Chapter 6 – A Fragile State
Chloe woke the next morning and turned over. She looked down and groaned at her still in the same clothes that she had been wearing at the hospital for two days. She felt grimy and disgusting as the scent of her perfume had faded long ago for the smell of hospital bleach. Rolling her head to the side, Lex slept soundly, still in his clothes as well. She leaned over to look at the clock and it was 9 PM. Creeping carefully off the bed, she plodded down the hall and grabbed a cup of coffee. Slinging back the coffee, she perused the rest of the downstairs. A formal living room with another piano, a formal dining room with at least a smaller table. Entering the room off the back of the house, she stepped down into the best part of the house. Another pool table accompanied by a very large plasma screen and a dart board, complete with holes already in it. Opening the closet, she eyed the collection of movies with both thrillers and romantic comedies. She laughed and left the room, noticing that the pool table felt was a different color than the mansion. The slightest difference from his reality. She continued down the hall and opened the disappearing doors to the room off the kitchen and breakfast nook. Gasping, she put her hand over her mouth at the sight.
She walked slowly around the room and touch every small object. The small set of chairs and table that were identical to the dining room set. Opening the cabinet on the kitchen station, fine china adorned the shelves. She closed the door and sat down on the small couch that looked like IKEA had decorated the room. She opened the plastic bin and eyed the thousands of rubber blocks. She continued around the room and ran her hand along the playpen, the changing table and the other items strewn as if someone already spent time there. The closet was filled with even more shelves of toys.
She left the room and closed the door behind. What had Lionel done? He didn't know his son's memories any more than she did. He was just making blanket assumptions, unless there were the same arrangements with Lana at the mansion. Guessing she had just hit the nail on the head, tears briefly welled up still mourning her best friend. 'It's going to kill him when he finds out the truth,' she thought.
She went upstairs and noticed the picture at the top of the stairs. His arm was around her as they got off a plane in what she could only believe was a tropical island. Glaring at it, they picture was completely fake.
Shaking her head, she wandered further down the hall and opened the door to a carefully wood paneled room with more bookshelves with copies of the originals in his office. Shaking her head, she couldn't possibly fathom the amount of money Lionel had gone into his creation. She sat down at the desk and pulled out the drawer. The file folders were all labeled with random things. Chloe's pregnancy, Platinum Card bills, Home Improvements, IRS, and others. They were the standard records any family would keep, but on paper. There was not a computer in sight. She pushed the chair in and continued on the tour of the house. Guest room, Guest room, Guest room, each with their own suited bathroom.
She walked in the last room and sat down in the middle of the floor. The room was immaculate, with teddy bears scattered in every corner. The walls had the perfect wallapaper for a nursery and everything in its place. She grabbed a bear from the corner and eyed the pile of parts in the floor in the corner. Down to the detail of putting the crib together. Lionel was thorough. She opened the closet and looked at the shelves of already purchased towels and onezies. It was quite remarkable. She actually could picture Lex's obsession of making sure everything was in its place well before the baby arrived. Placing the bear back in its spot, she closed the door.
Finally, she entered the master bedroom and started the large walk in shower. Opening the closet, she felt weird hoping that Lionel at least of taste in clothes right. She found herself pleasantly surprised as she picked out something. She looked at the ones with the tags still on them. Maternity. Closing the door, she plodded to the shower, finally having time to herself.
Some time later, she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a small dinner and sat down.
"Good evening." The nurse walked into the kitchen and carefully sat down the tray from Lex's room. "He's awake, and is asking for you. I told him you went to freshen up. He's had his dinner and medication, and we've even made it into the bathroom to clean up a little."
Chloe nodded and continued eating. The nurse sat down across from her at the table and drank her last cup of coffee. Chloe figured it was just as well. She would be quickly getting to bed since her total time asleep had not equaled ten hours in four days. "Is he ok?"
