Summary: For four years Lex and Chloe have been the bitterest of enemies. Now, the young Daily Planet reporter is about to print a front-page story on his shady business. Little does she know fate will get in the way and uncover a secret which will leave her heart completely exposed.
Banner: visit my profile to access the link for the art work created by my friend Angie for this fic
Author: Lexie
Rating: PG-13/R
Spoilers: Freak, Progeny and Phantom.
A/N: The sequence of events in this story may not necessarily follow the timeline of the show. I´ve manipulated the time frame of certain events for my own creative purposes.
A/N2: The opening dialogue between Chloe and Lex is taken ¨almost¨ verbatim from Progeny.
Disclaimer: all Superman and Smallville characters belong to DC Comics and Gough & Millar. No infringement's intended.
THE NAKED TRUTH
CHAPTER 1: The Threat
The Daily Planet 2007
It was past seven o´clock in the evening and Chloe was alone in the news room at The Planet. She had stayed behind long after closing time, too determined to finish her latest article to be dragged away from her computer.
The previous forty-eight hours had been the most angsty and adrenaline-pumping she had lived through in years. Once again she had come face-to-face with her mother, even spoken with her, only to lose her all over again in one of her catatonic spells.
Chloe had done things she wasn´t aware of- like assaulting Lex in the middle of the road to get proof of his dubious dealings at 33.1. She now remembered actually shooting him when he had crossed her path on her way out of the secret Luthorcorp facility. Unbeknownst to her, Moira Sullivan had urged her- or rather, ordered her with her mental powers- to do whatever it was necessary to escape unscathed.
For months the blonde reporter had been gathering information and interviewing meteor freaks who had allegedly been held captive by the Luthor heir. She had even experienced in the flesh the procedures which were performed at 33.1. The scar in her right shoulder, where the implanted tracking device had been, was enough proof she hadn´t just imagined it all.
She had seen it with her own eyes; Lex was carrying out experiments on meteor-infected people, and she was going to expose him for the criminal he was. She owed it to her mum and to countless innocent meteor victims like herself to put him behind bars.
¨LuthorCorp Crimes Against Humanity. That´s catchy. Too bad it´ll never make it to print, ¨said Lex matter-of-factly, walking behind Chloe.
The young reporter had been typing furiously on the computer when she felt him step into the room. He had done so stealthily, but she´d always had a sixth sense that warned her of his presence; a sixth sense and something else which unsettled her- a feeling or a memory she couldn´t put her finger on. Better not to dwell too much on it for it´d surely not lead her to a quiet place.
¨Lex, I´m tired of games, ¨ she said through clenched teeth as she finished a paragraph.
¨Your audacity´s impressive, Chloe, especially given your recent late-night activities, ¨he said tersely. ¨Don´t tell me you don´t remember running my car off the road a few nights ago. Investigators have boot prints, hair fibres, samples of mud found in your apartment. ¨
¨You´ve had my apartment broken in? ¨she asked him uneasily.
¨They might give you ten to twenty years for aggravated assault, Chloe, ¨he added, boring his eyes into her.
¨A small price to pay to see you rot in prison, ¨she spat at him.
¨You´ve got no shred of proof about any of this, Chloe. Unlike me who´s got the evidence against you locked away safe and secure, ¨he said wryly.
¨I´m not making this article disappear, Lex, if that´s what you´re suggesting, ¨she responded, tilting up her chin in defiance.
¨I thought you might say that. That´s why there´s a Plan B firmly in place... a plan that makes prison look like a picnic, ¨he said menacingly, straightening up and strutting back to the elevator.
Chloe closed her eyes tightly and, stifling a sob, she slid down on her swivel chair. She looked at the computer screen and scanned the article that could sky-rocket her career at The Planet. Her hand on the mouse trembled as she let the arrow hover over the pull-down menu. Her journalistic nature refused to give up, but she valued her life too much. She pressed ´save´ and stored the file on a CD-ROM, which she stashed away in the bottom drawer under lock and key.
Lex waited for the elevator doors to shut before letting out the breath he´d been holding. He slouched against the mirror and tightened the grip on the railings, feeling the cold metal bury in his flesh. He swallowed hard and fought the tears that were pricking his eyelids. He was sure he´d made his point and got across the message, but facing her tonight and issuing that threat had demanded a lot of him. He hoped she was sensible enough to make the smart decision and not print the article. Four years before her recklessness had put him in the uncomfortable position of having to make a heart-wrenching choice, and he prayed for both their souls she didn´t force him to take a similar decision again for he wasn´t sure he´d be able to keep his sanity.
She hated him. He´d only had to meet her beautiful hazel green eyes to see how deeply. She thought she had reason to loathe him, seeing how he´d used her mum, but she didn´t remember she had a lot more to hate him for. He prayed she didn´t force him to make her remember because if the worst came to the worst, he´d have to. She´d then feel what he´d gone through, and she´d learn what her unquenchable thirst for the truth had cost them both.
