Disclaimer: I own nada, zip, zilch, and zero. Which is too bad really, because I could think of some interesting things to do with Lex….
Author's Notes: This chapter has a flashback to seven years earlier, when fate throws Chloe and Lex together. If this seems confusing, please say so in the reviews so that I can change it for the next chapter. I thought I should mention that this not only the story of how Lex goes bad, but how Chloe and Lex fell in love. Enjoy.
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Lex had sat in the same spot, unmoving, for at least half an hour until the phone rang. Lex pushed the puppy off his lap and grabbed the phone as it rang a second time.
"Luthor."
"Mr. Alexander Luthor?" A man's voice asked on the other side.
"Speaking." Lex said curtly into the phone.
"Mr. Luthor, is Chloe Sullivan-Luthor your wife?"
Lex swallowed and closed his eyes. "Yes, yes she is. Is something wrong?"
"I'm sorry Mr. Luthor, your wife was in a serious car accident."
"Where is she?"
"She was taken by MedEvac to Metropolis General."
Lex felt his throat tighten. "What about my children?"
There was silence for a moment, and then the voice said, "Alexander is listed in serious condition and Connor is listed in serious but stable condition."
"My father-in-law will be my representative until I can get down there." Lex paused and choked a bit, "I need to see my wife…"
"Yes, sir. What would his name be?"
"Gabe Sullivan." He told the man the number and then hung up. He stood up quickly, grabbed his cell phone, and made his way to the front of the apartment. He pressed a button and the phone automatically dialed the number he wanted. "Manuel? Prepare the helicopter. My wife was in an accident and is at Metropolis General. I'll be up on the roof in five minutes. Be there or you're out of a job." Lex slipped his coat on and then heard the puppy whine. He gently scooted it out of the way of the door with his foot and then slipped out of the apartment, not bothering to lock the door. He raced down the hallway, and decided that he could run up the three flights of stairs to the roof by the time the elevator made it up to his floor. Chloe is here in Metropolis and the kids are in Smallville. Lex was torn between his fatherly instincts and the need to check on his wife. Gabe will be there. I'll call him and tell him to have the kids flown here to Metropolis as soon as they're stable.
It seemed to take an eternity to make it up three flights of stairs, but Lex finally burst out onto the roof breathless. The wind bit at him, but he ignored it as the helicopter with the LexCorp on the side of it was just landing. Lex ducked his head and jumped into the open door. "Metropolis General, Manuel. As quickly as possible." The helicopter took off and Lex buckled his safety belt. He looked out the window and he realized that it was snowing.
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Seven Years Earlier
"I hate this kind of weather." Chloe Sullivan complained to the empty car as she drove along one of the many farm roads outside of Smallville, Kansas. "Its freezing outside, and it's wet, but there's nothing to show for the cold crappy weather! No snow! No pretty icicles hanging on houses! Just ice on the freakin' road!" She slowed the car down before she went over a bridge. Her car slid a little over the ice, but she kept the car on the road. I should have drove back earlier. Dad said there wasn't any ice on the roads then. Chloe was driving back to her house in Smallville from University Metropolis for the Christmas holiday. She had decided to stay in Metropolis after the semester had ended when one of her professor's had offered her a job helping him collect and organize data for a project. Not bad pay considering all he really lets me do is fetch him coffee and file. Chloe thought with a wry smile on her face. "Is that snow?" She asked herself. She leaned forward to look closer at her windshield. Whoo-hoo. Snow. Chloe smiled and sped up just a little so that she could get home faster.
Lex shifted the gears of his Porsche and scowled lightly at the sign warning of possible ice on the bridge. Lex hated this time of the year. He hadn't had a good Christmas since his mom died. Yes, his friendship with Clark had made the past years easier, but with Clark away at school, Clark was more interested in spending time with his family and working around Smallville doing odd jobs.
"Oh the weather outside is frightful…"
Lex quickly turned off the radio. He had heard one too many Christmas carols today. He was almost back to the warm, comfortable, empty Luthor Manor. He sighed and shifted gears once again as he slowed down going around a sharp curve.
"Oh the weather outside is frightful and the fire is so delightful…" Chloe sang along at the top of her lungs with the radio. She was only twenty minutes from her home and she was looking forward to seeing her dad and relaxing in the comfort of pajamas and fuzzy slippers. "Fuzzy slippers, pajamas, coffee, and today's newspaper. Mmm. Heaven."
Chloe slid her foot from the gas pedal to the break as she went around a bend that she remembered speeding around when she was in high school. We always had so much fun. Clark, Pete, and Lana all in the car and yelling with joy as we went around the corner. She smiled and pushed down on the gas pedal.
"Oh sonof –" Lex cursed as another came around the curve at a speed that made him cringe considering the weather outside. He looked in the rearview mirror and realized that the car had disappeared. What the hell? Oh shit… Lex realized that the car must have driven off the road. He stopped his car and then reversed it. Lex knew he had to make sure that the driver was okay and maybe call a tow truck for whoever was in the car.
