Crossing Paths (PG-13/15) 05/23/08

[Esther25jm]

Very interesting story! Can't wait to read what'll happen next.

[Natasha]

I really enjoyed this chapter. I can't wait to see the progression.

[Kekamarie]

Great update I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. I can't believe how cruel Lana is to her kids but hey that is why this story needs chlex.

[lexie]

CHAPTER 5: Desertion

METROPOLIS GENERAL HOSPITAL

Thirty-six hours had gone by since Lilly´s admission to the paediatric aisle of Metropolis General Hospital and Lex hadn´t moved from her side, except for the occasional visit to the toilet. He had scarcely grabbed a few cups of lousy hospital coffee when the baby´s doctor and the head of nurses convinced him to shower and have a rest in the adjoining room where Alex was sleeping peacefully.

The first twelve hours had been agony when not even the specialists he had brought from NY could diagnose what was wrong with the girl. Lex had started to despair, and it wasn´t until the results of a battery of allergy tests arrived that he was able to breathe relieved. Apparently, the new formula had provoked an anaphylactic reaction which triggered a pulmonary crisis. Lex had cursed his genes once again for it seemed Lillian would be prone to asthma attacks like the ones he used to have before the first meteor shower.

Lana had displayed a certain degree of maternal instinct or, at least, sympathy for Lillian´s condition. However, no sooner had the diagnosis been given, she slipped away from the hospital- leaving the father and son to see to the crisis alone. By the time Lex noticed Lana was gone, the baby had been transferred to a private room, and Alex had fallen asleep on Lex´s lap.

Although the billionaire had asked Miriam to take Alex home with her, the boy had stood his ground, insisting he wanted to stay with his dad to watch over Lilly. Lex had felt a sudden tug at his heart on noticing the tears that glazed Alex´s eyes and saw himself reflected in them- he could still remember what it felt like to be the elder brother of a fragile baby. Thoughts of Julian still haunted his life from time to time and made him wonder what his childhood would have been like if his little brother had lived long enough to love him.

A couple of hours of troubled sleep later, Lex woke up and experienced a strong urge to check out on Lilly. The father-daughter connection would never cease to amaze him; the baby had awakened and, sensing the unknown environment around her, had started whimpering.

¨Hey, Lilly. Everything´s OK, baby, ¨he soothed her. ¨Dad´s here. ¨

¨Excuse me, Mr Luthor, ¨said a young nurse quietly. ¨There´s a call for you. ¨

¨Do you know who it is? ¨ he frowned, focusing again on Lilly, who was grabbing his ring finger tightly.

¨A Mr Mercer. He said it´s urgent, sir, ¨responded the girl who had seen Mrs Luthor sneak out. ¨I´ll stay with Lillian, Mr Luthor, ¨she smiled, sensing the billionaire´s reluctance to leave the baby. ´Lana Luthor´s a fool for walking out on such a beautiful family, ´ she thought.

¨All right. It won´t take long, ¨he responded, pulling his finger gently out of the baby´s grasp. ¨Be nice, Lilly. I´ll be back soon, ¨he added when she wouldn´t let the finger go. ¨Rub her tummy like this. That usually lulls her to sleep, ¨he told the young woman as she approached the crib.

¨She´ll be OK. Won´t you, sweetie? ¨said the nurse warmly.

¨Thanks, ¨he answered quietly, leaving the room to get the call.

Lex marched to the nurses´ station, going over different possible scenarios that could have persuaded his head of security to dare drag him away from his daughter´s side- a breakthrough in the Cadmus affair being at the forefront of Lex´s mind.

¨Excuse me, Miss... Patterson, ¨said Lex , reading the nurse´s name on her badge, ¨would it be possible for me to take this call somewhere private? ¨

¨I suppose you could use Matron´s office. I guess she won´t mind, ¨smiled the thirty-something nurse, showing him the way to her superior´s realm.
¨Press number three and wait for the click to know I´ve hung up, ¨she added before turning around to leave the office.

¨Thanks, Miss Patterson. And don´t worry. I´ll leave everything as I´ve found it. ¨

¨You´d better or it´ll be my head on a platter, ¨she smirked, shutting the door firmly behind her.

¨Mercer, any news on the C. Affair? ¨asked Lex when the call was put through.

¨No, sir. We´re still working on it, ¨answered the head of security.

¨Then, what crisis at LuthorCorp is worth dragging me away from my daughter´s side? ¨hissed Lex.

¨I´m sorry, sir, but... ¨the employee began to apologise.

¨When one runs a corporation such as mine, one needs trust the people who are under one´s orders will make sure things won´t go out of hand. It seems that, once again, my trust´s been misplaced, ¨he said grimly, cutting the man off.

