Buyouts, Hostile Takeovers & Matchmaking (PG-13/R)

[mimi71884]

Was hoping for a little dose of --major angst-- after last week's disastrous decision to cut themselves off from each other...

Noone's gonna suffer more than them... Not clever, not clever...
*shakes head*

Hope you update soon!!!

[BlueSabby]

A/N: Sabby: Remember that saying about the Calm before the Storm? Well, in this one you get the calm, and then you get the storm *G* and then.... Enjoy


A/N:Blue: Like you care what I've got to say. Get your read on. Enjoy.

Celeste leaned back and waited for the fall out of the briefing that she had just given. She’d gotten a late night call from one of her agents and had come into the office in the dead of the night. The pictures had been developed within 30 minutes of her arrival. After seeing them, she had finally entertained the thought that everything just might work out.

In the next few hours she had given the pictures to the body language experts and they said that there were some conflicting movements in the beginning of their good night dance but once the kissing had taken over, the conflict had resolved itself. They had informed her that the early weirdness could be attributed to what the two people were realizing.

She had held off as long as possible until she had to call Gabe and Lionel. She couldn’t even imagine what type of plan Lionel would come up with after he saw the pictures. Then there was the added bonus that she had to brief them in her pajamas. She’d run out of her place so quickly that she hadn’t bothered to get dressed. However, she had forgotten that she’d run out of clean work clothes that she had squirreled away in the office.

Smoothing down the top of the silk men’s pajamas, she asked, “Are you ready for these?” She held up the folders that were full of pictures. Lionel had wanted an explanation before she gave them any new items.

Gabe was hard pressed not to joke about the fact that Celeste Guyan was standing before them in silk pajamas and looking like she'd just crawled out of bed. The picture was so entirely different from what he'd become used to during the first couple of months of her employment.

“You're being awfully cryptic, Celeste,” he retorted as he settled down in the chair across from her.

Truth was, he didn't like being ripped out of bed at the wrong side of sunrise and hauled into the office, for whatever reason, so he seriously hoped it was something important, as well as positive.

Lionel could tell that it was something major. The woman had told them that there had been a significant change last night and that they should proceed with caution from here on out. His decision to have any visual materials passed out at the end of a briefing was coming back to bite them in the ass.

“That is my fault, Gabe. I’m sure that Celeste can’t discuss the pictures without showing them to us and she can’t show them to us until I’ve given the ok.” When he looked over at her, she nodded. “Then, please,” he held out his hand for the folder.

Celeste handed Lionel his copies and put another folder in front of Gabe. She stepped away from the table, unsure as to the severity of the reaction from each man. The pictures, and there were a great many of them, were in chronological order. They made an impressive and almost risqué flipbook.

Gabe opened the folder and stared at the first picture. He blinked, flipped over to look at the second. A small smile quirked at his lips. The third, the smile turned into a grin. The fourth, and the grin threatened to split his face. By the forth picture he couldn't stay silent anymore.

“Lionel,” he said with a voice wavering from joy. “We did it, they did it!”

He turned to face the other man, a maniacal grin on his face. Finally, everything had paid off, the tension that had been building between their children had finally made itself known and they'd passed the stage of friendship. Hell, they'd forgotten themselves enough to make out inside the open doorway. If everything went well from here on out, Gabe crossed his fingers to hear at the next family dinner that Chloe finally had found that special someone. Just as they had planned. He could burst from happiness for his daughter. She deserved this. Her and Lex both deserved this.

The sight of his son necking on the doorstep like a teenager truly was something to see. As was the photographic evidence of how much their children seemed to forget the outside world when they were together. The pictures clearly showed that they just couldn’t help themselves when they were around each other.

“A better man wouldn’t say this to you, Gabe,” Lionel spoke as he flipped through the pictures for a second time, “but I do believe that I told you so.” He looked up at Gabe and saw the smile on the other man’s face that looked in danger of cracking his jaw open. Lionel felt the very same grin on his own face.

As Gabe chuckled, Lionel looked back over at Celeste, “This last picture indicates that something made them stop.”

Celeste nodded. “The cab driver got a little impatient.” She saw Lionel’s eyes narrow.

