Title: Taking Over Me
Author: Not An Addict
Rating: NC-17
Category: Songfic, Romance/Angst
Pairing: Chloe/Lex
Spoilers: none
Summary: Part Six of the ‘Always With You’ songfic series. Lex can’t let go, and he’ll find her no matter what.
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘Smallville’. But I do own some very incriminating photos. You hear that, Almiles? What do you say about that restraining order NOW, eh? Um . . . I’m just kidding, please don’t sue me.
Author’s Note: All right, we’ve reached the grand finale! This is dedicated to star del mar for delurking—let it be a lesson to the rest of you! don’t lurk!—and to Clannadlvr for being such an awesome reviewer. ^_^ I hope you’ve all enjoyed this series, because I’ve had a blast writing it. A slightly tortuous blast at times, but still. ^_~ All right, here we go!
Chapter One
You don't remember me but I remember you
I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you
But who can decide what they dream?
And dream I do...
The manor was quiet. Its silence seemed to reach out and fold around him, to seep in through his pores until he could barely even hear his own heartbeat. But his heart did beat. It surprised him sometimes, but his pulse was still strong and steady and showed no signs of giving out anytime soon. At times he found himself almost disappointed by that fact; but he kept on living nevertheless, going through the motions day after day after day.
He had fooled his friends well enough. He had put on a convincing show these past few months of moving on with his life. He went to work, he came home; so long as he went out with them once in awhile his friends seemed to buy his excuses of being tired after a long day at work. Lex even managed to convince Clark that he had finally packed up all of Chloe’s things back in Metropolis, and that he was keeping them in a storage facility in the city. Clark had been understanding, said that of course Lex wouldn’t want to get rid of them right away, but that this was a good first step. Lex had nodded and given him a weak smile.
As long as Clark never checked the apartment in the city, Lex had no intention of confessing the truth.
He couldn’t accept the fact that Chloe was dead. He had tried; god knows he had tried. And when he had finally stopped seeing her, stopped talking to her, he had thought that he would be able to move on. Time and time again he reminded himself that she had stopped breathing. That the men that had attacked them had been trying to kill her; not kidnap her, but kill her. There was no reason for Chloe to still be alive. And yet . . .
Lex felt her. Not the same way that he used to—he knew that if he turned around or looked up, that image of Chloe wouldn’t be waiting to talk to him. No, this was different. He felt her inside. As often as he told himself that she was gone, something inside of him called out that she wasn’t. It whispered that she was out there somewhere, waiting for him. It said that he would know it if she were really dead, that he wouldn’t be able to feel her anymore.
The door to his bedroom swung open silently, his footsteps made no noise on the thick carpeting that covered the floor. He had been unable to sleep in their bed in Metropolis, but the bed here didn’t hold her scent. It had been several long months since they had visited Smallville together, and the large bed had long since been changed and aired. This bed held memories. He could deal with memories.
Even as that thought crossed his mind, a rumble of thunder drew his attention to the large French doors leading outside. Unable to stop himself, Lex walked over and opened the doors, closing his eyes as a wave of hot, humid air rolled into the room. He drew in a deep breath and smelled the rain in the air, felt the tension thrumming in the air from the storm that had yet to break. For a moment he almost expected to feel Chloe’s hand on his back, to hear her teasing voice chiding him for not being in the study yet again. He waited, his muscles tensed with anticipation, but nothing happened. Another crack of thunder echoed in the distance, and Lex’s heart contracted with a pain that almost had him doubling over.
The first storm of the season.
Not bothering to close the doors, Lex turned and walked blindly to the bed. His movements were stiff, mechanical as he stripped down to his boxer shorts and climbed into bed. Even after all this time he still only slept on the one side, unable to bring himself to move onto the side he still thought of as Chloe’s. He lay there in the dark and listened to the thunder rumbling outside, watched the occasional flash of lightning that lit up the room. The storm had reached the manor, and now the wind was carrying the thick, wet smell of it into the room. Lex breathed deeply and did his best to clear his mind. He didn’t want to think about Chloe. That only led to sleepless nights, as he had learned very well by now. He had to do his best to think of nothing at all. If he could just do that . . . if he could just get to sleep . . .
