The Art of Sacrifice (PG13) *completed*

[rockadaisy]

okay...new at this but i have just been so utterly frustrated by the past season, i had to do something...grave. so, here you go. please comment or i'll think you guys all hated it or that no one read it or....*babbles nonsense for awhile* i accidentally put it in the graveyard, not realizing that the graveyard was...for dead fics. duh, i know. oh well. i hope THIS is the right place. i know the p.o.v. is kind of muddled and...well okay i'll just let you read it now.

enjoy.

NOTE: I am considering this complete, but I'm aware a lot of people want more...so I am going to try and work out a continuation. Just keep your pants on. Or...you know...don't. Whatever floats your boats.


The Art of Sacrifice

Author: rockadaisy
Rating: PG13 i would think
Disclaimer: i don't own anything, etc etc etc. just... borrowing them for the moment.
Category: angsty chlarky chlex... let's just give chloe some freaking story! some clana...short and saccharine, as always.
Spoilers: anything up to the current episodes is fair game
Summary: chloe makes a big decision and then has to deal with the consequences...vague, but deal with it.
Feedback: oh goodness yes please!



Lex pushed his glass of scotch around the dark wooden desk abstractly as the door to his study opened. A blond head peeked through the gap between the door and the wall, the attached body allowing only a moment of hesitation before storming into the office like a thundercloud.

“Nice of you to drop in, Ms. Sullivan.”

“For God’s sake, Lex, you’ve known me for five years now, you think you could call me by my first name?”

“So much for courtesy.”

“Your methods of intimidation don’t work on me, Lex, I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing them from the real thing.” Her eyes scanned over the man at the desk, the impeccable black suit and crisp linen shirt, the perfectly ironed pants and the shoes that cost more that a year’s tuition at Met U. “He’d be awfully proud of you, you know. Manipulating others for your own profit, eliminating that pesky interference…what is it called again, oh yes, a conscience?”

The topic of Lionel Luthor did not appeal to Lex at all. His father had always held a position of strength in his life; every year presented another challenge, another battle for control. Although Lionel had miraculously recovered with his bout of insanity after the second meteor shower, the image remained untouched in Lex’s mind- a grown man locked behind glass walls, wrapped up in buckles and cloth like an infant, reduced to childlike nothingness. As much as Lex had dreamed of the day his father would no longer be a threat to his own life and desires, he had found himself inexplicably disappointed. Instead, as always, he focused on the issue at hand. “As much as I enjoy your friendly banter, Chloe…” he over enunciated her name, spitting out the consonants. “I asked you to come here for a different reason.”

“The same reason you’ve been following me around, harassing me ever since the meteor shower?” Chloe shook her head in frustration. “ I can’t answer your questions, I don’t understand what happened myself. Besides, I’m just as interested in finding some understanding on the mystery that is Smallville as you are, only I don’t do it in an obnoxious, power-hungry, creepy stalker way.”

Lex shut his eyes tightly and pressed his hands together, breathing deeply. “Chloe you don’t understand.”

“I understand that you have been doing everything in your power to spy on Clark, a supposed friend of yours, and if that’s how you treat your friends, I’m not interested in becoming one of them.”

Lex stood up abruptly, slamming his fist against his desk. Chloe jumped at the sudden violence and quickly shut her mouth. “You don’t understand, Chloe, if you….” His shouting trailed off into silence. He eyed Chloe carefully, warily. “Just…follow me.” He walked out of the room, into the hallway. Chloe looked around the empty office, sighed loudly and stomped out of the office after Lex.



“This is…definitely weird.” Chloe murmured, her hands tracing the outline of the crushed car in the air, afraid to touch such a strange memento.

“I saved it to remind me of how quickly life can change its path. I should have died that afternoon I crashed through the bridge. I, by all means of nature, should have drowned in that lake. But I didn’t.” Lex couldn't explain the sudden, confidence-inspiring nature of Chloe Sullivan, but felt a strange urgency to explain this to her rise up in his throat. He forced himself silent, smiling wryly as she examined the car thoroughly, ever the investigative reporter.

Chloe stared at the hood of the car, ripped open all the way to the front seat. A string of memories connected that car to every truck Clark had flipped, to the car she had seen Clark stop with her own eyes the night Alicia set out to expose Clark’s secret. His strength never ceased to amaze her, to astound her.

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, Lex. You’ve got a wrecked car and a lot of expensive computers telling you what should have happened, and yet here you are, quite clearly alive. Maybe you should stop worrying about alternate possibilities and accept a glitch in the forces of nature.”