¨It isn´t a company crisis, Mr Luthor. It´s your wife, ¨responded the head of security tensely.

¨My wife? ¨echoed Lex gravely.

¨We´ve lost her, sir, ¨said Mercer, trying to control the tremor in his voice, afraid of his boss´s volatile nature.

¨You´ve lost her. Tell me, Mercer, how hard can it be to follow a woman on a shopping spree? I guess that´s what she was doing, right? It´s Friday, isn´t it? ¨snapped Lex through clenched teeth.

¨Yes, Mr Luthor. We had a security detail following her, but Mrs Luthor must have spotted him and entered a toilet in the mall to lose him. She disappeared and our man never saw her leave, ¨ explained the man.

¨When was this? ¨he queried coldly.

¨Six hours ago. ¨

¨Six hours ago? And what have you been doing these six hours, Mercer? ¨responded the billionaire menacingly.

¨We´ve checked all railway and bus stations, car rentals and even called the airlines, sir, ¨explained the man in a rush.

¨Have you contacted Nell Potter? ¨

¨Our man in Chicago´s told us Mrs Luthor´s not at her aunt´s, sir. ¨

¨What about what we talked on the phone the night of the ball, Mercer? Has it been taken care of yet? ¨

¨The traces have suddenly disappeared, Mr Luthor, ¨swallowed the man.

¨Disappeared? ¨said Lex with a voice laced with venom. ¨It seems I´m surrounded by a bunch of incompetents. Tell me, Mercer, haven´t you thought of connecting the dots? Do I have to do your work for you? ¨he shouted on the apparatus.

¨I´m sorry, sir. It´s inexcusable. I promise we´ll find out Mrs Luthor´s whereabouts. ¨

¨I don´t want promises, Mercer. I want answers within the hour or heads will start rolling, beginning with yours. Rest assured that even if there are answers several people will lose their jobs, and I´ll have the pleasure of suggesting no one hires them, ¨barked the young CEO, slamming the phone down.

Lex shut his eyes tightly and made a supreme effort to control his seething rage. His hands were now clenched into two tight fists, and the urge to start hurling things across the room was almost unbearable. Had he been in his own office at LuthorCorp, the smashing would have started as soon as the words
¨We´ve lost her¨ had left Mercer´s mouth.

He knew this was bound to happen; that´s why he had had Lana followed. But the fact that she had dared defy him in such a way and stoop so low as to leave her babies without any scruples was a hard pill to swallow.

He was hurting and he could feel his heart bleed; and the reason wasn´t she had finally decided to desert him, but rather, that their children would suffer her abandonment just because his blood course through their veins.

METROPOLIS WARRINGTON DEPARTMENT STORES

¨Hey, Cuz, look at this! ¨exclaimed Lois, enthralled by a state-of-the-art laptop in the electronics and office equipment section of the department store. ¨Wouldn´t it be the perfect present for Clark´s birthday? ¨

¨Look at the price tag, Lo´. It´s got so many zeroes my eyes are getting crossed. And it doesn´t even serve you coffee, ¨ she cocked an eyebrow.

¨Oh, come on, Chlo´. I´m getting desperate here. You said we´d pull our resources together, ¨she frowned.

¨I said we´d pull our ´intellectual´ resources together to decide on what to buy him, not that I´d ask the IMF for a stand-by credit, ¨she laughed. ¨I´m not a billionaire like a certain bald guy we know. He can give out state-of-the-art laptops like candy, but I´m third world as far as my budget goes, ¨she quipped. ¨Do you think they might have some good old-fashioned typewriter somewhere? ¨

¨Talking about baldie. Have you ask him for a private interview yet? ¨asked Chloe´s cousin.

¨I phoned his office yesterday and his personal assistant told me he isn´t granting interviews at the moment, ¨answered Chloe, checking out a price tag.

¨And? ¨said Lois, encouraging her to elaborate.

¨How about this pencil sharpener?¨responded the blonde reporter. ¨Too tight-fisted? ¨

¨Chloe, I can´t believe you´ve accepted that lame excuse. He must have forewarned his assistant the morning after the ball. ¨

¨Nah! He was eager to cross swords with me, I could tell. I bet he had a very good reason not to grant any interviews the last couple of days. ¨

¨And you know what the reason is, don´t you? What happened on your way back from the toilet the night of the ball? ¨

¨Nothing happened. Why are you asking? ¨

¨I smell a rat here. My reporter´s instinct tells me you´re hiding something. I saw the look on your face when you came back to the ballroom, Chlo´.¨

¨You must have seen boredom written all over my face. I was dying to leave, get home, kick off my shoes and have a heavenly cup of java. ¨

¨It wasn´t boredom. It was something else. Tell me, did you see or talk with cue ball... ? ¨ranted Lois, her hands on her hips.

