Take the Bad with the Good – Chapter 9
Lex slammed the car door and started up the ramp to the house. Chloe jumped out of the car and tried to pull his walker out of the back but heard the back door of the house slam and quit trying so hard. She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. "Appointment not go so well?"
She whipped around and saw Lionel standing next to a car at the end of her drive. "How do you think it went?" She approached him and growled, "You were supposed to be helping his recovery. You put a knife in his heart and twisted it all around you sick son of a bitch."
"My, such language from a Luthor is unbecoming."
"Get off of it. What are you trying to do here?" Chloe paced and stared at the eldest Luthor wondering what his problem was. He was supposed to be working on 33.1 and Lex's other underhanded projects, trying to destroy the other version of him. Instead, he seemed to spend more time creeping around their home.
"I'm keeping you updated and keeping myself informed. Here." Lionel handed her an envelope. Opening the envelope, Chloe stared at the picture and back at Lionel, confused. "What is this?"
"Clark went to Oliver Queen about the 33.1 facilities, and they proceeded to take one down very near to Billings, Montana. When they got there, one of the people actually imprisoned there told Clark about a warehouse that he had been taken to back in Metropolis. I went to check it out and found this. And this." Lionel handed her another picture.
"A warehouse? This is me." Chloe stared at the picture and saw the shimmer of the eyes didn't match those of either of them.
"No, they look like you. The video you watched of Lex taking samples from you; they served a purpose. I haven't gotten to the bottom of the entire story, but of course I can't, with you holding the main piece. But it seems my son was quite fond of you even in his former life." Lionel looked at the picture and held it up next to Chloe's face and smirked. Leaning over, he took the pictures from her and whispered, "I wonder what things he wanted to use your clone for? I can think of one."
Chloe backed away from the car and swallowed as Lionel smirked again before getting in the vehicle. She shivered up and down at the mental picture of Lex with a figment of her and of Lionel imagining the same thing. Turning and looking back at the house, she closed her eyes and sighed. "He is not a monster, he is not a monster, he is not a monster," she repeated to herself.
Chloe walked in the back door and heard silence. She peered into the living room, guest room, and kitchen before heading up the stairs. She went into the bedroom and threw down her coat. Leaning against the bed, she was puzzled. Lex just disappeared. She hung her coat up and heard something drop from down the hall. Quickly, she pushed the door open to the nursery fully expecting the man she used to know to furiously grab her and demand what happened.
"Lex?" she said quietly knocking on the door.
He sat quietly in front of the pile of pieces to the crib. He had set the different larger pieces methodically against the walls and was buried in the instructions. "Can you go get a Phillips, a flathead, and metric set from the garage?" He didn't look, just continued reading.
"Lex. Let's not do this now." Chloe approached him slowly and sat down next to him.
"Please, I can't make it down and up the stairs again." He put the instructions down and stared at her. If he had been anything remotely like his old self, the stare would cause her to run. It meant something was coming. He flipped her hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek. Grasping her hand, he intertwined his fingers in hers and stared at the pieces against the wall. "I don't blame you. I should have known something was wrong when the location of the doctor's offices changed. Up until today, you had just met me at the employee medical center. I thought maybe because of the ultrasound we had to go somewhere different."
"Lex, relax. You're going to worry yourself into an episode." Chloe could feel his hand becoming slowly warmer. She reached around and ran her hand up and down his back, trying to find the words to make him feel better.
"Can you please go get the tools," he paused. "Unless you just don't want to have a baby." Lex turned and stared at her. She didn't; he was exactly right. She had no intention on becoming pregnant for him or anyone else at the present time. There was only so far she would take the sham. She got up and silently left the room. Walking out to the garage, she noticed the H3 in the garage.
She picked through the tools and hopefully found everything that he wanted. Returning to the room, he hadn't moved. He stared at the walls. She peered around the corner of the door and watched his tears fall onto the floor. Pulling himself up against the changing table, he stared at it. He ran his hand along the cool, cushioned changing area and sobbed.