“I told you I’d never miss our anniversary.”
The bed dipped down under her weight; he turned at her voice and smiled up at her.
“Chloe.”
He held out his arms to her and she sank down to rest against his chest, her head pillowed against his shoulder as his arms wrapped around her, holding her close.
“I’ve missed you.”
She snuggled deeper into his embrace.
“I’m here now.” She lifted her head and smiled at him. “I’ve always been here. And I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.”
She brushed her lips against his once, twice, teasing before she let him deepen the kiss. Their tongues wove together as Lex trailed his hands up and down her back in slow, lazy strokes. She was with him; she wasn’t leaving; there was no hurry. He rolled them over and drank in the soft sigh she gave when he settled on top of her. His lips trailed over her jaw to her ear, tracing his tongue over the delicate shell before blowing gently on it. Chloe shivered and leaned up to whisper in his ear.
“I have a secret.”
He was walking down a white hallway. With every step he took the sound of his footsteps echoed off of the walls, though the sound was faint and distant. At the end of the hallway there was a large plate window and a door set to the side of it. He drew closer and the light in the hallway intensified, until by the time he reached the window the glare was so strong that he couldn’t see inside. Instead, he turned to the door. The knob turned easily under his hand and the door opened silently. Inside the light was dimmer, and the soft hums and beeps of machines filled the air.
On the bed he saw Chloe. There were dark circles under her eyes and a large plastic tube coming out of her mouth. He walked closer, taking in the thin, hospital-issue gown that she wore, watching the slow, regular rise and fall of her chest.
As he watched, her eyes opened to stare up at him.
Lex jerked awake struggling for breath. His first instinct was to reach for Chloe, but as always, he found her side of the bed empty and cold. A deep shudder ran through him at the memory of Chloe staring up at him from a hospital bed. A dream. It was just a dream. The rain was still falling outside; he must not have been asleep very long. Lex lay there and willed his heartbeat back to normal, trying to forget what he had seen.
It was just a dream.
*************************
Early morning sunlight spilled into Lex’s office at the plant, filtering through the blinds that covered the windows. The first morning shift hadn’t arrived yet, and as far as Lex could tell he was practically the only one in the building. He had been there for hours, working on contracts and spreadsheets that really could have waited until later. Trying to purge the memory of his dreams from his mind, Lex had worked like a madman. Now, with the sun just barely over the horizon, he was out of busy work and had nothing left to occupy his brain.
Lex rose to pace across the soft carpeting covering the floor, casting glances back at his desk with every turn. He knew that it was there, sitting in his desk drawer. No. He wouldn’t use it. He would be strong. He would . . . fuck it.
In three quick steps Lex was at his desk pulling out a small black book, one that he hadn’t opened since he started seeing Chloe. She had had so much faith in him, believed so much that he could be a better man, that he had never been able to bring himself to use it. But now there was a name he needed, a name that had never yet failed him. He found it easily—he had used it so many times in the past that the book practically opened to it on its own. Lex grabbed the phone sitting on his desk and punched in the numbers before he could change his mind, fighting the urge to pace as the phone rang. Finally, he heard the familiar voice on the other end.
“This is Lex Luthor. I need you here in Smallville as soon as possible. The helicopter will be waiting for you at the air pad, and I’ll send a car to pick you up in half an hour.”
He heard the confirmation and without another word hung up the phone. Realizing that he was beginning to shake, Lex lowered himself into his chair, bringing his folded hands up to his lips. It was done. Nothing to do now but wait.
*************************
“Mr. Luthor, there’s a Mr. Beruche here to see you.”
“Send him in, Rachel, and go ahead and get some lunch. I won’t be needing anything for a couple of hours.”
“Yes sir.”
