2010
The lines of his hand were probably fascinating, Bruce Wayne thought idly. He would visit a palm reader, but he was just a little paranoid about his secret identity. Then again, should h really be so worried? Everybody had secret identities right?
He would think of anything, everything, except what was in front of him right now. He did not see her sitting by the window. He really did not. Bruce only knew that his fascinating palm lines lay in front of him, a mystery waiting to be unraveled. Bruce was unmoved by the way her fingers trembled as she reached up to wipe the silent streaks off her cheeks.
"Talk to me," came Chloe's whisper soft plea.
And Bruce wondered if the lines of his wrist also had meaning.
"When will you talk to me?" she asked. "When, Bruce?"
Should Alfred not be knocking on te door by this time, to inform them that dinner had been served?
Bruce certainly did not see how she stood from her seat and started towards him. He did not care how she stood right in front of him so still, waiting for some form of acknowledgment.
"You've always told me I'm stubborn and proud, and that they were compliments."
And he had. A hundred thousand million times. She was gorgeous and intelligent and stubborn. Always had been. Bruce never thought she would use all that to work against him. Should have known though. Since she came into his life, Chloe had been too good to be true.
Bruce would have known that earlier had he only been brave enough to have his palm read.
Her hand closed around his. Bruce finally looked up and met her eyes, only too see her slowly fall to her knees. It was the only time he spoke since he found out her unholy connection to Lex Luthor.
"Get up," he said tersely.
Her eyes closed tightly, at the sweet sweet sound of his voice.
"Get up, Chloe. You're not earning any points."
She shook her head. "I need you to hear me out, Bruce."
He pushed away from her, and Chloe stumbled her side, on both hands. Bruce quickly moved to help her up, but caught himself before he reached her.
"I just want to know why, Chloe. Didn't I give you enough?" he demanded. "Because I don't have anymore. I gave you all of me."
She turned to him. "And I didn't, Bruce?"
At that, he knelt in front of her. "You were working with the son of the devil to bring me down!" he exploded.
Chloe cringed.
"I thought you loved me," he said in a more controlled manner.
"And I thought I've done enough for you to never have to doubt that," she replied.
"You've done enough alright."
Gingerly, she picked herself up. "I've lost my pride," she said. "If I were the same person who came here a year ago, Bruce, I would have walked out of your forever because of what happened now. But I've changed since we were together. I guess I lost my pride the moment I fell in love with you."
He did not move to get up as well. It was never this easy, he had learned. In this life, you must question your blessings. He made the mistake of accepting the gift of Chloe at face value once. He would not make the same mistake again. He refused to believe that their love turned her loyalty from the man he just found out she served, Lex Luthor, to the loser who had been fooled into giving her his heart, himself.
"I'm staying, Bruce, because I know if I walked out of here right now you will remember me as the woman who pretended to be in love with you."
"That's who you are."
"Maybe at first," she admitted. "There's no sense denying it."
"When did you start working for him?" he finally found the courage to ask. "Did he come to you when we fought two months ago? Did you decide to be his spy right after we got engaged? Tell me, Chloe, so I know exactly what I did wrong to deserve your betrayal."
Chloe stepped forward until she was standing right in front of him, and he had to look up to see her. She reached down to bury her fingers in his hair. "I came to Gotham City looking for you at his bidding."
He shut his eyes tightly in despair.
"He gave me the invitation to that charity ball."
Bruce had followed her around that ball like a puppy. She didn't recognize him nor notice him. At least she had pretended she hd no interest in him whatsoever. She had strung him along.
"Lex was the reason I was always around, Bruce. And then you finally asked me to dinner."
She had slept with him on that first date, and Bruce's guts twisted. "What you had done for that man," he murmured.
Clearly, she thought of the same thing he did. "No, Bruce," she corrected him. "What I had done for myself. On that first night I called him and said I wouldn't do it. I didn't want to work for him anymore. Everything that happened after that, I did for myself."
He released a long-held breath and reached his arms up around her legs. He buried his face against her thighs.
"You forgive me?"
"The worst thing about it is I was never as angry at you as I was at myself."
He finally stood and clutched her tightly to him.
"He will try over and over to bring you down," she breathed against his shirt.
He nodded. "He's got to be angry with you too."
She smiled. "If you call threathening messages over the phone and email anger, then I guess he is."
"I swear I'll protect you."
Ever green eyes equate to ever green love, forever fresh, forever new. So very long ago and yet it seemed like yesterday.
Ever ever ever green.
