Spoilers for Persona, then Siren.
CHAPTER SIX
"What do you want from me?" She was staring down at him now, wide-eyed. Like he was some creature she feared and loathed.
And wasn't he? After what he'd done, maybe he deserved fear and loathing. But he didn't want that. Not now. And not from her. She was the one who'd come here, after all. He shook his head. "That's a stupid question, Sullivan. Since when does it matter what I want?" He closed his eyes. "Doesn't matter to you, doesn't matter to your friends, it's... it's stopped mattering to me anymore." He stood, feeling stronger now. "Let's talk about what you want."
She took a step back. "I don't want anything from you."
"So you still can't admit it?"
"Admit what?"
"That it happened and that it... meant..." Are you so desperate to mean something to someone... Maybe he was.
"You said it yourself, Luthor." She swallowed hard. "It felt good. So... there. I admit it. Is that what you want?" He saw her eyes dart to the bed. He turned, saw her sodden jacket hanging half-off the bed.
He picked it up, gripped it hard. If she wanted it, she'd have to take it from him. He needed the why. The answer. "If it was just feel-good sex, then why can't we stop thinking about it?"
Her eyes narrowed. "You of all people should know that the last thing I want to think about is... it. Why else would you keep reminding me, even after you promised..."
"My promises..." He laughed and moved closer. "I'm a monster, Chloe. A snake. Maybe you should have let me stay out there to sicken, weaken..." He trailed off. Maybe she should have. Maybe everyone would be better off.
"Is that what you want?" She was squinting at him.
"No," he breathed, shaking his head. He didn't want that. Though maybe he should. He'd created Grant and he'd destroyed him tonight. It could be argued that he was God-like. But there was no benevolence to it, not anymore. He hardly knew why he did what he did, just chasing something so elusive he didn't have a name for it. So far away from the man he'd been. Six years ago, he'd just wanted freedom from the suffocation of Lionel's brand of parenting, escape from his control. He had those things now. So why wasn't he happy?
"Look, just give me my jacket. I'm not here to be part of some lonely rich boy pity party."
He didn't want that either. He wanted something else. He stared at her. Something he'd tasted that night. "Why are you here?"
"I came to give you the damned binder," she said tersely. "And you know what? I did it." She threw her hands up. "Keep the jacket if it means so much to you." She started for the door, taking long strides across the cavernous room.
"That was just a flimsy excuse and you know it."
She stopped, her back to him, her shoulders stiff.
"You came," he went on, "because you like getting close to danger. You always have."
She turned, crossing her arms. "No one knows better than I do how dangerous you can be, Luthor. But I'm not trying to get close to you in any way. You're the one who shoved yourself in my workplace, in my..."
"Fair trade, though. You were always snooping where you don't belong. You get off on it." He smiled. "You could get caught, could ruin your whole life, but that's just part of the thrill."
"You think the things I've been through have been some form of thrill-seeking for me?"
"Oh, definitely. You can disguise it in your job and the people's right to know, but it's all about how much you can get away with. You want to push that envelope. You're doing it now."
"I only came here to..."
"You came here because you can't stop thinking about it," he broke in. "You wonder just how much you might hate yourself if you did it again. Being wanted... You're half-right. Just that is powerful enough. But there's something more here."
"You're assuming way too much, Luthor. I don't hate myself. It happened and it's done. I don't waste time angsting over spilled..."
"Too proud?" He moved closer. "Fine. I'll be the bigger man." She backed to the door, but, he noticed, didn't make a move toward the knob. "There's no weakness in truth." He dropped her jacket and moved his hand to her waist. "I think about it all the time. It was supposed to be a nice, little fuck. Work out some of that anger, that mutual loathing, but it was more." He ran his nose along her jaw, breathing in deep. "God, the way you smell..." Clean. Untainted. He wanted to taste it again, all that sweet redemption. He needed it the way she needed a taste of his filth.
"Stop it," she breathed.
"Then stop me," he countered, biting just under her ear. He pulled back, catching her eyes. They were half-closed, yet so conflicted. "You won't, you know. That would defeat the purpose. We're playing a new game now." He ran a finger across her neck, hating the high collar of her shirt. With breasts like hers, a shirt like this was almost criminal. "We've been playing it all month. I've actually been waiting for this part, when you show up on a dark night, no one around. It's so easy for you at work, so easy for you to hide while big, bad Luthor hunted you down. But you can't possibly get me to play my part when there are so many ways to run away. You had to come here for me to get it right."
He smiled, licking his lips. "I know my part. I'm here to take the choice away." He pressed her into the door. "I'm supposed to give it to you while you say no, no, no. Isn't that it?" He dropped one hand to her hip and dug in, lifting her against the door. "Then you can stumble away and loathe me." He ground his hips into her, not even realizing how hard he was until now. He closed his eyes and took a moment to admire his own constitution as sparks damn near shot through him. It was no surprise anymore, how quickly he recovered. A man didn't face death every other week, still kicking, and not realize something was up.
