A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

By Allegra

See part one for disclaimers etc.
THANKS TO POLLY FOR HELPING ME OVER WRITER'S BLOCK IN THE LAST PARAGRAPH! HOPE EVERYONE'S STILL ENJOYING IT. AS USUAL, ANY FEEDBACK OR SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE REALLY, REALLY WONDERFUL :)

CHAPTER 5 : BIG CITY VALUES

Chloe Sullivan had been outside the Metropolis Globe for all of five minutes before deciding she hadn't got the internship. Just seeing the building and all the other young people who she was convinced were handing in their c.v.'s brought her confidence down after a car trip of building it up.

Her dad had kindly agreed to take an afternoon off work to drive her there so she could hand in the required information in person. He had even spoken to the school principal to secure his daughter an afternoon off. He had actually been pretty supportive and Chloe knew that he was proud of her achievements on the school paper. He always mentioned it when friends came round, much to the teenager's embarrassment.

Putting an arm round her, Gabe Sullivan squeezed Chloe's shoulder. "Honey, you're every bit as good a journalist as the writers on the Globe. Hell, you're good enough to be on the Daily Planet."

Chloe tried to calm herself. "Dad, don't get carried away. I only write for the Smallville high school rag. These people have interviewed the President of the United States, Nelson Mandela, even Michael Jackson... I've got a long way to go before I'm good enough for the Daily Planet."

Gabe tapped the large brown envelope she was holding. "Well, you'll never know unless you take the first step, honey. Come on. What's the worst that could happen?"

Chloe puffed out a pent-up breath and pinned him with a 'don't even go there' expression. "Fine. You're right. I should just get this over and done with." Marching towards the front doors, she put on her best pushy journalist armour and handed in her C.V.

As soon as the ordeal was over, her dad took Chloe out for a posh meal at an exclusive Thai restaurant he had been to on business. At first, all Chloe had noticed was the weight lifted off her chest but then the first pangs of guilt kicked in. This wasn't luck of draw or a case of the best journalist winning - Lex was going to fix it for her. Up until this moment, she had still felt like she was working for the opportunity to work on the paper. Now that she was left to imagine the editor choosing young proteges for the summer, Chloe could only picture Lex Luthor's phone call or unannounced visit. There were different versions of it, too. There was the one where he played the heavy and slammed the newspaper editor against the wall and choked him with his tie. Then there was the suave, sophisticated Lex Luthor who played mind games and manipulated situations to his advantage with alluring offers and seductive words. Chloe liked the second one better, but in truth, she wasn't sure either of them sounded too great. Did she really want to get her foot on the ladder this way? Muddying the waters before she had even begun?

Whether she believed all the gossip about Lex, Chloe had heard enough stories about his father to know that the Luthors never did anything out of the goodness of their hearts. It always involved payback. Chloe wondered how long it would be before Lex came knocking for his reward. Her dad had talked many times about the families that the Luthors wiped out in Smallville in the name of booming business. Chloe shuddered at the thought that she might bring about her own family's downfall. Gabe worked for Luthorcorp so the Sullivans already relied on Luthor jobs to pay the mortgage.

"Is everything okay, hon?" Gabe's concerned face moved into Chloe's vision.

Quickly replacing her frown with an elated smile, she nodded emphatically. "Yeah, I was just pondering my future." She turned her attention to the elaborate meal spread in front of her. "Wow, this looks amazing."

"It beats school dinners by a long way, I should think." Gabe smiled at his daughter. He was so proud of how confident and determined his little Chloe had become. There had been moments when he had been afraid that Smallville wouldn't be enough for her but quite the contrary had happened. Chloe had found her feet in the small Kansas town. She had been given a rare opportunity to be the big fish in the small pond for a while. Now, she was striking out into the bigger lakes and really taking her chances in the real world. Gabe couldn't have asked for a more wonderful child. Taking in her happy face and warm demeanour, he found it difficult to believe anyone could turn his daughter down.

