Chapter One

Lex tried not to pace, the length of his study already had a big enough groove worn into it lately, and forced himself to sit down at his desk. He immersed himself in the pile of paperwork that had gathered while he'd been away, and attempted to keep his mind off of Chloe and Clark.

He bit down on the end of his pen, the calm exterior that he'd adapted in the basement now totally gone. Investigating Clark had been wrong, and he knew that. But Lex was also determined that Chloe never find out about it. He didn't know why, didn't want to really, but Lex knew for certain that he wouldn't be able to handle the way Chloe would look at him if she ever found out. He didn't want to see the disbelief and disappointment that was bound to mar her features.

'He'd better not tell her,' Lex thought desperately. He was about a second away from throwing the five hundred dollar pen across the room, when a light knock sounded on the door. "Come in," he called out, his voice trained and even, just like he'd been taught. Before the door had even opened he'd slipped his business face back on, reigning in his troublesome emotions. Chloe practically skipped into his office, Clark trailing slowly behind her.

"Hey Lex," she grinned and dropped herself into a seat in front of his desk. Clark dragged his feet, but took the seat beside hers. "I invited Clark to stay for dinner," she told him, her voice light and hopeful. "I hope that's okay?"

He smiled. "Whatever you want," he told her, ignoring the way Clark's jaw seemed to tighten.

Chloe beamed at him and jumped to her feet. "Great. I'll go tell Michel," she was out of the door before they realized it, conveniently leaving the two of them alone.

"Michel?" Clark asked him.

"The cook," Lex replied, as if it should have been obvious. Clark rolled his eyes and despite their fight, Lex found himself liking the new backbone that the farm boy seemed to have developed. His mind went back to Chloe, and Lex once again began to hope that Clark would keep quiet about that room.

Clark stared back at him coolly. "I didn't tell her Lex," he seemed to be able to read minds. Or maybe he just wasn't as dumb as he looked.

"You didn't," Lex nodded sagely. "But you will." It wasn't a question, because Lex was almost entirely sure that Clark Kent would spill.

"I don't want to," Clark shook his head. "She doesn't need this Lex. Too many people have hurt her lately and I don't want her to have to look at you the way that I am right now. She shouldn't have to."

Lex nodded, knowing that he deserved harsher words from his once best friend. "For what it's worth Clark," he told the boy honestly. "I'm sorry for what I did. I stopped others from investigating you but I couldn't stop myself. I lied to you about it, and that was wrong of me."

Always the soft heart, Clark sighed miserably. "It's just...I trusted you Lex," he said, meeting Lex's eyes now. "I always stood up for you, said that just because you're Lionel Luthor's son that it didn't mean that we should look at you differently." Clark turned and looked towards the doorway, and not seeing her returning yet, turned back to Lex. "I won't tell her," he said quietly, surprising both of them. "But you have to let this go Lex. You can't keep spying on me, researching me like I'm some kind of science experiment."

"I'm not investigating you Clark," Lex told him seriously. Since Clark had gotten that key and confronted him before the trial, Lex had put a firm halt on all Clark-Kent-related investigations. He considered telling Clark that he'd gotten rid of the room, but decided that lying wasn't really the best idea right now. "Thank you for not telling her."

Clark nodded again and Chloe chose that moment to return, saving them from more awkward conversation. "Did I interrupt something?" she asked warily, looking back and forth between them.

"No," Clark flashed her a huge grin and this time managing to lie much more easily. "Lex was just filling me in on everything that's been happening in Smallville lately." She sat down in her seat again.

"That must've been uneventful," she snarked. "Nothing ever seems to happen in Smallville during the summer."

"I'm sure that the Wall of Weird material will pick up once the school year starts up again," Lex added thoughtfully. "It always seems to." They all pondered that for a moment...

"So," Clark asked Chloe brightly. "You told me about Paris. How was London?"

Chloe groaned.

