Major spoilers for Fracture.
Chapter 11
She followed close behind Clark, nearly skidding to a stop as they reached Lionel.
"Lionel, how is he?"
Chloe's eyes were wide. Lionel was staring through a window at Lex. That meant he was still here. That meant there was still time.
"He's, uh, in a coma." She turned her eyes to Lionel. He looked haggard and tired. "Thank god we got him Medevaced back here from Detroit. The, um, neurosurgeon managed to remove the bullet. He says that there is a very strong possibility that, uh, Lex..." She felt a surge of pity for him. He was usually so self-posessed when he spoke. Word-stalls like "uh" didn't seem at home in this man. It was the same with Lex, really. "...may never regain consciousness."
Her eyes cut to Lex at those words. No. A strong possibility. Not a certainty.
"I'm sorry," she heard Clark say softly through the racing of her mind.
My cousin was bleeding to death in Reeves Dam. They might have said that about her, too. Anything is possible. There's still time. She looked up as Lionel's voice cut the silence.
"We never had a really close relationship. A lot was said. A lot went unsaid."
She felt uncomfortable, seeing Lionel this way, acting as if Lex was gone. He wasn't gone. And he wouldn't be gone and everyone had to stop acting like he was. There was work to do. "Clark, I know for a fact that every badge in Michigan is on this case, and still, no suspects, no witnesses."
Clark stared through the window at Lex. "I find it hard to believe the shooter would leave Lex in a ditch and no one would see anything."
"Listen," Lionel said hoarsely. "I got a friend in Detroit, a cop. He, uh, called me when I found out about Lex." He dug in his coat pocket. "He let me borrow this."
He handed Clark a cell phone. A hot pink phone. She knew that phone.
Clark's eyes widened "Kara's alive?"
She stared expectantly at Clark until he handed the phone to her.
"That picture was taken less than 12 hours ago," Lionel said.
She hardly had a chance to look when a man was behind her.
"Excuse me, Mr. Luthor?"
"Yeah," was all Lionel said before hurriedly following the man.
Chloe stared down at the phone again. It was Lex with Kara. She circled Clark. "Clark, this is Lois' phone. Lois, Kara, and Lex?" She knew Lex would be away. But Lois was supposed to be in Shelbyville. And Kara... "Not exactly Three's Company." She nearly winced at her fall-back snark. This wasn't exactly a time for jokes. But it was fine. If she could joke, then it was just another sign that everything would be fine.
"Kara's wearing a bandage. She may be hurt, which means she doesn't have her powers..."
She finished his thought. "And whoever Lex was dealing with wasn't playing around, which means that if Lois and Kara were with him..."
Just as he finished hers. "Then they're in danger. We need to find them."
Jesus, Lois. Why don't you ever listen? You could get yourself killed in blind pursuit of an article that will never even see print. She could see it as brave, but it was just useless. If Lois wanted dirt on Lex so badly, she had years of it. But she knew it would never see the light of day. And not just because of Lex's plan B. She quickly pulled Clark away from the window. She couldn't look at Lex and think of plan B. It only made it harder to know how to feel. How could she hate him so much and still find the thought of him gone so impossible to bear?
"I'll use my healing powers on Lex." She knew she would the first moment she saw him. She had to. "And he can tell us where Lois and Kara went." Everything would be fine. Everyone would be fine. She could figure out how she was supposed to feel later.
Clark turned around at the end of the hall. "Chloe, the last time you used your powers, I pulled you out of a morgue refrigerator."
"Yeah, and then I walked out of there with a clean bill of health and some cold feet," she said quickly, trying not to think of the fact that that was a stab wound to the side and this was a gunshot to the head.
"Chloe, if you use your powers again, you could die, permanently.
"Or I could just be adjusting to the growing pains. I mean, we don't know," she rushed on. "Nothing happened when I healed Jimmy. We have no choice. The only clues we have to where they might be are trapped inside Lex's mind."
She couldn't overthink it at a time like this. She had to do something. It was a one in a million chance that Lex could come out of this with only what modern medicine could do. But if she used her powers... would she die for Lex? Was that something she was willing to do?
