And you really have to impress Bruce to get him to let you be on his team.So go Chloe.Or see about getting her fitted for kevlar…
And the low octive 'Neither am I' I could so like see his head going down an him making his scowl. tisk tisk tisk Bruce keep yourself under control you don't want anyone to know your other identity. Espically Lex.
This is such a good story. I remember the Supermen episodes where Luthor and Wayne teamed up.
Chloe as a member of the team? Wouldn't happen, she'd never have the patience to put up with being Bruce's sidekick. Partner? Maybe, but Bats doesn't do that very well.
I love Chloe's snark and way of keeping the boys in there places. Everytime they start to get mouthy out comes the snark stick and down they go again.
Still no update i'm dying here!
A/N: Apologies for the delay. Thanks for sticking with me on this. On with the show… Oh, did someone ask for JealousLex?
Chapter 9
Wayne Manor ballroom…a little later that evening…
“So are you going to give me a hint?” Harvey whispered the words into Chloe’s ear as they danced.
She pulled back a bit to face him. “A hint about what?”
“Don’t be coy, CJ. It doesn’t suit you. A hint about what, or rather, who you are here to investigate.”
“Harvey, we agreed, no questions asked. You’re the one who said you owed me from the Edwards arson case, and you wanted a way to repay me.”
Harvey skillfully turned her on the dance floor. “At the time I had been thinking more in terms of treating you to lunch, not necessarily crashing a black-tie charity event.”
“We’re not crashing,” argued Chloe. “You had an invitation. Besides, when was the last time you even took lunch, a real lunch that you didn’t work through?”
That part was true; Harvey Dent was a hard-working prosecutor in the Gotham DA’s office. The two had met in the course of their work, because frankly, with their self-imposed work schedules, they rarely met anyone of the opposite sex any other way.
Harvey was certainly handsome enough. He was tall, and broad, with thick brown hair and dark eyes. With his deep, rich voice and movie-star good looks, his colleagues in the DA’s office joked that despite the fact that Harvey’s courtroom arguments were brilliant, no woman who had ever been in court with him had likely ever heard them. They were too entranced by him.
And, like Chloe, he hand a singular focus in life most of the time: his work. As a result he was considered to be on the fast track to the top seat in the DA’s office, and possibly even higher.
Harvey and Chloe actually had a few things in common besides their work ethics. They were both bright, attractive, and committed to justice. Unfortunately, neither of these similarities were really enough to build a long-term relationship on. A friendship, perhaps, but not a great romance. And that was OK. For both of them.
“I could ask the same question of you.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Whatever, I’m still not going to answer you. You’ll just have to settle for my undying gratitude for helping me out in this.”
“I suppose I can live with that.”
The turned again and Chloe noticed Harvey looking over her shoulder. He smiled a bit and turned back to her.
“If you won’t tell me about your case, then perhaps you can tell me why Lex Luthor can’t seem to take his eyes off of you. Other than the obvious reason, of course.”
Chloe looked over her shoulder and immediately locked eyes with Lex. He was standing slightly off to the side of the dance floor, his hands slipped in his pockets and staring quite openly at Chloe and her dance partner.
Naturally he looked downright delicious in his tuxedo. Even surrounded by a roomful of men who were almost identically attired, he stood out and not simply because of his bald head. He had a simmering intensity in his movements, his stance and especially in the way he watched Chloe. Even when she wasn’t sneaking glances at him out of the corner of her eye, she could feel his eyes on her. She could feel the flush of heat rising from her back to the nape of her neck and across her shoulders when her back was to him, and she knew her cheeks were likely thoroughly pink when Harvey turned them and she could see Lex’s face over his shoulder.
She almost shuddered at the force of his gaze but she stopped herself just in time. For one, Lex might see what he was doing to her and secondly, Harvey would certainly feel her reaction and she was in no mood to explain it to him.