“In your professional opinion,” he said, slowly, “would things have progressed to a logical end had they not been interrupted?”

This was treading on dangerous ground and she knew it. If she gave Lionel the go ahead to set one of his plans in action….well, who knew how that could turn out. “My professional opinion on this matter wouldn’t be very professional. As you both know, I’m not an expert in regards such as these.”

“However,” she said, when she saw both men start to speak, “in my personal opinion, if that cab hadn’t been there. Well, I think that both of your children would have been calling in sick today.”

Gabe fidgeted in his seat, not really wanting to go there, but part of him being extremely relieved. He wouldn't have thought it odd that they stopped when the cab honked. He would have. Trust Lionel to pick up on such subtle nuances.

“So, what do we do now,” he asked.

It wasn't like he wanted to unleash the beast, or well Lionel as the case may be, but he definitely was all for stepping things up a bit and hurrying the process along. He wasn't getting any younger and letting things such as cab drivers get in the way was not in the plan.

“Now we let me take care of things,” Lionel said, getting up from the table. He had a few ideas he wanted to float by Celeste’s team members. All of his ideas were well thought out but there might be some tweaking that was necessary. He had decided that anything that involved elevators was out.

Celeste could see that he wasn’t going to back down on this. “Fine,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest, “however, I would ask that you inform me of your final plan before enacting it.”

If Lionel refused this then she’d have to go about finding out what he had planned in an underhanded fashion. She wasn’t going to have Lionel fuck up his own plan. Not on her watch.

“Of course, Celeste,” he said, absently. He looked back at Gabe. “I’ll call you as soon as I have everything figured out.” If he could convince Gabe that what he wanted to do was safe, he was certain that Celeste would fall in line. Stand by her man and the like.

Now that Lex and Chloe were set perhaps it was time to set his sights on another couple. “Celeste, once this job is over, I believe I have another one for you,” he said, looking squarely at Gabe.

“Oh no you don't,” Gabe said before the man had the chance to leave the room.

“This involves my daughter and there will be no one man show in regards to this,” he said as he got up from the table as well and followed Lionel.

If the man thought for one moment that he was going to have free reign now, he was sorely mistaken. Pushing things along and taking them at Lionel's pace were to completely different things. The latter was not going to happen.

He gave Celeste a cursory nod as they left her behind in the office. There were more immediate matters at hand at the moment. As soon as the door closed, he stepped in front of Lionel.

“I want to know right now, what you have planned.”

~~

Gabe was just on the way towards Lionel's office when he heard the commotion going on a little down the hallway. Where Lex's office was seated. There were two voices, one unmistakably belonging to the son of his boss. Gabe pitied whichever poor sod was on the receiving end of Lex's temper. The man could get vicious when he was angry.

Curiosity getting the better of him, he quickened his steps, trying to see if maybe he could make out who the other participant in the fight was. The door was slightly ajar and he could hear the voices more clearly the closer he got to it. The other one was obviously female. She sounded familiar. Too familiar.

He swung the door open and what he found made his heart actually stop in his chest for a moment. 'Oh, no, please, please no!'

Chloe had been arguing with Lex for the better part of five minutes and really was wondering when their raised voices would pay off. They had both already said some ugly things and she knew that it was going to get worse.

In the past two days she had almost called Lex dozens of times to call off what they had started. But she had known that it was too late for that. They would get even with their fathers no matter what the cost.

She saw her father enter the room, finding her and Lex standing face to face. “I cannot believe how many hours I wasted on this, on you,” she said, as if she were in mid rant.

“How could I have been so stupid as to not see what you’re really like,” she hissed out. Chloe found it hard to deliver the lines. She didn’t want to hurt Lex but this needed to sound real.

Lex's jaw ticked and he had to fight back real anger. That hit a little too close for comfort. “Really now,” he drawled.

Now that Gabe was in the room, there was no need to continue shouting their lungs out and Lex had gotten tired of that very fast. “I suppose it has nothing to do with the fact that you're a selfish, egotistical little bitch that can't stand not being center of attention. I should have known better than to get involved with someone like you.”

