The Sins of the Father Part IV
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas
Disclaimer: All characters you recognize don't belong to me. They belong to other people with more money than me. Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late. Characters: Any and all, Lucien Caldwell, OFC. Author's Note: While this is not my first attempt at fanfiction, this is my first attempt at Smallville fanfiction, and I'm not entirely up to date on all things Smallville, so please be kind with your comments and criticisms. Thank you. Oh, and by the way, this is an AU story. Also, I've recently discovered that I am a Lex/Chloe shipper, so some of that obsession may come out in this story. You have been warned. ;-) Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence and language.
Chapter Four
Chloe was bored. If she had to listen to one more Algebra equation, her head was going to explode. As it was, she was already anxious to be out of school and on her way to Clark's house. She had called over there, but no one had answered. 'Something is definitely up, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.' She glanced up at the clock, and threw her head into her hands in frustration. 'That damn clock is going backwards! It has to be!' She sighed and began tapping her foot on the ground anxiously. So intent on the clock, she jumped as her cell phone rang. She looked around the room nervously, desperately trying to pretend like nothing was happening. 'Cell phones are illegal here, why didn't I turn it off? Everyone is looking at me, I'm so embarrassed. Whoever is calling me right now is going to get their butt kicked.' Able to stand it no longer, Chloe picked up her purse and ran too the nearest bathroom, vowing never to show her face in Mr. Smith's Algebra I class again.
She entered a stall and sat down on a toilet, and dug her still ringing phone out of her purse. She glanced at the caller id. It was an unlisted number. She answered it. "Listen, buddy. I don't know who the hell you think you are, or how you got this number, but--"
"Chloe! Calm down, it's me, Clark."
"Clark?! You asshole! Do you know what kind of trouble you just got me into?! I had to run out of class! The next time I see you, mark my words, your ass is grass."
Clark held the phone away from his ear as Chloe shouted at him. 'Why was she so upset?' He glanced over at Lex, who chuckled. "Oh shut up." Clark said, frowning at his friend.
"Shut up?!" Chloe fairly screamed. "How dare you tell me to shut up! You are so dead, Kent. You have no idea."
"Chloe! Listen to me! I wasn't telling you to shut up."
"Oh yeah? Well then who were you talking to, farmboy?" Chloe sneered.
"Lex." Clark answered. Lex's eyes widened and he put up his hands in a 'don't bring me into this,' gesture.
"Lex? Nice try. What do you take me for, an idiot? There is no way your parents would allow you to go to Lex's house if you are sick."
"How do you figure? Maybe they don't know I'm sick." Clark countered.
"Don't play games with me Clark. I'm not in the mood. A parent has to call their son or daughter in if they are going to be sick for the day, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Well, that doesn't matter. I'm not sick, I am at Lex's, and my parents do know I'm here. Now, well you let me explain why I called?"
"Not yet. If you are at Lex's, let me talk to him."Chloe said, thinking she had beaten Clark at the game she seemed to think he was playing. Clark hesitated, and she pounced on him. "I knew it! I am two seconds from hanging up if you don't tell me the truth!" Clark sighed and handed the phone over to Lex.
"Talk to her. Please?" Clark asked his friend. Lex sighed.
"Miss Sullivan? Chloe? Are you there?" Lex asked, repeatedly, not getting an answer.
"Mr. Luthor? I mean, Lex? So Clark really is over at your house?"
"Yes indeed he is. He was telling the truth, Chloe. I suggest you let him finish."
"Um, sure." Chloe stammered. Lex handed the phone back to Clark and grinned.
"I seem to have left her speechless." he said. Clark rolled his eyes and took back the phone.
"Chloe? Are you going to listen to me now?"
"Yes, I will listen. What's wrong?"
"I don't really want to talk about it over the phone, but I will say this. We need your help."
"What? You mean right now? What's going on?"
"Yes, Chloe. Right now. Can you sneak out of school? Trust me, it's important."
"Um, yeah..." Chloe said.
"Good. We'll meet you a block away at the gas station. Do you know where I mean?"
