Who knew that Chloe was such a God-Damned common name?
He had started searching employee records within the main Luthorcorp offices in Metropolis. Several Chloe's, but none were her. He expanded his search to other Luthorcorp branches in and around Smallville and Metropolis, spooling though the employee photos of every Chloe between 18 and 40. No luck. He didn't think the clues from his dream were wrong - she must have worked for him in some capacity.
As he looked at the image of another wrong Chloe, a thought struck him. His visions hadn't said anything about her working specifically for Luthorcorp. He had made that assumption himself...maybe that assumption was wrong. Maybe she didn't work directly for Luthorcorp...maybe he owned or partnered with her company. He paused. Even in an area as restricted as Smallvile/Metropolis that still left dozens of enterprises.
He needed more information.
Information on her.
Information about what happened.
He looked up at the slamming door. Even though the room was fuzzy in the memory, he could hear it slam.
Chloe marched in without preamble, looking fantastic in a short skirt and matching jacket. Her expression was determined.
"Hello, Chloe. I'm surprised to see you up here. If you are taking advantage of my open-door policy, you shouldn't have slammed it." He gave her a mocking smile.
She ignored the smile. Her eyes were bright and shining with some emotion, but her face was hard. "Lex, this is business. I need you to send me on an assignment. With Grant Gabriel gone, that leaves you."
"Well, of course, Miss Sullivan. Care to explain why?" he clasped his hands together and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the desk.
She looked at him hard. "No."
He held her steady gaze, trying to puzzle what was going on. While it wasn't unusual for her to lock horns with him, he sensed that for once he hadn't done something to get her back up. This was about...something else. Something that upset her.
He held her gaze, trying to read through the mask. She was upset and trying to hide it, but she was here asking for help. His help. She wouldn't ask for it directly, it broke their unwritten code. So instead she came and demanded something she knew he could easily grant in the guise of work.
Something big must have happened for her to come to him this way.
He needed to approach this differently. He pushed back from his desk and walked around to the front, then leaned back casually. He crossed his legs at the ankle and slid his hands into his pockets.
Not intimidating...Open. Friendly.
He spoke softly, as if to a skittish animal. "Talk to me, Chloe. I'll listen."
Her face flushed with anger and her hands clenched into fists. "Of course, Lex, I'm sure you'd love to listen. But that isn't what I asked for. I need to be sent on an assignment. Anywhere. There must be some shithole in Iowa that has a story about a puppy in a drainpipe that needs coverage. Send. Me. Away."
He cocked his head. She was purposely trying to pick a fight with him. Interesting. Normally their fights came more...naturally. He suppressed a smile. He would test her resolve.
"Alright, there is a worker's strike in North Dakota at a Luthorcorp nickel plant. I need someone to go and tell the corporate story."
Her look faltered, then he saw the steel return. "I don't do the company line, Lex. I tell the truth. Both sides."
So, whatever it was, wasn't enough for her to compromise her code.
"You know what, this was a mistake. I shouldn't of -" She spun away on her heel without finishing the sentence.
Even in his seemingly relaxed posture, he had been waiting for this. He sprang to his feet in an instant. He reached out and seized her wrist.
She spun around to face him.
"Chloe. What -"
Then he couldn't speak. Her lips were crushing into his.
He was completely thrown by the change in her. She bit and tugged at his lips in unusual aggression.
She was pressing him backward, and still surprised by the sudden change, he let her. When his legs hit the edge of the desk, he sat back and gave himself over to the unparallelled pleasure of Chloe.
He tasted salt and thought at first it might be blood from her hard bites, but when he opened his eyes, he saw she was crying.
What the hell -?
"Chloe -"
"Shut up, Lex. Just shut up and f- me." She was already working at his belt. His pants were open a moment later and her hand slid inside his boxer briefs. She gave him three hard, fast pulls and he was ready. She dragged down her own panties, not even bothering to kick them away when they caught on one ankle. Then she was on top of him where he sat on the desk. Her skirt pushed up and him still wearing his boxer-briefs and she slid onto him without preamble.
God, how could she be so ready so fast?
On top of him as she was, her head was slightly above his. She grabbed him roughly by the ears and pulled him to her for a hard, grinding kiss, her teeth clicking against his. Her hips were moving up and down on him, and though he promised himself answers for this unusual display, he was more interested in the feel of her moving on him right now. He planted his feet and wrapped his arms around her to steady her. She was at a somewhat precarious angle, perched on his hips as he sat back against the desk. She was moving on him hard and fast, taking and demanding, uncaring of anything else.
"Yes. Yes!" she encouraged as her body worked him frantically.
Her frantic need pulled at him and he found himself rushing to climax with incredible speed.
"Chloe, I'm -" he gasped as he felt his body tighten. She opened her mouth over his and swallowed his hoarse cry as his body convulsed in her. A second later, he swallowed her cry the same way.
