Ends and Means - R *Now Complete* w/ PDF Posted

[newbatgirl]

Lots of investigation mode cos there are two detectives? Is this a clue maybe? Is someone else investigating Lex and Bruce's dealing besides Chloe/ is someone investigating Chloe?/ is it about Bruce investigating the Chloe/Lex thing? Ok confused now!!!! Can't wait for more.

Sorry, not an update. I'm breaking form for once to answer lexchloe's question directly.

Sorry about being cryptic about the two detectives thing. When you've been obsessed with Batman for as long as I have, you tend to take too many things for granted.

The two detectives I was referring to are Chloe and Bruce/Batman. In the comics, Batman is often referred to as the Dark Knight Detective and/or the World's Greatest Detective. Part of the impetus for structuring this story as I have was to show how Bruce would feel going up against someone as obsessed with investigating as he is.

Hope that clears up any confusion.

I'm working on getting the next chapter up soon. Thanks to all of you for sticking with this crazy story. You should also thank Kit Merlot for convincing me to ease up on the evil cliffhangers in future chapters. She made a specific complaint about it, on behalf of all of you, and lo and behold, I took the advice to heart. I am easing up on them...just a bit.

[newbatgirl]

A/N: Here’s the next part. Oh, that thing about the cliffhangers...this chapter was already written when I said that...

Chapter 5

It hadn’t been easy to find Chloe J. Sullivan’s current home address. Lex’s investigator had run into obstacle after obstacle.

Her bank and credit card statements were delivered to Allied Insurance headquarters. She drove a company car. Even her driver’s license listed her work address. There were no traces of her voting records for at least the past six years and no indication of a home being owned or leased in her name in at least five. Her father was the only traceable living family member, but he lived across the country in California.

It was all a bit disturbing to Lex that Chloe would go to these lengths to hide herself. And from whom? His investigator had joked about it, “What the hell, does this chick live in a broom closet at the Allied Insurance building?” Then the man had wisely shut up off Lex’s annoyed look and had gone back to the business of finding her. Which, he eventually had, but only after Lex provided some key insight into her character in order to make a connection.

As it turned out, her home wasn’t a broom closet at all. It was stylish loft apartment in one of Gotham’s artier districts. Lex’s knowledge of real estate told him exactly how many zeros had been on the check to purchase the place and he was duly impressed. Allied had purchased it for Chloe, through a variety of holding companies, and then further buried the transaction through some other resales. The mess took several hours to unravel. Someone had gone though a lot of trouble to make sure that no one knew where Chloe lived.

He couldn’t blame her for being surprised to see him there.

And she had looked surprised, even shocked, but only for a moment. Then she just looked angry. But it was not the kind of explosive Chloe Sullivan anger Lex remembered, having witnessed it on several occasions. It was a calmer, more smoldering anger that seemed to settle just behind her eyes as she watched him.

The accountant guy, the ridiculously handsome accountant who had been fawning over Chloe all day, spoke first, albeit haltingly.

“CJ? I guess you didn’t hear the doorbell. He…uh…said you were expecting him.”

“He lied,” replied Chloe, her eyes still on Lex. “And he’s not staying either.”

“Actually,” Lex sidestepped his way around Danny, ‘I thought I might stay for a bit. Nice place, by the way, a bit hard to find but that has nothing to do with the architecture.”

“Obviously not hard enough. Mr. Luthor, if you would please leave. If you feel a need to talk to me about the investigation, we can do that tomorrow at the office.”

Mr. Luthor? Her formal use of his name made him suspect that she hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with the rest of her team about their previous relationship.

Lex rounded the plush sofa in the living room and settled very close to where Chloe still stood, crossing his ankle over his knee.

“Mr. Luthor’s a bit formal for us, don’t you think, Chloe? You and I go back a long time; too long for us not to be on a first name basis, no matter what the circumstances.”

Chloe flinched, almost imperceptibly, but Lex could tell that he had annoyed her by saying what he did in front of her colleague.

Danny’s interest was now piqued. “CJ? You know Lex Luthor?”

“Correction, I knew Lex Luthor, a long time ago. And not very well.” Chloe replied.

Lex couldn’t tell whether Chloe was trying to rouse him with her words or simply convince Danny.