"Yes." Chloe answered.
"We'll be in Lex's limo. It's not very conspicuous, but it's safe. We'll meet you there in about fifteen minutes."
"Alright. I'll meet you. But I am going to get some answers, Kent."
"Yes, you will. Bye Chloe." Clark hung up the phone and turned to his friend. "She said she'll help us. We have to pick her up in fifteen minutes, though."
"Alright. I need a drink first. A very large drink." Lex said, going to pour himself three fingers of scotch. He grimaced as he drank it in one go. "Alright, let's go. The limo should still be waiting out front. I hope we know what we're doing."
"So do I Lex," Clark answered. "So do I."
Chloe sat on the toilet seat, stunned. Clark, who never did anything remotely rebellious in his life, was asking her to skip school. Skip school! Not that she had never done it before if the mood struck her, but this was Clark! She sighed and put her phone back into her purse. She then stood up and made her way out the door, going over a story in her head should anyone catch her. 'I'm just going back to the Torch office. I forgot something.' She would say. Then she would go into the current stories the Torch was working on. This alone was enough to send any teacher away from her. 'Close minded people.' She thought disgustedly. 'They wouldn't see a good story around here if it smacked them upside the head.' She tried to appear casual as she made her way toward one of the building's side doors. It would be stupid to go out the front, where so many people would be there to see her leave.
Upon reaching the door, she hesitated. She didn't want to rush out and in her haste get herself caught. No, she had to go slowly. She had to make it look like she had every right in the world to be sneaking out of the school. And that's exactly what she did. When she made it to the street, she allowed herself a small breath of relief. She wasn't home-free yet, but at least she had made it out of school without getting caught. 'Oh God, I hope I didn't just jinx myself.' She made her way up the block to the gas station.
As she entered the lot, she glanced at her watch and sighed. Clark and Lex wouldn't be there for another 10 minutes or so. She had hoped that they would be waiting for her when she got there so she could avoid being seen by the people in town. Although Smallville wasn't a tiny Kansas town by any means, gossip still traveled as quickly as if there were only 5,000 people living here, not 45,000. She decided to wait in the gas station's bathroom. She figured that she would at least be out of sight for a while. As she entered, she paused a moment to look at herself in the mirror. 'God, I look a mess.' She hurriedly opened up her purse and took out a comb to untangle her short blonde hair. 'I can't let Lex see me like this.' She thought to herself. She then paused and went over what she had just said. "Wait a minute, Lex? I don't care what Lex thinks. Where did that come from?" She said outloud. She shook her head, but didn't stop her brushing. Once she was finished, she reapplied her favorite pink lip gloss, refusing to go into why she bothered. Well, she at least tried to refuse to think about it anyway. 'I just feel like putting on some makeup. That's all.' She rationalized to herself. She stopped and glanced at herself in the mirror and sighed. She shook her head and went out into the gas station, praying that Lex and Clark would be there so she wouldn't have to wait. She glanced out front. No such luck, they weren't there yet. She sighed again and went to buy herself a candy bar. Chocolate was always something she indulged herself in when she was feeling confused. She would have got a cup of coffee, but she had fears of what gas station coffee would do to her. As she waited for her change, hoping the cashier didn't know who she was, she glanced outside again. She sighed in relief. There, in all it's glory, was Lex's black stretch limo. Well, she didn't actually know it was Lex's, but who else in Smallville could get away with riding around in something like that other than on prom night? She hurriedly took her change and made her way outside to meet Clark, who had opened the door and was waiting for her. She frowned a bit as she noticed Lex didn't get out of the car to meet her as well. 'What am I thinking?' she mused to herself. 'Of course he wouldn't get out to meet me. Why should he? I'm just a silly highschooler with a crush.' She gasped at her unspoken words. 'Oh no!' She yelled at herself. 'You can not have a crush on Lex Luthor, Chloe! What are you thinking girl! He's rich, he's older, he's handsome, did I mention that he was handsome?' She groaned out loud and blushed, causing Clark to take notice of her.
