Deep In The Heart (R)

[Blaire023]

This is the second time posting this story in case you were all wondering where it went, it was deleted when the boards went down around last week. Sorry it took so long, I was debating whether or not to repost it here. I decided to go ahead, but in the wild chance that it gets deleted again, it will only be updated at Bald Truth 2, I have too many fics to keep on posting. *B have fun.

Rating: R/ COMPLETE ANGST
Title: Deep in the Heart
Author: Blaire
Disclaimer: Oh, don't even try it, you know I don't own SV or it's
characters.
Pairing: Chloe, Lex/Other
A/N: Don't ask where this came from, I honestly don't have a clue,
but I had to get it out. The title of the fic comes froma Save Ferris
song. Don't own anything that has to do with that either.
Archival: Go ahead, you don't have to ask.

Chapter 1: Gone

Chloe leveled the bags in her arms evenly as she knocked her elbow up
against the door to her apartment, "Joey, baby, let mama in."

No answer. Chloe furrowed her brow. It was her lunch hour and the
beginning of summer vacation, she had decided to do a little grocery
shopping and spend an hour or so with her son. "Joey." She repeated
sternly.

Joey was only 9, but he was a latchkey kid, considering they lived in
an upscale apartment complex with tighter security than Fort Knox, she
had never thought him unable to stay alone for a few hours. "Joseph
Sullivan, open the door this instance!" Gritting her teeth, Chloe
silently swore under her breath. "Jesus, do I have to do everything
myself?" Plopping the bags down heavily on the hard marble floor of
the hallway she rummaged blindly through her purse for her keys. As
her fingers skimmed across them they jangled, alerting her of their
whereabouts. "Gotcha!" She smiled triumphantly.

The smile soon faded as she inserted the key and turned the knob only
to find it was unlocked. "Joey?" Her hushed voice filled with fear.
She pushed open the door, dragging the brown bags behind her as she
leaned over slightly. "Joey?" Her voice rose a notch.

A darkness swept over her as she took in her surroundings. The coffee
table overturned, the tv lay on it's side, the window open to the fire
escape. "Oh, God." Her hands flew to her mouth as she walked quietly
and slowly into the room. "Joey?" Her voice a choked whisper she
frantically ran down the hall to his room throwing open all doors on
her way. "Oh, my god. Oh, my God." Her mantra spilled from her
mouth repeatedly as she felt her earlier meal creep up on her.

Chloe picked up the phone from the floor, the charger somewhere under
the kitchen table. "911, emergency dispatch, how can I help you?"

"I think my son has been kidnapped." Chloe's eyes overflowed with
tears.

"I'm sorry ma'am, can you repeat that? We need to know your name."
The room spun in all directions and she felt her knees go weak.

"Chloe Sullivan, my name is Chloe Sullivan." After rambling off her
address and the dispatch telling her to stay on the line, Chloe hung
up. She had to tell him. He needed to know. Because if anyone had
the capability of getting her son back, he did.

Chloe stared down at the phone in her hand. It had been years since
she'd spoken to him. 5 to be exact. Joey had been nearing his fifth
birthday when the divorce was finalized. As if surged with an
electric shock, her fingertips itched and she quickly dialed out the
number.

"Luthor." The answer of the phone is not what chilled her bones, it
was the female voice answering his personal line.

"Lex, please." Chloe barely contained the urgency in her voice.

"He's busy," the voice suddenly broke into a bout of giggles
indicating what exactly had been interupted. "right now, can I take a
message?"

"No, you can not take a message," her blood boiled and her teeth
clenched tighter. "I need to speak with Lex and I need to speak with
him now!" Her voice boomed through the receiver and the woman on the
other end hissed back.

"I said he was busy, call someone else."

Chloe pulled the phone away from her ear as the dial tone sounded off.
"Bitch." She threw the offending peice across the room and the
impact with the wall shattered it into peices. Rocking slowly back
and forth she jumped, startled at the knock on her door as it silently
pushed open.

"Chloe Sullivan?" Chloe looked up at the blue uniforms walking into
her apartment. "Miss Sullivan, can you tell us what happened?"

*~*

"Did you get a name?" Lex bit his wife's ear playfully.

"No, some woman, you aren't cheating on me now, are you?" She winked
casually but Lex could see the tension in her features, the way her
body momentarily stiffened at his touch.

"Now, now, what makes you think that?" His lips were on her skin once
again and all coherent thought escaped her.

"Mmmm, cuz you did it to your first wife." Her reply was small but
hit Lex like a ton of bricks. He pulled back, assessing her with his
eyes sharply.

