Series: Cat and Mouse, Chapter 1: The Proposition

Author: Kora

Rating: PG-13

Feedback: Very appreciated

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, ideas, etc.

Summary: The beginning of a scheme and the unlikeliest duo.

Author's note: This is my first Chloe/Lex fic so please be gentle. I am aware that I may not make the characters sound like themselves but I try. Also, this story starts towards the end, then does a flashback to the beginning…it's more interesting that way. Enjoy!

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They hid behind one of the large cutout decorations for the dance.

Chloe stood before him in her pink evening gown, her face tight with pain, fingers curled to fists in her dress, "Lex, I can't talk right now. I have to get back out there, back to Clark."

"I know, I know, I just-" Lex looked frantic as he talked to her, his words coming out in a rush as he rubbed his head absent-mindedly.

"What? More lessons? More instructions? Look, we've accomplished our goal, all right? I'm here with Clark; you're here with Lana. Everything worked out just like you planned and soon enough you'll have the answers you want. You should be happy enough with that. Now…now please, just-just leave me alone."

Chloe turned to leave, trying to hold back tears when Lex reached out and grabbed her arm, holding her still, "I can't, Chloe. I can't!"

Chloe turned to him, tears close to breaking as she sobbed, "Why?!"

"Because-Because I-"

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Whoa, whoa hold up! Hold on! Freeze-frame! For those who walked in late to the picture, my name is Chloe Sullivan and the-let's face it-gorgeous bald-headed guy I'm sharing the soap opera scene with is Lex Luthor. Up until about four months ago, Lex and I only shared a few moments together, mainly long enough to swap some witty banter and move on. All that changed however when one day, out of the blue, Mr. All Powerful calls me to his office. From then on, my whole world was turned upside down.

So let's back up and start from there, the beginning.

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"Ah, Chloe, so glad to see you could make it."

Chloe walked into Lex's office, making sure her strides were quick and well paced. She was doing an excellent job of pretending she was cool and confident. In truth she felt as if butterflies were threatening to escape from her lips at any second. She had been thrown for a loop when she had received the invitation to meet Lex at his mansion. Even more so when Clark didn't have one, nor did he know anything about it.

"Don't ask me," Clark had said, "Maybe he just wants a private interview."

A private interview? With her? Chloe had done a good job of verbal jousting with Lex so far but at those times Clark was usually present. Going toe to toe with the man alone was really not her cup of tea. It really didn't matter who you were, a Luthor intimidated everyone. Especially if it was Lex.

Still Chloe put on the façade of keeping it together quite nicely as she primly took a seat opposite Lex's desk, setting her purse to one side of her.

"Glad to see you didn't chicken out again."

Lex gave her a smirk, "Is that what I did last time?"

"Two seconds of an interview and then gone. Yeah, I'd say that about wraps it up."

"Well in retrospect I do wish I had spent a bit longer talking with you that night. Perhaps then the incident with the window would not have happened."

Chloe frowned and rubbed at her arm, remembering the unpleasant evening she had been knocked out the window of the elaborate Luthor estate and fallen to the ground. It had been painful and to think of it seemed to bring back an almost phantom pain. Lex either noticed this or chose to ignore it as he pushed his seat back from his desk bad rose to his feet.

"Thirsty?"

"No thank you, look, Mr. Luthor…"

"Lex, Lex. It's Lex. Why is it so many people in this town have such a hard time calling me that?" Lex murmured as he walked over to a table near the window and poured himself a drink. He swirled the glass in his hand, watching the liquid roll about.

Chloe's initial insecurity was melting into irritation fast as she reached into her purse to pull out her camera, "Okay. Fine. Lex, could we please move on with the interview?"

"Who said this was an interview?"

Chloe, who had just turned on the camera and was prepared to record Lex, froze, "I-I just assumed…"

"You know what they say about assuming, Chloe."

"Yeah, yeah 'an ass out of you and me'," Chloe grumbled, embarrassed by her inability to think up a stronger comeback, "But I mean, I just thought that was it. Why else would you call me?"

"Maybe I just wanted to enjoy the pleasure of your company." Lex replied and took a sip of his drink.

"Psh, please! The only person whose company you take pleasure in is Clark's."

"And what exactly is that supposed to imply?"

"Translate it however you like." Chloe mummered and put away her camera, folding her arms in a huff. She wasn't in the mood for this man's mind games. If it wasn't an interview, than he was wasting her time. And though she did not have a boyfriend, or any other extra curricular activities past the Torch and the wall of weird, she still felt her time was precious none the less.