He opened his eyes. She was just hanging there, held up by his press against her, her feet not touching the floor, her arms still at her sides. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was open, tiny breaths hitting his chin. "Come on, Chloe. Where are the mewling protests?" He licked a line from her jaw to her ear and her body jumped, her arms suddenly gripping his. "No. Stop it. You snake. You bastard. You need to get at least a few in so you can tell yourself later this wasn't your idea. "
One of her legs lifted, ever so slightly, but he felt it against his hip.
Not good enough. Not yet.
He eased up and gripped her wrists, pressing her arms against the door as her body slid slightly, her feet hitting the floor. He let his hand slither down her body, into those stupid pants, just to see...
"You're wet," he whispered. "But that could be from any number of things. It's obvious I'm practically forcing you into this." He let his fingers brush against her clit inside the confines of her pants. She gave a strangled sort of moan, twisting her head to the side. He took his hand from her pants. "But I'm not." He stepped back as her eyes opened, her head turned back to him. "I'm not playing." He bent to her wet jacket and scooped it up, holding it out. "You can take this and go." She stared at the jacket. "Or stay. But it would be your choice, Chloe."
Her eyes lifted to his. He wondered if she would. She pulled him out of the rain. She obviously thought he didn't deserve to die. But did he deserve comfort? Even he wasn't sure. Regardless, he didn't want to take it. He wanted it given. Jut once, he wanted something handed to him.
But she took her jacket with shaking hands, staring at him for one moment before grappling with the door behind her.
He watched her disappear into the dark hallway, listened to her footsteps fade away.
"Thought so."
*********************************
He'd stopped coming in to The Planet. A memo had been sent down that he was functioning as editor for the time being, but that he was working remotely. Probably from the mansion, where she was definitely not going. She had no reason to and she'd make sure she didn't create one.
Maybe he was right. She clenched her fist for moment, then pounded away at her keyboard again. Definitely, he was right. It was tempting. He was tempting. All these years, she'd never thought of him as sexy, not on a personal level. But he was. Added to that, he was good in bed. To add even more, he seemed almost unreasonably attracted to her. That was something she'd never felt, not even from Jimmy. And that was... exactly why she would keep her distance, even from the roads that led anywhere near the mansion. Resisting temptation was hard enough. She wasn't about to go off in search of it. And she was damn glad he wasn't around... for more than one reason.
"Got it," she said into her headset.
She most definitely didn't want Lex around while she was moonlighting for The Green Arrow.
"You're all done?" Ollie let out a breath. "Okay. Get out of there."
"I just intercepted the file," she clarified. But she would be out of here any second, if it would just finish burning to disk.
"Okay. Get it done. But make sure it can't be traced back to you. I appreciate what you're doing, but..."
"Yeah, of course I deleted any trace of it. This isn't the first time I've done something like this." She stood to open the disk drive, rolling her eyes and wishing he could see it. At least Ollie wasn't hovering over her. He'd wanted to until she'd pointed out how conspicuous both Oliver Queen and The Green Arrow would be at The Daily Planet. Besides that, it was just a little light intercepting. All in all, not a bad week. She managed to stay away from Lex. Lex had been staying away from her. And now she was up for another nice piece of her nest egg, courtesy of Oliver. he grabbed her purse. "I'll see you in a few." She felt pretty good... of course that was before a knife embedded itself in the desk, scant millimeters away from her hand.
She stuffed the disk in her purse and ran for it. "Help!" she gasped, hoping Ollie hadn't disconnected. "Somebody's after me!"
Why couldn't she have one good week?
*****************************
"...officially making this the worst week ever. And she has a column, if you can believe it." Lois huffed and wheeled her chair nearer to Chloe. "She's like the love child of Ann Coulter and Bill O'Reilly and that harpy has a column and I still don't have one article. This is just... It's like adding isult to my injury, after Grant just left without..." Lois shut her mouth and started to wheel back to her desk.
Chloe sighed and minimized the blonde mugshots. "Lois, I thought that was over."
"It is." Lois stared at Chloe. "I swear it is. And it was never that serious, but... it's just... To have another guy just up and leave without even saying goodbye..." Lois shook her head and stood. "I should take those files back to the records room. With Lex editing, I'll never get on any page of this paper. My life just gets better and better."