"Best that can be expected. The doctor spoke to me about his accelerated white blood count and healing. He's going to be up and around as soon as tomorrow. I just wanted you to be aware." Chloe looked at the nurse as she took Chloe's dishes and washed them. "I'll be back tomorrow morning." Chloe smiled at the woman as she walked out of the door.
Chloe quietly entered the room and picked the book up off Lex's chest and covered him. He was on quite a heavy painkiller. He slept enough to make up for the years he never slept. She pulled the door to and headed upstairs.
The next day was nothing but therapy and trips to the restroom. Chloe watched these sessions of barely making to the bathroom and slightly giggled. He deserved some of what came to him. The nurse had made him walk the entire length of the main hallway with a walker ten times in the morning and again in the afternoon. Chloe took up the cause the evening round when she could tell Lex was seriously tired of hearing the nurse's voice repeat, "Now left foot."
"I'm really tired," Lex gasped the last time he hit the front door and realized that his temporary room was now an eleventh walk to the other end of the house. Chloe guided his body to the rocking chair a couple more paces from the door. "My legs feel like they're on fire." He groaned and closed his eyes.
"I know, but it'll help in the long run." Chloe went and grabbed a blanket covering him up.
"No," Lex answered pushing the blanket out of the way. "Just help me up and get me to the bed." Chloe threw the blanket on the back of the couch and looped his arm around her. Finally realizing the weight of the man, she struggled to keep him as upright as possible. "I really can't stand that woman."
"That's just your pain talking. She's trying to help."
Chloe supported his weight as much as possible before he fell into the bed with a thud. The nurse followed her into the room and handed the man a glass and another handful of pill. Chloe carefully counted them and noticed there was five tonight. "What's the new one for?" She figured she and Lex both had a right to know.
"The little blue one is just a for his sleep. His legs are going to burn a bit and it typically keeps patients awake. So, this hopefully will help." Lex glanced at Chloe and swallowed before handing the glass back to the nurse. "I will be off for tonight, but I will come tomorrow. I'll take an off day some time later in the week. Goodnight." She closed the door behind her.
"Go get ready and come back down." Chloe smiled and nodded uncomfortably. She had some reprieve the night before sleeping alone. Letting go of his hand, she left.
She returned and found him buried in a book. "You still want me to…" She stopped when he pulled the sheets back on the other side of the bed. She climbed in, careful to keep her body a distance apart. "What are you reading?"
"The fourth month. I got a little behind the last few days." He pulled Chloe over to lay on his shoulder as she read along beside him about how exactly she was going to pull off the scam of the lifetime in beginning to show.
Chloe woke to a start. Somewhere in the house she could hear a ringing. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Lex had shifted in the night and freed her from his grip. Scooting gingerly off the bed, she followed the annoying ringing and found the culprit in her purse.
"Hello?"
"Chloe, is there any way you can get away from the house and over to the airport? Lionel has the helicopter waiting for you. We need your assistance at the mansion."
Chloe walked around the hall into the kitchen and noticed, Janine, the home nurse arriving. She squinted to see the clock. It was 6 AM. They had slept together through the night again. Chloe stopped and wondered if in some ironic way Lex's mere male presence made her sleep better than normal.
"Chloe?"
"Yeah, I was checking to see if Janine was here. Let me jump in the shower and I'll head that way in about 15 minutes." Chloe closed the phone and slipped it back into her bag. She walked into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. "You didn't have to make coffee."
"No problem, and it's decaf if he ever asks." Janine winked and proceeded to pull out his prescriptions for the morning. "Go on and get going. I'll let him know that you had to go into work." Chloe rubbed her chin in subtle confusion.
"You know don't you?"
"Yes, I'm part nurse and part secret keeper. Now, he'll be waking up and you need to get out of here." Janine picked up the tray with his drinks and meds on it and disappeared down the hall.
Chloe thought carefully and then jotted a few lines down.
