Chapter Four
"Well, that was pathetic", those dark eyes leered down at Chloe as she collapsed on the hard cold floor.
"Fuck off", Chloe spat back, holding onto her side.
"I'm glad to see that there is some fight in there at least", he smirked down at her.
"You have no idea", Chloe glared at him.
"Actually I have a pretty good idea", he crouched down next to her, "I know who you really are, I know what you did to get yourself into this position and what you did to try to get out of it".
"My Uncle told you?" Chloe gasped.
"Of course. You know I was pretty excited to meet you, I was even impressed in the tunnel but hiding in that bloody room, working yourself to death to try to avoid dealing with the situation. That is pathetic and weak, and I don't think that you are that girl", his tone was cold but his eyes were warm.
Chloe's jaw wobbled but she wouldn't let herself seem weak in front of him. She tried to tell herself that it was just because of the pain in her side and not because of his words or because she knew that they were true.
"You see, this is exactly what I mean", he gestured to her. "You think that not crying after everything you have been through makes you strong when really it just makes you even more vulnerable".
She still tried to keep her jaw firm.
"You tried to run away from the problem, hiding in your room behind your computer screen and where has it got you? Has there been a single moment that you haven't thought about what you have lost? Has there been a single moment of happiness?" He demanded, as he loomed over her.
She shook her head.
"And now you are in such bad shape, so tired, so under nourished that you can't even run for 30 minutes on the treadmill without having to get off and then falling over with a stitch in your side", he indicated to where she was holding.
"Yeah well I don't care that much about physical fitness", she groused.
"Well I do, now come on", he took her hand and hauled her to her feet none too gently. "Your stitch will go faster if you keep moving", he wrapped an arm around her waist and forced her to walk.
"Urgh!"
"Very articulate and here I was told that you had the word smith thing going on", he smiled at her.
"Well I have given up on a lot of things lately", she snarked.
"Your health should not be one of them", he replied sombrely.
"I bet that my u… father would be interested to hear the way that you are speaking to me this way", Chloe said lightly.
Pretending not to notice her near slip, "I think that he would just be happy to see that you are out of your room and with a new look to boot", he nodded at her head. "Interesting colour choices, by the way".
"He would probably be more impressed by the fact that I just graduated", she shot back.
"Maybe", he shrugged. "What are you going to do now?" He tried to ignore the gnawing in the pit of his stomach at the information that she had graduate so quickly. He knew that she had been working herself too hard but that was ridiculous, he should have intervened sooner. If he weren't careful then his head would roll. If Chloe was protected and healthy then he would be richly rewarded, if not then he would spend the rest of his life in a place that made prison look like paradise.
"I'm not sure but I'll figure it out", Chloe replied.
"Well I have a suggestions", that got her attention. "Someone very powerful suggested that you would hide yourself away and finished all of your work within a few months and that afterwards you would need something to do."
She tried to remain calm, he could only mean Lex. "What did he suggest?"
The dark eyes noted her reaction to the reference to the billionaire, "He suggested that you would like to learn some more foreign languages".
Chloe's eyes went wide. "How did he know?" She asked but did not expect to receive an answer. Worryingly it did not surprise her that he had thought about her, considered what she would like but she never expected him to work it out. How could he have known? She had never told anyone that. Everyone knew that Chloe Sullivan knew Latin and that she wanted to be a reporter but not that she wanted to travel the world and know more and read more. She had studied some languages at school but thirsted for more.
"I can't leave the compound, so how would that work?" She wondered.
"That part's easy, the military and the civil service have the best private language teachers in the world and you will have full access to them here. It will be hard work but it should take your mind off things, 9am-6pm six days a week", he told her.
"That would be good", Chloe admitted as they walked around the room for the second time.
"Stitch any better?" He asked.
"Yes thank-you", she dodged out from under his arm. She had used to consider herself a fairly open girl, she Clark and Pete had always been putting their arms around each other but now it made her feel antsy. It was odd considering the number of times a day she wished that she had someone to hold.
"Do you want to get back into shape?" He asked her.