She didn't know the answer to either, still she found herself with Clark and Lana at Isis less than an hour later.
Lana turned from her monitor to her. "I couldn't figure out what Lex was doing in Detroit, but I may have found something even more helpful." Chloe's mind raced. She knew what he was doing. It wasn't blind chance that he was there and Kara was there. The two of them had looked rather friendly in that picture. And Lex wasn't chatting up Kara just for fun. He was closing in on the Kent mystery.
"Project Intercept?" she heard Clark ask. "Is it military?"
"LuthorCorp developed it for the military to interrogate terrorists by getting inside of their heads, literally. The entire projected was spearheaded by Lionel. Intercept links a suspect and interrogator's brain waves, exposing the interrogator to all the suspect's memories and thoughts."
"You're saying someone could actually go into Lex's mind? Where is this thing?"
"LuthorCorp still owns all the equipment, but it was mothballed six months ago."
Chloe stared at the monitor. "I can see why. How's this for fine print? The project worked several times but then was abandoned after three of the interrogators died during implementation," she read. "Autopsies revealed that their central nervous systems were completely fried." She stared at the monitor with Lana. Why were they wasting time? She could heal him and they could ask. This would all be over and...
"They're not like me. I can do this."
She turned to Clark.
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Now she found herself in some warehouse, masking some Luthorcorp experiment. She walked around, marvelling that she would have been like a kid in a candy store even a year ago. But she'd seen what getting on the wrong side of the Luthors can do. What Lex was capable of. It was something Lois still didn't understand.
God, Lois. How could you be so foolish? Risking her life for something that was so unrealistic.
Lois was still operating from that Inquisitor mindset. You didn't expose the billionaire and get lauded for bringing down the rich sleaze. Sometimes, worse happened. Sometimes a bomb went off and you to had to hide away for months, hoping another one didn't come along to destroy you and what little there was of your family. But she did it for truth. And maybe a piece of her did it for him. For Lex.
Maybe that was why it hurt so much more years later, when her own mother was held away, used and violated for being different. When she was abducted by Lex's men herself. Sometimes you lost everything to that man you chose to expose.
Lex had taken so much from her. And now... Not only was she sleeping with him, she was considering giving up her life for him when he might not clean up his act, even then. As much as wanting to convince Clark it was a piece of cake was her go-to mentality, she wasn't blind to the possibilities. This could be her last act as sidekick, as reporter, as a life form. And it might be for nothing.
She heard Lana and Clark talking frantically and stayed away. She still wasn't a hundred percent on-board with Lana. But a piece of her was a little fascinated by the set-up at Isis, that room that was wall-to-wall computers. So much firepower there. So much she could find with those resources. A part of her wanted to see if Lana might let her take it for a spin sometime. She'd bet the Isis Foundation's idea of high speed internet could put the Daily Planet's crowded server to shame.
Yet she couldn't. She still wasn't on even-footing with Lana. She didn't know if they'd ever get back to where they were.
"Clark, your body may be invincible," Lana was saying, "but who's to say your mind isn't vulnerable somehow?"
"It's my fault that Kara's missing."
"But using technology built by Lionel Luthor? God only knows why he created that thing." She could add to the arguments, throw the same arguments at Clark against doing this that he threw at her against using her healing powers. She'd been dealing with Clark and his secret longer than Lana had and, unlike her new powers, his had been tested over and over. He was always okay. He was always there in the end. It was something she trusted in.
"Lana, there's no other choice," Clark insisted.
In the end, she whirled on them. "Clark, just be careful, okay?" He had to do this. Even if she healed Lex, there was no guarantee he'd be honest about Kara... and Lois. Lois had to be saved. Chloe didn't have much family. Neither did Clark. It was something Lana wasn't quite getting. Their family had to be saved.
Lionel walked in, closely followed by a man in uniform. "Sir, I watched three field officers die after their brains went into electro-neural shock. This machine is a deathtrap."
