Experiment 001
By: Myranda Ync/Kitsune Hanyou
Chapter 3: A Closet Full of Skeletons
Chloe walked out of her day's last class, the school's newspaper, with Alley. Chloe was quite impressed. Alli-Oxah might not speak very well, but she was an excellent writer. The new student had brought a few of her articles to help audition the journalism class. Chloe found that she wasn't very talkative, even one on one. She would speak only when asked a question, and still with as few words as possible.
Chloe had even casually asked about her past, only to get Alley to close up more. Chloe's practiced investigation skills refused to allow her to formulate any theories; she had no information to go on. Though the girl's silence made Chloe's mind lean toward something incredibly bazaar, she just wasn't sure what.
"So," Chloe made another attempt to start a conversation, "what are you doing after school?"
"I am meeting my brother for coffee," Alley answered simply.
"Really?" Chloe tried to stretch it out as far as she could, "So where are you gonna go?"
"I do not know."
"Well, it's probably the Talon. It's the best coffee place in town; Lana Lang, a student here, runs it for Lex."
"Lex?"
Chloe almost jumped out of her skin. Had Alley actually asked *her* a question?! "Yes, Lex Luthor."
Alley smiled, "You mean Alexander Luthor?"
Chloe was ecstatic; *two* in a row! "Yeah, his friends call him 'Lex'."
"I never understood the fascination with shortening one's name. There are reasons why parents name their children certain things. We should not disgrace them by changing them."
"You don't like being called 'Alley'?"
Alley shook her head, "No, not when it is pronounced like in 'alley cat'. 'Uh-lay' is my name. Oxah is simply my family name. 'Alley' is nothing like my name, with the exception of the way it is spelled. An 'alley' is a dark place, where crimes take place. 'Alli' means 'intelligent beauty'."
"Than why is it spelled with an 'i' at the end if it's pronounced, 'a'?"
"Different cultures pronounce things different ways, I would imagine."
Chloe smiled, fully cataloging the information and storing it in her brain, "So, can I call you 'Uh-lay?"
Alli looked at her and smiled back, "Yes, I would like that very much."
"So, Alli, it's a small town, who's your brother?" Although she already knew the answer, she wanted to hear it for herself.
"Alex Luthor."
"But, you said your family name was 'Oxah'."
"It is, Lionel Luthor took me as his own when I was seven; ten years ago."
"Really? Where did you live—wait, your seventeen?!" Chloe stopped dead in her tracks.
Alli looked over her shoulder, a smirk lit her face, "I do not look it, do I?"
Chloe smiled, "Where did you live before Lionel took you in?" She asked, resuming her walking.
Alli hesitated, "I—I don—I do not remember."
"You don't remember?! What do you mean?"
"Alley!" Lex shouted, the exact pronunciation Alli had told Chloe to use. Except Lex didn't even have to think about it. He walked up to the two, "Ready?" He asked Alley, holding out his hand.
She smiled, "Yes," she turned back to Chloe, "Thank you, Chloe, I will see you tomorrow?"
Chloe forced a smile, trying to hide the disappointment of not having her last question answered, "Sure, see you then."
Alley handed Lex her backpack; slid it onto his shoulder and took her hand. When they reached the car, he even opened it for her and closed it as soon as she was in. He tossed her bag into the trunk and got into the driver's seat.
Chloe watched them drive away and decided that she needed to convince Clark and Pete to go with her to the Talon.
* * *
The Talon wasn't especially busy, just the normal smattering of patrons. Lex and his sister had taken a table close to the door, just slightly to the right side. Lana had asked what they wanted to drink; Lex had ordered his usual, then ordered Alley's for her. Lex looked at her to see if he was right, but he already knew he was, she had always ordered a cappuccino with extra whipped cream.
"So," Lex started, smiling at his sister, "how was your first day of Smallville High?"
She sighed but smiled warmly, "Same as the first days at every other school. Nothing changes. Ni-ay! Nothing!"
"Some things change," Lex answered.