Inside his head ran the mantra of 'please don't believe me' even as he looked at Chloe with an expression he usually reserved for people about to get fired, or worse. This was torture. It had been different in their other fights, this was deliberately hurtful and he didn't mean any of it. There would also be no possibility to make up for it afterwards.

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Lex for a few seconds before responding. She knew that her father would take her silence as a very bad thing and she intended to cause him as much distress as was possible in this situation.

“I’m sorry, Lex,” she said, coldly, “you must be confusing me with one of your whores.” She paused. “I mean wives.”

She knew that this was a sore spot and didn’t want to go there but it was the best thing to attack Lex on. “How many has it been now? Six? Seven? But, really, who can keep track of the numerous women who have found you so impossible to deal with that they’ve run screaming from you. At least they were handsomely rewarded in the divorce settlements, though, I’m sure that soothed some of the sting.”

Tilting her chin up defiantly, Chloe waited for Lex’s next words. She knew that she’d have to keep reminding herself that he didn’t mean whatever she said and hoped that he did the same.

“At least I tried to uphold a decent relationship instead of just fucking around like a cheap hooker with whichever person happened to show some interest.”

The words were laced with bitterness and venom and Lex could feel the bile rise in his throat. He was only vaguely aware of Gabe standing somewhere behind his left shoulder, sure the man had seen and heard enough by now to understand the situation. “I think I've seen enough of you,” he addressed Chloe, hoping like hell that they would be able to find a way to salvage this in silence. “Get the fuck out!”

Chloe had known the tactic that Lex was going to take with her. Attacking her like that would guarantee that her father would know their relationship was beyond repair. It also had the added bonus of being crude and hurtful.

She could make things worse, though. She reeled back a little bit and tried to get some tears going. It wasn’t too difficult when she thought of what her father had done and what it had caused her and Lex to do. Her eyes misted over and she said, “Gladly. Have a nice life, Lex, and rot in hell when the time comes.”

Turning on her heel, she stalked past her father, making sure to wipe her eyes and then exited the office.

It seemed impossible for her to get a full breath into her lungs. Her father wasn’t tailing after her so she didn’t know if he was talking to or yelling at Lex. She didn’t care. She needed to get out of the building quickly.

If not, she just might go back and apologize to Lex.

“I'm sure I will,” Lex muttered under his breath, still staring at the empty space where Chloe had stood before him.

He was acutely aware of Gabe still standing behind him and knew that his ordeal wasn't over yet. It would continue as soon as he turned around to face the other man, who'd heard the worst of the fabricated argument. He'd insulted the man's daughter, accused her of being a whore, right in front of him. There surely would be repercussions.

Turning halfway to look over his shoulder, he spoke quietly. “Was there something you wanted, Mr. Sullivan?”

Gabe was to dumbstruck to speak. His world had just collapsed on him and there was nothing he could say. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it. This had not been a short spitfight, or a mere argument. This had been the breakup. The destruction and utter extinction of all his hopes and dreams for the future of his daughter.

He opened his mouth, trying to form words, but nothing came. He couldn't even muster the strength to reproach Lex for the things he'd said about Chloe. She'd been just as vicious in return. There was nothing left to salvage.

Everything Lionel and he had worked for, everything they'd thought within reach had crumpled before him and been viciously ground into dust with a few heated words. Lex wouldn't even fully face him and his daughter had left the room near tears, not even bothering to hide her emotion. It was over.

“No,” he croaked, even as he stepped back from the room. “No.”

Lex swallowed and relaxed his posture as the door clicked shut behind him. This had been the most excruciating moment of his life and it probably wouldn't get better anytime soon. All he wanted to do was to rush out of the room, find Chloe and apologize, even though he hadn't meant any of the things he'd said.

He wanted to make sure that she was still his friend. Somewhere, niggling in the back of his brain, he wanted to be sure she still felt the same way she had before they'd come up with this plan. And he wanted to tell her that maybe her feelings weren’t so unreciprocated after all.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to regain control, he strode back to his desk and settled behind it with finality. There was no sense in daydreaming or wishing. 'What if's' or 'If only's' wouldn't get him anywhere and now he simply had to move on and continue life as it had been before Chloe.

