Title: Careless
Author: Blaire
Rating: Pg13/R
Summary: See 'Carelessness'
Disclaimer: Me? Own Smallville...oh...okay....somebody's obviously delusional...
Chapter 1: Surprise, Surprise...
The phone startled her as she stared down into the murky depths of the
dishwater. She grabbed at it blindly and kept her eyes on the
indesribably chunk floating on top of the water. She crinkled her nose.
"Ivy's" She said sharply and watched carefully as the chunk
disappeared into an iceberg of bubbles.
"Well, good morning to you too."
She smiled and all thoughts of the icky chunk washed away. "Lex, how
are you this fine morning?"
"Good. Well, I'd be better if there were a certain red head laying in
bed beside me."
She snorted, "I thought you had the hots for brunettes."
Lex smiled at the other end. "I thought I did too, but now, all I
have on my mind is redheads."
She nodded to a waitress. "When are you coming again?"
"Miss me so soon?"
"Lex, it's been a month." she replied dryly, trying not to sound too
overeager.
"Well, if that's how you feel about it don't look outside."
She walked around the counter and stood at the front doors. "I don't
see anything." She turned and walked back towards the counter.
"Funny, I do." She whipped her head back around and he appeared in
the doorway.
"LEX!!" she dropped the phone and ran into his open arms.
"Hey, babe." He smirked down at her. "So a month really is too long."
"Wa-ay too long." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "So, to what
do I owe this pleasure?"
She bowed and walked back towards the counter.
"I have news." He smiled at her as she poured him a cup of coffee.
"Good or bad?" She smiled back at him and leaned over the counter,
resting her elbows there.
"Depends." he took a small ivory envelope out of his pocket adressed
to him and placed it on the counter in front of her.
She stared down at the wedding invitation. She knew what it was but
couldn't resist asking. "What's that?" She pointed with a crooked
finger at the envelope as if it were roadkill.
"A wedding invitation."
"Uh, huh, and who's is it?"
"A Mr. Kent and a Ms. Lane have requested the presence of one Mr.
Luthor, that's me," he said with a wink, "And a guest."
Chloe paled and looked at him. "No." She shook her head angrily and
stepped back. "Don't even think it Lex."
He grabbed her hand and pulled toward the counter. "Ivy, come on,
please be my date."
"Lex, no, I can't go there. Everyone will see me, they'll all
recognize me." She turned her wrist and he let go of her.
"It's next week. On Saturday. A week from tomorrow. Come on, we'll
keep a low profile, I promise. Don't you want to witness the uniting
of a doomed marriage?" I smirk and see the worry on her face dissipate.
"Why would you think it'd be doomed?"
"Oh, come on Ive, Clark, man of a thousand mysteries and Lois,
reporter extraordinaire. I give em two months."
He smiled and then added. "So you going to ante up?"
She let a grin sweep her face. "This is just mean."
"Not mean, let's just say we're investing ourselves in their future."
"I give em a year." She smiled and stuck out her hand.
"A year?" he raised one eyebrow in question and shook her hand. "A
whole year huh?"
Chloe shrugged. "What'd Pete have to say about this?" She leaned in
closer to him. He stroked her cheek with his thumb.
"He says they won't make it down the aisle." He stood up and she
instantly missed the contact. She frowned slightly.
"You really think I should go with you?"
"Please, come with me. It'll be fun, I promise." he winked at her
and sat on a barstool. "Please?" He pouted a little and Chloe
laughed at the sight of Lex Luthor's slightly protruding lower lip.
He had really loosened the reigns a bit on his emotions since his
father's death.
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine, I'll go."
"And you'll help me make a scene?" lex smiled ruefully.
"No, I will not make a scene, I'll be a wall flower."
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Not possible." He
winked and walked out the door.
Chapter 2: All Hell breaks loose
Chloe followed Lex as they were ushered to their seats. She pulled
her white wide brimmed hat down a little further and snuggled into his
arm.
"You know if you keep hanging on me like that I'm never going to find
a suitable bachelorette here." Lex smiled down at her and leaned into
her arm wound around his.
"Good." She smiled up at him and winked. "Plus, all these girls here
are reporters. I do recall seeing a few of them and their fake little
smiles plastered on the tv."
Lex nodded. "See the blonde in the front? With the red dress on?"
Chloe nodded to his question.
"Which is sooooo tacky, does she realize she's at a wedding, not a
strip club?"
Lex smirked. "Jealous?"
"Please, I could so work that dress." She crinkled her nose, "Well,
maybe in private."
Lex coughed back a laugh. "Like I was saying, she covered your death."
"Hmmm...is that so. Maybe I should have some fun with her." Chloe
smiled devilishly and Lex brought her closer into his arms.
"Meet her in the coat closet or something. But you really shouldn't
do it in front of so many people." Lex replied quietly. Chloe
narrowed her eyes at the blonde.
"Why does she look so familiar. Is that?" She swatted Lex on the
arm. "That's that tramp!" She said in a hushed voice.
