Smallville 1. The Man She Married

Part 1 The Man She Married  
  
She has been waiting for him an entire day. Chloe perked up at the sound of motor. She eagerly anticipated the door opening to reveal her very tired, but still very handsome man.  
  
"Mrs. Luthor, I'm home!" came the cheery call from outside. The door swung open and she squealed and raced towards him. She caught only his surprised look before launching herself into his arms forcefully. He wrapped his arms around her tightly so that if they lost balance, he could make sure to take the brunt of the fall. "Excited to see me, babe?"  
  
Chloe grinned at her husband and pulled him into the house with her. He remembered to kick the door shut behind him and grope for the knob to push the lock. "I've been sitting on my hands all day!"  
  
"I hope they're not sore and numb," he replied, tongue in cheek.  
  
She couldn't restrain a giggle as she pushed him onto a chair in the dining room. "I want to have a taste of this."  
  
He followed her with his eyes, his eyebrows arched when she bent low by the oven, her butt exposed high up in the air. "I wouldn't mind having a taste of that."  
  
Chloe laughed and turned to face him with a cookie tray completely covered by what appeared to be hardened dough. "Why, Mr. Luthor, you're very frisky tonight!" She walked over to him, placed the tray in front of him on the table, sat on his lap, and kissed the tip of his nose. "Besides, we'll get to that later," she whispered teasingly, "but right now I want to know if I've finally succeeded."  
  
"What are they?" he asked. She sucked in her breath at his question. When he saw her frown, he immediately worked to repair the damage. "Cookies. They're cookies. I meant, what flavor."  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes, picked up, or rather tried to pick one up. The cookie seemed stuck to the metal so she stood up, took a bread knife from the sink and forced it off. The cookie was thrown up into the air, and Chloe watched in horror as the split parts flew.  
  
Fortunately for her, her husband caught them in one hand and stuffed them quickly in his mouth. He nodded convincingly. "Mmmhhmmm," he murmured, his mouth full. "Mmmhhhmmmhhmmhmmm!"  
  
She smiled brilliantly at him. "What is it? What is it?"  
  
His eyes scanned the room quickly for any clue as to the identity of the hardened dough. Peeking from the top of the trashcan was a pack of coconut powder. He breathed a sigh of relief, forced himself to swallow, and said triumphantly. "Coconut!"  
  
Her eyes lit up, and she embraced him tightly. "You like it?"  
  
"I love it, Chloe."  
  
"Great! I'll make sure you can take some to work tomorrow!"  
  
And he was going to have to find a way to dispose of it without her suspecting. He reached for her and wrapped his arms about his waist. He would not swallow anything inedible for any other woman. She gave a pleased sigh when he pulled her closer and she straddled his thighs. "I would love that. But won't you be too tired?"  
  
"I don't do anything all day," she protested. "I should really get a life, you know."  
  
"You don't need to work, Chloe. I'll take care of both of us."  
  
She ran her hands over his tight shoulders. Her fingers played at the short hair on his nape and she leaned closer to kiss him. He buried his hands in her hair and deepened the kiss. "Lucas," she gasped as his lips moved to her ear. "You can't sweep this topic under the rug with sex again. I will need to help out with the bills. You're barely making enough."  
  
"We don't lack for anything," he murmured against her skin. "I provide well, don't I?"  
  
And he was right. Every since she could remember, Lucas had done everything in his power so that she would never have to worry. "I just don't want you working yourself to death for me. I'm perfectly capable of helping out."  
  
"Chloe, no," he told her seriously. He pulled away for a minute and tipped her head to face him squarely in the eye. "Promise me you won't go out looking for a job while I'm at work." She remained quiet and he sighed. "I love taking care of you, Chloe. I've been doing it all this time."  
  
She raised her hand to cup his cheek. "I know. It's the first thing I remember in the morning, waking up to find you beside my bed, asking me how I felt."  
  
"Good, baby. That's all you need to remember."  
  
"I can't help thinking there's more to my life than being your wife-not that I don't like it, Lucas. I adore it. I adore you. But there's got to be more to me than this."  
  
She could see in his eyes how his mood had fallen. The drastic change was apparent in the way his arms around her slackened. Unable to stand seeing him so sad (he was a boy in so many ways still) she rose from his lap and pulled him with her up the stairs to their bedroom.  
  
Lying beside him, her head pillowed on his outstretched arm, she whispered, "I hope you're not mad at me, Lucas. I just know there's more to me than this."  
  
Her eyes fluttered closed and her breathing steadied as she joined him in sleep. Like the past two days, flashes of a dream disturbed her. They were events which she had no recollection of, but everything seemed just at the edge of familiar.  
  
She was lying down on a bed. From the looks of the room, it was a hospital. Chloe had been to Smallville General several times and a few times to Metropolis. This was not either. She held a small bottle in her hands. Chloe wiped at her cheeks and when she looked down, she could see that her palm was wet. She looked up and found Lucas' intent eyes focused on her. "If you really want to put this behind you, Chloe, all you have to do is take that."  
  
"I can't just-"  
  
"Does it hurt?" he asked compassionately.  
  
"So much," she whispered. And in that dream, Chloe felt the ache in her heart spreading through her entire body.  
  
He wrapped his arms around her and she felt him brush a kiss on the top of her head. "Don't worry about. after. If you decide to do this, I'll look after you."  
  
"I can't burden you with that. I'll recover. I have to."  
  
He closed him hand over the bottle and clasped her hand. "I gave you that, Chloe. I'll deal with the repercussions."  
  
"I can't believe it's all come to this," she said. "I hate your entire family, Lucas."  
  
"No argument here," he told her softly.  
  
"If-if I take this, what happens to my dad?"  
  
His grip on her hand tightened, and she almost winced at the pain. "Chloe," he said in a low voice, "this isn't the best time to tell you."  
  
"Lucas, what happened?" she demanded. "Your father promised me-"  
  
"He's dead, Chloe. Mr. Sullivan's gone."  
  
She turned her head away when he would have touched her cheek. "Can you leave me alone?"  
  
He took a deep breath. "I don't know if I should."  
  
"Look, I know you're here because of your brother," she gritted out. "So just leave me the hell alone for a few minutes while I gather my thoughts, okay?"  
  
"Fuck Lex. You think I've been hanging around this shit hot country because of my brother?" Chloe didn't answer. She waved him away. "I should've met you in Smallville, Chloe. We would have blown out of there and never looked back."  
  
"Shut up, Luthor, and give me some privacy."  
  
Chloe waited until Lucas had shuffled out of the room before pulling her sore body to a sitting position. She couldn't stop the tears now. Crybaby. One day of fucking bliss and then it shattered. Damn Lionel Luthor and damn Lex even more. He couldn't even be bothered to come and visit her when he put her there in the first place.  
  
Her hands fluttered to her flat stomach. Chloe closed her eyes tightly because hopefully that will keep the tears from falling. It was an exercise in futility when she started sobbing at the new emptiness she felt there.  
  
She raised the small bottle of potent liquid that Lucas had managed to procure from her. The government had reason to shut down the Luthor plant in this country if they could produce chemicals as strong as this. A brisk knock on the door and Chloe met his eyes briefly before she tipped the contents down her throat.  
  
Chloe woke up coughing. She sat up in bed and tried to catch her breath, but only ended up choking even more. Lucas sat up beside her and ran his warm hand up and down her back. "Chloe, are you alright? What was it, babe? Bad dream?"  
  
She took the glass of water that he offered her and slowly sipped. "Lucas," she whispered, "you're an only child right?"  
  
His breath was warm on her neck as he kissed the goosebumps on her skin, but succeeded only on giving her more. "I am, Chloe. Why?"  
  
"Nothing. I just. it was a bad dream." He wrapped his arms tightly around her as they went back to bed. Lucas covered her shivering legs with his as he placed kisses all over her face. She closed her eyes, trying to remember faces of Lex or Lionel or even Mr. Sullivan, whose grave her husband had once taken her to. But there was no other significant face in her memory except for Lucas'. She fell asleep, disturbed, but dismissing it in the meantime. She must have been a writer before the car accident that Lucas had told her caused the memory loss. 


	2. A Paradise To Come

Part 2 A Paradise to Come  
  
Lucas Luthor settled back on the comfortable seats that the company's private plane provided. He sighed and smiled, just out of the blue. Even his father's demand for the quarterly meetings with his sons did not diminish the happiness that had been lighting his entire week.  
  
It had been difficult to leave her. It was always hard for him to kiss her goodbye at their front door. This time, the parting was even more reluctant because of the recent information.  
  
Due to two weeks of mild illness, he had taken his wife to the hospital for a check-up. Imagine the shock that paralyzed him to find out that they were expecting a child to further strengthen their family. Lucas could hardly believe the amazing development. He had one less thing to worry about. The fear that one day she would remember and leave him was easing with every kiss. With a baby they created together, Lucas was certain that Chloe would be with him forever. No matter what events occur or memories that come back, their bond was unbreakable now. And the lock that sealed that relationship was even now growing inside her.  
  
He closed his eyes and relished in the memory of her arms wrapped around him, clinging to his shoulders as she asked him not to leave. Her eyes were moist when she agreed that his work was important and that she would be waiting. He could clearly see the image he created in his mind of her welcoming her home, her belly one month larger, her breasts one month fuller, her heart one month fonder.  
  
He blinked at the steady, annoying noise. Lucas turned and found the flight attendant waiting for his attention. "What is it?"  
  
"Sir, it's a video call for you. It's your brother." She turned on the video phone in front of him and walked sedately back to the cabin.  
  
"How is Spain this time of the year?" greeted the Luthor on the screen.  
  
As with all the times that they have faced each other, Lucas tamped down the heavy feeling in his heart. "Lovely as always. The matador festival will be coming soon. I intend to be home by that time."  
  
"Of course you will," Lex assured his brother. "I doubt that this meeting will take long. Father just needs to see that we're both still under his thumb."  
  
"And he couldn't do this by video conferencing? I would have preferred to stay in Barcelona."  
  
"Your wife must be one heck of a woman to tie you down like that. You're a drifter, Lucas. It takes a uniquely brilliant sun to keep a man like you from wandering."  
  
