Title: Breaking Chloe Sullivan

Summary: Her strength is intriguing him, her fire captivating him, but can she survive his interest? Lex decides it's time to find out, what exactly will it take to break Chloe Sullivan?

Shipping: Chlark Chlex mostly Chlark

Major Characters: Chloe Clark Lex

Author's Note: I am soooooo sorry it's been so long since I've posted. School got crazy and writer's block snuck up and attacked me from behind! But I am back and hope to continue posting regularly. Please don't give up on this story!

Reviews: Thank you so much for all the reviews and all of the messages prodding me to knuckle down and post again!

Previously:

Chloe

Her world had revolved around him for so long it had been hard to readjust her axis when he'd been forcibly removed from of her life. And she was just his friend, a good friend, but a friend. He wouldn't want to be with her if he knew. If he knew what she'd done he'd probably never speak to her again. If he knew what she had allowed that man to do to her he'd never touch her again. He could never know.

Clark

Clark why are you so jealous? And that was it wasn't it? He was jealous. He was insanely jealous of this guy he'd never met. Why? Because he's had her in ways you never have. Why couldn't he shut off that stupid voice? … Something terrible had happened to her and he was sick of not knowing what. He was going to find out what she was hiding. Even if she wouldn't help him and even if she didn't want him to he was going to find out.

Lex

Chloe belonged with him. That was all there was to it. And so he would wait, just a little longer, for her to come back to him. Because she would. She needed him. He was the one that held the keys to the doors of her past. He would just have to be careful which ones he gave her.

Ch. 18 Somewhere to Start

It had taken some work, but she was in. Chloe could be quite the fast talker and the poor guard at the gate was no match for her smile and easy going voice. His head must still be spinning, still caught in the web of lies she'd spun for him. It helped that she had her sexy reporter outfit on she was sure. A tight skirt and a shirt cut just a little too low were some of the best tools in a woman reporter's arsenal and Chloe held no qualms about using them.

Now she was in the building, waiting under armed guard of course, but that would be taken care of in a minute. She'd scoped out the place as they led her inside. Lex's office was down the hall, take a right and then at the end of that hall. That's where she wanted to be, not here inside this poor excuse for a reception area, although if you never get visitors it makes sense that you wouldn't waste money on making them feel comfortable.

"Excuse me sir?" The guard turned to look at her and Chloe smiled widely, her best disarming smile.

"What was your name again?"

He hesitated but only for a second. "Brian." Apparently he wasn't that stupid, he hadn't given her a last name she could use in her story.

"Well Brian do you know where the restroom is?"

"Miss you're not allowed to leave the room."

"Brian please, I really have to go." She stepped a little closer, bouncing up and down a little. If you act a little childish it helps people trust you, provoking the natural instinct people have to trust children.

"Okay… follow me."

"But Brian if you leave and someone walks by they're going to wonder where we went. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."

Chloe watched him think this over, praying desperately that he would let her go. "Okay, but make it fast. Down the hall to the right, first door on your left." Perfect.

"I'll try, thanks!" And she walked down the hallway, her heels clicking as she went. When she got to the end of the hall she turned around and glanced back at him, smiling and giving him a little wave. Stopping outside the door that said Restroom, Chloe opened it and shut it again, listening to the satisfyingly convincing bang as it closed. She slipped off her heels and raced as fast as she could to Lex's office. It was locked of course, but that was no problem. What kind of reporter would she be if she didn't carry a lock pick kit in her purse?

Once she was in, with the door closed behind her, Chloe allowed herself to take a breath, she tried to relax. Glancing at her cell phone Chloe realized she had about ten minutes before Lex was scheduled to arrive. What to do with her time? It took her all of two seconds to decide to go looking through his drawers. What are you hiding Lex? There were meaningless files, project names that meant nothing to her, that didn't grab her interest.

She tried to look through all of them, skimming, desperately trying to find something. And then she did. A harmless looking folder, it looked just like all the rest, except she noticed the edges were more worn, like he looked at it more often than the others.

Hercules was the file name. What the hell? Chloe opened the file and started rifling through the papers, trying to find something she recognized, something she could connect to. It was like some kind of extended medical report, except there were things missing, it was just the skeleton of whatever Project Hercules was, the money and the cover. Then she saw it. It was just a P.O. Box, but it was an address, something she could connect to a name, whoever they were paying. They had to have him on record as an employee but there wasn't a name anywhere she could find, just that P.O. Box. Chloe hurriedly copied it down.

