Reboot

by HotCrossBunnies

A more Chlex centred look at the episode Delete. What will happen when Lex tries to be nice?

1. Chapter 1

Reboot

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing to do with Smallville.

Potential spoilers: S3 possibly

Summary: I was very annoyed when first watching the S3 episode Deleted that Chloe and Lex did not actually have that much to do with each other, this is my (very short) take on it. I have changed things around as best suits me.

Chloe looked around nervously as she stood before Lex Luthor. Her palms were sweaty, her head was throbbing and the blood pounded in her ears. This was not the position that she had wanted to be in the next time that she had to confront the younger Luthor.

She had hoped that she would have brought Lionel to justice by then and that Lex would be grovelling for forgiveness and promising her the world – and more to the point her Dad's job back – if only she wouldn't published her article. Well, hoped was a bit strong. That had been the fantasy that she liked to indulge in at bedtime as she tried not to think of how she had screwed everything up.

But such was not the case, she was not strolling into his office the cool, calm, confident reporter ready to lay her cards on the table. She was a scared girl who had got in over her head – a head which incidentally now sported a plaster from where her friend had beat her up, after she had been almost run over – and now needed all of the help that she could get.

Her eyes darted from one side of the room and then back again. There were too many doors to this room, too many entrances. She could see that neither Lex nor Clark were reading their emails, but that didn't mean that someone else wasn't.

"Thank-you for letting Chloe stay here", Chloe heard Clark say and tried not to read too much into his statement. It sounded like he cared about her, he was trying to protect her after all, but that was just the kind of person Clark was. He would do as much for someone he had only just met, perhaps more willingly.

"Anything I can do to help", came Lex's smooth reply. Chloe looked over at him as they followed him over to his desk.

Damn him, he looked so put together, like everything was just business as usual. At least Clark looked a little concerned, although she had to admit that Lex's response was a little more calming. In the Luthor mansion everything continued as it always had, the entire world could crumble around them and the Luthor abode would still be run like clockwork. In fact, the only change that Chloe would detect was in the jug of orange juice on the desk. Since when did Lex drink orange juice?

"Yeah, this is the last place anyone would look for me", Chloe commented. She looked at Lex but then again around the room, not because she felt uncomfortable throwing what he had done to her father back in his face, but because she still expected someone to come charging in trying to kill her.

She could feel Clark and Lex trading one of their meaningful looks before looking back at her. She wondered whether they gave courses on meaningful looks somewhere.

"Chloe", Lex said as he poured a glass of orange juice. Apparently the Luthor heir did imbibe OJ after all. "I'm sorry about what happened to your friend at the Daily Planet", he handed her the glass. Okay, so maybe he didn't.

Chloe took the glass, and stared into its depths. Anything was easier than looking up at Lex and seeing that the mocking arrogance that she was sure she would see in his blue eyes. Her 'friend' as he put it, was dead and it was all her fault. Not just because she had written the article and given it to him to read – she had tried to warn him – but because she shouldn't have ever been at the Daily Planet to start with. Some friend she was. Maybe it was for the best that Clark now wanted nothing to do with her.

"You must really have had him over a barrel", Lex continued, she could still feel his eyes on her and knew that she couldn't avoid him any longer.

"Yeah, well, I obviously didn't know what I was getting myself into", Chloe tried not to sound too sorry for herself.

Lex regarded her with an odd expression. On anyone else she would have mistaken it for sympathy, but not on the face of a Luthor. He maintained eye contact as he made his way around the desk and sat down, seeming to realise that she desired distance.

"Just seems to be a nasty habit that I've picked up lately", Chloe continued, hating the silence. She knew rather than saw that Clark was observing her sympathetically at this statement. It didn't make her feel one iota better.

Lex, on the other hand, almost smiled. Despite himself, he was impressed at how well Chloe was baring up under the pressure, she had even managed to come up with a story. Trust her!

"So your theory is that Garner has turned Molly into his own email assassin. Using hypnotic suggestion", he checked. That one was a bit out there even for Chloe.

"It's not that far of a stretch. Somerholt goes from studying the brain to controlling it", Clark explained before Chloe could, he clearly wanted to keep any Chloe/Lex interaction to a minimum, in spite of having asked Lex to look after her until this was all sorted out.

He considered Clark's words, "It's a pretty amazing breakthrough, if you don't consider the application".

"Well there's no question, when it comes to brain warping, Dr. Garner is definitely the guy", Chloe stepped forwards, her journalistic instinct taking over. Lex looked interested.

"I'm going to go talk to Garner", Clark suddenly announced and started to head out of the door.

"No, no", Chloe panicked and grabbed his arm. "No don't Clark please, it's too dangerous". Lex watched the interaction, marvelling at how easily the physical contact and concern came even though Clark and Chloe were no longer friends. Not to mention how deeply entrenched Clark's need to protect the blonde was. He doubted that they would be at odds for much longer.

"I'm not the one he's looking for", Clark reminded her, somewhat callously Lex thought. "It'll be alright, just don't leave the mansion. I'll call you if I find anything".

Lex couldn't see Chloe's face, so he didn't see that she looked about ready to burst into tears. She schooled her expression before letting Lex see it.

Now that Clark was leaving, it was time for him to do that same. "Chloe, I have my tech guys trying to tract her, I'm going to go see what they've got. Make yourself at home", he said in what he thought was a kind manner, then left.

Lex had barely got out of the office when he thought better of his actions.

"You git", Lex reproached himself as he started down the corridor away from Chloe. What kind of man, what kind of person did something like that? He was furious with Clark, the poor girl had been through hell in the last 24 hours, she needed her friend to be there with her. He sighed.

No, she obviously needed someone, and she had needed someone since this began. He shouldn't have blown it off yesterday. He knew what Chloe was capable of so it was not so strange to think that she could have pissed Lionel off enough to do something like this. As it happened, it wasn't Lionel but he should still have taken it more seriously than he had.

Damn it.

He stopped walking.

He knew that Chloe had pushed Clark away, she had delved too far into his past, that was something that Lex could understand. If Clark ever found out how far Lex's obsession really went then their friendship would be over as well, but with Chloe it was different. Lex did not believe that she could do anything maliciously. He had never seen a sign of real cruelty in her, he had never seen her look really scared before either, he thought.

He ran his hand over his head. As if unrequited love weren't enough, she had lost her best friend, her father was out of work, two attempts had been made on her life and Lionel was apparently making things hard for her.

He found himself turning back to the office. Upon entering his inner sanctum, he saw Chloe standing where he had left her. She was looking around nervously and hadn't had even a sip of her orange juice. He sighed, then coughed to alert her to his presence.

As he made his way over to her he smiled, pretending that he hadn't witnessed her jumping out of skin at his cough.

"It will be okay, you know that don't you Chloe?"

The smile she gave him was unconvincing.

Maybe more information would help to calm her down. "The internet connection for the whole of the mansion is down, the security is on high alert and no one else knows that you are here. You are safe and will remain so until I find out who did this."

"Thanks", she muttered.

She looked distinctly uncomfortable in his presence but she needed someone and he was the only one around. He supposed that he should come up with a reason why he was there, rather than just wanting to check on her, as he had told her that he was leaving before. "I just came back to tell you that dinner will be ready in an hour and the TV remote is over there", he pointed.

She muttered her thanks again. Now he felt uncomfortable, he should probably hug or something – she looked as if she could do with a hug - but they didn't have that kind of relationship; he had never really touched her except for shaking her hand and when he had put a needle into her heart and comforted her afterwards. Why did her life have to be in danger for them to be close?

Awkwardly he placed his hand on her shoulder and looked deep into her eyes, "I will protect you Chloe, you have my word".

The Tech guys had indeed managed to start tracking the email but said that it would be another few hours until they had managed to finish the job as it was server bouncing at a level they had previously thought impossible. Trust Chloe to have the most intelligent enemies, Lex thought. He knew that his men were working as hard as possible, but it still annoyed him that they hadn't been able to bring Chloe's nightmare to an end yet.

"Have you got everything ready?" He asked the housekeeper as he strode into the kitchen on his way back to the office and to Chloe.

"Yes Mr Luthor", she assured him. "The best guest room is ready for Chlo … I mean, Miss Sullivan, with everything she could need shampoo etc wise, with the clothes that you ordered as she didn't have time to go home, a laptop is in there for a school work, and a collection of her favourite books and movies".

"Good job Gabe couldn't shut up about her", Lex thought as he listened to the maid.

"And the food?" He asked, out loud this time.

