The Real Thing (PG-13) - Complete

[daria_103]

Great update. I loved Chloe's actions at the funeral, it just felt really natural. I did initially think that the person Chloe had seen Lana with in Metropolis was Pete but the threatening phonecall has changed my mind, I'm not sure who to point the finger at next lol.

I loved every part of penthouse scene, it just flowed beautifully and every reaction felt right - Lex softening the kiss when he felt her tears, Chloe ending it because she knew it was the wrong time. The whole scene was just great and left me itchig for more.

Great chapters, can't wait for the next update.

[SVfan1286]

Great update.

I'm so intrested to find out who this mystery guy is; Chloe saw him and Lana together before the wedding, was Lana leaving Lex to be with this man, does he have something to do with Lana's death, why is he now threating Chloe? How does he know Chloe knows of him and Lana?...wayyy to many questions!

I love this story, and can't wait for your next update!

[Linda]

Thanks for the update.I loved the funeral scenes where you could feel the tension between Lex and Clark. I also loved that it was Lex that was there for Chloe when you would have expected it to be Clark.Can't wait to find out who is making the phone calls that have Chloe so rattled, it's not like her she is usually fearless.My favourite was that Chloe still had a key from when Lex protected her during his fathers trial. She had no hesitation in using it again after all these years.

[dagney]

i'm not sure what the heck is going on with all the secrets but i'm hooked. dagney

[lkedino]

can't wait for next chapter

[malugargula]

Wonderful update
Lex`s really hurt. I hope he gets better soon because Lana`s not worth any pain.
I`m so curious about what Chloe saw one week before Lana`s murder and who`s the guy.

[toryjhay]

two great updates!!!! i'm really intrigued! who made the phone call, who is really responsible for lana's death and what did lana write to lex that chloe is intent on keeping from him.

i do wonder why clark is being mean to chloe, he seemed to be acting really cold towards her. i find it completely ironic that lex was the one to offer chloe comfort as she grieved.

great chapters! more soon please...

[lexie]

N/A:Thank you all for your feedback. I hope you´ll like these two new chapters.

CHAPTER 5: Speaking with the Devil

Lex woke up a little after ten o´clock with a terrible hangover and a splitting headache. It took him several minutes to realise he wasn´t in Smallville but at his spare penthouse in Metropolis. ´Spare´ because he seldom used it himself- it was the one he kept to offer last-minute accommodation whenever a business acquaintance had to stay in town in an emergency. As a matter of fact, he had never set foot in the apartment since Chloe and Gabe vacated it four years before. Even though he remembered she had kept a spare key, he hadn´t expected her to turn up the previous evening. Seeing her breeze in and kick off her shoes as if she had never left after the trial had provoked conflicting emotions in Lex. He resented her for barging into his own private haven but, at the same time, welcomed her arrival because he knew that she was perhaps the only one who really understood him; the only one who actually cared. However, he couldn´t help but hurt her for knowing what she did; he didn´t want her pity.

Chloe was setting the breakfast table when Lex entered the kitchen.

¨How are you feeling? ¨she asked with the ghost of a smile.

¨As if a herd of elephants had trampled over my head; but it isn´t my first hangover or the worst I´ve ever had, for that matter. ¨

¨You don´t need to remind me you were a devil-may-care once, Lex. I´m well-informed about your past. ¨

¨I´m still reckless, Chloe, as it befits a Luthor. ¨

¨But you don´t do drugs any more. Although that addiction to alcohol of yours will make you a candidate for a liver transplant if you keep drinking at this pace, ¨she stated, setting the toast down on the table.
¨I´m sorry about your lip, ¨ said Lex looking at her grimace when she took a sip of her hot coffee.

¨Better that than a hicky, Lex. I´ll be able to come up with a plausible explanation for a cut lip without getting myself into trouble, ¨she smirked.

¨Thank you for being here for me, Chloe, ¨he mumbled, swallowing the lump in his throat. ¨I appreciate everything you´ve done. Nobody´s ever stood up for me the way you did. I know you´re still trying to protect me from the truth, but you know me- maybe better than anyone else- and I hate being kept in the dark, ¨he added emotionally.