"Chloe?" He asked, with a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?" Chloe shook her head to banish her thoughts.
"I'm fine, really. Now can we get going so I can find out why the hell you just had me sneak out school in the middle of the day?" Clark smiled and moved aside to let her in the limo. As soon as she sat down, (next to Lex, she noted wryly) she forced herself to concentrate on the situation at hand, but a few last thoughts slipped through her barrier. 'Good God, Lex looks sexy in that shirt!' She turned her face to look out one of the windows to hide her blush. 'What the hell is wrong with me? And why is this happening now, of all times? And what about Clark? You liked Clark, didn't you Chloe? What the hell happened?' A confused look passed over her face and Lex and Clark looked at each other.
Clark was confused. Chloe was acting strange, even for her. Sure, she had regained herself long enough to yell at him to hurry, but now she was looking out the window and blushing. He looked to Lex, wondering over the amused look on his friend's face. 'What the hell is gong on? Why am I always the last one to know about these things?' Clark sighed. He glanced over at Chloe again and a thought suddenly struck him. 'She likes Lex! That's why she's blushing!' Clark gasped as he noted that she had put on some makeup as well. It even looked freshly applied. Clark couldn't believe it. 'What am I going to do now?' He thought. 'Lex is always trying to help me out with Lana, maybe I should return the favor by helping him out with Chloe.' Clark smiled briefly, but his smile abruptly dropped as he came back down to earth. "Chloe?" he asked. "You want to know why you're here, don't you?"
"Of course I do!" Chloe said. "Why? Are you ready to tell me yet? I figured you were going to wait all day. Oh, before you say anything, where are we going?"
"To Clark's house." Lex interjected. Both Clark and Chloe looked at him as if he had sprouted another head out of his shoulder. "What?" he asked. "You said so yourself, Clark. I'm not safe at the mansion."
"Wait a minute, what does he mean by that?" Chloe asked. "Lex, what do you mean by that? Why wouldn't you be safe at your own house? And what happened to your head?" Chloe asked, taking note of it for the first time.
"Because there is an assassin after him, Chloe." Clark paused a moment to let his statement sink in. "He was shot at last night at my house. He got the cut on his head from the bullet as it went by."
"My God, are you ok Lex?" she asked quietly. Lex nodded. "Wait a minute, Clark." Chloe continued. "Your house? Where we're going right now? Where Lex is supposedly safe?" Chloe made an irritated sound. "Now, I know this may sound foolish, but if Lex was shot at last night at your house, why are we going back there now? And why have you told me about this? Have you called the police? Lex, why don't you have bodyguards?" Chloe rattled the questions off until Lex put up a hand.
"Chloe, we're going to Clark's house because I feel safe there. Also, I am a man of my word, and I promised Mrs. Kent that Clark and I would return safely. We told you about this because Clark seemed to believe that you would be able to help us uncover who is behind it. After consideration, I believe that as well."
"Um, thank you. I hope I will be able to help." Chloe said, blushing again.
"I'm sure you will," Lex said." He smiled at her and leaned back to wait out the rest of the drive to the Kent household in silence.
Lucien was confused. 'What the hell is going on now? Who was that girl they picked up at the gas station?' He had been following the limo all morning, careful to nt be seen in his blue ford pickup truck. He chuckled at his choice of vehicle. 'As if anyone would ever look twice at a vehicle like this in this place.' But this new development was troubling. Who was this girl, and what could she possibly have to do with the Luthors?' After a moment's consideration, his face paled in shock. 'No, she couldn't be. Not like Emily.' Lucien seethed. "That bastard!" He yelled out loud, not caring if he was overheard. "He's just like his father!" Whatever doubts or twinges of conscience he may have had over killing Luthor's son, vanished as he saw the pretty young blond step into the limo.
TBC
A/N: Now I said this part would be longer, and I obviously lied. Sorry about that, but I felt I needed to end this part where it did for a bit of drama. Hope you don't mind too much. It all has a purpose. Thanks for reading, next part will be up soon. Promise!
