Part 7 Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down
Lex Luthor was in the longest flight of his life. He rested his head on the seat and closed his eyes. They were landing now. Soon, the wait would be over and he would have to face an entire world that his brother created-a world he had no conception of but would be forced to right. Idly he wondered just how arrogant it was for him to believe that he could magically step in and make everything better. He was going to meet a woman he had never seen before and inform her that her entire life had shattered.
What right did he have to tell someone that the person she loved was gone forever?
She would survive. He did. And all this happened to him.
"She's gone, Lex. I don't know where. But she isn't coming back," Lucas had told him while Lex was seated on the cold floor of the hospital corridor.
He remembered that day like it happened an hour ago. It was too stark. The memory was too biting to forget. What he remembered of the moments before was darkness and cold. And then from the moment the door swung open to reveal an empty hospital bed, he had images of blurred pictures and Lucas' clear voice. "All I know," Lucas had been telling him, "was that she lost the baby."
"What?" Lex had managed to whisper then. "How? What happened?"
"Lex, you pushed her down the stairs. What were you fighting about?"
Lex had looked at his brother uncomprehendingly. What was Lucas doing in Manila? Why was he there at that exact moment? "I wouldn't do that."
"I saw it, Lex. I called the paramedics. The blood is still on your floor if need proof, unless your servants have already cleaned it up."
"Where is she?"
"I didn't take care," Lucas snapped at him.
Lex looked up at his brother. From his crouched position on the floor, he had to crane his neck to meet Lucas' eye. "I didn't say you did."
Lex hated his brother at that moment. It was not because of Chloe. He knew that Lucas had no reason to hide the truth from him. Lex killed their baby and effectively killed anything that could form between the two of them. It did not matter that he would never stop loving her. He murdered their baby and Lex would never let himself touch her again. It was good that she left him.
He hated his brother because he had the nerve to tell him the truth when he did not want to accept it yet. Chloe was gone.
Now he was about to do the same thing Lucas did for him to Lucas' wife. She would hate him for it. It was his job.
When he finally arrived in his limousine outside the small house that he was informed Lucas had bought, he was surprised. Lucas had always lived high since he found out that he was a Luthor. He could not imagine his brother satisfied with the simple suburban house that had every element that would have made the Lucas that he knew ill-fence, yard, even a tree out front. Finding the place crawling with LuthorCorp representatives erased all his doubts about the ownership of the house.
Lex strode towards the door, firmly demanding, "What is this? Wasn't I specific enough when I said that no one is to disturb Mrs Luthor until I arrived?"
He pushed his way through the crowd of Lucas' employees and stopped just short of a smaller circle surrounding a young woman who sat on the couch in the small living room, crying into a LuthorCorp handkerchief that must have been handed to her.
"It's such a pity, Mr Luthor," Lex heard directed to him.
"She's crushed. Señor Lucas only informed us that they were expecting when he left for the Pacific," someone else said. "It's a tragedy."
Lex's eyes narrowed when the young woman at the center only seemed to burrow deeper into the handkerchief that shielded her away from everyone else. "For heaven's sake, get out of here. All of you! Give her some air and some privacy!"
To his satisfaction, the employees filed out of the house at his command. He laid a hand on the young woman's shoulder and she flinched away. Lex quickly drew back his hand. "Mrs. Luthor," he said comfortingly, "don't worry. I will take care of everything."
"Don't say that!"
"It's true. You can trust me on that."
"You're not going to bring back my husband."
"No," he replied regretfully. "But I will take care of you. I'm your brother-in-law. You will never lack for anything. Your child will be taken care of. You two will remain Luthors."
She glared at him, tossing the handkerchief on the coffee table. "That doesn't mean anything to me! Don't you understand that? I don't know or care about what being a Luthor is. I just want my husband!"
Lex stumbled back from the almost physical force of seeing her face. He tripped over the box of tissues someone had thoughtfully left on the floor, and he plopped bottom first into an armchair.
'God, Lucas, no.'
Like a bad dream long forgotten, he remembered that quarterly meeting right after Lucas told him that he got married in Spain. Their father had come down hard on both of them not because their regions marked low profit but because the mother company was losing business. Brothers that they were, they consoled each other with alcohol and company.
Lex had been depressed that night. He was a talkative drunk. So was his brother. Lex had droned on about losing Chloe, about not caring anymore that she had been working for his father. "She could screw me over all the money I have and I'll still be in love with her," he had slurred at Lucas.
"You, genius that you are, Lex, were incredibly stupid to have lost a girl like that. I was in love with her the entire time."
"Don't blame you," Lex told him. "She was beautiful."
"Gorgeous. And smart. Can't forget smart. She didn't take bullshit too. Gotta love that."
"I did," Lex answered. "I do. Can't find her anymore though. She dropped off the face of the planet."
"I was pissed all the time she was with you. Now-" Lucas had raised his hand and showed Lex his wedding band. "Now I'm happy and you're in hell. How quickly the tides of fate change.
It didn't make sense to him. And then again it did now. "Chloe."
"You know my name," she said bitterly.
"Lucas," Lex managed. "Lucas told me about you."
"He never told me about you. He told me nothing about you or about all this." Her hands moved quickly around to indicate the people who have been in her house, disrupting her privacy, for reasons she did not understand. "God, I want him to be alive!" she burst out. "I need him to tell me why. And I need to kill him and hug him so much I don't understand." Chloe stood up quickly and ran towards the bedroom.
