Getting in Deeper– Chapter 8

Lex sat in silence on the entire trip back to Metropolis. From the moment he was in the apartment and seeing what Catherine looked like and reminded him of, he realized why he had tried to keep Lana at bay. He wasn't wanting to be alone; he just wanted something more. He knew now Catherine was Chloe all grown up.

Chloe watched as he continued to stare at the picture. She wondered what he could be thinking. Apparently she couldn't hide what her thoughts were. "You know you could ask instead of trying to guess."

Chloe sat and smiled, not saying anything. Looking out the window, he gently spoke, "For years I dated, screwed over women that reminded me of my mother. People thought I never noticed the resemblances of my dates to her, but I'm not that blind. Just Freud's best subject." Lex somewhat smirked as he looked at Chloe. "Then I, out of what I thought was necessity, started charming Catherine and found that I may have been chasing the wrong type all along. I found out that I liked the challenge that she was. Trade this touch for that tidbit of information on my father's trial." He stopped and got up from the chair across the aisle from Chloe. She watched as he opened two waters and sat down in the chair directly across from her. "Her banter and argument reminded me of you; she was just older and little better at it I guess from her law school training. But I never pictured her making it in that cutthroat world. If my father could get to her that easily."

"Lex, you…"

Cutting her off, "I'm sorry Chloe," he closed his eyes and nodded in frustration. "I'm sorry for almost getting you killed. I'm sorry for keeping you from your family and friends." Setting his water down, he took a single one of her hands and held it. She watched as his sad yet emotionless gaze met hers and then moved to watch the fingers of his other hand graze over her hand. She could just barely feel the sparks from his light touch. Taking a deep breath, he choked out, "I'm mostly sorry about avoiding you out of fear for you. I never hated you, but I knew what my father…"

Chloe rubbed the palm of her hand along his jaw gently, "I know. It was easier to hate you than miss you too." Lex dipped his head but Chloe still caught the smile. "Lex, you know I'm not your dad or a client – you can smile in front of me. Or laugh, or cry." She again touched his jaw and lifted his head up to look at her. Leaning into him, she balanced her forehead against his and smiled back even bigger. She suddenly felt flush and dropped her hand from his face, moving back slightly. "Sorry."

Lex returned the gesture, gently caressing her cheek and jaw in his hand. He could feel her skin warm to his touch and he closed his eyes, trying to keep his composure. He moved his hand around to the nape of her neck and pulled her closer. Chloe didn't hesitate to close her eyes and took a deep breath as she could feel his warm breath on her lips.

"Sir, we're about to land," the pilot said over the intercom. Chloe sat up quickly, thinking someone had come into the cabin. Lex let go of her and turned back to the window. Closing his eyes, he bit slightly on his thumb before buckling his seatbelt.

Chloe tried to catch her breath. She couldn't think – she couldn't speak – she couldn't react. She did up her seatbelt and looked around the plane and then at Lex, who was now looking straight at her. "Apparently the apologies are to continue," he said trying a half laugh. Chloe opened her mouth to respond, but Lex cut her off. "No, don't; it was just a moment of weakness."

Chloe sat confused and flushed, but then had a slight smile that Lex didn't even notice. She realized all those interviews, all those judo matches, all those meetings about his father.


Chloe and Lex walked into the Daily Planet as everyone stopped. Leaning over, he whispered, "I don't think this was a scene they were expecting today." Chloe didn't return a comment but sat down at her desk. Putting the picture up on the scanner, she waited as the photo blew up larger. Lex pulled an errant chair up beside her and glared at the photo. "Is that the best?"

"No, we can get it bigger and then try to look up the location. You have no idea where she might have gone. She ever mention a relative that lived on the coast?" Chloe turned around to see him shake his head no. She continued cropping and enlarging the photo shot of the sign as Lex answered his phone.

"Hello?...Just turn on the CD that's in the player in his room – I found that particular one soothes him…I need you to stay, I'm in the middle of something…Thank you." Lex hung up the phone and turned back to the computer.

"You can go if you need to."

"No, we're going to get this taken care of," he stated vapidly while putting his hand on Chloe's shoulder. Chloe glanced up and gently smiled at him, feeling his grip tighten in response to her smile. "What does that say?" The two leaned closer to the screen and tried to read the pixilated words. "Hunting Island?"

Chloe pulled up a search engine and typed in the name. Clicking on the first couple of names that came up, she finally found the answer. "She either was or is in South Carolina." Chloe turned around and looked at Lex. "What do you want to do?"

Lex leaned back in the chair and looked up over her shoulder, "Not tell him what we're doing."

Chloe looked up and saw Clark smirking at the two of them as Lex finally remembered to release his hand from Chloe's shoulder. "Clark, what a surprise to see you in Metropolis today, a school day." Chloe glared at him, hoping he would realize that both he and Lex needed to come up with real good excuses real quick for being there.

"So what are you doing in Metropolis Clark?" Clark crossed his arms in disgust at the tone that Lex took with him.

"If you must know, I was going to make a delivery to your home and suddenly my mother chimed in and said she would be happy to go instead and my father went with her. To your home. Seeing that kind of strange, I drove out here to see if Chloe knew why my parents suddenly went crazy on me. Your turn."

"I'll have to thank your parents for dropping in. I'm sure they will find everything in order, and there's no reason to suspect anything. As for me," Lex paused as Chloe clicked a folder and opened one of her school papers. He somewhat smiled at what he saw. "I'm here helping Chloe on her history paper on Alexander the Great."

"Your namesake, how surprising, but I don't picture Chloe writing on such topics." Clark pulled up a chair and sat down. This conversation was going nowhere and Chloe could tell that Lex was ready to leave.

"Clark, you don't know everything about me." She turned the screen around so that Clark could see the actual paper. She quickly turned it back around, knowing she had minimized the search on Hunting Island. "I am really on a school deadline here – can we meet some other time after you call first?"

Lex sat back and smirked, remembering that being his line for Clark. Feeling empowered by Chloe's defensive remark, he added, "By the way, how is that doctorial thesis on the caves going? What is this - a couple of years now?" Chloe looked at him and shook her head. She tried not to laugh but knew that Lex had hit a nerve. She felt strange being in between the two. For years she had nothing but eyes for Clark but had learned some new things about Lex in the last few days that made her rethink her relationship to each.

"Clark, he didn't mean it." She motioned for Lex to wait as Clark pushed the chair back under the empty desk and walked off. Chloe followed him and turned him around. Lex watched as she seemed to put him in his place. "He's helping me with school. That's it." She hated lying to him, but after all the lies that she had to come with for Clark, one for Lex wasn't bad.

"Come on. There's more going on. And the thing with my mom."

"Clark, go home and talk to your folks about their jaunt to the Luthor mansion. I'm sure it's nothing. They needed to ride into town and your father just went to save an extra trip or something. I will talk to you soon. And Lex, I can handle him. Don't worry." Chloe walked him up the stairs and to the elevator. Walking back to her desk, she sighed and looked at Lex.

"Everything ok?"

"As awkward as ever. He thinks he has to rescue everyone."

"Yeah, from me apparently. Let's get this and get going. I would really like to be back and have this resolved." Lex picked up Chloe's jacket and helped her into it while the rest of the newsroom watched. They walked up and disappeared into the elevator as the editor peeked out of his window that looked down on the main levels of the Planet.