A mention of her and Lucas was sure he was probably perspiring now. He was grateful that the screen would not catch such a tiny detail. He informed Lex that he married, and for all that Lex knew, Lucas had tied the knot to a Spanish woman he had met in the part of the empire he was given. Lex never extended an invitation to meet her. It helped that Lucas' marriage was around the same time when Lex suffered a loss and betrayal of his own. He had no wish to observe evidence that his brother found the happiness that he himself had not. "You have to understand, Lex. I want to be with her. We're-we're expecting. Just found out yesterday."  
  
It was apparent even in the small screen how devastation flitted across the older Luthor's features. Lex quickly hid the reaction. "You should have told dad. I'm sure he wouldn't have insisted on this meeting if he knew."  
  
Lucas shook his head. "He would have insisted I bring her along, Lex. I wouldn't have had the time to explain."  
  
"Are you still telling her that crap about being a sales agent? Why don't you just tell her? It's not like you're afraid she'll be with you for your money."  
  
"How is Manila, Lex?"  
  
Lex smirked at the abrupt change in topic. "Manila is Manila. Same hot hell it's been since my exile. Even worse is that despite the freaking heat, there's a tropical storm heading close by. On the upside, dad has no reason to grill me. LuthorCorp Pacific posted an impressive revenue this quarter." He flipped through some papers on his desk. "It looks like you'll be heading home to your wife soon. EuroLuthor did even better than the mother company."  
  
Matching the statistical graphs of the Pacific and European branches, Lex started to congratulate his brother on the performance of their company. He waited for an acknowledgment. When none came, he glanced up at the screen and found it static. Lex frowned and redialed.  
  
'The number you are calling is out of coverage.'  
  
The hell it was. The line was just cut and their global positioning satellite reached the deepest cave on earth.  
  
Lex picked up the phone on his desk and dialed air control. "Don't do this, Lucas," he muttered, looking out the window at the darkened skies. "Don't fucking do this."  
  
~~  
  
She sighed in her sleep, her hand involuntarily seeking her belly. Chloe smiled and drifted deeper into her dream.  
  
She sat cross-legged on a checkered blanket at the bottom of a small hillock. It was the replica of a famous volcano, thirty feet high but perfectly coned at the top. She had no idea how she knew that particular detail, but with the sun shining high above her and snacks spread before her, she didn't bother to find out.  
  
"You're going to burn your skin off." And then there was shade. Chloe looked up but couldn't see the man's face, silhouetted as he was. With the sun shining behind him, all she could discern was that he was bald.  
  
She was drawing an envelope from her purse now. Chloe noticed appreciatively that her bag was woven abaca that matched the sandals at the edge of the blanket. All around her was vast grassland and she was the flower in the floral sundress.  
  
Chloe handed the envelope to the man. She could feel her heart racing, although she did not know why. What was so important in that envelope that made the man gasp? The paper fluttered down to the blanket and she smiled up at him.  
  
"God, this is perfect!" he sighed. He knelt in front of her, and with the sun still behind him, she saw nothing of his features but that brief spark of the blue in his eyes. His arms wrapped around her waist and she rested her hands at his nape, allowing him to lay her down on the blanket and cover her body with his. "You're perfect," he said. "We're going to be perfect, the three of us," he promised, and her heart soared.  
  
She turned her head and looked at the paper caught underneath a mango. Chloe's lips parted when she read the words printed there.  
  
"Names," he said. "We'll think of names. And we'll go shopping for everything it needs."  
  
"Lex," she said, puzzling her again. "It's too early."  
  
"I don't care," he whispered against the crook of her neck. "We're going to look for a house, Chloe. I'm going to design the nursery."  
  
"Will you let me help?" she teased.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Why did you bring your phone? You promised you wouldn't," she protested.  
  
Chloe stirred on the couch when the ringing didn't stop. She sat up and saw the cordless telephone on the coffee table blinking, and then realized that it wasn't a dream. She reached for it. "Hola!" she greeted. By this time, Lucas would be calling from Madrid, where he usually signed contracts for the chemical sales.  
  
"Señora Luthor," the low voice came from the other end.  
  
"Si." Chloe rose and went to the kitchen to get some milk. She really needed something to wet her suddenly dry throat. Too bad she wasn't allowed coffee anymore. She couldn't even claim that she forgot the rule. Lucas had it plastered on the refrigerator and the coffee maker. 'BABY DOESN'T LIKE CAFFEINE. DADDY WON'T APPRECIATE MOMMY HYPED ON CAFFEINE.' "Soy aqui. Quien es tu?"  
  
"Señora," the man said slowly, "tu hablas ingles?"  
  
"I'm American," she informed the caller. "Why?"  
  
"Mrs. Luthor, I'm calling about your husband Lucas."  
  
Chloe grabbed the edge of the sink. There was something about the sober was that the man said that that made her faint and woozy. "He's on his way to Madrid. His train left a few hours ago."  
  
"No, Mrs. Luthor," the man imparted. "I will be going there to fetch you. I would not have wanted you to find out this way. Lucas' plane was reported lost over the South China Sea."  
  
"What?" she whispered.  
  
"We will need you here."  
  
"Who is this?" she demanded. "Lucas is in Madrid, not flying to Asia!"  
  
"Mrs. Luthor, your husband has been traveling here four times a year. He is vice president of EuroLuthor."  
  
"Who the hell is this?"  
  
"I'm his brother, Mrs. Luthor. And I know that we are complete strangers, but this crisis will bring us closer. I assure you. We take care of family. I will be leaving right now to get you personally. Wait for me okay?"  
  
"This isn't true," she denied softly, although what the man said made sense. Lucas did leave for weeks of every quarter. And for a chemical sales agent's salary, they had an impossible carte blanche over anything they would ever need.  
  
"I'll explain everything on the way back here. Just wait."  
  
"Lucas does not have a brother!"  
  
"He does. I'm sorry he never told you. Lucas is a complicated young man," the caller explained. "Please. I only got your address. Wait for Lex Luthor."  
  
Chloe gasped and dropped the phone to the floor, where it cracked open and sent the small screws and parts rolling all over the kitchen tiles. 


	3. Her Search for Him

Part 3 Her Search for Him  
  
3 years prior  
  
2007  
  
Lex Luthor hated schmoozing. It was the reason why he came to like Smallville, Kansas in his first incarceration. The exile that his father had chosen for him suited him perfectly because almost every citizen hated him already. He did not need to act friendly to anyone. It was perfectly understood that he was there against his will. He had to stay because it was his punishment. The people did not want him there either. They had to welcome him as much as they could because the livelihood of the community relied on the Luthors.  
  
Now here in the business district of Makati, far on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, on his brilliant second exile, after he had unsuccessfully tried to displace his father from LuthorCorp, Lex was required to attend meetings with the business clubs and speak at length with the president in order to gain the access and licenses he needed to operate.  
  
Why could Lionel Luthor not have dumped him in the European branch, which was already as established as the American mother company? No, Lionel, being the loving father that he was, threw Lex to Asia where LuthorCorp was almost unheard of. Lex was given the amazing responsibility of actually building up business contacts and winning contracts. LuthorCorp Pacific was nonexistent to the extent that Lex was choosing furnishings for the building being constructed even at that precise moment.  
  
He had to face it. He had been sent to the Philippines where he stood out so that his father could embarrass him even from that distance. Lex was where he was now because his father knew that it would take him time to have new relationships here. He knew no one; he did not even speak the first language.  
  
"Damn him and his control," he muttered as he waited for the elevator doors to open. He could not judge if he had impressed the business club with his speech. The suited executives nodded along with his statements but Lex knew that part of their attention was given because they were enthralled by his bald head. At least in America everyone was used to seeing him in papers and television that no one seemed shell-shocked by his appearance.  
  
He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he never saw the figure heading over to him. Lex bumped into the approaching person, sending papers and enveloped flying across the floor.  
  
"Umph!" the familiar feminine voice broke through the haze of his murderous thoughts against his father. "Wait, no! Hold the elevator!"  
  
The ding and flash of the red light indicated the doors closing. The woman kneeling on the floor gathered her documents, shaking her head.  
  
"Miss Sullivan?" he asked in disbelief.  
  
The woman looked up at him from underneath blonde bangs that covered her eyes. "Lex!" she exclaimed. "I mean, Mr. Luthor!"  
  
Lex hurriedly helped her pick up her things. "Sorry about this. Bad day."  
  
"Oh if I weren't so glad to see a familiar face I would have cursed you to death."  
  
"What are you doing here?" he asked, extending a hand to help her up. Lex Luthor had not seen the girl since she had left Smallville for studies abroad. He grinned in appreciation. She wore a spaghetti-strapped flowered sundress that exposed the creamy skin of her arms and legs. At her feet, where he supposed it had fallen after their crash, there was a wide-brimmed straw hat with a sunflower design. Very tropical, true. But in a city like Makati, with skyscrapers and traffic that rivaled LA's, very out of place. No matter which part of the globe you placed Chloe Sullivan, it seemed that she would always stand out.  
  
"You're asking me," she stated. "I just recently arrived. I'm a visiting journalism professor in the university over at Diliman," Chloe informed him, referring to the large main campus a few cities away. "I was going to present a proposal to the Makati Business Club. But it looks like I'm late. My class ran over time. I was speaking too much!"  
  
Lex smirked and nodded to her clothes. "And you were presenting a proposal to the suits in that. Not that it's bad. You look delectable. Summery."  
  
She leaned down and picked up her hat, her skirt inching higher on her things. "It's a roomful of men in stark black and white. I need financial support," she explained.  
  
"I can imagine how that would work!" He took the heavy folders and envelopes from her. "I'd sign you as many checks as you want if you came to me in that too."  
  
Chloe smiled gratefully when he lifted the load from her screaming arms. "Much good it did." When he started walking towards the parking lot, she did too.  
  
"There's a meeting again on Thursday," he informed her. With a snide grin, he offered, "If you'll choose a strapless top then, I'll pick you up at the university and get you in."  
  
Her jaw fell in surprise and then she whirled around to face him. "That's so generous of you! And if I weren't doing this for a cause, that is for my students to have better equipment for their project, I would have slapped you for being a pig. But I am and yeah." she trailed off. "Wait a minute. You never did tell me. What are you doing in Manila? You're a long way from your empire, Mr. Luthor."  
  