"It will be ready on time", she assured him. "Potato soup, grilled vegetable pizza with fries and garlic bread and for a chocolate nutella expresso cake that your chef complained has given him diabetes just having to make it".

Lex managed a smile. "Has to be the first time that a classically trained French chef has been asked to prepare all of that".

"Yes, well he is paid enough to do it so he can get on with it and stop complaining. The poor little lamb should have what she likes." The maid/housekeeper huffed, "never did have much of an appetite when worried, Gabe told me that she had to be tempted to eat after that bitch left", she turned red. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry Mr Luthor".

"No need", he assured her. He liked Annette. She had worked at the mansion since before he had even been there as the head housekeeper and was generally in charge of everything. She was a very kind woman who tended to think that it was her job to take care of everyone, but it was best to stay off her bad side. She had dragged a security guard she had seen taunting one of the dogs out of the door by his ear once and had a tendency to leave trays of food for Lex when she thought that he should eat, even if he had specifically told her that he wasn't hungry.

He had never heard her swear before though, nor had he realised before that she was quite so attached the Sullivans. It made sense he supposed, he knew that they went to the same church so they would know each other and Gabe and Annette were about the same age and being unmarried it would only be natural that she would had have paid attention to him.

He wondered whether Annette knew about his firing Gabe, he didn't think that it was common knowledge yet. He tried to put this out of his mind, he would miss finding boiled eggs sitting on his desk – although he found it annoying most of the time. She wouldn't be worried about him getting enough protein after she found out.

"Annette", he asked, "could you do me a favour?"

"Of course Mr Luthor", she responded.

As he told her, she grinned.

After his talk with Ann, Lex walked up to the office; assuming that that was still where Chloe was as he had not heard from his security that she had left. He considered knocking for a minute but then shook himself out of it; this was his house after all.

He spoke loudly to one of the guards before opening the door so that Chloe wouldn't be startled, or if she were she would get herself under control before he entered the room, he knew that she hated people to see her unprepared and whilst normally he enjoyed putting Chloe on the back foot, today was not the day for that.

"Hello Chloe", he greeted her.

"Hello", she replied from where she was perched on the settee.

He went over to pour himself an orange juice and sat down in front of her, he noticed that she seemed tense and as if she weren't really paying attention to the news.

"I spoke to my team, they say that it will take a few more hours but they will have the location the emails were sent from. Then we will then take further action", he sat back in on the settee.

Chloe nodded, she looked pale still.

"Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes", he continued, "I thought that you would rather eat in here than in the dining room." He tried to gage her reaction to this, he had hoped to make her feel more comfortable, but now that he said it, it could be seen as a snub.

"Wherever you prefer", Chloe said, she wasn't sure that she really felt like eating anyway.

Well at least she didn't seem offended. He had planned to leave the rest of his ideas to cheer her up as a surprise for after dinner, but he just couldn't stand seeing her looking so apprehensive. He didn't know what had come over him that day, he didn't normally spend this much time thinking about Chloe Sullivan's feelings.

"Then afterwards I will take you on a tour of the house", he offered.

Her eyes light up before being overshadowed by doubt, "That's okay, I don't want to be an inconvenience and I should probably stop snooping".

He laughed, "It isn't snooping when you are invited, besides it is no inconvenience. Don't you know that billionaires need to show off?"

That made her smile.

Lex finally took a sip of his orange juice and pulled a face.

"What's wrong?" Chloe inquired.

"It seems to be missing the vodka", Lex tried to remember if there had been a time, pre-scotch and whisky, when neat fruit juice had satisfied him. Now he was dying for something alcoholic.

She laughed, really laughed. For a few seconds her face was the picture of pure merriment, her eyes sparkled, her full lips parted in mirth and as she threw her head back the fire light caught the golden tones in her hair. Lex took another swig of orange juice, still not finding it strong enough. Had Chloe always been that pretty? How had he not noticed that before?

"Lex Luthor cowed by orange juice", she teased and then drank some of her own. Ah, that mouth of hers. That was what had kept him from noticing.

"I think that it is very good vintage. Fruity with a hint of orange, and it finishes remarkably well", she said in an obviously fake English accent.

"Barry from accounting", Lex almost shouted with laughter. "That was him to a tee, I thought that Gabe had been exaggerating when he told the story of when you decided to tell people that the sprite on the employees and family picnic was a particularly good year in an impression of Barry and he had come up behind you".

Chloe's merriment halted at the mention of her father's name, she tensed up but tried to push passed it. She pasted a fake smile on her face and said "Oh no, that was all true. Barry just didn't realise that I was doing an impression of him".

Lex was not unaware of the change in the atmosphere, he forced a chuckle. Better to just ignore these matters, it would all be over soon and they could get back to their separate lives. "Who else can you do?" Lex asked.

"Well", Chloe thought for a moment, she could do several people but it would have to be someone that Lex knew and she didn't think that he would take kindly to her impression of him or Clark. "I used to be able to do Lana, but after today I think that that impression will have to change to have something to do with carrying an axe".

Great, it was awkward again. Trying to steer them back on to a safer course once more, Lex prompted: "Go on".

"I need you to talk about something so that I have something to work with".

"Hello Lana", Lex started, he looked at the television for inspiration. "Have you seen the latest stock prices?"

"Why hello Lex", Chloe sat differently, and opened her eyes further than normal. "I have, it was just making me think of how I opened The Talon." She flicked her hair slightly.

Lex snickered as Chloe continued her impression.

"That's very good", he admitted. "I've never heard that you could do Lana".

"Well it's not something that I generally go around advertising", Chloe shrugged then realising that Lex probably thought that she was jealous of Lana she tried to explain. "I thought that it might be useful for investigating people if I had a few ways to change my voice etc and so I started trying to imitate people. Lana was one of the first ones I tried", she didn't add 'because Clark liked her so much', instead continuing "and I found that I had a knack for it."

"She doesn't know?" Lex checked. It seemed like a very good idea to him, and explained how she had got around so many guards etc in the past.

"No, of course not", Chloe looked horrified. Seeing that Lex didn't understand, she went on, "You see, the thing is that she is actually really nice - even if she does make everything about her and tend to draw anyone's attention. She would never intentionally do anything to harm someone else." She stared down at her hands; she would hate to think what an impression of her would look like. She imagined Clark laughing as Lana chopped her hair short, put on some of Chloe's less flattering clothes and padded them out. Then started to talk a mile a minute, ferret through other people's documents and write obsessively about them. Chloe cringed, but the thing was, she knew that Lana would never do such a mean impression of her, even if it were spot on.

Lex nodded, he could understand that Chloe must sometimes feel pushed out. She had known Clark first and now he was pining after Lana and basically ignored Chloe. He felt a tug at his heart; no one should have to feel like that.

There was a knock at the door.

"It looks like dinner is ready", Lex smiled at her. He stood up and offered her his arm, "May I have the honour of escorting you?" like they did in old movies. That should get a smile out of her, he thought.

Chloe smiled at Annette as the older woman left, "This all looks fantastic", she said, thinking that she should say something.

"I'm glad you approve".

Chloe blushed and felt uncomfortable. She had imposed herself on him (or rather Clark had), Lex was making an effort with her and she then made a comment like that, as if she were a welcomed guest.

Lex watched Chloe's face with great amusement, he could almost see the conversation that she was having with herself. Normally he would have just sat there and continued to enjoy it, but not this time. The poor girl was clearly in a state, besides, normally he was fairly certain that neither he nor anyone else could make her feel bad.

"I'm glad you approve, it means that you will eat it all up", he continued as if that was what he had always planned on saying.

Chloe looked at him quizzically.

"You didn't touch your orange juice for quite a while earlier, and considering your situation I think most people wouldn't be hungry so I told the kitchen to prepare something that would tempt you to eat", he explained. It was true, even before he had realised that it was his job to be there for her, he had ordered that she be well cared for. He wasn't going to return her to Clark ill, not that he was sure that Clark was really deserving anymore.

"Oh", she didn't know what to say. Brilliant, that was twice in one day. She would have to see someone about this if it continued, Chloe always knew what to say. She tried, "That was very kind of you, there was no need to go to all of this trouble. I am sorry to have imposed on you so much already".

Lex held up a hand to stop her. "It's my pleasure".

She looked doubtful.

"Come on Chloe, I know that it goes against all your instincts to believe that a Luthor is telling the truth but ask yourself one question: Do you really think that I'm capable of being kind?" He asked.

"Yes", she breathed without thinking, causing them both to look surprised, "when it suits you", was added and Lex smiled. She couldn't cover that slip. Lex wondered how many other people in the world would have answered yes honestly, he was starting to think that she might be the only one.

