Title: Affliction
By: Jesse Drache
Disclaimers: I don't own Smallville, Clark, Chloe or Lex. I'm only borrowing them for a small amount of time, so don't sue me.
Warning: This is a Chloe/Lex/Clark fic, it includes slash themes and a threesome. If you are bothered by any of these themes, do not read this fanfiction.
Rating: PG-13 but will get up to NC-17 in the future.
Chapter 2: Awakening
When Chloe woke up the second time the curtains had been drawn to keep as much sunlight as possible out of the room and two chairs had been set up next to the bed.
Chloe looked around the room but found that neither Lex nor Clark were to be found.
Slowly she pushed off the covers and carefully got out of the bed. Looking down at her crumpled clothing, she attempted to smooth out some of the wrinkles, but soon found the task impossible and gave up.
Her eyes adjusting to the dark, she made her way across the room where her booths were lying together in a pile.
Someone must have taken them off while I was sleeping, she decided since she didn't remember taking them off herself.
Chloe bent down to pick them up but the small motion made her feel lightheaded.
Deciding that she needed to sit down, she grabbed the boots and carried them to the bed where she could sit down while putting them on.
Waiting a moment before she stood up again, she walked across the room and opened the door, finding herself in a deserted hallway somewhere in Lex's mansion that she had never seen before.
She stopped for a moment to listen for voices but found none.
Picking a direction, she walked to the left, slowly making her way down the hallway to a small staircase.
Carefully walking down the stairs, Chloe turned to the right when she found a locked door to her left.
She heard voices coming from the end of the hall and made her way there, hoping to find Clark or Lex.
When she finally reached the door to Lex's office, she had to wait a moment to regain her strength before opening the door with a trembling hand.
"Chloe!" she heard Clark yell out as he jumped out of the couch where he had sat discussing something with Lex before the intrusion.
"Hi," Chloe said, smiling weakly at Clark before slowly making her way to a chair next to the couch, Clark hovering about her the entire time.
"How are you feeling?" Lex asked, turning to look at her.
"Bad. What time is it?" Chloe said, attempting smile at Lex but failing.
"1:00, you've been asleep since 9:00 last night."
Lex examined her appearance, taking in the paleness of her skin and the dark circles beneath her eyes.
"Clark and I have been talking while you slept. I think that we should study what has happened to you in order to find an appropriate course of action in which best to help you. Clark on the other hand does not think that studying this mutation is a good idea. He thinks that it would be uncomfortable for you. We've decided to let you think it over, it is your choice after all," Lex told her.
Chloe looked at him for a long moment taking in his words, then stood up, waving away Clark's offer for help, and moved to a nearby table, not looking at Clark or Lex as she considered the options.
"I've spent so much time working on the Wall of Weird. It never occurred to me that someday I would be on it," she said, to no one in particular, then as if to accentuate her point she reached out and gently laid her finger to the petal of a potted plant that someone had put in Lex's office in an attempt to liven the place.
With the smallest touch, the entire plant withered and died.
Lex noticed that a small amount of color returned to Chloe's cheeks but it faded a few minutes later.
Both Lex and Clark watched as Chloe let out a bitter laugh and turned from the plant, her foot catching on the side of the table.
They both watched as she tripped and begun to fall and Lex jumped up but Clark's reflexes were better and he managed to reach her by the time that Lex was up.
Chloe collided against Clark, her eyes closing momentarily but opening seconds later as the color returned to her cheeks and she was able to pull away and stand by herself without Clark's support.
Chloe felt the strength return to her limbs and smiled slightly at the improvement in her health, turning to look at Lex to explain to him that she would not need his tests when she noticed that he was staring straight at her.
Following his gaze, she realized that he was not staring at her entirely but at Clark's forearm, where her hand rested against his skin.
Chloe immediately pulled away, feeling the surge of energy that she had felt coursing through her body fade but the strength remained.
She stared at Clark bewildered, but before she could say anything, Lex had stepped up and was standing beside them.
"Clark are you ok?" he asked, concern on his face.
"Yeah," the boy answered confusion on his face.
"Chloe?"
"Yeah, I feel better than ever," Chloe answered starring at him wide eyed.
Lex's face took on a look of concentration before he turned and walked to the other side of the room.
Clark and Chloe watched as he picked up another one of the potted plants and brought it over to them.
"Chloe please touch this plant the way you touched the other one," Lex said, holding the plant close to Chloe.
Hesitantly, Chloe reached out and touched the plant, but unlike before, it did not wither and die, it just remained a plant.
Clark and Chloe looked at the plant with confusion plainly written on their faces.
Lex put the plant down on a glass coffee table then slowly he extended his hand.
Clark realized what he meant to do but did not have time to stop him.
Lex reached out and gently cupped Chloe's face.
All three of them held their breaths, but after a moment when nothing occurred, they all exhaled.
Lex withdrew his hand then turned to look at Clark.
Bewilderment on his face, Lex looked at the boy, who was now staring intently at the floor and asked, "What the hell did you do?"
***
shipperchick and candychelle44: In response to your questions, although at first Chloe's powers weren't supposed to be inspired by Rouge's they did turn out to be too similar for it to be a coincidence, so I guess that you could say that Rouge was the inspiration for Chloe in this story.