"Troy-ai?"
"Yes, really. You've gotten prettier."
Alley laughed, "Cy! You've just gotten more blind!"
Lex chuckled, "What? I like the look. It's different from anyone in Smallville."
"I'm different enough, I don't need any more." She put her head in her hands, "My homeroom teacher had me stand in front of the class and talk about myself. I completely blanked out! I totally forgot all of my English. The only thing I could think was 'tsukai, Alex, inay-ta!'."
Lex smiled, "Because you know I always will."
"That why you called and asked me to come here?"
"What do you mean?"
"He's free. And don't say you don't know what I'm talking about. I read it online. He's looking for funding. You know as well as I do that there is only one experiment he wants to continue!"
Lex looked away, "Okay, so you know. I wanted you near enough so I could make sure you were safe. I refuse to wake up to a heartless memo placed on my desk, that says that you were killed two thousand miles away." He shook his head, "No one will think to look here, hell, its called 'Smallville'!"
"I've always trusted you, Alex," she lowered her voice to barely a whisper, "you're the smartest Earthling I've ever met."
Lex smiled and whispered back, "Well, we can't all be from Krypton."
Alley smiled, "Just drink your coffee."
* * *
Clark hadn't meant to eavesdrop; really, he hadn't. All he did was walk through the Talon's door. But that didn't stop him from almost fainting because of what he heard.
"—from Krypton." Lex's voice whispered.
"Just drink your coffee." Came the reply.
For a moment, Clark couldn't remember how to breathe. Had Lex found out?! He felt like running as fast as he could, but Chloe and Pete were standing next to him.
"Clark, man, are you okay?" Pete asked.
Clark blinked, "Yeah, Pete," he answered automatically.
They walked up to the bar and ordered their drinks, just as a man walked up and started to rant about the service. "Who owns this place?!"
Lana tried to calm the man, but to no avail.
* * *
Lex and Alley heard the man yell; Lex sighed, "'Scuse me." He stood to deal with the angry customer.
Alley sat smiling; it had been a while since she had been able to talk to Alex without having to look at a picture to see him. She had never in her life on this planet trusted another person. Alex had saved her. He was the nicest person anyone could ever hope to know. Though he would never admit it to anyone other than her. No matter how angry he was at the world, he never let it show in his voice or face when he spoke to her.
Alex always made her smile, no one, not even Lionel Luthor knew that Lex had a wonderful sense of humor. He could come up with a hundred jokes on the spot to cheer up the girl whenever the need arose. To the world he was a power-hungry, seemingly evil, son of a corporate big shot, who only got where he was because of his father. What Alley saw was the sensitive young man who protected her and spent countless, tireless hours to teach her to communicate. Though, Alley was forced, on a few occasions, to remind Alex to quell his megalomaniac tendencies.
She looked over to where Lex was standing, expertly handling the problem customer.
"Excuse me," a man asked, "is this seat taken?"
Alley looked up, her eyes wide with fear, "Qu-sai!" She gasped.
"Quiet, brat!" He snapped, "Hope you listen better now that you speak English!"
"Inay-ta," she breathed. "Cy! Cyo qu-sai." She shook her head back and forth, "Cyo qu-sai!"
"You're going to win me the Nobel Prize," the man said, a sadistic grin contorting his weathered face.
"Inay-ta!" Alley screamed at the top of her lungs. "Inay-ta! Alex! Inay- ta!"
A/N: Wowzers! Lots o' reviews for me! I feel loved! Keep 'em coming! As you can see, Lex is slightly different. I didn't mean for him to be *this* out of character; it just kinda happened. I just wanted to show that Lex is a very complex person, who hides himself from the outside world. He does care about people; but only certain ones. Also, most of the story will be written from Chloe's perspective. Don't ask me why! When I was rewriting it, it just seemed to click easier than writing it from Clark's or Lex's like I had originally planned. Besides, it makes sense (to me anyway) Chloe is kind of a busybody. She would be the one spelunking around and digging through people's pasts. Heck.........she does it a lot!