He took his spoon and started on his soup.

"Aren't you going to say grace?"

He looked at her, was she joking?

They chatted of this and that throughout the soup course, mostly about things that they had both read in the newspaper, it seemed the only safe topics, they might disagree on what should happen in Bosnia but for once religion and politics were the safe subjects. They skirted every difficult issue until Lex could take it no longer; conversation with Chloe was always interesting and this one was no exception but she lacked her normal spark. Clearly brushing everything under the rug and hoping that she would forget about it for a few hours wasn't going to work.

"It will be alright you know?" That was a little more direct than he had planned on being.

"I know you will find out who is behind all this …"

"No, I meant everything", Lex cut her off. He knew that there was more to her concern than just the assassin (if one could ever use the words just and assassin in the same sentence); she looked worn out and that didn't happen overnight.

Chloe stared at him in confusion.

Lex threw his napkin down. "I haven't called your school yet because it might lead someone to realise that you are here but once this is over I will call them and explain the situation and that they will remove all evidence of your suspension".

"Um … thank-you". Chloe wondered how he had known that she had been worried about that. But also where he got the idea that he had to take charge of every situation.

"Clark will forgive you for looking into his adoption", Lex continued, "and it has only been a few weeks, your father will find work somewhere else, he is good at his job and just because I had to let him go doesn't mean that I won't provide him with a brilliant reference". There, that should solve most of her problems.

"Yeah, like that will help him", Chloe muttered, unable to stop herself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing", Chloe stirred her soup with her spoon just to give herself something to do other than look at him.

"No, you said something and it sounded like 'yeah, like that will help him'", Lex accused.

Chloe sighed, and threw her own napkin down. "You are right, that is what I said. Now that he has been blackballed and I quote: "will be lucky if he can find a job washing dishes".

"Chloe, what are you talking about?" Lex interrupted her, his voice a little louder than was strictly necessary.

She shook her head and looked away.

"Chloe", he repeated, his voice turning dangerous, he got up and stalked around the side of the table, "what have you got yourself into?"

She refused to look at him.

Shit, this must be bad. He pulled a chair up in front of her and sat down, then he leant forwards so that his face was mere inches away from hers.

"Chloe", he took her hands in his. "Tell me", he voice was still stern and pulled her gaze to his face.

Her lip quivered. His face was kind. She wanted to be strong, but it didn't seem as if it were going to happen. "It's all my fault", she admitted. She begged herself to stop there but the rest of the words poured out of her mouth before she could stop them, "I knew that I shouldn't, I knew that it was wrong but I researched Clark. Lionel found out about it and paid attention to me. I was flattered, he laid out my dream in front of me and I took it. But then the price kept going up and in the end I refused and … and …" She couldn't get the last part out.

"That is why he wanted your dad fired", Lex finished for her, the realization hit him like a fist as did the tremor of her lip. He would have given anything in that moment to be able to make her smile again.

Chloe nodded, "And black balled him".

"I didn't know about that part", Lex admitted, wanting to kick himself.

"Why should you?" Chloe asked; she knew that she wasn't on Lex's radar.

"Because I should always know what my father is up to", he sighed. "I am sorry Chloe", he wanted to add, 'why didn't you come to me?' but figured that the answer to this was rather obvious.

Before Chloe could answer that it wasn't his fault, he had declared, "I will make this right. I will give Gabe his job back".

Chloe looked at him, she didn't look like she believed him.

"I knew that Lionel wanted Gabe gone, but I thought that it was because he wanted a proof that I would do as he wanted and that he had chosen Gabe just because he was the father of a friend of a friend of mine. I thought that your father would get work almost immediately and his severance pay was more than generous", he trailed off. Nothing he could say could make this alright. "It's my fault, I should have checked".

"No, it is my fault. I knew what I was getting myself into …"

"No, Chloe you didn't", Lex corrected her.

"Yes, I did", she insisted, annoyed at his dismissal of her words. "I knew that I was making a deal with the devil, I … I just thought that I was smart enough to play the game and win", she chuckled bitterly.

"That is a mistake that people far older and far more worldly wise than you have made", Lex admitted, "myself included. But however smart you are - and we both know that your geek is unsurpassed, at least in Smallville - you could never possibly have understood what you were getting into with my father, you are just too good"

"I'm not good, I betrayed my friend", Chloe looked down at her hands, they were still being held in his much larger ones. He had very nice fingers, it was no wonder that he was such a good pianist.

"Chloe, trust me. If there is one thing that a Luthor can recognise it is purity … we consider it our duty to rid the world of it", he tried to joke and to her credit she laughed. He smiled back as he followed the direction of her gaze and noticed how delicate her hands looked captured as they were in his own. He had not realised that he was still holding her hands let alone that their fingers had somehow become entwined, this could be awkward.

Lex silently thanked God as there was a knock at the door; the main course arrived. He extricated himself from the potentially embarrassing situation and headed back to his own place at the opposite end of the table calling the staff in, trying not to notice the loss of Chloe's touch.

"Oh pizza", she exclaimed as she saw what they were having. "You know, I think that the death threats are almost worth it just to see Lex Luthor eat pizza".

Lex laughed. They were apparently going to press the reset button once again, allowing them to get back to an easier rapport.

"Well I hope that you know that all of this comes with a price?" He said with an unreadable expression. He saw her raise an eyebrow, and wondered whether she had got that from him. "I want a clean plate guarantee".

"I think that I can make that promise", Chloe replied with a twitch of her lips.

He was concerned about how easily her smile came back; he had been right in his assumption that the death threats hadn't been the only problem she had been having. He didn't know why, they weren't friends but he felt the need to solve them, if he could.

"You see, pizza is good, no?"

"Very good", agreed after having swallowed a particularly large bite of pizza and following it up with a handful of fries, "You think that I have never had pizza before?"

Chloe shook her head, "No, I think that you only ever eat foie gras and really smelly cheese", she wrinkled her nose, "and drink only alcohol oh and coffee".

He quirked an eyebrow at her, he couldn't help but wonder whether she had really thought about his daily life or whether she was just teasing her. He found himself wondering about hers. He knew that she had moved to Smallville from Metropolis where she had spent quite a substantial amount of time on military bases playing with her cousins when they had been in the country. This led him on to another string of questions which had been bothering him since that morning.

"Why did you let Lana beat you up?" He asked.

"What do you mean? I didn't let Lana beat me up, she just did it", Chloe replied, the memory seemed to put her off the fry she had been contemplating a few seconds earlier … but not the garlic bread.

"I gathered some eye witness accounts. You let yourself by thrown down a stair case - you could have been paralysed for life or even killed - before you reacted", he could not keep the frustration from his voice.

Chloe shrugged, trying to keep her own temper in check. She felt powerless enough generally without him rubbing it in. "She wasn't herself".

"But she was hurting you".

"What would you have had me do?" Chloe demanded.

"Defend yourself! Your uncle is a bloody three star General; I cannot believe that you haven't been taught any self-defence".

"I have", Chloe became angry, not bothering to wonder how Lex knew about her uncle. So far with evening she had been torn. She was scared for her life and many other things and Lex seemed to be trying to help her, she was grateful for his help. But he had still fired her father, although he was going to give him back his job. Hence her confusion over him, but implying that her father had been in some way remiss by not having taught her to look after herself … that was too much. All sentimentality ambiguity was over! Saying that they hadn't taught her to defend herself was like saying that they hadn't tried to protect her, which was untrue. Her family would do anything for her, in fact Chloe feared for Clark and Lana's safety if Lois ever found out what had happened.

"Then why didn't you use it?"

"I did, I hit her but I wasn't going to do that until absolutely necessary", Chloe pushed her plate away from her. She was too worked up now to finish it.

"It was absolutely necessary the second that she raised a hand to you", Lex pushed his plate away as well.

"I couldn't just hit someone", Chloe said in disbelief. What kind of person did he take her for?

"Then you haven't been taught self-defence", Lex shot back.

"Yes, I have!" Chloe protested. Everyone knew that Chloe had skills, she made damned sure that they knew it.

"You need to be able to back those words up", the condescension was clear in his tone.

"I can!"

"Alright then. Come on", Lex challendged.

Chloe stared at him in shock. He had to be joking. He got up and headed over to the door, he wasn't kidding.

"Where are we going Lex?" Chloe asked as he led her out of his office via the side door – which had been locked – and into a room a few doors down. She noticed that there were several guards who had suddenly popped up and found it odd that their presence didn't make her feel any safer than she had when she had been alone with Lex.

"We are going to the gym", Lex informed her, opening the door to the room and holding it for her.