"I pay you a small fortune, Doctor, so please withhold your negative opinions." Lionel moved away, but the man turned to them, eyes fixing on her and Lana.
"Ladies, would you please wait outside?"
Chloe glanced at Clark before moving to the door. She had no doubt this machine was a death trap for any mortal involved. But this was Clark Kent. She'd once called his mind a steel trap. It was as strong as the rest of him. It was her own strength she doubted. Even if Clark managed to intercept Lex's memories, they'd still be left with Lex in a coma, maybe never to wake. And it was Thursday. Tomorrow was Friday. He was supposed to be there tomorrow. He wasn't supposed to be the one in doubt of showing. That was her. It was why he constantly showed up in her sphere at work, insuring she'd be there.
Shouldn't she do the same for him?
*********************************
Chloe walked up and down the hall, anything not to sit in the hard, plastic chairs any longer. "You'd think they'd have a vending machine or something. Even fringe military doctors need a coffee once in a while."
"You think he'll be okay?"
She stopped her pacing and leaned against the wall. "I've been on the inside with Clark for years. If he says he can... Well, he usually can. As long as Lex stays stable, Clark is fine." And what about after? What about after when they were still left with Lex Luthor in vegetable form? Could she be okay with that?
"Chloe, I've done some bad things and I... I want to make them all up to him. I want to show him that I can be there for him in... in all the ways you are."
Chloe stared at her. "I'm not so special."
Lana glanced up at her, her eyes wet. "He rushed out of the house in the middle of the night when Lionel called him. And who is it he woke up and dragged to the hospital? Not me."
"Well..." She moved to sit next to Lana. "It was Lex. Maybe he thought you wouldn't want to be there, with all the bad blood..."
"And you and Lex don't have bad blood?" Lana shook her head. "Clark and I have talked, Chloe. I know more than I did. I don't know everything, but I know that Lex has done things to you that... are just sickening."
Hearing it said, she knew it to be true. She looked to the door. And she, once again, wondered why she should even consider dying for this man. Without him near, with his smiles and his voice and his touch... On paper, Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor was the worst of all ideas.
"He doesn't trust me," she heard Lana say. "You don't either. You have no reason to."
"Lana, it's not..." She sighed. "Maybe I don't fully trust you. Maybe Clark doesn't either. But we all have years behind us and it's not like we're all just going to give up on each other. There was a time when... Well, Clark didn't trust me for a while. But we didn't give up on each other and now we're back to normal. We..."
"Now you constantly finish each others' sentences." Chloe glanced over at Lana, surprised. It was true. It wasn't something she often remarked upon, but it was true. "Don't think I don't notice."
"He loves you, Lana." Years and years had taught her that was an undeniable fact.
"I just... I don't want to resent it. I just... I wish I knew what it was like, always being on Clark's page." Chloe felt a hot wave guilt run over her. Her late-night activities with Lex didn't fit anywhere on Clark's page. Even if it was just for the sex... She suddenly stiffened. He'd see. Clark would see Lex's memories. And in those memories, she'd be writhing under and over him. She squeezed her eyes shut. There was nothing she could do about it now.
Maybe she could explain later. But somehow she didn't think "He makes me come" would fly.
"...the way you two are always whispering together. It's like this club that, even now that I know, I'm not a part of and... It's not just about you two. It's me and Clark. I feel like we're always at odds," Lana finished sadly.
Chloe brought herself back to earth. The both of them seemed to be wrapped up in their personal pain. But all they could do now is wait, deal with everything when the time came. She bumped Lana's shoulder, hoping she could raise both their spirits. "You two are definite contenders for the star-crossed lovers award. But... Maybe it'll all be worth it in the end."
"Yeah," Lana said softly. "Maybe." She fell silent.