Lex took a deep breath and stood up as Simon Beruche opened the door and walked into the room. The man was as tall as Lex, but his thinner, almost gangly frame gave him the appearance of being taller than he actually was. He wore a retro brown suit and thick, square-frame black glasses adorned his round face. A boater hat made of dark brown leather covered thinning hair, and a shining silver St. Christopher’s medal hung from a thin chain around his neck. The entire look together made him seem like a particularly harmless fashion consultant. Lex extended his hand and Beruche clasped it in his callused one. He sat casually in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk and Lex settled down as well, his hands folded on the table in front of him.
“So, Luthor.” Beruche’s thick English accent was accompanied by a wicked grin. “It’s been a while since you’ve called. Got a job for me after all this time, then?”
Lex nodded shortly, slid a thick file across the desk. Beruche glanced from the file to Lex and back again, his grin fading to be replaced by a slightly wary look. He leaned forward and picked it up, opening it to see a picture of a laughing blonde girl, resplendent in a glittering red gown and holding a glass of champagne. He raised his eyebrows and a hint of his grin was back when he looked back up at Lex.
“Tasty. But you should know I don’t do grab jobs much anymore. I might be able to point you in the right direction, but—”
“I don’t want you to kidnap her,” Lex all but snarled. Beruche leaned back a bit, taken aback by the ferocious look in the young Luthor’s eyes. “That’s already been done. I want you to find her.” He nodded to the file. “You’ll find the police report in there, as well as descriptions of the men that took her, as well as I can remember. You will find them, you will give me their names, and you will find out what they did with my fiancée. The rest you can leave to me.”
“This happened . . . three months ago?” Beruche asked, flipping through the police report.
“Ninety-eight days,” Lex confirmed. Beruche glanced up at that but let it pass, merely shaking his head and closing the file.
“I don’t know, Lex. If you had called me when the trail was still hot . . . but after this much time . . .”
“I have faith in you.” Lex’s voice was hard, cold, and final. Beruche had seen and done things that would send most men running for the hills, and he had gone through them without even blinking. He was not easily rattled, could stand up to men with unspeakable power and reach and not break a sweat.
Lex’s voice made his blood run cold.
“I’ll do my best. But you need to remember that there may not be anything left to find.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind. The helicopter is standing by to take you back to Metropolis. Your usual fee has been wired to your account; I’ll expect your first progress report in no less than forty-eight hours.” Lex’s eyes locked on his and Beruche had to repress a shiver at the steely determination he saw there. “I want you to find her by any means necessary. Do you understand what I mean when I say by any means necessary?”
Here was safer ground. Extreme measures were something Simon Beruche was more than familiar with. He nodded without hesitation and, following Lex’s lead, rose to shake his hand again.
“I trust you can see yourself out?”
Beruche simply nodded again and Lex settled back behind his desk, pulling a sheaf of papers towards him as the man walked quietly from the room. When he was sure that he was alone Lex shoved the papers aside again and buried his face in his hands, trying to steady himself with deep, careful breaths. He had just given one of the most ruthless men he had ever come in contact with carte blanche to do anything he deemed necessary to find Chloe. Countless people could be hurt or ruined in the process, and Lex felt a stab of fear when he realized that he quite simply didn’t care.
He rose from his seat with a violent shove and began to pace yet again. A part of him, the part that had worked for so long to appease his friends, kept whispering that this was all for nothing; that Chloe was dead, and no matter how much he tried to deny it, how many people he was willing to trample in this insane quest, she was never coming back. But a larger part of him was telling him that Chloe wasn’t dead at all. That she was out there somewhere, waiting for him, and that she had been all this time. But now time was running out. Lex didn’t know where this sudden sense of urgency had come from, but he was beyond the point of questioning now.
“You'd be surprised at what you have inside of you. You just have to let yourself feel it.”