Now! I get to answer reviews! Sorry I didn't do this in the last chapter, I just didn't have the time.
CTony: Ok! The way I get reviews is I sit at the bottom of every chapter with a bowl and look really pathetic, croaking, "Reviews! Reviews for the poor!" LOL, no. I don't know. Truthfully, I never expected this many. When I wrote it I thought, "Ok, Amanda, see if you can beg Sam to read your fic and send you a review, so you can look good." But, I guess I don't need to. Maybe it's because I say that the more reviews I get, the faster I update. I don't know. I liked your story, though. Script fashion usually isn't my fav, but you got me hooked. Please continue, I'd love to see what happens to Lana! Question though, if she has Kryptonite in her blood, how can Clark be around her?
DuMont: Thanx, I thought it was Luthor, but my pc doesn't like that spelling.........computers suck sometimes. Thanx, I'll fix it.
Circe: I live in Southern California. Why anyone would want to leave here, where it was 90 degrees in FEBUARY I have no clue. Chloe was making a comment, "why would she come to *Kansas* from L.A.?" Is it still cold in NY? It's like 85 out here.
Knight/m: Actually, she gets her fashion tips from me and my best friend.........we dress like that all the time.........scary, huh? But that's about the only thing I have in common with Alli. She's actually kinda crazy, in the non-fun way. Lots of emotional problems. Anyway, I'm giving too much away.
To everyone who said something about the language: Mostly its just random sounds I pulled out of my brain. BUT I worked really hard, so I know what each phrase is supposed to say, so I can remember single words. Like "tsukai" means "please". "Cy" means "no". And in the last chapter, when Lex was telling Alley to be careful, she said, "Fi, jira" which means "yes, father", and Lex answers, "Good, suu", "suu" meaning "daughter". "Ni-ay" means "nothing". I think its funny that Lex speaks Kryptonian.
I'm not saying anymore. You'll have to read to find out what happens next!
Don't forget to leave a review! Thanks!
By: Myranda Ync/Kitsune Hanyou
Chapter 3: A Closet Full of Skeletons
Chloe walked out of her day's last class, the school's newspaper, with Alley. Chloe was quite impressed. Alli-Oxah might not speak very well, but she was an excellent writer. The new student had brought a few of her articles to help audition the journalism class. Chloe found that she wasn't very talkative, even one on one. She would speak only when asked a question, and still with as few words as possible.
Chloe had even casually asked about her past, only to get Alley to close up more. Chloe's practiced investigation skills refused to allow her to formulate any theories; she had no information to go on. Though the girl's silence made Chloe's mind lean toward something incredibly bazaar, she just wasn't sure what.
"So," Chloe made another attempt to start a conversation, "what are you doing after school?"
"I am meeting my brother for coffee," Alley answered simply.
"Really?" Chloe tried to stretch it out as far as she could, "So where are you gonna go?"
"I do not know."
"Well, it's probably the Talon. It's the best coffee place in town; Lana Lang, a student here, runs it for Lex."
"Lex?"
Chloe almost jumped out of her skin. Had Alley actually asked *her* a question?! "Yes, Lex Luthor."
Alley smiled, "You mean Alexander Luthor?"
Chloe was ecstatic; *two* in a row! "Yeah, his friends call him 'Lex'."
"I never understood the fascination with shortening one's name. There are reasons why parents name their children certain things. We should not disgrace them by changing them."
"You don't like being called 'Alley'?"
Alley shook her head, "No, not when it is pronounced like in 'alley cat'. 'Uh-lay' is my name. Oxah is simply my family name. 'Alley' is nothing like my name, with the exception of the way it is spelled. An 'alley' is a dark place, where crimes take place. 'Alli' means 'intelligent beauty'."
"Than why is it spelled with an 'i' at the end if it's pronounced, 'a'?"
"Different cultures pronounce things different ways, I would imagine."
Chloe smiled, fully cataloging the information and storing it in her brain, "So, can I call you 'Uh-lay?"