¨Lex... ¨she started.

¨Let me finish, please. I won´t insist on your divulging the contents of that note. I assume you´ve destroyed it, am I right? ¨

¨Mm, ¨she nodded.

¨But there´s something I want you to be honest about. When you argued with Lana you said you´d seen her in Metropolis a few days before. She was having an affair, wasn´t she? ¨

´Here´s the question you´ve been dreading, Sullivan. You couldn´t expect him to forget about this line of questioning after a drunken stupor. It´s Lex after all, for God´s sake! Should you tell him the whole truth or the one that he can handle? Lying´s not an option. He´ll see through you. Tell him something he can believe. ´

¨I saw her with another man. They were coming out of a restaurant. She saw me but chose not to acknowledge me. I tried not to dwell too much on the matter; after all, a woman´s allowed to have male friends even if she´s married or engaged, don´t you agree? ¨

¨But? ¨

¨Well... I had my doubts about the relationship being innocent. Why wouldn´t she introduce me if he was just a friend- or, at least, say ´Hi! ´? ¨

¨So he wasn´t someone you know. Would you recognise him if you saw him again? ¨

¨I couldn´t see much, Lex. I just saw him at a distance. ¨

¨Right, you saw him at a distance, ¨he said disbelieving.

¨Why don´t you have some coffee before it gets cold? Would you rather I made some pancakes? ¨

¨Chloe, don´t try to sidetrack me with your Mother Goose routine. ¨

¨I´ve answered your question, Lex. Now let it rest. You´ve got to leave this behind and move on. ¨

¨I´m afraid I can´t. ¨

¨She´s not worth it, Lex. Don´t you see? You´re playing her game even after her death. ¨

¨Do you actually believe that meteor freak´s responsible for her death, Chloe? She was executed with a bullet in the back of her head. That doesn´t sound like a run-of-the-mill killing to me. She might have completely disappointed me, but there´s still a murderer at large. ¨

¨You´ve got a point there, Lex. However, are you sure you want to open that can of worms? Remember what happened the last time you stirred- or rather we stirred- another hornet´s nest. ¨

¨It appears we´re on the same page, Sullivan. I´ve got a hunch that my dad´s got something to do with the cover-up. ¨

¨Maybe you should give him the benefit of the doubt, Lex. ¨

¨Is this the same girl who once helped me put him behind bars? ¨

¨We don´t hold all the cards, Lex. What if he´s just trying to protect you? ¨

¨What do you know that you´re not telling me, Chloe? ¨

¨Don´t start again, Lex. Let´s call a truce and I´ll speak to your dad, ¨ she sentenced, pushing the plate of toast and the jam towards him.

¨Chloe, I won´t let you... ¨

¨Shut up and eat, Lex! For once relinquish your role of protector and let someone do something for you for a change. ¨


LUTHORCORP PLAZA

¨Miss Sullivan, to what do I owe this pleasure? ¨asked Lionel Luthor when Chloe came into his office.

¨Lex seems to believe you´ve got something to do with the resolution of Lana´s murder investigation. You and I both know that you do. Still... I´m having doubts about the real reason for the cover-up. ¨

¨I´ve got to give it to you, Miss Sullivan. You´re relentless. Do I have to remind you you´re an accessory to this cover-up? We both agreed it would be in Lex´s best interest to keep the revelations between ourselves and the good old sheriff- who´s been very well paid, by the way.¨

¨I agreed at the time, because I wanted to believe you were doing it to protect your son from pain and humiliation. Now, I´m not so sure. You see... I got a phone call yesterday morning from Lana´s lover. What does he want from me? ¨

¨I´m afraid I´m not following you, Miss Sullivan. ¨

¨Don´t insult my intelligence, Mr Luthor. Who are you really protecting? ¨

¨Are you suggesting I had something to do with the murder of my own future daughter-in-law?¨

¨No, that´s not what I´m saying. I´m saying that you want me to shut my mouth about the details of Lana´s double life for something other than Lex´s well-being. ¨