If only he didn't feel like utter shit about it, maybe he would even be able to convince himself that that was even possible.

~~~
“What do you mean it’s over?” Lionel asked the question calmly, not letting his emotions get the better of him. It was difficult to do because of the state that Gabe was in.

The other man had burst into his office, Lionel’s secretary on his heels, and almost immediately started to talk. Thankfully his secretary could be dismissed with a wave of his hand. But he would still have to check and see how much she had heard.

The slip, coming from Gabe, was very unexpected and out of character. Something in Lionel’s gut immediately tensed up when the man who he considered his friend began to speak.

Panic tried to take hold of Lionel but he brushed it aside. It wouldn’t do any good. There was a plan that needed to be focused on.

“It’s just another setback, Gabe,” he said, evenly. “This is not over.” It would not be over until their children were safely and happily ensconced in each other’s lives in the eyes of the law.

Gabe shook his head, still trying to battle his own emotions down so he could make Lionel understand. What he'd seen had been the end of all their hopes and plans, not just another set-back.

“You don't understand,” he voiced softly. “This wasn't just a spat between them, or one of their arguments. You should have seen it, Lionel.”

There weren't any video-feeds in Lex's office, so all he could do was try to explain. “They weren't taking it to a physical level, they insulted each other where it hurts most.” He shook his head. “My daughter ran out of the office crying and Lex,” he trailed off, taking a deep breath. “Your son was as cold and emotionless as I've ever seen him.”

Gabe clearly wasn’t listening to him. Nothing would cause their project to be terminated. Nothing. Lionel would not allow their impudence to ruin the chance of happiness that was in Lex and Chloe’s grasp. He simply would. Not. Allow. It.

And Gabe needed to see this. If not, there was about to be a problem.

“They will make amends,” Lionel said, easily. He picked up one of the glass globes that sat on his desk and let it play across his hands. “We will inform Celeste of this setback and her team will go to work.”

He looked up at Gabe and said, “We will not fail them.”

“We already have failed them, Lionel!”

Gabe was losing it. He couldn't understand how Lionel could still be so blind. What would it take for him to believe? A fucking report from Celeste? Maybe that could even be arranged.

“She threw his weakness in his face and he called her a whore! They weren't just angry, Lionel. They were heart-broken. They hurt each other beyond repair! Lex wouldn't even fucking look at me and my daughter ran right past me, crying. Do you know the last time she actually cried?!”

Lionel found himself rising to his feet. All of this information was irrelevant. Their children would get married and give them grandchildren…it would happen. What Gabe had just told him was bad….very bad….but…..

And that was where his train of thought ended. There was no ‘but.’ Lex may have a reputation with women but he did not speak to them in such a manner. If he had overstepped a line and made Chloe cry…

The thought of the young woman in distress caused another uncomfortable feeling in Lionel’s stomach. He would have to get a physical to see what was the matter with him.

His hand had tightened on the small globe and he could see that his knuckles had turned white.

Shaking his head, he murmured, “It cannot be over. It can’t.” After a beat of silence, he hurled the glass ball across the room. It missed Gabe by about two feet and imbedded itself into the wall.

Locking eyes with Gabe he said, “I have failed him in every aspect that a father can fail a son. All of the faults that he possesses are not his own, they are mine.” He bowed his head and took a few deep breaths.

“We can’t give up,” he said, weakly.

There was nothing that Lionel could do about his past trespasses against Lex, but the future was something he could control. Or so he had thought. He’d let Lillian down again and feared that there would be nothing he’d be able to do to atone for this latest sin.

“I'm sorry, Lionel,” Gabe muttered.

He could see now that the other man had simply been in denial. That respite had been forcefully removed. Now, Gabe was getting an up close and personal look behind the facade of Lionel Luthor and all he could feel was pity.

“It wasn't...” he broke off, taking a steadying breath and forcing himself to meet the other man's desperate eyes. “Maybe we weren't supposed to meddle with these things.”

Gabe wasn't a very big believer in fate or destiny, but even he had to grudgingly admit that there were more things in heaven and earth...They'd made a mistake. They had tried to meddle and push together two forces that obviously weren't meant to be together in that way.

