A/N: Ever since the third season of Smallville I've always been routing for the Chloe/Lex alliance. Not to the point where they're skipping down the chapel isle to me that'd just be weird. I love the chemistry which could range from something as silly/serious as a slap fight to a bumper car war. I wrote this as an extra scene in 'Fragile'. Beep! Beep! Make way for the Chelex train!
Okay, I have a few other things written that could potentially be a companion to this, Lana/Chloe confrontation, fleshing out more of the relationship between Chloe and her mother, only if this has decent reviews or I'll just keep it as a one shot. Sit back, relax, yes I still don't own Smallville or any of the following characters (except Tom) so enjoy!
Our Game is Never Over
Chloe was fuming as she stamped through the halls of the luscious Luthor Manor. How dare he insinuate that she had feelings towards Lana? How dare he comment on her obvious lack of a romantic commitment? How dare he smirk at her with an unshakable…?
"Screw it!" Chloe shouted, turned heel, and strode straight back towards the main office where she expected Lex was gloating in silent victory. Not if she could help it.
"Excuse me, Mr. Luthor, may I interrupt you one more time?" Chloe opened the door and noted one of the cracked panes that now adorned his entrance, most likely a result of her dramatic exit.
"Of course Ms. Sullivan, I didn't expect any less." Lex tossed a pool cue which Chloe caught with both hands." Unlike before, the amusement in Lex's eyes was doused with a dark caution to Chloe's sudden change of mood. "What are we playing for?"
"Answers," Chloe absentmindedly rubbed the pool cue with chalk and kicked off her shoes.
"On the record or off?" Lex's eyes flickered to Chloe's purse.
"No recording what so ever, just making shots and getting answers, nothing about Clark though." Chloe leaned over the pool table. "I call stripes." She lined up her shot and then with a crack, the game was on.
Lex was the first to get a ball in. "So I can ask you anything?"
"Fire away, just as long as you understand it goes both ways." Chloe braced herself for the emotional repercussions of his questions.
"Why do you pretend to be Lana's friend?" Lex lifted his glass of scotch and poised it at the curves of his lips, waiting for an answer.
"Why would you think that I'm…" Chloe swallowed a lump at the back of her throat. "I'm not pretending anything."
"That doesn't answer my question Chloe, I want real answers and you would say the same thing when it's your turn to ask questions."
Chloe walked over to Lex and pulled the scotch out of his fingers and sipped it carefully. "Tasty," She said quietly, and then looked him straight in the eye. "I'm not pretending to be her friend."
Lex scoffed and Chloe swatted him.
"No, really…" Chloe rubbed her forehead. "I think that for over four years, I might have been pretending, just not the way you think Lex. It's all about the awful Lana Lang and Clark Kent dance. The two of them keep dancing around one another, though as cautious as they are, they end up stamping on my heart. I kept pretending everything was okay and sometimes that was enough to keep me going, that way it wasn't as uncomfortable when we were all together. Somewhere along the line, I stopped pretending."
"When?"
"One ball, one question," Chloe lined up her shot and scored her turn. "Okay Mr. Luthor, why did you make it sound like I had more then friend related feelings towards Lana?"
"Well, that is an easy one." Lex smiled. "You come storming in, unannounced, accuse me of seducing your so called 'friend'" Lex raised his hand as Chloe opened her mouth to protest. "So I traded one ridiculous accusation for another."
"It wasn't an accusation—"
"You didn't ask, you just assumed that I was going to pursue and ravage your innocent Lana, threaten me before I have the chance to dissuade—"
"But I saw you!" Chloe blurted. "If it was any hotter in that room…"
"I assure you, I wasn't about to take advantage of Lana at that very moment," Lex raised his hand as Chloe was about to protest once more. "Yes, the potential to take advantage of that moment was there, but haven't you ever been faced with a situation that could be construed as a high… tension around what is usually you consider a friendly situation?" Lex raised an eyebrow.
Chloe flushed. "Okay, I understand what you mean. Can we just move on with the game now?"
Lex lined up his shot and knocked two balls in. "As I was saying before, when did you stop 'pretending' to be Lana's friend? I find it hard to believe you would come hurtling over here, three hours away from campus, to have a one on one with a scary billionaire in the defense of Lana Lang."
Chloe scowled at his smirk. "You make it sound like I twisted this major plot to reel in Lana as 'my precious' to just snarl at you."