"Of course, although I think that that might take some time. Good job that the army has a gym isn't it?" She tried to joke, her hand still over her stomach although the pain had gone.
"Not that long, I go to the gym every morning at 5am. If you wanted to work out without being seen that would be the best time to go, then from 6-7:30am I would be happy to help train you", he said.
"Train me?" Chloe looked up at him in confusion.
He stopped walking and turned to her, "Yes Lucy. You are never going to stop being afraid until you learn how to take care of yourself properly, let me help you get back on your feet".
Chloe looked up at him; he was tall with broad shoulders and as horrible as he had been to her at some points that day she knew that he meant well. She knew that she should say yes although she wanted to run back to her room so she nodded quickly before her courage could desert her completely.
"Good", he smiled. "Now I'll take you back to your room to shower and change. Today you are dining in the officer's mess. Being cooped up isn't good for you".
An hour later she sat next to him and opposite several other officers who she recognised from the tunnel as a large plate of food was placed before her.
"Eat it all, if you want to train like a solider you have to eat like a solider", her dark eyed solider informed her.
"You think that Bloom there is bad to you, you should see him with everyone else", an officer with an English accent informed her before extending his hand, "Dru Zod at your service Ms Lane".
"You're just mad because he caught you sneaking in with that redhead last week", the third man at their table laughed before also extending his hand to Chloe, "Victor Stone".
"Nice to meet you both", Chloe smiled at them, "I'm Lucy Lane".
"We know", they both smiled at her, then Victor added, "Damn how much steak and potatoes did Bloom give you? That plate weighs more than you do".
"Yeah, I had noticed that too".
It had turned out to be a good thing that Davis had loaded her up so much, the following day's training session had almost killed her. She had known that she was out of shape but even when she had been in shape she didn't think that she had ever worked out like that. Although it did keep her mind off things, as did the intensive language training. By the time that she went to have her dinner at 7pm before collapsing into bed at 9pm she had been half dead. Still it was nice to be surrounded by people. That had become her routine for the next few months.
She had still felt lonely, she had still been frightened but it had been better. Exercise had become a way of life for her and the second that Chloe found herself alone in her new bedroom in the mansion she had been unable to help herself but went to the gym for a workout, even before unpacking.
That was where she was when Lex found her covered in sweat.
"That's a good look for you", he announced from the doorway where he stood observing her.
Chloe snapped to attention, her eyes keen and suspicious. She could hardly believe that she had already relaxed so much in the mansion that she had allowed herself to get caught up in her own thoughts, normally that never happened. Especially not in the last four months, during which time she had been so tightly wound that she had thought that she might explode.
She relaxed slightly as she saw Lex and, replaying the disruption in her head, realised what he had said. She fought her natural inclination to gasp at his presence and the fact that he was flirting with her. She knew that he didn't mean anything by it but just having him there made her feel like she had when she was in High School.
An energy which she hadn't felt in years coursed through her veins and she strove to control it. She wasn't a teenager anymore, she had been through a lot in since she had left Smallville and learned a lot too … and part of that was how to handle men.
"So I'm told", she smirked at him. "So do you work out or have people to do that for you?"
He smiled, and straightened entering the room properly, "I still do some things for myself".
She raised an eyebrow in inquiry.
"Fucking for example", he said as he sat down across from her and began to work on his upper arms.
Chloe just said "Hmm" as she started on the cross trainer again, trying to ignore the way his arms bulged as he worked the muscles in them. He really had very nice arms; they were perfectly toned and looked warm and strong but not overly buff. She did not think that she had seen him arms bare before, it was a shame that t-shirts were not normal work wear for Luthors, as he could probably have got a lot of contracts signed just because people were too distracted to negotiate terms.
"Something you find distracting Chloe?" He quirked an eyebrow at her.
"No, of course not", she turned pink. This was ridiculous, she hadn't blushed in years.
The devilish grin he shot her told her that she had been caught out. Well two could play at that game, she increased her tempo slightly and noted the smouldering glint in his eyes.
