Well, I've finally got my muse cornered and we finished the Christmas piece that will help with the---well, you know eppy.There is a slight mention of the L thing from the eppy but only for story purposes---and major helping of Chlex, along with a little helping of Clana. Hope you guys enjoy it. My muse wanted to make you very happy---did she? She'd love to know; and so would I.
Title: Christmas FanFic - "Where Are You Christmas"
Author: PMD
e-mail: mary.davidson@sympatico.ca
Rating: PG-13/T
Category: Friendship, major Chlex, slight Clana, tiny mention of Lexana (for story purposes only), slight angst, futurefic, Chloe's POV, AU
Spoilers: Anything up to Lexmas.
Summary: Chloe meets up with Lex's past to create a future for him.
Disclaimer: To whomever owns Smallville, its characters, Scrooge and another character from A Christmas Carol, Shrek, Faith Hill, and the song lyrics to Where Are You Christmas, I'm just borrowing them, will give them back, not making any money with their use in this piece, so don't sue me.
Archive: At BtS, BT2, Electricchlex, MD, N.S. Forums, SPP, and the WBFFZ, for the time being. If anybody else wants it, all they have to do is ask.
Feedback: Yes I would love feedback.
Author Notes: First off, I write this, not from watching Lexmas but from what I gather from people who saw it and the spoilers out there. So, if it's a little AU cause of the eppy, I apologize. Next, I dedicate this to David and Charlie, who have inspired me to write this piece. And to all who love Chlex and Clana with a passion I only have a 10th of. I also dedicate this to people who have lost a loved one and still feel them there, although they can never see them again. I also dedicate this to my best friend, Jay. And to Kris, who has left the Smallville writing arena (or almost I guess) and has found HP a wonderful place to explore. Enjoy---my muse really wanted to make you guys happy.
Christmas FanFic - "Where Are You Christmas" - by PMD
Prologue: Christmas is a time of joy but sometimes of sorrow too. However, this year, I'll make it joy for the person who saved me, once upon a time; Lex Luthor.
~
A Year Or Two Into the Future - Luthor Mansion
It has been a busy second year of college for me, so far. And I was so happy to be back in Smallville, even if it was only going to be a couple of weeks and then back to the rat race. I loved Metro U and Metropolis, don't get me wrong, but for some reason, it had become a foreign place to me. Smallville was more home to me than the cold steel and glass of the big city. Yes, my father and I used to spend Christmas at my uncle's place in Metro in the past but this year, he and Lois had gone to Florida---how can anybody enjoy Christmas without snow? So, this year, Christmas was in Smallville. And at the moment, Christmas meant leading the carolers up to the Luthor front door.
"Shhhsssh!" I said to the kids.
"Chloe's going to get a lump of coal this year," one of them snarks.
That got him a patented stare. "Jason, you can be replaced."
"No I can't. I'm needed."
Yeah, he was---still, he reminds me of why I don't miss Lex at times---he's a jerk.
"Chloe?"
I turn to look at Lana. "Oh, right, knock on the door before we freeze to death. Ready to give us the pitch, Clark?"
He smiles and then hums---with the other's joining in.
"Good enough?"
"It'll do, in a pitch," I snark.
I turn to the door and knock. Nothing.
"Knock harder," Jason yells.
"Shut up you little rug rat," I snort, under my breath.
I knock louder and then:
The door opens and I see a very disgruntled Lex Luthor for about 5 seconds, before the door is slammed in my face.
I fall back against Clark and Lana, stunned. "Okay, who was that?"
"Lex," they both state.
I turn around. "I know that but---it wasn't him either."
"Well, he does become reclusive at Christmas, Chloe," Lana says.
"Why didn't I notice this before? And why didn't you tell me this before we stomped up here?"
"Ah---you're in Metro for Christmas," she states.
"Oh, right, that's true. And---"
"We thought maybe this year, since you seem to have more of an affect on him, that maybe it might change?"
