Disclaimer: I do not own any DC / Smallville characters. However, the plot is mine.

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LYING SNAKE

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Chapter Twenty: Awkward Conversations

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"It's getting late, so I'm heading home." Lois said, standing from the couch. "I'm going to try and sneak into Lex's office tomorrow at work."

"That's too dangerous Lois." Clark argued.

Lois rolled her eyes. "Don't worry Smallville. I'll have you as lookout. It'll be a piece of cake." She smirked, then looked at the blonde. "Don't forget to check through your own resources. If there are any pending deals LexCorp has going down, then I'm sure the rest of you corporate hubs can find that out." She grabbed her bag and headed to the elevator. "If you find anything, you know how to reach me." She stepped onto the elevator. "Night boys." And with that the doors slid shut.

"She sure can be bossy." Oliver admonished.

Clark watched as Lois disappeared through the exit. He then quickly turned his line of vision to the only occupant left in the room. "Okay well, now that Lois is gone, what's the real plan?"

Oliver stood from his chair and walked over to the wall that hid his gear and opened it. "Well, first things first, we're going to need to get the others involved. "I'll contact Victor, he'll get word to the others." He grabbed his bow and started inspecting it. "They've been concerned for Chloe, especially since she's practically refused to see any of them." He pulled the string back, testing its elasticity.

"I can't believe this is happening." Clark shook his head. "Why can't Luthors just leave Chloe alone?" He growled almost to himself. "Lex won't get away with it."

"Whatever it is." Oliver frowned. "We're going to have to be careful about this Clark." He told his taller friend, while looking at him levelly. "We can't tip Lex off that we are suspicious of him." Here Clark just raised a dark brow at him. "Well, more so than usual anyway."

Clark thought what Oliver said over, and then nodded to him. "I agree." He said, before becoming mysteriously quiet.

Oliver took notice of that. "What's wrong?"

"It's just that I've been thinking." Clark started, walking towards the window. "You know, when Chloe was missing, I couldn't find her. But Lex did." He turned back around to face Oliver. "I know that Lex has many contacts, but still it feels too easy. He said that the people who took Chloe took her deep underground. I figured that was why I couldn't find her, because I really just didn't know where to look."

Oliver nodded his head at Clark. "But…?"

"I just don't get it. Why did they want Chloe? Not many know about her skills, and knowledge." 'Or her ability.' Clark finished in his head.

"You're right. I've had my own suspicions about that. I even started suspecting Lex, but since Chloe never said anything, I figured it wasn't him." Oliver added.

Clark scratched the back of his head. "But with everything's that's happening now. I don't think she has a choice in being his assistant. So it also makes me think that she didn't have a choice in telling us Lex's real connection to her rescue."

Oliver placed his bow back down. "IF he did abduct her in the first place, she may not even know. And she may even feel an obligation towards him and that would explain her being his assistant." He pointed out. "Unfortunately, there is a possibility that Lex is innocent in all of this. Right now we only have idle speculation. We need facts."

"Well, that's where the team comes in. With all of us working together, I'm sure we can find the evidence that we need." Clark asserted.

"I'll put them on figuring out Lex's current plans. You should keep an eye on Chloe as best as you can. She's keeping the guys at a distance, and she's not too fond of me right now." Oliver told him.

Clark immediately looked sheepish. "Well, actually, we had sort of a mini fight at the Planet earlier today."

Oliver just gave him a deadpanned look. "Fix it. You two are best friends, so I doubt it'd be hard to work things out. Besides, Lex can't object to you hanging around her with how close you two are. It'd look suspicious on his part." The blonde explained to his friend.

"Okay, so what are you going to be doing?" Clark asked him.

"I'm going to find out what really happened to Chloe this summer. And even though the supposed kidnapper is dead, there are other ways for me to find my answers." Oliver plainly stated.

Clark nodded his head. "Sounds like a plan."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The sun rays streamed into the room; bathing its sole occupant in a soft glow. The bundle beneath the covers began to stir. It continued to move until a blonde head poked out from beneath the comforter. Chloe squinted as she turned to face the window. "Ugh… five more minutes." She mumbled before turning back around and immediately sticking her head beneath the pillow. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1 seconds later… Chloe's head popped back up. The pillow was flung to the floor. Her eyes was wide open and her face depicted horror as she remember the happenings of last night. "Oh no…" Then her face turned red as she thought about the kiss. She raised her fingers to her lips as though she could still feel his. "… Lex…" She quickly jumped from beneath the covers.