The pair spent a carefree day together taking full advantage of a half day off school and work to see the sites of Metropolis without hordes of tourists squeezing them out of the best viewpoints. They ate ice creams and shopped for music in the superstores. It wasn't until she left the confines of Smallville that Chloe realised how much choice there was out there and how quickly she could spend her weekly allowance. Fortunately, her father seemed in a full-father mode today and happily slid her an extra fifty bucks for the outfit she had her eye on. Chloe had tried on the most wonderful pair of hipster trousers that rode just low enough to flash a bit of sexy flash but didn't require full 'shaving leg' mode. They made her feel a bit Britney without any kind of trampy vibe. She felt a bit bad when her dad gave her money. Maybe if he'd seen them he wouldn't have been so keen. Still, what he didn't know until they reached the city limits of Smallville wouldn't hurt him, right?

On the car journey home, Chloe succumbed to the fatigue that she had denied all day. Sliding down in her seat, she closed her eyes and listened to the rhythmic roll of the wheels on the tarmac. The stress of worrying about the summer intern job had taken its toll, not to mention the hours of traipsing around the city. Still, something gnawed at her conscience. Chloe hadn't been able to rid herself of Lex's offer and her acceptance of it. It had brought her day down and, leaving the allure of Metropolis behind her, Chloe's scruples returned to Smallville standard. It was wrong to take hand outs. It would eat away at her that she'd never know whether she had truly deserved that job or if it was just Lex's underhand dealings that had helped her out. Suddenly alert again, Chloe resolutely decided to go to the mansion that evening and reject Lex's gift.

Once at home, she tarried at home to talk to her mom about what a great time they'd had in Metropolis and try on her new trousers before ducking out to Clark's. She figured it would be wrong to the Luthor mansion without so much as an appeasement gift. Chloe remembered how much Lex loved Martha Kent's apple pies. If she could spare one, that might go a little way to make up for sounding so ungrateful.

Mrs. Kent was happy to oblige and offered to warm it up for her while she stopped in to see Clark. Chloe climbed the stairs to the barn, carefully trying not to get farm muck on the hems of her trousers. They were quite long in the leg and needed kitten heels to avoid trailing so she felt a bit more self-conscious in such a get-up.

Clark's eyes widened in admiration at the new, sexy Chloe. "Who are you? You look a bit like my best friend but I don't think she's got anything that revealing in her closet." Chloe tried not to blush and quickly moved further into the shadows so he couldn't see the colour creeping to her cheeks.

She smoothed sweaty palms against her thighs, "Oh, I got them in Metropolis today. I was just trying them on to make sure, you know, they didn't split up the butt or something." Chloe hadn't really given this meeting with Clark much thought but suddenly she felt naked under his gaze. She had kept her feelings for him pretty well hidden all this time but she couldn't help wondering if this was how Lana felt when Clark looked at her. It felt strange and awkward so Chloe quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, I just thought I'd drop by and see if I missed anything important at school today."

Clark shook his head, his eyes still wandering to the stretch of bare flesh at Chloe's midriff. "No, nothing major. Mr. Kelvin set us a French test for next week, just some vocabulary. I can give it to you now if you want."

Chloe didn't want to sound like too much of a geek but figured she'd better say yes. If she said no, it would make her pretext for coming a bit shaky. She felt so clandestine for not telling Clark about her meeting with Lex, but somehow she felt too ashamed for even agreeing to let him fix the internship. She couldn't imagine Clark ever letting Lex do that for him. He had even given back the truck Lex gave him for saving his life. Chloe was afraid her friends would judge her if she told them the truth. It just felt weird. They all had their secrets but secrets involving other people made the whole affair seem sordid.

Taking the vocabulary sheet from Clark, Chloe backed towards the steps. "Anyway, your mom's probably heated my pie, so I'd better get it back or my parents will have a fit." She knew she was sounding flustered and strange but for some reason, Chloe just couldn't get the steadiness back in her voice. "I'll see you on the bus tomorrow, Clark."

