Title: A Different Kind Of Rush
Author: Not An Addict
Rating: PG
Category: General
Spoilers: Rush, obviously ^_~
Summary: Response to Kathryn’s “Rogaine Challenge”. The challenge is: 1. Chloe apologizes to Lex. Requirements: a. They have to bring up Rogaine b. Chloe has to suggest putting some meteor rocks in the Rogaine to make it work better.
Disclaimer: If I owned them, this would have actually happened at the end of ‘Rush’
Author’s Note: None shall stand in the way of Chlexy goodness! *ahem* Ok, I’m sick as I’m writing this, so if I seem a little bit loopier than normal, I apologize. I’m also pretending for now that Helen doesn’t exist. Don’t like her, and she’s not getting anywhere near this story. That being said, on with the show!
A Different Kind of Rush
‘Another Friday night, another late-night post up session.’
The old thought drifted through Chloe’s mind as she settled a picture of one of the parasites above her byline. She still got the creeps when she thought about one of those things being inside of her, but she had to face the truth of it sometime, disgusting as it might be. Now, retreated into the safety of her home-away-from-home, Chloe took comfort in the familiarity of her old routine. Let the other kids rave away; let them party; let them drink; let them get infected with adrenaline-boosting worms. She would be more than happy to remain here, doing what she did best: piecing together clues and trying to uncover the truth from the jumbled collection of facts.
Disturbed as she was by the vivid picture of the parasite and the time she seemed to be missing from her life, Chloe couldn’t help but smirk to herself as she arranged the front-page spread. Reynolds was even stricter than Kwan had been when it came to the content of the school paper, and Chloe hadn’t been able to get one ‘Wall of Weird’ worthy story in print since he arrived. Her smirk widened. Until now. These little worms had infected three students, and Reynolds had reluctantly agreed that it would be only right to print the truth about what had caused Travis’ death. Chloe would have done a joyful dance at being allowed to do the story, if it weren’t for the small fact that her name was listed among those infected. That kind of took some of the thrill away.
“Miss Sullivan.”
The sudden voice had her jumping about a foot in the air. She spun around, a hand pressed to her chest in an effort to keep her heart from jack hammering straight through, to find Lex Luthor leaning smugly against the doorframe.
“You scared me to death! Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” His smug smirk only widened at that and he pushed away from the doorway, sauntering into the room like he owned it.
“I wanted to see how you were doing,” he told her smoothly. “I talked to your dad at work and he told me this is where you’d most likely be.”
“Well, here I am.” Chloe fought against the urge to fidget under his gaze. He was standing only a couple of feet away, close enough for her to smell the unique blend of soap, cologne, and power that always seemed to surround him. She caught herself before she leaned in closer. No point in letting him know how attractive she found him; that would only be asking for trouble, not to mention a whole lot of humiliation. “Safe and sound, as you can see. Maybe a little bit worse for wear, but I figure it builds character.”
Lex chuckled slightly, a sound Chloe was definitely not expecting. As he reached a hand towards her face she felt her eyes going wide, until he took a strand of her hair between his fingers, raising one amused eyebrow.
“New look?” Chloe was at a loss for a moment wondering what on earth he could possibly be talking about. Then she remembered looking in the mirror earlier and being confronted with the image of several patches of her hair darkened at the tips.
“Haven’t had time to wash it out,” she grinned at him.
His smirk was back again. He dropped his hand, and as he did so his eyes fell on the layout Chloe had been working on. He blinked once, his only indication of surprise, as he regarded the full-color picture of one of the living parasites. Lex frowned; he knew damn well that his team at Cadmus Labs had the only living specimens.
“Where did you get this picture?”
“Now, you don’t really expect me to reveal my sources, do you Lex?” Chloe smirked before her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Cadmus Labs is owned by Luthor Corp. You’re the one who hired the linguist who’s poking around in the caves. It doesn’t take incredible math skills to add two and two together, Lex. What do you know about these parasites?” Lex glanced at her, measuring, before he answered.
“I know that they’re dangerous. And I know that they’ve been removed from the caves.”
“What else? What aren’t you telling me?” This time it was Lex who smirked, turning his attention back to the layout. As he scanned the article he came across an interesting passage, and without wholly realizing it, began to read it aloud.
“‘. . . stimulated the adrenal gland, causing a rush of adrenaline to flood the victim’s system. Upon removal of the parasite, all memory of the time spent under its influence was erased from the victim’s memory, leaving anything said or done during this time a merciful blank.’” He glanced back at Chloe. “You really don’t remember anything?” Chloe shook her head.