"I did not cheat on any of my wives." He stood up causing his wife,
Veronica, to fall to the floor from his lap. "You know damn well,
I've always been faithful."

Veronica grinned and fixed her clothes as she walked over to him.
"Yes, well, you weren't exactly divorced for our first time in Reno,
were you?" Lex went completely cold, it had been two days after he
had filed for divorce. Paternity tests of their four year old son had
come back to them negative. She had cheated on him. It was only fair
for him to pay back.

"I suppose you're right." Lex shrugged and turned to sit back at his
desk. "Do you have any idea who it was?"

"God, Lex, just star 69 the number if you're that worried about it."
She stomped from the room and Lex sighed heavily, picking up the phone
and listening to the recording of the phone number that had just
contacted him. Same area code as his, but the number wasn't at all
familiar. He jotted the number down on the pad of paper in front of
him. Staring at it he struggled internally on whether or not to
return the call, fingers steepled together in front of him. Just as
his hand reached for the receiver his butler burst through the door.

"Adams, what the hell is the meaning of this?" Lex's voice boomed in
his office, despite the growing migraine in his left temple.

"Your ex wife is on the main line, sir, it's urgent." Adams stood
completely still and Lex stared at him blankly. When the butler
didn't elaborate, Lex motioned with his hands.

"Would you care to be more specific, I do have more than one exwife as
you well know." Lex sat back coolly until the answer was revealed.

"It's Miss Chloe." Lex's eyes shot to the phone beside him as the
first light blinked. He retrieved it quickly.

"Lex here." Attempting to stamp down the emotion he felt, she hadn't
contacted him in five years. The last time he'd seen her in person
had been at Lana and Pete's wedding, and that was briefly. It had
also been a week after the divorce had been finalized.

"Lex!" her voice broke over the airwaves in a relieved sob. "I've
been trying to call."

"Yes, Chloe, I apologize for Veronica's behavior."

She shuddered on the other line and the male voice in the background
had Lex's senses on full alert. "Lex." She whispered.
"I...ummm...I...."

"Chloe, please, I have a meeting in a few minutes if you could just
spit it out." The harsh tone of his voice made him cringe and close
his eyes as it made her freeze.

Calmly collecting herself Chloe cleared her throat. "Sorry, Lex, umm,
stupid me, it was just a misunderstanding, everything's fine." With
that she hung up the phone quickly. Staring down at it, tears that
had painfully halted now rushed forth again. Now her son wasn't only
gone, but his father didn't have the heart to give her the time of
day. Rocking slowly once again the phone rang and she shook her head
at it. Picking it up quickly as a few uniformed officer's watched it
ring for the fifth time she spoke quickly. "Not now, Lex." And hung
up. 'Not now, not ever.'

TBC...

[Blaire023]

Disclaimer in first chapter

Chapter 2: Wait, there's more...

Lex stared at the phone as the dial tone hummed consistently in his
ear. "What the fuck?" He swore under his breath as Veronica burst
through the door to his office. Suitcase wheeling in behind her.

"I'm leaving for Bali." Lex nodded a reply and didn't look up at her.
"Lex?"

His eyes peeled away from the phone to stare at her white on white
casual suit, her expensive shoes, her matching handbag, her long wavy
dark hair. A repeat of his name brought him back to reality. "Huh?"

With a disgusted sigh she turned and dragged her suitcase with her
down the hall. Lex slumped back into his seat. Chloe had to be in
some type of trouble, there was no way she'd come that close to asking
for his help without there being a reason. Picking up the phone once
again he rang information and jotted down the corresponding address
that belonged to the phone number.

*~*

Chloe's eyes darted around the room, from her position on the floor
she mostly saw the destruction and chaos from whoever had been here.
"Ma'am, we're just dusting for prints and then we'd like a statement."
She nodded once and leaned back against the wall, her chin rest on
top of her knees, her legs pulled up to her chest. Arms hugging her
tightly around her shins she looked back down at the phone. No matter
how much she was going to regret it, if she couldn't get Lex's help,
there was only one other man who could aide her. It had to be Superman.

Chloe leaned over slightly to reach for the phone when a large figure
stepped into the apartment and the curses coming from the uniforms
informed her that there may not be any need for Clark afterall. She
was pretty sure if she looked up at the shadow casting over her, it
would be her exhusband. Tears rolled down her cheeks as he squatted
low to the ground in front of her. "Chloe." His voice formal enough
to chill her blood she closed her eyes tightly.