Lex grinned and set his glass down, fingering the rim, "Am I supposed to believe you think I have some kind of…sexual interest in Clark?"

"Maybe." And Chloe chose to leave it at that.

Lex gave her another catty smirk as he walked back over to his desk and retook his seat, "I'm sorry to disappoint you and other Smallville gossip queens but I am not, like I'm sure majority thinks, homosexual. Or has everyone all ready forgotten Victoria?"

"Victoria was a tramp. She looked like the kind of girl you could pay off for a cover. If you needed one."

"Ouch. You wound me so deeply, Ms. Sullivan. Any particular reason you have your cat claws in me?"

"Yeah, one. You invite me here, it's not for an interview, it's been a long day at school, I'm tired, I want to get home and all you seem to be doing is wasting my time. If you have a point, I suggest you cut through the bull and get to it."

"Jeez, Chloe. You are quite hot-tempered today."

"PMS does that to you." That was not all that did it. Chloe knew perfectly well that when she had entered the office she had been tinged with fear. Replacing it with bitter comments was a good cover. Better to be angry and bitchy than to look afraid.

"Touché. Very well, I've summoned you here to discuss Clark."

"Clark?"

"Hmm."

"Why Clark?"

"Well as you so aptly put it earlier, I do enjoy Clark's company and I do have an interest in him. However, the interest is not sexual. I am quite sure that sexual interest in Mr. Kent rests heavily on your shoulders."

Chloe couldn't help but turn pink, "What do you mean?"

Lex rolled his eyes, "Chloe, I may be older but I'm not that out of the loop when it comes to moon-eyed teenage crushes. It's very simple for anyone to see that you have a deep affection for Clark that runs far beyond mere friendship. Every time he walks into the room your nose crinkles and your eyes flash, it's a dead give away."

She raised a hand to her nose, embarrassed then switched gears, narrowing her eyes at him, "So what right do you have looking at my nose and making assumptions?"

"Simple. I need your help with Clark."

"How so?"

Lex's smile grew wider as he leaned back in his chair, lacing his delicate pale fingers together; "Out of everyone in Smallville Chloe, I have found you to be the only one I could think of as an intellectual equal. No offense to Clark mind you but you can't take the farm out of the farm boy. You, however, seem to have a wide variety of knowledge that spans past this little town and dare I say, past even Metropolis."

"Metropolis isn't that far."

"I know but you seem to be quite enamored with it so I figured using it as a reference would catch your attention."

"What makes you think I'm-"

"Two words: Daily Planet."

Chloe was flustered; first he manages to pin Clark on her, now her dream of being a reporter at the Planet. If this kept up he would be able to tell her what color her underwear was. Gritting her teeth, Chloe muttered, "You know, it's quite infuriating to have you up the ante on me every second."

"Yes, but I know you love it. Not many manage to get the one up on you, Sullivan. One of the many reasons I admire you, respect you as a kindred intellectual, and more importantly, need your help on this mission."

"Mission…that's right, Clark. So what's up? What designs do you have on him?"

"Being as inquisitive as myself, surely you must have noticed that Clark is a little odd. That he seems to be…hiding something."

"Yeah, I've noticed. But…it's none of my business whatever it is."

"Come on, Chloe. I bet you're secretly burning with curiosity. Natural-born reporters are all like that. Not to mention this is Clark we're talking about. Your big, strong dreamboat. I bet he dredges up more questions in you than most."

Chloe opened her mouth then snapped it shut. Could he read minds? Maybe without hair he'd somehow become telepathic. Chloe shook her head and replied, "Yeah, okay. Maybe he does make me wonder some things. I mean, how he always seems to disappear so fast and how he survived when you hit him with your…"

She froze, stunned and stared at him in accusation, "That's what this is about, isn't it? The accident."

Lex's voice actually rose a notch in surprise; "You're quick."

"You told Clark you'd stop digging into that!"

"I did. And I will. Once I'm satisfied."

"I thought you all ready were!" Chloe accused.

"I was. But you can't hold people like us down, Chloe. Surely you, out of anyone, would understand that even when we try to back off of an unsolved riddle the questions draw us back. The curiosity. I'm happy to be alive, I'm happy Clark saved me but there are just too many unanswered questions for my taste. I won't pry or dig in too deep, I just want to know what he's hiding."

"We all have secrets, Lex. We all have a right to our privacy."

"Yes, but we also all have a right to know the truth. And I need the truth, about Clark, about me and about what happened that day on the bridge and I need your help to do it."

"Me? Why me?"

