Title: Accidents and Accusations
Author: westwingwolf
Spoilers: Everything up to Season 6 Episode Hydro before taking an AU turn.
Disclaimer: I owned the show, everything would have been completely different at the start of Season 4 and Lana would still be in Paris.
Summary: An Accident will change Chloe's relationship with everyone in Smallville.
AN: This is actually the first Chlex story I ever wrote, but it's not so much Chlex as it is a semi-friendship of sorts. This is just a one-shot and I don't know if I will expand on it yet. You'll notice a common trend in all my fics, and no it's not Lana's death, though there is death in this piece. The title comes from a lyric in The Dixie Chicks "Easy Silence."
Chloe awoke in a hospital which was not unusual but certainly not as frequent as she had been prone to awaking there in the past. She tried to remember what had been the cause this time. She didn’t remember a story that was causing trouble. She hadn’t met the latest meteor freak. There wasn’t a Zoner on the rise.
Then she took notice of the man towering over her. Saw that harsh look in his eyes and she knew.
************************************************** ********
She’d been out to lunch with Lana. They had been discussing Lana’s latest ‘trauma.’ She was spouting some bullshit about how many problems this pregnancy has caused for her. How all of her dreams and goals were destroyed. How she never meant to be permanently tied to Lex.
Chloe wanted to question what important goals was Lana supposedly missing out on. For as long as she could remember, Lana had never stuck to anything long enough to see if she was good enough. Not that she was at any rate.
As for not wanting to tie herself with Lex, well then why was she even with him? Chloe didn’t actually need to ask. That answer was as plain as for why Lana dated Whitney, Jason, Clark, and any other man that tried. Because she could.
She desperately wanted to call Lana out on her selfishness and absurdity. But she didn’t. Because she was a good friend. Trustworthy and loyal until the end.
So they had left the restaurant without anything resolved. With Lana still thinking she was doing the responsible thing by sticking with Lex. Lana was making the ultimate sacrifice for her child and Lex. All the while still wishing that someone out there would be able to save her from this unfortunate trial in her life.
Lana was still lamenting her troubles when Chloe caught sight of the swerving vehicle to her right. She tried to compensate. Tried to move out of the way. There was nothing she could do but warn Lana to brace herself as the other car slammed into the passenger side.
************************************************** ********
Chloe opened her mouth to speak. But the look in his eyes told her that nothing she could say would matter. He didn’t care that there was nothing she could have done. That it wasn’t her fault. Because Lana was hurt and she was grieving over something she had lost.
Something she had never wanted.
And that was how Chloe Sullivan had lost her best friend.
************************************************** ********
Lois and Jimmy had tried to be supportive. Tried to explain that Clark was just upset and confused and he’d be back and begging for forgiveness in a few days.
A part of Chloe knew it to be the truth. Knew that some part of him was in some small way thankful for the accident. Knew that those were thoughts that scared him. He needed to blame someone. The other driver died on impact and he needed someone alive and well to place the blame. For once, he wouldn’t blame himself. Not Lex. And certainly never Lana. So there she was with the short straw.
And still she didn’t care. That was the last time that Clark would place Lana before her. The last time she’d let him. The last time she’d care.
Her dad was the only person who would look at her without sympathy or guilt. He was genuinely happy to see after all the time that had passed. And she desperately needed a hug from her father.
She wouldn’t cry in front of Clark.
Couldn’t in front of Lois and Jimmy.
But her dad would always be the one person who would hold her for as long as she needed, cry until she couldn’t anymore, and he’d never judge. Simply because he was a father who loved his child.
************************************************** ********
For that reason, Chloe now stood in front of Lex’s desk waiting for him to arrive. She hadn’t questioned her need to be there. She didn’t need to apologize to Clark. Not even to Lana. But right now, for some reason, she needed to speak to Lex.
“I’m glad to see you recovered nicely, Chloe.” She heard from behind her. She suddenly felt like the seventeen year old girl that was here before. The one who had gotten in way over her head. She closed her eyes, forced that girl away, and by the time she turned around, she was back to the woman she had become.
“I’m sorry.” She noticed that Lex’s face registered shock, and she was surprised herself when he didn’t immediately try to hide it.
After a while, he schooled his features and spoke. “I don’t understand. You wouldn’t come here to apologize for something you had no control over. I’ve read the reports. It was the other driver’s fault. End of discussion.”
“Yes, well it’s too bad that Clark still refuses to speak to you.” Even though she had resigned herself to not caring about what Clark thought, she still couldn’t stop her mind’s immediate reaction.
“I take it Clark is angry because Lana’s upset.”
“More like she’s acting upset. She didn’t even want… Damn it! I’m sorry, Lex. I didn’t mean to…” Maybe she had suffered a more significant injury than she realized. She hadn’t meant to start this topic with Lex.
“That’s fine. I may have appeared to lose some of my intelligence while in Lana’s presence, but I was well aware of the fact that she never wanted this pregnancy.” He sat down on the leather couch and waited for Chloe to feel comfortable enough to sit down as well.
She thought about his statement and when she realized that it made sense with the reason she had came in the first place, she made a move to sit down in the opposing chair. “That’s why I wanted to say sorry. I figured everyone had given their condolences to Lana but no one had said anything to you.”
“Actually my father had stopped by, but he didn’t say anything. We just sat in silence and thought. Probably one of the best father-son moments we’ve ever had.”
“I know you wanted to be a good father. A chance to be different than Lionel.” A moment passed between their eyes. One of remembrance. Of a time when they were as close as two people can get to be friends. When their worlds depended on each other.
Just as quickly as it came, it was gone and Lex moved onto another topic. “I heard that you decided to transfer to Gotham University and got an internship with the Gotham Gazette.”
No bother asking where he heard that from, he wouldn’t tell her anyways. “Yes, well I get to be closer to my dad, and you know what everyone says about needing a new start.”
“I’m sure you’ll have Wayne begging for an interview in no time.”
“About that. Lex, I never thanked you for what you did for my dad after everything. I know you didn’t want us to know. But, well, you can’t keep anything from me, can you?”
“No I can’t. For the record, all I did was give Bruce his file. Gabe got that job on his own.”
“Still it helped and I let everything else that happened between us get in the way of thanking you. So thanks for that and for what you did at the Gazette.”
“I’ll take it, but the Gazette truly was your own doing.”
So that was that. After years of taking sides and fighting for what each considered to be right course, they were both in a place where neither were right or wrong. They just were.
They stood at the same time and Lex led Chloe to the door. Chloe could see that he wanted to say something. Instead of pushing, she decided to wait until he was ready. Lex rarely had trouble saying what he wanted, so it had to be important if it was causing him this much trouble.
“If you ever decide that Gotham isn’t enough, that you want something more, that you want something … some kind of… if you want justice, you know where to find me.”
She didn’t need to ask what he meant. Knew justice was just a nice word for revenge. Knew he wasn’t being completely selfless. Knew he wanted answers that only she’d possibly be willing to give. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
She left. Because they weren’t ready yet. She wanted to wait until life was at least superficially back to normal.
Then she’d return.
The end.
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