I've gone to work and will see you sometime tonight. Take it easy. C
She felt callous for not leaving the obvious three words he would hope for, but she didn't love him. She sighed, thinking of her position and the day before. She closed her eyes and bit her lip remembering the kiss from a couple nights before. He was a really good kisser, much better than anyone that she had ever come in contact with. Too bad he was such a monster all the rest of the time.
"Hey, look who I found trying to get out of bed this morning." Janine came around the corner with Lex dressed in a set of black sweats. Chloe shook her head and smirked.
"You really can't take bed rest literally can you?" She remembered all the times that Lex had previously been in and out of the hospital, told repeatedly to rest to no avail.
Lex slid the note she had written over to him and read it. "Are you going to be late?"
Chloe got up and pushed the chair in and poured her coffee out. "No, they understand of course." She started out of the room and stopped. Turning around, she glanced at Lex and rolled her eyes to herself. Walking back over to him, she reached over and kissed his cheek. "But I will be if I don't get upstairs now. You ok?"
"Better everyday." He rubbed his hand down her cheek and pulled her chin in and pecked her on the lips. "Go." Lex let go of her and waved her off almost commandingly. Chloe walked out of the kitchen and stopped out of site. Turning she wondered how much of his old personality would creep out little by little. The hand wave she had seen before, usually a short while before finding the person dead somewhere. Closing her eyes, she tried to control her breathing as she stumbled to the stairs, crying.
"Ma'am?" Janine caught Chloe midstep up the stairs and held her. "You have to hold it together. You're doing great. Now, get upstairs and then get out of here."
Chloe turned and stared at Janine. She was hired and no doubt completely controlled by Lionel Luthor. Chloe straightened up and glared at the woman, wondering how much of Lex was pure delusion and how much was medicated. "The medications you're giving Lex – what are they? I mean, they are helping him, right?" Chloe eyed the woman to see if she was lying. She would check later when the woman was not around to see if she was on the straight and narrow, but her employment by Lionel was skeptical at best.
Janine continued up the stairs with her and walked her to the bedroom. Sitting down on the much more elaborate king size bed, Chloe sat down next to her. "Everything that the doctor prescribed is relevant and not going to hurt him. As much as you may think Mr. Luthor wants to hurt his son, he actually has done nothing out of the ordinary except keep him from feeling completely insane by telling him the truth. He's taking Trileptal for his seizures which will fade in time, ketorolaco for his pain but that will come down to something more manageable when possible, Abilify for his delusions. That drug though is just a cop out. His disorder needs more than a pill. Oh, and the usual antidepressant. Now get ready and get out of here. Mr. Luthor called you." the nurse reminded Chloe.
"It's about time you got here." Clark stammered as Chloe followed him back down the hall of the mansion and into Lex's office. "Did you bring the equipment?"
Chloe hauled a bag open in front of Lionel and pulled a small cord and box out of the bag and attached it to Lex's laptop. "Where exactly did you find this?"
"The resort they were at in Kenya had it in a lockbox. Lex had evidently not wanted anyone in it since we had to blow the lock off." Lionel and Clark leaned over opposite sides of Lex's desk as Chloe hooked her coding software up to the computer. She punched several codes in and watched the millions of characters zip through the DOS system. "Are we getting anything?"
Shaking her head, she continued to punch in the next set of codes given to her, "It's layered deep." She watched the computer screen blink and glanced at Clark's long gaze around the corners of the room.
Clark opened the small box that adorned the table behind Lex's desk and pulled out a remote. He punched one button and the small stereo in the corner came on. Hitting the same button, it went off. Trying again, he tapped another button. The three of them watched the picture disappear as a screen appeared. Chloe glanced back at the computer, "Nice big screen."
Leaning over and looking deeper at the screen, she opened a file that simply was marked Acquisitions. She figured if they couldn't find his illegal dealing at least finding out what he was doing legally might lead to something. She sat back in the chair and gulped. Acquisitions weren't companies. They were people. "Hey guys," she whispered.
