The Consequence of Mercy Chapter 36: Leverage, a smallville fanfic

It's my birthday!! Yay me, and I'm so glad you guys are enjoying the story! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.

Chloe hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep until she was being shaken into consciousness. She instinctively hoisted the blanket she had draped over her lap up to her chin and cringed at the new source of light shining in her face. It had been a rough day of bondage and death threats, but she had been so excited to discover exactly what was in that safety deposit box that she forced herself to stay awake until Clark came back. It was obvious that she had failed.

Clark had already shrugged off his disguise before he moved to wake her, but she could still see the remnants of his 'costume'. Hair slicked back, eyebrows darkened, slight changes to be sure but they were effective. She blinked a few times more than necessary, momentarily confused by his altered appearance.

He silently reached for her arms, investigating her wrists for any sign of bruising and vindicated and frustrated when she winced. "He do this to you?" Clark tried to remain calm, but she could hear his voice pique in anger.

"I did this to me," she grunted, moving herself hesitantly into the sitting position. "Lex may have cuffed me but I'm the one who stupidly struggled against steel." In her righteous fury she had been more than happy to squirm and pull on her arm, and it hadn't started to ache until after the adrenaline wore off.

Clark tried to take this in stride, nodding and taking a seat in the vacant space beside her. "Do I want to know why he did this?"

She smiled. "It's a long story, I want to hear about the safety deposit box first. It better be good, I'm going to be majorly pissed if we've spent the past few months chasing after shadows." Clark cast her a sidelong glance but let her get away with the transparent attempt to change the subject--for now.

He moved to open shoe box in his lap, and Chloe glanced down in surprise at it. The box was so inconspicuous that it had escaped her notice. It slightly battered, resembling a child's memory chest, like the ones they used to make in kindergarten.

"How did you get in without the key?" she asked, yawning.

Clark gave her a look. "No one saw me. I disabled the security cameras and put the safe back in place. They'll never know anyone was in there," he promised, "the cameras were out of commission for six seconds and then the glitch resolved itself. It was all over so quickly that no one considered it was a robbery. They're blaming a thunder storm on the east coast." That was a relief. Then there was no way Lex could catch wind of the theft if they didn't even know that one had been committed.

Her breath hitched in her throat, and she didn't know what to say so she decided to remain silent. Clark smiled slightly as he lifted the lid, unintentionally prolonging the suspense, "I know it's stupid...but I haven't opened it yet. I, uh, wanted to..." his voice trailed off, but he didn't need to finish the sentence. She knew what he meant, he'd wanted to look at the fruits of their labor together. They had both worked so hard to figure this puzzle out, to escape the suffocating and watchful eye of Lex by any means necessary. It seemed as though part of Clark's way of expressing how much she meant to him was to keep her in the loop.

After months of trying to crack the code, they were more together now than ever...and he couldn't help but like it that way. He felt a surge of guilt every time he felt that way, but it was hard to regret something that brought them closer together. Having a cause undoubtedly put things into perspective, assigned meaning to their time together.

Chloe wiped her eyes and he discarded the cardboard lid on the shoe box, pulling the contents out and onto his lap. The anticipation was nearly too much for the both of them, and hers was coupled with staggering and gut-wrenching fear. If this wasn't all they had hoped it was...god, they'd have to give it up. It was easier to rationalize it all when they just thought that they would be dodging Lex and starting a new life for themselves, but this was no longer the reality. Lex's alleged allies were new in the equation, and as much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, he was right.

As smart and capable as she was, in comparison to Clark's near immortality she was as defenseless and fragile as a newborn. Any of these governmental types with even the slightest bit of experience could dispatch her in the blink of an eye. Now that she had some scope of what they intended she couldn't stop herself from playing out various scenarios in her mind, and they all reached the same inevitable conclusion. If they tried...her only hope was Clark protecting her from the attempts and Lex trying to thwart them. This wasn't just a matter of curiosity anymore; they needed something big, something substantial, some reason for them to let her go. She needed to change her stock from must terminate to must live. They needed leverage, and she needed it as a life insurance policy.

