GONE CHAPTER SIX

Author's notes: I really thought I had uploaded this a long time ago. It's up at both my Livejournal and Sorry, guys!

The next few days were quieter than Chloe had expected with Lucas' presence. They had all settled into an odd routine--almost eerily like a family. If Lucas thought anything of the fact that she and Lex came down for breakfast together, he didn't voice his opinion. At least not to her.

Instead, Chloe found herself warming to the young man. He was almost two years older than her--but that was less than Lex's five--and he enjoyed being his age.

Which was not to say he was incapable of being mature when the situation called for it.

No, certainly not.

But she didn't feel she had to be strong all the time--or that he was watching her constantly, always observing her behavior. Even though Lex had told her time and time again to be herself and let her emotions speak for her, he wasn't doing the same.

It was really hard to keep baring raw parts of your soul to someone who wouldn't even reveal how he felt.

She was eating strawberries when Lex asked her about her schoolwork. "What?"

He favored her with a sideways glance. "I was wondering if you needed any more help with your algebra."

Chloe bit down hard on another strawberry. "No, I'm okay."

"You're sure?"

She set her fork down with a snap and met his gaze evenly. "I said I was fine."

Lucas cleared his throat. "Pass the butter." They both glared at him. He put his hands up. "Don't kill me. I just want to put some on my toast."

Unsure of why she was so mad all of the sudden, Chloe pushed away from the table and stood up. She grabbed the butter dish on the way out and set it in front of Lucas. "Here."

The door slammed shut. A vase fell off its post and shattered to the floor.

Lex pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

Lucas finished his toast. "You just had to push her, didn't you?"

He looked up in surprise. "What?"

"Are you blind? She's upset."

"I saw that."

The younger man drank down his orange juice and stifled a burp. "You just steamrolled her, Lex. You saw she was upset and instead of backing off, you kept pushing her."

"She needs to get moving with her work, Lucas."

"I'd like to think that I know you reasonably well by now. I know you're not the monster that everyone thinks you are. But sometimes people need space instead of being forced into keeping busy. Chloe is one of those people."

Lex frowned. "I know that."

"Then why did you do it?" Lucas asked reasonably, poking at the marshmallows in his cereal. For some reason, he really liked Lucky Charms. Maybe it was the colors.

"Because that's what--" Lex stopped. That's what his father had done to him. Kept him busy, whether he liked it or not. "I should go apologize."

"No," Lucas said, firmly enough to draw Lex's attention to him. "Let her go. She needs to learn to stand on her own two feet again. She can't do that if you're always coddling her."

The fact that Chloe had said more or less the same thing a few weeks ago didn't help. "I think I know what I'm doing, Lucas."

"Do you?" He stood up and walked away, patting his brother on the shoulder on the way out. " 'Cause if you did, you'd see that I'm right."

"Hey."

Chloe looked up from her lap. Lucas stood above her, blocking out the sun. "Hey. Lex send you out here?"

"Have you always been this paranoid?" He dropped beside her with a sigh that ruffled her hair. "The last time I checked, you and my brother got along pretty well."

For lack of anything else to say, Chloe blurted out, "I sleep with him."

Lucas didn't even blink. "Your point? You must not sleep well if you're this pissed at him during the day."

She frowned. "But I'm not. I mean, I am, but--I don't know. He just--he doesn't tell me anything! And--I'm supposed to tell him everything, and just up and pretend that things are okay, when they're not." She shaded her face against the sun to look at him. "Is that some sort of Luthor survival instinct?"

He leaned against the base of the tree and glanced at her. "Survival is important. I think Lex is trying to teach you that."

Tiny pieces of grass came loose under her tight grip. She threw them aimlessly and watched as they scattered. "And if it's something I already know?"

"This is about more than algebra, Chloe, and I think you're aware of that."

"He needs to back off." She stubbornly replied.

"I agree." Chloe gaped at him. "What? He hovers. I've called him on it."