"What tramp?" Pete appeared beside them and took a seat next to Chloe
with Keith on his other side.
"The blonde up front. Remember her from College?" Chloe nudged him
with her elbow.
"Oh, yeah, the one who stole what's his name from you." Pete grinned
at her and then at Lex who had an amused look on his face.
"She stole your boyfriend?" Keith leaned over and said in a hushed
voice. "Should I go tell her her nail polish doesn't match the red
tube top she's ever so stylishly trying to pass off as a dress?"
Chloe laughed out loud. "I love you Keith!" She reached over Pete
and patted Keith's hand.
He smiled at her and leaned back in his chair. "Better now?" Lex
looked down at her and smirked.
"That is a prime example of why I love gay men. Any situation
whatsoever and they can fix it with a simple insult." She smiled up
at Lex and kissed him on the cheek.
"What was that for?" His free hand touched the side of his face.
She looked at the altar about 15 rows ahead of them. "Just felt like
the right time." He smiled down at her.
"Thank you." He put his arm around her shoulder and she snuggled
deeper into his side. "I missed you, Ivy."
She sighed and inhaled his warmth and the fresh air outside mixed with
cologne. "I love you too, Lex." She sat up straight closing her eyes
tight. "I meant, umm, I missed you too, yeah."
Lex pulled her back into his arm. "I love you too, Ivy." He gave her
a gentle squeeze and the music started.
Clark appeared at the end of the aisle with the priest. The woman on
the harp took her cue and strummed and plucked with all her might
making it look awfully hard for such a gentle and beautiful sound to
come out. Chloe smirked as Clark shuffled his feet. "Think he'll do
the snoopy dance soon?"
Lex covered his mouth as he broke into laughter and Pete covered her
mouth to keep her from egging it on. A woman in front of them turned
around and 'shhshed' them. Chloe bit Pete's hand and he let go
muttering a curse word or two. Keith leaned forward. "I'm sorry
Miss, our friend has Turretts and it always acts up at the most
inoportune times. I absolutely adore your hat. Is it Gloria
Vanderbuilt?" Chloe covered her own mouth to sustain her laughter and
Lex was fighting down sobs trying not to look at Clark who remained
shuffling about. Chloe looked at Lex and saw his eyes watering. She
giggled and turned her head burying her face near his armpit trying to
drown out the sobs she was attempting to choke back.
Pete looked at both of them sternly and Keith let out a roar of
laughter. They all three turned and looked at him as Lois walked by.
"She...she...her...pantyhose...underwear..." Was all they could make
out and they followed his gaze to the site of Lois with the side of
her dress tucked into her pantyhose. Chloe held her breath from
laughing and Pete covered Keith's mouth who's laughing only got louder
the more and more he tried to contain it. Lex burried his head in his
hands and silently shook with laughter. A bridesmaid noticed along
with a few other guests and quickly pulled her aside as she reached
Clark to fix it. Chloe straightened up and patted Lex on the back
gently. "It's fixed now." She said with a grin in her voice. Lex
looked up at her and his face was the brightest red she'd ever seen.
She cocked her head to the side and he breathed out.
"Snoopy....snoopy...dance..." and broke into another fit of laughter.
Chloe shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. They were
about to exchange vows but all she could hear was Keith and Lex's
laughter like surround sound. Muffled, but still at a volume where
she couldn't concentrate. Pete cleared his throat. "Both of you, cut
it out."
Lois stood in front of Clark slightly pink, from humiliation. Clark
took her hand and mumbled some words. Lex broke into another fit of
laughter along with Chloe. "Now, what is it?" Pete eyed them warily.
"He sounds like the teacher from Peanuts." Chloe strung out amidst
held back laughter and Lex stood up laughing just as they asked if
there were any objections. Clark looked at him and narrowed his eyes.
He quickly sat back down. "@#%$." Chloe rumbled with laughter and
hugged Lex tightly trying not to be seen.
"If there are no other objections we shall continue the ceremony."
Lex nodded in approval and Chloe sobbed into his jacket.
*~*
At the reception Chloe sat at the table with Keith. "So I guess you
two lost your bet, huh? I mean, she did make it down the aisle."
Keith nodded. "That was Pete's bet. I bet they wouldn't make it to
their honeymoon."
Keith's comment was followed by the slap that was heard round the
room. Chloe stood with Keith just as Lex made his way over with a
somber face. "Clark just got smacked."
"And the gates of Hell will open up..." Keith began to preach and
Chloe giggled a little.
"So who what where when why?" Chloe asked inquisitively.
Lex smiled. "Lois smacked him for dancing with the blonde in the red
tube top."
Chloe smirked. "Congratulation, Keith, I think you just won the bet."
Chapter 3: Getting Reacquainted
Chloe left with Pete and Keith while Lex stayed behind
to comfort Clark much to Chloe's disapproval. It
wasn't that she thought Clark should suffer, she just
didn't understand why Lex was being so nice to him
after he hadn't talked to him in years. Then again,
Chloe hadn't talked to Lex in how long and made him
think she was dead and he was still there to comfort
her.
