Part Nine
Lex placed the penultimate two boxes in the back of the U-haul and lent against the side of vehicle as he waited for Chloe. She had taken a few minutes longer than him to get down the stairs holding her box of cuddly toys. Lex had, of course, offered to go back for it after he was done with his two boxes but the glare that Chloe had sent his way had made it quite clear that she intended to carry her own cuddly toys. As if the fifteen times she had so far refused to let him carry all of her boxes had not already made her feelings on box carrying/letting him do things for her quite clear.
He took his phone out and checked his new messages as he waited. He and Chloe had agreed to declare a moratorium on everything that had happened that day for the next few hours so that she could get unpacked before they went on their mission. The last thing that either of them needed was to be distracted because they were so angry with each other.
It was strange that the planning of their mission had occasioned surprisingly few disagreements. They both thought alike with regards to the most practical way of going about getting the information they needed – although Lex had thought that he could manage it without Chloe. As long as they had a common goal, they seemed to be able to get along tolerably well.
He watched as she came around the side of the building and could not help but chuckle at the sight. She really was stubborn. Even now she clearly getting a little tired, she still kept going, he could not imagine Lana doing that. She would have been more than happy to Lex and the movers take over.
When Chloe reached the halfway point across the car park, Lex straightened and headed over to her. He had learnt that he could meet her half way without eliciting too many disapproving lectures.
Upon reaching her he tried to take the box but felt her resist. How many times were they going to go through this? He sighed and said, "It's just a box, Chloe".
She relented, but asked, "Why is it so important to you?"
"Other than the fact that you should be resting? Because my mother raised me to be a gentleman", he carried the box over to the back of the truck.
"Is carrying a couple of boxes going to make you a gentleman?" She asked before she could stop herself.
Lex raised an eyebrow. "Maybe. Is letting someone else do something for you going to stop you being the independent pain in the butt who took on the Luthors and won?"
Chloe raised an eyebrow in an obvious imitation of Lex. "Maybe".
He laughed. How was it that mere hours before they entered the trenches, with so much still remaining unsaid between them, that she could make him laugh?
She really was splendid. She was the bravest person that he had ever met, and probably the most intelligent as well. The world without her … well it didn't bare thinking about.
"Don't even think about it", Chloe stopped him in the middle of his thoughts.
"You don't have to be there with me tonight".
"Yes, I do", she placed her hand on his arm. "I found out about all of this, I made the promise to Laura and I am going to see this through. We planned this out, nothing will go wrong and, if it does, I will be right by your side when it does".
"The world won't miss Lex Luthor, Chloe Sullivan on the other hand …"
Chloe snorted. "First of all, nothing is going to go wrong. Second of all, every newspaper in the world would record your death, I would be lucky to be remembered in The Torch".
"You know that you would get more than that. You know that no one could ever forget you. It is not too late to turn back, everything you need to be done would still be done, just …" He didn't get the words "without you" out.
"There was no need for you to be in those tunnels that day, but you were".
Their gazes met. It was unlikely but they could die that night and so much would be left unsaid. Chloe shook her head, "I had better get back upstairs and have one last check around".
"I'll come with you".
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Have you ever thought about getting a dog Lex? They will go around with your all day without complaint".
"I am more of a cat person". He explained as he locked the U-haul and followed her back into the building, admiring the fit of her jeans.
"Clearly, but they are far more choosy and I am not sure that we could find one who would put up with you. A nice soppy dog however would look up at you with adoration, slobber all over you … actually coming to think of it you're right, you need a cat. Someone to put you in your place".
"I thought that that was what I had you for", he quipped.
Chloe span around but did not stop, so she ended up walking backwards. Lex did not quite level his gaze in time. Chloe gave him a knowing smile and raised both of her eyebrows at him. "I wasn't aware that you had me, now hurry up and although I know that I am hot, please, stop checking out my ass".
"As you wish", he jogged up to her and watched as she span back around, "although you should know Little Miss Arrogant that I was looking at the spider attached to your jeans".
"You are making that up", Chloe accused, not in the slightest ruffled by being called by his new pet name for her – his other being Duchess Chloe von Bossy Boots.
"No", he said with a straight face before swatting her behind.
"Oh", Chloe gasped as she jumped, before putting her hand before her to rub the tingling spot with a frown.