Amidst the pile of paperwork there was a stack of audio tapes. Their eyes met and both wore the same expression of confusion. Clark handed them to Chloe wordlessly and she rose to her feet, numbly moving toward the kitchen to retrieve her outdated tape player from the junk drawer. He started leafing through the papers as she rummaged through her drawer for what Lex had teasingly called her 'antique.' And that had been when they were together, it was fast approaching museum-worthy. But she was sentimental like that, keeping some of her Wall-of-Weird clippings, the articles she wrote in high school and the tape recorder she used in her youth to interview her subjects, even if she hadn't used it in years.

She had to replace the batteries, and it was only then that she realized that her hands were shaking. Clark knew that this was important, but he didn't yet grasp the gravity of the situation and for the time being she needed him to remain like that. There would be plenty of time to panic at a later time and date, but now wasn't the time.

As she walked back to the couch she caught a glimpse of Clark's expression, and she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he must be one lousy poker player. They had never played and in the heat of battle he was successful at not telegraphing his punches, but this was different. The shock and excitement emanated from every square inch of his face and she felt her shoulders loosen and a knot of tension dissolve inside of her. He didn't acknowledge her approach, eyes fixed on the papers before him, pupils blurred as he scanned through the information. She felt a jolt of surprise, she hadn't realized that super reading had been one of his many powers.

"That son of a bitch," he said in total awe, leaning backward and kicking his shoes off. After several silent minutes of reading he handed her the papers and she felt a similar lurch of surprise.

"Dr. Randall?" It wasn't really a question, but due to her inflection Clark nodded in the affirmative. He had been the one to craft that infuriatingly difficult piece of paper? He was the one who gave it to the eternal damsel-in-distress, Lana? It was a detailed transcript of his dealings with Alexander Luthor, from the first transaction to the last. He had copies of every check made out to him, of every notarized letter and of months of his telephone records, highlighting calls from LuthorCorp and other 'secure' lines. She was certain that Lex must of had these immediately expunged these records in order to be careful, but somehow the twisted doctor had recovered them despite Lex's best efforts.

She was staggered that this hack had, for all intents and purposes, bested Lex Luthor. Of course it hadn't done him any good, he was rotting in some remote location but the fact that he had so diligently recorded the entirety of their business relationship was in itself amazing. Of course alone the phone archives would prove nothing, and certainly wouldn't have proved that it had been Lex who was contacting him...but that was just icing on the cake.

The tapes were labeled with dates, all starting quite some time after she and Lex had begun dating. She slid the first tape in and didn't realize she had been holding her breath in nervous anticipation until she got lightheaded and her vision blurred. She pressed play.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Lex stepped onto the podium to an explosion of applause, more than three-quarters of the audience rising to a standing ovation when they saw his famous face come onto the big screen behind him. He smiled charismatically, waving with kindhearted diplomacy to his many supporters and even fans. It was already time to campaign for his second term, and no other opponent stood a chance. He had the highest approval rating in the recorded history of US presidents and his people were already clamoring to extend the two term maximum...and with his economic reforms being so overwhelmingly successful it looked as though they might actually succeed.

He had note cards laid out neatly before him, but he didn't bother to look at them. He had everything memorized already, and he knew from experience that when he maintained near constant eye contact with the crowd they were more apt to think he was being genuine and spontaneous. He was certain that the New York Times would do another rave review of him in the next issue, and while the idea usually made him giddy he felt unusually hollow that day.

His delivery was flawless, and when he finished the entire stadium stood to applaud, chanting "Four more years!" like trained monkeys. He frowned, confused by his cynicism, but quickly conjured up another blinding smile to dazzle the crowd. He stepped off stage and cast a glance into the audience, feeling his heart stop when he saw Chloe standing in the midst of his adoring 'fans'. He blinked and peered back into the milling pool of people, heart restarting when he realized it was just some other blond reporter, jotting down notes and looking up at him with something akin to hero worship.

