Disclaimer: see Chapter 1.
CHAPTER 27: Distance
Chloe's new apartment- Four months later
" What's up, honey ? You've been crying again, haven't you ? " asked Vicki Vale, patting the back of a nine-month pregnant Chloe.
" Hormones, Vicki. They're on overdrive. I can't even browse a damn comic at the library without bursting into tears. "
" Comics ? And since when are you interested in comics ? " asked Vicki with a frown.
" It's just a figure of speech, " she blurted, blushing.
" Right. Have you heard from him lately ? "
" From Clark ?
" Clark ? The blue-eyed boy again ? No, Chloe, not Clark ! From Him with capital ' H '. You know, a tall and handsome young man with a fat chequebook and a killing smile. "
" No, he's vaporised. He sent me the keys and the papers of the new apartment, opened a bank account in my name- in which he makes a monthly deposit I don't touch- and cut all communication between us just as he did almost twelve years ago, " she answered with teary eyes.
" The fact that he hasn't phoned phoned or come to Gotham the last four months doesn't mean he's not interested in you. Did you know he calls Bruce every day at the office ? "
" They're doing business together, Vicki. Of course, he'd call him."
" Yes, that's true but he always asks after you and the baby before hanging up. He provides for you, Chloe, for God's sake ! How can you believe he doesn't care ! "
" Experience, Vicki. He paid for everything when I was to testify at Lionel's trial. He pampered me, and for a whole year he toyed with me, and then, when his dad was sentenced, he forgot all about me. "
" Have you ever asked yourself why he behaved they way he did, Chloe ? "
" Luthors use people and then, they discard them when they cease to be useful. It's ingrained in Lex, Vicki. "
" You don't believe that. It's the hurting speaking. Lucas was a Luthor too, remember ? He didn't get close to you to use you. "
" Maybe not, but he lied to me all the while. He put me, the baby and people I care for in danger. "
" Think about that, then, Chloe. What would Lex have done in Lucas' shoes ? Once you get the answer to that question, you'll understand why he behaved the way he did twelve years ago. "
Lex's office at Luthorcorp- Two days later
It was noon and Lex was shaking hands with the Dutch who had provided the electronics technology for the Terra satellites, when Lionel got out of their private elevator and strode to his son's office.
" Mr Van der Hoven, Mr Magnusson, it's been a pleasure as usual. I'll see you in a fortnight then, " said Lex, showing them to the lift. " Dad, what brings you to Metropolis ? " he asked once the doors had closed. " What could possibly drag you away from the homely Martha Kent ? "
" I still have an office here, son, and we've got a corporation to run. "
" Aren't you satisfied with the quarterly numbers ? Smallville's Fertilizer Plant is doing very well, and I've managed to keep profits up without lay-offs. "
" I'm not here to talk about cold numbers, son, " answered Lionel, laying a thin large packet against the wall.
" What's that ? " asked Lex stranged.
" I'm vacating the mansion, Lex. "
" Hs Clark's mum accepted your marriage proposal yet ? Don't tell me... you've decided to see what life's like for a farmer. "
" Cut the irony, Lex. I'm here to give you something that I believe belongs to you. When the movers came to take all the furniture and stuff, they saw this in the corner of the basement. They asked me if I wanted them to transport it too and, since I didn't know what it was, I told them to carry it up to the study. "
" It isn't mine, dad. I took everything that belonged to me when I moved out, " said Lex, pouring two glasses of bourbon and handing one to Lionel.
" I had never seen it before, Lex, and I couldn't take it with me. Do with it as you please, but remember... life goes on, son. Don't waste it, " he stated, setting the glass down on the desk before seeing himself out.
Lex finished the drink in one gulp and eyed the package with conflicting emotions. He knew what it was, and he had decided to leave it behind. It had lain in that basement for ten months, and it would have remained there if his dad had not decided to move out.
After hesitating for a long time, he took the parcel, placed it on the desk and tore the paper. He felt pain and love wash over him and, with eyes brimming with tears, he let his pent-up emotions come out. He cried for all he had lost and all the opportunities he had wasted until, a quarter of an hor later, his private line rang and he heard Bruce Wayne say: " It's time, Lex. "
So ? How did you like these three chapters ? Any ideas about what Bruce's ' It's time, Lex. ' might refer to ?