Chloe, Pete and Keith sat at the bar of the hotel they
were staying in. Keith would inadvertently start
laughing in intervals just from the thought of the
wedding earlier. Chloe talked with Pete about Lana
and what she was doing with her life. Turned out that
after Lex and Lana broke up she was hired at
LuthorCorp. Chloe filed it away reminding herself
never to bring that up to Lex. Now that LuthorCorp
was out of business Lex would be moving to Gotham to
help things along with the conjoining of Lex Corp and
Wayne Industries.
"hey, guys, I have to use the little girls room."
Chloe said as she shimmied off the barstool.
Pete and Keith nodded in her direction and resumed
their conversation.
Chloe stood looking at herself in the mirror. Images
flashed before her eyes, probably due to the shots
they were matching each other. A freeze frame of her
father and how he looked at her funeral. She cringed
and looked back at herself. "God, Chloe what have you
gotten yourself into?" She said quietly waiting for
an answer.
She splashed some cool water on her face and made her
way back to the bar. "Ivy." Lex said surprised.
"I'd like you to meet a friend of mine."
She took the stool beside him and looked at him
quizzically. "Lex, are you okay?" he had a certain
look of panic on his face, trying to hide it yet it
creeped out of the edges of the mask he tried so hard
to wear.
"Ivy, I'd like you to meet Clark Kent, Clark this is a
good friend of mine Ivy." Lex said with charisma.
Chloe spit her shot of Southern Comfort out and wiped
her mouth with the back of her hand. Clark didn't
even look up at her. "Nice to meet you Ivy." He
nodded and fixed his gaze at the sign above the bar.
Chloe elbowed Lex in the side and he turned to look at
her mouthing the words "Sorry."
"Nice to meet you too Clark." She said gracefully
before gulping down another shot. Keith came up and
asked her to dance. She accepted.
They danced close and Keith whispered in her ear.
"They showed up while you were in the bathroom. Clark
took a seat before I could tell Lex you were here."
Chloe nodded and looked over at the bar where Lex had
his eyes plastered on her. She grinned timidly before
he bent to say something to Clark which received a
wave of his hand and Lex came over to her and cut in.
Keith retreated back to the bar to attempt to comfort
Clark and tease Pete some more about something that
happened back in Smallville.
"I'm so sorry." He sighed into her hair as she leaned
into his chest.
"It's okay, just a little shocked at first. Lex?"
"Yeah?"
"I need to see my dad."
"I'll take you tomorrow."
She clung onto him tighter. "Thank you."
Lex nodded and they slow danced to a few fast songs.
Pete and Keith came over and slow danced with them.
Chloe looked over at them and smiled. They returned
the gesture and Clark sat by himself at the bar.
"Maybe I should go talk to him." Chloe said quietly.
"Only if you're sure. He's pretty wasted now, he
started drinking at the reception so he'll probably
think you're a ghost or something." Lex replied.
"I'm going over there." Chloe said as she let her
arms fall from around his neck. She gave him a quick
kiss on the cheek and walked over to Clark suddenly
sobering up quickly.
*~*
"Hey there stranger."
"Hi."
Chloe's eyes followed his eyes to neon Marlboro sign.
"Clark." She sat beside him and rested a hand on his
arm.
He turned and looked at her. "Ivy right?" She
nodded.
"Or you could call me Chloe." She grinned and saw a
sudden wave of emotions pass his eyes as he studied
her face at her last comment.
"Chloe?" he whispered. His eyes narrowed at her face
and took in her auburn hair and glasses. The smile
remained the same.
"Hey, Clark." She took her hand away from his arm.
"No, you're...you're..."
"Dead?" She arched her eyebrows.
He nodded and leaned in closer to her. "Are you for
real?"
She grinned and bit back the laughter that rose in her
throat. "Yes, Clark, it's really me."
His eyes watered and he threw his arms around her in a
bear hug lifting her up off her barstool. "Oh, my
god, Chloe!" He stood up and swung her around. "How
are you here?"
"Clark...could you put me down, please?" She
struggled out and he let go of her placing her gently
on the floor.
"Sorry, it's just that..." His gaze traveled over to
Lex who smiled and walked over to them.
"I take it we've all gotten reacquainted?" Lex said
and put his arm around Chloe.
Clark slowly nodded. "You mean, you knew about..."
"Not until a little while ago. I found out the same
day my father died."
Clark nodded and looked over at Pete and Keith who
continued dancing, Keith looked away quickly and
started whistling.
"And Pete?" Clark asked quietly.
Chloe nodded. "Pete's always known. Well, he knew I
wasn't dead and that I wasn't kidnapped but I didn't
contact him for the first few months."
"And your dad?"
"I'm going to see him tomorrow."
Clark nodded. "Anyone else?"
Chloe leaned into him and whispered. "And you."
He grinned slightly and hugged her again. "So who's
Ivy?" he said in a confused voice as he looked over
to Lex.