Chloe looked at him in some confusion as she entered the room and the lights automatically flickered on. It was indeed a gym, a large well equipped one with every piece of exercise equipment imaginable. Chloe could only assume that some had been brought for either his first or second wife as she did not think that Lex would use several of the items – although, come to think of it, she had no idea whether Lex worked out or not; he always seemed quite fit but he was also very busy.

She decided that thinking about his exercise regime – if he had one – was not the best way to go and so just turned to him and asked, "Feel the need to burn of some of the calories from that pizza?"

"No", he smirked and motioned her over to one corner of the gym.

Chloe walked over to a large deep mat, she raised an eyebrow at him.

"If I am going to teach you at least the basics of self-defence then we need a mat", he was removing his jacket, and tie.

"I already told you, I know the basics", Chloe reminded him, feeling a little annoyed that he wouldn't believe her.

"The fact that you allowed it to go so far before you reacted suggests otherwise." Lex was now taking off his cufflinks and rolling up his sleeves.

"I couldn't just hit her until I was certain that talking wouldn't work", Chloe tried to explain.

"First of all", Lex looked intently at her, "if someone, anyone touches you or even gets too close to you you tell them to back off. If they don't to it immediately you scream for help as loudly as you can and defend yourself".

Seeming to find it too hard to keep looking at her face, Lex bent over to take his shoes and socks off. "Second of all", there are more ways to disarm someone than hitting them".

Chloe just rolled her eyes at this, "She's my friend".

"I don't give a damn if she's the Pope …"

"Are you Catholic?"

Lex looked at her in confusion. "I beg your pardon".

"Are you Catholic?" Chloe repeated her question excessively slowly, as if she were talking to a very dim child. "Because if you are not Catholic then the fact that you don't care about me hitting the Pope doesn't really signify much".

He smiled. "I am not Catholic, so I will rephrase that. I don't care if we find out that my father is a bigger bastard than either of us imagined and it turns out that I have a baby sister running around somewhere with a ridiculous Luthor based name like Luthorina, Lutessana, Lu…"

"Luthorbelle", Chloe supplied helpfully.

"Or something like that, the rule still applies. One warning, then action. I can't believe that no one has ever told you that", Lex removed any valuables from his pockets.

"They did actually", Chloe said hotly. She didn't like her family being insulted.

"Then why didn't you do it?" He asked.

"Because she could have got hurt", Chloe explained.

Lex looked at her intently, she was really more worried about hurting someone else than she was about getting hurt herself, that was rare. Stupid, but rare.

"So could you. Now get ready so that I can show you what you are supposed to be doing", he moved to the centre of the mat.

"So you want me to beat you up to prove it?" Chloe asked, hands on her hips.

"If you think that you can", Lex taunted arrogantly, he was certain that that would spur Chloe to action.

"Fine", Chloe accepted the challenge. She slipped out of her blazer, shoes and socks and piled them neatly on the side before climbing onto the mat and walking over to where Lex stood. He was quite a bit taller than she was and even through his shirt she could tell that he was probably quite a bit more muscular. Still she was trained and she was quick, if a little small.

Damn, from his smirk she guessed that he had noticed her sizing him up. Trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that gave her she snarked, "Listen Luthor, I don't want to hear anything from your lawyers if you end up with something broken".

Lex just grinned cockily at her and dropped into a fighting stance. Chloe looked doubtful for a moment.

"Come on Chloe, don't tell me that you are all mouth and no trousers. That all of this has just been talk. That you are …"

"Fine", she almost shouted at him and began to move, circling around him. She was not going to be forced to make her move before she was ready, but if he wanted to get beaten up by a girl then he was going to get his wish.

Lex moved in response, they both liked to let their opponent make the first move and were both clearly trying to work out every possible eventuality. Even if it wasn't his favourite method of starting, he wanted to get the lesson underway and so Lex advanced and aimed a kick to her side that she easily avoided. Good, she did have some training. The fact that he had initiated it, seemed to spur Chloe on. She punched but it was half hearted. He ducked, grabbed her arm and pushed her down to the mat in one movement.

Chloe's head was turned to the side and he had done it as slowly as possible so he was certain that she wasn't hurt. He kneeled next to her and let go of her arm but placed a hand between her shoulder blades, she tried but she couldn't get up.

"Nice punch, but I think that I have made my point".

"That you're stronger?"

"No, that a few lessons when you were a kid are not enough", he let her go and helped her up into a sitting position. "Look Chloe, I'm not trying to scare you or belittle what you know. I'm glad that your uncle and father taught you these things but you have clearly got rusty while living in Smallville and something is lacking. The only reason why I could catch that punch was because you didn't really intend to hit me, you were going to pull back. I worry that if you are put in a situation, you won't realise how great the level of danger is until it is too late."

Chloe looked a little guilty.

"So I am going to show you how to disarm without seriously injuring", He said. "Come on", he got to his feet and held out his hand to her.

For a minute she regarded his hand and considered batting it away, she could get to her feet herself. But she didn't. What Lex was going was actually quite sweet. So she accepted his hand and got up.

"Okay Luthor, let's see what you've got … although I should mention the legal ramifications that us mere mortals have to face that Luthor's don't".

"You leave me to worry about those", Lex advised her. If he found out that anyone had … well, let's just say that legal problems would be the least of their worries.

"Fine, you show me these moves of yours and I will show you a few more of mine", she said, trying to ignore the slightly possessive look she had seen in his eyes and the funny effect that it had had on her tummy.

"You have more moves?" Lex raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, ready for round two?"

Lex nodded and dropped back into his fighting stance.

"Good because I am not going to go easy on you this time", Chloe grinned and this time she was the first to attack. Lex had to admit that she was good. She was nimble, he was only able to deflect about 80% of her jabs and never had the chance to get his own in. It was good, but not enough. He felt that she was still holding back too much. Chloe was slowly edging him into the corner (whether by accident or design he didn't know) and he knew that he had to make his move soon. He had to get her angry.

"Come on Chloe, is that all that you have got? I am the man who fired your father, you would think that you want to get your revenge. Aren't you tired for people seeing you as some helpless little girl who …"

Chloe attacked, her punches were harder but more easily stopped, he prevented both but doing so pushed him right back into the corner. He saw her back off, big mistake.

"You have to learn to push home your advantage", he started cockily but then swore, "Damn it!" He saw the glint in her eyes and in that second knew that it was all over. Before he could wrap his mind around it he saw her execute a flawless roundhouse kick which would get him right in the solar plexus. He would be winded and go crashing back into the wall. Chloe had been in charge of the whole of this last fight, she had just been playing with him.

He threw his hands up to try to grab her leg but only grasped her calve once she had already come to a stop, less than one centimetre away from making contact with him. Lex's eyes were wide with shock.

"And you have to learn that not everyone can be played Lex. Some of us will standby what we believe in – not hurting people unless absolutely necessary – however much provoked", Chloe held her stance.

"Impressive", Lex admitted and held his hands up in mock surrender.

Chloe's smile grew and put down her leg, "But I would still like to learn your little tricks", she admitted; if there was a way to defend herself without causing too much damage then she was interested.

"Here's the first", Lex lunged forwards and somehow had her against the wall in a heartbeat, "Don't get too close to your enemy or assume that because they have admitted defeat that they won't try again".

"Is that a lesson in life or just fighting?" Chloe asked, trying to ignore their proximity.

"What's the difference?"

"I don't normally find myself pushed up against walls in normal life", Chloe said. She could feel his hand cradling her head to protect it from the wall he had pushed her into. His other was pushing against her hip, not that it was really necessary. The length of his body was pressed into hers, she couldn't go anywhere.

"Really?" She could feel his hot breath on her neck. "I must say that the male population of your school are even more stupid than I thought".

This got a smile out of her and she put her hands on his shoulders to push him away only to find that she couldn't. A twinge of apprehension passed through her.

Lex ran his hands from their current locations to her hands and then grasped them, and pinned them above her head.

"Lex", she protested.

"You should have reacted earlier", Lex informed her. "I told you, anyone makes you uncomfortable, one warning then action. In real life the bad guys don't wear black and they aren't always totally bad, but that doesn't mean that they won't hurt you. It doesn't matter if you think that they are your friends, if they say that you are over reacting … you must react, otherwise you will end up in a position like this", he took both of her wrists in one of his hands, leaving the other to trail back down her arms and up her neck to cup her face.