Chloe stood in the doorway and could barely contain her tears. Lex having a baby wasn't something else to control, not in this life. He wanted to be a father. He was crying about not being able to change diapers, the one thing that fathers tried to avoid.
Lex walked slowly over to the closet and opened it. Pulling the door open, he pulled one of the onezies off the shelf and unfolded it. Holding it out to see, he wadded it up in his fist and threw it across the room. His breathing increased as he leaned against the dresser decorated with bear appliqués. Staring at the empty picture frames, slammed his fist into the side and threw one of the frames across the room and nailed the wall with a shatter of the delicate glass.
Chloe's body stiffened as she gripped the tools tighter and pulled back out of sight. Lex leaned against the wall and groaned. He was in pain again. Pushing the rest of the decorations off the dresser, he cussed, "Fuck! I'm going to kill…" Chloe strained to hear as his voice disappeared behind his hands as he slid down the wall and ended in a whisper. He stared at the broken glass on the picture across the room from where the frame had accurately landed and fell. Breathing deeper and easier, he leaned against his knees and then slammed his head against the wall in confusion.
The room looked different than he remembered. He loved the teddy bears; he had remembered almost the same look in his room as a young child. The wallpaper seemed eerily the same. He eyed the side of the crib and noticed the pictures on it. He didn't recall the place they had actually bought the furniture from for the nursery. Some things still were fuzzy in his mind, mainly those from recent memory. He recalled visiting the mansion right after the announcement but couldn't recall whether he had asked for the pieces. Rubbing his hand against the appliqué on the side of the dresser, he noticed the small notches painted over on the side. 'LL.'
Lex pulled himself up and carefully maneuvered to the other side of the room, gingerly picking up shards of the glass frame and throwing them in the garbage can. Chloe watched as he placed each piece of his proverbial broken heart in the garbage and felt for him. There was no way she would satisfy his want, his need it seemed, but she felt for him. It was unfair that Lionel would drag his own son through so much pain just to play her at her own game it seemed.
Still it was hard to ignore the fire in his eyes and the immense anger that was built up inside of him even now. His old self was still buried somewhere, deep, but still there. She knew she couldn't just ignore his pain. He could be more dangerous every day. He was getting stronger and that scared her. She cautiously pushed the door open and walked over to him, putting her arm around him. "We're going to be ok."
Lex turned and leaned into her, cupping both sides of her face. "Help me, please." She held his hand as he scooted along the wall and held out one piece of the railing and pointed at the other. Looking at her still standing there, he pleaded, "Chloe, just give me this. I just need to think and want it done for the day we are actually pregnant." Chloe nodded unemotionally and held up the piece that Lex had motioned to her.
Several hours later, the two stood in the doorway and stared at the crib that had been one of the worst engineering feats known to man. For two hours they miraculously put pieces backwards and upside down before getting it right. At one point, the whole ordeal caused a breakdown where the two fell into each other actually giggling but still didn't speak about having no baby for the crib.
"I have to go to the store for a couple of things? You want to tag along?"
Lex looked at Chloe and smiled, "You're not mad at me? I kind of acted like an ass."
"I thought you would be mad at me honestly." He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. He was angry; he was emotionally drained. The missed opportunity of fatherhood killed him, but Chloe was still there. He could lose one, he thought, but not both. He had been empty for so long, and although they fought about stories she could write about them, he loved her just the same. She was the fire constantly lit under him and yet the one thing that calmed him.
"No," he said hesitantly, "but we're picking our own doctor the next time around. I haven't finished with that Dr. Hancock yet, but as soon as I'm feeling up to it," he paused. Chloe took a deep breath, realizing that there were indeed slight parts of Lex that still remained. For some odd reason, she was actually glad to see the calm anger on his face. It wasn't a look she ever liked being on the opposite end of, but strangely was nice to know that he hadn't turned into a complete puppy dog. Looking down at her, he met her eyes and leaned down for a quick kiss. "But for now, I think a trip out of the house would be nice."