And then every cell in her body halted their movements as she heard voices coming down the hall. It was Lex. Shit. Chloe shoved the file back in the drawer, shut it quickly but silently and then slipped her high heels back on. When Lex opened the door she was sitting calmly on his desk, leaning back comfortably with her legs crossed in front of her.

The look on his face was worth everything. Shock widened his eyes and made his mouth open for a split second before he recovered his expression and squared his shoulders.

"Miss Lane."

"Mr. Luthor."

He turned back to the man he was talking to, "Get me those reports before I leave."

"Yes sir." Chloe looked at the man he was talking to, mentally photographing him in case she saw him again somewhere else. The fact that he referred to Lex as sir meant he was on the lower end of things, but that didn't mean he couldn't provide her with information later. He was dressed in a suit, so he wasn't a security guard, but he also looked like more of a paper pusher than someone who did actual, physical work.

"Oh, and find out who was supposed to be watching Miss Lane."

"Yes sir."

The man turned away and Lex shut the door. Chloe didn't say anything, she simply looked at him, waiting for his response. He looked at her, and she watched his emotions play behind his guarded eyes. She wasn't sure what she expected out of him at this point. Would he mention the flowers first? Or would he question why she had come to see him? Or would he skip right to asking what the hell she was doing in his office?

"I don't believe I agreed to an interview." Chloe smirked, a part of her satisfied at the irritation in his voice, but at the same time she wanted to wince at the coldness of his tone.

"I don't believe I asked for one."

He took a step towards her and Chloe consciously made the effort to not move from where she was at. Lex put his hands casually in his pockets, "Well what are you doing here then? Snooping Miss Lane?"

Chloe knew he was distancing himself from her, refusing to call her by her real name. That was fine. She didn't want him using their connection against her. Not now. She shrugged, keeping her expression neutral, not giving anything away, waiting for him to decide how this was going to play out. She would bide her time, wait until the right moment to ask her questions.

Lex walked to the front of the desk, and after a second's hesitation he reached forward and brushed some of the hair back from her face. Chloe felt her skin warm from the touch of his fingertips. "Did you like the roses?" His voice was soft now, his eyes warmer.

"Did you really think sending flowers would help? Did you really think I would go for that clichéd technique of sending an apology via flower boy?"

"That depends. Did it work?"

And Chloe couldn't help by smile at his playful smirk. Don't fall into this game again Chloe. But she wanted to. It would be so easy, comforting in its familiarity. He was leaning in now, placing his hands on the desk on either side of her. His mouth was coming closer and Chloe found herself mesmerized by his warmth as he brushed his lips over her cheek. She felt her body responding to his, curving into him, and she felt very familiar shivers run up her spine as he whispered her name in her ear.

Don't give in Chloe. You came here for a reason. She latched onto that thought, onto the thing that had brought her back to him in the first place. And she brought her hand up to his face, running her thumb over smooth skin. She leaned in until their breath mingled, until she could almost taste him tasting her.

And then she sprung her trap. "What do you know Lex?"

Lex stiffened, straightened, missing her hand as it released his face, missing her warmth as he drew away from her. He sighed, running a hand over his scalp.

"I don't know what you're talking about Chloe." His voice was tired, he sounded like he was sick of this discussion and he didn't bother to disguise it, knowing she knew that already.

"I don't believe you."

"Is this why you came here Chloe? To start this argument again?"

Chloe slid off the desk, and put her hands on her hips. He couldn't help but admire the way her skirt hugged the curves of her hips and thighs, the way her shirt fell from her full chest to her slim waist. Lex knew she was conscious of his gaze but he didn't bother to conceal it. "I want answers Lex."

"What makes you think I have those answers?"

He wanted to laugh as she rolled her eyes at him. "Don't insult my intelligence."

"I wouldn't dare." Lex took a step towards her, wanting to get her off balance again, and maybe just wanting her. "Did you really come here to fight Chloe?"

"Get that smirk off your face Lex." She took several steps away from him and he advanced towards her, becoming the predator again. "Don't even think about it."