Chloe wasn't convinced, either. A part of her felt that, in the end, Clark and Lana wouldn't pass the test of time. She couldn't help feeling Lana was too fragile to stand up against all that being on Clark's page involved. Even when she had the power to keep up with him, she made the worst possible choices... But who was she to say? She was just a girl that happened to be on the fringes of two great men. One she aided, admired for all he did for the world around him, and... She still loved him. She'd still die for Clark, no questions asked. The other, she would not hesitate to expose, would not hesitate to take down for all he did to the world around him and yet... It wasn't hate. Hate was there. Resentment. But... there was something in the way he touched her, the way he made her body sing.
It wasn't just some power play, some way to show mastery over her. Sometimes she felt it as... penance. As if every touch that was just for her pleasure was some way of making up for all the pain.
As justified as Lex tried to paint his actions, a part of him had to be sorry. And not just because he was so alone now. But because he knew they caused pain.
Pleasure for pain. Maybe that's why she stayed, to get her pain's worth. That first night, she said he owed her. Maybe he took her at her word. Going by orgasms, she recieved much more than she gave.
But was that enough to make her save him, at the expense of her own life? That he might be just a little sorry?
She didn't even know if she'd have the chance to make the choice. She had no idea what was going on behind those doors.
Lois was still at risk. Lois. Clark had to be in there to find her cousin. To find his, as well. She didn't know Kara well on a personal level. She had some reason to resent her, the way Jimmy had so easily bounced to her. But if Kara could do what Clark did, and with half as much heart, she had to be saved...
She couldn't take it any more. She turned to Lana. Her chair was empty. She vaguely remembered her saying something about the finding the restroom while Chloe's mind was elsewhere. She stared back at the door.
She really couldn't take this another second. She marched to the doors and through, into the dark room with its faint, blue light. "What's taking so...long?" She froze at the sight before her. "Oh, my God."
The man, the doctor, was holding paddles against Lex's chest. "Three, two...charge. Clear!"
Lionel was grasping her shoulders. "You shouldn't be in here, Miss Sullivan."
Chloe stood her ground. Whatever Clark had to know, he had to have had it by now. "What's happening? Why are they not waking Clark up?"
"He's in Lex's mind. He's trapped. If Lex dies, then Clark dies with him."
"Sir..." her head whipped to the doctor, as did Lionel's "We've lost him."
And this was it. This was the push she needed. Would she die for Clark? She was nearly sure she would. Would she die for Lex, even after all he'd done to her... She wasn't sure. But here they were. Both men that were, in their different ways, the most important men in her life. "I can save him," she burst out, stepping forward.
Lionel whirled on her. "How?"
"Just trust me, Mr. Luthor. I can." She could save them both. She moved forward, past Lionel, past the immobile doctors, staring between the two men. At this moment, with both of them on the line, she was positive she could do this, no matter the cost to her.
She took one last look at Clark, her best friend, her hero, then moved to Lex. Her enemy. Her lover, if she could call him that. One silly girl's life didn't really matter after all. She was just someone off the picture, just to the side of two great men. They both had great power in their different ways. They both could do great things.
I hope you do better things, Lex, her mind whispered to him as she reached toward his chest. She'd touched it so many times now. But those touches were caresses, scratches, even light tickles... This was something more. This was life and death. This was a commitment -- that these men, that the fact that they lived, was worth more than her life. She was sure of Clark. She knew, deep down, that scores of people would live and be safe because he was in the world. But Lex... I want you to prove me right, Lex. If I don't come back, I need to know that it was better this way. Was there a heaven? Did God exist? She might find out very soon. She hoped for both. And she hoped she could look at the world behind and know that this was the right thing to do. And for both men.
She pressed her hand against Lex's chest. A light sort of emanated from her hand, snaking out, enveloping him and she stared up as her body weakened. She saw Lex grasping her shoulders in his library and asking her if she was sure. She glanced over at Clark, saw Clark hugging her close and stopping a car through a stained glass window with one hand. Lex was kissing down her belly, making soft little grunts for every moan she let loose. Clark was pulling her from a damned coffin in the ground...
And maybe there were bad things, too. But she could only see the good right now. With all that was good... Was there anything she wouldn't do for these men?
She felt her body crumpling, her mind fading to black. A cold stole over her limbs as the floor rose up to meet her...
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