Her cheeks were flushed with colour and her lips parted as she took in deep breaths, he could feel her chest heave against his and prayed that she couldn't feel his reaction to it. He really couldn't understand how he had never noticed her beauty before, she was perfect in every way except for her eyes which were … there were no words. They could captivate him, she could have been a troll but one look into those eyes and he would have forgotten every single wart.

"Lucky for me that you have no interest in me then isn't it?"

Lex was snapped out of his reverie.

"Yeah, I guarantee the next guy who gets you in this position will want far more than a kiss", with that, he gave her a peck on the cheek for reasons he couldn't explain and pulled away. "Care to continue the lesson?"

The lesson in self-defence had actually gone rather well. Chloe was a quick learner and had obviously been reasonably well trained earlier in life. Lex just wished that he had known that he was going to be giving a lesson that evening; if he had he could have arranged to have other clothes. It wasn't too much of a problem for him, slacks weren't the best fighting gear but they would do but Chloe's clothing had proved to be a problem, or rather a distraction.

It had not gone unnoticed by him before that Chloe's necklines often veered towards the daring and that she was in possession of certain desirable attributes … but it was awfully hard to concentrate on giving a lesson when said attributes had a tendency to bounce. Chloe had not seemed to notice this or the effect it had on him, he briefly wondered why not. Most women were far more aware of their own appeal than Chloe Sullivan seemed to be. She was a bit on the larger side but she had a pretty face, he could not imagine that she would have anything to be self-conscious about.

He pondered this as they went back into the office to have their pudding.

"I have been informed that this cake can cause diabetes", Lex informed her as he pulled out her chair for her, shocked that she seemed surprised by this action.

"Great, just the way I like my cake", Chloe smiled up at him. It wasn't that she couldn't seat herself, but it was nice that someone had remembered that she was a girl for once. Normally Lana was the girl and Chloe was just well … at the moment persona non grata, but normally one of the guys. But that didn't mean that she was going to preen constantly now that someone had figured out her gender.

"Good to know", Lex commented, his brow furrowing as he saw an odd expression cross her features. It was gone before he had the chance to really examine it. She was back to her normal smile - with a hint of concern because of her current predicament - before he knew it. What had that been about?

Before he got the chance to consider the matter any further, Annie came in with the cakes.

"Here you go my pet", she served Chloe first.

"Thank-you Annie", she smiled.

She then served Lex. Once she had left, Chloe leant over and breathed in the aroma of the cake, it smelled divine. Lex had to bring his napkin to his lips to hide the smirk. She certainly didn't live off lettuce.

"It looks like the chef has really outdone himself this time".

"Indeed, it looks wonderful. Shame that he is such a pain to work with", Chloe commented.

"How well do you know Annette?" Lex inquired

Chloe looked at him. "She came over the first day that Dad and I arrived in Smallville with freshly baked cookies, and she goes to our church. I thought for a while that she and Dad might like each other but …" Chloe trailed off.

Lex wanted to press the issue but refrained. The point was to get her mind off her current predicament, not to get onto any subject which might be disagreeable to her. He knew that her mother had left, but he didn't know how she felt about that or what kind of relationship they had had.

When Lex had first wanted to send Gabe to a conference but he had declined, explaining that he could not leave his 14 year old daughter home alone Lex had wondered where the mother was and had looked it up. His fist clenched as he thought about it. What he had found out had not endeared the woman to him and if she ever came back to Smallville … well she had better not and not just because of Annette.

"Shall we begin … or do you say grace before pudding as well?"

Chloe dug into her desert in answer and Lex followed suit. It was extremely rich and far too sugary for his tastes but judging by the almost orgasmic reaction that Chloe appeared to be having to it, he knew that his chef had hit the nail on the head. Lex briefly thought that if she really wanted to seduce Clark she should just eat some chocolate in front of him, not only would all be forgiven she would probably find herself pushed up against a locker.

The thought made him feel a little sick, but he put it down to the cake. He wasn't usually much of a desert person, but as he witnessed Chloe lick a bit from where she had somehow got it on her finger her groaned and took another mouthful, it suddenly seemed for more appetising. If the journalism thing didn't work for her then she could make millions advertising chocolate.

He stifled a moan as images of the adverteasing, he meant advertising campaign filled this thoughts. That would certainly be very interesting. He could see her working for a Belgium … no German chocolate company no problem.

"Lex, Lex", Chloe's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Um … yeah", he replied intelligently.

Chloe was looking at him expectantly. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, just thinking about … where I should take you first on the tour of the mansion", Lex covered and as proud of himself for not adding 'and about you chocolate and edible chocolate lingerie'.

"Great", Chloe smiled, as they finished off their puddings. "Are you going to show me the library?"

"If you'd like".

"And finally we come to the most underutilized room of the mansion", Lex announced as he once again held the door open for her.

"Seriously?" Chloe asked as she entered the room. "You have a pool and you don't use it?"

"Not that often", Lex said, "in fact I think that the last person to use it was by first wife"

"What a waste", Chloe shook her head.

"Indeed it is", Lex smiled as she fell into his trap, "would you like to help me rectify that?"

"I don't have a swimsuit", Chloe said a little sadly as she looked wistfully at the pool; she loved swimming.

"Sure you do, just look on your bed."

Lex was back by the pool in less than five minutes and had been debating what to do ever since then. He wasn't sure whether he should get into the water first, that way Chloe wouldn't think that she had made him wait … or wait for her so she knew that he hadn't forgotten about her. God, since when had he thought this much about a woman? No, not even a woman a teenaged girl! Wives one and two hadn't caused this much self-doubt combined and they had both been homicidal maniacs.

In the end he decided to sit down on one of the lounge chairs to wait, but to read a book while doing so. Or rather, hold a book up in front of his face so that it looked as if he were reading and disguised the fact that his eyes kept wandering to the door every few seconds.

Chloe had found her way back to 'her' room with ease having always had a good memory for directions, a fact that came in handy as her favoured hobby was sneaking in places to find stories. She had also had no problems in finding the suit; it was on top of her bed just as Lex had said that it would be. The problem came in the suit itself. Chloe was more of a one piece type of girl and this was very definitely a two piece.

Annette had informed her earlier that Lex had had them buy her some things and put them in her room which she had felt a little odd about but she had never dreamed that a bikini would be amongst them. It was black and looked rather small, she was sure that it would stretch but whether that would be enough remained to be seen. If she even dared to try it on. It was obviously a famous designer bikini to be worn by people like … well like Lex's normal girlfriends. Whoever it was who had been sent to purchase these items, they had obviously not realise what she looked like, as Chloe Sullivan wasn't a temptress and did not wear clothes like that.

She could say that she had changed her mind, that she didn't feel well, that you weren't supposed to go swimming so soon after eating … no she couldn't. She wasn't sure whether this was a challenge on Lex's part or a conscious effort to make her feel at ease – knowing him quite possibly a bit of both. But whatever it was, she couldn't, she wouldn't back down.

With a sigh Chloe addressed the swimming costume, "Come on then, you had been not make me look bad, if I end up with a muffin top someone is getting attacked with a pair of scissors".

As she slipped out of her clothes and into the bikini she looked at herself in the mirror and was reasonably pleased by what she saw. The suit covered everything that it was supposed to cover, didn't give her a muffin top and the dark material looked good against her porcelain skin.

Chloe didn't imagine that she would ever be happy with her body until she either lost a stone or two or all fashion models and Lana Lang died. She had been angry with her body ever since it had expanded to include breasts, hips and her bottom. She simply would not forgive it until they were gone. In this suit those areas were flattered although it did not diminish their size.

"Oh well", she sighed, "I'm not going to lose a stone standing here".

As her hair was so short, it wasn't really necessary but she got a bobble from her bag and tied her hair back anyway. It seemed weird to swim with her hair down, a hang up she had from her long princess hair as a child, she figured.

Pulling her hair back had a notable effect on her appearance; it made her seem more womanly and highlighted her cheekbones.

"Hmm … I might have to wear it like this more often", she thought to herself as she went back over to the bed. Next to the suit had been a gown and slippers which she slipped on and made her way back to the swimming pool, she had seen towels in the corner there so there was no need to take her own.

She wondered whether Lex would already be there. If he weren't then she would be able to get in without being seen, she quickened her pace a little. At first when Chloe entered the room she thought that she had been in luck, she couldn't see anyone until her eyes fell on one of the corners and the lounger with millionaire lounging on it.

Chloe walked as quietly as possible over to the opposite side of the room, took one of the towels and put it on one of the other chairs so that she would be able to get to it easily when she needed to get out later. She looked over at Lex, his head was buried in a book. Maybe he wouldn't notice her.

No such luck!