"I told you to forget it." She made the move to stand only to feel
his hands on her elbows, assisting her to an upright position.

"Where's Joey?" Lex's eyes seemed to burrow straight into hers,
turning away quickly, the chief of police came up beside them.

"Mr. Luthor," He gave a curt nod to the billionaire. "Miss Sullivan,
there seems to have been a bit of a struggly, obviously from the
overturned furniture. There is also a tiny amount of blood, we need
to know if your son has had any cuts or nosebleeds that the blood by
the couch may have been from."

Chloe wavered back and forth, blinking slowly, light, dark, light,
dark, she felt a pair of hands shaking her at her shoulders as her
gaze focused back on Lex. "N...No, I don't recall him hurting himself
lately." The officer nodded in reply and left them to their own.

"What happened Chloe?" Lex's voice seemed to have raised an octave
and she shook her head at his tone of voice.

"It's nothing that concerns you." Her reply stung him, although Joey
hadn't been his son, he had raised him as he was. Considering he'd be
ten soon, and Lex was yet to see a recent picture of him...his
thoughts interupted by the sound of a female officer.

"Ma'am, We've confirmed your suspicion of a kidnapping, and we'd like
to collect any recent photographs you may have of your son." Chloe
immediately broke free of Lex's grasp and led the two through the
hallway and into the master suite. Lex stilled as he entered her
bedroom. It looked as if some part of Chloe had erupted in her room.
It was filled with vibrant colors and patterns, nothing like what
their bedroom had projected. Their bedroom had been dark, royal
colors. Reds, blue's, purple's, black's. This was the complete
opposite, and it served to remind him of the part of Chloe he had
fallen in love with back in Smallville so many years ago.

Chloe pulled the photo album from the bookcase and sat it down on the
bed. Opening it, it had started off from the first day they moved
into the apartment. The first day of the rest of their life without
Lex. She flipped to the back couple of pages, the most recent one, an
Easter picture where he was dressed handsomly in a dark grey suit.
Lex studied the picture over the officer's shoulder as Chloe ran a
finger over her son's face.

His head shaved, his blue eyes startling. His posture, the slight
sneer on his face. He looked exactly like Lex. The officer glanced
up out of the corner of her eye, she had obviously made the same
connection. Lex let a slip of an uneasy breath out and tore his eyes
away from the angelic face on the picture, to that of his exwife.
Chloe's gaze met his steadily. She handed the picture over to Lex.
"Keep it." She sighed and placed it in his hands. She then turned
her head away from him to look at the officer. "I have more of that
one." The officer seemed to nod her approval in a reassuring fashion
and Chloe walked back over to the bookcase and pulled down a shoebox,
decorated in pictures of her and Joey. She tore off the lid and flung
it onto the bed before dumping the box upside down. Several stacks of
pictures, bound together by rubberbands plopped down onto the comfortor.

"These are the most recent." She picked up a stack and handed them
over to the cop. "His hair isn't quite that short, he's a natural
blonde." She exited the bedroom feeling claustrophobic. She needed
air, and fast.

Lex followed her from the bedroom and out into the hallway, a few of
her neighbors glancing down the hall to the open door nervously.
"He's mine, isn't he?" Lex's voice tired and unrelenting, she
trembled slightly.

"I told you that already." She turned from him and took in a deep,
lung shattering breath. A cop noticed it and offered her a cigarette
which she gladly accepted. After lighting it for her she moved to the
open window at the end of the hall. Leaning against the wall, her
cigarette dangling from between her lips she stared down at the
bustling street beneath them.

"The tests said..." before his shaky voice finished the sentence she
cut him off.

"Your father administered those tests, Lex. You knew he did. You
knew he hated me too." Her eyes searched his and her fingers brought
the cigarette from her mouth after a long heavy drag and expelling it
from her lungs with a sigh.

"I had no reason not to trust my father. We were business partners."
Chloe snorted in disbelief as her eyes roamed the streets below.
Down there somewhere, her little boy was being held against his will.

"If it makes you feel any better, I knew about Veronica. Your father
sent me the pictures a few days after I recieved the divorce papers."
She snubbed the cigarette out on the window sill, not caring that the
oak frame of the window was most likely ruined. "That's why I didn't
fight in court. I didn't care anymore." She turned to look up at him
and a look of relief swept her face as she heard her very informal
name called from the opposite end of the hallway. Lex turned as he
heard two high pitched shrieks of laughter call out "Mama."

The red heads bounded with delight out of an elderly ladies grasp and
latched onto her legs. Chloe's eyes met his wearily. "Oh, by the
way...this is Lily and Lizzie."

