Warning! Some non-Chlex smut later in the chapter! Please read with caution!

End of warning

Chapter 4

An entire two months of dreamless nights graced Lex's sleeping mind, allowing his tired body to rest peacefully. It was the days, however, that left him restless and uncomfortable. Regularly, his father would come and visit – during office hours, afterwards, during lunch… it didn't matter when… the point was that Lionel always made it a point to come once every day. And each he came the same speech would be given to him.

Hmm… Lex… You're company… it seems merely satisfactory – but it's not good enough. You aren't pushing it to its full potential. How can I expect you to take good care of LuthorCorp if I should suddenly leave you here with it? LexCorp may only be an extension of mine, but it reflects its parent company. You need to be at the top, son, and right now you're not there. Instead, it's an international businessman who's got his company sitting up there with me – Shino-mura Company. Get there – one way or another – and get there fast.

Then the man would leave, shaking his head and leaving after one last look from the door that said, 'How disappointing you are.'

Having just gone through it one more time Lex buried his face in his hands when his father was safely on the other side of the door. Sometimes that evil thought – that had run through his mind when his father was stuck under that pillar all those years ago in Smallville – resurfaced. It would have been so tempting to just leave the man there – allow him to die that cruel, slow death of being crushed underneath a ton of cement. But Lex was still blessed with a heart at that point of his life; with a sense of humanity that was questioned by many surrounding him at the time. Many could never expect such a thing from a Luthor.

Of course he had his episode of being the spitting image of his father, but that had only been for six months following his placement in the Belle Reve facilities. Afterward, he had returned to his less cunning ways – the way he had been in Smallville – and became more respectable instead of being considered a business tyrant. That image did not pass well with Lionel – who preferred to be seen as a wolf preying on the other companies like helpless lambs; thus the reason why he made it a point to degrade Lex constantly.

The bald heir to LuthorCorp didn't sit on this idea too well. He didn't want to be someone who was hated by everyone. He wanted to help the world… He let out a heavy sigh. He needed some time away from this crazy city called Metropolis. Knowing just the cure for this, he picked up his cell phone and resumed to call his travel agent.

"Chloe, I'm serious, you better get here now before I throw him onto the street!" threatened the low voice on the other end of the cell phone line.

"You wouldn't dare!" the blonde cried into her phone as she hurried out of the Burger Ranch fast food restaurant. She had just finished a gruelling three full hours – which paid minimal, by the way – and would have stayed longer had Pete not called her to get Remy.

Remy… yes, the little boy that had seemed like an angel with intense blue eyes in the beginning was actually a demon! He made it a point to disrupt everything that had been normal and quiet in Chloe's life. She didn't blame him for anything, though; didn't see him as anything but who he was. He still had a way of melting her heart just by giving her the look – that look that hid all the mischief and only expressed childish solemnity, purity and innocence. He was a wonderful little boy, filled with just as much zest for life as she had been reputed to have when she was his age.

"Damn it, Pete, just hold on for a moment longer! I'm on my way already!" She was fumbling through her hand bag, searching for her car keys, but in the panic that she was in, it was difficult to do much that helped her situation.

"Yeah, you better come here before he – shit! What the hell! That was my favourite oriental mug! Chlo, I swear, you owe me big time for this." With that, he disconnected. Rushing down towards her car, Chloe quickly got in to start it and make her way towards Pete's place. It wasn't all that far from where she was working. The traffic in Metropolis was quite awful though and it took a while just to get there because of it. What could have been a five minute ride turned into a twenty minute one and she jumped out once she got to the apartment.

Upon reaching the door, the African American boy flung it open and gave the blonde a deathly look. "The next time I agree to baby-sit for you, remind me that I have to childproof this entire house."

Giving him a sympathetic and grateful look she gave him a tight hug before she made her way into the recesses of the apartment. The place was exactly how she had expected it to be: an absolute horror. Toys where littered everywhere, food was splattered on every tabletop in the vicinity and pieces of leaves from houseplants were strewn across the floor. Chloe pursed her lips. Remy had done the same thing when he had first moved in with her and she knew he would continue to do this for about a week while he was adjusting to the place.

"Jeremy G. Sullivan, you get over here right now," she called in a loud stern voice and placed her hands on her hips as a parent would do when they were about to reprimand a little child.

Peeping from behind the now discoloured sky-blue couch was Remy, his blue eyes looking unblinkingly back at her. She frowned down at him and pointed at the spot in front of her. Solemnly, he stepped from behind the furniture and walked towards her, biting his lip all the while. Once he was stationed in front of her, she hunkered down so that she was eye-level with him.

"Will you please say sorry to Pete and then help me with getting your things?" she asked quietly in a nice voice.

He nodded and went to his temporary baby-sitter, then fidgeted a bit. "Sorry, Pete," he said in a regretful little voice, then looked up at him with wide penetrating eyes.

The prior aggravation that had been so prominent on the African-American boy's face fell away. Chloe couldn't help but roll her eyes. He fell for it. Pete smiled at the little boy and kneeled down in front of him. "Nah, it was cool. You just take care and… yeah…" Ruffling the child's black locks, he straightened up again and began bustling around to pick up the toys on the floor. Remy moved to do the same, his little body needing to run to keep up with Pete's longer strides.

Smiling a little, Chloe resumed going about in the same manner. Upon having everything placed in the cardboard box that they had brought in before, Pete grabbed his best friend's hand to stop her before she left the apartment. He noticed just how heavy the eye-bags were – despite the effort of covering it up with make-up. "Are you okay, Chloe? You know… it's a lot of work raising a kid by yourself while juggling with education, work and a social life all at the same time."