Chloe stared after her cousin as she moved away. It probably wouldn't be the best idea to tell her Ollie was back in town. Ollie hadn't said anything about calling her, just little veiled questions. She'd leave that to him, since Lois didn't need to know how she would know. Chloe was about to go back to her mugshots when it hit her. She hadn't exactly missed Gabriel, but it was odd... he hadn't stopped to think what Lex stepping in meant. She'd just had an immediate clenching of fear that his involvement was growing, followed by the sheer relief when she'd learned he wouldn't be in the office. She hadn't given a thought to Grant. She'd been busy with her two jobs and... Mostly, she'd preferred not to. She'd seen him and Lex together, talking and laughing, thick as thieves. If anyone was in Lex's pocket, it was Grant Gabriel.
She kept the blondes on her screen at bay and sat back. If Gabriel had an offer somewhere else, someone had to know about it.
"Megan." She called out to the redhead as she walked by, her arms laden with coffee cups. "Oh. I didn't mean to stop you, go on with what you were..."
"No, it's cool." Megan set her carriers on Chloe's desk. "You've helped me out more than once. What do you need? I got a few."
"I was wondering if you heard anything about Gabriel." If anyone was in on the gossip, it was Megan, always wandering between floors. "With Luthor taking over, I figure he went on to greener pastures."
"You didn't hear?" She leaned in. "I guess it's not common knowledge."
"Hear what?"
She leaned down further. "He was shot. In a mugging." She stood straight and shook her head. "I didn't exactly love the guy, but it is a shame."
Chloe looked toward Lois, gathering files at her desk. "Yeah. A shame."
"I mean, I thought Luthor would have run a story on it, an in memoriam thing, but he was only here a few months and maybe he thought it would be bad press or something." Megan picked up her carriers. "I'd better finish delivering these."
"Yeah. Thanks," Chloe said, dazed.
Lois started by her desk, arms laden with files.
"Lois..."
"Don't say it, Chloe. I know what you're thinking. An office romance is always a bad idea."
"Well, yes. But..."
"And I'll take you one step further. Romance is just a bad idea in general. I'm just... swearing off men. I'm all about the work. You'll see." Lois ran for the elevator. "Wait. Hold the doors."
Chloe pursed her lips and turned back to her computer. She wouldn't tell her. What was the point in telling Lois? She wished she didn't know.
But now that she did...
It seemed strange there wasn't a piece on Grant, especially considering how tight he and Lex seemed to be. She left the blondes again, instead trying a little light hacking into the police department's computers.
She shook her head, staring at the screen. Gabriel had been mugged and shot, that much was true. But he'd been with Lionel Luthor at the time. Was that why Lex didn't want this in the papers? To protect his father from scandal. But there'd been no reltionship between them of late and what exactly would Grant be doing with Lionel? Was we working against Lex? It seemed awfully convenient that at this time, with this man, Gabriel was killed. If Lex had found out...
She shook her head again and closed the screen. She wouldn't think it. She couldn't. Lex was a lot of things, but a murderer...
She went back to her blondes. It was best to focus on what she did know. There was a woman out there who assaulted nearly innocent reporters and super heroes. That was her focus. She couldn't think of Lex anymore. And she wouldn't. If she could just...
"Looking for a new hairdo?"
She saw the bag Clark placed on her desk. She laughed. She had to. "Let me guess... Ham and swiss?"
"Your favorite."
She put the bag to the side. "No, actually, not at all, which I think I've mentioned three times this week." She was getting damned sick of ham and swiss, though coffee sounded nice. "But thanks anyway." She stood and moved away. She was glad. She appreciated that he was there for no reason. Phantom Clark had only been around when he wanted something. So this week had been a nice change.
"I just can't hang around that house anymore, Chloe. Knowing that phantom was living my life with Lana for over a month while I was trapped in the fortress..." But this Clark. He wanted something, too. He wasn't here for her. He was here to avoid Lana. That other Clark may be long gone, but he'd sure left his mark. "I-I know we looked alike, but she really couldn't tell the difference? And then she tells him that they belong together. Does that mean she doesn't feel that way about me?"
Chloe picked up her coffee cup, trying for some straight talk. "Well, she isn't exactly the same girl you used to trip all over in high school, either."
Clark turned away, as always, at the first sign of truth. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
Chloe laughed again. She had to, either that or cry. "Right. I'm sorry I brought it up." She moved back to her desk.
Clark dogged her again. "Any luck locating the Brain InterActive Construct?"
"Not since you asked me yesterday." She'd been a little busy. Between working for Oliver, hiding the fact that she worked for Oliver, and actual work, she didn't have as much time for Clark's homework.
"What happened to your face?" he suddenly asked.
She sat hard in her chair. "First of all, did you seriously not notice this until just now?" His blank stare was all the answer she needed. Of course he didn't notice. His mind was just a jumble of Lana, Lana, the Phantom, Brainiac, and Lana. "Don't worry, Clark. I'm fine."
"Chloe..." He was staring. She felt it. She glanced up at him. And then he did it, gave her that look. It was a combination of puppy dog, guilt, and lantern-jawed concern.
