Sinful & Forbidden - NC17/ completed: 17.01.12

[TrinityR]

Title: SINFUL & FORBIDDEN
Short summary: "Oliver died during the Apocalypse leaving Chloe with millions... now she is a multi-mulionnaire, but she isn't happy. Her cousin, Lois is engaged to her best friend, Clark, what makes Chloe feeling uncomfortable beacuse she has no clue what to do with her life... Then, she encountes Lex Luthor who suprisingly doesn't remember her or anything else for that matter. That is a good news... when Clark told her that Lex was alive... she was scared... she was scared that her long hidden secret would finally be revealed... a secret involving Lex himself.
Now, she can help Lex and Clark doesn't have to know... and what is most important - NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW THEIR SECRET."


So, here I'm starting a new story. I didn't think I would write the first chapter so quickly but I was bored and then got inspired and... that how it started

OPENING CREDITS



If you liked my story (Don't)-Follow-Your-Heart about Chlex you will definitely like that one too!



CHAPTER 1 LIFE & DEATH

PROLOG:

"That was the day the boy turned into Superman…" I finish reading to my son.

"Wow…" he gasps in excitement.

I smile, close the comic book and kiss him in the head.

"Read again, please!" he asks me with his sweet childish voice.

I smile again and get up.

"There will always be more adventures for another day," I say to him and brush his cheek.

He falls asleep almost immediately and I walk out of the room turning the lights off… last glance at my son… last glace at the room… I see a bunch of arrows in the corner what makes me think about him… how long is it already? How long since he died?

I shake my head. I don't want to think about this now, not when I'm finally happy, I have a family…

I close the door and go to my bedroom.

"So… where were we…?" I ask and smile again…


*** *** ***

The door opened and somebody walked inside.
I knew exactly who that was. I didn't need to see her face, I was sure… Who else could be looking for me here and, especially, now?
"Something told me that I'd find you here," I heard her voice and my lips twitched, I almost laughed.
"I combed the lab and I saw what happened."
"Long time, sis," I finally spoke turning my chair around to face her.
I got up and got closer to her…
Then… after another couple of minutes of talking and 'reconciling' I stabbed her.
I had to.
"You know I'm actually saving you," I told her when I caught her when she was collapsing.
"From what?" she asked me still couldn't understand.
"From turning into me," I simply answered.
"It's too late… Clark already did that," she said putting her hand to my cheek.
Wait… what was it? Something cold… slippery… some…
I touched my cheek and there it was… on my hand… some gunge.
I looked at my dying sister, puzzled.
"It's the neurotoxin that you started at Sommerholt… it penetrates…" she started explaining but then I remembered.
"…dermal issue," I finished after her and felt dreadful fear running through me.
"Paralyzing all cognitive reception," Tess added.
"How long?" I asked her.
"30 seconds."
"What will I remember?"
"Nothing."
It dropped on me like a brick, like a death sentence.
I would remember nothing? Nothing at all? No… wait…
Too late…

***

Where were they? Where the hell were they?

I felt like I was going mad…

"Chloe… don't worry. He will save us," Emil was trying to calm me down.

"Something's wrong…" I said getting to my computer in the WatchTower to check the range to the fire planet one more time. "Something's really wrong… he should've done it by now… and Oliver still haven't checked in…"

"I'm sure they…"

"STOP!" I suddenly burst surprising even myself. I turned back to look at him. "Just… stop…" I repeated quietly this time. "You're not helping when you just keep trying to make me feel better… it's a waste of time… you better get to the other computer and check if Oliver…"

My phone rang.

"Oh! Thank God!" I answered it right away. "Clark?"

"Chloe… I have… there are… complications…" he sighed heavily.

"What do you mean there are complications? That planet is still heading toward the Earth and you're the only one who can stop it!" I was yelling again.

"Chloe… calm down… I just want to say… I met… well… Lex."

"LEX?" That was surprising. "But he… you mean you met another clone?" I corrected him.

"No… I mean I met the real Lex. His father sold his own soul to bring him back… I just defeated him but… I still have to make this planet go away…"

"Ok… Ok…" I needed to adjust myself to that news. "Ok… so… what are you waiting for? Go and save us, Clark!"

