CHAPTER 2

"Chloe Sullivan's desk" Clark said into the receiver of the telephone on his friend and reporting partners desk.

"Clark?" the voice on the other end asked and he knew immediately who he was talking to, just from the way the caller said his name.

"Lex?"

"Yes, I was calling to make dinner arrangements with Chloe" the young Luthor explained, before exclaiming "Wow, it's a long time since we've talked"

For a moment Clark was silent as he thought how it was not so long since he had last seen Lex, but that had been as Superman.

"Yes, it is" he lied, as he always had to keep his secret identity just that, a secret "Well, Chloe is here" he said quickly, as the blonde came into the office, "so I'll pass you over"

Covering the receiver with his hand he mouthed to her that Lex was on the phone. With a huge grin on her face she took the phone from her friend.

"Hello, Mr Luthor" she greeted, using his full name as it seemed more proper when arranging an interview.

"Miss Sullivan, how are you?" he asked, also feeling full names to be more appropriate right now.

"I'm fine, thankyou. How are you?" she said politely, remembering all her manners. This was an important call after all, she really wanted this interview.

"Same as always" he told her non-comittally and there was silence for a moment before Chloe couldn't bear it any longer.

"Good, now we've done the niceties, about this interview..."

She was surprised t be interrupted by a small burst of laughter in her ear.

"Same old Chloe, a reporter to the end" said Lex, letting her first name slip out without thinking, but deciding it probably didn't matter anyway. Whilst she could see why he found that funny,she pretended to be affronted.

"I didn't get to be top reporter at the Daily Planet without being a 'reporter to the end'" she told him, seriously as she could.

"Good point" he conceded, knowing what she said was true, "but I was hoping that tomorrow night won't be all about the interview"

"Well, Luthors are known for their ulterior motives" Chloe repeated what she had often heard said before "I did wonder if there was more to you accepting an interview than there seemed"

"Is it wrong of me to want to catch up with an old acquaintance?" he asked and she almost felt guilty.

"No, I guess not" she said quietly, a little embarrassed now, and glad that he couldn't see her.

"So, how about I pick you up tomorrow night, in the limo at, shall we say eight o'clock at your apartment" he suggested.

"No" she said maybe a little more abruptly than she'd meant to "let's say eight o'clock at the Planet"

"As you wish" he said, although he didn't understand "I'll see you then"

"Yes, you will. Goodbye Mr Luthor" she said, back in her polite tone.

"Chloe, after all these years have you still not learnt my first name" The reporter just knew he was smirking when he said that and she smiled herself, just imagining it.

"Sorry" she said "Bye Lex"

"Bye Chloe" she heard him answer, before putting down the phone. She sat down on her desk chair with a sigh and smile of satisfaction.

"Why is Lex taking you to dinner?" Clark wanted to know. He'd gone back to sit at his own desk whilst Chloe was on the phone, but with his super-hearing he knew all that had been said, and it didn't matter if he mentioned dinner since Lex had mentioned it to him.

"I thought I told you" Chloe said, thinking about it and deciding obviously she hadn't "Oh well" she shrugged and began to explain anyway "he missed our interview, so he's taking me to dinner and I'm going to do the interview at the same time"

Chloe spun on her chair to face her computer and began typing up the notes for her latest story, thinking Clarks questioning was over. She was wrong.

"So, why did you tell him to pick you up here and not at your apartment?"

She sighed and turned back to face her friend.

"You think I want Lex Luthor seeing that dump I live in. I want to create a good impression Clark" she explained, before turning back to her computer again. Clark turned to walk away before changing his mind.

"Y'know actually I think I might stick around tomorrow and say hi to Lex before you go to dinner" he told Chloe.

"Whatever Clark" she called over her shoulder, as her fingers moved across the keyboard at near lightening speed. She wasn't really concerned about what Clark did anymore. She had been infatuated with him in high school but as she got older she seemed to out grow her crush and they had remained firm friends. Clark had dated Lana for a while but it hadn't lasted and now Miss Lang was a few months away from being Mrs Ross as she was engaged to their mutual friend Pete.

Chloe saw Clark as her partner at work and her best friend, nothing more and nothing less. He was the main guy in her life in a lot of ways, but completely un-romantically. Apart from a small crush on a certain man of steel, (and didn't every woman in Metropolis have a crush on him?) there really weren't a lot of men in Chloe's life these days. She didn't care. She buried herself in her work that she loved so much. It was all she needed.

Clark sat just watching Chloe as she typed furiously on her keyboard. She was his best friend and he loved her very much, both as Clark and as Superman, although she had no idea they were the same person, and given the reputation Lex Luthor had had with women even as a young man, Clark felt he needed to protect Chloe from this man. It seemed strange to him that the man who had been his best friend and almost a brother to him for so many years could have turned out the way Lex had. He had done what everyone feared he would - he had become his father.

Lex was more like Lionel, in some easy, than even Lionel was and the younger Luthor harboured a dark desire, to kill Superman. Clark knew now just how untrustworthy Lex was, but who could he tell? To tell the world of the secrets Lex Luthor held, would mean telling that same world that he himself, Clark Kent, was Superman. He might not be able to save the whole world from Lex Luthor, but he would do his best to make sure he kept Chloe safe from him, whatever the cost.

TBC