He let go of her and carefully followed the wall down to their room. She leaned against the doorway of the nursery and stared at it longingly until she saw he was out of sight. She had to miss something that was never there. It was all surreal. She walked around the room and again glanced at the stuffed animals. Picking up another small bear, she focused on the eyes. They seemed to gleam. Looking at eye, it wasn't solid.
"Fuck," she whispered to herself. She took the pliers and pried the eye off. Wires flowed from the inside of the bear and led to small box that popped out when she pulled the hole open. Dropping the pliers, she went back into the hall and waited. When she heard the water of the shower start, she ran downstairs with the bear and found her phone.
"Pick up, pick up," she impatiently repeated.
"Hello?"
"Clark, it's Chloe. What are you doing in ten minutes?"
"Cleaning the kitchen, why? Aren't you and I not supposed to talk or at least on the other line?"
"This is important and besides I'm really tired of letting Lionel Luthor know every little thing that goes on here. Lex and I are going out to the store and I need you to sweep the house. I found a bug in a goddamn stuffed teddy bear in the nursery. And I know there's at least one in clean shot of the bed in the guest room. I'm fully expecting one in a similar position in the master. Check everything, ceiling fans, lights, other random objects. How long will you need?"
"Take an hour or so."
"Good."
"Chloe, is everything ok?"
"If you count Lionel rubbing Lex's failures in his face this morning, trading out doctors and telling him point blank I'm not pregnant, and leaving me to pick up the pieces, everything is swell. I don't trust him. He's playing another game entirely. I have to go." Chloe clicked off the phone and erased the history of the calls as she heard Lex descend the stairs. Looking up at the man on the bottom stair, she smiled gently, "Ready?"
**************
Chloe and Lex returned several hours later. The house looked exactly the same except for a small sticky note on one of Chloe's binders with an exclamation point on it. Seeing Lex disappear down the hall, she opened it up and read, "Done. How's married life?" Chloe waded up the small paper and pushed it down the drain before starting the disposal and turning on the water.
The two spent dinner in an uncomfortable silence. They had helped each other in the kitchen and strangely knew what each needed to do without speaking. She watched Lex push his food around the plate and finally sit back in the chair without eating. "Want to talk about it?"
"No," he answered flatly. He took another stray bite and sighed. "You couldn't tell?"
Chloe looked up and waited for this conversation. He had said before he wasn't going to blame her, but she wondered how long that would last. "Work has been stressful, and you know me. I work through things."
Lex leaned over the table and pondered her statements. "Come with me." He held out his hand and guided Chloe back into the nursery. Pushing the door open, he carefully sat down in the middle of the room and slowly spread his legs out. Pulling her down, he held her around the waist in between his legs, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Do you really like this nursery? I mean is it us?"
Chloe looked around the room and admitted to herself that it was cute, but not what she would have imagined that they would settle on. Trying desperately to cover her tracks, she smiled up at him and answered, "I think it's cute. And good for both a boy or a girl."
"Did you want a girl or a boy?" Lex kissed her cheek and rubbed her now non-pregnant belly for the first time since the trip to the doctor.
Chloe stiffened in his grip and took a deep breath. She had no idea if she and Lex had discussed this before his accident. Was this a test or was he really curious? She closed her eyes and then smiled up at him once more, all the while his grip remained around her. She had to be careful. One type of answer would lead her to blowing the sham, another would lead her to the bedroom to certainly try again. She wasn't ready to give up either at the moment. "I just wanted it to be heathly; it wouldn't have mattered."
Lex nodded and looked as if he was tearing up again. "And me? It's hard to remember sometimes." He sat and wondered at her reply. Chloe was the one thing he could trust in his world.
"A son. It's been that from the very beginning." Chloe figured there was no other possibility. She stood firm on her decision to answer him out right.
Lex hmphed at her reaction. Chloe looked over her shoulder at him and saw the slight change in his face. "Really? I remember a few things and I'm pretty sure I didn't dream up that I wanted a daughter." Lex moved his hands up and gripped around Chloe arms and turned her in his direction. Chloe stared up at Lex frozen in his piercing eyes. "We discussed this; I didn't want that Luthor name attached to any child ever again."