"Got it", Lex smiled at her innocently.
She narrowed her eyes.
"Just you be careful Lex Luthor that I don't see any spiders crawling all over you".
Chloe insisted upon Lex going up the stairs first on the way back up to the apartment. She thought that this was a brilliant plan although Lex may have seen through it as, while she was opening the apartment door, he asked, "See any spiders?"
"No, it was rather hard to see around this enormous ass that kept getting in my face. A few too many cream puffs, me thinks".
She waited to hear Lex's comeback as they entered the apartment. She loved having the last word but normally she had no competition, being challenged by Lex was almost as much fun as wining. Almost. Half of the time when she said snarky things to him, it was as much because she wanted to see what he was going to say as it was because she was actually annoyed with him.
A few seconds passed, that wasn't normal. He was never lost for words for that long. She looked at his face and sighed, yet again he was thinking about the apartment and how she had 'suffered' all of these months. She thought of trying to explain once again that she wasn't some flower that was going to die after a few days without sunlight but thought that it probably wouldn't work and could cause an argument that she didn't want to have at that moment, - although she knew that she was just delaying the inevitable.
"Don't get so overwrought Lex. Just because you could not survive for one day without complete luxury and a servant to blow your nose, that doesn't mean that everyone is so delicate", she decided that teasing him was not just fun but also the right way to get out of a difficult situation.
Another smile, "I'll try to remember that". She was evidently sticking to their unspoken agreement to let sleeping dogs lie for that one evening. He had a feeling that he would get an ear bashing tomorrow morning about the house, if she could manage to wait that long. He knew that Chloe had a supreme level of self-control, but he also knew that she felt passionately about things and keeping quiet on something that clearly annoyed her so greatly went against everything in her nature. Lex wondered how long the truce would last … not long apparently.
They scanned the living/dining room and opened all of the kitchen cabinets just to double check, but they had not forgotten anything. As Chloe went in to check the bathroom, she called out to him over her shoulder that she thought that she left something in the bedroom but that she could handle it – and it would fit in her car -, so he could get going.
Ignoring this last suggestion, just as he had the last few times she had said that she was almost ready and could handle it alone from there, Lex went into her bedroom and seeing nothing left, checked under her bed.
"Ah ha", he declared in triumph as he saw the large cardboard box. At least this one wouldn't require packing and they could be on their way. He pulled it out and then climbing to his feet, picked it up. It wasn't very heavy. It got even lighter as the bottom of the box broke and its contents ended in a heap at his feet.
"Damn it", he swore, he hoped that he had not broken anything. He surveyed the pile hoping not to see a family photo or something of that sort, destroyed.
Lex's jaw dropped.
He sank to his knees and was shocked as his eyes racked over the treasure chest. With a shaking hand he reached out for the nearest object to him. It was a book and sticking out of the top of it there was a row of photos with a man he recognised as Jimmy Olsen. He had read files about him.
Henry James Olsen: red curly hair, blue eyes, freckles, liked wearing bowling shirts and wanted to be a professional photographer. Not the man that Lex would have picked for Chloe – too much hair - but he was a good boy and was in the same academic year as she was, he was really the person who she should be with. It had never sat well with Lex that she had had a boyfriend, of sorts, while she was interning at The Daily Planet, but she was happy and so he had tried to be happy for her … while having her followed by a security detail, of course.
Lex studied the photos. In the picture Jimmy had his arms around her and they were smiling. He had never had a happy relationship like that; the kind where you went out in the day time just to enjoy each other's company. He was jealous. The book that the photos were in had opened easily where the bookmark was, clearly that passage had been read more than most – although the entire book was clearly well worn.
He shouldn't read it, he knew that it was wrong to do so, but he was fascinated. He had already packed up part of her book collection and she hadn't minded him doing that, in fact she was the one who had told him to pack up her books. She had even seemed to enjoy his running commentary on her collection and suggestions of what she might like – it turned out that she had more that she had just not brought with her when they had moved.
They had had a rather nice conversation about some English 19th century novels actually. She had even lent him one that he had never heard of, saying that he had to read it. It was fascinating as every book was a glimpse into her and more importantly after looking at him oddly for a few seconds, she had answered all of his questions and then asked quite a few of her own. That meant that she was allowing him to know more about her. Maybe she wouldn't be too mad about him skim reading a bit of this one. Oh great, he was going crazy. She was going to mind, of course she was going to mind. This was completely wrong. He was going to put the book back and pretend that he had never seen any of this. That was the only correct thing to do.