Lex began to pace around the room anxiously. “Chloe, people like you and me, we don’t ‘accept glitches’. We set out to understand them and explain them.”

Chloe stiffened at the thought of a shared trait with the notorious Lex Luthor, and yet couldn’t help but feel somewhat flattered. “I don’t know what makes you think this has anything to do with Clark, and I don’t know what it is you’ve been doing with Lana, but you should know, if we’re so alike, not to play with fire. I know more than you think, Lex, about your business wheeling and dealing- mass amounts of cash 'disappearing' into strange accounts, chemical testing without proper registration, you name it, I’ve got it. So just leave me and my friends alone, Richie Rich, and I’ll be on my way.”

She turned on her heels and marched righteously to the door, praying to God he wouldn’t call her on her bluffed bravado.

“Stop.” He demanded. She didn’t. “Please. Chloe, just…please.” She stood still, her hand on the doorframe. The tone of his voice caught her offguard, leaving her frozen in her tracks. “This isn't even why I called you..." he laughed uncomfortably, before looking back to Chloe with a renewed fire in his eyes. "Isn’t it human to question existence, fate and destiny? To examine the few truly amazing people that exist on this planet? People so spectacular, they verge on inhuman?”

“Are you trying to tell me you think Clark isn’t human?” Chloe sputtered nervously. “I think all that meteor rock is going to your head. Clark is just a normal, every-day, average guy with a penchant for plaid.”

“Chloe, you of all people should know how…miraculous Clark can be. Always in the right place at the right time, overtly honest and-

“Just give him a cape and he’s a superhero.” Chloe taunted sarcastically. She tapped her foot impatiently. “What is it you want from me, Lex? As surprising as it may sound, I’ve got better things to do than talk auto shop with you in your freaky little museum.”

Lex walked over to Chloe, leaning into her closely with a slight leer in the tone of his voice. Some energy about him darkened visibly, and Chloe felt her strength begin to waver. “I respect Clark and Lana, and your whole little crew, but I still get the strange feeling that something is being kept from me, something big. I don’t appreciate being lied to, Chloe.”

“I- I can’t help you.” Chloe stood tall and allowed herself to look directly into Lex Luthor’s eyes, refusing to back down or shy away from the closeness of his body. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do.”

Lex stared her down for a minute more, making it impossible for Chloe to break eye contact. “Then I guess there’s nothing left to discuss.”

“No. There’s isn’t. Except why you called me here in the first place. Was it just to further harass me about things I don’t know?” She took a breath in and pulled at the last traces of gentility she could find within herself.
“You…you said you had something to tell me. On the phone. So…what is it, Lex?”

Lex turned his back to her and returned his focus to the smashed car, letting his eyes linger on the scratched paint and torn metal that he knew like the back of his hand. His face was unreadable and this frustrated Chloe to no end. “I heard your father has been ill.”

Chloe felt as though cold water had been poured on her, rushing from the top of her head down her spine. She gritted her teeth as she fought for control. “That is none of your business, Mr. Luthor, though I appreciate the concern.”

“Chloe, I might know something that can help. My team of scientists has been working with treatments for the liver failure due to extreme exposure to meteor rocks for some time now, and I just wanted you to know that with some observation, I could possibly-”

All pretention of kindness and manners disappeared. Chloe’s eyes burned furiously as she ran at Lex and shoved him hard. “How dare you! Your father sticks him in a metal box of a lab full of meteor rocks for years but now that you have a real live lab rat in the deal, a living witness and the perfect example of the effects of the meteor shower, you say you ‘might know something’ to help? Fuck you!”

Lex staggered under the weight of her push, but pulled himself up quickly. He understood grief quite well. “Loss is a part of life, Chloe,” he said calmly. “Does Clark know?”

“I’m leaving.” Chloe turned on her heels and exited, purposefully ignoring the gray eyes that followed her out of the room.

[Krysia]

Is it wrong to feel bad for Lex? The poor guy only wants someone to side with him, tell him he isn't doing the wrong thing investigating what happened on the bridge. He knows there is something there and it has to be frustrating as hell when everyone is playing dumb. On the other hand he's putting Chloe in the impossible position of having to choose between being honest with him or protecting Clarks secret. So much drama....I'm loving the begining and I hope you will continue soon I want to see where you will go with the story

[Skye]

woah! I already feel bad for Chloe and Lex. Its looks like its going to bumpy ride for these two.. Not to mention anyone else caught in this crossfire. Definitely love me some angst and drama; hopefully you will come back with more soon??