"I'm on my way… I just wanted to… have you heard from Tess yet? Or Oliver?"

"No… and that worries me…"

"I'll look for them when I'm done… I guess… see you…"

"Clark…?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful."

"I will."

I hang up.

Fuck! It wasn't enough that Tess and Oliver didn't check in like they were supposed to or that Clark had to deal with Lex's clones, his father who'd come back from another dimension… or with the bad Luthor version of himself… no… it wasn't enough… something even worse just happened.

Lex was back.

Was it real? Maybe it was some really good copy?

But when Clark says he's real, he is, I thought and sighed.

Some memory just passed before my eyes. I really wanted to forget it but I couldn't. I just couldn't… all the effort I'd made... it was all for nothing…

I could still remember the first lie considering THIS…

I'd been talking to Lana. She'd been afraid of going to bed with her new boyfriend and it had been her very first time…

And I'd said that I'd done it already before I'd even managed to bit my tongue.

Then I'd lied and told her it'd been Jimmy…

I'd met Jimmy that summer but we'd never had sex then. I'd been just one of those girl who'd been so ashamed that they'd still been a virgin… I know… stupid but… when you were a teenager it seemed like a very important thing and a good reason to be ashamed of.

I had to wait a whole another year to finally do this and…

Shit! I couldn't think about that! What had I been thinking anyway? Stupid! Stupid teenager girl who'd needed comfort because she'd been all alone then… or… I was just justifying it by telling it'd been simply seeking for comfort. I knew it hadn't.

The whole time after telling Lana that lie and even after THAT night I'd done everything to keep it a secret and succeeded.

Now, it could all go to waste.

"Look!" Emil pointed the screen interrupting my thoughts and thank him for that!

I came back to my computer and smiled.

"He did it, Emil, he did it!" I yelled happily.

The fire planet was retreating fast…

"Look…" I said pointing at some dot on the screen. "We have to make it bigger… Oh my God! It's Clark! He's flying! He's wearing his cape!" I was so proud of him in that moment.

He finally did it. He finally became… Superman.

A moment of pure happiness and then a moment of despair once again…

Where were Oliver and Tess?

"Chloe!" Clark suddenly burst through the door. "Chloe…"

I turned round from the computer to face him – I was still looking for those two missing – and…

The look on his face.

He didn't look like he'd just saved the world. He should be happy, maybe even ecstatic about this, but no…

"Clark… what happened?" I asked carefully, not knowing if I wanted to find out.

"Chloe… there's something… I… I need to tell you something…" he started and stopped.

"Oh no…" I knew. I already knew. He didn't have to say anything else. "No… tell me that is… no!"

"Chloe…" He got closer. "I'm so sorry… I found him… it was too late… I…"

"NO!" I screamed and when he finally was there to hug me I moved back. "NO!" I turned round to look at the stained-glass window… it reminded me of Jimmy… Jimmy who'd died before we'd even started our lives together and now… all the same… all over again...

"Chloe… I'm so sorry…" Clark sped to me and I had no place to run from him anymore.

He put his arms around me.

"I'm so sorry… If I could…"

"No…" I shivered so he put me even closer to his chest brushing my head with his hand. "There was nothing you could've done… you're not a…" Suddenly, I stopped. I stopped because he was. He was a superman but even…

"…even supermen can't be in two places at once… maybe even three… Tess?" I sobbed.

"I'm sorry… I found her body in LuthorCorp…"

"Where exactly?"

"Lex's office…" Clark sighed deeply.

I wanted it to stop. I wished Clark hadn't saved us. I knew it was a dreadful thing to ask for but… I wished that.

I wanted to be dead. I had no one to live for anymore. Clark had Lois, he didn't need me anymore… I'd had Oliver but he…

I cried…

***

I'm putting flowers on his coffin...

I did it once already… Why do I have to go through with this again? WHY?

I hear his will…

His attorney reads it…

I've got it all because I was his wife… I'm a multi-millionaire now… I even own LuthorCorp because Oliver had bought it once…

But I don't care. I don't want it. I don't want any of this.