The words drifted through his head as he remembered the last time he had spoken with her, the image his grieving mind had desperately conjured up. In all the time since then he had never really thought about what she had said. But now . . . now the meaning became suddenly clear. He had assumed at the time that it had been a reference to some power he had inside of him, some hidden reservoir of strength that would make it possible for him to live the rest of his life without her. And he had found that strength, had tapped it and used it to get through the days.
“If you want to learn the truth, Lex, you have to let go of this version of me.”
He had let go. And instead of the emptiness he had expected, he had found something else.
He had found Chloe.
I believe in you
I'll give up everything just to find you
I have to be with you to live to breathe
You're taking over me
She was still alive; he could feel it. He knew it deep down inside, the same way he knew that the sun would rise each morning. It wasn’t a matter of opinion—it was a fact, pure and unarguable. Lex had considered that he might simply be losing his mind. He truly had. But every time he thought of it he kept coming back to one inescapable conclusion.
He couldn’t breathe without her. It just didn’t seem to work quite right; nothing seemed to work right without her there. Lex had tried to cope with it, tried to move on. But as long as he had this feeling inside, he knew that he never could. Finally he had decided to stop fighting it. He didn’t care what it cost; he was going to find her again. And when he did, he would make damn sure that the people who took her from him paid.
*************************
Simon Beruche settled back into the seat of the limousine. The helicopter had taken off directly from the plant in Smallville, and a short flight later he was back in the city, away from the disconcerting quiet of the fields and open sky of the smaller town. He would be back at his apartment soon, and he could make the call he had been itching to make since he had left Lex’s office. He could use his cell phone to make it from the road; but when you made your living snooping out the well-buried secrets of the rich and powerful you began to develop a healthy sense of paranoia. No sense making the call when he didn’t know what kind of surveillance there might be in the limo. No, he could wait. Waiting was one of the things he did best.
The limo pulled to a gentle stop and a few moments later the chauffeur opened the door for Simon to step out. The doorman gave him a nod of recognition as he strolled into the building and pushed the call button for the elevator. In a matter of minutes he was safely inside his apartment, door deadbolted behind him and blinds drawn. He turned on the laptop sitting on his coffee table and sat on the edge of the large leather couch, tossing his hat on the seat beside him while the computer booted up. A quick scan detected no hidden bugs or spyware on the drives; satisfied that he was at least relatively safe Simon pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket, dialing a number that he had committed to memory while he opened a locked file hidden away in a subfolder. The phone rang several times as he scanned through the data he had accumulated, until finally a terse voice answered.
“Luthor.”
“It’s me. He finally called me, just like you said he would. I told him I probably wouldn’t be able to find anything on a case this cold, but he didn’t seem to buy it.”
“Hmm.” Simon could practically see the older man rubbing at his bearded chin in thought. “Does he suspect something?”
“Honestly? Probably not. Seems to me he just doesn’t want to think about not being able to get her back. I was telling the truth, though; if I were just now getting the information there’s probably no way I could track her down.”
“Well then, I’ll count it fortunate that your knowledge of the situation goes back much further than that. I expect he asked for a progress report within the next two or three days?”
“Forty-eight hours,” Simon confirmed.
“You’ll need to give him enough to tide him over. But he is not to know the situation yet, is that clear?”
“As crystal.”
“Very well. You will call me as soon as you have finished speaking with Lex.”
With no more warning than that, Lionel Luthor disconnected the phone call. Simon closed his phone and tucked it back into his jacket pocket. He scanned through the information he had accumulated on Chloe Sullivan at Lionel Luthor’s request, but only made it through a few pages before he sat back and ran slightly shaking hands over his face.
There was likely going to be a war between the Luthors like none the world had ever seen. And he had just planted himself squarely in the middle.
TBC . . .
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I’m feeling a little encouraged that this is not in the angst section. Gives me hope that Lex will find Chloe despite the inteference from the MB. Besides, I really don’t think I can handle any more angst right now. No really, you were killing me there for a minute. 
Now make it up to me by working on an update and devising ways to make sure Lionel gets what's coming to him. Um, please? 
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