TRUTHSEEKERS

Part 18

From the far corner of the large room, mad eyes watched the every movement of the dark-haired millionaire as Bruce Wayne motioned to the short man standing off to the side. He watched the way that Bruce took the card out of the spray of flowers the servant was holding, and drop it into the hidden trash canister.

When the two left their spot, the blond man weaved his way through the crowd, and stopped in front of the trash. Gingerly, he picked up the card and read the script that Bruce Wayne had perfected in the academy.

Every cent that his family had lost to Wayne Enterprises, he would see in every drop of blood he could get out of Bruce. Pity the man didn't have family anymore. He had to make do with whoever was closest to the man.

He dropped the card on the table with a self-satisfied smile. It paid to be resourceful. He hadn't known that Bruce and his PR head were involved.

~~

His arms tightened around her as she started to pull away. Chloe looked up to the man holding her body against his as if he would never let her go. "Lex."

"Stay."

"I'm here to do my job, Lex. I can't just stay out here with you."

He pressed his lips against her hair, breathing in a scent that millions of dollars worth of research never quite captured flawlessly. To think that all this time she had been here, with Bruce Wayne, in a city of depravity that even he had sworn off coming back to for years. "I'll speak to Wayne. You won't ever have to work anymore, Chloe." At the sight of her eyes immediately narrowing at the suggestion, he swallowed uncomfortably. "Maybe you can work at home."

"Am I going home with you?" she teased lightly. Somehow being with him at that precise moment erased all the doubts in her mind.

He could easily tell her that she was, and leave no room for argument. But Lex knew that his most unforgivable mistake was to take her life and mold it in his hands, whether or not he did so to give her a chance for a future. He said instead, "I hope you will."

The smile that flitted across her face was enough warmth to counter two years of sitting in a chilled room, with his hand pressed against icy glass. She pulled away and looked at her with question in his eyes. "I have to get my purse," she told him.

"Are we leaving?" He could not hide the excitement in his voice.

"If we're going to settle everything, Lex, we need an environment with just the two of us. And although I arranged for a sumptuous dinner, I doubt that we'll get any real conversation done in the company of all these people." She reached for his hand and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. "I don't want your attention shifting from me to a possible chemical factory takeover."

"Even before we got engaged, my attention has always been focused on you."

She smiled. "I know," Chloe whispered. "I was kidding."

"If you're already kidding, I must be in a good position here."

"No worse than you were in the night you proposed to me," she admitted. "Absence does make the heart grow fonder. And we just sank into another murky cliché."

"I don't care about clichés as long as we end up happily ever after."

She pushed away at him playfully. "Don't. Stop! I have my limits!" she protested. "Going Dawson on me is too much. And you're no Prince Charming, Lex. I'm not Cinderella."

He pulled her close briefly and dropped a kiss on her lips. "You're my Sleeping Beauty."

Her eyes clouded for a moment at the memory. But they were looking forward to a future together, and there was no use dwelling on the past now. "At least we have no Maleficent. And I would hate to think that we're as ordinary as a fairy tale. So Lex, do you have enough cash on you to take me on an impromptu dinner somewhere fancy?" she said lightly.

"I don't know," he murmured. "I might. After all, I'm Prince Charming. I have to have some gold coins somewhere."

Chloe moved to the doors to pick up her bag. Before she left, she told him over his shoulder. "I don't know about coins, Lex. But I do know you have about a dozen gold and platinum cards with you."

"I'll go with you," he suggested.

"No. You talk to my boss. Make sure you don't get me fired so I can still get a separation pay when I resign. Or is that the other way around?"

He waved her off with a grin, already scanning the crowd for Bruce Wayne, who he now owed more than a generous contract.

~~

Meanwhile, Clark Kent breathlessly searched the crowd for the familiar face of Lex Luthor. The moment he spotted the older man, he rushed over to his side. Before he could open his mouth to speak, there was an impatient tap on his shoulder. Clark turned around and faced his partner.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Lois Lane placed her hands akimbo and threw the question back at him. "Last time I checked, you were at the Daily Planet. How could Perry let you go all the way here with so much work to be done?"

The soft-spoken reporter was the most mild-mannered man that Lois had ever known, kudos to Martha and Jonathan. Today however, he was acting very much out character as he retorted to her, "Work that you left me with. But not now, Lois. Can you leave us alone for a minute?"

The dark eyebrow arched. "Is this about Chloe?"

Clark glanced at Lex, and found no surprise in his face. "You know?"

"Just found out," he said quietly.

