Tricky, Tricky (PG-13 to R) Chap 10 - 8/3 -Finished-

[Louie]

Lol yes, I am coming back to it. The next chapter has been a little difficult to write due to the fact that my Phantom muse from the attic has been quiet for the past few days and hasn't given me any ideas of how to take it. Luckily, I wrote quite a bit today and will try to post it tonight. If I'm not able to tonight, I'll post it tomorrow

Sweet

[MaskedGrace]

Tricky, Tricky -

By: Masked Grace

Chapter Four -

"So What Does It All Mean?"

Rating: PG-13 to R.

Note/Warnings: Okay. So a little bit of language in this chap. If you're offended, well.. too bad. And I know that Chloe doesn't need corrective lenses, but I thought it would be an interesting little... thing. Also, there’s a bit of sexual innuendo. And… Lex is slightly OOC (gaah! I know. I’m sorry).

And this is also kind of like Reese's Challenge... well, it gave me the idea for it. Much thanks to Reese.

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.

Thanks to all of you who gave feedback.

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.

Okay, I’m not a pedophile. She’s over eighteen. It’s okay; it’s legal. I’m just a... dirty old man. Dear God... I need to calm down and quit thinking about those little boy briefs that had a fucking zipper in the front. Oh Jesus .

Lex was arguing with himself as he forcefully zipped up the duffel and slung the strap over his shoulder, too involved in his thoughts to hear Clark speak to him when he entered the living room.

“Lex?” That time he got through.

“Yes, Clark?” Lex asked, turning from the open doorway.

“Did you make sure to grab Chlo’s contacts?” Clark asked with a half-empty glass of milk in his hand. Lex blinked.

“No, actually, I didn’t know that Chloe wore contacts.”

Clark nodded and set down the glass, walking to where Lex guessed the bathroom was. He came back a few seconds later, holding a couple of boxes of contacts, a case, and a pair of glasses. Lex took them and tried imagining Chloe wearing the purple framed glasses, staring down the screen on her laptop and nursing a mocha. Well, he could almost do it.

“Thanks.” he nodded to Clark and turned, “Lana.” he nodded to her also and she smiled back before he turned and left, his mind revolving around one certain pair of panties that he had put into the bag and now regretted it, knowing he was going to be interrogated from Chloe as to why he was in her underwear drawer to begin with.



Chloe sighed as she rubbed a spot over her eyebrow where pressure was starting to make itself known in the form of a headache. She hadn’t found anything and it had been a half hour since Lex left. She closed the laptop, put a hand up to her neck and bent it this way and that, trying to relax the tense muscles. She looked up when Lex barged in without even checking that she was there, or at least even decent.

“You know, I could have been naked.” She replied, giving him a look and he smirked back.

“But you’re not. So I have nothing to worry about, and I have seen naked women before, you know. Seeing as how this is my bedroom, they’ve mostly been seen in this room. Besides that, I went to the apartment and packed you some clothes, picked up your contacts and your glasses. I wasn’t sure which you preferred, so I just took both.”

She stared at him as he set the duffle on the floor next to the bed and placed the eyewear on the nightstand, noticing that she hadn’t touched the food as he sat on the bed.
“You packed… my clothes?” There was that smirk again.

“Yes. And let me say, Miss Sullivan, I didn’t know that you had such a wide arrange of panties. There’s this one pair that I wanted to ask about…” he trailed off as he unzipped the duffel slightly and pulled out the black underwear with the zipper that had spurred many naughty thoughts in a split second. The color drained out of her face as he raised them, his fingers holding the fabric on either side and rose an eyebrow, “Now, are you secretly a dominatrix in the bedroom, or are you just kinky?”

Her face flushed at his question, “LEX!” and grabbed at the underwear, wadding it up in her hand, “My God, you dirty old man! Why were you thinking about me being a dominatrix? Hmm?”

He looked at her boredly, as if the question he had asked was sarcastic, “Actually, I had my money on you being kinky.”

She was gaping like a goldfish before her mouth closed and she glared, “Oh yeah, and I keep handcuffs in my nightstand so that I could handcuff you to the bedposts and then drip chocolate syrup over your naked body and slowly lick it off to be a tease. Puh-lease.” She rolled her eyes and leaned over, dragging the duffel closer to her to shove the panties back in the bag.

“And there you go, thinking about my body again. You know, I might start thinking that you think about it quite often. Could I go as far as to say all the time? I might. That might not be too great for your health, being obsessive over it. I bet it kills you that I’m this close and you can’t touch me.” He was smirking again, now.