"Lex," he corrected her automatically. "And I beg to disagree. Didn't you know that the Luthor empire has long passed the borders of America?"  
  
"Ah yes," she nodded sagely. "I'm in the media, even though I'm more of a teacher than a practitioner now. But I didn't know you've reached this far. EuroLuthor, I know about."  
  
"Well you're just in time to witness before your very eyes the rise of LuthorCorp Pacific." Lex shifted the documents on one arm and with his free one, led her out of the doors. He pointed to a tall building in the horizon, still being painted, but almost completely constructed. "Chloe Sullivan, you are looking at 2008's most prominent high rise."  
  
She stared in awe at the ice blue glass from top to bottom. The LuthorCorp Pacific building was as elegant, if not more so, than the best buildings in New York and Paris, in London and in Belgium. "Lex, you've built your palace," she whispered.  
  
"That's right," he agreed without false humility. "And much as I hate the exile, you're looking at a king."  
  
"At least while your dad's in Metropolis."  
  
"Come on. I'll drive you wherever it is you're staying." He took her by her elbow towards the one car that surpassed the rest. You can put Lex Luthor anywhere, and he'll always make sure his car is the flashiest. "Besides, I think my exile just got a little better."  
  
Chloe smiled and walked briskly to the convertible that was the same ice blue as LuthorCorp Pacific.  
  
The ride back to the university took a couple of hours along the main highway. Chloe decided that despite the pretty car, she really didn't like convertibles in polluted traffic. She ignored the fact that every half hour inhaling the smoke took off a year in her life. Lex was particularly chatty and she enjoyed listening to him. They had not really known each other that well back in Smallville. Now, being the only person he relatively knows in a foreign country, she was certain that she was going to become his closest friend and confidante. That fact scared her.  
  
It scared her more that it seemed that whatever tension between them she thought she had imagined as a high school student was returning full force. Her proximity to him was making her skin crawl in the opposite of horror and distaste.  
  
He stopped the car at the driveway of the College of Mass Communication, where she was still going to teach in a couple of hours. Before she opened the door, he grabbed her hand. "Is this class important?"  
  
She took a deep breath and looked at his hand that closed over hers. "I'm giving them a written exam," she replied breathlessly.  
  
"Can you get a TA to proctor for you?"  
  
She met his earnest eyes. This was supposed to happen, but suddenly she didn't want it to. The two of them were playing exactly on the lines that some bastard had written. If she said no now, even if she was the only woman he knew here, she was never going to see him again. She could kiss Thursday goodbye. "Give me five minutes." She jogged her way to the department to leave her instructions.  
  
Chloe walked to her office and let herself in.  
  
"I see big bro's still got the best babies."  
  
She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. Lucas Luthor was in her chair peering out of the window. Chloe left the papers on her table and hunted for her thin white sweater.  
  
"It's hot out, babe. Why are you putting that on? You're not planning on skipping class, are you?"  
  
"Leave me alone, Lucas. I'm doing what your dad sent me here to do, okay? So you just sit back and do what your dad wants you to and spy on me in silence."  
  
The youngest Luthor gave her an arrogant smirk. "So you don't want to hear about dad? Yours and not mine, of course," he qualified. "Neither of us could care less if mine keeled over and died right now."  
  
She turned around slowly and faced him. "Has there been any change?"  
  
He pushed his chair back and walked towards her. "Not yet." Chloe leaned back against her bookshelf. He drew her into his arms to comfort her. "Don't worry. He's getting the best care possible. My dad can afford it."  
  
She pushed him away quickly and picked up her bag. "I can afford it, you mean. Your dad's not getting mine treated out of charity or employee benefits, Lucas. Kindly remember I'm doing a dirty job for him so he'd better keep his end of the deal. And go to your class! Stop hanging out in my office." She had to hurry and stop at the restroom to make sure her makeup was applied evenly. She pushed back the guilty thoughts that nagged at her. It was all part of a job. 


	4. The Green in His Cheeks

Part 4 The Green in His Cheeks  
  
The files would synchronize for hours. Chloe sat back in her chair and watched the play of reactions on his face. Lex sat on the student's consultation chair in front of her and was checking figures with his accountant on the cellphone. While she waited for him to finish his business, she browsed through the manual of her brand new laptop, a first month gift from her extremely generous boyfriend.  
  
"I thought you'd never get off," she told him when he flipped his phone close. "I was beginning to rot here."  
  
He smirked at her words. "And wasn't I the one who got ignored for the last hour while you squealed over and petted your new toy?"  
  
"I am offended that you're offended!" she gasped teasingly. "You should be glad that I appreciate your offering."  
  
He stood up and brushed his pants off. Chloe winced at the sight of chalk dust spattered on his immaculate Armani. He leaned forward and brushed a kiss across her lips. "I am. Especially because I know you'll thank me in length tonight."  
  
Chloe's eyes dropped to the computer screen again, and she hoped that the light would hide her blush. But when she caught his meaning, she glanced back up at him. "You're leaving? You only just arrived!" she said, her heart sinking.  
  
"I have to," he explained by way of an apology. "Some figures don't match and I have to clear it up. My dad doesn't trust that I'm not planning on taking the reins myself. He's continually paranoid that I want to take this all for myself."  
  
She smiled at him, half in amusement. "And don't you?"  
  
"The question is, 'will I?' I've wanted to throw him to the dogs since I was twenty, Chloe. But I'm content with what I have now. I have no immediate plans of bringing down the emperor," he told her with a twinkle in his eye.  
  
Chloe looped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. "Stay," she breathed on his lips.  
  
"You have class," he murmured in between her playful nips of his lower lip. "And I have to work."  
  
"I'll skip class if you'll skip work. You can't possibly prefer Mr. Wells to this." She slithered up from her chair, pressing her breasts against his chest. "It's a milestone for us."  
  
"Shame on you, Ms Sullivan," he replied thickly. "You're not doing this in your office. What would your students say?"  
  
"As far as they're concerned," she told him, grinning widely, "Ms Sullivan is that cold American woman. But you, Mr Luthor, are not in my class list. I can abuse you." She pushed him away slightly and walked around the table, stopping a few feet in front of him. She hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her skirt and she pushed it down her hips and let go, until the tiger print cloth lay in a pool at her feet. "Celebrate with me?"  
  
"Chloe," he protested hesitantly, "my accountant is waiting in my office."  
  
She stuck out her lip in mock petulance. "Forty five year old man who wants to do arithmetic." She placed her foot on the chair and started peeling off her clear stocking. "Twenty three year old woman who just wants you." Chloe sighed and fluttered her lashes at him. "What a hard choice, Lex!"  
  
Lex watched through half-hooded eyelids as she swayed her hips like honey in a clear glass. "I'll pick you up in three hours," he said thickly.  
  
"Pick me up now."  
  
"I'll pick you up in-" Chloe walked right in front of him in her matching lace underwear. She ran her fingertips over his necktie and tugged on it. And then she pulled down forcefully, bringing his mouth crashing down into hers. He groaned. "Fuck Wells."  
  
"No, Lex," she whispered. "Me."  
  
"Chlo, you're going to be the death of me," he complained half-heartedly before grabbing her waist in his hands.  
  
~~  
  
Chloe sighed and burrowed deeper in her office couch, reluctant to move. Her entire body was languid. There was an incessant knock on the door that was probably a student who needs to consult. She wondered if he would go away if she pretended not to be there.  
  
The knocking did not stop. "I know you're in there, Chloe. Saw you come in with my brother earlier. He's left and you're still there. Open up!"  
  
Her eyes slammed open and she sat up. Lex could come back. In soap operas, they happened that way. She looked around for any item of his that he could have left. Instead of hunting, she realized she should be pulling Lucas out of the area where Lex could see him.  
  
Chloe hurriedly grabbed her skirt and fastened it. She inserted her arms into the sleeves of her blouse and pulled it closed. She spotted her panties caught under the leg of the chair and picked it up. She looked around for her bra and saw it hanging from the top bookshelf. She stifled her grin at the sight. Lex could be pretty frisky when you get him in the mood. She hopped up and down several times before she finally snagged it.  
  
She reached for the knob and pulled Lucas into the room. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in class?" she demanded.  
  
"Shouldn't you?"  
  
"I was filing some papers. I have to return students' works within two weeks remember? University rule," she threw over her shoulder, certain that Lucas had not read any handbooks and would therefore have no way of finding out whether or not she was telling the truth.  
  
The youngest Luthor nodded and pulled the extra chair, turned it around and straddled it. "Use that excuse on me when my brother hasn't just gone out with his tie in his hand."  
  
Chloe took some of her papers and placed them in her folder. "He loosened it before he fell asleep and since he was late, he didn't have time to put it back on properly." She went to the door. "Shall we?"  
  
"Oh Ms Sullivan."  
  
She turned around and glared at Lucas in exasperation. Sometimes she hated Lionel for more than just the job he gave her in exchange for her father's medical treatment. Did he really have to foist Lucas the immature spy on her as well? "What, Lucas? I'm running late."  
  
"Well." He gave her a smirk that was too like Lex that she couldn't stay irritated with him for long. "You wouldn't want to come to class with your blouse buttoned all wrong. I'm guessing you loosened it as well so Lex won't feel too informal when he took off his tie," he delivered blandly. At Chloe's hot flush, he walked past her. "Since you'll take a few more minutes fixing up, I'll go ahead and tell your class you'll be a while more."  
  
Chloe's hands automatically undid the buttons of her blouse, and she gave a shriek when her office door swung open again. "What!"  
  
"I forgot to tell you. Dad will want to talk to you."  
  
"Why? It's not time for my report yet!"  
  
"Yeah I know. But I may have let slip that you're sleeping with my brother." He shrugged irreverently. Lucas hurriedly closed the door before the thud on the wood indicated that the shoe made its way to where his face had been. He whistled his way to class, remembering how the skin of her chest gleamed in the muted sunlight filtering into her room. Lex had it so damn good. 


