I wanted to get back to this fic. So since there's now a place on the board for this, I thought I can put up whatever I finished and see if I can pick up from there.
AN: This story is the sequel of GOTHAM: For One Kiss, created especially for those who fell in love with the Bruce Wayne portrayed in that earlier story. If this is the first time you've encountered this fic, please read the first story first to better give you a handle on what's going on here.
Rating: PG13/R
GOTHAM DEUX
i. Sun for Ice
Sleek lines of clothes that encased a body ready to fall, perfect pearls that lined her neck and adorned her ears, a thin veil that separated her from the rest of the world, Chloe Luthor stepped forward and brought her immaculate linen handkerchief to her eyes, dabbing carefully at any stray tear that revealed weakness. The Smallville sun shone down, mocking her at the amount of brightness that it showered on a day such as this one. She reached out her hand and laid it on the cold, smooth surface of the titanium.
Chloe took a deep breath, shuddering. It was so warm when inside her blood was ice. She looked neither to her left or to her right, focused only on the blue box in front of her. “Raise it.”
There was a murmur of disapproval behind her, but she had never conformed to what others whispered. She did not need to limit herself to what other people believed. Chloe repeated, “Raise the glass.”
One of the attendants stepped forward and removed the offending barrier. At the movement, Chloe stepped closer and looked down, running her eyes lovingly at the still figure lying there. She removed the glove from her hand and laid it on his cheek, stroking warmth back to the flaccid skin. “Honey,” she murmured, “will you wake up? It’s almost time and if you will, you have to do it now.”
His eyelashes did not flicker. His chest did not rise. Chloe closed her eyes and waited to hear his voice. When there was no response, she nodded and looked back, memorized his face as he slept. She leaned over the coffin and stayed still, waiting to feel his breath against her cheek. None came. Finally, she pressed her lips to his forehead. She kissed both of his cheeks. She laid her lips on his.
“Bye Lex,” she whispered, her entire face burning with the effort not to burst with her emotion. The weak she despised. She would never belong with the weak.
She stepped back two steps and watched as the attendant replaced the glass on the coffin. She did not take her eyes away from his face as he was once more encased. Chloe Luthor stiffened her back when the blue titanium coffin was carefully raised and slid into the Luthor family vault reserved for him.
Other wives would be crying hysterically, on their knees beating the ground or cursing the heavens with raised fists. Some wives would have fainted long before now. Chloe was not one of the common wives. Lex was too much a part of her. Instead she watched and waited, never losing her reserve, standing apart from the others. She was part of two and now she was only one.
The vault was sealed, and still she stood alone. The funeral party, she could hear, was slowly breaking up. It was done. They had seen Lex Luthor’s body laid to its final rest. Chloe did not move from where she was, staring at the plaque that they would place just in front of the seal. Her husband’s name, the year when he was born, the year when he was murdered. She would forever see those words engraved and laid over with silver.
She raised the hand that touched him last, still naked, and brought it over her face, inhaling the last of Lex that remained. She replaced the glove now.
“Ma’am,” a timid voice said from behind her.
Chloe did not turn around. She merely reached with her arms until her daughter was transferred to her embrace. The maid vanished into the background again as Chloe held Brianna, urging her to wave goodbye to her daddy. The child, too young and innocent to comprehend what they were doing in the grassy part of town, waved her little hand in the direction that Chloe pointed to.
The baby turned to face Chloe and cradled her face in both hands. “Mama,” the baby said. Chloe smiled and allowed more tears to come now, when the people have gone away, back to their cozy homes that Lex’s company had enabled them to buy, back to their little families that Lex’s investment allowed them to support. It was safe to cry now. The display would only be between herself, Brianna and Lex.
“I’m sorry, Chloe.”
She sucked in her breath and held her daughter closer to her body. Chloe shook her head slightly, trying to convince herself that he was not here.
“I know that I can say it a hundred times and it will not make a difference. But I really am sorry.”
Chloe closed her eyes. “Please leave. I would like to be alone with my family.”
Hesitance before the sound of his boots moving further away. Chloe waited until she believed she was truly alone before reaching on the ground for the flowers they had brought. Clutching the stems on one hand and supporting her daughter with the other, Chloe walked to the name inside the mausoleum that she would never let go.
She handed the flowers to Brianna. “Baby, give it to daddy.”
The child dropped the stems in front of the vault. “Bye bye, daddy. Love you, daddy.”
And Chloe walked away, heavily. The sun beat down on her and she hated it. She hated the Kansas sun so much.
edited to add in rating
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