"He does seem a little more defensive since you arrived."

"I feel the love already." His sarcasm was refreshing. Chloe relished the comfort she had in his presence and chose not to comment.

"He's trying to get you strong again."

"I am strong."

Lucas arched a brow. "Yeah? Prove it to him."

The wind blew softly and lifted the wisps of hair around her face. She turned determined eyes on him. "Fine. I will."

He watched her as she picked up her things and walked back to the mansion. Once she was out of sight, his lips curled up in a smile.

Things were looking up already.

She found Lex in his office with a few of the staff. He caught sight of her and finished up his business, dismissing them with a few words.

"Chloe. About this morning--"

"Don't worry about it. What was that?"

Lex watched the rest of the staff depart. "I'm having a business meeting tonight. A few members on the board are looking to hire some new blood, and the plan is to get a general idea of what we're looking for before the interviews begin."

Chloe tangled her fingers in the belt loops of her jeans. "You're replacing my dad, right?"

His face was carefully blank. "Not necessarily. But I won't lie to you. Your father was an asset to the company. It will be hard to find someone half as good as he was."

She took a deep breath and looked at the stained glass windows. They were a muddled mixture of colors and shapes, blurry and clear at the same time. "Can I come?"

"You want to be at the meeting?" The surprise was evident in his voice.

She shrugged. "I'm easily bored these days. It might be interesting. And if you won't tell me more about what's going on in your life, then I guess I'll just have to find out another way."

Chloe left without waiting for an answer. The only reminder of her presence was the faint smell of cherries.

Lex reached for his water and sipped slowly. She was starting to get her spine back. And if she wanted to come to his business meetings, that was perfectly fine by him.

At the very least, it would make things interesting.

A pair of black pants and a blue sweater sat on her bed when she finally made it to her room. While she slept with Lex, she wouldn't share his room. That was too... weird. It made her uncomfortable to think of how scarily domestic their arrangement could become if she just gave in and started leaving a few of her things in his room.

It was almost as if he was watching her to see what she would do. She got that impression a lot, but more so when they were alone and there was no one else to interfere.

She showered and played idly with her makeup before putting the clothes on. They fit perfectly. Hmph. Chloe knew for a fact that all her clothes from... before, no longer fit. They were about two sizes too big. Of course, then there was Lex. And who really wanted to know how he knew what size she was wearing.

It wasn't until she was trying to will some color into her cheeks, however, that she saw the beading on the top. A faint nonsensical pattern wove its beaded way along her chest and waist. She was intrigued to see the beading continued all over her back. Understated enough to be respectable, but not totally lacking all personality.

Chloe grabbed a pair of red jeweled chandelier earrings on her way out. They had been a gift from Lana during an impulsive trip into the jewelry store. When she wore them, she thought of the memory fondly. But only for a moment.

She had a man she needed to analyze. Time to get her head in the game.

Chloe wasn't sure how she felt about going into this. Lex was no doubt assuming that she would remain levelheaded and calm throughout the meeting--and she had no desire to disappoint him. She racked her mind for even the briefest mention of her father's coworkers and realized that her dad had always been very good about not bringing his work home with him.

Or at least, not so that she'd notice.

Which was all well and good, if you discounted the fact that she didn't know a soul in there. She ducked into a room at random and wandered inside until she found a clock. Dinner didn't start for another twenty minutes. That would give her time enough to try and find something on these new partners. At the very least, she would be able to check up on her progress breaking into the LexCorp private files.

Chloe sped off for the Gray Room before anyone ever knew she'd stepped foot in the hallway.

It was rare for Chloe to come into her little sanctuary and not walk about the room aimlessly. She liked to get a feel for the place that was fast becoming her second home and it was a small comfort to check things out herself and make sure that nothing had been disturbed. She trusted Lex implicitly when he'd told her the room was hers. She knew he kept up his end of the bargain about not letting anyone else in. But it just calmed her to see her precious space remain the same day in and day out.