All I want is to just come back to Smallville, cower in bed in my old room in the Talon's attic.

I want to stay there forever. I want to come back to those happy days in Smallville when my only concern was the Torch and Clark who hadn't been noticing me the way I would like him to.

I want to come back to the times before we'd even heard about the meteor freaks or Lex Luthor.

It was perfect.

Innocent.

We were kids… or young teenagers and we were so happy…

Pete was there… Clark was always so clumsy when Lana was around and I… I was just… me…

I liked that girl more.

That girl would've never done such thing like I'd done…

[lexie]

This is an interesting beginning.

I'm not a fan of SV's clone!Lex storyline. And the whole memory-wiping was preposterous, but I'll wait and see where you're taking this.

[hfce]

Interesting start.

[Fouzia]

Cant' wait to read more^^

[TrinityR]

I'm not a fan of SV's clone!Lex storyline. And the whole memory-wiping was preposterous, but I'll wait and see where you're taking this.

Thank you for your comments and I just wanted to say that the Lex I'm writing about it's not Lex's clone. I like to believe in the theory that the body - yes, it comes from clones - but the Lex that is INSIDE of that body IS real Lex. Why? I think that when Lionel made a deal with Darkseid, the Darkseid brought back the whole essence of Lex and put it into this body.
I'm not familiar with any comic book and movies but I like to understand it that way.

[starmoon]

very interesting start i can't wait for more please update soon.

[cbrunberg]

i like you started both chloe and lex where the series end with chloe reading to her son and lex forgetting everything.so i cant wait to see where you go from there

[tatie87]

A very intersting start to a story. It has Chloe involved in some was or another with Oliver, Clark, and Lex. Can't wait to read more of this story!

[TrinityR]

Oh My God! Have you heard the newest rumor?! Probably, there will be a Smallville continuation - A Comic Book Season 11! They're thinking about making it after the success of Buffy The Vampire Slayer Comics (by the way - I loved Buffy and I'm reading it).
If it will be good I will definitely read Smallville too.
In my profile I included the link to my blog where I put the links to all of my stories and I will be also giving you some news like... this one about comic today!
And I can paste it here too: http://trinity023.blogspot.com/


Coming back to my story. I was working really hard and I wrote a really long chapter - well, longer than any chapter I've written before, so I hope you will appreciate my effort. I'm doing my best to make this story good and I don't want to rush myself with the plot, let it be descriptive.

CHAPTER 2 RUINS WE LEFT BEHIND...

"Chloe… I know you're in there… please, open up!" Clark had been banging on the door for a couple of minutes now. "Chloe… please… I know you need a friend right now…"

No, I didn't. I just wanted to be alone.

I just wanted to cower on my sofa and sank into despair.

What else did I have left? Nothing.

"Chloe!"

God, he was so damn persistent! I took a pillow from under my head and put it to my ears.

Suddenly, the knocking stopped. Did he go away? I hoped so… I really didn't…

Then, I heard some strange noise and Clark was standing right by me. He took the pillow from me and squatted by the sofa, watching my face closely.

"You look awful," he said sadly.

"Well… thank you," I answered sarcastically and pulled the pillow from him putting it back under my head. "How did you get in here, anyway?" I asked. "I thought I closed the door…"

"Well… I…"

"Clark…" What had he done this time? What was this strange rumble?

I raised myself up and look at the hall… he'd taken the door out of its hinges!

"Clark!"

"Stop repeating my name. I'll fix it, don't worry…" he came over to the door and put it back in place with no effort. "See? Done! Now…"

"Now, you have to go," I said honestly.

"Why?" he turned to me and started studying my face.

"Don't look at me like that!"

"Chloe… We need you and I'm pretty sure that you need us too."

"For what? Can't you handle WatchTower without Tess or Ollie around?" I sighed and got to the kitchen to bring myself a cup of coffee. "Coffee?" I sighed again. I really wanted him to just go away.