	5. Things She Can't Deny

Part 5 Things She Can't Deny  
  
"Really? That's too bad." Chloe sighed and checked her watch. "Well in that case I'm going to stay here and," groaning, she continued, "check student papers. Will you be finished around five?"  
  
"If I'm not, I'll drop everything anyway," he promised. "I'll pick you up. Stay there."  
  
"Where else would I be?"  
  
She could almost hear his grin over the phone. There was a momentary pause from his end of the line. "Chloe, someone just came in and I have to take this. I will be there all right? Are you all packed, or do you need me to send movers to your place?"  
  
"I'm fine, Lex. Everything's ready to go." She did not mention of course that Lucas had been to her place to help her out during the weekend.  
  
"All right."  
  
"Okay. Bye."  
  
"Yeah. Love you."  
  
And then she heard the dial tone. She closed her mouth, but it fell open again. She racked her brains for a response. Chloe dialed his office number. She turned off the phone. Thirty seconds after replacing it on the cradle, she picked it up and tried a different number. "Lionel Luthor please."  
  
She was immediately patched through and Chloe closed her eyes, listening to the Schubert playing on the line while she was on hold. She had slipped into the music by the time that his voice came in that she was lost for a second or two, "I hear that you're moving in with my son."  
  
"Are you confirming it with me, or are you just making a point, Mr Luthor? Either way serves no use."  
  
"Don't get defensive, Ms Sullivan," he drawled. "I was going to commend you on a job well done. I couldn't have planned it better myself. It's going to put you in the proper position to look into his most private documents. Very Victoria Hardwick of you."  
  
She shuddered at the reference, but couldn't deny the parallelism. "I'm not moving in with Lex for you, Mr Luthor. As far as I'm concerned the job is over. You have the answer. Lex is not and never has plotted to take the Pacific branch out from under you. He's transparent in all his transactions. Any threat you feel is pure paranoia."  
  
Her nerves were frayed at the way that Lionel insisted that she was on the right track. She had no intention of snooping around Lex's house in an attempt to create a suit to file against Lex.  
  
"Ms Sullivan, don't give me such lousy results when I've coughed out nineteen hundred dollars in your father's medical bills this past week alone. Get me real answers."  
  
She hung up the phone in frustration. Chloe looked up at the clock and saw that it was already half past twelve. There was no sense mulling over Lionel Luthor's stubbornness. It was a trait in the blood. What she found charming in Lex and a little passable in Lucas was thoroughly detestable in their father. She opened her drawer to take a few bills. She should just get something delivered.  
  
When the knock on the door came, she cursed the Luthor stubbornness. "Come in," she called out tiredly.  
  
The door swung open just wide enough for a plastic bag of takeout to fit through. "Is this enough bribery to not get me yelled out of the room?"  
  
"Fine, Lucas. Get in here. Be thankful that my stomach is growling."  
  
The youngest Luthor sauntered in and plopped down on the seat in front of her. He dropped his feet on the seat opposite. Chloe eagerly reached for the food, peeking into the boxes to choose a curried chicken topping.  
  
"I just got off the phone with a very pissed Lionel," she shared.  
  
"The things we have in common." He winked at her.  
  
"You talked to him too?"  
  
"Right after your little conversation apparently. He called me in class. He tells me that you believe Lex is clean."  
  
"Lex is. You know it as well as I do," she pointed out.  
  
Lucas shook his head. "Lex is never clean, Chloe. In fact, even if he is, insist that he's not. It's the only way to please my father. In fact, if you want my help saving your ass," he continued, grinning at the image it provided, "you'll let me call my dad and tell him that you were just covering for Lex. We'll say it's because you like him so much."  
  
Chloe shook her head, fishing for a piece of the savory white meat. "Lex has no hidden agenda now, Lucas."  
  
"My father will get frustrated sooner or later, especially if Lex is really clean. You're only proving to him and to his board that any money lost here is his own fault, that the business is losing through his own incompetence. He will destroy you."  
  
She narrowed her eyes. "He'll try. I don't care. Lex loves me."  
  
"All the more reason for my dad to tell my brother the circumstances leading you to this part of the globe," Lucas drawled. "I can get you out of this mess." He took her hand and squeezed it. "We'll go abroad. Dad offered me a position in Europe. It will take us away from all this manipulations, far from bother of them."  
  
Her eyes flickered to where their hands were linked before meeting his again. "I have faith, Lucas. Lex won't jump to wrong conclusions."  
  
"What's the right conclusion?" he asked. "The right conclusion is that you used Lex to get money from dad."  
  
"The reason-"  
  
"You think if Lex finds that out he'll stop and calm himself long enough to listen to why you betrayed him?"  
  
She tore her eyes away from him, because he was correct at every point. "I'll come clean," she assured him. "When I've found a way to pay for my dad's bills without depending on Lionel." Chloe pulled her hand out from under his slowly.  
  
"You know that if I had my own money already I won't hesitate to help you. I guess dad knew that. I have no way of withdrawing anything without him finding out."  
  
She looked back at him, searching his face for signs of his father. She was confused when she found nothing there.  
  
"Chloe-"  
  
She smiled at him and raised her hand to stop him. "Thanks, Lucas."  
  
~~  
  
This was supposed to be the date when she would tell him everything. Living with him, seeing everyday the wonderful man that he was, Chloe knew that there was no way she could possibly stay with him another day keeping the secret.  
  
She packed the picnic into a basket and grabbed the checkered blanket from the table, giving him instructions over the phone. "Take Roxas Boulevard and then turn left when you get to MIA Road. It's on the left side. You got that?" She smiled in satisfaction. "All right. I have some test results to pick up and then I'll meet you at the bottom of the volcano replica. I know. It's because we're steamy hot," she teased. "All right. I love you."  
  
On the way to the hospital, she convinced herself that there was no need to be frightened. She had never seen Lex so content. She had never been as content with her life. If she told him, and he becomes so angry that he breaks up with her, then she would accept it. It was for their peace of mind.  
  
She was prepared for the consequences. Until she found out that she was having his baby. And then she couldn't bring herself to tell him anything that would cause him to leave her.  
  
Everything was too perfect to ruin.  
  
She sat cross-legged on a checkered blanket at the bottom of a small hillock. It was the replica of a famous volcano, thirty feet high but perfectly coned at the top. She had no idea how she knew that particular detail, but with the sun shining high above her and snacks spread before her, she didn't bother to find out.  
  
"You're going to burn your skin off." And then there was shade. Chloe looked up but couldn't see the man's face, silhouetted as he was. With the sun shining behind him, all she could discern was that he was bald.  
  
She was drawing an envelope from her purse now. Chloe noticed appreciatively that her bag was woven abaca that matched the sandals at the edge of the blanket. All around her was vast grassland and she was the flower in the floral sundress.  
  
Chloe handed the envelope to the man. She could feel her heart racing, although she did not know why. What was so important in that envelope that made the man gasp? The paper fluttered down to the blanket and she smiled up at him.  
  
"God, this is perfect!" he sighed. He knelt in front of her, and with the sun still behind him, she saw nothing of his features but that brief spark of the blue in his eyes. His arms wrapped around her waist and she rested her hands at his nape, allowing him to lay her down on the blanket and cover her body with his. "You're perfect," he said. "We're going to be perfect, the three of us," he promised, and her heart soared.  
  
She turned her head and looked at the paper caught underneath a mango. Chloe's lips parted when she read the words printed there.  
  
"Names," he said. "We'll think of names. And we'll go shopping for everything it needs."  
  
"Lex," she said, puzzling her again. "It's too early."  
  
"I don't care," he whispered against the crook of her neck. "We're going to look for a house, Chloe. I'm going to design the nursery."  
  
"Will you let me help?" she teased.  
  
"Maybe."  
  
His kisses moved over the skin of her cheeks and when he laid his mouth on hers, searching for a response from her, Chloe gave him all her love in the kiss. Somehow, today, with the sun bearing down his back and his body pressing hers to the cool grass, it did not matter that so many things were left unsaid.  
  
They were going to have a family. That was one bond that Lionel's revelations would never destroy.  
  
~~  
  
His face was blurred above her. Chloe blinked rapidly to focus her sight on the image floating in front of her. "Lex?" she asked softly.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, the curt, silent way he asked emphasized his anger. Her heart stopped. Shock really did a lot to your senses. Suddenly, she could see that she was lying on the couch in the living room. Lex was sitting beside her with a slip of paper in his hand. Lionel would not have.  
  
"Tell you what?" she asked carefully.  
  
"I find you unconscious on the floor of the living room when I get home. Thank God we had the coffee table moved or you would have hit your head! Jesus, Chloe, I was so scared. I called your doctor and he said you've had low blood pressure for the past two months. Something about overexertion and stress." He ran his hand over his head in that nervous action she adored. "You've been putting on so many hours and taking on consultancy jobs. What do you need the money for?"  
  
"It's not something I have to tell you, is it?"  
  
"You're endangering yourself and the baby," he reasoned out. "You have to tell me these things. Chloe, you can ask me for anything. If you need the money, I'll give it you."  
  
"God!" she pushed him off the couch and stood up, careful to stay still for a few seconds so she could get her bearings. "I don't care about the money, Lex!" Chloe yelled, frustrated with the word, angry at the idea, pissed because no matter how much she hated it, it was a necessity she could not deny. "The money is the last thing I need to hear about in this relationship."  
  
"Chloe-" He looked down at the paper in his hand, a bank slip that stated the amount of money she had had transferred to her Metropolis account. "We still have to talk about this."  
  
"No, we don't!" she yelled back from the guestroom. "You have no right to demand answers like that."  
  
That night, Lex slipped into the room and saw her curled up in the bed that had not been used since he moved there. He pulled back the covers and picked her up. It did not seem right to see her asleep in any bed that was not theirs. 


	6. Because All Stories End

Part 6 Because All Stories End  
  
He gripped her arm with a fierceness he had never shown to her before. Chloe gritted her teeth to keep herself from hissing in pain. She would not show him how much he hurt her. It was nowhere near the pain he could show her she caused. She knew that much for a fact.  
  
"God, Lex," she said, with all her apology in her eyes.  
  
His nostrils flared at the sound of her voice. She could almost feel the way he sucked in his breath. She forced herself to keep his gaze on her. Even though she wanted to cringe away in shame, she held his eyes.  
  
