Elective Affinity (R) UPDATE 14th June 2009

[Impress]

Good update.

[Kit Merlot]

A great update!

Chloe and Lex's lives have been so wrapped up in Clark's, I wonder if they would be able to function without his presence always looming between them.

Can't wait to see what happens next

[ChloeLovesLex]

Excellent work. Write more soon

[Pampermousse]

Thank you for the comments! I am glad you are liking it! Here is the next part - hope you enjoy...

Now

Chloe sees a sliver of light from under the blanket and buries her head back down again. She can feel the blood in her head thumping, the payback for raiding the mini bar last night.

She thinks of calling Clark and telling him about her meeting with Lex before realizing there would be nothing to tell. Lex had played dumb with an ease that had chilled her. She hears her hotel phone ring and releases an arm to answer it.

“Chloe. I’m waiting.”

Chloe closes her eyes at her editor’s voice

“I’m still working on it. It might take some time. Luthor doesn’t want to play.”

“What have you got so far?”

“Nothing.” She grimaces in anticipation of his reaction as she says this.

A pause.

“Nothing nothing or something nothing?”

“Something nothing” Chloe replies with a smile.

Ed mumbles in what she hopes is acceptance,

“Here’s something interesting for you Sullivan. Batman is missing in action. Hasn’t been spotted for a couple of days and there have been a few cats up trees that have just had to stay there.”

“Maybe he’s taking a holiday? Or taking a much needed visit to a therapist?”

Ed laughs and rings off.

Chloe is now upright in bed and looks down at the phone. She dials Clark’s number.

Earlier

Chloe, like many ladies of a certain age and appearance, had spent a few nights entwined with Bruce Wayne. She had had the dinner invitation, expensively embossed, the fine dining experience at a private restaurant and the requisite sweeping of her feet back at the Manor. Although her feet had not left the ground as she suspected others had. It took a lot nowadays for that to happen. It had been a nice distraction, and truth be told, she had been flattered by the attention even whilst knowing it was given out indiscriminately to others. Bruce Wayne was entertaining company but there was something about the man that she could not reach. She had been the one to put an end to their periodic meetings. It was going nowhere which suited her, but there was enough about him that in a low vulnerable moment she could feel that it might go somewhere. She didn’t want to get silly about what they had or rather didn’t have so she had decided it best not to see him. There had not been any other men in her five years away from Metropolis. She became worried that she would never be able to date an ordinary man and wondered whether her choice would always be between alien and billionaire.

Now

Chloe hangs up the phone after speaking to Lois. Clark is missing in action. She furrows her brow and thinks that Batman and Superman taking a break from saving the world doesn’t feel right.

She showers and dresses casually in jeans and a loose sweater. She picks up her cellphone and sees she has a missed call. She re-dials and lets out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding when Clark answers.

“I was worried. I thought that you and Batman had decided to have a Superhero strike”

Clark gives a half laugh and is quiet

“There was a meeting.”

“You guys have meetings?!”

“Kind of.” is all Clark offers

“Who takes the minutes?”

“Oliver. He has the best handwriting” Clark says in all seriousness and Chloe suddenly misses him. Misses who they once were.

“Is everything ok Clark?”

“No, I don’t think it is” and she has never heard Clark sound like this, so sad and lost.

“Lex is building a weapon that can destroy me”

She had realized some time after leaving Smallville that the biggest competition she had when it came to Clark had been Lex. She had seen Clark unwilling to believe the worst about Lex and it hadn’t just been because of his kind nature. It was as if he saw from the beginning that their destinies were intertwined, and if Lex could rein in his dark side, Clark would not have have to fly so close to the fire. And that if Lex gave into the darkness inside of him, Clark would also need to become a darker shade of white to fight him. She knows how much this new knowledge must wound Clark, in more ways than one.

“I’m sorry” she says because she doesn’t know what else to say.

“Shall I talk to him?” she adds, almost out of politeness

“Do you think it will work?”

“No” she answers truthfully and she hears Clark sigh quietly
“You can try” and he softly hangs up.