The three stared at the screen as Chloe swallowed hard. Clark put his hand on her left shoulder and slightly rubbed against the scar from her implant. Lionel glanced over and saw her face change from determination to controlled anger. Clicking the link that simply said Sullivan, she forced down the desire to toss the computer across the office.
The three heard the sound come over the loud speakers and gazed at the large screen. She was right there. The night she couldn't remember. The one that had been just between her and Clark. Now Lionel was there and watching. Covering her quivering mouth, she gasped at the men in white suits standing over her, pulling her in all directions. Her mouth was held open as she watched her blood being taken and being injected with something else.
Chloe started shaking as the file played over and over. It had been viewed over 500 times. She shook in the chair with her hands covering her face as tears streamed down it. Seeing her distress, Lionel clicked the stop on the video and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Chloe?"
She stared at Lionel, tears still streaming down her face. "I don't even know what's … why. Your son is fucking monster." She pushed the chair away and paced around the desk. Lionel caught up to her as she picked up a vase on the piano.
Taking the vase from her, he gripped her by the arm. He placed the vase back in place. "We're trying to fix that, but we need you. You are invaluable in so many ways Chloe."
"But most of this is probably your doing. It's probably something you started and he took over. Remember not so many years ago, you were the monster. Just because you are now Clark's protector doesn't make you any better of a man than Lex."
Clark approached her and hugged her, ignoring Lionel hand on her. "Wouldn't you rather learn the truth now than him pick you up off the street sometime make you do his bidding in exchange for your life?" Clark, feeling her sobs slowing, pulled her away and stared at her. "Those are collections of people. Half of those people have either disappeared or died. I can't lose you too, not like that." Clark stood back and motioned for Lionel to back up.
Chloe stared at the freeze frame of her on the screen. She was begging for mercy. None of which she remembered. Closing her eyes, she sighed and returned to the desk. Closing the file, she opened the remaining files one by one and transferred them to her external drive.
She scrolled once more and saw another Sullivan. She knew it. Clicking the icon, a camera of her and her mother in a holding cell appeared. Lionel, Chloe, and Clark watched the scene that Chloe remembered in detail. She could have killed Lex that day and it would all be over. She wouldn't be here. She closed the clip and continued sending files. "This is going to take some time."
"Let's check out the rest of the house," Lionel suggested to Clark knowing his ability to see through walls was invaluable.
Chloe waited until the two had left and started the video of her mother and Lex. Her lip quivered at the way he talked to her mother. She knew now she was safe in Oliver's care, but it still hurt. He threatened her.
"I'm sorry to hear about your Chloe's dad; that accident was horrific," Lex bluntly stated as he dropped the newspaper on the bed next to Moira. "Now, let's discuss that little matter of a demonstration, unless," Lex nodded and smirked, "you want to be reading about another accident."
Chloe clicked the video closed and slammed her fists down on the desk. She had always thought the accident was contrived. He had died on the way to an 'emergency' at the new Luthorcorp facility in two counties over. It had all been Lex. She checked her emotions and made sure the transfer continued.
After several hours of eating through layers of security, Chloe had transferred all of his files, including even personal photos and black book addresses from his computer to her drive. The two men had long time since taken to walking around the mansion in search for other leads. Chloe wondered how much time they all really had before Lex came out of his fog. She wondered how much of his present condition would still remain if he came to. The mere thought of the situation when he woke from his better dream life scared her. He more than likely would be alone with her. After seeing the video, she was sure he would kill her for taking advantage of him. The fear made her shake.
Composing herself, she didn't dare get lost in the mansion that she still only knew few rooms of. She walked around and flipped the bottle of water over and watched it shatter on the ground, smelled the old liquor bottles that still had contents in them. She flipped open the boxes on the desk and put the remote back. She glazed her hands over his bookshelves, gently tugging on each book to mess up their anal order.