It meant that even though her emotions and thoughts changed daily, this was her one constant.

Tonight, of course, she had work to do. She went straight for the computer and got to work.

Hacking into LexCorp wasn't hard, really. It required the usual smattering of passwords and firewall breaches, but as long as you covered your tracks, it was fine. The number one thing that exposed many a new hacker was their over-confidence.

Chloe wasn't overconfident in her abilities. She trusted that she would be able to get the information she needed, but not at the expense of revealing herself. Covering up her tracks would keep her out of Security's way while she wandered the system files. By the time they found out someone was in the system, she was already done.

Moore, Phillip

Herring, James

Jacobs, Edward

Lex was also on the board, and she had a feeling they were searching for a fifth member to take her father's place. Chloe studied the photos offline, just in case. Moore was the tallest. Herring sort of looked like a fish, with big eyes and a floppy looking face. And Jacobs looked old enough to be her grandfather.

Satisfied that she knew what she was walking into, Chloe went back to the LexCorp website and verified the latest press releases. While her comfort level was low, it was always good to be somewhat prepared when going into these things.

A long stretch had her bones and muscles yawning in protest. Chloe stood up and brushed the lint off her pants. She glanced at the clock on her computer and cursed.

She was late.

She made it to the room in record time. Chloe took a minute to smooth down her clothes and settle her hair.

Lex looked up from his drink when she walked in. Lex was the only one who looked up when she walked in.

"Where did they go?"

He took in her appearance, the flushed cheeks and faint sparking her eyes. It made him feel a twinge of regret for what he'd done.

"The meeting was surprisingly productive. We only needed about 20 minutes of the hour I'd allotted. You just missed them," he added unnecessarily.

Her face was unreadable. "And you found the replacement."

His brow lifted. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"For my Dad, Lex." Chloe's voice was flat and her gaze accusing. "That's what this meeting was about, wasn't it? That's why you didn't want me here. You didn't think I could handle it."

"Like you're handling it now?" He mildly observed.

She flushed. "Lex, you didn't even give me a chance."

He watched her silently, as if weighing the odds. "I honestly didn't know the business of LexCorp meant that much to you, Chloe."

Chloe's eyes snapped emerald fire. "That's not what this is about and you know it."

Lex stood and placed his hands flat on the table. "Then what is it about, Chloe?"

Suddenly, she was tired of fighting him. She was tired of pretending that this mattered to her. She didn't even know why she was making such a big deal out of it.

"Nothing."

It was like seeing the fight literally escape from her. Her entire body sagged in defeat. While it wasn't the first time Lex had seen it in a person, it was the first time he cared.

"Chloe--"

She shook her head and slumped into the chair across from him. "Just don't. Please."

After a few moments, Lex headed for the door. It closed silently behind him and Chloe let her eyes close in relief. With a shudder, she let out the sob that she'd been harboring for the past three minutes.

It took willpower not to let loose a whole torrent of hysterics, but she worked on getting her emotions under control. If she wanted to move up, if she wanted to prove herself ready to Lex, it wouldn't be by crying into his dining room table.

Well, one of them, anyway.

Chloe sighed heavily and looked around the room. It was amazing. She'd missed them by minutes. If only she had prepared sooner, or had left the room at an earlier time, and had run faster--what on earth was that?

A thin manila folder rested two seats away.

Like a woman possessed, she got up from her seat and reached for it. Her eyes fell on the LexCorp logo as she read the documents inside. Her jaw gaped wider as she read on.

"No way." Chloe breathed, taking all the information in.

It suddenly looked like she had work again.

Author's Note: You know the drill--favorite lines and all that. I had been struggling with the end of this for weeks, when suddenly it came to me like this. Ultimately, this was the sort of chapter end I was going for, with a push ahead to the main plot and a bigger part for Lucas. You're also seeing trouble in paradise for Chloe and Lex... foreshadowing of what's to come, perhaps?

Any questions or comments, as always, feel free. Thanks for reading!