"I had two balls in the pocket," Lex started.
"Bet you wish you could say that about your pants." Chloe half whispered.
"I want an answer Chloe, you made the rules so play fair by them." Lex took another sip of his scotch.
"I came here because I promised I would have dinner with my dad before he goes on a two week business trip." Chloe started, not willing to allow Lex intimidate her. "Whether it was here and now or in a few days when I could find you wandering the streets of Metropolis we were going to have this confrontation."
"Don't flatter yourself," Lex snickered. "I found our little disagreement barely on the scale of a small fledged squabble I used to get myself into boarding school. You still haven't answered the question." Lex offered his scotch to Chloe. "Care for some courage my dear lion?"
"I didn't realize, well, I wasn't completely aware that I actually cared sincerely about Lana on an actually friendship level until Clark…" Chloe glared at Lex.
"Ah, yes, the 'no Clark' rule, how about we call him 'farm boy' and carry on." Lex swirled his scotch.
"No, it was more that she had been crushed, by the same boy who had time and again broken my heart. Lana perfect Lang comes along, almost always making me feel sorry for her or annoyed that she just can't get over her past. It was like I was obligated to understand her." Chloe's eyes searched Lex's face for any trace of ridicule. When there was none to be found, she continued on guardedly. "You have to understand there are very few things Lana and I have in common. We had something so real and near to the heart to share with one another. When I saw you coming onto her—"
Lex opened his mouth to protest; Chloe poked him with the pool cue and smiled.
"You said you wanted a good answer and you'll get one." Chloe smiled.
"Just hurry up." Lex refilled his scotch. "I've got places to go, very important people to see, it's what billionaires do you know.
Chloe rolled her eyes and for the first time in months, smiled in Lex's study. "It just felt almost like you were taking advantage of me as well as her. My defense of Lana was not an obligation, it was instinct. I wanted to protect my friend and myself."
"Ah, now that's an interesting answer." Lex teased.
"Look Lex, if you have such important thing to do, I'll go." Chloe began to feel all of her raging conviction that Lex Luthor was a plague to the world was dying away. She needed to leave, her anger, and she couldn't let her feelings of the Lex she once believed she knew get in the way.
"Or I could just wait another five minutes for you to storm back in another theatrical tantrum." Lex set his brimming glass on his desk then leaned over the table, pool cue in hand, ready to take his next shot.
"It was my turn." Chloe reminded him, her annoyance starting to rise once more.
"I thought you were leaving." Lex grinned infuriatingly at her.
Inspiration struck Chloe with a cruel remark. "Lex, were you neutered any time recently?" Chloe asked innocently.
Lex scratched the table then straightened up to frown at Chloe. "Whatever happened to 'Mr. Luthor' Chloe?"
"I'm serious," Chloe started to step closer to Lex. "For years it's been obvious your fascination with Lana has been getting kicked into tunnel vision and it's like you can't see anything else in the world." Chloe imitated Lex's smirk. "You're like a love sick puppy, I almost expect her to smack you on the nose with a newspaper for making mess."
"Chloe, I though you're forgetting the rules of the game—"
Chloe snorted. "Right, the 'rules' of this game are garbage Lex. You like rules don't you? You like to find out what they are and break them." She now had two feet between them. "You go through all of this work to make it look like you don't want to be caught, but then why do you just let us just barge right on into your home?"
"By 'us' I suppose you mean Clark and yourself." Lex was starring at Chloe with a cold intensity. "You want to talk to me about what does and doesn't make a real friend?"
"What is it about two college freshmen that you get off of our disagreements? You could entertain royalty and instead you pick petty fights with a few hicks from Smallville, why?" Chloe was on a role and right now she couldn't have cared less about the repercussions.
"I believe there should be a penalty for breaking the rules of the game Chloe." Lex said mildly, if Lex didn't know Chloe so well, he was pretty sure she was almost ready to throw one of the pool balls at his head.
"Why, do you want to put me in time out?" Chloe snapped, she tossed her pool cue unto the table. "I'm done playing your games." She stormed out of the open door, refusing to slam them behind her. This time it felt like she won.
"That's where you are wrong Ms. Sullivan," Lex informed the empty room, lining up his shot and then knocked a ball off her pool cue and into the pocket. "Our game is never over."