As soon as she toed off her slippers the book was down at Lex was looking over at her expectantly.

Chloe ground her teeth. What was she supposed to do? She knew that he wasn't looking at her as a woman or because he was attracted to her so if she asked him to turn around or anything like that then that would just make her look childish, not to mention conceited. And she couldn't not strip off in front of him so she was left with only one option. She took a deep breath and pretended that she hadn't noticed him and felt no embarrassment at being half naked in front of him. She pretended that she didn't know that he would be revolted and wonder how she had let herself go so far. He would probably remember what the last woman he had swum with had looked like; about five inches taller than Chloe yet several pounds lighter.

Slowly she slipped the robe off and placed it on the seat behind her. Well at least now he had only seen her back, then she turned back around, eyes firmly fixed on the water, and got in quickly but not quickly enough.

Lex may have done a good job of pretending to read, but his eyes had never left Chloe from the moment that she had entered the room. He was shocked by just how good she looked in the robe with her hair back and wondered if her odd choice in hair styles and bright clothes had been what had stopped him from truly appreciating how beautiful she was before today … or whether he had just been blind.

She seemed a little hesitant, she kept looking over at him presumably to ensure that he wasn't watching her although why he couldn't understand, most girls were only too happy to reveal themselves to him. Still, he resolved to keep his book up in front of his face if that made her more comfortable. This resolution lasted all of two seconds.

As more of her perfect creamy flesh was revealed to his ravenous gaze he was hard pressed not to lick his lips. She was delectable. As she bent over slightly to place the robe down he had to suppress a groan he could just see her birthmark. How was it possible that such a nice, firm, round derriere had been hidden from him all of this time?

Then she turned around. Well it was safe to say that she didn't pad. If he had had a drink he would surely have downed it in one by that point. No girl had had this much of effect of him since … well, ever and that included his first wife who could brainwash a man with a kiss.

Then she slipped into the water and he realised that he had better do the same since an ice cold shower wasn't an option at that moment.

Chloe began to swim trying to look unconcerned by Lex's presence, especially as he stood up. She would not look, she would just keep swimming. Well, maybe one little peek, he had looked at her after all, of course that was different; she was attracted to him.

As her eyes trailed over him she stifled a gasp. He much better built that she had previously imagined although not quite as buff as Clark, but there was a predatory grace to him which she now realised had nothing to do with his clothes or money. She wouldn't like to say where his confidence came from, but as her eyes travelled lower she could guess. Chloe blushed and continued swimming, hoping that he hadn't noticed.

Lex smirked.

"See something you like?" He inquired conversationally.

Chloe wanted to duck under the water so that she could hide, but her pride simply would not allow that, so she came to a stop and faced him. "Actually yes, they mosaic on the tiles is really quite impressive".

"Right".

"It really is surprising how something so small can build up to something so impressive and bring so much pleasure, don't you agree?" Chloe inquired innocently.

Lex raised an eyebrow. It was the best thing to do when one didn't have a comeback. Or rather, when one did have a comeback but was reluctant to use it was it might make her swim off and then he would lose his view down her top.

There was silence for a moment before Chloe filled it with, "Thanks for the suit, you shouldn't have".

"Oh, I didn't. I brought it for myself but it didn't hang right so I thought that you might as well have it", he shrugged off her thanks.

"Maybe a triangle one", Chloe suggested with a smirk.

"Maybe, think that that might get a bit of extra attention at the lake?" Lex asked trying not to laugh at the mental image.

"Probably", Chloe laughed, "are you going to the party at the lake?"

"No", he shook his head. He didn't tend to actually just hang out with Clark, "are you?"

"I was, although I am not sure now".

"This will all be over long before then", Lex assured her, not wanting to ruin their evening by mentioning the threats on her life.

"I know", Chloe said, not doubting Lex's words. "But Clark will probably still hate me then and Lana tried to kill me so … basically Pete is still speaking to me, and that's about it".

"You don't have other friends?" Lex wondered.

"Yeah, I do. In fact I was planning on going shopping with the others for new swim suits and Slim Fasts today", Chloe said as they started swimming slowly again.

"Well now you don't have to", Lex said trying to look on the bright side, as if that made up for missing out on time with her friends, getting beaten up, having to stay the night in a strange house and being afraid for her life.

"Yeah, every cloud has a silver lining", she smiled at him. She had already guessed that the suit was for her to keep but didn't think that she could wear it outside.

Lex thought about Chloe walking around in that bikini, in front of all of those boys, in front of Clark and Pete the sun glistening off her body.

"Maybe I will come", he said out loud. "Teenagers alone at a lake, sounds like the start of a horror film, there really should be some supervision" … especially some close supervision of Chloe.

Chloe just smiled at him, "I am sure that Clark would love that, he …"

"Hang on a second", he interrupted her, something she had said earlier coming back to him, "Slim Fast?"

"Yeah, it is this drink that you have instead of a meal twice a day to lose weight", Chloe explained thinking that it was odd that Lex had never heard of it. She wasn't even really sure how the subject had come up, she hadn't meant to mention it, it had just come out when she had been talking about what she had been planning to do as it was the next thing on her list.

"I know what the concoction is, but what are you doing drinking the bloody stuff?" Lex demanded.

"Trying to lose weight". It must have been her imagination, but he sounded angry. Was it really so terrible that she had implied that he might not know about something?

He looked at her disbelievingly.

This raised Chloe's hackles. "Okay, so I over ate today, I was scared. I don't do it every day so there is no need to look at me as if I were a monster". She sank a little lower in the water, trying to cover herself up more.

"I'm not", Lex protested, "I'm look at you as if you're crazy … which you are by the way. What the fuck do you want to lose weight for?"

She looked at him incredulously, for a supposed genius he really could be quite dense sometimes. "To be thinner", she answered.

Lex just stared at her with what should have been an unreadable expression, but that didn't stop Chloe reading something into it.

"Okay, look, I know that it's weird. I'm not a girl. I'm Chloe. I'm not attractive, or sexy or even pretty I am the friend … or now the ex-friend", she corrected herself, "And I will probably never be anything more but you know what that doesn't mean that I am not going to try and I don't see what the hell right you have to try to make me feel about it".

"Bullshit!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You cannot possibly believe any of that crap!" He exploded.

"What? How dare you …"

Lex continued his rant, "I don't even believe that you actually like Clark. I think that you use him as a foil so that no one else can get near to you. I don't know why, maybe something to do with your mother leaving …"

Now it was Chloe's turn to interrupt, "What do you know about my mother? And what do you mean I use Clark?"

"Only what I read in your file", he answered the first question, when he saw that she was about to take issue with this he moved swiftly onto the second. "And I mean that you are clearly gorgeous, but you put on weird clothes that are clearly far too large for you and hide your figure. And based on passed photos cut your hair short even though you know that Clark prefers it long".

"Did it ever occur to you that I might like what I wear or that I styled my hair the way that I liked it?" Chloe demanded.

"I have never doubted that you choose what you wear and how you look but no, I don't believe that you weren't influenced. You go for vibrant, bold colours and smart cuts and blazers but then think that you have gone too far and tone it down with baggy trousers etc", Lex stated simply. "You have a flattering hairstyle but then make it look odd, sort of an overly edgy I-don't-care-what-you-think-style".

"And it never occurred to you that I might like to blend styles?"

"No, you are either scruffy or you aren't, and you Chloe aren't. It is studied".

Chloe would have loved to tell him that he was wrong, but she couldn't. Instead she challenged him, "So Dr Freud what is your analysis? I don't really love Clark? I am a nutcase who needs you to tell me what I do or don't feel?"

"My analysis", he placed his hands on shoulders, "Is that no I don't think that you do love Clark, because you are not fighting for him. You could compete with Lana on every point and win, and yet you don't. I think that Clark is a safe option, as long as you are pining for him but not doing anything to make him love you then you can avoid having relationships with anyone else".

Chloe looked up at him in disbelief, "I couldn't compete with Lana, no one could".

Lex lifted her up to her full height. They were in the shallow end and as such, doing so revealed a lot more of her.

"Believe me Chloe, you could and if you haven't realised that then you need to go and get your eyes tested", he looked into her eyes intently.

Chloe felt uncomfortable, she didn't think that he was lying to her but what he was saying couldn't be true so she did what she always did when she felt self-conscious, she lashed out.

"At least I have hair to put in weird styles".

He wasn't offended but he was angry that she was avoiding the actual issue. "See, you ignored the fact that I said you were gorgeous and focused on the hair comment. Sure you look nice but you make yourself seem like the friend not the girlfriend. And you know what, that is fine, if that is what you want to do. But you can't do that and then damage your health to achieve something that you could get like that", he snapped his fingers, "if you really wanted it. What is wrong with you Chloe? If Clark is what you really want then why do all of these things to deliberately push him away?"