She snorted and looked back at him once she sat up. There was that glint again. “Oh, of course.” She mocked, “but you seem concerned about my health, too. Maybe a little too, much, eh, Lexy?” It was his turn to glare as she used the nickname that his girlfriends continuously called him – even after he asked for them to stop – and she grinned.

He waited, pausing for dramatic effect, “I’ve got some work to attend to, and it looks as though you may be tense – oh, shut up, Chloe,” he stressed as her grin turned into a smirk that could compete with his, at his comment, “I have a rather generous bathtub in the bathroom, and since you may have been busy when you last occupied it, you’re welcome to investigate. I’ll be downstairs, in the study, if you need me.” He stood and before she even had time to think about it, her mouth was spilling out words that her brain needed to know.

“Lex, what’s going on?” the question she asked earlier came back and he stopped in his tracks, heart thumping wildly enough for the sound to be called an African drum beat. How should he tell her? He thought for a moment on the question.

Not like this…

“I’m just meeting with… a client… is all, Chloe. There’s shampoo underneath the sink with the towels. Take as long as you need.” He spoke to the door and quickly opened and closed it, leaving her there to stare at it, confused. What the hell just happened?



Lex sighed as he moved down the lengthy hallway shook his head, checking his watch. It was only five-thirty? Jesus, this day was going slow.

“Hello Mister Butler. Thank you for coming.” Lex sat down behind his desk, folding his hands over the glass that served as the table top.

“Of course, Mister Luthor. Now, what did you want to change?”

“I want to give Chloe Sullivan everything.”



Lex was right; this bathtub was huge. She hummed a soft melody and closed her eyes as she relaxed into the back of the tub, reviewing on her victory from the last conversation. That’s right! Chloe Sullivan: 2, Lex Luthor: 1. Opening her eyes, a smile was tugging at her lips when it disappeared with the thought of Clark and Lana being at the apartment when Lex was there… how else could he have gotten in?

Sitting up, she snatched up the bottle of shampoo that she had found under the sink with the towels, just like Lex had said. Squeezing the liquid into the palm of her hand, she set the bottle back down before moving on to shampoo her hair and try to concentrate on anything that didn’t involve Clark Kent. Problem was – Clark was a big part of her life… up ‘till now. Most of her thoughts and memories revolved around him… up ‘till now.

She decided to concentrate on Lex’s behavior. He was certainly acting more mysterious today, but from what history taught her, Lex was just about always mysterious. Unless you were one of the few who were in on his inside loop that she knew she wasn’t part of. She was just an eating companion; a lunch buddy. Sliding further into the water, she ran her fingers through her hair to rinse out the shampoo and contemplated giving up on breathing, but decided that Lex probably wouldn’t want a bathtub with a floating Chloe inside of it. And she was naked… not how she would want to be found. For a moment, the words “Who cares?” flittered through her thoughts, but her hand reached down and pulled the plug from the bottom of the tub, and she took in a deep breath after she had broken the surface of the water. During her thoughts, she didn’t even notice that her lungs were burning.

Wiping away her wet hair from her face and ringing the excess water out of it, she stood and reached for the towel she had chosen when she found the shampoo and wrapped it around her, noticing a stitching on one of the corners. Lifting it up to see it better since she had taken out her contacts while she bathed, it was twin L’s. These were Lex’s towels. This was Lex’s bathroom. That was Lex’s bedroom. That was Lex’s bed.
Getting out of the tub carefully, she went to her duffel that she set in front of the sinks and dug around in it. Damn. Lex obviously didn’t know to get her lotion. And she noticed that her skin was already showing signs of being dry from the soap in the tub. Going through the numerous drawers and the cabinets, she finally found a bottle of lotion. It was regular lotion; nothing fancy. Chloe bit her lip in thought. It was Lex’s… she should ask whether she could use it or not.

Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt, she opened it and began to lotionize, smiling at the smell that always accompanied Lex. It was comforting and that was a nice feeling after having her heart (and stomach) constrict at the thought of a certain pair of people getting the horizontal jiggy on at the apartment that they shared. Thinking on it, she didn’t want to go back. Ever.

But she knew that was ridiculous; where else would she live? You could live here… with Lex her brain told her, but she quickly dismissed the thought. Lex was just being considerate (she snorted. Loudly enough for it to echo around the room) and wouldn’t want her taking up residence in the mansion. And besides, she had been friends with Clark this long… and it was stupid to abandon him after he chose someone else. She was being juvenile; it was stupid, really, that she would consider asking Lex if she could stay with him while she avoided Clark and Lana. But she still couldn’t deny that it hurt that everyone seemed to be goo-goo over Lana when she was probably the most boring person, alive.