“Chloe, you wound me!” he exclaimed, placing his hand over his chest theatrically. He turned slightly to face Danny. “Chloe and I have known each other a long time. How many years is it now? Ten? Twelve? Perhaps even longer. After all, when we met you were only…”

“Just get to the point, Lex. I don’t have time for this. What do you want?”

“Don’t have time?” Lex directed his gaze at the laptop Chloe had been hovering over when he came in. “Ah, I see. I was interrupting your…work. My apologies.” He made no attempt to hide his interest in the contents of the screen and was rewarded with a strong reaction from Chloe. Quickly, she closed the gap between them and snapped the screen of the computer down. With her face now only a few inches from him she whispered harshly at him.
“What. Do. You. Want?”

“To talk you. Alone. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.” Lex whispered back so only she could hear him. Danny was still on the other side of the couch, watching the exchange warily.

Chloe looked uncertain. “Why couldn’t you talk to me at the office?”

“You know exactly why. The walls there have ears. Now unless you’d like me to start reminiscing about old times in front of your colleague there, you’ll get rid of him so we can talk.”

Chloe shook her head. “No. You’re not staying here. This is my home and I didn’t invite you.”

“Chloe…”

“CJ, is everything OK?”

“Everything’s fine, Danny.” Chloe rose from the crouched stance she had assumed to talk to Lex.

“Mr. Luthor and I are heading downstairs to the café on the corner. We’ll talk there.”

“Chloe…”

“Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?” Danny wanted to know.

“NO!” Lex and Chloe told him at once and he unconsciously took a step back.

Chloe grabbed her jacket from where it lay on the arm of the sofa and slipped it on as she walked towards the door. Lex rose to follow her. He reached to help her on with her jacket, then thought better of it.

“We’ll take a raincheck on dinner, Dan.”

“I should come with you…I mean, if it’s about the case, I should be there too…” Danny stammered with slightly downcast eyes. Lex suppressed an eye roll. All this accountant guy needed was an overgrown hairstyle and a red T-shirt.

“No, I can handle this myself.”

“CJ, don’t I have a right to know what’s happening here, too?”

“No, you have a right to listen to me when I say I’ll handle it.” Chloe scooped up Danny’s jacket from a nearby chair and dropped it in his hands. “Go home, Danny. We’ll talk later.”

Looking slightly bewildered and a little hurt. Danny acquiesced. “OK, I’ll call you later, then.” Danny shot a final suspicious look at Lex, who couldn’t resist one last dig at Chloe’s handsome colleague.

He tapped his own cheek with his index finger. “Hey, you got a little something…right here. Lipstick really isn’t my thing but I understand some guys like to experiment. Who am I to judge?”

Scowling and rubbing his cheek, Danny stalked out without another word to Lex.

Lex indulged in a satisfying smirk before he realized that Chloe was glaring up at him.

“Was that really necessary?” she asked.

“Probably not, but it was still fun.”

Chloe shook her head and gave him a slight shove out her front door that Lex couldn’t help but categorize as just a bit playful. At least he hoped it was.

The journey downstairs, however, did little to raise his hopes about her attitude towards him. Chloe stared straight ahead during the elevator ride down, walked briskly to the small café on the corner, paying no attention to whether Lex was in step with her. She gestured wordlessly to a vacant and secluded table in the corner indicating that he should sit while she got some coffee for them both.

When she finally joined him, her eyes were dull as she plunked down two oversized mugs and slid into the seat. As the table was in the corner, she sat not across from him but at 90-degree angle, giving Lex a view of her profile as she prepared her coffee to her liking.

He must have taken too long in studying her because she looked sharply at him, mid-stir.
“What?”

“What do you mean, what?”

“What are you looking at?”

“You.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t realize that one of the requirements of this conversation was that we not look at one another.”

Chloe shook her head slightly. “It’s not, but you were staring. It’s distracting.”

“Your hair’s longer. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this long before. You…always seemed to keep it short in Smallville.”

“Smallville was four years of my life. It’s been ten since we’ve seen each other. Don’t be surprised if things changed.”

She wasn’t talking about her hair. Time to change the focus, Lex decided.

“They don’t know, do they?”

“Now what are you talking about?”