"I'm not", Chloe protested.

"Of course you bloody are, maybe subconsciously, I don't know, but you are definitely doing it. What's the matter, too afraid that if your mother could leave you that anyone else might do the same so it is safer just never to have the relationships? Or are you just afraid of rejection and think that if you never really try then it won't hurt as much?"

She said nothing but the look on her face said volumes.

"Oh God, Chloe I'm sorry", he apologised trying to pull her to him. He hadn't meant to lose his temper or say any of those things to her.

Chloe took a step backwards, avoiding his grasp. She turned her head away so that he couldn't see the moisture in her eyes and made to leave before coming to a stop and dropping her head. Lex was by her side in a second.

Her voice waivered as she spoke, "I was going to say that I'm not going to stand here and listen to this but I can't leave or my life will be in danger. Oh God how pathetic!"

Lex wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest, ignoring her initial protests until she calmed down. "I wouldn't have let you leave anyway so we can pretend that you did stand up for yourself and make that threat but that I got on my knees and begged you to stay and as you couldn't bear to see a grown man cry you consented to stay … just until I got myself together. It was very moving".

He could feel her laugh against his chest.

"I really am sorry Chloe".

"I know".

Chloe sat in her bedroom at the mansion typing away on the laptop provided for her. She had finished her school work – which Lex had somehow acquired – and finished several articles she had been working on for The Torch in the course of the morning. Even she was surprised by how much she had accomplished but now she needed to find something else to do. It was not even quite lunchtime yet and she had run out of work.

She looked around the room for something that needed doing … she couldn't see anything. And she couldn't go on the internet and research more stories because the web was still down due to the death threats. That was why she needed something to do, so that she didn't think of the fact that her life was in danger or the fact that Clark now hated her or Lex's note.

Unbidden her eyes travelled over the desk to where the note sat.

Dear Chloe,

I have got a lead on who is behind all of this, you were right it is linked the Summerholt Institute and the story which you wrote. I have flown out to Metropolis to hurry things along but will be back this evening. Do not worry, the staff know what to do and will keep you safe. If you need anything just ask and you shall have it.

About last night, I can only apologise again and trust to your goodness for forgiveness which I know I do not deserve. It was wrong of me to bring up memories which must be painful to you especially at a time like this. I would however like to make it up to you and if you look in the wardrobe you will find a dress that I hope I will see you in at dinner tonight.

Regards,

Lex

It was a rather nice note, Chloe thought, not realising that it had taken him the better part of an hour to write. When she had woken up to find it on the breakfast tray sitting next to her she had been shocked but touched. When she had gone to the wardrobe and found the dress – amongst the other items of clothing clearly intended for her use – she had almost cried. It was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen. It was a rich blue silk gown which reached the floor. It was a woman's gown.

Chloe reached out to brush the material lightly. It was all that she could do not to salivate. She shouldn't accept it from him, or any of the other clothes but she wanted to so badly. She just stood there and stared at it, it was only when Annie came in that Chloe realised that she would have to accept the clothes because as Annette pointed out, "You already accepted the pyjamas?" She alluded to the fact that Chloe was wearing them. "What are you going to do? Your other clothes are in the wash, you cannot go around in the nude, or rather you can but if you do and Lex sees you he is going to marry you".

"Will you tell him that or should I?" Chloe asked with a laugh, realising that the older woman was correct; she had nothing else to wear as she had not had time to pack anything and no one could go to her house unless it was being watched.

"I will tell him of course", Annie said, "or rather I will inform him whilst Gabe holds the shot gun to his head".

"I think that Dad would probably be pointing it somewhere a little lower", Chloe suggested.

"Quite possibly", Annie shrugged, only then noticing that Chloe hadn't touched her breakfast yet. "You are playing with your new clothes before you have eaten your breakfast? Oh no little missy, I am not having any of that. Come on, sit your skinny little bottom down here and eat up like a good girl".

Chloe told her that she was fine but that didn't stop her being plonked in a chair at the desk and the tray being brought to her.

"I don't know what girls your age are coming to, playing before eating. You are going to waste away into nothingness", Annie continued to fuss. She liked fussing.

"I am hardly going to waste away into nothingness", Chloe laughed, "but if it will make you feel better I will eat up now. As long as you join me". She looked at the tray which was groaning under produce, "I think that you got enough for an entire family here".

"Very well", Annie said a little touched that Chloe wanted her to join her, but that would not stop her going on. "I don't know about that", she was of course referring to the wasting away, "I heard all about what you let slip last night".

Chloe looked worried.

"Bloody slim fast indeed. If you were meant to drink your meals, the good Lord wouldn't have given you teeth. You mark my words, you start down that road and you'll end up looking like that Lana girl".

"Pretty and popular?"

"No, skinny and sickly looking".

Chloe laughed, "She was a cheerleader you know, that does take a certain amount of stamina".

Annie just pulled a face. It wasn't that she didn't like Lana, she didn't mind the girl, but she wasn't her little Chloe Bear.

"Besides what will happen in five years or so when it is time for you to think about marriage?" Annie asked, "You don't want to get to 21, finally be able to start dating and find that no boy will have you. I think that you will do just fine without a man, but if you want one it would be terrible if you couldn't get one. It is sad to say but boys don't just look at the face and they don't like girls who are members of the IBTC".

"The what?" Chloe asked as Annie piled her plate high with food – clearly not thinking that Chloe knew how much a growing girl needed.

"The IBTC – Itty Bitty Titty Commity", Annette explained.

Chloe almost fell off her chair laughing.

"You may well laugh Chloe Sullivan but I guarantee you that the magazines Martha Kent found under Clark's mattress weren't off stick figures", she said as if it were the most normal thing in the world to be discussing over breakfast.

Chloe did fall off her chair laughing. Not only that, she rolled around the floor for quite a while before she was ready to get back up, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Better now?" Annie inquired looking rather amused herself.

"Yes thank-you".

"Good then you can eat up and accept the clothes from Lex".

As far as Annette had been concerned that had been the end of it. Chloe had eventually agreed to accept the clothes but couldn't explain how funny the idea of seeing Lex and him seeing her in that dress made her tummy feel.

Chloe made her way back over to the wardrobe and looked at the dress and the other clothes, as well as the ones she was now wearing. There were all very elegant business attire and from Saks 5th Avenue. She had no idea how Lex had managed it, although she was beginning to suspect that Annie had had a hand in it.

Chloe decided to go and see Annette before she started over analysing everything again. She had already replayed the previous night over in her head about 100 times that morning and Lex did not get any less confusing … or desirable.

"Where the fuck is she?" Lex roared as he threw the computer chair across the room.

"We don't know Mr Luthor. She should have been here, but we can't find any trace of her. We have the software she used but not Molly", one of the guards explained hastily as he took a few steps back.

"Well that isn't good enough. Find her! Every second she is out there Chloe's life is in danger", Lex roared.

"We will Mr Luthor. We will find her. We have found out how the program works, if she tries to use it again we will be able to get a track on her immediately", another guard chimed in.

"If this isn't over by tomorrow morning then you will both be praying that Molly gets to you before I do", Lex threatened.

"Yes sir", the chorused looking pale as Lex exited the now destroyed apartment. Once he was outside he took out his cell phone and called his back-up plan.

"General Lane here".

"It is time for plan B", Lex informed him coldly.

What with arranging new methods to track and capture Molly and general LuthorCorp business Lex didn't arrive back at the mansion until half past six, which was rather later than he had intended. He hoped that his staff had done as he had requested and left his best suit out on his bed for him, that way he could be showered and changed before 7pm. Whatever happened he was not going to be late to pick Chloe up.

Lex tore through his ablutions and was dressed and standing outside Chloe's bedroom before he knew what had happened. He checked his Napoleon Franc watch and was pleased to see that it was five to seven; he was just on time.

He couldn't believe how excited he was about something that wasn't even really a date. Giving himself a mental shake and ordering himself to be calm he raised his hand and knocked on her door.

"Just a moment", Chloe called from where she had been sat in front of her vanity mirror for the last half an hour in a state of perpetual excitement. Taking a deep breath she walked over to the door and opened it.

"Wow", they both uttered at the same moment.

Chloe was beyond stunning, she had left her hair straight for once without any fluffing and it framed her face perfectly. The rich gown clung to her in all of the right places without being slutty and brought out the blue in her eyes.