And now, she was bashing Lana. Shaking her head at herself, Chloe dressed and threw her contacts case back in her duffel, instead, putting her glasses on.



The late-thirties man across the desk choked and sputtered as Lex continued with his calm demeanor and rose to pour his attorney a glass of water.

He returned with a glass that was half full. Mr. Butler, better known as Don to some of his clients, chugged the water down before blinking at Lex, whom was now seated across the desk from him once again.

“To Chloe Sullivan?” He asked, receiving an affirmative nod from Lex and blinking once more. He set the glass down and took in a breath to begin to question Lex’s sanity.

“Mister Luthor, Lex, may I ask why you want to give Chloe Sullivan everything you’ve come into possession of?” he asked, watching Lex intently as he leaned into the back of his chair, making it tip into a recline and seemed to think about it while his eyes traveled to the hardwood floor.

His eyes moved to connect with Don’s, “Because she’s inadvertently become someone of importance to me. I don’t know how I could have been so blind to everything she is and what she stands for, before.”

Don smiled. He knew that all too familiar tone in Lex’s voice. He had heard it in his own voice when he spoke to his parents at the tender age of nineteen, telling them how he planned to marry his high school sweetheart. It was love.

“You sound like you’re in love with the young woman, Lex.”

Lex’s features wrinkled in a grin, “Do I?” Don rose his eyebrows in response, the smile still gracing his own face, “Well, then, perhaps I am.”


Chloe dressed relatively fast and twisted the heavy towel around her head, making her laugh at herself when she caught her reflection in the mirror and she looked like she was wearing a turban that had half unraveled.

With a huff, she picked up her duffel that looked as if it carried the entirety of her closet in it, and the flittering thought of how Mary Poppins could have carried everything in that bag of her’s came and went as she made her way to the doorway to Lex’s bedroom.

Lex’s bedroom.

Chloe sighed exasperatedly at the fantasies assaulting her mind and shook her head as she dropped her duffel off at the bed, next to her book bag, and made her way to the door. Her investigative curiosity piqued at her mind remembering that Lex had a client to meet with before her bath. If she was lucky, Lex was still in his meeting and she could listen in… for only a little while, anyway.

Opening the bedroom door, Chloe peeked her head out and looked up and down the hall, slipping out of the room and closing the door with a soft click. She trotted down to the set of doors that she remembered barging into on many occasions and pressed her ear to one, hoping to hear the conversation through the oak doors.



“So, have you told anyone?” Don asked, suddenly.

Lex returned his gaze to the man and his eyebrows furrowed to create a line between them, “About what?”

“About…” he motioned with his hands, “everything.”

“Oh.” The happiness that Lex seemed to exude in those few seconds seemed to disappear, “No. Not yet.”

“Have you told… her?”

Lex sighed, “No, but I need to soon.”



Chloe took her ear away from the door to look at it quizzically and think, ‘What the hell are they talking about?’ before two fingers tapped her on the shoulder and made her yelp, unknowingly getting the attention of the two men on the other side of the door.

[teb85]

Fantastic fic , I love it so far ! I wonder what it is Lex needs to tell Chloe ? Can't wait for next update !!

[Louie]

Is he dying or something? Great chapter, I hope you and your little muse-ie friend can give use another soon.

[meg20]

great update!!!
loved the teasing between Lex and Chloe. Chloe getting gaught is so funny! What the hell is going on?

[Krysia]

I'm surprised Clark didn't go into his lecture mode after finding Lex in Chloes room. Perhaps he forgot and will look for Lex later on to do it than
I do hope Lex isn't changing his last will because he is sick and will die soon. I wonder how Lex will react to the fact that Chloe smeels like him now. More, please.

[hfce]

What a great update.


Hope

[MaskedGrace]

YAY! You get two chapters today! Double-u oh oh tee! Lol.

Tricky, Tricky -

By: Masked Grace

Chapter Five Part I -

“The Truth"

Rating: PG-13 to R.
Note: I dedicate this chapter to Rachel, of whom, I wouldn’t have been able to write it nearly as good as without The Pocket Muse. Thanks for the B-Day present. It will not be forgotten.

Disclaimer: You don't know this? Check chapter one.

Feedback: Of course, I would loooove it, and you of course.

Thanks to all of you who gave feedback.

Summary: Something’s going on in Lex’s life that’s got him acting not like himself. Thinking that she’s being the good friend that she is, Chloe decides to get to the bottom of it. But she never expected this.

Chloe yelped, startled from a hand tapping her shoulder. She was caught. Jesus, what a fine investigative reporter she was… being caught in the middle of spying on someone.

