okay Lex. It’s just how long-”

“Not long.” he cut in very softly.

She perked up at this. “Really? How do you know? Was there a break in-”

“My father is dying.”

She stared at him with surprise. She should have felt ashamed for her initial feeling of elation but she wasn’t. She could only stare at Lex, not knowing what to say.

Lex sighed. “You the messed up thing is I actually feel bad.”

“Well he’s your dad.” She said quietly.

He sighed. “I keep thinking the same thing, but I don’t know what that means.”

Chloe did the only thing she could think of. She reached for his hand. “You’re a good man Lex.” She smiled. “You just don’t know it yet.”

Lex stared down at their joined hands before glancing back up at her.

Chloe hadn’t expected him to kiss her and she certainly hadn’t been expecting herself to kiss him back.

Her hand wrapped around his neck as the kiss deepened. She sighed as his tongue brushed against her own.

Lex quickly pulled away his eyes surprised. “Sorry.” He muttered.

She stared at him, dazed. “Sorry?” She tightened her hold on his hand and slid next to him. She lied hr hand on his shoulder. “I should compliment you more.”

END

That was a really tough decision! I got totally stuck trying to choose between two fics in particular... almost resorted to eeny, meeny, miney, mo! :P

All good, in story 1: I like the use of the Rebecca quote and the use of Hex so Chloe good go back and do it all over again. In story 2: I like the idea of Lex playing actual games. In story 3: I like the idea of keeping with the writing of letters. In story 4: I like that Chloe managed to surprise Lex. In story 5: I liked the moment of when Lex found Chloe in the cellar.

All worthy entries!

This was a really tough choice. In the end, I went for the fic that had me giggling at laughing at the really silly, cute visuals... or Chloe getting drunk in a dark cellar on a five thousand dollar bottle of wine... before shrieking and jumping on a table.

(erm... that's fic number five, in case that's not clear! LOL!)

LOL! And it was even funnier when Lex came in on the scene to enjoy it too, ROTFL! What a ridiculous, hilarious situation... AND it was the perfect, delicious moment for them to have their first kiss!!

Whoever wrote that one... beautiful work! So funny!

And my appreciation to all the people who participated. All the ficlets were amazing reads, and it was TRULY hard to pick only one of them.

Excellent work from everyone again this month. I truly enjoyed them all. I had a hard time between two of them again. I honestly just chose one because I had to, but they were a totally tie for me. Then I felt all bad because the one I voted for already had votes and the other did not. *sigh* Now I have guilt - LOL!