Earlier

The night of the vodka martinis, as she remembers it in her head, or the night before the rest of her life, she had found herself standing on the interstate bridge, looking over the Metropolis skyline. She had made her decision then to leave the Planet and she was saying a sorrowful goodbye to the city she loved. She had had a dozen missed calls from Clark to thank her no doubt for keeping his face out of the papers, but she couldn’t take them that night. Instead she stood alone, the alcohol liquefying her brain, blunting her judgment and dulling the pain. She breathed in the warm air and felt the sporadic breeze from the cars that passed behind her.

She had seen a movement out of the corner of her eye, and in a part of her brain had registered that someone had dropped something into the river. She turned fully and saw Lex, slipping a gloved hand back into his pocket. She could not process what she had seen, only that it was out of place. She saw him turn and see her, and then a small movement as he recognized her. He had walked slowly and deliberately up to her and if she was someone else she would have been scared. Instead she had accepted the offer of a ride back into the city.

Her memory fails her then and the next thing she remembers is being in the penthouse and Lex mixing her a drink.

“Are you trying to get me comatose?”

“It’s a Bloody Mary. Plus, you’re no use to me comatose” he had smiled a little when he had said this.

“So, what were you doing on the bridge Lex? It looked interesting.”

“What did you see?”

“The correct answer is nothing isn’t it?

“Yes” he had said seriously and walked up to her and handed her the drink.

She had taken a big gulp to distract herself from the tone he had used

He raised his glass, and she realized he wanted to toast. He looked at her carefully

“Old habits” he began

“Die hard” She had finished and drained the glass, catching his expression as she put the glass down, seeing something resigned in his eyes.

Later

Chloe sits in her room, with only the light of her computer. She reads over LexCorp’s activities in recent years. She sees that Clark has succeeded her as the thorn in Lex’s side. She reads more thoroughly than she did in Gotham about the information on human testing and thinks back to that toast, 5 years ago. She shivers.

[Kit Merlot]

A great update!

The Clark vs. Lex dynamic is fascinating, and I do truly believe that Clark doesn't want to have to fight him.

Keep up the wonderful work with this fic

[lexie]

Short but interesting update. I wonder what it was that Lex threw into that river five years ago. Disturbing.

[hfce]

That was good but I want more please.

[autumngold]

I love how Lex and Chloe understand each other!! Although it may be Lex and Clark that are fighting against each other, they are both so lucky to have Chloe who understands what they need!! I am interested to see what Chloe will do about the weapon that Lex is building!! Will she be able to stop him?!! Does she want to stop him?!! Please update soon!! This is such a good story!!

[malugargula]

I`m curious about what Lex threw into the river

Please more soon

[Pampermousse]

Thank you for your comments - I really appreciate them. I am sorry the updates are a little short - I am trying to make each part a Chloe or Lex POV - hope you enjoy this part

LEX

Now

It is the second time in two days that Lex is looking at Chloe Sullivan sitting in his office. She is dressed casually, in jeans and a sweater. No makeup either. She looks about 19. Lex is disarmed by this.

“Clark is worried about you”

“I’m touched” and really, he is. It’s been some time since he’s been on the receiving end of concern from Clark.

“He thinks you might be doing something you don’t really want to be doing.”

Chloe is speaking slowly and clearly. Her eyes are very serious and very big. He can see that she is trying to be patient.

“And what would that be?”

Chloe gives him a look. Lex wonders whether it could possibly be the weapon. He is sure it isn’t, he has been very careful to hide all evidence. It must still be the kryptonite drop.

“Playing with dangerous toys”

“Well Clark can’t have all the good ones. He needs to learn how to share” He hears a snort of derision come from Chloe.

“So when did you branch out into weapons of mass destruction?”

Lex cannot hide his surprise and he knows Chloe has seen it. He turns away from her and walks to the drink cabinet. Maybe Clark has sharpened up in his old age or maybe he is getting help from elsewhere. He wonders how much Clark knows about the weapon. It must be his computer system. As soon as Chloe is out of here he will order a new one.

“That expression has lost a bit of its potency don’t you think?” he replies conversationally, “with its misuse of late”

“I think in this instance, it´s pretty on target.”

He finishes mixing the drinks and walks back to face Chloe, thinking it’s time for someone else in this room to feel a bit of discomfort.