Turning, she put on the most apologetic smile she could muster to the man that looked like he towered at least two feet over her. His dark-skinned face wasn’t amused.

“Miss Sullivan, do I want to know why you’re listening on in Lex’s meeting with his attorney?” he asked. His voice was low; so low that it felt that the bass of it ricocheted in her chest. His attorney?

“Why is he with his attorney?” she asked, matching the hard look that the security guy was giving her.

“Because I discussing legal issues, Chlo. It’s okay, Mike.” Lex’s voice came from behind her and she jumped again, turning to face Lex and the man who he was showing out.

“Chloe, this is my attorney, Don Butler. Don, this is Chloe.” Chloe smiled softly at the older man, still shaken up from being startled, and they shook hands and he spoke.

“Pleasure to be meeting you, Chloe. Lex, just go ahead and send that to the office after you’ve signed it.” He motioned to the sealed manila envelope in Lex’s hands and turned and walked down the hall, obviously knowing his way out.

Lex’s eyes went to Mike and Chloe felt him walk away from behind her.

When she was certain that they were alone, she spoke, “I’ve given you plenty of chances to tell me on your own of what’s going on that’s making you act like this. Now you’re going to give me answers.” She demanded and he sighed.

“Come in, then.” He stepped back from the doorway, turning to walk to the mini-fridge that most thought to hold liquor, but he never did like his liquor refrigerated. Instead, his hand reappeared with a bottle of water and he broke the seal easily as she stepped into the room and shut the door behind her.

Truthfully, she was a little surprised that Lex was being so cooperative. She followed his lead by going to the side of the room that had the fireplace and the leather sofa and two chairs, sitting cozily on a decorative rug that Chloe guessed to have cost hundreds of dollars.

He sat on one side of the sofa – her on the other. He was silent, sipping the water, until he capped it and sighed, placing it on the table that set center of the square that was the furniture and the wall.

Chloe was getting a bad feeling in her gut. One that she was sure was either her digestive tracts knotting up, or her stomach was going to make her throw up again. She really didn’t want either.

“Lex?” he looked over to her and she didn’t have to look back to know he was frowning, “Get me a trashcan.” He stood swiftly, his shoes coming within her eyesight of looking at the rug and praying that she wouldn’t throw up on it, her request for a trashcan being filled.

She took it wordlessly and breathed almost like she was doing Lamaze. Finally, when she felt that she had her stomach under control, she looked over to him, gulping down the extra spit her body was creating.

“Are you going to talk anytime soon?” she fixed him with a look and he smirked, though it was somehow sad. His eyes watched her as she gulped down another mouthful of spit and he leaned forward, his elbows on his thighs and his hands rubbing themselves over his head before coming down to press his fingertips firmly into his closed eyes.

“There’s just so much to tell you. I don’t know where to start.”

Chloe watched silently. She figured that if she were to talk, she’d ruin his rug and any chance that she’d find out what was going on.

He suddenly stood and started to pace around the perimeter of the rug and couches, coming to a stop in front of the empty fireplace. He stared into it, as if it held a fire that was hypnotic. She stayed silent.

“I’m,” he paused, “dying, Chlo.”

She promptly threw up.



It was a bit of time before she stopped, and Lex had rapidly come over, taking the hair tie off her wrist and tying her damp hair back, catching her as her strength gave out and she slumped.

“Oh god. I ruined your rug.” She noticed the wet patch next to the trashcan and he stood and set it aside, returning to her a moment later to hoist her up and walk back to his bedroom.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s from Wal-Mart. I’m sure I can get another one, Chloe.”



After he had forced her to drink some of the soup that was reheated again, he felt confident that she was able to carry on a conversation.

“It’s likely that you have food poisoning. If it gets worse, I’ll take you to the hospital.” He set the soup aside and sat on the edge of the bed again.

“Uhh, Lex? Did you say that you were dying back there or did I hear wrong?” Her expression told him that she as hopeful that she heard wrong.

“Yes, Chloe. I’m dying.” Her face went pale and she dropped her eyes to the blankets. She fidgeted with her hands, the blanket.

“Oh.” She finally said after a while of remaining silent, feeling Lex’s penetrating gaze on her.

She raised her eyes to look into his, and asked him not the one question that he had silently wished she would never ask, but a rather different one, “Does anyone else know?”

“No,” he blinked at her in surprise and she nodded in return.

“Then why tell me?” There it was. Like clockwork, the question he was dreading having to answer. His Luthor instincts were telling him to lie to high heaven, but he swallowed and began to tell her the truth.