Chloe held out her hand. "That'd be me. Ivy
Alexander."
Clark looked at her hand and then to Lex. He took it
in his own and lightly shook it. "Alexander huh?"
Chloe glanced over at Lex. "Well, when I saw the
public broadcast of Lex talking about my disappearance
I couldn't help it. Knowing he was out there
somewhere just kept me going." She smiled at Clark
and he nodded slowly.
"So are you two now...?" Clark asked slowly.
"Oh, no, not like that. We're just friends." Chloe
answered with a grin.
"For now." Lex smiled at Clark. "She's slowly coming
around."
"In his dreams." Chloe nudged him in his ribs.
Lex smirked at her comment. "Actually..." he shut up
responding to a harder elbow in his side.
Clark smiled between the two. "Okay, now that I have
officially sobered up, I think I need some coffee.
Chloe?"
"Please, Clark, call me Ivy. And no, I don't drink
coffee."
Clark stared at her in disbelief. "Okay, I think we
need to catch up a little."
Chapter 4:
Chloe sat in the back seat of the limo. She stared
out the window at her dad kneeling in the dirt.
Beneath the headache and the puffy eyes and the
longing to embrace her father, seeing him now made her
want to disappear. When she made herself disappear
she hadn't thought about anyone else. 'Everyone else
was just supposed to move on and not care.' But the
two people in her life stood a good fifteen feet from
the door of the limosine knelt down in the dirt
hugging eachother. Two grown men crying. She grabbed
her sunglasses and looked down at herself. Her long
purple skirt and black long sleeved shirt looked drab.
Everything in this cemetery looked drab. Lex in his
pale blue shirt and darker blue tie and Gabe in his
light orange shirt and khaki pants. Everything looks
dead. She eyed herself before reaching for the
handle. She looked dead too. She cringed and quietly
got out of the limo. The look on her father's face,
although he hadn't even acknowledged her walking
towards them, was clearer now. It was the same look
from so long ago. She felt her legs give out on her
and crashed to her knees with a soft thump two steps
away from him. Lex looked over at her and she
silently shook. "I'm...I'm..." She fell face first
into the ground and Lex's eyes got wide.
The blood began to pool around her and he clearly saw
the entrance of the bullet in her back. Just left to
her spinal cord. Gabe's eyes grew wide and he yelled
at Lex to call 911. "Stay with her." Lex yelled as
he ran to the limo. Gabe nodded and knelt beside the
girl on the ground stroking her hair. He thought he
heard her say something and he knelt further down
beside her. "I'm sorry daddy." She choked out
finally and he looked into her face, one cheek against
the dirt and the other with her hair matted to it. He
looked into her hazel eyes and saw his baby. "Oh,
god, Chloe." He leaned over her and pulled her up to
him. She sat in his lap slumped over with her head
burried into his chest.
"Baby don't leave me now. Not again." he cried
harder and kissed her forhead. "Stay with me Chloe."
"I'm...sorry." She whispered and slumped even further
into him.
"LEX!" Gabe screamed from the ground. Lex came
running over to them, realizing that the way Gabe was
holding her he had recognized her and her eyes
fluttered shut as she looked up at Lex. Lex leaned
down into her.
"Chloe, if you can hear me, wake the @#%$ up. I'm not
losing you again and neither is your dad." he said in
a stern hushed voice. "So wake your perky little ass
up and talk to me." No answer. "NOW!" his voice
boomed.
Her eyes jerked open and she winced. "I'm cold." She
shivered and her eyes started to flutter again. Lex
huddled against her and Gabe. He knew it had nothing
to do with the weather and that it was simply from
loss of blood. "Hang in there baby." Gabe said as he
rocked her back and forth. "Please stay with me."
Lex looked down at her fighting for her life. He
choked down a sob and started talking to her. "Do you
remember the time I first kissed you?" Lex looked up
at Gabe. "Try to tell her happy thoughts, she'll want
to stay awake for them, and if not, atleast she'll
leave without worries." Gabe nodded. "Remember I
found you in New Haven and I just kissed you out of
nowhere." She nodded and started coughing.
They heard the sirens in the distance.
"Chloe, honey, remember when you told me you had a
crush on Lex? You were laughing about it all day
because you were so nervous?" Gabe reminded her.
She nodded. "When I went to go tell him I saw his car
parked at the Talon and I stood there outside for like
five minutes. And then when I walked in he announced
his and Lana's relationship." she drawled out the
sentence slowly and Lex saw the flashing lights
entering the cemetery.
Lex's eyes widened and he let tears slip down his
face. "Oh my god, Chloe, I'm so sorry, I had no
idea." Gabe nodded.
"Do you remember what you told me when you came home?"
Chloe nodded.
"Remember you told me 'that little tramp can't have
every man in this @#%$ hicktown, I will get him.'"
Gabe laughed. "And then I told you to go for it."
Lex looked between the two of them. Chloe smiled. "I
remember that."
The paramedics rushed to her side and placed her on
the stretcher. "We can only have one person in the
ambulance." Gabe and Lex looked at eachother.