"I didn't really know you then," she started.  
  
"Shut up," he whispered raggedly, as if those words required too much effort to say. "Shut up."  
  
"Lex-"  
  
And she had no right to cry because she was not the victim this time. But she did. And he hated her so much for acting like she was the one who got hurt in this entire situation. He pulled her roughly until she stumbled into his arms. Lex forced his mouth on hers, bruising, and she could only moan at the way the inner skin of her lips grated against her teeth, cutter the tender flesh.  
  
And while it hurt, she was vaguely aware that this would probably be the last time he would hold her close. Chloe held his head between her palms and pushed him closer, searching with her tongue for his and wrapping hers around it. She shook off the thought that although she was desperate for him now, because she loved him too much to accept that she would lose him without a final kiss, he was doing this because he was angry.  
  
Her hands reached for the buttons of his shirt. Her fingers, trembling, fumbled with the buttons. Before she was even aware that he took the task to himself, his shirt was off his shoulders and her hands eagerly explored the smooth skin she was so afraid she would never touch again.  
  
"I'm sorry," she whispered.  
  
And he only replied again, "Shut up."  
  
The red gown she had been wearing pooled around her ankles, leaving her wearing nothing but the diamond he placed on her finger, before Lionel Luthor, before their world shattered around them.  
  
"How can someone who looks like an angel be such a devil's bitch?" he asked so softly. Chloe's eyes followed his pants as they dropped on the floor.  
  
He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him to the bed. Chloe grasped his upper arms tightly, unwilling to let him do. "I didn't want to. I swear I was going to-" Her words were muffled when he pushed his tongue into her mouth.  
  
"Lex-"  
  
His knee pushed her legs apart and she welcomed him, even in his anger. Lex pushed his way into her, thrusting heavily. Despite her fear, she found herself welcoming him into her body and she sighed together with the tears that soaked the silk pillow case. It had to appear so deranged, the way he pounded into her while refusing to meet her eyes. Lex focused on the window, on the clock, on the sheet just below their entwined fingers, on the headrest where her one free hand gripped. He focused everywhere except for her, and it broke her heart more than knowing that he was furious.  
  
He came quietly, pulling out of her and spilling on her things and the bed. Lex rolled away from her and picked up his pants. The feel of his semen spattered outside of her womb gave her the urge to throw up. He did not even want to come inside her.  
  
When he strode out the room and slammed the door shut, Chloe quickly ran to the closet and slipped on her white nightgown. She threw open the bedroom door. "Lex!" she called, but he didn't stop. "Please talk to me. Don't let this ruin us," she pleaded.  
  
"What will it ruin?" he demanded. "You came here searching for me, for my fucking father, Chloe!"  
  
"It's not what you think!" She ran towards him. "I am so in love with you it hurts me."  
  
He stopped just at the top of the staircase. "Don't lie to me," he spat out curtly, not turning to look at her. "The deception is over, Chloe. Dad spilled the beans. You think I'll still believe any word that comes out of your mouth?"  
  
Chloe walked slowly towards him, silently asking him to look at her. Maybe if he did, and he saw the sincerity in her eyes, he would believe her. "Lex."  
  
He turned around and saw her, radiant in white and her face streaked with tears. The makeup that had earlier made her so regal now ran over her cheeks but she still appeared so innocent. "Go fuck someone else's life."  
  
"God, don't do this to us," she begged, pained. Chloe reached for him, but at the exact same time Lex shifted away abruptly, needing to be away, to drink, to think, to kill himself so he would not have to suffer through the day knowing the woman he loved was working for the bastard that spawned him.  
  
Air between her fingers, Chloe stumbled over the top step. Her eyes widened and she toppled over the edge. Lex tried to grab her, but he had moved too far, too quickly, to reach her now. He watched in horror and Chloe in white silk and bare skin hit each step in a steady descent, twisted limbs and a shock of blonde thrown over her face.  
  
He stopped breathing, his face blanched of blood. He stared at the figure at the bottom, a broken heap of Chloe in her white gown hiked up around her thighs. A dark pool gathered just below her waist, and his own terror blanked his brain when he realized that blood was coming from between her legs. Paralyzed on the top step, he looked on, uncomprehending.  
  
There was a loud rapping coming from the front door. Lex never heard it end or the door thrown open by its hinges.  
  
Lucas burst into the room and looked down at the prone body on the floor. "What did you do?!!" a voice demanded, one that Lex only vaguely heard but his brain never processed. "What the fuck did you do to her?!!"  
  
The younger Luthor dropped down on his knees beside Chloe and reached for her neck. "I need an ambulance now! She's still got a pulse. Yes. No, I can't ask him. He's looking down at us with no reaction at all. I don't give a shit about giving him first aid for shock! There's a woman bleeding on the floor here. Send us the ambulance!"  
  
He dropped the phone on the floor and tremulously pushed the hair away from her face. "You'll be all right," he whispered repeatedly. "Don't move her. Don't move her." Lucas held his hand over her mouth and closed his eyes, praying to feel her breathing steadily on his palm. His eyes fell to all the blood.  
  
He looked up to see if his brother was over his shock now. He would know what to do while waiting for the ambulance. Lucas only saw Lex Luthor sitting on the top step, staring down passively at a point close to Chloe.  
  
"You'll never see her again, Lex," he told his brother. "You do know that."  
  
Lex sat still, unflinching. 


	7. Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

Part 7 Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down  
  
Lex Luthor was in the longest flight of his life. He rested his head on the seat and closed his eyes. They were landing now. Soon, the wait would be over and he would have to face an entire world that his brother created-a world he had no conception of but would be forced to right. Idly he wondered just how arrogant it was for him to believe that he could magically step in and make everything better. He was going to meet a woman he had never seen before and inform her that her entire life had shattered.  
  
What right did he have to tell someone that the person she loved was gone forever?  
  
She would survive. He did. And all this happened to him.  
  
"She's gone, Lex. I don't know where. But she isn't coming back," Lucas had told him while Lex was seated on the cold floor of the hospital corridor.  
  
He remembered that day like it happened an hour ago. It was too stark. The memory was too biting to forget. What he remembered of the moments before was darkness and cold. And then from the moment the door swung open to reveal an empty hospital bed, he had images of blurred pictures and Lucas' clear voice. "All I know," Lucas had been telling him, "was that she lost the baby."  
  
"What?" Lex had managed to whisper then. "How? What happened?"  
  
"Lex, you pushed her down the stairs. What were you fighting about?"  
  
Lex had looked at his brother uncomprehendingly. What was Lucas doing in Manila? Why was he there at that exact moment? "I wouldn't do that."  
  
"I saw it, Lex. I called the paramedics. The blood is still on your floor if need proof, unless your servants have already cleaned it up."  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
"I didn't take care," Lucas snapped at him.  
  
Lex looked up at his brother. From his crouched position on the floor, he had to crane his neck to meet Lucas' eye. "I didn't say you did."  
  
Lex hated his brother at that moment. It was not because of Chloe. He knew that Lucas had no reason to hide the truth from him. Lex killed their baby and effectively killed anything that could form between the two of them. It did not matter that he would never stop loving her. He murdered their baby and Lex would never let himself touch her again. It was good that she left him.  
  
He hated his brother because he had the nerve to tell him the truth when he did not want to accept it yet. Chloe was gone.  
  
Now he was about to do the same thing Lucas did for him to Lucas' wife. She would hate him for it. It was his job.  
  
When he finally arrived in his limousine outside the small house that he was informed Lucas had bought, he was surprised. Lucas had always lived high since he found out that he was a Luthor. He could not imagine his brother satisfied with the simple suburban house that had every element that would have made the Lucas that he knew ill-fence, yard, even a tree out front. Finding the place crawling with LuthorCorp representatives erased all his doubts about the ownership of the house.  
  
Lex strode towards the door, firmly demanding, "What is this? Wasn't I specific enough when I said that no one is to disturb Mrs Luthor until I arrived?"  
  
He pushed his way through the crowd of Lucas' employees and stopped just short of a smaller circle surrounding a young woman who sat on the couch in the small living room, crying into a LuthorCorp handkerchief that must have been handed to her.  
  
"It's such a pity, Mr Luthor," Lex heard directed to him.  
  
"She's crushed. Señor Lucas only informed us that they were expecting when he left for the Pacific," someone else said. "It's a tragedy."  
  
Lex's eyes narrowed when the young woman at the center only seemed to burrow deeper into the handkerchief that shielded her away from everyone else. "For heaven's sake, get out of here. All of you! Give her some air and some privacy!"  
  
To his satisfaction, the employees filed out of the house at his command. He laid a hand on the young woman's shoulder and she flinched away. Lex quickly drew back his hand. "Mrs. Luthor," he said comfortingly, "don't worry. I will take care of everything."  
  
"Don't say that!"  
  
"It's true. You can trust me on that."  
  
"You're not going to bring back my husband."  
  
"No," he replied regretfully. "But I will take care of you. I'm your brother-in-law. You will never lack for anything. Your child will be taken care of. You two will remain Luthors."  
  
She glared at him, tossing the handkerchief on the coffee table. "That doesn't mean anything to me! Don't you understand that? I don't know or care about what being a Luthor is. I just want my husband!"  
  
Lex stumbled back from the almost physical force of seeing her face. He tripped over the box of tissues someone had thoughtfully left on the floor, and he plopped bottom first into an armchair.  
  
'God, Lucas, no.'  
  
Like a bad dream long forgotten, he remembered that quarterly meeting right after Lucas told him that he got married in Spain. Their father had come down hard on both of them not because their regions marked low profit but because the mother company was losing business. Brothers that they were, they consoled each other with alcohol and company.  
  
Lex had been depressed that night. He was a talkative drunk. So was his brother. Lex had droned on about losing Chloe, about not caring anymore that she had been working for his father. "She could screw me over all the money I have and I'll still be in love with her," he had slurred at Lucas.  
  
"You, genius that you are, Lex, were incredibly stupid to have lost a girl like that. I was in love with her the entire time."  
  
"Don't blame you," Lex told him. "She was beautiful."  
  
"Gorgeous. And smart. Can't forget smart. She didn't take bullshit too. Gotta love that."  
  
