Truth ala Rockadaisy! (PG- for now) upd. 16 Jun 2006

Re: Truth ala Rockadaisy! (PG- for now) upd. 3/14/06

Oh my god! I am just so so so so so happy that you've updated an other chapter!!! I was right, the flash back he has keep on getting better and better. I like the small interaction between Lex and Chloe in the present (and in the visions too of course!!! ) I can'T wait to see what is going to happen next!!!! I hope there will be a discussion of some sort between Chloe and Lex soon, but I'll leave things up to you, because I know you'll continue to do a great job. Please please please write more soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Re: Truth ala Rockadaisy! (PG- for now) upd. 3/14/06

I just found this and I've got to say: WOW!! I missed all seasons (except for this one) and I'm really wishing that I hadn't. This is great!! Hope you update soon!!

Re: Truth ala Rockadaisy! (PG- for now) upd. 3/14/06

Clark had forgiven her. Excused her instinct-driven, answer-hungry behavior that had once again sent her chasing on the heels of the elusive mystery that is Clark Kent and then saved her with some miracle injection, which had erased all traces of truth serum. Her best friend, her own personal superhero. Clark had always been there to save her, pulling her out of strange situations with meteor crazed crushes and God knows what else, but he couldn’t protect her against Lionel. Because then she would have to fully explain what she had done, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to do that. She could never explain to Clark—perfect, morally aligned Clark—the amazing rush of power she felt at the thought a man like Lionel Luthor could actually need her. He had appreciated her talents and her drive. Had recognized what she now knew to be emotional weakness and taught her, in his own way, to replace vulnerability with strength. Clark knew that she had betrayed him, but didn’t know how easy it was to do. How could she ever tell Clark that a small but significant part of her had actually enjoyed researching him, trading information with Lionel, feeling like she was capable of something great? She couldn’t. Ever. And so now she had painted herself into a corner, and she was on her own. How on earth was she supposed to handle all this by herself?

Sure, she knew she was responsible for her current situation, but for a personal superhero, Clark sure let her down a lot.

Lex had stopped memory treatment. It was useful, he had learned some very interesting things. Things about his family, his childhood, his friends- things he could hardly believe, but had to because, after all, they had come out of his own mind. But despite the success of the treatment, he now recognized with the blessing of hindsight his Luthor-like denial of when it was time to say “when”, and yet somehow he had been pulled out of it. Another mysterious save. Another event that remained a hazy blur in his mind. Something else he couldn’t remember, and this too seemed to involve both Clark and his father. Lex was getting sick of this game.

So the call from Chloe came right on time.

She marched into his office like a woman with a mission, shoulders squared, chest out. He smirked in his own rare breed of appreciation and gestured for her to take a seat. “So you have information that could put my father in prison.” Not a question. His memory treatment had provided him with a ground base to start on, now all he needed was for Chloe to fill in the blanks.

She smiled wryly. “So did you before he obliterated those seven weeks of your memory at Belle Reve.”

“You know what he was trying to hide?”

Chloe bit her lip, and nodded. “Lex, your father murdered his parents.” She stared at a spot just above his head, unable to look at him. She looked guilty, full of business bravado with a touch of pity. “In a tenement fire. He hired a crime lord named Morgan Edge to do the dirty work.” She scowled, her mouth twisting unpleasantly. “You got Edge's confession on videotape, but Daddy Dearest destroyed it.”

He shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around the news. His father was not a pleasant man by any circumstances, and Lex knew multiple deaths could probably be traced directly or indirectly to him, if one had the connections to see past the thin-veiled covers, but to kill his own parents... well, Lex could deal with that. He wondered if maybe he had had been unfortunate enough to inherit the same particular genes, if one day he would prove himself capable by murdering his own father. Unpleasant thoughts. He crossed the room. “Then there's no proof.” Lex grumbled coldly.

He turned at the noise of Chloe clearing her throat. A sly grin spread across her face. “Only the voicemail confession of Lionel Luthor himself.” She laughed, now utterly pleased with herself. “He tried to scrub it out, but erased voicemails are like deleted computer files, and someone with enough pull and the right password can resurrect them from the cyber graveyard.” She waited expectantly for her due praise, her arms crossed over her chest.

Lex’s eyebrows furrowed and he frowned. “Why didn't you come to me sooner?”

He watched her bristle with anger at the accusation behind the words. “Your psychiatrist didn't accidentally wrap her car around a tree!” She spat defensively. “You showed me the investigator's body on a slab in the morgue. Luthor family politics can get a little grim.”

Lex took a moment to collect himself, rubbing his temples to relieve the pressure now threatening to split his head in two. After he had managed to regain his composure and slightly distract himself from the impending migraine, he turned to Chloe, a vision of indignation with her arms crossed and her head tilted with a challenge.

“Chloe.” He said softly. “It means a lot you're willing to do this for me. But if you come forward, you're putting yourself between my father and the FBI. That's not a very safe place to be.”

A trace of fear flitted over her expression and she spontaneously grabbed his hand. He could feel her shaking, and felt a strange desire to grab her, to hold her, just to keep her steady and find some solid ground. “I know,” she agreed, squeezing his hand tightly. “But... I can't get out from under your father's grip by myself.” She looked highly stressed, and it made a small part of Lex lighten, Chloe was never very good at asking for help. “Besides,” she added brightly, the high-pitched tone coming off as harsh and abrasive under the force of it, “I know you won't let anything happen to me.”

She said it like a joke. A wide, fake smile and an unspoken question. He squeezed her hand back and did his best to appear confident. As if his father couldn’t just swoop in and destroy them both at any time. No, that wasn’t quite true. Lionel Luthor would go directly for Chloe, and both of them knew it.

Who exactly was Lex trying to be? Thinking he could take down his own father. There was something undeniably disturbing about it, and he felt like he was a child again, cowering under his father’s strong presence. Weak and...inadequate. He tightened his hands into fists, and was surprised to feel a weight in one of them. Chloe was still there, her hand curled small in his own, waiting for Lex to finish. She smiled at him thinly.

Without a word, without even realizing what he was doing, Lex pulled her in and pressed his mouth to hers. She stood still, unexpectedly passive, and returned the kiss. The softness of her lips against his built his confidence in a strange way, made him feel stronger, like he was something bigger—more powerful—than before. They took what comfort they could from the moment and then both pulled away sharply. It was over as quickly as it had started and he released her hand, giving her silent leave. Neither person deluded themselves to think the kiss meant anything more than a promise of loyalty. Or anything less.

He could still taste her chapstick after she had left the mansion. He gently rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand and sat down at his desk. It was already past ten and he had a game plan to formulate.

Re: Truth ala Rockadaisy! (PG- for now) upd. 3/14/06

How did I miss this story? I cannot wait for more. Update, please!