Before she could form an answer to satisfy Harvey, however, Chloe felt a gentle tap on her other shoulder. She turned and found herself face to face with Bruce once again.
“About that dance, Miss Sullivan?”
“What about it?”
Harvey broke in with a smile, “I think you can do better than that, Bruce. Actually, I suggest you do better than that.”
Bruce cleared his throat. “May I have the next dance, Miss Sullivan?”
“Yes, you may.”
“Harvey you don’t mind, do you?” Bruce asked Harvey, and Chloe noticed Bruce sending the other man a Y-chromosome generated look that indicated that he really shouldn’t mind.
“Not at all, knock yourself out. Or, piss her off and she’ll do it for you.” Harvey leaned down and placed a brotherly peck on Chloe’s check. “Behave yourself, he’s the host, not to mention an old friend of mine,” he whispered to her. Chloe flashed him her best innocent smile, in spite of his earlier warning about coyness and waved him away.
She turned back to Bruce, who by now had his arms open in a dance stance to receive hers.
She stepped into place and allowed him to begin leading them around the other couples.
After a long moment, Bruce said, “Congratulations, you’ve surprised me yet again. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you here. I must remember to thank Harvey…”
“Don’t blame Harvey. He owed me a favor.”
“I see. And what exactly did you tell him about your sudden need to attend this fundraiser?”
“All he knows is that I’m here about a case. I didn’t tell him anything else. Of course, he’s going to find out eventually…”
Bruce pulled back to look at her face. “Oh really, why is that?”
“I don’t see how you’re going to be able to keep it from him when his office is prosecuting you for insurance fraud,” Chloe replied, keeping her smile in place.
“You have quite the sense of humor, Miss Sullivan,” Bruce turned her easily, as if they were discussing the weather. “And might I add you look amazing in that dress.”
“You can drop the dim playboy act, Mr. Wayne. I’ve read virtually all of your emails and memos for the past year. I know that you’re not as clueless as you lead people to believe.”
“Are you sure about that? I’ve been told that I’m pretty clueless at times.”
Chloe reached up with her hand and wrapped it around the back of Bruce’s neck to bring his face down closer to hers. She then leaned in to speak directly in his ear.
“Suit yourself, but you and I need to have a talk. We can do it right here where anyone could hear or we can go someplace more private.”
When she pulled back, Bruce had the same insipid grin on his face. The contrast between this Bruce and the one she had seen at Wayne Enterprises was incredible.
He raised her hands to his lips and said, in a voice that was just a bit louder than necessary, “That’s sounds like a terrific idea. Why don’t we go see the view from the east balcony?” He kissed her hand, still maintaining his heated eye contact. “I’ll get us some drinks and meet you there.”
His disappeared in the direction of the bar and Chloe let out a breath. This was more tiring than she thought it would be. But, she would play along with whatever game Bruce wanted to play as long as he needed to, just as long as she could ask the questions that she needed to.
*****
Lex watched as Chloe danced with the attorney from the DA’s office that she had arrived with. Or, rather, “arrived draped over” he corrected bitterly. Milliseconds later, he berated himself for being bitter.
Up until a few days ago, he hadn’t seen Chloe Sullivan in years, and now he was having murderous thoughts about a man he hardly knew just because he was touching her.
Yes, Lex had felt the urge to punch the handsome accountant/lackey in her apartment the other day but he had rationalized that away once he noticed the young man’s resemble to a certain farm boy.
This attorney was an entirely different story. For one thing, he was her date. Plus, they seemed to know each other pretty well. And did he mention the touching thing? And he was one of those ridiculously handsome men who seemed to pull off the handsome bit with no effort at all.
Lex took a deep breath. He should be focusing on more important things, like why Chloe was here in the first place. Was she just trying to unnerve them? Did she actually know something and want to confront them about it directly?
He watched as Dent murmured something into Chloe’s ear. Her cheeks were pleasantly pink and Lex frowned at the thought that it was from something Dent had said.
