TITLE: Cupid's Bet
AUTHOR: Kaya
SUMMARY: Cupid and Psyche have a bet involving Chloe and Lex. CHLEX.
RATING: R for Language and Sexual Content
DISCLAIMER: I own none of these people. I just like to borrow.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is an A/U piece before Exodus.
CHAPTER ONE
"Bloody wanker!" Psyche screamed at her husband as he entered their chateau.
The blonde man just looked at his mate with confusion. "What the hell is wrong now?"
"Do you even remember what day it is?" she demanded, tears streaming down her eyes. "You stupid, stupid imbecile."
"Ain't that statement a bit redundant?" Cupid replied, dumbfounded. He tried racking his brain for what he had forgotten that would cause such an alarm from his wife. He looked at the calendar and paled upon the realization.
"Oh, love," he said with concern. "I am so, so sorry."
"Save it," she snapped. "You have been going on and about with your stupid midlife crisis, always fussing about your job."
"I can't believe you bleeding forgot about our anniversary," she added with spite. "You're the love god, for Zeus' sakes!"
"I'm really sorry," he mumbled. "It's just the pressure of the job, you know. Being this old and all.."
"Cupid, you're 5 thousand years old. That's a touch past old."
He rolled his eyes. "Logistics." Psyche resigned herself to plopping down on the couch and crossing her arms, avoiding him by turning her face away from his direction. "Love, will you ever forgive me?" he continued.
"Never."
"That's a long time now, isn't it?" was his attempt at a joke. When his wife barely moved, he threw his hands in the air with surrender and inched closer to her. "What can I do to make this up?"
Silence was his answer.
"Come on, Psyche," he begged. "You can't stay mad forever."
"Try me."
"Psyche!" he whined. "I'll do anything to make this up, I swear!"
She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Anything?"
"Anything," he confirmed.
A grin began to grow on Psyche's face, causing an alarming concern for Cupid. "Perfect," she said, smugly. She stood up and walked to their viewing mirror. A wave of her hand and a scene magically appeared in the looking glass before her.
Cupid followed after her and looked at the vision she conjured. "Uh, honey? What is this?" he asked, confused.
"This is your retribution," she answered. "I'm sick and tired of your complaints about your supposed incompetence, so I'm going to proposition a solution to this problem, once and for all."
Her husband's face scrounged up. "In a rural town in Kansas?"
"Exactly," she said matter-of-factly. "Call it a bet, if you will. But largely on my terms."
"O-kay," he responded hesitantly. "And what are these so-called terms?"
"Shh!" she cut him off. "There!" A bald man entered the view of the looking glass.
"Him?" Cupid's face darkened with doubt again. "What about him?"
"That's Alexander Luthor, heir to the LuthorCorp throne," Psyche briefed her spouse. "And I want you to make him fall in love."
Cupid thought for a second about the said LuthorCorp heir until he recalled something. "But isn't he engaged?"
Psyche rolled her eyes. "Oh, darling, you are so naïve," she sighed. "It's the twenty-second century, sweetheart. There is barely a correlation between matrimony and love."
"Well, duh," Cupid retorted. "I just thought that someone as pessimistic as he is.."
"Yeah, yeah," she interjected. "Well, he's slightly misinformed, shall we say. But you're going to fix that."
"How?"
She smirked as a perky petite blonde entered the picture. "With her."
"The reporter?" Cupid said with disbelief. "But she's practically all over the farmboy. I can just take her love vibes, squeeze a potion out of it and start a whole new business, quitting my day job in the process."
Psyche shook her head. "Yes, but you, of all people, should know that they're barely a love match. Look at Lex, honey. And then at Chloe. I think they're perfect."
By the looks of it, Cupid had yet to be convinced. "Besides," she continued. "If you can put them together, you'll prove to me, and most importantly to yourself, that you still have the touch."
"And what if you're wrong?"
Psyche didn't think of that. "Well," she began. "We can send you off to Gods Anonymous, and I'll play Goddess of Love in the meantime."
"Ha!" guffawed Cupid, earning him a glare from his wife.
"You implying that I can't do it?" she warned. "I hardly think that you are in a position to do so."
The smile was immediately erased from Cupid's face. "Fine," he finally surrendered. "If you're right, I'll quit my whining, but if I'm right, I'll go to therapy."
"Perfect!" cheered his spouse. Cupid looked at the mirror once more as Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor's reflections stared back at him. 'You poor, poor souls,' he thought to himself. 'You'll never know what hit you.'