“Not a thing. I remember going to the caves with Clark to look for clues, and I remember talking to that irritating ‘expert’ you hired, but after that the next thing I can see clearly is waking up after surgery. The rest is just . . . blank.” Lex nodded thoughtfully. If she didn’t remember, perhaps it would be best if he didn’t bring it up. Chloe eyed him suspiciously. “What?” She paled slightly. “Oh no. No, you have that same look that Lana and Clark both got when I asked them what happened. I don’t know what, but I must’ve said or done something. Ok, just tell me what it was so I can commence with the horrible guilt portion of the evening.” Lex chuckled again.
“It wasn’t that bad,” he assured her. “I’ve had worse thrown at me ten times a day.”
“Lex,” Chloe protested, an annoyed, determined look on her face that gave Lex the distinct impression that she was only seconds away from stomping her foot at him. “Just tell me.” The corners of his mouth curled up.
“It’s possible that you told my ‘expert’ to kiss your ass.” Chloe’s eyes widened again. “And there may have been some mention of my buying a toupee.” At that, Chloe paled even more.
“Oh, Lex, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I . . . I’m sorry,” she finished lamely. Damn it! She knew how sensitive he was about being bald. Of all the things she could’ve said, she had to go for the one that taunted him about the thing that had made his school years hell.
“Like I said, Chloe, it’s no big deal.” He placed a reassuring hand on her arm, and she glanced down at the contact. “Frankly I’m surprised you didn’t go straight for the Rogaine joke.” Chloe shook her head, still distracted by the feel of his hand on her bare skin.
“No,” she said before she could think. “I know you already tried that when you were younger . . .” She cut off with a wince. Oops.
“How did you find that out?” He sounded surprised rather than angry, and she risked a glance back at his face. He didn’t look upset, and she offered a small grin.
“You’d be amazed what you can find if you know where to look.”
“True,” he said quietly, moving a bit closer. “It’s a shame so many people don’t know how. It could be that what they’re looking for is right in front of them.” Chloe’s breathing sped up just a bit.
“Well, you know, maybe the Rogaine could still work,” she babbled. A part of her brain was screaming at her to shut up, but it seemed that the part actually in charge of speech had suffered a core meltdown. “I mean, since the meteors caused the hair loss to begin with, maybe if you added some meteor rocks to the Rogaine it would make it work on whatever happened to you in the first place, and oh, god, I just can’t seem to shut up.” When Chloe finally had to pause to breathe, Lex smirked down at her and began to lean in closer.
“Maybe I can help with that,” he murmured.
By the time Chloe realized his intention, it was too late to do anything but stand there shocked as he brushed his lips over hers. Well for heaven’s sake, she was only human. Chloe leaned into the kiss and Lex’s mouth grew more insistent. He placed a hand on her waist and Chloe gasped at the heat she felt even through the material of her shirt; Lex took the opportunity to slip his tongue past her lips, coaxing her own into dueling with his. After an eternity that didn’t last nearly long enough they broke apart, straining to fill their air-starved lungs. It took Chloe a moment to realize that she had somehow ended up pressed against Lex, with her arms coiled around his neck and his wrapped around her waist.
Confused didn’t even begin to describe how Chloe was feeling. Something was off here, but she couldn’t seem to think of what it was . . . Clark! She liked Clark, didn’t she? But then why did one kiss from Lex have her practically forgetting the boy’s name?
Lex kissed her again, softly this time, and released his hold on her. He took a couple of steps back, his lips curled upward in satisfaction.
“I’ll let you get back to work.” He turned and began to walk out, but stopped when he got to the doorway. “And Chloe,” he added glancing back at her, letting his eyes travel leisurely over her body. “The next time you’re in the mood to be swept off your feet, make sure I’m the first to know.” With that he threw her a final smirk and swept out of the office as quickly as he had entered.
Chloe just stood there, slightly dazed. What the hell had just happened? She touched her fingers to her lips, still swollen from Lex’s kiss. A wicked grin spread over her face, and she laughed as she went back to work.
Whatever it was, she was pretty sure she owed the people at Rogaine a very nice thank-you letter.
END
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A/N: Ok, that’s all I have. Loved it? Hated it? Left horribly confused by it? Let me know. Feedback is my anti-drug. ^_^
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! Fell in love with this fic. Even though it was short, it still left a mark :glow:! No matter what happens in the show, :chlexsign3: !
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