¨Sh!!! ¨Chloe shut her up, putting a raised hand in front of Lois´ face, and getting closer to one of the plasma TVs which were showing the breaking news.

´The aircraft involved was a 737... which is usually configured for seats for ninety-six to a hundred and thirty-eight passengers. ´

¨Excuse me, ¨said Chloe to a shop assistant, ¨where´s this? ¨

¨Washington DC, ¨answered the young man, turning up the volume.

´National Safety Board officials were en route to the site over Chesapeake Bay, twenty miles south of the city limits, where Southern Airlines flight... 927 from Metropolis, Kansas, went down about half an hour ago with a hundred and three passengers. ´

¨I´m sorry, Lois, ¨apologised Chloe, her face suddenly blanched. ¨I´ve got to go. ¨

¨Geez, look at that! Where was Clark when this happened?¨ exclaimed Lois, her eyes glued to the screen. ¨ Wait! ¨she came out of her stupor as Chloe made a move to go. ¨This is a catastrophe, Chlo´, but you don´t cover this kind of news, ¨she said, clutching her right arm to detain her cousin.

¨I think Chance was on that flight, ¨Chloe swallowed the lump in her throat, fighting the tears which were starting to well up. ¨Oh, Lois! What if he´s dead? What if... ? We had a horrible argument before he left on this trip. We´d sort of made up, and then, he told me he had to travel to DC for Lex´s campaign, and I just... flipped,¨ she sobbed.

¨Hey, hey! Calm down, ¨Lois tried to soothe her, rubbing her arms.

¨I´ve got to ... get a flight. I´ve got... to... ¨she hiccupped.

¨You won´t need to. You´ve got your own private airline, remember? ¨her cousin told her with the ghost of a smile. ¨He´ll get you there in the wink of an eye. ¨Come, Chlo´! Let´s go find Clark, ¨she finished, wrapping an arm around the blonde reporter´s shoulders.
.................................................. .................................................. ..
An hour had gone by since Lilly´s paediatrician had authorised her release and Lex was driving to the penthouse with both children in the back seat; their safety belts securely fastened. He was eager to get them home and had to control his tendency to speed up with the precious cargo on board. He wanted to get to the apartment as soon as possible to answer Mercer´s call away from Alex´s ears and, considering there were just a few minutes left for the deadline he had set, he knew the mobile would ring any moment now.

LEX´S PENTHOUSE

Alex was building an intricate structure with his Lego on the floor of his bedroom, and Lex was bottle-feeding Lilly in his study, when the phone rang. The young billionaire got up, locked the oaken doors, and put the call on speaker to be able to hold his daughter while making her burp.

¨Any news, Mr Mercer? ¨ he asked tersely.

¨We´ve found her, sir, ¨answered the head of security, and Lex breathed relieved. ¨I´m faxing you the details. ¨

¨Good work, ¨said Lex gravely as he took the sheet from the fax machine and perused the contents. ¨Mercer? ¨he called out with a tight voice, lowering his mouth to press a gentle kiss on the baby´s bald head when his tension communicated to her and she started crying.¨Tell them to get the jet ready. ¨

¨Yes, sir, ¨responded the employee.

¨And Mercer? You´re all fired, ¨he finished, hanging up on him

CHAPTER 6: On the Same Boat (PART 1)

DULLES AIRPORT- WASHINGTON DC

Thanks to Superman´s aid Chloe arrived at the capital city in no time. Although the blonde had protested Clark had better things to do than play airliner for his best friend, the married couple had been adamant, and she had been forced to comply with their wishes.

The air terminal was buzzing with activity and swarmed with reporters from the leading syndicated and cable TV news programmes. All flights had been cancelled and re-directed to the nearest airports as the personnel worked on the preparations to receive the victims and make the list of casualties to start contacting the families.

´You can see the tail is sticking out of the water. You can hear choppers above,´said a veteran reporter from Metropolis WTV, who had travelled all the way to Washington to cover the news. ´Search and rescue operations are under way... ninety-five passengers and crew members are now feared lost. Navy divers have just arrived... ´

¨Chloe, ¨said Clark in a calm voice as he watched his high school friend try to put on a brave face.

¨Go, Clark. I´ll be fine, ¨she smiled, pushing him gently away. ¨You can do more out there than all those people put together. ¨

¨Are you sure... ? ¨he asked her with concern.