"Yeah, thanks… I was just saying…" he followed me to the kitchen, "I wanted to say that you should hang out with us a little… it'll make you feel better. You just keep sitting in Oliver's old apartment and…"

"…I needed to be alone. You can't expect me to just… start working again!"

"Don't you want to clear this world out of villains?" Clark asked. "It's what you did after Jimmy… I'm sorry for bringing that up but I really think you could do something to…"

"Clark… I'm done." I put the coffee pot down with a tap and faced him again. Determination painted in my eyes. "I decided to… leave."

"Leave?" Clark furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean? Are you leaving us?"

"Not permanently… I just need some time alone. I can't do this anymore… you know… stay in the WatchTower like some old... hermit who… lost all the contact with reality… I made that mistake once and I don't want to do it again. I just… I'll go for a while and I don't want you or anybody else to look for me."

"But… we… we need you, Chloe. I need you."

"Haven't you noticed yet?" I asked him raising my eyebrows in surprise. "You don't. You have Lois. That's enough."

"But…"

"She saw me working in the Tower, she saw Tess… she'll do great. You'll see. I'll come back when I feel better."

"Where are you going?"

"Smallville…" I answered with strange nostalgia in my voice.

"Smallville?" he repeated in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. Really."

"But… this town is like a ghost town now. My parents are gone… there's no Pete… no Lana… even no Luthors!"

"That's fine, Clark. "

"You know that you can't hide there forever."

"Sure."

"Will you keep yourself save?"

"After everything we've been through… sure, I know how to fight and how to take care of myself. I'm good at it and… I can always call you and you'll be there in a second."

"Yeah… well… since I can fly, I will," he smiled. "Yeah, you're right, I haven't thought about it before but you actually can take care of yourself. You did a pretty good job that summer when we all thought you were death… when Lex kept you alive."

"You see, I wasn't completely alone…" I said carefully, watching his face closely. What if he… No, impossible. "Any sign of him, by the way?" I asked turning back to my coffee pot and finally pouring the liquid into two cups.

"No… no sign… I wonder where the hell he is, with the mansion being destroyed… it's not like him, you know."

"Yes… have you come back there later?"

"To the mansion?"

"Yes."

"I did. Nothing. It's an old wreck."

"I'm sure he'll show up again, just wait. You know the Luthors."

"Yeah… Do you need a ride?"

"A ride?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah… you know… you want to come back to Smallville so, maybe you would like me to take you there? It'll save you a lot of trouble and time."

"That would be great, thanks." I almost smiled. Almost, because my heart still ached. "I wonder how is it… you know, to fly."

"You'll find out…"

***

"I just want to show you something," Clark told while taking me in his arms.

He flew up and I twitched because of the sudden strange and rather unpleasant feeling in my stomach.

Soon, I noticed that we weren't actually flying toward Smallville… we were going up and up…

"Clark?" I finally dared to say something. "Ok, first you insisted to take me to Smallville during night time and now… what, the hell, are you doing? I don't understand! It's… so high!" I looked down and could barely see the ground from here. It was dark. We were so high… I shivered and caught his neck even harder.

"Good that you can't hurt me while strangling me like that," he said grinning like an idiot.

"It's not funny! What, the hell, are you doing?"

"I wanted to show you something… can you… close your eyes for a second?"

"And not be able to control you? Where will I find myself in a minute? On the Moon?"

"You can't control me with your eyes open either. Chloe… would I ever hurt you?"

"No…" I admitted biting my lower lip and looking back into his eye.

"Exactly."

I sighed in exasperation and did what he'd asked me for.

"Ok, you may open them now," he told me after couple of another scary seconds that seemed like hours.

I carefully opened my one eye.

I gasped…

I was safe and even if he let me go he would catch me before I would even notice I was falling…

"It's your home, Chloe. The Earth. Look."

We were floating so high above the Earth that I could see it clearly. So round, so blue and green, so beautiful…

"Thank you," I suddenly said to him looking back at his face. "Really… thank you, it's so… wonderful."

"Yes, it is. I wanted to show it to you…"

"So… how did you overcome your fear of flying?" I asked him teasingly.