"Chloe's got a boyfriend---Chloe's got a---"
Jason can't finish his sentence because one of the kids put their hand over his mouth. I glare at him and then smile at the child.
I turn my attentions back to my friends. "I guess not."
They sigh. And the others look sad, except for Jason, who's grinning at me.
"What?" I gripe at him.
"You're giving up."
I raise an eyebrow at him. "A Sullivan never gives up, Jason."
"One is now."
I walk up to him and grin. "Lana, Clark, take the kids back to the van. Jason will join you in a minute."
"You sure?"
"Yep."
"Okay," they state.
We watch as they walk down the steps. Then I turn my attention back to him.
"Jason?"
"Yes, Loser?"
"I'm going to make you bet. If I don't make Lex Luthor happy this season---make him see the magic of Christmas once more, I'll do the lawn mowing for you, all summer. And you will do some chores around my father's house this summer, if I win. Deal?"
He nods, seemingly assured that he's going to win. We shake hands.
"Okay, off with you."
He snickers once more and then bounds down the stairs.
I turn to the door once more. Okay, Luthor---you are about to meet your match in a very disgruntled elf---me.
~
He's Not An Ogre
*Knock Knock*
The door opens and I expect to let out a tirade at Lex. But instead:
"James."
"Miss Sullivan, I'm so sorry about that. If this were a novel---"
"---Lex would be Scrooge and I would be Bob."
He gives me a sad smile. "Yes. I wish I was faster then the young master."
I give him a small smile. "Nice rhyming, James. So, can I come in?"
"I don't think that's wise."
"Since when have I ever done the wise thing?"
"True---come in, Miss. And watch out for the Ogre of the household---he's not like Shrek."
I smile a little more at that reference of a movie he and I had caught once, while I was waiting for Lex.
He closes the door behind me and he stands there.
"The study?" I ask, as he takes my outer clothes.
"Yes," he sighs. "Be careful---he's not himself this time of the year."
"I should take it easy on him?"
"A little."
"Okay---I'll try."
"Thank you, Miss."
I pat him on the arm and walk towards the study.
~
Meeting A Past
I'm standing just outside the study. I was going to burst in before James and I talked, but I don't---I just stare at the man, standing by the fire.
He puts something over it---a picture. He looks like he's about to throw it in when he pulls it back and places a kiss on it. Then he takes the blank frame on top the mantle and puts the picture within it, placing it back up on the mantle afterwards.
'Thank God---we're not too late.'
I turn around.
"Who said that? James?" I whisper, fiercely.
Nothing.
I walk away from the study and down the corridor.
"Come out, come out, whoever you are."
'Are you sure?'
"Yes. Now! Before I tell Lex he has an intruder!"
'Aren't you one, since he doesn't know you are here?'
"Oh very funny. Lana, did James let you in?"
'Ahhhh---the woman that he thought was for him.'
I take a jagged breath. "How'd you know about that?"
Then I gasp as something appears before me---a woman---I know her---she's:
"Lillian?"
Her smile lights up the corridor and I can see where Lex gets his special one too.
"Yes Chloe, it's me."
"You know about---"
"Yes, I do. The dream he had back then---wasn't me he was seeing---it was---"
"---the witch again?"
She nods. "Yes, I wouldn't have picked Lana. She's a nice girl but she's meant for Clark, not Lex."
"So, who would you have picked?"
She walks over to me. "I've watched her for years---how the loss has made her strong, rather than weak. How the love of one parent has given her the courage to stand up for her rights and others. And how she found out the biggest secret from her best friend and her other best friend, and allowed both of them to reveal it to the other, in their own time. She is my sons match in all things. And she is---"
"Me?" I ask, flabbergasted.
"Why so surprised, my dear? You must have felt it."
"You watching me?"
"No, your love for Lex. Even now, he tries to push you away and yet, here you are."
I smile. "Either that or Sullivan's aren't quitters."