It was a very interesting book. The picture on the front had been of a respectable period couple but he felt that this was not the same as the other ones on her shelves; this was no Jane Austen or Georgette Heyer.
"My Lord, what are you about?" The fair young maiden gasped, as she felt herself being pressed up against the wall of her father's castle by the young noble.
He grinned wickedly …
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Lex's head whipped around so quickly that he heard the bones in the back of his neck crack, but he did not think that she was in the mood to give him any sympathy for this. He opened his mouth to speak but Chloe didn't give him the chance to answer.
"Lex this is the fucking limit! I can't believe that I actually felt sorry for you because you had such an awful childhood, because you get all worked up about a simple dinner invitation, because .."
Lex was on his feet in a second. "I didn't ask for you to feel sorry for me. I don't want your pity!"
"Well I don't want your charity but that doesn't seem to mean anything to you does it?"
"It wasn't charity, it is making up for what I did! You're father understands that, so why can't you wrap your thick skull around it?" He roared.
"What you did? It is always about you isn't it Lex", she threw her hands up in the air, "As if no one else in the world can make a decision by themselves. I got into the mess on my own, you helped pull me out, as far …"
"I shouldn't have let you get into that situation", once again he didn't let her finish her sentence.
"Because I am too stupid to know what I am doing?" Chloe demanded, raising her voice to the point where she could probably have been heard on the Kent's farm.
Determined to at least match her in volume, he bellowed, "No, because you are too special to lose". The words were out before he could think about them.
The room was quiet except for the sound of their hard, angry breathing.
Lex took a deep breath, trying to get himself under control. Why was it that whenever he was around Chloe he seemed to end up in a fight or losing control? Once he had decided that he had a strong enough hold on his emotions, he tried: "It wasn't charity. You got caught up in my family's drama, I was just trying to put it right".
"That doesn't mean that you have the right to tell me what to do", Chloe said, also sounding a little calmer.
"Yeah well, I probably won't stop doing it".
Chloe had to look away from him. Just when she was ready to hit him, he said something like that and she all she wanted to do was laugh. Well, she wasn't going to laugh! She was going to glare at him. She tried, but making eye contact taxed her resolve too greatly and she let a little chuckle escape her. She had to stop looking at him if she was going to tell him off, she looked down at the floor and remembered what he had done. Her face turned blazing red.
"It is nothing to be embarrassed about", he told her. "It is perfectly natural", he ignored what he could see out of the corner of his eye. That certainly wasn't natural, for one thing it was too large and the wrong colour … and they normally came attached to something else.
"Please spare me the talk about how these feelings are a natural part of growing up", Chloe growled, and she saw the direction of his gaze. Until that moment she wouldn't have thought that it was possible for her to turn are redder. "An explanation would be appreciated though", she ground out.
Lex was trying to diffuse the situation but she didn't seem to be responding to his positive efforts, so he thought that he might as well rise to the challenge and be the ass she clearly thought him. "Well, I am not really the person to explain that situation to you but I will do my best. You see the characters love each other very much and now that they are married feel that they want to express that love physically in a way that you mustn't if you are not married … and don't want babies. You see the man …"
Chloe looked at him in disbelief, she was now on her knees trying to hide some items under others – it wasn't making the situation any better. He sighed and sat down next to her. "I didn't mean to go through your stuff. I heard you say that you had left something in here so I came in to get it, the bottom fell out of the box", he took the box off her and turned it over to show her the damage.
She said nothing for a moment. She could feel him staring at her and wished that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. She hated feeling embarrassed, especially in front of him.
"You didn't have to read it", she pointed out.
"I'm sorry. My curiosity got the better of me", he tried to be conciliatory, but couldn't resist adding, "something tells me you know something about curiosity".
She bit her lip. She scowled. He could have meant general journalistic curiosity, she had plenty of that and everyone knew it. She looked at him. No, he meant sexual curiosity and they both knew it. She looked down at the ground, nope it was not going to be accommodating and gobble her up, she would just have to deal with this on her own. Bugger.
