Chapter 4: Tattle-teller

Lex sat in his hotel room in the deep riffs of Gotham. "I swear, Pete, she had to be a ghost. But with red hair. And glasses. But besides that, she just had this energy emitting off of her. I'm crazy aren't I?"

Pete bit the inside of his cheek trying to hold the phone up to his ear without yelling at Lex. "No, you aren't crazy, you just miss her." It was the only thing Pete had been saying to him for the past half hour.

Lex sat stunned. "Pete, if you knew anything, I mean, you would tell me right?"

Pete closed his eyes tightly...'Shit.' he thought to himself. "Of course, Lex, why?"

"Well, I mean, no body was found, no one came forward to claim the ransom, and yes, her blood was in her apartment but that's the only sign there was of a struggle. It's been four months, Pete. Something would have turned up by now."

Pete stifled a sigh into the phone, "So, you think she's alive and she faked her own death or whatever?"

Lex nodded at the thought, "It's quite possible. Except why, why would she do that? Was she in danger? Was she in need of a friend so bad that she just up and left?" he asked the questions more to himself than to Pete.

"Lex, she hated all of us at one point in her life. I lied to her about well, my sexuality, and you, well, you had Lana. Clark had Lois, and her dad, well, he was so wrapped up in work that when she actually left for college he totally forgot about her at the train station. She called me to come and see her off. She hated us all at one point, Lex, and she hated herself most of all. So who knows, four years can make or break a person. All I have to say is, Who doesn't want to get away sometimes? If she had left and gone to Europe over the summer and left a note, no one would have given it a second thought. But she's kidnapped and suddenly there's love for her. I wouldn't put it past her to play the latter card, but I can't say anything for sure."

Lex just stared into the darkness out the window. "Pete, I know you know something. You just gave me a speech, and you only talk in paragraphs when you're hiding something. Spill it. Now!"

"Sorry, Lex, no can do. But you know, New Haven is beautiful this time of year. Oh, and Lex, good night."

Lex was shaking the thoughts from his head. He heard the dial tone and looked down at the phone accusingly. 'What the fuck is New Haven?' he asked himself silently.

*~*

He pulled up in front of a quaint little coffee shop. 'Ivy's' it said above it. The faint glow of neon radiated through the words. Lex shrugged and opened the door.

She heard the bell from the back and looked up at the clock. Wow. 6 am and she hadn't meant to leave the door unlocked. She didn't normally open until 730. A month ago she had inherited the coffeeshop when Elaine passed away, something about being the best waitress that wasn't just passing through. She had owned it for 50 years. It didn't have a name so Chloe thought, 'what the hell, I'll leave my mark on this town, yet.' Just yesterday she had been in the hustle and bustle of Gotham and today she was plummeted back in her working mode. Marco growled from the front and she sprang through the swinging silver doors to grab his collar.

"Chloe?" a voice said from above her. She stopped pulling at Marco's collar and let her eyes waver up. Her mouth parted and she forgot to breath.

"I'm going to kill Pete." she said beneath her breath.

His eyes took the form of glass. His tears ran down his face and he grabbed her into his arms. "God, Chloe, I missed you so much. I don't care if you did all of this to get away, I love you. I..." Chloe was struggling against him to back away.

"Lex, ummm, the name's Ivy," she said pointing to her name tag, "And I had to get away. My life was on the line."

Lex eyed her warily. "Who would endanger your life, Chl...I mean, Ivy." he added extra emphasis on her new name. "And why run? Why not come to me?"

Chloe backed away from him and pulled herself up onto the counter. She crossed her legs and looked at him dead on. She had risen herself up to his height. "Lionel, okay? My life was being threatened by your dad. And the last person I wanted to get involved with was another Luthor. From one to another, yeah, that would have looked great. Plus, you had Lana and well, sorry to say, but I couldn't bear to see you two together. You two made the ugliest couple in the..."

He laughed at her before letting her finish her comment. "I didn't notice you had so much hostility towards me pent up inside."

"It wasn't just you. Out of Smallville the only person I kept was Pete. I hated Clark, Lois, Lana, you, I hated everyone. But Pete seemed to just be there for me. He listened to me rant and rave and contemplate my subtle yet not so subtle techniques of killing off a few Smallvillians. Pete was and is my rock. Which now means I'll have to throw him into the river. He tattled."

Lex looked at her shocked. "You hated me? Because I was with Lana?"

"Don't take it personal, I hated everyone. I still do actually. Except maybe you a little less now. I mean, afterall, you came to New Haven to see me. Must've been a nice little out-of-your-way trip." Lex sighed and shifted on the barstool. Marco had leaned up and rested his head on Lex's lap. Lex was stroking him softly between the eyes. Chloe saw this look of affection from Marco at Lex and began laughing. "He likes you. He's looking at you as if he just fell in love."

"Should I feel special?"

"He humps Pete's leg, so I'd say yes, go for the non physical form of love."

"You know I broke up with Lana right?"

Chloe looked away. "That's great, but why are you telling me?"

"Because you hated me for it. I knew it when I looked in your eyes that day we announced our relationship at the Talon. The way your head shot up from the corner. The way you packed up as quickly as possible and never looked back. I knew you felt the same way I felt with you. You were just so god damn stubborn Chloe. I didn't need that in my life. I needed someone who would just be as good a trophy as any. Lana was that person. I loved you then Chloe, I loved you as much as you loved me, if not more."

Chloe's eyes watered and she slid down off the counter. She walked to the door and propped it open with a wooden wedge and flipped the 'open' sign over. She turned back to Lex. "Want to know my last name?"

"What? Last name?"

"Yeah, when I got here I dyed my hair, obviously, and got glasses, but I had to change my name too. You know my first name. Do you want to know my last?"

Lex swallowed and opened his eyes. He nodded, hoping to hell she hadn't taken the name Kent. If she had he didn't think he'd ever be able to look at her again.

"Alexander. My name is Ivy Alexander."

He just looked at her stunned. She had taken his first name? He got out of his chair and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her close. He wrapped his arms around her back and lowered his lips to hers. "Beautiful." he whispered right before he took her into his mouth.