Alli looked at her and smiled back, "Yes, I would like that very much."
"So, Alli, it's a small town, who's your brother?" Although she already knew the answer, she wanted to hear it for herself.
"Alex Luthor."
"But, you said your family name was 'Oxah'."
"It is, Lionel Luthor took me as his own when I was seven; ten years ago."
"Really? Where did you live—wait, your seventeen?!" Chloe stopped dead in her tracks.
Alli looked over her shoulder, a smirk lit her face, "I do not look it, do I?"
Chloe smiled, "Where did you live before Lionel took you in?" She asked, resuming her walking.
Alli hesitated, "I—I don—I do not remember."
"You don't remember?! What do you mean?"
"Alley!" Lex shouted, the exact pronunciation Alli had told Chloe to use. Except Lex didn't even have to think about it. He walked up to the two, "Ready?" He asked Alley, holding out his hand.
She smiled, "Yes," she turned back to Chloe, "Thank you, Chloe, I will see you tomorrow?"
Chloe forced a smile, trying to hide the disappointment of not having her last question answered, "Sure, see you then."
Alley handed Lex her backpack; slid it onto his shoulder and took her hand. When they reached the car, he even opened it for her and closed it as soon as she was in. He tossed her bag into the trunk and got into the driver's seat.
Chloe watched them drive away and decided that she needed to convince Clark and Pete to go with her to the Talon.
* * *
The Talon wasn't especially busy, just the normal smattering of patrons. Lex and his sister had taken a table close to the door, just slightly to the right side. Lana had asked what they wanted to drink; Lex had ordered his usual, then ordered Alley's for her. Lex looked at her to see if he was right, but he already knew he was, she had always ordered a cappuccino with extra whipped cream.
"So," Lex started, smiling at his sister, "how was your first day of Smallville High?"
She sighed but smiled warmly, "Same as the first days at every other school. Nothing changes. Ni-ay! Nothing!"
"Some things change," Lex answered.
"Troy-ai?"
"Yes, really. You've gotten prettier."
Alley laughed, "Cy! You've just gotten more blind!"
Lex chuckled, "What? I like the look. It's different from anyone in Smallville."
"I'm different enough, I don't need any more." She put her head in her hands, "My homeroom teacher had me stand in front of the class and talk about myself. I completely blanked out! I totally forgot all of my English. The only thing I could think was 'tsukai, Alex, inay-ta!'."
Lex smiled, "Because you know I always will."
"That why you called and asked me to come here?"
"What do you mean?"
"He's free. And don't say you don't know what I'm talking about. I read it online. He's looking for funding. You know as well as I do that there is only one experiment he wants to continue!"
Lex looked away, "Okay, so you know. I wanted you near enough so I could make sure you were safe. I refuse to wake up to a heartless memo placed on my desk, that says that you were killed two thousand miles away." He shook his head, "No one will think to look here, hell, its called 'Smallville'!"
"I've always trusted you, Alex," she lowered her voice to barely a whisper, "you're the smartest Earthling I've ever met."
Lex smiled and whispered back, "Well, we can't all be from Krypton."
Alley smiled, "Just drink your coffee."
* * *
Clark hadn't meant to eavesdrop; really, he hadn't. All he did was walk through the Talon's door. But that didn't stop him from almost fainting because of what he heard.
"—from Krypton." Lex's voice whispered.
"Just drink your coffee." Came the reply.
For a moment, Clark couldn't remember how to breathe. Had Lex found out?! He felt like running as fast as he could, but Chloe and Pete were standing next to him.
"Clark, man, are you okay?" Pete asked.
Clark blinked, "Yeah, Pete," he answered automatically.
They walked up to the bar and ordered their drinks, just as a man walked up and started to rant about the service. "Who owns this place?!"
Lana tried to calm the man, but to no avail.
* * *
Lex and Alley heard the man yell; Lex sighed, "'Scuse me." He stood to deal with the angry customer.