"It's a little late for that Chloe." He had no intention of backing off now, not when he had her literally and figuratively against the wall. Without giving her time for protest, he put his hands on her hips, untucking her shirt, slipping his hands underneath it, and feeling her skin as he pressed into her.

"Lex get off me!" He ran his hands up her back, pulling her against him as he kissed her neck. She pushed at him, but her struggles were in vain. And when he gripped her ass and ground himself against her, Lex felt her body start to give a little.

"Come on Chloe," he said softly in her ear. "I don't want to fight." Her fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt, clutching it in indecision.

"Lex I…" And as her eyes searched his in desperation Lex smiled because he knew he'd won. But when he leaned in to take her lips, she shoved him away, catching him by surprise so that he stumbled back a little, stunned him so that he didn't know what to do for a second.

"No," she said firmly. Try as he might to be angry at her response, Lex found he couldn't, all he felt was admiration, maybe a little disappointment. "I didn't come here for that Lex."

"Well then what did you come here for? Because that's all I have for you." he told her, walking around to sit behind his desk.

She straightened her clothes, as if to erase the memory of his hands messing them up. Lex smirked as she tucked her shirt back into the waistline of her skirt. "I came here Lex," she said, walking over to stand in front of his desk with her hands on her hips, "for answers."

"Answers to what Chloe?" He watched her eye him, size him up, deciding what exactly to say next. Deciding how much she should tell him. But when she opened her mouth he knew she had chosen to dive right in, because why not? She already thought he knew everything, so what could she say that he wouldn't already know?

Chloe leaned forward, placing her hands on the desk. "All the things I can't remember."

"I don't know what you're talking about." But the response was too quick, too oiled, like he'd said it too many times, planned to deny this too many times. He hadn't taken the time to make it sound believable because he was distracted. Distracted by the thought that if she really did think he knew everything, she might believe he was responsible for the man that haunted the dark shadows she avoided. And then she would hate him.

She would hate him.

"You're lying Lex. Badly." She looked closer at him, and he could see the wheels turning behind her pretty eyes. This was one of his favorite expressions, when she was making connections, when she was thinking. But this time he feared it.

"I am not lying." This response was a bit firmer but it was too late now.

"Are you okay Lex? What's wrong?"

"Why would there be anything wrong?"

"I don't know Lex, that's why I'm asking. There is something wrong. You never lie that badly."

Lex had to suppress a smile because she was right. He both felt a rush of warmth from the fact that she knew him so well and a spark of nervousness. "Your imagination is running away with you Chloe." She glared at him and this time he did smile. "No really, have you ever thought about writing a novel?"

"If I did," she said, leaning forward farther, "you would be the villain."

"Is there any other character to be?" He stood up without realizing it, determined to get his point across, determined to make sure she admitted the truth to herself. "Would you want me to be the hero? The naïve man who won't admit his faults to himself? Who still believes in humanity? Still believes the world is truly good?"

"The world is good!" she shouted at him.

"You don't believe that Chloe."

"Yes I do!" Her words contradicted her expression. She looked to be on the verge of tears, desperately clinging to this frail belief, terrified of what would happen if she allowed him to shatter it all to pieces. "It's just people Lex! People like you! Who bring all the evil into this world!"

Lex's defenses shot up, and his cool exterior began to break. He wasn't evil. He wasn't. He just dealt with evil things. All he wanted was the truth, just the truth. "I'm evil Chloe?"

She closed her eyes, running a hand through her hair. He knew she couldn't say that, couldn't let herself think that. Because then she would have to face the fact that she had knowingly run to an evil man for comfort, and what did that make her?

"Lex, you're avoiding the question."

"What question?"

"What do you know Lex? What do you know about what happened?" She was looking at him again, and he found himself wanting to help her. It had to be her eyes, swallowing him up in her desperation to know and the conflict of not wanting to know tearing her apart. But he couldn't tell her. She could never find out.

He looked her in the eye, forcing himself to face the knife slowly pushing its way into his chest. "Chloe. I'm sorry. I don't know anything." Lex watched as her shoulders slumped, watched the life drain out of her body slowly, as hope and relief fought their battle inside her. He couldn't stop himself from walking around the desk and reaching out for her. "Chloe…"

She looked up at him as he put his hands on her upper arms like he often did, attempting to comfort her, his fingers strong and reassuring as they massaged her tired muscles. "Please Lex…"

"Chloe I am truly sorry, but I don't know what to tell you. Maybe if you tell me what happened I can help fill in the blanks, I can-" Lex stopped as she jerked back out of his grip.

