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

[SVfan1286]

Yay Lana and Chance are dead! (Lol) I can't believe Lana and Chance were having a affair... what a jerk, for cheating on Chloe-- but a great twist. I feel bad for Chloe though, another one of her boyfriends, leaves her for Lana. I love Daddy Lex... he's an amazing father to Alex and Lilly!

Great update... I can't wait to read the next chapter!!

[Linda]

Brilliant update, I love daddy Lex and he really cares for his children.

I'm glad you have got this version of Lana out of the way, she was evil. I'm really pleased with myself right now, I was right!

Can't wait for the next update. Thank You!

[dayamiracle]

Loved it...got rid of Lana and Chance in a one-two punch...I only feel bad for the children...well not really Chloe would be a much better mother to them than Lana ever was....if things go that way...Update soon!

[hfce]

Great update and Blana is a biatch. Chloe Chase was an ass. I can't wait to see what happens next.

[Kekamarie]

Great update I'm glad you got rid of Lana and Chance. I can't wait to see what Chloe thinks of Chance cheating on her with Lana.

[dagney]

Loved the plot w/cheating partners revealed. I adore the devoted Dad Lex is. Nice job Lexie.

dagney

[lexie]

A/N: Thanks as usual for your lovely feedback.

CHAPTER 6: On the Same Boat (PART 2)

JAVA´S- DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON

Chloe was sitting in a booth with a jumbo cup of mocha and a half-eaten piece of lemon pie. Her body craved a caffeine-boost after the events of the morning, but her stomach rebelled against the sweet on the plate in front of her. In fact, the dessert had been Clark´s idea and she hadn´t had the heart to go against his mother goose´s routine.

Chloe eyed him discreetly as he sipped his own coffee, and she knew he was having a hard time digesting what had happened to Lana. Fortunately, it hadn´t been him to find and remove her corpse from the twisted metal for that would have made things even worse for all parties involved. In all probability, Clark would never arrive at the conclusion that Lana and Chance had been sitting side by side on the plane because of some sordid affair. He wouldn´t be the Clark she knew and loved if he had, bless his soul.

Still, that certitude didn´t give Chloe much comfort. She had been made a fool and had been betrayed once again by someone she cared for with none other than Lana Lang, the girl in whose shadow she had spent most of her life as a teenager and a young adult. Chance might not have been the love of Chloe´s life- Lois had been right, their romantic relationship had been lukewarm- but that didn´t make his treason excusable or her hurt more bearable.

¨Chlo´, ¨said Clark, seeing her play with the food on her plate, ¨I know this may sound cold but... what are you going to do about ... Chance´s funeral arrangements? I remember you told me ... both his parents are dead. Do you know if he left anything written in case something happened to him? ¨

¨I... don’t know, ¨responded Chloe, massaging her temples in an attempt to relieve the tension which was threatening to make her head explode. ¨I guess... he´d have liked to lie next to his parents... in Metropolis. We really didn´t talk much about... death, ¨she swallowed hard.

¨I can help you with the arrangements if you want, ¨he offered, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

¨Thanks, ¨she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes.

¨Hey!¨ he tilted up her chin. ¨You aren´t alone, Chloe. You´ll always have Lois and me. ¨

Chloe looked into her best friend´s baby-blue eyes and felt her lips start to tremble, announcing the tears were near the surface. Clark saw the fight the young reporter was putting up to keep herself collected, and his heart went out to her.

¨It´s all right, Chloe, ¨he murmured, slipping next to her on the seat.

She wanted to tell him things weren´t all right, and that she doubted they´d be for a while. In fact, she couldn´t help but envy the farmboy because of his faith and his eternal optimism. Despite his tendency to judge the world around him in black and white- a view instilled by his adoptive father- he always tried to see everything through rose-tinted spectacles. Unlike the young Kent, Lex and Chloe were deeply aware of the true nature of man; they had both been hurt too many times to delude themselves any more. The world was a realm of greys to them, and notwithstanding her moral convictions and her hunger to expose the evil of man, she knew in her heart of hearts that the one person who could truly understand what she was going through wasn´t the innocent tender-hearted boy sitting next to her in the coffee shop. The man whose questionable moral choices had affected the lives of so many people she cared for and of others she hardly knew; the powerful CEO who looked over his kingdom from his crystal and metal tower in LuthorCorp Plaza, was the one person to whom she felt connected now, and that realisation made her shiver.