Chloe could take the out – journalistic curiosity - , but that wouldn't defuse the tension. She looked at him a little more closely and saw the warmth in his eyes. As much as it pained her to admit it, she knew that he didn't judge her for this revelation the way that Clark or Lana would have. Oh well, he knew about it and there was no sense in trying to pretend that there wasn't now an elephant in the room. She might as well own it, at least that way she was in control, or at very least could name the elephant – Prudence seemed like a nice name for an elephant. What was the phrase: if you were in on the joke, people couldn't be laughing at you?
"Oh well, at least now you have learnt something for your next disaster, that I'm sure I'll have to get you out of. Maybe it will help you keep a woman satisfied for longer next time", she grinned and hit him on the arm.
"Excuse me?"
"I figured out the truth about both of your marriages and the girl with the missing earring, in case you have forgotten", Chloe elaborated.
"Oh I know that, I was shocked that you thought that there was something new to me in that passage", he looked smug.
Chloe looked shocked.
"You are pulling my leg", she surmised.
He shook his head.
"No way you know the stuff that the hero of that book knows. If you did, you wouldn't have had so many failed marriages. Women with men who can fuck like that don't try to kill their husbands, they just don't! Killing is a sign of frustration", Chloe announced. Turning the tables on him was fun.
"Something you know all about, if this collection is anything to go by", he looked down a vibrator. "Olsen a little too wholesome?"
Chloe didn't even both asking how he knew about Jimmy. "He was very nice"
"Well if you ever feel like moving up from 'nice' you know where to find me", Lex smirked.
She rolled her eyes, "All mouth and no trousers. You men are like that, aren't you?" She tweaked the end of his nose gently, "Wouldn't you be shocked if I took you up on that?" She grinned at the thought of him recoiling, trying not to think of how much it had hurt was Clark had done that when she had offered herself to him.
"Try me", he wouldn't back down and judging by the spark hidden behind the surprise in her eyes, neither would she.
Chloe tilted her head to the side, trying to work out what game he was playing. Deciding that it was just a case of trying to see who would become embarrassed first and back down, she decided to take him on.
She was not blind, she had noticed that every so often Lex's eyes would rest on her top and was satisfied that she had found his weakness – Lex was a breast man … although he seemed to admire her legs and bottom as well. Chloe ran her hand through her hair, absentmindedly. Her fell to the side, revealing a long expanse of neck leading down to the swell of her breast. Bingo, Lex's attention was following the course she had intended.
"I don't Lex", she sounded really concerned. "We are going to be working together; I wouldn't want things to get weird between us". Their eyes found each other, both trying to suss the other out, neither of them could look away from the other or they would lose.
She licked her lips. "But if the reason why we are always fighting is because of the sexual tension then maybe it would be better to just get it out of the way".
Lex raised an eyebrow at her.
"Just one, hard, wild, unforgettable, earth shattering, bone melting fuck", she suggested, drawing out each word.
She had gone too far. He knew that Chloe would never have sex without feeling attached and those words just didn't sound right coming out of her mouth, at least not this early in a relationship.
"Now we both know that you are playing me", he said as he shifted his weight closer to her. His voice was low and dangerous. It sent chills down Chloe's spine.
"Maybe. But aren't you dying to find out?" She asked, running her hand up his arm. She loved feeling the muscles jumping beneath her feather light touch.
The phone rang.
"Damn it", the ejaculated in unison.
It was the house phone, which was still plugged in as they would not be taking it.
"Clark?" Chloe questioned as she answered it in frustration, "Yes, I'm fine. Sorry I don't have time to talk right now, we are moving back to our old house. Yes, it is rather sudden. I will tell you about to tomorrow. No, I don't need any help. Thank-you. Yeah, okay. Bye".
When Chloe turned back to look at Lex he was fixing her box and had already put her book in it. Clark really knew how to ruin a moment.
"So I guess that we had better get this packed up and be off", Chloe said joining him, once more, on the floor. They started chucking things in the box, Lex trying desperately not to notice what he was touching or think of Chloe using those items. Gosh h … it was hard.
Lex was just about to tape the box up when Chloe reached in to grab something, "Can't go on our mission tonight, without these. You never know when they will come in handy. Ah, that Jimmy, always so helpful".
Chloe slipped a pink fuzzy pair of handcuffs into her back pocket and Lex groaned.