"Then move over because we're both coming." Gabe said firmly.
Chapter 5:
Lex and Gabe sat in the waiting room, the last six hours had passed
with no more than a few words crossing their lips. Both sat along in
their each solitairy confinement of hell. While Lex's mind reeled
that this was his fault. He had forced her into coming with him back
to Metropolis, promised her that nothing bad would happen while he was
with her. He already had a crew working on the investigation of the
wooded area surrounding the outskirts of the cemetery, he knew if
anything had been found by now he'd had received word. No word had
come to him, nothing. Although he had only told them to inform him if
something had been found and not to bother if nothing turned up. It
was getting dark and he had already called Clark and Pete along with
Keith to fill them in.
Gabe however sat in a state of confusion, staring at the wide double
doors in which he knew they were operating on Chloe. The little they
had been informed about by doctors and passing nurses was that she was
in and out, they had lost her for a few seconds here and there but
that everything was slowly looking up. Thanks to Lex scaring the hell
into the surgeon, they were being updated every half hour on her
condition. An hour ago they had been told that the bullet had been
extracted and was being sent to a forensics specialist but that she
had some minor hemmorhaging and that she had lost quite a bit of blood
before and during the surgery. Now they were trying to stop the
internal bleeding and patching up a punctured lung. Of course to make
the situation seem less life altering they had also included had the
bullet traveled to the right a centimeter or so, she would have been
dead immediately and if it had traveled any further to the left she
would have been paralyzed. The last update they had was about fifteen
minutes ago and the nurse had come out to let them know nothing had
changed and that she would be monitored in ICU post surgery and not in
her own room. Lex sat quietly beside him. Gabe had a million
questions running through his mind but none could seem to make it past
his lips.
Lex watched the doctor approach them and immediately stood. "What's
the verdict?" he said with no sense of sarcasm.
"She's doing much better, all her vitals have returned to normal and
we stopped the internal bleeding. She keeps asking for Lex and
telling us that her name is Ivy so she's coming around. I'm sure the
nurse ealier informed you that we're going to keep her in ICU for the
time being until we've decided that she's recuperated nicely, but for
now, we're giving her morphine for the pain." The doctor nodded at Gabe.
"You must be her father?" The doctor held out his freshly washed hand
and Gabe took it without standing.
"Thank you, doctor." Gabe replied.
"It's our job." The doctor grinned until he looked back at Lex.
Lex's face didn't show any sign of relief. Tears were falling from
his face and he slumped back down into the chair.
"It's my fault. I brought her out of hiding, I should have left her
there." Lex shook his head and ran one hand behind his neck.
Gabe took his hand. "Lex, you brought my little girl back to me. I
can't thank you enough for that. I have so many things to ask but I
don't know how and seeing that you've just gone through the same thing
I have, I can't ask anymore of you than you've already given."
Lex nodded solemnly.
The doctor made his retreat quietly as to not disturb the men.
A familiar voice snapped him back to reality.
"Lex?" Keith entered the waiting room. "Where is she? Is she okay?"
Lex nodded again. "They just finished up surgery, she's fine."
Keith sighed and stooped in front of Gabe giving him a hug then
quickly stood. "Good, where is the little @#%$ so I can kick her ass
for adding ten years onto my life?" Gabe chuckled. Lex grinned up at
him.
"She's being taken to ICU." Gabe replied.
"Where's Pete?" Lex asked.
"With Clark. I don't think either of them are taking this too well.
So what happened to the little @#%$? And I mean that in the most
endearing way Mr. Sullivan." Keith smiled through tears.
"She was shot in the back. I have some people looking into it." Lex
replied putting his head down in his hands.
Keith glanced around the room before adding in a hushed voice. "So
that means someone knows about the reward money?"
Lex's head shot up and his eyes narrowed. "What money?"
Keith sat down between the two men lowering his voice to a whisper.
"Your father before he died offered a nice little sum of money to the
person that returned her to him, dead or alive."
Lex's eyes filled with daggers. "I'll @#%$ kill him." he said
quietly and stood up. "That bastards still alive."
Keith jumped up. "No, Lex, he can't be, he was shot in the head."
"Yeah, he was shot in the head in broad daylight and no one saw it and
better yet they couldn't put dental records together to match them
because of the position at which he'd been shot at." Lex explained
and turned to Gabe. "I'm so sorry Gabe, believe me, if my father is
still alive, he won't be for long."
He stormed out of the waiting room, people cowered and moved along the
wall as he passed them.
Chapter 6:
Gabe sat in the chair beside Chloe's bed in ICU. The
curtain pulled shut closing them off from the nurse's
station. Keith sat in the chair in the dimmed corner
nodding off into the darkness of the dream world.
Fighting his urge to rip the wires and IV's out of
Chloe and lead her home, to their home, he placed a
hand over hers.
"Hey dad." Her voice groggy and emotionless.
"Hi, sweetheart." His voice choked on what could only
be the eight hour wait he had endured. "Feeling
okay?"