[hfce]

Yup its going to be bumpy.

[rockadaisy]

author's note: lex isn't in this chapter really. don't worry, he'll be back.

rock on.



The fact of the matter was that she hadn’t told Clark. She hadn’t told anyone. What had started out like a simple flu-like virus had now gotten her father checked into the hospital with random fits of delirium, an extraordinarily high fever and a yellowish-green tint to his skin that just screamed “meteor freak”. Chloe left Metropolis and relocated herself back to Smallville, figuring that a long drive to work was worth the opportunity to sleep at the hospital with her dad as often as she could. Unfortunately she couldn't stay there forever, and on the occasion that she had to go home, she couldn’t stand the quiet. Never having been a quiet person, she felt stifled and scared by the eerie silence of the empty house. These were her demons, her own private battle, and her only real family close to being lost forever. Needless to say, this was none of Lex Luthor’s business.

She drove around aimlessly, wandering through the town she had called her home for five years. She passed the Talon, the high school and Pete’s old house. Long drives around Smallville had become Chloe’s salvation, keeping her away from the house when the metallic smell of hospital sterilizer became too much for her. She drove for hours, stopping only for gasoline or coffee- sometimes both. Today, though, she found herself drawn to the Kent’s farm. Like a magnetic force, her car pulled itself into the dusty driveway. As soon as she opened the car door, Chloe was hit from all angles by the savory scent of food in the wind. Checking her watch, she confirmed that it was indeed time for dinner, and as if on cue, her stomach growled. Chloe knew she was far from being the next Betty Crocker, and T.V. dinners and hospital cafeteria food had so far been strictly unappealing (as well as being mostly inedible). She was starving.

Knocking on the door, Chloe looked around awkwardly. When the door opened, Martha Kent’s face appeared on the opposite side of the screen.
“Chloe!” Martha smiled kindly.

‘I know you’re probably busy eating dinner, I can leave if I’m interrupting anything…”

“No, no. Come on in.” Martha opened the screen door and gestured for Chloe to enter. “Clark! Chloe’s here.”

Clark rose from the table to meet Chloe halfway across the room. “Chloe, what’s wrong?”

Chloe laughed uncomfortably. “Relax. No crime fighting tonight.” Clark looked confused. “What, your best friend can’t stop by just to say hello?”

Clark face melted into a friendly grin. “Of course you can. It’s just a shock to not have you come rushing in with a hard breaking news piece.”

Martha closed the door behind Chloe and followed her back into the kitchen. “Would you like to join us for dinner?”

“Oh no, I couldn’t impose…” Chloe tried not to stare at the food on the table, which smelled more amazing by the second.

“Are you sure?”

“Well, I…” She glanced back to the table again. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”

Jonathan Kent got up from his seat to move an extra chair to the table. “Of course not,” he said with a smile. “You’re practically family around here anyway.”

Chloe flushed pink at the compliment. “Thanks, Mr. Kent.”

“So what has your father been up to?” Martha asked, setting a plate and utensils down in front of Chloe.

“He’s been really busy. Independent work.” Chloe answered sharply.

“Good for him” Jonathan commented, seating himself back down and reaching for a biscuit from the middle of the table. “He’s better off. A nice guy like your father shouldn’t have been working for a man like Lionel Luthor in the first place.”

“A job’s a job…” Chloe thought, remembering the days after her father had been fired from LuthorCorp, lost in his own depression. She held her tongue.



After dinner, Chloe and Clark retreated to the barn where they sat on the couch and watched television until they both fell asleep. As she woke up, Chloe rubbed the sleep-induced blurriness out of her eyes and took in her surroundings. Darkness. Television buzzing quietly. Clark sitting next to her, slumped over the arm of the couch in his sleep. As if sensing that she was awake and sitting upright, he sighed and shifted his body to sprawl out farther onto the cushions, his legs now pressing against Chloe’s arm. Her arm felt electrified, as if every nerve in her body had been relocated into that one arm, that one bit of skin touching Clark.

Despite feeling a little voyeuristic, she couldn’t help but stare at the face she had known since the eighth grade. Her best friend. Her first kiss. Her own personal superhero. Tousled dark hair fell against his forehead and his tan skin seemed to glow in the dim light. She tried to memorize every detail, from the dark eyelashes to the flushed cheeks and lips half-parted in a light snore. Finally tearing her eyes away from him, she glanced at her watch, admitting to herself that it was getting late and she should be returning home. Chloe carefully rose up from the couch and stood on her feet. Feeling some unnamed, overwhelming emotion wash over her, she leaned over and kissed Clark softly on the forehead. With that, she headed outside to her car, leaving the barn that had become more of a home than her own house.