Lex Luthor was in the longest flight of his life. He rested his head on the seat and closed his eyes. They were landing now. Soon, the wait would be over and he would have to face an entire world that his brother created-a world he had no conception of but would be forced to right. Idly he wondered just how arrogant it was for him to believe that he could magically step in and make everything better. He was going to meet a woman he had never seen before and inform her that her entire life had shattered.
What right did he have to tell someone that the person she loved was gone forever?
She would survive. He did. And all this happened to him.
"She's gone, Lex. I don't know where. But she isn't coming back," Lucas had told him while Lex was seated on the cold floor of the hospital corridor.
He remembered that day like it happened an hour ago. It was too stark. The memory was too biting to forget. What he remembered of the moments before was darkness and cold. And then from the moment the door swung open to reveal an empty hospital bed, he had images of blurred pictures and Lucas' clear voice. "All I know," Lucas had been telling him, "was that she lost the baby."
"What?" Lex had managed to whisper then. "How? What happened?"
"Lex, you pushed her down the stairs. What were you fighting about?"
Lex had looked at his brother uncomprehendingly. What was Lucas doing in Manila? Why was he there at that exact moment? "I wouldn't do that."
"I saw it, Lex. I called the paramedics. The blood is still on your floor if need proof, unless your servants have already cleaned it up."
"Where is she?"
"I didn't take care," Lucas snapped at him.
Lex looked up at his brother. From his crouched position on the floor, he had to crane his neck to meet Lucas' eye. "I didn't say you did."
Lex hated his brother at that moment. It was not because of Chloe. He knew that Lucas had no reason to hide the truth from him. Lex killed their baby and effectively killed anything that could form between the two of them. It did not matter that he would never stop loving her. He murdered their baby and Lex would never let himself touch her again. It was good that she left him.
He hated his brother because he had the nerve to tell him the truth when he did not want to accept it yet. Chloe was gone.
Now he was about to do the same thing Lucas did for him to Lucas' wife. She would hate him for it. It was his job.
When he finally arrived in his limousine outside the small house that he was informed Lucas had bought, he was surprised. Lucas had always lived high since he found out that he was a Luthor. He could not imagine his brother satisfied with the simple suburban house that had every element that would have made the Lucas that he knew ill-fence, yard, even a tree out front. Finding the place crawling with LuthorCorp representatives erased all his doubts about the ownership of the house.
Lex strode towards the door, firmly demanding, "What is this? Wasn't I specific enough when I said that no one is to disturb Mrs Luthor until I arrived?"
He pushed his way through the crowd of Lucas' employees and stopped just short of a smaller circle surrounding a young woman who sat on the couch in the small living room, crying into a LuthorCorp handkerchief that must have been handed to her.
"It's such a pity, Mr Luthor," Lex heard directed to him.
"She's crushed. Señor Lucas only informed us that they were expecting when he left for the Pacific," someone else said. "It's a tragedy."
Lex's eyes narrowed when the young woman at the center only seemed to burrow deeper into the handkerchief that shielded her away from everyone else. "For heaven's sake, get out of here. All of you! Give her some air and some privacy!"
To his satisfaction, the employees filed out of the house at his command. He laid a hand on the young woman's shoulder and she flinched away. Lex quickly drew back his hand. "Mrs. Luthor," he said comfortingly, "don't worry. I will take care of everything."
"Don't say that!"
"It's true. You can trust me on that."
"You're not going to bring back my husband."
"No," he replied regretfully. "But I will take care of you. I'm your brother-in-law. You will never lack for anything. Your child will be taken care of. You two will remain Luthors."
She glared at him, tossing the handkerchief on the coffee table. "That doesn't mean anything to me! Don't you understand that? I don't know or care about what being a Luthor is. I just want my husband!"
Lex stumbled back from the almost physical force of seeing her face. He tripped over the box of tissues someone had thoughtfully left on the floor, and he plopped bottom first into an armchair.
'God, Lucas, no.'
Like a bad dream long forgotten, he remembered that quarterly meeting right after Lucas told him that he got married in Spain. Their father had come down hard on both of them not because their regions marked low profit but because the mother company was losing business. Brothers that they were, they consoled each other with alcohol and company.
Lex had been depressed that night. He was a talkative drunk. So was his brother. Lex had droned on about losing Chloe, about not caring anymore that she had been working for his father. "She could screw me over all the money I have and I'll still be in love with her," he had slurred at Lucas.
"You, genius that you are, Lex, were incredibly stupid to have lost a girl like that. I was in love with her the entire time."
"Don't blame you," Lex told him. "She was beautiful."
"Gorgeous. And smart. Can't forget smart. She didn't take bullshit too. Gotta love that."
"I did," Lex answered. "I do. Can't find her anymore though. She dropped off the face of the planet."
"I was pissed all the time she was with you. Now-" Lucas had raised his hand and showed Lex his wedding band. "Now I'm happy and you're in hell. How quickly the tides of fate change.
It didn't make sense to him. And then again it did now. "Chloe."
"You know my name," she said bitterly.
"Lucas," Lex managed. "Lucas told me about you."
"He never told me about you. He told me nothing about you or about all this." Her hands moved quickly around to indicate the people who have been in her house, disrupting her privacy, for reasons she did not understand. "God, I want him to be alive!" she burst out. "I need him to tell me why. And I need to kill him and hug him so much I don't understand." Chloe stood up quickly and ran towards the bedroom.