"I figured… If I can't get hurt… and if I'm able to do something so much amazing like… well… flying… what's the point in fear?"

"That's my boy." Then, it struck me.

"What happened?" he asked me noticing the change.

"I just… you just… made me smile. It was a real smile, Clark. Thank you. There's still hope for me."

"Of course, there is, Chloe. I would never give up on you, you know that."

"Sure…" I blinked a couple of times to make the tears go away.

"Are you crying again?" He was so caring, sometimes even too caring. "Are you crying because you're hurt or just because it's so beautiful?"

"I… I don't cry. I just… have something in my eye."

"In the space? There's no wind here," he giggled again.

"The stars are so magnificent…" I changed the theme quickly. "Look… you came from one of them…"

"Krypton's dead," he corrected with sudden sadness in his voice.

"Clark…" I turned my face back to his. "Stars that we see are dead. It's the light which comes to us through millions of light years and… the light from Krypton must be somewhere there."

"Yeah… you right… I wish I could've seen it in the days of its splendor."

"I'm getting a little cold and your cape doesn't make any difference…" I noticed after a couple of seconds of silence.

"Oh, yeah… that's right… you can feel the cold… I forgot…"

"You know what? Get out! You stopped acting like a human," I joked.

"Hah hah hah."

We flew down… too fast…

"CLAAAAAARRRRKKKKKK!" I was sure that I tore my throat.

"Relax…"

"Just… slower!"

***

After another couple of minutes we landed in Smallville in the middle of the corn field.

"That's a great place to land…" I noticed sarcastically.

"Sorry… I needed to make sure that people wouldn't see me… beside… do you know that I landed here? Right here, actually?" He pointed the exact spot.

"No, you never showed me that… Clark?" I turned round but he was already gone. I sighed. Always the same with… "Oh, there you are." He came back very quickly. With my bags.

"I had to bring it too," he told me. "Ok, where are you staying?"

"In the attic… Talon…"

"You really are going back, aren't you? Who's running that place now?"

"Lana's aunt."

"So, it still runs in the family…"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you this? Oliver…" I stopped when sudden and sharp pain interrupted me.

"Sorry…"

"No, it's fine. I just wanted to say… Lex owned it and then Tess… after him… Oliver bought the LuthorCorp along with the Talon because it meant a lot to me…"

"Really? You two weren't together back there, were you?"

"No, but we were friends and friends care about themselves, don't they?" I winked at him but, then again… it hurt. "Oliver didn't have time for such a small business so, I asked him to give it to Lana's aunt. She was actually pretty glad to get this building back."

"I'm sure she was… but… I don't know if preserving the past is such a good idea. Sometimes you just have to let it go. Like… like the farm. Selling it was one of the hardest things I've ever done… but… it was a good decision…"

***

Clark got back to Metropolis so I walked into my old apartment…

It was like nothing had changed… it was pretty dusty but I could clear it up and make myself a decent place to live in… for some period of time.

I didn't know how long I would stay there but I wasn't in any hurry. I needed this.

I got to the window and looked down on the familiar street. Now, it was empty because it was the middle of the night but it brought back so many memories…

I could see the hospital in the distance… I stopped counting how many times I'd been lying there after… like five times? I smiled but it was a nostalgic smile with tears in my eyes.

I unpacked my PJ's and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Later, I just hit the sack. I didn't have any strength for anything else…

***

When I woke up in the morning and had breakfast and a cup of coffee in the Talon I went for a walk.

I needed to see everything once again. Needed to refresh my memory.

My first stop was the school… I only saw it from the distance, I didn't want to come inside, somebody in the Torch – and that would be the first place I would go to, I was sure of it – could figure out who I was.

After all, I was the Torch's legend and… still couldn't believe it – the Prom Queen.