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas
Disclaimer: All characters you recognize don't belong to me. They belong to other people with more money than me. Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late. Characters: Any and all, Lucien Caldwell, OFC. Author's Note: While this is not my first attempt at fanfiction, this is my first attempt at Smallville fanfiction, and I'm not entirely up to date on all things Smallville, so please be kind with your comments and criticisms. Thank you. Oh, and by the way, this is an AU story. Also, I've recently discovered that I am a Lex/Chloe shipper, so some of that obsession may come out in this story. You have been warned. ;-) Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence and language.
Chapter Four
Chloe was bored. If she had to listen to one more Algebra equation, her head was going to explode. As it was, she was already anxious to be out of school and on her way to Clark's house. She had called over there, but no one had answered. 'Something is definitely up, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.' She glanced up at the clock, and threw her head into her hands in frustration. 'That damn clock is going backwards! It has to be!' She sighed and began tapping her foot on the ground anxiously. So intent on the clock, she jumped as her cell phone rang. She looked around the room nervously, desperately trying to pretend like nothing was happening. 'Cell phones are illegal here, why didn't I turn it off? Everyone is looking at me, I'm so embarrassed. Whoever is calling me right now is going to get their butt kicked.' Able to stand it no longer, Chloe picked up her purse and ran too the nearest bathroom, vowing never to show her face in Mr. Smith's Algebra I class again.
She entered a stall and sat down on a toilet, and dug her still ringing phone out of her purse. She glanced at the caller id. It was an unlisted number. She answered it. "Listen, buddy. I don't know who the hell you think you are, or how you got this number, but--"
"Chloe! Calm down, it's me, Clark."
"Clark?! You asshole! Do you know what kind of trouble you just got me into?! I had to run out of class! The next time I see you, mark my words, your ass is grass."
Clark held the phone away from his ear as Chloe shouted at him. 'Why was she so upset?' He glanced over at Lex, who chuckled. "Oh shut up." Clark said, frowning at his friend.
"Shut up?!" Chloe fairly screamed. "How dare you tell me to shut up! You are so dead, Kent. You have no idea."
"Chloe! Listen to me! I wasn't telling you to shut up."
"Oh yeah? Well then who were you talking to, farmboy?" Chloe sneered.
"Lex." Clark answered. Lex's eyes widened and he put up his hands in a 'don't bring me into this,' gesture.
"Lex? Nice try. What do you take me for, an idiot? There is no way your parents would allow you to go to Lex's house if you are sick."
"How do you figure? Maybe they don't know I'm sick." Clark countered.
"Don't play games with me Clark. I'm not in the mood. A parent has to call their son or daughter in if they are going to be sick for the day, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Well, that doesn't matter. I'm not sick, I am at Lex's, and my parents do know I'm here. Now, well you let me explain why I called?"
"Not yet. If you are at Lex's, let me talk to him."Chloe said, thinking she had beaten Clark at the game she seemed to think he was playing. Clark hesitated, and she pounced on him. "I knew it! I am two seconds from hanging up if you don't tell me the truth!" Clark sighed and handed the phone over to Lex.
"Talk to her. Please?" Clark asked his friend. Lex sighed.
"Miss Sullivan? Chloe? Are you there?" Lex asked, repeatedly, not getting an answer.
"Mr. Luthor? I mean, Lex? So Clark really is over at your house?"
"Yes indeed he is. He was telling the truth, Chloe. I suggest you let him finish."
"Um, sure." Chloe stammered. Lex handed the phone back to Clark and grinned.
"I seem to have left her speechless." he said. Clark rolled his eyes and took back the phone.
"Chloe? Are you going to listen to me now?"
"Yes, I will listen. What's wrong?"
"I don't really want to talk about it over the phone, but I will say this. We need your help."
"What? You mean right now? What's going on?"
"Yes, Chloe. Right now. Can you sneak out of school? Trust me, it's important."
"Um, yeah..." Chloe said.
"Good. We'll meet you a block away at the gas station. Do you know where I mean?"