"You look amazing", Lex said sincerely as he took her hand and brought it to his lips.

She couldn't help but blush and giggle. "You don't look too bad yourself", Chloe replied as she drank in his suit clad form. He always looked good but this was ridiculous. The charcoal suit highlighted his broad shoulders and height; it was enough to make a girl go weak at the knees.

"Why thank-you", he smiled as he took a corsage out of his pocket and affixed it to her wrist.

"What's this for?" She wondered.

"We are going to prom".

Chloe stared at him disbelievingly. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely, don't you know that we Luthors never joke?" His face was stern but there was a glint in his eye.

"You want to take me to prom?" She asked.

'I want to take you to bed', he thought but did not say. Instead he opted for, "Yes. Prom or the Spring Fling or Homecoming or whatever it is called. It is a big deal to you and you didn't get to go, or rather you did but you didn't get to enjoy it. I know that I am not the person that you wanted to spend that evening with and that I cannot bring everyone here tonight, but I just wanted you to have that moment".

"That is so sweet", Chloe smiled.

"Come now Miss Sullivan, you should know that Luthors are never sweet", Lex admonished her.

"Clearly some are", she said as she rose up onto her tip toes and brushed her lips against his cheek. "Thank-you".

The room was astounding, it really did look just like the dance had down to the last balloon. The only difference was that there were only two of them there and only one table.

"This is really amazing Lex", Chloe grinned as she walked into the room on his arm.

"Well I thought that you should have something nice", he shrugged, secretly thrilled that she liked it. He kept looking over at her, concerned that he might see some sign that she was just being polite and deep down thought that this was odd or that he had overstepped the mark, but she seemed genuinely happy.

He led her over to the table for dinner which once again was a copy of what she had had that night, she wondered how he had even got her order correct. If at all possible, this was better than the actual dance even though Clark wasn't there. They got through dinner without fighting which had to be a record for them and once that was over music came on and Lex walked around the table and offered her his hand, "May I have this dance?"

Chloe wanted to say yes, wanted to throw herself into his arms but she knew that if she did that she might make a fool of herself by refusing to ever let him go again.

"I'm not much of a dancer", she hedged, "several toes have been stepped on in the past".

"I'm tough", Lex pressed, hating the way her refusal made him feel, "and I can teach up to dance, if you don't know how", he offered.

"Okay", Chloe acquiesced, it didn't seem as though she had much of a choice in the matter anymore.

Taking her hand Lex led her out into the centre of the floor; he couldn't help but notice that she looked nervous. He would try to make her laugh.

"It is a good job that this is a slow song, I'm not sure that you are ready for me to teach you my gangsta moves", he joked putting on an accent for the last two words.

Chloe's smile turned to a laugh as Lex briefly performed some rather odd looking dance movements.

"I'm all in favour of the slow song", she whispered as he looked at her. She felt like a deer caught in the headlights as he advanced on her, closing what little gap there was between them. She couldn't move, she was completely at his mercy and what was worse, she found that she didn't mind … not one little bit.

"Put your hand on my shoulder", he instructed her as he held one of her hands and wrapped his arm around her waist. He held her close to him as he rocked her to the music.

She was the perfect size for him, she fitted just so into his arms and his chin rested on her head. He breathed in the smell of her shampoo and soap, she smelled wonderful. She felt wonderful.

Chloe was having much the same feelings about him. They stayed like that for hours, each song merging into the next with them just swaying to the music. If Lex had his way then their embrace would never end, however Chloe did not feel quite the same way.

"Lex, I …" She started to speak to get his attention. As their gazes met he knew without a shadow of a doubt what she wanted and lowered his head to taste her lips.

Even before they had made contact he imagined what she was taste like, what it would feel like to have her arms wrapped around him. Would one kiss be enough or would she want to follow the post prom tradition?

"Mr Luthor, we have found her!" The head of his security team came bursting through the door with several other men in tow.

It was like a bucket of water had been thrown over them both. Lex released Chloe and pulled away, before she knew what was happening he was instructing the men to stay with her and protect her, as he stormed out of the room with the head of security.

"You found her?" He checked.

"Yes, Mr Luthor. She used the software again from a library in Metropolis, but we caught her within minutes of the action", the man explained.

"Good, but that means the message still got sent?" Lex's mind was racing.

"Yes, but only one", came the answer.

"To whom?"

"That is the thing, we don't know. This is the phone number". They were in the tech hub now so he showed Lex the information on the screen.

"Oh shit!" Lex exclaimed. "Chloe!"

Lex's pulse raced as he tore through the mansion taking the back ways, his fingers closing around the gun he had had on him ever since he had been informed of the real threat on Chloe's life. He had to be in time, he just had to be.

"I'm sorry Mr Luthor but your son gave us strict instructions not to let anyone near Miss Sullivan", Lex heard one of the guards say as he rounded the corner and burst into the room.

"Ah son", Lionel smiled over at Lex as he appeared. It was not a nice smile.

"Get away from her Dad", Lex told him. He could just see Chloe would of the corner of his eye, there was a security guard between his father and her but that might not be enough. Lex couldn't make out her expression nor could he risk taking his eyes off his father for even a second. He would have to just trust that she was strong and that she would get through this without any lasting emotional scares … he intended to make sure that there were no physical ones.

Lionel's expression was blank. "I don't know what is going on Lex but I think that you need to calm down. I just came here to speak with you and seeing the lovely Miss Sullivan thought that she and I might have a chat as well", he moved towards Chloe.

"Dad, get away from her this is your warning", Lex said as he levelled his gun at his father. He didn't even consider the action for a second, Chloe was in danger and it wouldn't have made any difference who the vessel was at that point, it could have been Julian and he would still have pointed that gun.

"Don't be silly Lex, I don't mean to hurt her, you really are getting paranoid in your old age, maybe it is time for you to consider retirement and hand LexCorp over to me", Lionel needled him.

Lex didn't care, his father could say what he liked as long as he made no further more towards Chloe.

"An attempt on Chloe Sullivan's life would be … ill advised", Lex's tone was menacing.

Lionel just smirked, "You always were weak son". With that he turned towards Chloe, and raised his foot to take his first step. There was a loud bang and Lionel fell to the floor holding his shoulder and screaming, his face a mask of pain.

"You see Chloe, I told you. One warning, if they don't take it, you take action", Lex said coldly as he surveyed his father writhing on the floor. With a motion of his head he instructed his men to take care of him. It was only when his father had been removed and any danger – however slightly – along with him that he put his gun away and ran to her side to check her over.

"Are you alight?" He asked, running his hands along her arms in search of some injury.

She just nodded at him and tried to smile. "Guess I just don't have good luck with proms".

He grinned at her and rested his head against hers, "I really did think that this time was going to be different for you".

"It still could be", the words were out of her mouth before she knew what she had done but as Lex leant back to look at her she didn't regret them. He brushed the hair out of her face and cradled her head before bringing his lips down over hers.

This time there were no interruptions. Lex's hands tangled in her hair as their tongues explored each other's mouths with an urgency he had never felt before. Chloe clung to him desperately, quite possibly ruining his expensive shirt but he didn't care. His hands finally left her hair to run along her body and sought out her zip but it was stuck.

With a groan he had to pull away to get a look at the bloody thing, that was when it happened. He saw her face. Her colour was heightened, her lips were swollen, her hair was tousled and she was perfect. Even now with lust clouding her gaze she was an angel … and he was not good enough. He could not despoil her. With a sigh he stepped away from her.

"Lex what are you doing? Don't you want …"

"I can't do this, I'm sorry Chloe", there was a crack in his voice and he couldn't meet her eyes.

"Oh, okay I understand", she said as she left the room trying to blink back the tears.

"No, you don't", Lex told the empty room. She was running high off adrenaline, she had been afraid for her life, he had been her only friend for the last few days, she was probably still worried about her Dad. He couldn't take advantage of her. Not to mention the fact that she was only 16.

He groaned as surveyed the room. It now seemed to mock him. He had tried to create a fairy-tale moment for her but had forgotten that in the fairy-tale the princess marries the prince, not the evil knight.

Well he couldn't become the prince, but he could at least become a good knight, one that the princess felt she could depend on when she needed to. He would practice resolve and wouldn't touch her … at least not while she was only 16, scared and in love with another man.

He sighed and left the room, he had better tell everyone that it was over and arrange for Chloe to be taken home.

"What the hell were you thinking making my Chloe cry?" An angry voice he recognised as belonging to Annie demanded of him, "Whatever you did, you had better make it right she has had a terrible time recently and I am not having you ruin her birthday, it is only 8 days away you know!"