I slowly walked through a meadow to Kent's farm… It hadn't changed from the outside but inside… I was sure that some other people were already living in there, I saw a car…

Another family, hopefully a happy family with great memories connected to the place that had been so full of love once…

Then… Then, I thought about the Luthor Manor. Of course, no one had been living there anymore, it were just ruins but after all…

When I found myself looking at it I remembered Lex…

He'd been so good back then… when we'd all met. So passionate… he'd wanted to be better than his father so badly… such a shame that he'd lost that battle… he'd become him by eventually killing him… How that had happened? Had it been because Clark had abandoned him? Or had it been because of genes and blood relation? Well… I would never know… Had Lex and Clark ever had a real friendship? There'd been lying to each other, but again… Clark had been lying to me for so many years and I still could understand his reasons…

I shook my head and shoved my hands into my pockets.

Not this time… it'd all happened in some other era… in the era when Clark hadn't even dreamed of becoming Superman. Who would've thought?

Then, I remembered when he'd first started to getting to know his destiny… the Kawatche Cave…

I remembered when Lex had taken me there by force… The day the second meteor shower had hit… then… after so long of trying to forget of what had happened one day… it'd happened again…

I'd hated myself after that, I'd repressed that memory like I'd repressed the first one…

…and now he was alive once again… would he finally use that knowledge against Clark? Had I made the right decision of never telling it to Clark or Lois or even Ollie?

I inhaled deeply and found myself going to the cave.

This memory was stuck in my head, I'd done so much to forget it… now, I needed to remember…

I entered the cave and looked at this one particular wall. I could almost feel it like it was yesterday. I'd been pushed on it, my back painfully rubbing against it, but I hadn't cared…

Suddenly, something moved startling me.

"Who's there?" I turned and made a few steps further in.

I should probably just run away, it could be something dangerous but I didn't really care. My life had no sense in the moment anyway.

"Who is it?" I asked again piercing the darkness while trying to see something.

Then, I heard somebody coming toward me… They were stumbling…

And I saw his face.

"LEX?" I asked in total bewilderment.

***

(well… probably some of you - readers who are interesting in science would say… no way she could breathe up there, no way she could no frozen to death but… it's s story and how many times in movies Superman took Lois up there? It's S-fi and we all know that such things don't happen in a real life, right? Even Superman doesn't exist: P)

[TrinityR]

CHAPTER 3 FEELINGS BURIED DEEP INSIDE

"LEX?" I asked shocked.

What the hell was he doing here? He'd already known the Cave's secret, he knew everything. Why would he come back?

Why did you? Something told me… Was he reminiscing over his past too? But it was so unlike him, he was the man of action, not nostalgic type.

I made another step toward him.

He looked terrible. His suit was in shreds and was dirty but the worst was the look on his face.

He resembled a lunatic. A completely crazy person who'd escaped from some psychiatric hospital. His eyes were savage.

"Who are you?" He asked me focusing his gaze on my face.

"Chloe," I answered instinctively. Was I so meaningless to him that he didn't even remember me? I thought that I meant at least something.

"Who am I?" he asked his second question which was even weirder than the previous one.

"Don't play your games on me, Lex," I sighed and turned round to leave.

There was no point in playing this, no point in bringing up the past again. It all supposed to stay there, now it was the present, the reality. It didn't matter how hard it was for me, I had to live in the present.

"Why don't you help him?" I heard Lex's third question.

I turned around once again, perplexed.

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows looking around. No, nobody beside us was there. What was he talking about? Or for that matter, who was he talking about? Or…

"Do you mean Clark? Lex… it's none of your business!" I raised my voice.

"Clark? I don't know who Clark is. I don't even know who I am… just tell me… why don't you help him?" He looked at the corner of the cave but there was nothing there.

"Help who?" I felt sudden fear. Lex wouldn't have never acted like that. Maybe something was really wrong… but Clark had told me nothing about that.

Maybe it wasn't Lex after all? Maybe he'd managed to fool Clark? Maybe the Darkseid hadn't brought Lex's true soul or essence back, maybe it'd been just another trick, a very successful clone… who was losing his memory now. It would fit the fact that other clones had been aging fast. Maybe this one wasn't aging, maybe he was just losing his mind like an old man would?

"This little boy," he spoke again looking back at me.

"Where?" What did I have to lose? Nothing. I needed to know what was wrong with him. Clark would certainly need that kind of information.