At some other time he might have singled her out, called her backstage and impressed her with his greatness and power. It would be easy to seduce her, but it would be too easy. The moment passed and he turned away, sending a parting wave before stepping off stage and into the capable hands of his security personnel. He was ashamed to admit that before his Presidency he had done just that, having meaningless flings with reporters who bore even the slightest resemblance to Chloe, winning them over with some sob story and convincing them that he just wasn't ready for a serious relationship. None of them ever felt used in the slightest, and that didn't do much credit to their intelligence.

One of his makeup people wiped the sweat from his brow, as though he were too high and mighty to mop up his own forehead. One of his secret service agents handed him a slip of paper accompanied with a stony nod. Oh boy, another one of those notes. To say he was sick of them would be a drastic understatement.

He tucked it in his pocket for the time being, excusing himself to his waiting limo and ignoring the plethora of compliments his people offered him on his rousing speech. He had already forgotten what he had said, his mind was occupied on more important things than the exceptional ass-kissing of federal employees. He hated being out of control, feeling as though there as nothing he could do to change the future. He had offered Chloe the only possibility he could think of, and she had rebuffed it without much thought.

God he wanted her, more than he had ever wanted anything in his life...and whether that didn't say much about his ambition toward the presidency or said too much of his obsession only time would tell. The idea of her being with Clark made him physically ill, and if there were no repercussions he would have certainly dispatched of the boy wonder sooner rather than later. But a mere attempt to do so had put paid to their relationship, as he was reminded every time he saw her. But even now that she was with that farm boy with an intense hero complex, he still couldn't reconcile himself to the possibility...no, probability that there was nothing more he could do to save her from the inevitable. His consorts weren't patient people, and they had been suspicious of her from the start.

Chloe Sullivan was a prominent member of the media, even though she had adopted an unpopular stance on the President it had done little at most and nothing at least to damage her credibility. She always viewed Lex's policies with the eye of suspicion and she had always been more than happy to call him out when he overstepped his bounds. Their previous relationship was also disheartening, not only did she know him better than anyone else she also didn't trust him with good reason. She was a liability, and the only one that Lex adamantly refused to allow them to 'handle'. They only had one method of silencing dissenters who endangered their livelihood, and it was a permanent solution.

Lex's feelings for her only added to her dangerousness, and they had been underhandedly threatening her well-being for years in order to force him to comply where he might have refused beforehand. While it would be slightly detrimental to lose such an effective bargaining chip, it would be worth it in the end. She was far too high-risk and the situation too precarious for them to chance having her ruining all they had worked so hard to achieve. With Lex in office, it was a dream come true for his allies and they weren't about to let some stupid little tramp ruin their plan.

He stepped into the limousine, effectively concealing his disgust as half a dozen zealous fans waved newspapers with his face printed on it in one hand and a pen in the other. He gently deflected the autograph attempts and when the door was closed he pulled the note from his pocket in a moment of sheer desperation.

His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach when he recognized the handwriting.

Time is up.

It wasn't signed, and it didn't need to be. He crumpled the note and pushed it into the cigarette lighter, singing the letters until it was unreadable.

He had to think of something.

"I told you not to contact me."

"What did you expect, Mr. Luthor?"

"I expected compliance, not this...willful disobedience. The project is terminated, I don't know why you continue to pester me."

"You offered a chance to change the world, to make the first real discovery we've made in decades and then you just took it away. Why hire me to experiment on a human and analyze his blood and tissue sample if you didn't want something to come of it? An autopsy, you said, would yield the best results--"

"I don't need to be reminded of what I said, there was an unavoidable change of plans and I was forced to abandon the experiment, as I have told you time and time again." Chloe wondered why Lex hadn't cut him off earlier, but supposed it was better late than never. This was their last conversation, their final clash before Theodore Randall disappeared off the face of the earth and was probably buried deep under it.

"This man is a genetic marvel, and it would be a sin to not study him further." Hindsight's twenty/twenty, and when listening to their conversations it was clear to them that in their last few exchanges the taping had become more than a precautionary measure. He was baiting Lex, using information and getting him to agree to it in order to establish proof.

She didn't know what he hoped to accomplish with this, if he wanted to blackmail Lex into continuing the operation or simply deciding to vindictively destroy his career by letting this information out. No one would care about Dr. Randall's part in the whole mess, at the time it was clear that he was underground and the likelihood of discovering him was slim to none. Scum bags like him tended to hang around other unscrupulous fellows of the same or similar moral fiber, and while many would rat their allies out for a sandwich he wasn't that type of sleaze.