She grinned at him. "Never better." He chuckled
lightly.
"That's my fighter." He patted her head and let his
hand settle back down over hers.
Light shifted in the room and Chloe looked over to
where the curtain had been pulled back. "Lex?" His
silhouhette was outlined in the lights behind him.
"Hey there." He moved across the room. Streaks of
blood covered the white tight fitted shirt.
"What happened to you?" She suddenly saw his limping
form as he sat on the end of the bed beside her feet.
"I had to take care of some unfinished business." He
touched her leg and she instinctively moved it away
from him.
"What business?" Gabe and Lex shared a knowing look.
"Personal stuff, you know..."
"No, I don't." She looked between her father and Lex.
"What's going on?" She struggled to sit up and felt
a shooting pain go down her back and moaned hard.
Lex reached over her and pushed a tiny button
releasing a drip of morphine. "My father, he was
still alive." Lex settled back down.
Gabe stood and moved to exit the room. "I'm going for
coffee, anyone else?" Lex and Chloe both shook their
heads and Keith remained asleep perched in his corner.
"So you killed him?" Chloe pushed the morphine button
again.
"You may want to take it easy there, that stuff's
addictive." Lex moved to the chair beside her bed.
"Don't change the subject, Lex." She replied dryly
and turned her head to look at him.
"I'm not. There isn't much to tell. I found out he
was alive, I seeked him out, I killed him, I called
the cops. Fed them the story that I went to the
office and saw my father, who was supposedly dead, it
spooked me and I figured it was an intruder now that
the old LuthorCorp building is mine and I shot him. A
lot." Lex shrugged and took her hand in his.
Chloe pulled her hand back. "You killed him, just
like that?"
Lex looked at her through red brimmed eyes. "Ivy, he
hired someone to kill you...again. Of course it was
just like that. I hadn't been to the building since
it's been closed and figured that would be the easiet
place for him to hide out."
Chloe nodded and took Lex's hand. "I love you." She
watched as his gaze focused back on her. "I do, you
know." It came out more as a statement but Lex nodded
in agreement.
"I know." He managed to smile and pulled her hand to
his mouth. "I know my father is truly out of our
lives now, but I can't let you stay here. I think you
should go back to New Haven."
Chloe nodded in return. "I know." She let her hand
linger in front of his lips feeling the slow breath of
warmth on her knuckles. "When are you going to
Gotham?"
With one simple question she watched as his eyes lit
up. "Oh, god. It's perfect. We'll only be an hour
or so away from eachother and..." She pulled her hand
away.
"Woah, Lex, slow down, don't get carried away here.
There is no 'we'. I didn't mean it in that way." She
shook her head slowly and watched as the light she
caused started to slowly slip away.
"I'm sorry, I forgot, you don't want me." he stood up
and walked over to where he laid his jacket down.
"Sorry, Ivy." He pulled back the curtain and looked
down at her. "Sorry." He exited behind the curtain
and Chloe's eyes widened as she tried to move to go
after him and screamed from the pain that followed.
Only the name that escaped her lips was drowned out by
the sudden rush of nurses entering her room and the
slow steady beeping of the machines surrounding her.
Chapter 7: Icy Glare of Death
Chloe sat on the picnic table as she had done so many many months ago
when she first came to see him. It had been the longest day of her
life. And now today, somehow, was competing hand in hand with it.
Her legs were pulled up under her and her coat was tied tightly around
her waist attempting to keep the cold out. She pulled her beanie down
further over her auburn waves and the few blonde streaks Keith had
talked her into getting. She watched as Bruce Wayne and his 'date'
stepped up onto the makeshift stage and taking their seats. Next her
father and his 'Personal Assistant' Maggie came up and sat off on the
side of the stage. Lex walked onto the stage next and she let out a
cool breath of air she realized she'd been holding until a busty
brunette followed behind him taking the seat beside his.
Keith grabbed her hand as she was about to ball it into a tiny fist.
"She's no one, Ivy, she's just eyecandy." Chloe nodded and narrowed
her eyes at the brunette. 'Tramp.' she thought to herself. But she
was really pretty, atleast from afar. The picnic table she sat with
Keith and Pete on was a little off to the side under a huge oak tree.
Leaves long gone with the cold weather and the new winter rolling in.
She held Keith's hand tighter until she felt him flex his fingers.
"Sorry." She muttered and he only looked at her and grinned.
"Why don't you just tell him?" Keith whispered to her.
She looked at him startled and then back at Lex. Her eye caught on
her father and he stared at her from his spot on the stage. She
flashed him a warm smile and wiggled her fingers in a sorry attempt of
a wave. He smiled back at her and arched an eyebrow as if asking her
a secret question. She nodded and tilted her head to the stage. He
nodded and both of them noticed Lex had been watching them. He was
standing in front of the microphone and his pretty little peice of
eyecandy sat there with her hands folded in her lap. She smiled as
camera's went off in her direction and Chloe could almost feel Keith's
fingers snap under her death grip.