"There is no boy here, Lex," I said very carefully. "Just me and you."

"How can you not see him? He's right there! He's crying! He will suffocate!"

Wait… suffocate? A little boy?

"Do you mean… do you see… Julian?" I asked, still gentle with my tone of voice.

"Who's Julian?"

"Your little brother but… he is dead, Lex."

"I had a brother?" he looked at me puzzled. "Why won't he stop crying?" He put his hands to his head and winced.

Then, it happened.

I couldn't hide or deny it anymore. Lex was vulnerable, he didn't have any memories, I didn't know whether he was actually the real Lex or not but… I cared about him. Deep down… I always had. I could help him. He didn't look like a threat to Clark right now.

Or should I just leave him there?

No… I couldn't… the image of him down in that cave, mourning after his dead brother who'd appeared to him would haunt me to the rest of my life.

Oliver, my dead husband had killed Lex. He'd been the one who'd blown up the van so, I owed him that. I knew that when he'd lived… he'd always regretted taking another man's life. Even if that man had happened to be Lex Luthor.

"Lex…" I carefully came closer to him and put my hand on his shoulder. "Lex… come with me…"

"Why am I bald?" He took his hands off his head and looked at me.

His eyes… watching them while I was so close to him… it made me shiver. There were so much alive, they were the same, exactly like I'd remembered…

"What is the last thing you remember?" I asked him hoarsely. "Please, focus."

"I… I woke up… but I was standing… in this office… in this tall building…"

"LuthorCorp," I told him.

"Maybe… I'm not sure… and… this woman… or her body… was lying on the ground."

"Tess Mercer?" I wanted to make sure. After all, Clark had found her in Lex's office but with no sign of Lex.

"I didn't know her. I just remember that she had red hair. She was approximately my age."

"Good… I know who that is…" I bit my lower lip doing my best to think hard. Tess had come to Lex and he'd killed her but she'd had to do something to him first that had made him forget… right? There was no other explanation. Well… there was, the body Lex was inside of could be defective… would Lionel made such a mistake? Would he made a defective body? I doubted that.

"Why are you wearing only one glove?" I asked him. I'd known before that something was odd but I'd been too busy with thinking to notice the actual glove. "Take it off…"

"No…" He suddenly backed out and we were standing in the distance again.

"It's ok… are you hurt?"

"No… I just… don't want you to look."

"Is there something wrong with your hand?"

"Everything's wrong. With me," he said and walked right pass me getting out of the cave.

"Wait!" I yelled after him. "You can't go there alone! You know nothing about this world… I guess…"

"The child went away," he told me when I got to him.

"Where?"

"I don't know, he's just… gone…" He looked into my eyes. "You're beautiful, you know?" he suddenly spoke to me.

I felt uncomfortable.

"So… you want to help me?" he asked when I didn't say anything.

"Yeah, I guess so… first I have to check something up…"

I looked around… where would I put him? I couldn't come back with him to the Talon, everybody would recognize him… eventually they would all know that he was alive but he wasn't in the right condition now…

Oliver's summer house, I thought. Perfect. It was empty. I could take Lex there and – what more – I could access anything I would want in the Internet, Oliver had made it all possible. I could check up Tess's autopsy report and find out if she'd had anything unusual or suspicious with her or on her. That was the plan.

Just one more thing...

"How did you get here?" I asked him a little surprised with myself that I hadn't done that earlier. "How did you know that you knew this cave?"

"I didn't. Something pushed me. I came back here… to this town… and… first I saw the ruins… then I went here."

"Ruins? You mean the mansion? That's getting interesting," I said.

It looked like it didn't matter that he had no memory, his feelings were still there, lost somewhere deep inside of him. They'd directed him here, back to Smallville.

"Ok… I'll arrange a transport for us…" I said pulling my phone out of my pocket.

And that was it? I thought. I thought I'd come to Smallville for a longer period of time, not for just one day.

Sometimes fate – or chance – worked in such an unpredictable way. It was obvious for me that I couldn't stay there with Lex by my side. I couldn't just go to the Talon with him and expect that no one would recognize him and a toupee was certainly out of the question.