"Sure." Clark watched his friend's blonde head disappear down the steps and mulled over her uncharacteristic behaviour. In fact, he'd never seen Chloe be so weird. Maybe she'd been eating meteor rocks or something, he dismissed.

Chloe pulled up outside the grand entrance to the Luthor mansion. The gates were open so she figured it was an invitation rather than having to use the embarrassing intercom system. Would she say it was Chloe or Chloe Sullivan? How well did Lex know her? The whole cringing experience was better avoided. Grabbing the pie from the passenger seat, she locked the door and braced herself for knocking on the imposing front door.

The sound of her knuckles against the old oak resounded through the cavernous entrance hall and Chloe suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed and small. She could sense the feisty journalist in her diminishing, pummelled into retreat by the simpering school girl. What right did she have to come knocking on the mansion doors of millionaires? Still, it was too late to turn back now and, hearing the echoing footsteps of expensive shoes on the marble floor, Chloe steeled herself.

"Chloe!" Lex tried to contain his surprise. He had purposely made himself unavailable for the better part of the day and had been enjoying the rare opportunity to catch up on smaller business matters which had escaped his attention. As his father laboured regularly, the speck of dust that we overlook only grows into a meteor of destruction. Lex had been surprising Lionel with his business skills so far and he was damned if he would let himself get shown up now. Smallville was just starting to get interesting.

Chloe shifted uncertainly in the doorway, trying to ignore the way Lex's eyes had subtly roamed over her appearance. She had almost forgotten about the trousers she had left on from her shopping spree to Metropolis. "That certainly doesn't look like the kind of outfit Nell Potter would sell in her boutique."

Chloe blushed, "Oh, my dad took me to Metropolis today. I was just, you know, trying things on, making sure they didn't split in unseemly places..." Her voice trailed away when she realised the implications of what she had just said. "That is to say..., I mean..."

A half smile crept to Lex's lips but he quickly opened the door wide. "You look stunning, Miss Sullivan. What can I do for you?"

Gathering her wits again, Chloe said, "Actually, it's what you can't do for me."

Lex motioned towards his office, sensing that this wasn't going to be a social call. "You don't want me to pull any strings over the newspaper internship," he stated then turned to see her stunned reaction.

Chloe nodded, "How did you guess?"

Lex shrugged. "Let's just say my friendship with Clark has opened my eyes to the strong morals Smallville teenagers seem to have. I figured it was only a matter of time before your conscience got the better of you. You know, Chloe, there's nothing wrong with accepting a helping hand from those better able to give it."

Chloe dropped her bag onto the chair in front of Lex's desk. "I know, I just... I want to know that I have what it takes to be a real journalist. I don't want to think that I've got somewhere because I had friends in high places and not talent. I want to start out on the right foot."

Lex nodded, unruffled. "I understand."

Chloe bit her lip, trying vainly to think of something nicer to say. "Oh, I brought you something as a kind of 'thank you'. It's hard to know what to get a guy who can have anything but I figured the way to a man's heart is through his stomach so...". She rummaged in her bag and produced the pie she had brought from the Kent farm. "Here."

Lex opened the cardboard box and inhaled the sweet aroma of home-made apple pie. Local produce was something he never tired of. He'd rather have a lifetime of staple food from the people of Smallville than all the silver service dinners Metropolis restaurants could offer. It was something about the heart and soul of what its producers put into the food; the knowledge that real time and effort had gone into rolling the pastry and making little dough leaves to adorn the crust. There were no accolades or certificates to be earned at the end, just the satisfaction of a job well done and friends and family who would get enjoyment from the labour. "Thank you, Chloe. I'd recognise a Kent apple pie anywhere."

Chloe shrugged in embarrassment, "Well, I know it's not much considering what you offered but..."

"It's perfect, especially since I gave my staff some time off and cooking has never been my strong point." Noticing that Chloe was still standing awkwardly behind the chair, he tried to ease her discomfort. He could imagine rejecting a Luthor offer must have been difficult for a teenager but it was hardly a big deal to Lex. The least he could do was show it. "I'm not being a very good host. Can I offer you anything to drink?"