"Ive, just give her the icy glare and get it over with." Keith said
as he managed to free his numbed fingers from her hold. "You know,
the one where you freeze the person in midstep and then push them over
so they break into a million tiny peices never to be put back
together." he chuckled and she snorted.
"If it were that easy I already would have done it." She grinned at him.
He pulled her hat off and put it on his own head. "Maybe you're not
trying hard enough. For instance, I can make you feel better just by
telling you that by the way she's sitting, they haven't slept
together. He most likely doesn't even know her name the way she's
hamming it up to the photographers and I doubt he'll even speak to her
afterwards, considering the way she's trying to get her five minutes
of fame in." He looked over at Chloe whose death glare was fixed upon
the subject of his berating. "Atta girl." he patted her hand and
folded his own in his lap leaning back on Pete.
She hadn't been paying attention to a word Lex was saying. Her eyes
fixed solely on the individual Keith had been rambling about. It had
been four months to tomorrow since she had seen Lex. After a speedy
recovery, courtesy of LexCorp she was flown into New Haven and hadn't
heard a word from him since. For the last two and a half months she
had been taking regular trips into Gotham, knowing that he was in the
process of setting up for the opening of the new plant there. She
went to the coffee shop she had first seen him in and took Saturday
walks around the park, spending quite a few lonely days just people
watching. Wondering about him, where he was, how he was, what he was
doing, who he was doing. Keith had comforted her enough as to letting
her know that Lex was in the process of moving to Gotham and was
currently available as he had been since he'd found Chloe. But right
now, all she saw when she looked at him was the hurt on his face as he
walked out on her in the hospital. 'Coward.' He knew damn well she
wouldn't be able to chase after him and even though she knew it too,
she had tried. She had made it to the sitting up position when the
pain residing in her back shot through her whole body leaving her
screaming his name as nurses rushed all around her calming her back
down.
And then there was Clark. Front row, center with Lois. Although she
had gone on the honeymoon alone, he had shown up the last day of her
stay and they slowly started patching things up. Clark promised to
never call her Chloe and that her secret life would never escape his
lips. It was almost a payback. Like silently asking her if the same
happened to him would she keep the secret as well. She would, and he
knew that.
And dad, dear sweet dad. He had heard her screaming Lex's name from
the waiting room where he was fixing his coffee and giving them time
to focus on eachother. Obviously not one of his brighter ideas. When
he made it to her room where Keith held her hand tightly and her tears
from pain both physical and emotional stained her pale face, she
looked at him only to scream again. Only this time in frustration.
He held her with Keith until she fell asleep. She remembered them
singing to her and rocking her gently. Of course the morphine had
served it's purpose and with all the commotion she'd just ended up
blocking out everything they were saying to her. Dozing off just to
get away from them, from everyone and everything.
And Lex. God, Lex. The one man who ever made her feel truly special,
who had confessed his love for her as soon as he'd found her in New
Haven. The man she fought back her feelings for just so she wouldn't
have to shut him out. But she couldn't. She couldn't just sit back
and watch him have a life without her. In the last couple of months
she saw nothing except for the merger of LexCorp and Wayne
Enterprises. It was plastered everywhere along with pictures of him.
Everytime she saw his picture it made her want to run to the bathroom
and retch. But she didn't. She didn't want him to have that kind of
hold on her.
So now she was here. Watching him, wanting to retch and at the same
time trying to kill his 'date' with her icy glare of death. She
wasn't sure if she had come to make ammends or if she came to say
goodbye. Either way she knew she couldn't do it. Just watching him
from here, their eyes meeting once in a while she'd have to look away.
She couldn't bare to know that she'd been the cause of that pain.
She blinked away her tears and jumped down from the picnic table.
"I have to go." She said quietly and stole one last glance at Lex who
was watching her from his seat as Bruce Wayne was taking his turn with
the mike. She creased her brow and turned back around heading down
the narrow sidewalk path out of the park. 'Don't look back. Don't
look back.' She chanted to herself. And she did just that. She
didn't look back. Only forward. Whatever tomorrow brought her she'd
deal with it then. But now, she was living in the moment and she was
done dwelling on all the 'could have been's'. She was Ivy Alexander
and this was her life.
TBC
Chapter 8: Healing Process
Chloe sat curled up on her couch. It had only taken her an hour and a
half fighting traffic to get back home only to be greeted by an
overflowing answering machine and her big hunky dog.