Lex's eyes drank in their features. They looked exactly like Chloe,
except for the strawberry blonde locks hanging loosely around their
faces. "How old are they?" His voice nearly croaked and she stared
at him. Chloe's eyes burned into his. "They'll be five next month."
her hand ran smoothly through one head of hair, cut in a short bob,
hanging to her shoulders. A finger of the other hand wrapped a long
wavy tendril of red around itself.

Lex stared back at her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

His blue eyes sparkled with something akin to disappointment and
anger. Yet the unshed tears he blinked back told her much more
emotion resided there. "We didn't end things on a good note, and I
didn't find out I was pregnant until a few days after Lana and Pete's
wedding."

Lex nodded solemnly as an elderly woman walked up behind them. "Come
now, angels, lets get something to snack on." Lex watched as the
girls were led, hand in hand, to an apartment at the end of the hall
where they had started running from earlier.

"You should have told me." He quietly warned her in what appeared to
be a most nonthreatening way.

"You should have believed me about our son." Pushing her way past him
back to her apartment she gulped in a shaky breath. 'Now that that's
done with.'

TBC...

[Blaire023]

A/N: i should let you all know, that I will only update once I have
ten reviews. In the angst forum no one really ever ventures, so
that's my policy and I'm sticking to it. Course you could all have
Sab gang up on me, she knows what I like, I mean...how to torture
me....I mean...shit, nevermind!

Disclaimer in First Chapter

Chapter 3: Wrong Move

Upon returning to her apartment after dispelling the rest of her life
onto Lex, which held not much more than the children she had raised
for the last five years alone, the police chief gave her a weary look.
"Ma'am, we have a photograph, and we've collected as much evidence as
we could find." His faultered voice caught in her own throat, she
leaned back against the counter, seperating the kitchen from the
formal living room.

"And?" Lex motioned for him to continue, his impatience obviously
displeasing the officer in front of him if the frown that marred the
older man's features told anything.

"We don't have any fingerprints. Not even yours, Miss Sullivan."
Chloe gulped, she hadn't dusted since the weekend, there should have
been something, some thin layer of dust residing somewhere in the
confines of what she was coming to think of as her own personal hell.

"You mean someone took the time to clean?" Her eyes roamed the living
room and darted quickly over to the window before lightly pressing her
eyelids in with her fingers. Small patterns floated in absolute
darkness as Lex's question bounced back and forth across her mind.
Someone was in her home long enough to have cleaned. Was it before or
after they had kidnapped her little boy? When was is, and would she
have made it home in time if she hadn't stopped at the store? So many
unanswered questions haunted her. Joey's voice stuck in the thickest,
this morning before kissing her goodbye for the day he had told her he
loved her. He had asked her to stay home with him, take the him and
his sister's to the zoo. Chloe shuddered and felt a strong familiar
arm wrap around her.

Her head turned and burried into familiar fabric and she breathed in
deeply before an earth shattering sob escaped her lips. "Max." She
cried evenly as the young man ran his hands up and down her back
shushing her with a soft, tentative voice.

"It's okay, baby, let it out." His voice soothed her and she pulled
back, but not completely out of the strong hold he had on her, to look
into deep green eyes. Lex cleared his throat and she leaned her cheek
against a firmly toned chest before turning her eyes on his bluish
grey ones, hinting at a touch of hurt.

"Lex, this is Max, Max, my exhusband, Lex." Max let one arm fall from
his hold on her and he shook hands with Lex briefly.

"Max, I'm a family friend." His voice smooth and calming Chloe shut
her eyes breifly.

"Mr. Luthor." The female officer who had collected the pictures
earlier turned up at their sides. "Would you also like to make a
statement?"

Lex looked at her in disbelief. "I'd like to offer a reward, if
that's okay." He looked over at Chloe, who's eyes had narrowed
conceivably and then cursed himself for even mentioning it.

"Lex, you can't put a price on my son's life." Her voice biting and sour.

"He's my son, too, Chloe." Chloe's posture went rigid as she stepped
back from Max. She appeared as though she were ready to go into battle.

"No, Lex, when you divorced me and cut all contact with him, you took
your rights as a father and shoved them up your own ass. Lex, you
can't do this. These people may not even think you're his father."
She had a valid point, and if they didn't know, then he could be
placing the boy in more harm's way. Just then the twins noisily
entered the room and Chloe pushed past the crowd of blue uniforms to
get to her daughters.