"Do not call me again. There's nothing to be gained by furthering our business relationship, and while I am certain that you have already understood my intention allow me to be perfectly clear. You have long since been terminated from my employ and you still are. Give it up before something regrettable happens." And that was the end of it all. Hours of listening to the tapes and this was the grand finale? She wondered how soon after Lex had him killed. Did he issue the hit mere moments after hanging up the phone, or did he wait a little longer, until it was clear that Randall hadn't 'given it up' as he had been advised?

The papers were strewn across her coffee table and she had been leaning on Clark for so long that she couldn't recall the last time she had sat upright. All these years later she finally understood the scope of Lex's plans for Clark, and they didn't disgust her any less than before. She wondered how the public would react to knowing that their President had illegally experimented on what was thought to be a human being, later discovered to be Superman and was set on slicing and dicing up the hero. While so many were willing to snipe at him for the reward money, she was certain that the President's actions would be viewed much more pessimistically.

The citizens were expected, to some extent even allowed to behave in such a fashion but the Head of State was supposed to be above all that. His ratings would certainly plummet and he would have a lot to answer for, what else had he concealed from the people? They were more than happy to go along for the ride, jump on his bandwagon when things were looking up but the moment they faced a downturn more than a few would abandon ship.

She held the ammunition to end his lucrative political career, even if this didn't completely destroy him it would damage his image and shatter his credibility. The bulls eye on her forehead just got even bigger and brighter.

They had known all of this to be true, Chloe for years and Clark for mere months but when faced with such overwhelming proof it was staggering. And good God it was freeing, could this actually mean that they could actually get away?

Clark stroked her hair and put the recorder down. They sat in silence, mulling over what they had just heard. Chloe finally spoke, "we hit the jackpot."

He nodded vehemently. "You bet we did."

It was overwhelming, they both knew exactly what they had but they had no idea how to act next. "What should we do?" It was clear that Clark was wondering the same thing. They had focused so much energy on figuring out that stupid little slip of paper that neither of them ever put any serious thought in what to do afterward. It wasn't like the movies where there was always a clear objective and one of the characters usually had some plan of action. This was as far as the plan went, and they needed to strategize.

"Why were you handcuffed to your desk?" Clark finally asked, not sure how to proceed with the other pressing question.

Chloe considered deflecting, but knew that he needed and deserved to know exactly what was going on. Now was as good a time as any, which was to say that now was as bad a time as any, too.

"Okay, okay...but you have to promise me that you'll delay judgment and reaction. I just need to say it all, and then you can comment all you want after I'm done. No interruptions," she said sternly and Clark nodded warily in agreement. It seemed as though every time she asked him to do this the urge to interrupt and react was overpowering. He did a good job of keeping silent, cracking his knuckles in frustration as she detailed the extent of their exchange. She hesitantly ventured into the most awkward part of the experience and he leapt to his feet, turning away from her and shaking with rage. The marriage proposal plus the sexual assault was a little too much for him to take, but he recovered admirably. She waited for him to calm down before she continued, and as promised he didn't say a word.

He reacted predictably to the news that there was a dagger dangling over her head and she could tell that he was resisting his violent impulses. She saw him eye the remote control first, followed by an ugly piece of art some acquaintance had given her as a house warming present. He repressed the urge and listened, though it was clear that it pained him to remain silent.

When it was clear that she had finished, Clark took a deep breath. "I really hate him," he said.

She was startled into laughter. "I know. Does it help knowing that we've finally got him over the coals?"

He considered that for a moment. "A little bit," he admitted. "I would feel better if we had more space between us...like a continent."

"Weirdly enough, it's not so much him I'm worrying about right now. I'm more nervous about getting sniped when I go to get my mail." Clark nudged her and frowned, clearly distressed. He didn't like to hear her joke about that, no matter how true or pressing it was.