Did he have to lean so close? What could he possibly have to say to her that needed to be whispered right into her ear? So close to the expanse of skin left bare by the dress…
Suddenly something else seemed to be happening. Bruce was cutting in and Dent was letting him. Bruce had the lecherous playboy look on his face. Surely he didn’t think that would work on Chloe?
Lex followed them around the floor with his eyes and caught sight of Chloe smiling up at Bruce.
Was it working on Chloe?
Lex blinked and collected his thoughts. No, she was just playing with him the same way he was trying to play with her. She was too smart to fall for that.
Chloe reached up and pulled Bruce’s head down towards hers to whisper into his ear.
Please, it wasn’t that loud in the ballroom.
Bruce then kissed her hand and released his hold on her, heading off in the opposite direction.
Chloe watched him leave then made her way towards the French doors leading to one of the balconies.
Lex hesitated for ten seconds before following her. He didn’t know what he was going to say to her when he caught up but he simply couldn’t stop himself from following her.
Chloe was already at the stone railing when he stepped outside. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was looking out at the immaculate, if somewhat gothic, gardens of Wayne Manor. Lex thought about approaching her but he still couldn’t decide what he would say. Their previous conversations in the last few days had not exactly gone well. She might have been close to believing his version of their separation but they had been interrupted. Now Lex felt he was back at square one.
Square one of what, though, was the question. He had first approached her in hopes of using their previous relationship to encourage Chloe to reconsider her take-no-prisoners approach to the investigation.
Then, when he realized how angry she still was at him, swaying her on the investigation took second place to getting her to believe that he hadn’t, as she put it,’ thrown her away like trash.’
Truth be told, it wasn’t the first time someone had leveled that particular accusation at him, but it hurt like hell coming from Chloe.
Lex realized that he had hesitated too long, Bruce was approaching Chloe from another entrance to the balcony. He decided to wait a few minutes before letting them know of his presence.
“Miss Sullivan,” said Bruce. “Sorry about the delay, I had to take an important phone call.”
“From your lawyer?” she asked, turning to face him and titling her face up. Lex could see the sly grin she had on her face.
“No, actually. Are you saying that I should call him? Do you plan on making any accusations he should be present for?”
Chloe shrugged. “It’s up to you. I’m not a cop, Mr. Wayne. I find some of their rules…confining. I’m going to say what I feel I need to say whether or not you have a suit you pay $800 an hour standing next to you; it makes no difference to me.”
Bruce smiled, “It’s abundantly clear that you still don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
There was no threat in his voice, only a bit of mirth. Lex clenched his jaw at the words though because they were directed at Chloe. She, however, did not seem fazed.
“I assume that you are referring to the fact that you are considered very powerful to some people and you have a great deal of money. Well, you should know whom you’re dealing with, as well. Two years ago, a U.S. Congressman decided to fake a paralyzing injury to his youngest child in order to garner some sympathetic votes and collect half a million dollars in disability insurance. I figured it out and had his ass arrested on the floor of the House of Representatives.
“Three years ago, the curator at a major art museum decided to fence a Monet to fund her prescription drug habit. She reported it stolen in order to collect several million dollars of its insured value and hide her crime. You can imagine her surprise when I walked into her office three weeks later with the painting, the fence she used, and her dealer.
“Six months ago, a British Lord, and second cousin to the Royal family, set his country estate on fire with his wife inside. Scotland Yard said it was an electrical fire and advised that Allied pay both the death and property claims. They called me in and within two weeks, the Lord, his lover, and the electrician they hired to set the fire were behind bars. Are you seeing a pattern here?”
One corner of Bruce’s mouth curled up. “You have an exceptional memory?”
Chloe took a step closer. “People with money and power don’t intimidate me. Not in the least.”
“One might even say that you target them, perhaps because you enjoy the challenge. Or maybe you simply have a bone to pick with the wealthy and powerful? Which is it?”