¨You´re cold, ¨said Clark with concern in his voice, taking his jacket and putting it on her shoulders- a protective gesture which made more tears well up in her eyes.

Chloe let her best friend embrace her, and a sudden feeling of envy overtook her. Envy of her cousin and what they had found in each other. She knew envy was unhealthy; it could be as dangerous as jealousy- a feeling that had driven her to a deadly trap when she was but a teenager. It wasn´t that she coveted Lois´ husband- her romantic feelings towards Clark had died many years ago, so many that sometimes she wondered if it had really been love or just an adolescent crush. No, what she envied was that connection Lois and Clark had, that something she had only experienced for a very brief spell with a man she had thought no longer existed, but whom she had found again in a corridor not so long ago.

¨Let me take you home, Chlo´,¨ murmured Clark soothingly, and the blonde reporter complied, too tired to put up a fight.

CHAPTER 7: Things aren´t Always What they Seem

A week had gone by since the funeral when Chloe plucked up the courage to pick up the box with Chance´s personal belongings, which the airline had delivered at her door. In fact, she had signed the package and put it away unopened, unwilling to go though the stuff just then.

It was ten o´clock and her leave of absence was coming to an end. She had already finished the house chores and poured herself a cup of freshly-made coffee when she decided it was high time she had a look at the contents of the box. Although she had always enjoyed digging up dirt to write her exposés, this was different because it hit too close to home.

Chloe stood in front of the wardrobe for five minutes solid, sipping her hot java and gripping the mug tightly to warm up her suddenly freezing hands. Then, she set down the empty cup on the dresser and, taking a deep breath, swung both doors open- the accusing package was lying at the bottom, partially covered by her long winter overcoat and the dresses she rarely wore.

¨Well, it´s now or never, Chloe,¨ murmured the blonde reporter as she bent down and retrieved the box.

The package weighed very little for most of Chance´s belongings had ended up in the ocean or got burnt with the rest of the passengers´. Still, it felt like a ticking bomb to Chloe, whose heart was hammering in her chest as she sat on her bed holding the box in her shaky hands.

´Come on, Sullivan. Remove the tape and take a peek inside. I bet you´ll find some boxers and a pair of socks. Or did he use briefs? Well... whatever! You shouldn´t stall this. Could it feel worse than it already does? Maybe. But you know you want to learn the truth. So... go ahead and do it! OK, here we go... ¨she mused as she finally cut the sticky tape with the aid of a pair of scissors.

There wasn´t much inside, except his passport, a wallet with his credit cards and a hundred dollars in small notes, some toiletries, a bunch of keys and... his daily planner. Chloe grabbed the diary and put the rest back in the box, dreading what she might discover once she browsed the notes in Chance´s neat handwriting.

Her eyes scanned the brief scribblings as she turned the pages one by one. Most of the entries were connected with his work on Lex´s campaign- interviews, photo shoots, fundraisers, press conferences; nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it wasn´t until she reached the month of December that her breath became more laboured when an initial started appearing with frequency and she realised Lois had been right all along. Every single word that had come out of Chance´s mouth had been a lie. ´L´ could have stood for Lex, but she was no longer going to make excuses for her late boyfriend. Every night he had stood her up or called off their plans the last three months, while she had thought he was working on Lex´s campaign to the Senate, he had been actually cheating on her with the wife of Metropolis most influential tycoon.

Chloe felt the teardrops roll down her cheeks and cursed her stupidity once again. It seemed she had been born to fall for the wrong guys. First, there had been Clark when she moved from Metropolis to Smallville; then Lex, that fateful summer when she had almost died in the hands of Lionel Luthor; and, before Chance, Jimmy Olsen- the now star photographer of The Daily Planet. All of them had broken her heart one way or another. She was still friends with Clark and Jimmy... Chance? Well, he was dead. As to Lex... She had hated him at the end of that summer, almost as much as she had grown to love him during her exile. Chance had asked her if there had ever been anything between them, and she had told him ´No´ because it was the truth- the qualified truth, that is. There had been feelings, of that she was sure.