"I did," Lex answered. "I do. Can't find her anymore though. She dropped off the face of the planet."  
  
"I was pissed all the time she was with you. Now-" Lucas had raised his hand and showed Lex his wedding band. "Now I'm happy and you're in hell. How quickly the tides of fate change.  
  
It didn't make sense to him. And then again it did now. "Chloe."  
  
"You know my name," she said bitterly.  
  
"Lucas," Lex managed. "Lucas told me about you."  
  
"He never told me about you. He told me nothing about you or about all this." Her hands moved quickly around to indicate the people who have been in her house, disrupting her privacy, for reasons she did not understand. "God, I want him to be alive!" she burst out. "I need him to tell me why. And I need to kill him and hug him so much I don't understand." Chloe stood up quickly and ran towards the bedroom. 


	8. Vivid Blur and Hazy Truths

Part 8 Vivid Blur and Hazy Truths  
  
She was here, within reach, up in the air where there was no escaping now. Lex could think of no other thing except for that. He pushed on the button beside his seat to call for his private flight attendant.  
  
"Anything you need, sir?"  
  
Lex shook his head. "How is Mrs Luthor? Is she settled comfortably?"  
  
The young woman nodded with a smile, delighted that a man such as Lex Luthor would be so concerned over his brother's widow. "Mrs Luthor fell asleep immediately after take off, sir. She's a bit restless but it's understandable considering her stress."  
  
"If there's any problem, come to me immediately. She is to be given all the care possible."  
  
"Of course sir."  
  
Lex waited until she vanished back into the cabin before turning on the video phone. He did not enjoy seeing his father. He was especially unwilling to speak with him after finding out that Chloe was alive. This was matter he could only take up with Lucas though, and he had promised to apprise his father on all the details of his trip though.  
  
To his surprise, the moment he turned on the phone, the screen showed his father's line connecting to his. Lionel Luthor's smug face appeared. "Son! You've arrived?"  
  
"We're in the sky, dad, almost halfway back to Manila."  
  
"And have you fetched Lucas' wife?"  
  
Lex paused for a moment, trying to read his father's face. "She's resting."  
  
"And how is Chloe Sullivan, son? Is she as lovely as she had been when I last met her?"  
  
Lex's hand gripped the arm of his seat. Suddenly, his entire vision blacked out except for the glowing screen that bore his father's face. He could hear his heart thundering loudly in his ears. "You know," he pronounced slowly. "You knew. You've always known."  
  
"Lex, Lex," Lionel repeated in his patronizing tone, "did you think either of my sons will become involved with anyone, least of all get married, without my knowing every single detail? I'm disappointed."  
  
"Why? Why did you let Lucas marry her? You were so opposed to the two of us together."  
  
"Lex! I have never objected to you and Chloe. I was the reason you were together in the first place."  
  
"Don't twist this thing around, dad. When you found out I was happy, you had to ruin it."  
  
"I was not the one with such a temper, Lex. I never get mad enough to push my fiancé down a flight of stairs."  
  
"I did not push her!" Lex bit out. "She stumbled and I was too far to catch her. And I will forever regret that, father. Don't ever tell me I pushed her."  
  
"You killed my first grandchild. It's a pity that this next one is a bastard."  
  
Lex shook his head in disbelief. "You're not going to do this to them, father. I won't let you cheat them of what's rightfully theirs. If Lucas is gone, she has a right to all his inheritance."  
  
"I allowed Lucas to have his dream life, Lex," Lionel told his eldest. "This was what he had been dreaming of. But I was not stupid enough to let him throw away our fortune on a hussy who transferred from brother to brother. What do you think I am? The marriage wasn't valid, Lex. If she was using her real name, you would have tracked her down the moment the ink dried on the contract."  
  
Without responding, Lex turned off the phone and pushed it aside. He thought about all the information he had learned. Chloe was not Lucas' wife. His heart filled with a new hope, but recoiled at the knowledge that while his family was responsible for the loss of their baby, she was now carrying his brother's. Did he have it in him to accept another man's child? He had no doubt he was as in love with her, if not more so, than he had been before that night. He recognized that he was far from noble though. Was he ever going to accept that for the next several months, she would be fulfilling for Lucas what she never did for him?  
  
He looked up at the sound of the door opening. Thinking it was the attendant again, he opened his mouth to asked for some wine. A blonde head peeked in and Lex's breath caught at the sight of red-rimmed eyes and blotchy skin. "Hey," she greeted in a rough, sleepy voice.  
  
"How are you feeling?"  
  
Chloe walked towards him and settled on the seat beside his. She gazed at her entwined fingers in rapt fascination. "I'm. I'm going to be all right," she answered. Green eyes rose to meet his and he could read the apprehension in them.  
  
"Chloe, you can tell me what's wrong?"  
  
She bit her bottom lip uncertainly, an action he had not seen for years. Hesitantly at first, he reached out his hand and enveloped hers. Chloe swallowed at the sight she had seen only minutes before. "Lex, I think I dream about you."  
  
A long pause. Then, "What?"  
  
"I dream. I've told Lucas about it. I dream of someone but I know it's not Lucas. I dream of a faceless man. I think it's you."  
  
"Why would you dream about me?" he asked, eager to hear more but unwilling to push her.  
  
"I don't know," she replied helplessly. "Do you have any idea why?"  
  
"No," he answered finally. "What did Lucas say?"  
  
"Lucas lied."  
  
"How can you be sure?"  
  
"Because he told me he didn't have a brother." Chloe looked out of the window and down at the feathered clouds below them. It was difficult to imagine that at this exact spot, so close to the airport now, Lucas's plane got lost together with so many truths only he could provide. Without looking back at Lex, she said, "I wanted to forget the pain. Lucas helped me do that. That's what I remember from my dream."  
  
"With what, Chloe? What did Lucas do?"  
  
She shook her head. "I don't know."  
  
"Where was I?"  
  
She turned her head to look at him. Chloe cupped his cheek with her hand. "That's the thing I don't understand. Always, you were happiness. What was so bad I had to forget?"  
  
And for once, despite all his contention to his father that he did nothing wrong, he couldn't bring himself to admit his part on that night. "Funny how dreams can create the wildest things."  
  
Chloe nodded and looked out the window again. She rested her forehead against the cool glass and then closed her eyes. "Please, Lucas. Please be alive. I don't want to be alone."  
  
Lex rose from his seat and walked briskly towards the bathroom. He slammed the door close behind him and rested his hands on the sink, breathing raggedly to calm himself. His eyes met reflected ones on the mirror and he stared for the longest time.  
  
Lionel had started all of this. He himself had believed in her so weakly that he felt betrayed and lashed out without listening to her. Lucas had taken advantage of his father's deed and Lex's stupidity to take what was never his.  
  
Damn all Luthor men to hell. 


	9. Scenes in a Silent Film

Part 9 Scenes in a Silent Film  
  
They arrived at Lex's house when the afternoon sun dipped into the warm waters of the Bay. He ushered her into the door apprehensive about her reaction to the place. While he had been scared that she would recognize it, Lex's heart fell when Chloe stepped in nervously, glanced around, but did not seem to have any memories.  
  
He racked his mind for memories, even the slightest mention of any formula that the European company had been working on at the time that Chloe vanished. There had to be some record of whatever potent formula it was Lucas had hold of. At the same time, Lex could not even decide whether to use it or not. There was still the threat of Chloe deciding that what he had done was too vile to forgive. He hadn't even completely forgiven himself.  
  
She looked around the imposing living room, and Lex tried to read her face. What was she thinking right then? Did any of the furniture remind her of a time when she lived with him? Nothing had changed really. He never allowed anything moved.  
  
Her next words came to him as a surprise, because perhaps he was guilty of trying to push remembrances of his brother to the back of his mind. "Why didn't he tell me he had a brother?"  
  
Lex turned and found her still observing the room, not even looking at him as she directed that question. "Believe it or not," he answered, "despite the whole two hours since you first asked me, I still don't have the answer." The dry answer caught her attention, and she glanced at him wide- eyed. Lex smiled to put her at ease. "When we find him, we'll ask him why."  
  
"He's the only one who has the answer, isn't he?" she agreed. "You believe we'll still find him."  
  
"Chloe-"  
  
"Is he dead?"  
  
Lex started moving towards the stairs. Before stepping on the first level, he told her, "Maybe."  
  
She followed closely behind him as they made their way to the second floor. It was a plush apartment she had to admit. The luxury with which Lex Luthor lived his life was in stark contrast to the way she and Lucas had gone about their marriage. She could not ignore the nagging feeling now that all along, Lucas had strung her in some kind of hide and seek game. They lived far beneath their means, away from the public's eyes primarily because Lucas was hiding something. Reminded of the way he denied her the chance at a working life, she suspected that she was his biggest secret.  
  
Chloe looked up at Lex, who stood waiting for her at the top of the stairs. She trusted him. There was an openness and need in his eyes that made her trust him even when he first introduced himself to her in Barcelona. She was about to raise her suspicions to him when suddenly, his figure, looking at her from the top of the stairs, shifted to an image of Lex bare-chested, dressed only in dress pants, looking down at her blankly. Chloe gasped and took a blind step backwards. Her vision turned red, then black. When next she fluttered her eyelids open, it was to find herself in the same position, only this time, his arms were gripping her tight against his body.  
  
"Lex?" she whispered, her words muffled against his shirt.  
  
Carefully, she pulled away from him, but he would not let her go. He led her slowly up the remaining few steps. When they reached the top stop, he finally allowed space between them, but his hand still gripped her elbow. Chloe's gaze wandered back to the bottom of the steps. A sob escaped her throat when she saw a bloody pool of blood in place of the polished floor. Right beside it, images of men appeared. Two men in uniform appeared like paramedics, and the one whose back was turned to her shielded the prone figure they were placing on a portable gurney. There was a flash of white silk that was immediately covered.  
  
She wanted to close her eyes, to block the image that though she did not recognize caused great distress in her heart. Chloe could not help but move her gaze to another vacant point of the floor. This time, she found a man kneeling there-a younger man she knew. She waited with her eyes fixed on him until he looked up slowly. Tears fell from her eyes. "Lucas," she whispered. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Chloe," an insistent voice spoke sharply in her head. "Chloe." She was being shaken from the trance. "Chloe, what's going on?"  
  