Alley sat smiling; it had been a while since she had been able to talk to Alex without having to look at a picture to see him. She had never in her life on this planet trusted another person. Alex had saved her. He was the nicest person anyone could ever hope to know. Though he would never admit it to anyone other than her. No matter how angry he was at the world, he never let it show in his voice or face when he spoke to her.
Alex always made her smile, no one, not even Lionel Luthor knew that Lex had a wonderful sense of humor. He could come up with a hundred jokes on the spot to cheer up the girl whenever the need arose. To the world he was a power-hungry, seemingly evil, son of a corporate big shot, who only got where he was because of his father. What Alley saw was the sensitive young man who protected her and spent countless, tireless hours to teach her to communicate. Though, Alley was forced, on a few occasions, to remind Alex to quell his megalomaniac tendencies.
She looked over to where Lex was standing, expertly handling the problem customer.
"Excuse me," a man asked, "is this seat taken?"
Alley looked up, her eyes wide with fear, "Qu-sai!" She gasped.
"Quiet, brat!" He snapped, "Hope you listen better now that you speak English!"
"Inay-ta," she breathed. "Cy! Cyo qu-sai." She shook her head back and forth, "Cyo qu-sai!"
"You're going to win me the Nobel Prize," the man said, a sadistic grin contorting his weathered face.
"Inay-ta!" Alley screamed at the top of her lungs. "Inay-ta! Alex! Inay- ta!"
A/N: Wowzers! Lots o' reviews for me! I feel loved! Keep 'em coming! As you can see, Lex is slightly different. I didn't mean for him to be *this* out of character; it just kinda happened. I just wanted to show that Lex is a very complex person, who hides himself from the outside world. He does care about people; but only certain ones. Also, most of the story will be written from Chloe's perspective. Don't ask me why! When I was rewriting it, it just seemed to click easier than writing it from Clark's or Lex's like I had originally planned. Besides, it makes sense (to me anyway) Chloe is kind of a busybody. She would be the one spelunking around and digging through people's pasts. Heck.........she does it a lot!
Now! I get to answer reviews! Sorry I didn't do this in the last chapter, I just didn't have the time.
CTony: Ok! The way I get reviews is I sit at the bottom of every chapter with a bowl and look really pathetic, croaking, "Reviews! Reviews for the poor!" LOL, no. I don't know. Truthfully, I never expected this many. When I wrote it I thought, "Ok, Amanda, see if you can beg Sam to read your fic and send you a review, so you can look good." But, I guess I don't need to. Maybe it's because I say that the more reviews I get, the faster I update. I don't know. I liked your story, though. Script fashion usually isn't my fav, but you got me hooked. Please continue, I'd love to see what happens to Lana! Question though, if she has Kryptonite in her blood, how can Clark be around her?
DuMont: Thanx, I thought it was Luthor, but my pc doesn't like that spelling.........computers suck sometimes. Thanx, I'll fix it.
Circe: I live in Southern California. Why anyone would want to leave here, where it was 90 degrees in FEBUARY I have no clue. Chloe was making a comment, "why would she come to *Kansas* from L.A.?" Is it still cold in NY? It's like 85 out here.
Knight/m: Actually, she gets her fashion tips from me and my best friend.........we dress like that all the time.........scary, huh? But that's about the only thing I have in common with Alli. She's actually kinda crazy, in the non-fun way. Lots of emotional problems. Anyway, I'm giving too much away.
To everyone who said something about the language: Mostly its just random sounds I pulled out of my brain. BUT I worked really hard, so I know what each phrase is supposed to say, so I can remember single words. Like "tsukai" means "please". "Cy" means "no". And in the last chapter, when Lex was telling Alley to be careful, she said, "Fi, jira" which means "yes, father", and Lex answers, "Good, suu", "suu" meaning "daughter". "Ni-ay" means "nothing". I think its funny that Lex speaks Kryptonian.
I'm not saying anymore. You'll have to read to find out what happens next!
Don't forget to leave a review! Thanks!