She could still remember that evening when they almost had let themselves be driven by that sexual tension which had always sparkled between them and felt tempted to cross the flimsy line between friendship and that something else she had yet to find again and which he had thought he could have with Lana. That evening Chloe had read in his eyes something which he never allowed anyone to see- that desperate hunger to be loved, to be worthy of someone´s affection. And it was precisely that naked need which made them so similar, that need to be wanted, to be deserving. Both had lost their mothers at an early age and had courted danger as a means of escape or self-punishment. Unlike the orphan Lana, who had sought retribution by arousing pity in others with her attitude of eternal martyrdom, Lex had resorted to drugs, loose women and fast cars while Chloe had put her safety on the line by stirring up a hornet´s nest with her investigative exploits for The Torch.

Eleven years had gone by and things hadn´t really changed. He no longer did drugs or engaged in one-night stands, but he was continuously courting disaster with his illegal and morally dubious business deals. Meanwhile, Chloe kept collecting enemies and death-threats with her exposés, and felt as miserable as that summer in which Lex had done the honourable thing and chosen to salvage what was left of his friendship with Clark by refusing the gift of her innocence. His decision had been futile because not only had Clark turned his back on him, Lex had hurt Chloe more than he´d ever know. The blonde girl had loved him, and he had interpreted her ardour as pity. Chloe had tried to convince him amidst tears that he was what she wanted, but he had turned her down and given her the cold shoulder once she came back to Smallville.

It was no use crying over spilt milk, Chloe told herself. It had taken her a long time to accept Lex didn´t want her in his life and a cold head to realise that, despite his efforts to the contrary, he was a Luthor and, as such, he was not only given to secrets and lies but he was also emotionally crippled. It wasn´t that Lex couldn´t feel; he denied his feelings because it was the only way he knew to preserve what Lionel had fought so hard to destroy. In retrospect Chloe could understand his decision to cut all strings with her; she made him weak and was a stone on his road to greatness.

Lex was a man of amazing contradictions- capable of the greatest good and the utmost evil- but what he didn´t realise was that by turning down the opportunities life offered him to be happy, he hastened his journey to become what he had always feared- his own father. Now, the question was what part of his nature would emerge victorious.

Eight days after Lana´s burial Lex returned to his offices at LuthorCorp Plaza for the first time. Although he had been keeping tabs on the corporation´s multifarious investments and overseen the projects under way from the penthouse, he knew he couldn´t stay away from the headquarters of the empire that his father had built and he himself had expanded with his visionary endeavours.

A week had been more than enough for the architect and his team to transform the room next to his private office into a nursery and playroom for the children. Money could buy the best furniture and toys just as it could secure the services of the most professional of nannies in the world, but Lex had promised himself his kids wouldn´t be raised by a stranger or be emotionally hurt by those in charge of their care like he had been. Even though he was scared witless of not being able to give his babies what they needed from the emotional point of view, he knew he loved them and was committed to show them how much – not by lavishing them with expensive gifts or submitting them to twisted tests, but by being there for them every step of the way.

As CEO of one of America´s largest corporations, Lex was aware that being 24-7 with his offspring was impracticable. Still, the fact that the school holidays had just begun gave him the opportunity to have both children around, particularly now when Alex needed him the most. The young tycoon wanted to make sure the boy didn´t feel neglected because of the hours of exclusive attention Lilly demanded of his dad.

Therefore, in order to be able both to keep a close eye on them and to see to his business, he arranged for their nanny to present herself at LuthorCorp Plaza at eight thirty every morning. In that way, he was certain they weren´t unattended and, at the same time, he could be available for Lilly´s feeding time and even devote a few precious moments to bond with his first-born amidst his hectic agenda.

It was close to eleven o´clock on a Friday morning and Lex was working on the platinum cufflinks with two intertwined Ls to fasten the new light-blue dress shirt he had taken from the bottom drawer of his desk- the one he had donned earlier got ruined while feeding the baby- when the intercom buzzed.

¨Yes, Jennifer, ¨said Lex, pressing the speaker´s button.

¨Mr Luthor, there´s a Miss Sullivan to see you. She´s got no previous appointment, but she insists you´ll receive her, ¨answered his assistant of a month.