Her glare pierced him and it was like an icicle, freezing him from the inside out. "Forget it Lex." Staccato syllables hit him as if she was slapping him across the face. "If you won't tell me, I'll find out myself."

She turned to walk out of his office and he grabbed her arm, not really sure what he was doing or why, but not able to stop himself. "Chloe!" All she did was glare at him, waiting for him to say whatever he was going to say. Except he had no idea what that was.

He wanted to ask her to wait, ask her to stay. Ask her anything really, if it would make her spend a few more minutes with him, here in his office. He wanted to tell her not to go looking, because there were things he couldn't let her find out, he wanted to tell her how dangerous all of this was, wanted to warn her. He wanted to tell her that he'd missed her, that he wanted her to come back to him. But he didn't say any of that, didn't say anything.

So she wrenched her arm free and opened the door, slamming it shut behind her. Lex just stood there, frozen, wanting to run after her, but knowing that he couldn't. He went and sat back at his desk, taking a deep breath and shoving all of it into a box, because he didn't have time for this. He was on the verge of a major breakthrough with project Hercules, a project he'd been working on for almost eleven years now, and he was not going to let Chloe become a distraction.

Lex picked up the phone and waited for it to connect. "Richard. We're moving to the next stage."

Clark walked into the bar with determination in his step and written all over his face. He was not leaving here without answers. He'd turn the place upside down if he had to, he had to find something out about what had happened to Chloe here. All he knew was that this bar was where Chloe had been headed the night she had disappeared, that she had been planning to go undercover to bust up the drug ring she had discovered Shaun was working for.

He sat at the bar, it was still relatively early and there were only a few other patrons here, which suited Clark's purposes perfectly fine. "What can I getchya?" The bartender looked to be about sixty years old, a wizened face and wrinkled but strong hands. His head was shaved and the remnants of gray facial hair looked stiff and prickly on his face. But Clark found hope in his eyes. He had kind eyes, warm and friendly, like someone who would have cared if something happened to a young girl at his bar.

"I'm not drinking, I was just wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions?"

"Son, if you're not buying, I dunno what I can do for you."

He went to turn away and Clark called him back. "Okay, umm, just a beer I guess."

"So what can I do ya for?" Hands that were familiar with their task poured his drink and Clark took a deep breath, trying to decide where to begin. The bartender handed him his beer and put his hands on the counter, waiting.

"Do you own this bar?" Clark figured if he started small, maybe worked his way up to the hard questions, he'd be more likely to get an answer.

"Sure do, been mine thirty years or so. Name's Greg."

"Mine's Clark." He reached out and shook his hand in a firm grip.

"So what did you want to ask me son?"

"I have this… friend… and something… something bad happened to her. A long time ago."

Clark knew he had been right in his judgment of this man when he saw his forehead wrinkle, and his eyes darken with sorrow. Empathy he had for a woman he'd never met and a man simply sitting at his bar. His hopes grew that he would find something here. "I'm sorry son," Greg said, and he was sincere.

"Thanks." Greg just waited, and Clark sensed that, as a bartender, he was an experienced listener and had heard many stories from people who just needed someone to talk to. "I think that, whatever happened, started here."

"Here? At my bar?"

"Yes. She was coming here, that night… I should've, I should've stopped her… done something… and then maybe she wouldn't…"

"It's not your fault son. Whatever it is, it's not your fault." He reached out and put a hand on Clark's arm, a stranger's comfort in a time of need. "Drink your beer son."

Clark did what he was told and took a swallow. "I need to know what happened."

"I don't know how I can help you."

Reaching into his breast pocket, Clark took out an old picture of the two of them, back when Chloe was blonde and this sadness hadn't yet begun to eat away at her. He could see it, she thought she was hiding it but he knew, this time he was paying attention. Whatever it was, he needed to find out, so he could fix it, he had to fix it. "This is her. This is my… friend, my friend."

The old bartender took the picture and looked at it, his eyes squinting in concentration, but his expression helpless. Clark began to feel like he wasn't going to get anything here, and it felt like his heart was dropping in his chest. "I… I'm sorry son… I don't…" But then there was a flash of recognition in the man's warm eyes and Clark felt all of his muscles tighten in anticipation. "Wait…"

"What? Do you remember? Do you recognize her?" Clark knew his voice was wrought with desperation but he didn't care.