She stood beside her bed, and quickly moved towards her bathroom. She passed in front of the dresser mirror and paused. Chloe eyed her reflection. She still looked a little sleepy, her hair was all over the place, and her pajamas were rumpled. The more she looked herself over, the less she liked what she saw. She could feel all of her teen insecurities crawling back into her mind. She got this way whenever she was interested in a boy. She just felt like she wasn't good enough.

Chloe suddenly shook her head. "Since when did you care what Lex thought?" She asked herself softly. She then pushed her hair to the side. "He's not some boy, he's a man. A dark, sadistic, bastard of a man." She started angrily as she moved closer to the mirror. "And you are not some pubescent pre-teen crushing on the captain of the football team. Get a grip Sullivan." She all but growled at herself. A smirk grew on her face as she felt her confidence slowly came back. But then her thoughts moved back to last night, when she had seen Lana standing in all her glory. She was stunning.

You'll never be Lana, how do you cope?

Lex's voice rang in her ears. No matter how far she removes herself from the pink princess, she somehow always gets cast in the girl's shadow.

You'll never be Lana…

She hated to admit it, but Lex hit a sore spot. Lana is beautiful. She looked gorgeous last night.; the perfect one for Lex. Whatever attractions he had felt for her were no doubt erased from his mind the moment he saw his raven haired girlfriend. Chloe frowned at the thought of be bested by Lana Lang once again.

"Get a grip Sullivan." She mumbled to herself with a sigh as she pulled her eyes from the mirror. She stepped past it towards the bathroom. "Just get through today." She pleaded, knowing full well that it would not be a smooth one. Fully inside the bathroom, she kicked the door shut.

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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"We're almost ready for takeoff, sir." The stout man informed his employer.

"Good." Replied the man already seated, typing away on his lap top. He only paused in his typing to take a sip from the glass of water at his side. After a few more minutes, he saved his document and closed the laptop shut. With a deep sigh, he placed it onto the seat beside him and leaned back into his own.

It was quite obvious he had not gotten much sleep last night. He just could not get the thought of Chloe off of his mind.

Running a hand through his soft blonde locks, Oliver closed his eyes, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before arriving to his destination. A couple of minutes pass by and with an annoyed groan, he realized it was going to be a long flight indeed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The doors to the dining room were abruptly thrown open, startling the sole occupant inside. Lana looked up from her plate with eager eyes. Her eyes dimmed slightly when she noticed that the person to enter the room was not her beloved. "Chloe! Good morning! I trust that you had a restful night." Lana, being the thoughtful hostess, asked her friend. Chloe was their guest and she felt it important that her visit is a comfortable one.

Chloe walked further into the room donning a dark gray pencil skirt with thin turquoise stripes and a matching turquoise blouse. Noticing that Lex was not present, it was easy to force a bright smile onto her face. "Good morning Lana. And yes, my night was pleasant." She moved to the seat across from Lana. "And you? How was your nigh…" Chloe trailed off as she realized the implications of the question that she had just asked. She could feel her face heating up and sincerely hoped that it wasn't as red as Lana's was at this moment. In fact, Chloe thought her face resembled the negligée she wore last, "… um…"

Lana seemed to recover as she cleared her throat. "It was… peaceful." She answered, her smile a little strained.

Chloe smiled at the servant who placed a plate of food in front of her. "Thank you." She said softly. Whether it was for the food or the distraction, Chloe didn't know, nor did she care. She was just glad for the diversion.

The two ladies ate their breakfast in silence, neither making eye contact. Chloe's mind was clouded in thoughts of Oliver and the boys, and Clark and Lois. She knew them, and she knew they were probably growing suspicious of her actions. She needed to figure out a way to keep their suspicions at a minimum. Her facial features softened and the rigidness of her posture relaxed as she thought more and more on this subject. No longer was the tenseness that the memory of last brought apparent in her body language.

Lana, on the other hand, was a different story. Her mind was completely preoccupied by thoughts of last night. She donned her sexiest attire and stood in the living room for nearly two hours waiting for Lex to appear. She gave the lobby attendant a decent tip to call her when Lex arrived. The man failed to mention Chloe's presence. Then again, perhaps they had not arrived together. Lana's forehead creased. 'Of course they arrived together. They are always together.' Lana was getting sick of it. She then thought about her momentary embarrassment at having Chloe see her that way. But then remembered that she had nothing to be embarrassed about. She was simply surprising her boyfriend.

Chloe noticed Lana's furrowed brow. She momentarily wondered if it were caused by her mere presence. Then quickly grew offended at the thought. Lana was supposed to be her friend. But then she shrugged it off. The girl was probably just embarrassed about last night. Chloe immediately cringed at that thought. 'And I was doing such a good job at forgetting it happened.' She internally moaned.

