I just pulled my old Smallville seasons out to rewatch and became inspired. I was also agitated anew by what I felt was a great disrespect to Lex. I love that he returned for the finale and I loved the exchange between him and Clark, but I could not believe the writers took his memories. Years of building a great destiny, friendship and then a divide between Lex and Clark was basically for nothing. Making Lex a blank slate that was pure evil without any kind of fuel behind it made no sense to me or the great character development over the course of so many years. Some might disagree, but that was my little rant. So this is my offering for Lex's character….and just pure indulgence. I always secretly shipped Chloe and Lex, thinking that the two could have had such chemistry. As lovely as Lana was, I was over the back and forth between her and Clark well before she left the show….like, in season four when Lois arrived. Okay, I swear, rant over. Enjoy.
"Lex Luthor still knows how to throw a party," Oliver murmured in Chloe's ear, taking in the surroundings at the LexCorp New Year's Eve bash.
She grinned and held up the napkinful of jumbo shrimp. "I'm not complaining. Did you see the size of these?"
He grinned and pulled her close as she popped one in her mouth. "Are you sure you're okay with being here?"
She frowned. "Why do you keep asking me that?" she asked around a mouthful.
"I just….you haven't seen him in years."
Chloe blinked.
"You were friends once."
She swallowed. "That was a different life. A different Lex."
Oliver raised an eyebrow and gave her a squeeze. Her husband knew Chloe's empathy caused her to struggle with Lex's metamorphosis over the years. Lex had walked a fine line between the light and dark, and while she firmly believed the young Luthor had made his own choices – as they all had – Oliver's own hand in pushing Lex into the darkness still caused him a measurable amount of guilt. She and Clark still gave him sideways glances when Lex was referenced, given his direct hand in his death. They both carried a burden of grief, Lex's death had affected them more than either had expected. It was still a touchy subject between the three of them, and Clark had refused to speak of Lex since his resurrection. Chloe had gone to him after Darkseid's defeat, and he'd simply shaken his head. "I don't want to talk about it.
"Queen."
Chloe jumped and stiffened at the voice and Oliver tightened his grip on her waist, buoying her. He smiled tightly. "Luthor."
Lex nodded and shook his hand. He turned his attention to Chloe. "And Mrs. Queen. I was beginning to think Oliver was keeping you under lock and key."
Chloe gathered her wits and tucked her hand with shrimp behind her back. Lex grinned. "Le - Mr. Luthor."
"No, please, It's Lex."
For a moment, Chloe was back at The Torch. But only for a moment. She took his offered hand. "Lex."
He covered hers with his other hand and squeezed. She searched his gaze for any kind of recognition, but there was none. "I understand you have a new baby, but I hope to see more of you in the future. You as well, Queen."
The two men nodded tersely at each other and Lex dropped her hand and smiled again before disappearing back into the crowd. Chloe let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Well, I think that calls for a drink," she declared, grabbing a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter.
Oliver grinned.
"I'll pump and dump," she hissed before tossing back the glass. Her eyes widened and she swallowed the bubbly. "Speaking of the baby, I need to call Lois. I told her I'd be home by eleven."
"You go on. I'll call a car. Teague and I still have a meeting with Lex."
Chloe's eyes narrowed and he laughed and took her glass. "Go on, I promise, I'll be right behind you. Just wrapping up some end of year details. Plus, I want to keep an eye on him and what he's up to."
She sighed, but batted her eyes playfully. "Fine. Do you want your New Year kiss now?"
He leaned down. "Later," he whispered. "I promise I'll be back at the apartment in time for the ball to drop."
"Promises, promises. Fine, no kiss for you." She walked toward the elevator. "I'll wait up for you."
SVSVSVSVSV
Chloe and Oliver's apartment was spacious, but sparse, considering it was their home away from home while in Metropolis. Chloe didn't care though. She had missed this city. Star City just wasn't home yet. In another time, she would've walked home, even with the snow and brisk temperature. Motherhood called though.
"Lois?" She tossed her coat on the bench once she got in the door and kicked her heels off immediately. "I'm home."
He cousin's head popped around the corner from the den. "Chlo, I told you, we got this."
She smiled and shrugged and followed her. "I know, I just missed him."
"Jonathan's been asleep for two and a half hours." Lois rolled her eyes. "Superman's on patrol, mama bear."
Chloe raised her eyebrow at the sight of Clark sprawled on the couch asleep. Normally, he would've heard the car stop down on the street and been the first to greet her, but Lois' presence had a way of lulling him into a relaxed state. "Well, I came home to relieve you crazy kids of duty so you could get in some celebrating."
Lois blinked. "Clark?"
Chloe grinned, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Lois saw and touched her arm concerned. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I just…I just saw Lex." She stole a look at Clark. "I mean of course I did, but….it was just more surreal than I thought it would be."
Lois squeezed her elbow. "Hey. It's okay to miss who he was."
Lois never really knew Lex, and their run-ins had been after the breakdown of his friendship with Clark. Her perception of the man was very much colored by the dark path he had already started down by the time they had met, but she knew everything about his history with Clark and Chloe and trusted their opinion on who Lex had once been.
Chloe smiled at her. "Yeah." She tucked a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "Well, I told Oliver I'd stay up and wait for him, so I'm going to check on the baby and read for a while."
Lois nodded. "Okay. I'm going to rouse Clark and get to bed. We'll be right down the hall."
"Night."
SVSVSVSV
A faint pounding at the door jolted Chloe out of sleep and the book that had been left open on her chest fell to the floor. She reached blindly to shake Oliver awake, but the sheets were cold. "Shit," she moaned. She was supposed to wait for him. What time was it?
She hurriedly stumbled for the door and was blinded by the hallway light that had already been flipped on. She squinted and saw Clark already had the door open with Lois behind him clutching his arm. Two cops were murmuring to them. Both looked disheveled from sleep and as she shuffled closer she noticed their stricken faces. Her heart dropped. "What's wrong?"
"It's Oliver, Chloe," Clark whispered. "There's been an accident."