“It's over, Lionel.”

Lionel ignored Gabe’s last statement, instead deciding to address something else. “We were supposed to meddle. They just fit and were too blind and stupid to see it. And they are being stupid now, as well.”

He ran a hand over his face and attempted to collect himself. Falling apart in such a spectacular manner wouldn’t help anyone in this situation.

The problem was that they did not have a great deal of options. It wasn’t as if he could have a heart to heart with Lex. Their only hope was that Gabe would be able to talk some sense into Chloe.

If he even wanted to.

The words that they had traded were obviously harsh and hurtful and Lionel wondered if Gabe even believed that their children belonged together anymore.

He looked up at Gabe. “Do you truly believe that they would not be happy together? That what we did was a mistake?”

Gabe shook his head, trying to collect himself. “You didn't see them like I did, just now.”

He slowly walked over to the bar in the corner and poured himself a generous drink. Taking a healthy swig, he put the glass back down, staring at nothing through the wall in front of him. “They might have had a chance at happiness, but after what just happened in Lex's office.” He finished the drink in a rush, trying to steel his nerves and poured another when it didn't work.

After he'd swallowed the second helping of scotch he met Lionel's gaze squarely over his shoulder. “After what I just saw, I don't believe there's a chance anymore.”

Gabe still hadn’t answered his question about whether they had made a mistake. But that was hardly the point. Out of the two of them, he could admit that Gabe was the rational one that kept them grounded in reality. If he believed that things were lost, Lionel had to trust that judgment. Or he should.

Without saying anything, Lionel sat down in his chair once more. Gabe was telling him that there was no hope and that they should stop playing god to their children. But Lionel was having a harder time at letting it go.

Chloe would have no problem finding someone else. He might be an ass and would definitely be undeserving of her but she would find someone else. Lex was another story. The idea of his son effectively turning into him was enough to jostle him out of his defeatist attitude.

He pressed his intercom button and said, “Get me Celeste.” They would speak with her and then see what she suggested. She was the professional after all.

Gabe was looking at him and Lionel said, “Indulge me in one last meeting.”

Refilling his glass one more time, Gabe stepped back over to the desk and settled down in one of the chairs in front of it. He sighed heavily and took another swig. At this rate, he might have to become a member of the AA.

“Alright,” he answered morosely.

There was nothing that Celeste would be able to do, he was convinced. On top of that, he would most likely have to recount the entire scenario again. It was hopeless. His dreams had been shattered, his daughter was alone somewhere probably crying her eyes out. Why did he even still bother?

[meeaz]

aw. poor daddies.

i hope that lex and chloe don't take what the other said and think that the other thinks only that of them because honestly, i didn't read this much so far to only have stubborn lex and chloe ruin everything. and i don't think the daddies appreciate it much either.

great update. and the fight was great-hit where it hurts the most.

[hfce]

Damn that was not good. That was painful to read. The whole time they were giddy over the pictures I was in agony. I knew it was the calm before the storm. I feel so bad for the dads. They were only doing what they thought was best for them.



Hope

[Louie]

If only Celeste had a tape of that conversation to show Lex and Chloe, they would probably change their minds about what and why their fathers did what they did. Sadness, sadness, sadness...but we can only go up from here right, right...

Wonderful update

[flower]

that's so mean!!
I really hope this gets fixed in time!

[cwong]

how could chloe be so mad at gabe? all he wants for her is her happiness. i can't wait to see what happens next.

[star del mar]

What a freaking mess! I know that Lex and Chloe know that they were putting on an act but the things they were saying were so hateful...that's not something you can just look past after the fact. I know they're trying to get back at their fathers but they're just hurting themselves in the process and denying themselves some much needed happiness. I think I'm in a shock, I can't believe that actually happened. Please God make it better! Great update.

Steph*

[RepPrincess]

The last two chapters have been great. I'm hooked on this story. Please update soon.

[SinnerSaint]

Sigh. Can't Lex and Chloe see that at least Gabe , if not Lionel had good intentions ? Sigh.