Looking in front of her, a drawer opened. She peered inside at the gleaming handgun. Picking it up, she was startled when the drawer closed behind its removal. Weight controlled. Everything was controlled in Lex's world. Now the tables were turned. She walked over to the computer that she had seen Lex hide behind for so many years, always covering up the latest scandal or hiding the next secret. She had everything off the piece of crap. She laughed wondering if Lex knew Dell was shit. She slid her hand down the grip and took the safety off. Pulling the hammer back, she smiled as it clicked. "Here's to your undoing." She pulled the trigger and jumped slightly as the bullet shattered through the computer causing the computer to shoot in several directions.
Clark appeared next to her instantly. "What the hell are you doing?!" Clark stared at the computer in at least four pieces lying all over the office. "Do we need that anymore?"
Chloe put the safety back on the gun and giggled to herself as if in relief. "No," she responded, waving the gun back and forth. Even with his abilities, Clark seemed to back up from her as she continued. "Here," she said as she handed him an external drive. "That's everything off his main server and then I loaded a Trojan horse on the server. There's nothing left. So, no reason for a computer."
Chloe started pacing around the office, eyeing different things on the walls and figuring the chambers in the gun. "How about this? Can a bullet permeate through slate? Let's see." Pulling the safety off, she fired before Clark could save the bullet from lodging in the middle of the pool table. "And the piano. Damn fucking put you to sleep orchestra crap." Another bullet through the side of the piano.
"Chloe, why don't you give me the gun and we'll let you rest. You obviously…"
Chloe turned and glared at Clark. "I obviously need what? Help? Like what Lionel is giving his son? No thanks. I think my method is better, so back off or I open that safe over there since I know what's in it and the combination thanks to a very anal record keeper named Lex." Clark threw up his hands in retreat. "Oh," she turned, swinging the gun around her finger, "but there are some pictures you definitely definitely don't want to see, if you know what I mean."
"What is going on in here?" Lionel walked in and glanced at Clark who nodded to lay off. "Chloe, dear, let's let go of the gun." Lionel approached her.
"Dad, back the fuck away." Lionel took a step back and eyed Chloe. He noticed the anger in her voice as she dropped the word dad. Chloe noticed the uncomfortable gulp. "What? You're my father-in-law aren't you?" Chloe pointed the gun at Lionel. Clark stared at Lionel.
"Chloe, this is your anger taking over."
"No shit," she dropped matter of factly.
"Chloe, just give up the gun, come on. Obviously the situation is more involved than we pictured it would be and we'll get you out of it." Chloe turned and shook her head at Clark.
"How? I just happen to never come home? No, better, have him think I completely lied to him and I'm having an affair with you. That would just make him exactly like he was." Chloe picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. Clark eyed the bag and noticed the contents. Turning back to Clark, she smiled, "You can have that." She pointed the gun at the external drive in his hand. "Good luck."
Turning back to Lionel, she looked at him and then at the balcony where she had yelled at Lex numerous occasions before. She fired two more bullets randomly and saw several books fly off the shelves. "I'm going home, but I want that," she pointed at the black leather chair in the corner of the office, "delivered to the house before tonight." She turned and carefully took aim from across the room. Peering through the small sight, she unloaded one more bullet and watched the bottle of brandy shatter in thousands of pieces. "Concealed handgun classes finally coming in handy. Goodnight." Lionel and Clark watched as Chloe turned the corner and slammed the door behind her.
"Well, that was delightful. Why didn't you take the gun from her?" Lionel marched across the room and picked up the pieces of what used to be a computer.
"She needed to get out some aggression. She's taking on a lot for us." Lionel opened his briefcase and took out another computer and booted it up.
"Now let's see what she came up with." Lionel hooked the external drive to the computer and waited for the icon to appear. Clicking the icon, the drive was empty. Looking over at Clark after seeing the empty folder, he smirked like his son, "And just generally taking from us." Lionel beat his fist against the desk uncharacteristically. "She took it all." Clark stared at the empty file and murmured Chloe's name.
"What now?"
Lionel glanced over at the black armchair and laughed. "I guess she really needs that chair." Lionel picked up his phone and dialed for one of his minions.