“Your colleagues at Allied, they don’t know that you and I knew each other from before. That much was clear from your accountant friend upstairs. By the way, don’t think I didn’t notice that the accountant you sent to Luthor Corp. looked like Attila the Hun but the one you kept to work with you looks like he doubles as a Calvin Klein underwear model.”

“Would you like me to set you and Danny up?” she mocked.

“No, it’s quite alright, he’s not my type, but he seems to be yours. Besides, you didn’t answer my question.”

“My type? What the hell do you know about my type?”

Lex’s confidence increased. He had successfully distracted and agitated her.

“I know a little about your type. Tall, dark, handsome, heroic, and just a bit light on intelligence. Sound familiar?”

Chloe opened her mouth, then closed it again and took a long sip from her coffee. When she swallowed, she said, “You’re trying to bait me, which probably isn’t the wisest thing to do given that you want something from me.”

Lex looked down at his coffee. She was right, he did want something, but given her demeanor towards him, it was anyone’s guess whether he’d get it.

“Answer my question, then. Do the people you work for know about us?”

“There’s an us? That’s news to me.”

“Chloe, don’t…”

“Don’t what?”

Lord, she was determined to be difficult, wasn’t she?

“Do they know that we’re not exactly strangers? Should you even be involved in this investigation, let alone heading it?”

“My boss is aware of my familiarity with the Luthor family. It came up in my background check. It’s not something I can really hide. And as for whether I should be on this case, that was his decision. I’m the best he has so the need to resolve this case trumped a ten-year old acquaintance.”

‘A ten-year old acquaintance?’ That’s what she was calling it?

“And your colleagues?”

“Don’t know. I don’t go out of my way to investigate their pasts so I doubt that they investigate mine. Besides, I’m not really close to anyone else at Allied besides…”

“Your friend Danny?” Lex finished for her, running his index finger around the rim of his cup

She frowned. “I answered your question, Lex. Now tell me why you went through all the trouble of finding me.”

“Why was it so hard to find you, Chloe? Are you hiding from someone?”

“Hiding is impossible. Your father taught me that.”

Lex frowned at her flat tone but nodded to her to continue.

“I do, however, try to make it difficult for people to find me. I investigate people who have done desperate things, and often they’re willing to do them again. Most of the time, I’m the only thing standing between them and a great deal of money. You’re smart, you do the math. If one of those people wants to find me, I’d prefer that it be a little harder to do than looking in the phone book.”

She took a sip of her coffee. “So congratulations, you found me. Now tell me why. I’ll worry about the how later.”

“I …I need to know that you aren’t letting our ‘ten-year old acquaintance’ influence your investigation.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Chloe, whether you advertise it our not, you and I went through a lot together back in Smallville. We were even what you might call close for a time there. Since you walked into Wayne Enterprises the other day, you’ve certainly been less than friendly towards me. I need to know that this isn’t personal. That you aren’t going to let something that happened a decade ago affect… Well, let’s just say that LW Tech is going to be very important to a lot of people.”

“Something that happened ten years ago? You really do think the world revolves around you, don’t you, Lex? For your information, I haven’t treated you or your buddy Wayne any differently than I treat any other client under investigation. I’ve learned that I need to go in and get the upper hand and keep it if I’m going to get the truth out of people like you. If you categorize that as ‘less than friendly’ then that’s your problem. I’m here to do a job.”

“Chloe...”

“I’m not finished. As for what happened back in Smallville, I’ve left that relationship, such that it was, back in that freaky town. And you’ve got some nerve barging into my home dangling some dead memories in my face to try to save your company.” As she spoke, Chloe pulled some bills out of her wallet and dropped them on the table. Before Lex realized what had happened she was on her way out of the cafe.

“Shit!” Lex muttered, dropping bills of his own on the table and following her. He caught up with her just outside the café, grabbing her hand to stop her.

“Chloe, hear me out! We were friends for God’s sake…I can’t say that about I lot of people but…”

Chloe tried to jerk her wrist away but he held fast. “Maybe you don’t have many friends because you toss them away like trash when they cease to be of use to you,” she spat out.

Lex felt his throat closing up. This was his worst fear, but what he had suspected all along. Chloe hadn’t understood why he had to take a step back from their relationship. She had jumped to the worst possible conclusion.