It was hard to remember all the reasons she didn't want him to know under the thrall of that look. Chloe stood, speaking quietly. "All right. I've sort of been doing this sidekick side job for Oliver."
Clark's loud "What?" sort of broke the quiet.
"Look, Clark, a girl has got to pay her bills. And, I mean, let's face it -- you kind of fill my pro-bono quota."
"His missions are dangerous. And the fact he's taking you with him..."
"No, no, no, it was just internet interception." Why did everyone insist on thinking she couldn't handle dangerous... Oh, right. "...that ended up having a vicious ninja lady attached to it who chased me onto the roof and then almost beheaded me and went rappelling over the side of the building," she admitted in a rush. "which I've got to admit was really smokin' cool." She found herself smiling.
Clark, predictably, didn't join her. He never smiled anymore. "Who was she?"
"Well, I don't know exactly. That's why the mug shots. But I think we're dealing with an uber-ninja lady. Besides the truly awesome rappelling, there was this moment where Ollie..."
"Oliver was there?" Clark practiclly yelled. "Oliver was there and he let her hurt you?"
"No. It wasn't like that. I mean, he tried to stop her from getting the disk, but he couldn't even shoot her. She sort of... screamed. Or maybe it just looked like she did. Everything went quiet and Ollie's arrows just... flew apart, shattered. It was..."
"What was on it?" Clark asked, his face hard.
"What was on what?"
"On the disk, Chloe. What was on it that was worth you risking your life?"
She sighed. "Clark, my life was never at risk. Not really. Besides all that... I don't know. I figured it was best not to ask and Ollie didn't seem willing to share." Clark looked down. "But I do know that Ollie wouldn't have asked me to get it if it wasn't important."
"Yeah. We'll see." Clark strode past her.
She turned. "Clark, don't get all..." He was gone. She sighed and stared at the bag containing the damned ham sandwich. She wished it was tuna. She could go for some tuna. She could also go for a Clark that could just... hang out with her. Not because the world needed saving and not to avaoid Lana while talking incessantly about her, and not...
What had happened to them?
******************************************
"A person doesn't just disappear off the face of the earth," Lex barked into his cell. "I don't care if you have to sweep every city in the Western hemisphere. You find her... You call me back when you have something more concrete." He snapped his phone shut and strode toward his office. There was a blonde waiting. His life was just plagued with blondes these days. One he couldn't find, one he couldn't have, and one whose... special brand of service could be had. Just for the right amount of money and, so it seemed, with just motivation.
When he entered his study, she was in his chair. But. more importantly, she was holding a disk. "I usually mind when someone sits in the chair, but I'm a little distracted to care at the moment."
She stood, still holding the disk. "I don't take to the morally murky."
"Unless they pay you," he pointed out.
"You know my standards. No matter how rich you are, you don't deserve to be robbed. And you, Richie, are a lucky man." She was still holding onto that disk.
He took the money from his inside pocket. "If you stopped whoever's been hacking into my trade secrets, I consider myself very lucky." He waited for her to tell him who. Because hacking wasn't an altogether common knack. And if it was who he thought...
She took the money and handed the disk over. "Your file almost fell into the wrong hands. I had a little run-in with an emerald archer."
He turned, surprised. This was better than he'd even dreamed. "Green Arrow?"
"I wasn't expecting company."
If it was Chloe... Well that was one thing. It would just give him a good reason to take her. Keep her. Force her to stay where he could always... But this was better. It was. He'd rather have Green Arrow under his eye. "You think you can find him again?"
"If I had a good reason."
Now that was just tiring. Lex really wished she could be like any other hired mercenary and just take the money. "They've been breaking in and setting off bombs at my work sites." That much was true. "They belong in prison." And he knew just the one. "You bring me Green Arrow, and I will make it worth your while."
He sat in his chair after she left, understanding in her eyes. She'd do it. She'd get him. And Lex could find out exactly what made him tick. Maybe the rest of his merry men as well. It was better than having Chloe. His men had already seen what made her tick last year. There was something there, but she was latent. No use to him until she showed some sign of... No. He couldn't lie. It wasn't that she was useless to him. Far from it.
But he didn't want her imprisoned. He didn't want her by force. He wanted her to come to him. A week now and she hadn't showed up. He shouldn't be surprised. He wasn't, really. Just disappointed. There was that small hope that, monster that he was, she'd want him. It was only one night. He shouldn't be so fixated, but it was such a night...
With Lana, he'd thought he had it all. But she didn't know what he was. Chloe knew. And she let him inside. Not just in her body. He was under her skin. He felt it. How could he not be when she was so deeply under his? Maybe he should go into the city today, just to see...
No. He wasn't playing. He'd told her that. Just this once, he'd keep his word.
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