¨Yes. I´m fine. Go, please. And Clark? ¨she said, stopping him with a hand on his sleeve, ¨thanks for the flight. ¨

¨You´re welcome, ¨he answered, flashing her the 100-watt smile which used to weaken her knees when she was a teenager.

Once Clark was out of sight, Chloe let out a strangled sob and wiped away the tears with the back of her hand. She told herself she had to pull herself together and approach the airline staff for news like any other citizen. It was at that moment, when she started to make her way through the throngs crowding the waiting room, that Chloe was pinned by a pair of steel blue-grey eyes.

¨Mr Luthor, ¨said a representative of Southern Airlines, ¨will you come this way, please? ¨

¨Excuse me! ¨shouted Chloe, rushing after Lex and the airline´s employee, only to be stopped by one of the CEO´s bodyguards. Hey! ¨she hissed, ¨let me go. ¨

¨Mr Luthor´s not granting interviews, miss, ¨said the security man.

¨And who´s told you I want an interview? ¨glared Chloe.

¨You´re from the Metropolis Herald, aren´t you? I saw you at the ball, ¨he told her, grabbing her by the arm.

¨Yes, I´m a reporter, but that´s not the reason I´m here, ¨she responded grimly.

¨Release her, ¨ordered Lex coldly, boring his eyes into Chloe.

¨I didn´t know you´d be here in Washington today, ¨she told the billionaire, wondering if Chance had lied to her saying he was acting as Lex´s emissary to raise support or if the Luthor heir was there because his campaign advisor was amongst the presumed dead.

¨Neither did I, ¨he said with a look in his eyes which Chloe couldn´t quite decipher.

¨Mr Luthor. I´m sorry, sir, but they´re waiting for you, ¨insisted the airline representative.

¨Lex, was Chance on the plane? ¨she asked before they could whisk him away.

¨Mr Kelley? ¨frowned the Metropolis billionaire. ¨I didn´t know you two were on a first name basis. ¨

¨We´ve been going out steady for a year, ¨she responded honestly, not caring for Chance´s request to keep it a secret any more.

¨Mr Kelley and you? ¨asked Lex, trying to hide his surprise behind his trademark poker face.

¨Did you know he was my boyfriend? Is Chance the reason you´re here? ¨she probed, getting impatient when she couldn´t tell what was going on behind Lex´s cool façade.

¨Lana´s the reason I´m here, Miss Sullivan, ¨he responded without a trace of emotion in his words, and Chloe felt a shiver course up her spine.

¨Lana? ¨she croaked, thinking of Clark, who was at the scene, probably ripping the twisted metal to get to the victims. ¨Have you... have you... asked to see the list of passengers? Maybe we´re here for nothing... maybe this is just a mistake... ¨she babbled. ¨I need to see that list, ¨she told the airline representative.

¨The list´ll be read and displayed soon, miss. ¨

¨I´m not a second-rate citizen! ¨she exploded. ¨I´ve got as much right as Mr Luthor here to have access to that information. ¨

¨Chloe, calm down, ¨said Lex, grabbing one of her arms gently.

¨Calm down? I just need to see a name on a damn list. That´s all I´m asking. Is there a Chance Kelley on the flight? ¨she asked the airline employee.

¨I don´t see a Kelley, miss, ¨responded the airline man, scanning the list.

¨How about a Warden? Try Chance Warden, ¨suggested Chloe, hoping Lois´ suspicions about him were unfounded.

¨Warden? ¨ he repeated, looking at the blonde reporter.

¨ That´s his mother´s surname, ¨she said seriously, and Lex clenched his fists in the pockets of his Armani overcoat.

¨There´s a Mr and Mrs Warden. 37 and 38 B, ¨said the official as her tears welled up and she raised her eyes to meet Lex´s stormy blue-grey orbs.

¨Take me to my wife, Mr Ferguson, ¨he told the airline representative with such control in his manners and demeanour that if Chloe hadn´t overheard him and Lana argue in that corridor, she´d have thought him incapable of loving or feeling for another human being.

Chloe felt the tears starting to roll down her cheeks as Lex shot her a meaningful glance out of the other man´s sight. Lana´s real name wasn´t on that list either.

LEX´S SUITE AT PARK HYATT WASHINGTON

As the front-runner in the Senate campaign for Kansas, Lex attracted an inordinate amount of media coverage and paparazzi stalking even for a man who had always been used to finding himself in the public eye. His wife´s passing was front page news and the real circumstances of her death- were they to be discovered by the over-zealous reporters who hovered around him like vultures- would not only make him a laughing-stock, a question he didn´t give much thought to, but would affect his children in ways he daren´t fathom yet.