"Something you find distracting Lex?" She challenged.
"Yes, your breasts namely", Lex replied.
She turned even pinker. How did he make her feel like a High School girl again? He was supposed to be the one getting uncomfortable, not her. And those arms were still extremely tempting.
"Men are so predictable", she informed him dryly.
"Our interests possibly, but I promise you that I could find some interesting variations on a theme", he was still so bloody cocky.
She rolled her eyes. "That's what they all say".
Lex stopped smirking at that although he seemed to stare at her even harder. "That's what they all say", could have just been a comeback. It had to just be a comeback. All of the time that she had been in the army barracks she hadn't had a boyfriend, had she? He hadn't seen one but she had found the cameras in her room. Was it possible that … No, she was just pulling his leg. He observed her desperate to notice some sign that would confirm this decision.
Chloe tried to look supremely innocent and unruffled under his scrutiny. She wouldn't look at him, she wouldn't. Even as she thought this she was certain that she could feel his gaze on her, tempting her to pay him attention. She looked instead at the door, at the sign on the wall, at another machine, at the machine he was on and then finally at him.
"Going to keep staring at me all afternoon?" She snapped and then wanted to kick herself; this was his house after all and she was just a guest. He had every right to look wherever he damned well pleased.
"Going to keep avoiding eye contact all afternoon?" He asked in reply, not taking offense at her words or her tone; as far as he was concerned she was completely within her rights to be irked by his staring at her, regardless of whose house they were in.
Chloe wanted to deny that that was what she was doing but then thought that that would be ridiculous as she was quite clearly avoiding looking at his face whenever possible.
"You don't avoid eye contact with anyone else", he pointed out.
"You have seen me interact with relatively few other people", she noted.
"True, but you had no problem looking at Clark", Lex pushed the issue.
"He was my best friend before I left", Chloe reminded him.
"But you didn't have that much to do with his parents, I mean, did you really see them that much more than you saw me, especially nearing the end?" He asked, moving the topic along. He wanted an answer.
"No, but they are …" she struggled to find the words and finally had to settle for, "different".
"How so?" He wondered. There were hundreds of differences, but she knew what she meant.
Chloe refused to look directly at him. Lex sighed, he recognised her tells now. He stopped working out, got up and walked over to her. He placed his hands over the tops of the handles forcing her to come to a stop and then moved his hands down over Chloe's.
Her breathing quickened, her first impulse was to pull away from him even though she knew herself to be in no danger.
"Chloe", his voice was low and brooked no disobedience, "look at me".
As if of their own volition, her eyes did as they were told.
"Tell me why you are so uncomfortable around me. You aren't afraid of me are you?"
"No, of course not", she replied shaking her head in earnest.
"You know that I would never hurt you", he watched as she nodded her head. "You think that I betrayed you?" He asked cautiously.
"Don't be so stupid", she snapped looking appalled at him." You didn't betray me, I was the one who let you down". There, it was out before she had even realised what she was saying.
"What? Chloe", he demanded, "what are you talking about?"
"You know that I let you down", she replied wondering whether she could yank her hands away and run, she did not want to have this conversation.
"No you bloody didn't!" He growled, he gripped her hands more tightly but not enough to hurt her.
Chloe felt the squeeze and realising that she couldn't escape bowed her head and reminded him, "Lex I came to you telling you that I could get your father put in prison and asking for help because I couldn't get out of the quagmire (of my own making) on my own. Then I almost got you killed, you had to intervene and save my Dad and I, you parted with so much money to protect us and you didn't even get the testimony from me that you wanted."
Lex could hardly believe his ears, that she could feel guilty about what had happened was incredible to him. "Chloe I was the one who wouldn't let you give that testimony, I know that you were willing to do it and either way we did get him put away".
"Yes, but you wouldn't let me because you knew that I was too weak", she replied without thinking and Lex's eyes filled with disbelief. "I saw that look on your face the day that I left, I saw the disgust in your eyes - I could read how disappointed you were in me. You have always been a good judge of character and able to sum people up, you are the one person I am sure can see inside me and I don't want to see myself reflected in your eyes or for anyone else to see it either".