“Bloody Mary?”

Earlier

There have been so many defining moments in his life, he’s forgotten most of them. He remembers however a night 5 years ago. It was the first time he killed someone not in self defense. The someone wasn’t innocent, in fact he was very guilty. He was a goon that had been hired by one of Lex’s business rivals to knock some sense into him. He did not have to kill him, there were numerous other ways he could have dealt with the man, but he had chosen to end his life. Lex had not reflected on the rights and wrongs of killing him, he was a criminal after all, but rather, the way he had come to his decision. He had crossed a line that night, and then earlier this year, another one, when he had moved from killing the guilty to killing the innocent.

He had gone to the overstate bridge and disposed of the weapon. He had seen someone there but she had looked like a local drunk so he had not taken any notice. When he turned to move back into his car he had recognized Chloe. It had been one of the few occasions in his life that he had felt real panic. He remembered looking more closely and seeing that his initial assessment of a local drunk had not been completely inaccurate. She was two sheets to the wind. He could not take any chances though and had offered her a ride.

He remembers knowing that she had not seen anything of crucial importance when they were back at the penthouse. Her curiosity would have got the better of her then, not now though. Now she was different. He could see that she had developed the virtue of patience, and it made her even more formidable.

Now

Chloe is looking at him with amusement. “It’s a little early for me”

“What about a vodka martini?”

“Nice, Lex” she looks away and Lex knows she is not unaffected. She gets up and moves around him to the window.

“Your memory is pretty good”

“I remember the important things”

She turns and looks at him, “So do I” and Lex is not sure but it could be a threat.

“You can’t protect Clark forever”

“What makes you think I’m trying to protect Clark?” she walks to him with a slow ease.

“There’s no need to trouble yourself with my moral fiber, I’m afraid it’s a lost cause”

“Do you have a death wish Lex? Because you cannot win this one, and you are putting Clark into a situation where he will have to kill you”

“Tell Clark that if he wants to threaten me, he should come here himself.” He moves away from her and leans on his desk.

“That night, 5 years ago, it was important wasn’t it? Something happened.” Lex is thrown by her abrupt change of subject.

“Well I know we got a little intimate there Chloe but I wouldn’t classify it as important” He can see that Chloe is not buying it and he again thinks he does not need Chloe here, now, getting in the middle of things.

“That wasn’t exactly the highlight of my night either so we’re even. I was thinking of something else, but you know that. You’re just being obtuse.

Lex has had enough. He doesn’t have time for this and he wants her to leave.

“Give my regards to Bruce when you get back to Gotham.” He is moving towards the door. He continues speaking, just to be cruel. “Tell me, does he wear that mask in bed as well?”

He looks back and sees Chloe’s look of shock. Finally. He has ruffled her and it is not nearly as satisfying as he thought it would be.

“You didn’t know? Another secret for you to keep. I hope this doesn’t make your job harder in Gotham?” And he sees her eyes light up with anger, and he is pleased and ashamed at the same time.


Earlier

Apparently honesty was a real turn on for Lex. They had sat outside on the balcony and for a few minutes he had allowed himself to relax, convinced as he had been that she had not seen anything on the bridge. He had asked her, not expecting an answer on why she was so intoxicated. She had proceeded to give him a breathtaking monologue of brutal honesty on her job, life and Clark. He couldn’t quite believe she trusted him with this information, information on her weaknesses, on her vulnerabilities. He had looked at her, really looked at her and found another reason to be jealous of Clark Kent.


Later

It doesn’t happen often, but Lex had unleashed his fury on the head of his IT department when Chloe had left. He had demanded a new system up and running in a week. The staff would tip toe around him a little more this month. He sits now in the penthouse, looking out of the window, stroking his glass of scotch. Things are changing around him. There are variables he cannot control, Chloe being the biggest and most recent one. It seems that every time he comes close to completing the weapon something happens. He allows himself a sigh, here in the privacy of his home. His eyes close and images flit behind his closed lids, crashing into Clark on the bridge, Clark hanging, chained to the cross, Superman looking at him in disappointment, headlines in bold from the Daily Planet, Chloe falling off his balcony. And Clark catching her.