She shook her head madly, trying to erase the images. A sharp pain rushed up her temples and she breathed harshly to fight it off. Chloe opened her eyes and found Lex staring intently at her. "Lex," she cried.  
  
"What did you see?" he asked again, calmly.  
  
"I don't know!"  
  
He moved closer to her, and she realized how softly she said the words. She felt his breath across her lips. "Chloe, tell me what you saw."  
  
Did she detect a trace of fear in his demand? Chloe closed her eyes and saw his face etched at the back of her lids. The Lex in her vision moved closer, and she was transported to a park under the morning sun, clothed in a floral sundress. Her brows furrowed at the odd fullness she felt in her heart that she had never experienced as far as she could remember. With Lucas, she felt happy. But this, what filled her heart as the imaginary version of Lex moved his lips closer to hers, was far different.  
  
Her lips parted in awe. The feel of an insistent mouth covering hers shocked her. Eagerly, she responded at the feeling that was familiar and welcome. All her life only one man has kissed her. Lucas had come home. Her hand rose so that she could entangle her fingers in the soft, thick hair she loved. But her palm came in contact with a smooth, warm skin that did not surprise her as much as it should have.  
  
For a brief second, she pressed his head deeper against her searching lips. "Lex," she murmured as she bit his lower lip. The moment she heard herself, Chloe opened her eyes and saw the blue eyes that were not her husband's. She desperately pulled away.  
  
He breathed heavily as he stood in front of her.  
  
Chloe shook her head in disbelief. "Mr Luthor," she gasped, switching to the formal address in her embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. I-I thought you were Lucas."  
  
Did she imagine the hurt in his eyes now? "Chloe-"  
  
"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." She turned on her heels and walked away hastily. Chloe swallowed as she searched the rooms for the one where her bag had been taken. What had happened to her? It was as though she had been possessed by someone not entirely herself, but then-She shook her head furiously. "No!" Chloe had known it was Lex. In her heart she could not deny that she willingly kissed the Lex in her mind's eye. "No!"  
  
~~  
  
Having successfully avoided Lex Luthor for the rest of the night, Chloe did not expect the knock on her bedroom door half an hour after midnight. She had not been able to sleep herself. Chloe blamed it on homesickness. There were so many things she could not understand. She had never been to Manila before, let alone Lex's house. What were the scenes that played out before her earlier then? And why was it that everything seemed so familiar?  
  
"Chloe," came the quiet, commanding voice.  
  
She sat up in bed and looked at the thick wood that separated her from her husband's brother. Chloe swallowed the shame that rose up in her throat. She could not face Lex, not when she seemed like a hussy bent on sleeping with Lex even before Lucas was found.  
  
"Chloe, open the door. It's important."  
  
Reluctantly, Chloe rose and unlocked the door. She opened it to find Lex standing before her with sunken eyes. She was not alone in sleeplessness tonight. "What-what is it?"  
  
"Ten minutes, Chloe. Put something on quickly and we'll take my helicopter down to Bicol. It's about an hour by air from here. They have a John Doe who fits the description we disseminated about Lucas. We have to leave now because he's critical." After giving the instructions, Lex closed the door, leaving Chloe staring at the brown wood in shocked silence. 


	10. Reasons Beyond Logic

Part 10 Reasons Beyond Logic  
  
Chloe shivered at the cold air the air conditioners pumped out. The hospital's temperature was so different from that outside. Since it had been so hot when she and Lex arrived, she did not even bring her coat. Now she stood in the freezing corridors leading the to the Critical Care Unit with only the single layer of clothing on.  
  
A heavy jacket was placed over her shoulders. She gripped it thankfully, not needing to turn to know that it was Lex's. They continued their trek forward. Chloe fought against the fear that she would find someone else fighting for his life in there. At the same time, based on the quiet words that the doctor who met them at the lobby told Lex, she desperately wished that this would not be her husband. Her life with Lucas may have been founded on certain lies, but Lucas took care of her for as long as she could remember. He did not deserve such a painful death.  
  
"Second to third degree burns-"  
  
"No way to save-"  
  
"Smoke filled lungs-"  
  
"Inhaled so much poison from the fumes of-"  
  
"Hasn't even woken up-"  
  
Lex broke through the oration of the doctors gathered outside the Critical Care Unit. He could tell that with every item in the enumeration, Chloe was being pushed to the edge. He took her hand and squeezed it. "Can we see the patient? There's no reason for us to stay around if it's not my brother."  
  
The head doctor nodded and motioned to the nurse. "He's in a special sterile area of the unit. Nurse Vega will show you to a room where you can put on these sterile suits. It may be a good idea if Mrs Luthor would step in first so she can identify the patient."  
  
Chloe threw Lex a frantic look. Lex shook his head firmly. "We'll go in together. Mrs Luthor has been in so much trauma already."  
  
"We understand. Nurse."  
  
Holding on tightly to Lex's hand, Chloe followed the nurse. While the nurse picked up two suits from the supply room, Lex looked down at Chloe. He saw the uncertainty in hers eyes. "If it's Lucas, you can finally ask him all the things you've wanted to."  
  
"The doctor just said he hasn't woken up yet."  
  
Lex forced a smile on his lips. "I have a feeling that no matter how injured he is, Lucas would wake up for his pregnant wife."  
  
Chloe returned the smile and closed her eyes. "I'm afraid to see."  
  
"Do you want me to go inside before you?"  
  
"No," she whispered. "At least if he's not waking up, I can hold his hand until-"  
  
The nurse returned and handed them both the sterile clothes. "You can change in those rooms. I'll wait here and bring you to the CCU."  
  
~~  
  
When she said that she would hold his hand, Chloe had that small hope that maybe, there was a part of him she could still touch. The prone form that greeted her and Lex when they entered the room was a shock to her senses that she immediately backed up a couple of steps. Lex's hands went to her waist and he held her still. "Chloe, do you need to go outside?" She shook her head quickly. To calm her, Lex moved his hands in slow circular motions. He rested his chin on the top of her head and said, "Breathe in. One more time."  
  
They stepped closer to the bed. The burned man was hooked on several machines that primarily pumped air and morphine into him. Chloe's eyes wandered on the skin that festered, her mind reeling at the knowledge that had it not been for the painkillers, this man would be writhing and praying for death.  
  
Lex gritted his teeth at the sight. Half of the man's face was completely razed. As a brother though, he had known immediately that it was Lucas. He was filled with loathing and vengeance. Already, the names of those under LuthorCorp employment who worked in the maintenance of the private jets ran through his mind. That department of the company would be cleansed the moment he had his hand on a cellphone.  
  
Instead of staring at his brother, he watched Chloe's reaction. He had no idea whether or not she had recognized Lucas. Chloe was gazing at the ruined face expressionlessly. He held his breath, waiting for a sign that she had finally realized that this was her husband. Lex was prepared to catch her if she fainted, or to hold her should she collapse in hysterical wails.  
  
"Chloe."  
  
She wiped one silent tear from her cheek. That alone told Lex that she knew this was Lucas. Chloe carefully moved closer to the bed. She reached out and traced the untouched skin on the other side of his face. "Lucas," she said softly.  
  
Sleeping Beauty and the kiss of true love ran through Lex's mind at that movement. It was the only one he could think of so that he would not panic at the hitch in his brother's assisted breathing. Lucas' eyes fluttered open for the first time since John Doe had been found. Lex could not control the lazy movement of his cheek and the sudden rise of hot tears in his eyes. He watched Lucas and Chloe read each other's eyes so intently they appeared to be doing so for the last time.  
  
"I'll call a doctor," Lex rasped.  
  
And then Lucas was feebly pulling at the oxygen mask. Chloe closed her hand around it and shook her head. There must have been pleading in Lucas' eyes because within moments, Chloe was telling the nurse to help her pull the tube out of Lucas' throat.  
  
Despite objections from the doctor, and perhaps because there would not have been a difference given the patient's status, Lucas was allowed to breathe on his own. "Ssss-" Lex found it easy to forgive him brother then, as the younger Luthor fought to spit out his words. "Ssssorry, Chl-"  
  
She nodded at once, so he would not have to finish the syllables. Chloe placed her hand on the bandage covering Lucas' hand. Lex saw the moisture in his brother's eyes and knew that even his wife's gentle touch caused lightning bursts of pain in him. It was Chloe's touch that propelled Lucas to live the lie he did, and now he could not even endure a brush. "We'll be fine, Lucas," she assured her husband. "As soon as you are, we'll fly home to Spain."  
  
"C-can't. Gonna-gonna leave, Chlo. 'M dyin."  
  
"No you're not," she disagreed.  
  
"Sss-sorry."  
  
She gave him a fat smile. "Well, we'll still be okay. Me and baby. You know, Lex will take care of us." Because at that moment, she could not even bring herself to be accusatory or angry about what Lucas never said or did.  
  
Lucas' eyes moved over to where Lex stood behind Chloe. Lex could read the sadness there now. He looked for regret, but could find none. "You-you'll take-care?"  
  
"Of both of them." Lex nodded. "Nothing to worry about, Lucas."  
  
"Th-th-tha-"  
  
"My pleasure." He kept his answers brief, because no matter how much pain his brother was in, the betrayal was stuck in his gut.  
  
Lex met his brother's eyes that communicated with him words that he could not completely understand. Chloe moved away from Lucas' side and allowed Lex through. Lex bent low to listen, because it would be less difficult for Lucas to speak if he did not have to raise his voice. Lucas rasped into his ear, "Every-everything I did-for love, Lex. I'd-I'd do it. Again. Stole three years. Just three. Rest is-the rest-yours."  
  
Lex stood up straight and looked down at his brother, whose eyes were tightly shut as he fought off the pain that rolled over him in waves. Lucas gritted his teeth as his moans filled the small sterile space. Lex glanced at the machines. The stress levels from the pain were shooting up the monitors. He saw the doctors and nurses running towards them. Lex turned to Chloe so he could usher her out. He found her instead holding Lucas hand to her stomach, and on her lips he read the mute lyrics of a lullaby.  
  