Clark stared morosely at his ceiling, trying to remember if his bedroom had always been this small. The four walls seemed closer together than they did before, in fact everything seemed smaller now that he was back in Smallville. It wasn't even the same town that he left behind only six weeks ago; everything had changed. He didn't remember what had happened on Krypton. In fact the only thing that Clark could remember was being his by a searing pain and then waking up cold and naked on the floor of the caves. Six weeks later, the fastest six weeks of his life. Time that didn't exist. It was a strange feeling, and Clark didn't like it.

He'd sped home, faster that lightening, just that morning. His parents had greeted him warmly, questioned him, and then proceeded to tell him about what had happened the day that he'd left. All of Clark Kent's thoughts since then had been about Chloe. Was she okay? Will she hate him for not being here? Is she really living with Lex Luthor?

Clark groaned. Lex had been his friend for three years now, but Clark was seriously beginning to wonder if maybe Lex had just been after his secret all along. And now Chloe was living with him. The thought made Clark more uncomfortable that he would have thought. In fact, it bothered him so much that he hadn't even thought of Lana since he'd gotten home. Well, until now...

He'd seen the way that Lex had hugged her goodbye at the airport, and he'd also seen how close Lex and Chloe were at the mansion. Pete was gone, and his other friends seemed to be moving on too. Clark couldn't help feeling that in the last few months, not just the last six weeks, he was slowly being replaced. By Lex Luthor.

Chloe would laugh at that, if she knew what he'd been thinking. She'd say that he was crazy, that no one would ever be able to replace him, because Chloe always knew just what he needed to hear. But they both knew that she was different now, her world had changed and she was seeing everything differently now. Would she still be able to see him? Clark still needed her, but he knew that right now she needed him more.

Chloe stared unblinkingly at her computer screen, the monitor's light casting a harsh glow over her skin in the dark bedroom. She sighed loudly and ignored the quiver in her lip at the sight of the article in front of her.

As much as Chloe usually loved the Daily Planet, she felt a strong urge to smash in her computer screen at the sight of their day's headline: "Luthor Lawyers Confident About Turnaround in Supreme Court Appeal".

She read the article repeatedly, eight times, to make sure that she wasn't just seeing things. But eight times now she'd come to the same realization: Lionel Luthor might just get to walk.

"I can't believe this," she muttered, and poked viciously at the escape key, closing the window. Lex's lawyers had them believing that they could still win this. She pushed her chair roughly away from the desk and made her way out of the dark bedroom, towards Lex's study. She had no doubt that he'd be awake.

Quinn emerged from his position near her bedroom door; he'd been hidden in the shadows, and fell into step behind her already. Her bare feet made no noise on the stone floor; she couldn't seem to get used to wearing her shoes in the house all day long. Lex may be able to spend every waking hour in those thousand dollar shoes of his, but normal people just don't do that. Then again, Lex wasn't really normal.

The door to his study was closed so she knocked soundly on it. He called through the door for her to come in. She pushed the heavy doors open and slipped into the room Quinn didn't follow.

"Did you see today's Daily Planet?" she asked him immediately, walking over to his desk where he was sitting comfortably in the designer leather chair, looking at a computer screen.

"Yes," he nodded, eyes still glued to the screen. She frowned and walked around the desk, stopping just behind him. Chloe looked down at the screen and discovered that he too was visiting the Daily Planet Online. Lex's shoulders tensed slightly when she continued to stand behind him, with no plans on moving. She would have found it amusing, except she couldn't help but re-read the article again, it's words already ingrained into her mind.

He swiveled his chair around and stood in front of her, now looking down to her seriously. "Don't worry about it Chloe," he said. "My lawyers assure me that they have everything under control."

She ran a hand roughly through her hair and moved to the corner of the desk, leaning against the hard glass side. "It's just...I have a bad feeling about this Lex," she sighed admittedly. "I don't think I can trust your lawyers. They say everything's under control but Lionel's already been moved off of death row. They're talking about getting him out on bail! How is this being taken care of?"

Lex reached out and rested his hands on her shoulders. She felt comforted by the familiar gesture. "These are some of the best lawyers in Metropolis Chloe," he told her seriously. "I pay then too much for them to fail."