She stroked Marco's ears. "You know what big guy, I love you." He
leaned into her carress and when she stopped he climbed up on the
couch as if not giving her any reason to stop. She laughed at his
antics and rubbed his ears lightly. She looked over at her laptop
sitting on the coffee table. Every five minutes or so it would inform
her that she had mail. She let it go on, not caring who it was or
what they wanted. "Marco? Do you ever think that maybe, sometimes,
people do things out of selfishness. Like say someone gives something
up because it's just not worth the hassle anymore. Kind of like a
rubics cube. You're halfway there and you realize that you've been
working on it for what seems like forever, so you give it to a friend
to keep your mind off of it, or you throw it away, out of sight out of
mind right? But then you have this nagging feeling like its there and
that no matter what you do, even after the trash man comes and hauls
it away, that it'll still be there. And then after trash day you
decide you want to give it another shot, so you open up the garbage
can only to realize it's gone. You may have lost it forever, and all
the work you've done on it, making the colors match without peeling
off the stickers and doing it the easy way. All your hard work is
erased. You could go out and get a new one, but it'll never be good
enough to replace the one you already started on. The one you poured
all your time into. So I guess the remaining question is...Do I go to
the dump and get it back, or do I go to the store and look for a
better or more updated version of it?" She sighed and rubbed Marco's
ear again after an attempt of a growl escaped his throat. "Well?"
She looked down at Marco as if waiting for him to tell her to shut the
hell up.
"We are talking about a rubic's cube right? Because, i have to say if
you're metaphorically working 'us' into that I'm disappointed." The
voice came from her doorway.
She jumped up and tripped over the blanket that had been sprawled out
across her and the weight of Marco on her had made her legs go numb.
"LEX!" She cried out from the floor.
He crossed the room and stood over her. "I just want you to know,
that everything I've ever done, I've done it for you. But now, I'm
here and I'm not going anywhere. Whether you like it or not. New
Haven is my new sanctuary, and if you don't like it and don't want to
share, then I suggest you just tiptoe around me." He grinned down at her.
She looked up at him and grinned and knowing she couldn't stand up to
him from the pins and needles entering her leg, she instead threw her
arms around his legs and pulled them to her bringing his stumbling
form onto the carpet beside her. "I love you." She crawled up to him
and straddled his waist. "I love you and I always have." he grinned
up at her and let his head lower to the floor.
"More than the rubics cube?" He questioned with a smirk.
"Oh, definitely, you're much more worth my time." She leaned down and
softly kissed his lips. He didn't reply.
"So does that mean you're done being mad at me?"
"Did your girlfriend die from my icy glare of death?" he looked up at
her in amusement.
"First of all, I don't have a girlfriend, unless this thing we have
here is being categorized, second off, what the hell is the icy glare
of death?" His eyebrow arched and she eyed him suspiciously.
"I would show you, but then you'd be dead, hence the name. The only
person to come out of it alive is Keith. He still doesn't like to
talk about it." She looked seriously down at him as his grin widened.
"Hey, guess what neighbor." Lex's eyes danced before her.
"What?" She asked narrowing her eyes leaning her palm against the
steady rise of his chest.
"I moved in upstairs. I live above you." His grin turned in to a
full fledged smile and her eyebrows both arched up and a light shone
in her smile.
"You've got to be kidding me. You're @#%$ with me aren't you?"
Her voice hinted at disbelief and he rolled his head from side to side.
"I never kid about living arrangements. Also, I'll only have to go to
Gotham on the weekends. I figured we could make a stay of it
together." She sat up straight and a smile consumed her face.
"Lex. You do realize what this means right?" She leaned close to
him, her body slowly rocking against his on her way down and stopping
her nose and inch from his.
"What's that?" His eyes focused on hers.
She felt his warm breath whisper at her lips. "You're in love with
me." her grin melted him and he felt it against his lips. He leaned
up and caught her mouth with his fusing them together. Their tongues
rocked slowly at first then becoming more demanding, fighting for the
lead. Chloe slowly pulled away after giving his lip a nip.
"I could have told you that." he said up to her and his hands came to
a rest on her hips holding her down there. She felt his fingers
digging into her through her jeans as if he was holding on for dear life.
She looked down at him tilting her head to the side. Her hands
traveled from his chest to rest over his hands on her hips. "Lex.
I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to stay, whether you're above me or
not." She winked with a smile and she saw his face relax.
His grip lightened considerably. "So you won't just get tired of me
and instead of rearranging my stickers throw me in the trash?"
She leaned down to him again feeling the effect her closeness was
having on him by the feeling of him hard against the inside of her
thigh. "Never." She kissed him slowly exploring the way he tasted on
her tongue, the way his hands methodically gripped her hips pushing
her down on him and letting her go before doing it again. "I swear to
god, Lex, if you do that one more time I'm going to make love to you
right here."
He squeezed her hips down onto him once again, he could feel the heat
from between her legs through the material of their clothes. "Do
what?" he grinned up at her and his face melted to shock as she
pulled her shirt up over her head to reveal her white lace bra.
"I warned you." She grinned and her hand reached around the back of
her undoing the bra, pulling it off and throwing it behind her.
"Mine." He growled and moved his hands to her back pulling her down
to him taking one nipple into his mouth. Then turning his attention
on the other.
She moaned his name as his tongue teased her nipple. "Yours." She
whispered into his ear as she sat up and started unbuttoning his
shirt. "I've always been yours."
The end.
A/N: Okay, now, fully expect a sequel or triquel or whatever it's called but right now I have so many fics already out there. Hope you liked reading it as much as I loved writing it.
Blaire
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