"If you read that then you need glasses. I didn't let you go to court because it wasn't safe. That was the only reason, your bravery was never called into question", Lex started as he tried to get his head around the new information.
She looked at him disbelievingly.
"Chloe", he released her hands and cupped her face, ignoring the shudder that went through her at such an intimate action. "I don't know whether or not I can see you better than anyone else, but I sincerely hope that I can". Being this open with someone did not come naturally to him but he knew that if he was going to try to get her to open up then he owed her the same. "Believe me, you have nothing to fear from what you might see in my eyes or what anyone else might see through them".
Her eyes widened a little as she searched his to see if he was telling her the truth or just trying to comfort her. She did not like to think of how many times she had been brought to tears thinking of him sitting in his office, drinking a scotch and sneering at the idea that he had ever trusted her. She had always just assumed that he must think as badly of her as she did.
"You were brilliant", he assured her as she brushed his hand down the side of her face. "I was always sorry that you got caught up into all of this drama between my father and I, but it isn't strange that he would think about you. You did the right thing to get out of the situation and come to me. You put a monster behind bars, and as far as the money, I never cared about that. All that I cared about was how much potential was wasted, how sad you must have been when you were taken away. I always thought that I let you down, that I should have killed him …"
"No", she almost shouted, "never think that. You would never have forgiven yourself if you did that, you did the right thing letting the law take care of him".
His heart went out to her, after all she had been through she was still so sweet … although delightfully snarky. "The day that you were taken, I was so impressed but that image has haunted me", he confessed, not knowing why.
"Well, it is all over now. And I am fine", Chloe managed a small smile.
Lex mirrored her expression, but didn't tell her that he knew the truth. He knew that she wasn't fine and that she was hanging onto herself by a thread. He certainly didn't tell her how much of her life in the barracks he had witnessed, until she disappeared. He felt his need to know what had happened to her rear its head again but attempted to squash it; they have made enough progress for one day and he wouldn't get any further pushing her at that moment.
Chloe swallowed. She felt better, elated but the heat from his hands was almost making her shake. She wanted to make him step away from her without offending him or making herself look weak, she smirked. "One question that has always plagued me, how much stamina does Lex Luthor's really have?"
He grinned. He knew exactly what she was doing but was happy to play along. "Plenty", he extended his hand to her to help her off the cross trainer. He led her over to the running machines.
"Ready, get, set go!"
"I still maintain that I let you win".
"Sure you did", Chloe smiled over at Lex as he held out her chair and she sank into it. "You forget, I have trained with the army … men who could bench press you".
He ignored the thought of those men around her as he had seen many of her training sessions and knew that they had not touched her, except when sparing.
"Well technique is more important than brute strength", he gave her a cheeky look as he took his seat on the other side of the table.
"I agree", Chloe gave him a seductive smile before ruining the effect by giggling.
That look killed him. If he ever found out who had taught her to flirt like that he was going to have to kill them. She was far too tempting now, not that it had been particularly easy before.
As he stared over at her he was seized once more by the urge to rush over to her, take her in his arms and never let her go. He was so relieved to have her back. He had been in hell thinking that something had happened to her, it seemed almost too good to be true that she was back and living under his roof. He would be able to see her every day and help her heal.
She was dressed in jeans and a fitted polo neck, casual but gorgeous. If she were wearing new clothes then he wondered if she had unpacked, when he had gone to her room earlier he had not found her and had noticed that her suitcases remained untouched – just before he went to find her in the gym.
"Had the chance to unpack yet?" He asked.
"No, not yet. Why do you ask?" Chloe wondered.
"No reason, I just wondered if you wanted me to send a maid up and if you would have any time free after dinner", he pretended to be interested in his dinner but kept one eye on her at all times.
"What did you have in mind?"
"It's a surprise".
"Alright", Chloe agreed without thinking, she trusted him. God that was worrying, the one person in the whole world she trusted was Lex Luthor.