Chloe frowned briefly, then smirked. “I aim for where the evidence leads me, Mr. Wayne. I don’t target people because of who they are, I target them for what they’ve done. And I very good at hitting my targets.”
“I see. So what exactly is it that I have done? Other than cooperate fully with your investigation, that is.”
“You personally cut the third shift of the plant just a week before the explosion, ensuring that the plant would be empty. All your sales data showed that you should have been increasing production, not cutting back. There’s no reason why you should have taken time out from running a multi-billion dollar corporation to make a plant-level decision.”
Lex grudgingly admitted that to his credit, Bruce’s face revealed nothing. “It was my decision to make, and it doesn’t mean that I’ve done anything wrong. The decision could have been purely strategic.”
“I’ve read four dozen emails between you and Lex Luthor that lead me to think otherwise.”
Lex blinked. How much did she know?
“You and Lex don’t exactly agree on what to do with your new robots, do you?” Chloe continued. “You’ve been arguing for months. Broken promises, secret emails. Your deadlines are creeping closer and you can’t agree. Now all of sudden, boom! No more bots. Your partnership could end right now and with the insurance money, you’d recoup most, if not all, of your initial investment.”
Lex held his breath as Bruce stared intently at Chloe as she finished speaking. He had known Bruce for years but he had never seen anyone confront him like that. Lex honestly had no idea how to react. He was seconds from stepping in between them when Bruce finally spoke.
“Is that the extent of your evidence? Some emails and the fact that I cut production on the plant before the explosion? I’m sorry, Miss Sullivan, I think you’ll need to do better than that.”
“That doesn’t sound like a denial to me.”
“What’s there to deny? Sending emails? I can hardly do that. You’ve caught me and my computer red-handed! As for anything else, well, let’s just say it’s not really a bull’s eye just yet.”
“Who says I’m finished with you? Maybe this conversation was just to put you on notice.”
“Next time you can save yourself the trouble and stay home because I’m telling you now, I don’t like threats. You might be getting some sick thrill from badgering me, but I really am a very busy man. Once again, I must stress that you have no idea who you’re dealing with. I’m not going to tell you that again.” The mirth was gone from his voice and in its place was only steel.
Lex stepped out of the doorway, not waiting for Chloe’s reaction. “Bruce, I think that’s quite enough.”
Chloe spun around at Lex’s voice, clearly surprised to see him there. “Lex!”
Bruce did not seem as surprised. “Lex, no need to get all heroic. Miss Sullivan and I were just finishing up a discussion.”
“It sounded like you were threatening her. Of course, I’m sure that you weren’t because we both know that you have no need to do that.” Lex walked closer to the pair as he spoke pointedly.
Chloe interjected with a dramatic eye roll. “And besides, I hate to break this to you but my dry cleaner is more threatening than you are, Mr. Wayne.” She gave a mock shudder. “Extra starch….ughhhhh…it gives me the shakes just thinking about it.”
Lex felt a smile spreading over his face as Chloe easily brushed off Bruce’s threats. She really was something. Immediately though, he had to stamp down the grin when the felt Bruce’s eyes on him.
“I suppose I’ll need to work on that, won’t I?” Bruce answered. He turned to Lex “So how much of that did you hear?”
“Enough.” replied Lex.
“So you noticed, then, that Miss Sullivan’s theories paint you as an innocent bystander in all of this.”
“I never said that.” Chloe interjected.
“Well, his name was noticeably absent from your assessment of what I supposedly did. Why do you suppose that is, Lex?”
“Bruce…” Lex warned, but his friend would not let it go.
“Miss Sullivan, you wouldn’t be harboring any biases in this investigation, would you? I am aware that you and Lex weren’t exactly strangers when this investigation started. I certainly hope I’m not being unfairly targeted simply because I didn’t have the favor of a previous relationship with you.”