Lex leaned forward suddenly, a dark air about him, "What if I told you…I could get Clark to stop mooning over Lana."

"I'd say you need one hell of a lobotomy to do that because it ain't going to happen."

"What if I could make it happen? And further more, what if I could make Clark finally take notice of you?"

Suddenly Chloe envisioned Lex with red horns and a pointy tail. At the moment Chloe felt very much like Faust with the devil before him, offering him the best of the world for the mere price of his soul. Shifting in her seat she added, "Then I'd say you're making promises you can't keep."

"I assure you. I can."

"What…what does this have to do with me? What do you want exactly?"

Chloe could see a flash in his eye and knew that he was pleased at having reeled her in, he leaned closer and said succinctly, "The proposition is this, I will get Clark over Lana and with you and all you have to do in return, is to find out what Clark's secret is for me."

She sat there a moment or two, stunned. How could he ask this of her? Offer her this? She wasn't sure whether she should ring his neck or faint. Instead she merely breathed, "Why? Why all this?"

"I'm the kind of man who gets what he wants Chloe. At any price."

His voice was so cold that Chloe almost shivered. Had he ever spoken to Clark like this? This wasn't the man Clark had described to her and Pete. This wasn't the one he had been trying so hard to convince them to like, this was someone-something else. This was nothing but pure Luthor. Hell, maybe even pure Lex.

Chloe's thoughts were still so stumped that she only muttered, "What about Lana?"

"You mean, why don't I just use her to get Clark's secret?"

Chloe nodded dumbly.

"Because Lana's a little waif of a thing. She's not strong or smart like you and I. Also, I happen to like you Chloe. And I also happen to think that you're the only one who may be as curious about Clark's big secret as me. I figured, you'd love to help, considering that reporter-urge runs so thickly in your blood."

Chloe was still speechless and Lex laughed, the sound without joy, "Come on now, this isn't what I expected. Chloe Sullivan beyond words? Has hell frozen over?"

"You-you would know about that, wouldn't you?" Chloe gasped, regaining her breath, anger rising.

"Pardon?"

"About hell. How can you ask me this?! How could you expect me-why did you ever think-I would never, EVER hurt Clark!" She cried, rising to her feet, outraged.

"And neither would I. You're twisting my words, Chloe. My meaning. I don't want to hurt Clark in anyway. I'd rather hurt myself first. All I want is his secret. I tried to be up front with him about it. Asked nicely but his continual brush-offs have rubbed my last nerve. I don't have excellent patience, Chloe. I'm sure someone like you could understand that as well. In fact, you and I are rather similar indeed. Kindred spirits as it were."

"No, no I'm NOTHING like you! I would never think up something like this-it's-it's sick!"

"How?" he demanded, his voice hard as steel.

Chloe backed away as he rose to his feet, a tremor of unexpected fear racing up her back as he stood. She felt as if he was looming above her, that dark air about him stifling, "I told you, Clark won't get hurt in this. Maybe this is a bit under handed, yes. But it will get me what I want and as an added bonus, you'll get what you want. Everyone will win here, Chloe. You'll see."

"How?"

"I get my answers, you get Clark, he gets you, and Lana gets what she deserves."

"Lana's…she's my friend."

"Oh please, Sullivan. Spare me. You tolerate her for Clark's sake but I highly doubt you and Ms. Lang are going to go dress shopping together anytime soon. Now I'll admit, Lana's a sweet girl but she's all wrong for Clark and you, out of anyone, should see what a bad thing she is for him. She constantly hurts him, falling all over Foreman, flaunting there relationship in Clark's face, then flirting with him and then insult to injury and giving him the brush off. With my plan, everyone ends up happily ever after. It's brilliant."

"It's-it's-"

"You know, you don't even know the plan. What me to tell you it? All of it?"

"NO!" Chloe cried, the word coming from her lips louder than she would have liked, she continued to back away, escape her only thought. This man was tempting her and, disturbingly enough, he was becoming more and more persuasive. She found herself intrigued. And hated herself for it.

"Chloe…"

"No, I'm not going to help you! I'm not going to be part of this! I'll be damned if I'll let you play with our lives like some puppet master. No, no I'm gone!"

"Chloe…"

"I won't tell Clark what you said today, I should but I won't tell him because I know how much it would hurt him. You should be happy with that, Lex. Because so help me…" she turned to leave when she heard him call out to her.

"Chloe, if you change your mind, you know where to find me."

She shook her head and continued to walk away, trying to forget every word he said, to forget his ridiculous plan. But as she walked away she knew that deep inside, she was interested.