“That’s not what happened, Chloe, I swear it. I went to Metropolis to find you after you left, to explain why I needed to stop contacting you. You were already gone. You have to believe that I wasn’t using you, I really wanted you…as my friend.”

Her back was to the outer wall of the café and he was standing inches in front of her. For a moment, it seemed to Lex that Chloe believed him, her eyes were scanning his face for something, a sign perhaps. He raised his free hand to her face and cupped it against her cheek. Chloe immediately reached up and covered his hand with her own.

His eyes locked with hers and for a minute she looked very much like the brave young girl in the courthouse hallway. Wide-eyed, questioning, yet determined…

Chloe’s nails bit into his hand and she pushed him roughly away from her. “Even if I believe that, the reason you’re here now if that I’m all that’s standing between you and a $200 million dollar embarrassment for your company. I’m not stupid, Lex.”

Rubbing his wounded hands, Lex shook his head, “Believe what you want to believe then, but understand that there are larger issues at stake here than you and I. You have to respect that.”

“I respect the truth, that hasn’t changed.”

“And I respect you, Chloe. I always have,” Lex answered.

Chloe didn’t respond; she merely turned on her heel and walked back towards her apartment, and away from him.

*****

Later that night…the balcony outside Chloe’s apartment…

Batman landed on the balcony almost soundlessly, as he had trained himself to do. Finding Chloe Sullivan had not been a problem for him. When, upon his first inquiries into her identity several nights earlier, he found no home address, he decided that he would need to take a more direct approach in locating her home.

Today, after being frustrated and somewhat embarrassed that the woman had outwitted him at his attempted surveillance as Bruce Wayne, he had regrouped. He had slipped into her office at Wayne Corp. and hidden a bat-tracer deep in the lining of her laptop case.

After dark, Batman had followed the beacon to Chloe’s loft and maintained a safe surveillance distance perched in the shadows on the roof of the building across the street. He had observed with interest what appeared to be some sort of confrontation between Chloe and Lex Luthor. Batman’s eyes had narrowed under his cowl as he watched the two figures drift closer together, then jump apart violently. There was too much ambient noise for any of his long range listening devices to work properly. As a result, the specifics of their discussion were a mystery but their body language told him a different story.

Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor had a history, perhaps even two: one they acknowledged and one that they did not, at least consciously. Getting more information about that from them would be a job for Bruce Wayne…eventually.

Batman had watched as Chloe abruptly ended the mysterious conversation and re-entered her apartment building. He swung down a level on his building to get a clearer view through the glass balcony doors leading to her living room.

She occupied a spacious loft, thankfully on an upper floor. The first level consisted of a kitchen, dining room, and living room and what appeared to be closets. There was a large, open staircase leading up to the loft area, which he could see housed her bedroom and master bath.

Her apartment entrances were wired with alarms, he discovered, watching her enter a code into the keypad by the door as she walked in. It seemed to be one of those systems that allowed the owner a five-to-ten second window to begin entering the code before it sounded. He didn’t bother to memorize the code; he had a way around such devices anyway. He was more interested in the fact that she made a beeline for her laptop, even before shrugging out of her coat.

One thing he had learned about Chloe in the past few days was that she was seldom, if ever, far away from her laptop. Batman had concluded that the key to deciding what to do about Chloe Sullivan was finding out how much she knew; and what she knew was in that laptop.

Patience was a one of the most important traits that any detective needed to have and that night, Chloe unwittingly tried the Batman’s. She’d worked for two more hours before finally getting ready for bed. Batman, agitated that he had been forced to sit out two robberies and a police chase in order to maintain surveillance on her, felt immense relief when the apartment went dark at last.

He had let some more time go by to allow her to slip into what he hoped was a deep sleep before shooting a line to the ledge just above her balcony and swinging over.

Treading lightly on the stone balcony, he pulled two thin pieces of metal and a small black box out of his utility belt. The two pieces of metal made quick work of the locks and, upon sliding the glass panels to the side, Batman quickly attached the box to the electronic alarm access panel. The de-scrambler disabled the alarm in less than four seconds.

The light through the balcony windows was just enough to guide his path around the living room to his target, right where she had left it on the coffee table.