Before jumping on the jet that had taken him to DC, the young CEO had checked on Alex´s sleeping form and decided it´d be better to take Lilly on the trip and leave his son with Miriam for a few hours. Lex had been torn, but Alex was old enough to figure out something was wrong, and it would have been harder for Lex to shelter the boy from what had happened to Lana once they landed in Washington. The billionaire didn´t want Alex to go through the same experience he had had as a child- learning of one´s mum´s death through the media or worse, with a microphone on one´s face, was something he didn´t want for his son.

Therefore, Miriam was told that Lex would be absent for a few hours and got precise orders not to wake up the boy early to get ready for kindergarten. Lex wanted him to stay at home away from the press. Leaving Lillian, however, was out of the question. No matter how much Lex respected Miriam, he was Lilly´s dad and the one whose care the baby was used to.

The whole procedure at the airport had been an exhausting and nerve-wracking ordeal. To outward appearances Lex had been his usual composed and cold self, but seeing Lana´s mangled body on the monitor had been a hard pill to swallow. Hers hadn´t been the first corpse he´d seen, but the bitterness he carried deep inside couldn´t erase the fact that he´d once loved her and that she´d been the woman who had made a father of him. Granted, Lana wasn´t the one he would have chosen to bear his babies now, but he´d never regret having Alex and Lilly in his life.

The clock struck three when the baby girl woke up from her nap and Lex finished preparing the bottle in the Presidential Suite kitchenette. Although he´d have preferred to fly back home immediately after identifying the corpse as his wife´s, there were a couple of things to take care of- namely, the name that appeared on the passengers´ list and the story to go with it; and that posed a problem more difficult than the one he had foreseen. Even though the identity of the man with whom Lana had eloped hadn´t come as a surprise to him- her lover´s name had been revealed to the tycoon the night of the ball- what had been completely unexpected was the bomb that Chloe had dropped on his lap.

Lex prided himself on his thoroughness when it came to knowing his employees´ lives inside out. He didn´t like surprises, but Kelley or, rather, Chloe- for she certainly was the smartest of the couple- had managed to fool him, and he admired her for that. He´d been too absorbed by his family drama, and his usually all-perceiving radar had failed him abysmally.

Meeting Chloe at the Red Cross Annual Ball had made him realise how much he missed their old sessions of verbal judo, and a sixth sense had told him she was onto something. His business had been under her scrutiny many a time not to notice that particular glint in her eyes, and he´d felt more than willing to spar with her again. She was a challenge and Lex Luthor lived and breathed for them. However, their second encounter had left a different taste in his mouth when he had been forced to face the fact that their confrontation would be a lot more than just business- a realisation which made him restless.

The billionaire had always felt in control when he was Lex Luthor the tycoon, the evil schemer, the business shark, but life and relationships beyond his entrepreneur persona made him feel weak and ill-equipped- a sensation he didn´t relish at all. Coming in contact with Chloe again reminded him of the man he could have been- a man that he tried to be when he was around his children- but, most of all, it reminded him of how fragile he still was behind the mask. Eleven years ago he had almost let that protective armour slip when protecting her from his own dad. A decade had elapsed, but Chloe Sullivan could still be his downfall in more ways than one.

TBC

[karila]

Great update!
I knew that Lana and Chance didn't deserve Lex and Chloe!

[tatie87]

Great chapters. I can't wait to see hoe Chloe takes the news about Chance. Please write more soon.

[Kit Merlot]

Some very interesting twists!

So Chance was having an affair with Lana? Damn, what will Chloe say when she learns of that news?

I do like Clark and Lois' over-protective attitudes when it comes to Chloe--good for them

And I love to see Lex in father-mode: Alex and Lillian are lucky to have him.

[Starangel148]

Chance and Lana? Wouldn't surprise me. Even on the show Lana always seemed like the cheating type. I. E. pining after Clark but being with Whitney, Jason, Lex...

Great chapter. Update soon.

[daria_103]

Great update, I didn't see the Lana and Chance twist coming - brilliant, and a great way to get rid of them both lol. Poor Lex though, having to break that to little Alex and poor Alex and Lilly (although they'll likely be better off without her, still terrible to have to go through that).

I can't wait to see how Chloe reacts to everything and her next interaction with Lex now that he knows about her and Chance. Looking forward to more.

[Esther25jm]

Hot dayum, what an update! WOW!! So Lana eloped with Chance, and they're both dead, and Lex is starting to remember his past with Chloe. Man, always knew Lana was a cheater, but to do this to her children...UGH! Love Lex the father and how close he is to his kids. Can't wait to find out Chloe's reaction to this little twist!! More, please!!