"Where is she?"

"She's getting her coat," Lex informed him. "We're leaving to speak privately. Not that I don't appreciate the gesture and all, but could you people not follow us for once? This is something we fix or ruin on our own." He looked down at his watch. "She should be back any minute now."

Suddenly, it was as if someone was screaming right into his ears. Clark winced at the noise. "Chloe," he whispered. It was hell to keep yourself from full speed after hearing her.

"What is it, Clark?" Lex called out after him.

"She's in trouble."

Right before he left the room, a man shouted from the second level of the ballroom. "Clear the room, Wayne!"

The people congregated in the party looked up in time to see the blonde man drag a squirming woman right in front of him and press her against the railing.

"Randall, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Bruce called out, afraid that the imbalance that the man was suffering would cause him to be fidgety enough to let go.

"I'm taking from you what you took from me. You killed my Helen, Wayne. I'm going to do the same to you!"

"What are you talking about? I did not hurt your wife. And Ms Alexander is head of my PR department. You're doing this all wrong," he said calmly. Keep him talking. That was the only way he would be calm enough to not accidentally throw Lily—Chloe—off the second floor. Bruce was loath to glance at Lex. He could only imagine what this sight was doing to him.

"PR? What the hell is this?" A crumpled piece of paper dropped down in front of them, bouncing on the ground. Bruce didn't want to think of the impact of a human body thrown like that. "Clear the room!" he commands again, pushing Chloe deeper against the railing. Bruce marveled at the calm look in her eyes. She never complained beyond a wince. He could tell she was afraid, but she kept herself controlled.

Lois hurriedly shooed away the people, locking the door behind her.

"What are they still doing here?" the man yelled, jerking his gun in the direction where Clark and Lex stood, both paralyzed with fear.

Bruce held up his hands to show the man that he had no intention of hurting him. "Send Ms Alexander down, Randall, and we'll fix whatever the problem is. Her friend and fiancé are both worried."

Randall looked at the three men in confusion. This was the woman that bastard Wayne wrote the letter for. It was apparent though that there were mixed signals there, because the woman in his arms leaned towards the bald suit. He could not have committed such a stupid mistake! Frustrated, Randall backed up the railing and towards the stairs.

"Be careful, will you?" Clark called out, seeing the steps just a few feet behind the man's feet. The gun could go off if he accidentally slipped, with Chloe in the line of fire.

"Shut up!" Bruce saw his employee looking for an exit in panic. "Don't move!" The man stumbled on the steps, and he threw his arm to grab hold of the steps. Chloe took the opportunity to shove the gun away, but the man started to fall down with his other arm still tight around her waist. "Lily!"

"Chloe!" Lex started running towards the stairs. Clark, not even thinking twince about Bruce, exploded into a run towards his friend, stopping short a few feet away when he fell onto his knees hissing in pain. Lex passed him by just as the doors to the ballroom burst open with paramedics rushing through, Lois not far behind.

Randall hit his head on the hardwood floor hard when he fell, leaving him unconscious, his grip on Chloe slack. Lex knelt beside them and gathered Chloe in his arms. "You okay?" he whispered, wanting to strangle himself for asking a question with such an obvious answer. He barely noticed Bruce come over with the paramedics.

Chloe smiled at him brightly, assuring him that she was fine, before losing consciousness. He held her tightly until he felt arms pulling her away. "Lex, they have to look her over." Lex released her reluctantly.

"We'll need to take her to Medical, Mr Wayne."

Bruce closed his hand over Lex's shoulder as they loaded Chloe on a stretcher. "No x-rays."

"Is there a particular reason, Mr Wayne. We would like to perform one because the fall might have broken something," one of the paramedics asked as the others checked her vitals.

"No," he said firmly. "No x-rays. She's pregnant."

Lex's eyes slammed to Bruce's. "What?" he choked out. And then the night and day right after he brought her back. Silk sheets over soft cushion and moments of passion and need that left him breathless. It was the Bliss once again, only this time it was real.

"Come on. Move it. She's bleeding," the paramedic who had been attending to her said sharply. Lex moved forward, but he was pushed away by the paramedic. "Room please. Let's wheel her."

"What's happening?"

Bruce spoke with one of the paramedics left on the scene after they took Chloe. He turned to Lex. "They need to rush her to Medical, Lex. Chloe's bleeding vaginally."

"The baby?"

"We'll find out when we get there." At his friend's distracted nod, Bruce pried the car keys that Lex fished out of his pocket. "You can't drive right now. We're taking my car."