"This girl," said Greg, handing him back his picture and laughing a little, "this girl was one of the few teenagers to fool me. Ever. Took me half the night to pin 'er as underage."

Despite the seriousness of his mission Clark had to laugh a little bit, because it was so Chloe. It was so Chloe to sneak in here pretending to be twenty-one and actually get away with it. "Yeah that sounds like her," he said, smiling.

"God that had to be… what… ten years ago?"

"Yeah, yeah that's right!" He was leaning forward on the edge of his seat, anxious to know whatever it was that Greg might remember.

"I was about to throw her out but she just started talking… I don' remember what about but she just kept talking and I dunno, I had to listen." Clark knew exactly what he was talking about, knew how Chloe could start in on a topic and her fire and her passion were so captivating that no matter what she was talking about you wanted to stay and listen for as long as she kept going.

"But then these guys started lookin' at 'er. And I didn' like it. So I took 'er back to the bar where I could keep an eye on 'er. Didn' want 'er to get in any trouble ya see. I lost track of her when a group of people came in 'n next thing I know I turned around 'n there was a fight breakin' out. She went right inta the middle of it before I could stop her."

"That sounds like her," Clark said grimly.

"Yeah I dunno what she was thinkin' but after I broke up the fight she'd gone n' disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"Yup, jus' vanished."

Clark sat back in his seat, realizing for the first time he'd been leaning forward, only sitting on the edge of the barstool. A distraction. Chloe had used the fight for a distraction, that had to be it. But where had she gone? Turning around, he did a quick x-ray scan of the building and saw a door, hidden in the back, that led to another room in the building adjacent to this one.

"Where does that door lead?" he asked Greg, pointing.

"That? That goes to the buildin' next door, it was 'ere when I bought the place."

"Who owns that building?"

"I dunno. But some nasty business goes on there."

"What kind?"

"Drugs. People'll come in my bar 'n go through there to get over there 'cause they don't wanna be seen. Ones that don't look like they use ya know, 'cause the cops watch that place a lot."

"Why don't you lock the door?" Clark didn't think that Greg was the type of guy to just let this stuff go on and not report it or do something about it.

"I have. First time I did the next mornin' I came back and my place was all torn up. I've got a wife and three kids." He shrugged, running a hand over his head in frustrated helplessness. Clark nodded, acknowledging that he understood the reasons behind why Greg was letting this go on right under his nose.

"Damndest thing though, I just remembered, night your girl was 'ere, I had me a celebrity."

"Celebrity?"

"Yup. None other than Lex Luthor himself. First time I ever had anyone like that in 'ere." Clark was starting to see red. His fists clenched so hard that if he had been holding something in them it would have been crushed into infinite pieces. It took everything he had not to fly to Lex's right now and force him to admit whatever it was that he had done to Chloe. Greg looked over Clark's shoulder as a group of guys came in. "Hey son I gotta go."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks Greg."

"No problem. Oh hey wait a second," Greg said, turning back to face him. Hope your girl is okay."

He sat there for a minute, deciding he needed to start looking into Lex a bit deeper. Then Clark left, leaving a tip and money for his unfinished beer on the bar, and it wasn't until after he started flying back to Metropolis that he realized how much he had liked it when Greg had called Chloe "his girl."

Chloe sat on her couch, fingers typing furiously on her laptop, searching for the information she wanted. On the table in front of her there was a half finished glass of vodka, her anesthesia, numbing the memory of his hands on her skin, and her notepad, the number of the P.O. Box prominent on its white surface.

She had been sifting her way through data, efficiently tossing aside the meaningless information and following the numbers that actually meant something. It was second nature to her now, this kind of searching, she was one of the best at it, it's what made her such a good reporter. It was just a tiny scrap of information but all Chloe needed was a starting point, just somewhere to start. She reached for her glass and took a sip, her eyes still focused on the computer screen.

The P.O. Box had been registered under a false name, but she had been expecting that. Records were kept, of when packages arrived and when they were picked up, she had simply hacked her way into those records. A delivery was made on the 16th of every month, and picked up the next day like clockwork. Tomorrow was the 16th. She was going to find out who was picking up these packages.

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