¨Tell her I´ll see her in ten minutes, Jennifer. Get her a strong cup of coffee with two sugars to keep her entertained, ¨he smirked, cutting off the call.

He had expected Chloe to turn up at his office sooner or later. The question was in what capacity she had decided to walk into the lion´s den.

¨Luthor, ¨snapped the billionaire, opening the scrambled mobile phone when he read the caller ID on the display. ¨Any news? ¨

¨We´ve found him, sir, ¨said the man on the other side of the line.

¨It was high time, Mr Johansen, ¨responded Lex gravely as he clenched his fist in the pocket of his trousers. ¨I want satisfaction. You know what to do. ¨

¨I´m on it, sir, ¨replied the caller sobered.

¨You´ll get the bonds as soon as I have proof the job´s done, ¨stated Lex as he put on his jacket.

¨You´ll get news before the day´s over, ¨promised the man he had hired a couple of months before.

¨I hope so. I´ve waited too long for this. I´ll wait for your call, ¨finished Lex, flipping the mobile shut and stashing it away in the top drawer of his desk under lock and key. ¨Come in, ¨said he when there was a knock at the door.

¨Miss Sullivan, sir, ¨announced Jennifer, ushering a very professional-looking Chloe into Lex´s private office.

¨Bring us a carafe of freshly-made coffee and two cups, ¨ordered Lex to his assistant.

¨Yes, sir, ¨bowed the middle-aged woman from the doorway.

¨And Jennifer? ¨he added before she left. ¨Get us something from ´Le Patisserie´, please. ¨

¨There´s no need, Lex. I´ve already had breakfast, ¨interrupted Chloe.

¨After three hours of browsing dossiers and answering conference calls, I feel like something sweet, ¨he smiled, making the blonde reporter wonder whether he was referring to the piece of pie he intended to eat or if he was trying to make her feel at ease with the flirty bantering they used to share back in Smallville when she was but a green schoolgirl and he was fighting not to step in his father´s shoes.

¨I´ll leave the choice in your more than capable hands, Jennifer. You´re excused now, ¨he added, gesturing Chloe to take a seat while he resumed his place behind the desk. ¨Well, Miss Sullivan, ¨he cocked an eyebrow, ¨what has brought you to my doorstep? ¨

Chloe saw Lex´s smug look on his face and wondered for the umpteenth time whether she had taken the right decision coming to his office like this. The Lex Luthor she had known in Smallville had almost limitless resources at his disposal, but he still had scruples, and she wasn´t sure how he´d react now when he found out what she had discovered.

¨So? ¨insisted Lex, seeing the blonde reporter hesitate for a second. ¨Don´t tell me you´ve come all the way to the lion´s den to chicken out all of a sudden. I remember I promised you an interview, ¨he smirked.

¨I´m not here to see the next senator for Kansas, Lex, ¨she responded, opening the holdall and taking out a dossier she pushed towards him across the desk.

Lex picked up the folder and leafed through its contents, schooling his features as his eyes scanned the information she had managed to gather. The young woman would never cease to amaze him; she always succeeded at discovering the best well-kept secrets, including the one Clark had never wanted to share with him.

¨Where did you get this? ¨he asked tersely, closing the dossier and slipping it back to her.

¨You know me better than that, Lex. I´d never reveal my sources. They have the constitutional right to be protected. Besides, there´s always the risk of having their testimony miraculously vanish. No, I know who I´m dealing with. ¨

¨Do you? ¨he asked with the ghost of a smile. ¨And what makes you think what you´ve got is the truth? ¨

¨The information I´ve managed to collect speaks for itself.¨

¨Do you believe me capable of this monstrosity, Chloe? ¨he responded.

¨I still want to believe the man I used to know is there somehow but, so far, you have to agree your record of morally questionable deeds doesn´t speak too much in your favour, ¨ she told him, looking him straight in the eye.

¨I truly admire you, Chloe. It takes guts to come to me with this kind of accusations... particularly, given my reputation for making encumbrances disappear, ¨he smiled wryly.

¨I´m not afraid of you, Lex, ¨ she said calmly.

¨Oh, yes, I forgot. You´ve got the hero in blue spandex to protect you, ¨he laughed, getting up and walking to the bar to get a bottle of Tŷ Nant.