I almost laughed when I thought about it. Lex in a toupee?

"Yes, Mrs Queen?" I finally heard my assistant's voice.

"I need a helicopter. Send it to Smallville, the closest you can get to the Kawatche Cave. I'm going to my summer residence and I'm bringing a guest with me."

"Of course, Mrs Queen."

"And… one more thing…"

"Yes?"

"I need some foreigner to navigate the helicopter… this guy… from Russia… what was his name?"

"Gregorovich?"

"Yes, exactly. Send him."

I wasn't stupid. I knew that my pilot couldn't know Lex either. That was way I wanted this one particular person who was working for me – well, had been working for Oliver actually – to take us away from here. I was sure that he didn't know Lex and wouldn't recognize him. He was here, in America, not long enough, he'd come after Lex's death.

Just to make us more save I needed a hat for Lex. Not a toupee, a hat would be enough.

"Lex…?" I hung up and came back to him. "Lex… I need to go to the city for a while… but… I'll be back soon and then I'll take you somewhere safe. Can you wait for me? Promise me?"

He looked at me a little more sane and then, answered:

"Yes, of course, I can. I can't imagine where else I could possibly go."

He started sound like Lex too… Was his memory lost permanent or not? Maybe he would remember pretty soon?

And then what? Would he do something to me? Would he accuse me of something? Would he use me against Clark?

But then, I realized. What could had I possibly done to him so he would have a reason to hurt me? Nothing.

We'd had a history. Yes, it'd been very short but was still there.

I wasn't the one who'd sent him to Arctic. I wasn't the one who'd killed him… I hadn't blown up his van… no… but my dead husband had.

Great.

"Just… wait for me here…" I said walking away quickly.

I hoped that when I would come back I wouldn't see him talking to a wall again.

***

I got to the Talon to take my stuff.

"Chloe… you're leaving already?" Lana's aunt looked at me surprised. "What happened?"

"Nothing… I just… too many painful memories…" I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"Yes. I think you're right. I came back here but… I'm still not sure if it was the right decision."

"Thank you for your hospitality. It was really good to see you again."

"You too, Chloe, you too…"

"If somebody asks for me… just tell them I'm fine and that I'll call them as soon as I feel like calling."

"No problem… Chloe?"

"Yes?" I turned round.

"You paid me the rent for the whole month… I'll just…" She got to the counter.

"No… please, don't…" I stopped her. "Keep it. I don't need it."

"But…"

"I paid for it and I got it. It's not your fault that I'm leaving early and it shouldn't mean that you have to give me my money back… I was Oliver Queen's wife… really… keep it as a gift. I'm sure you need it."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it… where can I… buy a hat?" I suddenly asked and she looked at me strangely.

"A hat? I thought you don't wear hats."

"Well… I want one." Was it stupid of me to ask her that? But it would save me a lot of trouble.

"Well… if you like… but I think you would be better of it," she smiled and gave me the directions.

Sure I would be better of it. I would look ridiculously in a hat not to mention… Lex… I almost laughed.

***

I came back to the cave half an hour later.

"Lex?" I looked around. Where the hell was he? "Lex?"

"Here…" I heard him and sighed with relief. He came out of the cave.

"You can't hide there forever, Lex!"

"Somebody was passing by and I didn't want them to see me."

"Ok… my chopper should be here any minute…" and then I heard it. "Ok." I quickly turned back to Lex. "Just put it on…" I gave him the hat trying not to stare. He looked, indeed, ridiculous, but on the other hand my pilot would never figure out who he really was.

"I bought you some clothes too…" I told him. I figured that Oliver's old stuff might be a little too short for Lex. He was much taller than my husband after all. "Come inside…" but Lex didn't move. "Lex?"

"I'm not sure… I'm probably not a big fan of flying," he said.

"You survived a plane crush once and despite it you were still flying… come on… you're save with me."

"A plane crush?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Well… yeah…" Maybe it wasn't the best thing to tell him but I didn't really know what else to say. I was feeling so confused, afraid that he might remember everything in the next second and then what?