Sullivan. Her name was Chloe Sullivan. That was a name he hadn't encountered yet, but he was still going through records. Slowly. The subsidiary and held company records were not always complete or easy to sort. Maybe it was time to try a new tactic.
Chloe Sullivan worked for Grant Gabriel.
Grant Gabriel...he knew that name. It was a name he remembered seeing in this life.
He needed to think, and he always thought best with a glass in hand. He climbed from the large bed quietly, so as not to disturb his bed companion. He donned the silk robe from the bed poster, ignoring his throbbing body. This was more important. Moving across the moonlit room, he opened and stepped through the bedroom door quietly, closing it behind. The light of the moon was enough to guide him as he walked down the hall to the open living area. He bee-lined for the sideboard where several bottles of fine scotch waited in crystal decanters. He poured himself two fingers of a particularly mellow blend. Drink in hand, he moved to the large window, thinking. He stared out at the city under the soft glow of the full moon, letting his mind turn over the name, searching for where it fit. Chloe said something about a story assignment and Grant being gone. Something in media? Had Luthorcorp owned any media companies? He watched the activity in the street far, far below, taking small sips of the mellow liquor. Finally, with a mental click, the piece fell into place. It was in the files he had reviewed of projects from his lost Smallville years. There was something significant about the project, but he couldn't recall the details. If he had ever looked at the details. If the project was a failure, he would have moved on to look at something else.
Well, those project files were a lot easier to search than the scattered employee records. For starters, it wasn't unusual for him to delegate searching through back projects. That wouldn't raise any red flags as to his true intention. He would put new "Gina" on it. He pulled his phone from the pocket of the robe and dialed Gina.
"Mr Luthor."
"I need the project files concerning Grant Gabriel on my desk ASAP. He was from a project that took place before I left. I think he was involved in media of some kind."
"Yes, sir. I'll do it now."
He frowned at the phone. He might have to replace this Gina sooner than he would have liked if she didn't realize that was the point of his call.
"Good."
He hung up without another word.
He drained the glass of the last remaining scotch and placed the empty glass on a table for the maid. He made his way back to the bedroom. He felt like the puzzle was finally nearing completion. He would find her soon. Then he would finally be able to understand what had happened and why she haunted him.
This time when he slipped into the bed, he awoke his bed companion. He was still heavy with lust from his earlier vision and needed relief. Feeling pleased with himself for the revelations of the evening, he employed his softest touches, and smoothest techniques.
After he climaxed, he found himself with Chloe again.
They were panting into each other's mouths, coming down from their intense orgasms.
Splaying his fingers, he combed her blonde hair away from her face. Her tears were gone.
She pulled her face away, leaving his hand hovering in the air, holding nothing.
She didn't look at him as she extricated herself from his lap.
He sat up, putting his clothes back in order slowly. What was that about? What was going on with her today?
He froze.
Had she heard about what happened...?
No, he had kept it quiet.
Wait. What? Damn it! What had happened to him?!
She still wasn't meeting his eyes as she claimed her panties from around her shoe, and moved them back into place.
Was she...embarrassed? No, the posture was wrong and the only flush on her cheeks was from their sex.
She was definitely upset, maybe even more so now than when she marched through the door.
Was the sex...payment for an assignment? No, not likely. Chloe would do anything if she thought the cause was important enough, but this felt...personal. Not like part of one of her crusades.
She still wasn't looking at him as she moved towards the door.
It was too much. He'd bite.
"Alright. I'll send you on assignment. Somewhere you can be fair and balanced."
She paused, but still didn't look back. "Thank you, Lex." She started moving towards the door again.
He watched her go, still unsure what to think of her strange mood. He could set someone to investigate what she had been up to the last few days. She had been out for two full days.
She paused, with one hand resting on the door knob. She took a deep, shaky breath. She finally looked back at him over her shoulder, her expression complicated. "You could...come with me. If you wanted."
He paused.
She had broken another unspoken rule. They never asked for each other. They just showed up. They didn't plan. They certainly didn't...travel together.
But she wanted him to come with her.
Away.
Away from Smallville. Away from Metropolis.
He knew instantly where.
"Yes," he answered. "Yes, I know just the place."
New Gina came through. The project information was waiting on his desk when he arrived at work the next day. Maybe he wouldn't let her go just yet.
Grant Gabriel was the result of Project Scion. He was the clone of Lex's dead brother, Julian, and had worked at The Daily Planet.
The Daily Planet.
He had her.
He looked at her picture from her employee records of The Daily Planet.
Chloe. Chloe Sullivan.
There was no mistaking that smile. Those eyes.
He knew who she was.
Unfortunately, he still didn't know where she was now. Her employment at The Daily Planet had ended several years back. Looking at the notation, it looked as if he had fired her.
So what had happened?
And where was she now?