Chloe tried to recover, "Just because it could have been a boy, didn't mean the Luthor name was a death sentence." She stopped and thought about her rationale knowing the two Luthors that she did. Ok, maybe it was a death sentence, but she wouldn't tell him that.
Lex stared at her and shook his head. Using her shoulders, he pressed his body up and shuffled to the door. Looking back over his shoulder at Chloe still sitting in the middle of the floor, he sighed, "I just wish someone in my life would tell me the goddamn truth." Lex stood in the doorway as Chloe could see his body start to tense. Raising his voice, Lex beat on the doorframe and caused Chloe to jump back. "I mean, you sneaking around on me, talking to my father behind my back, and pretending to give a shit when we tried to make love last night. You're like a totally different person!"
Chloe stood up and moved towards him in an effort, however impossible, to calm him. "Lex, it's been hard, "
Lex threw her hand back in her face as he turned down the hall. "No, don't give me that! You are as much at fault here as anyone here. I realized something – you were so happy when you came into my office. And that was all a ploy to pull my thoughts away from the story you were writing about some scheme you thought I was involved in."
Chloe eyed him and nodded her head. Furious at a discussion she had no idea why, but his accusations hurt. "Scheme? Lex, your family is full of crack pot schemes and under the table dealings. You think I would actually stoop to your fucking level and pretend to be pregnant to make you drop everything and be a Mr. freaking Mom? You are so full of youself!"
"I thought giving up my goddamn job for you and the baby and letting … dad… have what he wanted all along would make you happy, but I see nothing changes." Lex balanced between the doorframe and squeezed his forehead in frustration.
"Nothing changes? I spent DAYS by your side in that hospital room. I didn't have to do any of this for you. I could have just left you there. You had turned into someone I didn't know. God knows our relationship wasn't exactly perfect, even pleasant at the time," Chloe screamed back at the man hanging on the doorframe. The words were vague but explained everything she felt. She didn't have to be there; she could have easily stayed out of it and just signed papers as his wife to commit him. This was the Lex her best friend had spoken about, except for the uncharacteristic yelling. Lex was normally a quiet anger, but she could tell his hidden emotions from the last few days finally couldn't be withheld anymore. A fear finally fell onto her as his face grew more drawn and his knuckles were white from gripping the doorframe so hard in anger.
The master bedroom slammed and Chloe jumped back. She heard something hit a couple of walls and then another door, the bathroom she suspected, slam. She went downstairs and sat on the couch and stared at wall. It would be a long rest of the week. Trying to regain her calm, she flipped through the papers in her bag absentmindedly and then threw them across the room. Throwing up her arms, she quietly screamed and sent the fake photo on the end table flying across the room.
Lex was furious. His heart raced and his body trembled as he grabbed for the bathroom cabinet and sat down on the toilet seat to steady himself. Ripping the top from the pen, he jabbed the pen in his leg and waited for his nerves to settle back into place. Leaning his head against the wall, he took several deep breaths and threw the pen in the garbage. Teetering carefully out to the bedroom, he picked up the wedding photo and placed it back on the dresser.
He stared at the picture and wondered where he had gone wrong. She didn't like his father; she was happy when Lex finally decided he was better off without him. But now things were so confused. She used to leave the room completely, leaving Lex to tend to the pieces, not take his father on herself. It was strange. Getting up, he carefully pulled himself over to his dresser and opened the top shelf. Looking through his meaningless cufflinks and random watches that seemed out of place, yet neatly in place, he lifted a small lid of an unfamiliar decorative box and gasped.
Lifting the picture out of the box, he sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at the picture of the brunette he couldn't remember. He flipped the picture, looking for a date, and then tried desperately to remember her name. The position was compromising to say the least. Letting the picture drop to the floor, Lex rubbed his tired, teary eyes and whispered, "No."