The monitors did not change, so Lex knew that his brother was in as much pain as he had been. It surprised him though, how finally Lucas was able to push it aside so he could stare at his wife and say, "Your birthday-the ring." Chloe drew out the small piece of jewelry that Lex clearly remembered was the one he proposed with. "Not-from me. Lex, Chlo." Chloe waited for the rest of the words, staring into Lucas' eyes. The nurse checking the monitors moved beside her. Lex barely registered the shrill and steady beep from the computers. He was, like Chloe, waiting for Lucas to finish his sentence, admit to them both the extent of his deceit.  
  
And then the nurse reached over and closed Lucas' eyes. 


	11. For the Rest of Her Life

Part 11 For the Rest of Her Life  
  
Her entire world crowded in on her at the precise moment when the doctor looked up at the clock gracing the CCU, perhaps for this very purpose, and called in the time of death. Just a few days ago, she and her husband had been celebrating a new chapter in their lives. A few days ago she had no idea of the past she left behind, and the truths that Lucas had helped her forget at a time when she should not have been deciding.  
  
Even for a nightmare this was all too real.  
  
Out in the waiting room she looked up to find Lex Luthor standing there, waiting for her again. He did not move an inch or ask her how she felt. It was only too obvious what a wife would feel when her husband passed away before her eyes.  
  
"Why did he apologize to you?" He shook his head. "Does it have to do with my dreams?"  
  
Lex held out his hand and asked her silently to take it. Chloe did, and they sat down on the hard plastic chairs. She rested her head on her shoulder, drained by the overload of emotions and half-baked information. "If I give you my version of the truth now, it won't be fair to my brother."  
  
"Is it fair to me?" Chloe released a heavy sigh. "What about the se flashes of memories? What am I going to do with them if you refuse to tell me what's right and what's not?"  
  
"What your heart chooses to remember, I'll help you clarify."  
  
She took her ring from her pocket and teased the gold with her fingertips. "What about this, Lex?"  
  
Upon seeing the ring again, Lex was filled with warring emotions of rage that Lucas had the guts to gift her with her own engagement ring and gratitude that in that other part of her life, his brother made certain to keep this symbol included. He closed his hand over the ring and her fingers. "In time, Chloe. When you feel like you've remembered what's important."  
  
It was not until years later, around six, that that time arrived for her. It sneaked up on her on a moment she least expected, this realization. Chloe was sitting at home in the living room, plopped on the couch leaning against Lex Luthor as she flipped through pages of nostalgia that he had brought her from when he visited his father's bedside in Smallville. Lionel Luthor had been confined to his room by paralysis and despite the old man's wishes to see his granddaughter even once, Lex had not allowed even a picture of little Lucy Luthor to make its way into Lionel's hands. Whenever Lex would come to Smallville, he would insist on leaving Chloe and her daughter in Manila even though he had no problem taking them with him to other destinations. Rather than expose the two to the unwanted attention if they ever came to Kansas, Lex would bring pieces of 'home' to Chloe. This time, it was the yearbook from Chloe's graduation year.  
  
"Do you remember this?" Lex pointed to a picture of Chloe and her friends standing in full graduation costume, waving their diplomas proudly at the camera.  
  
Chloe did not move her head from its comfortable position on his chest. She pointed to each one of the faces on the black and white print. "Well I don't remember the day this was taken," she said. "But you've called Clark over to visit Lucy and me. I remember him. Huge guy. Not very talkative."  
  
"He was in shock," Lex interjected. "He hasn't seen you in years."  
  
"I gathered from the very tight hug he gave me. And it was sweet the way he carried on with Lucy. It was like he was almost scared to hold her."  
  
"You were his best friend. You have to understand how he's trying to deal."  
  
She sighed and looped an arm around his neck before turning in her seat so she can face him. In the background, she heard the television change channels, and Chloe thought about asking her daughter to go to bed already. But Lex had already promised her that she could stay up since it was Saturday the next day. He even told her that they were going to go elephant bareback riding tomorrow. "I'm just sorry I still can't remember being his best friend."  
  
"Clark understands that."  
  
"Everybody seems to understand. Lana and Pete said they did, even though they still haven't come to see us." The other two friends in the picture had planned every year to fly out but their trips were always postponed due to Lana's annual pregnancy. For someone who can't fly because of "delicate" terms, Lana certainly did not take a lot of precautions with Pete.  
  
"Have you remembered anything about them yet?"  
  
"Other than how they look?" Chloe shook her head. "And I pretty much recognize them because you make me watch their video letters."  
  
"You'll remember more in time." Lex brushed a kiss on her forehead and smiled down at her. "And anyway, the memory meetings are fun, aren't they? Not very helpful but fun."  
  
Chloe nodded eagerly and moved away from Lex's embrace. She glanced at Lucy, who still remained in a sitting position in front of the television. She fished for a small item from her pocket and placed it on the coffee table. When Lex saw the jewelry, he looked at Chloe askance. He had not seen that engagement ring since the day Lucas died. He had started to think that it was buried along with the rest of the bad memories.  
  
"Chloe, what's-"  
  
She grabbed his hands and held it on her lap. "It's been so long, Lex. And even if I remember some things, it seems like my memories of my life before Lucas will never entirely come back to me."  
  
"We can still try, Chloe."  
  
Chloe shook her head and tightened her grip on Lex's fingers. "I'm tired."  
  
"What do you remember?" he asked, scared that she was giving up when he hadn't helped her uncover her memories about how happy they were together before he found out about Lionel.  
  
"From our life together?" Chloe shrugged. "I remember kissing you. I remember loving you so much and then just having it all explode on me. I guess," she paused for a minute for the most painful memory, "our baby paid the price of the two of us having such a big, wild connection when we were keeping things from each other. At least I was keeping a huge thing from you. I don't blame you for what happened. You were angry at me. And it was an accident."  
  
"That's all you remember?"  
  
"I have dreams, Lex. But I don't remember every moment you would want me to."  
  
"You don't want us to spend our Friday nights trying to get back those days you lost?"  
  
"It's futile. And it's dragging us both down." She glanced back at the ring winking at her from its place an arm's length away from both of them. "I want to make a decision. And I want to consult you on it."  
  
"Make a decision with only those memories guiding you?"  
  
"Lex, I don't need to remember everything I lost to move on with my life."  
  
Lex swallowed hard. He had enjoyed every moment he spent here with Chloe, remembering days he had treasured when she was away. It reaffirmed everything he believed about how he and Chloe were perfectly suited to each other. From the moment they buried Lucas, he had been effectively the closest person in the world to her. He had been the one who took the brunt of her swearing when Lucy was born. And even when he was afraid that he would always remember betrayal when he saw Lucy, the moment that the doctor placed the baby in his arms, he could swear that in his heart, he was Lucy's father. "I just don't want you to rush."  
  
"I'm not. I know everything I need to know to make this decision." Once again, her hands on his tightened, and he grew even more nervous. Lex looked straight into her eyes, hoping that she would not throw him out of her and Lucy's life when they were facing each other like this. "I don't need to know how much we loved each other then, although I have a pretty good idea." Her lips curved into a soft smile. "But I do know now, and this is what's important, is that I love you now. You can say it's for the second time around. But that's what matters to me, not the fact that I don't remember yesterday. I do know I love you today and I'll love you tomorrow. Lucy feels the same way. So if you're okay with it, I want you to pick up the ring on the coffee table and propose to me again. At least I'll have that proposal in my brain apart from the cut scenes from my dreams."  
  
Lex blinked at her as he digested her instructions. His eyes flew to the ring on the table, and then to the kid who turned away from the tv and was now watching them. He stuttered the only words he knew to, "Lucy knows about this?"  
  
"Mommy talked to me first, Uncle Lex. I gave her my permission," the five- year-old piped up from the floor.  
  
Lex nodded at the beaming girl. He glanced up at Chloe, who seemed to be waiting for something. He racked his brain for a clue about what he was supposed to do now. And then he snatched the ring from the coffee table and faced her. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, because there would be nothing more painful than to roll around on Cloud 9 then to have that cloud condense into rain.  
  
"You haven't even asked me," Chloe prodded.  
  
He looked down at the ring he held, remembering the day he bought it for Professor Sullivan. It seemed so long ago now. They were both so young and he felt that it was the beginning of paradise. There were no complications in their life then, all the darkness was hidden in shadows. Now the nightmares were clear and they have passed through the obstacles. It was not as picture perfect as he had hoped all those years ago. There was a little girl sitting there watching as proof of that, because she was not biologically his. Lex looked at Lucy again. Even if she was not part of the original plan, in that manuscript he had written once, she was the most beautiful aberration he never outlined.  
  
Lucy was just once more evidence that he and Chloe would not be entering the same relationship that they did as the young, professional and insane lovers they were when they first bumped into each other then. Lex held out his hand for the girl, who scampered onto her knees and rushed over to him.  
  
"Luce."  
  
"Yes, uncle Lex?"  
  
"Do you think you can call me daddy?"  
  
The girl grinned at him. She threw her arms around his neck and pressed tiny kisses all over his face. "Sure thing, uncle Lex!"  
  
"We'll have to train you," he said hoarsely, overcome with emotion at being accepted so vocally and openly by Chloe's gem.  
  
Lex loosened his embrace on Lucy and turned to Chloe, who was watching them fondly with an expression only a proud mother could have. He held out the ring to Chloe and picked up her hand. "I have Lucy's seal of approval," he told her needlessly. "Now I can do this without fear of reprisal. After everything, Chloe, will you be my wife?"  
  
It showed him how much she changed too, when she held out her hand and allowed him to slip the ring back into her finger where it belonged. "Of course," she answered. Chloe leaned close and they pressed their lips together. They didn't devour each other this time. That would come behind closed doors, at another time, when Lucy was safe asleep in bed. Lex closed his eyes when they parted, and he could not resist a small kiss on her forehead. They stayed melted onto each other afterwards.  
  
"Hey uncle Lex, you got summin in your eye?"  
  
Lex chuckled and pulled the girl onto his lap so she can join in. And then he flicked away the moisture in his eye.  
  
fin 


End file.

Smallville, Angst, Romance