The blonde young woman looked back at him with haunted eyes. "I'm living it one day at a time." Remy had been distracted by the call of the cartoons on the television that Pete had cleverly put on to keep him busy while he spoke with her. Her tired hazel eyes went to Remy. "It's been really hard, Pete… handling the grief of my dad's –" her breath caught in her throat, even when it had been just about two months. To hide it, she let out a little cough. "– then taking Remy in… the weight has added…" She sighed wearily, her posture slumping a bit.

"You know, I really want to help. Why else would I choose to be the kid's baby-sitter while you're busy with work?" He gave her a weak smile before it changed back to a serious look. "If you want, you can leave the child with my mom…"

"No," Chloe answered quickly, shaking her head in a vigorous manner. "As hard as it's been with everything – happening – I… I actually realized just how much I need him. Sure he depends on me for food, shelter and whatnot, but – he gives me a strange emotional support."

Her eyes returned to the boy in front of the television and they visibly softened at the sight. "There's something about him, Pete. He has a certain depth to him… I sometimes lose myself in his presence. It's quite scary, but… soothing at the same time." She regarded Pete once more. "I need him with me just as much as he needs me. We're a link; something that keeps us tied to my dad. Without this connection, I think I'd be lost in the weight of the loss right now…"

"Alright, if you insist," Pete said. "But if you need anything," he added quickly, holding up a finger. "You tell me and I'll help you."

Chloe smiled at the young man and moved closer to give him a warm hug. "Thanks. You're really a great friend."

'We interrupt this program for this news update.' Chloe and Pete's attention suddenly reverted to the television screen.

"Yes, baby," Lex hissed. "That's it… come for me…"

The woman under him moaned and squirmed as he thrust himself hard into her. Lex could feel the pleasure of the sexual act taking over his senses. This was exactly what he needed – beautiful women to fuck while far away from Metropolis as possible. He could feel the loose muscles sheathing him start to clamp – she was ready to climax. He felt himself smile in a feral manner as he forced himself farther into her center. At her shout of release, he felt himself go over the edge, spilling himself into the condom he wore as he fucked the brunette.

Finally spent, Lex collapsed on the bed beside the woman, touching her as little as he possibly could. Caresses and little brushes always meant becoming too emotionally involved and he certainly wasn't with this woman. He allowed himself the leisure of lying quietly for a while before he pulled himself out of bed and headed towards the bathroom for a nice long shower. His acute sense of hearing picked up the rustle of bed covers and the woman's feet treading across the plush carpeted floor towards him. He rolled his eyes and stopped, turned and prevented her from going any further with the gesture of his hand.

Although she pouted, she obeyed his silent command and made her way towards the other end of the bedroom where another bathroom had been placed. When she had locked the door behind her, Lex quickly padded towards his clothes and took them with him to the bathroom. There was no way he was going to trust his personal French escort with his valuables strewn around the hotel bedroom – even when she had been reputed to be the most honest whore known in the area. Once inside the marble room, he locked the door behind him and pulled off the used condom to throw in to the garbage bin.

As strange as it was, the image of the used plastic falling into the metal bin caused him to recede back into a chapter of his life that he had hoped he would never recollect again. Flashes of a struggling black-haired Japanese beauty came into his mind. Angry, fearful obsidian eyes filled with tears of pain and disbelief… and disgrace. He remembered that he had taken her without the use of any contraceptive… and had come onto her with the intention of hurting someone – but not specifically her. As fate had to have it, she just happened to be in his way when he had his bout of insanity.

The basket formulated in front of him; a small baby – eyes still closed – was tucked inside and let out a little whimper. His spawn; his mistake… Lex shut his eyes tightly as he tried to dispel the images from his mind. And they chose now to resurface after all this time! Growling Lex threw his things onto the floor and unlocked the door to the bathroom. He needed to be distracted and the woman in the other room was going to help.

When he stepped out, however, the brunette – who looked fresh and clean after what seemed like a quick shower, was frowning at the open television in front of her. The news reporter's piece was in French, but Lex understood exactly what he was saying. Still, the report they were giving didn't seem to be penetrating his brain.

'… just in – renowned tycoon businessmen, Kato Shinomori and Lionel Luthor, were murdered just five hours ago, while negotiating a deal between the two corporations. The assassins were identified as part of the notorious Japanese Mafia lead by terrorist mastermind, Makoto Shishio. Jeanne Doussaud for further details…'

Lex's mind was blank. This was all just a hoax – some kind of dream. There was no way that his father would die. The man seemed too headstrong to be brought down in such a way. And Shinomori-san. He, too, seemed too powerful to be taken down by a number of assassins.

Lex's companion switched her eyes to him and her mouth fell open. "Monsieur Luthor, I am very sorry for the sudden loss of your father." The accent was thick and her r's rolled exotically off her tongue. Lex, did not pay any heed to it – which, under different circumstances, would have caused him to become turned on.

Instead, he watched incredulously as they showed footage of the devastated meeting room – it was in the Palace Hotel – covered in bullet holes and blood spatters and pools on everything. The bodies were then shown – covered in black body bags. People that were watching on the sidewalks pointed and watched – some even had the gall to snicker – as the carcasses of the two most influential businessmen in the entire world were being rolled into separate vans to be brought for further autopsy.

It all seemed too surreal to actually be happening. It was like those melodramas that he happened to stumble passed as he flipped from news channel to sports. There he was, in some expensive hotel in France – thousands of miles away from Metropolis. He was staring bare-assed in the middle of the expensive suite, fresh from fucking and just five hours prior, his father had been killed.

To be continued...