Lily was the first to speak. "Mommy? Why are all the policey men
here?" Her blue eyes stared into Chloe's and she sank to the floor to
scoop both children into a tight hug.

"There was an accident of sorts, babies. Joey's lost and the nice
police are going to help us find him." Lizzie merely nodded before
her eyes peered over her mother's shoulder and fixed intently on Lex's
eyes.

"Who's that man?" Lizzie's eyes narrowed as Chloe's had earlier,
loose ringlets swayed about her face as she whipped her head around to
look at Chloe.

"That's Mr. Luthor, honey." Chloe motioned with a hand for Lex to
come over, her followed and stooped beside them.

"He looks like Joey." Lily whispered and Lizzie silently nodded her
agreement. "And he's bald." She said quiet enough to where only the
four of them heard. Lex let out a startled laugh.

"Yes, I am." His grin weakened into a slight smirk. "I was
wondering...do you two want to play a game with me?" His voice hushed
and Chloe eyed him suspiciously, her grip on them tightened
considerably. They nodded slowly, both sets of eyes curiously taking
in his demeanor. "I was hoping we could play Simon says. Would you
like that?" His eyes searched theirs for any sign of admittance into
their hearts. He hadn't been there for Joey, and he hadn't been there
for these two lovely young ladies in front of him, curled comfortably
in his exwife's arms. They looked up at Chloe and she let a worried
grin play at her lips before nodding and fixing her eyes in a steel
cold glare at Lex.

The nodded and held their hands out to him, he led them down the
hallway and into the only room he knew in their home. Chloe's
bedroom. Seconds after disappearing down the hallway she heard Lex's
laughter ring through with both of the girls' laughter and shook her
head slowly. It was too surreal. Happening too fast.

And then arms were around her pulling her up with them. "Chloe." His
voice smoothing over the rough edges. "Everything will be okay."

Chloe burried her face into her neighbor's chest and swallowed
tightly. Max had been nothing more than a companion to her when she
wanted to vent. A journalism student himself, and a few years younger
than Chloe, he has always been there to lend a helping hand. Nothing
had passed the bridge from friendship to romance between them, which
made her even more comfortable in his arms. His stroke of her arms
putting her at complete ease as police filed from her house. A
television, lamp, endtable and the blood specked curtains from her
window leading to the fire escape were ushered out of the room with
the last few badges.

Max led her to the sofa where she dumped her body onto it. "Are you
thirsty?" His calming action made her jump.

"A little, yeah."

max grinned and focused on the kitchen and everything being in it's
place. "So is he back to stay for good?"

Chloe sighed and rubbed her temples with her index and middle finger
of each hand. "No, he's remarried." Max's eyebrow arched as he set
the glass of icewater down on a coaster and hovered above her still.

"He moved on that fast? Jesus, Chloe, you haven't even been on a date
since your divorce." Chloe's shoulders slumped further into the
brushed leather of the couch and sipped gently at the cold force meant
to waken her up.

Lex leaned in the doorway of the bedroom, listening as Max made
smalltalk with Chloe. Anything between them seemed harmless enough.
And then he heard the comment of her being single, still. His eyes
widened slightly and he turned to where both girls were completely
spent, laying on top of the comforter of Chloe's bed. Their eyes shut
softly and their breathing evened out. As he took in their appearance
one more time, he had to smile as Lizzie's hand held onto Lily's for
dear life. 'I think I could get used to this.'

Slowly he made his way to the living room where Max's arm was draped
carelessly across the back of the couch behind Chloe. 'That, I'm not
so sure about.'


TBC...

A/N: Okay, people, it was updated to Chapter 4 last time it was posted here and I was dumb enough to not update it anywhere else, so I'll be sticking with the same premise as before, but it may be worded a bit differently. If anyone archived this anywhere I'll be so grateful if you could let me know. Just for the sake of stealing that 4th chapter.

Thanks....

~B

[Gina41283]

I really really really like this fic, if by any chance this does get deleted (which I hope it doesn't!!&#33 can you give the addy of the other place? lol or I'll happily give you my email ^_~

[Gemini]

This is great :yay: Very original, and I like the other characters you brought in.

[Calliope]

I'm so glad you reposted. I wondered where this went. :chlexsign3:

[celticangel]

I love this story. Thank you for reposting it again. :worship2: :worship2:

[jem]

:crygreen:

deep in the heart alright... damn gurl u know just how to write so a girl will bawl her eyes out...

please keep going!

[Charlie]

Great story, can't wait to see what happens next.

[Lili]

so glad i got a chance to read this, it's really good, update soon please!! :biggrin:

Lili