She laughs. "That too. So, what are you waiting for? Go make sure my son knows that he will never be his father, because he has the strength to fight it on his own---and because he does have a love of a good woman beside him, to fight the evil out there."
"All right---but stick around---he can be stubborn."
"As you can be too. Now, go."
I watch her fade and then turn around, walking down the corridor and towards the room.
"Lex!"
~
The Confrontation
"Lex!" I yell as I walk into the room.
He turns, sadness there for a second and then anger.
"Leave!"
"No!"
"Yes!" he growls.
"No!" I snarl.
He walks away from the fireplace and leans over me, glaring. I just step back, slightly, and glare at him, my arms crossed at the front.
"Leave now!"
"Make me!"
"You don't want me to do that, Miss Sullivan."
"Ooooo, really. Well, I think I do. Make me, Lex. Pull me along the corridor and toss me out. Be as much of a jerk when you tried to use Lana to find out Clark's secret when, guess what, the intuitive Lex Luthor was wrong---I knew it. I lied to you---I knew it---and you never guessed it. Maybe if you had known that, you wouldn't have wasted all your time with the next brunette curse to your history and picked the blonde one, who's the right one for you."
Ooops---didn't mean to say that last sentence---damn. Maybe he didn't notice.
He goes from a glare to a smirk. And then his eyes widen. Yep, he heard.
He turns around and walks over to the fireplace again.
"Hey, don't turn your back on me!"
He picks up something and then comes back to me, handing it over. I look down at the picture and see me, smiling, in it.
I remembered this---it was the third year I had known him---during the time I was helping him and he was protecting me from his father. He was trying out the camera I was going to use and snapped a picture of me smiling.
I look at him. "You tried to destroy this?"
"Yes, but I couldn't. And I did kiss it too, by the way."
"Why?"
He takes it from my hands and places it down on a table, nearby. Then he's back to me and smiles. "For which action?"
"Both," I say.
"Well, first I wanted to destroy it because I felt like it was time to move on from that time that hurt you and your father. Then, I wanted to hold onto it, because it was an incredible time for me---finding that somebody was willing to help me and trust me enough to protect them."
"And the kiss?"
He lets out a deep sigh and I see the loneliness there, nestled in the blue eyes that I could drown in. Then a sad smile, before he answers with, "I thought I would never get the chance to kiss you, except this way."
"And now?"
"And now---it's up to you."
Silence---nothing could be heard for a split second. Then one sound---his heart beating, strong and true. And one vision---the old Lex I remembered so well. The one who promised to protect me; who touched my arm so tenderly; who begged me to back down for fear of my life being taken away.
Gone was the man who tried to use his best friend’s girl to get his secret. Now he knew all he needed to know from him---even begged for a second chance and was given it. And he protected Clark's secret and made sure nobody took Lana away from him ever---to the point of looking at the ones who did look at her, with distain and anger.
Gone was the man who ignored me senior year or dragged me down to the caves and tried to hurt me, when I told him I didn't know anything about Clark.
Gone was the man who wanted to rule the world with an iron fist, in a velvet glove. I don't know how I knew it, but I knew it. Alexander was still down there---deep down there---and I know it was Alexander and not Lex who tried to seduce and use Lana. I knew it with every fiber in my body---just as much as I knew it was Lex who had walked away and Lex the secret was told to. And Lex who liked her but never loved her. And I knew that Lex would do his level best to keep him buried---for his own sake as well as ours.
"I love you."
I feel my heart start again, beating with his---slowly warming to the words he blurted out. I feel a tear fall and then his hand to my cheek brushing it away. I feel myself lean into that soft touch and remember a man who once said he wanted the love of his father and never would get it. He didn't need it now:
"I love you too, Lex."
He smiles and the world is right again. He speaks, and the angels weep. He loves me and I feel like I'm the luckiest woman in the world---and blessed that he does.
He leans down, about to kiss me when:
"Get away from her, you jerk!"