¨You know, Miss Sullivan, Lex has been blind all these years but I haven´t. You´re the one. I´ve known it since I saw you two sparring every time you met, and I confirmed my belief when you joined forces to bring me down. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving my child as you do. It´s because of this that I´m begging you... Please, don´t go digging into Lana´s murder. The ones involved are very dangerous people. ¨

¨Is Lana´s lover also involved? Is that the real reason for the whole cover-up? ¨

¨Go back to Lex, Miss Sullivan. Help him be whole again and leave this nasty business in my hands. ¨


¨I want you to stop calling her. She won´t speak about your association with Lana and, what´s more, you won´t be able to use her like you did my future daughter-in-law. You played a dangerous game, and it cost Miss Lang her life. You´re way out of your league. You should have accepted my offer instead of getting greedy. Your accosting her will do nothing but put her in harm´s way and, believe me, I won´t cover up your mess this time, ¨ said Lionel on the phone.

[lexie]

CHAPTER 6: Identity Revealed

Chloe took her portable recorder and rewound the tape once more. Planting a microphone in Lionel´s office had been fruitful. She had expected him to make a call and he hadn´t disappointed her. That he knew of Lana´s unfaithfulness with the man she had seen outside the restaurant and at the funeral was old news, but listening to the conversation had been really enlightening.

Apparently the old man had used the guy to spy on Lex through Lana, and the plan had backfired. The young man didn´t just befriend the girl but seduced her to accomplish his own agenda. However, what had astounded Chloe wasn´t the fact that Lionel had indirectly had something to do with Lana´s death but, rather, what she assumed was the real reason behind the cover-up.

She now had a name to go with the face. Although they hadn´t actually used it, the words of Lana´s lover had provided Chloe with the necessary information to identify him. This news would be devastating to Lex; even more so if he also found out what Lana´s real autopsy report stated.

Chloe stopped the tape and locked it up in the bottom drawer of her desk at The Planet. She would have to do some digging to discover what it was Lionel had been so interested in. It had to be one of Lex´s hush-hush projects if Luthor Sr needed a mole such as Lana at Luthor Mansion to get updates. Chloe´s guess was that it had to be connected with the mysterious 33.1 level at Luthorcorp. Now... the question was who was involved in the project. Who would kill to keep it quiet? Lex wouldn´t have had his fiancée murdered- Chloe was certain of that. As to Lionel, well, he sounded irate. It was clear his plan hadn´t been to harm Lana or to hurt Lex by having her cheat on him. The affair had been the young man´s doing.

In order to discover the motive behind the murder, Chloe would have to make Lex talk about his secret endeavours and it didn´t take a rocket scientist to know that´d be practically impossible. The alternative open was going behind his back, an option which Chloe didn´t relish given his view on treachery and his record with deceitful women so far.

¨You did what? ¨exploded Lex over coffee in the penthouse.

¨We had to know whose side your dad was on, Lex. Putting a microphone in his office seemed the best alternative at the time. ¨

¨The best alternative? Chloe, my dad has his office searched for electronic devices on a regular basis. Seeing planting bugs in other people´s homes and properties is a hobby of his, he´s a little paranoid about corporate espionage and such. God! What were you thinking? ¨he exclaimed, pacing up and down the room. ¨Where did you plant it? ¨ he sighed, stopping in front of her.

¨Under the edge of his desk, ¨she responded under her breath.

¨I´ll remove it. And for your sake, I hope he hasn´t found it yet because I´m sure he´ll know it was you. Now... tell me... what have you taped so far? ¨he asked, sitting down on the sofa opposite her.

¨What are you working on at 33.1, Lex? ¨she queried, raising her eyes.

¨33.1? ¨he frowned.