2007
Lex could not believe he had lost that deal. It had been so insanely petty he could not believe that Lex Luthor would lose to Bruce Wayne because of a simple missed phone call. He had forgotten to have his phone suspended, and damn Chloe Sullivan again for stealing it. The CEO of Kings Bros. mentioned in his letter that his executive assistant had left the meeting date and time with the older man who answered his phone. Since Lex never showed, they gave the contract to Wayne Enterprises.
Bruce Wayne didn't do anything except bid against him, so he really did nothing wrong. The fact that he was beaten though, made Lex understandably mad.
Chloe Sullivan, on the other hand, actually did something wrong. Lex Luthor was furious with her. If he saw that lying thief again, he would snap her precious white neck.
Lex had some amount of alcohol before he even left the house to go to the club. He was out in search of a perticular man. Sure, Chloe stole his phon and his wallet. That in itself was unfair. It was also stupid of him to be duped. However, being the businessman that he was, Lex always had backup. There was a man installed in the Kings Bros. office to update him on developments such as this. He was now in search of why that backup didn't work.
He climbed the spiral staircase to the balcony so he could scope out the club.
Lex noticed the man over at the bar doing some body shots with a young lady. His eyes narrowed. If George McNamara had been too busy doing body shots the entire time, then he most likely would get nothing done. He was about to call out to George when the young lady doing body shots with him turned around.
And unmistakably, beneath the shimmering powder and heavy eye makeup, it was Chloe Sullivan. Ah, this was going to be a fruitful night. As Lex rushed over to confront the two, h noticed Chloe reach for George and slip her hand down his back pocket. As George took his time nibbling on her ear, Chloe had done enough to pick out what seemed to be a white card out of the wallet. Deftly, pretending to be grabbing his butt, Chloe put the wallet back into his pocket.
George whispered something into Chloe's ear. Lex watched her grin and shake her head, then walk away from the man. He decided that George could wait.
Chloe kept glancing behind her as she made hr way to the back exit of the club. When she reached it, she inspected the card under the streetlight.
"Is that an AMEX?"
Chloe whirled around and slipped the card inside her pocket. "Mr Luthor."
"Oh Chloe. After everything that happened to us that night, I think you can call me by my first name. You know what it is right, given that you have all my credit cards and ID cards."
She folded her arms across her chest. "I don't really know what you're talking about."
"Didn't figure you for a petty thief."
"I'm insulted!" she proclaimed.
Lex shook his head. "I'm betting if I slip my hand down your pants... pocket, I will draw out George's credit card."
"I'll take that bet," she challenged. When he started to approach her, she fended him off. "Let's talk terms."
She was magnificent. He had never been in such height--a mixture of anger and lust was not healthy. "I win, you give me back what you stole from me."
"I win?" she prompted.
"Then you can get whatever you want from me," he spread his arms. "My watch alone will pay for your college fund."
Her lips turned into a smirk. "Deal." She walked towards Lex and thrusted her hips towards him. "Go ahead," she whispered. "Slip it in."
Lex let his breath leave his body slowly through his teeth. "Thief," he whispered, but it sounded like an endearment.
"Look who's talking," she whispered back.
Lex slipped his hand into her pants pocket. Instead of drawing out the plastic card, he moved it aside and turned his hand so that he could lay his palm against her thigh.
Chloe could feel the heat of his skin through the leather. She placed her hands on his chest to push him away, only to find them crawling to his back. She turned her head so that her lips hovered right below his.
Lex took the card between his two fingers and drew it out. Then, without even looking at it, he dropped it onto the ground. He took her face between his hands and kissed her hungrily. They stumbled together until she was against the wall.
"You--lied--about Clark--about everything," he said in between kisses.
Chloe moaned when his lips left hers to explore her neck. She felt his hurried fingers unbuttoning her pants. "Do you really care?" she gasped out.
"Not right now, I don't." He helped her kick off the pants.
Then, Lex unzipped his own pants and lifted her thighs up so that he could step between her legs. He lifted her against the wall and looked straight into her eyes.
"This is so fast," she breathed.
"I hope you don't say that after."
Chloe smiled. "You don't know how long I waited for this."
Lex was about to ask, when she placed her hands on his buttocks and pulled her against her. He hissed as he felt her, hot and tight around him, and thrusted home. When he felt something inside her break, he tipped her chin up and saw her tightly shut eyes. "God," he said in disblief.
She clutched at his shoulders tightly, desperate, moving against him through the pain that was clearly etched on her forehead. "Give me everything," she whispered into his ear.
And he vowed, in that alley, against the wall while he pushed into oblivion inside her body, staring into eyes greener than green in passion, "I will."
tbc