He stopped the car right next to the ditch where the other car lay. He got out of the warm interior of the Porsche and hurried over. He slid on an ice patch and nearly lost his balance. He must have hit that ice and at that speed wasn't able to control the car. Lex got to the driver's side car door and yanked on it. It was locked. He pounded on the foggy window trying to get the person to open the door. He heard the click of the lock and he pulled it open. Inside of the car sat a breathless blond that he recognized.
"Chloe Sullivan!"
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"Really, I'm okay. I just hit my head is all." Chloe protested as Lex practically dumped her in the passenger seat of his Porsche. "I can't leave my car here! Someone might steal it or hit it! And all my stuff is inside!" Lex slammed the door on her protest.
"Stupid, dangerous teenagers…" Lex muttered as he went over to Chloe's car. The snow was coming down harder now and there was at least half an inch on the trunk of her car. He opened it and grabbed as many bags as he could carry. He carried them over to his small Porsche and wondered how they were all going to fit. He opened the back and stuffed the bags in there and went back for the rest of Chloe's stuff.
Chloe sat quietly in the luxurious leather seat and glared at Lex Luthor through the windows as he scurried back and forth between the two cars. Scurrying like the rat he is. Chloe realized that Lex was her father's boss and that Clark Kent was his best friend, but she couldn't help but feel cranky. Lex approached the car again with another handful of bags. This time he opened his car door and shoved them behind the seat.
"What are you doing? Moving back home?" Lex asked Chloe as he slid into his car seat. He turned up the heat in the car and pressed his hands against the vent.
Chloe just glared. "I had everything under control."
Lex rolled his eyes and pulled the car away from the ditch. He headed in the same direction Chloe had been going. "You hit your head, you could have a concussion. I'll take you home to your dad. Out of curiosity, what were you doing take a curve like that at - what? Sixty miles per hour? – in this kind of weather?" His voice was curt.
Bite me. "I didn't realize how fast I was going and I didn't think there would be ice on any other places but bridges."
What kind of idiot thinks that? "I see." Lex gripped the wheel tightly.
They drove on in silence until they reached Chloe's house. Lex pulled the car into the driveway and turned the engine off. He was waiting for Chloe to get out of the car, but she just sat there. "Is something wrong?" Lex asked as the door to the house opened up and Gabe Sullivan appeared.
"Could we maybe not mention to my father how I ended up getting the car in a ditch?"
Lex smiled and waved to Gabe as he approached the car. "So, basically, just tell him your car drove itself into a ditch?"
Chloe gave him a bright smile. "If that works for you, it works for me."
Lex hadn't seen Chloe smile in a long time. True, he hadn't seen her in a long time, but for some reason this smile was different. He kept the smile on his face, but for some reason, he didn't feel like smiling. He felt like his whole body was on fire. He blinked at her and shook his head. "I'll just go along with whatever you say." He opened his car door and stepped out.
"Lex! What are you doing here? I would have thought you'd be with your father in Metropolis." Gabe Sullivan reached for Lex's hand and shook heartily. "Is that Chloe?" He asked, looking over Lex's shoulder into the car.
Chloe climbed out of the car. "Hey dad. I hit an ice patch and drove the car into a ditch. Luckily, Lex had just driven by, so he stopped to make sure I was okay. He graciously dumped me in his car and brought me here."
Gabe frowned. "Are you okay? Come on, let's go in the house and not stand here in the snow." He motioned for them to follow.
"Actually, Gabe, I really should start back towards the Manor." Lex started but was cut off by Gabe.
"Nonsense. Come in and have something warm to drink."
Lex thought of the empty Manor and of the small house in front of him that seemed to glow with…life. "I guess I can stay for a little while. Maybe the weather will be a bit calmer then." He followed Gabe to the door and glanced back at Chloe. She was scowling and muttering something he couldn't hear over the wind.
"So much for fuzzy slippers and pajamas…"
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Lex ran through the hallways of Metropolis General. He had already been asked once by a nurse not to run through the hospital, but he was in a hurry to get up to the surgery waiting room. The attendant at the front desk had told him it was on the twelfth floor. He came to a stop in front of the elevators and pressed the button. He heard a ding behind him and he realized that one of the elevators was opening. He joined the small group of people waiting to get on. Christ, how damn long does it take to open elevator doors? Lex tapped his foot impatiently. The door slid open and he, along with the rest of the crowd, made room for the exiting passengers. As soon as they were off, the group pressed forward and Lex found himself in the very front of the elevator. He pressed the button for the floor he wanted and hit the 'Close Doors' button.
"Lex?"
Lex heard his named called out and an arm stopped the doors from closing. They opened up fully to reveal Clark Kent.