I roll my eyes and turn around. "Jason!"
I watch as the bane of my existence walks up to us, Clark and Lana not far behind.
"He was worried about you, Chloe," Clark states. "I told him Lex was just sad at this time of the year but he wouldn't listen."
Jason just stands there, glaring at Lex, who's smirking.
"Its okay---I didn't kill her."
"Yet!" Jason adds.
"Never---she's the air I breathe."
"Ewwwww!" he states.
I chuckle. "Jason, really, it's okay. Bad Alexander isn't coming out to play. It's sad Alex that's making the rounds today."
"Bad Alexander is being held in check because of the woman I love and my friends, Jason," he adds.
Jason just looks at him with a wiry look. Then back at me and I smile.
"Ooooookay---but if he comes back, you tell me."
"Promise."
"And I get to kick his butt."
"Of course," I state.
"Fine."
He's finished talking but he's still standing there. I do like the little imp but---
"Jason, now that you know everything is all right, how about we take you home, okay?" Lana asks.
"Okay---sorry about that, Mr. Luthor."
"Lex, please. And never say you’re sorry about standing up for a young woman, even if it's unnecessary."
He's smiling now, proud he was told that. I tousle his hair and he glares at me, before he joins Clark and Lana.
"Merry Christmas!" they all state.
"Merry Christmas to you too!" we answer back.
Then they're gone and there's one more question to ask:
"Why are you sad this time of the year?"
He takes my hand and leads me over to the couch. We sit and I watch him pick up the picture once more. "This makes me happy---you make me happy, Chloe. But for the longest time, Christmas was just another day for me."
"How so?"
He places the picture down and pulls me into a one armed hug. "I never celebrated Christmas after my mother died. I didn't even come home---my father left me at the boarding school. Christmas dinner usually consisted of deli turkey and cold potatoes or even rice. No cranberry sauce, or presents, or eggnog---just that. So---"
"---this will be the first Christmas ever for you in a long time. Lex, come back with me to the house. It's Christmas Eve. We can do what I used to do, when I was a kid."
"And that was?"
"Crouch on the stairs and wait for Santa to come."
"Chloe---you still believe in Santa Claus?"
"Yep, I do---well, sorta. I mean, my Dad made a mean Santa. And he promised to do it again this year, in honor of us being home once more for it."
He chuckles at that and I smile. He pulls away and I see a look of want and desire in his eyes. Then he moves towards me once more and captures my lips, as he's captured my heart.
I hear a sigh and feel her presence here. I smile into the kiss as he begs entrance into my mouth. I open willingly and I hear in my mind:
'Thank you for loving my son. Merry Christmas.'
As we back away, he nods my acceptance of the plan and I smile. Then I hear music and notice that somebody---or maybe Lillian, had turned on the CD player. Faith Hill's voice fills the air and we listen:
"Where are you Christmas
Why can't I find you
Why have you gone away
Where is the laughter
You used to bring me
Why can't I hear music play
My world is changing
I'm rearranging
Does that mean Christmas changes too
Where are you Christmas
Do you remember
The one you used to know
I'm not the same one
See what the time's done
Is that why you have let me go
Christmas is here
Everywhere, oh
Christmas is here
If you care, oh
If there is love in your heart and your mind
You will feel like Christmas all the time
I feel you Christmas
I know I've found you
You never fade away
The joy of Christmas
Stays here inside us
Fills each and every heart with love
Where are you Christmas
Fill your heart with love"
As it ends, the CD player turns off and Lex looks at me, curious.
"Your mother---she sent me in and I guess wanted you to hear this song---to remind you as long as you have love, you will always feel Christmas, even if she's not here to share it with you."
I see he understands, without saying a word.
He gets up and lends me a hand, pulling me into a hug when I get up. Then it's a short kiss and we're out the door, towards a Christmas we'll never forget. And a lifetime of Christmas' to come.
The End.
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