Chloe’s smile was tight. “I’m not sure what I can say to convince you but I’m as unbiased as I need to be. Mr. Luthor and I have not seen each other in ten years. The fact that I knew him before now is…it’s…”
“Irrelevant?” Bruce offered smugly. “You see that’s the word that Lex used when I asked him about your prior relationship. He said it was irrelevant.”
Lex stopped himself from visibly wincing. He had no idea what kind of game Bruce was playing here but he was obviously choosing his words in order to get some kind of reaction from Chloe. The word he had chosen so casually in that conversation with Bruce now cut through his heart as he watched the muscles in Chloe’s jaw tighten in response. He watched the movement in her throat as she swallowed before finding her voice to speak. It had not been but mere seconds between Bruce’s statement and her own but Lex had seen the brief flashes of sadness, anger, and betrayal that flickered in her eyes. The damage was done.
“He’s right,” she said softly.
“Excuse me?’ said Bruce.
“I said, he’s right. Our relationship was and is irrelevant to this case. And, as I said, this investigation isn’t over. You’ll both being seeing more of me. Anyway, gentlemen, I think I’ve neglected Harvey too long. I better get back to the party. Enjoy the rest of your night.”
She spun on her heel and walked back inside, the fabric of her gown swirling around her as she moved. Lex noted that she had carefully avoided making eye contact with him as she turned away.
Lex waited until the balcony doors clicked shut before turning to Bruce.
“What the hell was that about? When I said our relationship was irrelevant, I meant…I…”
“You meant what? Do you even know anymore when she’s involved?” Bruce demanded.
Lex had no answer…and it pissed him off royally.
“That’s exactly my point. I know what you said about your relationship but I also know what I’ve seen with my own eyes ever since she walked into my office. She distracts you and we can’t afford another distraction. I don’t know what exactly went on between you two and right now, I don’t care. All I care about is that she stays the hell away from you and you keep your head in the game where it belongs.”
“I didn’t ask for a keeper, Bruce. Stay the hell out of my business.”
Bruce shook his head and gave a wry grin. “It’s my business, too, Lex. What she does, what you do, it’s all my business now.”
End chapter.
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I love all the banter in this fic and this was one of my favourites. I can't wait to see what happens next. And I would just die to see some Chloe/Batman interaction. I'm wondering how she will react to him. I also like the way you have written jealous Lex, and since there can never be too much of him feel free to put him in the next update as wellOriginally Posted by newbatgirl
Insomnia totally sucks... until you realize that your favorite Batman crossover has been updated. I have to admit, this is the first time I have ever really disliked Bruce in a Smallville story. And it takes a lot for me to dislike Bruce (That is meant to be a compliment). I can't wait for your next chapter.
Great update.
Re: Ends and Means - R - Chapter 9 - 9/2
yeah you updated and i got jealous LexShame he didn't get to dance with Chloe as well
For being a super hero Bruce is not coming across as a very nice bloke but i am still enjoying it
You know what would be really good is if during an argument, Lex would stop and pull Chloe to him and snog her
Aww that part made me sad poor Harvey.he hand a singular focus in life most of the time: his work. As a result he was considered to be on the fast track to the top seat in the DA’s office, and possibly even higher.
Now everyone is saying they dislike Bruce, but you know guys he has a lot to hide and if the wrong people found out his secrets it would be big trouble. So I think he's allowed to be a little mean (though it may make Chloe look into him even more).
and I'd just like to say ya like you make good relationship choices all the time Bruce (can anyone say Catwoman) lay of Lex.
I'm not liking Bruce at all, he's starting to mess with the Chlex and that is totally unacceptable, i might have to open a can of whoopass!!!
I LOVE Jealous Lex, he was so cute, watching Chloe as she danced with Harvey and Bruce and i loved how he stepped in to Chloe and Bruce's argument when Bruce started to threaten Chloe, protective Lex is very HOT!!!
Loved it and I want More...SOON, please!!!
Kimmie
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