[Skye]

I had already feel sad for Chloe. But I still can't help but wonder what will happen next for her. It sure looks things are going to go downhill fast.

[purpleant]

So far, I am really enjoying this story. Lex and Chloe's conversation was very intense. Also, I am sad that Gabe is so sick. I hope that Chloe's tells her friends about it soon!

Thank you

[kimmie]

i really like this so far, I feel so bad for Chloe, she has all of these people around her and yet she still seems so alone. I hope she turns to Lex, he does genuinely seem to want to help her father, I just hope Chloe sees that.

Please Update again soon, this is a really well writtten fic,

Kimmie

[Kikina]

Can´t wait for another update, hope to see Lex back soon (ideally together with Chloe )

[rockadaisy]

Author's Note: yay! glad people like it. i'm so sorry to do this to you guys...but it has to get a little worse before it can get any better. it IS angst. oh yeah, and all those disclaimers that i don't own this stuff...nothing's changed.



Only a couple weeks had passed since that uncomfortable confrontation with Lex Luthor, but to Chloe it seemed like years. Her father’s condition had worsened, and she seemed to be spending more and more time at the hospital, sitting by her father’s bed as the monitors beeped quietly. For the first time in her life since her mother had left, Chloe felt helpless and useless. She had tried everything, spending hours at her office searching the internet for any kind of information…but of course, no one outside of Smallville had any experience with Kryptonite and the only scientists she could find were already on the Luthor payroll. Every minute seemed to drag on endlessly. The days seemed to last longer since she started calling in sick at the Daily Planet, choosing instead to stay at the hospital, waiting for her father to wake up for a couple of minutes a day out of his drug-induced sleep.

She hadn’t seen Clark lately either, as his attention seemed preoccupied with the lovely Lana Lang. Chloe wasn’t surprised. Although Clark and Lana had officially started dating earlier in the year, nothing had really changed. Chloe was still the sidekick, the girl friday, always willing to put herself in second place for Clark’s affection. Thoughts she couldn’t seem to control echoed through her mind, bitter and biting. Lana was all the way in Metropolis and Chloe still couldn’t compete. She tapped her foot anxiously in time with the mechanical hum-like music. She resented the fact that no one had confronted her regarding her as of recent depression. It was petty and ridiculous, she knew, but if it had been Clark or Pete or even Lana, she knew that she would have confronted them and tried to help. And if they wouldn’t tell her, she would have done some research and figured it out. A little time and effort seemed like a small price to pay for a friend. And yet no one had said or done anything. Only Lex. Lately, she had often found herself thinking back to her conversation with Lex, his offer and her refusal, the moment where she could see the utter frustration in his eyes. She stood up from the cold metal hospital chair and walked over to the sink in the corner of the room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The dark circles under her eyes seemed to hollow out her face and her skin seemed dull and gray. She had lost some weight. She stared for a moment at the strange reflection before grabbing her purse and heading for the door. Of course she had recognized that look of absolute desperation. She knew it well.



“Mr. Luthor, Chloe Sullivan is here to see you?”

“Send her in.” Lex waved his hand at the intruder without looking up from his paperwork. After a couple minutes, he heard footsteps approach the door to his office and then stop, waiting for a further invitation, or perhaps a jolt of courage. Lex sighed impatiently. “Chloe, will you just come in here?” Chloe opened the door, looking slightly flustered. “What can I help you with?”

Chloe looked at her hands. There was little in the world she hated more than apologies, especially ones she didn’t feel were necessary. But desperate times….

“The last time I saw you, my behavior was…inappropriate. I’ve been under a lot of pressure lately…” She turned her gaze directly into Lex’s eyes “As I am sure you are aware of. And I guess what I’m here to say is…”

“You’re sorry?” A smirk flitted across Lex’s mouth.

Chloe frowned. “Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Well,” Lex gently pushed his paperwork aside. “I’m a little disappointed.”

Chloe laughed indignantly. “Disappointed?”

“Yes. The almighty Chloe Sullivan apologizing for a few harsh words that were fair enough, if slightly undeserved. Come now, Chloe, you should know me better by now.”

Chloe felt a small weight lift off her shoulders as she shot Lex a weak smile. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. You’re an asshole. There, is that any better?”