Chloe eyed the cut crystal decanters, wondering whether he meant alcohol or something his staff would rustle up in the kitchen. Playing it safe, she declined. "No, thanks."

Lex lifted the decanter and hissed in a sharp breath as fiery pain shot up his arm where he had been cut the previous night. Chloe looked up in concern. "Lex, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he replied, curtly. It was lie; his hand hurt like hell, but Lex didn't want to draw attention to what seemed to be such a superficial wound. He released his other fist which was tightly gripping the wounded arm so that he didn't drop the decanter. Shakily, he placed the crystal back on the tray and moved away from the sideboard.

Chloe stepped into relentless journalist mode and couldn't hold back the jibe. "Yeah, you look fine. I've always thought that colour green worked well for you."

Lex sat down in his chair to compose himself once more. "It's just a scratch." He hunted for an alternative route of conversation but wasn't exactly sure what else he was supposed to talk to Chloe about besides her newspaper and that was going to be a sore subject this evening. She was a lovely girl, intelligent and pretty with a bit of big-city sass, but there was an ocean of difference in the way they led their lives. What on earth could they have to talk about for longer than five minutes? Then again, the same could be said about him and Clark.

Before he could turn his guest's attention away from his own physical ailments, Chloe had moved round the table to him. She had been thrown the rag and she wasn't about to let go. "Can I see?" Lex tried to pull his hand away but Chloe caught it and examined the bandage, raising her eyebrows in chastisement. "That is the worst bandage job I've seen since candy-striping in Metropolis. You're going to have to undo it."

Lex was going to protest more adamantly but the truth was that the pain had been steadily spreading down his arm to his fingertips and anything someone could do to ease the throbbing would be welcomed. "Well, I'm not exactly ambidextrous," he retorted.

Chloe smiled, unravelling the white linen. "Yeah, that much is obvious." She reached the end of the material and Lex caught her flinch a little at the angry red skin she found beneath. "Jeez, that's horrible. What happened?" Her fingers prodded the tender, swollen flesh and Lex hitched his breath in. Chloe turned wide, blue eyes on his. "Sorry. You really need some anti-histamines or something." Wrapping the bandage firmly around the millionaire's slender wrist, Chloe tied it off. "Seriously, Lex, how did this happen? There could be a fracture."

Lex shook his head, "No, I'm sure it's not that. It was something in the woods last night."

"Shouldn't you see a doctor?" Chloe enquired, anxiously.

"I will if it doesn't improve. I've been pretty busy today..." Lex broke off. He didn't need to explain himself to Chloe. "Besides, I don't want it to end up in the pages of your little newspaper." He spoke with a smile on his lips but Chloe's jaw dropped open in shock.

"Hey, I'd never go airing people's private health matters. It's unethical as well as being morally reprehensible..." She stopped when she Lex' lips curl into laughter. Realising she'd been had, Chloe laughed it off lightly. Then on a more serious note, she tentatively asked, "You don't really think I'd do that, do you?"

"Of course not. Although, big city journalism is a corrupt world. Don't let it change who you are, Chloe." Lex hadn't intended to sound so sincere. He had simply never seen such honest people as those he had encountered in Smallville. A few years ago he never would have thought it, but now he wished there were more like Clark, Chloe and Lana.

Chloe glanced at her watch and gasped. "God, look at the time! I'd better get going or my parents will call the police or something equally embarrassing and melodramatic."

Lex stood up as she pulled on her jacket and headed for the door. "Well, good luck with the internship."

Chloe grinned, "Thank you. Bye, Lex."

She was just turning the handle when Lex called back, "Chloe? You haven't mentioned last night to anyone by any chance?"

Chloe frowned, "No. Why?"

Lex shrugged, "A man's got a reputation to preserve."

Chloe nodded in grim acknowledgement. "Your secret's safe with me."