Batman carried his weight so that his feet made barely any noise at all on the loft’s hardwood floors. They barely made any more noise than the rustling of his cape swirling around him as he crouched in front of the computer and found an access port with practiced, gloved fingers. He extracted another device from his belt and plugged it into the port. The green light that flashed indicated that the devise was doing its job, specifically, copying the contents of the machine’s drives onto itself without leaving any indication that the computer had ever been turned on.

The process would take less than a couple of minutes to complete but he was even uncomfortable with that length of time. He had no idea how deep of a sleeper Chloe Sullivan was and he wanted to accomplish this cleanly.

As the device worked, Batman looked around the darkened apartment to find some clues about its owner. She apparently lived alone. There was no trace of a lover, spouse, or even a roommate. He has suspected as much since no such person came up in the background detail but the singular taste of the belongings confirmed that.

It was expensively furnished, indicating that she was doing well financially, but Batman already knew that much as well from viewing her tax return for the previous year. Allied paid her handsomely.

If he had more time, he would have searched her apartment thoroughly to get a better view of her character but now was not the time. The device’s light flashed red and Batman disconnected it and slipped it back into his belt. He heard the rustling of sheets coming from the loft above and he rose quickly and went to the wall. He re-armed the alarm using his de-scrambler and disconnected it. He exited through the balcony doors, shutting them behind them without a sound. He had been in Chloe Sullivan’s apartment fewer than five or six minutes. There was virtually no chance that he had been detected. Still…he could never be sure.

*****
Next morning…Allied Insurance HQ...

Chloe pushed open the door to her boss’s office without bothering to knock. Ted was in the middle of a sip of his morning coffee and was startled to the point of dribbling some of the hot liquid down his chin.

Dabbing at his face with a tissue, he frowned at Chloe. “Top investigator or not, CJ, knocking is still a good idea, especially at this time of the morning.”

“You know Jim Gordon, right?” she asked, ignoring his advice.

“Captain Jim Gordon? Yeah, we were in the one-eight together before I left the force. We deliver the occasional fraud case to his division, nice and tight just like the PD likes them. I haven’t talked to old Jim in…”

“Get him up here. I need to talk to him right away,” interrupted Chloe, crossing her arms in from of her.

Ted raised his eyebrows at her. “You going to tell me what this is about?”

“His buddy the Batman broke into my apartment last night and I want to know why.”

End chapter.

Krysia: JealousLex is fun, I agree. Let’s see how much of him we have room for.

pipersmum: You’re just determined to get me to spill something, aren’t you? It’s looking like a no-go on a full blown love triangle, sorry. My muses just aren't cooperating on that particular story angle. Hopefully there will be enough other kinds of action to keep your attention.

Zannie: I am not worthy…I am not worthy… (I just read the latest Seven update.)

[Kit Merlot]

NBG, this was a great chapter!

I liked the Chlex conversation, and Bruce/Batman watching it play out--very cool.

And I adore Jim Gordon, and not just because of Gary Oldman

Excellent job.

[hfce]

Interesting how did she know Batman was there?


Hope

[star del mar]

My Lord, these chapters just keep on getting better and better! I love the amount of work that Lex had to put into finding Chloe, at least we know he's committed and for God sake's Lex, you should have just pushed her up against the wall and kissed her senseless, but I get the feeling that the new and improved Chloe wouldn't have gone for that, lol. I can't wait to see how Capt. Gordon or Batman talk there way out of that one. Update again soon!

Steph*

[kimmie]

Oh wow, how did she know... this is just too good, I'm addicted please come back and update again really really soon or I'm gonna explode!!!!!!!

Kimmie

[fussy_wuzzy]

Great chapter! Can't wait to find out how she new Batman was in her loft.

[Louie]

I loved the joke and Lex's reaction, I could just see it.

Is Bruce going to be a match maker of sorts?

And I love that Chloe has cameras in her home that's just so over the top.

[meg20]

Chlex had a interesting conversation, and really liked that Batman actually got gaught!

[dreamerjules]

Wonderful update. Can't wait for the reveal on how Chloe knew Bats was in her loft. Adored the conversation between Chloe and Lex. I know they'll work things out. Looking forward to the ride.

Julie