"Yes." Chloe answered.
"We'll be in Lex's limo. It's not very conspicuous, but it's safe. We'll meet you there in about fifteen minutes."
"Alright. I'll meet you. But I am going to get some answers, Kent."
"Yes, you will. Bye Chloe." Clark hung up the phone and turned to his friend. "She said she'll help us. We have to pick her up in fifteen minutes, though."
"Alright. I need a drink first. A very large drink." Lex said, going to pour himself three fingers of scotch. He grimaced as he drank it in one go. "Alright, let's go. The limo should still be waiting out front. I hope we know what we're doing."
"So do I Lex," Clark answered. "So do I."
Chloe sat on the toilet seat, stunned. Clark, who never did anything remotely rebellious in his life, was asking her to skip school. Skip school! Not that she had never done it before if the mood struck her, but this was Clark! She sighed and put her phone back into her purse. She then stood up and made her way out the door, going over a story in her head should anyone catch her. 'I'm just going back to the Torch office. I forgot something.' She would say. Then she would go into the current stories the Torch was working on. This alone was enough to send any teacher away from her. 'Close minded people.' She thought disgustedly. 'They wouldn't see a good story around here if it smacked them upside the head.' She tried to appear casual as she made her way toward one of the building's side doors. It would be stupid to go out the front, where so many people would be there to see her leave.
Upon reaching the door, she hesitated. She didn't want to rush out and in her haste get herself caught. No, she had to go slowly. She had to make it look like she had every right in the world to be sneaking out of the school. And that's exactly what she did. When she made it to the street, she allowed herself a small breath of relief. She wasn't home-free yet, but at least she had made it out of school without getting caught. 'Oh God, I hope I didn't just jinx myself.' She made her way up the block to the gas station.
As she entered the lot, she glanced at her watch and sighed. Clark and Lex wouldn't be there for another 10 minutes or so. She had hoped that they would be waiting for her when she got there so she could avoid being seen by the people in town. Although Smallville wasn't a tiny Kansas town by any means, gossip still traveled as quickly as if there were only 5,000 people living here, not 45,000. She decided to wait in the gas station's bathroom. She figured that she would at least be out of sight for a while. As she entered, she paused a moment to look at herself in the mirror. 'God, I look a mess.' She hurriedly opened up her purse and took out a comb to untangle her short blonde hair. 'I can't let Lex see me like this.' She thought to herself. She then paused and went over what she had just said. "Wait a minute, Lex? I don't care what Lex thinks. Where did that come from?" She said outloud. She shook her head, but didn't stop her brushing. Once she was finished, she reapplied her favorite pink lip gloss, refusing to go into why she bothered. Well, she at least tried to refuse to think about it anyway. 'I just feel like putting on some makeup. That's all.' She rationalized to herself. She stopped and glanced at herself in the mirror and sighed. She shook her head and went out into the gas station, praying that Lex and Clark would be there so she wouldn't have to wait. She glanced out front. No such luck, they weren't there yet. She sighed again and went to buy herself a candy bar. Chocolate was always something she indulged herself in when she was feeling confused. She would have got a cup of coffee, but she had fears of what gas station coffee would do to her. As she waited for her change, hoping the cashier didn't know who she was, she glanced outside again. She sighed in relief. There, in all it's glory, was Lex's black stretch limo. Well, she didn't actually know it was Lex's, but who else in Smallville could get away with riding around in something like that other than on prom night? She hurriedly took her change and made her way outside to meet Clark, who had opened the door and was waiting for her. She frowned a bit as she noticed Lex didn't get out of the car to meet her as well. 'What am I thinking?' she mused to herself. 'Of course he wouldn't get out to meet me. Why should he? I'm just a silly highschooler with a crush.' She gasped at her unspoken words. 'Oh no!' She yelled at herself. 'You can not have a crush on Lex Luthor, Chloe! What are you thinking girl! He's rich, he's older, he's handsome, did I mention that he was handsome?' She groaned out loud and blushed, causing Clark to take notice of her.