Lex laughed, a genuine laugh that sounded unfamiliar and comforting to Chloe. “You’re one of the only people I know who have had the nerve to say what you really think of me to my face.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I’m sure a lot of people just hate you behind your back.”

“Yes well, thank you.”

An awkward pause came between them, as Chloe fought for words to break the quiet. Lex, on the otherhand, seemed perfectly comfortable in the silence, content to stare her down with a smug little smile.

“Lex, I didn’t just come to apologize. I wanted…I want to hear what you can do to help my father. I’m not signing him over to you or anything I just…I just want to hear it for myself.”

Lex immediately resumed the businesslike air he had possessed earlier. A professional demeanor is imperative to controlling whatever situation is at hand, and he pulled it off flawlessly. “I have some information here for you, if you’d like to look it over.” He rustled through some papers, pulled out a few and put them aside. “And if you have any questions after that, you can call my office.”

“Thanks, I’ll read through them…but Lex? This isn’t bullshit, is it? I mean, I know your work. This…this can’t be like the other projects, okay? This is different.”

Lex scanned his eyes over the girl in front of him. He had made hundreds of business deals in his lifetime, and yet felt instinctively that this was going to be nothing like any of the others. For one thing, his partner in these sorts of endeavors was rarely such a young girl. He would admit it; he had an odd respect for Chloe Sullivan, who at the moment looked like she had gotten run over by a truck. He carefully examined her disheveled appearance- dark gray t-shirt, dark jeans, tangled hair falling in her face, further darkening the shadows under her eyes. She looked vulnerable and broken, a pale impression of the colorful blonde spitfire he had come to know during his father's trial. His lip curled in distain, in her grief she clearly hadn’t been taking very good care of herself. And yet he stepped in close to her, his hand slowly moving up to brush her hair from her face as if it had a mind of its own. He pulled it away a sheer moment before it made its desired contact, sharp as if he’d been bitten. Frowning at his own weak sentimentality, he handed her the stack of papers and walked quickly to the other side of the room, turning to face her from there with a curt, “It would be completely taken care of.”

Chloe stood still, mesmerized. She faintly recognized that this was an unsatisfactory response to her demand, but found her tongue thick and silent. What was Lex trying to do? Seduce her? She quickly dismissed the idea, sure that Lex had all the beautiful women he could possibly want, he had no reason to flirt around with a stupid teenager. A thought flashed through her mind and she gritted her teeth. Unless he was flirting with her, knowing she was so pathetic as to jump on any romantic advances he sent her way, just to manipulate her into giving over all power and control in the conversation. A small angry noise sounded in her throat. Lex Luthor thought he could charm his way out of anything. She looked down at the papers, breaking whatever unspoken moment she had taken part in and furrowed her brow. Panic started to rise in her throat. She shouldn’t have come back here. She shouldn’t have been foolish enough to think a Luthor might actually have something decent to offer her. She gripped the papers tightly in her hand as she repressed an urge to cry, or maybe just explode. Brushing her hand through her hair anxiously, she took in a deep breath and steadied herself.

“You know Lex, I think I’ll just look them over right now, so that if I have any questions, I can just ask you here.” She reached over and grabbed a chair from up against the wall, pulling it beside his desk. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Well, I’m rather busy this afternoon, but if you-”

“Of course you don’t mind.” Chloe sat down, grabbed a pen from his desk and started scanning over the papers. “What’s this?”

“Maybe you should take the papers home with you and read them over a few times first before-”

Chloe shot up from her seat and shoved the paper into his face. “What…is...this?”

“It’s a chemical combination I’ve found in certain specimens of DNA that I believe could potentially assist in eliminating the strains of meteor-induced virus in the subject’s system.”

Chloe thought over his answer for a moment. “In ‘certain specimens’?”

Lex cleared his throat. “In a certain specimen.”

“Damnit Lex, are you absolutely insane?” Chloe asked quietly.

Taken aback by her reaction, Lex solemnly shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

Chloe sat back down and narrowed her eyes at Lex. “Why can’t you let this go? You’re obsessed; you’re letting it cloud your judgment. It’s impossible.”

“No.” Lex shook his head fiercely. “It’s not. I’m not.”

“I can’t have a part in this.” Chloe felt her anger flaring up to match Lex’s determination. “You know I can’t.” Lex just stared at her blankly.

“Thank you Lex. As always, you’ve been quite a help.”

Lex looked back down at his desk. “Always ready to help a friend out.”

Chloe stifled a scream as she slammed the door behind her.