Chloe blinked, trying to clear the rising tears that were blurring her vision from seeing the television monitor from her relaxed position on the couch. Her feet were resting gently against the side of Lex’s pajama covered legs as she watched television. The glow illuminated Lex sleeping, his head being propped by the back cushions as he sat in a slouched position and snored softly, his hand protectively placed on her feet.

The clock on the VCR that never caused any trouble of blinking 12:00 AM at its owner, read 12:40 AM. Conan O’Brien was on and Chloe was having trouble of not laughing too loud, as to not wake Lex.

They had had a long talk in which Chloe had let herself cry a couple of tears; she wasn’t one that was big on crying in front of people. But she understood everything now, even the stuff that wasn’t explained in full detail. Perhaps it was because Lex’s ambiguity was coming into focus.

As her thoughts trailed away from the show as it went to a commercial and instead, went to Lex, her eyes traveled to him as he moved, burrowing deeper into the cushions. As her eyes adjusted to the darker image of him, he took in a deep breath in a sigh before he stilled. She watched his eyes flicker beneath his lids and looked back on the day in retrospect; more specifically, one of the monologues that he had gone through.

“When I learned that I would be dying, the only thing I could think about was you and how I never told you how I truly felt about you… so I gave myself a year. The amount of time the doctors gave me to tell you. Tell you that… I love you, Chloe.”

She smiled, imagining how stupid she must have looked, staring at him for a few minutes, speechless and mouth agape.

“I’ve had my stalkers in my day, but none that looked at me like that.” Chloe’s eyes refocused to see that Lex was still sitting in his slouched demeanor, but his eyes were now open, looking weary. She smiled. He looked cute when he was tired.

“And how am I looking at you?” He smiled back and yawned openly, sitting up and blinking his eyes a few times at the stark lighting of the television.

“Like you actually love me.” His eyes traveled to the corner of his sockets to look at her with a small smirk and she pushed lightly against his thigh with her foot and tilted her head. There was that glint again.

“What an interesting theory. Too bad your hypothesis is completely whacked.”

He laughed shortly and yawned again, his hands coming up to rub his face and looking once more at the television, deciding whether or not he should stay up and watch it with her.

“Well, as tempting as Conan is, I’m going to have to retire. I’ll see you in the morning. I usually eat breakfast around seven thirty.” She made a choking sound and he smiled as he stood, yawning once more as he stretched and wondered if he should kiss her goodnight.

Deciding against it, he pecked a kiss to the top of her head, and moved to walk away, but her hand caught his wrist before he could and her face rose to look at him.

He received her silent question loud and clear and bent, an appearance by his tongue licking his lips was seen before he pressed a kiss to her mouth, his hand moving up to cradle her face.

“I do love you.” She whispered, her eyes coming to open afterwards, to melt with his, as if she was saying something extra.

He smiled and rubbed a finger across her cheek as he pecked another kiss to her brow and whispered back, “Sleep well.” Before exiting to his bedroom.

Chapter Five Part II -
“Hidden Agenda”

The man watching the television monitor that transmitted to him, with only a fifteen second delay, smiled as he reviewed everything happening in every room except for the bathrooms (he might have been a lot of things, but pervert, he was not), and watched as Luthor took care of his young house guest. He had received word from his superior earlier in the day that the billionaire bachelor had changed his last Will to give everything to the blonde reporter.

And everything was falling into place now. Especially since the unlikely couple seemed to have a blossoming love life.

The man, better known as ‘The Axe’, smiled satanically at the quadrant-split monitor as the two unsuspecting persons kissed goodnight before Luthor left the room. Uh huh, everything was going according to the plan.

His superior was going to happy when he heard about this. The Axe checked the Rolex watch on his wrist that he had sniped off one of the bodies that had stood in his way and had been met with a very timely death with one of his hatchets. He smiled again once the memory of reading the paper the next morning to read that he had distorted the man so badly, they had to go off partial dental records.

Oh yeah, his jaw was very nice to rip off. The adrenaline and endorphins raced through his veins at the thought of being able to kill again, and anticipation ran its fingers down his spine in a shiver.

He could almost smell the blood – Luthor’s blood - being spilt as he sighed after lying on his makeshift bed on a cot, going to sleep with thoughts of blood splatter and bones crushing filling his senses as the high-tech security system went on recording the night’s events in the shabby hotel room that wasn’t even fifteen miles from the manor itself.

[hfce]

So Lex is not dying but is going to be killed? Please explain...

[MaskedGrace]

So Lex is not dying but is going to be killed? Please explain...

Oh, all in good time, my dear. All in good time. Adn who said anything about Lex being killed? I sure didn't. But then again, I never said that his body wouldn't be exhumed and mutilated after his death, either. -shrug- I guess you'll just have to keep reading.