¨Yes, you know what I´m talking about, Lex. ¨

¨Oh, yes, that mysterious secret level at Luthorcorp Tower Clark seems to be obsessed with. ¨

¨You know, Lex, that reminds me of that lab your dad denied existed at Plant 3. And don´t insult me saying it´s an urban legend because it´s an open secret. ¨

¨Don´t tell me you´ve bought Bronson´s tale, Chloe. ¨

¨I´ve had my fair share of encounters with meteor freaks to have an open mind, Lex. He was committed to Belle Reve after being thrown of a radio tower in the second meteor shower. He had developed the ability to move through alternate frequencies. What really called my attention´s the fact that he was discharged a couple of months afterwards and his whereabouts remained a mystery until he allegedly broke out of 33.1 and turned up in Smallville. ¨

¨It´s an interesting bedtime story, Chloe. ¨

¨Don´t patronise me, Lex. I talked with the man in a back alley before he was miraculously charged with Lana´s murder and his fingerprints were planted on the gun that killed Lana. A weapon which belonged to you and which she was in the habit of carrying with her for protection of late. ¨

¨Lana didn´t like firearms, Chloe. How did you know she used to carry one all the time? ¨

¨I peeked into her purse once, ¨she shrugged.

¨You peeked? ¨he frowned.

¨She had laid it open on the counter. My reporter´s curiosity got the best of me, what can I say?¨

¨What was she so afraid of? ¨

¨My hunch´s it had something to do with 33.1. What´s Morpheus, Lex? ¨ she blurted out and saw him get up of the sofa in the direction of the wet bar. ¨You´ll have to make do with a bottle of Tŷ Nant, I´m afraid; or if you´d rather, I can squash you some oranges. ¨

¨Where´s the bourbon? ¨he asked through clenched teeth.

¨I´ve poured it down the drain. Don´t go ballistic, Luthor, but you´ll need a clear head to answer my questions. ¨

¨You´ve thrown a 1940s bourbon down the drain???!!!¨

¨And the scotch and the vodka... ¨

¨Who´s appointed you my warden, Chloe? ¨ he glared at her.

¨I don´t trust myself, Lex. I don´t know if I´ll be able to handle a scene like last night´s,¨ she answered.

¨What do you mean you don´t trust yourself? ¨

¨We were talking about ´Morpheus´. ¨

¨You were talking. I was just humouring you. ¨

¨You know damn well I won´t give up if you choose to keep your mouth shut. I just don´t want to go digging behind your back. ¨

¨You don´t know what you´re meddling in. ¨

¨Believe me, I´m not that naïve, Lex. Lana was murdered because of something she knew, and I have a hunch her lover was up to speed. ¨

¨What makes you say that? ¨asked the billionaire, boring his eyes into her.

¨He´s phoned me, ¨she murmured.

¨What? ¨ shouted Lex outraged.

¨That´s the reason I freaked out yesterday evening. His call prompted my seeking refuge here. ¨

¨What did he tell you? Did he threaten you? ¨he asked, coming closer to Chloe.

¨I still don´t know what he wants from me, Lex. But he definitely knows something about ´Morpheus´ and has been trying to get his own share. ¨

¨And you know this... how? ¨ he cocked an eyebrow.

¨The bug, ¨she responded.

¨I want to listen to that tape, ¨he said dryly.

¨You can´t! ¨exclaimed Chloe.

¨The hell I can´t! ¨Lex fumed. ¨Give it to me. ¨

¨I haven´t got it. ¨

¨You´re lying, Chloe. You´re so transparent. You have no guile in you. Are you afraid of my hearing something other than what was actually said in that conversation? ¨

´Damn him! Why does he have to be so sharp? I don´t like this one bit. ´

¨You´ll have to trust me, Lex. Just tell me what ´Morpheus´ is. ¨

¨One of these days your curiosity´ll get you killed, Chloe.¨

¨Somebody´s really afraid of this project becoming public... Who are you working with, Lex?¨

¨Who did my dad talk with? ¨he asked, sitting back on the sofa.

¨You haven´t answered my question, ¨she looked at him straight in the eye.

¨Was he an associate of his? ¨ he snapped.

¨The government? Are you working with the government, Lex? ¨she insisted.

¨Who was Lana´s lover, Chloe? ¨ he glared.

¨Is ´Morpheus´ so hush-hush that only a few people are privy to it? Has it got the presidential sanction? ¨

¨Chloe, damn it! ¨he exploded, pulling her up from the armchair. ¨You´ve recognised his voice on the phone. Why are you protecting him? ¨he spat, shaking her by the arms.