"He'd never hurt you," he said with absolute certainty. He fixed his eyes on hers and took a deep breath. "He's in love with you." She knew that, but it still made her heart thump when he said it. She could see the pain in his eyes that he tried so hard to conceal and she felt a surge of overwhelming sadness. Maybe it was the heightened emotions or the death threat hanging over her, but she felt awful that she was the only one who could consistently and unintentionally inflict this horrid pain upon him.

Chloe nodded, tears welling up. "Yeah, and so do you." She knew that he did, that he loved and trusted her strongly and with no reservations and that deserved recognition.

He leaned forward, somewhat hesitant as he wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "What's not to love?"

She laughed and leaned against him, head nestled in the crook of his shoulder. "We're actually going to go through with this."

He looked down at her. "You're sure?" She frowned, they always seemed to revisit this. He constantly feared that she was just going change her mind and was even more afraid that he was holding her back. As much as he loathed Lex, he hated the idea of becoming something worse and more all-encompassing than him. He knew that he had the power to keep her, to make her stay with him through the fear of what Lex and his men could do to her. But he would be no better, Lex wanted to trap her in a gilded cage and Clark would just help construct a prison in her own mind. No matter what she decided, he would protect her. It wasn't simply a fair weather relationship, he loved her and wanted to be with her, but he would never and could never persuade her through fear. He was better than that, and he knew that in this way in the very least he was better than Lex.

"I'm sure. Maybe with all of this we could convince him to let us go. We could have a life somewhere, and I want that life with you." She didn't need to tell him that she had always yearned for a future with Lex, but that was past tense.

"I just--" he started, but Chloe quickly interjected.

"I know, you're a hero, Clark. You want to save me from me, Lex and even you, but right now it's not necessary. You want to make sure that I know what I want and I do. I haven't changed my mind and I'm thinking clearly...well, as clearly as I can think knowing that the government has a hit out on me and that we have enough firepower to blow the President out of the water. Wow, all of this sounds a lot like a conspiracy theory."

He smiled and nodded, trying not to react with too much enthusiasm. "I've heard that times of extreme stress are not the best for making permanent decisions," he said, hedging.

Chloe smiled. "We all learned that lesson after watching Speed a few times."

The corners of Clark's mouth twitched. "You watched that movie more than once or twice?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "Well...when I was younger I sort of liked it." He could hear the embarrassment color her tone.

He bit back a laugh. "You did?"

"C'mon, Keanu Reeves without a shirt? It was worth a few views."

He couldn't hold back the next laugh, and his whole body shook. She loved the sound of it, especially given the tense circumstances but she still felt childishly self-conscious. "Huh, I never imagined you to be a Keanu Reeves fan."

She stiffened. "I'm not, but when I was younger he held a certain...appeal. Who did you imagine I would be a fan of?"

He paused for a moment and cleared his throat. "Mr. Clean." She elbowed him hard in the ribs but it didn't even put a dent in his explosive laughter, and she felt herself suddenly overtook as well.

"Are you really all that surprised that I took a liking to an incredibly muscular, dark haired law enforcer who was seemingly invincible?" she asked when the laughter had subsided.

He mulled that over for a moment. "And if I remember correctly, the heroine in that cheesy 90's movie also got handcuffed to something by the bad guy." He was right, but the difference was that Sandra Bullock wasn't in love with him.

"Are you done picking apart the movie choices of my youth?" she asked with feigned dignity.

She felt him shrug as she pressed her cheek against his neck. "I don't know, if you gave me something else to work with I think I could go all night." What she found absolutely adorable was that he hadn't even realized the double entendre.

Eager to change the subject, she spoke. "What were you saying? Um, before the whole Speed ramble?" she asked.

Clark blinked and considered the best course of action. "Oh, nothing important. We can talk about it later." Maybe now wasn't the best time, or maybe he was just chickening out. But he had every intention of having a serious conversation somewhere in the near future.

She nodded and let it pass. "What movies were you into when you were younger? I mean, before I knew you."

Clark smiled. "Looking for some fuel?"

She kissed his neck. "I can't start a fire without it."

Tell me what you think! I really enjoyed writing their back and forth exchange toward the end and I'd love to hear some feedback.