"Lex your father managed to pay off the FBI," she reminded him. "The list of people I can trust is growing shorter and shorter everyday; and a team of blood-for-hire lawyers isn't really at the top of it right now."

He squeezed her shoulder and gazed pointedly into her eyes. "I'm not asking you to trust them Chloe, I need you to trust me. I know that I let you down before, but it's not going to happen again. I won't let it happen ever again."

"It's not just that Lex," she turned her eyes away from his and focused instead on the navy silk that covered his broad shoulders. His hands were warm and their continued pressure on her was soothing. "I hate having to look over my shoulder everywhere that I go, and I hate having a security guard trail me every second of every day. I've been independent since I was twelve years old, and now I can't even go outside by myself. He's taken everything away from me Lex. Everything."

"I'm sorry Chloe," he ran both hands up and down her forearms slowly. "I know how it feels to have him make you a prisoner in your own life. It's not right, and it's always going to hurt. You just need to trust the people that care about you Chloe. Let them take care of you."

Chloe smiled at the feel of the sun, warm against her skin. She and Clark were at Crater Lake, spending the scorching August day trying to cool down by the water. She was currently sprawled out on a fuzzy beach blanket, lying across the end of the dock, while Clark splashed around in the water.

"Tell me again why we're at Carter Lake?" he asked her, breaking through the sheet of water and perching himself beside her on the dock. "There's a pool at the mansion."

"It's not the same," she wiped absently at the drops of water that had landed on her bare stomach. "Besides, I can't work on my tan in an indoor pool."

Clark grinned at her mischievously and then shook his head from side to side, raining droplets of cold water all over her increasingly goldening skin. "Hey!" she yelped.

"Come on Chloe," he somehow managed to whine and keep the adorable grin on his face while she wiped away the droplets. "I'm getting bored."

"You're welcome to lie here and join me then," she closed her eyes again and let herself relax under the combination of his gaze and the warm rays. He sighed pitifully but she could feel him move over and lie beside her on the dock. His presence gave her a warm, safe feeling that she hadn't really felt since Pete left town. She yawned. "If I fall asleep wake me up okay? Don't let me burn..."

They both paused awkwardly then, uncomfortable silence spreading over the lake. Clark cleared his throat softly. "I won't," he assured her quietly.

Chloe turned her face towards him and wasn't at all surprised to find him lying beside her, his position mirroring hers. She smiled softly. "You had me forget for a while there," she whispered, eyeing the small water drops still glistening on his skin.

"Sorry?"

"No," she shook her head and then turned her face back up to the sun, letting her eyes slide shut again. "That's why I like having you around, you make me forget."

She could feel his grin wash over her, even with her eyes closed. "That's the exact opposite of why I like you around," he told her warmly. "You make me remember."

"Remember what?" she asked sleepily. His voice seemed to be fading farther and farther away.

"Why I came home," she heard him say quietly, before her unconscious mind took over and her thoughts returned to more pleasant times.

Randy Millar huffed in annoyance at the line of people in front of him, filing out of the airplane. They were moving slowly and he was tempted to just start elbowing his way through. Daydreams of hitting some of the other passengers in the back of the head with the butt of his favorite handgun filled his head. One of the insanely cheerful flight attendants began talking to him.

"Thank you for flying with us," she smiled sickly sweetly at him. "Have a nice day."

"Thanks," he returned gruffly and finally made his way out of the plane, past an old couple in front of him. He slipped around the elderly, nudging a couple of twenty-something girls out of the way, and strode quickly into his terminal.

Randy spotted the suited man immediately once he stepped outside of the building. He stood with the myriad of drivers in a marked lane. They all sported tailored black suits but he was the largest of all of the drivers, and had a look to him that screamed "hired muscle" to anyone who was trained to spot it. Randy walked over and got into the car.

The man, James White, climbed into the driver's seat and they took off from the airport. "Mr. Luthor wants to speak to you," White told him gruffly.

Randy nodded; he'd been expecting that. He'd botched the London job; the Sullivan girl had gotten away. Lionel Luthor would be mad...

TBC...