¨It´s not him I´m protecting, Lex, ¨she mumbled with a catch in her voice, looking into Lex´s stormy blue-grey eyes.

¨I can handle it, Chloe. ¨

¨You don´t need this now, Lex. Not now, ¨she answered emotionally, her eyes brimmed with tears.

¨You said he wanted a share in all this... ¨he said speculatively.

¨Your words have betrayed you, Lex. ´Morpheus´ isn´t a figment of my imagination nor was it Bronson´s. What was his connection with that project?¨

¨My father knows him, doesn´t he? You said he was trying to protect me, but what if he was trying to protect his own investment? ¨

¨What do you mean? ¨she asked, swallowing the lump in her throat. ´ You´re too close, Lex. ´

¨My dad has been interested in 33.1 for months. He needed a mole... He sent the guy, didn´t he? ¨

¨Who? ¨

¨Don´t play with me, Chloe. My father sent him to seduce Lana and get information out of her, ¨he stated, watching Chloe closely and noticing her nervousness at this line of questioning. ¨Didn´t he? ¨

¨As far as I know, Lex, Lionel´s intention was for him to befriend her not to seduce her. That´s what transpired in their conversation. ¨

¨Befriend her? ¨

¨Apparently your dad had made him an offer, but the young man saw the potential of this project and got greedy. ¨

¨The young man! Is it so difficult to give him a name? ¨

¨Isn´t it enough to know she betrayed you, Lex? Why keep rubbing salt into an open wound, for God´s sake?! ¨ she shouted.

¨Because I have to know why, ¨he choked.

¨I know the truth hurts, Lex. Unrequited love´s a bitch; I know it from experience. In every relationship- when there´s actually one- there´s always one who loves the most. ¨

¨That doesn´t answer my question, Chloe. ¨

¨You were blind, Lex. Lana tended to have that effect on every member of Smallville´s male population, ¨said Chloe bitterly. ¨Believe me, I know the signs. I´ve been around Clark Kent long enough to know what I´m talking about. My telling you her lover´s name won´t change a thing, Lex. It won´t give you the answers you´re looking for because you´re trying to find out what´s wrong with you, when the truth is we can´t choose who we love. Nothing´s the matter with you, Lex. You just happened to fall for the wrong girl, ¨she smiled faintly. ¨Now... are you going to answer my question? ¨

¨I won´t jeopardise your safety, Chloe. ¨

¨I trust you´ll protect me if things get rough. ¨

¨Like I protected Lana? ¨

¨Like you protect me once. I trusted you with my life and my father´s, Lex. ¨

¨This is bigger than my dad, Chloe. ¨

¨Is this CIA material? ¨

¨Something like that, ¨he admitted grudgingly.

¨Good. I like a good spy story. ¨

¨You don´t know what you´re saying, Chloe. ¨

¨Indulge me, ¨she smiled wryly.

¨You´re impossible, Chloe Sullivan, ¨he smiled.

¨You´ve got a beautiful smile, Lex. You should flash it more often, ¨she said, leaving the armchair for the kitchen before he could notice she was blushing. ´Of all the things you could tell him, Sullivan, you had to go and blurt out what you were thinking. You´re no longer in high school and Lex ´s no innocuous Clark Kent, Christ! ¨

¨Chloe? ¨asked Lex from the living-room.

¨Yeah? ¨she answered, filling the coffee percolator.

¨Was Lucas the other man? ¨he asked with an even voice and heard the sound of breaking china in the kitchen.

[daria_103]

And the plot thickens. Another great update. So Lucas is the guy Lana had an affair with, man what a b**ch. I love Lionel's involvement, it'll be interesting to see what Lex does when the real autopsy result comes to light and he realises Chloe had a hand in hiding it too.

As shocking as the slap was at the start of the fic, and as much as I'm dying for Chloe to let rip at Lex for it, I'm really glad that it hasn't been addressed yet. It's much more realistic that it would be forgotten for the moment in light of everything that's happened, nice touch.

Great update, can't wait for more.