¨He´s got better things to do than be my bodyguard, Lex. ¨

¨There was a time when you would have given the world to have him as your personal protector, ¨ he said, taking a swing at the bottle.

¨I´m not here to talk about him. ¨

¨Right, you´re here to fill in the shoes of the salt-of-the-earth farmboy and his righteous old dad. They were always ready to think the worst of me.¨

¨That´s not true... ¨

¨Isn´t it? ¨

¨Clark... ¨

¨I´m done defending myself for things I haven´t even done, Chloe. You´re free to believe whatever you want, but if you print this... ¨he said threateningly, picking up the folder she had brought with her.

¨The proofs appear to be over-whelming, but there´s something that keeps bugging me, ¨she cut him off, unfolding a piece of paper she had left out of the dossier, leaving it on top of his desk.

¨Nothing stops you, does it? ¨he asked, perusing the document.

¨I could say the same thing about you, Lex, ¨she responded with the ghost of a smile. ¨Until the night of the ball I was ready to print my exposé but then, my investigator got me this and I started questioning everything I had found out... ¨

¨These were supposed to be private, ¨he fumed, seeing Lana´s name on the list of patients.

¨I knew Lana, Lex, but I´m not blind. You´d have never let her take Minervit during her pregnancy if you´d known the side effects. You were both lucky not to have lost your child, but many weren´t that fortunate, and they deserve justice. ¨

¨They´ll get justice, Chloe, ¨he said in a tone of voice which made her feel a shiver run down her spine.

¨Does that mean what I think it means? ¨Chloe managed to say.

¨You only need to know all those parents´ll get retribution for what´s happened to them. ¨

¨Do you know where Dr Jameson and his team of runaway scientists are? ¨she prodded.

¨They´re some place where they won´t be able to hurt anybody else, ¨he responded coldly as he downed the water which remained in the small blue bottle.

¨You mean dead? ¨stated Chloe matter-of-factly.

¨You´re trying to put words in my mouth, Miss Sullivan. I´m not my father. ¨

¨Over a week ago I´d have begged to differ, but maybe Clark´s wrong. Maybe you´re not completely lost after all... I´d have done the same for my baby. ¨

Lex bored his stormy blue-eyes into her and saw something stir in them he´d never thought anyone would show to him- not pity but sympathy. The revelation prompted him to put his defences up once again- he wasn´t going to let Chloe Sullivan make him feel weak. He was done stripping his armour in front of people who had the power to hurt him, and the blonde spitfire- in spite of all the years that had gone by- could still rattle him.

¨Daddy, ¨said a childish voice, peeking through the door leading to the adjoining room.

¨What´s wrong, Alex? ¨asked Lex warmly, crouching in front of his son.

¨It´s Lilly, ¨murmured the boy, looking at Chloe over his father´s shoulder.

¨Where´s Mrs Roberts? ¨Chloe heard the billionaire ask and noticed he was tense but trying to remain calm for Alex´s sake.

¨She´s gone to the toilet. I told her it was fine... that I could watch over the baby but... she´s crying and I don´t know what to do... ¨explained the red-haired boy with intense blue-grey eyes which were a replica of his dad´s.

¨We´re done here, Lex, ¨said Chloe calmly as the man straightened up.

¨What are you going to do about what we´ve been talking? ¨was his calm reply.

¨Go. See to the child, Lex. The story as it was written is unprintable. I´ll wait for the press conference no doubt you´ll give tomorrow morning before putting the final touches to the new article. I wouldn´t like to be sued for libel, would I? ¨she told him, picking up her stuff and making her way to the door.

¨Chloe? ¨ Lex called her back. ¨Why did you bluff at the beginning of our conversation? ¨

¨It felt nice to be the one holding the cards for a change. It was odd to be the one being threatened, wasn´t it? ¨

¨We´re even, then, ¨he smirked, walking through the side door and shutting it firmly behind him.

TBC

[karila]

Great chapters!
I was sad for Chloe that she have been betrayed one more time.
Interesting confrontation between her and Lex.
I'm impatient to see their next encounter.

[tatie87]

Great chapters. Please update soon.

[Linda]

Interesting..... Chloe lists Lex in her list of lost loves. I'm looking forward to seeing how you are going to bring the two of them together. They seem to be at something of a stand off just now.