"Chloe?" He asked, with a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?" Chloe shook her head to banish her thoughts.
"I'm fine, really. Now can we get going so I can find out why the hell you just had me sneak out school in the middle of the day?" Clark smiled and moved aside to let her in the limo. As soon as she sat down, (next to Lex, she noted wryly) she forced herself to concentrate on the situation at hand, but a few last thoughts slipped through her barrier. 'Good God, Lex looks sexy in that shirt!' She turned her face to look out one of the windows to hide her blush. 'What the hell is wrong with me? And why is this happening now, of all times? And what about Clark? You liked Clark, didn't you Chloe? What the hell happened?' A confused look passed over her face and Lex and Clark looked at each other.
Clark was confused. Chloe was acting strange, even for her. Sure, she had regained herself long enough to yell at him to hurry, but now she was looking out the window and blushing. He looked to Lex, wondering over the amused look on his friend's face. 'What the hell is gong on? Why am I always the last one to know about these things?' Clark sighed. He glanced over at Chloe again and a thought suddenly struck him. 'She likes Lex! That's why she's blushing!' Clark gasped as he noted that she had put on some makeup as well. It even looked freshly applied. Clark couldn't believe it. 'What am I going to do now?' He thought. 'Lex is always trying to help me out with Lana, maybe I should return the favor by helping him out with Chloe.' Clark smiled briefly, but his smile abruptly dropped as he came back down to earth. "Chloe?" he asked. "You want to know why you're here, don't you?"
"Of course I do!" Chloe said. "Why? Are you ready to tell me yet? I figured you were going to wait all day. Oh, before you say anything, where are we going?"
"To Clark's house." Lex interjected. Both Clark and Chloe looked at him as if he had sprouted another head out of his shoulder. "What?" he asked. "You said so yourself, Clark. I'm not safe at the mansion."
"Wait a minute, what does he mean by that?" Chloe asked. "Lex, what do you mean by that? Why wouldn't you be safe at your own house? And what happened to your head?" Chloe asked, taking note of it for the first time.
"Because there is an assassin after him, Chloe." Clark paused a moment to let his statement sink in. "He was shot at last night at my house. He got the cut on his head from the bullet as it went by."
"My God, are you ok Lex?" she asked quietly. Lex nodded. "Wait a minute, Clark." Chloe continued. "Your house? Where we're going right now? Where Lex is supposedly safe?" Chloe made an irritated sound. "Now, I know this may sound foolish, but if Lex was shot at last night at your house, why are we going back there now? And why have you told me about this? Have you called the police? Lex, why don't you have bodyguards?" Chloe rattled the questions off until Lex put up a hand.
"Chloe, we're going to Clark's house because I feel safe there. Also, I am a man of my word, and I promised Mrs. Kent that Clark and I would return safely. We told you about this because Clark seemed to believe that you would be able to help us uncover who is behind it. After consideration, I believe that as well."
"Um, thank you. I hope I will be able to help." Chloe said, blushing again.
"I'm sure you will," Lex said." He smiled at her and leaned back to wait out the rest of the drive to the Kent household in silence.
Lucien was confused. 'What the hell is going on now? Who was that girl they picked up at the gas station?' He had been following the limo all morning, careful to nt be seen in his blue ford pickup truck. He chuckled at his choice of vehicle. 'As if anyone would ever look twice at a vehicle like this in this place.' But this new development was troubling. Who was this girl, and what could she possibly have to do with the Luthors?' After a moment's consideration, his face paled in shock. 'No, she couldn't be. Not like Emily.' Lucien seethed. "That bastard!" He yelled out loud, not caring if he was overheard. "He's just like his father!" Whatever doubts or twinges of conscience he may have had over killing Luthor's son, vanished as he saw the pretty young blond step into the limo.
TBC
A/N: Now I said this part would be longer, and I obviously lied. Sorry about that, but I felt I needed to end this part where it did for a bit of drama. Hope you don't mind too much. It all has a purpose. Thanks for reading, next part will be up soon. Promise!