The brunette set her fork down and grabbed her glass of orange juice. She took a sip. Yeah, she didn't have to be embarrassed about last night, but she was definitely agitated. Not to mention sexually frustrated.

Flashback…

Lana continued to smile as Chloe rushed out of the room. Once she was certain that the blonde was nowhere in sight, or hearing range, she looked at her sleek and handsome boyfriend. "Well, are you surprised Lex darling."

Lex resisted a cringe. He hated pet names; well, at least of the Lana variety. The words coming from her mouth were just sickening. He walked further into the room, he set he briefcase down beside the sofa. He knew one of the servants would eventually place it into his office. He gave Lana a once over. She appeared to be pleased by this, but her state of elation swiftly left her upon the words soon to leave his mouth. "Nothing you do surprises me Lana. You're simple nature, however, is quite astounding. What is the cause for this," Here he paused, stepping even further into the room and closer to her, "this poor attempt at seduction?" He asked dryly. He was tired and after Lana ruined his moment with Chloe, he was just tired of her.

Lana's face, completely devoid of anything resembling a smile, drained of color. "I… I just wanted to surprise you, Lex. You've been hard at work and I just wanted to surprise you." She explained, giving him a look that in the past had him melting in her hands. That was when he thought she was sweet, pure. But he now knew that that was just her manipulative nature. "Are you… are you angry?"

Lex eyed Lana. He hated that he ever bothered courting her. He mainly did it to upset Clark, but Clark doesn't seem to even care anymore, having moved on to bigger and better things. So why was he stringing Lana around? The reason escapes him. But he's too tired to care right now. For now, he'll keep her. He noticed the hurt look on her face. He forced his features to soften. As long as he's keeping her, he'll need to keep appearances. "No of course not Lana. I'm sorry, I'm just extremely tired. Hard day and all."

Lana stepped down onto the floor, from atop the coffee table. She suddenly felt very under dressed. She slowly wrapped her arms around herself to preserve her modesty, or what was left of it. Even though Lex appeared to be her kind, compassionate Lex, she could not shake the chills the cold Lex caused to go down her spine. "No, Lex it's fine."

Considering that he wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with her next, he decided to stay the part. "It's not fine Lana. I should not have spoken to you in such a way. Don't worry; I will make it up to you." He finished taking her into his arms.

She started to smile softly at him. "I know you've been stressed with work."

"And you wanted to relieve the pressure. And I appreciate that you want to do that." He finished for her. He pushed some of her hair behind her ear, and then gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. "But I must retire for the night."

She nodded. "Right, I will just go wait for you in our bedroom." She started walking towards the hall, but stopped at his voice.

"Actually Lana, do you mind taking one of the guest rooms." Lex suggested. He noticed her face fall, and sought to soften the blow. "I haven't been sleeping well lately. And I don't think that having such a delectable creature, such as you, lying next to me will be beneficial to my night's rest." He forced his gaze to become hungry. "I don't think I'd be able to resist you."

Lana, as if on cue, blushed a lovely shade of pink. "Of course Lex." She turned once more towards the hallway, and then paused yet again. She faced Lex. "But Chloe is in the guest room across from ours."

Lex forced himself not to flinch at her usage of the word ours again. "We have three others Lana."

She pouted. "Yes, but they're much smaller, aaannd… on the other side of the penthouse"

He wanted so badly to strangle the half-wit. Why is she even complaining? No one invited her here. "Sweetheart, it's only for one night." He promised. And it would be for one night. He'd make sure of it.

Her face pinched as she realized that she wouldn't get her way. She quickly nodded and whispered a good night before heading to the other side of the penthouse. She did want Lex to see the displeased look on her face.

… end flashback.

Yes, Lana was indeed sexually frustrated. She easily downed her orange juice and immediately requested more. She glanced at the dining room doors, anxiously waiting for Lex to arrive. Luckily for her, she didn't have to wait long. As it was at that moment, when the double doors were thrust open to reveal one sexy, bald billionaire.

"Good morning ladies." Lex drawled out, his eyes instantly seeking a pair of sparkling emeralds. But was promptly disappointed to only be confronted with warm brown, as Chloe never once removed her gaze from her plate.

AN: I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Mine was great. I had wanted to get this up for Christmas or New Year's, but it didn't happen. Then I thought I'd get it up for my birthday. But that's in a few days yet and I was too excited to surprise everyone, so I posted earlier. Hoping to have the next chapter up soon, maybe I'll shoot for Valentine's Day. =)

Let me know how you like this chapter. Now things are starting to get interesting with all the investigation that's about to be going down.

Again I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

… and as ALWAYS….

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